RJP

Yes, I supposed that was the case.

What a lovely evocative shot. Right click, save. It seems a bit odd that the caption is printed at 90 degrees from the title; Something must have got lost between the guy who chose the layout and the one who actually laid it out. Some fun.

I recall my six year old building a dinosaur. She painted it purple just like Barney on TV. The point is, the Beavers, your son included, probably want fun not accuracy or anything else. Acrylic paint, if it comes to paint, can be a lot more kid - and laundry - friendly. Purple also works for Spitfires. The punch line of the dinosaur is that my child is now doing the same thing with her child. Her dinosaur is green. Grandpa is having a ball.

The Hudson had a row of windows down the side and that seems to be what we see here. The Ventura seems to have had a couple, though not in a row. It also seems to be just aft of the spar, so you'd need to be careful where yer pointing that thing. Some Hudsons had a bar type limiter on the gun travel though I don't see one here. An interesting shot and I'd like to see some more.

Looks like a Hudson to me.

What's the answer?

You might be thinking of the Otter. I don't believe the RCAF ever had Beavers.

Joe Baugher has this machine listed as a D rather than a K. It’s possible to see the prop is cuffed and the canopy lacks the kink at the rear that is typically (but not conclusively) a K feature. In fact, Falcon supplies an early lower profile version specifically for this machine. That photograph is reproduced very well in the 1968 vintage Aircam volume, excellent contrast and resolution. Cleaver drags himself through a knot hole over the colours but in the end thinks they used a single colour for the green areas (OD or MAP Dark Green but not both). He might be right. Certainly I can’t see a lot of difference between the different areas. A link: http://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/cleaver/cleaver51d.htm) What is apparent is the inconsistent masking. The areas around the gun muzzles and the fuselage insignia and over the S are defined sharply but the tail and wing root patches are obviously freehand. The wing insignia has been masked but there is a very thin strip of NMF / aluminium lacquer showing and the edge where it meets the green is not sharp. Maybe they laid down a template rather than tape. The antiglare panel seems to have been repainted with a non-standard (and uneven) bottom edge and uneven masking at the yellow band. Busy, busy, busy. Edited for clarity.

It's PS853 you want and the story is told in Spitfire At War. PS853 was with the Central Fighter Establishment at Binbrook, intended as a gate guardian but maintained airworthy instead. When the Indonesian confrontation brewed up the question of meeting Indonesian Mustangs with Lightnings arose. The Spitfire was used in the trials in 1962. A googling reveals PS853 in Dark Earth / Dark Green with type D roundels and flash, fuselage serial was grey. Red spinner with white backplate. Light undersides but not sure of the colour. Type D roundels and black serials underwing.

You can record the pattern of the original kit lines by using brass rubbing technique - plain paper laid on then rubbed over with a soft pencil. Then you only need confirm the pattern and you're set.

This seems like a waste of perfectly good electrons.

I've just dug out my Airfix Vulcan from the stash. It is an MPC boxing that I picked it up when it first appeared, must be 30+ years ago. The panel lines are very fine raised lines. They look OK in the box but raised ridges are completely out of place on a flush riveted airframe especially in 1/72. But I have never understood them as being a problem. My local hardware store sells wet and dry sandpaper and I know how to use it. The task isn't unpleasant or difficult and the problem is solved in a few minutes. I'm not sure how much surface detail is really needed in 1/72 but if panel lines are required I've always had good results from a hard sharp drafting pencil. A flexible straight edge - I use a typewriter erasing template - and you're golden.

No idea, I'm afraid. I did find this: http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=293136 Of interest is the listing of foreign aircraft and their locations.

That's X7718 and the photograph was taken at Orlando Florida. Captain William J. Wrigglesworth is in the picture. Orlando was home to a USAAF night fighter training unit.

Has anyone else seen the excellent piece done by Peter Mansbridge? Similarly, he went flying with the Lancaster but took a very different approach. The flying footage was also very good.

Joe Baugher has PZ467 with US Navy BuNo 91106 assigned. It was supposedly used at Patuxent River for comparative tests with a B-25 (PBJ?) Anyone find more pictures of it? I don't suppose the Navy repainted it . . . Apparently it later went to the US civil register as NX66422 and named The Silver Streak. It was written off in North Carolina in 1947 or '48.

On the subject of airframe modifications, I just noticed (in Post No. 11) a mod to the tail, what looks like an extension aft between the rudder sections. I wonder what it could be?

If you are doing multiple examples you might like to try re-usable material. A friend of mine uses rubber glove material for his many Spitfires. He spatchcoks a rubber glove, traces the pattern on with ballpoint pen and cuts it out with scissors. Then he tacks it down - I think with Blu-tac or equivalent - and has at it. The rubber is impermeable and stable enough to be re-used; the gloves are cheap enough that he can replace the masks any time he likes.

Airfix did a U-2 during the 1980s and it was also issued in the States under the MPC label. It had optional parts for the U-2A, C and D. It's a simple kit and assembled well. The one I had was moulded in black. I haven't seen one on store shelves in years but I see oldmodelkits.com in Kentucky has one in stock (an online listing) for a whopping $52. Alan's a good vendor and if your wallet is thick I bet he'd be glad to help you relieve the pressure.

Lancbuilder219, I'd like to see that video - can you post a link?

You've hit an interesting one. That's KB923, PT-N named No Drip Nan of 420 Squadron. 420 was in 6 Group and flew home to Canada to prepare to go to the Far East for Tiger Force. They left England at the end of May 1945 via the Azores and arrived in early June. The picture was taken at the RCAF repair depot at Scoudouc New Brunswick. Nan was a pretty new machine. It arrived in England in April and is not thought to have done any operations. Interesting that the paint has already been lost off the rad scoops. Interesting too that the flame dampers were already gone. Other pictures show squadron machines with codes outlined (in yellow?) so it's a pretty good one to model. Also, Nan would have had the Martin mid upper turret. The splashy paint was applied for the trip home. White spinners were common, some got white rings to the wing roundels and one was seen with whitewall tires.

What period are you looking at? What air forces? Wartime Lancasters rarely had a lot of colour, postwar things could change.

Thanks for reminding me of that one. If anyone's interested, TCM shows it from time to time. I recall RCAF Hampdens too, a real rara avis in film.

I don't suppose there are a lot of us still around who built the original Airfix 'G' model. I did, back about 1965, and yes, it was A Bit O' Lace and I loved every moment of it. The old kit was wrong in so many ways and that mattered not a bit. I too will get the new one, especially but not only, if they repeat the scheme.