English Electric

Once again thank you all - some serious decal trimming and inclusion of white ahoy! It’s incredible how Tasman managed to get it so wrong, and also a salutary lesson in why you shouldn’t put blind faith in a decal sheet... God truly is in the detail!

Thank you both - that certainly does answer it! Brilliant job of finding that - I googled J-371 but nothing came up, so thank you! Anyway, out with the white paint it is then ... the fuselage banding is a bit more tricky though... could always do a Whatif I guess - I’ll have a think! thanks once again! Chris

Hi all - just a quick query I hope someone can answer! I’m building a Swiss 109E and have reached the decalling stage but am unsure whether the decals are correct! It’s an old Tasman sheet and it suggests the aircraft have red wingtips and also in the case of J-371, the aircraft shown - red numbers on a white fuselage belt. Just to make sure I doubled checked on the web and virtually all of the striped schemes show the aircraft with white wingtips and a white on schwarzgrun number. Is the Tasman sheet correct and J-371 was different or is it totally fabricated! Help please. Decals (one cut out) and sheet are shown if that helps. best wishes Chris

Quick update - the seam lines came off nice and easily apart from a tricky one under the tail which I’m still working on. Minimal loss of panel lines too and it seems to be nice quality, solid resin... a bonus! I opened the engine parts packet and after some light cleaning fitted the exhausts to the nose. Brilliant fit and you actually got two versions - presumably for a later model aircraft. Other engine parts are shown here - I’ve cleaned up the cowling and it fits like a dream too... not started on the double radial yet.

As I'm a generous soul (honest) I have a one-time offer for the purposes of this GB... I have a KPM resin 1/72 MiG-3 going spare for building - but ONLY for this GB It's a flaming awful challenging kit, so would be perfect for the clinically insane an experienced resin builder who could show us some of the tips and tricks - such as how to straighten a wing that looks like a humpback bridge reshape some slightly deformed parts, and so forth... Obviously it's gratis please take the abhorrent thing away but - once again - it is for this GB and not as a stash filler. Anyone willing to take this on? C

That looks quite fun to me - I love Av Usk kits anyway... they did some weird and wonderful things in their time. I wish someone would do a short run build someday...

So I started looking at things a bit more clearly today... I’ve not heard of Sign before but it’s a Czech manufacturer - possibly a one man band by a chap called Roman Sekyrka - so now you know as much as me. This is a fairly simple kit - which suits me fine due to time issues and first time resin fettling! You’ve got a main fuselage which has wings and tail planes already attached - and they’re straight! There’s several small packs of detail parts and a nicely moulded engine. It’s a minimal cockpit but then, so was the real thing! Finally, there’s a choice of undercarriage depending on your version (with or without shocks) and a vacform canopy that you have to cut in half (gulp) It’s quite well moulded with the biggest issue being seam lines on the fuselage. If you’ve never come across the Ki-115 it’s an odd machine. Designed for just one purpose in mind - kamikaze operations - it was as basic as they come having a large bomb mounted underneath which would then be flown literally into the target. Made from steel and wood it had a fixed undercarriage and was designed to be able to take any spare Japanese made radial engine lying around. It had awful flying capabilities and the lack of shocks on the undercarriage made it a horror to land and take off. Like many designs it never really entered service fully and only two now survive - one in as found condition in the USA in Washington and one in Japan. I’ve dug out my two key references here as you can see ...

The I-250 it is then... I shall alter the thread title accordingly! Thank you... Alexey, I have a few VVS and beyond vacforms in the box - Su 5, Yak 15/17 etc... I may well need your services again! Thanks everyone - looking forwards to starting it (I think)

Oh nooooooo! Of all the vacforms I own ... I might have another hunt... just in case, you understand Great link Pin - amazing work there... There is of course always this - a MiG I-250 hybrid fighter (think Ryan Fireball) Maybe a better prospect as I want something relatively simple to cut my teeth on for my first vac

Hi all, Second placeholder here - this for my vacform breaking entry. About time I attempted one of these horrors... This seems relatively simple and is cleanly formed and even comes with decals! All mod cons ... we’ll see how it progresses! Watch this space ... best Chris

Hi all, Placeholder here for this resin Ki-115. Full gen to be added once I start (got a couple of other things to finish first) but will be on the case soon... in the meantime here’s the boxtop and parts breakdown. No, I haven’t started it, it really is moulded that way! back soon. Chris

If - and only if - I complete the CS-199 I’m happy to consider one of the below two... I have a couple of Buchon related things but I really will be screaming with them I think - the Pegasus kit and a conversion set. These are possibly more manageable... happy to take requests on which one you’d prefer... best as ever Chris

I’ve had a good poke through and would like to enter with this please ... wish me luck! Ordered the canopy masks today... EDIT... having properly looked through this luck will indeed be required. Just 35 parts but I'd totally forgotten the myriad of joys that an early KP kit (1978 in this case) can bring ... injector pin towers everywhere, including some bang on the cockpit sidewall detail and a wealth of flash and surface marks etc... all in brittle white plastic. However, still looking forwards to it and it's going to be a lot of fun I suspect! The decals had browned as well, so they're now in a poly bag on the windowsill. I only want the codes, the national markings I have already

This is a very worthy topic IMHO... would be chuffed (pun entirely intended) to be a part of this! Sign me up please C

Please can I be added - need to finally face the vacforms in the stash! BW Chris