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Hi again, Part 2 in the ongoing collection... Hopefully lots to come, Spit Mk1 nearly done and the Revell Ju88 has crept onto the bench too The lovely Airfix 1/72 109E... Super kit.. few cock ups but that’s modelling!

After not finishing a flippin' thing last year, I finished my semi-stalled Swedish J-22A in January, and now as part of a dual build of Eduard's new Royal Class boxing of the early Fw.190As, I've finished the European one (option D on the sheet). I added a resin cockpit (A3), bronze gear legs and resin wheelie-pops, and painted her with Gunze paints for the most part, covered with a few coats of the AKAN Flat Varnish, which I'm quite fond of these days Bada-bing! Now I've just got to polish off the Trop (option N on the decal sheet), and you can see both being built up here if you're interested. I could use the encouragement for the Trop, as it's going to be getting a little dio base of a bit of desert hard-standing, while the mechanics jack up the tail to pop off the prop. I've got issues with the base warping, and I've got some of the equipment inbound still, so delays might be the order of the day and I'll need some encouragement! Thanks for watching, and do try the veal

First upload with Village Photos. Any comments appreciated. Thanks for looking

Good evening gents. As I thought not much action over the weekend as Mother’s Day ground everything in the upper room to a hault. I did however manage an hour or two last night. here’s what happened. the IP got weathered and everything began to come together for the internals. the fit of everything is really good, I pegged and taped everything down to fit one side, then glue. our pin up got added. Nothing too racy, sorry guys. We don’t want anything more than a stiff upper lip. It’s guns and turrets next in the instructions but “instructions Shminstruction” that’s my motto. So it’s wings. This bit needs cutting out nurse. and this bit is too sticky out so needs some sanding. But before any of that I can’t resist a rickety dry fit. that’s looking pretty good , it does look a bit gappy but it’s only the hotch potch nature of the dry fit. You can see the little red mark where the window should be in another dimension too. The wing root section is excellent. Tamiya how I’ve missed you. look mum she’s hooooodge !! I then got the PE out for the wing bits. I felt something drop on my foot. Aaaagh nooooo. Phew just some stray blu-tac. Picking it up from ze carpet I found. now then. This is the missing gun from my HP O/400, three builds ago? Either the carpet monster has been sick or I have happened upon a tiny worm hole in space and time. It can go on the frame of things watch my builds with all the other spurious gogs. We must have vacuumed loads since then too??? Madness. Oh well sorry for the digression where were we? Ah yes wings. I read a thread that pointed out about this bit being wrong. now I know I’m not fixing everything but this I’m going to have a go at. I tried to find some pics in my ref book but couldn’t get a good angle. This was the best I could find. looks like my bird. I could see a line but not twin lines like on the kit. Not wanting to damage the fine wing detail I masked the area off and went at it with three grades of Flory stick. Eventually getting here. and with masking off. I wasn’t sure if I’d done the right thing last night but today @isaneng has sent me some wonderful ref shots and I’m glad to say I think I’m headed in the right direction. A BIG thanks for all the great shots, they’re invaluable. Nothing more tonight alas except a dry fit of fuselage side two and a plop on of the canopy. I might use the painted ones for the inside work and mask them to get the outer paint more accurate. Either way the clarity is wonderful and the fit is amazing. Thankyou Tamiya San. The other half is baby sitting for a friend tomorrow night so fingers crossed for some Lancaster goodness. Thanks to you all for rocking along on this epic and crazy build with me. I’m honoured to have you along. Take care friends, until next time. Happy Modelling. Johnny.

Hello mates! This is my Fujimi 1:72 Model of a VF-124 F7U-3 BuNo 129587 D409 built in 1993. I polished the glass and not another one had to bite the dust but me. I never made pictures until today Cheers, Thomas

Finally got round to finishing and photographing the beautiful Airfix 1/72 Stuka. The first in my intended ‘Battle of Britain’ mini collection Thanks for looking in... Guy ps Me109E next, and a Spitfire Mk1 on the bench...

Austin K6 with AMES Radar Type 13/14 Stowed, Type 13 and Type 14 all based up and finished! Small number of kits still available on pre-order if anyone still wants one, PM me for details. ATB Sean

Greetings all , busy couple of modeling weeks. This was the early Revell of Germany Typhoon and there are some inaccuracies related to the real aircraft. But it is still a Typhoon and so.... Despite the aircraft inaccuracy, I like the end result. I wish I could have seen the real thing. I used Uschi powder on the Exhaust as that is now my go-to material for metal surfaces (Small ones) Mostly Out of Box Construction..Actually complete Out of Box...Xtracrylics used for the Green and Brown (Figured British Manufacturer would by good for British colors) Grey was gunze. Decals were from Caracal and they fought me on settling down . End result was hairdryer and Solvaset and victory was mine. Thanks for taking a Look Cheers Bill PS Comments welcome

