Fanes

Hi everyone, in the post a few days ago from Ukraine, the decals for my AIMS 20th Anniversary since my first ever Ju 88 G-6 product - decal sheet 72D002! This is a large set - 2x A5 decal sheets for 27 options! The decal sheet is designed for those who have bought the 1/32 AIMS conversion set and so some of the markings that are needed - like the crosses - are on the the decal sheet that comes with the conversion set. The printing consists of 13x sides of colour instructions on 135 g/m2 glossy paper - unfolded - in a nice A4 clear envelope. Set with printing = £30.00 (plus shipping) Set with downloaded instructions = £22.00 (plus shipping) This set is only available direct from me Email me at aimsmodels1@gmail.com if interested. Also in the post.... AIMS 32D037 'Bf 110 G-4' With the decals printed for the conversion set all gone a new sheet has been printed as a 'stand alone' product. The conversion set will henceforth be still available but without decals. This way folk can buy the stand alone sheet if they already have the original conversion set. Product is £20.00 available direct from my or Hannants when they order Thanks for looking Best wishes, John

Thank you all for your messages.
Today I took care of the two "60s".
If you look at the photos, you can see a thin border around the 6 and the 0 :
 


I decided, in agreement with myself, that this border was red like the star's border.
With this in mind, I placed the masks and painted them white, placed the internal masks and painted them red:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Unfortunately, the "60" on the right-hand side was completely wrong: the "60" was leaning backwards and the "60" was squinting between the white and red parts: I had no choice but to redo it entirely (You can see it clearly in the photo above.).
The right "60" completely redone:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Spellchecks now means we've given up scale discussions?? 
 

Red stars...
It's not Star Wars, but it's not far off!
First of all, the masks: too big, too small, the ICM decals weren't much help because they're too big.
Then draw pencil markers horizontally and vertically to ensure perfect positioning...
Take into account the position of the camouflage, the quantum density of my glass of Redbreast and the age of the captain...
In short, it took me over 2 hours to position these death masks!
A shot of white, a shot of red (I love Chablis and Cote du Rhône...), undiluted of course, we go for a 30-minute walk and remove all the masks:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
The stars are in their right position, they are not crooked, the colours are the right ones and do not drool, no overspray, the old paint underneath has not torn away…
A flawless, an Eagle at the golf or it’s as if Jack on the Titanic had survived with on the wooden board with Rose: a real little miracle!

And yes, Max, you're absolutely right: this camouflage looks very easy to reproduce, but if you want the 2 shades to "fade" perfectly evenly over all parts of the plane, it immediately becomes much more complicated...
I had to rack my brains to get something precise and pretty.
 
 
Thanks for your message Kev.
 
 
Thanks Richard, I hope my Yak 9 will be as beautiful as your P-47!
 
 
Thanks Biggles !
 
 
Thanks Troy!
I'm also lucky enough to have 5 photos of this Yak 9 and I try to "stick" to reality as much as possible!
 
 
Thanks Mat, yes, this Yak is starting to look like something!
 
 
Thanks Mike, I thought I had done the hard part with my FW190 but I underestimated the difficulty of such a camouflage...
 

Well, as I told you before, I've still got to paint the left and right spaces for the number "60", as well as the vertical stab.
The reason is that on the photos, these 4 locations are darker, probably due to "fresh" paint touch-ups.
I used Silhouette Studio to import a color profile that I felt was accurate.
I scaled it and followed the outline of the "dark spots" to draw and cut masks.
I put the fuselage star masks in place and traced their outline with a pencil to simulate their position on the fuselage, so I know where to place the "60" number masks correctly.
Without this mark the mask is very difficult to position.
Then I removed the fuselage star masks.
I put the "60" number masks in place and did the same as for the main masks: double-sided tape, 1mm thick.
I then took my AMT 12 paint and added 7.5% Tyre Rubber to make it slightly darker.
I could have done this with black, but I'm very careful with pure black, which is too "violent" a color for the eyes.
I diluted it with 30% thinner and here's the result.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
In the last 4 photos, you can see the star branch drawn with a light gray pencil, which I used as a reference for the mask.
 

