Timo

Hi Alex You should be more than pleased with this model - it is excellent. I particularly like the way you have built the flaps and slats - I think you've got them exactly right, which is quite a feat given that Zvezda's instructions provide little clue as to how they are meant to fit together. Also you've done a fantastic job on the detail around the open door and the cockpit. I love it all - brilliant. Cheers Tim

Excellent build John, like you I've spent many hours in these out of Manchester to various destinations - generally a good experience, sad to see them go under. Minor comment - its far too clean for a Flybe machine!! Cheers Tim

Tamiya X22 Gloss Clear is quite thin anyway, so I just dilute it a bit to help airbrushing - probably 75% gloss cote : 25% thinners. You could brush it on straight from the pot if you prefer. Cheers Tim

Hi mate I'm not sure what 'abuse' your Tristar is going to have to withstand, but in my experience Tamiya paints will withstand normal handling of your models e.g. for cleaning. Regarding sealing decals, I airbrush Tamiya X22 Gloss Clear thinned with X20A thinners. For priming airliners I agree with you - use Tamiya White Fine Surface Primer as it helps you when painting the fuselage gloss white. Cheers Tim

Hi mate I've given up trying to get an exact paint match and instead have gone back to school art classes and attempt to mix my own special colours from what is readily available. It saves money as well as the effort of trying to source a non-standard paint colour. I agree with Dave that Revell 54 would be too dark for BA Blue - so I would probably do what the kit instructions say and try mixing Revell 54 with the lighter Revell 51 until you get about the right shade of blue. I always try mixing a little amount first and paint it onto scrap plastic to see if it is likely to be right when dry - a bit of trial and error needed here. I still prefer to use E-mail enamels because from my experience they airbrush better than Aqua paints (although it might be I'm doing something wrong!) I've built a Revell BA A380 (the Technic version with flashing lights) and I can assure you it will look impressive when done - I hope you enjoy your build. Best of luck Tim p.s. forgot to answer your question about amount of paint - even though its an A380 one pot of paint will be more than enough as it has to be thinned for airbrushing. One important point about Revell E-mail paints - Gloss White will not stay white forever, it yellows with time. I would therefore use acrylic (Aqua) Gloss White - one pot with Aqua thinners will be sufficient even for an A380.

Hi mate, I don't have any experience of building a Doyusha Tristar but it sounds an interesting project. Regarding surface preparation, sometimes injection moulded kits still have some surface residue from the moulding process, so its always best before applying any paint to give the model a wipe over with some mildly soapy water applied using kitchen roll. I'd then go straight to priming with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer in spray cans - 2 or 3 thin coats. I personally prefer Tamiya acrylic paints which I find easy to airbrush to a good finish (using Tamiya X20A thinner) which in my view will meet your need for a 'tough paintjob'. I use Tamiya X2 Gloss White and I make up grey for the wings etc by mixing X2 Gloss White with just a few drops of X1 Gloss Black. Because Tamiya paints give a very good finish, I don't bother with a clear coat on airliners unless the decal manufacturer recommends it to seal the decals (this is because some decals can be fragile to touching even though the paint underneath is rock-solid.). I'm sure others here can give you further advice. Best of luck Tim

Hi Olly They are both excellent - very well done. I especially like the job you've done on the flaps & slats on the 757 - that isn't an easy job from my experience. Brilliant Cheers Tim

Get the masking tape ready, this new livery should be a good challenge for us airliner modellers. Link to Airliners.Net picture of A330-900 Condor New Livery Its definitely a radical departure from the 'Euro White' schemes we tend to see all too often nowadays. Not sure yet whether I actually like it - it might grow on me. I'm sure I'll be having a go at building this if decal makers produce logos / markings etc. Cheers Tim

Hi mate, Revell Paint Remover - you just brush it on and after a few minutes the paint reacts and starts to crinkle and lift. I then use an old toothbrush to remove the paint especially from panel lines, aided by a small plastic scraper to help lift any stubborn paint. It doesn't affect the plastic and leaves a nice clean surface just like when you first built the kit. Just note my warning about fluid creep under masking tape - if you are trying to preserve some of the existing paintwork, leave a good margin when masking. Hope this helps, Tim

Hi there, I'd definitely strip the paint and start again. I like making model airliners, so whenever an airline introduces a new livery (which is quite often nowadays) I'll strip-off the old livery and repaint rather than buy another model. I currently use Revell Paint Remover which does an excellent job. Only thing to watch is that the fluid tends to creep under making tape so, if you need to protect any of the existing paint or sensitive areas like your cockpit, its best to position masking tape with a bit of a margin and then (after stripping) sand away the unwanted paint in this boundary area. It works for me, so it has to be simple!! Best of luck Tim

