Leaderboard

Hi gents, I've just finished this - the Airfix Gloster Gladiator in the markings of an aircraft of the Norwegian Jagevingen (Fighter Flight) at Fornebu, Oslo in April 1940 - decals from the DP Casper 'Forgotten Operations - Weserübung' decal sheet DPC72015: This aircraft, flown by Sergeant Kristian Fredrik Schye of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, was engaged in combat with the Luftwaffe on 09 April 1940. Sgt Schye brought down a Bf110C of 1./ZG76 (the M8+FH flown by Unteroffizier Helmut Mütschele and gunner Gefreiter Karl Lorey) but minutes later was himself shot down by Leutnant Helmut Lent. Sergeant Schye force-landed his Gladiator, having been slightly wounded by cannon shell fragments but was released from hospital after a couple of days. A more detailed account of the action can be found here I built the Bf110 that Sergeant Schye shot down as part of the BF110 Group Build here - here is the 'Dogfight Double' shot: This is my first Airfix Gladiator and was as much as anything a test-bed for rigging, which I had not attempted before. I learned a great deal in the process and while I am not unhappy with how it turned out the experience gained in this build will make my next one better... I had no issues with the kit apart from some difficulty fitting the engine cowling which could probably have been avoided if I had been more careful. The photographs I was able to find of this aircraft were not conclusive but seem to indicate that ski landing gear was fitted at the time the aircraft was shot down, but while the skis provided with the Airfix kit are fine for the Swedish or Finnish versions they are not appropriate for the Norwegian aircraft which used a different type... in any case the skis and wheels were interchangeable, and there are pictures of Norwegian Gladiators on snow-covered ground with the wheels fitted, so that's my justification and I intend to stick to it I would thank our esteemed forum colleague Procopius for pointing me in the direction of the EZ Line with which the model was rigged, and our equally esteemed colleague Cookenbacher for putting the 'Dogfight Double' idea into my head in the first place - thank you both Cheers, Stew

The old Airfix kit finished in the markings of Honduran airline 'SAHSA", which had such a poor safety record that someone dubbed the airline's name an acronym for 'Stay At Home, Stay Alive'. All of the kit's windows were filled and replaced with decals, the model was re-scribed, u/c doors replaced and Bra.Z resin engines substituted for the skinny kit ones. The swooshy scheme was masked and painted, decals were ALPS-printed.

Hi folks, yet another S-199 of my workbench, this time in Czechoslovak Police Air Patrol scheme from 1949/50. It was for a mag, therefore only 3 shots. Just a word of warning for those fancying the Police marking, the marking featured in the "Premium" package for B-7542 belongs to 'what-if' rank, so better to go with aftermarket decals as I did (AML). Cheers Libor

Hi everybody, it's been a long time i didn't post a finished model. I started this kit 4 years ago and i've just finished it. I broke the E 4 windshield and replaced it with an E 1 type the time i purchased a new one. Comments are welcomed, Cheers, Manu.

Hello modellers, Managed to post the topic I had already planned to do on Friday. There was some daylight and even some minutes of sunshine, so I could shoot some photos of my Monogram B-1 B Lancer and my new Hasegawa “lighted” lighting unit. For the presentation the Lancer was a little bit improved regarding landing and positioning lights with reflecting foil and some additional detailing. The plane was mainly build out of the box with only the decals somewhat disappointing. I remember having used a lot of Micro Sol and some markings even needed clear cote to be attached properly. The trailer is from the Hasegawa ground equipment set. I drilled a big hole into the bottom and attached some resistors and self-built connector from brass tube to the inside. The lights were also drilled up and some 3mm LEDs installed. They are connected with very thin copper wire (same sort that modellers use for the cars of the Faller car system) and powered by a 9V battery. I hope you like it. Best regards, Mario

I like MPM's subjects - but the kits are mostly a nightmare. My last experience was the Il-10.... This Firefly is not a 100% exception - but far away from being a nightmare. It's the best MPM-kit I've ever build. Details are sufficient, fit is not bad - except between fuselage and wings. In this area old memories came up. Plane was on HMS Theseus, RN No. 810 Squadron, end of 40's.

