tatzelwurm109

That's a beautiful desert Hurricane, Tony. Clean build- nice work!

A "back in stock" heads up. I tried to post a link, but it didn't work... www.hannants.co.uk All I did was use their manufacturer, scale, and keyword search.

Thanks for the information, Kent. Having just spent some time playing with one of these again, I certainly agree that the lower part of the engine will sit nicely in the lower cowling. I've never seen anyone get the thing in there without having to leave the upper cowling off or performing some major surgery for the cowl on option. That's a real nice supercharger intake too- did you make a new one from brass sheet or something? I carved out the solid center then used plastic strips and had a heck of a time with the "measure twice, cut once" rule.

Looks really good, Kent- and I'm pleased to see that you appear to have a landing gear length correction in the works. You're making a very clean build of this one; did you have to do anything special to get the upper cowling down over the engine? When I built mine, I elected to cut off the parts of the engine that would be visible through the various cooling slots and glued them into the cowl pieces prior to assembly. If yours fit right over the engine bearers & engine without modification then it might change my whole world view.

The product serial number is consistent with their kits- their decal sheets all follow a "30xxx" format. The graphics are also consistent with their box designs, rather than their decal sheets, so it seems to me that this will be a third release in their Albatros kit series.

How 'bout a Beaufighter AND a Mosquito! They would score big points with me if they would "pull a Fujimi" by putting parts for several different Mks in the same box... for what the kit is going to cost, it would be nice to have a few different variants possible OOB.

LaGGs 3 & 5; La-5, -5FN, -7, Yaks 1, 3, 7, & 9. Silver Wings answered my prayers on the Gladiator & CR.42, but I have a hard time spending that kind of cash on a single model, let alone one that seems difficult to order and pay for. Although I like PCM kits and have two of their 190s, it certainly wouldn't hurt my feelings if Hasegawa released anything A-2 to A-4. A P-40B/C and P-51B/C would be nice, it would relieve me of the urge to bite my fingernails when I look at the Trumpeters in my stash. A big, modern Beaufighter would be nifty, too. Reality dictates that I should just stop fretting and build my Hasegawa Hellcats... it doesn't seem that anyone intends to do a new one after Trumpeter's toady looking beasts. On that note, I'll never understand how they could do such a great job on their MiG-3 and Me-262, then do jacked up kits of several other more easily measured aircraft. I mean, there must be thirty Hellcats out there to measure and photograph. In fact, whatever hits the market next I care more that it's close to correct rather than a particular subject- I'm getting tired of buying $75 kits that require a thousand hours of corrective scratch building and another $150 worth of aftermarket. It's giving me the friggin' thousand yard stare whenever I sit at the bench... and then I'm more likely to build a 1/48th Monogram Tomahawk that I bought for 3 bucks at a hobby show.

Thank heavens Eduard didn't release a 109G-6 in 1/29.5 scale with a barrel nose or there would surely have been a long thread here, too! The only thing that bothered me about the debates on other forums is the frequency with which some contributors became uncivil toward others. If it wasn't for the discriminating analysts who dedicate their time and effort to provide feedback on accuracy and precision in kits, we'd still be accepting 1970's technology as state of the art. The "just shut up and build it" approach doesn't inspire kit manufacturers to push their capabilities. I understand that many modelers out there just want to build whatever they like and have fun doing it, but there's no reason to smash people for calling out errors in kits. All of the kits in my stash have some problem somewhere and I like learning about the odd bits that I might not have noticed myself. Some I'll fix, some I won't, and I'll probably enjoy building them all. However, I truly appreciate the efforts of the experts- at least there are some manufacturers who consult them during the design phase and I think that's a mature, reasonable approach.

Fantastic work on one historic Zerstorer, beautiful finish and excellent attention to detail- it seems that Hess made the right call getting out of there.

Magnificent work on your F4U-1! The paint and weathering are absolutely beautiful.

Lovely Gustav, Maurice! That looks spectacular.

I want a 1/12th scale P-47 Razorback with resin and p/e where appropriate and 100 decal options from all theaters. Pilot and ground crew figures, footlocker, pinup posters, and a Quonset hut with a coal stove... and some marsden matting. And a control tower and hangar... oh hell, let's make it all 1:1.

