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OOB, Kits World squadron markings.

Hello folks , this is the 72nd scale kit from Dragon of the proposed Mistel-5 flying bomb ; proposed because the arado-377 remained only on paper before the war ended . Based on what I read online , the contraption was supposed to take off assembled liked the model - the rolling dolly will be jettisoned once airborne (kind of like the Me-163 ) . The kit is pretty nice and went together without much trouble and here are the pictures - Regards , Basu Roy

To put an end to my FAA model show, I am finishing with the old but still very good kit from Airfix, using Cooper detail resin sets and montex masks! Thanks again my modeller friends for being so encouraging, cheers, jean; DSC_0007 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0001 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0002 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0003 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0004 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0006 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0007 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0008 by jean Barby, sur Flickr

Hi Guys, I didn't finished this on time for the Made in Britain II GB. As I still wanted to show it to you guys I have placed the finished pictures here. Here are the pictures of my finished 1/48 Airfix Gloster Javelin FAW 9. The model was build OOB, exept for some decals. I used some decals from Xtradecal. I used the decals to make a plane from 5 squadron RAFG based at Geilenkirchen, West Germany. Cheers,

Hi peeps, Since I've been redoing all the images in my various BM threads I though I'd add these two old pre-joining BM models: The SEAC Mossie is the Tamiya 1/72 FB Mk VI with, I think, Paragon Designs tropical filters whilst the RAAF one is the Hasegawa Mk VI converted to represent a PR Mk 40 as operating out of the Darwin area in 1944-45. Mike.

Morning guys. Thanks for all the lovely comments. It's been a funny old week, I was in for surgery on Tuesday, I must say general anaesthetic is one of the strangest things, "Just like s couple of Gin and tonics" apparently. Anyway All has gone well and I'm in recovery mode. Needless to say the cat has been slightly neglected. booooo. I have got a little done over the last few days however so I thought I'd share. Remember the engines? Well they got painted Grey and silver. This had to be done first as I want to get everything in place before the base metal under coat. So Flory and some sky grey highlights. Not too bad. the inside of the nacelles got painted and the whole lot got assembled and glued in place. there aren't any locating pins for the main construction fitting to the wing so I eyeballed it. I'm doing the late version so these exhausts got added. Once again no locating pins but with a little gentle (ahem) persuasion the gaps vanished and left quite a good fit. Half got primed yesterday. I'm off work for the next few days so maybe I'll get some work done on the Cat. Thanks for dropping by, I know it's not a lot but as my old man used to say. "Airun is better thun nairun" Take care chums and Happy Modelling. Johnny.

Good evening everyone. For my next project I decided to do something that wasn't bare metal or camo. I had a Monogram F8F in my stash for a long time, but dreaded the thought of building it, since the decals had yellowed terribly. At last I decided to build it. I thought I'd either try to fix the decals (put in sunlight to get it white again), or find replacement decals, or just use some of my many spares and build a "generic" Bearcat without unique markings. But "luck" wasn't on my side. I couldn't get the decals white again, couldn't find replacement decals and couldn't get my head around building a Bearcat with generic markings. After all, this would probably be my first and last Bearcat, since there aren't a lot of them available in 1/72 out there (the only other one I'm aware of is the Revell, which is the same sprues, just different decals). In the end I decided to use the decals as is and see how it turns out. So it turns out the yellowing of the decals aren't terribly visible against a the glossy sea blue paint scheme! Despite the kit's age, I really enjoyed building it - and someone once told me enjoying it is the whole point. Won't win any model-of-the-year awards, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I used Tamiya's AS-8 Navy Blue rattle can spray, and the other bits were brush painted with Humbrol Acrylics. Cheers Jimmy

Ok so this is my third and final upload this week! I've had three kits all at the same stage since May so am on a concerted effort to get them finished. Eduard 1:48 F8 Crusader, VMF235, 'Deaths Angels' , Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam 1968 Very enjoyable kit this one and the Furball decals were very nice indeed and by and large a good fit although the intake took some doing! This is one of Eduards limited edition kits so has the canopy masks and various Brassin parts to go with it. Paints are Tamiya and Gunze and Alclads for the exhaust. Highly recommended Chris

I'm occasionally struck by madness. I think that this was one instance... I decided that the Airfix Bentley could be turned into Tim Birkin's Brooklands car. So far I've: Lengthened the chassis Built a complete new body - from plastic strip over formers Made a new bonnet from aluminium Here's where it is so far. You may recognize a few Airfix parts...

Okay, so time to start my second Group Build build. I bought this Matchbox Lancaster at a model show for $10. It was a fluke buy, as 1/72 is not my normal scale, and it still isn't, but now I have a couple of 1/72 bombers waiting in the wings. Including a B-17 for the upcoming B-17 GB. What's happening to me..? Anyway, I'm starting this with the Matchbox Lancaster. Now, I could just go with that and leave be. Have an 'okay' build at the end and be happy. Apparently, I'm a glutton for a thing called 'Punishment...' Here are the extras... So, that's 2 Quickboost sets, the air intakes for the nacelles and gun barrels. 3 PE sets, covering the cockpit, seatbelts and exterior details. And probably going to have to scratch build some interior for them. 4 resin exhausts sets, originally for the 1/72 P-40, but are near exact match for the Airfix Lancaster that I also have upstairs and should work here, with a little work... And 2 decals sheets, one from Kitsworld (I'm leaning towards Nan) and another from Sky Models for the roundels and numerals. Oh, and Masks for the Airfix kit that I hope may work with this one. We'll see... Not saying this will all be a success, especially the resin intakes, but we'll have a good go at it and see what happens. And yes, for the money spent on the extras, I could have bought another Airfix Lancaster and been happy with that, but then again, this isn't the Airfix Group Build! Is there one, by the way..? Anyway, I'm also going to see about panel-lines. Not many, and I might chicken out as that is what killed my last GB project. I also want to fix the shape of the nacelle inlets under the props, as the opening are too small and could use to be widened somewhat. Probably won't start until Monday, which is my day off this week, along with working on my Tamiya /48 Do335 and the /1000 SBY Dreadnought. We'll see!

