Michael louey

I built mine with a hard mask using tamiya tape, however for a slightly feathered finish, why not use paper mask held on by blue tack. Cheers Michael

Interesting question, if it is, then it has a non standard fitting of the cannons - They have been fitted to the outboard positions which is the first time I would have seen this on a RAAF example. The other possibility is that this is an E wing which would completely remove the RAAF possibility. Anyone with more info? Cheers Michael

Thanks for the update. As Marcel also noted he made a mistake with the 2 part roundels. I had hopefully thought that one of the 3 Squadron RAAF machines from the desert had been covered, especially if it was one with nose art. I can see how the roundels could have been mistaken for 'Pacific roundels' however we never operated Gladiators in the Pacific War and I would be very worried about how they would have performed against the IJAAF and IJNAF Thanks Michael

Hi Marcel, Can you supply more details of the boxing of the Revell Gladiator containing RAAF decals. My google searches of the current boxing show the Revell Gladiator with pre war RAF markings (one option only). Regards Michael

Bud Tingwell - Mosquito/Spitfire pilot (Movie and TV star)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our then club president Rene built one of the Special Hobby Hornets last year. He has done a nice job on it and won 1st in the OOB Allied props category. There is a picture currently posted here: http://www.modelexpo.com.au/gallery.html This is also a good chance to remind Australian based modellers that Model Expo is only 2 weekends away on Queen's Birthday weekend. I can see in Rene's build the issues people have raised about the mismatching spinner/nacelle size. It shows what a good modeller he is and the canopy seems to have been blended in very well. I can't comment on the dihedral but I don't think Rene would have done anything about it as he isn't a real Hornet fanatic. It does look quite nice built up but I will stick with my Skybirds kits as even though they are not perfect, it sounds like they are better in some respects than the Special Hobby kit. Cheers Michael

I'm glad to hear that as I have a couple of the Skybirds kits as well. I saw a nicely built MPM kit made by our club president and it even came 1st in one of the comps! The only issue I've heard about the Skybirds kit is the windscreen. It has been shown that the side bottom edge of the windscreen is 'straight' rather than sloping up to the front windscreen as in the Skybirds (and maybe other?) kits. Cheers Michael

Just reading Vulcan 607. It reminded me that the only way to get a HP Victor is thanks to Matchbox. I think the plane looks great but I haven't got one as it is large and not in my main build themes. Their Norseman though has filled a nice niche though... Cheers Michael

Andrew, You've solved the mystery. In the link you posted it showed the prop was changed to a 4 blader after the plane had a crash - Look at the post in the thread as below: Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:02 pm Time to find a pilot MeierMotors engaged Marc "Leon" Mathis, one of the most experienced Focke Wulf pilots. Marc flew at this time for almost 30 hourse on the F-AZZJ, WkNr. 990013. 12th June 2010 Marc Mathis ditched with F-AZZj in the birch of Hyères as he trained for the airshow "100anées Aeronavale". Marc is really a fantastic pilot and he had only a bunch of seconds to decide wether to do a bellylanding on the beach or ditch into the water. Marc checked the beach, too much people, and decided to ditch. He managed the dirching in absolute winglevel with about 250km/h. Fortunatly Marc "Leon" was unhurt and rescued by some jetski-pilots. As Marc told one propellerblade feathered, heavy vibration and of course no power anymore, technical failure of the propellerhub. .... no testflights with the three-blader, no risk ! Repeated farsightedness... MeierMotors immediatly changed the 3-blader to the four-blader bought and stored since 2007. No timelag, and Marc Mathis could start some days later with engine-and taxitests at EDTG in July 2010 Michael

Here you go - A picture of my 190C with 4 bladed prop. Cheers Michael

Hi, Have you looked at this site - http://www.hangar7.org.au/ataiu.htm It has a few photos of captured Japanese aircraft tested in Brisbane. There are also photos on the Australian War Memorial collection. J Aircraft also has discussion and articles. e.g. http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/dave_pluth/hollandia_oscars.htm Best of luck Michael

Hi Bill, Just noticed this thread. Your Spitfire is looking really good even though it has wandered off the Out of Box plan you had at the start. Great minds (or in my case not such a great mind) must think alike as I am doing exactly the same kit for nearly the same reason right now. I have decided to really stick closer to Out of Box only adding a clear gun sight and mesh for the radiator (not yet realised) to get some experience of the 'New Airfix'. My son actually blazed a path ahead as his Secondary History teacher has the great project each year for his Aust History class. All the students build an Australian themed diorama for one of the assignments. He got them all an Airfix Spitfire as a practice class project (A shame the Airfix offer for schools isn't available here) so my son gets to try all the trial techniques first (fit of parts, paint colours, masking). Mine is trailing behind but will soon have the fuselage closed up. Best wishes for the finishing touches. Cheers Michael

