Fishbed

Very true Selwyn, but it could be in that position for servicing https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205210136 Tim

The roundel on the wing has the blue darker than the red. the gas detection patch is quite light. Shame they didn't have digital cameras back then :-)

Ah, now the yellow tips was a point I pondered over for some time. Agreed that that was the normal way of things. The photo I linked to on the IWM site does not appear to show yellow tips. I don't think its orthocromic film (which would make the yellow appear black) as the aircraft in the background don't have dark yellow rings on their roundels. A few other photos of the night fighter Defiant's appear to not show the yellow tips, but the quality of the photos is not great. I'm happy to be proved wrong and could add them. Tim

If they had fitted interrupter gear to the guns so they could fire when positioned forward as they are, who knows? Tim

My daughter brought me this for Christmas (she found the idea of this aircraft being built, let alone used in action amusing. Yes she did a bit of googling about). I had already done the day fighter version, so went for the night fighter version. Stuck with the kit decals (hence the square swastika kill markings) and went with the aircraft code being "Y" (they give the option of it being "B") and chucked some resin and etch at it. Used the CMK engine set along with the eduard etch for the cockpit and master barrels for the guns. The finished model is loosely based round the photo here https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205210136. I used Alclad black primer overall with a few misted patches of darker black to break up the monotone. I went to the bother of masking the fabric areas on the flaps and rudder and spraying a lighter shade for the fabric, but you can hardly see the effect. Tim

I'm pleased with how it turned out. Sometimes a kit that gives you a bit of a fight gives a better sense of satisfaction when done (as long as the kit does not win 🙂 ) no reason why not! I had hoped that someone would have done some etch or resin or new decal sheet for this, but grew tired of waiting. glad I didn't wait 😉 Tim

its a version that does make you wonder. The tank appears (assuming I have mounted it in the correct place) does block the ejection ports for one gun, so I assume that was removed? It also appears to block access to the assess panels for the ammunition for the guns either side of it. Were they fitted? Was the tank removed each time the ammunition was loaded? so many questions 🙂 Ah well, I was just filling the gap left by the hand pump. teach me not to study the photos better.............

I had a spare spitfire I from the Eduard "the few" boxing. I did the early version a while ago. What to do with the other one (and one with a damaged wing due a glue spill)? I didn't want another Mk I, so a rummage through the spares box(s) reveled a Mk IILR conversion (Pavla I think) with the asymmetric fuel tank. A trawl of the web showed that the codes included with the kit with a bit of modification (plus bits from said spares box(s)) would do for one of the relatively few LR versions that were produced (or at least close enough for my satisfaction). I scratched the undercarriage raising/lowering unit (whatever its called) as only the manual version is included in this boxing. Apart from that, a fairly straight forward build. The Eduard decals are the new ones that the varnish can be removed, so being a masochist, I did. Good old humbrol 29 for the dark earth and colourcoats for the rest. Now having the looked at the photos I see the IFF and aerial lines need retensioning. Ho Hum. Tim

I finally set the camera up to photo some old builds. Finished the Sword 1/48 Meteor NF14 late last year! I was a bit disappointed with the contents of the box. Details was a bit lacking in several areas. In the end I used the Barracuda wide mouth engine intakes (which actually fit quite well even if not designed for this kit) and wheels; eduard generic seat belts; a fair bit of scratch in the cockpit; plus the odd aerial here and there. I had hoped it would be an easier build than the Classic Airframes NF11/13 I did some years ago. Not really. Probably my fault, but when I stuck the fuselage together it had a distinct banana shape to it, so had to cut one half to straighten it up. Usual mix of colourcoats and humbrol for the paint. kit decals. Anyway - onto the picks (PS no prizes for spotting the deliberate mistake with the squadron markings 🙂 ) Tim

As far as I remember (it was a couple of years ago, struggle to remember last week!) it fit OK. I'm sure I had some photos of it, but no luck finding them. did find this on the fone, not a great shot but should give you an idea - finished result (for T4) here Tim

I've built all these and with a bit of care they build very nicely. Its the T4 and T5 that are a bit short in the nose. On mine I used the Quickboost nose ring (designed for the trumpeter kit) mounted a bit forward and filled the gap, so they matched the length of the single seaters. I moved the wheel well forward by 5mm to get the position right. Tim

young by my standards certainly 🙂

Nicely done young man. they do look rather good for a patchwork quilt 😉 Tim

If (and its a very BIG if) you could find the Paragon resin conversion, that fits well with the Eduard MkVIII and would be the way to go - Tim

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my eyes. starting bid of £10 not to post more Tim (wishing he had not browsed britmodeller at work and this post has a NSFW flag)

Thanks martin, I'll have a browse.............................

Unusually for me, no comment on the tingling tentacles, but more a question on what type of soldering iron do you use for these small bits? Tim

I found that if you treat them like "normal" decals they work fine. They settle in with a dollop of micro-set/sol. They are thin enough not to worry about taking the carrier film off. I tried it on one set of roundels and damaged the surface, put a spare (eduard) roundel over the top, left the film on, and you can not tell. Tim

Yes, you are right. I was going to use the Barracuda resin wheels, but due to various factors (life etc) I ended up using the kit wheels and missed that step out. I'll fix that some time Tim

well that question had me scrabbling for the reference books to make sure 🙂 Yes, they are on the right way round. Tim

Another Sword Lighning kit finished. Nice little kits that build well with a bit of effort. This was built as a double build with the Mk2 version to complete the 1/2/3/T4/T5/6 set. These take a bit of effort to line everything up, but its worth the effort. Decals for this came from the kit. Not sure where the nose intake blank came from (may be airfix?). nose probe Master, nose wheel Barracuda along with the Red Tops. Various Alclad shade for the bodywork. Tim

I built this along with its Mk3 companion as a double build to finish the 1/2/2a/3/T4/T5/6 set. Anyway, nice little kit. Plently of detail in the cockpit, resin engine nozzles. As usual with these kits a bit of fiddling needed to get everything lined up. I replace the ejection seat with a Barracuda version. Master nose probe. Nose wheel and strut Barracuda as the kits were short-shots. I based this kit on photos of one of the 19 Squadron aircraft fitted with the 30mm weapons pack for something a bit different. The markings and codes came mainly from the spares box. The blue/white checks I did by paining the blue and using white checks from fantasy printshop on top. Alclad in various shades for the metalwork. Anyway onto the pics - Tim

I wanted to get this one out the way before Eduard bring out their MkV or it would never get finished. I added the gun bays on one side from Eduard (I'll save the other side for another day, drilling out one wing was bad enough). The prop and spinner were left overs from the Eduard MkI Spitfire boxing. As were the wheels and hubs. And aerial. The 20mm barrels were from Master. A big improvement on the originals. The decals were from AML. The paint was Humbrol. 29 for the dark earth. I used 93 for the light earth. Probably not exact, but it was close enough and all I had in the collection. The Azure blue was mixed using the old Humbrol "Colour System" (#34x49 drops + #25x10 drops + #33x1 drop). Luckily they give the conversion of drops to ml. Enough waffle onto the pics. Tim

You beat me to it, definatly a see through quality (to go with the knickers?) Tim

you are as mad as the pilots who flew these things! Tim