Soloturk

Thanks for your help guys, thought it would be a tricky idea but just in case I missed something! As keefr22 mentions, they are an earlier era, however they might come in use it I want an earlier model to build so I shall remember that company thank you! Greenmadengineer - that's an idea I didn't think of! I will have a look at some die-cast catalogues from Oxford Co etc, 1/76 wouldn't matter too much as it's only a small difference, even if I had to make a flat bed from plasticard. Thanks all for your help and suggestions. James.

Hello all, Does anyone know of 1/72 truck kits, from any other companies I may have missed? I've looked at the Itelari and Revell catalogues and they are 1/24 and a couple of 1/32 anerican ones. Been asked if I could build a truck with flatbed trailer in 1/72 scale if there is one, for a diorama with a 1/72 Phantom on a flatbed trailer as seen in this site. Not worried about the jib, but would help if it was a Scania. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.warhistoryonline.com/news/phantoms-2.html/amp but I've only got 1/24 Italeri ones in my stash. Might not be anything but unfortunately my knowledge is very limited outside of Revell and Itelari, not sure if there's some 'cottage industries' I'm missing? Any help is appreciated! James.

Just wow!! 😮 Absolutely beautiful, I thought it was sprayed until I saw the brush comments, I missed that so reread the original post and appreciated it even more!! I wish I could paint like that! Also you did the new scheme 'bend' really well at the front, was it fiddly putting that blue stripe on? Like many, I've had the KLM experience, was lucky enough to get the Cityhopper Skyteam Ejet from AMS to BRS. Took off like a bleedin rocket, and landing on 09 at Bristol he was determined to turn off at the middle exit so threw out the anchors, I'm surprised there was no smoke coming from the brakes 🤣

Hello all, I have finally finished my Skyline Models 737-300 that I started some point during the first lockdown, I think, been at it on and off but finally put it all together! With the help of Skodadriver's post (I think it was!! I can't find it!) showing a WIP guide, I put the wings and stabilizers on before painting them so I could fill in the horrible gaps, it's the first time I've ever done that as I usually paint the wings and then stick them on once the body had been sprayed. This is my second Jet 2 737, but the first one that is not a scrap version 🤣 The kit looks nice in the box but it's more fiddly than it looks, filler used it the tail, fuselage, wings, wing and stabalizer joins and the engines. But it does look excellent after I must say! I was going to have a go at putting on the 4 probes on the front, but being extremely small, I had a go at putting one in and it wouldn't fit, I couldn't sand it down as it would move and bend just by touching it, so I thought forget it! The Jet 2 decals are quite delicate, but so is the DACO 737 stencil sheet that comes with the box. I was going to paint the leading edge slats on the wings, but I saw there was decals of these on the stencilling sheet, brilliant! Well it looked like a great idea, but after fiddling around trying to get them on and stay there, and look reasonably straight, and not break, I could have painted it quicker! I tried the ones for the stabalizers as well but they ended up breaking apart, so I painted it myself instead. I also had to paint the serial on one of the nose doors as well, as the 'LU' decal went flying off when I got it out of the water. It was still on the decal backing card, but I had hundreds of decal disused cards and cut trimmings all over the table and it got jumbled in amongst all that, so I tried the best I could to write LU on the door!! Note to self - tidy up as you go along!! Anyway I hope you like it, and thanks for looking! James.

Hello all, Not sure this goes in the For Sale section, as it's an Ebay listing, and it's not mine just one I found and ends tomorrow (31st October) Just thought I'd post it as a heads up for those really needing one. I got one a couple of weeks ago as a buy it now for £25, be prepared to pay around that mark as an average, if you really need one it's not a bad price IMHO. I needed a second one as I have 2 decal sheets, I'd be tempted to bid on this one as well, but I don't want to be hoarding these! Just a heads up anyway for those interested: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REVELL-1-144-SCALE-AIRBUS-A319-BRITISH-AIRWAYS-MODEL-KIT-04215-FACTORY-SEALED/203151673056?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225076%26meid%3Da874fd62831d4aa196a8026f024432c2%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D14%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D184500029330%26itm%3D203151673056%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DRevell&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Af376d3f0-1ad1-11eb-863c-def4a26a6d3c|parentrq%3A7a7799f01750ad336ae8b1e8fffb41fe|iid%3A1

Thank you very much for your responses! I completely forgot to say thanks, only until I was just on Ebay that reminded me 😂 I was looking at Ebay for Tamiya car ideas, and saw a Nissan 350Z. There's one of these dumped over the road at work, not completely wrecked up, but certainly worn. I'd be tempted to give it a go, the bid price for one started at about a fiver, I maxed it to £17 but went for £23 including P&P. Not knowing if it was rare, I looked for a buy it now option, and looks like I can pick it up for £19 with free postage! I usually filter auction only to find the potential cheap buys, it seems other times you can enc up paying over the odds!!

