Duncan B

Direction finding?? Duncan B

This is one of Eduard's earlier kits and has some well documented issues however, as you have shown, it can be beaten into a real thing of beauty. You have done a beautiful job of the build and the painting. Duncan B

I have never seen the 1/350 scale version so am unable to answer that one. Duncan B

No plans at the moment however the Royal Navy Monitor ships look interesting so maybe I'll tackle one of those at some point. Duncan B

This is my first build of a model ship in over 50 years so please forgive my ham-fisted efforts. This is the Revell boxing of the ICM 1/700 SMS König. It was one of those spontaneous purchases that had me wondering what I was thinking about before I'd even got it home. I have taken liberties with the colours used and the rigging is a bit of a mess but it was good fun and broke the mojo block that I have been suffering with lately. I now have even more respect for the folks that can make these things properly, with all the PE, bells and whistles. Duncan B

Reloaded the original photos that Photobucket 'stole'. Looking back now I really should have added some oil stains to it, far too clean. I would use MiG Oilbrushers if I was doing it now. Duncan B

Very nicely done. I did the same thing with the 'new' Airfix kit when it first came out but I took mine back to the F.1. I got 3/4 through the conversion when Alleycat came out with their conversion set lol. I'm currently wrestling a Sword EE Lightning and think it was actually easier to convert the Airfix kit, even without the Alleycat bits. Duncan B

Very nicely done. Duncan B

On the plus side your continued support of your LMS will help them maintain a presence. Amazon don't need any help in killing off the High Street. Use them or lose them. Duncan B

Probably 3/4 of the way into my third build/conversion of the Airfix kit going by how the Gods of Modelling work. I've been banging on about Airfix downsizing their 1/48 kit for years however until then we have TeeELL to thank for all these useful upgrades. Duncan B

Very nicely done Dave. I am feeling the beginnings of a Tomcat itch developing!! Duncan B

I'm no Vampire expert but to my eye even just addressing the thickness of the leading edge of the wing has made a huge difference to the overall look. Duncan B

I hate to tell you but the face screen handles on the seats would have been the earlier D shaped ones and not the 8. A simple fix though. I'm following with interest as I still have an Alleycat FAW5 conversion and Airfix kit in the stash that I haven't worked up the guts for yet. Duncan B

You get a better quality of wrong!! 🤣 Duncan B

The Eduard kit part is upside down or mirrored compared to the real thing. The fairing to the fuselage should be longer on the bottom than the top but it's the opposite, photos show it better than I can explain. The kit part as Eduard have it: The mirror image flipped: The real thing (I couldn't find a photo from head on but you can make out the shape): Duncan B

@sloegin57 lovely photo Dennis. You wouldn't happen to have any photos from 29's time at Leuchars would you? I'm still on the hunt for Leuchars based Javelin photos for references for my Leuchars builds. Hope you are keeping well Duncan B

I am currently painting a Ukrainian UB in the digital scheme. I bought the Mr Paint colours specifically for the Ukraine Su-27s but found that they didn't appear to be a very good match for that scheme (other than the light gray) so wondered if they were matched to the earlier splinter scheme (although that looks to be very similar colours if not the same). I have used the Mr Paint colours specified for the Russian Su-35 on that kit and thought they looked about right however the Mr Paint paints are pre-thinned ready for airbrushing so I doubt you'll have much joy brush painting them. Akan do different sets for the different schemes based on timescale and factory but they are a Russian company so you might have problems sourcing them. In the Great Wall Hobby instructions (which you can download from Scalemates.com) they suggest Mr Color paints but you'll have to mix them to get the correct shades, GWH suggest the mixes in the instructions. Duncan B

That's a missed opportunity. The Eduard Dora intake is one of those things that once seen it can't be unseen. I remember years ago, during my build of the kit, posting about the intake being flipped and was amazed that even some well known Luftwaffe experience hadn't noticed it and didn't initially believe me. For such a simple kit part it's not actually a easy fix either. Looking at the 'box art' for the Quickboost parts it looks like the part they have made for the Tamiya kit is a better shape (or at least not flipped!). I wonder if it could be adapted to work with the Eduard kit? Duncan B

I recent got one to replace my trusty 10 year old Iwata and I have to say I am really pleased with it. The quality is as good as my Iwata and the price is a lot less than if I had replaced the Iwata with a like for like replacement. I mostly spray Mr Color/Mr Hobby so Tamiya acrylics should not be a problem. I can't speak for the Vallejo as I don't use it. Duncan B

The underside of the FAW7 tail was not flat, there is a roundabout between the engines that gets more pronounced towards the rear. I shall have a look through my books and see if I can find suitable photos. Duncan B

Those Finemold kits are brilliant. Duncan B

Do you know that you can buy a 250ml bottle of Replenishing Agent for Mr Color that would restore your gloop to fully usable Mr Color paint? Might be a bit of overkill at £8.60 to fix one paint pot but if you have a stash of Mr Color paints I can recommend buying a bottle as the Mr Color do have a habit of gassing off and the bottle will restore even the most gloopy pots. Only adding Thinner doesn't work so well. I always have a bottle on hand to use on my own personal Mr Color paint stash but I also check every pot of new paint I sell to make sure they don't need a top up. The green colours seem to be the most prone to going a bit gloopy if they have sat for a while. Duncan B

I followed this one on Facebook but the photos here really show it off very nicely. A great looking build and something for me to aim for when I get around to building my one. Duncan B

My understanding is that the centreline tank would be jettisoned before firing the front Sparrows otherwise they could strike and puncture the tank on release. The Sparrows were pushed down, out of the airframe and free flying before the motor ignited. Duncan B

I used to use a spreadsheet but once I discovered Scalemates.com I found that was much easier to use and keep updated. Duncan B