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My first place marker is this -B version by AZ Model in 1/72. The box with the obvious direction of the subject being foreign and in this case, Swiss or Swedish or Chinese. I'm liking the pretty Swiss option. The plastic Instructions and decals. Stuart

My second place marker is this Unlimited racer "Roto Finish" using the VERY limited run High Planes kit in 1/72. The box, no colour here. The plastic, some white metal and a vacform canopy. A quick inspection reveals some very rough plastic and I feel that I may be raiding a donor mustang for better options. Instructions . Stuart

Hi. Bit of a late entry here, but I think there's still time. I've been mulling this over for a few days because, depending upon one's world view, it is either very ambitious (for me) or totally stupid. Guess which the wife thinks it is ....... I was gifted 2 of the Brengun kits a while back but at that time I'd never heard of them, being mostly familiar with the "bigger" kit names and they've been in the stash for a while. But the time has come ..... So we start from here There is a resin intake included, which looks an improvemnet on the plastic version. The decals look a bit bright to me, but no matter. The kit offers these schemes shown for completeness, but I will be doing a different finish - if we get that far. I've also been doing a bit of reading around BM and t'interweb. It appears that there are no current 1:72nd scale P-51a/Mk1 Allison engined kits which truly reflect the “emaciated” fuselage lines displayed when compared with the later Merlin versions. [Having said that, one will probably emerge now! ] The consensus seems to be that most kits are too deep in the fuselage and don’t reflect the 3” lower vertical distance between wing and cockpit sill than the Merlin engine variants. There’s also the wing root leading edge droop on the earlier versions (pre 51C) that is not represented often either. Britmodeller discussions are several on this. For my purposes the best collated notes are the builds by @opus999 - link here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235088418-when-adequate-has-to-be-good-enough-condor-172-a-36/ I'm not doing a kit review, merely establishing a starting point, but a specific comment about the Brengun kit was "The Brengun kit was a no-go for me, as the sprue shots I've seen appeared to have an AZ P-51B fuselage smoothed into an Allison-esque shape at the front rather than being shallower along the full length of the fuselage. " That's encouraging ..... So we have a challenge - but that's the fun of this hobby I think. Keeps the old mind working, discovering new things, and hopefully extending skills. OK, we have to do a bit of work. Whilst some kits appear better than others, they'll all need something doing to get a better "look" to the model, and I have what I have. Now, I'm not an absolute stickler for detail. My skills and patience will not allow me to create a totally accurate replica and I'm prepared to compromise. I'm happy if the overall "look" is ok but having said that, I like to know what it "should" be like so that I can adopt a standard of "informed inaccuracy" **. So if I do perpetrate an error or need to extend my knowledge, then please do shout up and we can talk it through. [** - I think this came up in a discussion with ME @ModelingEdmontonian, but I could be wrong] The fuselage depth thing seems to me the most challenging. BUT 3" is only a shade over 1mm in 72nd scale, so is it worth it? I think so, yes Thinking about this and looking at all the info in the threads and photos around, it might be possible to take out a sliver on the kit along the line from the spinner to the beginning of the rear fuselage after the upcurve from the intake. Then · fill and sand/file the nose profile · fill and sand the rear upslope from the intake · flatten the panel in the side walls in the region of the exhausts · re-scribe panels and access hole flap/covers Taking it further, for the wing inboard leading edge · backfill the root region to allow sanding · sand as per Opus999 to create marked “droop” on upper surface Would also want to check · spinner profile and fit with “new” nose · undercarriage and doors · guns · prop · radio mast Other things to consider · wheels · cockpit interior, IP etc · exhausts So, "Simples" as a well known Meerkat is wont to say (Sorry that's a UK advertising reference). Thanks for looking. I've outlined what for me is a complicated kit-bash plan but hope you will stay along for the entertainment. The next instalment will look at the intended subject aircraft as well as marking out where the cuts need to be for the plastic surgery cheers Rob

This will be my entry in the GB: A look at the sprues: Looks and feels very much like Sword kit. Decals and Master brass pitots: I will be doing the second option with the red diamonds: I wont be starting straight away as I’ve still got builds underway in the Frog Squad and WWII Twins GBs. AW

