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This is a bit of a trip for me. I bought one of these years back, and sold it to a guy stateside who was desperate for one. I picked this one up from Graham at BCWM as stuff he wanted to clear. Some background. After the success of Project Bullseye http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234947286-monogram-b-58-148-project-bullseye/?hl=%2Bproject+%2Bbullseye the General Staff at USAF HQ wanted to take this further. Their latest toy was under threat of cancellation as it's strategic role was limited, and it's recon capabilities were taken over by the SR (RS) 71, the CIA having kept everyone in the dark about Project Oxcart. With the Vietnam war still in full swing, and the B-70's intended role as a replacement for the BUFF, Gen Curtis LeMay managed to get funding to complete AV-3 Bu 20208 as a fully fitted bomber, the previous airframes being relegated to research. B-52s were being lost over Hanoi, and the idea of a High Mach dash across North Vietnam was being pursued as a possible means to avoid losses. Consequently 20208 was tested for weapons release in secret from Groom Lake, over the adjacent nuclear weapons test sites, and found to be effective and accurate. Prior to deployment in theatre, the aircraft was painted under Tech Order 1.1.4a in the standard SAC over Black scheme, and despatched to Guam for operational use. Several successful sorties were undertaken, which apparently scared the VC. Their superstitions based on fear of dragons came to the fore when faced with the double sonic boom, and a fast moving trail of fire in the sky from the 6 afterburning GE J93s. Although classed as a success, operations were halted as only 30 engines were made, and parts were unavailable. The aircraft never returned to CONUS, and it's fate is shrouded in mystery, although rumours abound it suffered an engine fire on take off from Guam and it went into the sea. Ladies and Gentlepeeps, I give you 'Project Bullsh*t: ' This is a brute of a kit. Not many parts - about 80, and not as much filler as I expected. Its just the size of the thing - you could put strings on it and play it like a Balalaika.

I've been wanting to do this triple build for a while now and I'm glad it's complete (my fourth Spitfire triple since December!), but it may be time to go back to single builds. All three are 1/72 Spitfire V's representing 'A', 'B' and 'C' wing versions, all belonging to 303 (Polish) Sqn. The build was part of the Spitfire Group Build dedicated to the memory of Edgar Brooks, and the build thread can be found here. First up, a Spitfire VA from the 1/72 Airfix Mk I/IIA kit reperesenting K9871, RF-P, flown by Boleslaw Gladych on 8 Dec 1941, where he, alongside Mieczyslaw Adamek, protected a downed Spitfire pilot over the English Channel. K9871 was built as a Mk I, but was modified into a Mk V and assigned to 303 Sqn in late 1941. I built one of Gladych's P-47's in that STGB, and I thought it would be nice to build one of his Spitfires. I've not been able to find any photographs of this aircraft as a 303 Mk V, only as a Mk I, so I had to apply 'typical' squadron markings from that period. Next to Gladych's P-47. Next up is Spitfire VB, BL670, RF-K, from the new 1/72 KP kit. This Spitfire was assigned to S/L Wojciech Kolaczkowski, who commanded 303 Sqn from Nov 1941 until May 1942, and had his name "Wojtek" painted on the nose, as well as the name "Krysia" formed with the individual squadron letter on the fuselage. Last up is Spitfire VC, AB174, RF-Q, from the 1/72 Sword kit. This aircraft was the mount of PO Antoni Glowacki, a Battle of Britain 'ace in a day'. The individual squadron letter, 'Q' formed the word "QQWCA" on the fuselage side, apparently meaning 'cuckoo' in a transliterated Polish/English pun! All three together.