Here is my latest build. A late war G-6 in a very unique scheme. It was documented after it's capture in Kassel in a well known colour photo, more info on this one is found here (2nd profile down): http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.se/search/label/Bf109G-6 I used the Aries cockpit, Alleycat (RIP) upgrades and Barracuda wheels. The project took much longer than I ever could have imagined, primarily due to fit issues the Aries kit and some of the Alleycat parts. Happy with the results but soooo glad it's over. If anyone's interested, the full build is over on ARC. Regards, John

At long last it's finished, though I can still spot a couple of things that need attention, but into the cabinet it will go. Build is here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234950125-mdc-hawker-typhoon/ The kit is the best Hawker Typhoon kit in 1/32 scale but it is not the easiest of kits to build, challenging is an apt description, the instruction are absolutely useless. The rockets do not come with the kit and are purchased separately from MDC. The main markings apart from one fin flash, which I messed up and had to resort to a decal are painted using Miracle Paint Masks, stencils are from Aviaeology and the canopy is a Squadron vac form jobby. Paints are Xtracolor for the main finish and Humbrol for the detail parts. Not the greatest of photos I'm afraid. Ignore the wayward rocket ! Cheers Dennis

HI everybody, This is my next model. Please enjoy.

OOB model.

I was walking through my local hobby shop and spied this lovely little kit. Since I am in awe of the build Nigel Heath is doing on the regular Hasegawa Osprey (link is here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234970276-172-hasegawa-mv-22b-osprey/), I thought I would give him a tongue in cheek run for his money with this kit. I will show him eggzactly what his build is missing in detail and authenticity. The obligatory box art. And the sprues, in two colors even! I really like how they packaged the canopy and wish they would do this on all kits. If every manufacturer did this I wouldn’t have to polish out so many scratches and/or cracks. First up the cockpit It is loaded with details, right? Who needs photo etch with this much kit detail. There will be a figure that I am sure will fill the void. After spending milliseconds upon milliseconds preparing, detailing and painting the cockpit, the fuselage halves are joined. The horizontal stabilizer is assembled The tailplanes are added and the entire tail plane assembly is attached to the airframe The main wings are built The propeller and engine units are built And, of course with one oops The wing assembly is attached to the airframe The undercarriage is attached And the final nose piece is attached And here is the airframe ready for painting !! The airframe gets its first coat of paint. (A three tone grey scheme). While that dries, I begin work on the pilot. Not a lot of detail. The pilot comes with 2 faces, one wearing the visor and the other exposing the face. The half with the visor down fits great. The half I chose with the face exposed, not a great fit. Some sanding and filing and And here she is all tarted up and very shiny Now I don’t know why Mr. Heath is taking days upon days and just lollygagging around with his build. It took me more time to upload the above photos and write this text than it did to get to the painting stage. The entire build time for the kit to the painting stage (the wheels and cockpit are not installed) took a whopping 30 minutes. That includes making sure the engines would still rotate and work! The finished product is here And here it is with its other playmates This was not a weekend build, this was, from the time I got it back from the hobby shop to the time final pictures were taken, a 24 hour build. Most of the time was spent letting coats of paint dry. So, Mr. Heath, you need to get your eggs in a row, unscramble your priorities and get cracking on your build. I put together this highly complicated, detailed and museum quality kit in less time than it takes you to make 2 saw cuts on a door assembly. Is your brain fried or something? I guess the yolk is on you, huh? Seriously, if you want to see what an Osprey should look like visit Nigel’s thread. The work he does is magnificent and amazing. I do not understand how he can get so much detail in 1/72. I hope he doesn’t take offense to my omelet of a build!! As always, all comments are welcome; sure hope I don’t get poached!

