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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/05/17 in all areas

  1. Finished this nice kit a few weeks ago, I added Quickboost seats and Begemot Decals. The model depicts a well worn aircraft Yellow 35 of 396 Ship Based Antisubmarine Squadron in 2004. Painted with Mr Paint Laquer.
    28 points
  2. Finally managed to complete the Italeri/Esci DC-3/C-47. The markings depict NASA 817 which was used by the organisation between 1969 and 1989. The markings come from an Xtradecal sheet -
    24 points
  3. Hi My father has built 10 Boulton Paul Defiant out of 24 (or so) for our current project. We still not decided the final list but we have 14 more kits to build. Here are the photos. 1) Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant (K8310) Prototype - August 11, 1937 2) Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant K8620 Second prototype, with turret and Merlin II, flown May 18, 1939 3) Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant (K8310) Fighter Prototype 4) The Defiant first prototype, K8310 with a single 20mm Hispano cannon 5) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I N3328 DZ/Z - 151 Sqdn as night fighter. 6) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I N3340 DY/D 255 Sqdn based on RAF Kirton in Lindsey Lincolnshine UK, early 1941 7) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I V1110 RA/H of 410 Sqdn based at RAF Drem, UK, Autum 1941 8) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk II AA370 England 1941 } Here are four new Boulton Paul Defiant finished. 9) Defiant Mk I L6950 with bomb racks, for trials at Aircraft Experimental Establishment 1939. 10) Defiant Mk I T3997 on Air Sea Rescue duties with N 276 A.S.R. Squadrons 1942. The 10 Defiants done so far together at the display cabinet. Cheers Santiago
    23 points
  4. My 1/72 double triple Spitfire build to begin 2017 is now complete, with the last two being an out of box Airfix Mk 22 and a Spitfire 21 made from the wings and nose from the Airfix 22 kit, fuselage from an Eduard Mk VIII overtree, vertical tail from the Special Hobby kit, and a prop from the Sword Mk XIV. The Spitfire 21 on the left and 22 on the right. Both were painted with Colourcoats enamels and the out-of-box 22 was left clean, while the Mk 21 was weathered to match a reference picture (see further below). The Mk 22 represents a Spitfire from RAuxAF 613 Sqn using a sheet from Xtradecals. The Mk 21 represents a 91 Sqn Spitfire that saw active service in the final month of the war based on this REFERENCE PICTURE. Even though it's only a month old, you can see how cross-Channel operations took a toll on aircraft. Here's my attempt at recreating that pic. Special Hobby vertical stabilizer grafted to the Eduard Mk VIII fuselage. Then mated to the Airfix Mk 22 nose and wings. Now is a good time to confess that this was my second attempt at a MK 21 kitbash. The first, involving a spare Sword Mk XIV fuselage, did not go so well, but live and learn!
    17 points
  5. Hi folks , I present the 72nd scale draken kit finished out of box as a Swedish machine . It goes together without any problem and while the kit is on the cheaper side , a downside is it doesn't includes any weapons ; the missiles are from a hasegawa weapon set . Regards , Basu Roy
    16 points
  6. A decent kit which I would give a 7 of 10 rating. The decals were superb. The fit was so-so. Painted with Italeri Acrylics and MM enamels. The model was finished in 4 days. I would like to do another for myself in try-tone camo. I had more pics, but Photobucket was unable to upload them.
    16 points
  7. Wild Weasel 1 began with five F-100F aircraft and five aircrews. The Weasel crews began their mission in December 1965, with Major Willard leading the first strike into North Vietnam. The Weasel missions were code named Iron Hand missions, and their purpose was to lead a strike force into North Vietnam and pave the way for the strike force to drop its bombs. They did this by going out in hunter/killer teams. The Weasels would pair up with a flight of F-105D fighter/bombers and try to locate a SAM site. The Weasels would then attack the site to mark it and the F-105D's would finish it off. With Operation Rolling Thunder (the bombing campaign of North Vietnam that began in 1964) in full effect, the Wild Weasels were about to prove their worth in combat for the first time. On December 22, 1965, the Wild Weasels scored their first SAM kill in North Vietnam. Captain Al Lamb the pilot, and Captain Jack Donovan, his EWO led the mission into North Vietnam that day and when they encountered a hostile NVA SAM site, they engaged and destroyed it. With this success, the Weasels demonstrated their worth to the Air Force and from then on, the Wild Weasels were in Vietnam to stay. Despite the early success however, the original Weasels suffered a fifty-percent casualty rate in their ranks and it was clear that new tactics and equipment would have to be developed. Here we have the Trumpeter 1/72 F-100F Super Sabre shown in the markings of the aircraft that delivered the first SAM site kill. Also presented is the Trumpeter 1/72 F-105G with a standard load out for SAM Hunting. Both models have the Eduard photo etch cockpit sets, have been airbrushed free hand using Xtracrylix and Vallejo paints. Flory Grime and Dark washes applied and finally sealed with Xtrcrylix Flat. The reason that both aircraft were in the skies over Vietnam, the Gran 1/72 SA-2 Guideline SAM. I have shown the models as they are displayed on my shelf along with a die-cast F-105D and F-100D. Well done if you have got this far!! Here is my tribute to the Aircrews who were ‘First in – Last Out’ A little diorama play: Thanks for looking, Phil
    12 points
  8. The Hawker Siddeley HS 121 Trident is such a lovely aircraft and it's really a pitty it sold so poorly compared to the 727. I'm a big fan of Tri-jets and I have build all of them, except for the DC-10 and L-1011 (I have the kits by Authentic Airliners, so maybe I will get around to them this year). The kit is from F-RSIN. I have build F-RSIN models before and I always enjoy them very much. Obviously it's short-run a garage kit, so definitely not for beginners. This kit is one of F-RSIN's finest and quite accurate (the central intake is perhaps a bit too triangular). I chose the CAAC livery as I didn’t have any livery’s from China yet. The engines where airbrushed with Alclad II polished Aluminium with a wash of ModelMasters Chrome. I re-scribed the lines on the wings a bit, because they were a bit too shallow (hard to weather otherwise). I sprayed the decal sheet from the kit with a decal spray before applying them. I find the decals from F-RSIN always way too thin to use otherwise. The window decals are from Authentic Airliners 737 sheet. The cockpit window decals are home made by myself. The quality of the photo's is a bit less than nowedays, as I still used a normal camera back then. Still, I hope you guys enjoy. Cheers!
