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This is my Tamiya A-1 Skyraider “Midnight Cowboy” of the 1st Special Operations Squadron (SOS), 56th Special Operations Wing (SOW). I added a true details Yankee seat, used cutting edge decals and model master paints. This was a commission build and this particular load out was requested by my client. He wanted a weathered ship so I did my best to do that and give proper scale effect.Half way through taking the pictures my sunglasses fell off my head and hit the antenna. Could have been worse and lesson learned. The camera is set on auto setting, nothing special.Thanks for looking

Good morning, it's time now to present some better photos of my Scooter, which was part of the Vietnam GB finished end of last year. Not much to add from the WIP, it's a nice kit with some minor problem areas (like the fuselage joints). Decal sheet was missing the AJ on the fin,which I airbrushed using a mask I cut out of a tape. Weapons are from the hasegawa weapon set, the tank is from the kit. It was the first time I used a photocube, some people think the photos were initially too brownish, so I adjusted them online. Next photos will be better, I hope! Thanks for attention, and for running the GB! Alex

Dear Fellow Modellers, I've just finished this build in the KUTA GB (after not managing to finish it in time for the Battle of Britain GB, in the Summer of 2015) and thought I could post a few more pictures here. The WIP thread can be found here. Notable points of the build: This took me about 6 months to finish (from the end of July 2015 to almost the end of January 2016) but it was built in parallel with several other models (which are still to be finished, by the way...) It's the first model I finish using PE (Eduard's Zoom set) and I'm happy with the results, though working with PE can be really fiddly The camouflage consists of some mottling and stippling all over on the fuselage sides. I'm happy with the paint finish, though the stippled camouflage should be denser I had to cut the canopy in order to pose it open. I'm afraid the canopy paint finish and varnish of the transparent areas is not perfect due to masking removal... Use of Micro Sol over Alclad Klear Gloss doesn't work, which combined with thick decals caused some difficulties in making the decals conform to the panel lines Weathering: Vallejo dark wash, chipping, Vallejo pigments Here are general views of the model: The cockpit: Details of the cockpit, taken at the time of closing the fuselage: Weathering of engine cover and cannons Weathering: wing roots chipping and exhaust stains Weathering: top surface of wings: Weathering: underside Together with the other Bf 109 of my collection (a Bf 109 G10, RFI here) Thanks for looking. All comments are most welcome. Cheers Jaime

Along with the A-4M posted last night I have also finished this Kiwi A-4K Skyhawk. It's the Hasegawa 1/48 A-4E/F converted to an A-4K. The changes are all minor, and they are well described on the Gekko Graphics decal instructions. I used Xtracolor enamels for the SEA scheme and Gekko decals to finish it off. I armed it according to the Gekko instructions using a couple of LAU-10 fra the Hasegawa weapons set. Jens

Another kit from the shelf of doom finished for the current KUTA group build. This sad beastie has been hanging around for awhile. I made a start, but then managed to lose the canopy (Airfix kindly sent another but it took awhile to get here) and I felt like I made a bit of a botch with the intakes. Whatever, its languished on the shelf for over 2 years. When I took it out to have a look I realised it wasn't actually too far from being finished. Brush painted with Tamiya acrylics and finished as out of the box as WZ507 operated by the Vampire Preservation Group. Build thread can be found here. Thanks for looking.

I did something. Should be similar to MIG 23. Old Academy 1:72 used. Thats all. Dirt is my interpretation

Before starting on my Phantom, I am tidying up the bench and finishing up some of the builds that are nearly complete. First one of these is the new(ish) Revell B-17G. My son brought me the kit for Fathers Day and I have been working on it on and off since then. I am no expert on B-17s so I went straight from the box on this one. First look is that it is well detailed, with a huge amount of interior details, the bulk of which won't be seen. The kit went together really well, with no fit issues anywhere. As for accuracy, like I said, I am not B-17 expert, so I wouldn't have a clue whether it is right or not, though I'm not fussed as it looks like a B-17 to me. Onto the pictures... Hope you like them. Steve

Hi everybody, I continue my series of modern armored. Here is a Revell M60 used by the Marines during the first Gulf War. Every comments welcome Joel

Dear ladies and gentlemen, Let me present you my first model in this year. Used three sets of etching details from “Eduard” – indoor, outside and flaps. I am sure that the same airplane from “Airfix” much better than Revell. Especially about transparent parts, even though I took this kit when it only came out. Painted: Mr.Color top, bottom - "NATO Black" from Tamiya. Wheels and machine guns are resin.

