Simon

Turkish national markings...? https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Beaufighter/Beaufighter/pages/Beaufighter-X-Turkish-Air-Force-R0598-Turkey-1947.html Simon

Funny you should say that - the masks didn't come off 100% cleanly, which is a bit annoying. I'm not going to repaint them, as I've already used three sets of Eduard's masks Anyway, final update before moving this to RFI. Here are a couple of additions to the nose glazing - the side mount for the 30 calibre gun (maybe oversized a bit), and what I assume is a windscreen de-icer spray nozzle on top: The cockpit glazing also has what I think must be a rain dispersal strip in front of the pilot's window, which I made from a section of triangle-profile plastic strip: You can see the compass in situ inside and that the masks have taken some of the paint off, which is a shame. Then there were the fuel dump pipes to add at the rear of the nacelles. On the early Mitchell IIs these seem to be longer and thinner than the later ones, and a right faff-on to install, I can tell you... All that's left are the three pole aerials (one under the nose, one behind the cockpit and a slightly shorter one forward of the turret) and a whip aerial behind that, and then I think I'm all done. I've done a base for the two Mitchells, with a couple of photos of Ted Burn courtesy of David Poissant, photos of FL-210 and FW199, excerpts from the 180 Sqn ORB and a few newspaper clippings. Cheers Simon

Hello again Back with another update... FL-210 is now painted, and D-day stripes applied, decalled up and weathered. I used a slightly different method for the worn-away stripes, using a sponge this time with the white and black watercolour pencils. I've used Xtracrylix XA1111 for the OD 41, and Vallejo 043 for the faded fabric control surfaces. Some weathering for the exhausts, and the 'replacment' engines are in Xtracrylix XA1112. I've also decided to have the flaps drooped, juts to add a bit of difference to FW199. Mitchells didn't seem to have these dropped when parked that often, but i did find a couple of photos with them like this. While doing the decals I noticed that FW199 and FL-210 seemed to have different sized roundels, being larger on FL-210 for both the fuselage sides and wing uppers. The fuselage ones on FW199 are smaller than the ones I've already applied, so off they came, and new ones applied: Here are the ones I've added to FL-210, showing how much larger they are: So, all painted, and on to the fiddly bits. Here are the bits and pieces for the front of the nose compartment: I've added a bracket for the ammunition box on the kit's .30 Cal, and the barrel is a Master GM-72001. The item on the left is the storage bracket for the gun, which sits on the right hand side of the bomb aimer's compartment. Bomb sight is scratch-built as with the one on FW199, and I've opted not to use the spent link bag, mostly as there just isn't room... I also added a compass to the cockpit glazing interior. It's a standard RAF P4, but mounted upside down with a mirror on a bracket. You can see it in situ on photos of Mitchell II 'Grumpy' of 98 Sqn. And I'd just got everything sorted when I realised the B-25B kit boxing doesn't come with an astrodome to go above the radio operator/nav compartment. Curses...no luck in the spares box, and I'm completely incapable of moulding that sort of thing. Believe me, I've tried. So, desperate measures - I got a length of clear acrylic rod, rounded off the end, and then cut it down to size. Three goes to get it right (acryclic rod is very hard...!), and of course it's solid, but I'm pretty happy with the result: Bomb sight and computer in, yet more weight squeezed in behind the instrument panel: Finally for today, I've got the three lights udner the forward fuselage in, and the two lights in the tailcone: Everything's just about done, I'm just ticking the fiddly things off the checklist and adding the the final bits and bobs... Simon

Oddly enough I posted a query about a mystery item (well, a mystery to me) on XV463 of 41 Sqn a couple of days ago: and was referred to this thread: Cheers Simon

Yes, that;s the one, thank you! I'm thinking of doing the new Airfix 1/72 Phantom as XV463, so thanks for the search recommendation which has some useful refs: I see that Odds and Ordnance do one in 1/72, and that was available from AlleyCat, but I see from Alec's homepage that direct sales have now stopped due to his illness, and should start again via www.modelsforsale.com. I'm sure we all wish Alec the best. Simon

Hello I've just received a photo of Phantom XV463/R of 41 Sqn from M.A.P. and it has an all-white (or Light aircraft Grey?) drop tank under its port wing, with an intake near the rear on the 2 o'clock position looking from the front, and what appear to be a set of chutes under the extreme rear end with short cables linking them. The front end has a protective cover over it. It's carrying a recce pod on the centre line - I wondered if the port drop tank was some kind of flash dispenser, or other item related to the recce pod? The starboard wing has a 'standard' camouflaged drop tank. Thanks Simon

