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Hi all, this is the first time I've posted a model in RFI so please be gentle! It's been a long time since I built a model aircraft, but really enjoyed the process. Jack Cleland was my great-uncle, and he spent several months seconded to the USAAF in 1944. This is my interpretation of his P51D, Isabel III. It was built from two Academy kits (a C and D) to create an early D without the tail fillet. I masked and painted the invasion stripes and the red/yellow chequers on the nose. The rest of the markings and codes came from a number of different decal sheets, mixing and matching numbers to create the aircraft serials. The name was (a bit obviously) hand painted, but in my defence the original wasn't exactly pristine either! I airbrushed Mr Color lacquers throughout thinned with Mr Levelling thinner. There is a resin seat with belts inside, but everything else came from the Academy boxes. The C was a much nicer kit than the D, but only contributed the tail (grafted to the D fuselage) and the exhausts. Cheers Tania

Hi all. Here's another kit I recently finished. This time it's the Revell Tornado kit. Very nice details in the kit but quite some work to build. Almost all parts need cleaning up and some carefull fitting is needed in places. Decals from the Italeri kit were used and were not bad at all for their age. Gunze Aqueous over Alclad black primer was used. Weathering was dome with Mig Productions wash and pastel powders. Thanks for watching. René

Accurate Miniatures kits. I picked up these beautiful kits at IPMS shows for a total of $10 for all 3!! Pictured are the A-36, P-51A and P-51B.

Hi Everyone, Finally finished my latest addition to my Indochina collection, My attempt at Czech Models 1/48 Grumman Goose kit Finished to represent an aircraft of Esc. de Servitude 8S, Cat Lai, Indochina, 1952 Built mostly from the box contents, additions being: Pitot Tube, Antenna Mast and Aerial Wire, Anti Collision Light, Window Blinds and Ignition Harness. Replaced some of the fiddley and weak resin items such as seat legs with more robust materials, especially as you can`t see them anyway Decals from Berna Decals set BD 48-81 Hope you enjoy, Thanks for looking Cheers Russ

Hi all. I just finished Eduard's beautiful Messerschmitt Me-109G6 ProfiPack. Built straight from the box with the photoetch extra's included in the kit and painted with Gunze Aeous paints. The kit decals are very thin and hardly need any setting solution. This kit was finished in just a few day and I really enjoyed every minute working on it. Thanks for watching. René

Hobby Boss 1/48th F-111C Paint: Mr Hobby and Tamiya acrylics, Model Master Metalizer Lacquers Extras; Eduard BigSin F-111C set Eduard – F-111A Interior set Novascale – F-111C RAAF 1 & 6 Squadron decals OzMods – F-111 Afterburner Cans Ozmods – F-111C Wheels & Tires Ozmods – F-111C Long Range Fuel tanks Custom made and cast Recon Pallet. build link This was built as part of the F-111 STGB. I had always wanted to build an F-111 having worked on them in them in the 80’s with the RAAF, so though this would be the perfect opportunity. For something a bit different I’d build one of the Recon versions which I worked on, sounded simple…… My first mistake was the model, the Hobby Boss model for those who don’t know is an absolute dog of a model! Everything fits really well and is a joy to build, but not if you want an F-111 that’s accurate. If you want a F-111C forget it, and if you want a Pre-Pave Tack or Recon bird good luck!! This was going to be an uphill build right from the start plus I ended up being away for over 8 weeks of the build. The real hard part of the build was the Recon door, nobody turns out a 1/48th conversion kit, and the only conversion kit available anywhere is an old rough one in 1/72nd. I ended up using this for some of the design work. Actual detailed draws are just about non-existent as well (though someone here is bound to have some). So I had to make the door from scratch then cast it, for something so small there’s around 40 hours work in it. That part was easy! The rest of the build was such a pain in the a#*e! Anyone following could attest to my constant ranting about the model. If Hobby Boos had just spent 30 minutes of research on the internet they could have fixed the majority of issues with the model! Unfortunately in the end I just fell out of love with this build and the model, a bit heartbreaking actually for something I had really wanted to do. I ended up just going through the motions to finish her and get her off the bench! It was a hard build and definitely not some of my best work…though the Recon door did turn out quite nicely. Please Tamiya release a good 1/48th scale one….I now have a door for it!!!!! Thanks for looking and please enjoy, comments welcome, you can be a savage as you wish!