I've posted this on another forum, maybe you'll enjoy it here too? My builds usually involve a historically significant not always famous aircraft or types which serve behind the front line squadrons, quietly making a difference to the world of aeronautics armed with little more than scientific equipment like calibration instruments or a camera. This one is my take on the Airfix 1/72 Spitfire PRXIX, which according to Johnathan Glancey's excellent 'Spitfire The Biography', was in 1951, flown by Ft Lt Ted Powles with 81sqn meteorological flight out of Kai Tak Hong Kong achieved a world record breaking altitude of 51,550ft for a piston engined aircraft!! On discovering the cockpit was depressurising and on the edge of a stall dived out of control to an unconfirmed 690mph (M0.95) before recovering to horizontal flight at 3000ft and landing safely undamaged!! which if confirmed would be an absolute world speed record for a piston engined aircraft! That for me is a great reason to build my own one inch to six feet version! . . . Kes (who enjoys the research as much as the build!!)

Hello, I've just finished this little model... Markings are mostly airbrushed. Thanks for looking at ! Anis.

Evening all, I've been concentrating on the nose section of the Shackleton over the last couple of sessions at the bench, as it's quite a complex area considering the gentle curves and apertures for the nose glazing and turret etc. I felt that if I could crack this it'd set me in good stead for the rest of the project, such as the tail area and engine nacelles. I have cut some plastic card 'planks' and added them one by one to the skeleton structure beneath, which allows the contours of the nose structure to be followed more easily than bending larger 'sheets' of plastic card to shape and getting them to conform. Each 'plank' was approx 3mm - 4mm in breadth, and they were secured with poly-cement for a strong join, both to the ribs beneath and the plank below it as I worked from the bottom up. This created the basic shape for the nose and after the glue had fully cured the whole nose got a thorough sanding to smooth out any rough edges. Then it was a liberal coating of my trusty car body filler, and this again was allowed to harden over night before it too got a thorough rub-down with some wet 'n' dry. I must say that considering it's the first time I've attempted anything like this, it's come out pretty well. A few blemishes to sort here and there, but a resounding success if I can bold enough to say! It did feel more like I was building an old wooden galleon than a cold-war warrior though! Now it'll be a few coats of filler-primer to see how it all looks - no doubt this'll reveal a multitude of sins but nothing some more filler can't sort out. Until next time, Tom

Said by a Master Surgeon like yourself, that's a huge compliment! Here's a little progress report; last night I worked on blending in the hump behind the cockpit and also completing the air brakes bays. Hump: some PPP around the borders After a first clean up, I focused on merging in the back part of it with the fuselage: PPP was leveled using a moist cotton bud, then refined with ETS and a sanding stick I forgot to take a picture of the final result, I'll post it tomorrow. It's not bad, but hard to tell without spraying some primer on. It'll probably need some touch ups For the air brakes bays, I used a beer can cutout , marking the shape on it to add some riveting in the right position And here they are, glued in place with CA: Not really fancy, and hopefully they'll look a bit better under a primer coat. Still, once the air brakes are in place, even if open, there will be not much to see in there. Last thing: I've added some tape inside the wings, as per Gene's instructions: In addition to what Gene suggested I had to grind down the two inner bumps on the bottom wings, as shown here After that, the fit was perfect (but you'll have to trust me here, because I forgot to take that picture as well ). Ciao