F3 from 2000 display season. Thanks for looking Sweaty

Thanks all. I have heard of the blown out match trick too, which work well apparently. Well who am to argue with the mighty Liam Neeson....erm see you at Telford Liam. I will be under the Brum IPMS table...gulp... Almost there! First up I got the taill struts in place then started on the undercarriage. Twas a bit fiddly trying to line it up but after much patience and some moderate cussing… It was positioned, then glued in place. I then use a bit of BMF to mask the wheel hubs as there is a little rim where the hub meets the tyre for which masking would be too thick to use. They then got a coat of Tamiya NATO black, as I find the very dark deep grey more realistic of rubber than normal black. And then a little heads up for anyone building the Matchbox / Revell Fury - the undercarriage bracing / rigging wires just / almost glanced the radiator housing. I did read of one poster because who left the wires off because they fouled the radiator. When I referenced my build to the plans I found that my undercarriage size and angle is slightly out. Only very slightly but enough, because when I referenced pictures of the real aircraft the wires do run very close to the rear of the radiator. Anyroad it is barely discernible, except I’ve let the cat out the bag telling you lot….looks like I’m gonna have to bribe you into silence at Telford with loads of beers. Anyhow this is how it looks. The hydraulic pipes got a little touch of Tamiya Rubber Black. Here is the rear with struts and tail skid. And at long last she stands on her own two wheels and little skid. I’ve already added the pitot and venture as you can see. Finally it will be the radio wires and perhaps the odd little touch up, propeller, and that should be it. Until next time…

Thanks John - great minds think alike... Carefully cut down the 'inner edge' of the transfers: ... so it looks as though that'll work. On with the transfers and Deco strong: Easy to line up the back against the doors and the front on the seam line (what's THAT doing there? Ho hum) It's also shown up the fact that the tape is in the wrong place - I'll line that up later.

Since seeing an article in Airfix Magazine in the early 70's on converting the Airfix 1/72 Bf109G-6 into the two seater G-12 and attempting the conversion non too successfully, I've wanted to add both Luftwaffe two seater conversions of Bf109 and Fw190 to my collection. It has taken me 40 odd years to actually get these models built. I collected and stashed away the Falcon vac form conversion, the MPM Fw190S short run kit but just never got round to building them! With the introduction of the excellent Eduard 1/48 Bf109 and Fw190 series, I took a look at the other 109s and 190s in my stash, with the Hasegawa 109s being slighly inaccurate in the fuselage I decided to use a G-4 and a G-6 as donors for conversion. I also decided to use 2 Dragon Fw190s for conversion purposes. With the following results:- All the schemes shown were taken from photos in books or off the net. It is unknown which units these four machines came from! I used a lot of spare parts for these models mostly taken from the large amount of spares Eduard give us in their 109 and 190 kits. A short summary of parts used:- Bf109s :- Eduard wheels,exhausts, Fusion resin spinners/props, Aires and FCM resin interiors (front cockpits), Falcon vacform canopies and rear fairing. Fw190s :- Eduard u/c legs, 2 x cockpits, ailerons, 1 x rudder, MPM resin interior, resin spinners, rear fairings from MPM and Falcon kits. Whilst I can see a fair few flaws in these builds I at least now have fufilled my ambition to add these types to my Luftwaffe collection. Cheers Andy

Hi there Lads and Lasses! I am off to the UK tomorrow but was able to do a quick update before I set off. I haven't done much but its a start to complete the ball turret part of this build. Looking at photos convinced me that the next best thing to scratch build should be the ammo cans that are inside the ball!....they sit just above (and I mean just above) the gunners thighs!....I can see why the ball turret gunners had to be small...there is just no room to move an inch!...no wonder they got cramp!.....lying there in that draughty enclosed space ...dangling under the belly of the B17 with the deafening thunder of the 50 cals a few inches from their ears!....... great respect for them! Scratch building the ammunition cans was a huge task in it self and I hope that they look something like them....I built them from a small block of balsa wood and then covered it with some yogurt pot plastic....just to save some of my plastic card! The rounds were made by cutting teeny pieces of telephone wire and gluing them on a strip of paper. Here is a photo of the can's and some of the ammunition that will be seen before painting..... The rounds were then glued into position and the whole thing was painted...... Then the real tricky part started!......fixing the whole lot into the small ball. I decided a few days ago that the whole idea of this B17G project was mainly to show off all the interior detail....and so I thought that the top of the ball should be open so that when its in the fuselage you can look straight down into the turret as well as looking through the gunners hatch which will be on the outside of the fuselage.....so to that end I cut part of the top off the ball as you will see in the next photos. It took a lot of dry runs to make the cans fit in the ball with the top half on....but managed to do it in the end. Here we have the ammunition cans in the turret minus the top half.... ....and here is what it looks like with the top of the ball temporarily attached... You might notice that only one side of the ammunition cans are painted....this is because a lot of detail will be attached to the un painted side later. So now I am off to UK for a few weeks and will be back to continue this mid April. Thanks as always for looking in and taking a peek! Laters Fozzy

