Curt B

Ahhhhh...I think I get it now, Ray. If I DO understand it correctly, the majority of your 'fixes' were not really related to the Series 2 to Series 1, but rather fixing the errors that were present in the 1997 vintage Eduard kit as compared to the real plane. Is that correct? So, it makes sense that the current vintage (2021/2022) kits have now fixed, for the most part, the fixes that you so laboriously had to make yourself. And thus there was no need for you to build the new versions, since you already did it yourself. You clearly have far more capabilities and talent to do that huge amount of scratch building which I could only dream about. I guess that makes me more of an 'assembler' as opposed to a real 'modeler', which you clearly are! Since that type of skill set is not something I possess, I am trying to improve my painting and weathering skills, and just trying to do my best at building 'clean' models, which includes restoring panel lines and rivets that get lost when trying to eliminate seams (from filling and sanding). Thanks for you quick response to my questions! I'm now planning to go back and take a look at the threads and posts you have made for other builds and aircraft, as I'm sure I'll learn a great deal, both about modeling in general, and about specific airplanes.

WOW, SPECTACULAR ANSWERS, gentlemen!!!!! Thanks to both of you!! My question has clearly been answered, now, which is that Series 1 Tempests have an open 'tube' in the middle of the radiator which supplies combustion air to the engine. That video is beyond great...and will help a LOT in my future Tempest builds regarding weathering. Ray, your Tempest is fabulous! I have some questions for you now, though, if would be additionally so kind to answer for me. (I am a huge Tempest fan, and have a number of as-yet unbuilt 1/48 Eduard Tempest Mk. V and Mk. II planes). All of my Tempests are the latest 1/48 Eduard moldings. The information you provided about modifying your 1997 vintage Eduard plane from a Series 2 into a Series 1 brings up a number of points. My impression is that the only differences BETWEEN THE LATEST (2021/2022) EDUARD SERIES 1 AND SERIES 2 KITS are as follows: The Series 1 kit includes photo etch stiffening plates for the aft end of the fuselage just before the empennage. The Series 1 kit has longer gun barrels extending in front of the wings than the Series 2 kit. The Series 1 kit does not include the filter unit in front of the air supply to the engine in photo etch like the Series 2 kit does. The Series 1 has different liveries than the Series 2 kit. As far as I can tell, those are the only differences. You specifically mentioned "thinned wings, lengthened fuselage, new fin, new undercarriage..." as changes that were needed to convert the 1997 vintage Series 2 Tempest into a Series 1 plane. None of those aspects are present between the current vintage Eduard Series 1 and 2 Tempests, unless I'm really missing something. In fact, I just checked the plastic, and I'm still thinking that the only difference are those I've outlined above, and don't include the changes you stated in your post. Does this mean Eduard erred in the differences between their current Series 1 and 2 planes? I'm REALLY curious, now!

Hi All, I have a question for any of you who may be Tempest enthusiasts, like I am! I saw a great Work in Progress thread from back in 2018 about a 1/48 Eduard Tempest Mk. Series 1 build which was great, but there was some discussion about the 'chin' radiator inlet and engine air intake that wasn't ever really completed. I have already built an Eduard Series 2, which includes a photo etch framework for the filter which was placed in front of the carburetor intake, and it looks like the 2018 build did something similar, by scratch building, for his intake. I'm currently working on an Eduard Tempest Mk. V Series 1 (which is going to have the dropped landing flaps (Eduard aftermarket) and will also have D Day Invasion stripes. My first Tempest was pretty 'plain vanilla' Mk. V Series 2, and I wanted my next one to get pretty 'dolled up'! A side note...I'd been, frankly terrified about trying to use the landing flap aftermarket set, because, not only does the amount of PE bending look significant, the worst part is the significant amount of kit plastic that has to be cut off in order to have room for the top part (the non moving part' of the flap assembly). I've done all the PE construction, which turned out really easy, but now about to have to do styrene surgery on kit plastic...very, very scary to me!!!! Anyway, back to my question. A few years back, I bought several Barracuda Cast aftermarket parts to use primarily on the Series 1 plane. The Barracuda upgrade includes a new framework (in Resin) which supports the 'cuckoo clock' set of doors, and these doors are in turn supported by a rather spindly set of photo etch 'arms'. I want to know, regarding whether there were any Series 1 planes that held either the cuckoo clock or other filtration devices, or if the 'tube' supplying air to the engine was left open in the 'Series 1' planes.

