Artie

-Good evening, John......just a question...Do you do everything your wife tells you to do...???? -Of course NO, Jim...who do you think I am? -Well, that's the man ... !!!! She shall learn who's wearing the trousers....!!! -I do not have enough time, you moron...!!!

You can ommit the "could"...it was, indeed, one of the first Polickarpov I-16s wich arrived to Spain. They sported an overall finish of gray primer, similar to Aerolak or AMT-1, and black cowlings. Some sources claim it to be an overall aluminium colour wich quickly faded to a matt finish under the sunny spanish skies. Makes sense, why not? Just the wrap around red bands were added on tail and wings, ana a black serial number. It's believed that they were sent for testing purposes by the soviets, thus the lack of republican flag on the rudder and the non standard reg number. When the planes arrived to Spain, they came into big wooden crates with the cyrilic words "MOKBA" (for Moscow) written on their sides, wich lead to the nickname "MOSCA". On the other hand, when they first appeared over the skies of Madrid, flying at tree top level to raise the morale of the population of a city ravaged by the bombings of the Condor Legion, and suddenly going up like arrows to attack the German bombers from their bellies and fly away, led to the german nickname "Ratte" (Ratas). When the nationalist pilots first met them, they called the little fighter "Boeing fighter", because they were supposed to be a cheap copy of the Boeing P26 fighters, wich the spanish governmentd was thinking about purchasing before the outbreak of the war. Then, the nationalist side adopted the same nickname for the flying barrel...

Muchas gracias, John, te deseo lo mismo..!!! Sometimes, I think that we, the average modellers, are extremely picky with the colours....in fact, they didn't care as much as we do, back then...!!! Here you are some colour profiles (OK, we can't trust a colour profile at all, but gives you an idea about how those Delfines looked).. But I find this one extremely interesting: It's a captued example, with St. Andrew's cross painted on the tail, overpainted red bands, but......keeping her original republican codes.....and lacking the indian chief....the colour seems pretty wrong, as it should be sand instead of grey...and no trace of red fuselage band. My conclusion is that the colour profile is absolutely fake, the nationalists didn't overpaint personal emblems, just red bands and tricolured rudders. And some bonus pics.....and a funny fact...The fuselage code AD-xxx stands for "Ataque Delfín". These nimble flying barrels were not intented to be used as afighters here in Spain, but for ground attack purposes.

Hi all. Must admit I'm a little bit overwhelmed but such an excelent amount of precise info. Can't say nothing but THANK YOU for all your replies. I'm still trying to decide wich one to build. I'm quite interested about a british subject, and a SEAC machine would be a good contender... Best regards

What do you exactly need to know, Dennis?? Not much info about them, indeed. Five of them were sent to Spain for testing purposes. Not very good at all, specially due to their troublesome diesel engines....Called «FUMOS», as a joke around their smokey Jumo engines, three were lost during the war the remaining two being used postwar alongside some Do17 «Bacalao», Heinkel He70 «Rayos» and Henschel Hs123 «Angelitos». Scrapped during the mid forties due to lack of spare parts. You can paint it in standard Luftwaffe prewar RLM colours. Best regards...

Please, be careful with the colours. In fact, most of the received equipment was locally painted to match the russian colours, but with spanish made enamel paints. The green and light blue were slightly different than the russian originals. Regarding the brownish camouflage colour, I'd rather choose a sand colour than that olive drab. My republicsn subjects are always painted with Humbrol 115 and 116. Humbrol 93 would be a good match for the sandy colour. Best regards.

After the crash...???? I don't think so..I'm not a fan of the so-callled "spanish school"...!!!!😂

It seems you've done an extensive riveting work there.....that's exactly what I was planning to do. The overlapping panels nature of the real thing made me think that those tiny raised panel lines wern't a bad thing at all, and would benefit from riveting.... Those old Monogram bombers have a really appealing thing around them.....

OMG, I thought it would be just a matter of getting some decals and maybe adding some details, but it seems those british "flying lorries" are not so easy to build OOB....I haven't got those different turrets, and unfortunately, ordering them is not an option for me. In fact, I've never thought about building a 1/48 Liberator until last eve, when I found the kit... thank you very much for your kind help and info..... Best regards...

ahhhh.....the inlaws...they're almost human...(at least those of mine) BTW, a very nice plane that RWD, I've got a 1/48 kit wich I started some years ago, intending to build her as a SCW subject, and is still lurking into a box, somewhere in my stash..... As usual, yours will turn out into master piece...