Hi all, I post a few pics of one of my last builds. It is the Tamiya A6M3 model 22 kit in quarter scale. I build it from the box using one of the kit schemes and decals. The paints are the new Tamiya IJN colors that were released with their 1/32 scale Zero kit. The only addition is adding rivets using a riveting wheel. The weathering is done with inks, pigments and Mig Ammo washes. P1050129 Have a good day, I hope you will like it, Christian.

Well a small update I have fitted the anchor chains and painted them using MR metal coat dark iron bit of a pain threading them through but got them done in the end And some work done on the boat deck this is the fiddly bit all the small deck fittings Need to do some straightening up with the rails as caught them when fitting some other bits but should be OK just me being heavy handed beefy

I finally finished something, and it's not even vacation time yet! This model was started a long time ago, and back then it was the first short run kit that I've ever attempted. Due to reasons it stalled at 25% done, but after all work on a Beaufighter during the autumn I got the mojo back to do something about this one. I had a fun time with the gun throughs and the cooling fans, but in the end they do look quite nice! Not so much with the rocket rails though :-( Anyway, here are the pictures (yes I wil cut of the radiowires a little more. I just need to have a steady one first or time the cutting to my heartbeats) Onwards and upwards. One finished is worth two new on the bench and five in the stash right? Here is a link to the WIP: (pictures from photobucket are blocked, but I might put them over to flickr if need be)

Today I finished this 1/72nd Airfix TBD Devastator. I've built it box stock with two exceptions, the addition of masking tape seat belts and a set of Tech Mod aftermarket decals. It's finished as the Battle Of Midway aircraft of Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron, Torpedo Squadron 8, from the USS Hornet. If you're not familiar with the story of the ill fated VT-8 you can read about it here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VT-8 With some care and careful fitting it went together quite well. I paid special attention to the folding wing joints, prepping them for a good fit that would not require filling or sanding when done. By removing the locating pins I was able to build them first in top and bottom halves, taping them to a mirror to maintain perfect flatness and focus solely on getting the wing fold joints as I wanted. I decided to leave the raised rivet detail on the fuselage because I thought it both homage and emphasis of the anachronism that was the Devastator at the beginning of the war. I used Vallejo acrylics for the overall camouflage and Tamiya acrylics for the rest.

The extra (non-painted) crew have had their base coat of Ratskin Flesh: Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr and other bits of the cabin have been assembled: What? The grey seat? That's the special Enigineer's seat fitted for... oh alright, I forgot it - there are two sprues with two seats on each and I only noticed when working through the glueing. Oops! Note also the scraped spars. I've also scraped off all the joins to try to avoid later fit issues. Still not glued to the sides, I'll have access to the full internals for touch ups and weathering.

Thanks Simon - much appreciated Thanks Alex - I think you're right. Rats A full Blitz required! Thanks VV - and Bill and Keith. I have some of that; Silicon and resin and the Silligum. Bill and Keith will remember my attempts back in January (once I jog their memory). It was during the, er, I have it here somewhere... aha! The Spitfire F. XIV starting here. I've avoided the silicone on this one because it's long and skinny but the silicon stuff might be worth a try - I'll have a go soon. In other news I've done some more on the internals, actually using some glue! (Page 10 and he's just started using glue? Pathetic!) Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr I've just dry fitted the internals in the fuselage to make sure the bits are in the right position while it dries. Tight fit? I should say so. All the paint got scraped off the spars: and is now built up inside: Nice effect, but I'd better pull it out and clean up or the fuselage might not join. More tomorrow, hopefully.

