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This has been my understanding since I returned to the hobby over ten years ago. And I have built my P-51s to show this. However . . . . (maybe others have seen this as well - but I think it is worth repeating here) the Eduard CEO made the following statement on 18th March over on Hyperscale relating to a similar question about their forthcoming P-51B/C (i.e. would it have filled panel lines): virtually all wartime Mustangs had visible wing panel lines. Putty in the panel lines was virtually non-existent on most aircraft in service. He (as you'd expect) was queried on this - and doubled down on it. Surprised? Yes. Me too. Mark

Yeah fair play but Ive built their Sea Flanker...

Side by side with the Italeri Elefant hull the foam board hull covered in .25mm styrene apart from the front panels left to add then I can move on to the suspension, hull detailing and of course the tiger I turret.

Singapore and UK is a long way to travel. My first trip to UK was using my staff travel ticket with SIA……a great way to fly, in the 1000th Boeing 747. I will certainly visit UK some day since the last trip was about 20 years ago. If you are ever here in Singapore, let me know.

Holding of on judging the new kings clothes until they're actually here....

Hi George, Wish I had read your building notes before buying the kit, mine was second hand off e-bay and was of 2006 vintage from the original Huddersfield makers. The moulding quality is rubbish, I had the same lopsided hull problem as you had. several hours with three spirt levels and I came to a compromise I lifted the port forecastle by about 8mm. I found the plans bare little resemblence to the hull. But what can you expect for half price. Anyway glad you persevered the boat looks very good on the water and I always go for a good working model and the 6foot rule. (if it looks right at a distance of 6 foot and sails in a realistic manor I more than happy) I built the St Nectern 5 years a go, it looks most realistic on the water but is a handful to transport and launch. All the best.

There has been a wee bit more done since the last update. All the delicate breakable sticky out bits were painted, glued in place and the a final clear coat was applied. After that was dry the wing lights were glued in place and all the masking then removed. The plan for tomorrow is to fit the wing tip lights, paint the formation lights on the underside of the wing and rig the aerials. Thanks for looking, Cheers, Alistair

Careful with that, some allergens are cumulative, and once triggered are permanent.

That's a fantastic piece of work. Well done!

Absolutely and pretty much as I said too, ear-defenders on, almost home time, noise, dark, rain, reduced visibility, one has to be so careful, so anything that is mandatory to improve safety of all is welcome. Only today I see the results of a recent event in my part of the business: An aviation firm was fined £160,000 after a tragic incident at Heathrow Airport involving a Dnata Ltd employee who was crushed to death while unloading baggage containers from the hold of an Emirates Airbus A380. the Health and Safety Executive found safety failures, including obscured visibility and lack of sensors. But it's just stupid hi viz and common sense............... 🙄

I had similar symptoms last year and put it down to one brand of CA. Changed brands and was OK until this. My mancave is a small enclosed space (6x3m) so Im positive the exposure is amplified. I also think once an irritatation starts it takes a while for it to settle down and I'm 100% sure gets triggered much easier a second time. Mask wearing for me too now 😥

Dito all that has been said above. Excellent result. Cheers, Wlad

The C2A is unglam beside the others on the deck. It’s fat, not slick compared to the F18, F35. Even the brother E2C looks better. However, I see the beauty in this plane. It is beautiful and a functional plane. I have not bought any F18 kit and will unlikely build any. Started this build with the cabin first. I am always fascinated by interior of planes and ships. The cockpit seats get some rivets scribed on the sides, as well as the bulkhead. The cabin floor was scribed to produce the rails for the seats to anchor onto. The next challenge is to produce the chipped paint on the floor, a result of carrying lots of cargo and passengers.

I considered it, but had the following thoughts: The main hatch on top of the storage is glued shut, would look a bit odd having removed a shell then closing it afterwards. This was a bit of a necessity as gluing that hatch shut was the best way of getting the other panels nice and square. There isn't a figure operating the crane. The best setup I can get of the figures is them milling around, not loading the gun. Maybe I'm focusing too much on the realism here?

Congrats & have fun. Sounds like lots of food & sights in your near future.

Hello, So, what did I spend a couple of hours doing one evening this week? I was out with calipers measuring the patches on the landing gear doors from a picture, then scaling the measurements to the model. Some déjà vu as the precision required was as much as, or greater than, when I built the gunsights. Here's where I ended up. IMG_4449 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr I did it for both models. Then it was time to paint the -6. I used Vallejo Air Gloss Sea Blue, same as on the -5's side panel, and it sprayed OK diluted with 20% Vallejo airbrush thinner. Some stoppages due to tip dry. I used a lot of air and low paint flow so the model wouldn't get soaked in paint. Tamiya and Mission sprayed better under similar situation. It's all curing now before I do anything else. IMG_4450 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr Cheers, Wlad

What a great start and what a great looking kit. Having read your WIPs I know we are in for a treat and loads of tips that we can "borrow" for our own builds. Nice one and welcome along.

Fujimi 1/24, built ‘from the box’ other than home made number plates (pity the kit only has LHD dashboard, couldn’t find a source for RHD, thought there might be a 3D printable thing at least). Interior was airbrushed in MIG Ammo Cobra acrylic ‘interior brown leather’ – went on nicely and dried quickly. Body was primed in Mr Finisher 1500 (lovely product) then finished with Porsche Viola Metallic from Zero Paints with Mr Color clear over the top. I had to strip\sand and start again on body as I got too enthusiastic with the Zero - should have waited longer between coats - and it ate through primer in places. End result isn’t as good as I would like but not as big a horror story as the Rubystone Porsche 911 I did last year. Note to self, be more patient with those hot paints! Wheels came ‘chrome plated’, these were stripped in bleach then airbrushed with Mr Color gold - found a picture of a 911 in this colour with gold wheels and thought it looked like a good look to copy.

If you try magic-strip from deluxe you can brush it on and wipe it off rather than having to strip everything else maybe?

Thanks James, I think the optimist in me wanted to build 4 or 5, but the realist thinks if I get a third in, I'll have done pretty well 😁

Funny you should say that. I have been having problems with my nose for ages and have been cutting out different thing to see what was causing it. I have now sadly narrowed it down to one of the glues I was using, which is mostly the excellent Tamiya Thin. I'll now wear a mask if I have to use it for a long session, which is a PITA in itself.🤬

I was thinking ‘why bother when there is a perfectly good Academy kit’ when I saw the topic heading but opened this anyway out of curiosity. Focusing one the recce versions certainly makes sense. I’ve got literally hundreds of kits in my stash I’ll never build and I’m pushing 80, but this one might be added to the pile anyway.

Just got my copy of Miniart's M3 Stuart Initial Production, interior kit, so will be doing this when the GB starts.... all the best Ed

Grazie mille Giampiero. Alain

John, What you sent was most helpful. Thanks again. Jeff