fightersweep

Grey Matter Figures do a replacement seat and frame (the kit part is overscale), control column and throttle quadrant and aerial mast. Waldron did a great placard set for the cockpit which includes a photo etch throttle quadrant that works if built carefully. The Barracuda wheels look fantastic. I wasn't aware of those and look way better than the Contact Resine wheels I picked up years ago. Old Etcher Fred used to do a very comprehensive photo etch set for the 1/24 Mk I Spitfire. I imaging that may be hard to find now though.

I built the 1/72 Monogram Bearcat in the 1980s era colour scheme that the Stephen Grey's Bearcat wore. September 1983 to be exact. I was 13 years old and It was the first warbird airshow I had ever been to. This was the Great Warbirds air display at West Malling, a great show sadly missed along with West Malling which is now long gone and buried under a housing development. The Bearcat was flown by Stefan Karwowski that day and was, and still is the most blistering display I've ever seen. I did start building a collection of every aircraft I saw there that day in 1/32, but soon realised that I wouldn't have the room to complete it, and several types just wouldn't be available, so I decided on 1/72. Still love that little Monogram Bearcat! I also decided to build the collection "Old Skool" as I would have done the year I went to that airshow, so everything is being brush painted just like I did aged 13 at the time. To be honest, it's been a lot of fun and a nostalgia trip. [url=https://flic.kr/p/2a54Zcy][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/1873/44021947194_ef6b2b526c_k.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2a54Zcy]IMG_5167 (2)[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/148406610@N04/]Steven Steven[/url], on Flickr (Sorry, having problems getting the photo to work) I know TFC overhauled the Bearcat in the 1990s and restored her to stock condition and into the colours we see today at Duxford (it is still the same aircraft). If you're doing the same earlier colours as I did, then I can help with the interior colours. I've still got plans to build the 1/32 Bearcat in the early TFC scheme and had a chat ages ago on the old Flypast forum with the TFC engineer who looked after the Bearcat. He described the colours and fit of the cockpit in great detail. I'll dig the details out if they're any use to you. Best regards; Steve

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235068940-132-zlínlet-z-37-čmelák-by-infinity-models-test-modelschemesbox-art/ Hope this helps.

Does the Trumpeter 1/24 kit have the same undersized nose as the 1/32 kit? I'm guessing so, but thought I'd ask first. Steve

The 51 wheel well looks amazing, and fills a big (literal) gap on the Airfix kit. I'm well up for anything that appears for the Spitfire too. Those kits are crying out for any aftermarket. As far as the wing dihedral is concerned, and this affects the Spit too, just add what the real aircraft had...a wing spar. I use Evergreen box tube and make spars for my kits. Works every time and appears to give the kit more strength too. Steve

I'd love a Do-17Z with the Bramos, but a 215 would be cool too, along with any of the early true "Pencils" as those pre war tri colour schemes appeal greatly. I may have to revert to 1/48th to get what I would like to build though. Steve

I had a feeling this new B-2 would just scale up all the issues of the 1/32 kit. A shame and very lazy on Trumpeter's part I think. I even thought about robbing parts from my Airfix kit to put the Trumpy kit right, but heck, I may as well build the Airfix one instead. It's still a good kit.

Well, I'm still hoping for the Do-17 in 1/32. The 111 and 88 are needing the third Musketeer to complete the set. I won't hold my breath though, and besides, I've got plenty of other stuff to build while I wait for hell to freeze over. Personally, I think it's one cool looking aeroplane...but I do have a thing for twin tailed birds.

One point worth checking with references. The charts states that the markings can be either white on a black background or black on a white background. I know most decals follow this. However, on their NMF aircraft, I know that the 401st Bomb Group for example painted the triangle black and left the letter "S" in natural metal. Make sense I suppose, as the group letter would stand out just as well in silver as it would in white and would save the resources and time of painting it white. Not sure if any other groups used this method, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Got some 1/72 Candyman/Moose decals already on the way, and will be ordering the 1/32 set too. Looking forward to trying them out! I'm quite pleased that there are folk out there that produce "Warbird" decals. My current project is everything that was at the first warbird airshow I went to back in 1983 (albeit in 1/72...I didn't have the room for this in 1/32!!) Just putting the finishing touched to Stephen Grey's Bearcat.....Candyman willl be next.

Blimey! He's at it again! There's the rest of us playing with plastic, and Peter's doing ground up reproductions of the real thing. ....Now, where did I put my Starfix kit?

The HK Lanc will get released on the 16th of May, and you've got to get it finished and posted here in time for the anniversary Be cool to see the Dambusters on the big screen though...

