nmayhew

i think he had a heartattack

My thoughts on this now are that the price point is just too much for a basic kit - and that’s before you get to all the upgrades
 
They will price out all but the true devotees to this type, and the casual ‘quite like it’ crowd will just buy something else
 
such a great shame but I can see how the whole Infinity / HpH foray into injection moulded models has been a short and unsuccessful one
 

My thoughts on this now are that the price point is just too much for a basic kit - and that’s before you get to all the upgrades
 
They will price out all but the true devotees to this type, and the casual ‘quite like it’ crowd will just buy something else
 
such a great shame but I can see how the whole Infinity / HpH foray into injection moulded models has been a short and unsuccessful one
 

Build Guide Series No. 8, Building the Special Hobby Tempest Mk V in 1/32 Scale, turns 3 today. And to celebrate, for the next 7 days, we’ve reduced the price to a mere 12 Australian dollars!
 

 
In this 227-page eBook, our very own Chuck Sawyer undertakes a forensic examination of the Special Hobby 1/32 scale Hawker Tempest Mk V kit, combining it with the Barracuda Studios resin nose upgrade set to produce a stunning model. He leads you through all the pitfalls of construction, and of integrating the resin nose and propellor into the kit.
 
We’ve included tutorials on decanting spray cans for airbrushing, achieving a flawless, high-gloss base coat, and working with HGW’s Wet Transfer decals.
 
So, head over to our webstore and grab yourself a bargain!
 
Kev

Great thread - following with much interest!
 

Nice progress!

Hi Gents,
 
Here is my Tamiya Zero, a good kit except for the silly mechanisms to make the landing gears and doors movable  - corrections are time consuming. You'll also need to work on the engine/engine mount for a perfect fit with the cowlings in place.
I used the excellent tweak list available here.
I used RB production seatbelts, master barrels, Barracuada tires (for Spitfire originally), all excellent.
AK Real and Tamiya paints, painted markings and HGW wet transfers.
Tristan
 


 

 

 

 

 

 


 
 

 

 

 

 

Today's update:
This is one of the most problematic parts of Trumpy's kit.
As seen in the pictures, the area between the windows behind the cockpit is very wide. It is obvious that this is not the job of Trumpy's A team.
Aerocraft released a clear resin kit a few years ago for this problem. It looks like it will work.
The necessary parts of the fuselage were cut. Test fitting looks good.
I keep moving forward, hoping I don't run into Murphy.
 


 








 
 
 
 

the light panel is also out of place in the Trumpeter kit 

Another issue with the Trumpeter kit are the ammo panels depicted as the "D" model, in the B/C model were smaller since it had 2 machiguns per wing, the wing light panel gives  you the reference to allinge with the end of the ammo panel, hope it helps, cheers
 
   
 

 
 
 

 

Dawn Patrol: Dawn 1st June 1940
 
On June 1st the wing was on the Dawn patrol. Still full of sleep we rolled out of bed at 3:15 a.m. and staggered downstairs to the anteroom for tea and biscuits. Then down onto the tarmac, to the rising and falling thunder of noise as fitters ran up the engines, to the sight of dim aircraft, shown up by the blue flames from the exhausts which stabbed the half light.
 
Still dazed with sleep I climbed into the cockpit, tested the oxygen supply and the R/T and then taxied out to the far end of the aerodrome and turned into wind, there to sit yawning whilst the other aircraft  formed up around me. Thumbs up from each section leader and I waved my hand over my head, the signal to take off, and opened up.
 
A throbbing roar all around cut off the outside world as we sped across the aerodrome. The bumps from the undercart became less and less, until with a final bump we beat gravity and the green blur of grass slipped away beneath us. My right hand dropped to the undercart control, moved it back, and then felt for the pump. A few seconds later two faint thuds told me the wheels were up, and with a confirming glance at the cockpit indicator I reached behind me and pulled the hood shut.  Changing hands on the stick, I closed the radiator and put the air screw into coarse pitch, throttling back to cruising revs and then glanced at the rev counter, boost and oil gauges to make sure everything was OK.
 
”Spitfire!” by Brian Lane
 
Just a quick update on the first steps in painting this wee beastie! First thing to note: my Iwata HCP Revolution is proving to be everything I wanted and more. I spray exclusively in enamels following a fairly horrible experience with acrylics when I first started modelling. I am using a combination of Xtracolors and ‘Old Skool’ Humbrol enamels. The brush copes with them admirably. 
 
So far progress has looked like this:

The interior was sprayed with Humbrol 27002 Silver. Once dry, all parts were then treated to a quick once over with hair lacquer. I then shot the custom mix of interior green with a bit of Brunswick green and some blue added which is my own version of ‘Supermarine’ green as P9386 was built at Eastleigh. Your mileage may vary on the shade. With that dry I then used some kabuki tape to give a bit of a chipped effect to the cockpit sides and floor. One big chunk of green did com off on the port cockpit side and I am not yet decided if I am going to correct it or whether it looks OK.
 