Just a quick test to see if I can make Imgur work for posting images . Seems to work after a fashion , but does anybody know how to resize the image ? John Green Nantwich , Cheshire

The new project is finnished - PzKpfw V Panther Ausf. D . The manufacter offers 2 variants of Pz.Abt. 52, operation "Citadel". But my choice are different models, always . This command vehicle equipped with three antennas, coded "I 01" of Maj. Siver's 1 Battalion, 15th Panzer Regiment, 11th Panzer Division; Ukraine, late 1943. Paints -Tamiya. Weathering - AK-interactive, Ammo. Pigments - Choma. Thanks for watching! Konstantin

Hi gentlemens!) My new job. Paints - Tamiya. Some weathering: rust - Choma pigments. Thanks for watching!) Konstantin

Some time ago I've decided to make models of all helicopters from the "Crow" program. Here is AH-64 Apache. Set is Academy, scale 1/48. I'll never buy Academykit again. An extremely vague instruction, tragic decals, form marks everywhere. Fit is not better. I'd be better buying a Italeri set. Polish markings, of course. Painting is Mr. Hobby and Tamiya. Weathering was dome using AK and Tamiya fluids.

Hi, I've had this on the go for a while and finally got it finished today, it's the MPM kit of the PR10. Nothing wrong with the kit to cause a slow build just work getting in the way of good modelling time. The PR10 was a hybrid Meteor as it had an F8 fuselage but an F4 tail, with a long span wing and of course the camera nose. VS975 served only with 541 Squadron based in Germany from 1951 until it was scrapped in 1958. It was originally camouflaged and had the earlier part metal canopy. That makes 23 Meteors completed now. Thanks for looking. Steve

That's the rigging done and railing finished,just the radar on the mast,ships boats and crew to fit,also trying a new link,instead of Photobucket,if this works,I will change over to imgur and keep PB for a year.to keep those links,for the photo's,I do have photo my ships on the gallery of Modelwarships,so not is lost.here goes.

stevenz - it is clear we do not want your money..., we want ALL your money... :-)

First model with interior. Lots of work, and mods inside as interior isn't the Grant one, just Lee. I fitted the metal barrels and Bronco tracks.

Hi all! It's been an absolute age since I last built a model kit, but finally finished this: Let me know what you guys think! I'm not 100% sure I mixed the matt varnish properly as the finish seems to be a bit too glossy for my liking . . but overall i'm happy with it. Thanks for looking!

