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Link and length is here to stay, I believe and in my view it gives you the opportunity to create a far more realistic looking track than rubber bands can ever achieve. It just requires a level of patience to get it to work. First off you need a tool to deliver a very precise amount of cement to fix the tracks together and I find the Pin Flow applicator by Deluxe materials is perfect for the job. I use the wheels, sprocket and return roller as a jig. If you use cement to fix a few of the single pieces together, let it set for a bit, but before it hardens completely mould the links around the wheels or sprocket. You can actually cement the links in-situ with the Pin Flow, but because it delivers a tiny amount of cement in exactly the right place the track won't stick to the wheels or sprocket, you can remove it and assemble it as a separate entity. With a little manipulation the tracks can be worked over the running gear after painting. Granted it worked on this Tiger model, but it may not work over different types or layout of running gear. Link and length is pretty much de rigueur for new Braille Scale kits and a lot of the larger scale kits have them rather than complete sets of separate links. Having done one kit that required 198 links that each required several moulding gates to be cleaned up, personally I'm in favour of link and length! Also, it's the case that manufacturers are moulding upper lengths with built in sag.

QFT. In respect of thinning aqueous acrylic in the absence of own brand thinner, there is some benefit in using distilled water (battery/iron top up) rather than tap water. If you want to slow the drying time you can use a small drop of dilute glycerol. I sometimes use the paint supplied in gift/starter sets on a waste not want not basis and found that thinning with a small amount of old formula Klear worked wonders in terms of coverage and adhesion, especially for bristle brushing. If you can find it, Pledge Revive It floor wax is a Klear substitute. I'd have to say I have no idea how any of these products might be compatible with the new airbrush ready Humbrol acrylic paint.

Can we dispel this old chestnut please? Some acrylic media is, indeed, water based (aqueous), but not all acrylic media is water based. Acrylic media can be spirit based and miscible with water, such as regular Tamiya and Mr Hobby. Others can be lacquer based such as Mr Color and Tamiya LP. I've never seen it in the context of our hobby (as far as I'm aware), but polyurethane acrylic is yet another possibility. The most commonly available brands of aqueous acrylic I can think of are Humbrol, Revell and Vallejo. There's any number of different media available from the likes of MIG, AK, MRP, SMS etc. Going back to the original question, as mentioned above if you want aqueous paint to stick with good adhesion, then a primer is pretty much de rigueur.

Can't really help, other than the fact that the Humbrol enamel matt colours could always be a bit hit and miss. I always used to find thinning with a hot(ish) solvent would help disperse both pigment and matting agent. One of the reasons I invested in airbrush equipment was because it's actually easier to get a smooth and consistent finish over bristle brushing and you don't get the issue of not getting dense coverage with pale and pastel colours. As far as I'm concerned acrylic lacquer is now the way to go. Second to that is spirit base acrylic. Humbrol don't do either so I'm no longer in their market.

The name was colloquial and unofficial (although it would be in common usage) in the US as already explained. Officially the 'Mitchell' was B-25, the Brits simply picked up the name (although the Air Ministry would usually name bombers after towns, but not always). You could advance this argument for any US type and the answer is always the same - they have a number, not a name for official purposes.

Amazing artwork, the benchmark for all aspiring box artists. I'm sure many of them will testify that they were inspired by Roy Cross paintings. Happy birthday to the great man.

I used the kit decals on this Mosquito, but it was such a faff, requiring numerous applications of setting solutions, I wish I hadn't bothered. After they went on I had to overpaint the white because there was insufficient density in the decal ink to prevent the colours underneath grinning through... Once bitten twice shy, this Spitfire had the stripes painted. I started with white primer over everything, then masked off for the black. Once the black had cured it was masked over and then the rest of the colours added. Much less stressful.

In point of fact 'Dutch' Kindelberger and his team had been working on a single seat design (and experimenting with laminar flow) prior to the BPC approaching them to licence build P-40s. That's why they were able to respond in such a short space of time. The name was chosen for RAF service, but it's not at all unusual for other users to adopt their own designations or names. In the US aircraft names were colloquial, officially they had numbered nomenclature prefixed by a role letter. P = Pursuit, B = Bomber, C = Cargo etc. Names were not used for official purposes in the US armed forces. Whilst the USAAF didn't show real interest until the appearance of the Transatlantic B/C, the USAAC had already adopted the A-36, P-51 and P-51A. The P-51A/P-51A is equivalent to the RAF Mustang I/II respectively. This would be well within the time frame referenced by Hurricane Boy. With respect to operator numbers, I don't have references to hand, but I would imagine by far the biggest operator would be the USAAF, the Eighth Air Force alone used the type in huge numbers. There is a breakdown in Roger Freeman's 'Mighty Eighth, but my copy is buried deep in the archives somewhere.