Hello all, My first post in this area! I'm usually found in the aircraft area, but recently I've started collecting vehicles, as trucks and cars are my interest in general as well. Nothing much, I only have a Revell Mini Cooper S (might build it), Itelari Ford Escort RS1800 and a Renault R5 Alpine Rally which was going cheap at Telford show last year. Not built any yet, still building model airliners but I might make a start with the Alpine as well. Don't know what the RS1800 will be like, but having found one in the WIP section, not looking forward to it at all! What are Tamiya car kit's like? I'd like to try one of those, more of a 'standard' car, I.E not a rally or racing version, even the Nissan GT-R I'd like to build, or even one of the classic's, I do like 80's or 90's cars. I remember when I was a kid Tamiya Radio Control (RC) kit's was a big thing in the late 90's. Unfortunately my mum or dad couldn't afford something like that and I had a basic RC, but my school friend had a Subaru Impreza which went like a rocket compared to mine, and it did look good. I remember the model shop in Bath had absolutely tonnes of Tamiya RC kit's and standard kits. Are they any good? Are they over engineered and if so, is it best to build some other car kits first before trying one of these if they aren't ideal for beginners? Any help most appreciated! James.

That is a very good finish, thanks for sharing and adding to the model airliners collection! Superb! I don't envy you doing the blue underside, one thing I never look forward to is painting undersides! As commented by others, I too agree the match to the rear decals is seamless, and matches perfectly. Thanks for sharing! James,

Out of interest, is the Brasil ones a bit iffy in some way? Not seen what they are like, is the colouring a bit wrong or are the gold lines not quite as detailed? Not looking at buying the Brasil ones, just curious having seen the BS Modelle ones that's all!

Thank you Ian, That nose door was a pain to be honest, should have asked or even checked real photos, I checked for pictures of built MD-80s of this kit, some have the bigger door open, some don't. The manual isn't much use apart from telling you to have the bigger door upright and and arrow pointing down to the wheel well...there's no 'post fitting' diagram example which would have helped! I thought about putting them closed, but as they are two separate pieces I knew that putting them in separately would have been a nightmare, having already pictured in my mind that the second one would fall in the hole and be stuck there 😆 I too had the cockpit glass section not fit correctly, had to sand down the edges and put a bit of filler as there was a small gap in the corner, but worked out well. Got the Skyline models B737-300 out next, haven't tried any of these Skyline range ones yet, they look seriously detailed, and doing a Jet2 one seeing as I still have spray cans left over from my Jet2 scrapped wreck version, this next one will be in one piece though!

Thank you guys! I didn't know of the livery until I saw the decals, surprised there isn't a 'operated by Swift Air' logo on the real thing, maybe because it's a team plane. Didn't know of those wing decals! I did it by hand, no masking, just a thin brush for the thin lines with a magnifying glass, a lot of concentration!

Echo that, and Yeovilton! Bloody good finish! Well worn and looks stunning!

Astonishing build, makes the 319 look lovely! Decals look fiddly but are set out perfectly 👏 👏

Hello all, Just finished this latest build. the Minicraft MD-80 kit with Swiftair Real Madrid EC-JQV decals by TwoSix. EC-JQV was painted up in the Real Madrid livery in 2007 to carry the football team and VIP's around until 2009 when they stopped using the plane for political reasons. EC-JQV was scrapped in 2012 but it lives on in 1/144 scale! For a Minicraft build this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, certainly better than the 737-400 kit, but that's not to say it's a doddle, still needed a fair bit of filler for the fuselage join, but the wings weren't actually too bad considering it's the fiddly interlocking system. I did a few 'dry' fits to find the 'spot' where it would lock in before putting glue on. The last few dry fits worked perfect so having nailed that, I put the glue on and then it didn't lock in as it just did the past few attempts 😆 but I got it in soon after. The stabilzers and engines went on very well, the wheel doors were the most fiddly things of all! Instructions could have been a little bit clearer but wasn't that bad. The decals are excellent and well recommended, they are designed for the Minicraft kit, the blue around the nose was a tad fiddly and required a little bit of blue paint to fill in a gap around the cockpit window as it doesn't quite fit, but that was no problem. I hope you like it and thanks for looking! James.

Wow!! What a stunning build!! Thanks for sharing, looks beautiful in the Emirates livery, and good decal choice too. I have a Zvezda 777 in the stash, so glad to hear it goes together well James.

