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Hi all, I’ve created a crash test dummy to practice weathering. I cleaned the model. Brush painted 3 coats of acrylic colour, blue on top, off-white on the bottom. Then used a MIG panel line enamel paint. Issues: I noticed some blistering, which equated to removed paint once I removed the enamel weathering with a cotton bud. What would cause this? On one section of the model, the weathering enamel would not rub off with cotton buds. Why would this happen? I have yet to try thinners, but imagine it will remove it. Just wondering why it comes off in some areas with cotton buds and not in others (smoothness of paint?)…? Generally it worked well though. A separate test saw me spraying Matt varnish on the model. This pooled in a few areas (white gloopy mess). It took lots of sanding to rectify and even then there was some evidence of the issue. What would cause this? Thanks for any guidance/advice/experience.

As the subject says I am after advice what to do. The work in question is https://eprints.qut.edu.au/87976/6/James_Rorrison_Thesis.pdf "The political decisions and policy leading to the Royal Australian Air Force having no fighters or interceptors for the coming war against Japan." Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology. I found the work to have so many problems I ended up generating around a 1.5 Mb text file of quotes from the thesis and notes about what was in the thesis. I sent it to the relevant academics and after an email exchange they propose to do nothing, as the thesis was externally examined. However before that comes the sign off by the supervisors that the thesis is worthy of examination and the examiners are therefore entitled to assume basic fact checking has been done. Two quotes from the correspondence, "as an Institution QUT has confidence in the quality and merit of the thesis." "you need to seek an alternative outlet for your work, perhaps an appropriate internet forum." It seems no papers were written based on the thesis, so the only public source is the QUT web site. Over and above the factual problems is the thesis needed more proof reading, to catch things like footnotes not matching, and dates, like Bismarck being sunk in 1940 and again in 1941. I am not including my full set of notes they make for tedious reading, given the repetitive and at time disjointed nature of the thesis (and my writing style). Trying to figure out what the time period being discussed can be quite hard. An example, "Halfway through the Beaufort program, the British terminated the supply of vital parts, reneging on their contract of exporting template numbers of Beauforts as examples for the DAP, failed to buy Beauforts from CAC, retained the Sunderlands ordered for the RAAF and disparaged the Wirraway without supplying an alternative such as the Hurricane being sent to Russia in large numbers." No date is given, the Australian Bristol Beaufort program half way point could be any time, from order to last aircraft, from order to half way aircraft, from start of production to etc. The order dates from mid 1939, production ended in August 1944. The British exported 1 pattern Beaufort, as agreed, it arrived in 1940. The Australian government took over the RAF order Beauforts in 1942, the RAAF retained the Sunderlands in Britain in 1939, the Wirraway comments date from 1938, the USSR shipments from the second half of 1941. The title only gives a part view of the material covered as the thesis comes to the conclusion there was enough obvious information and aircraft available early enough that the RAAF could, even should, have had at least a fighter force of a couple of hundred or more fighters able to match the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero in place as part of a proper air defence system at Darwin in mid February 1942, along with a viable counter attack force of Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers. The thesis makes use of David Irving as a source on Winston Churchill, here is an extract from the libel trial judgement from https://www.hdot.org/judge/ "The charges which I have found to be substantially true include the charges that Irving has for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence; that for the same reasons he has portrayed Hitler in an unwarrantedly favourable light, principally in relation to his attitude towards and responsibility for the treatment of the Jews; that he is an active Holocaust denier; that he is anti-semitic and racist and that he associates with right wing extremists who promote neo-Nazism." The thesis says WWII had intercontinental bombers. Phrases like "Japanese deployed their Army Zero-Zen as a naval fighter" The Japanese "traditionally they were not restricted by