    11 points
  9. Hi guys, here is my latest build, the Eduard Macchi MC 202. It is the Hasegawa kit with Eduard goodies. i've added the brassin engine bay. This build will appear in a future issue of the french magazine Wingmasters. Cheers, Manu.
    10 points
  10. Good afternoon, dear colleagues. I want to introduce you the C-60 Lodestar in my favorite 72nd. Model was assembled almost OOB (unfortunately the racks of wheels and propellers were of very poor quality and I had to make completely new ones). This plane had a very interesting history - originally a civilian C-60 was painted for the RAF, was sent to Australia but was used by the US Air Force. He went through the war and after was returned to the United States. So: C-60 Lodestar "The Texas Wrangler" from 21th Air Transport Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group of USAAF, Archerfield air base, Brisbane,Australia. All comments and criticisms welcome! Thank's for your attention, Sergiy (48).
    10 points
  11. I am posting this thread a little prematurely because Photobucket is playing up and taking hours to upload photos. I have 2 out of 10 and my ancient PC is showing 11% completed - and has done for the last 4 hours! Frustrated or what?!! Anyway, here's the first one:- Well, that worked anyway. The second image is a little out of sequence:- Okay, not the best image but thats all I have so far!! I have a list as long as your arm of people to thank but first I must thank Rich (Trickydicky210) for letting me have the kit and also Alan P for info about his version of this airframe. it came to me in a part built state with Aries cockpit, gear bays and jet pipe already included so I just had to finish it! Rich also included a 'Free' Trumpeter MiG-3 and thats next in line to finish - I hope to add more images - when the Photobucket thing finally finishes - probably tomorrow! So, you may think that completing this build was straightforward - not so! I decided that I didn't need to be able to expose the engine so the rear fuselage is permanently joined. However, it seems as though an F-100 at rest does not have horizontal stabilators so I removed the tabs on the tailplanes, worked out where the pivot was and drilled each stab and inserted a piece of brass rod, around 2.5mm in diameter. I also had a corresponding piece of brass tube to go through the fuselage and, strangely, this just goes under the afterburner!! I then found that the stabs were pitching all over the place - answer ? - put a very slight kink into the stab rods so that the fit is a bit tighter - job done! I also need to box in the tail bumper under the rear fuselage. I was keen to model Triple Zilch so searched around for info and decals and, via LSP and a chap called Erik (Airfixer) in particular, I found out a lot about this particular airframe and was also able to get the rather rare Cutting Edge sheet. I also acquired the CAM Super Sabre stencil decal sheet which also gives you national markings and U S Airforce titles in dark blue, not black as provided with the kit. Fortunately for me this airframe flew with the standard sized (kit) drop tanks so no need for the AMS extension kit but you must get Harold's wheel set. You will read that the Trump kit doesn't sit right. I even had a set of French manufactured resin wheels and I have also seen reference to cutting about 3mm out of the main gear legs - don't do it! The kit legs are fine but the wheels are too big - as were the French resin ones - basically a flattened copy of the kit set (anyone want to buy a pair very cheap?!!) This airframe was also pre- arrestor hook so none of those bits were required and also the early airbrake - without the cut out for the 'device' - is appropriate. The Aries parts are basically beautiful, the chap who makes the masters is a genius. I discovered that North American used a dark 'brunswicky' green for the undercarriage bays, not the usual chromate interior green stuff so that was applied, also, most of the gubbins in the bays is painted black. I dry brushed and washed this area and the detail pops out beautifully. Same goes for the gear legs where they are basically painted in Humbrol 56 with grey washes applied and a sliver of self adhesive chrome tape for each oleo This airframe, being the boss's, is very clean and I have photos to prove it. The rear fuselage is not badly heat stained so no need to go overboard there. I had only used Alclad once before - white aluminium on a 1/48th Mirage - and so I was very nervous about what to use. I ended up buying a range of colours (with advice from Erik) and then made some colour chips out of rectangular pieces of white plastic card which I sprayed with Halfords grey plastic primer. I then sprayed each of the colours onto each chip so that I know what each colour actually looks like when its in situ and large enough to tell. I then primed the airframe with the Halfords grey and, after it was dry, rubbed it down with a piece of kitchen towel and this really did a good job of polishing the surfaces,. This airframe was mainly finished in 'aluminised lacquer' so the majority of the airframe is Alclad White aluminium although the drop tanks are in natural metal - so 3 shades of silver - and of course the rear fuselage is natural metal so I had some fun with different shades plus some swipes of the hot red, blue and purple and I was both pleased and relieved with the end result. All then sprayed with Tamiya gloss varnish - what strange stuff! - and that then left decalling. Main markings on first followed by 4 nights worth of stencil application - one night for each side, then top then bottom - don't rush! I admit to one mistake. If you look at photos of the real jet then you see that the red rectangle below the windscreen with Tolliver's name on it should actually be parallel with the top line of the red flash. I used the Cutting Edge guide and that shows it parallel with the panel lines!! We live and learn and its not coming off!! So that left the cockpit and the undercarriage + gear doors. I did the undercarriage and doors first. Another mistake - fit the centreline doors first because the legs, etc, get in the way! This is significant because each door has a pair of hydraulic pipes which connect the top of the door to the piping in the bay. Lead wire painted black but such a fiddle to attach with the legs in place. Again, we live and learn!! Also, check your airframe to be sure it has the smaller door that opens to clear a store on the centre pylon. I didn't so I made my doors as a single piece. Erik kindly sent me a spare set and I was then very careful about getting the angles right and the retraction jacks in the correct places. Okay, airframe the right way up with wheels and doors on. That left the cockpit. This came to me installed so I took the liberty to do some dry brushing and washing and the