Well, if I'm honest, 2014 has been a really miserable and serious year for us as a family, and a very busy year for me at work too. Its not all been bad, and we have had some surprising high points too, amidst the chaos. Modelling has been a welcome distraction, throughout, but real life has definitely taken its toll, perhaps not in the overall numbers completed, but from time to time in quality when I have had to rush to finish something off, or my heart really hasn't been in it. Of course, I bought far, far more than I should have, yet again, and it is now becoming a little difficult to hide stow the stash in the house. So here they are, my 2014 collection, once again following my 70th Anniversaries theme (I'm starting a 75th Anniversaries theme shortly for all the kits that I bought but didn't build first time round!) FredT Airfix CAC Boomerang: Bronco HMS VANGUARD: FROG Buccaneer (Modeldecal markings): Revell (Heller) Ar-196: Azur Supermarine Sea Otter: Operation TUNGSTEN - FROG Hellcat and Hobbyboss Corsair: Operation Cockpit - FROG Fairey Barracuda: Airfix F.3 Lightning: D-Day Cromwell (Amourfast): D-Day Sherman Crab (Airfix): D-Day LCA (Armageddon) (to go with my LCVP): D-Day Grumman Avenger (Academy): D-Day PaK Bunker (Amara): Eastern Express (Toko) Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter (RNAS 100th Anniversary): HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH (R08) - building blocks! (as handed out as a souvenir at the naming ceremony) Airfix Sea Hurricane: Operation Dragoon Hellcat (Hasegawa): SHAR1 (Esci with modeldecal markings): Tamiya Mosquito: Beech Expeditor (PM, with own inkjet decals): Airfix B-29: Far Eastern Pair - Revell BPF Walrus and FROG BEF Hellcat: ... and that's all folks. Have a good Christmas and new year. FredT

Not a large output from me this year. Lots of kits started but not many finished due to be losing my mojo to actually finish anything. So in no particular order: Airfix 1:72 Vampire Airfix 1:72 Tomahawk Airfix 1:72 E.E. Lightning F.2 Airfix 1:72 Bae Hawk ADM 1:72 Workshop Ruin Will form the basis of a vignette soon. Not the most productive of years for me, in fact probably the lowest since my return to the hobby in 2007 Thanks to everyone who commented and supported my builds during the year

Whilst it was great that we, (in the UK), have had a great summer, it really slows down the modelling progress! I started this one in April and finished last weekend. Even by my sedentary pace that's slow! Anyhow, about the model. Here we have the Hobbyboss A10a Thunderbolt. I chose to present it in the experimental 'Peanut' scheme. I was not convinced by the painting guide in the instructions, with few pictures of this scheme online I had to go with my instinct. It may not be a perfect colour match but I am pleased with the result. No major vices with build. The cockpit and wheel wells were lacking in detail. I used an Aires detail set for the cockpit and scratch built some detail in the wells. I've kept the weathering light, only using Flory 'dark dirt' wash. I apologise for the photo quality, the light was beginning to fade! I hope, you enjoy.... Thanks for looking...

The fuselage is now more or less structurally complete. The sponsons and tail have had three coats of filler-primer, with sanding in between, to give them the same smooth surface as the rest of the fuselage. There is a great deal of surface detail to be added, but this will be done when the flightdeck windows have been sorted otherwise I'll be sanding away all my hard work! Speaking of flightdeck windows, I'm waiting for my decal sheet to arrive so I can use the window decals as templates to cut out the apertures. In the meantime, I think I'm going to have a think about the wings... Until next time, Tom

Hi, This my 1/72 Choroszy Modelbud Aichi AB-4. Nice little resin kit it is. And this is what turns out of : BR, Kalle

Afternoon all, I've had this one in my stash for a few years now which I picked up from ebay for £12 from Northern Ireland. I wanted an A version rather than the later. The model itself had been started but I pulled it apart to start afresh. I used my reference books which proved invaluable and helped me correct the errors. I used a quick boost seat and front FOD guards and I had to purchase some decals as the original 1990 ones were shot. I scratch built the upper FOD guards from plasticard but I'm not 100% happy with the top angle but if I constructed them to be totally flat then the sidewalls would be way out of scale. I won't bore anybody with the changes I made but there were a few. I painted it by mixing those Revell blue pots rather than buy dedicated paints and I've gone for the worn look applying a very watery splash of light grey and the picked out the panels with a dirty wash. The exhaust cans are done with alclad and then weathered with pastels. Static whips are toothbrush hairs, wheels have been ironed. The canopy cover is paper mâché with tamiya tape. The rockets pods were a kind donation from Shaunb from another forum. I'm not particularly good at photography and I have even less interest!. You may notice the port wing is slightly bent and no amount of heat could straighten it. The RBF tags are all home made all taken from the Reference books. Hope you like it Steve.

ere's where it's up to, the windscreen is only dry fitted. Wings and sticky out bits next!