Hi mates, tonight my modelling activity's been a little different from what I've done up to here. I would have expected this to happen in the UK, but things never go the way you think and tonight, in Texas, I met for the first time another member of BM: Ian (Limelypilot). He sent me a PM yesterday and we discovered to be staying 11 min drive from each other (...!!!), so tonight we met for something to eat and a few beers. Here are a few pictures for the event's record!!! It's been a privilege for me and a peasure to discuss about different things and modelling in particular! Unfortunately I'm leaving tomorrow to North Carolina, so I hope to meet Ian again in the Future...hopefully in Telford! Ciao Massimo

Thanks Jim Didn't need much putty on this one, just a couple skinny gaps and air bubbles in the resin. Painted the face, I may add more shadows but I'll wait until I paint the rest of him in case I also need to do some touch ups.

Finally completed, and what an effort! I started this on 1-1-17 intending it to be the build for the year. It was put onto the shelf of doom after 4 months, where it resided having killed any form of mojo. Resurrected in December and the final "push" for completion. Added parts were: Filler. Pavla resin cockpit and seats. Resin intakes and inlet blades (Kits for Cash, thanks!) and made larger intake "bullets". Airwaves wing-fold and airbrakes etch sets. Modelmaster pitot and refuelling probes. More filler. Sanding sticks, and finally, Filler. A kit that fights every step of the way. Fuselage mouldings not lining up, wing mouldings not lining up, decals that seem to have had a one-night-stand with a jellyfish and been "slimed" somehow, etc, etc. I've modified the tail-hook and recess, added a few wires into the main gear wells (really, they are in there), and moved the drop tanks inboard somewhat. airfix seems to want you to have the tank centreline almost underneath the wing hinge line... Remembered to scribe in the canopy track running down the spine behind the cockpit. I also painted the walk lines on the upper surface as it was far easier than using the decals. Some areas are brushed, bigger areas are sprayed. Yes, the intakes are white (only got that message well after the fact) 20180314_112447-1, on Flickr 20180314_112003-1, on Flickr 20180314_111945-1, on Flickr 20180314_112025-1, on Flickr 20180314_112151-1, on Flickr 20180314_112327-1, on Flickr 20180314_112538, on Flickr 20180314_112047-1, on Flickr Hope you enjoy.

Evening all, Thought I'd share a selection of my images from Thursday's thoroughly enjoyable event at Cosford courtesy of Threshold.aero. Another well run event with plenty of lovely aeroplanes on show made for a fine evening. I've particularly enjoyed playing around in post processing, combining techniques I'm learning with my recent forays into landscape photography to add detail and definition to the skies as the sun was going down. Always nice to try and expand the skillset. In the order they were taken... McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG1 XV582 British Phantom Aviation Group RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A XX117/ES Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr British Aerospace Harrier GR3A XZ991 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar T2A XX833 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar T2 XX837 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG1 XV582 British Phantom Aviation Group RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG1 XV582 British Phantom Aviation Group RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A XX119/AI Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar T2A XX833 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr British Aerospace Harrier GR3A XZ991 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG1 XV582 British Phantom Aviation Group RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A XX725 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A XX725 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A XX117/ES Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Wessex HC2 XR498 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar T2A XX833 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Siddeley Harrier T4 (VAAC) XW175 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Hawker Siddeley Harrier T4 (VAAC) XW175 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar T2 ZB615 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG1 XV582 British Phantom Aviation Group RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A XX119/AI Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A XX119/AI Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG1 XV582 British Phantom Aviation Group RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG1 XV582 British Phantom Aviation Group RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr British Aerospace Harrier GR3A XZ991 Royal Air Force RAF Cosford 08/03/18 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Thanks for looking, hopefully they were of some interest Cheers, Shaun

Cliff warned me about the decals from KORA and, while I didn't run into his problem, I was ready for my own. First off, the wing roundels are slightly off register, but so slight as to disappear under the smallest amount of weathering. My issue was that the decals themselves were part of the whole sheet, i.e. one had to cut around a roundel, for instance, or else you would have clear decal film hanging off the edges. Does this make sense? Anyway, it was only a problem on the first roundel. From then on they went on very easily, with no issues. They are very, very thin, however, so caution is the watchword. They snuggled in nicely with the appropriate fluids. Also be warned that once the softener is on them, they tend to dissolve if one attempts to move them. Weathering is the usual suspects and I am upset I forgot to use the chipping medium on the wings and nose. It would looked better. Some dry brushed aluminum to bring out the fuselage stringers, the rib detail. Flory Wash Sand in the needed areas (wheels, undercarriage, etc...) and some Vallejo smoke dry-brushed where it also needed to be. I figure in 1940/41 when this was being used as a trainer, it was already years in obsolescence everywhere else so it was pretty well loved. Still to go, rigging and then the prop to finish it off...tonight, I hope. --John

