Michael louey

Looks great Tony! Must be quite a lot of work restoring planes - having the cleanup and then rebuild/repaint - hope the interior didn't get messed up in the damp. Cheers Michael

Hi Steve, yes Australian colours can be hard to get information on outside Australia. Red Roo still produces a small booklet on them and Ian Baker did produce a number of paint chips a number of years back but these would be just about impossible to find now. Hu 149 is a FS34092 equivalent which is one of the colours usually quoted as a close match for Foliage Green and I have used it on a number of kits. Foliage Green though isn't "exactly" the same as the FS number, in fact there have been a number of paint chips for Foliage Green (maybe different manufacturers or paint condition) which vary in different shades. HB2 looks a good match to the paint chips I have for Foliage Green but I haven't popped open the current can of Hu 30 to see if it anything like the Authentics colour. If it is I'll probably use it for future builds, if not it will go back in the stash for a future unknown use. Cheers Michael

I finally got around to building one of the Polish PZL fighters I've been looking to do for ages. I've found Polish aircraft really interesting ever since I built the Revell PZ11 when I was still in primary school. Unfortunately I never got around to follow it up though I've bought and sold generations of PZ11's (Heller, Special Hobby), PZ23's and PZ37's. The PZ7 was meant to be a quick trial to try out some paints to use for future Polish Air Force builds. I read that the Hataka paints were a good match and the Red Line Acrylics were available at a local mail order shop so I thought I'd give them a go though in general I'm not a big user of acrylics. I would have gone for the Orange Line Lacquers which Seamus swears by but they weren't available. Unfortunately I had real problems with the Hataka paints - The underside blue grey kind of went ok after 2 coats however the top coat of Polish Khaki (Early) lacked coverage even after using my electric mixer and thinning with Mr Levelling Thinner still resulted in a blocked air brush. I finally decided to give up on these paints and revert to plan B which was to match the FS numbers on the Arma instructions. This resulted in using Testors Field Drab which I'd read was a good match for Polish Khaki (Late) and FS16743 Aircraft Grey which is a colour I normally use to replicate RLM76. These were applied after a messy paint stripping process. I still ran into a few more problems - I ended up not using a lot of the etch supplied as they either turned out to be overscale if applied as surface detail or just too fiddly and getting knocked off such as some wing eyelets. About the only useful etch were the windscreen and some gun sights. I also managed to break a couple of the wing and tailplane struts and the repair jobs weren't perfect. While this took a lot longer than planned and isn't the greatest build I've done, it still looks nice when finished. I had to change schemes after the paint disaster and chose the only scheme in "late Khaki" as that is what the Testors paint matched. Hopefully the IBG PZL P11 and P23's are more stress free builds but they've now been pushed back in the queue as I want to tryout the recent Airfix Spitfire Vc.

For me, another CAC Boomerang, this time a CA-13. It looks pretty much the same as the CA-19 I posted on Aussie Modeller a few months back, the only noticeable difference is the lack of provision for the fuselage camera. Its pretty much built with the same mods as the previous one - Red Roo enhancement set, Yahu instrument panel, Pavla vac canopy (sliding section only) and some odd additions noted in the previous build. For anyone interested in the build updates - refer to this topic on Aussie Modeller: http://forum.aussiemodeller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=16434&p=122234#p122234 Seeing this is pretty much a mirror of the previous build, the only notes will be on the finish. This is A46-199, the last CAC-13 before production switched to the CAC-19 contract. The plane was flown by Jack Archer and is a 4 Sqdn aircraft. Jack Archer shot down a Ki 43 "Oscar" while flying a Wirraway so would have been entitled to add a "Kill" marking to this plane but he didn't. There are a number of discussions here and on Aussie Modeller about this airframe however most of it is regarding the colour of the panel under the starboard side of the cockpit an nd the burning behind the exhaust. I've decided to finish it as plywood - it's a decal with an oil wash over it to darken it. The aircraft is in standard Foliage Green/Earth Brown/Sky Blue finish with a white tail and leading edge. The starboard tailplane looks like a replacement and isn't as heavily coated in white as the rest of the tail. The main experiment I tried with this finish was to fish out an old can of HB2 Humbrol RAF Dark Green to try it out as Foliage Green (A past member of our club Fred Harris once did a test of a real aircraft piece with Foliage Green and painted some HB2 on it and it was a good match). The Earth Brown was a mix of Humbrol 98 Chocolate with some Humbrol 10 Service Brown. This combined the better paint coverage of Hu 98 with the more accurate colour match of Hu 10. The decals are mainly from the kit however I replaced the Squadron Codes with those from PJ Decals. These are Medium Sea Grey codes and match better than the darker kit ones. The PD decals are quite old and Peter Roberts who was the modeller behind the decals recommends using a decal sealer on them. I ended up having to use Testors decal sealer on it after one of the code letters shattered. All in all, I'm quite happy with the appearance of the colour combination but I haven't got much more HB2 left so I'll have to see if the modern Hu 30 which is meant to be its equivalent is the same colour. Cheers Michael

