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Howdy folks, With 2019, LSP's 20th anniversary, and our celebratory Multi-engine Group Build all mere days away, I thought it time to announce another of our celebratory initiatives for the year ahead. For the duration of our 20th year, we'll be holding a series monthly raffles, with prizes donated by a range of vendors and sponsors. To be eligible for the raffle for any given month, you simply need to have started a build in the Works in Progress forum that month. Simples! Note that placeholder threads started solely for the purposes of claiming eligibility for a prize will most likely be excluded. We're looking for active builds here! Think of this as a way for us to extend the prize-giving beyond the Group Build, and offer similar rewards to those members who feel the GB is not for them. I haven't decided yet whether to announce the prizes in advance, or keep them up our sleeves as surprises. For now, all I'll say is that there will be a single prize each month, drawn from a range of kits and aftermarket products from many of our generous vendors and sponsors: Barracuda Studios RB Productions MDC Archer Fine Transfers Silver Wings Kitlinx/PCM Kinetic LSP We may have further prize announcements as the year progresses, and would like to thank the companies listed above for their amazing support. Also, stay tuned for more 20th anniversary announcements as they become finalised! Kev

So finally managed a couple of days bench time over the Christmas period to concentrate on adding all the fiddly bits and pieces and I'm now calling my G-4 finished. I really enjoyed this conversion and super happy with the results, also I would like to thank everyone for their help , support and comments throughout this build. I will try and get some RFI pictures up later this weekend. Regards. Andy

Hi all, I started another Mustang, now all opened. P-51D-5-NA Maj. George E.Preddy Jr.1/32 Tamiya EagleCals decals set for Preddy HGW wet transfers & seat belts Barracuda cockpit, battery, wheels, pilot seat, cockpit decals. Colours MRP, Gunze, Alclad II. Eduard PE set - exterior, Look instrument panel.

HK models with Fisher Meteor F-8 conversion set. The rockets are also from Fisher models and some additions from Eduard sets. The assembly of the fuselage with the new nose requires a lot of care and also we must add a lot of ballast to obtain a correct ground position. Painted with the MR paint IDF range.

Originally I was going to build it OOTB with rivets but it turned into a “I wonder what would happen if I did this?” build and then it became a test mule for some of our products. Since we have Dzus fasteners I decided to upgrade the kit’s poorly represented cowl fasteners. How ever they decided to just represent them with holes instead of the excellent ones on the gun access (despite so many are missing) I decided to “fix” that too. Just filling the kit holes and laying the fasteners on top of the skin isn’t going to help so I used a .035” (#65) drill to open the kit locations up to the diameter of our Dzus fasteners so they would sit flush with the skin. In reality these fasteners do not appear flush like flush riveting, but rather have a somewhat distinct recess around them which is the result of the skin being “dimpled” for more bearing surface than if it had been countersunk. First I drilled down just far enough to open the kit hole up to the diameter of the drill. Do not drill deeper, you just want the surface to be the diameter of the drill. Next I put a tiny drop of Tamiya Extra Thin in the hole to soften the plastic just enough to take the sharp edge of the hole off, creating a slight radius. At this point I would suggest applying a white wash into the holes to help aligning the fasteners correctly. When applying the fasteners, I first put a small drop of Mr. MarkSetter in the hole, maneuvered the fastener into position and then used a couple coats of Solvaset to get the clear film to bond to the plastic. Setting solutions soften the film to a jelly-like consistency and becomes a coat of clear lacquer. I then applied each fastener individually doing my best to keep the slots parallel to the panel line. I made a little tool from a cocktail stick and a pin to align and rotate the fasteners, a task not easily accomplished. I had to add some here and used dividers to mark off the locations. All except one is what I’m working to get. The second from the bottom right is in too far. Helps to have the area somewhat level so the setting solution doesn’t run down the side. I did this side first and found out a white wash would make locating the fasteners easier on my old eyes. Way too many fasteners on the kit cowling so I filled every other one. Even at that, there are over 90 fasteners in the nose cowl alone. I have no idea how all this is going to look painted but it’s been interesting so far.

