Cheetah11

You won’t have to do an interview, you will straightaway see who the instructor is.

If you want them in 1/32 Grey Matter make resin two stage Merlin cowling.

Fanes see if you can get Oramask 610 for the masking. It is the same material that Montex uses and produce very sharp cuts. It is pretty cheap when you buy a roll. Just an further observation. After I started doing my own masks, I was surprised at the amount of size errors on decal sheets. I now try and verify everything with photos. Nick

Wow, Thanks for posting.

Great one Sean I like the toned down panel lines. Very realistic. Nick

Nice Eric What cut setting did you use on the Sillhouette cutter. The last time I tried to cut plastic card I used setting 5 but it did not cut through the card. I now cut simple shapes in normal masking vinyl, then stick that on the plastic card and cut with a scissor or blade around the shape. Cheers Nick

Hi Dan Great recovery and good luck with the repaint. I am looking forward to the finished model. I used Xtra-Color enamel on my Iranian F-4. The older formula was so good and had such a fine pigment I could airbrush the pattern free-hand with a realistic feather. Xtra-Color has since reformulated their enamels and I am not getting close to the same result. ( Some of the paint I obtained in the late eighties still work fine). I do not know why manufacturers have to mess with a good product.

Nice Ernest. Apart from an unusual Messerschmidt I also like the figure with the cigar. Nice touch.

Hi Max I have a small correction to my reply. The sky underbelly came later( I think around independence in 1980) From the RAF colors the first change was to Dark Green and Dark Earth on top and Dark Earth underneath. The informative article is in the Air Enthusiast Journal of March/April 2004. Interestingly the cammo change happened around UDI, so there are aircraft with RAF colors with the Rhodesian roundels and some in the Dark Green Dark Earth scheme with federation roundels. BTW I hope you were in Turkey for a holiday and not work. Nick

Nice one Yves.

Hi Jennings The RRAF Hunters were delivered in the standard RAF colors. Sometime after UDI (now the Rhodesian Air Force) the Hunters received a Dark Green,Dark Earth and Sky cammo. Later the Sky was changed to Dark Earth. The Trainer Hunters ( I believe obtained from Kenya) appear to have Dark Green, Dark Sea Grey, and Sky under surfaces and kept this even after independence in 1980. On photos the Grey appears lighter and more blue, so it could have been a different Grey or just faded. So as always the devil is in the details and different paint schemes during a relatively long service causes confusion. To answer your question directly, the Hunters of the Royal Rhodesian Air Force were in the standard RAF colors. Just remember the three assegais (spears) on the roundel changed to one after the confederation was disbanded. I have an article in an Air Enthusiast on the Rhodesian Hunters which I can scan and send you if you want it. Just PM me. Nick

A bit more progress. The wheels and undercarriage on. I was fortunate the shortening of the nose gear turned out perfect. The model sits correctly with a small amount of nose down attitude. Now all the detail bits need to be added. Fortunately the look of the model is great. Not always possible wit a lot of cutting and splicing. thanks for looking Nick

Hi Peter the rest of the kit should not provide too many problems. I found the wings needed a lot of attention to get to fit well. On my F-15C I have glued the wings to the top fuselage first and tacked it into position with superglue before glueing. This is still not perfect but much easier than on my F-15I build. The elevator stab attachment pins seem a little frail but on the F-15I it still holds. I will however re-enforce them on the F-15C when I get around to finishing it. Other than that enjoy the kit. It looks really good and imposing due to its size. BTW have you shortened the u/c struts yet? Eric the F-15 and F-4 Tamiya kits were their first generation 1/32 kits and although great models they need a bit of tweaking and lots of dry fitting when building them. The F-16 however falls together with no filler required on mine. Nick

Hi Whitey This kit is looking really good. Just an option or suggestion. The wings go together easier if you glue them together and then to the top fuselage part. I cannot see if you have joined the fuselage parts yet but I found it to need less filler and shimming than on my first Tamiya F-15. Nick

Eventually a bit more progress on the Tornado. Work pressure and family seems to slow projects at the critical time for me. Got some more paint on. This model is eating up my Tamiya masking tape! A lot of masking for an almost all grey aircraft. I used some Tamiya lacquer mixed to match the Humbol tin lid for Barley Grey and Light Aircraft Grey. This looks fine to the eye compared to photos. I could not get the Humbrol to give a smooth finish. The Barley Grey was mixed with a small amount of black and white and sprayed at random places to break up the even finish and give an in service appearance. Sadly my efforts on the metal surfaces will still be mostly hidden by trust reverser soot in the near future. Nick