jenshb

I have had excellent service from TIme Tunnel Models here in the UK to order sprues from Tamiya kits. As long as the kit is current, they will get it - normally in a couple of weeks or less. Don't know if they will ship to South Africa though... Might be worth contacting them?

Could you not order a spare part from Tamiya. I know the post is a bit messed up at the moment, but hopefully things will get more normal before the groupbuild ends.

Lovely patina and overall excellent result!

Can't wait to see what you're doing with the engine... Would the Mk.VIII have the gyro gunsight?

Terriffic work on the seat and the harness!

Nice work on the cockpit, and the worn effect on the floor looks very convincing. Jens

Cool!:)

Nice job on the instrument panel. What did you use to glue the etched instruments to the plastic? Jens

Scratchbuilding the brake chute housing is fairly straightforward - this is the one I built for the Chilean F-16 in Pete's book since the Wolfpack item was too small to fit (due to shrinkage). I used the antennas from the resin set however. The brake chute itself is not difficult to make from Magic Sculpt or similar epoxy putty. Or lead foil.

How does the front and rear part fit? Like your paintwork and it would be a shame to see it ruined by filling and sanding... Jens

Really nice work Gary. Looking at Vincen't photos, the voltage regulator is just below the panel under the cockpit door.

Thanks for posting those photos again Vincent. Good paintjob on the seat Gary. Jens

My understanding is that the leading edge slots were an extension to the unslotted horizontal stabilizers, so therefore they should be removed.

Have been looking through the photos on my virtual archive as well as the booklet Profiles in Norway no 6 - De Havilland Mosquito, most photos show only the pilot's head armour/backrest. The area where I would expect the navigators head armour would be is "see through", leading me to think that it wasn't present or perhaps folded. Some photos though seem to indicate a takk backrest for the navigator. All the photos of the aircraft post war I have show no raised head armour for the navigator. It could have been removed - as indeed were the .303s in the nose before they were put back in later. Another reason to remove it during the war could have been to improve visibility to spot the "hun in the sun"...?

Vincent started a build thread where he was virtually scratchbuilding the cockpit and making many changes to make an accurate Mk. VIII cockpit. Unfortunately, it appears the photos are not visible.

I cant' see the photos - have you taken them down? Also, any updates to this build?

The US Insignia red is a "proper" red colour, wheras the wartime RAF Dull Red is more of a brick red - red with a hint of brown. The Sovereign Colourcoats spray beautifully thinned with MrColour Self-Levelling Thinner.

You may be able to purchase individual Tamiya sprues from Time Tunnel Models if the kit is current, so if you start with the F-4C/D kit, you can get the Navy pylons and associated parts from the J kit without having to buy an entire kit. I have used Time Tunnel Models on several occasions and have only good things to say about them.

Surely it wouldn't take you 45 minutes to separate the seat from the casting block...? Masks are looking good. One thing I have noticed with the F-86K vs the F-86F judging by photos is that the F tended to have the airbrakes hanging, and the flaps up wheras the K seems to have the airbrakes up and the flaps down. Not sure why that is. Change in the layout of the hydraulic system perhaps?

According to Wikipedia, the F100-PW 220 was introduced in 1986. When did the Danish Viper get the 220?

If you're making a Block 1-10 airframe from the early 80s I think the engine would be a -100 without the probe on the centrebody...

British cockpits post war tended to be black (e.g. Hunter, Vampire), so I would say black is the correct colour.

What...the wife...?

The 1:48 kit has some tricky areas, so may be worth looking at the 1:72nd kit from Tamiya? I hear only good things about that kit...

It would be American made - IIRC, Airbus would set up a dedicated factory in the US to build them.