So, after a steep learning curve here is my first attempt at foiling. It's the oollllllllldddddddd Revell kit with about 20 bits to it. Foiled with aluminum tape and painted with tamiya / vallejo air acrylics. Decals are Aeromaster Mustangs Forever part 4 (superb by the way - other than the starboard tail serial number which I managed to get stuck to my finger without noticing until an hour later and by that point it was knackered. My own fault). There are a LOT of wrinkles and residue from the ali tape which has spoiled it a bit but on the whole I'm pretty pleased with this. If I do another foil job (distinct possibility!!) I've certainly learned a few lessosn Hope you like.

Done! This was fun little kit and really had no issues that could be surmounted with some careful sanding, a little putty and some imagination. The DH 60G, Amphibious sport plane...One could imagine Agatha Christie being flown about the Lake District, perhaps, or some idle playboy skimming into a loch for a weekend of salmon fishing in a clear stream... The two little touches of the trolly and the mooring line I think are the best bits. Decals were smooth and easy, the painting was easy. Not much that I had to fix, really. This kit fits in the palm of my hand. So small...Happy to have built it and very happy have been included in the GB. Thank you all! Honestly, I am waiting to see the Caudron G4...

Moment I saw this brute of a tank new I had to have it in my display,I used some artistic licence as only 6 were finished at wars end,took my ideas from a magazine article build on this tank.Its another Meng Model do like these kits,again painted in acrylic,oils and pastels.Thanks.

Seen so many great builds of this tanks thought I would have a go,not in the class of many I have seen but this is my best and I'm happy with it,Painted with acrylics weathered with pastels and oils,build was very easy as I have found the Meng kits all this way.Cheers.

#20/2017 After the JG54 G-6, here´s right away the next Hasegawa 109. Like with the other, also here Gunze and Tamiya acrylics used, EZ Line for aerials, plastic rods and lead wire for brake lines and cockpit fuel line, decals from RB Productions. Model shows an a/c of Grupul 7/9 Vanatoare in Piestany in January 1945. At that time Romania was already reached by the Red Army and fought along its side against the Germans. So yellow IDs changed to white and crosses to roundels. DSC_0001 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr

Meanwhile back at the stickers... I noticed that the "2" on the Pete's Hangar decal sheet for the tail number did not match the real aircraft. The overall size of the numbers was a wee bit too small as well. I think this makes a complete sweep for me with this project - I have not used any of the decals provided by the conversion set. Luckily, I downloaded a US Navy stencil font a few months ago, figuring that it would come in handy someday. Well, now is someday! I scaled the size of the tail number as best as I could from photos, and printed them out on the Bare Metal Foil clear decal sheet. Here is a comparison with the decal sheet from the conversion set: You'll notice that I also included the "Hands Off" stencils that were present on the ventral strakes. Try as I did, I could not find any stencils like this in my Magic Box of Misfit Stickers. The rest of the stickers went on without any drama. Once they were dry, a clear finish was applied to the fuselage, and I was finally able to remove the masking tape from the canopy. For placement of the other stencils, I followed the photos I have plus a stencil placement guide from an F-111A stencil sheet from Microscale (I did not use all of these stencils, however). Red stripes were sourced from a variety of decal sheets - the intake warning stripes are made from several pieces. The seals around the canopy sections were made from decal stripes, in this case they are dark grey. That was the closest that I had to try and match the photos. Anyway, I think it will work. The red area where the horizontal tailplanes mount was made from leftover squadron markings in the Tamiya F4D Skyray kit. A little bit of a trim here and there and they assumed a nice airfoil shape. You remember, no doubt, that I decided to take the lazy way out and use decals for the unique vents both on top of the fuselage and on the side right under the wing glove. You can get away with this is 1:72, but I probably wouldn't try it in any larger scales. The sharp-eyed amongst you may notice that it looks like the national insignia on the fuselage sides are a bit "out-of-square." This is by design, as I understand that the documentation states that it be tilted three degrees nose down. Interestingly, the Hasegawa kit has a panel line in this area that is also nose down relative to others nearby. I aligned the decal to that - I didn't actually check to see if it was three degrees, but it is noticeable visually and that's what is important. Now it's off to the wings, horizontal tailplanes, missiles, pylons, gear doors - you know, the other 80% of the job. Cheers, Bill

Keith you can never have too many plans, as long as some of them are cunning Thanks Jaime The rest of the canopy was finished with narrower tape, one of the good things about using it - you can cut varying widths including narrow ones that would be really hard to paint. Thanks John The canopy was horrid with no framing left on the surface. Ho hum. Thanks Big X - it's good stuff as long as you don't try using alcohol based paints (like Tamiya) - they eat the glue! All done now and in the gallery. Not my best model but hey ho... a couple of shots not used there: DSCN0268 by Ced Bufton, on Flickr I can always tell how pleased I am with a model by the number of close ups I take. Not many here then! What's next? Hmmm. I was planning to have a rest from the GB and model the TR.9 that, hopefully, I'm flying in on Tuesday. Sadly the weather forecast looks poor - cloudy. I only have tomorrow to worry about so I may hang my 'yet to be strung' models from the ceiling. Or start the Grumman. I'm off to my sister's in the morning so may not get anything started.

