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Well it's Vulcan time again! This time I'll be cutting one up to build a Vulcan B1a, a variant which has never been represented in a plastic, resin, vacuform or any other type of kit. If you want a B1a, you have to convert one and generally the starting point will have to be a Vulcan B2. The B1, which would be a much better starting point, is only slightly better represented by the incredibly rare Frog kit from 1958, the Lindberg prototype from a year later has straight wings so won't build a standard B1, much less a B1a. No resin, vacuform or other form of kit of any Mk1 vulcan has been made since, only a 1/72 conversion set. If you know your Vulcans, you'll know the last B1 was scrapped at Cosford in 1986 having been left outside to corrode for years (already in a bad way by the time the museum got hold of it), the only one which had a chance of surviving to today would probably have been XA903 which was flying until 1979 as a testbed, but no one was interested in preserving the full aircraft with the retirement in the B2 not far off. This makes researching the B1 enough to make an accurate model a bit of a pain, there are plenty of photographs around but weren't really taken with modellers in mind. I've had a Vulcan marked up for conversion for months, but just not gotten around to cutting the plastic. Even in this fairly small scale it's not an easy task and there's definitely a non-zero chance of this failing and ending up in the bin. This isn't my first B1a conversion, in fact it's the third one, and I've converted one in this scale to a very early B1 with the straight wing (most B1s had Phase 2 kinked wings, introduced from XA894, the sixth production, aircraft onwards and refitted to most early ones). I've made a set of wing templates to speed up the process of measuring out and marking the lines to cut. Chop! Goodbye B2 wings. It's a crude, but effective process. My three Mk.1s, notably absent is the standard B1, but I have two Frog kits which will fill that gap.

Hi All, I haven't lurked in this part of the forum for ages...good to be back! Due to a recent house move, I have a much-reduced modelling space, with no room for an airbrushing station. Therefore I decided dabble again in figure painting with brushes. I had an idea a while back about converting one of the Tamiya 1/16 figures to represent a modern US Navy carrier deck crewman, as US Naval aviation is a strong interest of mine. I liked the look of the brown-shirted 'chock and chain/plane captain' crewmen: So I bought the Tamiya Bundeswehr Tank Crewman figure set below, as they wear a similar-style helmet to the US Navy crewman. They also come with goggles, and as a bonus, there is a second figure in the box (though he has no legs!) The photo below shows the figure head with the tank crewman's helmet detail sanded down, and the other moulded details on the helmet removed. My plan is to convert the head and torso and sculpt new arms. I have not tried this before so it's a step into the unknown. Any help from experienced sculptors would be appreciated!

