Luka

Great finish, and love the group shot too. Some models to be proud of!

Rockets.. I believe that pic is one of a series taken on either a training mission or possibly an actual attack sortie firing rockets. Maybe also the reason why on the later Mk.5 the rocket rails were all mounted outboard of the light. Thanks, I'll take that into consideration on my next step!

The awkward thing is that the appearance of the light seems the other way around. I found a pic of a Mk.1 (Brit markings, Dutch service) on HM Karel Doorman's carrier lift. (linky; https://images.memorix.nl/nda/thumb/620x620/88102dd5-caef-992a-15f3-188e5edd64d6.jpg) However, on this pic the landing light seems to be removed (somewhat blurry smallish pic of a thumbnail) while flying somewhere over the East Indies/Indonesia, judging from the background. (linky; https://images.memorix.nl/nda/thumb/620x620/00d615ca-f095-e6b4-6339-c975df8c1e0b.jpg) As far as I know sorties during the Politionele Acties were flown from Maospati, Java, and not from HM Karel Doorman.

Whif only by a hair's breadth; a couple had already arrived in an operational squadron (GC 1/55). Just some weeks more and they might very well have flown in those colours. Beautiful model of a beautiful plane!

I'm not usually into nmf aircraft, simply because I cannot get the finish right. But that Starfire sure grabbed my attention. Nice!

I recently got myself a Firefly I from Chematic (old Frog) and while I enjoy adding some detail (I learn something new every step!) I have stumbled on some contradictory photos for the next step. Some photos clearly indicate a landing light in the port wing (inside of the guns) but these are typically planes that are still in British livery, with some orange triangles to indicate Dutch crew. However, I want to build one as it appeared during the Politionele Acties ("Policing Actions") in the former Dutch East Indies. I cannot find a clear shot of the landing light area of the wing, except for a blurry pic that seems to indicate that the light isn't there (that photo being a thumbnail that leads to a dead link..). Can anyone shed some light (heh) as to if these lights were possibly removed at some point? Maybe during non-carrier actions? TIA, Luka

Dang, I gotta get me one of those Arma Hurricanes.. Looking good!

Oldie but goldie, looking good!

And thank you for sharing first! I really hope this method will gain some more popularity among modelers as it's actually quite easy to get such a nice effect.

Bert Reynaud, yes I found his work on chalk camo some time ago here, There was also a post not long ago here on BM with several other Luftwaffe models, but I couldn't find that one (my BM search-fu is weak).

Blown away.. Very impressive build!

Thanks for the compliments all! I have to admit, once I got past correcting some of the areas that Italeri missed with their upgrade I did start to like it more. I guess I was a bit peeved at it being reviewed as a new mould, at the same level of Italeri's CR.42. But I'm glad it escaped the dreaded shelf of doom (or rather; some dark box in the back of the stash closet). Thanks! I have recorded the process and will upload that onto my channel soon in case you're interested. Cheers, Luka

The pajama pilot! Speaking of pajamas, those stripes are insane considering the scale. And the diorama totally emits that sense of urgency, Oh yeah, the plane looks great too! Excellent modeling, totally love it.

Cool! I'm building the Academy and Hase kits atm, but I didn't realise the HB Dora looked this good. But.. where are the exhaust stacks..?

Good looking model! I've always liked the plane in this livery and I'm considering getting this kit. Thanks for the pointers too.

I got the Italeri kit, not knowing that it was just the old Supermodel kit with some recessed panel lines; a bit disappointing. Maybe I should have gone for that Sword mega-box, but what on Earth am I going to do with 6 Reggianes? The 2001 is nice , but.. *mope-mope-mope* Anyways; onward. So I saw this neat trick on how to apply mottle camo with chalk powder. I forgot who posted those models here, but; big thanks! Made me very happy with the results, hope you like it too. Cheers, Luka

1- or 2-seater? Dou you still have the broken canopy? If possible you could glue it back together and use it as a master to vac a new one. I know Squadron sells single seat canopies for about €6,- a pair.

Thanks! @exdraken; Yes, the number on the rudder are the only decals. Looking closer at the third pic I see some silvering has appeared that I had not noticed before. How confronting those large detail shots can be! 😅

So, I have the very promising looking Vampire Mk. 3 from Revell (rebox of the Special Hobby kit) that I want to build as a Rhodesian plane with the Bush War camo pattern. My questions; - Do I need to convert some areas to get the correct type? I know very little of the external differences between Vampires.. - What are the best colour matches? I myself mostly use Vallejo or Revell paints. I don't know if standard Dark Earth/Dark Green are the correct colours. In some pictures the DE seems yellowish, in others it seems more reddish. Thanks in advance, Luka

This was a quick fun and an actual little build of one of those planes that I always wanted to make but never got around to doing. The exhaust panel on the lower cowling was taken from an old Revell kit, to turn it into a tip 10. The engine came from the same kit; the ICM kit has a way too nice engine to be covered by the I-16 cowling with just a few holes in it. It is now earmarked to serve as a Cyclone for a CW 21 somewhere in the future. But I digress. Flown by D. D. Dickinson in the Spanish Civil War, I like this scheme because of its striking red rear fuselage. Cheers, Luka

Nice 'redleg' 109 ;-) I have a Finemolds G-4 in the stash and it's such a promising looking kit. Glad you saved yours from the shelf of doom and shared it here. Looking good!

Photo here, C3 triangle confirmed; https://www.jg300.de/content/images/18cf784bde7e39da02d652001393a3a3.jpg

It's a good thing the model is positioned on that hobby cutting mat, otherwise I'd have to consider it bad form to present a 1/32 model as 1/72. Joking aside; that is one impressive looking model.

Do you think the Hobbyboss Saetta would have a good fuselage? I know its wings are not asymmetrical, but I don't know enough about Macchi 200-series considering fuselage differences. Oof, the Akkura kit looks like something that got rejected by Pixar. Broplan had a vac kit, which would be passable. But I don't know if they are even still in business. As for the Ardpol kit; I saw for an instant after its release on the site of my LHS, but that was sold out in no-time..

I like it! I was planning do do something similar to one of the 190's in the stash. Bookmarked for inspiration.