Pete Roberts

Nah - has to be an F-14! PR

Excellent! I'll see if I can find the file I have on Des Fopp. Do you have Dennis Newtons book, 'A Few of 'The Few'? Has art work for YB-E - usual provisos there of course. PR

Looking forward to this build Iain. I have the Fly kit to build as the same subject, possibly, so will follow with interest. Do you have a scheme for it? P3539, YB-I was apparently Des's usual aircraft. If you are building this one you may want to remove a scale 3 inches from the prop tips - this was apparently removed (by hacksaw!) after a taxiying accident. I am sure I have a partial photo of this plane (but can't lay my hands on it at the moment) which from memory showed a pale spinner with markings on it. I'll see if I can dredge it up from the bowls of my current disorganized state. Another aircraft he flew was P3673, YB-E, in which he was shot down on 3 September 1940. Apparently parts of this aircraft have been recovered by the London Air Museum following some archaeological digs. Not sure if they would be prepared to part with any pieces but they can only say 'No'.........

Can't speak for the P-40, but the Spitfire, while very good in the fuselage, has issues with the wings - they are too broad in chord and short in span. It also has issues with the cowl panels that are too short and have the wrong openings for the exhausts. The cowl panels are fixable, the wings much more difficult without destroying surface detail. Surface detail on all three is wonderful! I still say. Pity they couldn't continue that level of detail. But if they could get that finesse back then, why not now? Too much effort? Too much cost? Some companies use Lidar which must capture a lot of extra detail - why not use it?

Well, one can hope, can't they? They have tweaked the P51D to an F51, so maybe they could tweak their Mosquito II/VI to a XVII? After all, it began life as a Mk II on the production lines. Tamiya can replicate real life! PR

I for one love to see what "Tourist" has written about the Tamiya kit. I have checked the Tweaks post without success. Anyone know where this can be accessed?

ooo, that looks like it may be an Airfix product then. I did read that some of their recent releases were from other companies, such as Academy.

From what I've read elsewhere it looks like many of their 1/35 armour subjects are re-pops from other company(s). As Grizly points out, the 1/24 scale Hurricane Merlin is a better option for their Spitfire - perhaps Airfix will consider releasing this too, as a stand alone kit? The engine that is, not the Hurricane. Nice build there, by the way!

That Bentley can join the recent 1/12 Italeri Alfa - excellent! Pity the Spitfire and 109 are re-issues and not new tools, but hopefully this stimulates some after market goodies! I note Model Monkey are intending to produce some items for the Spitfire. Some spars for the wings would also be helpful. Can't wait, happy days!

Nice work there Dennis! Following with interest. One small point - the internals of the turrets would not have been natural metal. If they are silver, they were likely painted aluminium. Sorry, just being a pedant. PR

The Spitfire wing spar is a bit tricky. The wings were bolted onto the fuselage and the cockpit has no floor, so difficult to get a spar that passes through the fuselage. At this point, not having attempted anything yet, I am considering spars to stiffen each wing, and contemplating an attachment to the wing root area for the spar arrangement(s). But that project is on hold until the wheel wells turn up (and the cockpit). 'They' say patience is a virtue - sorry, virtuous I'm not! But I am trying - in fact my wife says I am VERY trying. PR

Wonderful news regards the detail sets for the Airfix 1/24 Spitfire! A huge thank you from me, and I am sure, a whole lot of modellers who have been calling for help in these areas of the kit. I have two kits and both have been put on to 2020 builds now - looking forward eagerly to see what you can do with these. PR

So what chance a 1/24 cockpit and wheel wells for the Airfix Spitfire Mk I kit? PR

Time for a Vickers Vimy and Blackburn Kangaroo in 1/32 scale. They can be done after the 0/400. Thanks Mr WNW. PR

Fly make the better Hurricane Mk I in 1/32. The old Revell kit is not really a Mk I, especially around the cowling. I would strongly recommend you check out a few builds of the Fly kit. These suggest it is a 'challenging' build, mainly around the cockpit from what I've seen. PR