Thanks Bill Not my parcel though... hopefully I'll get to the Post Office today (sorry!) Keith you're too modest - we all know who the proper modellers are! Thanks Benedikt Yes, a bit dirty - I like it too! I was pleasantly surprised how that white matched the transfers... would it hide the holes in the roundels and the cracks in the side stripe? That's a yes then! (Two photos of the side stripe in case you think I 'managed' the camera angle) All I need to do now is mask this: Er... over the pylons? Straight across the back of the intakes? Oh ha ha ha... I think I can manage to brush paint the flaps and backs of the pylon things without straying too much, but I'm pretty sure it'll be almost impossible really hard to mask. Brush paint then, saves Humbrol acrylic problems in the airbrush. I've made a start: No, the thin tape isn't burnished down. No, I don't know how I'm going to make it look straight over the intake. No, I can't move it back a bit or the other side of the 'point' will be on the lumpy bit on the bottom. Maybe I could use the decals for the pointy fronts? Nightmare... I shall ponder.

Gentlemen, Thank you very much for the words of encouragement, they are much appreciated! We are on the home stretch now, I have painted the insides of the vectral ring assemblies. They will be mounted at the ends of the struts and those little assemblies on each mounting will be added a piece at a time. Meantime, here are a few shots of the current state, something of a dress rehearsal before the final curtain rises. First, an overall shot showing the nose as finished and the top of almost the entire ship. I also wanted to checkout how the lighting looks, so here is a picture of the cockpit area taken in low light. And finally, here is a shot of the engines lit up; if you look carefully you can make out the dim lighting in the cockpit as well. Sorry chaps; the cockpit lights, especially the instrument panels, are quite dim and do not show up hardly at all here. In any case, there will be more to show when I have gotten the vectral rings mounted. That's all for now! Cheers, Jim

Information about the crew and aircraft from http://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/954.html : Photo of the graves, also from http://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/954.html : I started out wanting to build the best possible B.IV in 1/32 scale. I wanted to expose one of the engines and the project started out with trying to come up with a way to fit the Eduard Brassin Merlin intended for the Tamiya IV to HK Models Mosquito. Playing around with the parts I figured that it would be possible to fit the HK Models nose to the Tamiya airframe, which I thought would be the easiest way to incorporate the Brassin Merlin. The Tamiya kit also has more detailed wheel wells, and the rear fuselage is also more accurate (position of lights) - the HK Models fuselage has a generic "late" mark Mosquito. A problem with the HK Models mosquito is the size and the position of the nose windows; they are pointed down whereas they should be symmetrical and horizontal. They should also be a little bigger, but I didn't address that. So the build started with switching the left and right windows to fix the side windows issue. Cockpit was detailed with Profimodeller, Eduard, HK Models and Tamiya parts, as well as some scratchbuilt items. HK Models fuel tanks fitted to Tamiya wing centre section: Eduard Brassin engine: And finished: Thanks for looking & comments and criticism is always welcome! - Elger

Getting more done tonight. does this. look right? They are escape hatches, I’m doing mine like PA474 so I’ll leave them open to the elements.

This is a mixed media kit in resin and white metal. Most parts are done pretty well, but the LandRover itself was poorly cast with mushy detail, resin blobs and was covered with pin holes and voids to the point that it was unusable. A JB LandRover kit served s a donor for a conversion. Much work was done on the front end to change it and many details needed to be added/changed. The wheel wells on the Defender are square and those on the Landrover are round, but to change them would have been nigh on impossible, so I compromised a bit with accuracy. The Kingfisher parts fit the JB body well and required no changes. The wheels were poorly done and were only one sided, so a Dingo kit served as donor. I changed the wheel hubs some to make them look more convincing. My proudest achievement was making the headlight guards. They are each made from two pieces of 1/200 scale PE ship railings.