had the joys of the Aries etch to apply. Not easy but it makes a tremendous difference. This extended to the canopy where there was both resin and etch to fit and this was 'demanding' !! The seat is beautiful and actually slides down the rails. Assembling the seat straps was a night or so's work and cannot be rushed and must involve a magnifying glass. But I think it was worth it! Fitting the pitot was fun and requires some checking. I should say that the nose includes the Zacto correction and the pitot position needs to be adjusted based upon accurate side views, not the holes in the fuselage. I also used a Quickboost refuelling probe and that is only push fitted to the underside of the wing. The last job was the Sidewinders and pylons. I discovered early on that the kit pylons are inaccurate and that they actually extend forwards to support the forward part of the missile body. I'm not 100% sure about how accurate mine are but they are the result of looking at several photos and guesstimating. I also decided to fit a brass pin between each 'winder and it's shoe as these things have a habit of falling off! And then Sidewinder markings. I was very pleased to see that the Big H now have the Two Mikes set for Sidewinder markings (also Sparrow if you're interested) back in stock so I used that. These decals need to be cut up to allow application around the fins and that was another mornings work. The blue and yellow bands also have quite a thick coat of ink on them so are a bit hard to get to overlap. I also decided to give each missile a clear nose. Plunge moulded hot clear styrene. Not bad, could have been better but will do! And there you have it. 2 out of 10 photos of my Hun. Absolutely love the jet and had to have those markings! If you're lucky you may get more images from me in due course but I am very happy with the model and very grateful to Rich - and a lot more people - for helping along the way! Simon And here are the other photos - took almost longer to upload them than building the model. I am uploading one image at a time otherwise life feels too short!!! Tip for doing the black and yellow ejection seat handles - paint handles yellow then draw on black stripes with very fine, sharp pointed black marker! Wish I'd learnt that one earlier!! One other 'intentional' error - if you look at photos of the real jet then virtually all of the red on white warning signs on the rear fuselage are missing with maybe the remains of one of the smaller ones just visible over the stab pivot point but I decided that, as I had them, I might as well use them!!! Love the reflection of the stars and bars on the flap upper surface! And thats your lot ! I can't express how much enjoyment I got out of this build - love Super Sabres and finished a 1/72nd Hasegawa/Frog kit in the early 80's using the Modeldecal markings for Triple Zilch so I knew which airframe I would like in 1/32nd!! Despite the kits faults - easily corrected if you throw money at it - its a superb looking piece of kit when its done! Simon
    9 points
  12. The second one of the two finished models this year beside my Sopwith Pup is also a 1/48 kit Dual-Profipack of Eduard: Pfalz D.IIIa For me it was a "speed build" in exactly one month (I cannot understand, that someone is able build a Weekend Edition on a weekend). As usual I added details made from brass, Gaspatch turnbuckles for the rigging, HGW/Eduard fabric seatbelts and a wooden air screw. I added another PE set of Eduard and used the LMG 08/15 of Master. The painting was done with Gunze and Alclad, the wings are done in semi matt alu, and oils. The marking is a bit speculative, but damn cool! The Cartograf-decals are provided with the kit. Have fun with the pictures! Frank
    9 points
  13. I would like to introduce you to a model that I ended two days ago. Jaguar is one of my favorite aircraft. Enjoy.
    9 points
  14. Hiya Folks, Well here is another Fleet Air Arm Harvard Mk.III, again using the Monogram 1/48th scale kit and again based with the Station Flight at Hal Far, Malta. EZ436 first served with 798 NAS but in 1947 it moved to Malta and served with the Hal Far Station Flight until 1952 when it was SoC. Having come across a photo of this aircraft I just had to model it and here it is; I re scribed the raised panel lines and the model was painted using a Tamiya rattle can for the silver and Humbrol acrylics for the remainder. The decals all came from the spares box and generic sets while the codes were trimmed down from thicker numbers. Cheers Tony Edit,....I meant to add a photo of both Hal Far Harvard`s together, if anybody is interested;
    9 points
  15. Over in the GB section, as part of the De Havilland Mega GB, I built Tamiya's 1/72 De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI. I decided to make it as if it were in flight so I purchased a couple of motors so it could have working propellers. Because it would need a base to house the batteries and switches I decided to use a small Wilkos picture frame on which I decided to create a small scene. I decided to use Zvezda's Snap-fit German Howitzer kit as the focal point of the base and the result can be seen below. Aircraft Kit: 1/72 Tamiya De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI/NF Mk.II Howitzer Kit and figures: 1/72 Zvezda Snap-fit German Howitzer Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel and Railmatch Acrylics - all applied by brush Base: Wilko's picture frame A lot of photos of the Mosquito can be found here The WIP for the whole project can be found here A rather shaky YouTube video of the scene can be found here The whole scene: The Howitzer and crew on the base: And finally a few from low down to try to give an impression of the aircraft flying overhead:
    8 points
  16. Mosquito FB Mk.VI MM417 EG-T No. 487 Squadron RNZAF Based at Hunsdon, Hertfordshire in February/March 1944 This 1/72 Tamiya Mosquito was my build for the De Havilland Mega GB that is currently taking place down in the GB section of Britmodeller. Ever since seeing the film '633 Squadron' as a youngster I always loved the Mosquito although, oddly enough, I don't think I've ever made a model of one before. I decided fairly early on in the project that I wanted to show the aircraft in flight so I purchased some new miniature motors - the Airfix motors I already had wouldn't fit inside the Mosquito's 1/72 engine nacelles. This also meant I would need a base to support it in flight so I also decided to make a small vignette on this base. The aicraft itself served with 487 Squadron from 29 February 1944 to 26 March 1944. On the 26th March she was lost while leading the attack on coastal defense emplacements which were under construction at Les Hayes and was hit by flak during the mission. Wing Commander I S Smith was forced to crash land back at Hunsdon. The crew survived but the aircraft