warhawk

First series-produced Yak-1 fighters (painted in uniform green upper-surfaces) were delivered on Sept 11th 1940. The instructions to delete stars on wing upper surfaces (as well as introducing green/black upper cammo) were published the same day of the German attack - June 22nd 1941. So yes, the earliest Yak-1s did have stars on wing upper surfaces (visible at the very right of image below), albeit for a very brief time. img source: Table of colors utilized on Soviet warplanes June 1940 - July 1941 Regards, Aleksandar

And it will also show on the inside canopy. Perfectly adequate for most 72nd and 48th scale closed canopies.

Since I mask almost all canopies manually, I usually prepare two masks for each of these sealed windows - standard one (fitting the window frames without seal), and one of same shape, but slightly smaller. I first use the smaller one, spray yellow color, then use larger to mask to the frame (so I can cover the yellow and further use cammo colors). These seals were usually done by hand, so You can also free-hand the yellow lines with a brush, then use just the standard mask for each window (it will also cover the yellow). Regards, Aleksandar

From SH Facebook page:

Unless books themselves include relevant scans from manuals (which is a trend I noticed recently with some publishers, and welcome it wholeheartedly).

Tried to to that here, cannot vouch it is complete, though... Regards, Aleksandar

What I meant is was this rear part of the cockpit ever painted Green? source: Anatomy of the Spitfire’s Cockpit at Spitfiresite

Was this practice of painting Spit cockpits aluminum aft of the rear cockpit bulkhead introduced from the start of Spitfire production? I also see it on some restored Vs and IXs.

Is there anything wrong with it, apart from mold being worn out?

Correct! My very first short-run kit, as well as the first kit on which I tried any improvements at all.

I'm gonna go ahead and say Fiat G.55

Wow, didn't know there was such a lack in supply of this accessory for such a mainstream kit with such an obvious flaw. A while ago, I made a vac canopy myself, specifically for my Revell Me262a (which I still haven't finished after all this time, lol) If there's a large enough interest, I can re-do a series at a reasonable price, as I still have that master. Regards, Aleksandar

The bubble confusion probably stems from the fact that the late Mk.I bubble was bulged only upwards (with sides remaining flat), with all later marks having the full-blown canopy. This was illustrated nicely by Junpei Temma in his Tamiya 1/72 Spitfire Mk.I build:

Most welcome news, which make me wonder.... Will SH back-engineer this back-engineered mold.... uhm, forward (?)... to the Kanonenvogel? My favourite version, except the part that 90% of the 'Kanonen-ing' was done by Rudel... which most of the markings on the built kits suggest. Great potential to offer something new in this regard.

Here's a link to this image, where it can be zoomed-in a bit more: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205207356

Thanks for taking the time to gather this info. Most useful. Does each tactical letter (between the hyphens) correspond to large recognition code letters often seen below the windscreen? img source: HistoryNet Also, the aircraft pictured in my first post seems to have an 'L' below the windscreen, (and possibly a 'K' immediately behind it, but over-painted)?

Found another photo at link below, which shows US roundels: https://www.historynet.com/july-4-1942-the-mighty-eighths-first-bombing-raid.htm Does not prove what roundels were used on the first mission, though. Now if we could just determine the individual numbers and serials of at least these four aircraft... 🍳

I believe speed was of the utmost importance for the bomber/recce variants, hence the V-shaped windscreen was kept. This apparently had a higher priority than absolutely standardizing all aircraft to a single windscreen type (i.e. two types in production is not that inefficient).

Thanks for the link. Neither am I sure, as the upper camouflage of the A-20 pictured looks as overall Olive Drab - pretty unlikely if they are ex-and-soon-to-be-again RAF Bostons. Also, the upper-to-lower cammo demarcation is straight - different from the photo from my previous post...

First Raids For the Mighty Eighth is certainly an interesting topic to depict in a model. My question is - were USAAF roundels ever used by the 15th Bombardment Squadron on any operational missions? The crews were American, but on the other hand, they were flying under No. 226 Squadron RAF... img source: Warfare History Network Thanks in advance!

I agree that there's no point in re-tooling the moulds. Makes more sense to just leave the logo moulded on and skip the 'paint-it-white' part to save time and resources.

Did some more digging, and found a nice, large photo, clearly showing the white 'Dunlop' inscription both on the outer and the inner tire side: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205230004 https://waralbum.ru/398869/ Cheers! 🍻

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it! Don't worry, it's an immediate pre-war bird (Not a Spit, but same-size Dunlop tires), and photos certainly show the white inscription on the side opposite to gear leg. Found the book and the photos You mentioned. Unfortunately no conclusive decision can be made from these two, as on No.56 the other wheel is missing, and on No.60 the other wheel is in in shadow and obscured by cover. My question was specifically aimed at Dunlop logo, visible in photos as painted white (which I doubt for small technical info inscriptions). If the logo was moulded on both sides, I consider it reasonable to be also painted white on both sides for the pre-war use. Regards, Aleksandar

Hello, Could anyone please help me with a dilemma regarding Dunlop aircraft tires: Should the 'Dunlop' white inscription typically be present on both sides of the tire, or just one? img source: ADS Advance Regards, Aleksandar

Unfortunately, there's no sure remedy for this problem (speaking from my own experience of working with vac canopies, and even making some on my own). Once the vacuform plastic becomes dented, every attempt to force it the other way only produces more microscopic cracks, which manifest as white lines or blotches on Your canopy. Also, every attempt to correct it locally with heat will result in warping the entire part (the part is often just too small to have just a part of it heated and not affect everything else). regards, Aleksandar.