Gidday All, I've commenced my next build, a model of HMS Hood as she appeared at the time of her sinking in the Denmark Strait on 24th May 1941. Actually, I commenced it three weeks ago. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Bismarck chase, and to commemorate this the ATF is running a GB of the chase. As the name and tags suggest I'm converting a 1/600 scale model kit of HMS Hood to her appearance at that time. The kit OOB represents the ship at about 1932. I know there are kits available that depict the ship in the 1941 guise but a rule of the ATF is that it must be an Airfix kit. Besides, I like to work in 1/600 scale. Between the two dates the ship was altered a bit. The main alterations that I'll have to do (as far as I'm aware at this point) will be removing the 5.5-inch guns and adding twin 4-inch guns, quad .5-inch machine guns and those UP (unrotated projectile) launchers. Minor alterations to the upperworks and spotting top also, and no doubt I'll learn of some more alterations as I go along. Below is a photo of the box art, parts and instructions. I've included parts from other kits that I'll need, namely twin 4-inch gun shields and UP (Unrotated Projectile) launchers. I forgot to add an extra octuple 2lb pompom mounting. When I bought the kit some time ago I noticed that the box art is of the ship in May 1941. And as it turns out so is the colour scheme in the instructions. I didn't know whether to be pleased (it'll save me quite a bit of work) or disappointed now that the challenge had gone. But as you can see, the kit comes with single 5.5-inch guns, not twin 4-inch, so it is still the 1932 iteration of the ship. I believe this could be deemed false advertising by Airfix but I'm not going to quibble. Included in the parts above are six UP launchers (I only need five) from the twoAirfix KGV kits I used to build HMS Monarch many years ago (yes I plan that far ahead) and seven twin 4-inch shields from Airfix Ajax kits. The kit seems nicely molded with very little flash. And I've had a pleasant surprise - the gun barrels and 5.5-inch guns are attached to the sprues at the rear, not half way along the barrel which Airfix are prone to do. This will make them easier to use (the 5.5-inch guns I plan on using on a future build of HMS Eagle). Why can't Airfix do this all the time? I'm also going to need another octuple pompom mounting, which I have from my recent build of a 16 gun HMS Belfast. I forgot to include it in the photo here. I've glued, re-inforced and drilled the hull. This model is quite a bit bigger than those I've done recently. I think I need a bigger cutting mat. Therefore of course a bigger desk. And perhaps a bigger room? I don't think SWMBO will agree to that. Oh well . . . There was a bit of thick jagged flash on the lip of the hull. I checked with a second kit of this, same. It could be a fault with the molding but it's not a major problem. While the glue was setting yesterday I thought I'd start on the turrets. I have decided on a standard fitting method for cruiser and battleship turrets now, which is 4.8mm (3/16 inch) tubing for the trunking, and a keyway added to allow removal yet locking in. When I saw the faces of the turrets of this kit I said "erk", followed by "gosh" (or words to that effect). The slots for the guns are a little rough. In fact I could have done a neater job with a chainsaw. See below. The top row of turrets came with this kit. The second row, obviously from another kit. These are like those I remember when I did my first build, many years ago. The reason I have two kits is that when I decided to do this version of HMS Hood I had trouble finding a kit. When I finally succeeded in tracking one down the store had two so I bought them both. Greedy I know, but I've never claimed to be a saint. Regarding the turrets I had some options. Plan A, use them as they are. Err, no. Plan B, use the turrets from the other kit. Maybe. Plan C, use these turrets and make turret faces to cover the shoddy faces here. Maybe. Plan D, make my own. In fact I have already done so. About forty-odd years ago I had this idea of scratch-building a model of the ship, using my younger brother's build for measurements. Why I decided to copy exactly a model when I could simply have bought my own kit I have no idea. I can't remember what I thought last week, so definitely not my thoughts that far back. Anyway I made the hull from balsa, the turrets from balsa and matches, the 5.5-inch guns and started on the superstructure, this from balsa and paper. Plus a carved name plate. That's them in the foreground. The levels of the superstructure are dry fitted here. I include them here to show how skilled and talented I was back then. 🥴 Yeah, right! 😁 The hull was weighted with plasticine to make it float at the waterline but I put too much in and it floated with the quarterdeck nearly awash. Considering how wet this ship was in a seaway, particularly in later years this wasn't far from the truth. Anyway, the plasticine must have absorbed moisture from the atmosphere or something because it swelled and split the hull. So this I ditched, along with the ten 5.5-inch guns glued to it. Anyway, back to this build. I initially decided on Plan C (making turret faces) with Plan B as a back up if I'm unsuccessful.

My other attempt for this GB will be the Airfix Fokker F-27 converted to a Laser Airborne Depth Sounding aircraft operated on behalf of the Royal Australian Navy. I will again be using a Hamilton Hobbies conversion as well as some replacement white metal under carriage legs Decals are from Southern Sky this time around From Wiki The Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) Flight was a unit of the Royal Australian Navy. Unlike the rest of the flying units of the RAN, it was not controlled by the Fleet Air Arm from HMAS Albatross (NSW), but instead fell under the operational control of the Australian Hydrographic Service at HMAS Cairns (QLD), providing a platform for the operation of the laser airborne depth sounder system. in 2009 the F-27 was replaced by a DHC Dash 8 which operated until 2019.

Not new model, but I still like it. I know, pink sholud be more white and pale, am I wright? I have added extra gunsight from Quickboost, canopy hood with bubbles from Rob Taurus vacu and scratchbuilded rear mirror. Decals are mix of Pavla (I think letters are too light...) and Xtracolors roundels. Maybe she is too much weathered - but you know the name - "dicing" (with death) is such impressive for add some extra mementos of dogfight's somwhere over Brest ... Anyway, hope you like it. Best regards, Michal.

Two RR Soar engines were tested on extended wingtips in the mid-1950s but unfortunately the engine didn't go into production. The engines and extended wingtips are scratchbuilt and the decals are home made. Steve

This Meteor was used to test the RB108 lift-jet engine for the Short SC1. After tests with Rolls-Royce it was dumped at Hucknall until rescued by the Newark Air Museum where it is on display. I made the dorsal intake and engine from scratch as well as the decals. Steve

The Sapphire engine testbed Meteor was the most powerful of all Meteors. I replaced the kit engine nacelles using larger diameter tubing and added new intakes/jetpipes from the spares box with lots of filler! The decals are home made. Steve