A fit of over-enthusiasm a couple of years ago suggested it'd be a good idea to put together a diorama depicting a typical Jagdwaffe camouflaged revetment somewhere in the Calais area of N France as a base for one of my 1:48 scale Bf 109s. How difficult could it be? Now, I have some idea of the skill and patience some of you more seasoned diorama buffs have put into the evocative creations I've seen on these pages and on other sites, and I envy the results you've achieved. Anyway, here's the end result of my pedestrian labours. I started with an idea stimulated by a series of pics from John Vasco's "Bombsights over England" book, using the interesting wooden framework that enclosed the sheltered and camouflaged working area for the Bf 109 Jabos that formed the 3rd Staffel of the innovative fighter-bomber group, Erprobungsgruppe 210. This relatively small unit probably caused a disproportionate amount of disruption to the air defence of Britain, more often than not being ignored by RAF Group controllers who concentrated their attention on incoming formations of slower medium bombers. Using Bf 110s and Bf 109s as fighter-bombers, often approaching the British coast at low level which sometimes avoided radar contact, the a/c of this group were often mistaken because of their speed simply for another goup of fighters, seen as less dangerous than the Dorniers, Heinkels and Junkers that made up the Luftwaffe's bomber force. Size became a bit of a constraint since the wingspan of the Bf 109 was the principal factor, around which all the other elements had to fit. My first idea was a Bf 109 E-4/B undergoing its pre-op preparation with a group of blackmen busy under the ETC rack with a 250 kg bomb on the trolley that was used to load these, perhaps with a flak emplacement on the open ground outside the pen. However, once I worked out the size involved with odd trees spotted around and the camo netting suitably concealing the sandbagged revetment, it was assuming proportions that I knew would be difficult to store or display. So the idea moved to what was arguably a similar scenario for one of the many fighter units located between Calais and Boulogne during the August/September 1940 period of the BoB. The enclosure itself is made up of panels of T&G roofing, suitably weather faded and stained, with the framework supporting the camo netting made from 3mm square wooden strip painted the same shades. At the rear of the revetment, I decided a sheltered work area made of similar material would be logical, with a work bench, tool rack, duck boards and a sloping ply roof. I experimented with various styles of camo netting with little success but eventually opted for some FoG material that looked about the right scale, even though it wasn't available in a single sheet that would fit the framework. Two sheets and some clumsy needlework later, I had something that, with suitable trimming, gave me the right size, as well as some extra bits that would do to cover the entrance when RAF a/c came snooping. I chose brown netting but sprayed it dark green with oblique schwarzgrun paint stripes to simulate the cloth strips that I think were used on the real thing to break up the outline of the whole struucture. I really struggled with the trees that disguised how these revetments were positioned in the wooded borders of the farmland in N France. I baked some sections of dead rock rose branches from the garden as the basis for the tree trunks and branches and attached various shades of sea moss and leaf scatter with very disappointing results. So much so that I shelved the whole project for months, eventually buying a couple of ready-made trees that just looked much too uniform. I've used both my sad home-made bits and the others in the diorama and fortunately they don't look too bad in the pics but I know they're not great. Various Tamiya gasoline drums, jerry cans, a hand pump and fire extinguisher created the busy nature of the right side (viewed from the front) of the pen, with the left side decorated with FoG ammo crates and folded tarpaulins, with the odd coil of "rope" to attach the tarpaulins over the bright yellow cowling of what was my first Tamiya 1:48 scale version of W Nr 1190, White 4, from the 4th Staffel of JG 26. I've forgotten (the years pass) the source of the 3 figures, but they're metal ones on long mounting pegs that I recall I may have picked up from Hannants . Not really happy with the painting of these but I usually make my models without attendant crew. My old art teacher would probably cringe with a comment - interesting base for improvement!

Only additions are Brassin' bang seat, wheels & Aires VT nozzles. Really good kit, no build issues, definitely will build another one, only dirtier with replaced RAM patches. John

Howdy Folks… After starting a thread a few months back entitled – ‘wheels up or down – what’s your opinion’? I decided it was time to have a go at a ‘wheels up’ aircraft – silly me… This was also a test for a lot of ‘newby’ questions I have been asking – so thanks to all the members that have chipped in along the way with useful suggestions about all the products and techniques used… Airfix – 1/48 Hurricane MKl Halfords Grey Undercoat Aerosol Fillers - Mr Dissolved Putty / Cyano and talc Vallejo Model Air Paints Humbrol Acrylic Gloss Varnish – hand brushed Decals from the Airfix ‘Ready for Battle’ kit Microsol / Microset Tamiya weathering powder set – snow white and soot Winsor and Newton Galleria Matt Varnish – airbrushed When it came to displaying the finished piece I really struggled for a solution – other than hanging it from the ceiling in the office. So I started another thread called – ‘wheels up aircraft - display inspiration PLEASE’ - thanks for all the ideas here too. The base is made from 18mm MDF for weight and the image on the top is a cloudscape that came from an internet wallpaper site. The ‘British Lion’ appeared almost by magic after a google search and seemed so appropriate. I wondered about adding some text and then it came to me - the Churchill quote – what could be better – I just wish I’d remembered to add 1940 to the dateline – DOH… I’m still very much a beginner – so any constructive comments would be appreciated. It has been fun and a brilliant learning experience – so here she is… Thanks for taking the time to have a look - Steve

