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I knew there was something I forgot. Maybe Airfix should get Tamiya to mould their Mustang kit! thanks Mike

Thanks Dave - long time no hear! thanks Mike

I've said this for a while about the Airfix Mustang and I've built a few. Save for the dropped flaps option, I think the Tamiya kit is a lot nicer and is a much better quality product (and cheap if you know where to look). The Airfix kit also suffers from horrid drop tanks, bin those and use other ones. If Airfix fixed the annoying issues with the kit, it would be as good as the Tamiya kit but with the bonus of the dropped flaps as an option. thanks Mike

Thanks for that, that's a big help! thanks Mike

I'm just about to paint my torpedoes for my Ju88A-17 and this is where the Zvezda painting guide is pretty useless as far as I'm concerned. It quotes Modelmaster colours and I can't work out what Blue they suggesting for painting the torpedoes, not that I think they were painted Blue! I've been googling and found nothing conclusive so far, people seem to paint them Black and Silver (or Grey) but some paint the front Black, some paint the rear Black and the Silver colour on the non Black sections. So any suggestions? thanks Mike

Trumpeter 1/700 HMS Valiant. My second completed QE class battleship. I started to build this kit almost as soon as it came out and as such had to cobble together etch from various sources. It represents the ship as she looked when she completed her rebuild in 1939, which explains the lack of radar apart from on the mastheads. Both Valiant and Queen Elizabeth were completeley rebuilt and had a very modern (if short) appearance, more so than the earliler rebuild of Warspite. HMS Valiant took part in the actions at Mers-El-Kebir and Matapan before being damaged by limpet mines. Both Valiant and Queen Elizabeth were repaired and sent to the Far East, undertaking bombardment missions against Japanese positions. It's quite possible my late Grandfather saw both ships, as he served on several ships in that region (HMS Relentless being the most notable). The Queen Elizabeth and Valiant as rebuilt, are probably my favourite battleships in terms of appearence and the Queen Elizabeths wre possibly the most successful 'steel' battleships ever made. Well done to Trumpeter for making kits of the whole class, they are nice kits and well worth building! (Note - see below about the floatplane) thanks Mike The kit comes with Walrus flying boats which are incorrect for the Queen Elizabeth class kits in the early stages of the war, they carried Swordfish floatplanes, This Swordfish comes from the Flyhawk HMS Hermes kit and was modified as a floatplane, using floats from a Japanese floatplane (very similar looking in this small scale!)

Trumpeter 1/700 HMS Valiant. My second completed QE class battleship. I started to build this kit almost as soon as it came out and as such had to cobble together etch from various sources. It represents the ship as she looked when she completed her rebuild in 1939, which explains the lack of radar apart from on the mastheads. Both Valiant and Queen Elizabeth were completeley rebuilt and had a very modern (if short) appearance, more so than the earliler rebuild of Warspite. HMS Valiant took part in the actions at Mers-El-Kebir and Matapan before being damaged by limpet mines. Both Valiant and Queen Elizabeth were repaired and sent to the Far East, undertaking bombardment missions against Japanese positions. It's quite possible my late Grandfather saw both ships, as he served on several ships in that region (HMS Relentless being the most notable). The Queen Elizabeth and Valiant as rebuilt, are probably my favourite battleships in terms of appearence and the Queen Elizabeths wre possibly the most successful 'steel' battleships ever made. Well done to Trumpeter for making kits of the whole class, they are nice kits and well worth building! (Note - see below about the floatplane) thanks Mike The kit comes with Walrus flying boats which are incorrect for the Queen Elizabeth class kits in the early stages of the war, they carried Swordfish floatplanes, This Swordfish comes from the Flyhawk HMS Hermes kit and was modified as a floatplane, using floats from a Japanese floatplane (very similar looking in this small scale!)