Something WEIRD happened to me today. Like, REALLY flippin weird. So weird that "weird" should be in italics. I'm posting pictures of a COMPLETED model. Mark this day on your calendar folks, I know I will. Click the link to check out the full build. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235001750-bandai-t-70-black-leader/ 20160607-MJS_4704 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4705 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4701 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4697 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4695 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4714 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4716 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4706 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr Kill markings painted on using an old Verlinden scribing template as a stencil. 20160607-MJS_4724 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr Clear resin navigation lights courtesy CMK to replace the solid plastic ones that come with the kit. 20160607-MJS_4732 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4742 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4750 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4766 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr A cool accident in this pic. The light hits in just the right way to make the NAV lights look like they're actually lit up. 20160607-MJS_4777 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4799 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4814 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr Not enough photos? OK! Too many? Too bad cause here comes even MORE! 20160607-MJS_4821 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4829 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4830 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4834 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr The design for the base was inspired by Poe Dameron's helmet. 20160607-MJS_4836 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4841 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4845 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr Solid plastic barrels replaced with fine brass tube. 20160607-MJS_4843 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr 20160607-MJS_4846 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr Interesting little fact about this piece. Only about five decals were used in total and they all were on BB-8. The X-wing itself has zero decals and as a result, zero clear coats. That's a first for me. Thanks for looking! -matt

Good day, gentlemen. Let me present you my next model.

G'day all I am a great fan of the Hobby Boss easy kit line, and find them the ideal platform to use up those decals left over after you have built the "Star Attraction" that you bought the sheet for in the first place. I have lost count of the Latin American Corsairs, Thunderbolts and Mustangs that I have built courtesy of Hobby Boss and Aztec Decals. It seems that when you do see a build review of one of them, the reviewer is looking for an excuse as to why he built the kit unless his more serious minded friends think he has gone over to the dark side. I saw a build article recently of a Hobby Boss Wildcat where the writer commented on the large gap left when joining the top and bottom sections of the airframe. This so called "problem" is due to the large locating pins binding in their corresponding sockets and just need easing a little for a perfect fit. I have built many of these kits and have never used a scrap of filler on any of them. Give them a go and you will see. Rant Over. The F-84 was every bit as good and the decal sheet provided is amazing as all the decals fit to the compound curves of the fuselage and particularly the drop tanks to complete what may be the most colourful scheme ever applied to a Thunderjet, and that's saying something. There is also a release of this kit featuring a "Thunderbirds" scheme and another colourful USAF bird. The paint used was Humbrol 2002 polished aluminium followed with a coat of clear gloss. Trev. IMGP7875 by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr IMGP7874 by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr IMGP7877 by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr IMGP7879 by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr

Today I started the masking for the RLM 02 to go in the gear bays, a blob of White Tack took care of the periscope: Here they are all ready for some paint: Then painted along with all the landing gear parts: Next I gave all the parts a Dark Dirt wash and then removed the masking The next job was then masking for the upper surface colours: I managed to get the first colour on, RLM 82 Light Green: That can now harden up overnight. The final job of the day was to put some chrome on all the hydraulic struts: That's as far as I've got today. Bye for now, Nigel

thanks folks Hi Kirk, well I have the masters complete for the PE and I pretty much have the decals finished too, but they just didn't make it into the last production run. I am still in two minds as to whether to release them or not. I expect I will, but not sure when as the lead time will be on the decal printing.. Thanks John - I wondered that too as the only diagonal features in those positions I can see on plans & pics of the rudder skeleton are internal rods - perhaps it just helps with stiffness at speed? ... have also decided to go for number 5.. that was a very thin strip of tape put down first, followed by running an adapted rivet wheel (to get 3mm pitch) hard along the sticky side of another strip to get the wire like raised bit, and the bumps for the knots.. ..like this.. ..I have done one side and am reasonably happy it is subtle enough.. once I feather in the edges and paint it silver it should look ok... (I hope) ..in other news I made the trim tab fairing... hard to see whats going on here, but this is a card jig with a slot in it (nearest camera) which I inserted folded annealed litho. I then bent it back flat with the jig and you can see it 'unfolded' at the top.. ..the finished fairing... ..now to finish the rudder - hope to be back later with it painted.. Thanks for all your consultation TTFN Peter