Last time I checked Halley’s comet aint due until 2061 and there aint been any blue moons about lately…but…I have managed to get some paint down and got the cockpit sorted ready to zip up the fuselage. Here are the exhaust post Humbrol gunmetal metalcote and a bit of a buff: I got the IP sorted. A bit fiddly assembling each bezel individually, but hey why do it the easy way when a long-winded fiddly and convoluted way will suffice. Anyroad here it is compared to the kit transfer: The instrument dials received blobs of clear varnish to simulate glass. These damned macros cut you no slack, I’d a gotten away with showing you any flaws if it weren’t for those pesky macros…! Still I’m pleased with it. Finally I assembled the cockpit cage. It was a bit fiddly sticking all those bits n bobs together, but I well chuffed with the result. Pity hardly any of it will be seen, but to use the oft quoted cliché, at least I know it’s there… And here is how it looks sat in the fuselage. To be honest the IP probably sits a little too far forward than it should, although it is fairly well recessed in the real aircraft. Roight up. Now I’ve got that fiddly stuff out the way I can crack on gluing the fuselage together and sticking the wingy bits on. Almost forgotten how to do that, so best check out a bit of Britmodeller. Well pleased with it so far so I’m now off up the pub for a few snifters.

I have that on standby Nigel. That said - a brief 'have-at-you-sir' with a needle on the Humbrol stuff earlier showed it quite flake-less and leaving good definition in the jabbed area. Apologies for technical jargon... Oo-err Keith. So that was why the plastic felt a bit 'tacky' after I'd wiped it down... Jaime, Ced: Looking this morning at the results of Humbrollifying those chasms, I'm quite content with the quality of the finish it gives. I'm pretty sure it was you that fired me a link to the stuff from one of your builds recently Ced - from what I can see your description of its qualities is spot-on. I would say definitely worth a lash on jobs such as this Johnny. I have to say I've taken to it with the same enthusiasm I have for Milliput. Both products are a permanent fixture on the bench now. Prime Time ...but first a bit of air. Or rather the compressed air flasks for the rear of the motor room. Out with the lathe therefore: ...and after a quick spin with some scrap runner: These only need to be rounded-off one end as the rear portions are well buried away in the 'tail' of the motor room so it's simpler just to do these as a single piece and then cut it in two. Ready to fit into their supporting framework: The framework itself is cannibalized from my first abortive attempt at building the panels that go down the centre of the engine room: I tend never throw such duds away due to frequently finding them a good basis to scratch up other details from later on. Glued into diagonal alignment and some scrap brass nozzles added: Plus airlines (these will be bent into their final shape to climb up the motor room when they're eventually fixed in situ): Here's them tacked into place briefly to show you the eventual placement in relation to other details: Now. There's a few other things to build yet, like the motor room doors, the internal access ladder leading up to it and so forth, but I'm itching to see what the internal look like so far under a blast of primer. So. Shedward! Hearing a rustle in the elder tree by the shed door confirmed that I was under observation: That's Big Ginge, one of our owners. It's a rare occasion that she isn't outside checking what we're doing - no wonder they used to refer to these charming beasts as 'familiars'... After a good dose of snirtling, the Grey Platter is served: The overcast daylight was perfect for shooting outside so I just took a bunch of shots whilst this was drying in the breeze: No, I haven't been rigging an intercom around the pilot's seat - them's cobwebs: Motor room port side: Air flasks and rear gunner/voyeur's chair: More on that blinkin' chair in a moment. Cockpit and radio room starboard side: Radiators: It was getting windy so I adjourned to the kitchen for a few last shots. Fuselage fuel tanks: At this point inn the proceedings I noticed there was a bit missing - sure enough the final strong gust that had inspired the move indoors has blown the rear gunners seat off of the blob of White Tak it was mounted on. Bear in mind that it is small and grey and had dropped onto a path of grey gravel of approximately the same size, and you can imagine the sense of futility with which I went back out to look for it. The Gods must have been in a good mood because the first thing I spied, sitting up on four legs slap-bang in the middle of the path was: That's not gonna happen every time... There's the odd patch here and there that I missed in the rather dim conditions of the shed, but otherwise looking pretty decent at this stage: One of the things I'm pleased with is the leather-effect of the seats. I was a little worried tbh that the vacform textures would turn out a little exaggerated relief-wise, but in fact they seem to have settled in nicely under the primer and will hopefully remain that way once colour is added. A busy session but satisfying to get something primer after a month or so of building! Slapping on some RLM02 may be delayed however as my (uber-cheap Sino-clone) airbrush seems to have committed a form of anti-seppuku i.e., nothing is being disgorged. Well, there's air, but no paint. I've stripped the whole thing down into its component parts, cleaning and checking everything so it is not blocked with gunge or the like. Whilst both needles I have for it are as straight as a die, once you push them through to the front of the airbrush they are both wedged up toward the top of the front orifice in an identical fashion, which seems to be effectively blocking-off the flow of paint into the airstream. I suspect it is just the cheapness of the internal components (that align the needle within the body) that have become distorted enough through use to cause this. I'll have a look at replacing the internal O-ring in the alignment mechanism to see if that's worn, but my sense is it is one of the metal components causing the grief. I shall check out prices on a few 'proper' models later today but the timing is unfortunate as there's a run of family birthdays over the next month eating up any spare spondoolicks. Guess I used up all my luck earlier on finding the unfindable chair. Tony

Top of the fuselage went on pretty well. Fit wasn't perfect, but was pretty good. I've now got just about everything else apart from the engine and prop assembled. It was all more or less trouble free - the nose piece of the front top decking stood a little proud of the fuselage below it, so needed a bit of sanding down, but that was the only complication. Now pretty much ready to paint, so will start masking tomorrow. @stever219 the anchor winch wasn't a problem - it slotted into place perfectly.