The best aerosol that I used for primer was the old Games Workshop/Citadel Skull White. The cans seem to have been fitted with nozzles that gave you a fine mist rather than a downpour and were much easier to control. I don't know about the new colours introduced since the range was updated and whether or not they still have the same nozzles, but it might be worth checking out their Wraith Bone, or White Scar. I know a lot of modellers that swear by Tamiya aerosol white primer.

The two types are outwardly almost identical in appearance apart from the nose turrets. The H used the electrically powered Emerson A-15, whilst due to shortages the J used the hydraulically powered Consolidated A-6 turret. I think the latter comes as a spare with Hasegawa kits using the fully glazed options, so if you either have, or know someone with one of these, you might have one to use. To be honest I would simply use one of the J kits that are easy enough to find, either the Academy, or the (better) Hasegawa.

You're making an assumption, I would suggest, that the researcher might be as geeky as you (or myself) are. They may have inadvertently come across a source reference that is dodgy. You (or I) might make an instant connection - it can't be D-Day the stripes would be on upper and lower surfaces - but to a non-hobbyist, non-geek they have a reference that says it's D-Day. It's a day job and in day jobs stuff happens, except in this case it's not a matter of life and death. You could try explaining all this to the average Joe and they might feel justified in thinking you're a bit obsessive and cranky. I say this in jest (honestly), because I used to get exercised in the same manner until it came to a point in thinking, hey does this really matter? In a eureka moment the answer flashed up in large letters 'nope!', the average dude doesn't give a stuff. Nowadays when I come across stuff like you describe I just go 'tut, never mind' and move on.

That image was snapped at one of the shows, sadly I haven't been able to attend in recent years. If you want to see more images click on this.

Gift/starter sets are simplified out of deference to the market they're pitched at. I'm acquainted with the person that does the schemes and artwork and can say they do their best to specify colours as accurately as possible (sometimes you will see caveats appended to the paint instruction artwork), but colours required and colours available in the Humbrol range may mean that compromises sometimes have to be struck. I also know that there have been occasions when sackcloth and ashes have been worn, but we won't go into those...

You could try using a white primer, white is notoriously difficult to cover using bristle brushes. If you're not using 'flat' brushes then it might be worth investing some. It was problems with pale/pastel colour coverage that persuaded me to invest in airbrush equipment, if you prefer not to go down that route then aerosols are an option.

Disruptive patterns could be in Dark Olive Green, Black, Very Dark Brown or Dark Slate. I think the reference to white is to the underside of the turret and gun barrel to alleviate the effect of a natural dark shadow that might compromise the camo effect.

Notwithstanding the very plain looking scheme that looks a pretty decent package. Interesting that the kit is on runners without frames, maybe a waste-saving, eco-friendly gesture?

^^^This.

Airfix frames actually carry this logo and have done so for quite some time.

Yes, the Kalafrana dio was on display.

I'd like to be in Malta, but alas no! We visited last October and I was very impressed with some of the models on display at the air museum in Ta Qali. I hope the show goes well and is well attended. Where is the maritime museum? That will definitely be on the list of places to visit should we return - I hope so God willing.

One of my other pastimes is as an amatuer musician. People have sometimes asked why I never do it professionally, to which the answer is that it would be work and no longer fun. I have accepted coin playing at weddings and funerals, but usually I say to the families put the money in to either the church that did the ceremony or their favourite charity. I did a funeral the other year because the church organist had taken a tumble and injured his shoulder. I was a bit surprised when a cheque arrived in the post from the church secretary, payment hadn't crossed my mind. Just short of £70 for playing a couple of processionals and two hymns, not bad! But that wouldn't change my position, I'd never deliberately go out looking for paying gigs.

I keep promising myself I'll select a shake 'n bake from the stash (there's loads to choose from), but it rarely happens. This Thunderbird 1 was a mash up of two quite old Imai kits. Two were required, because on their own they were meant to be a push along toy and parts had to be cannibalised from two kits to get the one. Sometimes the kit might be more recent, but still needs some work to get it scrubbed up properly, such was the case with this newish Airfix Bf109. It's meant to be a 'G', but remove the fictitious cannon bulges and you have something more like an 'F', plus mix and match some decals and you have Black Six. Old Frog kits, love 'em. I acquired this Bristol 138 a few years ago, the decals were shot, but Rising Decals to the rescue. The cockpit is a bit bare, but the pilot figure, a simple panel and stick and you're up and running. It actually went together relatively well, with a minimum of fettling. Nurse! Nurse! I need my meds...

I've found zip evidence of hedge cutters in use in Normandy and it's not for want of trying!

Airfix commissioned Academy to do the tooling, that's why it's showing up as Airfix tooling on Scalemates.