Vingtor

No, I don't. It might be useful. Thanks for the link.

During research for a (modelling related) book, on Taylorcraft Austers used as liaison and communication aircraft at the RAF fighter wings in 1944-45, I have noticed that there are variations in the camouflage schemes. They are all Dark Green and Dark Earth on all surfaces, but the pattern varies. I have of course the Warpaint book, but unfortunately this does not give the full pattern for all sides for any of the variants. I thus wonder if anybody who has the Sword 1/48 Mk.III kit or the AZ 1/72 Mk.V kit please could scan the painting instructions for me. I am working on the illustrations for the book, and want the camouflage pattern to be correct and consistent. Nils

Interesting subject. I would not tryst the Warpaint profile though, unless you have supporting photos.

The extra resin lumps and bumps are indeed included in the kit as plastic parts. The resin parts seem to be copies of the plastic ones. Except from attachment plates for the wing pylons, for which I think the plastic parts are better. See my photos earlier in the thread.

Always enjoying a good discussion, Roger, especially about colours and markings. I am not concerned about being right or wrong. I am happy about whatever we can conclude about. 🙂 I was obviously wrong about the 120" wide stripes. Thanks for correcting me. I took the measures from a profile drawing (which I had made myself...). 🤥 The truth is out there - somewhere... 🥸

Just playing the "devil's advocate" role here, and I don't mind if I am wrong... 🙂 What about the thin stripe of EDSG between the overpainted DSG on the top and the Sky beneath. What happened here when the "invation stripes" were painted over, and EDSG was not available? Still, a very interesting and well built model... Nils

I am aware of the company owner's history. Which makes me somewhat reluctant to trade with them. Seems to me that the history repeats itself...

As I understand, the plastic in the F-16A and F-16C kits are exactly the same. The only differences are the decals and instructions, and the price. If you are using aftermarket decals for building an A, it would be cheaper to buy the C kit. The decals for the Danish and Norwegian aircraft are "useless", so aftermarket decals would be required anyway.

One thought about the "invasion stripes". If these were painted "correctly", they would have been 120" wide in total, and thus extended further forward than the discoloured upper fuselage. As the stripes would have been removed quite early on the upper surfaces, and retained longer on the lower surfaces, would there not have been some colour effect of overpainted lower surfaces? Both fuselage and wings. Or, might there have been other causes for the fuselage spine discolouring? If so, there would not have been any reason for similar overpainting on the wings.

Got mine at SMW for £50. The price now is £53.25 (and the C is £37.50).

I have a 1/48 scale sheet available. It had the blue background for the American star-and-bar printed too dark, but correction decals in light blue are included. The price is NOK 150 plus postage (to UK) NOK 48, total NOK 198. Send me a PM if you are interested. Nils

I think I still have a decal sheet for the tri-partite squadron, if you are interested. Cannot promise, but I will check.

An interesting theory. However, it does not explain the darker area ahead of the roundel, partly behind the code letter E. Also, the top of the engine nacelle and fuselage above the tailplanes seem to have the same dark shade. Nils

The same goes for the Norwegian part. Nils

I built this model a few years ago. I sacrificed a Hasegawa F-16A kit for the cockpit, undercarriage and wheel wells, and I used several upgrade kits designed for the F-16A, e.g. seat, jet intake and jet nozzle. Sorry about the poor photo.

I picked up my kit, and opened the lid when I got home. I was rather disappointed really. The kit came in its original BPK box, not the box that it is advertised with. No problem with that. More important is what is in the box. The first that comes into sight is the decal sheet for RAF Poseidons, and a small 8 page instructions booklet containing markings guide for the decals plus a few photos. Searching through the box for the "update parts" became a bit of a challenge. At the bottom I found three tiny plastic bags with some resin bits. These contained several lumps and bumps that were among the plastic parts already plus a set of slightly weighted wheels (that looks like they are copies of the plastic parts). A set of attachment plates for the wing pylons are more detailed than the plastic ones, but if you are putting on the pylons this will not be visible. I was charged £ 160 for my preordered kit, while it sells for about £ 100 directly from BPK. It is definitely not worth it. In practice you pay £ 60 for a decal sheet (a rather good one though). Air Graphics now announces a crew ladder set on their web site. This is among the parts I would expect to be included in an "update set" of this type. But it is sold separately for £ 22. I did not know what to expect in this kit. But I really feel being cheated.

FS37178 was the colour used on Norwegian F-5s. The Starfighters were more greyish.

Nice model! 👍 According to recent articles by Paul Lucas, there was not just one single "mixed grey". Day Fighter Scheme was originally described as dark green and grey, not specifying the shade of grey. It seems that any grey colour between Medium Sea Grey and Extra Dark Sea Grey was used.

TF-104G is now in display at the Gardermoen museum. If you look closely at the forward fuselage you will find 4-5 model paint samples painted directly on the aircraft, none matching perfectly. The paint is a mixture of light grey and aliminium. I have no idea about Gunze or Tamiya matches.

I am subscribing to Scale Aircraft Modelling and Airfix Magazine, and I am considering digital subscriptions for the next renewal. The main reason being the extremely long distribution time to overseas addresses, especially for SAM (6 weeks for the last issue). I am thus curious how the digital issues works. Do they require special programs or apps? Can pages with scale plans be downloaded and printed? I bought an issue of a British (non modelling or aircraft) magazine, which could only be read through an app on mobile phone or iPad. This would not be acceptable for a magazine with scale drawings. Nils

Yes, I thought they would be the same. I have not checked the BPK 737 yet, but the Heller 707 fuselage is much wider than the Welsh Models 737. Nils

You could possibly take the nose and cabin windows from BPK's 737-800. And scratchbuild the rest... 😃 I built the Mach2 Falcon 20 kit many years ago. Awful... I have another which I will try one day - if I have the courage. Nils

This photo shows some Lockheed Lodestars in Norway in 1946/47. I am studying the colours of the aircraft in the middle. It was used on the BOAC service to between Leuchars and Sweden during WWII, flown by Norwegian crews. It was delivered from Lockheed in 1941, then camouflaged in Dark Green and Dark Earth. It was repainted in 1943, presumably in the colours shown here. Clearly some kind of green and grey. In 1943 there were two approved camouflage schemes for BOAC aircraft, Dark Green / Dark Earth and Extra Dark Sea Grey / Dark Slate Grey. None of these seem to fit with the colours on the photo. The aircraft was operated by Norwegians, and Leuchars was also home to 333 (Norwegian) Squadron, flying Mosquitos. So I wonder, could the Lodestar have been repainted with paint available at the base? The Mosquitos were Dark Green / Medium Sea Grey, but MSG was much too light compared to the grey seen in the photo. Dark Sea Grey would be a better match, but would DSG have been available on a RAF (Coastal Command) base in 1943? The starboard engine would have been painted the same colour as around the cockpit, but appears much darker. The same effect applies however for the aircraft to the left in the photo, which has been repainted in a single light grey colour. Anyone...? Nils

Nice aircraft. I built a model some time ago. Based on Hasegawa 1/48 F-16A.

Good point!