Thanks guys. Progress is being made. It's not quick work but it's quite enjoyable and rewarding.

Hi, Thank you guys! Finish line for the exhaust. Black coated with gunze tire black H77: Then some colors: Exhausts are drybrushed with Humbrol Metalcote 27003: Left: before polishing. Right: after polishing Some effect are added with a pencil: Then we can glue all the actuators: Some masking: In order to paint the dark gunship grey and the metal ring: Well, what do we have here: Now we can seriously think of closing the fuselage. But first, please do not forget to glue all the bays: NAcelles are glued first: I also engineered a modification that will allow to dismount the wings: A lot of work and several dry fit testing... but it works! well it seems to Cutting of the wing gloves: Now we close!! Et Voilà! Thank for watching Romain

I just had time this evening to have a go with the 0.1 mm Nickel and my MDC jig. It's not as user friendly as the copper wire even after annealing it as suggested by Geedubelyer. But a bit of perseverence proved it was possible - If fiddly and frankly rather delicate. Compared here with the 0.16mm copper effort and a pin - which shows why I couldn't get the pins to work as a jig If I can manufacture the full MDC loop then I think it'll look good. It's still an if rather than a when tho' I reckon..... Steve

There are some new and interesting 109 builds here on Britmodeller, so i thought its a good idea to post and share one of my Gustavs. Its the Hasegawa kit in 1/32 scale, maybe not the most accurate 109 on the market but if you are looking for a relaxing build go with this kit, it builds nearly for itself. The markings are for a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6, 4./JG 51 “Mölders” flown by Obfw. Elias Kühlein. I hope you like it Bernd

American 1st Armored Division infantry vehicle M113A2 from Bosnia, 1996.

What a fantastic Telford this year! For me, at least, two great kits were available, Tarangus' 1/48 Viggen and the new Airfix 1/48 Gnat. What a gem of a kit! great fit, good detail straight from the box and colourful schemes that could adorn it. I got home on the Sunday evening and cleared the bench straight away so that I could get started. I'm just going to show the photos with minimal text as Mike's already completed a superb review and to be really honest, it's not a difficult kit at all; there are no 'tricks' to give away, she literally falls together. Well, there was one 'trick' that I can share, but more about that later. The box art is certainly emotive and should get hold of those 'impulse' buyers! I thought half of my fuselages were missing! Until I realised that clever design and moulding had produced the fuselage sides and intakes as separate parts. A quick dry fit revealed the beautiful outline of the original straight away! The cockpit completed, before painting... ...and after painting. The only additions were some cockpit placards and scratch built oxygen hoses. With the internals all completed, including a really nice engine intake trunking assembly, the fuselage halves were joined and the wing surfaces adhered at the front and held with clamps until dry. This was the only area that required careful thinking about as the wing would not sit in place with either the rear or front edges proud of the fuselage. So the front was done first, left to dry and then the rear. A light sanding of the join produced a satisfactory finish. An MV lens was going to sit inside the prominent nose light glazing, so a small indentation was drilled out to hold this. The main airframe was sprayed with Tamiya's grey fine surface primer then with TS-17 Gloss Aluminium. All scary paints were decanted first into a glass jar and the sprayed through the airbrush. All Day-Glo areas were masked off then sprayed with a light coat of Tamiya white surface primer. This is important as anything other than white underneath the orange will really dull it down. This is where I can disclose that 'trick' I used! I searched through all the paints I had and tried to replicate a decent day-glo orange finish, one that matched the photos that I have seen of the early Gnats. In the end I tried Zero Paint's McLaren Marlboro Red. This is really great paint to use, as most car and bike modellers will testify, but I had not thought about there being a possible crossover. Anyway, I think the colour is as good as I'm going to achieve without getting too anal about it. I'm no expert so I will certainly accept any comments, negative as well as positive about the colour. And that's where I'm at as of this evening. I really think Airfix should be congratulated on this release, I personally love it and three more are planned. A Red/White/LAG trainer aircraft, a Yellowjack and, naturally, a Red Arrow! But first I might just finish this one in time for Christmas!