Been on an epic journey with this - build thread is HERE . Many thanks to BM's Canberra Fan for the generous donation of the kit; also thanks to the many people who genuinely supported and encouraged me during the build process. Aircraft represented is a 90 Sqn machine polished up for the 1953 Coronation celebrations at RAF Odiham. Build notes: True Details replacement props, Eduard Brassin wheels, Eduard exterior etch set, Karaya metal gun barrels, Falcon vacform transparencies for the bubble windows. Painted with Alclad (various shades) and Mr Metal Color (Stainless and Chrome Silver) for the metalwork, and mostly Xtracrylix for the other colours. Also used metal foil (kitchen and Bare-Metal) for some of the details. Thanks for looking! Alan

G'day All This is the ancient Monogram UH-16B Albatross, surprisingly for such a widely used aircraft, this is still the only game in town as far as 1/72nd scale is concerned. Fortunately the kit is basically a good one and this one is built straight out of the box but has had the generous sprinkling of rivets removed. The decals are from an old Microscale sheet and after all this time preformed flawlessly although I have found that some of my carefully hoarded sheets disintegrate if brought anywhere near water. I first saw a mention of this kit, and in fact its manufacturer, Monogram, in an old issue of "Aeromodeller" magazine which carried what must have been one of the first articles dedicated to the then new plastic model kits. Although the editors could not see them replacing the traditional "Solid" balsa models, they found them an interesting diversion and were impressed that the Albatross featured a working retractable undercarriage and "Survivor" in a rubber dinghy to be posed along side. If you build one of these, incorporate the working under carriage feature as it doesn't detract from the model and does operate rather well. Trev. IMGP7868 by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr IMGP7871 by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr IMGP7870 by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr IMGP7869 (2) by Trevor Putterill, on Flickr

Thank you Jaime! Small progress made: I finally put the stabilators in place, gluing them in with some Tamiya Green Cap I also found a couple of reference pics for the left vari-ramp and air intake weathering that Gene mentioned in his last post, so I could reproduce it on the model: What I did was to use a lighter mix of the base color to simulate discoloration of the specific area (by brush, sort of stippling it over), then a bit of chipping using Lifecolor Matt Natural Metal. Let's see what I still have to do: place the RBF tags, the canopies, scratch build the chocks and install the whole thing onto the base. Sounds like a bit more of work, but hopefully by the end of this week it should be done ... Comments welcome, as usual Ciao

Hi, guys and gals. I have been looking at Britmodeller for a while now and have decided to try my hand at posting an image or three. As I have just completed my scratchbuilt Fairey Rotodyne, I thought that was a good start - hope you like it. Also, I have a request, does anyone have an I. D. Canberra they are willing to sell me? Glenn

Here is a representation Debs honey you are a star Ascoteer sent me a set of the decs from the Airfix AOP6 lovely madame, and just what I needed Wings being fitted night all

Italeri rebox of the 1/48 Hasegawa Typhoon. Replaced the exhausts with resin...and used a replacement 4-bladed resin prop hub with PropBlur, other than that the rest of the kit is OOB (well the pilot donated himself from the spare box). Questions...ask away. Cheers Collin

I have asked HQ to release some photos. The Manager in Macau is on holiday and as the photos are his there is no way anyone other than he will release them. Please be patient, I know there are things we can show you, just depends on what HQ want to release now. On a positive note the decals are being finalised tomorrow. I am sure there won’t be many surprises on what decals we have decided to do and YES we have taken into account all the suggestions here. The likelihood is that it will be 4 schemes and a mixture of interest levels. Maybe one surprise

This is my attempt at building this old kit, built out of box, hope you like, all comments welcome

Built box stock. Although Box art depicts a two tone blue colouring, in all research and the kit instructions show only grey, white, silver, or camo colours were used by the Swidish Royal Air Force. There was also a comprehensive PE sprue.

