Phantom2

I usually use Alclad clear Cote Gloss over any metallic color as the Alclad paints are very durable, but it scratches easily. On this 1/48th Eduard P-51D Mustang I have used Alclad aluminium on the wings and Alclad Polished Aluminium on the fuselage, flaps and elevators (pretty much how they painted the real deal. I clear coated with gloss and decaled and then another clear cote, and as you can see, Alclad´s clear does not kill the metallic effect. You can always paint the clear paints (acrylics) over Alclad paint (laquer), but I would not recommend the other way round. Alclad´s paint are HOT, never use these over enamels, don´t ask how I know! Stefan

Usually I go for the base colors Aluminium and steel. Then you can use White, Dull or Dark aluminium, jet exhaust and burnt metal. Remember that every color can be mixed with each other or any enamel, I have mixed in some pure black in the Aluminium, works great. Stefan

I used this Quickboost seat... On my Revell/Hasegawa) F-5E I used the kit decals but I can´t remember wich version I did, it was many years ago now. Stefan

Hi All! As usual, the build started in the cockpit, It´s very detailed, but a bit fiddly to get together. The fit was very good and it was an very enjoyable experience. I cleaned up the resin parts, the seat is incredible! I managed to sand trough the seat pan, but that´s a easy fix. You get both the larger, early 5-spoke and the later smaller 4-spoke wheels and the tail wheel in resin, as well as in plastic. Perfectly detailed and very crisp, made by CMK (as all resin in this kit). The wing guns, two types of gun sight, compass, and several other small details in resin. The cockpit parts are already used as you can see on the pictures above. More to come soon.... Stefan

From P-47D-25RE the floor was flat, I don´t remember what series Gabby´s mount was, tough. I´ll recommend a set of new decals, the ones in the Hasegawa box is not good, they had problems conforming around the fuselage. I was lucky as I had two kits to use for decals so I could cobble together the stripes. I´ll be following Your build! Stefan

I would go for a Rotary Build, choppers and autogiros of all kinds. D-day is fine by me, much in the stash to choose from there. Trainers are always an option.... Stefan

First thing I usually do when I start a Hasegawa kit is glueing the fuselage halves with their respective tail part. On this kit the fit was almost perfect! I have done as many smaller assemblies as I can, but there´s not so many on this kit. The wings have round gear bays, but the original had squared off , you have to do it yourself in the usual Hasegawa tradition…. First one done…. ...and the second one.... The cooler grills in place…. The chin cooler painted Alclad Aluminium… More to come soon Stefan

+2 I have no idea what yo´re talking about.... I have several of your kits (but I have never seen the Tempest IRL), the two of them I have built )Spitfire Mk.IXe and the Macchi Folgore) was really nice and fun kits to build. Stefan

Same here! Nice kit and a exciting story! I will follow this build! Stefan

That IP and seat looks very good, Loic! Good work! Stefan

Yesss.... Stefan

Been there, done that.... But it still hurts anyway! Sorry for your loss, mate.... Stefan

The ones I have used (Lancaster 1/48 and P-47 Thunderbolt 1/32), both sets were crap. They looked good and they were vey well printed and the instructions were good. But they were really thick and stiff, cracked and tore easily and didn´t want to conform to the surface at all. They were also totaly inpervious(? Spl.) to setting solutions, I tried hot water, but no. I´ll never buy any Techmod decals again, a totally waste of money, there´s better decals out there. I would cobble together left-over decals from other kits, ask my friends here, or use stencils and paint the markings, maybe a combo of this. Personal markings is harder, but can probably be sourced or you can do a "generic" aircraft. I have the old Revell Car door 1/32 Typhoon (OLD box, crappy decals) in the stash and I have tought just as you do, If you have a newer boxing the decals may be OK. Here´s what I found on Scalemates; https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?fkSECTION[]=Kits&q=*typhoon&fkTYPENAME[]="Decals"&fkSCALENORMALISED[]="1:00032"&fkCATNAME[]="Propeller" Not much, and I don´t know how much that are still in production. Stefan

I have a 1/32nd Dreidecker in the stash (three actually, two Roden, F.1 and one Meng Dr.1) and I would love to see a build of the Meng kit! Stefan

My guess is RLM70 Black Green/71 Dark Green on the wings, 76 Light Blue on the bottom and 74 Grey Green/75 Grey Violet fuselage spine with mottling in the same colors, spinner, rudder and the "3" RLM04 Yellow. Prop would be RLM70 Black Green. I have no Idea how accurate this is, when I bought it the first time I was 7 or 8 years old (mid -60´s ?) and the kit was in a plastic bag with a paper header stapled to it and with this painting on it. Regards Stefan

Yes, Please do! Stefan

You can never go wrong with a ´Bolt! Stefan

Nice one, same kit as mine, but in a different box! I was sorley tempted by Beaumont´s aircraft (still is...), but I did´nt want the D-day stripes! This will be interesting! Stefan

Hi All! As I said earlier, my build for this GB will be the Hawker Tempest Mk.V from Special Hobby. As I often do when starting a short-run kit, I cut loose all major parts and did a “Tape-together-build”, just to get a feeling of the fit of the major parts. The fuselage taped, no problems whatsoever, very good fit overall. …and the wings, now You´ll get a feel of how big this aircraft really are, P-47 Thunderbolt sieze! The worst and most notorious place to get a good fit usually are the join between the wing and fuselage on the underside. But it looks passable here. The fit against the wings were quite sloppy on the top side, so I cut off the fuselage bulkheds and placed them inside…. …and VOILÀ, the gaps almost disappeared! ”Fighting Face” It looks quite buildable, this will be a fun build! Stefan

Great start and nice cockpit walls! Stefan

Thanks all! Stefan

That will be a really large model! Nice kit and a very intresting subject! Stefan

Hi! I jump right in with this kit; I have done the cockpit, no painting, so well below the 25% limit. More pictures later. Stefan

Ouch.... ...seriously???? Stefan

Oh yes, any day! I like both What-if´s and what I call, "Could have been". While What-if is completly fiction, what could have been is more what could prototypes have looked in service Imagine a TSR-2 in British bomber cammo or a one-off prototype (Seafang) in a nice cammo or a real aircraft in a cammo/painting from a comic book. I like the idea of a Group Build! Stefan