fightersweep

Thanks guys! Seems as though we don't qualify for the Tamiya wash here in the UK. I'll check out Hiroboy too. I usually make my own panel washes, but just had the itch to try the Tamiya stuff. Just surprised that the usual importers are not bringing this product in. Cheers; Steve

Hi! Does anyone know of any UK stockists that stock the Tamiya panel line accents? I've tried all the usual places and Googled and only managed to find overseas stockists. Cheers; Steve

Welcome aboard Werner. Looking forward to your builds and always happy to meet another fan of vintage 70s and 80s kits. Oh, and saw the thread title and couldn't resist.... Regards; Steve

Just the most incredible scratch building, attention to detail and realistic result I've seen past and present in modelling. No contest. That also includes your previous builds too. All have set the bar so high that it's difficult to see how this hobby could be taken further. Take a bow Peter. Next Telford double champion. Thanks for allowing us mere mortals along on the journey and wonderfully fitting that the Fury will find a home at Tangmere. Got to say, you've had an uncanny knack of choosing my all time favourite subjects so far. Spit XIV, P-51B and now the Fury. If it continued to follow my top ten, then a Hawker Demon, Heinkel 51 or a nice B-26 Marauder would be next. Doubtful I imagine, but if you do decide to venture on another build, it'll clearly be another masterpiece. Steve

We do appreciate your sacrifice though.

Thanks Paul! Appreciate it. It seemed like a daft question, but I really wasn't sure on the type of plastic used for the fuselage and just wanted to make certain. I've got several tubes of Contacta kicking about so I'll get cracking on the build. Thanks again; Steve

@Space Ranger Thanks ever so much for posting all those drawings. I printed off the nose profile and resized as suggested, and the Airfix fuselage fits perfectly. Good enough for me. Offering kits up to plans is not something I often do, but this was one of those rare itches that needed scratched. I'll post a photo up as soon as my phone is charged. @chuckb1 I can certainly attest that the all action box art pulled me in as a kid back in the 70s. After all, we grew up on a diet of all action model box art and comic artwork. Then the early 80s ticked round and I remember adolescent me seeing the Airfix photo boxes for the first time and thinking "Meh!"

@Space Ranger Thank you Sir! That looks like a really helpful resource. I will make sure to check that out. @elger Thanks! Interesting to know that the Academy B-17 is the same depth in the fuselage. I've seen some really nice builds of the Airfix B-17, but I often felt that the nose area looks a bit slim. Probably just camera angles etc, so I thought I'd check. I know the Granger plans are usually quite well regarded so it got me wondering who's got it right.

Thanks! I'll give that look.

Ah! Cheers for that. Me and the lad were watching the spider's web they were drawing over half of East Anglia and scratching our heads. Mystery solved.

Currently looking at FR 24. Anyone know what Nemesis 1 and 2 are currently north of Hardwick? They've both been drawing some very messy patterns all over the map. Edit: Oh! And I'm being treated to an A400M doing circuits and bumps at Bristol this evening. Lovely noise!

For some reason, I decided to offer up my Airfix B-17 to the Al Granger plans from the Aerodata International book. Anyone know how good the Granger plans are, because if they're good, then the Airfix B-17 seems to be 4mm to shallow in the fuselage. Couldn't find my Hasegawa Fort to compare that. Just curious Steve

Sorted then! I should be popping over the the store in the next couple of days. I'll have a look for the Storch then. I got that Xtradecal sheet through the other day. So many nice choices! I quite like the Spanish option myself. Quite fancy doing a pre war civilian German aircraft too, but I haven't seen decals for that yet. Steve

@2996 Victor Do you have a plan for the markings you want to do? Hannants do a nice Storch sheet that I've just picked up for a reasonable £7.99: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72306 Now, if you want a Heller boxing of the kit, I think I have a spare Storch kicking around. Yours if you want it, but it may take a couple of days to find as it's probably hiding in my storage unit. Steve

Ah! Got ya! Yes! I fallen into that rabbit hole too. It's easy to get obsessed with this hobby, and crikey, I went bats when that Heller GB was on, but that was a different situation for me I guess. I needed a mojo boost. Balance is everything though and life is just one big juggling trick. Glad you're enjoying the big outdoors. Something I started doing recently whilst I could still fit my lockdown self out of the front door!