was wrecked. Kit: 1/72 Tamiya De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI/NF Mk.II Extras: Eduard Zoom Set SS137 plus two mini coreless magnetic motors Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel and Railmatch Acrylics - all applied by brush Base: Zvezda Snap-fit German Howitzer and a Wilko's picture frame WIP: Here Vignette base photos: Here Shaky YouTube video: Here I really am sorry about the amount of photos! It is such a photogenic aircraft - I actually took about 3x as many as this and it took me ages yesterday to whittle them down to these. This first set of photos were taken against a white backdrop: The following set show the Mosquito in relation to the base: A few to give a sense of the Mosquito overhead: And finally, for this set, just one of the base itself: I have posted a few more photos of the base itself in the Diorama and Vignette section - here Believe it or not I have taken yet more photos - this time against a sky background - but I will put those in a separate post below. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix
    7 points
  17. I suppose I should get back to this before I forget how to pop in a picture I HAVE been doing the smaller less obvious bits lately Did I mention making the tabs on the MRBs? I think I did and I've also been fabricating the hoist from tiddy bits of rubbish plastic Here's the painted MRBs and the (still) unpainted hoist beginning to take shape The blades will be (are) Sea Grey Medium on top with matt black undersides Also on here is the enlarged Airfix Lynx's type 44 torpedo with the fin ring cut from possibly a McDonutty straw or one from Sub-sway which would be ironic considering what I'm using it for Can you see what has changed recently? Apart from if you zoom in and inspect the tail fold ratchet pin which is just (just I say) visible here, of course Yes, the first press moulds of the nose windows are awaiting consideration on the ice cream container lid The forth bridge thing has been slightly darkened, but to be honest I doubt you'd notice if I'd kept quiet Here's a test fitting Oh yes, a bomby droppy thingy awaits finishing with orange plastic steady pads Coming to a Wopse near me soon To be honest the frame is sitting too high on the tailcone, the tail rotor is supposed to sit fairly horizontally in the holder Work needed to lower the frame on the tail So a millimoocher cut off the lowest frame legs gives me This will do, the tailpylon will need to sit a little higher anyway, that nav-rotator beacon platform will be horizontal when done and the lower main rotor clamp has a prefixed locking-clamp/strap which is holding it up a tad too high Some of my other time has been dedicated to fixing minor yellow (yes I still hate that colour) paint problems on the HAS3 Wessex pre affixing stickers This is an elderly Modeldecals sheet, so I'm confidently expecting register problems allowing white to slip away from the decals Soon be putting two RN helicopters to bed, yippeeee! ciao
    7 points
  18. Thanks for all the lovely comments. I'm a little bit out of action at the mo as I have put my back out. lifting bags of slate in the garden this weekend. Never mind lots of lying down and seeing what you guys are up to. I did manage to get some work done before that. first off I primed the tail fins and got the nose and main tail masked ready for colours. I did a pre-shade using flat brown as to avoid the bruised banana effect. Nose. And tail. Then a base coat of yellow. yes, I know the nose is red but a base yellow brings out red a treat. then the tail got some attention. another coat. third time will be a charm. I'll show you when the masking is off. (such a tease) some red nose action then. All looking good! Time to remove the mask! After a third coat the tail looked like this. I glued the fins in place. The nose got un mummified. yay! Not bad. here she is all together. before I gloss coat for decals I had a go at oil filters. a bit subtle huh? It's the panel right in front of you, the middle one just after the wing tip. Slightly blue / brown? No? Ok the panel on the nacelle just off the wing on the front. Well I can see it. Maybe I'll darken them when my back gets better. hope you're all still enjoying the lightning. i had a look at the wheels too. They look rather spiffy. thankyou all for popping by. hope you have a great week. Take care and as always. Happy Modelling. Johnny. "I'll be back" "Back in Black" "Ouch was that snapping noise my back"
    7 points
  19. Lots of extras, check out build thread below. Build thread!
    6 points
  20. TRUMPETER WESTLAND WYVERN 1/48 I have previously posted a couple of completed FAA models on BM but this is my first WIP - I only decided to do a WIP when I was part way through this build - there have been quite a few nice builds of the Wyvern on BM since its release and my main interest was in improving the wing fold detail to make it more realistic plus a couple of other refinements. I think this is a nice kit of the Wyvern that captures the feel of this heavy turboprop aircraft. REFERENCES I used the 4 PLUS book and the From the Cockpit publication on the Wyvern as well as some photos I took of the TF1 prototype at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton in 2006 – also found some clear walk around photos of the TF1 on the Prime Portal website. After a lot of searching in books and on the internet I found it almost impossible to find "in service" Wyvern close up photos showing wing fold details – there are Pilots Notes available but I could not find any maintenance manuals that are available for some aircraft like the Sea Fury and Spitfire. I scaled up the 1/72 plans 150% to 1/48 scale on my scanner THE BUILD SO FAR I used the Wolfpack WW48014 resin cockpit & Eduard air brake etches - still deciding on how much detail to add to the wheel bays as the inner u/c doors will be closed - brake lines were added to the undercarriage legs. The exhausts for the engine were replaced by K&S aluminium tubing I also reshaped the end of the inner flap fairings by adding plastic to the bottom of the fairing as they looked too pointed to me WINGFOLD BREAK The wing fold details are therefore based on the TF1 which I assume is basically the same on production aircraft but there are some detail variations particularly on the outer wing flap – the main aim was to get rid of the over scale parts (E21 B25 & B29) representing the hinges. I used the kits aerofoil sections for the wing break (parts D14, D15 & D16 &D17) as I think they give a quite accurate cross section of the aerofoil – I also missed out seeing parts E12 & E13 that provide detail at the wing break which could have saved me a job making them. To give the wing fold strength I used brass strip and wire incorporated into the wing hinges which were fabricated from plastic card and strip – jury