Very good build! Absolute superb finish and highly detailed! The decals look stunning and I echo everyone's comments that you wouldn't have thought it was a difficult build. Not looking forward to building my A380 in the stash now 😄 I also have the 'cut away' kit that I can see being a nightmare!

They are both brilliant builds there!! Cracking job! Nice to see the E190 build as I have one in my stash to do, so thanks for the heads up on the engines! That CRJ looks stunning, looks like a great build that and didn't even know there was such a kit! Will have to look into that. Thanks for sharing these two brilliant birds, can't find fault with any of those! James.

Now THAT is one astonishing build!!! 😮👏 Absolutely amazing, superb weathering for a freighter as expected, and not gone over the top either, absolutely stunning for what, as seen in the WIP, looks like a right pain of a build! The detail is something else and blows all my builds out the water 😆 Thank you for sharing these masterpiece! James.

Very good finish there! Excellent outcome, looks top notch! Nice to hear it was a good fit, got one of these in the stash but never tried it, started with the 737 instead, How are the horizontal stabilizer fittings on this?

Thank you! Yes a 757 would be very nice, a -300 and a -200 option, only because the wing fit would be better than the Minicraft 757 wing fittings surely!

Hello all, Been some time since my last 727 model, but having passed my coach driving test I've been rather busy! But having been recently furloughed I've had some time to finish my Zvezda 737-800 I started some time ago, complete with 26 Decals Caribbean Airlines decals for 9Y-TAB. One of my favourite builds, and my first Zvezda build though a bit more fiddly than I thought, some over engineered bit's (the TINY bit needed to go on the wingtip for example could have been part of the mould, I ended up loosing that part so had to use a plasticard replacement) For the flying option I went for to use the stand, putting the main wheels in the body wasn't easy, nor was putting the front doors for the front wheel easy either, and the idea of having just two very tiny holes to hold the horizontal stabilizers isn't great, especially when a decal goes over it as well, so having to be careful with glue with not much of a fitting. So a fiddly kit but really does pay off in the end, happy with this and looking forward to my Minicraft build next, thanks for looking! James.

Thank you for the comments guys Skodadriver - I didn't realise it was the old tooling, not bad for what it is in that case! I didn't sand down the rivets, once the decals are on and the lower half painted they aren't noticeable. Engines and wings clipped in quite nicely, it's just a shame the horizontal stabilizer is one piece, rather than two holes in the tail to glue them in to, it would have been a lot easier when you have a livery where it covers the tail from the bottom right through to the top! Graeme - Neither had I, picked these up at the Nationals at Telford, thought it would look rather nice when built! James.

Hello all, Finally finished my next airliner, a Boeing B727-100 using Revell's 1/144 Germania boxing 727 that was released a couple of years ago, with LANICA (Líneas Aéreas de Nicaragua) decals by Classic Airlines. A very good set they are too! The kit was quite nice to build, a step up from what I've started with as all I've really done so far is all over white liners with decals, so having to paint the bottom half aluminium (and make the line straight) so that was a but tricky. The landing wheel doors (I had a thread about this in the 'modern' section on this forum) were a bit fiddly, for some reason they seemed to me to be way too long, I couldn't fit it in without the wheel being in the way so I cut it in half to fit. Usual filling required in some places but otherwise a nice kit! You may notice a bit of decal missing on the livery, I know about that and I'm not worried about that it's just too much faff, if you haven't noticed it that's fine 😂 Thanks for looking! James.

Hello all, Been meaning to put this up for some time now, but here is my complete model of an F.53 Lightning. The kit is the 1990's Chematic F.6 1/72 kit, which apparently is the FROG kit. Picked this up for something silly like £3 or something, and decided to base it on the Saudi F.53 53-686 / G-AWON at Norwich Aviation Museum. A basic rough and ready kit, but even at a cheap price I doubt I'll be doing one of these again, fit's aren't that good but I suppose it's what you get for an old kit. It certainly was a test of patience putting it together that in the end I put it aside for a long time and just couldn't face carrying on with it, so got an expert friend to push me back into it and helped me finish it, Being my second military jet I've ever done, I can't help but think I should have done some easier ones first, without the help I think this could have ended up stored for life, sold or thrown away! Here is the completed kit: James.

Ahh gear strut that's the word I was looking for 😏 I see so looking at the photo, part 30 and 31 actually go right next to that flap track fairing? Not in the wheel well where the gear strut goes. I was wondering where the outboard flat edge was glued to. Thank you for the help, if I get a moment I'll post a picture to confirm if I have it right. Thank you very much! James.