Learstang

Very nice, Bill! Our friend "Jaggy" is looking good! That horizontal stabiliser assembly looks like a tiny delta-winged aeroplane was slapped on top of the fin. You're certainly not going to have anyone saying when they see the model, "Oh, great it's just another...", more like "Ye Gods! What is that THING!." Regards, Jason

Okay, somebody's got to say it, so I'll be the first - are they sure this isn't one of the Burmese Spitfires? Regards, Jason

I'll definitely be buying one. No telling what markings I'll be using, as I wish to do a camouflaged WWII version and I may nick the Irish decals to do an Irish Hind (although they do look a bit small for a Hind). I do have a desire to build a Soviet Gladiator (yes, the Soviets used them - "absorbed" Latvian Gladiators) - certainly no shortage of Soviet stars on my part. Regards, Jason

Julien, before, I've been able to post the pictures directly in the post, but I wasn't able to this time, hence the annoying links. How did you do this? Regards, Jason

Not bad, Tom, not bad. Of course it's absolutely brilliant work! Best Regards, Jason

As threatened, here are links to some photographs of what I've done on my Fw-58 so far. You will notice the gap between the fuselage wing roots and the wings. I think this is more due to my glueing the wings together first than any inherent problem with the kit. I think if I had waited until the fuselage was glued together, then glued on the wings, these gaps would disappear or at least be considerably diminished. Note that the fit of the wings on the underside is very tight. Overall, the fit seems good on this kit, and the transparencies are excellent. The cockpit is shown pre-installation of PE parts (and I need to tone down the scuffing a bit, I think). I've also shown the gunner's insert and the partially cut away part of the fuselage where it will be glued. Best Regards, Jason http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/CIMG0024_zps753bdf13.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/CIMG0025_zps73449f07.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/CIMG0009_zpsd1329154.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/CIMG0008_zps1e5c9ee3.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/CIMG0003_zpsd209c51b.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/CIMG0028_zps3fa1a120.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/CIMG0029_zpsa9a71a92.jpg

Yes; brilliant! I like the Tojo and the Nate! Regards, Jason

Of course now the problem becomes, do we give him wings with hands (paws?), or cat-like arms (Jaguar)? Okay, I really do need to go back on my medication. I'm telling you, those kids' shows rot your brains out! Regards, Jason

Nice start on the Spad - the cockpit weathering looks good! Regards, Jason

Bill, I rather like it the way it is now. Just paint some eyes on it and it could be the star from a children's show - "Hi, I'm Jaggy the XF10F-1!". Okay, I watched a few too many kiddie shows when I was little. Nice job getting through the difficulties of the kit, though; I'd rather fancied having a go myself as I like the look of the Jaguar, but now I'm not so sure. I'm not afraid of a few difficulties as I've built more than a few limited-run kits in my day, but this looks to be a bit of a handful. Still, good luck! Regards, Jason

Excellent job, Martin! I forget how far forward the horizontal tailplanes are on the Firefly. Regards, Jason

Now I want it in Vietnam War camouflage! Regards, Jason

Another great job on an ancient Airfix kit of a VVS aeroplane, Adrian! Regards, Jason

Good news indeed! I'll have to pick me up one (or two, or three). Regards, Jason

Well, I may have to pick up the Bison from Hannants, and keep an eye out for the Blackburn. It seems to me that there are two varieties of ugly - ugly-ugly, and cool-ugly; I believe these beasts fall into the cool-ugly variety (see Blackburn Blackburd for ugly-ugly). Regards, Jason

Very nice - great scheme for a model. Regards, Jason

Sadly, that and its equally beautiful counterpart, the Avro Bison, seem impossible to get a hold of these days (Joystick at one time had a vacuform of the Bison). Good luck on your search for beauty! Best Regards, Jason

Oh, b****r! I was hoping no one would remember that one. If it's any consolation, it looks almost exactly as good now as it did the last time you saw it. I knew blending in those b****y cowlings was going to be a show-stopper. Everything was going swimmingly until then. But I will finish it, oh yes, I will! Regards, Jason

Now I understand - that's an Il-4, not an Il-2! No wonder it looked unusual! The Il-4 had a metal fuselage with the external stiffeners, unlike the Il-2, where these external stiffeners only appeared on wooden-fuselaged examples. Vesa, thank you for the advice on the Finnish term for the Il-2 - I'll give it a try on the site. Regards, Jason

Thank you for the link, Vesa! Since the search terms are in Finnish, do you happen to know what the Finnish term was for the Il-2 Shturmovik? Regards, Jason

It looks like an Il-2 tail and rear fuselage, but it's rather strange. The fuselage looks to be metal, but there's an external rib running down the starboard side; you normally only saw that on some wooden-fuselage Il-2's. The rib may have been for additional strengthening for firing the rocket. Very unusual - thank you for posting. It's not often I get to say with the Il-2 that I haven't seen this before, but I haven't seen this before. Regards, Jason

I'd love to, but large empires rise and fall in the time it takes me to complete a single model. However, I might be able to post some piccies of what I've done. As I'm sure I've said before on this site, my models are like ageing actresses - they look better further away and a little out-of-focus. Luckily, my camera makes everything look that way. Regards, Jason

Nice job, Paul! This is truly weird, just the way I like them! Regards, Jason

I echo all the sentiments here - lovely job and a beautiful paint scheme! One of these days I fancy doing a small-tail B-17 in this Coastal Command scheme. I've always thought the B-17 looked particularly smart in it. Regards, Jason

Nice work - what scale is that? I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Su-25, the descendant of the Il-2. Regards, Jason