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I'm a bit dubious about these with regard to the actual colour - aside for giving some of the paints rather unexpected names, there appears to be no reference to any standard colours (e.g FS, RLM BS) - so exactly what are these colours? For example I see they use US Dark Green and 4BO Green (amongst others) on a variety of subjects from a range of nations and periods. That can't be correct (or if it was, then a number of other paint makers and experts have been conning us for years!). Now I get the point of them - it's a nice idea to be able to buy a kit along with the required paints, and for the casual hobbyist, an approximate colour match is probably good enough. But I don't think ICM can be taken as a serious paint producer with this rather generic approach to colour. I expect some of the colours are actually a very good match to something, but its going to take someone considerable time to create equivalence tables so that we know what the good matches are. Of course many, perhaps most, modellers are not so hung up on colour accuracy (despite what the postings on BM suggest ) and perhaps the key take away is ease of use, sensible price and the convenience of paint sets. Cheers Colin

Absolutely - over the years I've acquired quite a collection of files (some rather oddly shaped) and have learned that the correct file is the most accurate and precise way of removing material. One of my favourites for seam work is perhaps best described as a flat file with a bend toward the tip. Cheers Colin

There's another maxim that goes "if it looks right, it flies right" - to my eyes the Manchester just doesn't look right. From certain angles the proportions look odd, whereas with the Lanc it all comes together with some elegance. Anyway, regardless of my thoughts of the real thing, this is an excellent model, and I applaud your efforts in making this happen. I too want a Manchester on my shelf, but I'm not at this stage prepared to put in the effort - not with so many other decent kits to make. Maybe if I wait long enough someone will box a complete kit for me. Cheers Colin

I use Mr Leveling Thinner with Tamiya acrylics and it works just fine. I'd start with around a 50/50 mix, but the correct ratio is one where a drop of paint slides down the side of a glass jar leaving a trail of translucent color behind. I use a pressure of between 15 - 20 psi. You might want to think of using something a bit less intense than flat black. I like Tamiya XF69 (NATO black) which is nearly black but allows you to pick out details in pure black and see the difference. (there are probably as many 'blacks' as there are 'whites' - all look roughly the same until you put them side by side! Cheers Colin

2024 was a sightly more productive year than usual, probably mostly due to use of lacquer paints instead of enamels. All builds are 1/72 scale Started the year of with the surprise late 2023 Airfix release of the Me 410. Certainly represented a step up for Airfix in terms of finesse of detail and overall quality. My only issue was that I found the 3 piece canopy assembly more tricky than Italeri's 2 piece approach. Painted using Hataka lacquers Next up something a little more challenging - the Special Hobby Potez 25TOE Not as difficult a build as I expected, though things went sadly astray during the final stages when I dropped it! The rigging is hence not as neat as I would have liked. Painted with Hataka lacquers and AK Xtreme Metal This was followed by the Arma Hobby Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate. An excellent quality kit with no build issues. Mr Color paints For my next project I was drawn to the RS Models Heinkel He 46c as I realised I didn't have an example of early Luftwaffe camo in my collection. Not a bad kit, but assembly a bit tricky - I found getting the parasol wing properly lined up more of a challenge than most bi planes I've built. The rather nice resin engine was marred by the fact that the manifolds just would not line up and required a lot of work. Hataka lacquers. I wanted a more straightforward build after this, so opted for the IBG PZL 37. A nice kit with good detail and no build issues, though I think the engineering of the kit is a bit quirky, so attention to instructions helps! Hataka lacquers Having gained some practice with the use of lacquer paints, I decided to challenge myself with a bit of Italian camouflage. I used the Italeri Fiat CR.32 (ex Supermodel I think). A pretty basic kit, but I was pleased with the outcome. I used MRP paints (which have an excellent range of Italian colours), which sprayed beautifully. The mottle was applied freehand in a single session using my standard H&S Infinity with a .2 needle. Another biplane, this time the Kora Fw 44F. All the usual short run kit issues, but nothing too challenging. Mr Color paints Back to monoplanes - the Whirlwind has always been a favourite of mine, and the Special Hobby kit proved nicely detailed and surprisingly problem free. The only issue was the decal sheet which had the squadron codes in a bizarre bright blue. The mismatch with the sky painted spinners was too extreme, so I resorted to using masks hand cut from Tamiya tape (never again). Hataka lacquers While on the subject of Westland I decided to build the Dora Lysander Mk III (which I'd been ignoring for some time). My least favourite build of the year, it just seemed unnecessarily complicated and fiddly to build. The wing stubs and bombs alone consisted of some 80 separate parts!. Hataka lacquers. After the trauma of the Lysander I opted for a simple build, the Special Hobby CA-12 Boomerang. A simple kit with a simple paint job. For some reason, SH do not provide the panels behind the quarter glass which looks odd, so I added them myself. Mr Color paint I've had a Dragon He 219 A-0 siting on my shelf of doom for years having run into problems with a collapsed landing gear. When I saw a Hobby 2000 boxing of the kit at a reasonable price, I decided to start over rather than sort out the old one. Of course the Hobby 2000 has all the fit and construction issues of the original, but at least it comes with Cartograph decals and brass instead of stainless steel PE parts (which I find much easier to work with). I also had a suitable vacuform Falcon canopy to hand so used it in conjunction with the kit parts to pose it open. While not exactly beautiful, I think the He 219 is perhaps the most purposeful and sinister looking WWII aircraft. Hataka lacquers. For something about as completely different as a could get in my WWII collection I built the MPM Ryan PT-20. A simple enough kit, but it took a while to get the finish I wanted. AK Xtreme metals polished aluminium over black Mr Surfacer 1500 and Mr Color paints Next up the IBG IAR 81C. While I think the kit is a great example of the modern kit production, to my taste, I find the surface detail a little too much. Usually I use a wash to bring out the surface detail, but in this case it would have taken it a bit too far. IMHO this has the detail of a good 1/48th kit, but in 1/72nd it's more than is needed and perhaps detracts from the final finished model. Mr Color paints The final kit of the year was the old Hasegawa Nakajima Ki 49. Typical of the period it is a sound kit but lacks all but the basics as far as interior detail goes. Lack of decent references stopped me adding my own, and in any case, the main reason for building this was to try out the the A-Stand lacquer metal paints. Although expensive, these are perhaps the best metallics I've used as they have a similar finish to AK Xtreme metals, but are much more resilient to masking (I even tried some heavy duty duct tape which has no impact). I find the difference in shades (dark aluminium, white aluminum, duralumin) much more subtle than those of Xtreme metals - but some might think them too subtle. The masking thing was important as I wanted to paint all the markings, and this was my first try with a Cricut Joy stencil cutter. I used Oramask 810 film as was very pleased with the results. If you've stayed with me this far. thanks for looking and have a happy and productive new year! Cheers Colin