..done... tailwheel bay next I think.. TTFN Peter

Here's another one of my model. I wanted to do something bigger than usual. In place of the engines were deaf wall. I removed them and put the engines of the Tu-4. I can not say that they are very copy , but it is better than it was before. Also made of two-component putty intakes on the engine. In cabin I added only seatbelts.. There's nothing much to be seen. Muzzle of defensive arms are made of brass tubes. In the model applied riveting. I wanted to make a model of worn airplane. So I did a lot of weathering (oil dots and salt dots.)

Morning folks - as the title suggests this is my first armour build since I was a teenager and I really enjoyed it. It is the cheap and cheerful Academy kit which I thought a good one to start with in case I made a hash of it! Now building the venerable Tamiya Panther which seems to be going quite well so far. All OOB and I used Vallejo acrylics with Ultimate Dark Dirt Wash and Tamiya weathering powders and mud pen. Is it normal not to have painting guides in armour kits? Is it too dark? Any thoughts on how I can improve on the build welcome.. Chris

Thanks Alex and SJLR. Welcome Benedikt and Adrian, glad to have you along. I've been fiddling with the internals to get them ready for painting. I'm following Stew's technique of 'assemble as much as you can before painting' so that the joins are clean and there's no additional fit problems caused by the paint. And fiddly it is. Some things to watch out for... This part (C11) has four sprue gates but two on the left are cartridges - don't cut them off! Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr Steps 5 and 6 would have you assemble these bits but I'm not going to risk it until I can dry-fit them in the fuselage so they'll be painted first: It'll be easier to detail them separately too. I'll also leave out the pilot's frame until it's painted. By the way, that wheel (for the bay doors?) fits well IF you have it in the right place, otherwise it wobbles. A lot. Step 11 required some clamping in my kit - the back part should be flush with the fuselage and mine was bent: Fitting the seats is fiddly too. Like the pilot's seat I don't think it's possible to assemble them like the drawing so I used the seat squab to line up with the top of the back fuselage (if you see what I mean): I finally got everything ready for the RLM02 and then realised I also need to prepare the bombs, bomb racks and other stuff in the bomb bay so I lost motivation. This lot is ready though so some progress: Thanks for looking, more tomorrow (I hope)

Maybe... It's worth a visit, if you're in East Kent, and isn't far from the Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge. Anyway, less of the tourist information for East Kent and more of the Spitfire (which is why we're here, after all). Transfers done, I decided against using the stencils because I couldn't be bothered. I did the walkway marking with an Edding 1800 pen, with a 0.3mm nib, and a straight edge taped to the wing; I'm not sure how sucessful it was. She's also up on her legs, so I only need to do the canopy (which has had a dip in Future), finish painting the wheels and exhausts, attach the aerial thingy and, scratch-build the pitot (I think it had the 'two-tip' one). The next photograph is in focus. You'll notice that I've removed the streched sprue I had used to represent the gun barrels. I've ordered some Albion Alloy tubing which I'll use instead, if it ever arrives. (Edit: to correct spelling.)

evening folks thanks for dropping in and for your encouragement thanks Bob - I wish I did have access - I might ask Boultbee Aviation at Goodwood actually as that is pretty local. I did check the close-ups I have of a XVI at an airshow (one below) and could definately see knots (or at least bumps) both sides - am I missing something should the bumps only be on one side on an original unrestored rudder? many thanks for your kind words Kirk - with the brass sheet I mark it out with a scalpel & steel rule, hold it in a folding tool and cut it with a circular cutting disc or slitting disc in my dremel - you can get nice and close with the cut and if there is any waste you can just grind it away as you go thats a good one John! I will have to look into that as I haven't settled on an answer yet ..so, I am still working on the rudder and trying to make it look like this.. ..there seems to be some variation in the size and appearance of the rib stitching so I have been trying different things and to be honest I am not sure I have hit on the right combination yet.. ..before that though there is a lot of rib tape all over the rudder anyway, so I have been trying to unpick the order these are laid down and start setting them out as the actual rib stiching & tapes appear to be the last to be added,, ..I used tamiya tape and while I would love to have been able to get the 'pinked' edges its just not possible so I stuck with just straight cuts,, here I am also starting to break out the trim tab.. ..more and more tape added and the trim tab recess being lined.. ..now pretty much finished the foundation tape.. ..and finally to the tapes... still debating - I was on number 3, but now I see the close-ups I am not so sure..maybe number 5 is more subtle.. any thoughts? ..I will try a few more things - I might try CA blobs on a wire as well actually.. TTFN Peter

We listened to feedback and decided on the D. Full weaponry will be included.