Halberstadt D.II/III? Sopwith Dolphin? whatever it is I'm surely looking forward to it!

Beautiful S.E.5! Very nice overall and the rigging is splendid.

William Reece's information was based on his extensive research into original Navy Bureau directives and as many photos and actual relics he could get his hands on. For reasons stated by others, above, there certainly must have been variations. This issue is the same for so many aircraft, just like some people will state with certainty that all Bf109 landing gear legs were RLM02 Grau and yet numerous excellent color photos of them in service clearly show them in RLM65 Hellblau or RLM76 Lichtblau. Thankfully, this is a hobby- lives aren't usually on the line and the fate of the world doesn't rest on one's interior color choices. All we can do is gather as much information as possible and make our best guess.

Thanks for the tips on your build! Here's a quote on F4U interior colors from USN-USMC research historian Mr. William Reece: "F4U-1 Birdcage, Corsair. Cockpit: Well this is tricky. The best evidence is black. Photos of F4U-1s taken at the time show the cockpits as being a very dark color. The F4U-1 E & M manual calls for Dull Dark Green. Photos and some wrecks show flat black. A photo of 'Pappy" Boyington in Bruce Gamble's book, The Black Sheep, shows him sitting in a Birdcage with a black armor plate and upper seat. This a/c also has no headrest. All other areas of the F4U-1 Birdcage Corsair would normally be 'Salmon'. Salmon is a pale pinkish/brown primer made by mixing Indian Red pigment with Zinc Chromate Yellow. The closest Munsell match is 2.5 YR 6/8 or between FS 32276 and FS 32356. This color was applied to the whole F4U before the final camouflage finish. The landing gear bays were this color. The insides of the main gear doors were Light Gray. Sometimes this was only over spray over the Salmon. Note: there were canvas covers on the inner and outer wheel bays that were either Olive Drab or Light Gray. The closest paint that I have found to the Salmon samples in my possession is PollyScale Railroad, Southern Pacific Daylight Orange. The E & M manual calls for the wheel bays, engine cowling and accessory cowlings to be painted in Non-Specular Light Gray to match the underside of the aircraft. Recovered wrecks show these areas to be Salmon however. Color photos of early Corsairs show the cowling interior to be Non-Specular Light Gray. F4U-2 The -2's were pulled from the -1 Birdcage assembly line so they're the same. They would have had Salmon wheel bays and gear door interiors with Nonspecular Light Gray as an alternative. This may have been just overspray. Cowling interior; Ns Light Gray or Salmon. Black cockpit interior. I'd use some RLM 66 with black mixed in to make it a bit different than the instrument panel. F4U-1A Corsair. Cockpit: FS 34151 Interior Green. All other areas of the F4U-1A were Zinc Chromate Yellow, FS 33481. Early F4U-1A's may have been Salmon. Landing gear: Light Gray or Aluminum Lacquer. This was true well into the F4U-4 production. Some a/c may have had Insignia white landing gear after overhaul or repaint. F4U-1D Corsair. Cockpit: FS 34151 Interior Green. The area above the consoles was black. This matches the Navy's directives at the time very well. Inside of the wheel bays and engine cowling were also Interior Green FS 34151. Wheel bays could have been Zinc Chromate Yellow, FS 33481. Landing gear was Light Gull Gray or Aluminum Lacquer. After overhaul aircraft could have had the landing gear, wheel centers and wheel bays painted Glossy Sea Blue. F4U-4 Corsair. Cockpit: FS 34151 Interior Green. The area above the consoles was black. Inside of the engine cowling was Zinc Chromate Yellow, Interior Green or possibly Flat Black with the area ahead of the cylinder seal in Glossy Sea Blue. All other visible areas were Glossy Dark Sea Blue similar to the F6F-5. Landing Gear: Aluminum Lacquer or Light Gray. After overhaul aircraft could have had the landing gear, wheel centers and wheel bays painted Glossy Sea Blue." I hope you find this information helpful.

Thanks for the heads-up, Ken. I received your invoice for shipping and you should've received your Paypal payment notice earlier this evening. Can't wait to see your new Tempest up close!