A civil plane, in spite of its cockades (as explained below), the Fokker C.IV C was one of the protagonists of a rather eventful world-renowned saga. (I am replicating here the text written for the seaplane version, as it's pertinent to both models). Here is the step-by-step building article: And here is the seaplane version model completed: A country at the southern tip of South America, still partially in its agricultural/ranching-economy slumber, far away from the hubs of financial power and technology, dared to dream of an almost mythical feat: to circumnavigate the world by airplane, in 1924. The dream proved bigger than the available resources, and in spite of strong popular support, certain dose of chivalry, and a number of strong wills put together, the dream ended up sinking, literally, in Tokyo Bay, a long time after departing east-bound from Amsterdam. A Fokker C.IV and a C.IV W planes were involved, a third reputedly left in storage in Canada as a replacement for the last leg of the attempt, that a source states was a low wing Fokker T.IIIW. The two Fokker C.IV were the landplane Ciudad de Buenos Aries and the seaplane Provincia de Buenos Aires. Of the three crew members that were initially chosen to fly, only two would do the trip: pilot Pedro Zanni and mechanic Felipe Beltrame; the third, Nelson Page, that was supposed to be the navigator, having fallen ill. Zanni's strong desire to accomplish the task may have led to some questionable piloting decisions involving weather judgment that cost him his first plane -demolished in China- and eventually the second, seen sadly in photos ignominiously half-submerged in the water sticking its tail up. Many accounts veil the final shame, and state that Zanni "decided to abandon the enterprise due to weather and financial concerns". All this, as said, after a series of mishaps involving possible misjudging of terrain and weather. It could be argued that you can't fly a plane only with your will and bravery, you also need a cool mind, and a knowledge, financial and technical support, and skill comparable to the enterprise you want to tackle. Be that as it may, Zanni and Beltrame made a prodigious journey, again considering their lack of resources and feeble tactical support. And so Argentina was for a while featured in newspapers that followed the progress of these commendable men. For some reason, it was decided to keep the standard factory finish, catering for the military market, as we know an absolutely terrible choice for a civil flight if an emergency occurred, when finding and rescue may have been impaired by that standard camouflage. The plane wore the country's cockades and rudder colors, not necessary -or perhaps not even legal- as the plane did not belong to the Argentinean military, nor was it sponsored by it, if indeed the pilot was an active military pilot. The fact that was paid be popular collect and sponsored by the Aero Club Argentino (a civil entity) is the reason I decided to build these planes, as there was no military ownership or sponsorship, and the planes of course were exclusively used for (and spent in) this around the world flight attempt. As stated in the building article, this is a project we took up together with my older son, also a modeler, and decided to build one of them each. At one point it was obvious that many mods were needed and the kit was extremely poor (to say the very least), so I was supposed to build mine and prepare an "improved and modified kit" for him to build, to save him time. Well, guess what, daddy ended up building both and gifting one to the son, as son became a father himself in the interim with additional responsibilities and certain restrictions regarding modeling time, and daddy became a grandfather. Still, each of us will have now one of these twins on display, which is, after all, very nice. I (almost) always enjoy working on basic kits aspiring to make of them more accurate and better detailed replicas, but there are limits to that approach. In this case the kit was so lacking that it would have been immensely easier (not to mention more satisfying) to scratch the two models from the start, instead of having to deal with re-working almost every part of it, in part of course to obtain a different version, but mostly because the parts were so poor to start with. The two planes, for land and sea, were the same plane, but not completely identical: besides the obvious landing/alighting equipment, other small differences are present. On top of that, the machines changed details as they progressed in their trip, with differences most notably on their noses. As usual, one version has to be chosen for the model, in this case the machines as they were in their last legs (figuratively and literally) of the trip. It is of note that Zanni's -that news agencies often spelled "Zani"- flight was contemporary of that of the USA pilots in their four Douglas World Cruisers, that even counting with vastly superior support -technical and financial-, had nonetheless their fair share of serious difficulties. It's not surprise then that Zanni and Beltrame had to abandon their enterprise midway, and yet still they were hailed -and fairly so- as heroes in their native country. The two machines, used consecutively, in the around the world flight attempt: Some articles with varied information, a few bits of it not totally accurate (Zanni dismissed Italian and British plane, and ended up adopting Fokker's): Page, Zanni and Beltrame. As explained, Page became ill and remained behind in Amsterdam, not taking part of the flight.

