Alan P

Thanks all @TimT @corsaircorp and @bigbadbadge, very much appreciated 😊 The replacement spin chute guard just arrived, so I will finish this today 😁

True in many cases besides aviation.

Great! Should be released in time for my retirement in 2030! 😂

Unfortunately it's been out of production for years. They are quite rare now.

I recently read the accident report for Pakistan International Airlines 8303 but this very good video on YouTube provides an excellent summary of the incident which claimed 97 lives in 2020. As a former airline pilot and current trainer I usually hesitate to go in hard against pilots, especially those who lose their lives, as they are human beings and prone to error like any human. But this is the most egregious and unforgivable performance I've read by a flight crew in the modern era. It made me feel incredibly sorry for the poor passengers and crew that they drew these two imbeciles as their flight crew for the day. Watch and weep. It's no surprise that this sparked the investigation and subsequent scandal of Pakistan's corrupt issue of phony or unearned licences to untrained and unqualified 'pilots'.

This is coming on very nicely! I respect your need to get this one 'right', these kits are very hard to find these days. I built one from the Kinetic rebox back during covid lockdown, the only real problem I found was attaching the canopy. It's a big piece of plastic with a very small attachment point and no other support, I ended up setting it with epoxy glue.

Silly maybe, but it's been very much rehabilitated into the 21st century with great attention to detail and application of modern techniques and standards. Of course, as soon as you're finished, Tamiya or Kotare will announce they're releasing one 😂

Mais non, absoluement pas! The Mirage F.1 is Sophie Marceau!

A week or so later I was able to tidy it all up and add the landing gear and other details. Unfortunately, the anti-spin chute guard on the fin pinged out of the tweezers holding them while stored in the airing cupboard to dry So that's more of a dimensional jump than a simple carpet monster. I wrote to Kotare who have despatched a replacement post haste! They're a really good modelling company, please support this kind of goodness 🥲 Ever since I first saw these in the wild i thought they made the most Spitfire-looking Spitfire kits I'd ever seen. I still believe that. Believe it or not, this is the first kit I've ever built of any subject from before WW2! Just the finishing touches to go! Cheers, Alan

Added some light weathering on the inboard wing & root but it looks a bit lifeless to me. My next Kotare Spit will be better! Next step will be going round to touch up all the paint and cover the crappy snail trail bits and silvering that occurred after the flat coat. I'd guess the VMS needs more thinning to get the dull sheen I like. Or else I'll be going back to trusty old Xtracrylix Flat. I know you're thinking karma has bit back after the Christmas deception, and you may be right!!!

The flat coat followed next day - it was VMS Varnish, a new product I picked up at SMW last year and went on VERY flat. I might have to add some satin varnish as this looks a bit too much. It also reacted a bit to the residual Micro Sol leaving a sort of snail trail along the walkway lines and just by the right aileron. Need more practice with it obviously, but it's literally taken the gloss off this build for me.

Couldn't leave it like that for long, so the decals went on after a layer of Gauzy Intermediate gloss coat. Got to love that garish look with the oversize yellow-banded roundels! The decals from the Kotare kit are superb. No trouble at all and went down very tight with Micro Set/Sol. I used the Kotare instructions along with the excellent Wingleader Mk. I/II Early guide. The ejector chutes for the shell cases seemed to be taped or covered over on these early airframes, so I experimented with the supplied Kotare decals. They looked like a good simple solution. Flat coat next...

Well, I took along break from modelling due to the low temperatures, but I'm back now! Several days' worth of modelling to follow: Paint went on well - all from the Colourcoats range. This will NOT be heavily weathered, it's only just entered service! Don't know if it was me and my spraying inadequacy, but it went on a bit thick in places so I had to micromesh it down to a smooth surface. Some bits will need a touch-up. But so far, mission success! Alan

Most beautiful fighter, would have to be the long nose Spitfires. Runner up the DH 103 Hornet as several have said already. Closely followed by the similarly tasked Grumman F7F Tigercat and of course the lovely Mosquito. In the jet age I'd say the French have the edge with the Mirage V, F1 and the Rafale C. I would say the Tomcat is a buff, manly looker, rather than a graceful beauty. I fully respect anyone's orientation and preferences, of course 😂

Absolute banger 😂 total commitment by the signwriter: "Clutche's" Legend.

Any idea if/when this kit is likely to be available?

Not sure where this came from! 🤔 The photos linked in the thread show quite clearly how the three 'moving parts' hinge and slide respectively.

Whatever cosmetic considerations apply to the real thing, that's some of the most convincing wear and tear I've seen applied to a model. No fancy stylistic shading, that looks like it's just fought a war. Also a very professional build, looks like a shrink-ray job. Excellent work 👍

How is this build going, @Serkan Sen? Hope all is well with you.

Already went down this rabbit hole Phil, the only alternative right now is 3D-printed as shown above, unless @JeffreyK is closer to producing any to go with the Hypersonic SR-71. Apparently, the astronaut figures from the old Revell Gemini capsule in 1/48 will do as SR-71 crew, with the canopies closed there's not much to see anyway.

I'm not that into big birds

LM are already producing more than ten a month, it's hard to see what this will mean in production terms other than fulfilling another contract condition. But hey, more F-35s is no bad thing!

Lovely job Tom, unlike most of my colleagues this type has never done anything for me but I know a good model when I see one! Must feel different working on such a titchy subject for you 😂

Ha! In fact it was you and @FG2Si that put me on to these conversions, and I was relieved to find one for the Revell kit, because that Tamiya Mustang is sacred 😂

Looks lovely, but I'm crying here 😭😭😭