mquan

Beware that your calculations apply to the BORE, or inside diameter of the gun barrel you are trying to replicate. . . . . .

Hi Tony. Look no further than Syhart decals from France. they offer both scales! http://www.syhartdecal.fr/references.php?lang=ENG&ref=48/72-061&page=description enjoy, Mike

Differences externally are the lumps and bumps around the nose, top of the intakes and vertical fins.

Very nice Jeff. So if you prefer Floquil old silver, what is your preference between the two paints now that you have tried Alclad?

Aha! So I see your building secret is using "soft Cream Cheese" as putty??!

You're correct in that Bf109s were built in halves and joined together like a plastic kit with a seam down the center of the spine (and belly for that matter). In 72nd, there are available kits of the early 109 variants by A Model, Avis, Aero-Plast, and Heller.

Magic Mask was a part of the Dave Klaus empire that is now gone.

The new Special Hobby kit of the Me-163A comes with a Scheuch-Schlepper vehicle used to carry the rocket fighter around. The instructions call for dunkel-gelb for painting.

My favorite Luftwaffe Ju-52 decal sheet: http://www.aimsmodels.co.uk/html/1-72_21.html

Proud to say that the company I work for, L-3 Communications, did the conversion for NASA/DLR for the 747SP. A predecessor company of L-3, E-Systems, did the same conversion to NASA's C-141A flying observatory, so it is anything but "new".

Happy Holidays Troy. There are around half a dozen Arii O-2As available right now on e-bay. . . . . . . . . . .

FS 595 colors in rattle cans are best sourced from Tamiya IMHO. If you want to airbrush, I can recommend using the Model Master line of enamels, along with their own brand of airbrush thinner, for best results. All can be found in your local hobbby shop or Hobbytown USA. Good Luck with your project, Mike

Hi Troy. Answer to #2, there are no published sources that come immediately to mind about interior OV-10A shots, especially if you are looking to scale up for your RC project. Might I suggest that you contact the OV-10 FAC Museum in Ft Worth (they are online) to ask if they can shoot interior shots of their 1:1 example for you? Answer to #1 - the scheme you are commenting on is called Euro I camo. It had (IIRC) gunship gray 36118 replacing the tan 30219 in a Vietnam-like pattern. Best place to search for the overall pattern would be to see if you can get a hold of the Tech Order 1-1-4 from that era. Updates since then or prior to that time would not have had that page - I am thinking change 50-60 from the current revision of that document of that time. HTH, Mike Quan

The whole wing was painted on a P-51, both top and bottom. The leading 40 or 60% chord (also top and bottom), was also filled and smoothed in the joints to promote good laminar air flow, so panel lines would be extremely subtle on a model in this region. Many model Mustangs do not distinguish between the silver finishes on the fuselage and wings. HTH

Yes, sanding with a very fine sandpaper - 600 grit or finer (1200 grit) should remove the dust.

I have not built that kit, but a friend at work just finished a build of the same kit. Guess what? The decals also disintegrated on him, and despite getting a second kit, those decals also fell apart on him. He says: "Never will build another Roden kit!" He ended up painting the blue and white striped trim on the build and cobbled together the registration numbers. GLW the build.

Hi Tim. Ali d'Italia #26 on the BR20M has a color painting of the cockpit showing a rather 'bright' interior green color. It is actually close to US interior green, and sort of like British interior gray-green only more green and less gray. It is a tad less green than US "apple" green for the interior. No FS # or reference to Munsell or the like is provided in the illustration or caption. HTH, Mike

72nd or 48th scale?

Great paint job on that complex camo pattern! Thx for sharing.

Sounds good Tim. Thx for the feedback.

IIRC, the tubes are indeed "dump tubes" intended to permit rapid dumping of fuel from the overload fuel tanks onboard the SoStL in case Lindbergh developed engine trouble early and needed to land.

Looks like Buffaloes being unpacked/tested from the order originally intended for Belgium - hence the unusual insignia.

Any ideas or intel on a direct comparison between the Tamiya and Hasegawa Lotus 79s? Is Tamiya's better for the increased asking price?

Buy a Flexi-I-File #3210 polisher/finisher sanding stick or similar product from Squadron's line of sanding sticks. The stick will have three different grits on one stick. Use the heaviest grit to sand out the mold line, then use the two other grits to successively eradicate the sanding marks left by the previous grit. Ideally, work each grit at 90 degrees to prior grit to make it easier to see when the scratches left by the previous grit disappear. Finish the whole process then by dipping your canopy in Future floor wax to get it like-new. HTH, Mike Quan

Looks nice so far Paul. The "dual Sopwith" hump was a prominent feature of Airfix's previous and ancient Bf-109G release!