Hi All, I've had a Silhouette Cameo 4 cutter for well over 2 years...and I've yet to use it! It is a VERY intimidating machine, at least to me. Everything about it, creating the masks, transferring them, and then painting after the masks have been placed. I guess the only way to break my mental logjam is to 'just do it'! SO, that being said, I have a fundamental 'paint order' question. I'm working on a 1/48 Eduard Tempest. Fortunately, most of the markings are British Roundels, which I imagine are one of the simpler designs to create using the cutter. But here is a really basic question. Let's use the fuselage side roundel. This one has 4 colors, a red inner circle, surrounded by a white ring, then a blue ring, and finally an outside yellow ring. The mask would consist of 5 parts, the inner circle and then 4 rings, the largest being the outside ring around the yellow. How would you paint the roundel, that is, what order would you do things? Here's my thought: 1. Circular center mask and all 4 surrounding rings in place on the model 2. Remove the center round mask, and spray with red paint 3. Let paint dry sufficiently, re-place the center circle mask over the new red paint 4. Remove the first mask ring (surrounding the red center circle) and spray with white paint. 5. Let paint dry sufficiently, re-place the ring mask over the new white paint 6. Remove the next mask ring, and spray with blue paint 7. Let paint dry sufficiently, re-place the ring mask over the new blue paint 8. Remove the next mask ring, spray with yellow paint 9. Then, remove all the masking tape The problem I see with doing it the above way is that you would have to perfectly align the masks when putting the circle/ring masks back down, otherwise you'll get some paint where you don't want it. Is there another way, another order, to do the painting, that doesn't depend on perfectly re-placing parts of the mask as part of the process?

I am a HUGE Tempest fan! I've already built an Eduard Mk. V Series 2, and have yet to build: a Mk. V Series 1, another V Series 2, the dual combo of the Mk. V (so another Series 1 and 2), and most of the Mk. IIs, the early version, the late version, the newish Ultimate Tempest, AND, last but not least, the Special Hobby kit which you've built here. So I'm always interested in seeing anyone working on or completing a Mk. II or Mk. V, and yours is beautiful! I think your detail regarding wearing through of the aluminum paint is really cool. I've been debating about which of the many Tempests I have that I will do in an aluminum finish, and now I'm thinking at least a few. Your build is an inspiration...great job!!

I know the original post for this thread was quite some time ago (in forum terms, at least), but I wanted to throw in my compliments on the build as well. I, too, plan to do a build to try to duplicate Marine M1A1 in the photo. Someone was kind enough to send me an additional photo of the same tank, basically the view of the tank from the right rear. I can only imagine the time and work that it took to create your model, and I'm anticipating a huge level of effort to try to make my model look like the photo(s). I'm going to use the Meng TS-032, as you did, and I was able to get the Italeri decals, as well. The Grim Reaper on the smoke storage compartments would have been difficult to do any other way, in my opinion. I'm planning to do a mostly out of the box build, but I did find the Jolly Roger flag in an 'ETA Diorama Accessories' set, and found another aftermarket set that duplicates the wire spool (the item just to the right of the spare road wheel in the photo). And lastly, to improve the accuracy, I got the (terribly expensive) T-Rex Studio resin road wheel set, the M1 MBT sprocket, and the spare road wheel set. Adding up all the costs, this is going to be a very expensive build, but I hope mine turns out even half as good as yours!

@aquatarkus10: I just got to this thread by doing research on 1/32 airplane models, and specifically about B-25 Mitchell bombers in 1/32 scale, which brought me to you based on an internet search. I couldn't leave here without commenting, even though this thread is over a year old. Your model, sir, in beyond spectacular, in every possible way! I believe I have only ever seen one or two other models, in my entire lifetime (63 years) that come close to the level of detail, and incredible execution that yours has, and yours is the only one with a natural metal finish. I wouldn't have believed a model could be made to this degree of realism, until I saw the photos you posted here. This kind of work makes a model rube like me clearly want to give up the hobby, as I'd never, in a hundred years of experience, ever come close to what you have created!

Agreed about Nick Millman's help. We exchanged several e-mails when i was building and painting my 1/48 Tamiya A6M5 Zero.

This document, by Nick MIllman, is an amazingly detailed treatise on the Zero colors as researched by himself. Anyone seriously interested in this topic should invest the money that he asks to get the document. I have it myself, but I will not compromise Mr. MIllman's ability to make some money to account with the research he has done, thus I can't send out any parts of it, but it great, trust me!

All, FYI: In case anyone is looking, SprueBrothers just got all the new MRP IJN colors in stock a few days ago.

Nigel, I think you've gotten great advice/information from everyone who has posted thus far, and I wouldn't take issue with any of it. I have built both of the kits under your consideration, the Tamiya and Eduard. They are both really nice models. I think the biggest aspect that leans toward the Tamiya kit is the simple and fool-proof landing gear installation, which has already been mentioned. Other than that, I liked the Eduard just the tiniest bit better. No real specific reasons for my opinion, and you may wish to be aware that I have become, over the last several years, something of an Eduard 'fan boy'. You cannot possibly go wrong with either choice, but there is just the smallest sort of intangible feel about the surface textures and panel lines that seem the smallest bit better on the Eduard model. I am not an expert on the Spitfire, so I cannot cite one being more accurate than the other, it's just a 'feel'. Others can probably better articulate the differences in this area, but if you've not yet made your choice, if forced to pick one over the other, I'd go with the Eduard.

