Paul J

Modelling wise, there are hardly any deck areas to paint and very few easily damged delicate parts sticking up out and everywhere as in traditional modern warships of just a few years back.

What scale are you working in for this? As Tempest wulf say, a H.S. prop from a P-47 is the one you need. Most Thunderbolt kits include both, so if yourself or someone else has built a Jug with the Curtiss prop , then the H.S. prop will do for the Corsair in both scales (72 and 48). That is if you are wanting to do a late Corsair with four bladed prop.

A few more pictures of progress. mainly some small assemblies and main painting for now.... Because of similarities between the Hase kit and the Revell one I'm doing a bit of cross kitting. The Revell one has bulged main gear doors for the german operated '104s but the CF ones were not , so I swapped the doors between the two kits. Seemples!

Here it is at last! My refurbished Hasegawa/Frog Lightning F2A from the F6 kit. Depicting XN781/B at RAF Gutersloh ,1970. For those that recall in another thread (92 Squadron Lightning....) in WIP, I started to rework the model from one built around 1972/73. Welll its now done and here you go:...... The decals are mainly from various Xtradecal sets and the unit badge on the tail and nose checks are Modeldecal. Because up to now there hasn't been any pre dark green decals for a bare metal F2A as I wanted to depict. So it seems that because I did it my own way, Xtradecal are covering this version of 19 sqdn. in one of their next sets! Typical! The pitot is a needle of the right length. The jet exhausts are the only area I couldn't figure out what to do to improve it without going into too much surgery so decided it was left alone. The cockpit has had only a decent seat fitted from my spares box, the IFR probe is a left over from the Matchbox kit that is better than the FROG/ Hasegawa offering. Firestreaks from an Airfix Javelin 9! And coats of Alclad, silver decal blocks and coats of Klear for the final finishes. And I know I have missed of the arrester hook but on the lookout for one. Enjoy and any comments welcome.

Hmm. I've just been looking at one I have in front of me , not the Airfix one though, and it seems that the leading edge of the inner doors on the Airfix kit have this strange straight section with a tiny 'step' whereas they ought to be more rounded from the hinge line to the straight edge where it meets the leg cover/outer doors. Meaning that there is a shape issue. Shame.

The above model is now finished!!! Pics will be posted tonight.

You've done well there. But sorry to have to say, you've fallen into the same trap as others have done with the undercarrigae doors. The leg covers need to be on opposite legs to what you have done. Like wise the bigger 'D' doors (wheel covers) thye need to be swapped round!! Easy remedy to a very nice model.

Maybe a large R/C Model???

Ah, yes! MAny fond memories for me too. I did one in a fictitious civvy scheme once. I have a Pavla one to consider, with the same Royal Navy and ISCG markings as an option, sometime that looks a "treat" to build.... not! But it would make an interesting mate for the Airfix one

No. Still eagerly waiting. Just ordered one and a Mustang to go with it.

Well. This is it. A finished Sword kit of the T-33 Shooting Star in Canadian guise as a CT-133 of 434 'Bluenose' Squadron, serial 133604 The new Leading Edge decals have been used on this model in the Hornet greys. Its been a while in coming and some recent pics of in progress appeared on WIP earlier this week. In this view the tiny white markings on the canopy sill are part of the many tiny stencil decals supplied on the LEM decals. A real treat to have such fine attention to detail in the preparation to all of these sets! It took me the best part of two evenings just applying the stencils!! These latter few also show my restored Hasegawa model now completed with a few more decals added in the form of stencilling. All the maib decals on this one are from a very old set by Flight Colours or Flying Colours? I have since discovered that this kit has ailerons with to wide a span. So the separation line needs to be moved out board by about an eighth of an inch to be correct. In both models, I added the square vents on the nose and the oval exhaust outlet just above the fuselage roundel as found on Canadair built aircraft due to a more powerful engine! The additional stencilling on the bare metal/red one were from the Sword kit decals by the way.

Since found out the chopper was on an emergency incident on the estate where I work!!!

A few minutes ago (14:.20pm) this entertained me at work for a few minutes!!: I guess it was looking for somewhere to land. It did howevr kick up a load of debris that blew into our goods in bay which had just been swept out!! Lucky I had my camera with me today!!

A couple more pics of a bit more decalling done. Bear in mind the final coating is yet to be done and a few parts that need re-attaching, nothing major. The next pics will be of the finished one in RFI. Note the leading edge of the fin is not raked enough as highlighted by the decal. The decal is accurate by the way!! When I matched the kit part against the plans, this highlighted the same fault of the fin edge. OK, so the drawings might not be right either but photos of the aeroplane don't lie.

Err.... yeah!

I sincerely hope Airfix do not go into 1/32nd!! The market is flooded enough with all those manufacturers from the far east!! Thye should stick the "even numbered" scales 72,48 and 24!!!!

Lunchtime today Apache loitering over and around Dunsfold

Boeing chase plane Canadair Sabres! Those test beds in the USAF trying out various forms of dayglo like green!!! Or the civvy operated ones by Flight Systems!

Just a pointer regarding the CF-104 ECM fairings for under the jet pipe area/ rear fuselage and on the nose, Leading Edge Decals include these as resin additions to the appropriate decal sets in 1/72nd and 1/48th. The Black/white checkerboard 441 squadron sets in these two scales are available again for example. You can order direct or from Hannants.

Reissues? I'm up for the Heron, Or even Bertie Beagle Basset . Possibly another couple from the 1/144 airliners may make an appearance. What big anniversaries are coming up in 2013? The Dams raid - 1943, Comet airliner 1953. Something to do with the 'Red Arrows'??? These and possibly several others may inspire Airfix as they given us other anniversary boxings in the past. Maybe they'll surprise us with something we really want!

Interesting concept. But would like to see less "stealthy" photos. In particular side views showing fin markings if any???

More pics of some progress. Noses. Revell nearest, Hase' behind. Lowers. Front left 3 quarter view. Underside. Nose upper sides. Revell nearest camera. A bit more will be done soon once the T-Bird being done elsewhere in WIP gets finished. I do quite like the Revell surface detail a bit more than the Hase kit as it looks to have more detail such as rivets around some of the panels and looks more realistic. One bit of good news is that Hasegawa importers emailed me today saying they can send me the missing sprue for my kit ! Meaning I can complete that model too! So it might be a double double seater entry from me after all!! See you soon.

Just to revive this thread a bit with a view on finishing it I have uploaded some more recent pictures here now I have the brand new Leading Edge Decals for it. So here goes with various painting stages and decals in progress. The finish is in the Hornet greys seen on Canadian CF-188s. Hope to have it finished by end of the week. LOTS of tiny stencilling to be added and the main markings too.

Rather dramatic scheme. Very nicely built and in 1/144! Nice.

Love the mixed formation of the Russian Aerobatic team pics and the colourful Mig 15UTI. The formations of the 'big ' stuff looked awesome too! And a few familiar warbirds that made the journey east.