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With the Jet provost done and the other activities out of the way, it’s time to get back in the saddle and do some more modelling. For a bit of a mojo boost, I watched Top Gun, Top Gun Maverick and The Final Countdown on DVD’s. So tonight, out came the Airfix F-14A Tomcat (blueprint box) and the Revell F-14D Super Tomcat from the stash - both 1/72. I’m going to try to build them both together stage by stage (rather than build one and then the other). The Revell is better in detail as it’s a much later kit, but the Airfix one still has a certain charm to it - even with the raised panel lines which I’ve decided to leave to see how it turns out. So, the first stage was to build the two cockpit tubs. The Airfix one is much longer then the Revell and both have raised detailing in the some consoles in roughly the same depth. The ejection seats are worlds apart in detail, so I might see if I can 3D print something a little more interesting for the Airfix kit. Otherwise the offices are fairly well detailed considering….. Both tubs were painted with Tamiya XF-19 Light Grey (as it’s what I had to hand) and are drying off. They will both receive other colours to highlight the consoles and IP’s. I’ve also bought an extra set of Airfix F-14A decals which offers two options - TopHatters and the Black Aces - to go with the Bounty Hunter and Grim Reaper options for the kits.

Back in 2011 I saw that Airfix had announced a Valiant and so I put in a pre-order and waited - probably for around 6 months. Eventually it arrived but has been gathering dust in storage ever since. It was issued too late to be eligible for the Airfix Classic GB but is I believe eligible for this one and also the NATO one later this year, so if I have time I will have a shot at building it. Airfix describe it as a BK Mk 1 though I am uncertain if that is correct as initially the Valiants were pure bomber B Mk 1 I believe. Some were later converted to a PR version, and others to a tanker and in 2012 Airfix released a conversion pack for both of these versions, and in 2021 I understand that they released a re-boxing of the kit complete with at least part of the conversion set. Perhaps the nomenclature was changed to recognise the fact that the bomber could be relatively easily converted to a tanker and back again, but I will be building it in the bomber configuration, perhaps in the all over "Anti Flash White" scheme as I remember seeing them flying high overhead once or twice on my way home from school in the early 1960's. The Valiant entered RAF service in October 1952, and was phased out in 1965 shortly after the switch from high level to low level as the wing spars were found to be suffering from metal fatigue. The Valiant was considered something of a stop-gap design and so as the "more advanced" Victor and Vulcan had entered service by then it was apparently decided not to bother repairing the Valiants, and the B2 low level version was not ordered into production. The kit comes with markings for 4 aircraft - the second prototype WB215 in NMF, XD823 used in Operation Grapple to drop what was claimed to be the first UK hydrogen bomb in 1957 (there is some doubt about whether or not it was a fusion event rather than a fission one I believe), XD857 in 1963, and WZ404 in 1964, and has the option of either a single nuclear weapon or 21 x 1000lb iron bombs, though I will probably model it with the undercarriage down and the bomb doors closed. I suspect this was one of the first of the "new style" Airfix kits, following their Bf 110 of 2010 so it will be interesting to see how it goes together compared with some of the more recent ones. Pete

The Northrop F-89 Scorpion is an all weather twin-engined interceptor designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop. It was the first jet powered aircraft to be designed for the Interceptor role from the outset to enter service,as well as the first combat aircraft to be armed with air-to-air nuclear weapons in the form of the unguided Genie rocket. First flew in 1948 and entered service in 1950. For this GB, I plan to build Revell’s 1/72 F-89D/J kit. I will be finishing it as the aircraft shown on the boxart, a F-89D from 61st Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Ernest Harmon AFB, New Foundland, 1957. Why this one? I like the look of the aircraft with the large wingtip rocket pods (containing a 104 ‘mighty mouse’ FFAR rockets) and more importantly it has a big smiley face on it.