struts were made from K&S brass wire and tube so the plastic hinges only needed to be cosmetic and don’t carry any load. Once this basic structure was sorted it was just a matter of bit by bit of scratch building the detail at the wing break with plastic strip & rod, solder wire, copper wire from electrical cable etc until it looked busy enough from a viewing distance of about 18 inches (450mm approx.) SOME EXTRA PHOTOS OF HINGE DETAILS Brass wire and strip reinforcing the hinges holes drilled for the brass pins and cut away area around hinges to accommodate the fold sketches of estimated shapes hinges and wire reinforcing Photos I took of hinges on the TF1 Wyvern at Yeovilton 2006 Hydraulic lines are made from lengths of copper wire twisted and soldered each end to make it easier to handle - the photo below shows prepared copper wire to represent hydraulic lines to go into three different holes in the outer wing The thicker cable is from solder wire Photo below shows some hydraulic lines installed in an outer wing panel - the brass etched pieces are from an old Airwaves wingfold etch for the Wyvern - I have no idea what the flap looks like at the wing break at the so used this piece from the etch - the flap on the out wing panel differs between the prototype and production Wyverns. I think the wing fold is just about done except for tidying up & final fitting out once the angles are checked and the wings go on permanently. thanks for looking CJP
    6 points
  21. This is the AFV Club M109A2 modified to represent the Israeli version "Doher". I built this last summer and have finally got it onto a base. There is a WIP thread in the armour section if you care to look. The base / case is Trumpeter and the sign / label is from signomatic. I wanted it to represent the crew and vehicle in between fire missions. M109 DOHER - 51 by phil da greek, on Flickr M109 DOHER - 52 by phil da greek, on Flickr M109 DOHER - 53 by phil da greek, on Flickr M109 DOHER - 54 by phil da greek, on Flickr M109 DOHER - 55 by phil da greek, on Flickr Thank you for looking.
    6 points
  22. Hi mates, For my latest project I wanted to do justice to the amazing English Electric Canberra, one of the most versatile and long-lived military aircraft ever built. I chose XH134, a Canberra PR.9 chosen to wear the retirement scheme that truly marked the "End of an Era." Ashley Keates, who designed the stunning scheme, even stopped by the WIP thread for a visit. I decided to use the much-maligned "new tool" Airfix PR.9 kit and correct the major deficiencies along the way. I thought at first that I might do a bit of a kitbash with the Xtrakit model, but eventually I decided to save that kit for another day. Here is my usual executive summary: Project: English Electric Canberra PR.9 "End of an Era" Kit: Airfix (kit number A05039) Scale: 1:72 (you know me by now!) Decals: Model Alliance 729032 representing XH134, 39 PRU, RAF Marham 2006; Model Alliance 72146 PR.9 Canberras Part II, and Model Alliance 729018 Canberra Stencil Set (thanks John!), even a few stickers from the kit! Photoetch: Eduard SS352 primarily for the cockpit consoles and controls, ejection seat details, mirror Resin: Pavla cockpit C72087; Pavla wheel bays and gear doors U72-113; CMK 7181 PR.9 Landing Flaps 72118; CMK Q72121 PR.9 Wheels; SBS 72005 Canberra Correct Rudder Scratchbuilt: not much, just the navigator's desk and the pilot's reading pleasure Paint: Gunze H339 Engine Grey, H336 Hemp, H332 Light Aircraft Grey, H311 FS36622, H417 RLM76, H11 Flat White, H12 Flat Black, H77 Tyre Black, H335 Medium Sea Grey, H309 FS34079, H28 Metal Black, H95 Smoke Grey, H90 Clear Red, H94 Clear Green, H17 Cocoa Brown, H37 Wood Brown; Alclad 101 Aluminum, 111 Magnesium, 314 Klear Kote Flat Weathering: Post shading, some panel line work with pencil. Improvements/Corrections Fixed the fillet radius at the bottom of the vertical fin leading edge Filled and re-scribed most of the fuselage panel lines All that aftermarket stuff Shortened the landing gear struts to achieve a more proper "set" of the aircraft Removed the incorrect tailplane roots and extended the inner edge of the tailplanes to meet the fuselage correctly Added all of the crash strips to the lower fuselage Added the bomb bay rain channels Added a copy of Zoo magazine to the cockpit, as seen at Fairford 2006 Opened up both intake exhaust vents and added mesh guards 26 g of ballast to prevent tail setting Filled incorrect strengthening plate engraved lines; added separate strengthening plates from 0.005" styrene sheet Added forward fuel tank hold-down straps and brackets Added the SEM/CAN/232 RWR wingtip modifications Made new wing leading edge landing lights from clear plastic, sanded and polished to shape Added vent to forward edge of windscreen on port side Added small satellite antennae on fuselage spine Added wingtip formation lights Added aerial wire Added air conditioning exhaust vents on the underside of the inner wing Fixed a bunch of other stuff I can't remember! Build thread: Link Pictures! To give you a better idea of what's inside the cockpit/navigator's area, here is an in-process picture (note that the periscope eye guard hasn't been opened up yet): And a better shot of the navigator's fold-up desk: How long would you stay in there? Hard to see, but the pilot has left his reading material on the seat: All told, a fun build and a great time was had by everyone. Special thanks to @canberra kid and @71chally for their expertise and guidance as I navigated the Canberra landscape. I know I learned a lot! Cheers, Bill
    5 points
  23. Dear gentlemen, as AZ model is proud sponsor of this group build let me offer some support from our side - if you are building AZ model kit and need - missing part, also destroyed one, decal etc, write directly to me - [email protected], write into subject Group Build. 109, I will follow it as soon as possible. Also, if you want camouflage scheme in bigger size A4, ask for your jpg. For those building Bf 109E - there are two decal sheet 1/48 and 1/72 scale of early Emils - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AVN4002 https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AVN7003 (Yes, I am designer of these sheets, sorry for small self promotion.... :-) ) And one link for your inspiration, all kits are by AZ model. http://www.modelarovo.cz/kolekce-109-jan-pavlik/ Jan
    5 points
  24. Six ocean greys on! Were done in pairs, first two yesterday but here again with the rest for a recap. Will get some photos of all six together tomorrow in some daylight perhaps. Mr paint and colourcoats Xtracrylix and AK air Mr Color and Hataka Orange A few brief initial notes: The AK air is the lightest. The hataka and mr paint are quite 'blue-ish' The xtra and mr colour are quite 'warm' in tone. The colourcoats seems nice and neutral. Thats all for now.
