John

I've never built the Gavia kit but wasn't there some comment to the effect that the wing struts were too short? John

Who remembers Humbrol slot car paint? John

I've found quite a few of these during my clear out - I bought them in 1984! John

My Gran flew from Prestwick to Detroit in May 1961, and I recently came across her ticket and baggage check: The price was £89.0.6, which shows how much the cost of air travel has dropped in real terms. There's also a ticket for the coach from Glasgow to Prestwick at 8/6, which shows how bus prices have gone up! John

Anyone ever come across these before? Looks like a Humbrol product for a French customer. I reckon the tin is at least 17 years old.: John

That looks very nice. I never built the ESCI version but I could be tempted by one of these! John

Actually, on reflection I think the lighter green was Middle Bronze Green, not Light Bronze Green. John

I like the look of the Singaopore version, could be tempted there! I'm sure I read many years ago in Scale Models that the Singapore Strikemaster and Hunters were finished in BS381 colours 241 Dark Green, 222 Light Bronze Green, 350 Dark Earth and 627 Light Aircraft Grey, rather than USAF SEA shades. That would be Humbrol 163 for the Dark Green and 29 for the Dark Earth, and something in the region of 226 Interior Green for the LBG. 166 is LAG. I don't know if any of the other paint ranges include Light Bronze Green. John

....and somewhat less than that in Stirling! John

Looks like it's available in the UK http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=SH48051 John

Anyone know the origins of this kit? http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=BK96672 Airfix or Italeri, perhaps? John

That's quite an impressive little kit, with what looks like a better stab at cockpit detail than the earlier easy kits. John

Due out next month: http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Malt...s_9781846033056 John

Pilot's back armour - I've gone through my references to see if I can add anything to this. Looking at photos from the BoB it looks to my like the majority of aircraft where you can get a good view of the cockpit don't have it fitted. However by the time the Stukas were deploying south to Greece and the Balkans it was much more common. The "B"s used by the Italians certainly had it. It looks like it was an add-on from the mid BoB period onwards, which makes sense if you consider that before this time the pilot only had the body of his gunner and the radios protecting him from the rear! John

6G+AT - I can't find a photo of this particular airframe, but the Osprey on Stuka units from 1937 to 1940 has a profile of 6G+L(yellow)T of 6/StG1 in August 1940. Note that it's a B1 though, not a B2. Sirens - Looking at photos it would appear that most BoB era Stukas carried the round-ended fairing rather than the little propellor, on one or both legs. Elevators - the vast majority of photos I've looked at show the elevators in the neutral position on the ground. John

Here's the earlier roll bar arrangement from the Airfix 1/24 instructions: I'll get back to you about your other points! John

I can't find a decent cockpit photo in the refs I have to hand but I did come across this in the PSL book, a shot taken looking over the pilot's shoulder in the dive: It shows the earlier type of unarmoured roll bar arrangement, which was more or less open behind the pilot's shoulders. I think the armoured version was later fit, post the BoB. John

The thing that catches my eye is the separate cockpit sidewalls. The Hasegawa kit had the same arrangement and it made the cockpit look a bit cramped. John

I believe the Airfix Stuka was based on the "B" in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, so I'd be inclined to go with the layout in that. It's been a long time since I last saw a Revell kit, but if I remember correctly it has the rear firing MG15 mounted on a stand. I think they've confused photos of the stand for the ammo rack, the gun should be free mounted in the rear glazing. John

Here's the interior painting instructions from the big Airfix kit: and here are some photos from the old PSL book: John

Link shamelessly copied over from Hyperscale: http://modelforum.upce.cz/forum/viewtopic....=57&t=25075 Sprues, instructions and taped together parts. John

The engines and some airframe parts of P6966 were recovered from the crash site in 1979 or thereabouts. I believe the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust have one of the engines. The rest went to the Isle of Wight, but I have no idea what happened to it subsequently. John

When Ray Rimmell wrote his Battle of Britain articles in Scale Models way back in 1979 and 1980, he used the Monogram (Revell) Bf110 as the most accurate at the time. Since then the only C/D that has arrived on the market is the Italeri kit. The "best" 1/72 '110 on the market at the moment though, is probably the High Planes "G" - there's a review here: http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/port...bf-110g4-r3.htm John

A slow start, but I've made some progress. I'm using this version of the kit, but it's really unimportant as they all contain the same plastic: First job was to clean all the interior parts with a Maplins screen cleaning wipe to de-grease the plastic and then lay down a base coat of RLM Grey. In this case I used my home-brewed concoction I mixed for my Dornier 17 some time ago: There is some nice sidewall detail which will be picked out in dark grey, probably Humbrol 79 which I used for the instrument panel. The radiator interior has been painted Humbrol 65 and the radiator face 56 Aluminium. I'm thinking about installiing the nicely moulded crew figures, but we'll see! John

Oh Boy that brings back memories! I built one back in the early 1970s and it was my pride and joy. I had the desert version with the snake and my cousin had the Hungarian boxing. John