Seeing S48's C-47 build, I decided to post this build of a Waco CG-4A Glider (Hadrian, for you British types ). This is not the greatest attempt at modeling in the world, but every once in awhile I need to post something. The model represents a CG-4A of the 301st Troop Carrier Squadron which was towed aloft on June 7th, 1944 behind a C-47 for "Mission Hackensack", taking off from Merryfield, Somerset. Onboard were 1st Lt. Hammitt E. Porter, pilot, and 2nd Lt. Howard M. Thompson, co-pilot. Cargo was 5 extra personnel (either the 325th Glider Infantry, or 401st Glider Infantry); water-can, 5-gallon; trailer, 1/4 ton; cl 60mm HEL; AT mines (Boxes) and a mine detector. No losses were recorded for this mission, so I assume the glider landed okay. Concerning the model, it went together decently, and except for my own mistakes, there were no major problems. I do suggest a couple of things: 1. The cockpit is nothing like a real WACO glider. With such an open canopy, I suggest doing a bit of scratchbulding. There are no pilot and co-pilot figures for this model, so if you want those you'll have to scrounge some up. 2. Leave the cargo floor out until the two fuselage halves are together. I made the mistake of gluing the cargo floor to one fuselage half, and then had a real problem getting the seams to match up. I never did get the bottom seam done to my satisfaction. 3. Some of the parts are delicate and easily broken. Leave as much off as you are able until the final steps. You will be glad you did. 4. I skipped the slide mechanism for the cockpit. The front of the model is supposed to be able to open and close, but it's fiddly and since I was going to pose this particular model in a take-off position, I left the mechanism off and glued it shut. 5. If you care about such things, Italeri left the rear support struts and suspension cables off. You will have to scratchbuild these if you want to show them. Oh, and I would leave attaching the cockpit until last as it allows you to fix problems with the windows and doors in the fuselage. I have noticed in these pictures that I've probably added a bit too much mud on the frame and wheels (one reason there is no shot of the bottom). It was raining lightly that morning, so you would expect some mud. Being behind a C-47 you would get some spray kicked up in the backblast. Still, it doesn't look right to me, and I'll clean her up a bit before she goes into the diorama. I should probably also redo the "brakes" on the top of the wings (those rectangles with the black stripes). I'll repaint those and use a printed decal. Since the CG-4A is cloth covered, she should look a bit different from a regular OD aircraft, and I tried to get some variation in the OD paint job. But, these were fairly brand new aircraft, and they were only flown once, so I doubt they would have faded very much in the time before D-Day. Thanks for looking! Gary

Sod all that nonsense. Stop. Spot turn. Retrace your steps (remembering to aim off for wind in the opposite direction - though that's what you have an Observer for). Find bedraggled survivors. Hover. Winch up. Home for tea & medals. Job done. This fixed-wing stuff is such a palaver.

Thanks Jaime Pictures as promised: Clamped by Ced Bufton, on Flickr

Fought me all the way Sword's Lightning T.5 Regards Glenn.

Cap is done! Built this as a present for my brother, started out as a christmas present (yikes!) but has ended up as an early birthday present as its at the end of the month. Already showed it to him, and he's over the moon with it so I'm pleased. Heres a link to the wip - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992304-polar-lights-captain-america/ And heres the final pics. Thanks for looking

MIG-21 BIS, Bulgarian, 1/72 R.V.Aircraft

Airfix 1/72 DH Vampire T11 WIP Thread here.

I've finished battling with the 1/72nd scale BroPlan vacform kit of the S.E.161R Languedoc. The mouldings themselves were very nice, with crisp surface detail, but as with other kits from this manufacturer that I've built the plastic is just a smidge thicker than fag paper, and it's very easy to sand right through it. Therefore great care is needed with building these kits, and too much filling and sanding will only create a whole lot more! The decals were appalling and broke up and were lacking in colour density, so I used a mixture of ModelDecal and hand painted insignias such as the fin stripes. The undercarriage and propellers were quite crude injection-moulded parts, but they cleaned up ok. A very challenging subject, but I was pleased with the end result, and as far as I'm aware this is the only kit available of this interesting aircraft. I used Xtracolour aluminium for the main airframe and Humbrol paints for the detail parts. Clear-fix was used for the windows as none were provided in the kit. Rob