My Revell Fw 190A-8 added with Brissin resin and eduard's PE most of the marking are painted on the heart and nose art are from Eaglescals

Can I just chime in here? In my honest opinion, the addition of the blisters is a non issue. They are provided as a separate option, as i believe some of the early Lancaster 1's didnt have them, some later had one, some subsequently had 2. There is ZERO drilling required when adding the blisters as once attached you cant even tell the clear part is "double glazed", such is the clarity of the parts. For anyone interested, I overcame the problem by dipping the canopy in Klear likewise the blisters. Once dry I offered up the blisters then using a cocktail stick, dripped some more Klear onto the blisters. This ran round the blister effectively melting the dried klear and securing the blister to the canopy once dry. Not the best picture i know, but the double glazing is hardly noticeable. Look at the far blister in the image below. As far as the ejector pin marks in the bomb bay, another non issue as they are positioned so far up the bomb bay doors and are so shallow, they are unnoticeable. likewise the marks in the bomb bay itself. Shallow, and once painted black not noticeable, more so with the bomb load in position. Im not saying you cant see them but unless you are displaying the aircraft upside dow, spending time correcting these would in my book, be a waste of time. Lack of detail at wing root? make ones own mind up as to whether it spoils the model. The moulding pads come off cleanly and with a little smoothing work the fuse halves go together well. Zero filler was used in this build. Honestly! This was a test shot and without the PE set, but as far as I am concerned, the kit exceeded my expectations of exactly what a test shot is. The kit itself i am sure exceeds even this.

If you get the Detolf, you can install some wire clamps on the vertical supports which will allow you to double the number of shelves. I did this with the one I have and will be doing it on the new one as well.

I bought mine yesterday and was disappointed with the turrets,...... especially the frosted over nose turret and the joint lines and seam pins of the rear turret! However some good news,...... especially for modellers of RAF & RAAF subjects is the fact that my friend Franta at DK Decals is releasing a decal sheet for the big kit; Should be; 1x RAAF 1x RAF 100 Group, Bomber Command 1 x RAF SEAC 1X RAF Coastal Command (311 Czech Sqn) Cheers Tony

Cheers gents. Forgot to add the picture of the cannon barrel fitted into the brass tube in the leading edge. Makes it much easier to leave these off until the last minute knowing that they are going to fit really well. I don’t really have a shelf of doom, as long as nobody mentions my Hph Concorde. Some of my projects come perilously close to going there though, probably due to the non shake and bake nature of the projects I choose and the resulting ease of making an error. Similar to someone who reads a book and has to go back and re-read a whole chapter in order to understand a particularly difficult part of a novel, I find myself having to go and revisit old work, to start again to make things better. I had started fitting the flaps to the wings and came across a bit of a problem with how the fuselage and wings had been joined. When I originally fitted the wings to the fuselage, I needed to push them together with a bit of force. As a result of this, the inner section of the wing had a slightly concave shape when it needed to be flat. This was causing some issue with how the flaps were able to be fitted. I ended up breaking the model up to fix the problem and refit the wings with minimal pressure. I refitted the wings and felt much better about it although this caused a fair bit more work as some of the mating areas had been damaged during this extreme measure. This then led to another problem although to be honest this had been bugging me from the start and the following fix is well worth the effort for those building this model. The nicely done vac formed canopy is unfortunately very thin and does not lend well to handling and during the reassembling of the model, I put some pressure on it breaking it away from part of the fuselage. This was the second time it had happened and I didn’t want it to happen again, possibly at a far later stage of completion. The clear plastic does not adhere well to the super glue that I am using and joining it to resin parts does not give a good bond. The small elliptical fairings behind the pilot were also giving me some trouble so it was time for a comprehensive fix of their area. First up, I made up some supports from plastic card that will stop the part from flexing and breaking away from the fuselage. I then traced the shape of the fairing onto some plastic card. A small flex of the vac formed part easily broke them away. I cut the part out of the plastic card, angling my blade so that it was beveled on the inside of the curve. I re attached the fairing and scraped away the paint around it where the plastic card part was going to fit. The re done part. The plastic parts that I added now lock the fairings down due to the previously mentioned bevel and also provide greater overall strength. It looks a little agricultural, but it won’t be seen. Meanwhile, behind me my young fellow is working away at his own workbench well past his bed time. Being brought up on a diet of model glue and Swedish death metal, what can go wrong?