Thanks Johnny - not quite done yet Thanks Keith - nice to see your plans - you can never have too many Spitfires Last thing is the canopy frame. Out with the Filmoplast. I cleaned the glass block with IPA and then stuck the film to that and painted it: Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr Later (too late, really) I applied the four main vertical frames: Must get some sleep now. More tomorrow

Ah that Muromets. You had a flying palace full of detail there to contend with iirc Ian! Thanks for that Johnny. Like an idiot I just spent a minute or so thinking: 'I've never heard of a plane called a Schmitt, let alone seen Johnny making one on the forum.' I really need to get some brain-oil... My thanks for that Martian - those words mean a lot. A wave of the lace hankie to you dear man! Brilliant! Just love that kind of acquisitive model-building - what a clever idea. I think in this case that ribbing would be on the chunky side for the Dornier rads, but I'm going to keep secrete that in the memory banks for future usage. Ta for that reference. I saw a very nice foil seal on a jar of coffee recently in the canteen at work that had a perfect soundproofing quilted pattern for a 1/48 build. Damned if I can remember the blasted make of the coffee. I'll have to ask. Not that I make things in 1/48 of course... Ta for that Nigel. I suspect there will be fun building those thin radiator door arms, but that'll get worried about at a later date. Rotter! Just you wait til I fill it with scale coolant... Thanks for those good wishes btw Keith - much appreicated. Trench Warfare Here's a thing: Shades of the Italeri Sunderland - there's no overlooking the fact that this beast has a particularly butch grid of panel lines to contend with is there? In the photo above I'd just carved off some raised lines curving around the base of the gondola - intended to be the handrail running around this region but another instance of Matchbox having a bash at projecting what are raised parts down onto a flat surface. I reckon later we can do something more useful with some thin brass tube. For now though, I just want to get rid of them thar troughs. I'd a vague notion of having bought something especially for this job some weeks ago but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was, so against my better judgement I thought I'd flood the seams with Mr. Surfacer: Having waited for that to dry the results were disappointing to say the least, so I swabbed all that back off with some cellulose thinner and cotton buds, tossed the Mr.S into the bin, and had a proper rummage around in the various containers now strewn across the bench.Tucked away in a padded envelope that I'd actually forgotten to open was some Humbrol model filler that iirc @CedB had mentioned many moons ago, and which I'd decided to trial. Happy Days: Having liberally pressed that into all the seams with a scalpel blade, once dried it was out with the Pound Shop ladies' nail files hugely expensive and manly sanding sticks for a vigorous reduction: The nice things about these cheapie jobs is being able to cut thinner strips off of them to get into narrower curved parts without the feeling that you're slicing up an expensive piece of gear. Even by this early stage I was hugely impressed by the quality of the Humbrol stuff for such a filling task, so Humbrol shareholders can 'anticipate a healthy dividend going forward' as they say in that makey-up biz-speak... After a first pass with the sanding sticks, I hauled out my homebrew Micromesh sticks and some smaller scraps to get into the awkward smaller bits: After 15 mins of TLC with these, the motor room was nice and smooth again: Together: Never having used Humbrol filler before, I'll be interested (to put it mildly!) to see how that takes a scribing line when I redo the panel lines later - to whit I've smeared some onto an old Schmitt (© @The Spadgent) wing as amule to have a dig around in the Humbrol stuff with various scribing implements. Utterly necessary last thing you understand to pop that up on the fuselage for a...err..well I just fancied a look at progress to be quite honest: Is Dornieresque a thing? Night all. Tony

My very first try on WWI subject/Biplane - It wasn't that hard ( as I expected) to be honest I really enjoyed this build!

Hi, Next odd German - Messerschmitt Me 321 B-1. Winter camo from Crimea (EDIT: according one source, accordingly to another from Smolensk area), 1943. Configuration - almost ready for take off. The W6+SW - decals from box, but in box the summer scheme is presented. Modification of kit is in front wheels, which in kit are single and on photos they double and in bottom of fuselage (which is flat in model). I thought, that I will give some lead to nose, but I measured it and it should be about 330 g. I quit, since it will perhaps required many enforcement of whole model and especially wheels. Comments welcome and regards Jerzy-Wojtek

Finished at last! My Wingnut Wings 1/32 Bristol F.2b Fighter, converted into a Sunbeam Arab-engined version and painted in the colours of 37 Training Depot Station, RAF Yatesbury December 1918. Build progress in the WIP section. The model is a combination of the WNW kit, with various scratch-built bits to turn it from a graceful V12 Falcon-engined machine into a pug-nosed V8 Arab boneshaker. Scratch-built parts: - Sunbeam Arab engine & cowlings - Exhaust headers & exhaust pipes; associated brackets etc - Trailing aerial - Gun camera - Spent shell case container - Reversed propeller rotation (modified kit part) Hardware: Taurus Models: - M0002 0.35mm Round Head Screws - M0003 0.42mm Round Head Screws - M0044 Wingnuts with Threaded Rods - M0510 0.9mm Bolts with Hex Nuts Bob’s Buckles (rigging): - 0.5 OD x 2.5mm tube - 1/32 eyelets Uschi van der Rosten (rigging): - Item Code 4005 (UvdR-3 Standard) 0.005 OD “Rig That Thing” Elastic Rigging Paint: Mr Color acrylic: various Decals: Ventura Decals: - VA 4898: RAF and Commonwealth 1919-1939 serials. 8" b&w with white outline. - VA3279: RAF and RAAF 8” Serial Letters white