Decals on: Next masking and then 'squiggles'. Ian.

This is representation of Erla-built Bf 109G-14 "Black 13" from15./JG5 at Kjevik, Norway in 1945. All A.M.U.R. Reaver sets, such as spinner & airscrew, cowling and oil cooler fairing with radiator mesh were used. The plane had late-war finish with several shades of RLM76 on lower surfaces and 75/82 on top.

Got it finished last night. Trouble free build but the cabane strut bases seemed too short for the fuselage location points. Got there in the end though. Couldn't for the life of me work out the pitot fold instruction so just stuck it on. Overall uppers Tamiya Olive green with a bit of Dark earth and Citadel Runefang steel undersides. Rigged with EZ line. Minimal weathering. Some pics a bit fuzzy as I woke up with what feels like a trapped nerve in my wrist. Result; slight tremor so no modelling today. Oh and an image of what I've been distracted with this past week; painting Devon Minnows. The wee beasties themselves. 38 of them and each one 7/8'' long.

Greetings fellow modelers! This is the Hasegawa 1/48 F-15E converted to a TF-15B Demonstrator AF no.(71-0291). It took me almost one year to complete and used lots of aftermarket to help me during the process. Verlinden cockpit for the Revell F-15E was used and adjusted to fit this kit. Eduard Pe for interior and exterior. The most work was done one the Mk.20 Rockeye bombs, x22 times.. The AIM-9L Sidewinders are from Eduard. The front wheel strut was cut and a brass rod was inserted with a slight angle to it. Burner cans from Aires. The CFT's where treated with 0.03mm fine plastic rod to represent the sealing rubber around them. The air-brake was cut to shape and epoxy putty was used to achieve the characteristic hump at it. The Vulcan cannon was removed and epoxy putty was used to reshape the area. All antennas are made from PE frets. Angle of attack probes are from master. Flaps where cut and put in the down position. All nav lights where remade using epoxy glue and painted with clear blue and red accordingly. All the colors used are from the Gunze acrylics range. Cant remember which ones exactly at the time. Alclad II colors of various shades where used for the burner cans and its housings. And I believe that's it! I hope you will enjoy the pics and keep up modeling...!

Since I always do what the ladies say I tried that after attempting to polish it smooth with Micromesh Micromesh just didn't touch the surface even wetted so I tried the other thing First, this morning's bl*** mess "A grey pall settled over the mysterious forest and wrapped everything in a deep dull depression..." Anyway, nuff of the duff movie directions for The Masque Of The Red Death scene one Here's wot I got Vincent Price is just off camera, having his slap attended to... Stoppit Anyway memo to Messrs Airfix... Hey guys please don't waste yellow ink on your transfer sheets unless you are going to back them up by a secret undercoat of white.. Doh There really are lines of rescue info underneath that extinguisher emblem And now the first coats of Clear are going on I am leaving the sides until every other piece has dried Unfortunately the sanding has damaged the upper layers in places, maybe not enough to show though B

Thanks for the further "coo-coo-wah-ka" explanation 303Sqn (great user name!). Yes, Jean, I may have a problem (QQWCA). I don't know what the next trio may be, perhaps Desert scheme V, VIII and IX for the MTO GB? Oh no, I typed that out loud. Jerzy-Wojtek, sheep would be funny too! Mike, here is a picture of all 12 for you. And here's where my 303 Sqn collection stands.