Fascinating build. I watched a documentary on this aircraft (part of a show on the black operations at Area 53) while on a flight from Australia to USA last Nov. What are the differences between the A-12 and a SR71? Cheers Michael

Nicely done Duncan - The rescribing is well done. I agree with you about the colour debate - I built mine in the kit scheme using a RLM02 colour. Cheers Michael

Great looking model. This reminds me of all the books and articles in Air Enthusiast by Tony Buttler. The early British post war projects really had the Flash Gordon sci fi look about them. Interesting how so many varied designs came about before the introduction of computers and the production of similar 'vanilla' type aircraft we have these days. Cheers Michael

Well done Patrick. Good to see you managed to fish your exhaust out again. Looks very nice. The Sword kit really is a very good kit of the Spitfire. Cheers Michael

Thanks for responding. I agree with you about getting the thinning ratios right. I have trouble with some paints just getting them to spray ok at all (i.e. not too thin and runny and not too thick that it splatters or doesn't come out at all). I'll have to practice more. I've used Xtracolour at times. No problem with long drying times since I started using their own propriety thinner. I just used some Gunze for exhaust staining and that worked quite well but in general I find Acrylics a bit 'fragile'. I have a HP-C plus as well but it always splatters for fine work though it is fine for general work. I use a Harder and Steenbeck for fine work though I have been using a local 'Runway 13' brush for mottling. I've just posted my 190 at 72nd scale modeller - http://z15.invisionfree.com/72nd_Aircraft/index.php?showtopic=3390 Regards Michael

Great build Duncan. I am especially impressed by the mottle work. I can never get it that subtle and well defined. What type of paint/airbrush do you use? I've built the Hasegawa kit once and it is really nice. I am aware of the need to do mods for the A-6 and A-7 so I'll need to brush up on those when I get around to it. I have just finished Tamiya's A-3 so I have a similar looking bird to photograph soon. It will be interesting to see the new Airfix kit to see if they can improve on the Hasegawa kit. The only obvious areas (other than cockpit detail which i'm not overly worried about) would be the opening between the wheel wells and perhaps the shape of the canopy (I've been told it should be straight on the top rather than the slight curve). I still can't see Airfix doing as clear and as fine a canopy as Hasegawa though. Cheers Michael

Hi Andy, I must have missed this one first time around but I'm always impressed by the style and realism of your large multi engine jets. I was wondering where you have the space to keep all of them but it seems from your last post that some need to stay in storage cases. A shame, they would look great in a large hall (for those who can afford mansions). I always remember the 'Bounder' as one of those classic failures of aviation but it is an intimidating looking craft. Cheers Michael

Hi Ed, From memory of reading some narratives, this plane was loaned to 451 Squadron by one of the PRU squadrons. It is painted in Royal Blue. Here is a link to another shot of the plane (or a similar one) at the AWM site http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P00869.012 I have some more photos at home from the 451 squadron history and the serial for the plane. Cheers Michael

They are beautiful models and imaginatively presented. If you had the desire, you should see if one of the publishing groups would do an article or booklet on this series. With some more background information/original source photos and modelling information, they would make a really interesting story. Cheers Michael

Nice build. Is this the 1/72nd scale Airfix kit? I am planning the same conversion on some very cheap AZ 'Joypack' Mk IX's. Are the codes Medium Sea Grey or white. I have the Almark decals but I seem to recall they supplied them as Sky and then replacements as Medium Sea Grey. For complete accuracy they should be either sky blue or white but I can't find any sheets that use those colours (even the CMR kit has them as Sky) I noticed you added extended wing tips, can you point to the reference. I think this might be possible but can't remember where this may have been referred to. Cheers Michael

i can't find any decent P-39 plans (suggestions welcome) but initial comparison of the RS kit to photos shows that it looks quite good. Once the model deck is clear i'll go further with this one. Hi Ed, I wonder if the 'Detail and Scale' plans are any good? They are usually very accurate in their notes about required fixes to kits. Regards Michael

Hi Bill, Hyperscale has had a couple of reviews and in box reviews of this kit. Here is a made up one by Mick Evans - http://hsfeatures.com/features04/canberramk20ime_1.htm And to see what is in the box: http://kits.kitreview.com/canberramk20reviewme_1.htm http://kits.kitreview.com/canberramk20reviewme_1.htm I own a number of High Planes kits but haven't built one yet. They look better than the Mach 2 kits I have. Mach 2 kits tend to have much harder issues to fix - really thick, cloudy transparencies, misaligned major parts and rough surfaces. All the built up High Planes kits I've seen club members finish look great! Cheers Michael

For those not wanting to wait for a new release and willing to do a bit of work, there is still the High Planes series of Canberras. They are currently out of production but are still available on the net - e.g. http://bushrangermodels.com.au/ Cheers Michael