neilh

Well, I think a big thanks is due to me. So far this year I have cursed my way through a 1/48th Classic Airframes Defiant, and am currently cursing almost as much through the build of a Classic Airframes Meteor F8. Unfortunately I need these both this year for a club display at SMW 2015. So what do you guys want me to curse my way through next. I do have both a Classic Airframes Venom and the Sea Venom in the stash?

I know you said you can't justify the Tamiya version but take a wander over to Hyperscale this morning and watch Brett Greens video review of the Tamiya kit. Stunning. I'm absolutely determined to finish my 1/48th stash before I start buying 1/32 or larger but I could well be swayed......

My current favourite for dead flat is Alclad Klear Kote Flat. I have only ever sprayed it, but the result is dead flat, very similar to the results I used to get from Polyscale flat varnish. I have had perfect results every time with this product. It can be polished up to a slight sheen with a tea towel or smilar. Example here ( Spitfire V in August) http://www.ipmsavon.org.uk/Meetings_gallery.php?year=14and here ( Lightning in January) http://www.ipmsavon.org.uk/Meetings_gallery.php?year=14

I've just finished a CA Mk II and found the wings needed some fettling to fit the aperture at the rear of the fuselage cut out. I has to sand the lower wing roots at the rear to a thinner profile as they sat 1mm or so beneath the line of the lower fuselage. I also made a cut chord wise at the roots on the inside to allow the wing assembly to bend up slightly. They would other wise have sat with slight anhedral. No idea if that is a common fault as the fit of the kit was so dreadful I had to sand/cut/shim almost every part of it so could have introduced that problem myself. I'm not afraid of limited run kits but this was not a pleasant experience at all. Roll on the Airfix kit.

Yes Andy, I use one of those ultrafine JLC saws and I've superglued some of the snapped blades to coffee stirrers to make saws that will get into tiny spaces on sprues ( or use as scribing tools). I do have a " thing" about mold seams though and will always try to remove them completely. Its often safer to do most of this when still on the sprue as the parts are more rigid, but once removed, getting those last little bits off are often the cause of breakage for me. Still going to have to look at one of these though. They have a real charm to their appearance.

Hmm, like the look of that Ro-44. I know SH have become closer to a mainstream injection kit over recent years but looking at all that fine struttery fills me with more than a a little trepidation. Even cutting from the sprue and clean up looks like it might increase the blood pressure a bit!

I saw a documentary about Airfix on TV which showed the parts department. It was stated that if they had a kit in stock they would ship the spare parts to the customer. If not in stock they would ship when stock became available. Perhaps the problem is that a) their QC in the manufacturing plant ( in India?) is not as good as it used to be ( and I think Airfix do need to do some work there) so any stock held back for spars runs out quickly and the demand is so great they do not have as much retained stock as in the past. Assuming you bought the kit from a vendor, you have a contract with them and they should replace the defective kit if the part in question is unquestionably defective from new? The vendor can then deal with Aifix directly. Suspect if that happened more often, the pressure from retailers and dealers would get the QC problem fixed quicker.

I attempted to use some of the code letters from the Sky Hurricane sheet on my Defiant build. Once off the backing sheet and on the model they were almost white. This may have been due to the Night background increasing the contract to the eye, but they certainly seemed lighter off the sheet than on it, and noticeably lighter than those on my Xtradecal sheet of codes and several in my decal stash. Might be my laptop or the fact there seemed to be a lot of chlorine in the local pool today but those codes in Troys photo almost look Sky! @Stevej60 - have you put the codes on your Hurricane yet?

What I must try and do is get the CA fabric wing kit out of the loft stash and see how the wings line up with the new Airfix fuselage. Want a Finnish rag wing and having just finished the CA Defiant and trying to finish the Meteor F8 I need a break from CA kits.

A few years ago our club ( IPMS Avon) were lucky enough to get a private tour around the Bristol Aircraft engine collection. There was no surprise a Centaurus on display, but also a cut away version showing the internals and I remember being awed at the complexity and sheer volume of parts ( not to mention the massive size) of that engine. I suspect they are not, but the jet engines on display alongside looked very simple in comparison. As for the original question, I have built the CA and the Trumpeter Sea Hawk, and in my opinion the Trumpeter one is the nicer build, decent fit without the dreaded riveter and a much, much easier build than the CA kit ( where the rear fuselage is a completely different cross section to the front. For Sea Furies, I have build the Hobbycraft kit as an Iraqi version using the Cooper Details cockpit and wheel well sets from Roy Sutherland ( please Roy can we see these again?). Shame someone hasn't produced a new replacement wing for the HC kit as the fuselage panel lines are OK, its the wing ones that seem wider and much more " V" shaped.I did buy the Trumpeter kit but sold it again as I was so disappointed with the fuselage shape, cockpit and the profusion of rivets. I hope that Airfix might come to the rescue in my lifetime with a Sea Fury and a Tempest in 1/48th.

