johnd

For the Ib you'd also need De Havilland propeller from a MkI

Building an entire vacform kit is quite daunting (to me, any way). Maybe conversion parts would shift a bit better, a new fuselage or set of wings. Something like a fuselage to make a Lancastrian out of a Lancaster maybe?

There was some speculation that one would follow quite closely after the MkI/II release but it didn't happen. It's quite surprising really, all it takes is a new decal sheet, instructions and packaging. They must surely get round to it at some point.

They are parts for a Mk Va. A nice bonus!

It makes sense that an individual aircraft in a Polish squadron wouldn't have a Czech insignia when pilots swapped aircraft, but why would the squadron badge appear under the cockpit on this airframe and under the aerial on all the others? I have to say on copies of the photo pictured above (featuring Zumbach) it does look like a Czech roundel thingy.

Oddly enough, I'm building QV-K too. I decided on a white spinner. So no red spinner and I can't use the Czech insignia either? Bother.

It struck me that the normal colour of Hurricane spinners at this time was black, as VoyTech and Work in Progress say. So there must have been something that made Revell think this particular aircraft had a red one, a photo or an eyewitness account. I'll go for black then, as I want to do an earlier example with the black/white underside rather than the later sky spinner/tailband/underneath version. Thanks Paramedic, those links are a good read. Interesting comment about how long the airframe lasted. If it was a Spitfire, we'd just look at "Spitfire, The History" and refer to the serial number. I don't suppose there's anything like that for Hurricanes about? John.

Excellent modelling again, Tony. Have you done a tutorial or a hints & tips item on brush painting? If not, could you please? That's one of the things letting down my modelling at the moment and any enlightenment would be very welcome. John.

Evening all! I thought I'd build a 303 squadron Hurricane using some old decals supplied with the aged Revell Mk1 kit. These are for P3975, RF-U, in which Frantisek had a bit of success. Now, the box art shows a red spinner (and I've seen this on other people's models and illustrations too) but the instructions suggest white. Does anyone out there know whether either of these are correct and what evidence there is? Internet searches weren't at all fruitful and my small reference collection sheds no light. Thanks, John.

Airfix or Hasegawa? Swings and roundabouts I suppose. Correcting the nose and the over-emphasised fabric isn't trivial on the Hasegawa one and even though they provide wheel well detail it needs to be redone as they got it wrong.

"Just heard the MP for Wandsworth complaining about how helicopter flights are on the increase over London. The reporter pointed out that the official CAA figures show almost half the flights compared to 5 years ago, to which the MP replied that you shouldn't believe them as she had been speaking with her constituants who told her that they have increased!" From personal experience, low flying helicopters are a right pain in the derriere and the problem is getting worse, not better. It was far worse last summer than it was 5 years ago. Quite frankly, sitting out in the garden talking to friends and having our conversation halted every few minutes because of it is not on. If a decent supply of SAMs was readily available I'd be tempted to dip into my rapidly declining kitty. As things stand, all I can do is flick fingers in their direction as they depart.

I've brushed MattCote over Klear many times without any problems. Never tried the spray though. John.

Ok, thanks, will give that a try!

I agree with Mike, you're being too hard on yourself. It looks good to me. Regarding the masks you printed off, what paper did you use, and what did you stick them on with? John.

Nice one, I've got the very same thing in mind.

Hobby Boss do three versions of the Spitfire Vb. Two are tropical with Aboukir and Vokes filters (clipped wing and normal wing respectively) and the other a European theatre variant (normal wings). I have the European one and although the chin is a little too pronounced it doesn't look to be as bad as yours. "Widge" Gleed's IR-G(AB502) is the subject of the model, hence the choice of filter and clipped wings.

How a British Battle Fighter group build?

Wait until Nobby sees it. Incidentally, Argos do free delivery on the Airfix Spitfire Mk 1.

Perfect, thank you!

To clarify, when I said the 3D Kits stuff would fit the Airfix model, I meant the plastic stuff rather than the etch set which is designed for the Tamiya effort. I'm not saying this won't fit, I just haven't tried it... John.

Yes. The 3D Kits stuff is good value and designed with the Airfix Spitfires in mind.

It's very true that the Hobby Boss Spitfires are underrated but I feel I have to mention the awful canopy. That's more of a problem to me than the prop/wheels/wheel doors. In the end I used one from the Airfix MkI/II, with a little carving involved. This kit would also yield a De Havilland propeller if you made a Rotol Mk II or Watts Mk I. As an alternative, doesn't the Italeri MkV come with a choice of filters?

I've read that the 45 gallon drop tanks fitted to Typhoons were the same as the ones fitted to Hurricanes. I figured I could therefore take the ones from the old 1/72 Airfix MkI/II Hurrie kit and stick 'em on a Tiffie. The trouble is I'm unsure whether the attachment pylons are the same and I can't find a decent photo of the real thing. I noticed that the Pavla and Airwaves aftermarket ones are different, the former look like the Hurricane ones, the latter have longer pylons going nearly to the rear of the tank. Maybe there were two different types? John.

Personally, I wouldn't look beyond the Airfix one. The Tamiya kit, for all its nice detail, just looks wrong when finished.

Whether you think the weathering is overdone or not, it's been expertly done. Well done! Lovely kit too.