So while I was doing the weathering with those washes, the plane was growing on me again and I was trying to think how to smooth out the finish. As mentioned in previous post thats when I remembered I had enamel alclad clears in the drawer. These should smooth out better rather than have the risk of ‘tearing’ an acrylic varnish when sanding. So it had several dryish dusting type coats of flat, probably more to build up the surface. Ended up being quite rough and matt, sucking all the light in to help hide the flaws in the acrylic varnish underneath it. Plus it seemed there was enough material built up over those blisters and bubbles to allow some sanding too. Flat clear on, two angles. This below is the most sheen I could catch with the surface. Then it was out with the 4k micromesh, and it had a good sanding all over, ended up cutting right through on each side next to cockpit on some bad blisters. Overall looks quite windswept from the sanding. So then it was time to break out the colourcoats again and do some touch ups over the damage shown above. I got the RLM81 out too and did some spot repairs to hide some of the smaller blisters over that colour, and also to make it more brown as where I had ‘faded’ it a bit too much with some shading at the end of the main paintjob it had gone rather pink. Damage now touched in with my 0.2mm needle. So now it had a very inconsistent finish, which for a beat up old plane looked quite cool, with matt ‘streaked’ paint from the sanding of the varnish and the fresh satin touch ups. But seeing as its a late war plane and a small scale I wanted a more uniform finish. So it was out with the alclad semi-matt to level it all off and give it the slightest sheen to look like a metal surface. I think dead flat luftwaffe planes look boring. As it stands now in its semi matt coat. I’m back in love with it (gay!!!) Will leave it to cure (it’s probably got half a mm of enamel varnish on it!) for a few days in airing cupboard over the weekend for final assy early next week. Thanks for looking (and your patience!)

Now that the Lancia D50 is put to bed and I've done a few maintenance jobs on some old models I find myself with a clear bench and a hankering to do a 250F ... the Fangio car from the '57 German Grand Prix. To that end I've collected many pictures from Google showing the car at the event and as it stands today. Wasn't able to find any proper drawings that looked correct enough but I did find a couple of drawings ... a plan and a profile view which unfortunately don't agree in all details!! Overall length and wheelbases do agree so that's something! I learned that the wheelbase is identical at 89.6" to the Lancia D50 I built so I've scaled these drawings to that size. I was surprised to see how short the D50 is compared to the Maser! I'll be shaping this one from my preferred material ... Renshape. I've sawn my block into 4 segments lengthwise and blackened one surface on each before glueing all 4 together again. This gives an always-visible centre line and mid-ships horizontal reference lines. Next I glued paper drawings to the block and band-sawed the outer dimensions right to the lines. Now that the profile and plan views are cut to size it's a fairly easy job to round the body to these lines. Here's where the pictures resume! You can see the reference lines I'm talking about here. Openings roughed out for the suspensions. Soldered up some brass sheet to create the windshield support. Started on the exhaust pipes. Making these from steel rod that's bent, filed to tapers and silver-soldered. Quite a complex pair of manifolds and they overlap each other in an odd way. Fabricated the next "collector" pipe from tubing I salvaged from some telescoping device ... forget what it did. All joined up. I didn't have any tubing of the right size for the main pipe but I had a remnant of solid brass rod that was perfect ... just needed drilling out at the tail end. Fits like a glove. Moving on to the front wheels next. Turned a "tire" from Renshape and the outer part of the wheel rim from aluminium rod. I won't cover the fabrication of my spoke wheels here as I did cover it extensively in the Lancia D50 build. What is quite different for the 250F is the finning on the front brake drums ... not a collection of concentric fins as on the D50 but sets of 3 "fins" ... like this. Had to think hard on how to fabricate these and decided to machine a drum with the shape of the fins on the perimeter then I cut them by hand using a Dremel with a cutting disk. The "blank" areas between the fins I just filed out. I'm happy enough with this but it still needs some polishing up. Next is a backing plate for the brake drum onto which the suspension will attach. This plate has a series of horizontal cooling fins that I haven't yet decided how to make. I did get the disk prepared though. I went through my parts bin and selected a "chassis" from a salvaged computer hard drive. I've mentioned this source before and I like them because it's cast aluminium and a reasonably soft alloy. Found a section that had enough thickness and hacksawed it out ... Got it into my chuck and turned it down leaving a small projection in the middle for the suspension king-pin to attach to. I've cut a perfect recess into some scrap Renshape and glued it in. I'm about to try a variety of bits in my Dremel to cut the fins out ... stay tuned. Hope you find this somewhat interesting! Frank

I sometimes feel quite reluctant to paint any further after added the primer Jaime. I like that monotone grey look sometimes - a bit like the CAD renders you see Airfix publishing for their new releases: A thousand pardons Mr. Tiger for the incorrect attribution. It is a splendid substance and takes a scribe very nicely indeed: I scratched a few 'test-Oghams' in both directions over that filled flap line above and think that it will present a do-able route for the motor room externals later. Now then dear fellow; simply putting into practice the kinds of skills I've admired and learned from in your own work - Karel Doorman especially! Ta for that Bill. The old lady seems to have responded to treatment and was necking porridge like a good 'un there yesterday, so Mrs. B has been in much better spirits today as a consequence. Mighty Zeus! I heard thunderbolts rend the air! Whilst the skills may be admirable, plastic strippergrams of that kind tend to produce the same empty feeling that a flawlessly executed piece of music can leave you with if the feeling is absent from the playing. In words that the immortal Brian Blessed used about people, in aeronautical terms I like my aircraft to look like they shag, sweat and doo-doo... The rather fey forum-censoring software will no doubt render that last bit as 'cormorant, perspire and void'.... I'd failed to notice that significant detail Jerzy! Thanks - that is invaluable. I'll have a look at that engine issue you mention also... Every modeller has an inner woman bursting to get out whenever modelling supplies are to the fore Tomo! Thanks for the kind words all. Cheesed-off earlier at discovering the airbrush had put the kybosh on any immediate paint plans. I kind of fiddled desultorily with building a recess into the fuselage at the back of the rear gun position whilst pondering what to do: There's a kind of lozenge shaped box to go in that which acts as some kind of regulating mechanism for the rotation of the 'Scarff'-like dial that the MG 15 is mounted onto, but I was distracted by the brush issue so didn't get any further than that. In the end I decided stop moping, raid the savings and order an Iwata. Having gotten through two cheapo airbrushes in the past 18 months I figured it was time to buy a grownups tool - it's only got to come across from Scotland so I'm hoping that it will arrive by the end of next week. In the meantime I can turn my deliberations to some of the externals - the wings could do with a dose Humbrolifilling down the panel lines, and a spot of deflection on ailerons and empennage may be on the cards n'est-ce pas? There. All turned out nice again. Tony