Riveting is completed.   I've got nothing but good things to say about those Archer decals.   I applied them to unpainted plastic, flat painted surfaces, whatever.   They stuck perfectly and after a quick dab of Micro Sol, the carrier film disappeared.    Very resistant to handling as well.   These things are great.   I added a few solder balls to areas that were impractical for decals.   In retrospect though, I should have done the entire fuselage in decals.  would have been much quicker.   Oh well, maybe on the next kit (NOT!). 
 
Note also that I modified the aft trailing edge to represent the later style shape with the Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) sensors added.   These were introduced in the 2006-2007 time frame after Blackhawks began taking losses to MANPADS in Iraq. 

 
After that, a quick paint job on the vertical stab.   I also very lightly hit the "United States Army" markings with a dusting of green OD to tone down the starkness of the black.   I really wish decal manufactures would go with a very dark grey color for these markings, straight black just doesn't look realistic.   After that, I applied the tail markings.    Werner's Wings got the serial number wrong.   On the real thing, it's Gunship Grey, not white.   Not much I can do about it.   They also left off the subdued 101st Airborne division patch on the nose.   Thankfully a kind ex-Blackhawk crew chief over on FB send me the marking, which was contained on the Academy UH-60L decal sheet.    I'm really impressed by the support I'm getting over on FB.  
 

 

 

 
Note the overpainted United States Army marking isn't quite as stark compared to the picture above and the newly applied markins on the tail.   I'll get the tail markings overpainted next.   

 
Next up will be to add some last details to the cockpit and get the windshield and crew chief's windows installed.   

Thank you Kev and Andy!
 
The fit sure was tight. If I ever build one more, I'll try glueing the fillets first.
 
I did a pre-shade with brown and then painted the underside with sky type s.
 

 
Then I masked the underside and gave the topside a black pre-shade.
 

 
Then on with some dark earth.
 

 
Some black goo was applied to mask the camo.
 

 
Dark green was painted and then the goo was removed.
 

 

 
I wasn't happy with how some of the camo turned out, so I applied goo again.
Don't leave it on too long though!
 

 
After a few paint sessions it looked like this.
 

 
I accidently got some overspray on the underside.
 

 
Easily sorted!
 

 
I've clear coted the plane and have started with the decals, but no pics yet, so this is where I'm at right now.
 
Håkan
 

How effin cool is this-

 
she’s a big girl, and needs some big legs. 
Timmy! Engineered all of this; incorporating brass inserts vertically and horizontally and high strength resin to ensure maximum strength…and the whole thing clicks together without glue.
Ridiculous.
This has easily saved me months of traditional scratch building, failures, and frustration.
The whole assembly just drops into the wing-
Those are Timmy’s! Fingers BTW-
 
super cool.
P

7x Revell Hunters
3x Hurricanes various
4x Revell Harriers
2x WNW Brisfits
3x Tempests
3x Typhoons
8x Spitfires various
4x Revell Hawk T1
2x Gladiators
20 others, singles
 
Projects in my head? Dozens.
Projects under actual costruction? 2.
 
All 1:32, by the way.
 
Bus Pass Day? 4 months away......

Hello,
 
here is the CAS Viper finally with the decals applied and a nice, truly matte finish.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All the black stencils come from the Uprise decal sheet printed with FFA technology.... simply fantastic and very easy to use... saved me so much time, without needs to apply layers of glossy and matt clear varnish and no danger of silvering because no clear film remains on the model.
The only "legacy" decals are the codes & numbers on the vertical tail that cames from a Two Bobs's decal sheet and the red outline around the ventral jet exhaust outlets.
 
Now it's time to work on the undercarriage legs.
 
CIAO!
Piero

I know and that's just the 3 or more, scalemates lists 226 32nd kits.