Sorry to hear that Tony. I think you're right though. Perhaps a break for a while would be a good thing. I felt the same way myself a few years ago. Life had thrown a few curve balls and as a result, I couldn't even enjoy my hobbies. If anything, they felt like a burdon but I still carried on buying the kits anyway. I thought about getting rid of everything, but stepped away instead. Then the Heller GB came along and I re-discovered the mojo and enjoyed the hobby like I did way back at the beginning. It was very refreshing. Steve

Way more flash than my Heller boxings, but it's still the Heller Storch underneath.

Well, I've also got yet another Heller Bf-109B on the go at the moment. It's the latest boxing and it's perfect. Apart from being moulded in soft plastic identical to that used by Airfix at the moment, the parts are as crisp as the day the kit was released. It looks like a new kit in the box with only the raised panel lines giving it's age away. Also, the transparencies in the newest boxing are crisper and clearer than the black box release I have. I've also got the new issues of the Bloch 210 and Potez 540. Again, they look like new kits and are beautifully crisp. Steve

Hi Mark; Thank you! That's really kind of you to say. I really did enjoy building for the GB and it was relaxing just to build them all in an old skool fashion. It certainly took me back and I was quite pleased with the results considering. KF+CG is the Heller Arado Ar-96B. Perhaps a kit that has since been surpassed, but still a fine little kit. If I remember rightly, the Ar-96 and He-112 moulds ended up in South America so we won't be seeing them re-released by Heller. However, they are out there to be found and Kingkit currently has both in stock (along with the Storch). I've got a second He-112 on the go at the moment which will be in a Spanish Civil War scheme. I must do the Romanian bird at some point too. Steve

I think we're hijacking this thread! (Apologies!) The Spit XVIe was a favourite of mine back then, and I must have three or four in the stash ready to go. Me and my best mate at school were both keen modellers and practically lived in our favourite LMS. The owner enquired if we had tried a Heller kit before, and as we had never heard of them, he bagged our paper round money again. So I duly bought the Ar-196 and my mate bought the PZL P.23 and we were both hooked on Heller from then on. They just seemed streets ahead of our usual Airfix and Matchbox fare and the subjects were wonderfully quirky which suited us as we frequently tried to out do each other in the quirky subject department. This must have been around 1981/82. So when the Heller GB kicked off, it was like re-acquainting with an old friend. I decided to build them "old skool" right out the box and painted them a'la hairy stick as my 13 year old self would have done. Such a nostalgia kick. I ended up finishing 10 Heller kits for the GB and had a proper blast! So to keep the thread on topic, the Heller Storch is still a great build and I'll make sure I put in a RFI once it's done. Incidentally, Peewit do a canopy mask set for the Heller Storch which saves a lot of time (and swearing!) Steve

Must admit, I didn't think of a WIP! Then again, I've got about five Heller kits on the go at the moment so I wouldn't know which one to choose for a WIP. You'll enjoy the Nieuport. It's typical 70s Heller and very nice indeed. I hadn't built a Heller kit since I was a teenager, then took part in the Classic Heller GB and haven't stopped building them since. It's funny, but I really rated their kits when I was younger, but just seemed to forget that fact! That's bordering on insanity! Steve

Bienvenue à bord! J'espère voir bientôt certains de vos modèles. Steve

I'll second that. The Heller kit is still very decent. Got one on the bench at the moment.

Hi All! As the title says, a daft question regarding the lovely Aeroclub Anson C.19.....because I excel at daft questions. About to start this kit which has the clear fuselage halves. Am I able to use standard glue/polystyrene cement on the fuselage halves? Only asking just in case I need an alternative glue or CA for example as I'm not sure on the material used. Looking forward to this build, which I hope to finish as WD413. Alternatively, going by current prices, I could sell the kit and retire to the Caribbean. Thanks in advance! Steve

This is such an awesome project full of expansion period, art deco goodness and you're nailing it! Someone need to mass produce a kit of this.