Archimedes

That is impressive Mike Amacro Ken’s can be a harsh judge but those images show what a fantastic job you have done. Bravo! Well done in wrestling this kit into submission! Kind regards, Paul

That looks fantastic - always thought the Alpha Jet was a fabulous looking machine. Your model captures it beautifully. Kind regards, Paul

Ach Kev… You haven’t come this far to only come this far. I understand. Remember when I did my TM floatplane and I had to completely redo the nose after painting? Yes, I get where you are at. I think Mal Bedford’s advice above is sound. You’ll sort it. C’mon, you’re the guy who wrestled that Fokker D.21 into submission! kind regards, Paul

I believe Polish Wings were also doing a PZL-104 Wilga and a Z-37 Cmelak. I saw test print of the 1/32 Wilga on Britmodeller so I am not just imagining it! Kind regards, Paul

Hi All, Polish Wings have done everyone a favour and given us something far more interesting than (yet another) WWII fighter. Yes, what you REALLY want is a jet powered Sesquiplane. So get off the beaten track, stop messing about with P-51s and F-16s and get into this Polski bad boy. 😏 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL_M-15_Belphegor Enjoy! Kind regards, Paul

What you are doing is clearly the direction the hobby is going in and you are on the cutting edge of it. Bravo! Absolute respect for your level of research and technical execution. kind regards, Paul

🤦‍♂️ 🫡

I used my email and password and it failed. Then I used my display name and password and it worked. Kind regards, Paul

Nice work Kev’, Great to see this one moving along well. Kind regards, Paul

The prototype and the production machines bore little resemblance to each other in terms of the panels and how they were fastened on. If I recall correctly, the prototype had flush fasteners all over but wind tunnel tests showed that using round headed fasteners on the rear fuselage that were easier to use in production offered little drag penalty. Good luck in doing K5054 Max: it is a big ask as you were looking at all but a full re-scribe. As you know, the prototype wings in particular have no commonality other than outline when compared to the production machines. Kind regards, Paul

You bring us back to the key point Max: it is the choices and the abilities of the modeller that determine the outcome. In this case I agree with you that the rivets need to be knocked back a little. If a relatively easy fix like this is the worst thing about this kit then we really don’t have much to complain about. Knowing your skills, I know your next Spitfire will be fantastic. kind regards, Paul

They didn’t put the rivet detail on the leading edge of their model: therefore it is missing is all I meant. The leading edge was riveted as the photo I posted shows because that is how they were fastened together. But I agree that in service Spitfires had puttied and sanded leading edges. kind regards, Paul

Apologies , I did miss the word ‘almost’. I wasn’t suggesting that you meant ‘no panel lines’ . I think we are fairly aligned on our views of the relative merits of the Revell and Kotare kits. kind regards, Paul

Hi Nick - You are right. I was only talking about the Spitfire. I made no comparison to the K4 nor anything else. kind regards, Paul

There is a difference between the level of the rivets on the rear fuselage and the rest of the surface detail yes. But to say 'a total lack of surface detail elsewhere' is a bit too strong. If anything, I'd argue that the round-headed rivets on the rear of the fuselage are a little overdone. When we look at the upper wings on the real aircraft for example - how much surface detail are we looking to be replicated? Is this what you mean? If that is what you are looking for, I'd suggest the Revell kit would be more in line with what you are looking for (Revell on the left). even that is missing rivet detail on the leading edge though. But selecting the Revell kit would mean one would have to deal with a much lower level of kit engineering and missing features (like the wheel well bulges). The Revell fuselage details like the canopy rails are almost toy-like and redoing those would wipe out a lot of the fine rivet work. Going back to the real thing, I think Kotare got the balance about right. Kind regards, Paul

What I'd like to see from Kotare is that, over time, they cover the major Spitfire Marks: Mk1a, MkVc, MkVIII, MkIX, MkXIV, MKXVI, PR.19 and Mk22/24. That is a lot of years of effort to spend on just one one aircraft. If they didn't do all of that and left it at the Mks 1 and V and got on with other subjects, they would get no arguments from me. The K4 looks to be coming along well for release this year and I'm looking forward to their next announcement. They are a small concern so I don't have unreasonable expectations of what can be achieved with the resources available. I have plenty of things to build in the meantime. Let's remember that they are doing releases at a more rapid frequency than Tamiya/Hasegawa/Revell/Eduard et al put out 1/32 aircraft so they could hardly be called slow. My view is that if they stick to the quality of kit engineering and shape accuracy that they have established, they should build strongly on their great start. Kind regards, Paul

Well that is a tastefully chosen classic garage right there. Nice! Kind regards, Paul

Well said Jeff. That did occur to me too. Everyone has to learn to go from a ‘B’ to an ‘A’. But then I still think the outcome of any build is directly down to the skill of the modeller rather than the kit they are working with. Perhaps I am just a glutton for punishment? 🫠 Kind regards, Paul

You have sharp eyes Matt. The cockpit ring, the angle of the struts and reduced dihedral of the lower wing suggests the aircraft ahead of the one in the foreground is not a Camel. Perhaps this photo was taken at a different time? kind regards, Paul

Thank you guys, I'll give that a go! Much obliged. Kind regards, Paul

Happy Birthday OBG and Pete! Have a great day! Kind regards, Paul

Panzerwomble, I agree. This is deliberate on Airfix’s part. Why? The diagram below explains it: The section in green is where most modellers lie in terms of ability: Average. Roughly 70% of Airfix’s, and all other manufacturers’, market lies here: the ‘so-so’ modellers. 95% of their market is bookended by the yellow sectors: ‘a bit limited’ in the yellow on the left to ‘pretty good at this’ in yellow on the right. The modellers who make up the other five percent of the market rise from the 8 year olds making brush-painted glue bombs on the left in red and on the far right in red we have modellers who long ago stopped bothering about the foibles of mere kits. I am sure we all like to think of ourselves as at least in the yellow on the right but marketing departments the world over, including Airfix’s, know the reality of what most of us really are. In terms of the wow factor of kits, many manufacturers know that they don’t need to be ‘cutting edge’ to sell because ‘good enough is good enough’ for the majority of modellers. So the bell curve also works for the quality (meaning shape, detail accuracy and engineering) of their kits. That is a deliberate strategy. The most limiting factor in the likely outcome of any kit being built well is the ability of the individual modeler and that is fine by me: I am still learning. So from my perch here as part of the 13% of less than so-so modellers, I just would like Airfix to produce subjects that they and almost no other manufacturers are likely to do in 1/32 please even if they are ‘so-so’. Likewise: feel free to disagree. Kind regards, Paul

I know you are right Guy, it is extremely unlikely Airfix would do anything new in 1/32. For me, 1/32 remains a gaping hole in Airfix’s product lines. Kind regards, Paul

Dear Airfix, Start doing your models in 1/32. You already did cars and a few military vehicles in 1/32 now stop messing about and pull your fingers out. Everything for the BoB in 1/32 plus airfield vehicles,a Blenheim Mk.IV and an Anson for Max. Quick’s the word and sharp’s the action!!! Kind regards, Paul

Dear Airfix, Start doing your models in 1/32. You already did cars and a few military vehicles in 1/32 now stop messing about and pull your fingers out. Everything for the BoB in 1/32 plus airfield vehicles,a Blenheim Mk.IV and an Anson for Max. Quick’s the word and sharp’s the action!!! Kind regards, Paul