Tony T

Happy Birthday Mr Cross. The Sunderland and Eddie Allen B-29 box arts were my favourites. Two of my favourite Airfix kits too, reminding me of birthdays in 1966 and 1968 IIRC Tony

Alternate noses and tail fins would take care of early, mid and late, but would it need two different wings — or might one wing design accommodate Merlin and Hercules nacelles? Like most who are interested, I'd buy only one boxing. If it were 1:48 then probably two: early and late. Anyway, we'll see what happens. Tony

Yes, the hobby needs some benefactors who are happy to just break even, tooling wanted subjects with no more than fifty parts sold in cheap cardboard boxes with no decals or instructions. Just a quick stop-motion on-line assembly video. That way we could very likely have [insert want here] in 1:32 scale. Sourcing relevant AM would be half the fun. I think we're heading in that direction with cottage industry 3D printing; but another benefactor, or entrepreneur as there would be money to be made, needs to create a finger-friendly non eye-stinging quick-drying alternative to cyanoacrylate glue. Tony .

You should be more cautious with new thread titles like this one as it can cause a heart attack! We've been waiting for a new 1:32 Streak and Flash ever since Kittyhawk said it would do them. Whether Zimi pick up the baton, who knows? Italeri has the potential to do these subjects and would do a good job. And yes, I want both in 1:32 scale Tony

Very tempted by the 1:48 Hampden next year. I have a half dozen of their kits in 1:32 and 1:48 and liken them to Tamiya engineering moulded in Trumpeter plastic, but with crisper detail. Curious about this year's mystery kit. I wish them every success. Tony

It doesn't specify WW2 Allied, but they obviously (?) are referring to a finned air-delivered bomb-shaped plastic assembly item to glue underneath somewhere. As for 1:35 scale, by and large I'm ignoring it, the way I have done with helicopter kits for donkey's years. I will, however, take to it if Border et al start doing Cold War jets, particularly Vietnam era jets like the Thud, Voodoo, Vark, Phantom, Scooter, SLUF etc. TBH, 1:32 is a fraction too big for many Cold War jets, but we do like standardisation for any collection, otherwise we'd be happy with toy town box scale. Tony

I would love a set of Vietnam era RF-4C decals even without a decent 1:32 kit to put them on. Though we might get lucky with a Revell repop to convert the Tamiya, or a new creation from Red Pills, down the road a bit. So 1:48 would be better even though Caracal have done mkgs for Udorn OO code Tumbleweed. Would be nice to see Budweiser from the same unit, the Towel Rail OZ jets also from Udorn, and a Tan Son Nhut AC coded jet with the big red and white Compass Count self-destruct warning placard (round nose retrofit to six FY 65 jets with slightly larger no.3 station window below the laser recon set). I don't have photos but there are some people here on LSP who have a few. HTH Tony .

Thanks. I'd be happy with a 1:48 Sunderland as a 1:32 kit would have a bit too much heft, though would look cool hanging from the ceiling in a barn conversion. Tony

I believe that was your intention. You're a Muggist Max! (compute dyslexia and a word break). The 18th April is the anniversary of the Doolittle Raid (82 years), Lucrezia Borgia’s birthday (544) -- and also that of “Mr Vark” F-111 Wizzo James E Rotramel (74), who has done a fantastic amount to get accurate Aardvark modelling resources achieved; just a shame he isn’t a 1:32 modeller. So, my wish list also includes a 1:32 General Dynamics F-111F. As for the Sunderland, I’d like to model my biological paternal grand-father’s last flight in Sunderland Mk.III W4026 DQ-M from 228 Sqn. A tribute, not a morbid wish. As for the Halifax, for me it has to be a late mark with Hercules engines, ‘rectangular’ fins and plexiglass nose, or a Halton with the luggage bay. Maybe 19 yr-old Navigator Patrick Burgess’s machine shot down by British coastal ack-ack after a bombing raid. No, sadly, he said not everyone got out. A splendid man who later became VP Rolls-Royce America, knew Lockheed Skunk Works Ben Rich and got to fly a NASA F-106B. A guiding hand for me at times. My adoptive Dad and he were both Navs on No. 511 Sqn Britannias at RAF Lyneham in the early 1960s. I’d be happy with the latter done in 1:72 by Airfix. Per Ardua Ad Astra, or permezz tal-avversità tal-istilel as they might say in Malta, Tony

100% on the mark. My budget doesn't allow for paying for an image hosting site, assuming I am still competent to take the pictures. It's quite condenscending assuming that non image-posters do not build. Tony

The Aerocraft is the correct length but assumes chopping up and shutting the fuselage, as per rafju's link to the Cocardes conversion article, which involves reworking the glare shield etc too. How much would the ResKit gear need to be reworked? If the kit windshield is prone to cracking I'd be on the look out for a direct resin spare — i.e. a copy of the incorrect kit windshield as-is. The one thing that will always totally ruin a build is irrepairable clear parts. That information has dulled my enthusiasm a little as it may "force" the modification. Tony

The box says it "includes an air bomb". When I was younger that meant a gas bottle for the soda siphon. Nowadays I'm guessing self-administered nitrous oxide. Tony

The wish-lists are always a repeat set of subjects from most of us, including your Anson and my Su-15 included, so it's easy to tune it out like white noise or tinnitus. What I was hoping for was constructive speculation as to what Halifax and Sunderland marks these might be and whether a minimum change kit could offer two versions? Or a civil Sandringham or Halton? No one apparently has any more rumour data so it's best to maybe freeze the thread until it's picked-up (or not) by an official announcement. Cheers Tony .

My hands aren't steady enough and I don't have an image host to link them to here. An experience shared by many I suspect. I'm going to attempt some digital snaps later this year to send to the mods for posting. But what's wrong with building and collecting unbuilt kits too? Surely most of us have an as-yet unbuilt "collection" in our heads? The information seemed quite reliable (not from a mischief maker), and the prospect of a big Halifax is completely credible from a firm that's already produced multiple subvariants of two four-engined heavy bombers. We shall see. The Sunderland seems a little more remote due to its bulk, but my thoughts are that H K Models are designing these in 1:32 but may be aiming to tweak the CAD to produce a 1:48 kit, or both. I'd get both in either scale but would have to drop 20% of the stash to justify two 1:32 offerings sold in suitcases. Tony

Remember also that F-16 insignia were smaller, like PACAF stuff, so 1:48 F-4 TAC and 388th TFW insignia would be anout right on a 1:32 F-16A, which opens up your search. Tony