Afternoon folks - this is the Trumpeter 1:48 F100F Super Sabre and was a very enjoyable kit to build. I chose the SEA scheme of 614th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, Phan Rang, Vietnam 1968. This is largely OOB with Eduard interior detail. I used Mr Color paints and Alcald shades on the rear end and had some debate with myself as to whether I should have done it all the around. In the end I liked it as it was and decided not to tinker with it for fear of making a hash of it! A big thank you to Spooky56 who kindly sent me some replacement decals following a slight cock up - much appreciated! I enjoyed doing this one so much I have bought two other Trumpeter F100's! Hope you like it and comments welcome! Chris

Good day everyone Just had a chance to tidy up the den and thought I'd take a few shots of my latest additions. This one is the new tool and very nice Airfix 1:72 kit. No problems with the build and it all fell together nicely. I was in two minds as to matt and weather it or leave it gloss. I know the early jets were left glossy but not sure if it is over done. What do you think? Anyway the Phots: Thanks for looking Cheers now Bob

Hi This is one of two kits, along with a Marder I rescued from my Mom's recently, they represented the 'pinnacle' of my modelling skills about 20 years ago (in that they were vaguely well put together). I stripped it down, re-glued a few parts and gave this one a quick respray. Thanks for looking! Ian

Wow, so many responses - thanks, mates. That gives me a lot to think about and choose from. All great subjects, too! I love pulling the kits out of the stash and fondling their plastic. That's the only way to pick one you know. When you can't decide, fondle the plastic. One of them will talk to you, and that's the one! Here are a few photos that show today's progress. I managed to accomplish everything I tried to - it was a good day. Transfers are on, flat clear varnish is on, some pastel work accomplished, and some extra detailing on the landing gear. Oh, and the masks have been removed. This was the first time that I used Montex masks, and they came off fine, leaving no residue. However, the paint on the outside does not stick to the vinyl mask so when you're pulling it off, little shards of paint go flying everywhere. What a pain to clean up - they stick to the model and I had to use the compressor to blow them all off every time I removed a section of mask. Anyway, I think it came out OK. I have to say that I'm dreading all those photoetch antennae. But it must be done! The navigation lights came out looking nice. And to think they were made from a plastic picnic knife. It's modern art I tell ya. I added the cow catcher to both main landing gear. I suspect that is not what it actually is - perhaps it's a bounce bar to prevent over retraction of the oleo? Or maybe it's a kangaroo catcher...in any event it's a combination of photoetch and 0.3mm diameter solder. With this shot, you can look through the canopy and see that the map and light are still in there. Rob, Olive should like Snifter the dog, too! Christmas movies and Chinese take-out at my daughter's house tonight so no more modelling today. Toodles! Cheers, Bill

Ah, that reminds me. I owe somebody at Airfix £20 for agreeing to come and see you about your Phantom. Oops, shouldn't have posted that!

Allowing for the ancient and honourable forces tradition that requires a serviceman to grumble about his/her lot (see I can be PC too) there does seem to be some basis for real concern that we don't do enough for those who get in between us and the nasty guys. Now whose fault is it and what can be done? Had a think and it's not really that of the MOD or even the HMG that serve us. You see we (I refer to us, the great unwashed general public) get asked by pollsters and focus groups what we vote for and Defence does not even figure. "We" don't rate it above other issues and even though we turn out on Poppy Day and stand when the coffins come back we wholly fail to make it clear to our elected representatives that unless they provide funding training and kit to our armed forces as required to do the job they will be losing our vote and their job Maybe it's time we started to say no more cuts to the Defence budget for starters.