My latest completion is Airfix's 1/72 Ju52-3M. As I said in the WiP thread here, this is the 2011 release (new decals) of the 1964 tooling. I'm quite a fan of old Airfix. I guess this is a bit of nostalgia, like 'the railways' and old cars. Good memories, not necessarily good quality. The moulds are obviously showing their age but, with a bit of TLC, they 'brush up' well. OOB with Vallejo Model Air over Stynylrez white primer (to save masking the tail band). Filmoplast tape for the canopy frame. W&N matt varnish. Just make sure you put the 'no step', transfers on the end of the flaps. Just saying. DSCN0266 by Ced Bufton, on Flickr

Cough. Tum - te - tum di diddly hmmm hmmm la la la laaaa. Cough. Ahem: et seq. The interior looks really good now Tony I hope you can treat yourself to a nice new airbrush; there are some good ones around. I hope Mrs. B’s Mum is improving. Best regards TonyT (currently filling his panel lines with cottage cheese )

To add to the data taken directly from the original NAA Technical documentation, diagrams showing key dimensions and fuselage reference line for: P-51 / Mustang Mk.IA P51 Dimensions by Colin Ford, on Flickr A-36 A36 Dimensions by Colin Ford, on Flickr P-51A / Mustang Mk.II P51A Dimensions by Colin Ford, on Flickr P-51B/C - Mustang Mk.III P51B:C Dimensions by Colin Ford, on Flickr A bit more to add to the discussion is that when you look at the part or component or design numbers for the components of the main fuselage group, that is the fuselage section shown in the earlier diagrams from firewall back to tail, the majority still reflect the original Mustang Mk.I design on thru the P-51, P-51A and A-36. The P-51B/C still has a large number of components and design elements, a very high percentage, that still reflect the original Mustang Mk.I design in the main fuselage group. A lot of the changes in part/component/design numbers is reflected in smaller components or implementation of design changes to accommodate later ancilliary equipment or improvements arising from in service use. A number of the changes in the P-51B/C in the main fuselage group is in the modifications to accommodate the change in wing position, the different radiator/cooling arrangements - which includes the 'joggle' and relocation of ancillary equipment brought about by the change in engine and in service use.

Until they arrive,here is an off the shelf solution

zZUMmmm, zZUMmmm zZUMmmm zZUMmmm zZUMmmm (uneven hum of unsynchronised engines approaching) – hear that? It must be a one of theirs! “…Messerschmitt!...’Einkel!…. Messerschmitt!...No, it aint, it’s an ’Einkel!….”argue two small boys, knee deep in the river below (remember the scene from the film B of B?) Dornier Pilot “Teufel - ve are lost! That looks like the wrong river down there. Where is the iconic Forth Rail Bridge (mit der painters) that we were told about? I can only see a bridge which looks like it has taken two attempts to build.” Dornier Co-pilot “Kapitan, the compass is kaput, not that I can see much of it from this new seat position! Or through these big goggles!” Controller “Bandit, Angels Zero, over the River Tay. Johnny, you are nearest – can you please intercept?” JE-J “What?? I’m at 25,000 feet over the Channel! Where did you learn your Geography?” Controller “Sorry Johnny. The only other aircraft available is a ‘Lizzie’ and he has been out all night on a spy mission. You’re all we’ve got. From your height, you should be able to see him from there?” JE-J “OK Control, but it will leave me short on fuel and I don’t know how much ammo I’ve got left…….I see him….going down now………..(VVvvvvrrrrrrooooooowwwmm …..sound of loud Merlin) ……attacking from port…..BRP…..!?!?” Dornier Observer “Achtung, Spitfeur!!” Dornier Pilot “Hans, your aircraft recognition is excellent but now the guns man!!” Dornier Top Gunner “Kapitan, I can’t move – I’m stuck to the seat and can’t reach the turret or the guns!!” Dornier lower gunner “Kapitan, I can reach my gun but you are flying too low – the Englander is above us!!” Dornier Pilot “Donner und Blitzen! No compass and no guns! Men, if we make it, it is half a bottle of beer for each!” (my favourite line from ‘Das Boot’). Wry smiles from the German Crew, each thinking of a gallon of Alt Bier or even some of the local Tennants ‘Export’. JE-J “Blast! Out of ammo. I might have got one shot away though! He’s not dropping bombs and he’s not firing back – let’s take a closer look!” Dornier Co-pilot “Verdammit, we are hit! A small .303 bullet has bounced off our under-deck armour plate and hit the compass – but it is working again!” Dornier Top Gunner “Mein Gott, the Spitfire is flying alongside – look at that shape! Now he is looping over the top and back again!” JE-J I thought that victory roll would impress them. Super splinter camouflage job, though. Love the greens and those swastikas on the tail really make that Dornier look the business! Dornier pilot This reconnaissance mission is a washout! I’m waggling my wings to let the Englander know that we are packing up out of it! Look at that speed……I wish we had Spitfires in our squadron! That’s funny, he has a green maple leaf under the cockpit – the ones I’ve seen before are red – I wonder why? Drop long range fuel tanks and set course for home! Dornier Co-pilot Jawohl Kapitan! Tanks away! Heading East! Two small boys, still knee deep in the river below “Fuel tanks… mini-subs!…fuel tanks… mini-subs!” Dornier Top Gunner Next stop Norway! Wait until I get my hands on our ground crew – the modifications to the flight deck are great but the paint still wasn’t dry when we climbed in. It must have been done by Helpie Helperson, the world’s most helpful Norwegian (On the intercom…”Hello!”) – Not now, Helpie! (That Plusnet radio ad always has me in stiches!) Dornier Co-pilot Kapitan, I need steak and Guinness but since there is a war on, I’ll settle for Zigeuner Schnitzel mit Pommes und Mayo! Dornier crew (in unison) …and a half bottle of Alt Bier!! Controller Bandit moving away. Divert to the nearest landing field in Dundee, Johnny. JE-J Roger, Control. Breaking off…..out of fuel…I see a patch of grass in front of a house down there and there is a boy giving me the thumbs up from a window. Home for tea….what’s on the menu in the frozen North? Controller It may be Wallaces’ ‘Peh’s’ or even Forfar Bridies! JE-J Good egg! I believe I’ll ha’e an ingan ane an’ aw! (Only a Dundonian will understand this!) Controller Eh? You are breaking up, Johnny! Boy at window in 1969 Wooowww!! What are they dad? Dad Let’s check these aircraft recognition cards, son… Boy Whoa…. Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX – that’s got a 1600hp Merlin engine, two 20mm cannons and can do 410mph! It’s squadron letters are ‘JE-J’ so it must be Johnny Johnson (all useful info from the Airfix Header Card!) - but that twin-engined aircraft doesn’t match this card for a Heinkel He111! What is it? Dad It’s a Dornier Do217, known as the ‘Flying Pencil’. I learned that when I was your age! zZUMmmm, zZUMmmm zZUMmmm zZUMmmm zZUMmmm zZUMmmm…... The undercarriage did come down again after all but it looks like the aerial wire took a hit! The whole point of the build was to 're-construct' the photo from 1969 (see the middle of this sequence). Original photo is in the build thread here: The build was great fun, re-creating the picture was a stretch and I got carried away in making up the story but I was really keen to incorporate all the input from Britmodellers from the build thread! Many thanks to all!

