klr

Plastic strips is exactly what I plan on using, same as I did to close the back of the cowlings. I'm also using them on a Do 335 in the Frog GB, not just for the canopies (again), but to close up gaps in the wing assemblies. Can't get by without them.

I have no fewer than 7 of the "new" Airfix Blenheims in the stash, 3 of them short-nosed. So I am very interested in seeing what this is actually like to put together.

So ... slight change of plan in terms of the sequence. I attached the wings last night. The attachment slots are overly tight and needed considerable sanding down, but better this than loose. The resulting fit was very good but not perfect, requiring considerable time and attention, mostly on the upper side. The top rear edges of the cowlings have all been extended. Any remaining gaps will be easy to fix. However, I still haven't glued them on, as I need to complete the engine blocks next.

Despite the shortcomings, I really like this tooling, probably because the surface detail is (IMHO) a very good representation of the real thing (full 3.6MB image here:) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/A-20_Havoc.jpg Anyway, more pics later today.

Now those are two blasts from the past ... 1957 for the Mossie and 1960 for the 262.

Although oddly enough, Airfix and Tamiya are two of the few companies that still have no time for sprue layout diagrams in their instructions.

That resin rudder looks considerably deeper (longer from front to back) than the original plastic part. I'm sure someone here will have an insight as to why that is. My guess would be a "later" type rudder, which was probably fitted to some older aircraft, including preserved examples.

Ah yes, the joys of a kit from the late 60s. The pilot's canopies aren't high enough. Fairing down the fuselage behind is not an option IMHO. I'll have to build up the fuselage sides beneath the canopies, tapering this down towards the front. It's a similar issue with the rear canopies, although not as pronounced: I've also mated the nacelles (sans engines) to to the wings. In advance of completing and fitting the engine blocks, I also tested the fit of the cowlings, of which more in a moment. The cowlings are asymmetric, and I don't think you could fit them to the wrong side even if you tried. However, they were all also sub-standard fits. On a whim, I switched them between kits, and that significantly improved the fit for all four cowlings. There is still however some work to be done at the top of each. More progress reports tomorrow, hopefully.

I have seen this with the 1956 Revell Convair Tradewind, which is also a non-standard scale (1:166).

As promised. The P-70 ventral gun pack join to the fuselage is good, the join between the front section of the gun pack and the main body not so. I have hopefully put enough weight in the nose, but I won't know for certain for a few days. The Boston fuselage. There is no obvious place for nose ballast with this, so I opened up the hole beneath the tail, into which a provided stand will go. The nose fuselage halves are slightly too wide, but narrowing them before assembly wouldn't have done much good. The one-piece plexiglass nose is slightly too wide, and also too high, with limited scope for adjusting it before attachment. I will probably need to apply some thin plastic card behind the top section of the glazing, and smooth it until everything looks normal. The cheek blisters for the forward-firing machine guns were tricky to fit, and need some more cleaning up. So do the main fuselage joins for that matter. Be that as it may, I hope to have the fuselages complete tomorrow, and the tail planes fitted.

Is this the P-39D tooling that Frog didn't get a chance to release before going under? I don't think I've ever seen the Novo boxing myself.

I was busy today. I collected a Roden Camel I had ordered last week. Very nice looking kit, but most of the roundel decals are out of register. I also grabbed a Vintage Classics Mk. I "Male" tank (wot I built aeons ago). Then there was another delivery of second-hand kits, of which I could have bought 5 or 6, but I settled for just the 3, including the upgraded "Female" tank. The Academy Komet I have built before, but I wanted another so I can build the two-seater sometime.

Progress has been slow but study. I chose to undercoat the interiors with Revell 45 (RLM 02), as otherwise it might have taken 3 or even 4 coats of Humbrol 226: I was wondering why the control sticks are molded at an angle. Well, it's because the attachment point is too far forward. I could have drilled out a newer point further back, but what the hell. No-one will notice when the canopy is closed. Ditto the lack of an instrument panel. The wings went together very well - hardly any clean-up work required. The main wheels don't need to be cemented in place, which is handy, as it makes it easier to complete their painting in situ: The next progress post should be tomorrow or Sunday. I have just assembled the fuselage halves, now I need to clean them up.

I take it this is the "B" version? Only the old Frog and Airfix kits have the correct undercarriage door layout for the "B". As to the other differences from the "A", such as the lengthened radome and changed ailerons, I can't comment, as I'd need to see the plastic close up and personal. But since it's a near 60 year-old kit, it should be cut some slack.

As someone who has watched a US Army Chinook take off (from a safe distance), I a can testify to this.

Relative size and complexity would be one reason, at least in the case of those two. But the Elephant in the room is that anything from Nazi Germany will sell, even if the damn thing never made it off the drawing board - or even onto it in some extreme cases.

Apparently, it had to be explained to the Soviets that Fokker is not the same as Focke-Wulf ...

Definite: Liberator, Shannon class lifeboat, Meteor F.8/FR.9 (x2), Beaufort Ia, Gladiator, Jet Provost, MiG 17, Belvedere, Hampden Possible: Chinook, Tiger Moth, Spitfire Ia, Spitfire PR.XIX, Bf 109E-4, Bf 109F-4. I already have a P.1127 in the stash, and I'm not sure I need another. Oh yes, and whatever the "surprise" 1/72 release may be later in the year. Odds are there will be one, and far more likely something substantial in 1/48, but that's not my scale.

I was in my local hobby shop today, pre-ordering many of the new Airfix releases. The owner certainly wanted a few boxes of the Guards Colour Party and the Band!

Shows you how little interest I have in 1/48, although I'm sure I've downloaded the instructions for it as a matter of course.

An old favourite, first released in 1974: As everyone knows, Novo wouldn't touch the molds for Axis subjects, so Revell bought them. My kit, bought in 1995, may say Matchbox on the cover, but it's really Revell, as confirmed by a stamp on the inside of one of the fuselage halves. As far as I'm aware, the A-6 never flew, let alone see service - open to correction of course. Rather than the late-war day fighter splinter scheme, I will probably paint this in dedicated night fighter scheme, probably RLM 76 all over, with disruptive markings on top.

The Zvezda kit is excellent, although obviously not easy to get at present. Thankfully (for me) I got one when it was first issued. This kit looks to be of the same "simplified" type as the Hobbyboss Tu-2, with c. 30 parts (c. 200 for Zvezda).

You won't get any arguments from me on the merits of the Airfix F-35. The "full" competing kits cost in the order of 50% to 100%, at least in these islands. It's less clear with the Bf 109F though, especially as it's a smaller and therefore cheaper subject to begin with. If the Eduard kit costs (say) 20% more, then I'd choose Eduard 9 times out of 10. Of course Eduard kits are not targetted at the casual modellers and impulse buyers, and Eduard probably has very little name recognition amongst that cohort - more's the pity IMHO. Now, if the Airfix kit were to be also released as a standard Series 1 kit, I would certainly grab a few. When was the last time Airfix released a new tooling in Series 1?

The ladder is a time-honoured solution. The custom compartment may have been inspired by the likes of the Arma Hobby P-39.

I built this kit many moons ago, and still have the French markings in the spares section. Those original Matchbox decals are in excellent register.