Peter, your seriously generous and amazing donation is actually for the GB raffle if I remember correctly. I've only listed the monthly ones above - and thought it was a bit much to ask for two donations! Kev

I am a bit disappointed in one of the new Lancasters. Some serious shape issues, decals are thick and sticky, one rivet is missing from the port wing, no cockpit or turret details.

Great subjects so far. I'm planning to join the GB but I have to much to choose from. I have a large amount of twin engines in the stash: - Ju88 A1 or A4 - He 111 H6 - Me 262 A or B - Horton 229 (already past 25%) - He 219 - Ta 154 - Bf 110 (G2 conversion) - Fw 189 - Ar 234 - He 129 (GMF version, not going to build that one with the upcoming ZM kit) - P61 But I do want to do something bigger. What about three, four or even six engines? I'd like some opinions.... - What about a He111 H22? Or in other words a Heinkel 111 with a V1 buzz bomb under the wing. Three engines.... If I'm going to build that I'm using Profimodeller's conversion and a Special Hobby V1 kit. - Or just build the B17G from HKM. Four engines. I really like the paint scheme from the aircraft 'Bit o lace': - Or B17G 339119 with two JB-2 Loon cruise missiles (i could convert the Special Hobby V1 for that purpose). Six engines! What to choose? Wouter

Wow did my wife hit this one out of the park!! She said now I can bring my models up from the basement lol

Hi All, I hope everyone has had a brilliant Xmas. Over the holiday i found time to finish the construction of the Typhoon, Ive got to say bringing the major fuselage and wing components together was a major challenge and came together gradually as i stitched it together over several days using various forms of persuasion! All ready for paint now, but as you might notice in the last pic and maybe under the influence of too much mulled wine I've decided to briefly stop this build and start my car door typhoon! It seemed to make sense as i can use all of what i have learned with this one to hopefully make quick progress and will complete this one all closed up and have some plans for which markings to do which will hopefully contrast nicely with my bubble top! Thank you for all of the kind comments about my work, its a real pleasure to be involved with this forum. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2019! Cheers Matt

Yes another B-17. This one had been staring me in the face for a long time. Highly inspired by Dave his build In Peril The subject is a B17G-70-DL serial 44-6954 during operation Chowhound. This operation was launched to save the starving people in the Netherlands because they were dying from lack of food after a gruesome winter. The American and British airforces dropped food after negotiations with the Germans to allow a safe passage for the planes. The bombers flew at a low altitude with marginal crews to drop the food for the Dutch people. air_flyingfortress2 liquid-8-or by Rick Martens, on Flickr This is what I would like to create. I know that the plane was from the 569th BS / 390 BG. Ther name of the plane was Liquid-8-Or. The only coloured image I gound on the net is this one jk_b-17g_ccf-2 by Rick Martens, on Flickr I do not know if this is correct but a yellow rudder and a diagonal yellow stripe on the starboard wing is all? And even more important, the plane was a veteran with over 70 missions. Was there any nose art? I cannot find it maybe anyone her can tell me? I have ordered boxes 10 in 1 menu scale 1/35 and I have a crew, must figure out a way to make a tail gunner and how to fit the ball gunner inside the ball turret. As far as I can see in the picture there is not a top turret gunner. I want to make the propellors turning, where can I obtain the electro engines? It will be a in flight model. the base will be a large picture in black and white taken during the operation. Also a challenge will be the support for the plane. Because of its seize and weight it is something I have to figure out. The support will be hidden from vieuw by the rationboxes, it will also hide the wiring for the engines. 110_4332 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4338 by Rick Martens, on Flickr And it is big 110_4333 by Rick Martens, on Flickr the crew 110_4381 by Rick Martens, on Flickr I made a modest start, added straps to the oxygentanks made out of alufoil. This will be by far the most ambitious thing I have done so far but I am looking forward to the ride! Rick.