inter-services’ rivalry and obsolete thinking" which would overturn about a century of histories on the size of the Japanese Army versus Navy rivalries. Adolf Galland, Luftwaffe fighter pilot, is the thesis source for British radar and fighter defences. There is little information on what aircraft were historically available, in what quantities and when, despite this being a key factor in what could be done. The thesis uses the description of the US industry from the 1938 British mission to the US to note the industry was hungry for orders and so able to deliver the thesis concluded requirements at the thesis concluded time and this description apparently applies all the way to end 1941. The thesis considers the RAAF should have had dive bombers in 1941 and they were overlooked as a type but is unaware over 200 were on order from the US as offsets from an RAF order, initial deliveries promised for June 1941, but production was well behind schedule and in the end a different design had to be substituted, Brewster Bermuda to Vultee Vengeance. Robert Menzies, Australian Prime Minister, 1941 trip, depart Australia 24 January to Singapore, Middle East 2 February, England 20 February, stayed around 10 weeks, still there on 30 April, to Canada, 10 May in USA, home 26 May. The thesis notes when in the Middle East Menzies did not consult experienced RAAF personnel on air defence, using as an example Clive Caldwell, a man who did not arrive in the Middle East until April 1941 as a new trainee. As for RAAF experience, 3 Squadron RAAF, arrived Egypt in August 1940 initially equipped with Lysander Army co-operation, gained Gladiator and Gauntlet biplane fighters in September, the Gauntlets were removed in December, the Lysander in January 1941. Hurricanes added in late January, Gladiators removed in early February. First air combat on 19 November 1940. The Curtiss P-40 fighter, A to C models called Tomahawk, D and later models Kittyhawk, the thesis has it present in the Australian units Western Desert of North Africa in December 1940 as a fighter bomber, the Tomahawk versions were not fighter bombers and the only Australian squadron to be equipped with the Tomahawk was number 3, receiving the first of them on 17 May 1941. The first allied fighter bomber sorties in the western desert were on 20 November 1941 by Hurricanes. The thesis uses quotes from newspapers as sources, including wartime ones despite the inevitable censorship, rather than the relevant official documents. The thesis cannot find any evidence the Bristol Beaufort in RAAF service sank a ship, there is no consultation of the post war JANAC and USSBS Japanese shipping loss reports, but as the Beauforts did not sink a ship they therefore could not sink a ship. The first RAAF Beaufort combat sorties were at night, therefore the Beaufort only did night raids. Three data tables the thesis uses, from the British Cabinet, the RAAF official history and an RAAF publication are all misquoted. The various British Cabinet documents quoted are available to see on the British National Archives web site, if anyone feels like it they can check to see if they have the difficulties I had at times matching what the cabinet document says to what the thesis says is says. Lend Lease was passed on 11 March 1941, before that it was being able to generate US dollars to pay for the items, the backlog of orders meant Lend Lease material started significant deliveries from 1942 onwards. The thesis has Lend Lease available in 1940. The RAAF placed two orders for Short Sunderland flying boats, one in 1939, one 1943. The 1939 order stayed in Britain with the unit meant to operate them moving to join the aircraft, not the pre war plan of the other way around. The 1943 order were delivered in 1944. The thesis says one order and look how long it took to be filled. The thesis states the US was trialing its first line aircraft in China, from perhaps as early as 1932, or at least 1937 onwards. The P-40B was flown in China pre 7 December 1941 encountering Zeros, whereas the AVG did not go into action until post 7 December and did not meet Zeros. General Claire Chennault sent to China in 1937 "under orders from Roosevelt to organise and command the clandestine AVG, the Flying Tigers" By the looks of things, the thesis has when discussing the 1937 Japanese invasion of China and the Nanking massacre. "The US response, apart from the token AVG, was to continue making diplomatic protests but even after one of its patrol boats, the Panay, was sunk by Japanese divebombers, no retaliation was threatened" Panay in 1937, AVG in 1941. The thesis has Sweden ordering P-40 which became the AVG aircraft, they were ordered before Sweden was over run, presumably by neutrality. There was no Swedish P-40 order. And so on.

