BloorwestSiR

It's not a great pic but here they are with a couple Revell ones too. Here's a link to the build thread.

I haven't had any real issues with the cowl fit on the Spitfires. I've done 9 so far and the only time I had a problem was on one where I didn't have an engine oddly. Here's one of them: On the Mossie, both engine covers fit better than on the Spitfires so I think they learned and made improvements. Carl

This is the bare minimum of parts you need from the engine when building it closed up. Carl

Well, at least yours got shipped. I emailed them the other day about mine and they replied that Turkish Post is still refusing to accept packages for Canada, Malta and New Zealand. So I'm still waiting for mine to be sent to me.

Thanks Reimund! I got an email from him and my sets are on the way. Carl

That's especially true now. I saw a couple airlines offering round trip tickets from Toronto to Tokyo for under $600 CAD. The only issue is you can't get into Japan at the moment due to Covid travel restrictions or I'd be all over it. Carl

PWMP makes several different tailfin bases for the Tamiya kit. I used this one on my stalled Polish F-16. I ended up cutting off the rear bit and just used that so I could keep the more secure mounting of the stock tail. You could also see if anyone who built the Academy kit didn't use the parabrake tail and has it in their spares box. I have no idea on the fit though. Carl

For folks that have ordered from him, does he generally send a confirmation email? I got an email about the item and sent payment but haven't heard anything since. That brass barrel definitely looks nice. Carl

Very few Japanese kits (if any) are shrink wrapped initially. You can open the kit in the store and admire/inspect the contents before you buy them. It's one reason they'll do those nicely printed inner boxes or blister packs for some parts. The presentation of the contents is an important selling tool. And if you can, it's definitely worth a visit to check out the spots mentioned above. Same with Mong Kok in Hong Kong. Carl

Here you go Chris: https://www.hlj.com/search/?q=Shigeo+koike I love his artworks as well. Carl

Hi Dave, Jetmads sent me a photo of the kit all boxed up with my address on it. They said that their post office wouldn't take it when they went to send it along with other orders with Canadian addresses. It may be the the Turkish postal system doesn't want to take it in at the moment. I know getting stuff from Hong Kong has been hit or miss lately so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Carl

Well, just got an email today from Jetmads that they can't ship my order. They said Canada has refused to accept it at the post office. Guess I'm just going to have to wait a bit longer. Carl

Nice one Tom! I just finished building the Bronco Type XXIII kit and that was a great change of subject matter for me. Carl

There's two M134 minigun barrels in the kit so that one is definitely do-able if you can get decals for it.

This is the kit version of the barrels for the XM-35 (thanks @D Bellis for what's it's called). The only M134 gun barrles that I know of are made by RB Models but are only in 1/35. Those are tiny and fiddly. Live Resin also do some in resin but again, 1/35. Carl