As indicated in yesterday's update, David has been a complete gentleman from start to finish regarding the Flightpath order and will doubtless be getting my business again in future on account of the excellent service he provides. Case closed please. This surely means you have been actively sourcing 1/48 fluids for the Lancaster? What ARE you planning dear boy! But of course - only duck eggs were harmed in the making of said savouries... Right. Nothing stuck onto the Box again this evening but an extra dimension added to proceedings in that a different kind of box arrived last evening - one containing a Silhouette cutter. It is - as is the case in so many of my acquisitions since joining the forum - entirely the fault of @CedB and his groundbreaking tool-trialling masterclasses.... It comes in a box with little else except a web url from which to download the design software and frothy manual that seemed to have been written by a sub. on Hello! magazine. Being half-asleep after a long and trying week earlier, I pulled off all the packaging, and immediately unscrewing the bottom compartment in order to remove the Bluetooth adapter, followed by 10 minutes cursing and trying to re-fit it after realizing that the adapter actually lives in the compartment and doesn't unpacked and plugged in anywhere else. Some days I just manage to make Mr.Bean look like Solomon... Knowing you'd want some value for money, I had a crack at working out the masking for the cockpit canopy: If you're familiar with vector drawing packages, the Silhouette Studio software contains all of the generic shape, line, and compound tools you'd expect. It would be nice if it would import the likes of .ai or .svg files from Illustrator as TBH, like many packages that come bundled with kit the Silhouette stuff is a bit clunky. I notice though something about it accepting Autocad interchange files though so I must see if this matches any of the Autocad export options from Illustrator as I'd prefer to generate the source artwork in there and just use the Silhouette sofware to export it to the cutter. Don't let me sound a sour note however: the hardware is simple to put together and popped up on the Bluetooth connection straightaway - within 15 minutes of unboxing and footering about I'd cut a first test using one of the samples designs that come bundled with the software. Great stuff! Ced's already given an excellent rundown on the gear over in his recent Spitfire build if you want a more detailed shufti at proceedings but one thing I will single out is the excellent 'Autoblade' function that lets you set the type of material to be cut from a menu in the software, and then the cutter automatically ratchets the blade to the required depth. Clever! As we're masking inside and out, all of the side and front panes can be duplicated and mirrored to form the opposing side of the canopy - simply case of creating a series of squares and triangles for the sides and a parallelogram for the windshield. These last two items I build from lines of the correct lengths before forming them into compound shapes as I couldn't see a way in the Studio software to get visual feedback about line lengths whilst editing points and angles. The more challenging inner and outer curved sections of the roof need to be slightly different dimensions to match the inner and outer radii and to include the necessary distortion resulting from mapping 3D forms (canopy) onto 2D surfaces (masks). For this I resorted to a crude 'brass-rubbing' taken directly from the canopy, scanned into Photoshop and turned into an outline using paths: This was then sent across to the Studio software as a .png to use as a background image to work up some curved outlines for the roof: This was a rush job this evening just to get my eye in on such procedures - I'll have to come back and modify those top sections again for sure. These roof shape was then copied from there and pasted into the master design alongside the windshield and side panes: These will all need revisiting tomorrow to get them accurate but the last thing I did this evening was output a print version to paper: I'll cut these out tomorrow and offer them up to the canopy to see how wide of the mark we are at the moment. For mask cutting I already ordered some Oramask as reccomended by Ced and Giorgio, but I recall that there's a few sheets of Tamiya washi stuff knocking around the bench that I can experiment with in the meantime. More anon chaps. Paddy's day coming up so a long weekend in which to play with the new toy. Take care, Tony

Anyway,.....onto the modelling,......I`ve made a syart! Hasegawa/Eduard; Here is the Hasegawa fuselage all but complete apart from bomb bay racks which I shall add later. As the interior is prettu sparse I have decided to use some of the brass etched fret from the other Eduard kit to make it look a bit better. I know that the rear fuselage was generally silver inside, but most restored aircraft are painted, RAF maritime and SD aircraft also flew at night and may have received a coat of paint for glare reasons,.....but most of all,....I have used a colour rather than silver because silver would reveal just how sparse the interior is,.....without adding scratch built stringers etc; DSCF2709 by Tony OToole, on Flickr DSCF2710 by Tony OToole, on Flickr DSCF2712 by Tony OToole, on Flickr DSCF2711 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Wings; DSCF2720 by Tony OToole, on Flickr And I`ve also been painting props. engines, turrets etc on the sprue ready to assemble later; DSCF2721 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Academy/Eduard; DSCF2713 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Again, as per above the entire fuselage was painted inside,...but the brass etched instrument panel from the etched set was used. The waist windows will be closed on this model so no detail was added; DSCF2714 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Wings,....the cowling nacelles will need lots of filler as they are a poor fit with some plastic missing altogether due to short shot moulds; DSCF2715 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Fins,....these have mould sink holes on the inner faces and so they were filled ready to sand later; DSCF2717 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Engines,....the engine nacelles all built up and painted,......I`m in two minds whether to use the brass etch ignition harness or to save them for the spares box; DSCF2722 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Some more brass left over; DSCF2718 by Tony OToole, on Flickr Also,....another model nearing the finish line,......the Airfix Mitchell, being built as an RAF Mk.II; DSCF2724 by Tony OToole, on Flickr So I have been quite busy,......time to zip up the fuselage halves tonight, Cheers Tony

Finally got there. Spitfire complete.