evening chaps and thank you interesting suggestions, thank you - I have a bit of time to decide so will give it some thought a slight change of pace now, I have finished the canopy though not futured it yet so it is safely put away - it was time to turn over and start finishing up the U/C.. first up is this wierdly shaped bellcrank and the arm it attaches to at the top of the leg (thanks for the pic Tony :)) I started out by making the central spigot from tube as the basis, with a few watch cogs for the gears - the shapes themselves were taken from plans and cut from sheet brass (this turned out a bit of a mistake as will be seen in a minute..).. ..the sheet parts were sheathed in thick card so I could shape the 'I' section profile.. ..and some time later they were pretty much complete... ..the same was done for the arms at the tops of the legs - plus on these, the bearing where the contraptions meet each other was made from thick brass plate.. ..the mistake was forgetting the top wing skin on the model is not scale as it has big brass strengthening plates in it so those complicated bearings needed the bottom arms removing to fit in the wheel well.. I added other details like the uplocks and bits & bobs and these are pretty much ready for paint before I add the doors.. ..when they are in place and the skin is added in this area, the loss of the upper arms shouldn't really be seen so not noticable (apart from me telling you :)) paint next & back soon.. TTFN Peter

I have just deleted all my photos from PB and closed my account. I can wave goodbye to 6 years worth of image linking.... Have started using OneDrive - 5GB is enough for me at the moment, upload is so much quicker than PB, folder structure is easier to do on my PC and linking into threads is a doddle also. I have already updated a couple of my RFI threads, WIP updates are for a very rainy day.....!! Good luck with whatever path you choose guys!! Phil

Progress has been slowed due to the time spent re-posting photos for my Carry on Regardless and Somewhere near Villers Bocage RFI's. I still have to replace the photos for Lost in France, and then of course there's all the photos for their WIP's. I've also run out of the lime green paint I was using for the 'ivy'. So a trip to the 'model train store' is called for. Here's how far I've got with the re-leafing of the porch/end wall though. I have yet to replace the leaves in the area beside the porch. Hopefully this will all be finished later today. TFL Badder

Hi guys, I'm not usually an aircraft builder however I decided to incorporate a diorama into this build and have a go at adding an electric motor to one of the engines, also this is my first attempt at modelling a grass base. I wanted a patchy and worn looking effect where a lot of work seems to have been carried out under the plane and the grass has suffered for it. I hope you like the results.

Morning all, Here's selection of of my images from a superb day at Old Warden on Sunday. When the sun shines, it doesn't get much better Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 'Sally B' 124485/G-BEDF Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bristol Blenheim IF L6739/G-BPIV Aircraft Restoration Company Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Hurricane II P3717/G-HITT Hurricane Heritage Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Hurricane II P3717/G-HITT Hurricane Heritage Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bristol M1C C4918/G-BWJM Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Avro Triplane IV G-ARSG Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Scout AH1 XT626/Q Army Air Corps Historic Flight Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Royal Aircraft Factory BE2e A2943/ZK-TFZ The Vintage Aviator Limited Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Sopwith Triplane N6290/G-BOCK Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr North American TF-51D Mustang 'Miss Velma' G-TFSI Anglia Aircraft Restorations Ltd Duxford 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Sea Hurricane Ib Z7015/G-BTKH Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Polikarpov Po2 28/G-BSSY Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Hurricane I R4118/G-HUPW Hurricane Heritage Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Hurricane II P3717/G-HITT Hurricane Heritage Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Scout AH1 XT626/Q Army Air Corps Historic Flight Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bristol Boxkite G-ASPP Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 'Sally B' 124485/G-BEDF Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Royal Aircraft Factory BE2e A2943/ZK-TFZ The Vintage Aviator Limited Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Demon I K8203/G-BTVE Peter Holloway Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Sea Hurricane Ib Z7015/G-BTKH Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bristol Boxkite G-ASPP Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bristol Blenheim IF L6739/G-BPIV Aircraft Restoration Company Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Hurricane II P3717/G-HITT Hurricane Heritage Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Lysander III V9367/G-AZWT Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bristol M1C C4918/G-BWJM Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Polikarpov Po2 28/G-BSSY Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Tomtit I K1786/G-AFTA Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Royal Aircraft Factory BE2e A2943/ZK-TFZ The Vintage Aviator Limited Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Scout AH1 XT626/Q Army Air Corps Historic Flight Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Avro Triplane IV G-ARSG Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden 02/07/17 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Thanks for looking, hope you enjoy them, Shaun