I generally build WW2 Allied aircraft, but I do have a bit of a thing for early British jets. So, I am going to go with an aircraft that amazed me in late 70’s at Duxford (I think) going pretty much straight up off the end of the runway. My dear old Dad used to drive me to quite a few airshows, so it might have been somewhere else. On reading up on the EE Lightning I discovered it was nicknamed the “Frightening”. I presumed this was to do with the rate of climb, the ceiling or more likely the speed. Some pilots said it was like being saddled to a skyrocket, but no…….. The Lightning was nicknamed “Frightening” because of its challenging crosswind landing characteristics. I would never have guessed that one! This is the 2013 tooling from Airfix. All the bits look pretty good. A little bit of flash here and there, but nothing bad. I did notice when I got the plastic out of the box how heavy it seems for 4 smallish sprues. I am planning on doing the green/aluminium scheme as I served in the Army in West Germany in the 80’s not long after these beasts! I've seen that @Enzo the Magnificent has beaten me to it on this one, so will keep a beady eye on his build for some tips 🙂 George

Here is my recently completed MiG-15 that was built as part of the 'Baby Boomers' GB using the Eduard 1/72 kit and finished in the scheme of an a/c from 176th IAP, Antung Air Base, Korea, 1951. Build log here: Stuart

Well, the weather here has been up and down like a toilet seat, with 2 inches of snow a couple weeks ago, sunny and 17C yesterday, then torrential rain and 10C for the next couple days. Net result, ….. modelling season has been extended!! To take advantage of this unexpected extension (and corresponding delay in my softball/golf season), I picked up this Master Box 1/72 Mark I and decided to build it out of the box. The fit was pretty good, the rubber band tracks are a bit poorly moulded in spots, and the instructions are positionally a bit vague, especially given the lack of any locating pins, but all in all, a fairly enjoyable build so far. Here’s where I am after paint. Not being that familiar with WWI subjects, I’m a bit suspicious of the accuracy of the paint call outs, but I followed them and the box art religiously. Lots of weathering left to do, and I suspect painting, weathering, and installing the tracks may be problematic. Hopefully completed within the next week or two. Thanks for looking.

About a year ago I made a return to model making after a break of almost half a century. The model I chose to start with is a 1/72 scale Short Stirling mkI, which I will complete as N6086, "MacRobert's Reply", LS-F of XV Squadron. I want to display her, at the squadron base at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire, being bombed up on the morning of 18th December 1941, for a daylight attack on the battleship Gneisenau in the harbour at Brest. I have made a start by laminating two sheets of 5mm foam board to make a 10mm thick A2 sized base, which I will populate with the Italeri Stirling, a couple of vehicles from the Airfix Bomber Re-Supply set, Flightpath bomb and accumulator trolleys plus whatever figures my painting skills allow. The proverbial blank canvas. I want this to be a fairly quick base build, in contrast to the airframe which has been keeping me occupied for the last nine months, so I'm thinking of using abrasive paper, suitably primed and weathered, to represent the concrete taxiway and scenic scatter material for the grass areas. Anyone who has seen my WiP for the Stirling will know I'm on a steep learning curve and my ideas often run ahead of my current abilities, so we shall see how this turns out. I am already fretting over things like "What size were the concrete slabs that formed the perimeter track at Wyton?" and "How dark a green colour would the grass have been in December?"! I think I'm going with 25' squares for the slabs, based on the 50' width of standard taxiways later in the war and from looking at photographs of aircraft parked at Wyton on the 60s and 70s. As for the grass, I'm going with dark green for winter in East Anglia. More pictures next week! Onwards and Upwards, chaps. Murray

This Tamiya 109 is my latest build, and I have to say one of the nicest kits I have ever built; the fit is perfect and no modifications or putty were needed. This was also my first time doing mottling, I had to redo it at least 3 times but, I am pleased with the result. I used Ak real colors acrylics. The only aftermarket items used were Eduard Photo-etched in the cockpit, a master pitot tube and cannons, and Decals from Aeromaster, Eduard and Italeri. The sand filter, which wasn't included in the kit was taken from an Eduard 109. I used Abteilung 502 oils to wash the model and Tamiya weathering powders for the exhausts. Happy modelling! Anna

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

Master Box 1/72 Mark I Male “Special Gaza Modification”, built out of the box. The kit was actually a pretty easy and enjoyable build, but is sadly let down by the awful rubber band tracks that simply refused to hold paint, nor respond to traditional adhesives. Thanks for looking.

Second build. Another spitfire completed. A few mistakes on my behalf but I am learning and most important enjoying myself.

