kiseca

the whole aircraft doesn't go supersonic at the same time, or maybe more accurately, the air around it doesn't. The more severe the surface and angle of the part of aircraft that's meeting the air is, the faster the air is forced to move out of its way. So, for example particularly with early era aircraft with a thicker wing, air moving over the top goes supersonic before air going underneath it. The tip of a propellor blade will create shock waves before the base, and so on. I'm pretty sure most supersonic aircraft create more than one shockwave because they have local ones form at high pressure points on various locations. For instance, one of the limitations NASA had when testing the blown laminar flow glove on the F-16XL was the shock wave from the bubble canopy interfering with the airflow over the wing. A second shock wave was coming from underneath... if I recall from the intake but I could be wrong. Those high pressure areas will go supersonic first. That, I believe, is what Dov was referring to, but once a shockwave forms at any point on the aircraft, including an overspeeding propellor which can happen while the aircraft itself is travelling well below the speed of sound, I believe you will get a boom (or more than one).

"Universal measuring device" made me LOL

Very nice build, and it looks like you do like your large kits too

the cowlings blew me away too, until I read they are actually turned metal when it made sense! That's a lovely piece of work and a fine comparison to the original.

That is a wonderfully abbreviated collection!

That looks lovely!

I said earlier I was a slow builder, but this last month has been slow even by my standards Anyway, I do actually have some updates! I'm currently working on the front tub and front suspension sub-assembly. This, the drivetrain assembly and the two radiator assemblies will all then join together on the floor sub-assembly when that is done. I primed the tub with Tamiya Extra Fine Grey spray, but got a run. You can see it here on the upper side surface. When looking at the pictures I also realised I hadn't removed the seam along the top of the tub, from the rollhoop going backwards along the centreline. So I sanded that down, sanded the run down and resprayed with primer: In that shot it also looks like I've sanded one of my fingerprints off I don't remember doing that but wouldn't be surprised if I did! In the Haynes manual, the tub doesn't have a carbon fibre finish. I know the tub was a hybrid and the area around the fuel tank has a carbon fibre weave but the front section looks like coloured plate. The paint I thought would give me the closest match to that is Tamiya Dark Iron, XF-84. I have since also painted the nose section of the tub. Pictures will follow when the suspension is all on. The tub assembly includes the two white side body panels, and they need to go on before the lower wishbones are attached, so they need to be painted, decaled and finished before everything can go together. So far, I've primed those (Tamiya extra fine, Grey), sprayed them gloss white (Tamiya TS-26 Pure White), polished those, and I'm now waiting for the gloss varnish (Vallejo spray) to harden before I polish that down. It took 4 coats of white to hide the light grey primer, which was a surprise because I find sprays tend to go on rather thick. Or maybe it's I don't move them fast enough. Anyway, it's done. Here's one before polishing: And here's both after. It made a difference.. not as much an improvement in smoothness as I wanted, but the reflective properties certainly improved to my eyes at least. I tried be as gentle as I could as I didn't want to take it back down to be thin enough for the grey to start showing through again. I used 7000 grit wet-and-dry at first, to try flat them, but found that was leaving scratches I struggled to get rid of. I finished them off with Tamiya Fine and then Tamiya Finish polishing paste and microfibre cloths. I found the pastes allow a much more controllable alteration of the finish so I'll probably stick with them in the future. These photos were before the varnish was applied. Once I've flatted that, I'll put the decals on, then another couple of coats of varnish and flat that for the finished panels. They might end up more paint than plastic! That's it for photos for now. I've also painted the suspension and front brakes and hubs, and as said, the side panels need to go on before I can assemble those. The dashboard needs its instrument decals, the seat needs the seatbelt decals, and the steering wheel needs repainting. In the photos (which are of a BT-52b so I'm just hoping not too much changed of the component colouring, though every car I look at seems uniquely coloured esp around the engine components) the steering wheel rim is covered in black suede, which with its fuzzyness takes on a slightly grey shade compared to the shiny black boss. I painted that in Vallejo anthracite to try emulate that but it has come out too grey so I'm going to try mix a black and grey to get something closer to the images. That's all for now. Hopefully the next update is before Christmas!

I always thought the thing that made Yeager's achievement notable - apart from the fact that it was well measured - was that he did it in controlled, level flight. Welch may well have got there first. Some speculate that some German rocket pilots may have done it, I assume in a Komet. But Yeager is the first person we know for sure to achieve it. Much like Budweiser Rocket's claim on the land speed record. It may well have done it, but they can't prove beyond doubt it did, and the Blue Flame's well measured and documented effort kept the honours. I did find this short article from an ex F-15 pilot quite interesting. https://hushkit.net/2020/12/09/who-was-the-first-supersonic-man-former-f-15c-pilot-takes-a-dive-into-supersonic-tails-of-the-unexpected/

I have the 1983 NS500 bike. For me the Rothmans colours are the iconic look for Hondas from the 1980s. I had built one in the late 1980s when I was a kid and I really liked it then, so it's a model I'm vaguely familiar with and when I bought the replacement, the box and instructions all stirred old memories of that build. So it was an easy choice for me between the two (I didn't want both). You are right, the 1989 bike looks a lot meaner than its predecessor!

I really like the way you display them together as vignettes. They look great and I see your point about them being pairings that are diverse but are likely to have appeared alongside eachother at some point.

Great looking bike and a rider who was one of the greats in a decade that had no shortage of great riders. Also kind of surprised that his decals aren't included in the kit, but I shouldn't be, as I looked through 1980s bike kits quite a lot looking for Spencer and Mamola bikes and of course Spencer's 1986 Honda didn't pop up

So far it sounds like a lot of effort, but the results look worth it! The rear wing looks really good.

Nicely done and you are right, that BOAC scheme looks lovely on the aircraft.