I don't normally do Group Builds as I model way too slow to finish on time but I couldn't resist this one. In order to maximise my chances of finishing, I have chosen something relatively simple and hope to keep this OOB (stop laughing in the cheap seats!). On opening the box I discovered that I have a set of aftermarket decals so these may well be making an appearance. I loved this kit as a small Martian so hopefully it will be as much fun second time around. Anyhow box top and contents shots before we get started. Thanks for looking Martian

Its been a while since i built any Matchbox models, and consequently i am looking forward to this a lot! It took a while to decide on a suitable victim from the stash but eventually i came up with this one.... IMG_2525 by G DSC, on Flickr IMG_2528 by G DSC, on Flickr IMG_2526 by G DSC, on Flickr There may be trouble ahead...! IMG_2527 by G DSC, on Flickr Not unfixable..... Look at all that groovy 70's plastic. I wonder how or who decided to use these colours???! This will hopefully be the first of a few entries by me as i do not anticipate it will take long to build. Thanks for lloking, cheers Greg

from http://www.armouredcarriers.com/task-force-57-iceberg-i-british-pacific-fleet can't see a serial or ship codes, so maybe a new replacement which just didn't last long. Don't remember seeing this before, so thought might be of interest, and maybe others can fill in detail, @iang perhaps? Hope of interest T

Hi everybody, This is the latest addition to my collection. It's Airfix's 1/48 Ju-87 old mould. This was a pleasant and relatively trouble-free construction (bar the few rivets lost during sanding that I had to remake). Simple and straightforward, this is a kit I appreciated a lot, and I would choose it again, even over newer productions. It's almost OOP, the only things I added were Eduard belts, and micro-tube for the canons. Painted it with Gunze Mr.Color paints, a charm to spray. Being a fan of small air forces, I chose to dress it with the colours of Royal Bulgarian Air force; for this I used the relevant Kora decals. Hope you like it Dimitris K.

I have been speaking to Paul Fisher and hope to help him out with the kit as a 1/32 Firefly would be a most welcome addition. I also spoke to Steve Long who sent me the most amazing set of reference pics from VX388 so I pretty much have what I need to get cracking Thanks Nick - I will have to have a look at that one - I wish there was one in true NMF, but I think I will find they are all painted... Ah the Tigercat - it is in a holding pattern for now as it needs about 6 moths work to finish it and at the moment the time is not right. I have not forgotten about it and in fact it is how I learned to do what I can now do with scratchbuilding & metalwork so will always be very special to me As far as this model goes though, I am still making PE - its nearly finished now & I have made virtually every component that can be seen inside and most of the panels & hatches outside - this is the interior fret before full layout where everything is attatched to each other... I hope to get these made up next week along with the second fret with all the airframe parts & actually the plan is hopefully some of this can be repurposed for the Fisher kit, though I know Paul plans a number of variants & this is basically everything in a TT Mk5 ..also next week I want to get started on the fuselage, so hope to see things start to take shape then TTFN Peter

Well a big step forward the white primer is on, nothing too major has shown up so it looks like I can get the white top coat on soon John

The primer has really brought it all together and I love the shots of the One Eyed Venusian Steampunk Open Top Bug Walker I can almost see this in one of the old Sci-Fi B movie's from the 50's. I keep forgetting how small these 1/72 things are since I work mainly in 1/48, give or take. It's only when I see them digits o' yours in shot that I think jings crivvens, thon's fair toaty

The 1:72 scale Trumpeter kit of the Su-33UB built in it's prototype markings later after being painted in camouflafe colours. It first flew unpainted. This is one of those aircraft that came at the wrong time, as it roughly coincided with the fall of the Soviet Union. As usual had no issues with building Trumpeter Flankers. Decals are the kit decals. No issues with them. Colours used were Model Master 2038 grey, Model Master 2048 blue and Model Master 1720 blue. Build Progress Photos Su-33UB-62 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr Su-33UB-63 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr Su-33UB-64 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr Su-33UB-65 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr Su-33UB-66 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr

Nicely done Sir! It's this sort of ability to turn a model around that defines a modeller.