I've not used the products you mentioned, however I have seen a similar thing when using a decal setting solution over a Future (which is essentially an acrylc gloss). The solution was to apply a subsequent coat of future which did the trick. Cheers Colin

I've just started using a Cricut Joy (not too expensive as an experiment), and had reasonable success with larger stencils. I use Illustrator to create the masks and then save as an svg file which Cricut seems happy to import. CorelDraw can do svg files. I use Oramask 810 to cut the stencils and that seems to work fine. I'm still finding the limits of the Joy in terms of detail. For things like roundels, squadron codes in 1/72nd it's fine. For serial numbers it doesn't cope with that small detail, but I'm not sure anything can. I'm still playing around with stencil design to get optimum results though Cheers Colin

I make limited use of spreadsheets ... 1 - To record details of models completed (i.e. kit, scheme applied) simply so I can remember what I built 2- A list of paint colours, known equivalences and what I have. This is quite useful, esp, when I run out of a colour and can see possible alternatives in my stock I don't have my stash listed as I can easily see what I have, and since I don't tend to use aftermarket parts, there's no need to match things up. However, I may this year add my stash to Scalemates simply to help me avoid buying duplicate kits at model shows. (I use Discogs for a similar purpose for my vinyl collection and it has saved me from unnecessary expenditure on a number of occassions!) As for the impressive spreadsheet of the OP, I think for me it would be too much work with little return, as I tend not to plan my builds with anything like that level of detail. Cheers Colin

I've never managed to get a sufficiently 'tight' line spraying free hand camo - but then in many cases hard edge looks wrong as well. What you want is just a hint of feathering. I get this by using blu tack sausages along the demarcation line, spraying at 90 degrees to the sausage. The amount of feather is varied by the thickness of the sausage. Very thin sausages produce an almost but not quite hard line. The secret is to avoid angled spray which can get under the curve of the sausage. Cheers Ciolin

When I was brushing, I found the some of the Humbrol metalcote colours (enamel) quite effective. Polished aluminium, Chrome, polished steel and gunmetal work well. Not so much the other colours (aluminium and bronze). The paints are buffable, so you can vary the shine, and you can mix them (a bit of gunmetal in polished aluminium gives a good dark aluminium). They are quick drying and tougher than many acrylic metallics. Although I now airbrush metallic finishes, I still use metalcote for detail stuff. Cheers Colin

I always take YouTube demos with a pinch of salt. In general I'd say normal masking tape is just too aggressive for use on model paints. Also the stickiness can vary a lot from brand to brand. If you must use masking tape, then de-tack it before hand - stick it to your hand a few times, you'll see it becomes less sticky. Better though to use tape designed for the purpose. DIY shops carry a range of 'low tack' tapes, or better yet, use Tamiya tape. This can be expensive but when covering a large area, I use a pieces of aluminium foil and just tape round the edges - which is also useful if you have to mask over decals. In my experience ANY tape will remove decals. Except of course when you want to use tape to remove a decal Another option useful for very delicate surfaces is Parafilm Cheers Colin

