Special Hobby

[NARSES2]

So a whif 633 Sqn originally-a-bomber-but-pretends-to-be-a-fighter build (i.e. bomber canopy on an old Airfix NF.II/F.VI/FB.XVIII kit would make it a proper whif) is possible??

And we could all hum the theme tune as well 

[Rick Lowe]

So a whif 633 Sqn originally-a-bomber-but-pretends-to-be-a-fighter build (i.e. bomber canopy on an old Airfix NF.II/F.VI/FB.XVIII kit would make it a proper whif) is possible??

And we could all hum the theme tune as well 

It's now playing in my head...
But that's ok, as it's one I like - so you're safe. 

[NARSES2]

So a whif 633 Sqn originally-a-bomber-but-pretends-to-be-a-fighter build (i.e. bomber canopy on an old Airfix NF.II/F.VI/FB.XVIII kit would make it a proper whif) is possible??

And we could all hum the theme tune as well 

It's now playing in my head...
But that's ok, as it's one I like - so you're safe. 

  

[Weaver]

Special Hobby are having a sale on their website for people who can't get to Telford.

20% off almost everything, from 8th November though to 15th November.

[Charlie_c67]

20% off a Fairey Battle? Hmmm 

[NARSES2]

20% off a Fairey Battle? Hmmm 

It looks a very nice kit in the box. I've the Azur/Fromm boxing

[Charlie_c67]

I picked one up and at £18 is was rude not to!

[zenrat]

20% off a Fairey Battle? Hmmm 

Take 10% out of the fuselage behind the pilot and 5% out of each wing (sorry Kit) and you'd have a single seat, single engine fighter bomber.  Fairey Skirmish?

[The Wooksta!]

Word to the wise about the Special Hobby Mosquitoes - they've cocked up the fuselage royally.  It's too wide by 3mm, which doesn't sound like much but it does look bloated and when compared to both the Airfix and Tamiya fuselages, it certainly looks like it's had a few too many pasties and quite likely all the pies as well.

You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

Airfix top, Tamiya middle, SH at the bottom.  And already you can see the issue.

There's also something wrong with the cockpit internal geometry but I can't put my finger on where it is.  Certainly the radio gear is wrong for the NF option and quite likely some of the PR ones too.  But radio fit in Mosquitoes is a nightmare to navigate, something I only found out recently.

You cannot view this attachment.

The voltage regulators on the rear bulkhead are somewhat odd too.  This is mine after I added some home cast resin based on the Tamiya NF radio gear, the silver box and the black unit on the parcel shelf behind are the GEE units that should be in there.

That said, the wings, engines and u/c are absolutely stunning, the trailing edge in particular is very fine. All seem to be reasonably accurate, matching up with the Airfix wing, but thankfully the SH u/c seems to be the correct width, unlike the Airfix. The tailwheel however, is awful.

There's also a HUGE number of spares in the box, with SH seeming to have taken the Eduard approach for a lot of common sprues and just the bits needed for a specific variant on one sprue.  From what's on there, we will be getting a US H2SX equipped Mickey ship (SH posted shots of the moulds on Facebook some while back), an Australian PR41 and a PR34.  They've announced an NF.XV as the next release and the CAD for that has been floating around for a while.

The decals are also poor, being really washed out colourwise and some of the PR choices are tired retreads of the Airfix options.  Do these people do any research or have any imagination?  Clearly not.

I bought one and had three (an NF and two PR) on order from my LHS when it arrived.  I really wish I hadn't bothered but I did honour the order.

Mine got so far and stalled.  I decided to do a PR34 as most of the bits are there and the large belly could possibly distract from the oversized fuselage.  The fuselage is largely done but the wings are only halfway there.  Oddly, the Airfix and Tamiya ones also stalled, the former being part finished as a B.35 and the latter is going to be one of the hooked Oxtail aircraft that didn't join 618 for their Australian holiday.

So, is it worth it?  As a complete kit, no.  Once you see that fuselage, you can't unsee it.  The wings do fit the Tamiya however, just sliding over the latter's spars quite easily, so you could use it as a conversion kit.  Sounds a bit expensive, but tot up what aftermarket resin engines and flying surfaces, plus a new decal sheet would cost and you're not far off what SH are charging for this curate's egg.