That's a vicious rumour and I won't stand for it

Thanks for your kind comments chaps. I have fitted the canopy and you were right about the splash of colour Cliff, I think that there will quite a bit on show even after painting. I was not happy with the fuselage shape to the rear of the canopy though, it looked a little flat when viewed in profile, and there was a very slight step at the canopy join. This was probably due to some over zealous seam clean up on my part, I removed the little blade aerial (now put away in a safe place, so you know that I am not going to be able to find that later ) and I added a blob of filler. This was sanded to shape and polished but I expect to have to do some more remedial work once I have primed it up and checked it over again. by John L, on Flickr

Cheers Martian, I appreciate your comment. Not much exciting to report since my last instalment just a few pics of the kit built up. I re-scribed the hatches on the upper nose that were lost through sanding also added the navigation lights. Fixed on the last of the p/e Just got to have a rummage for a gun sight and we'll soon be ready for a splash of paint. Tim.

M4A1 Sherman - “Goldie” 3rd Battalion, 66th Armoured Regiment, 2nd Armoured Regiment Normandy 1944 This was my project for the M3/M4 Sherman, Single Type Group Build down in the Group Build Section. On 9th June 1944 M4A1 Sherman Tank 'Goldie' was part of the 66th Armoured Regiment that landed at Normandy. During the landing it was fitted with wading gear but this was removed shortly after it arrived. A week after arriving the 66th was part of the 2nd Armoured Regiment and took part in the 'Battle of Bloody Gulch' which took place near Carentan. The German forces in the battle were made up from the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment. American forces consisted of the 501st, 502nd and 506th, Parachute Infantry Regiments of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, reinforced by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division of which 'Goldie' was a part. The German forces were decisively defeated during the battle and the American victory led to the linkup of forces from Utah and Omaha beaches, creating a secure area for further American operations. The headquarters of the German forces during the battle was a manor house in the area and the American soldiers nicknamed the road running past the manor "Bloody Gulch" after a place mentioned in a popular western movie. I have modelled my version on how 'Goldie' may have looked travelling across the countryside on it's way towards Carentan. Kit: 1/35 Eduard/Tasca Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel and Railmatch Acrylics all applied by brush Extras: Tank figures set from Dragon , stowage items from AFV CLUB, Tamiya and Dragon, plus Towing Cable wire kindly supplied by @modelling minion Base: MDF, filler, Woodlands Scenics mixed turf and various tufts from Army Painter. The fencing was made from wooden coffee stirrers and the signs are from Matho Models WIP: Here Vignette photos: Here Edit: The idea behind the scene: One of the things that bugged me while I was making this project was that the tank commander figure seemed to be smiling - it just didn't seem to fit with the idea I originally had. So I tried to think of things that might have made him smile on the way to battle over the fields near Carentan. I have made scenes before where I have used road signs to indicate the location and then it dawned on me I could make the scene as if one of the crew had been sent to check out what the road sign on the other side of the fence said - but, rather than reading it and reporting back, he's broken it off and is carrying it back. In my head the crew member next to the Sherman is saying "He said report back...not bring it back!!...." This was a thoroughly enjoyable project made in a great GB. It was the first all Armour GB on Britmodeller and the hosts @Sgt.Squarehead and @Ozzy were very attentive and supportive. Thanks must also go to everyone who took the time to comment or offer advice in my thread. Kind regards, Stix

Hello everyone , this model was built from the short run MPM kit that goes together without much trouble and has nice details . The airplane itself , while attractive , had the unfortunate reputation of being one of the worst from that era. It is said the Italians found them more useful as airfield decoy than in the air . Regards , Basu Roy

I am having one of my time to time turn outs of stuff for decisions to be made and came across the following that might interest some. Loose leaf binder with contents dealing with Aircraft recognition. sample pages... Another copy but with more inside. sample pages of the inside of the paperback shown above. I saved the reccy books from going on a bonfire when ,while in the ATC , we were moving in to new premises the old hut was getting cleared out and a lot of stuff got junked. I saved an Airfix catalogue which is the first edition, loads of RAF Flying Reviews which I don't have any more, the above binders and several scale plans (to 1/72nd) for building recognition models! Hope the above has interested you.

HI all, A quick out of the box build for me, apart from the aftermarket decals from Bingo Decals. The Kinetic kit is a average kit, I did look online for a few builds and sought solace in others experiences. The kit is well detailed with great panel lines etc, the choice of the older four bladed props or the new swept eight blades adds a different slant. The whole kit demands presence in either the folded or spread wings layout, I chose folded if only for the storage, the reality is being an ex-navy engineer, I have a calling to naval, carrier based aviation, UK and US. One thing to note though, and I took advice from one build online, I added a large amount of weight to the nose area, it wasn't enough though so I displayed the model with tail supports. The kit decals didn't do the subject justice so to Bingo decals I went, the Screwtops CAG aircraft looked cool so that was the one for me. With the aircraft built and finished in Mr Color, US Navy grey, it was on with the decals, the large/ extra large screw on the radome was a real worry, but it went on with no problems, settling down with Micro Sol. The rest of the decals posed no problems apart from the nose where the contour of the nose in front of the cockpit did seem to stop the decals following the contours, however after a good bit of soaking and gentle brushing, the decals conformed and in the morning looked just fine. A quick panel wash and on with the wings, props and radome then she was ready to sit with my other US Navy aircraft. FLY NAVY, eat crab. The Woo.