I see the debate about who was conceptually behind the MP4/4 has heated up again as both Murray and Steve Nichols are involved in new road car projects, and both have used their involvement with the MP4/4 to add provenance or pedigree to their current projects. I don't think I'll never know the full truth. Yes, the low line concept does follow Murray's principle with the BT55. I believe much of Murray's motivation with that car was to get as much bodywork as possible out of the way of the airflow to the back wing (i.e. done for aerodynamic performance more than to lower the centre of gravity) but when I look at the MP4/4's predecessor, the MP4/3, I can believe the alternate claim that the roots of the 4 are there too. To me, the back end of the MP4/4 looks like a slightly trimmed down version of the MP4/3, or to put it the other way around, the MP4/3 looks like the back end of an MP4/4 bolted to the nose of an MP4/2, producing a car less pretty and less successful than either its predecessor or its successor. Personally I think Murray got there too late to have a big influence in the fundamental architecture of the MP4/4 and that it is likely the basics for the car already existed and Murray had a lot of influence and decision making on the details, having enough input into the final car that both designers now feel it was their baby. I don't think either of them are lying, but I do think both feel that without their input the MP4/4 would not be the car we all know it as now. Oddly enough I'm an not aware that Ron Dennis has ever spoken up to clear the mystery. I'm sure he would have a fair idea about its gestation. Back on topic - that Williams looks fantastic!

That's a beautiful build. The level of detail you've added to it is fantastic. There's something interesting to look at everywhere, and I echo what a few above have said, the metalwork around the engines really stands out.

It might not have been what you meant, but it absolutely was what you said. As for the charming comment, that makes us even, I didn't find your original response to me charming, either. But whatever. Have a nice day, I'm not here to have arguments with testy strangers.

The comment of mine that you quoted was "the whole aircraft is pretty much a what if..." You responded to that sentence with "this is basically a kit of that replica, so hard to say it's a what-if." So no, you weren't talking about the painting scheme at that point.

Thanks for that. I didn't realise the kit is based on the replica - the original as far as I know is still on display in Wisconsin so I would have assumed they'd use that. As far as I know the original never flew, hence what if, as it never never got the chance to fulfil its purpose.

I couldn't imagine it in anything but blue. Anyone know what that second scheme represents in context of the aircraft itself? It's the colours of the French flag, but I don't know if it was ever painted in that scheme, not if it was ever planned to be. So, I'm not sure if it's a "what if" scheme, but then the whole aircraft is pretty much a what if...

Currently reading "Flying Freestyle" by Jerry Pook and very much enjoying it because his career spans such a huge spread of aircraft, starting off with Tiger Moths in his first flying experiences and then going through about 3 generations of fast jets in his RAF career. Very diverse, interesting aircraft but he also likes to describe not just his adventures in them but also what they felt like to fly. It's a book I haven't seen come up on this thread yet so thought it was worth mentioning.

Yeah I've read about that too! Similar for the H&S, they can dry up and need lubricant from time to time. I wasn't expecting it for a brand new product though. My worry was it might just need lubricating, but if it's been missed straight out of the factory when mine was built, what else did they miss on it? And I'm not experienced enough with airbrushes to start tinkering with it and trying to get it working from day 1. If I know it works now, then at some time in the future when it stops working I can start troubleshooting. I know what the baseline feels like, if that makes sense. With an airbrush that doesn't work properly from day 1, I have no idea what it should feel like to use as a reference point. The H&S trigger action felt grainy to me, for instance, but the seller said it felt normal to them. So was that a part of the problem or was it how the brush should feel? For me, I didn't trust I'd got a good one so I switched. EDIT: Also I did go up a price bracket when I switched, which probably makes a difference too. Iwatas have problems too, but my anecdotal impression is that their quality control is a bit stronger than H&S.... or it could simply be that they are less popular airbrushes than Ultras because they are more expensive. If more people have Ultras, we'd hear about more problems. I must say the price of Ultras has dropped quite a bit since I got mine, it looks like a very good deal at the moment.

I bought an H&S Ultra 1 in 2 last year to replace my budget airbrush. Unfortunately it constantly had what I guess was a sticky valve, so there would, not all the time but at least with every two or three presses of the trigger, still be some air coming out when I released the trigger. Sometimes it was a really obvious flow, close to full strength. Other times it was almost impossible to feel but could be seen if I aimed the brush at a glass of water. You'd see the indentation from the air pressure. It was like that from the start and, after sending it back and having it repaired, it still had the problem. If it had been my first airbrush I wouldn't have known any better at first. As it is, it never saw any paint in it and was replaced with an Iwata Revolution CR (0.5mm needle in mine, but also available with a 0.3 needle). A fair bit more expensive than the H&S but better quality finish, more durable seals and it worked properly straight out of the box and still does. Downside is you can't swap needles in it. Or you can, but it's not as simple as the H&S and the parts are a fair chunk more expensive, so it's not practical. I see the prices of both have come down a bit since I bought mine but the difference is about the same still. Still a lot cheaper than an Eclipse. So maybe it is your technique / pressure, but I see a couple of posts above also describe H&S airbrushes that have never worked properly so it could be that too so I wouldn't discount the airbrush as the problem. My story is anecdotal, there are plenty of happy Ultra users, but even so, I'll be paying the extra and sticking with Iwata for the future. I see fewer problem stories about them.

Looks decent to me.... but I must say, accurate or not, I'll be damned if I'm painting a big ugly white cross on mine

Awesome, this is definitely going on my wishlist!

Seems like the best idea. I have a terribly pedantic streak that often makes me very reluctant to deviate from a plan or instructions, and in this case compels me to use the decals just because they are there It makes choices like this feel like a disproportionately important decision. Painting it seems the best solution and would give a better looking result than the decals anyway.