Dad Paul B

The Sky Models decal set suggests Humbrol 128 Compass Grey and 116 US Dark Green while the later tactical scheme is Light Aircraft Grey undersides, Compass Grey fuselage and Dark Grey upper wing surfaces (maybe Extra Dark Sea Grey or a Greenish tinged equivalent of Gunship Grey). Note that the USMC Harriers have different noses to the RAF versions. The early is like the GR5 while the later has an IR sensor on top so you will need some conversions if using an Airfix kit.

It took a while to get round to acquiring one of these. It was worth the wait. The build was entirely out of the box apart from the use of low-visibility Roundels to represent a late 1970s aircraft on HMS Ark Royal to go along with the Phantom I did a few years ago. This kit is nicely engineered with some very good detailing in the main undercarriage bays, although the positioning of the legs was a little vague. The intake cowls had very tight tolerances so needed some care, as did those for the jet pipes but the final effect is very impressive. The lack of ordnance for the nicely detailed bomb bay is disappointing but not an issue for this build as I have it landing on Ark Royal, which required a little work with a scalpel on the arrestor hook to fit it in the down position; an odd omission on Airfix's part as they had both options on the Phantom. The deck was made from scrap board, painted using deck photos and the plans from Airfix Model World for the bow catapult station in the issue with the first Phantom build.

I tried posting my latest build (Buccaneer), however I found the picture insertion slow and when I tried to post I got an 'unexpected error'. Is there a size limit on images and was the go slow for the page normal or a problem at the time? Thanks

I still need an Anson XIX in 1/72nd (British European Airlines for preference) Other than that some more 1/72nd WW2 vehicles for wargaming

First of all you need to apply a gloss coat, most acrylic or enamel varnishes should be OK, though some can leave white spots. Once you have applied the decals more varnish is needed to seal them and give the final finish tone. Matt and Satin varnishes can be more of an issue as these can leave white residues. Everyone has their own preferred brand. Don't use spray cans direct onto unsealed decals as the solvent can be a bit aggressive and dissolve the decals. Try and find what works for you.

Definitely a good year for De Havilland fans. The Mossie will be popular, and the choice of the B. 16 is interesting rather than the FB VI, which I am sure we will see in a year or two. The Vampire looks really nice and is tempting me already though I was hoping for some more 1/72 vehicles. Still they only arrived late last year and Airfix may want to see how they sell before committing to more. No 'big' announcement this year, again not unusual after the Hellcat and Vulcan years. But some more interesting new tools, Tempest and Ambulance, plus a Merlin update for the Wellington is a reasonable set of additions to the range, especially with some of last year's releases still to arrive.

Following on from the Tiger and Firefly in Normandy I would suggest that the following would all be useful (especially for the Wargames crowd) in 1/72 Regular and maybe Duplex Drive Sherman, M5 Stuart, Churchill, M3 Halftrack, 6 pounder AT Gun, 17 Pounder AT Gun, 25 Pounder Field Gun, Priest/Sextan SP Gun, Kangaroo APC, M10 Tank Destroyer, Humber Scout Car, M3 Scout Car, Greyhound Scout Car, DUKW, New Infantry Panzer Mk IV, Panther, Sdkfz 251 Half Track, Sdkfz 234 Armoured Car (with variant options), Sdkfz 222 Armoured Car, Pak 40 AT Gun, Marder Infantry Gun/Tank Destroyer, Hetzer, Jagdpanther, New Infantry. After that you could look at Eastern Front, the Western Desert/Italy and Pacific as well as later war options like the Comet, Pershing, and M36 This would take several years to complete

There are several guides to weathering but typical techniques include Weathering Powders (essentially powdered watercolour paint) which can be applied dry or wet for dfferent effects (you do need to spray on varnish/clear coat to prevent running), pastels which Ratch mentioned which can be drawn on and smeared by hand, well finger. Chipping can be done with a silver pencil, silver paint on a sponge or using a metallic base coat followed by hair spray and paint which is then rubbed off to expose the underlying 'metal'. Then there is oil streaking where you apply dots of oil paint and then use a cotton bud lightly moistened with white spirit to smear out the paint to make oil streaks, water marks and gun staining. There will be videos on-line for all of these and more. There is a Key Scale Modelling guide which goes through a range of techniques for modelling and detailing which you may find helpful.

