ckw

Yes that and modified car exhausts. I know they can sound cool, but lets keep them for track days and the like - not residential areas! Last week I was woken at 3am by some idiot with a modified system coupled with multiple backfires. Sounded like WWIII had erupted! But a solution may be coming https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/107097/new-noise-cameras-to-target-loud-car-exhausts Cheers Colin

Just wondering ... I'm sure we have all had the experience of painting a room and having to buy an extra tin of paint only to find that the new tin differed slightly from the old tin. Indeed the better paint manufacturers include batch numbers on the tin to help you get an exact match across multiple tins. On the assumption that modern paint production is at least as good as that used in WWII, batches of paint then must have had some variation at point of production. If a given batch was not an exact match to an RLM colour chip, was it poured down the drain or was a degree of variation acceptable? Surely in a war stressed economy (both for allies and axis) such waste would be hard to justify. Hence I would suspect there would be at least as much variation in paint colour as there is across different batches of B&Q Magnolia. Cheers Colin

I've often seen these guys perform - under various names - and have often seen the wingwalker climb back into the cockpit before landing. I think however when 'guest' wingwalkers are involved (charity events and the like), there people are more permanently fixed to the support as they won't have been fully trained on how to get back into the cockpit. Cheers Colin

I use a combination of Future and Tamiya Flat base (the mix thinned with IPA for airbrushing). By varying the mix ratio you can get what ever degree of sheen you need. E.g I use 10 parts future to 1 part flat base to give a near gloss finish; 10 future to 4 parts flat base for near matt finish, and anything between those ratios for various semi gloss finishes. Cheers Colin

I use oil washes and white spirit to remove excess 1 - As I usually use enamel paints, I add a protective acrylic layer - Future/Klear after the paint has had at least a day to dry 2 - apply the oil wash, trying to avoid too much surplus 3- let wash dry a little, but not cure (5-10 min) 4 - use a piece of paper towel dampened with white spirit to remove excess - it musn't be wet as it might burn through the acrylic layer, and will tend to suck the wash out of the panel lines etc. Cheers Colin

A rare disappointment from Hobby 2000 - I've attempted 2 of the Dragon kits and they are real pigs IMHO. On first glance they look good with decent detail, but fit is atrocious. I recently completed the recent Italeri kit, which is I believe is based the Academy release. Similar levels of detail, but it goes together beautifully. At the moment I'd say it's your best option for a P-38J Cheers Colin

Very good point Heather - I should have mentioned that. As I always give the model a wipe with IPA or Mr Hobby Levelling Thinner before priming/painting (which removes Sharpie) this hasn't been an issue. But marker ink does have remarkable powers of coming to the surface - as anyone who has tried to paint over a child's marker scribbles on a wall will know! (Tip: seal the scribbles with clear nail varnish first). Cheers Colin

OK here is my miracle cure - a tip I picked up on BM, but unfortunately I can't remember from whom ... anyway, who ever you are, thanks. Run a black sharpie over all joints or other filling after I think I've sanded to perfection. Then lightly sand off the sharpie ink. Any areas that need further work will become very obvious. Usually I apply the Sharpie before what would be the final polish sanding. Cheers Colin

There is a very good thread on the YP-80's in Italy here: Which includes eye witness artwork with stripes on the aircraft, making for an unusual and colourful alternative to NM. Here's how mine turned out The photo has a slight blue cast - the grey is actually a bit warmer that that in real. I'm afraid I don't recall which grey I actually ended up using, but there are suggestions in the thread I referenced. BTW this model is the Sword P-80A kit Cheers Colin

I have one in my modelling room - nearly directly above the spray booth. With all the nasties in this room, I want the earliest possible warning! It's never gone off (just tested it to make sure it's actually working ) Cheers Colin

One other thought - its very easy to take the joy out of something you love doing when you try and turn it into a business. Happened to me with photography ... I was an avid photographer since childhood. Started to earn some money from it shooting aviation and sailing - for a while after a redundancy, it became my sole source of income. Dream job right? Yet 10 years on I'm back in a 'real' job and rarely pick up a camera. There is a huge difference between doing something when you want to do it and doing it because you have to. Cheers Colin