Hi All. With the Centurion complete, I thought I'd knock out this MiG-15 using the Eduard Profi Kit in 1/72. This will be built OOB with the wheels up, the only possible addition will be to add a pilot. Box art. Three sprues of plastic. Instructions, clear sprue, PE, masks and decals. Stuart

Having been lurking on this forum for quite a few months now, and occasionally adding my own ramblings to other people's topics, I have finally worked up the courage to start a WiP of my own. My main interest is the RAF in WW2, at the moment particularly the aircraft of Bomber Command. So having had a short break from model making, of almost half a century , earlier this year I acquired these: This first post is a bit of a test run to see if my 20th century brain can cope with the 21st century technology of photo-sharing. If it all works I have a back catalogue of photos taken over the last six months or so and I'll be sorting and posting from that, which might give the illusion of amazingly rapid progress. Once I've caught up I'm sure it will become apparent that we should be using the geological time scale to measure my work rate! No proper sprue shots in this thread. I think we all know what they look like and by the time I got myself organised a lot of mine looked like this: That's enough of my waffle, let's hit Submit Topic and see what happens!

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.

Vespid is just killing it with their 1/72 kits. Unreal detail with photoetch, metal barrel, link-and-length tracks, etc. Just great stuff. Painted with the new Ammo Atom paints, which are fantastic.

When Italy joined NATO in 1949 she was still flying sleek and shiny Spitfires. As part of my "Spitfires-by-the-Seas" project, in which I am building a pair of Spitfires in the markings of countries bordering five seas, I will build an Italian Mk IXc as part of my "Ionian Sea" pair for this GB.

I am excited for this GB! There are several subjects I may want to build as part of it, but first up will be a representative from my "Minor Gustavs" project, a 1/72 HA-1112 from Special Hobby. Should be able to build this OOB. The Minor Gustavs project involves modelling BF 109Gs (or their derivative versions, such as Spain's HA-1112) in service with the "smaller" air forces (i.e., not Germany or Italy). Some of these are minor Axis (e.g., Hungary) and others are post-war or neutral operators (e.g., Switzerland). Here are the first six Minor Gustavs I've built, representatives from Romania, Finland, Slovakia, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Croatia. I think a nice blue HA-1112 will make a great addition!

Another two-for-one with this post. These were both old Novo kits from around 1979 given to me by the same person who gave me the two Karas I posted earlier, with the same stipulation: build them, paint them and give one back. There were no problems with the fit of any of the pieces aside from the clear parts, and the decals were in surprisingly good condition. As per usual, I used AK Real Colors as the paint for both of them. This was the first time I've put invasion stripes on a plane, and I think the end result looks good, but I will make the black lines a bit thicker next time. I also should have put the stripes on the wings closer to the fuselage, but the underwing rocket launchers were a real pain to mask off, and I ended up cheating. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are a couple of Fairey Fireflys: a British-made carrier-borne fighter, sub destroyer and reconnaissance plane. One of these depicts a British Firefly in the Fleet Air Arm, sometime around the Overlord landings; the other was my attempt at replicating the RCAF version that the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum currently has in its collection. The Firefly began production in 1940 with its first flight in 1941, and its official deployment starting in 1943. It used the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine (used also by later Spitfires, Seafires and Tempests), and the two versions I did are equipped with cannons and underwing rocket projectiles. Although used in every theatre (notably seeing some action off the coast of Norway against the German battleship Tirpitz), the Firefly was mainly used in the Pacific against Japanese targets. It was also the first British-made Allied plane to fly over Tokyo during the war. After the Second World War, the Firefly continued to be used by the Commonwealth nations, and was prolific during the Korean War.

So I was swithering whether to start this build now or wait for three weeks for the 60's Group Build over on What If Modellers. Its Fairey obvious that I have decided to start it now as I intend to have this finished by mid to late April in time for the Scottish Nationals and with my build rate, the sooner I start the higher the posibility of finishing in time. So what is this Project 75, which by itself sounds like something from a cheap sci-fi novel of the 1950's. The answer is the first kit in 1/72 by Aerocraft, the Fairey Project 75 to GOR. 339 which ultimately led to the TSR.2. The model is a nice and clean high resolution, 3D printed hollow model in multiple parts with lots of printing supports as you would expect from a kit in this medium. The fuselage parts look like this when removed from their supports. Here they lack any interior or the nose and tail cones which are cleverly designed only to fit into the relevant part due to a key printed into their ends. The above picture was taken on an A3 cutting mat to show the scale which is comperable to a 1/72 scale TSR.2. The undercarriage, seen below, is well designed, allowing the tyres to be painted separately from the rest of the bicycle style main undercarriage. The face that there are outrigger wheels in each engine naseles reminds me somewhat of the Sud Aviation Vautour. The Print Supports I have kept as they may be useful for any sci-fi project I may undertake in the future, we shall see. More later as it's too cold outside right now to prime the nose section prior to painting. Gondor

