Prenton

Another shout out for Veteranus. I have bought kits from them, with no hassle whatever. I know a number of modellers personally who have used them to sell their excess stash / deceased modeller's stashes. They make the whole job very easy - they even collect the models from you in certain cases - all you need to do is put them in boxes. They auction kits and - as far as I know - you can get much better prices this way than from certain second hand kit retailers, who simply give a base price per kit. It is well worth giving them a call/e-mail to get their details:- 01765 647828 or [email protected] I have no connection to the auction house - just a very satisfied customer. Philip

Hi Pat - still having trouble! I may have to go over to a different hosting site, as Village Photos seems to be no longer working. Any suggestions?? Philip

Great job, Der. Philip

Yep - you can count me in also @Marklo. I have a number of Storches in the stash...and you cannot get anything more STOL, in the traditional sense and not those modern contraptions, than a Storch. Philip

Gone again...grrrrr.

Great to see the kit under construction today, @Jasonb13. What a lovely scheme - I have no doubt that you will do it proud.👍 Philip

Hi Tony I actually was one of those voting for the SM 79. Great you are doing it👍. I am looking forward to seeing this one, It's a nice kit, but I agree with @PeterB, There are many options for markings and camo for this - not all of which require "spinach and egg" (or is it fried egg? 😗) camo. Going for the more simple - but of course authentic - two colour finish is great too. I will be most interested in how you tackle the interior colours - for example, are the cockpit colours (Tamiya XF-21 as I recall) replicated for the wheel wells etc? Philip

WOW Pat - that is some job you have taken on. Love those Italian birds generally - i have lots in my stash, but thus far have only ventured for a couple of the more sedate (Spanish Civil War) examples of the SM 79. Your take on the camo colours will be of great educational value, I am sure. If that's OK, I have some popcorn, and will be sitting here for more installments.... Philip

It seems that whatever security certificate VP needed, they got and have uploaded. All of my photos here on BM, which had disappeared, just like @Peter Milgate - even on group builds going back up to 2 years ago, and all of which had been hosted on VP - are visible again, I was also able, late last night, to upload a new photo from VP in the Matchbox Group build, so everything seems to be fine again.....for now. Many thanks for @Roger Holden for getting through to them. Cheers, Philip

Well - something has happened, as my photos at the start of this thread have re-appeared....so here's hoping..... As I was saying,... So I did some sanding on the fuselage, and tail, and also on the lower wings, and then gave everything that was yellow a primer coat using the Mr Surfacer, cut with about 40% Gunze levelling thinner. Does a great job, that does.. This allows me to show, in respect of the upper wings, how much of the exaggerated flying surfaces on the upper wings needed to be sanded off - here you can see the lower wings, already sanded and primed, and the upper wings, both primed, and with one of the two sanded. The other one awaits my attention. I think that this shows just how much needs to be sanded off to give a more realistic impression of the true appearance of the wings, as seen in the photos. Of course, I will need to do a further primer coat, but I think it was worth it to just show how much needs to be taken off. (Early Matchbox kits need some work, but, in fairness, not so much as a similarly produced Airfix kit of the time, with all of those rivets with which Airfix festooned their creations then....) As it happens, having looked at a LOT of photos, I am leaving the flaps and ailerons with nothing but a very light sanding, as the photos seem to show that the fabric effect was more pronounced on those than on the wings. More later in the week. Thanks for looking,. Philip

so would I, Pat. All my photos seem to have disappeared, to be replaced by small little.png logos, all over Britmodeller, including from last year. (the photos were in .jpg format from Village Photos) Don't know what is happening....Chris's (dogsbody) photos are still visible to me.... Can you still see the photos in the earlier posts?? Philip

Well, I took down the box from the attic stash, and then realised that I had already taken the photos of the sprues 8 years ago, back in 2013 for a club build that, unfortunately, didn't happen, so the box went back into the stash. I managed to find the photos on my computer, so here are the sprue shots:- The main sprue, with the fuselage and the bottom part of the lower wing, and other bits, including the engine:- The other wing pieces, elevators and the engine cowling:- The next sprue, containing wheels, spats, cabane struts, the seat and some bombs (which won't be used) All of the above are vintage Esci, which appear to date from 1977, but were re-boxed by AM Tech for this kit AM Tech has added these resin bits for the cockpit (made apparently by a firm called Black Box) and also some additional plastic, for "unspatted" undercarriage legs, (as used on the Russian front). Again, they won't be used on this build. Also in the photo, in its plastic bag, is the transparency (which is very small). and finally, there are the AM Tech decals:- My version will be those attractive Spanish ones, with the lightning bolt in blue on the fuselage, the red and yellow roundels on the wings, and the black St Andrew's Cross for the white tail. Despite the age of the kit (2003), these decals seem to be in good nick, so I will probably only use the Montex masks that I have for the Cross and the numbers and (possibly) for the roundels The masks don't do the lightning bolt, which will be "interesting" to apply onto an aluminium / silver painted background. (I can keep the remaining decals, masks, and the other stuff, for another Esci kit in due course - which I also happen to have in the stash) and @col, the instructions state that the Spanish version is from the 61st Squadron of the Spanish Air Force from 1945. Interestingly, while the Francoist St Andrew's cross is retained, the old Spanish red and yellow roundels had, by that stage, replaced the black circles that the Nationalist rebels had used during the Civil War. (A similar situation applied to the Heinkel 112's that the Condor Legion had used during the Civil War, and which had been kept afterwards by the Spanish - I have an RS Model kit of this, in 1/72nd, in the shelf of Doom). Philip

My entry will be the original ground attack aircraft of the Second World War, which was the precursor of the Stuka - the Henschel Hs 123. I happen to have this kit in the stash for some time, so the group build is a great opportunity to clear at least one kit from the stash.. The AM Tech kit is actually the rather venerable ESCI kit from the 1970's, but has added resin goodies to do the cockpit. I intend to do this in the Spanish markings that come with the kit, which is of one of the aircraft that was retained by Franco's Nationalists after the Civil War, and the markings on the kit are from the aircraft in 1945. The Scalemates information on the kit is here;- https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amtech-489203-henschel-hs-123a-1--120433 I have also purchased the Montex Maxi mask for this kit, which allows me to spray the various national insignia and tactical markings, instead of using most of the decals. I will be beginning in a week or two. Philip

Good one Der, and great progress too. @Marklo - I would vote for that. Philip

Well, I have begun, by sanding down the exaggerated flying surfaces on the wings and tail, and I have just done a coat of primer - Mr Surfacer 1500 white - on all of the yellow plastic. Not worth photos yet, to be honest, as there is nothing to see. Once I get something done on the interior, then I will post up something more. Many thanks for those photos @dogsbody 👍 Philip