BarryWilliams

I am Dover - not too far away.... We still have a LMS but they do not tend to stock much of what I use so sadly I do not get to support it.

Superb work from a fellow Kentish Man (or Man of Kent....) getting youngsters involved... where is your school? I am the board chairman for a multi-academy trust of 5 schools and would love one of ours to do something like this...

Water based and work well over a glossed surface as a 'sludge wash' enabling you to remove the surplus to achieve your desired effect. More difficult to remove from a matt surface but OK if you want a very dirty look.

Tamiya decals are indeed too thick but my main complaint about them is how brittle they are. The smaller ones such as the ip are manageable the real issue comes with the larger or more complex shaped ones. A kit if this quality really deserves masks rather than decals the difference really show in 1/32 scale.

I had not heard that. The barrack buildings where it was housed are a museum in themselves, a magnificent place, the old officers mess I believe.

I would strongly recommend a trip to Portsmouth as someone has said. There is a wealth of military history and related museums there: The Dockyard - this includes: HMS Victory HMS Warrior The Mary Rose The Royal Navy Museum ...and more - you really need a whole day for the dockyard alone. Then there is, of particular note: The D Day Museum The Royal Marine Museum (one of my all time favourites) i would also recommend a boat trip around the harbour to se the warships in dock. There is more as well including Napoleonic fortifications and WW2 defences. You need 2 or 3 days in Pompey.

I dont bother with those hinges, I will just cement the control surfaces into place. I have done that with all such builds and only attach these in so much as they might be visible. Most are not.

Beautiful work - excellent camo work. I will be starting my 1/32 Trumpeter Avenger in a few days, hope mine turns out as well.

For important twins, dont forget the Wellington - that has to be on anyone's list. The B26 certainly does appeal to me, I would be up for one... I dont have the B17, the B24 tempts me more and a Halifax temps me more than a Lancaster!!! I will probably end up with all of them....

There is always the wall to put them on rather than in a display case - more practical I should think when you think of the shelf area a 1/32 heavy will take up. That is what I will do, certainly. For me though the pleasure is in the building not the displaying and I have a clear out every now and then with the last lot going to a school museum.

Sadly no, she does not. She only values sporty stuff, walking, running etc etc and just does not 'get' our hobby or anything that involves being indoors or seated... drives me up the wall at times when she cant get out for a walk!

How about the garage wall? Thats my plan using the wall fixing HKM provide. My missus wont have any of my models or equipment in the house!!

There is nothing ugly about the Buccaneer. Thanks for posting.

I am building the ZM P51 right now. Yes I agree the Tamiya kit is better and I have built three of those but the ZM is a good kit and a worthy alternative to the Tammy. The plastic does lack some of the crispness of the Tammy and the engineering provides some very different challenges to the Tammy but it is an enjoyable build. My first Tamiya P51 was built as a 112 Squadron aircraft with the firewall camo scheme in a MkIV (not IVa) configuration which used the cuffed prop with the Tammy. The sharks mouth was obtained from an aftermarket set for a 1/32 Mk III which fit well. There is plenty of online information you can obtain to help with the build.

You can touch up with it using a brush. Place a drop into a tray, allow some of the solvent to evaporate for a minute or two and then 'dap' the brush onto the area that you are touching up, dont brush. Leave it and repeat 5 mins later if really necessary, it should be fine. Good only for very small blemishes, for larger touch ups apply some localised masking (I use Clever Putty, ideal for this) and spray. For brush painting details I use Vallejo MC which partners MRP well.