MikeC

Looks good so far. Not a problem, gyro instruments often topple after shutdown I believe.

Just catching up on this: very informative, some useful discussion on the subtleties of biplane camouflage, and it's coming along nicely, I look forward to seeing the finished model. Squadron codes were changed generally on the outbreak of war. Of course, there were exceptions - at least one unit (92 Sqn iirc, but I stand to be corrected) carried their pre-war codes into 1940.

"Dear Outlook User": first clear sign it's a scam, if it really was MS they'd have called you by the name you registered your email account in. "Outdated": what does that even mean in relation to an email account? As others have said, hover over the link, DON'T CLICK IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I'd put money that the address is nothing to do with MS. IMO it's not just "likely" this is a scam, it is 100% certain it is. Have a look on the MS site, if they have a means of reporting suspicious emails I suggest you use it.

Those Thunderbolts look really good, well done. Funnily enough I'm doing KJ233/NV:G at the moment from the Hasegawa 1/32 kit. I'd post a link (it's on another forum) if that wasn't verboten, and if it wouldn't "hijack" the thread. My main inspiration for deciding on a SEAC bird from 79 Sqn was this little film - I assume you've come across it already? https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060025281

Well I use an airbrush, and I use nothing but acrylics: does that make me an adolescent? 😆

Indeed, me neither. I find the really excellent models and modellers inspiring, and I do try to improve with every model (see the quote from a great musician (and qualified football referee) in my signature). But sneering at the efforts of those less skilled just isn't on, and in my book neither is sneering at those more skilled than oneself. Model and let model, there's room for us all.

If I can put another side, what really makes me despair is that as well as the snobbery, there is also the inverse snobbery that occurs - again it happens in every hobby I've ever dabbled in, and certainly in modelling. This is manifest in, for example, the people who say things like: "Well I still use a hairy stick on my vintage Airfix series one kits, stick the transfers on, and don't care if it resembles the real thing, I'm not a joyless rivet-counter. BTW, are you going to the Nationals at Telford?" Still, as others have said, people enjoy their hobby in different ways, and there's no point in letting oneself get wound up over it (that last is addressed as much to myself as anyone else). I'm a member of a club that had a certain reputation for "elitism", but I went along with an open mind, and I'm still there several years later, having found a warm, welcoming, friendly and open club. Isn't it as much about one's own attitude as other peoples', perhaps?

I think you must have been in a different IPMS to the one I was, and still am, a member of. Edit: just seen that you're not referring to IPMS(UK).

As others have said it dpends what you're looking for - history, technical minutiae, units, or whatever. My go-to is The Mustang Story, Ken Delve (Arms & Armour, 1999). Among other things, it has a list of serials by variant and production block, and a listing of RAF serials, including which were Mk IVs (P-51D) and Mk IVa (P-51K). The various Osprey books, including for example Very Long Range Mustang Units of the Pacific War, Carl Molesworth (Osprey, 2006) are usually very good.

So they have, I thought they looked a bit odd. Taking the aircraft featured in the first and fourth photos, SP344, the Spitfire site shows it as having been built by Cunliffe Owen, and delivered to the RNDA on 22/1/1946, then in January 1948 to RAE for trials. There are no details of any other service. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p102.html

Mk 17s, and they seem to have "LM" tailcodes, so it's likely that that is Lossiemouth.

Very nicely done pair of Gnats. Sorry, not quite. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/smallest-aircraft-jet-aircraft

Hi Joachim, Probably not so much my camera - my phone - being set up for 32nd scale as my photography skills being less than optimal. Sorry. Learning point noted. But I'm not reshooting them, so they are what they are.

Back in February I went to Duxford to see the "Evolution of the Spitfire" exhibition which was on at the time, stroll up to the American hangar, and generally soak up the atmosphere. I finished in the gift shop, and as one does I left with some plastic, an Airfix Spitfire Ia in 1/72. It was a bit of a challenge as I generally work in 1/32 and 1/48, and I don't think I've built a 1/72 Spitfire since about 1995; but I thought I'd do it completely out of the box with no additions and the kit marking for an aircraft of 92 Sqn in May 1940, just before the Battle of Britain. And 10 hours or so of modelling time spread over three weeks later, here it is, and it made a nice little "palate-cleanser" before getting back to something bigger. (I used sharpie markers to do the nav lights, looks as if the starboard one strayed a bit - oops!) And finally, I had forgotten just how tiny a 1/72 Spit is, but here it is compared to a 1/32 Revell IIa fuselage half. Thanks for looking.

Very nicely done. Agreed, a Mk VIII. And as you say, probably a typo.

Then why not do a bit of research? If I was asked to build a model where I know little about the subject I'd do some basic research before starting on the model, as has happened for a couple of the kits I've done for SAMI. To make for a good model and a more informative article the writer should know at least the basics of the real-life subject, surely?

That's really nice, well done.

That's turned out very well. It's a shame Italeri only provide one ladder in the TF kit.

Very nice. I too have WB627 in my log book from my staff cadet days . I'm currently doing WP979 in an earlier variation of the same scheme: I must get on and finish it! I rather think it arrived on the AEF sometime in the mid-1970s; this was when the Chipmunk fleet was undergoing refurbishment. Gradually the aircraft we had, which were in overall grey with dayglo striping, went off for refurbisment, to be replaced with aircraft in the red/white/grey scheme. Examples of the old scheme were WK577, WP861 and WG458; new aircraft included WP970 (c/w glider tug fit), WP979, WB652, and of course WB627. I don't recall that the new aircraft had the hi-vis black/white prop striping, I think that came later. Incidentally, a rough rule of thumb: Red/white/grey scheme or later had 5-point seat harnesses; aircraft in earlier schemes had four-point.

Incidentally, not wishing to hijack your thread, but just to show what can be done, this 1/32 Mustang (Revell) has no decals apart from the kill markings, prop logos and a couple of placards in the cockpit. And all that with relatively little experience.

The possibilities are indeed endless. I use it for roundels as well, it's so simple: Using the software that comes with the cutter, draw and size 3 circles; position them to be concentric (about three clicks through a couple of menus); and then group them so they become one design. I find it's not only improving - at least to my mind - my models, but being a former IT professional, I enjoy playing with the software, designing and drawing various markings has become almost a hobby in itself. Incidentally, the cutter will cut anything you like that's within its capabilities. I've never tried it, but I know some use it to cut complex shapes, such as the ventral reinforcing strap on a Phantom, from thin plastic card. I've used it to cut templates from paper far more exactly than I could do by hand. No, I'm not being paid by the Silhouette company, neither do I own shares, just a happy user.

Ah, I see. [Edit:] I've not built the 1/72 kit so I didn't realise this was the case.

Very nicely done . However, if I might venture a little feedback: the rear of the canopy dropped as it slid back, so it stayed in contact with the top of the rear fuselage. There was a runner which fitted the slot aft of said canopy. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSrUIPs35YlsXmVV-v--OqK-vdRfi3ti_r1mzT_TqtqY8pDBYrN&s

1. Take it slowly using thin coats and building up. 2. I started by using a compass cutter, then discovered that I rather liked painting markings and bought a Silhouette Portrait 3. For material I use Artool Ultra Mask, and get mine from the Airbrush Company. Good luck.

That's scrubbed up very nicely, well done.