I'm back, didn't want you to think I had just thrown a hand grenade in and left! Been Canada day weekend over here so been a bit busy! Yes we used to lash down the exhaust blanks, especially if they were left on deck. I shall have a trawl to see if I can find any pictures (although with PB holding out for extortion I don't know how I am going to post them) In short we would take a standard white nylon lashing (the kind Bill used on his wasp) and take the small fixed hook and thread it through the handles on the exhaust blank. it would then be threaded under the two hand holds on top of the engine and then through the hand holds of the other blank. the non adjustable end was attached to the hand hold below the exhaust, the other adjustable end was fitted to the hand under the other exhaust and then graunched so that it would hold them in place. This method worked very well and held the blanks in tight. I even saw a Mk4 crew start up (Aircrewman was marshaling which is why they missed the blanks!) with the blanks lashed in and it wasn't pretty at all! She is coming together very nicely, I do like those blanks! Bob

The best one... 1/72 :-)

Cheers Fella, I've been scratching around looking for good pictures of the area just inside the forward crew door and the smoke float storage rack, so if any of you have a nice pic and your not limited by a certain photo hosting highway man then please throw it up. I'm not much of an aircraft modeller let alone building in 72nd scale so If I'm not getting something right then please let me know The last 72nd scale aircraft I built was probably 35 years ago ! So I'm going to add the PE steps to the door inside, I know the door will be closed but I think you'll see it through the canopy. Some work on the tail end of things, I think Eduard missed a grill on the top though ? I've also added the cloth covers to the aircrew visors, more detail will get added to these two chaps. This is the base that I'll use for this build. Cheers for looking Dan

Sorry for my Czenglish..., Italians destroyed my English as I was working for Italian company for very long time... :-) I will use exhaustive next time. I promise. To the Norwegian Hawk - I am not in the project, working on our 1/48 jets now, so I can not tell A or B. Anyway, I passed your claim to the guys working on it. Unfortunately I am afraid decals are in the process. :-( The first box is dedicated to the Czechs over France, Vasatko, Chabera and I think Perina, not sure. At the moment I will get texts to be incorporated into design, I will inform you. Beard - don´t worry, we did not forget Vc Spitfire. I have references just behind me and when I finish Sukhoi Fitters I am going back to my favourite aircraft and I will start to design camo and decals for "Vc"...