Hi, The only source I know of for Colourcoats in Australia is Creative Models - they do post anywhere in Australia https://www.creativemodels.com.au/ I heard that Aeroworks in Adelaide has some old stock of Xtracolor and I expect they would post these in Australia as well. Best to phone them to see what is available. cheers Michael

Hi Colin, Very nice build - Looks like you had to add the same stuff I did - pitot tube, mass balances. One thing of note - The starboard front quarter window in a F-2 (and F-4) is not clear. It is a solid panel with a ventilation intake, like the G model. The port side is clear. I've got lots of photos of this now that I know what to look for (i.e. the 109 Schiffer book by Prien and Roedike). I think the photos in this thread show this: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/85649-messerschmitt-bf-109-f2-of-9jg54-yellow-7-flown-by-alfred-dollefeld-wnr-8086-belly-landed-in-russia-28th-jan-1942/ Should be pretty easy to paint the panel in. I didn't bother to represent the vent in my build. Cheers Michael

Hi Zegeye, I'm building the same kit right now. Are you across the need to add some interior blanking covers for the rear quarter windows? An idea of what is needed is shown by the Red Roo enhancement set: https://www.redroomodels.com/product/red-roo-boomerang-enhancement-set-1-72/ Their are other items in it which you could modify from plastic card - i.e the wheel covers. The other items (hedgehog exhaust, treaded wheels) are already in this SH boxing Cheers Michael

Hi Colin, Yellow is a difficult colour for coverage. A trick I was given by another modeller was to undercoat in a tan colour. I usually use whatever one I have handy, usually radome tan. This usually sprays pretty easily with good coverage. After that a single coat of yellow usually will be sufficient. I also bought myself an electric paint mixer (I think mine is a trumpeter) to make sure pigments are really mixed especially for colours like yellow. In this particular model though I used a different technique. I sprayed an undercoat of matt yellow (I think it was Model Master Insignia Yellow) followed by Xtracolour RLM 04. This was due to only having 04 in Xtracolour which is a gloss and has even less coverage than matt paints. I wasn't overly concerned about any bleed in this case as I expect the original plane would have been painted in the field and full coverage was likely not achieved either. Cheers Michael

Hi Colin, Saw this a bit late, however there is a build here that hasn't got a painted frame on the Zvezda kit I found out a heap of details when building the Fine Molds me 109G-2 and 109F-4. This clarified the framing of the main canopy (i.e. no middle frame in F models. It also highlighted that the small quarter window on an F only exists on the port side unlike the E models. Cheers Michael

HI Mark, I've had to fill the seam in the upper cowling about half a dozen times on the Eduard Spitfires. I always use Superglue (in my case it's a high quality brand available here called Bob Smith and it's the medium gap filling variant). I usually sand back soon after it has been applied - i.e. later in the day or the next day so the super glue isn't as "hard". I've got a number of Spitfires in the "Ready for Inspection" area where you can see the results. Good luck with your build, I'm planning on starting one of these once I get the current builds off the bench. Cheers Michael

