Luka

Hi all, So it seems that there were several different radio wire arrangements possible on the P-40, and I wondered if it would be possible to maybe pinpoint it to time and place, and also how it could coincides with the type of radio used at that point. For example, I can hardly ever see the long wing wires. Were these dropped after a certain moment that a new type of radio was introduced? Here are some planes I'm trying to decide on, the picture quality unfortunately isn't always Hi-Res. P40-E from RAAF 75 Sqn, around April 1942, supposedly flown by Les Jackson. Frankly I cannot see any wire at all, some photo's (of other planes) show only a wire from the fuselage to the tail fin. P-40F USAAF 65 Sqn, around April 1943. The enigmatic 'Grim Rip'. The tail section is gone here, but again, on other planes of the same type and timeframe, only a wire from fuselage to tail fin is visible. P-40K/Mk.III SAAF 2 Sqn, 1942. Colour profiles often show the whole lot of aerials, wing wires and all, but as you can see this blurry pic hardly shows anything.. Cheers, Luka

That's the original canopy? Wow, you made it look good!

Thanks for the compliments all! Thanks, it was an experimental scheme applied to some G.55's in 1944.

Nice! I always liked the scheme on Hai's MiG 17.

Cool! Liked your build report as well; gave me some good pointers. Cheers, Luka

Hello John, I recently built some RS kits and they are indeed short-run kits. As Patrick said, not easy; the fit of these kits leaves a lot to be desired and most parts need to be sanded to fit. Sometimes the fit issues can be pretty dire. Also, smaller parts are often very roughly shaped. The instructions are very basic, so obtaining some knowledge of what you are building is advised, since the unclear construction drawings sometimes don't help very much. Still, surface detail looks good. Mostly. I'd say RS kits are worthwhile when other models aren't available, and they do carry some pretty unusual subjects. For more regular planes I'd check if a conversion of a well tooled and detailed mainstream kit would be much easier. Cheers, Luka

Checked the source of the pin, and someone reacted on the original page that it's from Signal; http://www.ww2incolor.com/german-air-force/art.html Agree about Pinterest btw. The tape looks indeed very much like the gummed variant to me.

Season's greetings! Finished the Centauro in its 'harlequin' splinter camo. Cheers, Luka

Spiffing paint finish there. And it could indeed pass as 1/48. Now you got me wanting one too!

Lovely build like the others, and thanks for posting; I hadn't noticed the earlier ones yet. You got me there for a moment with the first one, as I thought I recognised the Matchbox kit. Cheers, Luka

The canopy was mounted and painted, and some touch-ups were made. I put another decal over the bright green one; judging from wartime pictures the emblem seems darker to me. Basically it just needs some light weathering and a pitot tube now, but the tube apparently has a slightly complex shape on the G.55. I'll have to see if I'm going to bother with that. Next instalment will likely be in the RFI section. Thanks for watching, Luka

Another stage done. Undercarriage is in place and the prop dry fitted for the pic. Main aerial mast glued on and made a second small mast on the rudder. The fun thing about this 2 in 1 boxing is that you know what to take care of in the next build. Cheers, Luka

Nice and inspiring build! Reminds me I still have a later release of this kit somewhere on my desk.. (*muffled "Lemme out!" emanating from box*) As for the weathering; a silver pencil as mentioned by kapam or even a 4B pencil works wonders. And then just copy the wear marks from wartime photographs. Cheers, Luka

Always nice to see a well made D.XXI. The fact that it's scratchbuilt makes it all the more impressive!

I like immediately had the tune in my head as I scrolled your build into view. Good one. ;-)

Hi all, After the He 112 I was more aware of any possible fit issues with RS kits, and I decided to take on this Avia B-135 in Bulgarian livery next. Full build report can be viewed here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG9ZIzBHhQM Enjoy!

One word; Woooww! I really like those French 'near-what-ifs', the other being the sncase se.100. The finish looks so crisp, it could pass for a 1/48 imho. Really cool.

Lovely build; reminds me that I still have to get myself my own Ki 51. Also, I didn't know the brand, so thanks for the heads-up too.

Thanks for the reactions all, I was already afraid that it might just be a fantasy mix of planes. Although I do have a better looking colour profile (I believe by John Weal, Complete Book of Fighters, somewhere early 90s) I think he may simply have based it fully on the earlier artwork.

Looking good @Bert, I already knew the Italian models, but the German plane pics were PB'd. Thanks for reposting those. I tried the technique on a 109 and I like it a lot. The only downside is that I will probably postpone practicing some freehand mottling techniques with my airbrush!

Hi all, Is the scheme below legit? I stumbled across some profiles of this plane, all three more or less the same, but could not find a photograph of this one. With the usual suspicion of 'never blindly trust a colour profile' I do not recall ever seeing a photo of a G-14 (Beule on the cowling, Erla Haube and wooden tail) with Hungarian markings at all; only G-10's or G-6's. Can someone shed some light on this enigmatic bird? The only info I found is that it was of the 101 Fighter group and that it was stationed in Germany, April 1945. The half-retracted tailwheel is a bit suspect, but another profile shows an antenna behind the canopy and a non-retractable tailwheel. Cheers, Luka

Thanks! Yes, I basically took a half-round file and filed out the curvature of the fuselage along the length of the canopy. I mounted it with Micro Kristal Klear, which filled out the contact surface and dealt with any small inconsistencies. With 20/20 hindsight I wish I had dry-fitted it before the painting stage, but I guess I didn't expect such a severe case of bad fit.

I suppose we modelers desperately need a time-travel-teleporter. And when someone goes there and checks out the markings, he might also take some paint chips back while he's at it. And then also return with about 30+ different samples of RLM 76. That oughtta keep the modeling community busy.. ;-)

@Adam Poultney ; A couple of posts back I added a link to the pictoral build report, so you can decide for yourself 😉 I believe RS also released the 'Kanonenvogel', but I have never seen that one in person; it's probably quite rare..

@Andwil ; Thanks, I believe the emblem background is often depicted blue on 109's. Not sure why they would be green on a G.55 though. But that will probably to another colour vs black/white photo discussion again! ;-) @Roman Schilhart ; Yes, I think I saw your build a while back. Truly beautiful! As for the fasces; this photo of blue(?) 5 got me wondering. Of course it's not Drago's black 7, but it's a similar scheme and the fasces on this one are definitely not 'handed'..