Evening all - well, Im calling her done ( though she needs a little weathering - I like her clean). The WIP thread is here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991724-hawker-hunter-f2-148th-scale-academy-aeroclub-feat-uncle-tom-cobley/ WT751 "T" of 118 Sqn, RAF Jever late May/early June 1955 - probably around lunchtime after the servicing team had refitted the cannon ejector ports, but not quite attached the sabrinas yet..... A big thank you to the Britmodellers who helped with this build - you prove once again just how helpful and generous this site is. Finished with GSI/Gunze acrylics, Freightdog decals plus serials from the decal bank. There was a lot of work to do on this model to get it looking more like the graceful Hunter than the kit initially delivers, and TBH I rather ran out of steam: But suffice to say I reckon she looks more Hunter like now than from the box! Hope you like her. All comments welcome. Jonners

The end is nigh! This posting covers some of the little bits and pieces that need to be done as I come close to completing Somerset. First up rigging the ships boats: this was done using Uschi/EZ-Line of different sizes (and a lot of patience). This was followed by taking another look at the 30mm guns. I decided the kit mouldings of the barrels were a little over scale so I replaced them with some thin 0.3mm brass wire: The picture doesn’t do it justice but there is a marked improvement. I have added the stowed ammunition davit to the starboard side of the bridge superstructure and painted the ship’s screen (the white blob) hopefully Darby will be happy with that. The flight deck grid from the PE fret has now been added; And so have the stays that hold up the flight deck netting. Lastly I have made and fitted the HF Transmit whip antennae out of 0.1mm brass wire: and added the HF Active receive antenna also out of 0.1mm brass wire to the bridge structure. Finally a picture of Somerset with the whip antenna, guns and gun deck safety nets fitted: So what is left is a bit of touch up painting, the boat ropes and the coronet.

More inside box photo !

Thanks for the encouragement Giemme, Stix, Sean and Rob! It's true, it's only plastic! I realized that all I had paid for my failed XIV was 1/3rd the cost of an AZ Joypack, and even then I saved the cockpit and wings. I've soldiered on with the all Airfix hybrid XIV. I learned from Giorgios's double XIX build, that the intake on the side of the cowling needs to be removed for a non-pressurized cockpit. So the picture below is of what is not there anymore. I fit the coolers and carburetor intake from the XIX kit, and added a modicum of detail to the gear wells. And added the taileplanes and a rudder from the AZ kit. It still needs some cleanup, but I'll wait for the PPP to dry before doing so. FInally, I think it looks a bit like a XIV in profile.

I recently completed this one in a group build on an alternate modeling forum, It's my first build from ZTS Plastyk of Poland (although I had a copy of their Draken a while back) This one is a little like Frog or Airfix kits of the sixties in their level of detail and parts breakdown, no landing gear bay or cockpit detail, nor intake or jetpipe detail either so not one for the purest rivet counting AMS sufferer, assuming the drawings in 'Warpaint Publications No.17 Gloster Javelin' are relatively accurate the kit isn't ! The nose is too short the rear fuselage is to narrow and the wings and tail aren't fantastic either! That said! (ahem) I really enjoyed putting the thing together, not one for an assembler, this one needs work, model putty/filler is essential as most of the mating surfaces don't have a square flush edge but a tiny radius so a gap is inevitable! I used brass tube for intakes and jetpipes I took the main wheels from a Heller T3 as the kit wheels weren't good at all! Rattle can white carefully masked and brush painted Humbrol HU174 Signal Red in a million coats!!The 'Three' Pitots' are aftermarket and decals from the spares box as most of the kit decals were unusable!! On a positive note the nose landing gear and mainwheel struts and burner cans are a great improvement over the spindly offerings from Airfix/Heller So, one Gloster Javelin FAW9 XH897 of A&AEE 1967, employed in various calibration duties, hence the 'three pitot' and super high visibility paint job! It looks like a Javelin to me, so qualifies on my build list so much so I've acquired another to build A&AEE's orange and yellow FAW7??!! . . . Kes (who has a 'thing' for calibration aircraft right now?)

