Bennygman

Hey richard, couple of questions; With all that knowledge - 1. Are you a CSI? 2. Do you look like Natalia by any chance? (unlikely I know) 3. If so, can I have your phone number? Steve.

Monogram 1/48 Do 335 - finished but I can't find the quick-release plate to tripod-mount my camera for pics . Revell 1/72 Hurricane II - finished but for the Canopy (are you listening Bill? ) - Duxford machine. Hase 1/72 F-117 - etched cockpit almost completed - looks like a fairly quick build from here on in, though the final finish will need careful thought. 2x Xtrakit Meteors - one each of HS Silver and Camo, both Duxford machines. Both currently at the 'get boxes from loft and look at them' stage. Airfix Spit Mk1 'bubbling under'. Steve.

Superb Tom Some great pics of some truly rare planes. Shame I have no chance at all of getting up there. Thanks for sharing with us. Steve.

Really - I had no idea that was the case. How did you find that out I wonder? Steve.

I assume its 'mud Hen' as in 'mud-mover, i.e. a ground attack as opposed to a fighter variant. Sort of like a Tornado GR4 as opposed to an F3. Can't see pics at work Phil' but I'm sure it's a great job. Steve.

Yeah, the number of times I've looked at one of mine and thought "if only...". Steve.

Yep - cellulose works for me, but you might want to use a face-mask to avoid a head-ache. Only problem with cleaning Alclad is it tends to be the same colour as the brush so knowing when you've got it all off is tricky. I'm guessing from your post that you've not used it before? If so then do pay attention to surface preparation. As well as gaps and seams becoming very obvious, even a slight roughness or greasiness on an otherwise smooth area can cause a 'clouding' effect in the finish. I've found this out the hard way and assume it's due to the paint reflecting light differently from the two types of surface, eg the rough one gives a more 'matt' effect than the smooth one. get it right though and it looks absolutely beautiful. Mastercaster's sanding and polishing products are a great way to prepare the surface - their 'miracle polisher' is exactly that in my view. Good luck, Steve.

Certainly a cheaper option than the 'official' Badger one I bought a few years back. Steve.

For the first time out and in dodgy weather you did a great job Mike . The lynx shot is a bit special, it's one of the few helicopter displays that truly amazes me. One small critique if I may, with the 747 being as low as you say it would have been great to get some sea in to highlight the point. That said it's one of those things that is much easier to think of after the fact than at the time when you're rightly concentrating on the 'plane itself. Steve.

Excellent! Cheers Col. The worst thing about the Airfix Jag is that it only includes one tank, so making a common load-out is impossible without buying two, or paying through the nose for resin. May have to acquire a couple of these, I fancy a 41 Anniversary bird and a 54 'Snowcat' Steve.

It never bothered me as a kid, which is probably why I have almost no sense of smell now i just get a whacking headache instead. The girlfriend on the other hand can smell an open tin of enamel at 100 paces (at least). Probably not great for the cats either. Steve.

Citadel 'Chaos black' with a little 'Codex grey' added to lighten it a touch - lovely brushable acrylic paint that's easy to control in small areas. Recently I've been thinning it with Xtracrylic thinners as it seems to work better than water with these paints. Also dries in a couple of minutes so the inevitable touch-ups take next to no time. Xtracolour tyre black is nice too, but being an enamel I can rarely be bothered with the smelly clean-up afterwards. It's usually a case of mount on cocktail stick, spray the hub, brush the tyre, touch up the hub, touch up the tyre etc - repeat until satisfied. Steve.

Hi col, Is this the Revell kit with the Desert storm Jag coming at you on the front? If so then could you please tell me what stores it includes, in particular do you get a pair of drop tanks? Thanks, Steve.

True enough, but I wasn't advocating more than one at a time, in fact I think too many at once dilutes the effect and should be discouraged. By plenty of time I meant for one to follow another. Even an old git like me is expecting to be building for another 30 years or so . I guess it's 'do we make it as broad as possible to encourage more builds?', or 'do we narrow the focus and end up with something representative of a particular area?'. Both are valid aims I'd say, I'm happy either way. I guess at the end of the day it's better to fit my area of interest into a broader theme than limit someone else's choice of subject matter. Incidentally, as 'Burma' was Palacefan's suggestion I entered it into Hannant's search engine and came back with 20 -odd matches, mostly decals. I've a feeling my next order to Bill will include a Beaufighter and a decal sheet. Steve.

As the Grandson of a FEPOW I'd definitely be up for this. been meaning to do some SEAC machines for quite a while. My view would be to keep it to a limited area rather than the whole Pacific theatre. Reason being that there's plenty of time for other builds relating to other areas (Pearl, Midway, etc) and a narrower focus would maybe make people study and maybe learn something new about a particular part of the war. Good idea for a somewhat neglected subject. Steve.

Could be worse - Just wait 'til they plaster 'Red Bull' all over it Great to see it progressing. Steve.

Is this the Welsh models kit? I have one but hadn't even started it because I'd identified the searchlight as a problem. I like the look of your solution though - filed for future reference . Steve.

Your wish is my command... Steve.

No, that had to wait 'til my teenage years . Still managed to spare some time to build Matchboxes though. Steve.

Admit it Ted, you've done this once or twice before haven't you? Great work, Steve.

Well, if we're posting up Matchboxes... All from the ARC Matchbox Madness GB 2006 (another coming next year), apart from the Seafox which was part of the 'Splash' GB hosted by our very own Doc Fester in happier times. Steve. PS Neil, that is a wonderful job on what is often considered a right bugger of a kit.

Thanks mate, I thought that was a hot day but then you mention 35 degrees and I think "oh, ok then". A funny thing is paint, it seems there'll always be some exceptions to any rule (eg I've had dire warnings about Alclad on unprimed surfaces, but for me it's been fine). The guys you mention all know their stuff, but sometimes it just doesn't work out for someone else. If I was in your position I'd; 1. get a very cold drink. 2. prime it and leave it at least overnight. 3. give it a light rub down if silver is going over the top (shows everything) 4. Spray from the same distance but in cooler air. I'd give you a link to the ARC thread, but my work firewall doesn't let me go there (another advantage of Britmodeller), it was in the Matchbox GB and my build of the P-47. From memory he went into a fair bit of detail about spraying in hot conditions. Good luck, Steve.

I guess the other obvious one is 'Air-a-cutie' the P-39. Took me ages to realise the significance of the tail on the 'Q' code (I was such an innocent youth!). Steve.

I know it's an obvious and probably unhelpful comment, but have you sprayed this paint onto an unprimed surface succesfully before? I tend to prime before using car paints, but then again I've also used Alclad (which is nasty stuff) directly onto plastic with no ill effects. Is it actually attacking the plastic or just drying badly on the surface? If the latter then is it the air temperature? If so then try spraying from closer in, but if it's attacking the plastic then that will apply a heavier coat and probably make things worse. The only other suggestion I can offer is to repeat what Aussie Thommo from ARC told me about rattle cans, which is to remember to "shake the crapper out of it first, Mate" Steve.

Said machine is also included on a new sheet from Zotz decals - review in SAM this month. Steve. PS must post those cycling pics I promised you - one of em's an absolute killer!.