MikeC

Funny: I thought I was the only heretic to think that the rivets on the Kotare Spitfire's rear fuselage were somewhat exaggerated, a thought that crossed my mind when standing within a few feet of a preserved airworthy mk Vc. But whilst the Kotare Spit is not 100% perfect, it is surely the best early variant on the market in our scale. Can't say I'll be buying a 109 - too much Revell jet goodness due this year, apart from anything else - but I hope those who do find it the best also.

@Sharkmouth I have the J/K kit, so your last post above gives some really useful info - thanks for posting. But a sign of the times - when I saw the last pic, my first thought was that the chap in the flying helmet was on his mobile/cellphone

Absolutely right, that is undoubtedly the most variable factor. Everyone will have a different build experience and view of the same kit.

Nachtschlachtgruppe 9 in Italy, am I correct? An interesting, little-known aspect of the air war in that theatre.

I seem to recall there was a specific reason for red gear legs on certain 109s, although the reason escapes me - something to do with fuel I think. Achtung 109 Experten: please feel free to chime in, even if it's only to tell me I'm misremembering.

Alas, you are right, I fear. But it's fun to dream

What he ^^^ said!

That's what Italeri say: it's under the heading "New for 2025" on the site. Keep those fingers crossed if you want one.

Something I've never found the answer for is this. You've prepped your model, mixed your paint, put some paint in the airbrush, set the compressor running, put your respirator on, etc, etc, and picked up the brush ready ... ... why is it only then that your nose under the mask itches, or you feel an uncontrollable sneeze coming on???

Just spotted this - looks like a C.200, C.202 and C.205 in 1/32 (aren't these out already though?) and a GR1 boxing of the 1/32 Tornado. https://www.italeri.com/en (Link takes you to the main Italeri site, click on "New Items 2025 and go through it a little to get to the LSPs.)

Ome of the original aircraft of the "mission" the French set up, effectively forming the air arm?

It was there for about half an hour yesterday (and I'm relatively not that far south of you) These look really good, and the details on the uniforms/flying kit/etc for the RAF types certainly look authentic, not just a generic flying helmet ot whatever. The subject knowledge even extended to showing the 2TAF pilot in army battledress uniform - yes, that was quite common where they were operating out of continental landing grounds in the aftermath of D-Day. @R Palimaka Thanks for the heads-up

The full title of the air arm being Luftstreitkrafte der Nationale Volksarmee, or LSKdNVA. Interesting the term "Luftstreitkrafte" (air arm) is used as opposed to "Luftwaffe" - interesting from a linguistics point of view, I hasten to add, not a political one.

But they also have "Vintage Classics" printed on the box: makes all the difference

That's a very comprehensive list Paul, thanks. It got me thinking about which of the factors might affect individual pressings causing variation during a production run. For example, "Mold Temperature - this has an upper and lower limit and changes through the run." may well cause differences in pressings from the same run, whereas "Mold storage conditions ..." may cause differences between batches, but seems more likely to remain constant for a given production run. As for Richard having 10 1/24 Spitfires, I hang my head in shame at my mere pair in the stash: and only one of those is a LSP.