As often happens on a Saturday morning I didn't get as much time as I'd have liked on this but progress is progress - even if it's slow....................and I do apologise for the length of time I'm taking with these builds! First off I decided I would do any weathering of the wheel wells later as I wanted to test the fit of the wings. Tamiya first - I cut the three parts off the sprues, tidied them up and taped them together: Pretty good fit so far. Then it was time to test the fit with the fuselage: Also seems pretty good as Jim had suggested it would be thanks to Tamiya's tabs. Port wing joint: Starboard wing joint: So these look like they should be good to join soon. And Bill - I haven't forgotten I need to add the bar that goes between the back of the headrest and the bulkhead behind. Next I started work on the Airfix wings - again I cut them from the sprue and tidied them up. I also added the remaining parts for the wheel wells. I have to say, like many others, I am concerned about this joining method for the undercarriage to the aircraft: It looks remarkably flimsy. I also found it tricky to assemble especially having temporarily lost one of the parts to the kitchen floor tile monster. Don't ask!! I don't quite know what the Airfix designers were thinking with this. I have a possible solution I'm going to try that involves some cutting, drilling and some wire! Then it was time to tape the wings together. I didn't find that there was such a precise way of locating these in place as the Tamiya version - it seemed a bit wishy-washy to me. The fit isn't quite as good as the Tamiya one: There seems to be a slight gap on both sides but nothing something like Tony's shim solution above might alleviate. Port joint: Starboard joint: So Tamiya has the edge here. Both Spitfires side-by-side: Both are looking pretty good to me. Now I took the next photo to show the differences in the trailing edge of the Tamiya and Airfix wings: Generally the shape seems to me to be pretty similar but the Tamiya wing appears slightly wider (front to back) and it does seem like it will create a different look where it joins the fuselage. When I get to the point of joining them together I will probably do some sanding. As always on a Saturday - More tomorrow I hope! Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Hi, This is my first model I made documenting it on WIP forum: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971044-percival-vega-gull-p3-scratch-conversion-from-frog-proctor-172/ So this is scratch conversion from Proctor, Frog/Novo. I am very thankful to Rossm and Graham Boak who help me a lot clarifying some problems, which appeared during work. This was in WWII forum on BM: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971179-percival-vega-gull-ax698-photo/ Namely, now I know, that proper name of this machine is Percival Gull Six (not “Vega”). Markings presents her when she served in 267 Squadron RAF in Africa ca. 1943, but earlier she was an airplane of Egyptian branch of Shell, then it was imposed into RAF and became AX698, after a year (1940) she had an accident in Lydda (Palestine) – and she was written off, later repaired and back imposed to RAF. So – have a look and comments welcomed Regards Jerzy-Wojtek And just to see them both together:

Another one to tick off the bucket list. As a kid I became facinated by it when i saw it at Duxford in the 70s (when it was a bit weather beaten) with its weird folded wings and contra props. In fact I've still got the photos. But this little b*gger has been the kit from hell and it's taken me 18 months to get here . Canopies, tail hook, cockpit, bomb bay and the nose have all conspired aganst me, don't get too close or you'll spot the errors. And apparently the Revell kit isn't that accurate at the rear end either but I can live with that. The decals were from Xtradecal although the spinner may be the wrong colour. The (now fully) restored Gannet '277' at Duxford has a red, yellow, red spinner but the Xtradecal sheet says red, yellow, black. Of course they may both be right but hey, I've finally got a Gannet so I don't care. And thanks to the BMer who sent me the Xtradecals, I thought I had your name somewhere but I've lost it Neil

I've had a pretty productive year this year; a mixture of fairly straightforward OOB builds, as well as a few more complex conversions and the completion of long-term projects. In no particular order: Testors 1/72nd Northrop B-2A Spirit: Minicraft 1/144th Boeing 777-306ER (with Braz and Contrails conversion parts): Trumpeter 1/32nd EE Lightning F6: Revell 1/144th Boeing 747-433: ID (Tigger) Models vacform 1/32nd Handley-Page Halifax GRII: Trumpeter/Whirlykits 1/32nd EE Lightning T4 conversion: Freedom Models 1/48th X-47B: HK Models 1/32nd Boeing B-17G: All the best for the festive period fellow Britmodellers! Tom