Hi al, finally managed to make a start. First off - this is a lovely little kit: Excellent surface detail: Interior is pretty amazing too. Not particularly exciting, but I've prepared and primed all the interior parts ready for a coat of RLM 02. With any luck, this shouldn't take too long - it looks like being one of those therapeutic builds. Any idea what a realistic load would be for this aircraft (Kalinin / Baltic fronts late 1944-early 1945)? The kit gives you 100 and 250 kg bombs, and some rockets which look nice. Al

Started back on the hull today Fitted the towing brackets, shackles & reinforcing plates Starting fitting portholes If anyone is interested in how I made the shackles which 3 x 1.7mm from 0.4 brass wire. The brass wire is annealed (heated cherry red and allowed to cool) This was formed around a brass former as shown Thanks for looking in Kev

Airfix 1:72 Westland Sea King HC.4 ZA290 (First production HC.4) of 846 Naval Air Squadron in 'As delivered' condition, with the original high-visibility markings and standard port rear window (rather than the bubble observation window). And not as she ended up in Chile... Build thread here Tim

Thank you with you, painting made (airbrush) after a small pause.

Just to put things into perspective.... In 1993.... The Pentagon warned the McDonnell Douglas Corporation yesterday that it would end the development of the C-17 cargo plane unless the contractor overhauled the troubled program, which has been hit by delays, cost overruns and technical problems. In 2004.... The C-130J tactical transport aircraft was supposed to be the U.S. Air Force's state-of-the-art cargo plane to fly troops and supplies into dangerous areas. The Air Force has 50 of them, but investigators now say all of the planes are unsafe. They are especially concerned about problems in the aircraft's computers and missile defense systems. There were even reports of propellers breaking down and cracking in bad weather. Both airframes have matured into successful military transports - I'm sure the A-400M will do the same. Ken PS - I could also cite the V-22 Osprey, the F-35, the KC-46 etc etc...

Good work Paul! This has inspired me to do a diorama setting of a mid-ocean rendezvous, between HMS Wilkieston and HMS Dartington, off Borneo in 1966. I was part of a group of RM's deploying from Singapore to Borneo on HMS Wilkieston and had the opportunity to photograph this meet up. I've bought one of Peter Hall's HMS Upton kits and need to do a bit of research before starting. Hopefully you may find additional detail in the images below, of these ships in operational conditions, for your build Paul. Note that the funnel bands are of different dimensions. One of the main differences I've already noted is that these ships had an extra 40mm Bofors fitted, aft of the funnel, during the confrontation.. Note the GPMG (including arc-bearing stop bar!) and binoculars fitted on the bridge wings of HMS Wilkieston. I'll need to build that in for the earlier version I'll be building. Mike

Hi folks,Armorfast T34/85 quick build kit,only dozen parts per kit and sparse details but aimed more at wargamer,s but two kits per box and a great way to practice paint and weathering,be warned no decals or paint instructions in the box. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235003628-soviet-t3485-quick-build-on-the-cards/

Hello, The interior detail is all done now, and this has meant that the airframe could be built up rapidly. There were some fit problems with getting the rear cockpit framing to fit - it's too wide, so some filing and shaving of the outside frame edges was needed. But, it all closed up well in the end, gluing in stages to avoid any twisting of the fuselage. Various components of the rear cockpit, showing the great detail Accurate Miniatures put into the single-piece side frames: Built up - a three hands task if ever there was one! All in place on one side of the fuselage, after a lot of test fitting and adjustment to get both halves to join OK: And a few airfarme pics. There is some minor work to do to eliminate the gaps at the wing roots, but more to do on the underside, where quite a lot of fettling was needed to get the rear under fuselage piece to fit with the Azur replacement wings: Hopefully onto an undercoat soon. Take care, Matt