There was one down the road from us sitting in a front garden, slowly rotting over many years (at least 20). This month it disappeared. Hope it went to a good home. I did consider asking the owner how much he wanted for it when I walked by. But common sense prevailed as I have neither the time or space to work on a car. If I did, it would be either a Triumph Stag or TR 6 Cheers Colin

I believe Christmas is itself an abbreviation for Christ's Mass. Xmas is recorded as early as the 10th century, and thought to derive from the Greek symbol for Christ. So I'd say if you're abbreviating then it doesn't matter how. I think there was a thing on social media a while back saying the X in Xmas was intended to negate Christ - but I don't know if anyone actually took that seriously. Cheers Colin

Agreed that Merry New Year sounds wrong. But on its own, my family and many friends use Happy Christmas and it doesn't seem weird As to the combination, I would guess its down to the song "we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy new year" We're all so used to is that saying Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year is getting the lyrics wrong! Cheers Colin

In 2008 Mike said 1280px wide Phones and other small screens should automatically resize the image to fit if necessary Cheers

I would love too see some modern production French machines. But technically Vichy France was not an Axis power. Cheers Colin

This is the sort of thing Valom would do (and major praise for the many oddities that Valom have produced to date). Probably the bigger question is why don't we have a UK equivalent of IBG/Arma etc. who would be prepared to take on these rare British types. Of course back in the day we had Matchbox who were pretty fearless in this regard. Cheers Colin

Really useful - I plan to get their Go 244, but this will also help with a build of the Italeri Go 242 I have waiting on the shelf. Good illustrations of the type are hard to find. Cheers Colin

The Ki-21 (Sally) was used by - or at least given to - Thailand. That would be nice, but a big jump in size for Arma. Maybe could go with a Thailand boxing of their Ki-43? Cheers Colin

Arma seems to have a penchant for Japanese subjects, so yeah, I'd bet on a Japanese twin to replace the various very old kits that exist. Cheers Coli

Obviously a Gotha Go 244 - you know how it is, you wait ages for a bus and then ... Cheers Colin

I think you'd be safe going by what it actually says on their website (then at least you've got something to point to) rather than a deranged AI bot - or possibly an equally deranged Christmas temp. I suspect it was an AI response as the English is a bit odd. Cheers Colin

Well that doesn't seem right. From the RM website, without additional insurance you are covered as follows 2nd ClassIncludes up to £20 compensation for contents 1st ClassIncludes up to £20 compensation for contents Signed forIncludes up to £20 compensation for contents Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pmIncludes up to £750 compensation for contents. Additional cover up to £2,500 available. Optional consequential loss cover available up to £10,000* Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9amIncludes up to £50 compensation for contents. Additional cover up to £2,500 available. Optional consequential loss cover available up to £10,000* So sending Special Delivery automatically includes at least £50 in compensation for contents (but it is unclear whether the cost of postage is refunded) BUT - what is the value of the contents? I suspect a built model will only be worth the cost of the model. How could the work put into it be valued? Furthermore I suspect you would have to show proof that the actual package was damaged. If the model was broken due to rough handling, but the packaging was intact I think Royal Mail would say it was improperly packaged. Cheers Colin

Yes you can get the impression that Germany was populated by uber-engineers Fact is that the allies were much more focused on production - some of the the German designs ideas would never have made it further than a napkin sketch. But the Germans were grasping at straws looking for a miracle weapon towards the end, so outlandish but probably impractical ideas got pushed forward. Also, Germany became focused on point defence (hence rockets, jets, altitude and speed), whereas the allies needed load carrying and range as well as performance. I'd say the B-29 was as much of a 'wonder weapon' as the German jets, just engineering brilliance applied to a different problem. Of course it did mean that it took German aeronautical science down some interesting roads - but roads which were not of a lot of interest to the allies at the time. And of course ultimately modern wars are won by production capability, something the Germans never really got the hang of (aside from using slave labour) and in which the allies excelled. Just perhaps had Germany been able to produce Go 244s (and other transports) in C-47 quantities, things might have been different in Russia. Cheers Colin

The use of twin booms has a pedigree going back to WWI. It is a design solution to a particular problem (though not always the same problem) - used by Caproni and Savoia-Marchetti, and in the US by Sikorsky for example. So use of twin booms was not a novelty and I don't think the benefits for transport aircraft requires a massive leap of imagination so independent development by Fairchild and Gotha is entirely possible. In aircraft, perhaps more than most machines, form follows function so two aircraft designed to do the same thing will appear similar - just look at fighter aircraft at the outbreak of WWII. Cheers Colin