Hi all...I've been asked to build a 1/72 scale DC-3 in Spantax colours. Spantax was a well known spanish airline wich operated from 1959 to 1988. Amongst their routes, the flights between the Canary Islands were very appreciated. On september, 16th, 1966, a DC-3 coded EC-ACX took off from Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, en route to Mazo aerodrome, La Palma, with 24 passengers onboard, including a young girl and two toddlers. Soon after taking off, the plane got into a deep sea of clouds, and suffered an engine failure wich forced the pilot, Eugenio Maldonado, and co-pilot, Fernando Piedrafita, to make an emergency landing a mile off the coast of El Sauzal, a fishing village in the north of the island. Fortunately, all the passengers and crew were rescued by local fishermen, all but one who suffered a panic attack and a heart strike, being the only victim of the accident. Today, the wreck rests 90ft deep into the sea, upside down, and is must see for local scuba divers. The plane, EC-ACX... The pilot, Mr. Eugenio Maldonado.. The co-pilot, Mr. Fernando Piedrafita.. The flight assistant, Miss María del Carmen Vázquez.. The accident site... A similar aircaft... The kit I'm going to use... I hope to have it finished soon, it's a commision build and, despite not being used to build airliners, these classic machines are quite appealing...... Best regards...

Please, excuse my ignorance, but...which one is that so called ball turret????? The under fuselage one??? Regarding decals, I think I could ask my friend Juan to make them, so not a problem here....

Good (and joyful) Christmas day.... I've found an old Monogram B24J at my parents' house (got loads of kits stuffed there)...with ruined box, decals and instructions sheet, the basement got flooded at some point, and some kits were badly damaged... I wondered about building it as a Coastal Command subject.....This is (was) the original box... And I'd like to build it as this one or, at least, in a similar colour scheme, depending on the decals availability: Is it possible to build the Monogram kit as a GR.Mk.VI straight from the box, or shall I be aware about any specific british modification...? It's not a "next in line" project at all, so can take my time looking for the necesary parts, just in case they're needed..... TIA and best regards.....Have a nice day with your relatives and friends...!!!!

Just for your interest, a fellow spanish modeller (David Gesalí) wrote a book about the Delfines (as they were called here) some years ago, it's nota cheap book, but it's an amazing, comprehensive work... The way those "flying barrels" came to Spain is a "noir novel" in itself.... I've got an old RVHP resin kit in 1/48 scale, and been ofetn tempted to start buiilding it, maybe your build will inspire me. I'd rather build it as a postwar example, deployed to the Spanish Morocco....

Nice subject.....in the first pic you can see Juan Lario, after doing his training in the soviet union.... Cheers

Olé, maestro...!!!! That's a very beautiful Matador......excelent work...!!!

that Rover V8 engines were actually Buick designs.....Remember the Sunbeam Tiger???? If we talk about V8, my father drives a '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9, a real beast in terms of torque.....everytime I drive it, I do it with the radio off, just to hear the engine....that's a simphony..

specially if you compare them with current three cylinder, turbo engines, wich sound like sewing machines.....

Yes....!!!!! My old Lancia Fulvia Coupé..a 1.3, V4 with twin Solex carbs.....that was niiiiiice......!!!! those were the days, and those were the cars.....Not a big Formula 1 fan, but I've always thought it all ended with Senna....

saw this beauty for sale at a local used cars dealer...asking 5.900€.....

I've found these pics and, if you look carefully, it seems that both the dorsal and front firing guns are fitted....Can't say a word about type of gun, origins, etc....

Well, I think he decided to add such an amount of detail as he was progressing in the build. He collected a lot of info and detail pics, and at some point everything went out of his control...!!

Good evening. Please, let me show you a few pics of this kit. It's the old Gavia kit in 1/48 scale, depicting the famous "Jiminy Criquet"........ My brother Rodrigo began building it some years ago, and even brought it to the SMW at Telford. Once back in Tenerife, the kit suffered some damage and was put aside for some time, lurking into a cabinet for a few years, waiting to be restored. A few weeks ago, he decided to give it a try, and began working with it again. The plan now is to make a new small base to display it. Most of the interior detail, cockpit, engine area, etc..has been scratch built. All the inner frame was built using Minimeca tubes. I hope you'll enjoy it. WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.27.03(2) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.27.04(2) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.27.04(1) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.27.02(1) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.27.02(2) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.27.02(2) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.27.03(1) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.39 by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.38(3) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.38(1) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.37 by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.37(2) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.37(1) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.36 by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.36(1) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 22.17.38(2) by Arturo Navarro, en Flickr

Hi Mick. Given the fact that I can't send you a pint, I will drink it in your honor on Saturday...!!! Thank you very much for your help.....!! Bestregards..