johnd

'560' is the one I use, very impressed and will buy it again if I ever get to the bottom of this bottle. John.

My wallet has been prepared. Please let it happen...

Hi, Right decision, revision takes priority! I am the proud owner of two incomplete Airfix Ansons, fortunately with enough parts to build a complete model but on both, the cowlings have a step on them. If the step is removed, the bulges for the cylinder heads would take a beating. I'd advise checking before you buy. One thing I've considered is sanding the whole lot off as some sported smooth cowlings. The parts you're after were the sort of thing Aeroclub were big on. It may be worth contacting John Aero, who has a presence on BM, to see if he has anything available. John.

I have the Late BoB Hasegawa Mk I (AP38?) and I keep seeing conflicting advice as to what I need to cut and extend to build a Mk I. I think I have to take a scale 2" off the fuselage and add a scale 2" to the cowling (via Airfix Model World) . Or would it be easier to build a IIa and just extend the cowl? Out of interest, what is wrong with the Academy one? I know it needs widening and I now know about the tailplanes but is there anything else? Oh, and ta for the pictures above, they've reminded me to sort out the non-existent navigation lights... John.

I think it was to do with the Thatcher thread, in which case he should have served his time by now. Guess how I know :-)

I don't think I would bother but I already have it waiting in the queue...it might slip down the list a little though, depending on how this one turns out. I'm not convinced about the Hasegawa one, there's still work to be done there (heavy fuselage detail, wrong wheel well, undercarriage doors wrong size, nose/fuselage proportions). Plus they're impossible to find at a reasonable price. The others are worth a punt though.

I think it's too late to do now, the fuselage halves are together and the wings are on. I'll certainly try it on the next one though.

Could the same effect not be achieved with a couple of Milliput sausages?

Oh. If the lights are meant to be in the same position for a metal skinned Mk I and a Mk II then Airfix have indeed boobed. I overlayed the wings from an Airfix Mk I and a Hasegawa Mk I over the top and it appears that the Airfix IIc has it's landing lights too far outboard by about 2mm. Easy to fix though, I guess. I didn't widen the nose. I've started to do just that with the Airfix Mk I but the IIc looks ok to me when compared to the Bentley plans and the Hasegawa nose. It wouldn't be quite as easy, at any rate, in the IIc as you wouldn't get away with bending, everything would have to be cut and reassembled. John.

Ok, thanks, that confirms it then, that the landing lights on a MkIIc are in a different position to those on a metal winged Mk I. Looks like Airfix got that right! I was aware of the side panel issue and have filled/rescribed (one of my better efforts too!). I've also reduced the panel lines generally, filled the step in front of the 'doghouse', enlarged the rudder and fin and widened the tailplanes. Valiant Wings supplied a new prop and PE interior set. All in all, more work than I was expecting... John.

The plans show a metal winged Mk I. They are marked 'A L Bentley, 1980'.

I'm working my way through the latest Airfix Hurricane IIc in 1/72 and correcting its little problems as I go. The only plans I have are for the Mk I, though so there are some things I'm unsure about. The landing lights on the kit are in a different place to those on the plans. Is this to be expected - were they in a different position on Mk Is and IIs? Thanks, John.

Cliché or not, I'll not tire at looking at Airfix Mk Is. Well done!

Are we there yet?

That looks really good. Was this kit an Airfix tooling, or a rebox of someone else's?

The IFF wires were used from the end of September 1940. There's an interesting article on the spitfiresite covering this. Not sure about the patches but I thought they came in after experience of the war so would guess they were not used in 1938.

I have the Sword Vc to do a (hopefully) decent model. The Academy/Revell idea was really just to use up some parts and see if it would all fit. Thanks for the advice on the rockets all, I'll trawl around and see if I can find some illustrations. John.

Checked out the Mk 21 and you're right, there's loads of spares. It's not immediately apparent which are the rocket stubs though. The parts that are really baffling me are D34 & D35, which look like a starter set for a pompom gun. The Academy kit was picked up for a few quid and will provide some useful bits, the cockpit mainly. I was half thinking of using the wings with a Revell Mk V fuselage, again bought cheaply for spares and cobbling together a Vc.

Ah, right, I'll take a look at my Special Hobby Mk 21. It does seem to have an awful lot of unused bits, don't know what half of them are.

Great, thanks. I knew I'd find a use for the rockets supplied with the Academy Mk. XIV!

That's excellent. I've just started the same build myself, with the very same aircraft. Not sure it'll be anywhere near that quality though. You mention rocket stubs, is there any evidence that this particular aeroplane flew with rockets fitted?

Brilliant, thanks for looking fellas! John.

Sorry to arrive at this so late, but the picture on page 91 of Spitfire at War 3, is that of SM147? I don't have the book and am wondering what sort of wingtips it had...

Prop = propeller. I was just wondering if you used the propeller parts that came with the kit or an another one. I haven't noticed you doing anything wrong, I'm enjoying your posts and admiring your models. John.

Looks good. Is that the kit prop?