22 x fw190's
5 x gladiators
4 x tempests
5 x he219
5 x iar's
4 x ju87's
5 x ju88's
3 x f-15's
4 x f-4's
35 x bf109's
3 x 163's
8 x me262's
3 x zeros
4 x tornados
4 x i16's
5 x p47's
4 x camels
3 x sopwith triplanes
20 x spitfires

A little more detail to scratch for all the attachment points for weapons and I’ll then be finished with these.  I’m leaning towards adding another CBU dispenser. Stole them from my AD-1 Skyraider kit. 
Aiming for a realistic SAR load out which would be a great compliment to the Sandy’s and Jolly Greens.

 

Time to get this airframe assembled.
 
There are some 'hard to get to' areas associated with the intake that are probably best painted before assembly, like behind the splitter plates. I sense a tricky bit of masking coming up.
 

 
Having cut out the auxiliary slots, it will look better if they have a dark background. The same applies to the boundary layer duct openings above and below the wing.
 

 
Thanks to Tony alerting me to the Reskit exhaust, I took a good look at how it is assembled (to allow for painting), as well as how small the thermocouples actually are. My first attempt was a bit overstated, so I redid them. A good shot of Alclad 'Jet Exhaust' helps to tone it down and darken the interior.
 

 
I stuck a ruler down the fuselage, with the intakes in place, to figure out just how long the exhaust actually is. Remember the tail cone is approximately another 3cm to add to this. It's a long plane! 
 
 
 
Before glueing the tail-section in place, I had a look at the airbrake. Initially I felt that it should be closed, but many photos show it slightly open on the ground (as the hydraulic pressure drops, it droops). The inside of the airbrake itself is actually rather nicely done, probably by the 'Chaps from Flaps'. That being said, the hydraulic actuator was clearly made by the 'Intakes and Instructions' crew - very much a 1:72nd scale approach to things! 
 

 
So, I chopped an opening into the fuselage and made a long actuator body that can be glued into the opening. Much better for 1:32 scale...
 

 

 
The horizontal stabs got a bit of refining, sanding the 'roundness' out of the elevator (which many kitmakers employ to get a fake sharp trailing edge), and lightly riveting them.
 

 
At last, it is starting to look like a Hawker Hunter! Even without the wings in place, it has beautiful lines - a real thoroughbred.
 

 
Thinking of Max embarking on the last bit of work on his Hunter, I thought of how many times the placement of gear doors and their fiddly little connecting arms has flummoxed me! I am hoping this solution will help avoid the typical outcome of that step, when I end up looking like a kindergarten kid, full of glue, and not one ice cream stick attached to the toilet roll.  I've reversed the 'paddle pops' from the instructions, drilled holes in the paddles, and inserted pegs on the gear legs for these to fit onto. The lengths are still a bit of an unknown, but at least one side of the linkage won't need glue. Let's see how that goes.
 

 
Nearly time to attach the wings, but I thought I'd finish the wheel wells and flap interiors first, while they are still easy to handle. You'll notice that this is going to be a well used fighter!
 
 
 

 
Cheers,
 
Sean

Yes, $50,000 ea.

Exhaust Stacks: completely hollow, very thin (~ 0.1mm at lip) with weld seam detail inside & out. 12 total, left & right.
 
https://www.aircraftinpixels.com/shop/p/132-scale-macchi-c202-exhaust-stacks
 
 





 
Detail Pack #2 addresses some of the missing "greasy bits" under the hood. Essential if you are going to build your Folgore with open cowls:
 
• Starboard Auxiliary "Crutch" with Hydraulic Tank, Injection Starter Pump, and Flame Arrestor
• Oil Vapor Tank with associated hoses
• Oil Tank Filler Neck, with separate cap
• Port Auxiliary "Crutch" with Water Pressure Relief Switch and Voltage Regulator (this item is not missing in kit, but soft) 
 
https://www.aircraftinpixels.com/shop/p/132-scale-macchi-c202-detail-pack-2
 







 





 

Today's update
 

Had some time to work on it, finally,   switching cockpit to Mk II  April 1941.   Big changes from the MkI,  not getting too over the top with it, just Spitfire-ish.
  1939 Jag 100S coming along.  Kotare Spitfire?  It is a lovely kit.      
 

