oldmodeller

Is it because I'm old and have lost my grip or does anybody else have problems getting paint out of a dropper bottle? I have had to resort to using a pair of water pump pliers to squeeze the bottle as I cannot squeeze it by hand. While mostly successful this method can lead to the ketchup bottle syndrome- you bang and bounce and squeeze the bottle, first none will come and then a lottle. Why are these bottles made so thick?

Having had a family connection with the royal navy and having served in a volunteer capacity myself, I just thought it would have been nice to see a floating tribute. You never know, there might be a few people out there who would accept the kits at face value and built them OOB. I mean, we are not talking large scale here. Some of the mods at 1/600 scale would be - as the saying goes- three fifths of five eights of nothing. Not all of us are purists to the n'th degree. I, for one, just would have liked a D-Day anniversary kit that wasn't an aircraft or military vehicle.

I havn't built this kit either but just checking if the glass transparency is applied from outside? if it is you could leave it off, apply the decal, then cut the decal around the hole and finally when all has dried fit the transparency.

Scan.pdf Taken from the scalemates website

Check the instructions Ratch. Airfix Warspite has a colour scheme for her part in the normandy landings Airfix Belfast history at the beginning of the instructions refers to her at the normandy landings as does the instructions for HMS Nelson (sister ship to Rodney) who were both at the normandy lamdings

It looks like they are spoiled for choice HMS Belfast, HMS Warspite, HMS Rodney, HMS Dacres, French destroyer La Combattante, HMS Talybont, HMS Kelvin, HMS Argonaut, HMS Stevenstone, HMS Pytchley, HMS Diadem,French cruiser Montcalm, French cruiser Georges Leygues, HMS Bleasdale, HMS Eglinton (L87), HMS Ursa, HNoMS Svenner, HMS Largs, HMS Scorpion, HMS Durban, HMS Frobisher, HMS Royal Ulsterman, HMS Roberts, HMS Goathland, USS Plunkett, USS Corry (DD-463), USS Ancon (AGC-4), HMS Locust, HMS Urania, HMS Lawford (K514), HNoMS Stord, HMCS Sioux, HMS Ramillies, HMS Kingsmill (K484), HNLMS Flores, HMS Bulolo, HMS Ajax

Just been looking at the airfix d day offerings. Have they forgotten the part that the Royal Navy, US navy and other allied vessels played in the invasion. apart from a higgins boat not one single floating tribute shame

Of course if we retuned to the old pre multilingual type instructions from airfix each part would have been identified. i.e. locate and cement night radar antenna part number 132 to front of fuselage on port side

I went the complete opposite way when I converted an airfix 1/48 Merlin to a royal navy HMA1 There was so much interior detail (some of it beyond my modelling capabilities) that I closed everything up and just concentrated on getting the externals right. Mind you the merlin seats came in handy to convert a Hasegawa sea king to a sea king commando

Some where on this site i noticed a discussion thread about the amount of interior detail provided on kits which cannot be seen on the build completion especially in the larger scales. Just a suggestion, could airfix not mould fuselage halves, engine nacelles or any other area that contains detail in clear plastic? This is not a new idea as they did it with the SRN4 hovercraft kit in the 70's. Also check out the Revell phantom mustang and Tamiya Bell x-15 Clear parts could then be overpainted masking off the areas needed to show the detail. Only other solution is to physically cut out the areas where you wish to show off the detail inside

I agree with all that has been said but all my modelling is done in the lounge so that I can be with my family. They have got used to the smell of enamel and white spirit (which we all personally don't think smells that bad anyway). This precludes the use of airbushes or aerosol cans. ( although if I have a model that is predominantly one colour i.e. fire engine or other vehicle I will take myself out to the shed for half an hour or so to spray it). My main gripe is that humbrol say in all their blurb, wash the model parts in warm soapy water for better paint adhesion (sic). No where does it say apply primer (should it be obvious). Two light coats of enamel give me the depth of colour I need and I can apply masking tape without fear of it taking the paint off. Also, for all the purists out there who want everything right, if a model predates the invention of the spray gun (i.e. sailing ships, vintage cars or steam railway engines) shouldn't they be brush painted with enamels anyway, as they would have been in real life?

I have just tried humbrol 165 acrylic on a 1/48 seaking, as directed, straight from the dropper bottle onto the model via a soft sable brush. After masking and applying the contrasting fuselage colour (red) when I removed the masking tape the acrylic came off with it. After delving on this site for comments I found that it was considered essential to prime with a solvent based primer (humbrol no 1) or equivalent to ensure that the acrylic paint adhered. Excuse me, but I thought that the idea of acrylics was to get away from those nasty solvent based enamels that are destroying our eco system (yeah, right) but it seems that the whole model must now be covered in the stuff. I'm going back to enamels

I managed it. A quick shufty at the internet for the details and some judicious searching through the spares box. I managed to get enough weight in the nose cone forward of the new bulkhead and between the aft bulkhead and the cockpit tub

Having built two of the 1/48 buccaneers that airfix produced in the 90's with no problems at all I was looking forward to this build when I received this kit as a present. Very happy with it apart from one or two minor gripes. I would have liked the option of a folding nose cone but the intrusion of the nose weight pod precludes this. I might try a scratchbuild and distribute the weight elsewhereThe inclusion of a spare windscreen without the moulded wiper is a great idea but where do you source a PE replacement wiper? All the sites I have found on the web only seem to offer the wipers as part of a larger package. (going to be the same problem with the new Seakings). Will be a job for my fretsaw, soldering iron and a bit of brass.The option of an open engine is also welcome but I would question Airfix's approach. I think most modellers would opt for this option so why have they moulded the hatch shut and left it to the customer to drill or saw out the required cut out. Surely the aperture could have been moulded in the open state and the hatch cover supplied to show the hatch in the open position could have been utilised by cutting off the hinge points if neccessary. It would only be the same system that is used on undercarriage bay doors on most model aircraft. Apart from these looking forward to finishing the build

Just received the latest issue of the club magazine. As usual, it seems to be 90% devoted to aircraft models, air shows and aircraft photo competitions. I know airfix is synonymous with model aircraft but there is another world of model makers out there who have never made an aircraft I have an eclectic approach to modelmaking, I will make whatever kit appeals to me at the time be it aircraft, science fiction ships or vehicles. My model aircraft collection is of 1/48 fleet air arm subjects. Could airfix not revert to the multi tier system they used to have whereby you could join the airfix club without having to have a hard copy of the magazine posted to you but rather access it online. By the same token not everybody wants the club kit, which is normally an aircraft. and this also used to be an opt out option to the club membership. I have lost count of the number of current club models for sale on ebay