If we're talking musically, then I liked the early 80s. Very diverse and interesting. I started losing interest after about 84, and by the time we got to about 86/87, most chart music was garbage not too dissimilar to recent stuff (well, without that awful autotune nonsense) 90% of my record collection probably ranges from 1976 to 1983...the time frame of my first getting into music to my early teenage years. I'll certainly check out Carpenter Brut though. Currently enjoying Marble Skies by Django Django...another recent band inspired by many genres, including synth pop. Very good they are too!

Just surprises me it's taken this long to get one. A design well ahead of it's contemporaries and a bit of an icon. I'll certainly be up for a few!

Yes! I've wanted a 1/32 Bf 108 for a long time. I always thought it would have been a good subject for Revell. So many possible colour schemes! Not heard of Striped Fighter either. Wonder what the kit and price will be like?

F-111 for me too please in 48th TFW markings preferably. Practically live at Lakenheath in my late teens. One point for Tanmodel though. Looking down the list, I spy a 1/48 Blenheim. I thought that Airfix will probably have that sown up, so if Tanmodel would like to up the scale of their Blenheim to 1/32, I would be very, very happy. Thank you.

I shared a beer back in 1992 with Graydon K. "Rocky" Eubank during a reunion of the 322nd BG here in the UK and I asked that very question. Rocky flew Flak Bait on several ocassions, and was very proud that Flak Bait had survived. Not just that though, but also that a 322nd ship had survived for future generations. The only frustration being that she had spent so many years in pieces, and he hoped to see Flak Bait whole again one day. Sadly, "Rocky" passed away in 2003, so that wish will not come to pass. Very pleased to see the conservation work being undertaken, so much so, that I will have to see her once she is complete. Never had the pleasure of seeing a complete B-26 Marauder. I had to do with the chunk we had in our museum, although it was the largest chunk in the UK! As for a 1/32 B-26. Yes please! Anyone? One kit that would have me clearing my bench in a heartbeat! Best regards; Steve

Oh yes! I suggested a P-51B/C way back. Looks like I got my wish! I've only just re-stocked on pop corn after the Spitfire build, so I'm settled back and ready for the ride!

Could always compromise and go for a Pilatus P.2. Still Neutral, yet enough of them were painted up as Bf 109s on the airshow circuit (here in the UK anyway) And didn't the P.2 use 109 U/C legs and wheels amongst other bit and bobs?

Hi Thierry; I've often wondered myself where the shift to the "sand" coloured snake had come from, but it seems to have been universally accepted as gospel now. Personally, I much prefer the look of the red, and if I decide to model either T6-DP or T6-AN, I'll be doing it red! Revell seemed to think the snake was red all those years ago (was it 1969?) I wonder where their information came from?

Could be wrong, but I thought that the Revell nose was just as undersized as the Trumpeter kit. Sure I read that somewhere.

Well, the Airfix kit does supply an internal armour windscreen, but I can imagine that wouldn't match up with the rest of the Trumpy canopy parts at all! The Airfix part has the frames all wrong, but I just sanded the whole thing down and corrected the frames with thin plastic strip. What we really need is some vac replacement parts for the canopies. Squadron announced some a few years ago for the Spitfire, and they did release the 109E and 109G canopies, but didn't deliver on the Spitfire. Wonder why they changed their minds? Steve

There are two types of wing tips for the clipped wing Spit Vb, so both the Airfix and Trumpeter versions are correct. The Airfix versions are the earlier "solid" wooden tips that lacked nav lights. These would be correct for Ian Gleed's aircraft. The Trumpeter versions depict the later, more common type of clipped wing. Wooden construction with aluminium covering and nav lights fitted. I'm not sure if the earlier, solid wooden type was more of a field modification than the type depicted by Trumpeter. I do believe that the Airfix Vb does include both options. I'm sure that Edgar (God bless him) would have supplied all of the required drawings and documentation if he were still with us. (Still miss him!) Hope this helps. Steve

I'm going to have to investigate the Optivisor! I had absolutely perfect eyesight until I hit 48 last year. I can't seem to focus on anything closer than two feet away now. It's very frustrating, and I need to find a solution for that. I'm getting by with strong reading glasses at the moment. As Sculptor said, all my tools are indispensable, but there are those that I discovered later on that I couldn't believe I had lived without. Pin vise was one, and my Trumpeter electric paint stirrer is the other. I don't know how I got by without them. Steve

Jaguar for me all the way! Would be the first large scale noisy pointy thing I've bought for years! Ah! The Jaguar! The only jet that has the distinction of making me jump out of my skin. RAF Mildenhall arrivals day, sometime around 1989. I had my back to it's arrival and didn't see it coming....sounded just like this (turn the volume up!).... Steve