nmayhew

Wow wow wow this looks epic! my one (significant) reservation is the solution with the clear parts maybe what I imagined isn’t what you plan / envisage but given everything else is looking absolutely first class, plopping the frame onto a vac form dome for the turret will look clunky apologies if I have completely misunderstood what you said in your post, and it certainly doesn’t diminish how much I am impressed with the other 98% of what you have done kind regards Nick

he’s probably the same age as this thread lol

And yet the usual crowd are all foaming about their releases - nearly always Brits although I would never build a 1/48 Spit when Kotare and Tamiya play in our scale, I am genuinely interested to see how Airfix’s MkIX will compare to Eduard’s many 1/48ers and the odd reviewer / advertiser have said E’s is the best Spit in any scale (which I would dispute to the point that whoever said it lost all credibility), but that nonsense aside, it does seem half decent. so Airfix have to at least match that to have any real international credibility in my box

The moment the other 2 release their kit these will plummet to zero in value, but for the time being they are the only game in town there was a 3DP guy doing a conversion / correction last year but it died (the fact that I don’t remember who it was tells me it went cold)

the Eduard one is a couple of years away at least I thought Vladimir Sulc has been quoted as saying? basically don’t get your hopes up for anything from anyone anytime soon

FAA conversion for Tamiya Corsair - how this hasn’t been done is beyond me.

ah now i remember...I re-visited a few of your builds and recall i really liked your finishes, especially top side mottling did the 190 book ever get published?

right click on the image and "open in new tab" the photobucket watermark will disappear 😉

nice it's a shame that this kit has gotten so few builds given its position in American WWII history as the fighter at Pearl Harbour it's also a shame that GWH have not turned out anything else in 1/32 - in terms of detail and fidelity i would say they are the closest to Tamiya (Z-m too much fiddly nonsense which only 1% of modellers can make fit; Kotare far less complex with a focus on ergonmics, fit and only detail you can see... there is no-one else at all in the conversation sadly) good luck with the patreon - do you have any links to your other work? thanks for sharing Nick

super nice

@UpRise thank you for posting here as I had not heard of you before very interested in your decals given the film can be removed - for jet guys and all those stencils that will be a big plus i am looking at your website on my iPhone and cannot find a way to show only 1/32 subjects? not the end of the world, but I have no interest in seeing 1/72, 1/48 etc - maybe am I missing something, but would be good if the site was easily searchable (in English) like that? either way, all the best Nick

looks good i always wished HK (or someone) had done the early version which flew in WWII, but it's nice to see it camo here thanks for sharing

hi Max firstly, I would never work from a profile unless that profile is in Kotare's instructions - they are literally the only company I would trust on that front as to the features you mention, the book you need is this: WingLeader Photo Archive #6 - Spitfire Mk V In Europe and North Africa I have looked at my copy and I can't see a mention of changes in underwing bulges in the Vb, but I only had a quick look the WingLeader books are excellent - if they cover an aircraft you like I recommend grabbing it (the series is some 20+ now, and RIchard Alexander [Kotare] is among the authors hope this helps Nick

In detail there is not really a comparison between the two kits; the Hassy is good, but it’s just not on the same level as the Tamiya. For instance, show me pics of the two cockpits…or the surface detail…

If you care about accuracy I would compare any kitsworld decals carefully to photos of the real thing - they are not one (of only a handful) of manufacturers where I would assume accuracy and work back.

hi Anthony, great progress so far; may I ask where you are getting the info re wing leading edge filling and the date etc? Not disputing, just trying to piece it all together like you! re the gun heating duct, maybe drop Matthieu a line about it? keep up the good work Nick

Super nice Jeroen 👌

This, maybe enamels are may be useful for hand painting small details but just cannot compare to lacquers like MRP, SMS or Tamiya lacquers I can only presume it’s aimed at older modellers, and (obviously) US older modellers who seem to hold MM enamels in the same nostalgic esteem as us Brits hold Humbrol (for clarity I am not one of the latter) but, given the US is big, even if it is not an efficient business decision, it still might make them money, so maybe not so bonkers? as an aside, although a lacquer loyalist myself, I have seen some excellent (sort of) dry brush techniques recently using enamels; but apart from that and painting the odd cockpit knob, I just can’t see why people persist in using them over lacquers

Mr Surfacer 500 - indeed all their products - are pretty cool, but beware like all lacquer based putties, they will shrink. I would suggest sanding down surface detail a bit first (even where said detail is recessed) and THEN hitting it with MS500, then another sand and you should be good. Even when piled on, MS will naturally hug the surface - including details - rather than just plug a hole (known as 'self-levelling' I believe?)

French - or 'wannabe French' - being uppity and casing problems... surely not? [typed in jest] [sort of]

I think you sound like *you* are the one in denial 🙂 As someone else has said, just buy the DML kit and save yourself a lot of aggravation, because Eduard are not going to change this.

Looking good - always cool to see Malta Spits built. my guess is as soon as the Kotare Vb is out, LFD will offer a Vb Trop conversion - or at least they should if they want to cash in. As to the Malta colours research, I have both books and also followed numerous discussions on BritModeller. I am reviewing my potential Malta projects and have found myself using a combination of the two sources. Lucas certainly starts from a what was documented / let’s look at official orders, whereas Cauchi seems to work more of the b/w photos. I don’t have a hard opinion on which is ‘better’ - some of what Lucas says seems to have a more solid grounding, and then other bits he seemingly chooses to ignore what is in photos. my one word of caution on ditching Cauchi and going all in on Lucas would be some of his Luftwaffe work is at best misguided, at worst is derided in serious Luftwaffe research circles - things like all over red Bf109 F-2 cowlings, RLM04 gun troughs on Emils… just utter nonsense. anyway, apologies for my digression… the story of this particular bird is indeed amazing - the pilot truly had brass ones to land back on the carrier after his slipper tank proved faulty! dare I ask what colours you will go for? cheers Nick

I must be be missing something but why would it have options for a G-10 or G-14 when it’s a K-4? that was fine for when we were all 12 years old and you just ‘put different stickers on’ to magically change the plane but times have moved on the G-14 is not close at all, and if we are talking about the level of fidelity to which Kotare is aspiring (witness their Spitfires), then neither really is the G-10

that must be the problem - never liked that programme either 🤷‍♂️ on the one hand i am happy for those who are happy etc etc etc, but i do feel any material expansion of 1/35 will dilute / erode 1/32 in the long run and, as that is my scale, i am against anything that leads to that (1/48 and 1/72 are their own unrelated worlds afaiac) Good day from the land of Hengist and Horsa 😉

anything but 1/35