As I understand the matter, RoG's new Bf109G will arrive in several boxings. I don't think that they're planning to release the kit with all of the parts they've tooled, but rather in subsets for different variants, G-2 thru perhaps G-14. If that's true, then it may follow that their new Spitfire(s) may arrive in different releases for Mk.II, Mk.V, etc. Having recently built their old Mk.I with a laundry hamper's worth of aftermarket and scratchbuilt modifications, I would certainly relish an opportunity to build a new-tooled Mk.I and Mk.Vb & Vc OOB. I do hope that they'll get the shapes and dimensions right and provide a variety of propellers, spinners, tropical filters, and clear parts in each Mark's box, since I'm certain I'm not alone in consistently picking up kits that need out-sourced components for the subjects I wish to depict. If not... then I hope Barracuda and Freightdog are all over the situation.

Somebody should've informed Merle Olmstead that they used OD/NG. Mr. Olmstead stated at an NCF-AFAA symposium in '99 that the P-51D's were delivered in natural metal and once they got them unwrapped he received instructions to paint them and that he and his crews used stocks of RAF paints that were left at Leiston when the group arrived. After coming home from the war, he became a modeler himself and it was his opinion that RAF Dark Green and Sea Grey Medium were the colors used. Even Col. Anderson, a participant in the same conversation, recalled that the dark green used on his first P-51D was not OD, being much darker than the green on his B model.

I echo the sentiments of others on your paint work, it looks marvelous. I'm surprised to learn that you had difficulty with the EagleCals- I've built some two dozen models with EagleCals and they consistently perform as well or better than any other brand I've used. I know you already bought some more Owl Decals, another brand I've had good experiences with, but I hope you'll write to Eagle Editions about your recent experience and see what Jerry & Judy have to say about it.

Congratulations on the new cowling! Order placed at 0-dark-30 this morning!

Freightdog Models "Hornchurch Vs. The Luftwaffe Part II" includes 1/32nd markings for Malan's Mk.I Spitfire. Eduard promised us a "full line" of 1/32nd Spitfires back in 2008- I sure hope they follow through on that because we could all be 150 years old before Tamiya gets around to it.

That old sharkmouth & raven profile appears to have been a what if... I.Gruppe ZG-144 was established on New Year's Day, 1939 with the Bf109D and became II.Gruppe ZG-76 5 months later. II Gruppe ZG76 was planned as a Bf110 unit and established on May 1, 1939. However, Bf110s were still in short supply and their initial outfit consisted of Bf109D's. It was re-designated as Jagdgruppe 176 in autumn (when the sharkmouth first appears) then redesignated again a few months later as II.ZG-76 in October- which later became famous for their sharkmouth Bf110C & D. Data tables from Albert Price and Michael Helm both agree that JG71 was formed brand new with a single staffel (1./JG71) on strength as of May 7, 1939, equipped with the Bf109D. This unit would later become part of JG-51 after achieving Gruppe strength. Based on their dates of establishment, I don't think the sharkmouth 109s were ever part of JG71. Especially since it seems JG71 never exceeded the strength of their I Gruppe, which according to all the photos I've seen all carried the Raven Badge. I have no idea whether ZG-144 ever carried a sharkmouth, but II.ZG76 is known to have worn it and I believe Mombeek rightly attributes the marking to both that unit and their brief assignment as JGr.176- but it seems pretty clear from existing tables that all of the units we're discussing here originated or continued on the Bf109D.

Thanks, Tony. I'm not real sharp on that kind of stuff, but next time I'll just post images- should make it easier for everyone too.

Hey Mike, I'd recommend you post a WTB message for the Eagle Editions 110 conversion at the usual model trading forums here and elsewhere. I've used both that one and the Cutting Edge product and the found the Eagle Editions set far superior in terms of accuracy, delicacy of detail, and overall shape. I had to make so many compromises on the CE set that by the time I was done the model barely looked like a 109G-10, and the resin was very hard and brittle- one of the most difficult conversions I've ever worked with. The Eagle Editions conversion was a breeze by comparison and the results looked much better.