Newbie question - despite having a good time removing and sanding each piece, so far... Should I have removed every piece from the sprue beforehand or left them on there to prime and paint first? How do you hook a completed track onto the tank? Is there a trick to it? Thank you

Hello - I hope you good AFV folk can help me out - again... I will shortly have a tank commander and some truck and halftrack drivers to paint in 1/72. They are British / Northern Europe / 1944 - market garden type stuff... I am looking for help with basic uniform / helmet / beret colours. I use Vallejo Model Air - but I do have conversion charts for... Humbrol Gunze Gunze Mr Colour Tamiya XF Testors Can anyone throw a few colour numbers this way please. Thanks in advance - Steve

Hi everyone, I have been lurking on here for a while now looking for tips and pointers; so I finally decided to register and ask questions. I am about to return to modelling after a major 35 year hiatus, but having said that, I am really more of a newbie. I used to build airfix kits and add the water slide transfers and that was pretty much it, any painting was done with a cheap brush and humbrol enamels (and not often at that) I more enjoyed the building. Anyway, looking on here has inspired me (especially the work of Andy Moore; I mean WOW). What I do need is advice. I have been bought the bandai 1/12 scale R2 and BB8 kit and I'm wondering where to start with weathering. The kit is still on its sprues so I have yet to make any kind of start, as for materials I have some Sprue cutters, craft knife and diamond files from some of my day job tools (I'm an engineer - mainly in the aircraft and submarines industries; 3 colour smoke pod in the red arrows hawk is some of my work). So, where do I start - I want to build the kits and start to introduce some grime to each droid, bit of dust for bb8 and some oily type grime for R2. Help?

Good morning, I just thought I might ask the advice and opinions of members of the forum in regards to a project i'm starting. I was thinking of doing a 1:72 Airfix Vulcan "properly"; with aftermarket engines, intakes (possibly, you'll see later) and the white ensign model (WEM) stuff. I've also thought it might be an appropriate model to do some rescribing for the first time, along with flory washes, photo etch and resin- I had to choose this model So the few questions I would like to ask are as follows: 1. Can you use a steel ruler and is it adviseable for linear panel lines as a guide- rather than masking tape? 2. (Perhaps the most important decision) Which Vulcan to do?! I've got a choice between XH558 and XL360- having been in XL360 and purely because I quite like the 617 tail marking (I might be turning into an "anorak" ) I feel a greater sense of attachment to her, although I have seen XH558 display at Throckmorton last year and so I am quite keen on her too! 3. Should I have "everything" open (gear down, airbrakes down, bomb bay doors open, crew hatch open)? Or should I save some money and (if I should choose XL360) build the Coventry Vulcan as it currently is (and save additional money with FOD covers for the ghastly kit intakes)? Note: I would have built the Cosford Vulcan but I'm not keen on the highly glossed finish of XM598 4. Any other advice for building the Airfix kit? Joins to watch out for, etc. I know that 2 and 3 are very subjective points but I would greatly value your opinions. Many thanks, Sam Edit: the 617 tail marking on XL360 Edit 2: -Are there any definitive colour matches out there for either 558 or 360?

Hi all, I'm building a 1/144 A319 at the moment, and to be geeky for geeks sake i'm painting it up in a fantasy livery of the imaginary airline I has when I was a kid... Take what you will from that. Either way, I need to find a decal sheet of standard lettering to form a random/made up registration. G - XXXX (or whatever). Ideally I need them in white. I can find some squarey RAF ones around, but if someone can point me towards some more generic ones, i'd be grateful. I can paint the livery but not the reg. Cheers, Chris

Afternoon All, Last night I finally sat down and opened the Airfix 1/48 Javelin with a view to starting it. Additionally, I also opened the AlleyCat Mk7 conversion kit as my dad worked on them when with 33 Squadron in 1958 at RAF Leeming and RAF Middleton St George. Specifically XH838, which he photographed on the flightline shortly after delivery. This is where the problems arose. I understand from the AlleyCat instructions that I need to insert piece for the Mk7 gunports, as I am not doing a missile carrying aircraft. That leaves me with another insert, which I don't think I need, and a long panel for the outer/upper wing. Is there any change in the shape of the outer/upper wing from Mk7 to Mk9? From the sources I have at my disposal I thought that the Mk 9 as basically a Mk 7 with re-heat, Firestreak missiles, and the re-fueling probe. Do I need to incorporate this item into my build? Any help would be grateful. Regards Andy341

