Mucker:
From the looks of your cockpit, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. It’s a winner! But if you want to make your PE life easier, go to www.thesmallshop.com and take a look at their product called “The Bug.” It’s one of the best bargains in modeling. The Bug is like all those expensive folding tools you’ve seen, only it’s just 2" X 2.5", and will handle virtually all the needs of a scale aircraft modeler, unless you want to do some long flaps. And for that they have every size and shape of folding tool you want, made of a strong metal alloy with the sharpest “teeth” for the sharpest folds. These were the guys who invented this type of folding tool, and though they are rather quiet, they make the best tools for bending, folding or curving metal anywhere on the market.
In fact, the very kind man who invented the folding tool we have all come to know, Pete Forrest, died just in the past couple of months, having never made much more than beer money off it, since he was, like most modelers, no businessman and failed to patent it. The folding tool as we know it was orginally made for model railroaders, then ship modelers, and we aviation modelers were about the last people to discover the tools.
As for Soviet colors, I direct you to Iliad’s fantastic book, Colors of the Falcons: Soviet Aircraft Camouflage and Markings in WW II. This softbound book, which as I recall sells for about $16.00, gives not only the Soviet tech orders for painting aircraft, but also FS equivalents where possible, and good descriptions of the colors where there’s no match with the FS. It also has color profiles and photos that have never been printed in the West.
Yes, it’s true that the VVA had a hodge-podge of colors, especially early in the war when paint stocks were hard to get, but there was some method to all the madness. This book quotes such things from the painting orders as “paint with a soft demarcation if a spray gun is available, but when a brush must be used, a hard demarcation is allowed.” So you can’t really go wrong on that one, though I’d go with what my photos (if any) told me.
This book can be got at www.iliad-design.com. While you’re there, check out the fine decal sheets, and Iliad’s inexpensive camouflage guides, which come with paint chips and are punched to be kept in a three-ring binder as you add new editions of this excellent series.
Again, Mucker, that’s one nice job on a kit that’s a joy to build,
Tom
