Davidf66

Hi guys, I work at the LHS (Laurence Mathews) in Southend, the other day I asked the rep who deals with Italeri about the availability of the Sunderland. He said that it was supposed to be released early last year, then got pushed back to December last year, then to Early this year but, at the moment, no-one has any idea when the kit will eventually see the light of day. As to the cost, he said they don't even have an RRP listed. Given Italeri prices at the moment, I imagine it could be a bit eye-watering! If I hear any more, I'll let you know. Just in case anyone was beginning to wonder, the same applies to the alleged Italeri 1/32nd scale F-104 Starfighter.

Thanks again, Edgar, yet more very useful pics. Looks like I might have a wee bit of scratch-building to do as it appears Tamiya have left out a couple of small details. The kit is lovely, if you get a chance, treat yourself to one, if you do, I have some spare markings from the Kagero book if you want them. I'm only going to be making one of these, couldn't afford another one anyhow so there's plenty of spare decals. I'm making SL 727, HT-L of 601 Sqn, based at North Weald, 1949 but the other options are up for grabs.

Hi Guys, many thanks for the help. I'll pass on your advice to the chap who asked me about it and see what he wants to do. Thanks again, TTFN, David.

Thanks Edgar, that's exactly the kind of picture I was looking for. You are indeed, the Spitfire Guru!

Hi all, I'm in the middle of making the Tamiya Spitfire Mk.XVIe kit and I'm trying to figure out where the pilots oxygen hose was located. I was going to work on the assumption that it would be in the same location, i.e starboard sidewall, as the earlier versions but wondered if anyone here had some more definitive information? I can't find anything in the Modellers Datafile which is, unfortunately, the only reference I have for the Spitfire so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, TTFN, David.

Hi everyone, I'm not a maritime modeller but I got asked at one of my air-brushing demos if I knew where to get a Matchbox 1/700th scale HMS Kelly. I honestly didn't even know that Matchbox produced any ships kits in this scale so I figured I'd ask here. Basically I just need to know A) Does/Did this kit exist? How much would it cost? C) Does anyone have one they would be willing to part with? Many thanks in advance for any information you can provide, TTFN, David.

Hi redstorm, I'm yet another model-maker who's available to take this on if you haven't found someone already. I've done a lot of commission work and give regular model-making / airbrushing demos at the local hobby store in Southend. I can provide pics of my work if required. Out of interest, which kit would you wannt this based on, personally I'd suggest the Hasegawa kit although it will need some extra work to get a fully accurate WAH-64. I live in Southend and I used to be in the TA at Colchester so could hand deliver this to you upon completion. Anyway, if you want to know more, or see some pics, feel free to get in touch and if not then I hope you get someone to build this for you. Bye for now, best regards, David.

Very, very nice! Must resist temptation to get into Japanese a/c!

Ah, now that is a sweet-looking model. If I could afford one, this could seriously tempt me into buying a Tamiya A6M. It's also yet another reason to be unhappy about missing Telford this year as I'd have loved to have seen this in the real world! I'll look forward to the magazine article and wish you good luck in the competion, best regards, David.

That's a really nice looking Bucc, I take my hat off to you for producing such a fine model as it's definitely not the easiest, best fitting kit ever created. I made one of these years ago in Desert Storm markings, used the Neomega cockpit and Eduard brass sets. With regards to the seats, I'm certainly no expert but they look O.K to me. I believe that they could be adjusted in height and for an a/c with a closed canopy they seem to be O.K. Looking at the pic of the real thing, it looks like the crews heads would be squashed under the canopy if it was closed and the navigators head would be above the blast shield. Like I said, I'm no expert and I'm sure there's someone who's a Bucc guru that could say for certain.

..or you could use thinned down Tamiya Smoke (X-19). I use this quite often as it gives a nice "oily" look. You can also mix it with various inks to produce slightly different shades. The other thing I use a fair bit is the Games Workshop, Citadel washes. There's a decent selection of colours, Devlan Mud, Badab Black, Gryphone Sepia and Thraka green are the ones I use most, they dry with a matt finish so aren't particularly good for an "oily" effect but are good if you want a sort of "dusty" look to your wash.

Hi Mike, welcome to the forum and many thanks for the additional info and pics. I actually had that copy of FSM up until a few years ago as I had some crazy notion to 'sort-of' copy your Mach 4 Hustler using the Monogram 1/48th kit. Unfortunately, I never got around to it and due to financial woes, I ended up seling the kit and magazine along with a bunch of other 1/48th stuff. I'm now firmly into 1/32nd scale kits but, having seen your new pics, there's a little voice telling me I should have a go at scratch-building a 1/32nd version. I wonder if I.D models ever did the B-58 as a vac-form... No, must take my meds and go lie down until the voices stop.. at least for now!

