Bennygman

It would be good if we got all of the available kits built. I'll volunteer for the Matchbox T2 in 'Ripple' and their original single seater with the 'pointy missiles' if I can find one. Steve. PS I agree about Antics and the cheap Jags - added advantage is that it'll probably be with you the day after you place the order!

What a stunning build! I'm gonna be scared to post mine at this rate. Steve.

Three words Neil - Work-of-art. Stunning, Steve.

Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys ! Glad to bring you a taste of the day. Dean; the Spit's my favorite too - just relieved to get a pic' that did some justice to his display. Gundy: Could be, I was about thirty feet back from the fence and had the hind starting up directly in front of me. GCN: PM coming. Nev; Yeah, just a little bit what with Waddo Saturday and RIAT Sunday, I think I sort of earned some sunshine this time around. Thanks for looking, Steve.

Took the girlfriend and a picnic down to old Warden for the day. Once we'd recovered from the shock of £20 each to get in it was quite a good afternoon. First of all the German connection... And some welcome visitors... Peter Teischmann (sp?) gave his Spitfire a right old seeing to! The first time he dived in for a low fast pass I thought "what a great way to end the display", by the third or fourth time I was completely lost for words - absolutely fantastic. An inspired formation ... And finally a few from the home team... As has been said elsewhere, few things beat Old Warden in the sunshine, especially now they've increased the size of the viewing 'lawn' by parking the cars further back - really good idea that and congrats to whoever thought of it. Oh, and the draught bitter went down very well on a hot day! Steve.

The Tucano shot especially is a beauty Jen. I like the contrast between the smooth surface of the side and the chunkiness of the rivets under the roundel - really nice Steve.

Well, I never thought of that! I've always masked the original colour with tape in between the Blu tack, but the method you describe would make the process less of a hassle as long as i could control the line width. I could have gone on for ages without realising that - thanks Ted. Steve.

Absolutely superb! Having tried spraying Citadel paints before and succeeded more through luck than judgment, I'm well impressed by the finish you've achieved - top class job. Steve.

Great work there Leigh and just the sort of quality thread a forum is all about. I'll be checking back here once I get around to some ICM Spits. Keep the shots coming as they move through the paint shop please. Steve.

Hi Derek, I was wondering the same thing a while back. I'm not sure what the RLM 01 looks like when applied, but if you don't mind enamels then Xtracolour has a newish High Speed Silver in their range. That's the route I took in the end. There are a few other acrylic silvers around (eg Tamiya) that might fit the bill if you're planning to spray, and if you're brush painting then Games workshop do a few different shades in their Citadel paints range which behave well with a paintbrush. The Tamiya aerosols are also a pretty reliable way to get an all-over silver finish without too much trouble but it's a more expensive way of doing it. Steve.

For me the three techniques are complimentary and the combined effect can be quite interesting. Leaving aside the 'authenticity' issue, I think they all contribute to breaking up large expanses of single colour on a model. Just a personal view, but I think solid blocks of colour on a model (eg all over olive drab or grey) can sometimes make it look a bit boring to my eyes and the variations in tone make it more interesting by giving the eye more to work with, if not always being a 100% accurate reproduction of the real thing. I guess it's the old reproducing reality vs. creating a pleasing effect thing again? The best technique for the individual is the one that gives them the result they enjoy looking at, no? Steve.

Agreed, I'd go as far as to say 'inspirational'. Steve.

As above I fill the thing with Blu-tack or similar for strength then use a strip of masking tape along the join between the part and the stub as a sort of guide line for cutting with a scalpel. Trick seems to be lots of gentle passes rather than one agressive one. Note, I've only done this twice, but with reasonable success. Steve.

Generally use airbrushed Xtracrylics with their own thinners, but I've also had good results from Games workshop's Aerosol Satin ('Purity seal' in GW speak). Regettably the last time I checked their web site it didn't seen to be available any more. Steve.

That's ok - I find a heavy lens easier to hold steady (in short bursts). Steve.

When I first looked at mine in the bright Duxford sun I thought the matrix was quite pronounced, but they were certainly still fully usable. Looking again just now in electric light I can make it out on the sky and grey from about 6 inches away, but probably only because I'm actually looking for it. I must say I was beginning to think I was going mad, but it's interesting to see that Brett has picked up on it too. They certainly still look very usable, and I intend to do so...for both schemes. Steve.

I just knew there'd be one

Nice one Nick - I've got a IIb half-way through the paint shop at the moment. If it tuns out half as good as yours I'll be well pleased Steve.

Speaking as someone who dropped a huge wad on two of these buggers this is a bit interesting to say the least. Actually, because of concerns over the stability of resin I've been storing mine in the spare room which is the most temperature stable in the entire house, rather than in the loft which is like a freezer in Winter and a furnace in summer. Not sure what else I could be doing? Steve. PS just checked the older of my examples (me worried - Pah!)- doesn't appear to be showing any banana - like tendencies as yet!

Lovely job Mike - really came out a treat! Looks like it's maybe a thicker gauge than Eduard uses, any thoughts? Steve.

Lovely job Darius - All the more so for being brush painted Steve.

Bloody Hell Dean - that is a thing of beauty! You get a huge and for that one. Has to be just about the best shot I've seen from the weekend. Steve. PS yep, I checked the histogram on some of my early ones and started underexposing slightly to cope with all that white. A lot of these are just luck of the draw though.

Got me eye on one of them - have to spend some time topping up the piggybank first though Nice shots - I like the Minnesota Herk. Steve.

More great shots Andy - love the Flanker I was quite disappointed when they didn't taxi out past P&V West, then took off like rockets - oh well, next time. Those clouds were weird weren't they? I was looking at them while queuing Sunday morning. I noticed that the Reds practice was disrupted by an intrusion on Friday too - when the singleton broke off from the main formation I hoped he was off to shoot the bugger down! Steve.

Thanks Steve - the Pave Low is one of those times when I wish I had a video camera. He was sitting about 20-30 feet away for near on ten minutes - the visuals are only about 30% of the total effect . He then took off directly over our heads! Slightly dodgy pic - but you get the idea... Well, the plane is the new Sentinel R1 (I think a conversion of one of the CLJ something-or-other regional jetliners). Someone else (Gary?) will have to confirm it's mission, but I think it's an Electronic Intelligence gatherer. Steve.