Radub

Great work so far, John. I like the number "10" very much. If still needed, here are some photos I took in NASM. Horten 229 (selfie , but I cropped my face). This is unrestored and the engine look used. It is possible that the engines fitted to this Horten were "second hand and used" engines put in place just for construction/clearance/balance purposes because in as far as I know this aircraft never flew. Restored Ar 234. This is in "brand new" pristine condition. It seems to me that brand new engines feature a white coating, whic

I was fortunate enough to spend some time in very close contact with a number of Me 262 in a number of museums, some restored/repainted, some relatively untouched. I was also fortunate enough to spend some time on the Ho 229 in NASM, which is untouched and in as far as I know the engines have never been fired. I also had the chance to study very closely a Klimov RD-10 at the Military Museum in Bucharest. They all looked quite metallic with a small amount of corrosion. Radu Later edit: I also spent some time in and around the Ar 234 in NASM and the "onions" of those engines f

He he he, I would not really call myself an "expert" as such. I still have a lot to learn. Here are some photos of the aircraft in Munich - this appears to be original and unrestored or repainted. The only part that is really visible is the "onion" and that appears to be slightly corroded steel. A light dusrting of "rust" over the metal-painted parts should be enough. I have photos of the engine preserved in Prague Kbely (not restored, not "cleaned", not repainted), but those photos were not taken by me and I cannot share them. However the look is pretty much the same.

I think that was the Tamiya tail with the fillet. There is no advantage to using the Tamiya fillet-less tail with the Revell kit. Radu

No problem. I do not know where that idea of joining the frames to the fuselage separately originated from. I cannot see it making anything easy. If anything, it complicates the alignment of parts. Radu

The cockpit section is intended to be assembled as a unit before the two fuselage halves are joined together. Make sure that the outboard surfaces of the cockpit side frames (the faces of the frames that touch the inside of the fuselage) are perfectly smooth and there is no raised flash around the ejection pin marks. In fact, it would do no harm to smooth those outer faces of the cockpit walls anyway. If there is any flash around the ejection pin marks, that flash pushes against the inboard faces of the fuselage halves which in turn makes the fuselage slightly too wide causing a tiny (but noti

The Battle of Britain building in Hendon was in need of repair. The new building is still great with plenty of stuff to see. All aircraft are still in the museum. Some people raised a fuss about it on the internet but the “outrage” was unnecessary and overblown. To be totally honest, the Battle of Britain hall was not truly representative of what it was meant to be because only a fraction of the aircraft on display was actually relevant to that “battle”. For example the exhibit included Ju87 D, He 111 D-20, Ju 88 C, Bf 100 G-4, as well as V-1 and V-2 rockets, all of which came a lot later in t

Oh yeah, how COULD I forget the Cosford RAF Museum?! I spent so much time there, I know some great people working there, I did so much research there! Sorry! Radu

Every museum is great. I like the NASM facilities in DC and VA. The people working there are among the best at what they do and extremely helpful (some are even members here ). The Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson is great too. It is right across the highway from the Davis Monthan AFB and I spent a good time standing in the shade of a B-52 wing and watching Vipers, Strike Eagles and Warthogs taking off and landing. Nerd Nirvana. There are many European museums that are fantastic, such as the RAF Museum in Hendon, FAA Museum in Yeovilton, IWM Museum in Duxford, Irish Aer Corps M

In my case I concentrate mostly on the technical aspects of scale models. I am more curious about what makes the machine work, how it is built, how it is maintained, how it is painted, rather than the person behind the windscreen. Having said that, history makes its way into the technical aspects of model-building because various stages and theatres of war bring with them specific technical adaptations, advancements and production timelines. One needs to be careful to separate history from glorification. History is the past. Glorification is politics. Radu

Looking good! I want one in Irish Air Corps colours. They are some of the most beautiful aircraft in the sky. Radu

Hi John, Maybe this can help a bit: HTH Radu

The kit parts were created in such a way as to give the correct angle - just rest the tabs at the front of the flaps on the "top" edges of the slots on the sides of the flap well. Radu

Hi Thunnus, That looks great! The only other observation I have is about the position of the forward pins when the flaps are attached to the wing. In your photos, the pins rest on the "bottom" edges (speaking as if the plane was on its wheels) of the slots in the sides of the flap bays. They should be resting on the opposite edge of those slots, i.e. the "top" edge of the slots. That will give you the correct downward angle of the deployed flaps. Radu

I often see people on scale model forums say things like: "I am an artist, I don't play with toys". I suspect that in their mind "art" is a serious and intellectual pursuit as opposed to "playing" which they may regards as a childish and trivial waste of time. THAT is where they are wrong. "Play" can be a lot more fun than "art". In fact, I would go as far as to say that one can easily live without "art", but not without play. Children learn through play. Every day we dedicate a lot of time to watching shows or plays written by playwrights, in which actors play roles. In fact we give playwrigh