    5 points
  25. Here is my attempt at converting a 1/72 Revell Hunter F6 to a GA11. I bought the conversion set from FAA models which is very nicely moulded and contains both Harley light and PR10 nose, replacement gun-less bay, open airbrake and arrestor hook. However I was slightly disapointed that it does not come with a tailpipe for a less-powerful Avon engine. The FAA Hunters were mostly converted RAF Hunter F4s and as such should have a smaller bore tailpipe. Fortunately Aeroclub do an F4 conversion set that includes a tailpipe and this was what I used. I am aware the the small vents on the fuselage of the F4 are different to the F6 but I chose not to correct this. The aircraft I chose to model was a mid-60s vintage and thus pre-dated the Harley light nose. The Revell kit is very nice although I did have some trouble aligning the starboard wing. It should be foolproof but mine drooped down further than the port wing. I ended up bending it into a better position but in doing so popped open several seams I have another Hunter on the go and it does seem that the fit of the starboard wing needs some care to avoid this problem. The Aeroclub tailpipe erplaces the kit one but was maybe 1mm too narrow in diameter. I added a shim of about 1mm to the rear of the aircraft which gave me more room to blend the tailpipe in with putty if that makes sense. Thus my Hunter is a little too long but I don't think it noticeable. I made the mistake of fitting the droptanks and the little fins on them at an early stage. Every time I picked up the model I brushed against one of the fins and snapped it off. Eventually all four were gone! The kit was painted with Xtracrylix paints, XDSG over white. I mixed a little yellow in with the white as otherwise I think it looks too bright in this scale and a more ivory colour seems better. The Pegasus marking on the nose came from Modelart set 72-056. I made up the codes myself after finding a pic of this aircraft on Air Britain. Modelart decals are very nice although they need a bit of practice to avoid disasters. They definately need to be pressed down firmly over Micro-soling them, and then they will settle down further with Micro-set. I had to use a Modelart blanking roundel to avoid the colours bleeding through on the fuselage roundel. Other decals were from the Revell sheet that came with the kit. A few sticky-out things weer made from spare card and plastic rod. Hope you like the pics. I have added some greenery to my background but still not happy about the lack of depth of field I am getting with my camera. Pat
    5 points
  26. Hello all. I just finished the A6M2 Type 0 Model 52 Zero in ATAIU SEA (Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit South East Asia) BI-05. This was a unique find when I was looking for something to complete for an RAF Group Build on another site. I like Japanese aircraft very much and was fortunate to to find decals for it from Rising Decals. The kit is the Hasegawa kit and went together quickly and easily as most 1/72 Hasegawa kits do.
    5 points
  27. This morning I've received an email from Eduard, they've asked for my postal address so they can send out the correct sprue for me. Have to say, it's the quickest response I've ever received from anyone when raising an issue so hats off to them for that. Now, how's longs postage from the Czech Republic...... Im hoping that I can sort of crack on and stick bits bits together and add the other parts as and when they arrive. I will have a look tonight and see if it's do-able. Disaster averted, hopefully.
    5 points
  28. Haha, that explains it then. That will save me from: a. The wrath of the leader of the house who objects to the smell and inappropriate use of household appliances and b. Testing the smoke alarms and generally attempting to burn down the house.
    5 points
  29. The first 806 model with a firewall...I think. It's only glued to the magneto mount, so the unfinished body can come off again. I blackened the cover of the connector box. Will put that and part 127D on after I removed the body. The frame is on the inside of the firewall. I'm thinking about making bakelite (I guess they were made of that) guide tubes for the ignition wires, unless you guys think these were unlikely. More soon, Robin
    5 points
  30. Hi Here are some photos of my finished MIG-23. Kit is OOB painted with Gunze acrylics. Original decals dissolved on the model, however with donor help from Zvezda's MIG-21 kit I have managed to finish the job. Cheers! Rade
    5 points
  31. This is basically the same build as Greg Destec. It is the revell rebox of the ICM kit. I had initially just added some masks and some spare decals but closer inspection showed up some areas that arent good. The rear wheel bay was short shot so I had to fettle this and removed the strengthening plates which were only found on very early Fs The propeller shape and hub are very strange so I ordered the eduard replacement Iv started the cockpit and engine. This is basically all I will do of the engine as I want it closed up. I have read that nose is problimatic in fit so we will see what I can come up with when we get there. One other issue is that there is a strange ridge molded on the bottom of both sides of the fuselague that doesnt look right and will need sorted.
    4 points
  32. Hi All, update on SCAT II's tail-sitting problem. First off I looked at the coolant vents under the engine as per @corsaircorp suggestion: Unfortunately the slits are just too small. Damn. Nice thought though @corsaircorp and might have saved me a lot or work! Back to the original plan. I made a pin guide hole then (bloody carefully) drilled with a 0.8 then 1.5: I then enlisted the help of Mrs VIITK to attempt to funnel the lead shot through this hole. We improvised by making a funnel from paper and then a persevered for a while but when only a handful of shot was going through I called a halt and grabbed a 2.0 drill bit Tentatively I drilled successfully, with the only casualties being that one of the landing gear covers fell off along with part of the undercarriage due to the vibration from the drill: This allowed far more shot to quickly flow through our makeshift funnel. When it felt heavy enough we tested... hey presto: Hurrah! I can now get on with the rest of the model next weekend! I'm calling that it for tonight as I darent test my success any further. So thanks gents, we've got there in the end (and to Mrs VIITK)! JB
    4 points
  33. Hmm, yes, perhaps Gladych's Mk IX, 'Pengie', to go along with his Mk V and P-47. Or there's a Mk VIII in the book that comes with the Eduard 'Aussie VIII' combo that has caught my eye. Or there's RF-G, a 303 Sqn Mk IX. Or, I'm still interested in building a Mk Vc from the Eduard IX using the nose from a spare Sword fuselage. Thinking about it is half the fun! Looking forward to the update Rob! Any pics from Wales? Well, the 21 and 22 are done, thus concluding this Spitfire double triple. EDIT: The RFI for the 21 and 22 is HERE. Here are all six: Clockwise from the top: Eduard LF.16 - 612 Sqn Speduairfix Mk 21 - 91 Sqn Airfix Mk 22 - 613 Sqn Airfix Mk 24 - 80 Sqn AZ Models FR.18 - 208 Sqn Sword FR.18 - 32 Sqn Thanks for coming along for the ride everybody!