G'day people, I realise that this is an aircraft forum but I thought this forum would be the most relevant (the mods may think differently and subsequently move it!) being aircraft related. I knocked this together last weekend and painted over a couple of nights. The set contains two complete sets of the tractor, the deck crew and an aircraft tow bar. Additionally, the set includes a boarding ladder for a Sea Harrier (SHAR), although there are no assembly instructors for the SHAR's boarding ladder included. The deck tractor kit is surprisingly complex and features some pleasing detail. the mesh and checker plate areas are especially nicely done. I am not familiar with the real item but it looks pretty close from what few pictures I have seen, although unmodified, the tractor can only be built with all four wheels tracking straight. I decided to modify the rear wheels so that they are turned, only to find out later that the tractor can have both sets of wheels turned. The tractors were painted green post Falklands, and I think that I may have over egged the weathering a bit. I wanted to experiment with chipping using the 'hairspray method', and I found that I was able to get more control over the process the more I practiced. The tow bar feature more subtle chipping as it was my second attempt, the tractor was my first , hence the heavier chipping. No doubt some RN deck chief would have fit if they saw the state of my little tractor! The next tractor will be painted in the later green scheme and being land based will not suffer the same ravages of an embarked vehicle, cheers, Pappy

Hello again. Second AFV RFI in a day from me. Something's wrong!! TAKOMs eagerly awaited Chieftain was a fun build. The only thing that annoyed me were the overly bit, thick, tough and intrusive sprue gates. The modifications I made to this kit were electrical wire added to the headlights and horn, spotlight friction handle removed and replaced with a brass spoked one, and the wading gear attachment removed and replaced with more accurate U shaped channel around the hull. I have also removed the moulded-on handle to the spotlight and replaced it with a strip of brass etch. The light also has an electrical lead. Little Car headlights have been used front and rear. All the grab handles have been replaced with fuse wire. Painted masking strip has been added to the barrel blanket to represent the loose ends of the retaining straps. Weathering has been kept to a minimum as photos of these tanks in Berlin were kept pretty clean. Used mainly on the streets, I have not seen any evidence of them being dirtied uop from off road use. But I know next to nothing about tanks and I am sure I will be proved wrong.

Just finished this one, great little kit in 1/72 from Airfix I've had to setup a temporary build area on top of an old dresser so I can stand up whilst modelling due to sciatica so have been doing stuff as simply a possible All paint by brush, Lifecolor for grey\blue. Quickshine to gloss before decals, Lifecolor Matt Varnish then MIG cold grey enamel wash. Seatbelts are a cheeky printout of Eduard colour etch cut out and glued in place, aerial is Eze-Line. I was going to do the more colourful red striped tail version but the decals would not slip in between the rudder and tail (bunged up with paint I think). Pics are a bit dull but will do some more when it's bright outside Hope you enjoy, more of my models here: http://blog.cjhm.net/ and here: https://twitter.com/cjhm_models/

CH-135 Twin Huey 403 Squadron - 135140 As seen in 1994 in a display at Middle Wallop UK for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings. From the Italeri 1/72 kit Built mainly out of the box with a few scratch built add ons/changes 1) Grab handles added from brass wire/rod 2) Replaced the out of scale rear antenna with one brass rod that wasn't so out of scale 3) Bracing wires for the cutters (both on top and on the belly of the bird) 4) Clear red "top landing light" added via CMK Resin 5) Added starboard side "light" just aft of cabin sliding door - used clear styrene discs punched via a punch set Overall, a decent kit that was fun to build as my first helicopter Markings are a mix of logos/flags from Belcher Bits, letters from Colorado, roundels/fin flash from Xtradecal, and numbers from Leading Edge. Tried my best to create the 403 sqn wolf's head in this scale but damn difficult to get it to show up decently. https://www.flickr.com/photos/n48284/14233783866/ Cheers, Dave

This is my VMA-214 A-4M Skyhawk from Hasegawa in 1/48th scale. Pretty much OOB except for a resin seat and TwoBobs decals...oh, and a resin 400 gal. c/l tank. And a teaser for another Skyhawk I have just finished... Jens

Always loved the F-111... Hobby Boss kit is simply great! Kit's only weak point are the decals somehow. Some stencil were printed very thin and the longer ones were too delicate.