OK, more snaps, as promised (or is that threatened?)... 1. Wayward "scribing" filled with Perfect Plastic Putty: first use of this stuff. It might be a bit on the soft and/or brittle side for rescribing over the top of, though. Once again, despite being told exactly where to focus, the phone camera did what it wanted to do. I suspect that I was beyond the close-up focal limit, grumble grumble. The real camera's macro function has croaked completely, so I shouldn't really complain (again). Nice sharp focus on the cutting mat in the background, though 2. Perfect Plastic Putty cleaned up by sanding and scraping. Tools in background. I may end up cutting the whole door out - I haven't decided yet. that reinforced frame really does stick out, doesn't it? 30-odd scale mm? Hmmm... 3. Rather crude Seafire exhaust stubs: nothing that a little gentle coaxing with a no. 15 scalpel blade won't fix, though. And it is 1/72, after all 4. Here's a DIY snap sneakily sneaked in with much sneakiness - it's the prototype foot for my welding bench: DIY tapered nut (cut from 19 mm sq. stock, drilled and tapped M12, nut tapers bevelled with file - four sides and four corners), M12 bolt and locking nut. Whacked in with my 2 kg block hammer (very much a press fit!). This will allow adjustment for levelling the benchtop. All six little feet are finally complete, I have cleaned up the residual weld spatter from ages ago, plus the rust, and will paint the bench in the next day or so (with zinc paint). Then I will have a clearer conscience to do more concentrated work on the Seafire. That's the plan, anyway... 5. See? I've cunningly hidden my gratuitous DIY snap in amongst all the other modelling stuff - no-one will ever notice. Er... Seafire-related scribbles in my notebook; cockpit door measurements, in this instance. I think that I will be able to interpret what I've written when I eventually get around to re-doing this structure... 6. Magnifiers - an essential bit of reed-making and modelling equipment for me these days. It's a General Hardware Co., Inc. item, and my favourite magnifiers: robust, clear and sharp. Also used (and originally bought for) my metalworking activities Follow this link to my Flickr account This is the current state of affairs at the moment. More when I have got the welding bench painted and turned the right way up - and round. Slow and careful is the trick with the latter operation(s). Note to self: locate and retrieve all the special scribing tools that I have squirrelled away somewhere safe. Cheers, Alex.

No. 198 Squadron RAF, Martragny, Normandy, August 1944. I intended to build a plane of squadron leader Yves Ezanno (Free French), I even installed a piece of fine mesh in the air intake (visible in Ezanno’s portrait photo) but then I received Air Magazine No. 66. There is an article on Italian FAFL members which attracted my attention. Typhoon MN526 was piloted by F/Sgt Franco Burattini AKA François Bonnet. He served with French Foreign Legion in Norway, he joined FAFL in Africa and he was killed in his Typhoon on August 19, 1944.... Definitely an interesting person. Airfix kit, Master cannon barrels, Tamiya paints and varnishes. Different decals from my magic box. Thank you for looking.

Cheers Beard, Here is my latest update; RAF; I still need to find a fin flash and the MSG codes need to be extended as they are too short. RCAF; The H will be overpainted as per the real aircraft,.....I went for 2-A in the end! Cheers Tony

7/6 update: Drive wheels and suspension dry fitted, Buttercup will be rolling shortly. Quick snap of cr*p innards. Standing Benno next to Buttercup gives a good idea of the size of this boxy "UberHun". Must have been intimidating to have one running across your freshly mowed lawn with Mg's blazing

The best replacement for Albert is another Albert.

As promised, more snow I'd tried the idea I had of scattering bicarb over a sprayed coat of varnish, for a dusty, windblown look, and the results weren't that great. It did look like windblown snow, but the transition between that and the existing Wilder snow was too abrupt. To get round this I've been adding layers of a slurry made from bicarb mixed with Humbrol Clear. This has also helped soften some of the texture from the Wilder paste I've used this mix before for snow, and I like the way it looks. The bicarb doesn't dissolve in the Clear and remains in suspension so, when the Clear has dried, there's still a bit of texture to the finish, but there's a much softer look to it than the Wilder paste. It does take a long time to dry though, so it's a slow process, as you can't add another layer until the previous one has set. It's also transparent when it's wet so it's hard to tell what the final effect will be like. When it is dry though, it retains a nice translucency which I think looks a little more realistic than the solid, pure white snow paste You can see the remnants of the bicarb-over-varnish experiment below. As I said, the effect was ok, but I've had to keep adding more bicarb slurry to soften the transition, and I think it will need more still. The snow looks really dirty here, but that's down to the exposure I had to use to get the detail in the snow to show up. In person it is more of an off-white than the snow paste, but in a more realistic way to my eye I will be adding small isolated patches of snow to the concrete, but I have to be a little careful as there's not that much space on the base when the X-Wing and ground equipment are in place Andy