I’ll be basing my build on the Airfix B-25C/D, to depict the Mitchell Mk II of No. 226 Sqn FW130 ‘MQ-A’. Because 2024 commemorates the 80th anniversary of D-Day, I’ll be painting the aircraft as it appeared in June 1944, with D-Day stripes. I’m not sure I’ll be able to commit to the D-Day GB based on the calendar, so it was important to me to choose a suitable subject here. The following two images are the property of The Imperial War Museum, and posted under their non-commercial licence for primarily information-led, research-oriented purposes. While I’m sure the sprues are well documented, I like to start my builds with a little inventory. I’ll use the kit decals for stencils and interior parts, and a Techmod sheet for the specific markings for FW130. Images show a ‘larger’ roundel on the port wing, which is actually the original US star and bar insignia, overpainted with olive drab, and covered again with the RAF roundel. Therefore I’ll use one of the US insignias from the original sheet there too. I’ve always quite liked the B-25 (particularly the later strafers with incredible parrot and bat heads!), but know very little about the type, so will spend some time researching the variant and interior details etc before the build kicks off. Looking forward to watching everyone’s builds take shape, there are some really interesting projects lined up. Cheers, Nick

In the spirit of the era of pushing boundaries, I'll push my boundaries in this GB by building by far the largest model I've yet attempted - Airfix's 1/72 Handley Page Victor. Inside the box there is a LOT of plastic! Bottle of Mr Color for scale. Will really need to clear the bench to build this, both figuratively and literally. Plan is to build it out of the box, using the box art scheme - B.2 XL512 of 129 Squadron at RAF Wittering in the anti-flash white scheme circa 1963-64. So a late Boomer, but one that to me really encapsulates the bigger, faster further spirit of the early jet age. This kit would have been built dozens of times by Britmodellers, so all tips and pointers welcome. I've always loved the Victor's evocative shape and form, it really must have looked like the future when it first emerged in 1952. Hopefully I can build a decent representation of it, plus find a place to display it! Thanks for having this baby of baby boomers in this GB! Cheers, Gerard