So: Hasegawa F-104G, still bagged Paulus Victor decals Master pitot tube New Ware mask Humbrol 116 Some images from the net Should give me a model of RDAF F-104G R-699, US serial 63-12699 first flight June 5 1964, to Denmark November 1964 (NMF?) painted green October 1 1969 and a bit (a lot?) worn at RAF Gutersloh in September 1975, which fits the theme? Just waiting for Quinta 3D cockpit decals but we've got 11 days still? Chris

Hi all! This BMD-1 from S-Model is perfect! I love this kit so much, it have really sharp details, nice fit, and i just love BMD's. Painted by guze and tamiya, weathered with oil paints, and ICM. It inspired by two bmd's that i seen in anti-terrorist operation zone in period of 2014-2018. This BMD's Hope you like it

Like https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/profile/29912-robstopper/ I too have recently acquired an airbrush (a Neoeco) and, like him, I wanted something to practice on and went for the same kit. Didn't want to invest in any extras for what should be a painting exercise so going with the scheme on the box.

Fujimi FG.1 finished OOB. Kitsworld 3D decals for seats Humbrol and some Xtracolor enamels brush painted Flory washes W&N matt varnish 51 week build; finished in KUTA 2023 GB as link. Group photo of my 4 most recent Rhinos: USAF 1969 F-4E(early) - FineMolds JASDF 2007 F-4EJ - FineMolds USAF 1991 F-4E(late) - Hasegawa RAF 1983 F-4K - Fujimi Thanks for looking, Chris

Hi all, With the hope of getting a more simple and swifter build under my belt before tackling a SH F-84F I have embarked on another Tamiya Mustang! Many of you have built them and so I wont labour it with repetitive posts but I will post things that are particular to this build. My subject is a post-WW2 machine that served with the Nevada ANG while detached to Iceland in 1952-53. It is the second in this row - '474482' seemingly called "Nancy". So far the build has been pretty much standard fare for a Tamiya Mustang kit, particularly the flaps. This time around, though, I am using a set of Armycast resin items. Other aftermarket will be the canopy (Falcon), although if it ends up looking wrong, as I am no good at vac form stuff, I will revert to the kit parts. Also I will use resin exhausts, PE seat belts and a Yahu IP. The cockpit needs a bit of modification to accomodate what I believe to be an ARC-3 radio set up behind the cockpit. However, while my drawings show these as fitted horizontally these seem to be vertical. My efforts are a bit of guesswork but I think it will look okay 🤞. You can see this a little better in the following image: Today I am at the fuselage half mating stage. The following are some build shots: The internal parts painted Dry fitting I'm feeling better already! Martin

I have been eying on an A-4 for long time, not sure which brand and scale to start. And when I came across the Airfix 1/72 A-4B, I think it is the ONE ! If you are interested on the build process, please refer to here : and here is the final outcome after quite some months of work, total about 21 hours spent. The only upgrade part is the resin ejection seat. Hope you like it and as usual, welcome for comments and suggestions. Thanks for reading A little video :

Here is one that has been languishing on the SOD for about 4 years and started back in 2019. Here is the original build thread I managed some paining of fuel tanks and the leading edge slats that have now been installed. In one of my recent moves the nose gear leg broke so and I could not find the missing section so I dove into the spares and found an Italeri nose gear leg that has been installed

I'm looking for some opinions as to which 1/72 kit has the more accurate propeller blades, Heller or Italeri? Going a step further, what about the Airfix kit? It's the props themselves that I am interested in. I do not think that there are any other 1/72 kits out there (or real life aircraft) that used the same prop as the Ju.52. TIA.

After last week's débâcle with the Arado 240, I think I am on safe ground (or even water) with this one. Curious fact: There have been only two injection-molded kits of the He 115 in 1/72, both by British companies: Frog and Matchbox. Both molds were acquired and re-issued by Revell. I built the Matchbox kit back when dinosaurs roamed the planet, and I know it was this boxing because it's my scan: Here is the kit for this build, the Revell reissue from 2008, the second rebox in two years: The contents: A very nice Cartograf decal sheet: The plastic lacks a certain je ne sais quoi because it's not in 3 colours, but it will be easier to paint: For some reason, I still have the original Matchbox decals, begging the question of what exactly I put on that kit. Whether or not I will use any of them for this kit, who knows? I won't start this kit in earnest for another few days, not until I'm finished my P-70/Boston double build. But I might find the time to paint the crew figures.