Getting back from my Christmas trip yesterday evening, this morning I managed to fire up my digital camera and after playing with lighting for a while, was finally ready to take some glamour shots of my finished Chinook. Its final resting place will be in a perspex display case with these patches I received from LSP member and Brahmans Chinook crew member in Afganistan, Craig Hartnett. Craig was an invaluable help on this build, providing photos and advice throughout. Without further adieu, CH-47D A15-104 Crux Australis "Dusty Blonde" Kit: Trumpeter 1/35 CH-47D Aftermarket: Eduard's Big ED set for the CH-47D Paint: Model Master and Tamiya Custom: Scratchbuilt CSAR hoist and NavSat Comms antenna.

I saw this at Telford last month and it's totally blown me away. I was on the verge of committing to the WNW version next year, but have now placed an order for this. My rationale for buying... Is it huge? Check Will it look like a Lanc' when it's finished? Check Will minor glitches/inaccuracies bother me? Not in the slightest. Will it be value for money? I'll get approx 2 years worth of building and painting out of it so, yes, it's worth every penny I will shell it on it. Postie, stop fooling around with holidays and get my model here NOW!

...sooo good news..., I just bought one for 115€ in Germany...

The first one! In other words, if you start an active build in January, you'll go into the draw at the end of January for that month's prize. We can fudge end-of-month stuff if we need to (for example, if you start your build on the last day of January, but are very active with it through February, then we could consider it eligible for the February draw). Whereas the GB raffle is a reward for finishing your build, this raffle series is an incentive to start one. Kev

Started in on the instrument panel for fun. First step was to scan the kit part. This is fairly imprecise but it does help me with matching the outline contours. This in turn will make installation into the HB cockpit easier. And started adding instruments. There are actually two types of Privateer instrument panels, an early type for the first 274 aircraft, and a late type for all subsequent airframes. Below is the start of the late type. I've still got a lot of buttons, lights, etc to add but progress is good. The Ginter book has been an invaluable reference. Also, a thousand thanks to Peter from Airscale for his insight on the correct diameters for instrument faces. Most instruments came in a few standard sizes but until today I had no idea what they were.

Kev, this is awesome. Thanks so much for going out of your way to make this happen.

My wife and I are going to Ikea after the holiday to buy me a display case. Now that I am retired some models are nearing the finish line. I get to keep it upstairs to. Rick

Carl- I just added bits of styrene, wire and lead foil for the belts and buckles. ( Pssst, it's all gizmolgy and made up ) You do get a IP decal and a little pilot in the kit but I didn't like either of them. I thought you'd need something in there as that's a pretty big and clears canopy. I finished up last night, Here are the beauty pics. If you want a quick bit of fun you cannot go too wrong with these little kits, A better modeller than me could really make these little gems shine. I had a quick blast and enjoyed myself immensely I look forward to the TF-104 and the kits in the Freedom range. Thanks for looking in.

everything is painted and weathered and ready for final assembly side window highlighted with dark wash I was trying to depict repairs painted over gun barrels mounted finished exhausts engines ready exhaust soot creating surface ready MRP clear Smoke applied as a base layer exhaust glued in place and layer of MRP Exhaust soot applied thanks for looking jan

It's helpful to think of RAF flying wires as 'blades' (for cutting through the air) rather than 'wires', which tends to suggest round section twisted wire rope. Although the latter is certainly commonly used for control cables and some bracing applications. RAF flying wires can be confusing to map on an airframe because from head on to the airstream they look as thin as a twisted wire cable, but from the side show their longer airfoil section. Different airfoil sections can also be in use on the same airframe. The catalogue picture below illustrates a variety of them with various thicknesses and terminations . The two views below show the different thicknesses presented by the inter-strut bracing and aileron connectors on a Gladiator depending on the viewer's perspective.