some 1/72 AFVs are escaped from its box, and running on my desk.😆 May-2022 from left to right: GMC CCKW (Academy), Stug III Ausf.B (Trumpeter), STURMTIGER Early Prod. (Trumpeter), KV-85 (Trumpeter), FV4030-4 Challenger I (Trumpeter) A34 Comet Mk.1B (Vespid), T-55AM -w KMT-6 (Revell), T-10 Object 730 (Trumpeter), Merkava Mk.IIID (HobbyBoss), Flakpanzer VIII MAUS (Vespid) M4 Hi-speed Tractor(HobbyBoss), SA-6 Gainful (Trumpeter), Churchill Mk.III (Italeri), Sd.Kfz.184 Ferdinand (Trumpeter), Land-Wasser-Schlepper Early Prod. (HobbyBoss) Sd.Kfz.251_10 AAusf.D -w 37mm PaK (Red Dragon), M992A1 AFFSV (Riich), Pz.Kpfw.V Panther Ausf.G -w FG1250 (Vespid), Sd.Kfz.181 Pz.KpfwVI Ausf.E TIGER I -w zimmerit (Red Draogn), Panzerfahre (Red Dragon) Jun-2022 Sd.Kf.223 Leichte Panzerspahwagen x2 (Red Dragon), Neubau-Fagrzeug Nr.2 (Red Dragan), PLA ZTL-11 (Red Dragon) Soviet SS-23 Spider (HobbyBoss), Chieftain Mk. 5 (Takom), M1A1 -w Mine Blade (Trumpeter), PLA ZTZ-99A (Trumpeter), FV432 Mk.2_1 (Takom) Aug-2022 Scimitar Mk.2 (Ford), JGSDF 106SP x2 (Aoshima), PLA ZTQ15 (Meng), M103A2 (Red Dragon), MK-I Female (Master Box) Renault FT-17 x2 (Flyhawk), PLA ZTZ96B (Transform Colors), JGSDF Type 10 (Aoshima), Type 4 Ka-Tsu (Riich) D9R ARMORED BULLDOZER (Sabre model) Middle East 2DR -w ZPU-2 x2 (transform colors) M1114 HMMWV -w GPK (T-model) M1240A1 MRAP (Galaxy Hobby) Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rad -w 20mm KwK & MG34 (Red Dragon), JGSDF Type74 x2 (Fujimi), Pz.Kpfw II Ausf J VK.16.01 (Flyhawk), Sd.Kfz.7_2 37mm AA-Gun Flak36 (Orange Hobby) Sep-2022 20mm Flakvierling auf Fahrgestell (Vespid), T-54B (Takom), Pz.Kpfw.IV Aust.F Munitionsschlepper (HobbyBoss), LEOPARD 2A7 (Takom), T-14 Armata (Trumpeter), T-Stoff Tanker, Schwimmwagen & Bomb Cart (Academy) Oct-2022 Cute Tiger-I (YuFan Model) 1/16 Type 94 Tankette (Takom) Nov-2022 T-35 x2 (S-Model), Jadgpazner IV (Trumpeter), SU-152 x2 (S-Model) Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.B x2 (S-Model), Vanatorul de Care R35 (S-Model), BMP-2 x2 (S-Model) Pz.Kpfw.II Ausf.C x2 (S-Model), Somua S35 x2 (S-Model), Crusader Mk.I, III x2 (S-Model) M551 Sheridan (Early Prod) x2 (S-Model), BMD-1 x2 (S-Model), BRDM-2, BMP-1 (S-Model) SU-85 x2 (S-Model), Matilda II x2 (S-Model), BPR-60PB x2 (S-Model) Dec-2022 T-90MC (Zvezda), BMPT Terminator (Zvezda), 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV (Zvezda), Bumerang (Zvezda), TBMP T-15 Armata (Zvezda) Jan-2023 T-28(Zvezda), RAAC Centurion Mk.5/1 (Vespid), BM-21 Grad Multiple Rocket Launcher (HobbyEasy), 2S19 MCTA-C (Zvezda), IDF Merkava Mk.IV (HobbyEasy) A-222 Bereg (HobbyBoss), 9P117 SS-1C Scud-B (R17 Elbrus) (HobbyBoss), 4K51 Rubezh Coastal ASM with P-15 (HobbyBoss), S-400 Triumf SA-21 Groeler (Zvezda) 1/16 Wiesel A1 Tow (Takom) Rheintochter 1 w/ E-100 Body (ModelCollect), 128mm Flak 40 Gun w/ E-75 Body (ModelCollect), E-50 SPG with 105/L62 (ModelCollect), 1/43 UAZ-3909 (Zvezda), Wiesel x2 (S-model) Mar-2023 Type94 Tankette (IBG), Bedford-QL Refueller (IBG), 3Ro 90/53 -w 90mm AA (IBG), Diamond-T 969 Wrecker -w M2 (IBG), Scammell Pioneer (IBG, actually count as trailer in below) Topol SS-25 Sickle (Zvezda) May-2023 152mm ShkH DANA vz.77 (Hobbyboss) M109A7 Paladin (Fore) Sd.Kfz.173 SchweiBhund X-66 (Blackdog) M11XR7 Stryker Snow Beaver (Blackdog) Aug-2023 M1117 Guardian (Trumpeter), JS-7 (Trumpeter), E-75 Flakpanzer (Trumpeter), E-100 Salamander (Trumpeter), M1070 Gun Truck (Takom) 9k58 Smerch MRLS (Hobbyboss), 9K52 Luna-M, Frog-7 (Trumpeter), 2K11A TEL, SA-4 Ganef (Trumpeter), M1132 -w LWMR (Trumpeter), AS-90 (Trumpeter) Sep-2023 M1A2 SEP TUSK II (Meng), M60A1 -w ERA & M60A3 (Takom), French Char B1 (Trumpeter), Sd.Kfz 138_2 Hetzer Late Prod (Vespid) Oct-2023 Waffentrager Auf E100 -w V1 (ModelCollect), Sd.kfz.186, Jagdtiger (Henschel Prod) (Trumpeter), Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.E, Sd.Kfz.181, Tiger I (HobbyBoss), SU-122 (Zvezda), BTR-80 (Trumpeter) Feb-2024 P.500 Gunguir (Modelcollect) Mar-2024 1/35 Sandland Tank 104 (Bandai) Does your favorite AFV in here? you built similar AFV before? have cool camo / classic color scheme could suggest? you plan to build / buy same AFV too? Since I'm not a diehard fans of AFV / military stuffs, I just enjoy the mechanical aesthetic & camouflage of it, accuracy of the model kit is less important for me. 😅 So, if you have interesting story, history, hint / tip for any of them, please share your experience / builds with me, maybe, just maybe, I would shift the schedule and paint that one first. Also, i have a question. Which brand of 1/72 do you like? For those I have assembled, I prefer (Dec-2022 ver.) Group 1, which are good QC, some may expensive: Zvezda > FlyHawk > Takom = Vespid ; Group 2, which are standard QC, low price, wide range of choices: Trumpeter = HobbyBoss > Meng > Transform Color > S-Model ; Group 3, which are good QC but little choices: Orange Hobby > Airfix > Academy ; Group 4, which are low QC: Revell > Riich > Aoshima = Fujimi > Red Dragon > IBG > Master Box > Hasegawa > Italeri > T-model . The rest of "monsters, i.e. trailer series" are locked firmly under my bed, can't get out. 🤭 Sep-2022 began to let those "long" AFV out 😋 Dampflokomotive BR86 (HobbyBoss) Rail Transporter fur Karl-Gerat (HobbyBoss) Morser Karl-Gerat 040 (HobbyBoss) K5(E) Leopold (HobbyBoss) 1/150 SOYUZ (GoodSmile) JASDF 7t tractor & MIN-104F Patriot PAC-3 (Aoshima), MAZ-537G -w CHMZAP-5247G (Takom), FAUN SLT56 (Takom) M1070 + M1000 cum D9R (Takom) Scammell Pioneer -w TRMU30 (IBG) M25+M15 Dragon Wagon (Academy) Armoured Locomotive Panzerlok BR57 (HobbyBoss), Kommandowagen BP42 (HobbyBoss), Kanonen und Flakwagen BP42 (HobbyBoss), Geschutzwagen BP42 (HobbyBoss), Panzerjager Triebwagen 51 (HobbyBoss) Schwere Plattformwagen Type SSyms 80 (HobbyBoss) Panzerjagerwagen BP-44 Gun Carriage