Hi Everyone, My missus and I are big fans of airshows, we both love taking photos as well. We are looking to upgrade our camera as we only have a little pocket camera and are wondering if either of these will be suitable for airshows : 1) http://www.tesco.com/direct/fuji-finepix-s4900-digital-camera-black-14mp-30x-optical-zoom-3-inch-screen/413-7120.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=413-7120 2) http://www.tesco.com/direct/fujifilm-finepix-s8200-digital-camera-black-162mp-40x-optical-zoom-30-lcd-screen/748-9097.prd?skuId=748-9097 I am always showing her the amazing photos that get posted on here and just wondering if you could tell us whether one of them is suitable to use. EDIT : Any suggestions for other cameras similar in budget to these would be welcome. Thanks, Rick & Michelle

Hi Everyone I am currently building Eduard's Messerschmitt Bf 110D 1/48 kit. I am tiring to fit the engine nacelles to the wings and they are some what challenging....... Have any of you guys out there built this one and have any advice on the matter?

I'm hoping someone out there can help me! I've come back to scale modelling after a 30+ year hiatus and am loving it! My first attempt was a 1/72 Airfix Mosquito (see my profile pic), which I brush painted. I started reading around the subject and learnt loads of techniques which I enjoyed trying out. Next stage was clearly to move to airbrushing so I searched the t'interweb and ended up buying a Badger 200nh single action suction feed airbrush. As I'd already forked out a load setting up my work bench I couldn't justify a compressor so I'm using canned air for the time being. The problem is that I simply can't get any control out of the brush! Instead of controllable fine lines, I get a random sequence of large wet splodges, nothing but air and then a very thin dusting of colour. I tried in vain to pre-shade the panel lines on my 1/72 Airfix Sabre (using gloss black, that someone had recommended in an article I read) and pretty much painted the whole model. Nothing like it looked like in the article with nice narrow lines over the panel lines. In a review of the 200nh, the reviewer sketched a little smiley face no wider than a scalpel. I must be doing something wrong! I tried spraying while twiddling the needle adjusting screw and that didn't seem to make any real difference. Seemed to be simply on or off. Are you supposed to be able to vary the intensity of the air? I've ended up using a whole small tin of Badger air and half a big tin with no meaningful results. Is the tinned air the issue? Perhaps it's the paint? I'm using Humbrol enamels thinned with Humbrol thinners. I've read the ratio of paint to thinners should be 50:50, to a milky consistency. But are we talking full fat or skimmed?! Or even gold top?! Dosing thinners is easy with a pipette, but I'm struggling to dose the paint. Any tips? Could it be that the mix is too thick? or thin? I'm using the glass jar with siphon pipe but perhaps a Badger metal cup would be easier? I'm getting good at stripping down the brush & cleaning it and to a layman's eye, there's no apparent damage. So I'm feeling pretty disillusioned at the mo - got a new toy but don't know how to play with it. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks in anticipation for a bit of inspiration Beardylong (and the irony is I haven't got a beard any more!)

im going to build 2 revell tornado gr1'a as a gr4 & 4a, i have the bits and bobs to convert, q1 im thinking of building the 4a as scud hunter off the model alliance sheet, load wise would i know it carried a raptor pod, did it at all carry ant lgb's at the same time, and would it of carried asraam's or sidewinders? q2 are any of the 4s that were used in telic, now flying marked up similarly in Afghanistan. as i have brimstone's for that, and wondered in any of the markings were any good from telic sheet? this one i want to build with 2x lgb's, brimstone's on rear and lightning pod i front plus asramm,s am i off target here or somewhere near?