I think those that are worried about things like ejector pins are missing out and maybe always having everything totally correct and present before the glue comes out are missing out on a wealth of modelling that they might enjoy even more if they perhaps dipped their toe in to 'upskilling' their modelling. I think I started truly scratch building when I was 14 and that was constructing locomotives [ working ] from Plasticard and making my own drawings becuse what I was interested in there wasn't a kit for. Don't be scared of the scalpel and having to do things twice you will improve with time, I did and you will be proud of making something that is not just sticking things together but involves some ingenuity as well and then building a kit won't be so daunting. trust me. Graham

Looks like the Revell HMA.8 version of the Lynx has finally been released. It’s been five years since their last boxing of the kit as the HAS.3, and long enough that the actual aircraft has gone out of service, but better late than never. Interestingly, the early boxings of the first release, the German Mk.88A, actually included a sprue with many HMA.8 parts, including the IP, Sea Owl turret, IRCM jammer, and the cabin rescue hoist (which could be used on the Mk.88A too). There were some parts missing in the Mk.88A kit that prevented you from just building a HMA.8 out of the box, though. Link to kit Link to instructions

this kit is causing me real issues, I keep changing my mind on which plane to build. Natural metal finish is out for me and I don't like nose art birds so those are also out. I thought I didn't want to do a US scheme and I would do RAF coastal command. However I keep jumping between US desert, US navy, RAF bomber command, RAF SEA, India or Chinese schemes (no natural metal I'm seem to recall !). Unlike any kit I've previously had, I can't work out what I'm going to build. I'm not fussed about accuracy (it will look like a B24) so not worried about different turrets or equipment as long as it's roughly right. I'm currently thinking 100 Group RAF but is anyone else having trouble working out what they will build ???

Little pressie to myself purely as I saw their availability after Christmas. Tornado cufflinks manufactured from aluminium recovered from the scrapped Tornado GR4 ZG750 May be a future investment, may not. Either way they are very nice. 48981214_10213437204505649_4678796969781493760_n 49010866_10213437204865658_5180180104612937728_n 49342350_10213437204945660_140733279287377920_n 49442995_10213437205305669_7048155840859078656_n 49060497_10213437205865683_8319451935543394304_n 48930690_10213437205385671_5541416227487875072_n 48928982_10213437205945685_5918733459538313216_n My photos don't do them justice. Small but lovely.

Miloslav - wow! What a crisp looking build, and well researched. I do however want to point something out - ETO Mustang groups like the 352nd did not use the SCR-274 short range radio receiver. They used the SCR-522 high freq radio only, which you have well represented on top of the fuel tank. So the unit I have shown circled in red below was removed in the field: Also, for the same reason, ETO fighters including the Mustang did NOT have the long wire antenna that went from the cockpit to the tail. That was also removed, and in the case of the P-51D, a clear plastic cover plate was attached to the top of the bubble canopy where the wire normally entered. Will be looking in on this great build.

Umm, you forgot about my donation Kev always happy to give back to the place I call home and all it's wonderful members Peter

also this pics are quite useful and interesting

Kool! Thanks for all the work to make this happen! Dan

Yep, this is going to be a great year!

Awesome! Coincidentally, my wife today said I should get a display cabinet for my models so I wonder if there's something in the water... Carl

I will start with the fact that it is difficult to combine cheap and good. I will try to offer you really good models one more expensive the second cheaper. The first one is more expensive, but very good 1:48 scale model, great detail and very good fitting. I mean the entire family MiG-29 from GWH version is your choice. The second option is cheaper but also a great model from Kinetic Su-33. The effect you get is very good and it's straight from the box. Important, you will not need a bucket of putty. Ready model

