The original Kit Builder

Excellent news and very timely on all counts given the latest additions to the stash.

Nice work, Hendie. Bear in mind that the leading edge slats and the flaps were linked and operated together, automatically, based on angle of attack and speed of airflow. The pilot had no control over them whatever.

Hello all. I've been looking online, at the Eduard etch cockpit set for the Academy Bearcat and all the images I can find make it look as though the instrument panel and console are blue, rather than black. Has anyone used this set and can you confirm the colour isn't the Blue Angel blue it seems to be? Cheers, Chris

TOG is a thermal efficiency rating normally applied to duvets and sleeping bags. The higher the rating, the the warmer it will keep you.

I've just discovered that Accurate Armour also do a set in resin at £14.

I wouldn't rule out the possibility of glossy finishes to some degree on anything. Paints then were all mineral based and paint technology in respect of flat finishes was still a bit hit and miss. I have seen published period colour images of newly delivered and captured equipment belonging to the allies and what stood out in many of them was the relatively high sheen of the finishing. In particulat, a newly delivered mk iv male parked next to a new field ambulance in the same finish, showed a glossy khaki brown akin to Humbrol 26. Images of naval vessels of the time also show this sheen on newly painted ships.

I don't know whether they would. I know Fruilmodel do a set of metal ones that will. If you don't fancy laying out for them until you know better, then it strikes me that £12 isn't much to pay for the Takom set and if you find they don't fit, you could always bung them on ebay and get at least some of your money back.

Fine Shack, that. It really looks the part. I have fond memories of Toodees, too and spent many hours in there not only buying, but also talking models and other things. Never bought any shoes though.

Mk 1 eyeball unless I can't see what's causing any problem, whereupon the steel rule comes out.

You could try Maplins.

Having seen the real thing on the gate-guard aircraft, (more than one) at the establishment at which I work, in various states over the past couple of decades, as well as a number of unrestored airframes, I don't think that Xtracolour is far wrong. It seems a little dark, if anything and the sea greys fade so quickly, you wouldn't believe it, which is why I tend to use Dark Sea Grey instead, where EDSG is called for.

Have a look at Humbrol 159, which is a khaki green. Mixing in some white and/or 155 Olive Drab gives a useful tonal palette depending on proportions. It's also an easy way to get faded/scale adjusted French Artillery Green and Australian Drab Olive Lustreless.

While it is true that Humbrol went down hill when production was moved overseas, bringing it back to the UK unfortunately doesn't seem to have resolved anything. I have used Humbrol enamels almost exclusively for decades, but am now using more and more Revell. I have increasingly found that Humbrol paints carry so little solvent that they come from the tin with a consistency like cold custard. It is quite a chore to thin it enough to airbrush it and often refuses to mix evenly. Sadly, it isn't that good for brushing either, as it's so thick brush marks take on the scale of ploughed furrows The company really needs to get its act together, paint wise.

Typically, a sort of yellowish buff colour. The glass mat is white and the resin is clear with a yellow cast to it.

That's more builds in one quarter than I've managed to finish all year and they're damned good, too.

I've never seen a radome interior in anything but natural gelcoat, generally glossy due to the smooth surface of the resin.

Fascinating. It also shows just how badly designed the turret was from the point of view of weapons safety and Murphy's Law. Far too many steps with the chance of something going wrong and not where you'd want to be for a scramble.

TeeELL, you and Graham are right, as I realised in a flash from my trade training just a little while ago. I had forgotten about the barometric capsules contained in some instruments and, though not applicable to the original question, Q feel units. It's obviously been longer than I thought since I did any proper analogue engineering. My apologies to all concerned for the duff gen.

The pressure head, which is the correct term for a combined pitot-static head is, when new, a dull stainless steel sort of colour. After some time, due to the effects of the internal heater and atmospheric oxygen, they turn a darker, burnished colour. Just a minor correction of Graham's excellent explanation, the pitot gives airspeed and the static, always at right angles to airflow, gives ambient pressure, for altimeters and rate of climb indicators.

Only what I picked up from a Daily Fail headline, in passing.

I've never found Revell enamels particularly 'hot', but if you find them so, you might be more comfortable with their acrylic versions of the specified colours.

Apparently, Paramount are suing this guy for using the Klingon language in it, on the basis that it breaches copyright.

Kunming is on a lake in which one of the Flying Tigers crahed during the war. The general terrain and the distance to the hills in the background appear consistent with other images taken at Kunming. I agree that no-one would be likely to fly a Hurricane over the hump by choice, but many people hings are done through lack of choice, especially during war. I still can't find anything about these Hurricanes, though.

Don't put it anywhere near the stove! That will cause it to melt unpredictably. Use very hot water and try to relieve the warping, but be gentle and don't expect miracles.

Try buffing it with a high quality cotton ball, of the sort designed for removing makeup.