EDITED: Replacing murky photos and showing extra progress. Dock plants added in various places along the hedgerow. Also, I used the 'daisy-like' chaff for flowers. Originally, I placed them on the clumps of Woodland Scenics Underbrush, and left them white. I then thought they'd look better yellow, and it was only then that I realised they looked like Marsh Marigolds. If I had planned ahead I would have placed them on clumps made up of the 'ground ivy' leaves as together they would have looked a lot like real Marsh Marigolds. When it comes to adding vegetation to the opposite bank, that's what I will do. I've made more progress than shown: adding a stonework bank support for the hedgerow, and channelling the stream. I bodged this together with those bits of plaster casts I made from the Tamiya Brick Wall Set, way back in this thread. It's a dilapidated wall and will be collapsed in places and hidden behind rushes in others.-I will continue to model the bank support wall and finish off the vegetation which overhangs it before finally fixing it in place. It will be screwed and PVA'd to the underlying baton. TFL Badder

My dear Martian, distressed to hear of the tentacular fracture and sending over some healing vibes. Rest assured that one of your companions has already dealt firmly with the Solent Scene. It will not trouble you again:

Hi All This kit was very cheap and not good Of course It took me alot of time and Puty to build this model CHEER !!

BLACKBURN NA39 Holme on Spalding Moor, 1959 Nostalgia or what? I think I was about 11 or 12 when I first build one of these, having saved my pocket money to find the substantial sum of 4/6 before going into the local Woolies to buy one after school with great excitement. This one was built about 7 or 8 years ago but recently came out for dusting and a photo session. I kept most of the original working features apart from the silly retractable nosewheel (with fixed doors and fixed main gear!) In fact the undercarriage on this one is from the later Airfix Buccaneer S.2 kit. I went a step further and added working airbrakes – Airfix chickened out on this in their kit, presumably because of the complexity. I based the working airbrakes on an article in an old Scale Models magazine which I had intended to scan and post here, but I couldn’t find it! The folding wings lasted a bit longer this time around – back in the early 60s they suffered from too many carrier landings on the HMS Dining Room Table and needed repair after a day or two. Anyway it was enjoyable to build something with a bit of artistic licence for a change rather than bothering about scale and accuracy. Chris

Them! scared the hell out of me when I was about 10 and BBC2 had it on late one night back in the 70s! Perhaps I got imprinted! Note to self: Stop biting fingernails - they can all see. Dammit! Of course.! Even as I was doing it I had an uncomfortable feeling something was amiss. In the past I'd simply swiped Mr.s B's Acetone when she was distracted - looks like I dodged a bullet on that little error...

Hello again. Next up was to try and do something that looks like a Gnome engine. I had a pair of white metal engines from another couple of vacforms, a Bristol Scout and a Moraine-Saulnier parasol monoplane. The Small Stuff website showed that one particular engine was okay for them, but it looked different to those two. The one I needed was 7-cylinder 80hp job, so I downloaded a photo, but used the white metal engine as a rough guide for size. I ended up using 4, 2.5, 1.5, 0.5 and 0.3mm rods. A lot of the inspiration on how to make them came from this topic: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235020968-curtiss-v-8-early-jaguar-radials-two/ The section involved is quite a way down in post No 1. I first trimmed down some 4mm and 2.5mm rod to produce the crankcase. This took quite a few goes as no matter how I cut them, they were never level. This tells me two things: I cannot cut straight, cannot see straight and I need a mitre block (okay that's three things). Anyway, the way I sorted it was to use the pieces that had the squared bottom and then double-sided taped them to a peg, and sanded them flat. I bevelled the uppermost edge to get a bit of a curve, then glued them together. Then I got some 1.5mm rod, cut it into 8 (one spare!) sections of just over 4mm and made a jig to give me a level to sand them down to the require 4mm. I CA'd them hard up against the vertical level, sanded them down successfully, prised them off the jig with tweezers then promptly realised they should have been 3mm! So I did them again, properly... I then drew out a 7 pointed star with my newly bought protractor, and carefully measured out the required angles of 51.5 degrees (I know 7x51.5 = 360.5 but my drawing is not that accurate I glued the crankcase to the plan with some white glue, then added the cylinders trying to be careful and aligning as accurate as possible I think the cylinders should be tapered, but I did leave them as they are. I gave this a good covering of Tamiya Extra Thin Cement and left it overnight to cure. This morning I added little sticky-out bits at the ends of the cylinders from .5mm rod and when set trimmed them with side cutters, then added push rods(?) from .3mm rod, attached initially with PVA then with Tamiya ETC. I eventually used 23 bits of plastic for this. I will know what it is really like when I paint it, hopefully tomorrow. This shows the difference between the two engines, the metal one is from a Bristol Scout, but they used a number of different engines but sadly not the right one for me! Finally, the one with the picture from Small Stuff which I was using as my main guide: I have not tried to show the ribbing on the cylinders, I will see if I can get a streaky effect when I paint them. I will see how it looks, if not there is always Small Stuff to the rescue. Thanks for looking, Ray

Me to! Undershot and touched down on the Findhorn road. Possibly distracted by the spider walking across the model.

I have painted dark metallic grey (mix XF 56/ X1 enamel Tamiya) the ring around this central part. This simple step improves the look of the fastener, closer now from the real one. In the same time, I try the light grey cardboard. Before: here, I used a light blue After: notice the central fastener that seems wider and so much better. Furthermore, this light grey is up to now the best imho to restore not only the red but also the white suit and all colors generally on my PSB.