GrzeM

Bombs have rarely been "new" due to way they were stored and transported. Most photos show something like this: BTW, bmb tails were clean, as these were stored in basket-like containers. But the corpses - were just put on the ground.

To be honest, Wyszkowski's ZX-o has much darker letters than the other planes. Black? Speaking about the others - the colour photo shows clearly light blue. But on these black and white photos some letters look like just white outline, without colourful interior. But this is just supposition, with no proof. "Pat" model is amazing. Very good job. The only complain I have are bombs - they lack weathering. Seriously.

BTW it's worthy to note, that Mi-2 was produced exclusively in Poland (almost 5,500 examples), in WSK-PZL factory located in the city of Swidnik near Lublin (South-Eastern Poland). The strikes in this factory in July 1980 (month before strikes in Gdansk Shipyard) have initiated Solidarity movement.

You mean something like this? BTW, does your kit include flat, armoured windscreen (like in P-40) or the rounded plexiglas one? Mine (the same kit, the same number etc) has flat ones, incorrect for French planes. Good luck in doing this wonderful airplane!!!

It's so cool!!! I've been watching the "work in progress" topic with interest and admiration, and now it came to such amazing result! Congratulations. Additional "respect" for choosing this is very interesting and quite unusual airplane, not another Heinkel or Lancaster.

Well that's interesting. Maybe it's a climate issue? I'm in Poland, quite far from humid tropics of Brasil and here these decals work more than perfectly! Please, let Felipe know about it. I really belive that these decals are far better solution for modeling than standard ones!!!

In fact I'm the one who "invented" these decals. Helping Felipe Canuto Miranda (FCM owner) in designing some Austro-Hungarian schemes for Albatros D.III I've got from him sample decals, not on final film but with some "ersatz" (replacement) one. These were pretty good, normal waterslide decalsbut due to some manipulations I managed to remove film without damaging the pictures. IIRB it was That was so cool that I've suggested Felipe to make such decals for market. These are very convenient especially for "area patterns" like WWI German lozenge or Austrian sworls, but also for any other decals. I'm still amazed why this have not revolutionised the decal market, as this is real improvement over traditional waterslide decals, and doesn't cause many typical problems like eg. "silvering". Maybe Felipe had not enough power to promote this technology. This is my Oeffag/Albatros with these decals (sworls) - please note how well is covered this pretty complex fuselage surface!

I hope for not resin, but normal plastic parts from 3D - like they did for Spitfire and Hurricane.

Super-cool! I love Gladiator, even if Poles never flew it. Two questions: Is the SeaGladiator planned (or possible to build from initial box)? Is the Roald Dahl's plane documented enough to build a model? Any photos?

The story about "shoveling" incendiaries comes from 1939 September (Poland) but is kind of rhetoric exageration and has been many times disputed and rejected.

Ju 52 was standard Luftwaffe bomber before Do 17, He 111 and Ju 86 generation. Internal, vertical bomb bays were standarised and removable, there are statements from Legion Condor that these were often mounted or removed, according to the needs (transport or bombing missions). Ju 52 were used in big numbers for carpet bombing of Warsaw (my city) in September 1939, mostly with small-caliber incendiaries. However losses due to AA artillery were so big that Command officially forbad using Junkers as a bomber (about 23-27 September IIRC). It is very probable that Warsaw Royal Castle fire, so well known from period photos of American journalists, was caused by Ju 52. There is pretty famous Ju 52 bomber with name "Uwaga!" ("Attention!" in Polish) - which originated from the first word of Polish radio warnings about the raids. September 1939 photo: ...and many others here, on odkrywca.pl, Polish explorer's forum: http://odkrywca.pl/samoloty-niemieckie-39-czesc-druga,711202.html#711202 ...and first part of the topic: http://odkrywca.pl/samoloty-niemieckie-39-quot-,115351.html#115351

Here: http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=178726 is the comparison.

Awesome build! BTW, have you tried CA glue as a putty for balsa? If you soak balsa with CA it behaves like very hard polystyrene. But for the first time check this method on some spare part to find out if you like it.

You may build it as Spanish Civil War plane, so no decals will be necessary (except white letter on the fin). http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal6/5001-5100/gal5066_Potez540_Stern/00.shtm

I think you can easily go into British "Dark Earth" for Polish khaki, and German RLM 76 grey-blue for bottom. colours on that period photo are somewhat changed, but give general idea: Polish khaki is definitely more brown that US Olive Drab.

1/72 Blenheim, maybe?

Blenheim I. Blenheim I. Blenheim I. 1/72.

Good to see you here, Spiton, with your fantastic Buccaneer. The model looks all right, but you forgot to clean it a little before taking photos ;-)

You both guys are kings!!!

Hell no! The light conditions does not affect only one colour, but all of them in the area!!! Blue in the fin flash is navy blue not turquise same as the fin and rudder are deep black not green like the nose of the plane. Is it so hard to understand, that the colour MUST be seen with it's contexst, i.e. other colours in the same area/conditions? The spinner, like the whole airplane side between the nose and the fuselage roundel are in stong light, which changed the hues of the colours. Turning them strongly into yellow (dark blue into green - side, and red into light orange - spinner). The roundel white is most pobably not yellowed, as it ha no colour at all (strong light "burned" the emulsion like in overexposures).

So the "very dark blue Night" looks green on this photo. And in order to obtain green from blue you need to add yellow. So still the same track. The picture has to much yellow hue.

This is quite obvious, that the early colour photos have the colours often heavily tinted and way from original. This photo is a clear example of that rule. Let's leave the red-yellow controversy and look at the roundel blue. Can't you see at least three different versions? Fin flash is deep, clear but not very dark blue, fuselage roundel and rank badge are greyish dark blue, and the top wing roundel is greyish-greeny blue. The apparently black airplane is... black? No, only in deepest shadows. The side, between the "A: letter and the spinner is dark green. Isn't it? So? Now to the reds - is the red inner circle of the fuselage roundel red? And should be? Using Photoshop I may find on the spinner pixels of exactly the same colour as the red inner roundel. On the other hand, there are also darker and lighter pixels too. But it depends mostly on photography exposure (amount of light allowed to reacht the film through the aperture nad the actual light conditions). With all that observations I'm very strongly for the RED SPINNER option. Or maybe dark orange one. But not yellow. Yellow colour on this picture does not show such variations.

Daniel, many thanks for very detailed and interesting answer. I still have one doubt, related with this photo: Letters look exactly like on your simulated "red filter" photos. But not the roundels! The difference is very clear. How could you explain that? I'm pretty familiar with photographic techniques, so you can - if you have time and will - go into details. Thanks in advance!!!

I'd say that the top plane is "ZX-4" and the second - "ZX-7". But I may be wrong. Thanks for these photographs!!! There was a discussion about these colours ("ZX" letter codes in Polish Combat Team) on the Polsih forum lately. No conclusion, but one pretty interesting note: some letters look very light, and some very dark, almost black on the b&w photos. I even started to suppose, that some of the planes had the white outlines of letters only, without blue interior. But the photos are rather poor. Dave, I have seen the colour photo of "ZX-1" turned b&w on your other Picasa album, and the letters look very dark there. Can you comment it?

Interesting data. Question to the native English-speakers - is that possible that in above reports word "cluster" means simply the bombload (eg. one 500 lb and two 250lb bombs) hanged under one Spit, dropped in one attack?