Hello modellers, Second post for today. This time three recently finished Italeri F 4 U Corsairs in 1/72 scale. The F 4U-4B and F 4U 5N with US markings from the Korean War and F4 U-7 with French navy markings. The models were mainly build out of the box with some homemade extra detailing. All Corsairs have modified gunbarrels from small nails, antennae from heated sprue and pilot figures from Airfix and Matchbox. The blade antennae of the French version were made from plasticcard. Unfortunately the radar equipped version comes without rockets. I used the ones of the U7 and had to make new ones from sprue and plasticcard for that one later. Paints used were self-mixed enamels by Revell and Testors. I sealed the paintwork with the German "Pledge/Future" substitute "Emsal". Final finish was done with Tamiya´s acrylic gloss coat. Weathering effects were archieved with oils, pastels and a silver pencil. Some exhaust straining was added with drybrushed white and brown paint. As I intended to present all Corsairs with open canopies, I did a lot of dryfitting prior to the painting process to make sure that the canopies would later sit on the rails properly. For my resarch I focused on Squadron Signals books "USN/USMC over Korea", "Air War over Korea" and some issues of the Aeroplane and Aircraft magazines. Best regards, Mario

Please could we have this Mr Hornby?

For this duobuild I used the Hobbyboss Lynx, Pavla BERP blades, en Dutch Decal decals. In september 2012 the Lynx was put out of service after many years of service, and replaced by the NH-90. For this ceremony, the "261" was given an special paint sceme. As you can see on one of the kits the blades aren't there, they are still in backorder..... [EDIT] one of the kits is for a good friend of mine, and the other one goes to the naval airbase "de Kooy" and ends up at the desk of one of the Dutch naval Lynx pilots. Comment appreciated! Greets Dave

..and we're calling this finished. The windscreen has a tab at the front, to aid in fitting it, but it doesn't so much aid as hinder the fit, so I removed it - and I will want to take it off to replace it when Airfix send me a replacement one without a mould flaw in it... The canopy fits really nicely, but I decided to leave it partially open, which will make removing the screen easier. Anyways, some quick shots of the finished article: In summation, this is a nice kit, but not perfect (But what kit is...?) The biggest issues for me are Airfix Own Goals - the moulding flaws in the fuselage halves and the windscreen. Airfix - I know you are reading this. Your QC STINKS! You REALLY MUST fix your QC issues - they are dragging down your reputation, which has been on the rise over the past few years, but is being threatened by forces within your control. Otherwise, fit is good though with some minor issues, detail is good though not spectacular, and the model does "look like a Swift." As long as you pay attention, keep your mating surfaces clean and be aware of potential pratfalls, this is a nice kit and I'd recommend it.

In the immortal words of Gold Leader; "Almost there.....almost there......" I managed to break the pitot in an attempt to sand down the dreadful thickness of it...but that did give me a chance to use the extrememly fine brass tubing I bought at Telford: I had another go at making hinges for the front nosewheel bay door. I'm still not convinced by my efforts - they are a bit big for starters - but they do push the door further away from the bay: Need to work on that nose leg seam.... Someone contemplating a PE set for this would do well to include new hinges! Today, I managed to bugger up the canopy....I had given it a Future bath, but then put my dirty great fingerprint on it when I touched it before t had fully cured. So I had to remove the Future with Windex, which, of course, clouded it up. So now it is drying from a second Future bath - and I won't touch it 'til this evening.... I did a panel line wash - a mix of black, white and brown Windsor and Newton watercolours in a grungy dark grey mix that is less stark than a pure black wash. While I recall the intense castigation of the chap who built this kit for Airfix Modelworld mag, I do feel this kit will need something, as it'll look very toy-like with bare panel lines and (the apparently prototypical) gloss finish. As it is, I'll be using a semi-gloss finish on mine. I don't think it looks too bad, though I see my finely re-scribed rear fuselage panel lines didn't take the wash too well...

I did spot the resemblance of the drop down seat to a toilet seat but I am too sensible to mention such things. Inspired by Jorgen's brilliant Yellow Submarine build (well worth a look if you have not spotted it so far) I dug out some of my Archer decals: The rivets can be used to replicate the double row of fasteners at the base of the door opening: Here they are installed along with a decal patch plate: Past experience has taught me that these decals do not adhere well to bare plastic. Oliver recommends a coat of Klear first but my solution is to brush on a little diluted Gator glue first. The circular patch I have added is the smallest one on the Archer sheet so for the lower one I used my punch set to create a 2mm disc from 0.25mm plasticard: Here it is fitted with a 1.5mm disc on the patch above it: Now I suppose I should knuckle down and make the fire extinguisher.