Must be something in the air (or to do with people named Kevin!) 
 
These came through the post today, so this is a placeholder for now.
 

 

 
Derek

All-
 
I just got this little beauty in my hot little hands today, all the way from Russia via an intermediary from Romania I believe. I was able to order directly from KEP Models, and it took about three weeks to get here. Let's see what's in the box.
 
 
Oodles and oodles of darker grey printed resin, and it is absolutely beautifully cast. The structures that support the larger pieces are quite impressive:
 
 
The fuselage is molded into four main pieces; two tail halves with the horizontals already attached, and two almost complete fuselage halves.
 
 
 
The fuselage and tail interiors have locating pins, which is a nice touch. They are quite large, and the  fit is very tight. What's tricky is the break between the tail and the fuselage coes along side some beautifully cast stretched fabric, so care will be needed to maintain the texture and hide the seams.
 
 
The interior is fairly basic, but the structure provided on the walls in the cockpit is very nice. Some bulkhead pieces are included as well, which are quite nice. But here's a real gem for the interior, the instrument panel with attached throttle quadrant, complete with some very delicate and detailed levers.
 
 
Wings are each one-piece affairs, and they too have some nice molding on them with some subtle oil-canning:
 
 
Engine nacelles are also molded as one piece:
 
 
Speaking of the engine nacelles, the engines are absolutely exquisite. They feature some very fine details, especially on the crank case and piston heads:
 
 
 
The most important piece not to get damaged was the canopy, and I was fortunate there:
 
 
Two vacform canopies are included. Here we also see landing lights, and a sheet of protected acetate to make the side windows, complete with a sticker designed so you can cut out the windows from the sheet.
 
 
The other stabilizer is loose in the box, along with some other small bits. Speaking of bits...
 
Check out this fancy tail wheel, all one-piece:
 
 
 
Other small bits included the landing gear pieces, optional skis, landing gear doors (not pictured, were lose in the box), and a really nicely molded machine gun for the top of the fuselage.
 
 
Props, flaps, and bombs round out the bits:
 
 
The bombs are beautifully cast as single pieces with separate bomb shackles.
 
 
Decals are included for one option, with a color profile to aid in painting it properly.
 
Instructions are two sheets, with clear pictures of the assembly sequence so that you don't have to worry about reading the Cyrillic. 
 
 
In it's trip from Russia, I only had one broken piece, which is a big surprise considering how brittle these 3D printed resin kits are:
 
 
Fortunately for me, this means I get to navigate the fabric texture and a panel line three times, rather than two like the rest of you.
 
That's what comes in the box, for roughly $106US shipped. I can highly recommend this kit, and anything else that KEP produces! This is a real gem.
 
- Dennis S.
   Mount Juliet, TN USA

Preview of the finished 'Silver Spitfire' build...
 

 
It's actually very difficult to photograph the model because of the many reflections, so I've tried photographing it inside a display cabinet 
 
Cheers: Kent

Hello,
 
the wrap-around camouflage Europe 1 is done!
 
 
 
 
And then after a thin layer of Clear Gloss Tamiya X22 and AK Panel Liner applied.
 
 
 
 
The area around the cockpit is painted with black and details piched up with some dark grey.
Now is ready for the decals.
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Thanks Max, that's a very nice compliment!     
 