Incredible work...just amazingly realistic!!

Truly great job! I did the same kit not too long ago, and you've completely outclassed my build by a wide margin! Extremely well done weathering, and I can't say anything better than that it looks as realistic as any WWII airplane model that I've ever seen. I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the future.

Wow, what a fabulous thread!!! A year or more back I wrestled with coming up with the proper colors for a late variant Zero (dark green upper, light-ish gray-green underside), and if I remember correctly, I used AK Real Color paint. Since I didn't have the appropriate model for the earlier variants (i.e., the Pearl Harbor attack variant Zeros), I didn't bother with the colors for those planes. I'm thrilled that you all have done all the work for me here...Thank you all so much! I'll be getting the Eduard 'Tora Tora Tora' kit, and it looks like I'll have to wait a few weeks, and go with the MRP colors. I love MRP, and being able to do the paint schemes without mixing is great! Again, my thanks to all of you who contributed to this!! Hey All...an edit to my post. Despite how much I appreciate this thread and the information, one thing I did not specifically get out of it was which of the many new MRP paints that are coming out will be appropriate for the exterior of these new Eduard Zeros. I read in the background info from the Eduard instructions that all of the Zeros involved in the Pearl Harbor attach were Mitsubishi built planes, thus, I presume that the MRP-428 (IJNAF J3 SP Olive Gray Mitsubishi Version) would be the correct color. I have all the other colors in a variety of different paint manufacturers, so I think I'll be okay with everything else. Can anyone confirm my choice here? Thanks!

I'm a little late to the party, but just wanted to say welcome back to the hobby! It's been about 12 years for me since returning, after an approximately 35 year absence myself! I was absolutely stupefied at how things had changed since the models I recalled building 'back in the day'. Not only the aftermarket extras, like photo etch and 3D printing, plus vinyl cockpit 3D parts...but the amazing molding detail that the manufacturers now are capable of, plus slide mold technology! I'm guessing you had to be as amazed as I was, if you'd not kept up with the advances in our hobby. Again, welcome back, and if I can be of any help to you, as another 'returnee' also, don't hesitate to ask!

Really nice looking IL-2! I'm not sure if it was mentioned here, or if anyone could compare this build to the Tamiya 1/48 IL-2. I did the Tamiya about a year ago, and I thought that kit was an amazing, typical Tamiya, shake-and-bake kit, that is, everything went together perfectly, with no filler needed anywhere. I also used the Quinta cockpit for that plane. From the earlier part of the build, and the need for adjustment and filler, it would seem to me that the Tamiya still edges out this kit in terms of engineering and fit. Still, detail is a big component of what makes a great kit, to me, anyway, so I'm still curious if anyone has an overall opinion of this kit, which Alistair has done a great job on, compared to the Tamiya. Not that I would be inclined to do another IL-2, regardless of the overall opinion. But I am interested, since Tamiya almost always gets high marks for kit and ease of build, but not always for the level of detail.

Nice looking Tempest, thus far. I, too, would love to see it finished! The Tempest is one for my top 3 favorite airplanes of all time, the result of building the Eduard Tempest Mk V Series 2. I finished that one some time ago, and now have another Eduard Series 2, a Series 1, and the Royal Class Dual Combo kit, which has one each, for a total of 2 Series 1 and Series 2 airplanes. I've been planning to do an Invasion Stripe Series 1, like you are doing, but will a whole bunch of Barracuda Cast aftermarket goodies, plus the Eduard photo etch flap set. I'm planning on doing a series of D Day Invasion Stripe planes, the Tempest, a Spitfire, a P-51D, plus others. I'd love to see your painted on squadron codes! Best of luck!

Hey there! I know this is quite an old thread, but I am an Fw190 fanatic modeler! In fact, I think I have 6 as yet unbuilt Fw190s of various variants, plus 3 already completed. When I just saw this paint scheme a day or so ago, I knew I HAD to get an appropriate kit and the appropriate decals which would support this spectacular red with pinstripe underside! I am also a fanatic Eduard modeler, and I found, with some difficulty, a 1/48 Eduard Fw190 D-9 kit (8184), and Peddinghaus decals for one of the JV44 Squadron which had this incredible underside. When I get the kit and the decals, I"m sure I'll want to start this build immediately! I've built the 1/48 Fw 190 D-9 late kit (8189) and recall having all kind of issues with it, almost all of my own making, paint masking, etc, but did have some issue with the inboard gun wing top covers, so I need up posing those covers open, a first for me. The build is over on ArcAir http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/314970-eduard-fw190-d-9-late/&tab=comments#comment-3036938. and I was suprised at the number of kind words that build actually got, given my almost having trashed that kit half a dozen times throughout it's progress. I hope I'll be able to pose this upcoming D-9 with all panels closed!

