[no4mkit]

You gotta love Altaya for giving us the rare types, even if the quality is a bit substandard relative to the big dogs of diecast aviation.

When the Defiant was announced in nightfighter guise I had intentions of getting two and repainting the spare in the livery of the most successful Defiant unit - 264 Squadron. L7005 was credited with 13 kills, the last one being the Bf-109 that shot it down. As L7005 glided in to an engine-out, wheels-up crash landing the 109 attempted to finish off her and her crew, Sgts Roland Thorn and Fred Barker, and got a fatal burst from Barkers four 303's that forced it down too. Barker and Thorn got bars to their DFM's for this action, but L7005 was a write off.

Just finished her this morning....








And one pic with the original....

[fileasfog]

Wow thats great, great story also.
How did you get the plane to be enclined on the stand though?

[STARMAN 352ND]

That looks really good there No4.
Great job.
JP

[philglt]

Very impressive as always, but what did you do to to get the guns to point up at a sensible angle; they are fixed down on mine?

Phil

[jim]

No4mkit that is yet another oustanding job . You certainly have the gift, well done.

[Kaptin_Kirk]

And a job well done no4mkit.

[Captain Eddie]

Very nice, No4, very nice indeed.

[RonO]

No4mkit,

Excellent! I especially like that the panel lines are not black.

Ron

[no4mkit]

Originally Posted by fileasfog

How did you get the plane to be enclined on the stand though?

I modified all of my IXO/Altaya stands several months ago fileasfog, cause that straight and level flight look is so boring. I know it sounds crazy, (cause it is!) but over a gas burner I heated the stand arm where it meets the mounting peg for the airplane and gave it a bit of tilt. It's a tricky job cause the plastic is quite brittle, and there's a VERY fine line between snapping it off and total melt down. I did wreck one of the 7 or 8 stands I modified but some of them sit on their gear anyway so I won't miss it.

[no4mkit]

Originally Posted by philglt

... what did you do to to get the guns to point up at a sensible angle?

just shout to the gunner "Jerries - 6 O'clock high!!!!"

Sorry, couldn't resist philglt! Seriously though, the turret glass comes off with a bit of a wiggle and you can pry off the two pairs of plastic guns with an Exacto knife. Each pair of guns has a tab that mates to a slot in the gun mount which allows them to sit in a level position only. File the tab off of the guns and you can reglue them at whatever angle you like.