PhilB

I use Alclad grey as a primer for all my builds. Dries quickly and much softer to sand than some auto primers. Don't bother buying the expensive Alclad black gloss primer. I use ordinary Humbrol black gloss under my chrome etc and it works fine and saves you money! Phil

Ralph, You are supposed to post pictures of your model, not the real aeroplane!!! Seriously though, that is stunning! Phil

Peter, Copied and compressed your pictures: Great work, lots of luverly weathering. Make em dirty I say!!!! Phil

Beautiful work! I built the Trumpy IIC Trop a couple of years ago in the scheme of 249 Squadron at Ta'Qali, Malta in February 1942. I don't know if you have it but I used a book "Hurricanes over Malta" by Brian Cull who is THE expert regarding Malta and North Africa. It shows that 126, and 261 Squadrons both operated Hurricanes on Malta. I managed to work out mine as a IIC by reading through the combat reports in the book. On the jacket it says the book is distributed in the US by Seven Hills Book Distributors. in Cincinnati. e-mail : customerservice@sevenhillsbooks.com. Hope this may be of help, Keep up the good work!!! Phil

Barry, I'm currently building the Tamiya F14A converted to a "B". I bought the Wolfpack set and wasn't impressed with the poor finish and fit to the rear end. Luckily Aires then brought out their set which I used. Very good fit on the Tamiya with only a bit of sanding to blend it into the kit. Only thing I found strange are the moulded in "rivets" on the "feathers". Cant see em in any reference photo's so I removed them. Phil

David, I knew one of you guys would have the info, just gobsmacked at how much you can find out! Bet you don't know what the pilot had for breakfast!!!!! (I know he had bully beef for tea!) I'd love to see the e-bay photo. Please bang it over on my e-mail which is under my profile. I assumed it was Takali but Dad was buzzing around the various stations at the time so Luqa is obviously right. On the back of the photo he wrote "Claimed by the ack ack boys but it was a gremlin in the engine". Bet there were loads of disputes at the time. Thanks again, Phil

Radu, Thanks for the info. I have problems with my smelling at times. Must get some of your new belts!!! Phil

Steve, Thanks for the colour info! Nick, I think he was known by both names. My Dad always referred to him as "Screwball" and apparently he answered to it. There is a great book about him:"Malta Spitfire -Diary of a fighter pilot" paperback by Greenhill books and is available on Amazon for about 7 quid. When you consider that in only flying 14 combat days on Malta, 27 destroyed, 8 damaged and 3 probables is incredible. The book asks some interesting questions about whether he was a cold blooded killer or just very good at his job. What comes out of it is that he was a natural pilot and an incredible shot. My dad remembers him going to the Intelligence Officer after they had encountered a new Macchi for the first time and asking him where he had to hit it to make it blow up! He also said that when he landed after combat my dad couldn't look him in the face for a while, I asked why and all he said was "he looked like death" Kind of brings it into perspective and blows away all the glamour and nonsense portrayed by Hollywood etc. You might also try Brian Cull's books "Spifires over Malta" , "Hurricanes over Malta" and "249 at war" Couple of years ago I built the 1/24 Trumpeter Vb Trop as one of George's aircraft and also a 1/24 IIc Hurricane in 249 sqn malta schemes. Must take photos and post them once I've repainted the crowbar on the spit from red to green (usual mistake!!!) Phil

Thanks for the info Steve, This aircraft would almost certainly have been based in Sicily at the time so would the grey scheme be about right or would it be the desrt sand over blue colours? Phil

Mornin' I was thinking of a solution to your problem about closing up the exhaust cans on your tomcat and as its lousy weather (Yep I bet its boiling down under!) and I have a cold and am in a bad mood I thought I'd take my razorsaw to my spare WP cans to see what I could come up with. First I cut between each of the "feathers" down to roughly the ridge inside the can. Where they slide over each other I cut in at angle: Then I needed a cup of coffee so with the remaining boiling water water in a bowl and wearing gloves I dipped it in back end first for a couple of secs avoiding submersing the mounting "ring" and gently started to fold them in. A couple of times and I got this: I did the cuts very roughly and didn't sand the gaps at all but maybe with a bit of care you could fold them in enough, CA them in place and use milliput as a filler which you could scribe afterwards? I would suggest you could do a similar job on the internal detail pieces by cutting long 'V''s in them and squeeze them in from inside so they close up at the afterburner edge. Hope this helps mate. It can be a bit of a bottle tester but I think you could get a result. Be very careful not to distort the base of the can in the hot water!!!! Phil

Had another go, hope this is better. Phil

Radu, Trying to get a better picture but hampered by steam driven scanner! It looks like they have already removed the guns but I hope this helps. Phil

You are a brave man Sir! I have been working on the Tamiya F-14 for some time, also with the Zotz decals but I am doing the 6oth anniversary scheme. I also bought the Wolfpack "D" conversion which I also thought was pretty poor for the money. I eventually bought the Aires zorst set which is lightyears ahead in fit and detail. I used the wolfpack intake fans which I think are right for the B series engine but the rest will be aires. I found Mr Narita's site very useful for tips on this particular kit but it has been a pretty long fix with lots of scratching. It nearly went in the bin several times when I was doing the intakes with half a pond of milliput filler and very sore fingers. My five-year-old daughter couldn't understand why daddy had paid so much for a kit and then spent hours sawing it to bits and shoving copious amounts of resin up its backside. I have also used the Avionix B upgrade cockpit. Usual story, brilliant detail but a pig to fit and dodgy instructions! Keep up the good work!!! Phil

Being a newbie and this being my first attempt to upload pictures I hope I have got it right! My late father served in the RAF throughout WW2 and was stationed on Malta throughout the blitz of 1941 to 1943. He was an engineering officer with the famous 249 Squadron and used to tell me stories of the great pilots such as "Screwball" Beurling (pound for pound probably the best fighter pilot of WW2) and Johnny Plagis et al whom he worked with. Amongst his many photos is this picture of a downed 109. The notes on the back state that it crash landed at Takali on the 5th May 43. As can be seen the engine was probably dead as one prop is undamaged. He told me that the aircraft came in dead and belly landed whereupon the pilot whom he described as a "blond god" got out, emptied his service pistol into the engine then put his hands up! It was claimed by anti-aircraft people but my dad said it was engine failure. Can any of you 109 experts out there give me a hand with what mark it is and likely colour scheme as it would make a great diorama project if I can find a couple of thousand oil cans for the blast screen behind it!!! Phil