Time for this week's progress report. The main job was to get the flight deck markings done, as once they were on, dried and sealed, work can continue on assembling and painting, the last thing you want to do is try and put deck decals on with various appendages sticking up from everywhere, just waiting to be knocked off! I got the decals done early in the week and have been a few little bits on it each evening. I've painted the ship's boats and put the smallest ones in the recesses, the larger ones will be added later on. The Carley floats have been glued in place, HACS fitted, etch wind deflector thing either side of the catapults. I've also fitted the aftermarket pom-poms and 4.5 inch guns. Although they are loads better than the kit parts, they (the 4.5 inch guns mainly) are too big, which makes me wonder if the kit is a little underscale or the aftermarket bits are overscale. In addition, to all that, I've been working on the island (which isn't glued down as yet), making sure all the main parts are in place and the a couple of coats of paint have been applied. I'll be doing the shading and highlighting next and painting the funnel cap and then I can get the small bits stuck on and the island glued in place. After that it'll be a case of adding the smaller parts and embellishments around the hull. thanks Mike

Time for a progress report! As you can see, the island was not glued on! The first job I tackled was removing the mounting points for the 4 aerials on either side of the hull (they were solid mouldings) and put the etch replacements on. I decided the best thing would then be to paint the hull and flight deck and prepare for the deck decals, as it would be easier to put them on before I start adding anything that could be broken off easily. So as I write this, the pics show a glossy aircraft carrier hull and flight deck, ready for decals. Once the decals are on, I'll let them dry and seal them with a light gloss coat before using Matt varnish. After that parts will be painted and stuck in place in a so far undetermined order! The Hull was painted in Lifecolor's APC507A Dark Grey and the Flight Deck in the Colourcoats Enamel Bronze Grey. I had issues getting the enamel paint to go on smoothly, even when slightly thinned, I neatened it up with a similar Lifecolor paint. I've use some Black ink for the portholes and for shading and drybrushed the whole thing in Medium Grey. I painted the hull recesses in a slightly darker Grey as well. thanks Mike

Don't worry, there will be no PE Swordfish! I might be tempted to make a 1/72 carrier aircraft as well. If you want to check out my latest ship completion, have a look in the naval RFI section for my HMS Campbeltown... thanks Mike

Flyhawk 1/700 ex-Destroyer HMS Campbeltown. This is the Campbeltown that was famous for blowing up the lock gates at St Nazaire, to deprive the Germans of a suitable Atlantic coast dock for the battleship Tirpitz. The kit comes with etch and is an excellent kit overall, the only weakness is in things like the mast and some etch parts are very weak. The mast is scratchbuilt from brass, as the kit mast snapped, before it was off the sprue! It is painted in Mountbatten Pink from a tin of WEM Colourcoats enamel, that I had saved. thanks Mike

Here's my GB entry - Aoshima's 1/700 HMS Ark Royal. When this kit came out a few years ago, it was instantly the best smallish scale Ark Royal kit in plastic and cheaper than resin kits (it cost me less than £15), so I bought it as soon as I could! Trumpeter recently released their kit of the Ark Royal but it's over twice the price that I paid for this kit, although in some respects it looks better. The drawbacks of the Aoshima kit are that the bow looks a little too upright but I won't fix that and all the guns are badly done and are very chunky and basic. I have chosen to fix that buy getting some 3D printed replacements and to enhance the model in general, I have the matching etch set. I have started the kit, as the pics show but even though it looks like a lot of construction has taken place, that represents about 1 - 2 hours work, the real work comes in fitting the etch and painting. I did ask permission before entering the GB, just to be on the safe side. thanks Mike

No worries! Some carrier models certainly don't have many parts to make up the hull and have relatively small superstructures. I suspect most of the build time will be taken up by fitting etch parts! I'll get pics done when I've got some spare time and light! thanks Mike

Question for Rich! I've started sticking bits together on my Aoshima 1/700 HMS Ark Royal and I was hoping to use this GB as an excuse to get it done. The main construction is all done (not that there's that many parts) but I've not started fitting any etch (I have a matching etch set + 3D Printed weapons set) plus the aircraft to place on deck. In terms of time, there's far less than 25% of the total build time expended so far, in fact it's probably taken not much more than an hour so far (maybe 2 at most) - so can I include it in the GB? thanks Mike

I've not built the Sword Fiat G.55 and I need to get a set! I've just started on the Sword Reggiane set, so would like the Fiats to go with it. I find the Sword kits to be not bad to build and the twin packs are great value for money. thanks Mike