A-8 was attack aircraft, which was Curtiss' first all-metal monoplane. In addition, innovations such as rear wings and the ability to automatically change the angle of the leading edge of the wing came into use. The presentation of this aircraft created quite a sensation against the background of the biplane that had been in use until then. The role of the A-8 was largely that of a pioneer and test aircraft, although only 13 were produced. Rapid development meant that changes and new models came quickly, and the A-8 remained a so-called peaceful military aircraft. However, this is yet another milestone in the history of aviation. So another vacu and the manufacturer is Rare Plane and 1/72 again. The later released CMR resin kit would perhaps be a better choice, but once again I had this vac before, so go I said. Rare Plane stands out for its good surface detail and also in other respects it is a manufacturer among the best in the world of vacuums. However, the beginning can seem scary: But since this is still the finished works department, here is the result:) Hope you like it

I am a little late to the party, but here I am! I know I'm not alone building one of these 1/72 Eduard Bf 110 kits for this GB, and it looks great! I won't bother with sprue shots. I'll be building it OOB as one of these Bf 110 that the Luftwaffe sent to Iraq. I think I attempted to build a Bf 110 (must have been Airfix) in the 1990s as a kid, but pretty sure it never made it to the finish line, so let's hope this goes differently!

For my axis build for this GB I have landed on perhaps the prettiest of all Japanese twins of WW2, the Kugisho P1Y Ginga attack bomber. This is quite a sleek, aerodynamic machine, designed (at least according to Wikipedia) by the same designer responsible for Japan's earliest Shinkansen bullet trains. I reckon you can see a resemblance! The Ginga (Japanese for 'Milky Way') - allied codename Frances - was designed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal, also know as Kugisho, as a fast attack bomber for the IJN. Most production machines (about 1000), such as my subject P1Y1, were built by Nakajima, while a night fighter variant was built in much smaller numbers (>100) by Kawanishi. Here's the sprues from what looks to be a beautifully-engineered kit from peak Hasegawa (circa 1995): Not sure if the decals have yellowed just a little bit or the white band around the Hinomarua is meant to be an off-white? Kit also has a small PE fret for (I'm guessing?) HF antenna? I've made a little bit of a start on the cockpit. Interestingly there is a clear part for a bulkhead with small windows to mask off. Good practice for the masking to come! It's an elegant little thing, and, especially in 1/72, a fair contrast for my big 1/48 Beaufighter! Am looking forward to chipping away at it. Cheers, Gerard

Hi guys, my first kit finished this year, and my first post here on Britmodeller. This is a Revell kit with some scratches to make it look more like the real thing. I will explain each of these changes better in the photos below. For the paint, I found a lot of paint schemes for these shelters, so I took one from reference and make only a few changes. The Kit: Revell 1/72 Shelter and ground plate I thought the dome was not very stable so as a first step I reinforced it. There were many ejection marks as well to cover. The shape of the kit is very far from the real thing, so I superimposed a photo of the piece in photoshop with the photo of the real shelter, printed it out and used it as a template to make a new facade with a 5mm sheet of styrene. The dome of the shelter is warped so it was necessary to hold it in shape with tape. I tried soaking it in hot water to get the right shape, but I wasn't successful. The solution I found was to put some nails in the base to hold the dome in the right shape. The kit is very poor in details, so I wanted to do some to make it more interesting. Scribbed some panel lines scratch those boxes added some wires and some interior stuff for the front lowering I used zipaline and kombifiller for the painting I made a mixture of paints to try to match the tone of the reference photos

I’m getting back into this group build with a Hasegawa Ki-45 Toryu (Dragon Slayer), Allied reporting name Nick. I had this kit lined up for the Asia GB later in the year so will have to find something else that when the time comes. Started by putting the cockpit together and prepping some of the smaller components for painting. I added a little detail to the side walls for interest: The ejector pins wont be visible once the cockpit is in place. I forgot to rake a photo of the sprues before I started, here they are: Nice crisp moulding. Thanks for looking. AW