The last of my images from the 64th Fighter Weapons Squadron at Nellis... S/n 74-1558, November 1980. Old Lizard scheme. '558 again, April 1981. New Lizard scheme. 74-1564, April 1981. Flogger scheme 74-1564, May 1981. Flogger scheme with a little touching up of the tail serial number to indicate the 64th FWS. 74-1564, June 1983. Flogger scheme, with a darker tan? 74-1567, February 1981. Snake scheme. '567 again, February 1984. New Lizard pattern with a definitely darker tan. 74-1568, March 1981. Snake scheme. 83-0074 February 1984. Looks like I told a lie to Boman in Part 1 of this series. I was sure I hadn't seen a family model on the line until 1988, yet here they are in 1984. '074 wearing the Flogger scheme. 83-0072, February 1984. Sand scheme 83-0073, February 1984. I haven't been able to identify the camo scheme. That's it for the 64th. I don't seem to have as many for the 65th, probably misfiled someplace. Thanks for looking, Sven

The Tamiya Mosquito was pleasure to build. Great fit and easy construction except the landing gear needed a bit of magic to get the axels correctly aligned I used the Barracuda decals for the basic airframe stencils...these were super and highly recommended. The Israeli Decals were from Decals Carpena Ref 72.30..These could have been better. Mostly weather with pastels to simulate the harsh environment. This is not my best area, mostly accomplished by brush and rubbing into surface Gun-barrels were hollowed out and nose guns were installed as the last thing. Used Uschi Very Fine line for antennas. Silver finish was Alclad High Speed Silver finish. Testors Flat-coat over wooden sections. This is the 5th and last of my Israeli 1/72nd prop aircraft. Thanks for Looking Comments welcome. Bill

I started the Academy B-19 about 20 years ago as a KB-19 tanker, and then about 15 or more years ago decided to use my Cutting Edge Modelworks Kong Jiang-1 Chinese AWACS conversion: I didn't do much to it until mid-2016 when I picked it up again, and then put it to one side until the past few weeks. It's rough and ready, but at least it's now done.

Hello Everyone, This is my latest completed model of the Hellcat Mk.I in Royal Navy colours in 48th scale by Eduard. This is also my first submission on the RFI forum so I hope you like it.

Yes another one !! Airfix ...straight from the box ...what more can you say? Other than this is probably the most colourful Seafire 17. Did see one in a book from this squadron with clipped wings, something I have never seen before ...has any one else ?? Anyway, thanks for looking and please feel free to comment. Dick

I know we were jesting about it, but the pin-up poster has in my mind, transformed the Lanc. I now see a lad, with his mates, and yet totally alone, scared witless but trying to keep it together, and glancing up at her, and hoping he still has some life to live. The poster achieves more , for me, than even that astonishing canopy Your build, Johnny, is now in the realm of Sculpture. I have trouble getting it out of my head. Bravo

In the year 2008 the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in Ireland and said: "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save two of every living thing along with a few good humans." He gave Noah the CAD drawings, saying: "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights." Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard, but no Ark. "Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?" "Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations Approval and I've been arguing with the Fire Brigade about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbours claim that I should have obtained planning permission for building the Ark in my garden because it is development of the site, even though in my view it is a temporary structure. We had to then go to appeal to the An Bord Pleannala for a decision. Then the Department of Transport demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions to clear the passage for the Ark 's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it. Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them and we live in a Site of Special Scientific interest set up in order to protect the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go! When I started gathering the animals, the DSPCA sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space. Then the County Council, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many disabled carpenters I'm supposed to hire for my building team. The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only accredited workers with Ark-building experience. To make matters worse, Customs and Excise seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species. So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark." Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?" "No," said the Lord. "..........the Irish Government beat me to it!"

Thunks. Fankoo. Thanks. The span strip is there. I think. Thanks Ian. I’m really sorry to spoil it but I’m too far along to move the window now, hence the “ in another dimension” thing. It’s possible I could do the top hatch thing though. I’ll have a look. the width looks the same. What size should it be and do you go toward the front of back? thanks in advance. Johnny.