Paul The size of a finished 1/48 Sea Vixen is a potential problem for me too, hence my query about a smaller one as an option. You never know, maybe Airfix will 'downsize' their kit and release it in 1/72...and doing the same for their Javelin too would be nice. Simon

There's also B-17E 'Birmingham Blitzkreig' which is...distinctive! https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/41-9100-birmingham-blitzkrieg/ https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hadmodels-48161-boeing-b-17e-birmingham-blitzkrieg--1228768 (not 100% sure the red is accurate though...?) Simon

Weren't the 1/48 Javelin and Sea Vixen both slated to be re-released some time this year, and only the Javelin appeared? Simon

Blimey Thanks for all the replies everyone. So the best option shape-wise seems to be the High Planes kit, followed by the Frog/Revell. Such a shame the Dragon/CH/Revell kit has some shape issues, as it looks like it would be the easiest. Think I might save up for the Airfix kit, after all... Simon

Just saw the thread on the WWII section about the existence of an accurate 1/48 DH Hornet, and wondered the same about a 1/72 Sea Vixen. I seem to have developed a hankering to build one, for some reason. Reading through quite a few reviews, it seems the Dragon/CyberHobby/recent Revell* kit is pretty iffy, and the Frog/older Revell one is not exactly state of the art. Is the Xtrakit the most accurate (or least worst) option in 1/72? Or have I missed one? *(they are the same kit, aren't they?) I'm thinking the best option for an accurate Sea Vixen is the Airfix 1/48 kit...would that be right? Simon

I didn't even think of that one - I think I have a tinlet of it somewhere...

Hello again Back with a quite short update. Been busy getting on with FL-210, so not much actual progress to report. Anyway, I've added the completed first turret to FW199, and it looks pretty good: Next up, some decisions to make. FL-210 is a much earlier B-25C, so presumably would have been painted in early Olive Drab 41 rather than later Olive Drab 613 as FW199 is. Having read some of the threads on here, it seems OD can be a bit of a minefield. So, I've bought a slection of vesions of OD from various manufacturers, and tested them out. Here's my swatch with six options (with a fair degree of variation...!!): XA are Xtracrylix, AV are Vallejo and LC are LifeColor. All are sprayed on a grey primer base with some pre-shading. Here's the swatch compared to FW199, painted in XA1112 OD 613: I'm going with XA1111, and LifeColor 005 for the fabric surfaces. Meanwhile, just as a matter of interest, I came across this photo of well-known Mitchell FL176 'Grumpy' of 98 Squadron on the IWM website from May 1944: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205211450 Note that it has the single short exhausts and smooth cowlings, as with other FL- serialled Mitchells. However, in the exellent book 'Mitchell Masterpieces Volume 2' by Wim Nijenhuis, on page 30 there is a photo of 'Grumpy' with the Clayton-S exhaust cowlings with the multiple exhaust outlets fitted. This photo from August 1944 on the IWM website also seems to show it with the Clayton exhausts: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205210585 I think you can just see one of the exhaust outlets at the bottom of the cowling. I asked Dave Poissant at the 2nd TAF Medium Bombers Assocation, and he told me that some (most/all/any that survived that long...?) early Mitchells were retro-fitted with the revised exhaust layout as the original single exhaust emitted a long blue exhaust flame which was obviously unsuitable for night Ops. Factory kits were supplied to be retro-fitted in the field. Presumably the replacement cowlings and panels on the nacelles would have been in OD 613, rather than OD 41... Simon

Thank you for the kind words. I must say I'm disappointed in some of the moulding issues aand I reckon the Airfix Spares Dept must be pretty fed up with hearing from me...! They did ask which batch number the kits came from (the label on the back of the box), so I think you're right Rob, I reckon it may be an issue with a certain run. Looking at the photos of the turret, I've just noticed that the right hand gun needs the end trimming off. Simon