Hi Dave, Those 2 photos are printed in Clive Caldwell Air Ace by Kristen Alexander, a good read about Caldwell. The originals were supplied by Clive's wife. Peter probably has copies of those and many more sourced independently. Cheers Michael

Another nice Spitfire Tony. The Sword still has some advantages over the Airfix - options for the wing bulges, some nice etch in some boxings and maybe finer detail for some parts. Did you cut down the undercarriage legs? I built mine a long time ago and since then noticed most other Spitfires sit lower (e.g. Airfix Mk I, Eduard Mk VIII). After building the Airfix and KP kits I planned to do a review and either cut down the Sword undercarriage legs or replace them with spares from Eduard. Cheers Michael

I have a Skybirds MB5 (as well as a couple of Hornets) and one thing I found to be very unique was that the vacform canopies were pre cut (maybe not fully cut through - I haven't got mine on hand to check) so the hardest part of using a vacform canopy was already done. The only problem with my MB5 is I accidentally trod on the canopy when having a look at it a long time ago. The windscreen is still ok but the canopy is irreparable. Fortunately I have a Falcon MB5 which I think has 1 or 2 vacform canopies and I plan to use one of those to finish off the Skybirds kit. I built the AZ kit last year and I don't think it's as good as the CMR kit in this thread. Hopefully the Skybirds kit is at least as nice. Cheers Michael

Hi Paul, Very true statement. It looks like Airfix is copying the technique Eduard used for their Mk VIII/IX kits. it may add detail and perhaps ease assembly but you're right about the issue of scale appearance, especially if you open the door on a Spitfire. By the way, it may be a fashion going forward, I noticed my Clear Prop Ki 51 Sonia has the same cockpit layout though there is no opening door on that plane so the issue is not so obvious, especially if the canopy is closed. Regards Michael

Hi Greg & Stix, I've heard people mention the upper cowl seam a number of times and heard Eduard supplies a resin replacement (which I think some have complained being undersize at times). Having heard this, I've always built the upper cowl's first and then added them to the kit fuselage (rather than gluing each side to the left/right fuselage then gluing halves together). By getting the cowl tops to have the best fit possible, I then add superglue to the seam after the cowls are fitted to the fuselage and carefully sand the seam/superglue and polish. I've never experienced any seam issues using this method (I've built the Eduard kit about 6 times). Here's one of the kits: Cheers Michael

Hello Hans First, let me say you've done a very nicely detailed build and accurate and well finished colour scheme. There is one thing that stands out in the 1st photo though - I think the undercarriage stance is too upright, likely caused by the kits part breakdown. I think the undercarriage should rake forward more - There is a very informative article/s on Hyperscale about this: http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/fw190landinggear_1.htm http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/fw190landinggear_2.htm Hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult to re align the gear if you desire. Cheers Michael

Hi I've used Flory or their equivalent washes and never had this problem but I use enamels or Gunze lacquers. I would have a suspicion it's the vallejo acrylics. I've heard they are quite fragile and I seldom use them except for very specific brush painting. Regards Michael

Nice pair of Australian Spitfires. I look forward to seeing them arrive here in Australia! Interesting colour on the code letter on the 54 Squadron aircraft - I'll need to check my DK decal sheet and see if there is any reference to how they determined the colour. Cheers Michael

That shows skills you don't see much these days. With so many detailed kits you can just assemble, scratchbuilding and vacforms are things you don't really get to see much these days. Great model! Cheers Michael

Hi Graham I had 2 remaining cans of HB1 in my stash - presumably I'd decided they weren't good matches for RAF dark green and "archived" them. Both would have been bought individually at hobby stores from their rack - I can't ever recall buying boxed sets of authentics. One has a paper label on top of a white lid, the other has the dark green colour printed on the lid (this would be a later issue). The latter can is still useable and I'm about to try it out on a Boomerang. It will be an interesting experiment but the colour seems to match the colour chips I have but since there is no more HB1, I'll have to revert back to FS34092 when this can runs out. Cheers Michael

