Quote from: Pellson on September 25, 2022, 06:21:34 AMAgainst some odds, I got some minor work done on the two German Tornados that's been sitting on my desk while I've been painting other stuff. Nothing major, but enough to remind me how awfully bad many Italeri kits are, when you actually try to build something from them. The parts look nice enough on the sprues, but once you try to fiddle them together, there's no end to the amount of PSR you have to put in. But they'll get there in the end, and tbh - it's the work on the model that's satisfying. If I was in the game just for the result, then I'd buy cast models, wouldn't I?

One of the problems with Italeri is that they just don't seem to have moved with the times at all. Yes the box art and transfers are nice, but the kits themselves just haven't improved, which is a huge shame as they are the only people producing models of some of the types I like. Although maybe they realise they don't have to improve if they are the only major producer coming out with kits of certain types ?

Is the trouble with sourcing Humbrol enamels down to EU/UK trade regulations ?

Quote from: NARSES2 on September 26, 2022, 05:48:03 AM

Quote from: Pellson on September 25, 2022, 06:21:34 AMAgainst some odds, I got some minor work done on the two German Tornados that's been sitting on my desk while I've been painting other stuff. Nothing major, but enough to remind me how awfully bad many Italeri kits are, when you actually try to build something from them. The parts look nice enough on the sprues, but once you try to fiddle them together, there's no end to the amount of PSR you have to put in. But they'll get there in the end, and tbh - it's the work on the model that's satisfying. If I was in the game just for the result, then I'd buy cast models, wouldn't I?

One of the problems with Italeri is that they just don't seem to have moved with the times at all. Yes the box art and transfers are nice, but the kits themselves just haven't improved, which is a huge shame as they are the only people producing models of some of the types I like. Although maybe they realise they don't have to improve if they are the only major producer coming out with kits of certain types ?

True, the Italeri F-86E that my nose-swap job was done with had both recessed and raised panel lines. Also, the way the fuselage halves fitted together at the vertical tail plane was guaranteed to cause issues, as the tail plane wasn't split down the middle but, rather, the front edge & rear edge (including the rudder) were moulded on one half, with the middle bit of the tail plane moulded into the other. And cause a problem it did, especially as I failed to notice that the smaller tail plane section was rather thicker than the section it was meant to fit into was deep.

Quote from: NARSES2 on September 26, 2022, 05:48:03 AMIs the trouble with sourcing Humbrol enamels down to EU/UK trade regulations ?

No, I think it's mainly down to some backlog in relation to that forbidden substance they found in the Humbrol enamels. My LMS shifted to Revell, and I can't seem to find another Swedish supplier.
Are the Humbrol Enamels back on the shelves in the UK yet?

Quote from: Pellson on September 27, 2022, 03:21:25 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on September 26, 2022, 05:48:03 AMIs the trouble with sourcing Humbrol enamels down to EU/UK trade regulations ?

No, I think it's mainly down to some backlog in relation to that forbidden substance they found in the Humbrol enamels. My LMS shifted to Revell, and I can't seem to find another Swedish supplier.
Are the Humbrol Enamels back on the shelves in the UK yet?

I'm afraid I've no model shops or stockists anywhere near me, so am not the person to ask. Although Hannants are listing them for sale, albeit it with some complicated (and expensive) postage rates.

Quote from: NARSES2 on September 27, 2022, 05:29:36 AMI'm afraid I've no model shops or stockists anywhere near me, so am not the person to ask. Although Hannants are listing them for sale, albeit it with some complicated (and expensive) postage rates.

Paints and thinners are impossible for me to buy outside the EU, unfortunately. They get denied either by the air freight or by the customs for "terrorist reasons" and basically just impounded and destroyed. I've had that happen to car paint.. 
It's really stupid, because you'd really have to build something nuclear to make it really harmful considering the 14 ml volume you have to play with..

I thought that was the case, the delights of bureaucracy 

If you don't take any steps past the 'letter of the law', you can't get blamed for anything - 'Government Service 101, CYA'

Reminds me of when TSA agents were taking the little plastic guns away from little kids GI Joe dolls.......... No thinking allowed!

I used to buy Zero Paints lacquer paint for my model cars from the UK based Hiroboy website until they announced that they could now only send it by road so mainland europe only.
I now buy it from Spot Model in Spain instead who have no trouble putting it on a plane.
Go figure.

Hiroboy are plain bloody minded about everything.