A brief history of the aircraft: On August 29, 1961, the DTIA ordered the design and development of two Mirage III V vertical take-off prototypes to be produced conjointly by Dassault Aviation and Sud-Aviation. The Mirage III V, a Mach 2 aircraft heavier than the Balzac, prefigured the operational version. It had eight Rolls-Royce RB 162-1 lift jets and a Snecma TF 106 with afterburner, the French version of the Pratt&Whitney JTF 10 turbofan. Mirage III V 01, equipped with a TF 104 b turbofan (63.7 kN of thrust with reheat) made its first stationary flight at Melun-Villaroche on February 12, 1965, piloted by René Bigand. A new version of the engine, the TF 106 A3, was mounted in December 19685, for the 15th sortie. The authorities realized that the chosen configuration was more complex and cumbersome than they had expected. At the end of 1965, the Air Force general staff drew up operational requirements for a Mirage III V called 1970 as they foresaw the need by 1970 for a nuclear vehicle to replace the tactical air units’ F 100s and Mirage III Es in cas of a hostile first strike. The aircraft’s first transition from stationary to horizontal flight was made by Jean-Marie Saget on March 24, 1966. Disappointingly, the lateral behavior of the aircraft during the transition phase proved more problematic than on the Balzac. On March 28, 1966, for technical and financial reasons, the Defense Ministry halted the production program, though allowing tests to continue. In June of 1966 NATO in turn abandoned its vertical take-off supersonic aircraft program. Mirage III V 02 fitted with a Snecma TF 306 turbofan made its first flight on June 22, 1966 piloted by Jean-Marie Saget. It was equipped with new air intakes over the lift jets. During its 11th sortie on September 12 it reached Mach 2.03 in level flight. It is the only VTOL aircraft in the world to have broken Mach 2. But on November 28, 1966, at Istres, it was accidentally destroyed during crabbing flight tests, and the program was definitely abandoned. WIP Link: This is the 1/72 Modelsvit Mirage IIIV-01. This is the first time that I have attempted a short run kit and experienced the challenges that this brings. It has been the hardest, most complex and difficult kit that I have ever done. The fact that it was a commission build is the only reason that it was even started let alone finished...!! Every part of the build was a challenge with barely any parts fitting properly - I sometime thought whether it would of been easier to whittle the aircraft out out of a solid block of plastic!! Anyway, it's all done and dusted now and will be heading off to its owner this week. The model has been airbrushed using Vallejo paints, aluminium for the fuselage, various shades of grey for the rest. The decals were superb and went down a treat. No weathering as such was applied as this is a test airframe. All sealed in with Alclad Gloss. I want to dedicate this to my best mate who passed away in March, he too was a keen model maker and aviation enthusiast. He was looking forward to seeing this build completed but I wasn't able to finish it in time. Cheers guys, Phil Thanks for looking, Phil

I'd have replaced them with some meaningless photos of the same thing, just to keep their servers full it's set incredibly high, and I think you're on the nail there. Watch out for server farms going cheap on eBay very soon Well said, and seconded

TonyTiger - thank you for really exhausting reading, based on very good knowledge of the subject... :-) It is my fault that I did not write at the very start, that we will release another P-36 with different fuselage and single row engine.... Thanks to this my fault you had to write your soo long post. Sorry. :-) Here are camouflage schemes for the first boxes to be released. http://www.modelarovo.cz/curtiss-p-36h-75-172-az-model-prehled-kamuflazi/

Postman dropped this off at the weekend from Destiny Models, 1:4 scale Dewey from Silent Running. Had chance to have a quick look through and the casting is very nice, only a few small holes to fill. Edit: Photobucket finally got me so moved to Imgur

Here's a couple of snaps I've just taken of my last remaining one She needs a little TLC.

Hi Folk's 109G10 from the 1/32 Revell kit,based near Prague in 1945

I've had these on the back burner for a while - they're good tinkering projects while main pre-occupations like the Grumman OA-12A Duck I'm building on KG144 as part of a group build and other biggies are drying (or being otherwise uncooperative). The North American T-6G Texan is Valom's kit. Pretty nasty really, I'm afraid. Poor to non-existent fit, shape issues and thick, clunky detail. Compared to the Platz/F-Toys kit (of which I have quite a few) it pales very rapidly in fit, surface detail and everything except decals. BUT it remains cheap, readily available and actually very, very good fun. I also think you can get it to look ballpark like a Texan if you totally ignore the panel lines scribed onto the canopy (which would have you create square side windows that look very off). Pretty much out of the box except for a bit of cockpit detail and the undercarriage doors which are plasticard. Valom's decals are excellent, however. Good, interesting schemes, thin and well behaved - can't ask for more and really raise the kit up a notch. I did mine in markings for aircraft No.74 of the Ecole de Pilotage de l'Armee de l'Air, based at Cognac (Base aérienne 709 Cognac-Châteaubernard) in 1964. I'm happy with it and feel I gave it my best shot without getting out the scriber. I have another in the works, again on the back burner. The Miles M.14 Magister is a conversion from the Anigrand Trailing Wing bonus kit that comes with the Short Shetland (another Titan on my workbench at the moment - more of that soon, I hope). The basic resin kit is quite, er, basic. I filled in the slots in the wing which on the trailing wing aircraft take the booms. I decided quite early on that I wanted to do one of the yellow pre-war ones with an incredibly polished cowling and the glam spats. I thought that could look marvellous in this scale. I sprayed the aircraft with Halfords white primer and then airbrushed with vallejo yellow, then when I was happy with the tone I painted the cowling glossy black. Over this I brushed AK Interactive True Metal, which I know can give a superb natural metal finish. I polished this with a cotton bud. It took several applications but I'm happy with it. I added the IFR hood behind the rear cockpit using small gauge lead wire bent to shape, with the canvas being vallejo filler built up in layers backwards to give the wrinkled effect (not really visible in photos), then painted green, before washing in a darker green to bring out said wrinkles. I also added the curious two-pronged pitot and an exhaust pipe (using more lead wire). This was an absolute joy to build, I have to say. One of those kits where you really look forward to every little bit and every step, no matter how small is somehow hugely satisfying. If I win the lottery, I may buy more Shetlands simply to build more Magisters. I've done it in markings for L8338 of No.30 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School based at RAF Burnaston in 1939. I think. I don't really know but that's my guess based on serial numbers. Doesn't matter hugely - they all got moved around a bit. Decals all spares and Mark1 for the pre-war serials. Thanks for looking!