I've noticed that the Spitfire always gets a lot of attention here, so I'll offer mine as well and start a little further back. United Kingdom has been a very important ally of Estonia over the past hundred years. 1918 was particularly significant in this regard. This year's important event was arrival of British warships in Tallinn Bay. It was an event that had a significant impact on the course of the Estonian War of Independence, which increased the morale of the soldiers who fought in the War of Independence, discouraged the Russian troops from organizing a landing on Tallinn and establishing supremacy in the Gulf of Finland. In addition, the British took two modern warships from the Russian forces and gave them to the Estonians. These ships played a very important role in winning this war and continued to be a powerful addition to the Estonian forces. During peacetime, British instructors helped train Estonian pilots. The air force played an important role in the development of the young small country, but there was a constant struggle to acquire aircraft. In 1939, an agreement was signed between the Republic of Estonia and England (Vickers/Armstrong/Supermarine factory), where the Estonians were allowed to buy 12 Spitfire fighters. The preserved documents show that according to the first contract, the Estonians were given 12 Spitfire Mk. I, After all these years of hard times and very different aircraft, it would have been a huge development leap for Estonia. But when the WWII started, Brits just stopped all deliveries and on 13th september 1939 cancelled the contract and paid the deposit back. But some of these planes was ready for delivery with estoinan signs in cockpit. And there's a rumor that these planes ended to RAF Polish Squadron and these pilots has no idea what these signs mean in cockpit. So my model here is not entirely what if. It's true, these planes probably wouldn't have been silver in the end, but I took the liberty of imagining it that way. The fuselage number is not entirely random. It is a logical continuation of the numbers of this period, and probably one of these could have been made. In other respects, it also imitates the way many airplanes in Estonia were painted and marked. Regarding the model, it is interesting to note that at the time this model was completed, no one had used this serial number on a model. However, with three local modelers we came up with the idea of presenting it with three models in three different scales, and we chose this flight number for our models. After the pictures of our models were up on the internet for a while, Kora appeared on the market with its decal sheet, which depicts a silver model with the exact same design:) It's interesting how two fictions got together like that;) Of course, we didn't mind that our idea was picked up like that. However, my model is from earlier than Kora decal set and has the markings masked and painted by myself.

This one has been waiting to be finished for a while, I started it as an isolation build when we moved to Adelaide 2 years ago. I got it mostly painted with a decals to come. I had trouble finding images of the ramp area and of the top of the aircraft to see whether the walk ways were painted a different colour and it stalled. So the story so far..... I started with a donated kit which was an original tool Airifx C-130. The previous owner had started to convert it to an AC-130A so I had to de-convert it. I added some walls and consoles to the cockpit Test fitting with original wings, I ended up using the wings from another kit as the tank slots had been filled on this kits wings and I wanted to add the fuel tanks. I replaced the kit props with some from an Italeri kit Assembly and filling In the paint shop That is where it got to. Today I did some more painting and think it is done. The walkways were done as well as the exhaust areas under the wings I was dreading doing the black strips around the fuselage bands (which was another reason preventing me moving forward with this one) and thought about painting them. I found another build on line where they were done it with decals, fortunately I had some decal strips in the stash and used them and they worked out OK. So now it is onto the finishing stage of decals and adding the last parts; the gear doors, HF antennas and anything I may have knocked off during the paint process.

Evening all. I'd like to join in with Airfix's recent small-scale Mossie in its bomber guise. I'm going for the airframe on the box art because 1) I don't need any AM decals but mainly 2) Its the subject of a big poster I had on my bedroom wall when I was a model-mad teenager. Of course at the time, I dearly wanted to build a model of it so its great to now have that chance. Thanks Airfix! Here's the usual box & sprue shots. Here's the poster which I bought from the RAF Museum shop in the late '70s. It is, of course, one of Charles E Brown's wonderful wartime air to air photos. At the time, my friends all seemed to have rather different posters on their bedroom walls. Many involved models but were definitely not de Havilland or Airfix products! I'm planning to build this one out of the box but we'll see how that goes when I get to the bomb bay doors/fairing and the tailwheel. Here's hoping this thread gets further than my last one. I posted the same sort of photos for an Airfix 1/48 Chippy in the last DH GB then found out later the same day that we were moving house imminently. That stalled my modelling until now. That move went well so I'm confident I can actually start building this time. All the best, Phil.

My Meteor is going okay so, in a burst of enthusiasm and ignoring all the nearly finished kits littering my workdesk, I've started another kit. I've had this one in the stash for years, not entirely sure why because I don't make Axis stuff. Anyway, I'm going to avoid my no-Axis rule and make it as a Bf-110 C-5. I took a photo of the sprues... But promptly forgot to take any more photos until I'll try to take more photos as the build progresses.