Hi mate This topic was discussed a couple of years ago on an ARC forum, there are some good tips. Link here AA New Colors Hope this helps too Cheers Tim

A brilliant model - very well done. And well done to your girlfriend for sacrificing strands of her hair for the antennae. Cheers Tim

Hi mate, From memory I think that ground equipment green was roughly the same as aircraft camouflage green. So I would personally use "RAF Aircraft Dark Green" referred to as BS641 - for which HU163 Dark Green is the nearest Humbrol paint. Hope this helps Tim

Hi mate, I'm surprised nobody here has given you an answer yet - here's my take. Both 26 decals and Drawdecals produce very good quality decals - so you should have no problems whichever you choose. I'm not aware of any other decal maker producing 1/144 scale Northwest Orient decals for a 727-200. As you are in the USA it might be easier/quicker/cheaper to get Draw's decals. Best of luck Cheers Tim

A few years ago it was rumoured that Revell might issue a double boxing of the A340 and A330 together in one box, i.e. with one aircraft kit but two sets of engine sprues to enable either version to be built and with decals to cover airlines that operated both types e.g. Lufthansa, Swiss, SAS, etc. Maybe there is something interesting is in the pipeline. We live in hope!!

Hi Joshua Great work - I have one of these kits to build, so I'll appreciate all your build tips. I'm no expert on airbrushing, but like you I have an H&S Airbrush and have had similar problems to you. I thought that the airbrush was simply delivering too much paint causing the splattering / clogging. I thinned the paint a little bit more, closed down the paint adjuster a bit and increased the air pressure a touch - all of which seemed to resolve the problem. I would try making similar small adjustments to see what works best for you, so that you can get the best from the good quality airbrush you have. Hope this helps Tim

Hi Matt Brilliant news getting your first choice aircraft - best of luck with the training. Out of interest, do you end up with a type rating covering the whole 787 fleet - 787-8, 787-9 & 787-10?, or is it one type at a time? Cheers Tim

Hi Matt Regarding the mystery indents on the fuselage: - The ones ahead of the wing seem to coincide with the location of the Wing Illumination Lights and the Static Ports on the 767-300ER. - The ones under the rear fuselage roughly coincide with some of the Ground Servicing Connections - e.g. water and lavatory Maybe the original modelmaker simply over-emphasised these details. I'd fill them and use the detail decals that are normally provided. Great work - following this one too! Cheers Tim

Hi Neil If you need more info, the JetAge Museum at Gloucestershire Airport has a T7 in its collection - Meteor T7 WF784 Maybe you could try e-mailing them to see if they can provide walkaround pics. Cheers Tim

Hi Matt I absolutely love all your builds, I'm learning so much from your modelling skills. Great work. In particular I'd love to learn how you get your decals looking so good. I had a go at home made decals and posted my method of producing them here - they were for a Thomas Cook A321. I'd certainly appreciate it if you could explain how you go about making your excellent decals. Thanks Tim

Hi Dave I agree with you - I've seen them close-up at Schiphol and it does look white to me, but pale grey it is according to the livery designer (who must be the definitive answer) - see KLM blog link here. As he says "the belly is a really pale grey called Cool Grey". I'd probably mix 99% white with just a small dab of black and see what it looks like. Best of luck Cheers Tim

Hi Dave Thanks very much for this info - I'm pleased Greg has found the flexibility to offer this service. Met him once at Telford - seemed a nice / helpful chap. Russ at Airline Hobby Store has similarly set-up an e-bay outlet to help overcome the UK VAT issue too. I think we'll all appreciate the efforts our friends in the USA are making to keep us supplied with products only available over there. Cheers Tim

Hi Dave Some Boeing data for the 737-300: Ground level to wingtip (no winglets) = 3.09m (21.5mm at 1/144 scale) Ground level to top of winglet = 5.41m (37.6mm at 1/144 scale) Difference (not taking account of winglet's angle) = 16.1mm at 1/144 scale Looking at the DACO winglets on the sprue I measured this dimension at around 20mm which would be nearly 4mm too much for a 737-300. Hope this helps Cheers Tim

Hi Adrian V1 Decals produce decals for a variety of Dreamflight liveries used by BA over the years which may be useful for you. https://www.v1decals.com/decal/v1d0510/british-airways/boeing-747-400 Cheers Tim

Hi Mate I had this etch set with my Revell Technik A380 build. However, I actually used very few parts, mainly the intakes / vents and doors to correct problems with the kit. Given more time / patience I might have used the engine fans to build a far better engine front-end than the kit's offering. But overall, in my view the set contains far too much detail, and the parts I did use could probably have been scratch built with the aid of good photos. It was an expensive indulgence, but so was the Technik kit!! Hope this helps Cheers Tim