Andy K

(1) Replace the wheels with resin items (2) Make the tarps from Milliput or similar (3) Decals are probably generic US Army WW2 so replace them To say the kit is utter rubbish based on a couple of things wrong is a bit harsh to be honest. Yes the wheels and decals are extra expense but this always happens in the modelling world, I have yet to meet the perfect kit where nothing is wrong with it whatsoever.

I don't post here often but your FT-17 is beautifully done and really caught my eye. Lovely!

Ok but is it your material or copy-righted material? If it's your own personal stuff no problem but if it's somebody elses then it's illegal

Wow! I'm sure Osprey will be SO happy to hear you are thinking of doing that....

Tactics don't come into it with WoT It's just a free for all and pot luck on whether you survive to the end of a round. In the past I've pointed out on the mini-map a certain area that I know will have the other side coming to in force, only to be dismayed when the rest of my team go to the other side of a map and leave me to face the hordes alone

Mid production Tigers were mainly used on the Eastern Front and had zimmerit applied, it's only the early Tigers that were zimmerit free. Hope this helps!

Mr Hobby stuff I get from MDC either at shows or online and Tamiya I can get (luckily) from a local modelshop or when REALLY stuck Hobbycraft. Online I can get Tamiya from Halifax Modellers World in Yorkshire, very good people to deal with.

I have been thinning Tamiya and Mr Hobby acrylic paint for a while using IPA but have been getting mixed results such as varnishes frosting, paint going grainy or very rough looking so after dismissing Tamiya's own acrylic thinner I took the plunge and tried some and the results have been VERY different. The paint goes on much better now so I shall be using Tamiya thinner in future and keep IPA for cleaning out the airbrush. I was like you in that I used enamel for years but it was never very family-friendly especially when thinning with cellulose so I've adjusted to acrylics with Tamiya and Mr Hobby being my main choice. Lifecolour and Xtracrylix I personally find unusable particularly Xtracrylix as it took me forever to get the damned stuff through my airbrush, so much so I sold all mine at a show. Xtracolour enamel has a great range of colours but they take a VERY long time to cure and I found it was impossible to handle a model, also living in a dusty house ruined many a paint finish. You can use a japan drier such as Rustins Terebrene and that does shorten the drying time considerably. I hope this info helps in some way!

Try Vallejo or Andrea acrylic paint, just be aware that some Vallejo dries with a sheen

DON'T! Get the Trumpeter BTR-80 instead as it's FAR superior to the Zvezda kit (which is the old Dragon kit from the late 80's/early 90's)

Trumpeter 100%. Dragon did the BTR70/80 in the mid 90's that have been repopped by Revell and Zvezda, great at the time but not up to todays standard, the Trumpeter kits are brand new tooling and are very much recommended. Hope this helps

Make masks that are the diameter of the wheel then spray the tyres.

The way I build armour is to not glue the wheels, sprockets and idlers to the axles, glue the track to the wheels, leave to set then you can remove the tracks as a sub assembly. It works for me anyway.

My mistake, it's in the Kinetic Alphajet thread and post 23 and yes you did look at the thread; http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234927271-148th-amd-badornier-alpha-jet-ea-by-kinetic-test-shot-pics/page-2#entry1224567 Sea Venom I've already put this topic to bed once so why don't you? To the rest of the guys, sorry but I made the mistake of getting drawn into a thread that has become a slanging match. It WON'T happen again and this is my final word on this subject.

See you just don't read threads properly do you? In one of my previous threads I said "there are plans and there are plans" which means some are more accurate than others. As for me 'missing something' then that's up to you to decide, either way I give up on this subject as it's just flogging a dead horse. You've got your opinion and I have mine so lets leave it at that shall we before this thread gets locked?

SeaVenom, it's not the THREAD that is boring. If you read my post it is the continous moaning about kit innaccuracies that is boring, particulary when judging from photos or CAD images and something that is not just confined to this thread or even this website. Surely you must agree that the ONLY real way is to measure the kit against a good set of plans? Or am I missing something?

The way I do it is to make the wheels and tracks as sub assemblies i.e. they are all glued together as one; I then prime my models in matt black (Games Workshop Chaos Black to be precise), this way the tyre colour is already there and all you have to do is paint the centres of the wheels. You may ask "How do you mask the tyres then?" to which my answer is "I don't" due to my style of painting. Also some may say never paint the tyres black however the weathering process tones the colour down. That's how I do it anyway and it works for me;

It's pretty hard NOT to read a thread about a new kit release on any forum without it descending into the usual complaints about 'it does'nt look right', 'the nose looks off' etc etc etc and yes it is getting boring. I'm surprised kit manufacturers even bother to do it now due to the kicking they get. Personally speaking virtually EVERY kit has it's innaccuracies to some degree or other and SURELY the whole point of modelling is to correct them should you wish using modelling skills. I still contend that judging a kit from photographs is flawed and you should wait until the kit has been released so that you can measure it yourself against a GOOD set of plans.

How do you know the Vampire will be rubbish? How do you know this Alpha Jet won't be rubbish? All you have to look at is a few CAD images and some test shots in both cases. Until you actually get the plastic in your hands and can measure them against a GOOD set of plans (and remember there are plans and there are plans out there) then it's pretty pointless to say either way.

Having just read the post by Greg B about a certain magazine threatening legal action for certain comments made I'd be careful about the continued bashing of certain far eastern companies lest they do the same. Just sayin'....

Good idea Radleigh! I've posted a message on their Facebook page

Just out of curiosity but would the canopy out of the Meng kit fit the old Revell/Monogram 410? Just wondering as the canopy in the old kit is the only thing really wrong with it and if the Meng canopy fits then it might be worth contacting them.

Nice finish Oz! You'd never tell it was 1/48.

He's done it again! Arkady you are FAR too good at this modelling thing, please stop it Yet another superb finish, really really nice.

I don't think that is what Simon was on about at all and your comment about "real modelling skills" and what is fun to you is very subjective indeed. You may like doing dioramas and "putting together a kit that's nice to build and accurate" likewise others will enjoy the challenge of correcting an inaccurate kit. Also what do you mean by "putting kits together isn't exactly that creative"? Surely being able to make something with a given amount of parts is a creative skill also?