If you can model the kit with the bomb bay open, for which you will need the open bay door parts, operating jacks and the deployed Dragon's Teeth at the front of the bay then you can buy a Yellow Sun Free Fall bomb and scratch build the support parts, or even 35 thousand pounders (5 carriers of 7 bombs each). You should have the door parts for the SR2 version as the camera crates are in the bomb bay.

After market companies also produce bomb loads without all the extra items in the resupply set. Hannants will have a sizeable selection. It is also possible to get alternative bomb doors, for example the bulged versions for Tallboy conversions, though you may need to go to Freightdog for those. Are you working on the modern Lancaster tooling or an older version?

The other traditional method is stretched sprue. Hold a piece of sprue over a candle flame, a couple of inches/5 centimetres above is fine. Once it starts to bend under its own weight pull the end apart and you will have a length of thin styrene which you can cut to length. I use EZ line as the elasticated thread can be cut just a little short and fixed under tension. You will want to use Cyanoacrylate glue and an accelerator toget it to cure quickly. Cotton thread is an option but harder to tension as it will need to be cut to the right length. Haberdashers thread is too thick for 1/72but will be fine for larger scales.

S and M models S&M Models | Suppliers of Aviation Kits and Decals (be careful trying to google that one, Mel Bromley is the guy who runs the business so some extra search terms are recommended) have released Wasps in 1/72 and 1/48 scale with boxings for RN and international operators. They are limited run so the technology is basic compared to the bigger companies. They were due to be launched in November but aren't on the website so are presumably delayed. I haven't seen them but have done the Scout/Shapeways conversion. The rear supports for the flotation units are hard to get right. I have also done the Scout. Would love to see a new Airfix tool - It would make a great 1/24 subject, even though 1/72 is my scale.

I don't think the Quickbuild kits are made to a specific scale, rather the old concept of 'Box Scale' - whatever scale fits in the standard box. Fixed scale was brought in by Airfix and was an early selling point. At a guess I would say the cars are in the region of 1/30-something (not sure about the VW Camper, this may be a smaller scale, same withthe Ford pickup) and the aircraft are about 1/50 for the small planes like the spit and 1/60-70-ish for the F-22.

Jeremy Brook's 'Sixty Years of Airfix Models' covers the evolution of the packaging and box art. He also includes biographies of the major artists. A lot of Roy Cross' original paintings are reproduced in a couple of books. I think Brook is behind the Airfix Tribute Forum Ratch linked to so you may find what you need there.

This year I have seen the Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf-109E, FW-190, Jet Provost (Red Pelicans) and Mary Rose. Apart from the Mary Rose these are recent toolings. I have not seen the Gnat (Yellowjacks) or P-40 (112 Sqdrn Desert air Force) this year. The Willys Jeep has also appeared in the past.

I tend to use cotton buds to apply the pigments. Paul's point about a matt surface is good. Also you need to spray a coat of varnish or spray coat as brushing varnish will make the pigments run. I haven't tried pastels on models yet but they do blend easily when rubbed with a finger. So you might follow Ratch's advice.

Humbrol have done a conversion chart which should be on the website. The Vallejo equivalents would be Medium Sea Grey 70.870, Light Aircraft Grey - Sky Grey 70.989, Barley Grey - Not sure . It is slightly darker than MSG so maybe Dark Sea Grey 70.991 or 70.904 Dark Blue Grey. I have trouble distinguishing between the Vallejo Medium and Dark Sea Greys. You could probably manage with just LAG and MSG but the monotone grey needs help to get some tonal variation. One trick you could try is to use grey primer and put some black under the Barley Grey areas and then go with Mediums Sea Grey over the lot, though I would try the combination out on some scrap plastic first. Humbrol are updating their paint range so should get to the specialist greys in the next year or so. In the meantime your local Hobbycraft or model shop may still have old stocks.