Here's my first entry. Something I've wanted to do for many years, is build a half decent kit of one of the Shepherds Grove Thunderstreaks. A base which is quite close geographically to me & the nearest base that had Thunderstreaks so it has to be this historically popular subject, 52-6675 of the 78th FBS 81st FBW. So this is it, the Microscale sheet which I really hope has survived & doesn't disintigrate into a million specs when I get to apply it. I've got a collection of Sword kits but will be starting off with the fantastic new Special Hobby kit.

This is my finished 1/72 Avro Shackleton MR2 from Airfix. I built the AEW2 version in 2019 and had been looking for this version for some time as a companion build. It was a pre-owned kit which I picked up at the recent Scale Model Show in Canberra. The box was in good nick and all the contents were still in their sealed bags. It was built OOB as version A with the gun turret as shown on the box art. The undersides have been painted with XF-2 White and the upper surfaces painted with XF-83 Medium Sea Grey. Various blacks, metals etc for smaller parts. Weathering was done with Flory dark dirt wash and Abteilung oils. I took a modular approach when building this. I painted, applied the decals and weathered the fuselage, wings, stabilisors and fins separately and only assembled the whole the thing near the end of the build. It was too big to comfortably fit in my spray booth. It all fitted quite well except for fixing the engine pods to the leading edges of the wings. I had the same problem when I built the AEW version and it took a fair bit of filling and sanding to get an acceptable, but far from perfect fit. Apart from this one issue, it was a thoroughly enjoyable build. It has a lovely, detailed interior which will never be seen again, but we all know it's there. The two Shackletons together. Cheers

This is a placeholder for my next build in this GB. EDIT,now withdrawn, as this version was never actually built, which is news to me. See below ... I can confidently predict this will be a very straightforward build, just by looking at the plastic. This kit was originally released in 1994 as the reconnaissance version, followed by the night fighter in 1995. As far as I am aware, the reconnaissance version has never been released again, but the night fighter has been re-released several times, and will be again later in 2024. I bought this kit in 1996 for 9 Irish pounds. Original version. Note the the 3-bladed propellers and truncated spinners. Unlike the night fighter, this version did see limited service, over the Eastern Front and the UK. Contents: A closer look at the parts. The night fighter has longer span wings. I'm not sure why the fuselage is split fore and aft, but I'm sure there's a good reason. There's a cut-out in the lower rear of one of the nacelles, which in the reconnaissance version is fitted with a clear part, very likely a camera port. In this version, it's blanked off. The instructions don't say what side it's on, but studying the instructions for the reconnaissance version, it seems this is on the starboard side. The canopy framing is going to be very, very easy to paint, compared to the kits I'm currently working on: Finally, the radar aerials:

I would like to enter with this please; As well as the Eighth Air Force, I have a very big interest in USAFE, especially those aircraft based in the UK, and in particular the 81st FBW/TFW at Bentwaters/Woodbridge. Must have had something to do with all those A-10s we saw flying over our campsite in Suffolk in the 80s and early 90s! Between diecast and plastic kits, I'd like to get a model of each of the main types operated from the twin bases. Regarding the Thunderstreak, they weren't actually flown by the 81st for that long, from 1954 to 1958, but their introduction brought a change of role to the 81st from air defence to tactical nuclear strike. They were replaced by F-101 Voodoos. My kit was bought, appropriately enough, from Bentwaters Cold War Museum in 2017, on their 10th anniversary open day. A couple of years ago, I finally managed to get a set of Microscale decals for Bentwaters Thunderstreaks, which came from France and cost more than the kit! So, here are the sprues. Some pieces have become detached, but they are all there; Instructions; And here is the Microscale decal sheet. They look very eye catching, although that is a lot of stencils too! I think I will be going for the red markings from the 78th Fighter-Bomber Squadron "Bushmasters". The decal instructions aren't great; So, I had a look on Scalemates, and downloaded the instructions for the Hobby Boss 1/48 version which has the same markings; I quite fancy picking up a cheap Airfix F-84F, which would enable me to do a double build, and compare it directly to the Italeri kit, and it would also let me use the 91st FBS markings too! I'll see what I can find, but I'd like to get some progress on this one first!