Their place is about 20 miles from my house and they still INSIST on mailing me stuff when I could just as well drop in most Tuesdays and pick it up!

The reissue of the Airfix Lightning F.2A and the discussion around it in the Airfix thread made me mull on what backstory I would need to make a Lightning  F.1A or F.2 (both easily buildable from ye olde Airfix Lightning kit) reasonably viable in the late seventies or early eighties. West European theatre of operations, as that's my preferred region, but not necessarily RAF as they'd moved on to the F.2A/F.3/F.6 variants.

It should rather be a small country with a relatively small military budget as anyone else would have moved on to something more modern by then, but say that someone during the late sixties or early seventies found out that the Starfighters they got, while OK from a performance perspective, just didn't make up the numbers. In reality, both the Danish and the Norwegian air forces took over quite a few Canadian Starfighters as RCAF cut back in their European commitment. What if that cut back never happened? Could there have been Danish Lightnings, modified to carry Sidewinders instead of Firestreaks? Maybe replacing the Hunter F.51's the Danes used for low altitude helicopter busting and CAS?

There is an old Airfix F.1A in the Stash^TM, complete with a white metal nose cone. Hmmmmm.....

Having issues with my last tin of Humbrol USAF Medium Grey, Humbrol no 126 (it's turned greenish and won't budge no matter how much I stir it) I today went in town to get the Revell version of the same hue, R43. While not matching the Humbrol
hue perfectly, it at least works between the other two USAF greys on a Dutch interceptor NF-5. So that's good. And while I was there, I took the opportunity to stash up on a few more tins from Revell, among them no 57, RAL 7000 Fehgrau.

Having not been entirely happy with the German Norm 81 scheme I devised, I tried the R57 on a MiG, instead of the Humbrol 128 for the Basaltgrau on the topside of the wings. I have the Revell Basaltgrau as well (R77, if my memory serves), but that's simply too dark for this application, methinks, which is why I originally went for the Humbrol hue. However, that's been contrasting too light, making me think of lighting up the entire scheme with a filter layer on top. But lo and behold - the slightly darker R57 turned out rather well, dulling the scheme down a little bit and also giving that rather blue tint I've been looking for.

I repainted the other Luftwaffe fighters as well while at it, breaking two MiG-21 pitot booms in the process, having to build one of them entirely from scratch. Again (9th time now, if on two Fishbeds).
But I'm rather happy with how it turned out.

I'll probably varnish them up with Future now to see if they're ready for decals. Maybe they are. That would be nice. Even if decalling is a bit tedious.

Travelling is in the cards for the weekend, though, so probably not much time for it until next week. But one never knows..

Switzerland is my personal favorite for Lightnings in the Sixties/Seventies: Small country, already operating stuff of British origin, and the Lightning with its high rate of climb would make it a perfect candidate for mountainous regions. I dropped that idea recently in favor of my Austrian Air Force whif, because I found the operator and the Draken-ish paint scheme more attractive.

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on September 29, 2022, 12:28:27 AMSwitzerland is my personal favorite for Lightnings in the Sixties/Seventies: Small country, already operating stuff of British origin, and the Lightning with its high rate of climb would make it a perfect candidate for mountainous regions. I dropped that idea recently in favor of my Austrian Air Force whif, because I found the operator and the Draken-ish paint scheme more attractive.

Switzerland.  Not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.. 

Quote from: Pellson on September 29, 2022, 02:12:48 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on September 29, 2022, 12:28:27 AMSwitzerland is my personal favorite for Lightnings in the Sixties/Seventies: Small country, already operating stuff of British origin, and the Lightning with its high rate of climb would make it a perfect candidate for mountainous regions. I dropped that idea recently in favor of my Austrian Air Force whif, because I found the operator and the Draken-ish paint scheme more attractive.

Switzerland.  Not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.. 

It's an exceptionally good one given, as Dizzy says, the Lightnings rate and angle of climb 

Disaster! Well - not total disaster, but bloody annoying it is!

Being really pleased with my Norm 81 fighters, I finally got to varnish a bit, as usual starting with a layer of Future. And the blasted Revell 43 darkened while the Humbrols did not, quite efficiently ruining my oh so beautiful camouflage. How absolutely abominably annoying!!

Well. There's nothing I can do about it now, and the weekend is planned away from my building desk, so this will be a later problem. I'll try some matt varnish on top to see if the contrast returns. If it doesn't - I'll just strip and repaint.

Sod it - bedtime!