It's another ancient FROG kit for me this month as I recover from my marathon BPK Poseidon build ! But how to change a FROG Gloster Meteor F.4 into something naval? I know, shoot missiles at it and build it as a pilotless U.15 Radio Controlled Target Drone of 728B Naval Air Sqn at RNAS Hal Far in 1960, trialling the new Seaslug ship-borne anti aircraft missile! I know that there were some superb resin conversion kits available for this until recently, but there seem to be none left and I wanted to do was a very quick and simple (10 days from start to finish) scratch conversion to restore some modelling fun into my life. Strangely, its these very quick "looks like" projects that sometimes give me the most satisfaction. The wing camera pods and other protruberances were scratched up from sprue and drop tanks and are good enough for me. Painting that yellow and red was fun. An overall white coat, then two yellows, then two reds where appropriate. Humbrol and Revell enamels and my trusty hairy stick brush. masking was surprisingly difficult, and you can probably see, didn't go altogether to plan around some of those curves (actually it was th ened for a 2nd red coat that caused the problems). But hey, its another Naval Meteor to add to my shower!!!! And... my enthusiasm is back. The Shower - left to right: Matchbox as a TT.20, Airfix as a Sea Meteor F.III, FROG as a U.15 and Matchbox heavily modified to become a T.7

My last Airfix Mustang in the stash. I found some goodies too. Although the red-tail markings are attractive, I once fell for the luxorious design of these Exito decals, and I somehow need to motivate that expense, so this will be the choice this time: It’s a P51D-25-NA operating as long-range escort out of Iwo Jima towards the end of the war, and since I have 5-, 10 and 15-NA since before it complements the collection. Some tweaks will be needed, regarding radio equipment (I distinctly remember they had a different set of boxes, not to mention the different set of antennas) and tail-warning radar. I now have one week to find that vac form canopy and Quickboost exhaust stacks I remember buying but cannot find. I now understand how squirrels feel.