Another placeholder. The Slovak Republic (sometimes Slovak State) operated the Bf 109E and G. I fancied building one, but struggled a bit with finding a source for the very distinctive national markings. I found some Blue Rider decals (don't know what they're like!), and hopefully between these and the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces book, I'm in with a shout!

Decided that I'd like to make another 1/16 Tank to go along side the King Tiger i'm building on another thread. I did have a go at repainting the Heng Long RC version which gave OK results but i wanted something a bit more convincing. So how about the Hobby Boss offering? Last summer I bought one and slowly bit by bit have something looking more the part. I know there are a lot of additional external details that can be achieved, so here goes.... Opening hatches Unwanted gun port Zimmerit details Engine mount Movable scatter gun Correct vision block with opening Zimmerit and metal spare tracks & Metal tow cables I've also fitted a correct proportioned large gun muzzle for the 88 L56 and I've also made a spring loaded recoil for the 88 in following of the King Tiger. Although the recoil mechanism and other internal details will not be that visible. 3rd hoist point I'm really going for authentic external detail on this Tiger

Hiya Folks, I found this part built old Hasegawa Zero model with parts missing tucked inside the box of another kit which I bought 2nd hand at the Cosford model show and as I`ve always fancied doing one of the captured Zero`s flown by the ATAIU-SEA. I thought that I`d give it a go. Here is the real aircraft, which is the furthest away in this photo; And here is the model. I`m not a Japanese aircraft expert by any means and it was mainly a kit bash, so please be gentle!; For the weathering I experimented with a silver pencil for the chipping,.....although I may add a bit of paint later? Cheers Tony

Friends, thank you for your attention to my work, little progress

Next update. Got the seats finished. The ejection pull handles are from the original kit parts. I carefully cut off the handles themselves, from the plastic seat top. Sanded them just reduce the thickness, then superglued them to the resin seat. I think they've come out okay. Untitled by ian gaskell, on Flickr Untitled by ian gaskell, on Flickr Next up, I turned my attention to the canopy. Having masked and primed it, a test fit showed it to be about 2-3mm too wide at the base. To remedy this, I clamped it to the right width, then sat it on a heater for a few hours. End result, it's not now the correct size! Yay!! Untitled by ian gaskell, on Flickr I have also done the Heritage intakes. The detail on these is far superior to the plastic kit parts, which are devoid of any detail what so ever. And a dry fit shows they'll be less hassle to assemble to the fuselage, again far better fit than the original parts. A quick priming, then masked and sprayed the inside Vallejo's Insignia White (it's not a pure white, but a slightly yellowy off-white, so looks weathered/faded), and the intake rim was done with Vallejo's new Metal Colour's Steel. Untitled by ian gaskell, on Flickr

Thanks for the comments John and Francis. Added some more bits yesterday Shackles, lights, exhaust packs (or are they filters?) Starting to look busy Cylindrical canister thingy on the back (that's a technical term) I think this is the driver's viewport Definitely not in the shake 'n' bake category. Lots of cleanup and in some cases I had to remove unaligned alignment pins. Still a lot of fun tho Turret next... well that's what the instructions say. Do we believe them? Watch this space

Russian Liberation Army Bf 109G-10, Nemecky Brod airfield April 1945. Hasegawa, 1/48. Build thread. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235002953-russian-liberation-army-messerschmitt-bf-109g-10-of-jasta-5-d-roa/