MikeR

Corporate shenanigans, don'cha just love it! Mike.

A new 1/72 I-16 Type 5 will do quite nicely, thank you! A must have type for anyone building a selection of Spanish Civil War aircraft. Wonder if they might do an I-15 in 1/72? The ICM one is a bit of a challenge. Mike.

Not too sure if it's purely access to references that appear to limit RN ships being kitted by CN manufacturers. There might be domestic factors as well, i.e. not wanting to attract attention from elements within the CCP. I do know that the Chinese gaming industry has to walk a very fine line between satisfying their playerbases and the CCP's cultural desires. Sino-British relations haven't been all that smooth since the Opium Wars and the Chinese State does have a long memory. Mike.

A lot of it will be down to shipping costs - I've heard plenty of evidence that logistics chains everywhere are under a lot of strain. Mike.

Yeah, saw that too, I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Most of that price will no doubt be the cost of shipping it from China and importing into the UK. Mike.

I would say "more than" the Takom offering, but a lot will depend on the importers, shipping etc. Mike.

Sovereign Hobbies has some good info on their website: LINK. IIRC from the Pathe footage showing the handover, the Buchanan and rest were still in the USN pre-war scheme of #5 Standard Navy Gray horizontals, #20 Standard Deck Gray decks, black boot-topping with Norfolk 65-A Antifouling Red underwater. As for Vallejo equivalents, there was a gentleman on Modelwarships.com who complied this list which gives info for not just USN, but RN and others as well: LINK. Mike.

Looks very nice indeed! Mike.

WW1 falls during what's known as the "Pre-Grouping Era" which covers pretty much everything up to 1st January 1923 when the various companies were "Grouped" into four larger ones. One of the attractions of the pre '23 period is the colourfull liveries that the various companies used but a downside is that they could be very ornate - lots of panelling and lining! As your down in the South West have a look at anything related to the Great Western Railway, the London and South Western Railway and the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. LSWR train in the livery used up to the middle of WW1 (it had to simplified due to the effects of the war): S&DJR train: I can't find a suitable period image for the GWR, but it changed it's livery not long before WW1 and stayed more-or-less the same until it became part of British Railways in 1948: Mike.

Not a company name but I have seen a few amusing product descriptions in my time working in supermarket land, both when they go through the till and on the price tickets themselves. I think the best one would be this for a squeaky rubber chicken dog toy: "Latex Poultry". Mike.

Well, I finally had my first jab this past Tuesday. Went to the P&J Live, straight in, no queue and straight back out again in about half an hour. Told I was getting the Pfizer one so I thought "fine, the side effects should be manageable." Errr.... no. Started feeling queasy that night, went to bed and woke up feeling utterly crud! Had to phone in sick and I've spent the last week slowly starting to feel human again! Still feel muzzy headed but it's no where near as bad as it was. Mike.

One to look forward to! The modification to the intake shock cones might be a little tricky, though. That's potentially going to be a pest to tidy up. Mike.

Nice! I was hoping they were going to do an E-1. Mike.

Very nice indeed! Mike.

Yep, sounds like the old Matchbox kit. Another option from the Revell ones would be Italeri as they've re-issued some of the old Esci SdKfz 251's. If you want an unarmoured one Revell's the best bet. Mike.