SAAB B-17C, Danish Army Air Corps (Hærens Flyvertropper), Marivox 1/72 Made this one back in 2012

Its been a while since I posted anything on BM, life has really not been too kind lately, I had heart surgery last year and just as I was getting better I fell and broke my left arm. Since then I have moved house so posting anything has been a challenge. Now a kind member gave me some bits n bobs last year to help me make a Sea King from 771 Squadron based in my home county of Cornwall. I cannot thank that person enough but I've lost the PM's somewhere so, you know who you are and hopefully you'll be happy to see them being put to use. I have the Altmark decals and a Revell radome for a Navy Sea king. Just as another thing, I used to see these grey and red cabs all the time as a kid and my brother went on to serve with 771 Sqn as a diver for a number of years. I'm using the new tool Airfix kit of the RAF HAR3 as the base kit along with the Eduard PE set designed for the HC4 kit. As usual anything that is not right will be put right to make a decent Navy cab. This one will go on a small dio and will be displayed in flight, hence the altered rear wheel and the blades being cut off from the hub. A very long way to go yet, loads of scratch building and refining to do. So this is how far I have pushed the build. More photos later, but it looks like I need to find another photo host as PB is asking for a wad of green stuff from me to continue using them Regards Dan

I finished this model last night. It represents the plane on which Pierre Clostermann was flying. You know everything about the models, there are no problems for work, except for the decals that are terribly fat. I am pleased that it all turned out in the end. Here's the picture. [

That's the velour seat fitted in the Ghia isn't it?

You know what you might try on the wheel bay openings to eliminate the mold marks- cut two discs out of ordinary kitchen foil that will fit the openings and lay them over the ejector pin marks; you can even put in the wrinkles and folds of the canvas covers before gluing them to the roof of the wheel bays. I have used this method and it works well for this purpose as well as for the boots around control columns. Good choice of subject- you can't beat 112 Sq. Tomahawks! Pulling up a chair for this one, as the UK types say- not my scale, but I do love me some Tomahawks in any size! Mike

...and a few of them together: I'm hoping I might get some more done on this project this evening but we'll see. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another...

Hi folk's,finished tonight here she is.I'll wait till Iget a new camera this weekend for the gallery as good as it is my phone doesn't do RFI pic's justice.thank's for all the interest and support especially to Troy and Falkien's for the photos and interest in the project,long may they continue to help us push ourselves that extra mile,I've had to tinker the setting's for the photo which isn't ideal.

Ok guys. This thread is back up and running. I've re pathed the pics to Flickr. PB can kid my neathers. I'll re instate my year of threads over the next few weeks. and with any luck more HP 0/400 John

Airfix Javelin FAW9 64Sqn RAF Binbook 1963 WIP thread with a lack of pictures