Hi Graham A few notes about enamel hobby paints to match RAAF colours. After your note about the WEM paints, I had a quick search and found this article by one of our old members of IPMS - http://www.internetmodeler.com/2008/january/new-releases/wem_raafpaint.php I've used a few of the WEM/Sovereign colours for RAAF builds and my comments based on Ian Baker and Red Roo paint chip samples is similar to Phil's comments in the article. RAAF Foliage Green - I do have a can of the original WEM and found it a bit too "bright" compared to chips. I tend to use colours matching FS34092 (Humbrol or Gunze) for this colour though it might not be quite "green" enough. Recently I bumped into an article by Red Roo which noted that another of our old members Fred Harris had a sample of real Foliage Green from an aircraft artefact and it matched the old Humbrol HB1 Dark Green. Now it should be noted I eventually came to the view that HB1 is too green and not olive enough for RAF Dark Green but it might very well match Foliage Green very well. I found a couple of old cans of HB1 (one was basically unuseable but still ok to use as a colour match) on the weekend and they seem like good candidates for Foliage Green. Note: whichever colour Humbrol recommends as RAF Dark Green these days probably won't match HB1 so its back to the drawing board as I doubt there are many tins of real HB1 out there. RAAF Earth Brown - The 2 Humbrol colours which are reasonable candidates are Hu 10 Service Brown and Hu 98 Chocolate. The former is a closer match but I always find using the gloss paint a nightmare so I usually use Hu 98. Phil notes in the article that the WEM colour is way off - I've never owned this paint so can't comment. RAAF Sky Blue - I use the Sovereign colour and while not a complete match (as per Phil's article), I find it ok for use. RAAF Dark Earth - It is a bit darker than RAF Dark Earth and I used it recently for some overpaints of roudels - I agee with Phil - it looks like a good match. Hope this helps Cheers Michael

Hi Sebastian, I'm working on Boomerangs as well currently and have all my references out. I can see 2 photos of ZA O in Stewart Wilson's book and the codes do look very light. This would indicate they are likely Sky Blue, i.e. the same colour as the undersides. It's pretty hard to get Sky Blue codes of the right size/font so the only solution is to custom print or create stencils. Cheers Michael

Hi just back on the computer to reply - - SAT69: I agree the sharkmouth is most appropriate to the P40's - the under nose intake really does look like a gaping maw from a Shark. Strangely only 1 RAAF operated P40 sported a shark mouth. I still don't mind the sharkmouth on Spitfires though I think the original smaller version is much more elegant (I built one of these as Bobby Gibbes aircraft). Late in the war, there were some Spitfires painted with an even larger version than this example and it was really getting a bit out of proportion. - 112Squadron: The base has been mentioned in a number of my builds. A while back I created a group (about half a dozen) of generic bases for Model Shows and photography. This one uses a "Model Scene" grass mat. I've just white glued it to a trophy base so I really haven't spent a lot of effort in creating it. Anyone wanting one of these types of bases will find that Model Scene has a variety of different mats - I use a lusher one for temperate settings such as European based aircraft. Cheers Michael

Just back on the computer from a nice holiday down the coast. Thanks for all the nice comments - If you like 1/72nd Spitfires, you should really try out one of these Eduard kits. Even in Weekender format they're a great build and at least here in Australia they are very affordable. This was my 6th Eduard Mk VIII and they get easier over time from getting used to the few foibles they can have (mainly just need care in preparation and fitting/alignment. It was great Eduard decided to kit the Mk VIII as it's one of the 2 RAAF A series Spitfires and they come in a wide range of colour schemes. The main one I haven't tackled is the natural metal scheme since I'm not a real fan of this finish but I expect I'll eventually build one (likely the one from 1 APU which comes with a neat white tail and black anti glare panel. Cheers Michael

All wonderful builds and very interesting aircraft as well!