CANicoll

Gaz, get some Formula 560. It can be used to attach canopies as it dries clear, but is also pretty sticky so I use it for attaching PE as well. PLUS, if you put a drop over an instrument face it doesn't flatten out like Future does - it actually dries slightly rounded like a glass cover. I've started using that on my IP's. Good luck! Chris

WOW. Just looked them up at the48ers.com - 21Euro w 19% VAT. I wonder if they or KA will be at Telford. The detail is AMAZING and not having to pay for trans-atlantic shipping would be nice.

Perfect, thanks for that link. An amazing recovery but I do hope someone took extensive pictures before all the paint started peeling off. Those brush marks on the wing insignia are amazing! Not to mention the battle damage -terminal and repaired- all around the airframe. Must have been one hell of a battle it was in to bring it down. Wonder who the pilot was?

Definitely we need to find time Maru! I will be judging again this year and doing the dinner as well as that was great fun last year with some very interesting table conversation (nothing scandalous, just very interesting!). I'll arrive on the Friday and leave on the Monday in Telford.

Richard, hope to see you there! Chris

HI all, Getting to be THAT time of year again and myself and a number of modelers from our club here in Virginia are coming over to Telford again this year. Yes, the Americans are coming so hide the booze and food! Great seeing Iain, Maru and PhartyCroc last year - among others. Who all is going to Telford again this year that I'll see at the SIG32 table? I get in Friday and head back to London on Monday night or Tuesday morning. Staying at the Premier Inn at the top of the hill. See you there! Chris

I'm in, which I don't usually do the group builds as the timing never seems right. I have the HK 335 and the Tamiya F-4EJ to choose from. I also have a 1/48 Monogram Catalina which is bigger than most 1/32 aircraft (just sayin'!) but I know doesn't qualify. I have resin bits (intakes) for the F-4 and picked up the G-Factor landing gear for the 335 at Nats. Now just need to decide what I need from Telford... I'm out most of Nov so starting in Dec or so saves me a month. Chris

Iain: How is that kit you showed us at Telford last year coming along? Bringing it again this year? I can't remember which aircraft it was, only that it was the size of a small car. :-) See you in a month! Chris

I like the Eduard 1/72 Spitfires, but I didn't go for the color photo etch. It does look AMAZING however, as well as those seatbelts. Nice work! Chris

Tom: Love the B-17 and you are doing an amazing job on it. Love the detail - terrific work! Keep it coming! Chris

Sounds like time to place an order for Telford! I'd do one, but sadly doubt it will be out in time...

Thanks guys! Love the camo scheme and a fun little build. Nice thing is 1/72 is a quick build. Chris

Underside with the Hinomarus and yellow wheel wells: Topside after the wing camo decals have been applied. The printing of the camo decals is not fantastic. Up close you can see the dots from the printing. Not exactly Cartograph. Top view of the fuselage camo: It is easier to attache the very long fuselage decals if you cut them, especially the left side where the nose has two different cut-outs for the carb intake and the exhausts. Might also want to cut them along where the stripe goes) this is the right side. I cut the nose part off so I could more easily align over the exhaust (after doing the left side as all in one piece. Not again!): The camo decals are very thin and I only used MicroSet on them and the pretty much instantly went down into the panel lines. Much harder to get the second decals going over the camo decals to get into the panel lines (like the Hinomarus and the stripes). Test fit of the landing gear and prop after applying the blue stripe: And the final product! A little blurry, sorry! Love the scheme, but the relatively poor quality of the camo decals is something Tamiya needs to fix, especially since they cost extra. Looks really good in pictures and at a distance, but up close you can see the silkscreen printing But I do like the scheme. Also would really like an open canopy option to show off that really nice cockpit. But a fun, nice kit overall. And NO RIGGING! YAY!!! Chris

After battling again and again with the various Roden and Hobbycraft WWI kits I wanted to do something less taxing and more interesting so picked up this kit. Also bought the added camo decals from Tamiya (more on that later) as well as the Barracudacast exhausts - which I ended up not using as they are too short and added no additional detail. Oh well. I did add the (horrible) decal seatbelts but since the canopy is only modeled close, can't really see those or what is actually a really nice cockpit with a lot of detail. That is too bad. Nice decal for the IP, but I did cut off the top from the bottom for better alignment with the raised details on the IP. A bit of light dry brushing with aluminum as well, esp on the right side of the IP and on the front of the seat. As you would expect from a Tamiya kit, the parts fit beautifully. We'll talk about the decals in a bit... This is NOT a big airplane in 1/72 scale! Here the cockpit is slipped in from the bottom and the 'spine' piece behind the cockpit is installed.. After attaching the wings and horizontal stabilizers attached the cockpit and the Eduard masks. If I were to do this again, I would paint the tail red before adding the horizontal stabilizers. Doing it afterwards was possible, but involved some tricky masking. Gloss black Vallejo primer served as the base for the White Aluminum top coat (and Flat Aluminum ailerons). Bottom right in the photograph are the exhausts which have a gloss black outline. And the landing gear is uniquely a gloss black too with yellow at the bottom. The Vallejo Metal Color White Aluminum went on very well. The topside will be mostly covered with the Camo decals and the tail gets a coat of red. I used some Tamiya tape on the radiator underneath to use as a holder. :-) Here are some of the paints I used. Humbrol was for the prop and spinner. Masking for the ailerons and the wheel wells: And the flat aluminum ailerons: And the red tail and the wing decals that go under the camo decals: More coming! Chris

Really nice job on the paint, and love the sandpaper after painting to weather the paint - great job!! Love the subject too - well done! Chris