Well, now it's time to complete the camouflage with the AMT12/MRP 20 Dark Grey.
Looking at the photos, I can see that the separation between the AMT 12 and AMT 11 is a little blurred...
...but not too much...
How to proceed?
I've decided once again to use masks, but this time they'll be much more complex to draw and fit on the fuselage.
They'll also need to be a little closer to the fuselage and wings to get the AMT 11/12 edge a little sharper and less blurred.
So the technique I used on my FW 190 isn't really the right one.
I managed to find a 1mm thick double-sided tape that should perfectly meet my expectations.
Using a printer, I enlarged the camouflage patterns for the wings and horizontal stab to the size of my Yak 9.
These are relatively flat parts, so I was able to cut them out of soft cardboard after running them through the printer.
For the fuselage, however, it's a different story!
As I'm a resourceful boy, I used transparent strips of rhodoid on the fuselage.
Using a black felt-tip pen, I traced the contours of the camouflage.
Then I cut out the strips of rhodoid and the cardboard for the wings.
I placed the double-sided tape, and put some low-adhesion frisket on the paint side so as not to damage it when I peel off all these masks.
I'll let you admire the result before painting - I know, it's scary to see!  
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
Well, now it's time to go!
The MRP paint is still diluted to 30%, and we're taking it easy!
The wings and rear of the wooden fuselage are still horizontal, to respect the BB'ing direction.
I've also masked off the front of the fuselage, which can't be seen here.
The 2 delimitations/2 masks for the Dark Grey strip just behind the spinner (at the level of the engine exhaust pipes) took me about 2 hours to trace, cut and place...
These 2 masks were the transition between the wings and the fuselage, so they required extreme precision to make an invisible paint connection...
Here's the result.
Overall, I'm satisfied, even if there are a few minor paint touch-ups to be made here and there.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this camouflage.
 
I still have to do the vertical stab and a blotch on the fuselage (where the number "60" will be), because in these 4 places, the AMT 12 is slightly darker (probably a paint touch-up).
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the story. We last left XF309 in the capable hands of Hawker Siddeley Aviation(Ltd), where she was about to undergo an upgrade to FGA.9 standard. In her case, she was about to become what was known as an FGA.80, meaning that she was an FGA.9 destined for the Kenyan Air Force. Most FGA.9's were updated Mk.6's, but as you may recall, our star was a lowly Mk.4 dressed up as a Mk.5! She would be getting a big makeover, as explained in the following photograph of what I believe is a Mk.5, but will suffice for illustrative purposes.
 

 
On completion of her transformation, our Hunter was ferried to (presumably Nanyuki) Kenya via Malta, where the prolific photographer, Mr John Visanich, took this photograph: https://www.airhistory.net/photo/390322/805
 
You will notice that she now carries the Kenyan Air Force serial number of 805. This is at odds with what some publications say, but I believe it to be correct. 'Wingleader Magazine', for example, had XF309 as becoming KAF 806, but that's just part of the intrigue of tracing an aircraft (or a racehorse's) provenance!
 

 
The airfame 'Wingleader' touted for KAF 805 (WT778) was indeed sold to the Kenyan Air Force, but in pieces - as spares.
 

 
Enough intrigue for now. Here is a colour photo of a Kenyan Air Force Hunter (803) as it passed through Malta in 1974, on its way to Africa.
 

 
It would seem that Revell GmbH put their top team (the 'Chaps from Flaps') on tail-section and propulsion. Despite some warnings about the fit of these extremities, I found them to be superb. I can just imagine Kurt, Willy and Ernst, slide rules in hand, replicating such a very British part at 32 times smaller than it should be. Their team leader, Herr Pabst von Ohain (this is meant to be amusing) took this shrinking thing to a new level, and produced a 10500 lbs of thrust engine at 32 times smaller diameter, and about a 10th of it's scale length! This is a very good thing, as any more weight behind the main wheel axles would almost certainly make the model 'sit on its arse'. Here is a photo of the diminutive power-plant (the little tube below the ruler).
 

 
The tail-section itself, with its drag chute housing, is beautifully moulded and fits perfectly onto the rear fuselage. The photo above shows it dry-fitted in place. In the photo below you can see how well the shape is reproduced. I merely added a little fictitious structure to the internal 'ribs' to finish them off where there is a gap on the top and bottom. The instructions advise glueing and taping the power-plant in place, but being a bit wary of the instructions, I dry fitted things first and discovered one can just pop the engine in afterwards.
 

 
It does take a bit of imagination to look down 3cm of jet exhaust and imagine it to be 30cm, but maybe some very dark paint will help. The thermocouples were added in an attempt to create an illusion of depth. Lets see. Maybe a FOD cover instead? 
 

 
Cheers,
 
Sean