David I think you may be reacting a bit harshly but I understand why you did Don't forget the way Benedikt responds is using unfamiliar language I read that to say fault at post office probably but if not, then to contact you to help get it straightened out I didn't think he means that you were at fault here Now knowing that you have sent a replacement gives you huge credit with me, the others folks too I bet

This post is totally uncalled for. How on earth is there fault on our side? Unless you are implying we didn't post him the set in the first place? You say "David should contact you about that to solve that problem". How would we know there was a problem unless the customer tells us? The customer contacted us and we are siolving the problem. We have taken the customer on trust that he hasn't received the set and are sending a replacement out today. Strictly speaking, we shouldn't really do this yet, as Royal Mail will not treat an item as lost until 30 days after the dispatch date and we cannot claim compensation for it until then. Sending a replacement sooner may affect our ability to get compensation from Royal Mail but hell, we are just such reasonable guys and all-round nice people. I do wish some modellers wouldn't shoot from the hip without knowing the facts. The suppliere is not always to blame but is just such an easy target. Let me give you an example of one customer in The Netherlands - He ordered over £100 of sets from us and claimed they hadn't arrived. We sent replacements by signed and tracked. He then contacted us again to say he hadn't received the replacement package. We were able to show him that we could see that he himself had actually signed for the parcel! He'd obviously received the first shipment too. I could go on - but of course it is only suppliers that are dishonest isn't it? We send out sacks of packages every week and the vast majority get through fine. One sent to Ireland before Christmas turned up after 45 days. Most do get through in reasonable time, but the internet/instant response age we live in now means that a 'no show' on a parcel after just a few days is reported as a parcel missing. So, do remember the Royal Mail thirty days rule. Replacements sent out sooner are a gesture of goodwill on our part. Of course, if you want complete pease of mind, then choose the 'Signed and Tracked' delivery option at checkout on our web site. David Parkins Flightpath www.djparkins.com

Just as Ex-Woo says but a bit of an engineering stance.... The 'rock hard yellow seat pack' (better known as the PSP) held the dingy and a few comforts like bagged water, sweets and everything a downed aircrew thinks they need while the SAR comes to get them. The sheepskin pad was in fact a double Velcro green pad shaped the same as the top of the PSP with a thin sheepskin topper, to reduce sweaty bums. The whole PSP, foam pad and sheepskin topper was removed in a one'r with great care that you didn't snag the pull cord for the dingy, lol. In times of need, the pilot could exit the aircraft with the PSP attached to his backside via two lanyards clipped to his life jacket. Once in the water he unclipped the PSP and deployed the PSP dingy via the lanyard attached to his life vest. Whilst we're on the seat, the vertical cushion was, when new from stores, olive green, after a while of being in service it soon went to a almost black green with all that wear and tear, oil and bodily fluids. When I first started on Wessex the dingy was in a parachute style pack strapped to the pilot, the seat was in those days, a hard hollow grey affair that sat in the aircraft seat assembly, by 1981 almost all Wessex had the psp fitted, although I did see a few Wessex 3 of 737 NAS operating the parachute style seating. With this older style, the vertical cushion was not fitted as the pilots pack was strapped to his back and so afforded some sort of back rest, this style was hated by the pilots as they perminatly had a 30lb pack on their backs and if you've every climbed in a Wessex cockpit, you'll know it's no mean feat without a pack on your back. Loving the cockpit build Hendie, looking forward to the map stowage and blinds. I do have a small rhetorical question though, why did they paint the speed selectors blue as well (in the picture of the quadrant) as the HP, LP fuel cock levers, as memory servers, only the Speed selectors were painted to show the newer modified fuel computers? cheers the Woo.

De Havilland DH.104 Sea Devon C Mk.20 - 718 Sqn Fleet Air Arm - Amodel 1/72 My attempt to build at least one of everything in Ray Sturtivant's Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm takes another step forward with this relatively obscure aircraft. The RN's Sea Devons were ex-civil machines used as VIP and light transport aircraft, based out of RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall. Definitely a short run kit, this one is very nicely formed, but needs a little care in building. The cabin windows caused me a lot of angst, but it was worth it. FredT

The innards are so good that the auguries for the outside don't need many chicken innards spraying round the campfire Great work on that seam over the wing Jont, wont take much to reinstate the spanwise strip Veronica Lake, hmm you could maybe have gone for her you know (Corblimey, if I'd been my dad I could have) Uberbabe with that hair

Hi Lars, Thanks for the comments. You're absolutely right, they are seats and on my U96 build, I snipped them from the plastic railings, dressed them up and stuck them to my DIY wire railings. Picture below. I could do the same with this build but the supplied seats are way too thick. I could try thinning them but will probably remake them from 0.5mm polystyrene sheet. In any case, they certainly need to be fitted. Andy.

The Wessex is pretty, The Pullman a palace. Modelling perfection, but what paint’s on? What to brush there? Better spray there!

Ofergawdsake. Just had to laugh in appreciation at that fine (fire) extinguisher. It looks, well, like it was just meant to be. Modelling at its most Roxy Music. Alternatively...