I would like clarification of the carriers part of the GB. Are we just wanting Aircraft Carrier models from either Midway or Coral Sea, or will any of the carrier escorts do? I can do carriers or escorts from either battle and either USN or IJN. Or, could it be an aircraft model of an aircraft that was on one of the carrier's at either battle - ie Tomonaga's Kate or Thach's Wildcat from Midway? thanks Mike

I wouldn't worry too much about the colour of the wheel wells, it's something to remember for future builds. The colour contrast is shown quite well in Whisner's 'Moonbeam McSwine', whereby there is a small panel of the earlier Blue, under the name but the rest of the nose is Dark Blue. I recently did the same model but I think my Blue came out slightly dark, I also did the same model as Moonbeam McSwine as well. thanks Mike

Well done for avoiding the trap of following the instructions for the colour of the Blue Nose! I keep telling people the 352nd changed to a Darker Blue after getting the D models but not many seem to believe me! The only thing I would say, is replace the drop tanks if you can be bothered as the kit ones are pretty terrible. I found out after building many Mustangs, that the wheel wells shouldn't be Green, they should be NMF with the Beam thingy across the rear of the bay being Yellow, so I got caught out many times by that! You live and learn I guess but you've still managed a great looking model! thanks Mike

Tamiya P-51B Mustang. The kit was actually the Mustang Mk III boxing but I'm doing a collection of 8th AF models, so decided to make it as a USAAF P-51B. The aircraft is modelled as a P-51B from the 336th FS, 4th FG, the famous Debden Eagles. The pilot was Capt Don Gentile, who was the first 8th AF pilot to match Eddie Rickenbacker's score from WW1. Gentile previously flew Spitfires in the RAF but transferred to the USAAF whent he 8th AF was established in England. His Mustang was named 'Shangri La' and was written off when Gentile crashed it, while performing stunts over Debden airfield on Apr 13th 1944. He was then grounded and sent him to sell war bonds. The decals used on the kit come from Microscale, Eduard Zoom etch was used to detail the cockpit and the 75gal Drop tanks are Eduard Brassin as the kit didn't contain them. It was painted with Vallejo Model air paints. thanks Mike

Hi Alan I had a flat in Ashington for nearly 2 years, until I escaped and moved a few miles up the road (literally). There's 2 BM'ers in our village now. Maybe it's time for an informal Northumberland scale modelling club! thanks Mike

I'd have to look through my books, I've also got plans for Nelson late war too, so I couldn't say until I've had a chance to check. In terms of detailing though, it's far superior than the Tamiya kit, the 20mm guns aren't solidly moulded on for a start. I've had a look though the kit parts now and it is very nicely done but people should check their references before commencing building. thanks Mike

I have my Nelson now. Looks miles better than the Tamiya kit. The detailing on the hull is probably a bit overdone though. That's only on first glance, I've not had a chance to have a proper look. thanks Mike

Thanks chaps, that's confirmed some of what I was thinking. I'm now trying to see what my best matches are with the paints I already have. Most of my paints are for WW2 stuff - RAF/FAA, USAAF/USN, Luftwaffe, IJA/IJF, so I'm not too fussed about 100% accuracy as long as they are near enough. My first thoughts are something like RAF Extra Dark Sea Grey/RLM71 Olive Green over Med Sea Grey. If anyone can suggest any better matches, I'm willing to listen thanks Mike

I fancy sticking my Hasegawa 1/72 Draken together but I have a question about what colours to paint it. I've been looking at the Eduard 1/48 instructions (better painting guide) and they say to use the following (Gunze) colours - 304 and 305 on top and 31 underneath. I've checked on a well known paint conversion chart to see what it says the Vallejo Model air equivalents are. Dark Sea Green (more of a Dark Grey), Olive Drab (more of a Brown Olive Drab) and Dark Sea Grey underneath. I'm not entirely convinced that the Olive Drab should be a Browner shade, I would have thought it would be more of a Green and isn't Dark Sea Grey a bit too dark for the underside? Any ideas folks? thanks Mike

It is on order.... thanks Mike