[Charlie_c67]

The wings do fit the Tamiya however, just sliding over the latter's spars quite easily, so you could use it as a conversion kit.  Sounds a bit expensive, but tot up what aftermarket resin engines and flying surfaces, plus a new decal sheet would cost and you're not far off what SH are charging for this curate's egg.

Interestingly enough, I've seen quite a few Tamiya Mossies going cheap on evilbay recently. So it may not be as expensive as it once was!

[The Wooksta!]

Even at full price, in real terms the Tamiya Mosquito has never been cheaper, they've always been around the 18-20 quid mark and were when they came out in 2000 - I remember paying that then.  Can't remember what the price of the equivalent Airfix FB6 was at the time, but that's north of twenty quid now for a fifty year old tool. The Hasegawa kit is even more expensive, but I'll not comment further.

As for the Tamiya ones on eBay.  Yes, they've been starting off cheap, but once you factor in the postage, you're still paying that 18 quid.  The cheapest I paid for mine at the weekend was £12 (Models for Sale), the most expensive £18 (Hannants), although I clawed some back with the B.XVIs they were flogging off at £16.

[Mossie]

1/72 Caproni Ca.312
https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/SH72541

You cannot view this attachment.

[The Wooksta!]

Hannants have the Mosquito NF.XV in stock.  I won't be bothering, my utter disdain for the base sprue is well known.  They've missed an opportunity too, because they've provided only two serials in the kit on the decals.  For all of another 50p's worth of ink, they could have included the serials for the other two "production"* NF.XVs.  Utter cheapskates there.  However, according to the photos on Hannants website, they have included a new front end sprue, containing the noses for the Australian PR41 and what I think is a US NF.XXX.  I'd have to have them in my hand to check.

I *might* buy one, if only for that PR41 nose, but I have my own two stage nacelle mould and plenty of Tamiya kits.  Why waste money on a kit I *really* dislike?

Having looked again at the photos on the Hannants site, I'm not sure what that extra NF nose is.  It's got what looks like a pressurisation intake that it shouldn't have and I can't remember if the NF38 had pressurisation either.  The bulged bomb bay doors for the B.XVI/B.35 are on that sprue too.  The dedicated NF.XV sprue has two different extended wingtips, one shorter than the other.  They're on a section of the sprue that can be gated off, along with the smaller wheels.    I think that's for the PR32.



*I say production when they were all converted Mk IVs, but they all had the production high altitude wingtips, whereas the prototype MP469 had a different shape.

[Old Wombat]

June E-Newsletter arrived this evening & says this;

Dear business friends,

The June newsletter is here. It was originally supposed to bring the 1/72 Fairey Albacore Mk.I kit. Unfortunately, due to problems with its tooling, this model will only be offered in the July newsletter. But even without the Albacore, the offer now is very interesting. We offer a reissue of the 1/72 Viggen fighter, 1/72 Focke Wulf Fw 189A-1 and the hi-tech AT-6 Texan / Harvard kit with ground attack armament of various air forces. Among the new 3D and resin kits and models, I recommend to your attention in particular the engine set for the 1/48 Heinkel He 177, the wheels for the 1/48 Hampden Mk.I and the 1/72 3D printed legs for the Mirage F.1 kit.
The July newsletter will bring the already mentioned Albacore kit, 1/48 Bücker Bü 181 in a revised form and 1/72 Junkers Ju 87D-1/3 with interesting colour schemes. We are finalizing the 1/48 Baltimore bomber kit, the first box of which, SH48160 Baltimore Mk.I/II, will be offered to you in the summer. Also in preparation are the 1/48 Sea Venom and Venom (ex Classic Airframes) kits, the 1/72 TP-40N Warhawk, combining plastic and 3D printed parts and similarly designed kits of the 'German flying beer coaster' Sack AS-6 in both 1/48 and 1/72.
But now the June news in detail.

We look forward to your orders.
A. Riedel

The bold bit his has me excited!     

And there look to be a number of kits there that may well enthuse others of this forum.