I once looked into producing picture frames - I had all the gear and skills needed, and there is clearly a market for them. But adding up the cost of all the materials required and the time involved showed that either each frame would be prohibitively expensive or meant I was working for well below minimum wage! Hobby/crafts are notoriously difficult to turn into successful businesses, often because they are often very time consuming - which is fine if the time is your own, but not so good when you have to make a living wage in that time. Cheers Colin

I use the lead tape for balancing golf clubs/tennis rackets. It's self adhesive, but I usually coat with PVA to make sure it stays put. Cheers Colin

Side car Railway car I'm pretty sure car is derived from 'carriage' so in that context it makes sense - and rolls off the tongue more easily than 'horseless carriage', which is of course what they should properly be called Cheers Colin

They were going for authenticity 😁 cheers Colin

I built this a couple of years ago, and found it quite good despite its age. The only thing to watch for is getting enough weight in the nose to avoid tail sitting. Cheers Colin

I've got nearly 100 years of photographs on file (grandfather's onwards), literally 100s of thousands of images. Over the years I have used many paper and PC based methods of organisation, so this is the outcome of my experience. Keep the file structure as something meaningful, but context neutral. I use a date structure - top level is year, sub-level month, sub-sub-level day. Files are named YYYY-MM-DD-[camera time stamp], or in the case of slides and negs, YYYY-MM-DD-sequential number Names based on content of the image never really work out in the long run - there are too many possibilities ... location, event, people etc. and sooner or later you'll want to reorganise your categories. Once you have a consistent and sustainable file structure, you can use this to create an index (in Excel or specialised software). You can change the index, add or delete categories as much as you like, but the file structure stays the same. I really wish I'd started off this way, because physically re-organising thousands of images in years to come is no fun and hugely time consuming. Cheers Colin

I suspect at best it would have prolonged the inevitable - what France lacked was a modern command and control system. Not to denigrate the achievements of British pilots, but I think it was the ability to place Spitfires and Hurricanes in the right place at the right time which won the Battle of Britain. I think had there been more modern French aircraft, many would have been destroyed on the ground - the tactic that almost won the BoB for the Germans. Cheers Colin

There is a case for both - the large cup is good when you are doing large areas, not getting to close to the subject. The small cup comes into its own when working on detail, perhaps very close to the subject - a large cup feels cumbersome, gets in your way and can block your line of site. Except when priming or varnishing, I usually prefer using a small cup - but I should also say I work in 1/72. Cheers colin

White spirit should work if applied very lightly - damp, not wet. It shouldn't remove the future but might soften it, so don't rub too hard. Test on scrap first! If you can remove that canopy without damaging the model, a complete strip (I use ammonia for future - and as the enamel is on the future, it should come off too) is probably the safest option. Cheers Colin

Don't have a Pinterest account so can't really see, but generally orange peel is a result of too heavy a coat. Multiple very light sprays are better than a heavy spray. A matt coat won't remove orange peel, but it will remove the shine. You might try a very gently sanding with 3000 grade paper, but of course there will be a risk of damaging the underlying paint. The correct Pledge is 'Revive It' Cheers Colin

I can't say I've found the .15 to be finicky - but I only use enamels and occasionally Tamiya & Mr Hobby acrylics. But I have heard it can be a bit of a pain with water based acrylics (Vallejo and the like). If you can afford it, having 2 airbrushes with different needles is very convenient rather than having to swap needles all the time. It also gives you a bit of redundancy should one of them act up and requires repair. Cheers Colin

I have both the Infinity and Ultra - though either I paid too much for the Ultra, or got a bargain on the infinity as the price difference was not that much ... But anyway, as I see it airbrushing is all about control. I can get similar results with both brushes (.15 and 0.2 needles) paint thinning and air pressure seemingly more important than nozzle diameter. The infinity scores for me with a better nozzle guard design for close work and the limiter, which unlike Ray, I find extremely useful for getting consistent results when, for example, spraying mottle camouflage. The infinity also sits in my hand more comfortably and has more heft - again contributing to control. That said either one can produce great results and the biggest factor of all would be which ever one you practice most with Cheers Colin

I have thought about that - but then wondered if that could actually damage hearing (temporarily or permanently). If so could you be done for assault? Cheers Colin

Yup, that's the one. I use the procedure you suggest, and have had no problems with enamel or Tamiya/Mr Hobby acrylics. Not tried lacquers. Cheers. Colin