Tonight I built, in a single intense session, the Hasegawa egg plane version of this aircraft: I hope you like it, Nigel

Thanks bbudde Tried some Humbrol green wash on the internals: Shiny by Ced Bufton, on Flickr Too shiny - perhaps it's the fact that it's enamel? I've used this on externals before but I won't be using it on internals again. I've also installed the windows - much better fit than the Mk I IMHO even though one of the front lugs was missing from the part (I don't think I knocked it off, honest): Windows in by Ced Bufton, on Flickr I'll let that dry. No reason I can't get on with something else except one of my friends suggested I watch 'Fargo' (the TV series) on Netflix and, well, I'm hooked...

So I thought I'd better check the Nacelle fit after reading some of the horror stories in the Bf 110 group build. Dry fitted as it comes: Clearly some work required to get a snug fit. A look at the lower surface shows that the Nacelle is sat too far forward: A tickle with a sanding stick on the leading edge: And also the inside of the nacelle/wing fillet: Not perfect (it closes tighter with pressure) but nothing a wee dab of filler cannot sort. The underside is also fairly well aligned: Happily the opposite wing was much the same.

As long as I'm around I hope there will be a KUTA with me at the helm

I expect his will actually fly, powered by some ingenious alcohol engine of his own design. Patience; these things don't test fly themselves, you know!

MIG-21 BIS HUNAF 1/72 R.V.Aircraft

Helmut Wick's Bf 109 E4, October 1940 (Battle of Britain) Tamiya 1/72 This is my first finished entry to a GB. It started life as an entry to the Battle of Britain GB in the summer of 2015 but had to be moved to the KUTA GB, since I didn't finish in time. Notable points of the build: my first finished build using PE parts (Eduard's Zoom set) some mottling and stippling all over on the fuselage sides weathering: Vallejo dark wash, chipping, Vallejo pigments Here are the some pictures of the finished build. The WIP thread is here and more photos will be posted in the aircraft RFI section. Cheers Jaime

Hi again, Last night I finished the build First, I glued the vertical antenna wire to the horizontal wire: Next, I cut the excess: This wasn't simple to do and I managed to loose the wires a few times before everything was glued in place with the right lengths. While a few reinforcing drops of CA were drying, I painted the navigation lights on the tips of the wings. I used a nº 0 detail brush and Gunze's clear blue and clear red paints. Blue light on the starboard wing: Red light on the port wing: Next, I had to paint the antenna wires but, before that, I masked the spine of the aircraft, to avoid last minute mishaps: The wires were painted with a nº 0 detail brush. I used Tamiya's XF-63 German Grey (equivalent to RLM66) because it is matte, thus avoiding the need to apply matte varnish after painting. After removing the masking, this was the result: The cable holding the open canopy in place was also painted: And this concluded the build Here's a flavour of the end result: I'll post a few pictures in the gallery and more detailed pictures in the aircraft RFI section. In summary. This took me about 6 months to finish (from the end of July 2015 to almost the end of January 2016) but it was built in parallel with several other models (which are still to be finished, by the way...) It's the first model I finish using PE and I'm happy with the results, though working with PE can be really fiddly I'm happy with the paint finish, though the stippled camouflage should be denser The canopy paint finish and varnish of the transparent areas is not perfect Use of Micro Sol over Alclad Klear Gloss doesn't work, which combined with thick decals caused some difficulties in making the decals conform to the panel lines Thanks all for looking and commenting, it was really appreciated Cheers Jaime

