John Tomlinson

Thanks for your very interesting and informative post. As an occasional aircraft modeller, I've always wondered why in 1/72 folk do all this rescribing when, as you say, on the real thing the panel lines are almost invisible (unless its been rotting in a scrapyard for years). The logical consequence of your point is that in most cases the rescribing ( and also preshading) effects created are just that, they look great (beyond dispute) but don't actually reflect the real thing. It does, as you also say, come down to personal taste, but in my own very humble opinion, the model shown in post 23 (the anti flash white) illustrates how fine the true to prototype look can be. John.

You'll need to be a bit careful about the front fittings, such as towhooks, as these were moved on the Dozer version. However the parts are in the kit to make the variant without the Dozer blade - in fact mine came with the bits for the Aussie variant as well, as the sprue they are on contains one part needed for the Dozer variant. I found the most perplexing thing about the kit to be the wheels and tyres. The PMMS review, mentioned above, is brilliant for lots of things and explained how this works - basically the kit tyre includes in its moulding the wheel rim, and simply is a push fit on the side of the hub. There's no guidance in the instructions and I came perilously close to sanding the hubs down to make the tyres fit which would have been a big mistake as well as a waste of effort! Good luck, John.

Mine arrived from HLJ yesterday, after I had been advised of shipping on 31st January. Cost with shipping is Yen 2640, around £16. The package had been sent with a clear customs declaration by HLJ giving the cost of contents, the kit price, as Yen 1700, around £10 and therefore under the £15 trigger for customs duty.( £6 for shipping half way round the world seems more than reasonable!) The kit is in perfect condition, having been packed by HLJ in a stout cardboard box. This was the first time I'd ordered from them, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Thanks to Paul, above, for your tips! John.

Mine arrived yesterday from Wonderland Models - under 24 hours from order to arrival. The kit looks great, as indeed does the decal sheet, but I wonder if anyone out there who's made one could flag up any tricky bits? Many thanks in advance, John.

Tony O need have no fears. Last Sunday it did two passes over our house in Rutland, on the second opening the throttles as it went. Our burglar alarm, via a break glass detector, sprung into action - fortunately we were just round the corner! Best make the most of it - can't go on forever. John.

Having recently started this kit, I had exactly the same concern with the tyres and roadwheels. A search yielded a review in http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/afvclub/afv35100.htm which explained that the kit rubber tyres are moulded so as to include the rim of the roadwheel - the kit wheels in effect are just represent the inner part of the wheel. If you examine the kit tyres, one side has a mould ridge which represents the wheel rim, and the concentric circles inside are on that side of the tyre and represent the wheel rim inside edge. This is clearly not going to be a joy to paint! To fit the tyre simply push on to the kit wheel from the outside, so the edge of the kit wheel butts against the inner concentric ring of the tyre. It would have been very helpful had there been any inkling of this in the kit instructions, and I've made this post to warn anyone else coming along this path - I was all set to take the mini saw to my glued wheel pairs and add a spacer! I shall be delighted if my effort ends up looking half as good as the one seen here. John.

...and as might be obvious to anyone with half a brain - which excludes me - the decals are for RNZAF only and not either of the RAF schemes with the Training units!

A really lovely model and setting - just shows what skill and determination can do with an old kit! A couple of questions if I may. I wondered if you'd taken off the moulded rivets, or perhaps sanded them a bit so as to leave some mark, which after all is visible on the real thing. And what is the Grey - in theory EDSG, but in practise most maritime aircraft seem to look better with something a bit lighter than the contents of a jar with that label? Many thanks, John.

I'm pleased to add to Dek's comment, that the parts dropped through my letterbox this morning. Full credit to CMK/MPM for dealing with this so promptly, within a week, and without any fuss!

Thanks very much Richard, I shall need to ask CMK for these as they haven't been included in my box. Cheers, John.

I've just picked up on this thread. As someone with a PR10 in the stash, I wonder if one of you could tell me what the resin inserts for the wing root look like, as I can see no reference to them in the instructions, nor anything that might fit the bill in the box! Many thanks, John.

There are a lot of shots on http://www.airliners.net which you can access using their search facility. I took your view of the rear cockpit space when converting the old Airfix BI6 using the Airwaves set in 1/72, you really can't see anything of this though the main pilot area under the canopy is very visible. I'd recommend you decide on a particular aircraft at a point in time before starting, as the mods vary as does the decal scheme depending on which one and when. They do appear from photos to carry wingtip tanks most of the time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Good luck, John.

Ah, a very challenging question! I've just had several months finishing off seven or eight plastic models, plus a similar number of railway related projects, in advance of a major house reorganization. Its taken a lot of willpower to peak inside the boxes of kits not started, and then close the lid again, although I've got a lot of satisfaction from the completions. I choose to work in a way that has several things on the go at once, for two reasons. Quite often I get stuck on a point of research or the more practical issue of "what's the best way to..?" and can then carry on with something else, and then there's the matter of painting - as a sprayer its quite efficient to do several things with similar colour schemes together. The downside is that spirits can flag when nothing seems to have been completed for ages. As for the stash, well history teaches that waiting until you're ready to start before buying a kit is a road to huge disappointment, and if you get cold feet on something it can probably now be disposed of on ebay. Many years ago, a model railway kit manufacturer, of white metal locos, estimated that 80% of the kits sold were never actually built - which proves again there is nothing new under the sun, and this question has been around for a very long time! With many happy completions to you all, John.