Just for interest I dug out my Revell "car door" Typhoon and took some shots of the models together, the Revell kit was built in the 1990's and treated to some new paint and markings in 2004/5. And here she is on her own Cheers Dennis

If I may add my 2 cents, it's clear that getting more participants in is always a good thing. At the same time trying to have as many air forces covered would be great. Personally I don't have anything against seeing more examples built from the same country. However I recognise that the term "lesser built air forces" includes a number of air forces that are much more often built than others. If more than one example is allowed, would we see more variety or would we get say 10 Canadian or Australian aircrafts (to name but two of the countries included) per every aircraft of any other air force ? This would be IMHO against the spirit of the GB as originally proposed, a spirit that many (including myself) seem to have liked from day 1. In any case, whatever is decided, I'll stick to a country that is not built by others. If it can help, I'm also happy to offer "my country" if someone else is in a position of "this country or nothing" as I know I can build other options that are not taken yet.

It would make it really unique to have 1 of every Air Force that enters, so personally I think it should stay as it is.

And another two requests from me:

Norwegian F-16B with Aires resins.

Sorry Mish, as far as I am concerned there is nothing new here to discuss (this issue has been raised a number of times before). All GBs have rules and unfortunately these inevitably lead to some exclusions (just look at the recent debate on the Battle of Britain GB thread.......). The 'one nation, one build' rule is not just some random thought that I had; it is fundamental to the unique character of this GB and is there to force diversity. If you want see this working in practice just look back through recent posts and see Col. picking up on Peruvian Hunters and bobster unearthing the lesser known participation of Brazilian P-47s in WWII Italy. Fascinating stuff. It's also worth remembering that we came second in the GB Poll and currently have 68 members signed up (just 3 less than BoB), so I really don't think that our rules can be criticised for being too restrictive. New members still welcome of course - there are dozens of unclaimed air forces still available! Cheers Cliff

Well well well! My alma mater has made it into the pages of the Grauniad! Contrary to what Jon Ronson says, it really is a festering craphole. Having read and enjoyed THEM, I'm surprised he didn't cotton to that. I've mostly been puttying and sanding today. Perfect Plastic Putty is one of those things that I always think "it's okay, but not essential", until days like today, when I need to fill the gaps between the wings and the fuselage. I am indebted to Cookenbacher, billionaire boy philanthropist, for his incredibly kind gift of a tube of it to me. Oh yes, somehow the wings and tailplanes got on. My hope, at this stage, is that the kit will largely be inoffensive from here on out, especially in comparison with the Sword kit. Of course, I forgot to open up the wing for the AAR probe, which this aircraft manifestly had. Also, the S&M decals sheet says the underside was Light Aircraft Grey, with metal belly tank; but the photos sure look to me like it's all metallic "down there". Also also, the sheet indicates the underwing demarcation for the camo is a straight line, but I've also seen drawings where it curves with the wingroot panel line, if you follow me. Does anyone know which is the true demarcation, and which merely an evil doppelganger?

Eduard offer this replacement for the door part (C2) shown temporarily fitted here: Here it is cut out: Glue applied and folded: Then clamped up to set like this: I then glued this wall panel in place using my floating technique: I then cut out the drop down seat which goes on the door. The top part of this has pre applied adhesive on it so I also cut out the backing paper: Here is how it should fit on the door: I can't attach either of these parts yet though as they are different colours and need to be painted separately. I'm not sure why the seat is on the prepainted fret as it should be grey not metallic looking. There was then this part to design and fabricate which I did using two scraps of PE fret: Here it is fitted: There are some more bits of detail than need making in this area plus some rows of fasteners to add. Maybe later but I'm off for my first Christmas dinner of the season now. Bye, Nigel

So, here comes the rest of this days modelling fun, The painted on leather pad, to protect the pilots head, by an emergency landing. The windshields were bathed in future (yesterday) masked and glued on, the fit is perfect in this area.