The instrument panel,  and various other pieces were masked off and I shot of coat of Humbrol 85 matt black on the instrument panel and sundry other items around the cockpit that are black. I then repeated the process for the light grey oxygen tanks.  I then checked my references and found this:

 
This is the instrument panel for Mk1 P9374. You’ll notice that it is not uniformly matt black. The central six flying instruments are mounted on a black-painted metal panel but the instrument panel as a whole is not metal (Linatex covered?)’ and has a brownish, mucky purple colour. This colour variation is true also of N3200 at the IWM in this video here so that is what I went with. All was well until I started picking out detail parts on the panel and the support structure below. and I ended up with this:


Errrrr…Nah!
 
That horrible smudge on the bottom left of the panel is my ‘too thin’ silver bleeding out onto the instrument panel. I am also not satisfied with the neatness of my brushwork on the instrument bezels on the right.  So, the part was shoved in a plastic ziplock bag and oven cleaner sprayed in which stripped it back to bare plastic. I am onto my second attempt at the panel today and the silver has been laid down a second time. More to follow soon!
 
Kind regards,
Paul
 

Don't quote me on it, but in looking into it for this build it was only used for about 6 weeks between late June and mid August of 1943.

1/32 Trumpeter model, Aires cockpit, wheelbay, weapons, Eduard wheels & propeller, Lifelike decals, Mask homemade, All colors MRP
 





 

Thanks for sharing.  If you think of the name of Bruce Campbell's book, let me know.  I'd like to learn more.  It is my impression too that, with the shoestring nature of the campaigns in the SW Pac, the pilots often flew whatever ship was available.  Certainly some guys had assigned or "owned" planes, but my impression is that was the exception, rather than the rule.
 
 
 
Well, let's talk about that.  Obviously, the colorized photo shows it in the early 2-tone scheme.  The profile for it in Michael Claringbould's Pacific Profiles book also shows it as a 2-tone bird.  My thought process was that, being an early ship in a training squadron, it was probably rotated to the training role once it was so weary as to not be useful in frontline service.  Thus, it would likely still be in its original 2-tone camo scheme.  However, in looking at the photos, I can definitely seen an argument that it is a 3-tone scheme with straight camo lines running along the longitudinal axis of the a/c with the demarcation between the dark blue and medium blue along the upper edge of the bar in the insignia.
 
What's the consensus here?
 
Upon further research it appears there likely will be no consensus.  Many forum posts here and elsewhere with @Dana Bell's input lead me to believe this would be the 3 tone camo.

Lt. Ray is (was) a direct relative of mine. I did a significant amount of research on him a couple years ago. If I recall, in one of Bruce Gamble's books he mentioned the picture is usually cited as another pilot, but that it is actually Virgil. I'll see if I can dig up the source for you. That said, the website I linked earlier has a close up of a pilot in the cockpit of the bird in question, and it sure looks like Virgil to me.

However, per my understanding, the Marine aviators in this campaign did not have assigned planes, and simply flew whatever was working. I completed my first model in 15-20 years as a gift for my father, of a different Birdcage Corsair that Virgil is pictured with on Espiritu Santo during his last tour. 

I guess if you own a B-24, who cares if you are called Kermit?
 

My George is slowly getting dressed in his new camouflage. I'll be done in two weeks!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have to agree 100% with Craig about MRP. I have heard both good and not so good things about MM paints and your experience does nothing to persuade me to use them. 

Hi Guy,
I fully appreciate that they're not to everyone's taste but I've moved exclusively to MRP paints. The colours are brilliant, it goes down rock solid even without primer and is so thin and workable that shading, fading etc are all achievable by varying paint layers. I used whitetack too on my spit with no issues. I'm sure it's a chemical leaching reaction with some paints. 
But as ever, it's looking great. I have the splinter camo on the Stuka to come which at least are hard edges.

@Palm-tree, thanks for the link. Interesting discussion. 
The Airfix model appears to have captured this detail nicely. 
 
@CraigH, will you recreate this castellated version on your model? I think I'll stick to the flat disc with the nubs. The question is, two or three? 
 
I can make that decision later but for now Airfix would have us tackle the tail feathers. 
The horizontal tail components fit together beautifully and have delicately rendered features. 
The ribbing is particularly nicely done. 
 

 
Suitably subtle. 
Comparisons to reference photos do show one area where we might potentially improve the appearance though. 
On the full sized birds occasional bumps in the fabric can be seen. 
 
See here
 
Here is an experiment to see if something similar can be achieved
 

 
Also, the metal areas are equally nicely rendered. 
 