And that's a wrap! Calling this one finished today. The wheel bay covers proved an absolute nightmare to fix using only the Eduard PE. I actually managed to drop two doors and lose all but one of the tiny PE hinges, so I have only affixed the four rear hinges...the front ones cannot be seen anyway. I have also included the retraction lines out of Ezi line. The bomb bay was comparatively simple and all the other lower fuselage parts went on without a hitch: I will have to live with the dust in the interior as there was no getting it out: I also managed to break the pitot so a small piece of staple was pressed into service: Overall an enjoyable build, unusual for its scheme and one (of many) rescued from the Shelf of Procrastination: Thanks for following along and the encouragement given along the way. Regards,

Painting continues steadily, upper fuselage white is done, now onto red on the wings, tailplanes and lower fuselage. I'm using Humbrol enamels and its the first time I've used this one, 174 Satin signal red. I like the shade, it looks a good match to me and the coverage is good for a red. The humbrol satins seem to be a bit hit or miss but this one is very good.

Hello! Finally finished!! More here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234977656-148-b1-b-bone/

Hi all, here my latest build: Eduards amaizing Spitfire Mk VIII in 1:48. Apart from the decals I built it OOB. Decals are out of the Kagero book "Top Colors No 18 - Spitfire Mk VIII", showing off an 31st FG version. All in all one of the best kits I ever had in my hands - maby the best!! Hope you like my walkaround.

We used a similar procedure in the big grey ships, except it's called a "Williamson turn" and it's less critical which direction you first make your turn. It was the favourite manoeuvre after a man overboard (or more commonly a drill): Immediately ring on 20 knots and turn 60 degrees off the base course (turn to the side away from the nearest land, ships or other hazards which may be in the way). When the ship's head reaches 60 degrees off, reverse the helm and keep turning until you're running right back up the wake. Reduce speed to Slow Ahead. If the Lifebuoy Sentry did their job correctly, there will be a pair of smoke floats, one on either side of the wake. Con the ship between the smokes, and look for the survivor just beyond them. Steer to bring the survivor down the starboard side (or the downwind side if there's an appreciable crosswind blowing), about 25 yards off. Stop both engines, Half Astern both engines until the ship stops and Stop both engines again. Operate one engine or the other Slow Ahead or Slow Astern to 'walk' the stern nearer to the survivor using the 'paddle wheel effect' to make it easier to pick him up. Launch the seaboat or send in the rescue diver to pick up poor Oscar the Man Overboard dummy. It all happens a trifle slower than at 150 knots. In the Minesweepers we were much too poor to have a proper Oscar dummy, so we had to be content with a Kisby ring. During one of my approaches I forgot to ring on Slow Ahead and so I hit the ring dead on at 15 knots (the proper Minesweeper speed for a Williamson turn). It cracked in half, and I got assigned to write a letter "Dear Mrs Ring. Your beloved son Kisby was cruelly slaughtered today by an overzealous Officer of the Watch who forgot that ships do not stop on a dime..."

Self-taught with an almost 50% success rate! I think I'll defer to you as the master surgeon. The beer can airbrake bays look great - what a good idea - thinner and easier to work with than photo etch, and you also get to drink beer that way.

Honor is mine to be first up. Revell Hurricane IIC in Kuttelwascher 1sqn Markings, may well actually never existed in this form, but has been profiled, modelled, and even flown by the BBMF. Nice quick build started it on the 02, would have been quicker had I not ran into the issue of the sky ID band, and had other circumstances not intervened once it was back on track.

1/72 Revell Eurofighter Typhoon WIP: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234994683-172-revell-eurofighter-typhoon-complete/?p=2233791

Been a while getting this going again. Crazy week at work. So first up was a little filling and then sanding of the wing to fuselage join. Forgot to take a pic of it between sanding and priming so here it is primed and with the first of the masking on for the white upper fuselage. Painting tomorrow around the first football practice of pre-season. Forecast is 2 degrees and snow. Oh joy.