The original Kit Builder

Kunming is my son-in-law's birthplace. Next time I speak to him, I'll try to remember to ask if he knows anything. He's very aware of the US involvement in the air war in China.

Many airbrushes have o-rings along the needle at some point and, as these are seals, they need to be tight, or might as well not be there. Naturally, the tension of the seals will cause the sort of resistance your are noticing and this is necessary to the proper operation of the brush. You could try wiping the needle with a tiny drop of water, or whatever thinner you use in order to lubricate the passage of the needle through the seal, but don't use too much of either and if you change media, don't forget to spray some of the appropriate thinner through before-hand to flush any remaining away before it can cause problems.

Good to see they settled on slightly more attractive schemes than the initial updates implied. Would've been nice to have had a RAAF option, though, given that Australia was such a large user.

The difference is that the leg wasn't bare metal subject to oxydation and surface corrosion, but an aluminium lacquer paint, with the pigment suspended in a two part mix, which was actually a cellulose resin and as tough as you like, so these parts stayed bright. I have worked on aluminium lacquered parts that have spent decades in the ground, or in water, which have been almost unblemished.

TE 199 was the personal hack of the Air Officer Commanding 21 group. She was painted gloss black overall, with gold spinner and clipped wingtips. She was unarmed, with the fixed sections of the cannon fairings left in place and capped in the same way as the unused stubs on the c wing of armed aircraft. The two AOC's in post during 1948 were Air Vice Marshall Mellersh, who was followed by AVM Bouchier.

I can assure you that even today, no-one wipes down an entire u/c leg on a routine basis, without attending to its surrounding areas. The fescalised portion might be wiped in order to assess a potential leak, but that would be the normal limit of it.If the door is getting dusty, so is the leg, until the aircraft is washed iaw its maintenance schedule. It is also unlikely that, particularly late in the war, with the RAF on the offensive, that there would be such a rush that a replacement door could not be finished according to regulations and relevant standards. In fact, most removeable panels would have been finished during production, which is often still the case today. Even during the Battle of Britain, damaged Spitfires and Hurricanes had their paint restored as part of any repair, whether by the dab of a brush on a scab patch, or the respraying of a larger area. Refinishing is part of the repair scheme. In terms of the colours, without wishing to be definitive, I must say, it looks like MSG to me.

Humbrol 1 is pretty good if you're happy to use enamel. The pigment grain size is great, it dries smooth, self levels to a point and fills fine gaps without covering detail.

The prototype Meteor was, as far asI know, Dark Earth and Dark Green on top, as were most prototype aircraft during the war.

I have always used an unbleached linen base colour, streaked with Tamiya olive drab on DR1's, based on the understanding of some of Dan Abbot's work. For Voss' F1 I used a pale grey base, as I read that the F1 may have been covered in bleached linen. Once streaked, the effect is of a notably olive and blue streaked look, as reported by members of 56 Sqn after the combat in which Voss was killed.

I first built this kit when it was first released biggest part of 40 years ago and remember it with mixed feelings. It needs quite a bit of work, but, will give you a satisfying end product and with this one, you should be very satisfied.

If you assume that "Cocky" is picked out in black, then you can rule out black for the disruptive pattern, as it is very evidently much lighter. Tonally, it reminds me of Dark Earth, so I wouldn't rule out brown. There is no evidence of chromatic film stock being used for the image, so the relative tones and shades would appear to be unaltered from the original scene.

Did you wash off the residual setting solution?

You don't say what the kit is, but many Tamiya kits, especially mototised model cars ans so on, use non-styrene plastics in areas that might be subject to impacts. Styrene cement won't work on these materials.

Not only is it good engineering practice to have a completely independent oil supply for each engine, it was required by the original International Air Regulations well before the start of WW2.

Try gently warming them with a hair drier.

I've used both on the same project, but make sure you follow the instructions for 'sol and 'set to the letter.

I use the tip of a scalpel, just as with green and white stuff to apply it. If you get any drying out at the top of the tube and the material becomes too dry to work in, just add a couple of drops of water and give it a few minutes to rehydrate. This is handy, because you can also thin the material with water if you need to make it more creamy and less "pastey".

If the decals are set and dry, re-dipping shouldn't affect them: In fact, as long as you don't touch them afterwards, the clear will seal them in and if it gets under them, will completely eliminate any chance of silvering or accidental removal

Ammonia will remove the clear. Then you can clean the glass and re-dip the part.

With respect, it is nonsense to bring the HSE into it, as they have nothing whatever to do with aviation or road safety, which are both completely outside their remit. It is not the HSE's purpose to ban anything, anyway. Its sole reason for existing is to help things happen safely, whilsr recognising that risk can't be completely eliminated. Don't believe everything you read in the papers, or hear from the likes of David Cameron and his ilk.

I've spent many a happy hour in the dubious luxury of Hercs and Nimrods, doing all manner of stuff without once feeling the need of a parachute, even whilst operating well to the east of the north cape of Norway doing the same sort of stuff the Russians do around our airspace. The thing is, there's seen to be a much lower risk of direct enemy action in most multi-crewed types, which are usually support aircraft, or operate against targets well out of range of a credible air defence. Typically, on such missions, any enemy contact will be at such operating limits that abondoning the aircraft is pretty much out of the question anyway, either due to lack of altitude, or the sheer difficulty of making an escape from the type in question. Nimrods, VC10's, Tristars and most similar aircraft are based on civil designs and it simply isn't possible to open the doors or remove the escape hatches, which tend to be designed for use on the ground, while airbourne. Helicopters, because of their very nature, are not a practical proposition to bail out of. Other types are generally well outside the envelope of successful escapes, when it would be most likely to need to jump.

In the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, everyone or no-one, except in a Hercules carrying paras. I'm pretty sure the same is true of the Russians. In the transport fleet, no-one gets a parachute unless it is their job to jump out. They were also not carried in the maritime fleet, or in helicopters.

The CAA need to tackle the causes of things like Shoreham, rather than try to legislate for prevention of the symptoms, succeeding only in making the future of smaller shows uncertain by means of over restriction. At the very least, they should wait for the investigation to be completed, before redefining policyon the basis of what are likely to be faulty assumptions.

Land mines, especially anti-tank mines have been lain in many situations. The whole point is to conceal them where they are least expected and where they will cause the most damage. They've been hidden in some very sneaky places at times.

The Tamiya ones are shake and bake, though not quite accurate, whilst the Airfix Mk I and V's and the later marks from Eduard are accurate, but more involved builds. As has been said, the Pegasus snap-fits aren't bad for the youngsters.