afternoon ladies Many thanks Jay - I think it still needs a bit of fettling but it is better than the wonky version there before - I too could not find the loft drawing David Glen used on his 1/5 scale one so I used the one you mention and a whole load of photo's I have a cunning plan for that actually - I have some 3D printed exhausts on the way from model monkey, have scaled the structure inside the cowlings from drawings and for the exterior panels (that define the aperture shape) I will likely create etched panels for the skins - two reasons - 1) they will be factory spec in terms of outline & 2) they will be a different tone to the rest of the panels which seems common on P51's, I guess they used a different metal / thickness on the real one... so, the Xmas break meant some time at the bench and I am powering on with big structural stuff - it makes a nice change from all the tiny details in the cockpit.. ..first up, I traced the gear doors from drawings to create a template, cut thisfrom card and used it to create the area to cut out for the main gear bays - this whole process took a day before I was happy with the position as it was at variance with the outline HpH had on the surface so I questioned what I was seeing and doing repeatedly... ..you can see the template and the two big holes below.. ..then it was time to add leg mounts - I did what I did for the Spitfire by braze soldering some brass tube onto brass plates to act as spigots to add lathe turned gear later on.. ..these were then epoxied into place.. the perspective makes them look a bit out, but even if they are, they will be cut down to stubs just to act as positioning for the MLG later ..for the roof of the well, I cut out some black card blanks that fitted, and matched these to drawings of all the stringer & rib positions so I could scribe what goes where onto litho to actually line them.. ,,before I could fix the roof position I had to check something... ..in the cockpit, the floor where the control stick goes is actually the top of the wing, so I had to make sure the cockpit pod with the floor did not foul the bay roof. To do this I had to get the pod into the fuselage and into position... I had never done this before, so it could all have gone horribly wrong... ..thankfully and a few fist pumps later it all fitted fine... it's tight, but it fits ...now I could fix the gear bay roof and you can see how the scribed lines will help position all the structure to go in here (and there is tons of stuff...) ..will probably add the walls then look at other big bits like stabilisers and the air scoop under the wing.. feels good to have some wind in the sails and who knows, I may make Telford next year TTFN Peter

Not quite the same but the HO-229 I'm building for the multi eng group build I'm completely flummixed as to leave the skin clear, do the metal & wood or camo... no idea of what I want 'cause I want all 3 !!

Next, I moved on to spraying the national insignias via a Montex mask. I've never done that before, so I learned some interesting lessons along the way. In the end, I'm pretty pleased with the result. This aircraft had the pre-war star-with-red-circle insignia which was painted over mid-1942, so I tried to replicate that. Masking for the wing-leader's stripe. Wing leader and unit number markings complete. The tail number is apparently supposed to be crooked. After spraying a quick shot of Vallejo clear gloss on the appropriate areas, I applied the decals to the aircraft. And here's how she sits now. Next is a mist of base coat to dull down & blend some of the decals, then clear coat them to protect them. After that I've got some brushwork to do on the tailwheel canvas boot, the guns, ejection slots, light bulbs, and a few other places, then it's on to filters, washes, a little bit of chipping and hopefully the finish line by Monday.

The upper surface started with Tamiya Deep Green. Moved on to Olive Green: And continued with Olive Drab which seemed too dark when I got done, so I thinned a mix of Olive Drab and White and oversprayed the whole upper surface. I forgot to capture a pic of that process in finality. Whoops. Suffice to say, that final coat tied it all together nicely as you'll see. (NYYYYYYAAAAAAAARRRRRROOOWWWWWWWWWW) I then masked and painted the wheel wells. I'm a bit paranoid about overspray, even though I'm only shooting at ~12-15psi. There were some odd nooks and crannies here that I had to get to and I didn't want to risk it. The results speak for themselves:

I'm sitting here waiting for the decals to dry, so it's time for a content dump. It's been a busy couple days and I think I may still be on track to finish this build before the end of the year. When last we left, I was ready to start shooting paint. Not surprisingly, that's what I've been doing a lot of the last couple days. On both the upper and lower surfaces, I built up several thin coats of varying tones. The bottom was several custom mixes of Tamiya grays and a little olive drab thrown in for tonality's sake. I mottled the whole thing heavily and built up the coats unevenly to help with the paint modulation effect. First mottle done, very dark. Part way through the second mottling coat, this time with a lighter mix. Done with the 2nd coat. Aaaand done with the 3rd and final coat. I believe this was a ~50/50 mix of Tamiya light gray and white. I thinned it pretty heavily so the darker coats would still come through a bit. Then, it's on to masking the demarcations between the upper and lower surfaces. According to the paint guide, the chin had a hard line between the two colors and the tail had a softer demarcation. So, I used a mix of straight-up tape and a tape+silly putty. Silly putty is one of my absolute most favorite masking tools. Quick, easy, no residue, cleans up nicely, and cheap. Pretty perfect. You'll see a lot of it throughout my posts. Roll the putty into a rope and gently stick it to the surface of the model. Spray indirectly over the putty and you have a nice soft demarcation. Fortunately, the cowl masking followed a panel line.

