Jay Gee

Brilliant work Calum

Thanks Finn and Adrian. There's a few photos in the book Southern Cross Mustangs, one of which is also detailed in this link to the 3SQN Association. Scroll down to the picture at the bottom of LAC Knight sitting on a wheel. https://www.3sqnraafasn.net/subpages/Knight.htm Also a few more here too: https://3sqnraafasn.net/subpages/Mustangs/3 Sqn P-51K P1.htm And also here in ADF Serials: http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/index.php?/category/album-3-mustang#&ui-state=dialog I remember reading somewhere else that it was to protect against the rough volcanic dust in Italy. I've never visited a volcanic place, but it sounds reasonable to me.

G'day Team, Arma Hobby, WOW! If all their kits are like this I'll definitely be getting a few more. Maybe a Hurricane down the track. This is the Red Roo Models boxing of the 1/72 Mustang Mk III finished as 3SQN RAAF aircraft CV-Y. The Red Roo box is the Arma Hobby kit but with a few 3SQN decals thrown in which are pretty good. Built out of the box except for the Eduard 3D printed 500lb bombs, painted with SMS paints and weathered with Abteilung oils. The real aircraft had a dark 'stucco' coating painted onto the leading edges for protection, so I went a bit heavier to re-create that and am happy with how it turned out. Thanks for looking. J.G.

Quite common to use decimal inches even in a metric country as most of the aircraft are American, as all the engineering speak is in inches. Its the only time I use the 'old' measurements. 0.055" is pronounced as fifty five thou. 0.125" is one hundred and twenty five thou. Thou being thousands of an inch. 1mm is roughly 40 thou (39.4 to be slightly more accurate). As for 4" prop tips I aim for 1.4mm in 1/72 scale.

Fantastic work Daniel and a very nice paint job.

Luckily I have my copy of Southern Cross Mustangs at hand on my bedside table. Luckily I also have an understanding wife. It is the Warren MacArthur type with "a curved front edge to the seat pan and were fitted by the RAF with Q type belts". A quick internet search of P-51 Warren MacArthur seat will show some good pictures.

Despite the issues you had it is a fantastic job have there, well done. I am currently reading Defeat to Victory which is a history of 453 Squadron RAAF and have just finished reading about their use of the Buffalo in the Malayan campaign. They didn't have a good time with the Buffalo either.

Somehow, somewhere and for some reason quite a while ago I found a copy online of AN 11-45G-l (Handbook of Instructions for Lower Ball Turrets Types A-2, A-2A and A-13). In this manual it says that the Ball Turret is 44" in diameter. The A-13 is the retractable version of the ball turret. Hope this info helps.

Or for something else different, a mixed rocket load. 60lb inboard with HVARS outboard. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C387395

G'day Dunnny, I loved the Manchester build and I'm enjoying this one too. But I have a question regarding the wing design. How do you go about doing this? Do you sketch a series of ribs then loft them together? Or do you use another technique? Cheers, JG.

Darwin Aviation Museum has a section of a G4M Betty rear fuselage that was shot down in 1943 which has overlapping skin panels. I was very surprised by this as I've never seen it before on any aircraft.

Beautiful finish. What decals did you use?

Lovely work. Like a farmer in a field, outstanding!

Beautiful work Barzin and a great collection too.

G'day Shep, I am familiar with those 2 fantastic IPSM NSW articles and have them saved. I think I'll be able to size up the waist guns with pictures from them. As for the tail gun, I think it'll come down to eye balling from available photos and maybe using the .50 cal gun barrel as a ruler to help size things. My chosen scale is 1/72 due to size so I was planning on butchering an Airfix kit. But first I have to tame 3D CAD, then 3D Printing, then vacforming..... so plenty of time yet. Thanks for you help.

G'day Britmodellers, Just revisiting this after almost 3 years. Does anyone know of any schematics, plans or measurements of the B-25D2 tail gun turret mod? I've managed to find a rough side and top profile, but was wondering if there's something a bit more accurate. After seeing some of the things that can be produced with 3D printing, I've given myself the task of learing 3D CAD over the next 12 months then moving into the printing side of things after that. So far I've quite enjoyed learning a new skill and I think I'll get some use out of this with other projects too. Any information or advice on how to go about this would be great. Thanks. JG.

Thanks Luka. I'll definately give this a try on my next build and I'll also use a different primer as well. Hopefully this will be the last time this happens.

Thanks Dunny. It was a bit of a struggle, but I'm glad I have a Boston in my collection.

Thank you all for the kind words. Despite the issues I was never going to let some plastic get the better of me. Plus I don't have enough space for a shelf of doom! Thank you @Bell209 and @VG 33 for the tips. I used a new bottle of primer for this build so that might be an issue. For my next build I'll give it a wipe with alcohol, might spray it with a can Tamiya gray primer or use SMS primer (same brand as the paint) with some sanding in between. Lovely work on the French DB-7 too Patrick.

Hello team, Here is my Special Hobby 1/72 DB-7B Boston finished as A28-9 She's Apples from 22 Squadron RAAF. I didn't really enjoy this build. Maybe it was the kit, maybe it was me or a combination of both, but it seemed like it was 1 step forward 5 steps back. The final thing that knocked the wind out of my sails was when I was sticking down some stencils for the markings that I had cut out on a sheet of Tamiya tape on my Silhouette cutter to use instead of the kit decals, they lifted the paint and primer off back to the bare plastic. Is it the primer? (Alclad black) The paint? (SMS Acrylic Lacquer) Or should I have given the model a wash before priming to remove my fingerprints? Maybe different manufacturers of primer and paint? I've never had this happen before. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions. Anyway, I just wanted it to be over with, so I finished it with the kit decals (along with slight silvering) and decided to use it a bit of practice for weathering oils so all was not lost. I also had a go at adding a bit of detail to the kit engines using 0.3mm lead wire and stretched runner. It's a little overscale and not the best paint job, but I had fun doing it and it makes the engines look a bit busier in the cowls. Thanks, JG.

Will be watching this with interest. And I may drag out my copy of Darwin Spitfires for another read, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lovely work there Opus. I found an interview with Bud on youtube a while ago, he certainly had an eventful career. I found myself in a slump as well and just made a start on an Arma Hobby kit too. They definately reinvigorate the modelling mojo!

Very nice. But if I did this I'd still find a way to have seams to fill and sand.

Great work James. I don't know why but I prefer the Thunderbolt in SEAC camouflage.

I found the rocket and fuel tank fit on the Mossie interesting. Never knew they did that.