    4 points
  34. Well seeing as it was Star Wars day this week, I'll put these two up for display. They're both the Revell (1/144?) Teeny cheep model that I got for a bit of fun painting. Both were painted (attacked may be a better way of putting it) with Vallejo paints and had Lifecolour weathering set washes. First one was done in a RAF Battle of Britain/ USAF Vietnam style camouflage using blu tac sausages. I'm still trying to get my hands on some roundels that would fit this scale just to finish it off. Not the greatest pictures I know but it's a camera on a phone and this was only a bit of fun for me. The other paint job was an attempt at a Russian esq air superiority camouflage. Lost my patience on masking so did some freehand an it really shows. Again it was just a bit of fun and an attempt to ease myself back into painting after 20 years off. Hope you enjoy, I had a lot of fun painting them. Geoff
    4 points
  35. Made some progress over yesterday and today, through to step 17 on the instructions. Cockpit done; Painted Helmut up and installed him into his seat; Got the fuselage buttoned up and the prop together; Should get some more done next week.
    4 points
  36. Hello guys; I finished another Hellcat 1/72. This is an Italeri 1/72 that I worked together an Eduard kit. This kit has a complicated built, but the final result is a reasonable Hellcat. I chose this famous FAA version. Thank's for watching! And here, this Mk.I together with the last Eduard Hellcat. Regards;
    4 points
  37. Are you used to seeing models in someone else's Dark Green that isn't right? I've no plans to change the Colourcoats shade.
    4 points
  38. Thanks for the pic and the question Steve - thankfully the camera lens port is covered with a Canadian roundel so I don't have to worry about anything visible within it - but I have been stressing about is whether it is an optically flat glass panel or was the same contours as the fuselage - this is the evidence I based my conclusion on... At top left is the Thai XIV with the optically flat panel - you can see at the top & bottom it is pretty close to being faired to the fuselage, but in the middle the recess is a few inches from the skin and should be visible in photos of TZ138. All the other pics are of TZ138 and as far as I can see there is no recess and in fact in some shots I think I can see the roundel curving with the fuselage so that is what I have gone with... hope that convinces the court back soon as still plugging away with more skinning.. TTFN Peter
    4 points
  39. This photo says it all Bill!.....absolutely brilliant mate!....that's all I needed to say!
    4 points
  40. This weekend I have made a concerted start on the base. The base is made from polystyrene with a hull shape cut out into which the model will sit. I glued textured paper onto the polystyrene to represent the sea and painted it. I still need to form the wake but I have to paint the hull first, which I have started. Working again on some of the fittings; this time the odd looking post box feature which is located at the aft end of the superstructure. This is a manned sight and control position in which an operator sits and I assume drives the aft gun. Unfortunately the kit provides this a two part plastic moulding and of which does not define the glazed canopy of the sight and control position. I was not happy with painting this at such a large scale so I decided I was going to make my own glazed canopy. My method was not particularly sophisticated. A piece of wood with a hole with the same diameter of the canopy I wanted, a piece of wooden dowel with its end shaped as a dome that fits through the hole and some 1mm Perspex that I had lying around. All I did was heat the Perspex and over the hole in the wood and then poke the dowel into the hole moulding the heated plastic. I think I could have got a better result if I experimented or had followed Longshanks lead. However after the first attempt my wife got so upset with the smell of burning wood when I used the gas cooker hob that I was banned from doing it again. So my canopy has a crazy paving finish to it, but at least it looks clear. I then cut the canopy from the Perspex sheet and tided it up and modified the kit part. Here is how the aft sight looks with the new canopy fitted. I obviously still need to tidy and paint and workout how to make the pitting less conspicuous. Finally I have also started painting some of the fittings; Progress continues even if it is a bit slow. Thank you for looking. Paul
    4 points
  41. Hi folks, here is my newly completed Hasegawa Hawker Typhoon MkIb of Wing Commander Davidson, the leader of No.143 Wing in May 1944. I like building kits that have a relevance or a geographical proximity and this aircraft was briefly based at RAF Funtington in West Sussex which is not too far from me and is somewhere I always just thought was a load of pig farms, until I started looking into its history and found the role it played during D-Day! Nowadays there is a Qinetiq establishment shown in the photo below. Where the road is, was roughly one of the runways running East/West: The kit was airbrushed with Xtracrylix over a black base. Extras include resin wheels, exhaust, vac canopy and Ultracast British bombs. Decals by Avieology. Thanks to Chris Thomas for a lovely reference photo. Next time will be a Mustang MkIII that also flew from Funtington. Cheers Nick
    4 points
  42. Thanks gents I got the uppersurfaces sprayed: ... and I was happy enough with it, but as Massimo's site advises the grey camouflage - both colours - was very prone to fading and I felt mine looked a bit 'factory fresh'... so I enlisted the help of these: ... which I then oversprayed on the colours in a very thinned and scruffy scribble. The end result doesn't look that much different in the photographs Anyway the next step will be doing the undersides, I have the day off work tomorrow so hopefully can crack on with that. Cheers, Stew
    4 points
  43. Well...as told me another modeller: "Slow and steady wins the race" So, slowly, but surely, I continue the scratch building of my steering linkage. The Pocher parts of the linkage, compared with my reference photos, seem too thick: - 4 mm for the connector (with the steering arm) - 3 mm for the horizontal linkage wich join forward the connector on the right front wheel. So, according tho what I see on all my ref. photos, I've arbitrarily decided that: - the connectors will be 3.0 mm - the horizontal linkage will be 2.5 mm First, I'd have to learn to master lathe turning techniques with different tools, in order to have an accurate usage, and get a smooth surface finish... After several tries, I undertook to turn the first connector: - Starting form a 4.12 mm gauge brass rod, 25 mm lenght - Drilled it on the lathe 1.5 mm gauge over 5 mm - Reduced the thickness to 3.00 mm over 10 mm - And then, reduced diameter on the following 0.3 mm, to 3.5 mm - Next, reduced diameter to 3 mm on the following 0.6 mm - And last but not least, reduced diameter to 0.6 mm on the following 0.6 mm Later, I put the part in the dividing head of my miiling machine, placed vertically on the crossing table, in order to drill on it a 1 mm hole perpendicularly And I got this part: Compared with the Pocher's one: . This connector near the steering arm Both with a M1 brass bolt All parts connected Put in place on the chassis It remains to scratch built the front connector, using the same methods and measures, and the horizontal linkage Later, all this stuff will be nickel plated Stay tuned il you like, and thank you for watching.