Great deals in micro drill bits from a chap named Alan Sidney ([email protected]). I like to use lead wire for detailing as it moulds and stays in place easily, although the downside is that its a little fragile. I get mine from Little Cars, usually topping up at various shows.

If you can track down a Cooper details ( now Barracuda) cockpit and wheel well they are well worth it. Aeroclub do/did(?) some white metal gear legs. Barracuda do still stock replacement wheels which are also nice with good tread.

I recommend the Neomega seats and the Master pitot tubes ( if only because its very easy to snap off the kit ones ( you can probably guess how I know that). The cockpit can be dressed up with lead wire etc but once painted up black and installed its pretty hard to see much in there and the kit detail is quite nice as is and the seats fill up most of the view.

If a pitot is not available on another occasion, or you want to replace a plastic kit part then the sets of tubing from Albion Alloys are very useful They have concentric sizes of aluminium tube that is easily cut and "stacked" to make up the pitot. Also works a treat for replacing U/C retraction jacks and even the gear legs them selves.

Well thanks all. MSG is easy as I have a full sheet of Xtradecals codes in my decal stash.

Thanks Edgar- that seems to put the cat among the pigeons! So if Sky grey was not a prescribed colour in 1939, the code letters definitely look to be a lighter colour than red, even when allowing for the issues in interpreting B&W photos. What do you suspect may have been authorised for use? Day fighters were using White codes at this time?

True. In my case it will probably be PZ- V because the intent is to model a Defiant from 456 Squadron for a club theme, and this is the only known code/serial tie up. I have MSG serials, but also have found P and enough " straight lines" in other letters of the right size in an off white colour on a Spitfire sheet from Sky. So I could try painting with stencils, using MSG or trying a chop up of the off white codes. Looks like I have a few ways to get to what I wanted.

Yes, it was the Ducimus booklet. Currently the plan is to go MSG or I'll likely never finish it for SMW this year! Thanks for all the helpful inputs.

According to the reference book I have they were Sky grey ( described as almost off white ).I have some generic MSG code letters and they are much more grey.

Seems that Defiant Night fighters had codes in Sky Grey before the later change to dull red ordered in January 1941. I have the CA kit but the codes are dull red and the aircraft I am modeling was in service from June 1941 so I could perhaps "get away" with red as no photos of 456 squadron Defiants seem to exist, but since the aircraft were not new and the order took some time to get through to existing aircraft in service on squadrons I suspect sky grey may be more appropriate. I've had a look on line and at Hannants etc and can find Sky codes, MSG codes but no Sky Grey. Assume that might be due to the limited use? I can try and make some stencils with frisket or Tamiya tape using the kit decals for scale but does anyone know of a decal source ( or stencils of RAF codes at a reasonable price)? Thanks.

when you say " lacquer varnish" what is it branded as by Alclad? I have three types of varnish from them and none are described as " lacquer" ?

Take a look at the resin wheels from Barracuda Studios. The original kit ones ( resin) are apparently undersized and Roy's parts fix that problem.

lots of online builds of the Airfix Lightning to check for build tips. My personal experience was pleasant. The fan and intake trunking is almost invisible when built so don't waste lots of time removing internal seams. The wings can be warped on some examples. I found the fit was better with a little sanding on the wing roots to improve the anhedral effect. The Fuselage can be a little flexible so adding some plastic card tabs in places might help alignment. Don't forget the nose weight!

Sorry Homebee, must have quoted the wrong build. It was yours that I read and made me think about using the Neomega cockpit. Any chance of elaborating on the " nearly" fit like a glove? Thanks.

I ordered the Neomega seat which is lovely but much too big to fit into the kit cockpit, so I suspect the kit cockpit is too narrow. I did consider trying to use just the top of the resin seat and graft it to the kit seat pan, but now I'll either try the Neomega cockpit set for the Kopro kit as used by Snitok 1983 here on Britmodeller ( apparently it fits with little work) or wait for the aftermarket sets featured in the first look in SAM this month. Cad images only so far but promising ....http://www.redstarscalemodels.com/category-s/109.htm