Thank you, George...that's EXACTLY the kind of information I was looking for!!!! If I notice a difference in the sprue lettering, I'll post here.

@British Army Platforms: Everything you posted was helpful, and sorry it took this long to post back and say thanks! I took your advice and bought 2 tubes each of the Mig 35th and 72nd scale anti slip, and used the 35 on the turret of my new RFM 'regular' Challenger 2 (not the Megatron). I was super thrilled that it came out so well, and despite having purchased just about every other anti slip product on the market (and I've had some of them so long that some have already dried out and I've had to throw them out already, none have been as easy to use, nor as nicely consistent, as this stuff! I applied the stuff with a tiny sponge held by tweezers, and I had masked off the panels with 1.5mm Aizo masking tape, almost the perfect size for the 1/35 scale Chally 2 current panels. Thanks so much for the recommendation! I have not yet done the hull top, but I've masked off much of it with liquid mask in preparation for doing it. The only negative I see, and is probably would be the case with all anti slip products, is that the turret numbers, molded into the front top panel, is obscured with it. I guess that may be the case on the real thing, but I don't know. I DO know that I'll be using this product on my Megatron and my 2 remaining yet to be built Tamiya Challenger 2 Desertized models, when I get around to building those. I can't say thanks enough for the info that got me to use this stuff!!!

HI All, I just ordered the new 82152 Spitfire Mk. 1 early and the 82153 Spitfire Mk 1a, but I'm not sure that these kits contain anything different than what I have in the 'Spitfire Story: The Few 11143' kit, which gives me two Mk. 1 Spitfires. I haven't read all 23 pages of this thread, and perhaps the answer is already somewhere in there. If it turns out that that 82152 and 82153 are nothing new, I'll just have 2 more Mk. 1a Spitfires, which is certainly not a bad thing. Have I just duplicated 'The Few' kits?

@British Army Platforms: Maybe you have more Chally photos that you haven't posted yet? Even if not, what you HAVE posted already has been great, and again, I'm thrilled to be able to see them! Just today, I received my RFM Challenger 2 kit, the 'regular' kit, in addition to the RFM Challenger TES kit that I already have. Wow, both look to be impressive! I wanted to tell you how impressed I was with your Berlin camo paint job you did on what I think was an Academy kit? The paint was extremely well done! In fact, I was so impressed with your work, I have decided to do my newly arrived RFM regular Chally 2 in the Berlin scheme. I am really wrestling with how I'm going to do the anti slip, though. Because the Chally 2 texture, on the real tank, is so uniform, I think I'm going to try my hand at textured paint, which many folks have used and posted over on Armorama, albeit quite some time ago. It will require a significant amount of masking, though, but I guess that's the price one must pay for semi-realism. I also got an Accurate Armour resin combat dozer blade for the Berlin camo Chally, though the cost of the dozer blade was almost as much as the RFM kit! Hope it will be worth it in the end!

Wow, I haven't been at this thread for some time, and MANY THANKS to British Army Platforms for the photos! They are GREAT, really! I will ABSOLUTELY be using your photos as a guide to weathering my TES CHally when I finally get around to building it!

As other have said, they really aren't 'decals', as such. They are more like vinyl versions of the pre-painted Eduard cockpit photo etch, to try to come up with a way to describe them. The use of decal film is just the way the manufacturer chose to provide them to the modeler. You can soak them and slide them off sort of like a decal, but you can pat them dry and set them aside. I had great success in securing them to the plastic parts using Gator Grip Acrylic Hobby Glue, which holds wonderfully and dries clear, in case there is a little excess that you don't clean up while it's still wet. Like other have said, they are expensive, but there is nothing else out there in the marketplace that is similar to them. The only issue I had with the set I used for my 1/48 Tamiya Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik was the color, though it's not clear to me that anyone really knows what the original war time color of the cockpit of this plane really was. I ended up mixing an almost perfect match in Tamiya paint, and the panels, now installed, simply couldn't be better.

I would be THRILLED with a 1/48 P-38 J or L to add to the spectacular F/G/H variants they recently gave us. Equally thrilled with a state of the art 1/48 or even 1/32 F-86. A couple outlying possibilities.. just maybe, a new A-10, or even a new 1/48 Intruder? Lastly, for me, and I know this is OUT THERE, I'd LOVE to see a 1/48 B-58 Hustler!!! 😊