I`ve used the Aires detail sets on several projects, including the wheel wells on an a 1/48th F-4E, F-14B and A-7E. I never had any problems getting them to fit but you need to do a fair amount of test fitting and thinning of the kit parts as well as the Aires parts. To be honest, the A-7 set was a breeze to use but the F-14 / F-4 sets required a lot of work as both have limited space in which to insert the MLG bays and, as the NLG bay is directly under the cockpit, these to require a fair amount of work to get them fitted. The bottom line is that these sets do work, they do fit and they look stunning but you only get out what you`re prepared to put in. Having said that, the instructions are fairly poor as they don`t really indicate just how much plastic and resin has to be removed. I also used the exhaust set on the F-4 and these also require that a lump is cut out of the horizontal section of the fuselage parts but a bit of simple test fitting will reveal all. TTFN, David

I'd very interested in a set of these for my 1/32nd Tiffie. If anyone wants to supply the masters, I'm O.K with having a crack at producing them in resin. I'm O.K with getting the silicone/resin casting kit but I'd need to have postage covered for any sets sent out and, possibly, a little on top to cover the cost of new supplies. Definately not looking to make a quick buck here, just hoping to be able to supply these parts for those that need/want them. Anyone that's interested, please feel free to pm me so we can get something sorted out. Bye for now, best regards, David.

Hi John, I can't post any pics but I've just been through the Detail & Scale book on the F4U Corsair. The canopy on the F4U-4B and F4U-4 are identical. Pretty much the only difference between them was that the F4U-4B was armed with X.4 20mm cannon and the F4U-4 was armed with X.6 .50 Cal. MGs. Looking at the pictures, it looks like the canopy in the kit is pretty spot on, the windscreen seems a bit off in that the forward frames are too far apart and should angle in towards each other more at the top. They mention this in the modellers section at the rear of the book. If I was you, I'd get hold of the D&S books, particularly volume 56 as this covers the later Corsair variants. I hope this is of some use to you. Bye for now, best regards, David

Like RobW said, if you're pre-shading before your main colour, give it about 30-40minutes. If you're spraying your second camo colour, give it a good 4-6 hours to dry, especially if masking. If you want your enamels to dry faster, get some Rustins Terebine Driers. It's a very deep purple coloured driying agent that can be gout from most good home painters and decoraters suppliers. I've used it for years now and have to say that I'm very impressed with it. You only need a drop or three in your paint mix and it cuts the drying time down to a couple of hours. I've used it with Humbrol, Revell and Xtracolour enamels. Despite the strong colour of the actual fluid, it doesn't affect the final colour of the paint.

Does your compressor have a storage tank? If so, it might be that the tank has a build-up of water in it, I've got an old Revell Omega compressor, a couple of years ago, I had very similar symptoms to the ones you describe and, after mucking around with the moisture trap and putting PTFE tape on all the joins, I still hadn't cured the problem. A friend suggested a possible water build-up so I undid the connection to the tank and poured out a fair amount of water, I've had no problems with it since then. I hope this helps, best regards, David.

Lovely, just lovely. Excellent finish on a truly great-looking aircraft. I'd sell my soul for one of these and an F-106 in 1/32nd scale

Hi again everyone, many thanks for all the help. Thanks to Grizly for the pic and to Nigel Bunker for the conversion article. I'm going with the Martin turret and normal bomb-bay doors. I'm hoping to be starting this build fairly soon. I might even try to sort out how to post pics here so you can see how it turns out. Thanks again, TTFN, David.

Hi everyone and thanks for all the help. I should be able to start this pretty soon. The decals I'm using are the Kitsworld ones (They're not a Canadian company by the way). I've spoken to Nigel about the decal guide artwork and, apparently, it's a bit generic. Hopefully, once I've sorted out what needs doing to the kit, I'll be able to pass the info on and get the decal sheet instructions amended to include details of what changes need to be made and how to achieve them. I'll try to make sure BM, and you guys in particular, get a mention as I'd hate to take credit for doing nothing more than asking a question. Thanks again, best regards, David.

Hi all, I'm going to be using the Revell kit to make a model of the Lancaster Mk.X, serial KB-872, named "No Not Now". According to the information I've found, this would be fitted with Packard Merlins, paddle blade props, H2S radar and bulged bomb-bay doors. To that end I've got a set of Paragon bulged bomb-bay doors as the kit supplies the H2S and paddle blades. However, I've been told that this a/c would have been fitted with the Martin Mid-Upper turret armed with twin .50 cal m.gs and, if so, that the turret was moved forward due to C of G issues. I've drawn a blank finding pictures of this a/c and I thought that maybe some on here would have a better idea of just what I need to do to accurately re-produce this Lancaster. Any help would be greatly appreciated, TTFN, David.

Sorry, should have put the price of the Alley-Cat set in my post. I bought mine at Telford so have no idea as to shipping costs but the actual set cost me £9.50. TTFN, David.

Hi, well, I've pulled two sets of the parts needed for the vokes filter and long Spinner, seem to have worked out O.K-ish but will need some work as I've got a couple of weird mould faults, nothing majorly serious but odd and annoying. On the plus-side, there's no casting blocks to remove, just a thin film over the propellor blade openings and some flash around the edges of the other parts. If you still want them, get in touch and I'll get 'em posted asap. Bye for now, best regards, David.

Hi, just had a quick look at my XVI, seems like the sprue you need is "LL". Alternatively, you could just order a Mk.IXe wing conversion from Alley-Cat. It's based on the Tamiya kit parts and fits beautifully.

Sorry for not posting earlier, I started a new job this week and have been been getting home late-ish, tired'n'frazzled, haven't even looked at a model since last week! Anyway, I de-moulded the kit parts and cleaned them up yesterday and tonight I've poured the second lot of RTV so, providing it all works out O.K, I should be able to try casting some bits during the weekend. TTFN, David.