stevehnz

I sat down last night & did a few small bits to this, some air inlet vanes, the tail pipe glued in then filed & sanded back to enlarge the jet pipe hole & thin its walls, a slice of thin card to fill the cavity between the tail hook & some detail painting on the white metal seats, all bits I'd been putting off, should hopefully get the wings glued on soon. Photos soon then. Steve.

That too, the first half of the calendar is far busier for me than the later half. This region, Nelson/Tasman is the main hop growing region in New Zealand. The season this year lasted just under 4 weeks, at one stage I worked 11 days straight, it seemed like every variety the outfit I was working for grew came ripe all at the same time. For most of those 11 days we were working in two shifts, I wasn't finishing till midnight most days. My job was towing trailers. Some of their gardens were a distance from the kiln so we used utes as tow vehicles a lot, Empty trailers back to the garden, full ones to the kiln. Up to about 18 round trips a shift. I sure knew I'd done it by the end of the season. having said that, it was a good team of guys & girls of all ages, we got on pretty well & I felt quite flat when it finished, hence the lack of modelling till now. Steve.

Fwiw, I put LDF on with a soft brush, just enough to cover the decal. It self levels well & anything over the edge of the decal has a nice natural thinning to it which generally doesn't show when applied. A trimmed edge might be more obvious. You'll need to use IPA or meths to clean the brush you use for it. Steve.

I know that feeling, with 3 GBs on the go just now, its nearly a fortnight since the hops finished & last night was the first time I sat at my rickety fold up table for about 6 weeks. Managed some small jobs on my Aquilon build & seemed to enjoy it. Might have to have a look at the others then. Steve.

Fairly romping along with this Andrew, or maybe it's just the amount I've had to catch up. All the same, I like what you're doing with this, having one in stock has helped to focus my attention too. I shall try to keep up from now on. Steve.

Superb build. This is a super scheme & you've shown it off wonderfully well. 👍 Steve.

That doesn't sound good mate, here's hoping they can sort it. 🤞 Steve.

A super build Alan of what is obviously a super kit. I'm loving that scheme, long one of my favourites & it looks so right on that. 👍 Steve.

Nice one Peter, this has come up a treat & certainly looks good under your TLC. 👍

A really nice job on this troubled version. Those engines look much to big for it imho. That really shows up alongside the Next Generation one, that line up looks good like that. 👍 Steve.

That came up well John, it looks very sharp. 👍 Steve.

Are you referring to the chip from the book, in which case Troy has answered but if you're referring to the chips/ colour samples that @Tail-Dragon has produced, I think the two different shades of each looks as though it is the result of a clear coat on the lower shades marked with A B C & D. Steve.

Very smart Jari, you've got a great result with this. 👍 Steve.

I couldn't recall this one but being more than 3 months ago & less than 30 years ago, it falls into the memory deadzone. I do like the look of it, I've an ICM 1/72 kit with Finnish markings to do sometime. I better check the cowl openings. Steve.

This is a lovely build displaying a very deft touch. One to be proud of. 👍 Steve.

Don't underestimate what difference a bit of black can make. I'd start with the blue & add just a drop or two & go from there. Black has a very powerful effect. Looking at a couple of old threads from here & here, apart from Hu15, Revell 54 also comes in for a positive mention. Steve.

A delivery this week from my mate currently out here from the UK but purchased here in NZ, as he was touring around, he stopped into the Ashburton Aircraft Museum, a very highly recommended establishment, who had a selection of kits, possibly donated from an estate or similar. He whatsapped me some photos & I put my hand up for a Eastern Express HP Dart herald with BIA decals & a Revell Tu-95, both 1/144. Having now seen them, I'm rapt with them, both kits for NZ$50.00. Steve.

I think you might need some black added to it, by itself I can't see Hu 25 being dark enough, there may be other options, hopefully someone else can chip in on this. The model itself is coming along very nicely. Steve.

Last Stand in Singapore by Graham Clayton, the story of 488 RNZAF during their time in defence of Singapore & Batavia. Clayton's father was ground crew with 488. Well into it now & it is proving to be very readable. Steve.

Taking shape nicely now, I'll look forward to seeing these come together, I have a couple in stock. The Star on the foredeck makes for an interesting variation. Steve.

To go into discussion as to the reliability of anecdotal evidence is pointless in the context of this thread I think but one thing that does seem to be missing is that the Italian 12.7 is not the same as the Browning .5 but was in fact developed from the British .5 Vickers round, also referred to as the 12.7x81. For export, Vickers developed a semi rimmed round, the 12.7x81R also used by the IJN A6Ms in the Ho 103 machine guns. They were sufficiently effective for these air arms & I've long mused that had Britain developed a airborne version of the Vickers .5, Spitfire & Hurricanes armed with 4 of those might well have been more effective than the .303s they were armed with & possibly well before the 20mm cannon became reliable. I didn't happen as history attests so I'll file it under daydreams. Steve.

This has come up really well Colin. I'll be looking forward to your photos in the Gallery. Steve.

I accept & respect that & can appreciate how frustrating you can find such inaccuracy, but all the same, the way you put it across was pretty blunt, bordering on rude. It is unusual here to get something as blunt. Others try to critique such inaccuracy in gentler more respectful manner. The fault is obviously with the decal maker & not everybody has the resources or skill to draw the conclusions you have from from the black & white photo you posted. My thoughts on this anyway. Steve.

Wot I said in the WiP plus just MARVELLOUS. Steve.

Aw mate, that is fripping AWEsome. ✔️ Steve.