Radub

Last year I flew long-distance twice with British Airways and they were quite satisfactory and well within expectations. The "golden age" when aviation was a luxury is long gone. If you expect to be pampered, you gotta pay for first class. On low-cost airlines you gotta pay for everything from a cup of coffee to the privilege of bringing some luggage with you. What did they do to you? Radu

There is a similar product from a brand called Robart. It has been available through the Mikro Mark catalogue for at least two decades, albeit at a higher price. https://www.micromark.com/Paint-Shaker-120v-AC HTH, Radu

No offence at all. As a matter of fact, of all the aircraft the Spitfire cockpit may be the easiest to access. Try to make your way to the RAF Museum in Hendon. There they have a Spitfire Mk XVI and for a fee you can sit in the cockpit for up to 30 minutes while a staff member describes all the items in the cockpit and their function. :-) They have a schedule, so make sure you book it early. ;-) Radu

The elevators of the Spitfire are masss-balanced with counterweights. The gravity should not affect them. HTH Radu

I was trying to say that I was speaking from first-hand experience and I was not just regurgitating stuff googled five minutes ago. Radu

Before we get lost on side tracks, let me reiterate that it is possible for the control surfaces to be in other positions than "neutral". There is always a "scenario" where that is possible. Yes, the controls can be locked, yes one can wrap the seatbelts around the control stick, whatever, but movable surfaces can be moved. Trying to find a "rule" about the position of various controls by looking at photos is like trying to create a "rule" by looking at photos of houses and concluding that doors never open because they are always shut in photos. Things move. As for how easy it is to move control surfaces on a Spitfire I can tell you that I was fortunate enough to spend some time in or around Spitfires and the control surfaces can be moved very smoothly and easily by hand. Some of the Spitfires I saw were flyable and had gust locks and a variety of FOD covers for the exhausted and intakes. I can tell you that the Mustang and the Bf 109 have in-built control locks that secure the control column and rudder pedals in the neutral position with a simple "flick" - I handled these locks while seated in these cockpits and I can tell you where they are. The Spitfire does not have such an in-built device. A special bar-shaped device needs to be jammed between the seat backrest and control column in order to lock the Spitfire controls. Radu

Usually, "parked" aircraft are fitted with "gust locks" that secure all moveable parts in place. So, if your model has "gust locks" all should be "straight". Anything goes without gust locks. Actually, as the name implies, a bit of wind can move the control surfaces. Before take-off, when the pilot is taking the pre-flight check walk around the aircraft, he moves by hand all control surfaces in order to check that all links and cables move freely and without snags. You can pose your model as you wish and when questioned just say "pre-flight", drop mike and walk away. :-) Radu

It is possible to have "passion" and "interest" and work really hard going the wrong way. There are plenty of examples in every field. Radu

Yeah, whatever it is that you are waiting for, someone is guaranteed to say "we don't need another that, we need more of the other". Why those Gothas? The agony never ends. :-) Radu

I have been involved in model design for many years and I sat in plenty of production meetings. EVERY single model ever produced owes its existence to someone's "passion" and "interest." Radu

No, just a regular "punter". :-) Radu

I just booked my flights. See you there! Radu

The text is s wrong when it states "formation lights, green starboard, red port." Those are not "formation lights", they are just the standard "navigation" or "position" lights present on all aircraft (and vessels too). Radu

Well... All I can say is that it is not a LSP. I am designing an injection-moulded model in scales 1/72 and 1/48. Each model has to be done separately. Very few parts can be simply "scaled". Radu

Tamiya has a lot of models that they issued both in scales 1/48 and 1/72 that they never scaled up to 1/32 such as FW 190, Ki-61, P-47, F4D-1, F-84G, M6A1, N1K1-Ja . "Existing kits" predict nothing. They may do a 109, or then again they may not. And no, it is not "easy" to shrink-o-rayo (or enlarg-o-rayo) models from one scale to another. It can be done, but each model will have to be done individually. Trust me, I know, I am doing that NOW! :-) The only thing that may stay the same is the "outer shape", but that is only a tiny fraction of a model. Everything under that skin needs to be done from scratch within tooling limitatons and tolerances. Radu