Airfix didn't start producing kits until the mid 1950s so models would mostly have been scratch built or made of wood or die cast metal, model railway models would be the main subject. Also manufacturing was less refined than now. There is also the collectors issue which means anything this old, especially if never opened and built. As to what came out in the 1950s, looking at the current Airfix catalogue the Gloster Meteor FR9 and F8 and Avro Shackleton MR1 (but not he AEW2 which is currently in the catalogue so you would need to find the earlier release) hit the 1950 date. Near misses include the North American Sabre and MiG-15 which both debuted in 1949. The MiG 15 hasn't been rereleased but should be possible to find. The Jet Provost and Vampire T.11 are a little later. Other manufacturers will almost certainly have other subjects which hit the date but I don't have the reference material to offer suggestions but you would be looking at the early jet era for aircraft of which there should be plenty of subjects, especially for US aircraft. I can't offer any advice on ships.

There was an Acrylic Satin Dark Green (163), not sure how much the shades differed.

It would be greatto see the full set available (I have done all three, though the Vulcan is the 1980s tooling). They then need a V-Bomber resupply set (AEC Mandator Blue Steel carrier with poseable lifters, trolley for Blue Steel/Blue Danube/Yellow Sun, a Yellow Sun bomb, simstart trolley, QRA caravan and the tractor already exists in the WW2 resupply set). This would make a great vignette, especially with crew and tech figures.

Interesting 'what if' project. Eric Brown's memoir mentions the West German F104 deal (he was the British Air Attache in Bonn at the time). He had persuaded his friends in the Marineflieger that the Buccaneer would be a good choice but the West German Defence Ministry wanted to buy a single model for the Luftwaffe Interceptor Squadrons and Marineflieger and plumped for the F104 (a dodgy choice for the maritime strike role). Lockheed did throw in 'sweeteners' for the deal, including local manufacture. European Air Forces bought more F104s that the USAF and kept them a lot longer. They did have a reputation as death traps. On the UK side the Chielf of the Defence Staff (Louis Mountbatten) was very keen for people to buy Buccaneers while the RAF and Air Ministry wanted to kill it so they wouldn't have it forced on them once TSR2 and F-111 were cancelled. Another interesting story

As previously mentioned the Churchill is fiddly and so is the Matilda. Most of the rest are reasonably easy, though watch out for basic butt joints on the Classic Tiger 1 (I expect the new version to be much better). The vinyl tracks can be a pain as the age of the tooling generally means the pins don't fit easily into the holes on the other end and the joint can be fragile. The Cromwell avoids this by using styrene tracks and the only niggle with this excellent kit are the large gates on the components which go over the faces of some of the wheels and mar the finish.

The instructions were produced in 1966 when the kit was launched. For the boats I went for a lighter shade of grey (though I can't recall which) with tan for the bits that might be wooden or tarpaulin. Some other parts were different greys to provide a little variation. Given how much the paintwork will weather while sailing you can be creative. Though the basic theme is Dark Grey Hull, Dark Green Deck.

Most paint manufacturers show some variability in consistency. I have had both Humbrol and Vallejo paints that have been runny or quite thick and in need of thinner. I use water for both most of the time (though I tend to favour thinner for primer coats). I am not sure why you are having issues with curing as acrylics tend to dry pretty quickly, especially when it is hot. It sounds like the thinner isn't evaporating very well, something I come across more with enamels (the old Airfix brand enamel often took days for the gloss finish to dry properly). Try a test strip - neat paint, thinned with water and thinned with thinner on a scrap of plasticard for comparison.

I think you mean the Folland Gnat. I and my son have built 3 of these (Early FTS, Yellowjacks and Red Arrows). I don't recall a problem with the wing fit. I would suggest trying to find where the parts are fouling and gradually removing plastic until you get a fit. It would help if you could post some pictures.