 
But again, there is evidence of some surface texturing in some reference images. 
This first attempt is probably too exaggerated but it shows the concept.
 

 

 
What do you guys think?
 
Cheers,
Guy

Hi Nick, good to see you, thanks for contributing. I tend to agree with your thoughts on the "clunkiness" of some of the parts. I feel the same but I reconcile this against the price. Could this be a way of reducing production costs? Would molds with higher fidelity be more expensive? Or, are Airfix aiming for a segment of the market that is less fastidious when it comes to fine detail? In truth much of the clunkiness can be addressed by sanding or replacing with aftermarket. Actually, this kit is crying out for a full resin replacement cockpit (and even a resin Merlin for anyone leaving the cowlings off).
Thanks. The plastic seat is difficult to emulate but it's a focal point of the cockpit so I tried hard. Glad you like it.
 
Agreed, a side-by-side would be fascinating. The main area that I'm concentrating on adding any extra detail is the cockpit. My model will not have the engine on display. I did that on the 1/32nd scale Tamiya Mk XVI and have never removed the cowlings since I put it in the cabinet! 
Instead, I shall concentrate on making the airframe look as neat and tidy as I can.
 
Thanks to Craig for the news on the pipes running from the gear selector lever. Glad I used four now. 
I have Craig to thank again for blazing a path and fettling some of the parts. 
This time I've tackled the control column/joystick/spade grip call it what you will. 

 
Some of the molding is nice like the subtle lumps in the rubber covering of the hooped grip. However, Airfix missed the very obvious connectors on the three hoses running up the front of the assembly. I used resin aftermarket parts for them. I also extended the relevator attachment nib on the front of the column. This pokes out beyond the hoses. 

 
This was painted up and extra cables for the handbrake were added to the rear of the assembly although they'll possibly be barely visible.

 

 
I fashioned a semblance of the elevator actuator connection and ran a length of plastic rod under the seat. This is something that Airfix might have easily included. 
I also ran some wires from the rudder bars and elevator actuator to populate the fuselage a bit and busy it up. Very little will be seen so I didn't go daft. 
 
Here's a look so far. 

 

 

 
What these brutal macro images highlight to me is just how ropey my work looks! 
 
You've got to picture this all buttoned up and viewed it from a moderate distance. Hopefully, in those terms it'll look ok.... 
 

 
 
 

Great thread - following with much interest!
 

Not to carry this on ad nauseum, but a friend contacted me and asked how we could be sure that the alleged photos of Dick Best’s B-1 is really 6-B-1 and not 6-S-1.
Apparently VS-6 also used the strut painting scheme with VB-6. In fact, Dick Best reported that the scheme on VS-6 SBD’s corresponded to the same numbers as used on the VB-6 SBD’s. So how to distinguish a VS-6 SBD from a  VB-6 SBD when the side number is not visible?  The answer is the VB-6 SBD’s had a double tail stripe on the vertical fin, while the VS-6 SBD’s had a single stripe. In fact, the double stripe was unique to VB-6. The airplane in the film has the double stripe, indicating that it was from VB-6. That, with the two painted struts indicates to me that it probably is Dick Best’s B-1. 
Another interesting note from the film is that The apparent B-1 in the film also has the red-white rudder stripes, indicating that the photo was likely taken in early May 1942, before the stripes were overpainted (along with the red centers of the national insignias).

Aah that cockpit! I can imagine how it would look like in 1/35. 

Great stuff here.  I will be anxiously following along!
If I may— A couple of comments on your posted photos—
First, Concerning the photo of S-13 preparing to land on the carrier in the background. The S-13 is likely a USS Saratoga SBD, rather than a USS Enterprise SBD. I say that from the unmistakable silhouette of the carrier— clearly a Lexington class carrier of which there were only two— Lexington and Saratoga. Since Lexington was sunk at Coral Sea in early May 1942, this has to be Saratoga. Saratoga was not at Midway, arriving at Pearl Harbor from repairs on the west coast, just after the battle of Midway. 
Secondly, there has been some research done and posted that indicated that the Enterprise SBD’s had their landing gear struts painted in various colors so that the carrier could distinguish which plane was approaching to land. Of course  I don’t have this research at hand, but I seem to remember that Dick Best’s B-1 reportedly had both struts painted red. Other planes reportedly had one or both struts painted in various colors. Looking at the second photo of “Dusty” Kleiss’ S-7, it would appear that the struts may be a darker color than the expected light gray. It would also appear that the SBD behind S-7 might also have painted struts.
When you study the photo of B-15 before takeoff (Still has its bomb which was dropped on Kaga, and does not have the battle damage which it had on its return) it would appear that it’s left strut is not painted. But as I understand the practice, not all struts were painted but were sometimes alternating painted struts. I’ll have to look for that information and research…