    4 points
  44. First two ocean greys on... Only another how many to do...? Here we have Mr Paint and colourcoats. Then got sidetracked spot priming a tomcat from that abandoned saga
    4 points
  45. Mosquito FB Mk.VI MM417 EG-T No. 487 Squadron RNZAF Based at Hunsdon, Hertfordshire in February/March 1944 MM417 EG-T served with 487 Squadron from 29 February 1944 to 26 March 1944. On the 26th March she was lost while leading the attack on coastal defense emplacements which were under construction at Les Hayes and was hit by flak during the mission. Wing Commander I S Smith was forced to crash land back at Hunsdon. The crew survived but the aircraft was wrecked. Kit: 1/72 Tamiya De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI/NF Mk.II Extras: Eduard Zoom Set SS137 Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel and Railmatch Acrylics - all applied by brush Base: Zvezda Snap-fit German Howitzer and a Wilko's picture frame WIP: Here Lots and lots of RFI photos: Here Vignette base photos: Here Shaky YouTube video: Here Photoshopped photos: Here
    4 points
  46. More photos of the Mosquito!!! This time using my Spitfire display base as a backdrop: As I said above – I do apologise about the number of photos but I have to admit I enjoyed taking them almost as much as I enjoyed making the model. The Tamiya kit was a joy to build – as was the Zvezda Howitzer. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix
    4 points
  47. Do the Stand In 1973 Bryan Ferry launched into Roxy Music's second L.P. 'For Your Pleasure' by extolling that we should 'Do the Strand love - when you feel love'. It seems he felt that 'doing the Strand' was a 'Danceable solution to teenage revolution'. So, as I am a tragic Roxy Music fan, let's 'Do the Stand'... Here's where I left it. It might look complete but there's still a bit to go. In particular in this photograph our little Mig is just balanced precariously on its stand. One sneeze and it will drop off. This is a fairly easy thing to fix. Start by drilling two holes in the top of the stand as shown. Fit a length of carbon fibre into each hole and secure it with two-part epoxy. Trim the carbon fibre to length. Note, although carbon fibre might appear to be flexible, wobbly stuff, do not be deceived - it is also very hard. So when cutting it do not use delicate wire cutters designed for cutting copper as you will damage the blades. Feel free to ask me how I know! Suffice to say it's probably better to use a razor blade or something else you don't mind damaging. Working with carbon fibre is really good - but it's a material that is unlike anything else I have ever used and I think it will take a bit of getting to know. Anyhow, this is what the stand looks like when finished. I had the plaque professionally made. it's laser-cut and only cost $18.00. In my view it's well worth spending a bit of money to make the presentation of your models as tidy as possible. Now we need to drill two matching holes in the base of the Model. One of the great things about using carbon-fibre for this purpose is that even small diameter rods have great strength, hence the holes drilled in the model can be kept very small. Note the masking tape on the drill, it's there to let me know when the hole has reached the correct depth. Two small holes on the underside at the same distance apart as the mounting rods on the stand. Now the model can be mounted on the stand without fear of it falling off... And the result so far. I'm happy with this! 'For Your viewing Pleasure'. Reconcilor
    4 points
  48. It would make sense. I'm not entirely sure why I filled the hole. Actually, I am... Sword's painting guide only has one. Thanks, Cookie. I've got a couple more high-backs and at least one low-back in the stash. I'm not sure which I'll do next, do you want me to let you know before I start? 😄 Mind you, it'll be a while before I do one as I'm at the painting stage of a Hurricane, nearly finished assembling a P-40N and, just started a Mustang IV (all Mediterranean based). Don't be.
    3 points
  49. Hi Keith, You're right, we are two different brands but there are many of the colours we kept as is, and the chemical formulation and equipment are all the same etc. WEM used to make two distinct RAF Dark Greens - there is the ACRN09 WW2 Dark Green which we still make and there was ACRN15 Dark Green BS381C-241 for post-war stuff, but they dropped ACRN15 because nobody could tell them apart. Nick Millman has posted some delta-E values comparing the difference numerically and there is a difference but probably inside what most people (and particularly males) would be able to distinguish. I understand the post war BS241 weathered somewhat differently to the wartime colour due to its formulation though so their respective appearances on real aircraft may indeed be a bit different - but they also have different juxtapositions because in WW2 the green was usually worn beside Dark Earth or Ocean Grey whereas on Hunters, Phantoms etc it was against Dark Sea Grey so the whole impression of the scheme and how green or olive the green looks can seem different because the adjacent colour is also different.
    3 points
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