Hello again Another small update, this time turret-related... I finally bit the bullet (no pun intended...) and decided to have a look at the turrets for my two Mitchells. I'd been putting this part off, partly as I wasn't 100% sure how it would go, but I finally told myself to get on with it, so here goes: Here's my kit of parts, ready to go together: The turret column and ammo boxes are from the kit, with added seat, and two new brackets on the top. Guns are Eduard, the rest scratch-built. So, guns and used ammo chutes added: And the bags for the used links, plus gunsight frame and gunsight itself: The biggest faff-on was trying to do the actual ammo belts feeding into the guns from the ammo boxes. They followe a convoluted up, round and then under shape, which I tried to replicate using some of Eduard's Ammunition Belts, but they just wouldn't bend and curve to the right shape. So Plan B was to print some ammo belts onto thin paper, then back these with some slef-adhesive copper foil I had in the stash. This worked a bit better, as they were easier to bend and kept their shape. Not as good as Eduard's photo etch ammo, but I think should look okay: Finally, here it is with the glazing on: Overall, not too bad. A few minor tweaks needed, I think, and then the other one to make... More soon. Simon

Thanks for those pics Don, much appreciated. Another quick update, and back to FW210. All the decs are one - serials, codes and roundels. I finally got the nose wheel installed, and inevitably it was STILL a tail-sitter. A close thing, but definitley a tail-sitter. After all that added weight... I'm guessing some of it wasn't far enough in front of the mainwheels, and it does sit nose-high on the undercarriage so tends to 'lean back' on its haunches, as it were. Anyway, I hadn't glued the engines in yet (it tail-sat even with those on), so I managed to squeeze some more weight in behind them. It now sits on the front undercarriage, even if it totters a bit like Bambi on ice as the nose gear isn't exactly sturdy. I reckon I'll have to make the rear turret as light as possible...!! Airfix recommend 25 grams of weight in the nose, but I reckon I've added something north of 30g. Meanwhile I've been ticking off all the fiddly bits on the FW199 checklist. The seat armour for the pilot's seat: I always make 2, as the second one is usually better... And installed behind the seat. Also, looking at my references, it seems the two aerials on the top of the fuselage in the kits aren't quite correct. The front one seems more like a pole, and the rear one is a blade-type, and offset to starboard slightly. I've also got all the gubbins for the bombsight and nose .50 Cal in place. The external ball mount was made from a rounded off section of pre-drilled plastic rod. I also made a shelf for the bombsight computer - I'm guessing it had some sort of support frame, but it was too late to add anything more complicated. And finally for this update, I've added the trailing aerial lead on the lower port-side fuselage: I used the trick of dipping the end of a length of plastic rod into black paint, waiting for it to dry, repeat until you have enough paint to make a rounde shape on the end. So, FW199 is almost done. Wingtip lights, glazing to add, and of course the turret...gulp! More soon Simon

Hand painted? That's one job I'd definitely turn down... Thanks Derek.

Okay, so a quick update. The repair to the dodgy wing worked well, and Airfix replaced the dodgy props, so onwards and upwards. I've been mostly doing much the same as before - it's like deja vu all over again, in the words of the great Yogi Berra⚾ First up, the wings for FL-210 are now done, and primed. As previously, I've added the passing light in the port wing, made from a section of clear plastic rod: Handy hint - the landing lights were masked using the circles that make up an "8" from the product code included on any Eduard mask set with an 8 in the name. I used one from EX468 for the 1/48 Hurricane Mk.1. Handily, the two round bits that make up the 8 are the perfect size for the lights...peel 'em off once you're done, and you can use 'em again. The formation lights under the staboard wing were filled, along with the outer fuel fillers on the wing uppers: You can just see the filler under the primer, but a coat of paint will hide that. I'll be doing FL-210 with the bomb bay closed, so I've made an extra bulkhead to partition off the forward bit so I can add some weight there. I'll make sure it sits in front of the axle line of the main wheels, though! And finally for the moment, I've made a couple of the computer modules for the Sperry T1/Mk.XIV bombsight which I'd forgotten about. The face was printed out, stuck to some plastic strip, and the framework added: More soon... Simon

Page 5977, just to make it easier to find

If you do a Google Image search for 'volkel farm hangar' there are several photos on Alamy, taken in 1949. And this photo shows something similar? https://ww2today.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/RAF-Tempest-Holland.jpg Simon

Thank you both for the replies, much appreciated! Simon

Follow-up question, if I may... Did the lozenge fabric come in standard width rolls or sheets? Simon

Thanks BK, much appreciated. Simon

Hello everyone. A quick question - did larger German aircraft (such as the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI) use lozenge camo with larger sized individual lozenges, or was lozenge fabric standard across smaller fighters and larger bombers? Simon

Yes, I have some clear plastic card, so I'll try to add the missing bits with that, similar to what I did with the port upper wing that was missing a chunck from the elevator. Fortunately as you say it misses the actual glazing and it's just part of the framework missing. Should work okay...just a bit of a pain.