Hi Miloslav, very nice cockpit and proyect, will follow it closely mate! can I point out that the radio rack was painted black and not green as tamiya intructions say, they came out black from the North American Aviation factory as this shot from the video 1944 line factory shows, hope it helps if you are looking for historical accurate rendition. cheers

As Mozart has said, it was a morale boosting exercise for the public. They made big things of the relatively limited success against the Italian Air Force (Luftwaffe didn't join the fray until much later) including where one shot down an SM 79 Bis over Grand Harbour in spectacular fashion (shot one of the engines off). There were around 5 complete aircraft to start with but attrition meant that many were fixed using other spares robbed from other airframes so they were pretty much mongrel aircraft including swapping the 2-stage props off crashed/written off Blenheims onto the Gladiators to improve performance. By August 1940 more regular supplies of Hurricanes meant that they didn't participate very much although apparently against the CR 42 Falco's they were better than Hurricanes as they could turn tighter. "Hurricanes over Malta" by Brian Cull and Frederick Galea is a good reference for the early days of the Malta conflict.

A wonderful generous surprise Kev, however can I just ask for clarification on the above: you're only eligible for the raffle for the month in which you've started it, or does starting a build in January automatically enter you for the period of that build, say January till June for example?

"I will likely create etched panels for the skins - two reasons - 1) they will be factory spec in terms of outline & 2) they will be a different tone to the rest of the panels which seems common on P51's, I guess they used a different metal / thickness on the real one..." Ah ha!! Yes you are right Peter. The reason for the color or tint difference with the panels around and behind the exhaust stack slot is that they are steel. All the rest of the panels are aluminum. The steel panels are defined on drawing 102-31071, which has some variable config depending on serial number. I think the proper engine cowl installation drawing is 104-31511 if you have not gathered that already. Man your build is bringing back some major deja-vu moments for me. Am particularly interested in your landing gear and gear bay work once it really commences. Nothing spoils a good Mustang build like getting the landing gear rake angle wrong (Tamiya got it wrong BTW - a little too upright). Charlie Neely's drawings have it spot on, of course. And study the NAA drawings enough and you will find it too. The general arrangement drawing 102-00001 shows this clearly. The gear strut is supposed to be 11 deg from horizontal, horizontal being a fuselage water line or the wing ref line (not the CL thrust which is not on a water line - it is 1.75 deg off). From your pictures the strut orientation looks pretty good, but hard to tell. How did you do that? BTW - here is an example of the proper gear rake angle (Miss Velma): Messed up alot of stuff on Miss Velma - but NOT the LG.

Next update: Used the Dremel which made incredibly fast work of the overlap, holy cow. Need to really watch using that! This was before a little more fine-tuning and to get the gaps to close up some more. Still used some filler, but much better than this looks here. One down side is that I THOUGHT I had sealed the nose and filled it with the liquid gravity. But I must have missed something as the cockpit shortly filled up with the tiny graphite balls. Ugh. This is how much graphite poured out, even with some still glued into the nose: Oh well, will drill a hole via the nose gear well and refill that way (and reglue!). Here are some of the pics - I used two shades of Model Master Acryl over the Dull Aluminum base: Dark Green and Drab Green. The Olive Drab just did not look like the photos I saw. Using the two greens (over the Dull Aluminum) I'm hoping gives me more of a varied and faded finish. Here is the base dull aluminum, with a few spots of USAF Light Gray sprayed in a few random blotches: And the Dark Green added: and with the green drab applied but difficult to see the varied nature of the paint. The wing root gaps are not great, but look worse in the pictures than they appear. The dark splotch on the left wing is the gloss coat to get ready for the wing marking: Ditto on the fuselage and rudder - getting ready for the decals (tomorrow): Shame the camera is not picking up the tonal variation of the paint. Here is another attempt: Hopefully decals tomorrow!

Man, that instrument panel looks great!