A civil plane, in spite of its cockades (all explained below), the Fokker C.IV W was one of the protagonists of a rather eventful world-renowned saga. The model was made for my older son, an accomplished modeler himself, and an agricultural engineer and prize-winning brewer. The step-by-step building article can be visited here: The completed model of the land version is here: A country at the southern tip of South America, still partially in its agricultural/ranching-economy slumber, far away from the hubs of financial power and technology, dared to dream of an almost mythical feat: to circumnavigate the world by airplane, in 1924. The dream proved bigger than the available resources, and in spite of strong popular support, certain dose of chivalry, and a number of strong wills put together, the dream ended up sinking, literally, in Osaka Bay, a long time after departing east-bound from Amsterdam. A Fokker C.IV C and a C.IV W planes were involved, a third reputedly left in storage in Canada as a replacement for the last leg of the attempt, that a source states was a low wing Fokker T.IIIW. The two Fokker C.IV were the landplane Ciudad de Buenos Aries and the seaplane Provincia de Buenos Aires. Of the three crew members that were initially chosen to fly, only two would do the trip: pilot Pedro Zanni and mechanic Felipe Beltrame; the third, Nelson Page, that was supposed to be the navigator, having fallen ill. Zanni's strong desire to accomplish the task may have led to some questionable piloting decisions involving weather judgment that cost him his first plane -demolished in China- and eventually the second, seen sadly in photos ignominiously half-submerged in the water sticking its tail up. Many accounts veil the final shame, and state that Zanni "decided to abandon the enterprise due to weather and financial concerns". All this, as said, after a series of mishaps involving possible misjudging of terrain and weather. It could be argued that you can't fly a plane only with your will and bravery, you also need a cool mind, and a knowledge, financial and technical support, and skill comparable to the enterprise you want to tackle. Be that as it may, Zanni and Beltrame made a prodigious journey, again considering their lack of resources and feeble tactical support. And so Argentina was for a while featured in newspapers that followed the progress of these commendable men. For some reason, it was decided to keep the standard factory finish, catering for the military market, as we know an absolutely terrible choice for a civil flight if an emergency occurred, when finding and rescue may have been impaired by that standard camouflage. The plane wore the country's cockades and rudder colors, not necessary -or perhaps not even legal- as the plane did not belong to the Argentinean military, nor was it sponsored by it, if indeed the pilot was an active military pilot. The fact that was paid be popular collect and sponsored by the Aero Club Argentino (a civil entity) is the reason I decided to build these planes, as there was no military ownership or sponsorship, and the planes of course were exclusively used for (and spent in) this around the world flight attempt. As stated in the building article, this is a project we took up together with my older son, also a modeler, and decided to build one of them each. At one point it was obvious that many mods were needed and the kit was extremely poor (to say the very least), so I was supposed to build mine and prepare an "improved and modified kit" for him to build, to save him time. Well, guess what, daddy ended up building both and gifting one to the son, as son became a father himself in the interim with additional responsibilities and certain restrictions regarding modeling time, and daddy became a grandfather. Still, each of us will have now one of these twins on display, which is, after all, very nice. I (almost) always enjoy working on basic kits aspiring to make of them more accurate and better detailed replicas, but there are limits to that approach. In this case the kit was so lacking that it would have been immensely easier (not to mention more satisfying) to scratch the two models from the start, instead of having to deal with re-working almost every part of it, in part of course to obtain a different version, but mostly because the parts were so poor to start with. The two planes, for land and sea, were the same plane, but not completely identical: besides the obvious landing/alighting equipment, other small differences are present. On top of that, the machines changed details as they progressed in their trip, with differences most notably on their noses. As usual, one version has to be chosen for the model, in this case the machines as they were in their last legs (figuratively and literally) of the trip. It is of note that Zanni's -that news agencies often spelled "Zani"- flight was contemporary of that of the USA pilots in their four Douglas World Cruisers, that even counting with vastly superior support -technical and financial-, had nonetheless their fair share of serious difficulties. It's not surprise then that Zanni and Beltrame had to abandon their enterprise midway, and yet still they were hailed -and fairly so- as heroes in their native country.

Afternoon all, I've been working on the recently released conversion of the Mach 2 Bristol Britannia to a Canadair Argus in 1/72nd scale. This is by Transport Wings and comprises of some hefty resin parts along with some 3D-printed detail parts. I've got the main construction completed now and am almost ready for the painting process to begin - the pictures below will give a good indication into the amount of work done and how little of the Mach 2 Britannia kit is actually used! The white sections are the Mach 2 parts, the grey sections are the resin conversion parts. You get new engines and nacelles with the option of open or closed cowl flaps. There are also new rear sections of the nacelles to replace the Britannia's exhaust system. Clear parts are resin - not completely blemish free but not too bad. The Britannia's windows all needed filling and new windows opened up for the Argus. The enormous MAD boom is well replicated. The Britannia's fin is also modified with a new fillet and leading edge, but the Britannia stabilisers are a drop-fit. I opted for the extra bomb-bay mod on mine. The doors are obviously yet to be fitted. The bays were a bit of a struggle to get integrated into the Britannia's lower fuselage but a dose of good old fashioned modelling and plastic card and filler soon had the problem solved. The Mach 2 main landing gear is used but new Argus nose-gear is supplied in the conversion. The conversion enables you to make a MkI or MkII with the various radar and aerial fits - I've gone for a MkI. Propellers will be added after painting. The conversion captures the look of this graceful aircraft really well and although it's been a lot of work to get to this stage I've really enjoyed it. I'll post some more pictures when it's had some paint applied. All the best, Rob

Here is one of the two Ansaldo "Brescia" racers, number 3, made specifically to race in the famous events hosted by that Italian city. Number 4 had a more powerful engine and some minor mods. The base was a not bad Pegasus injection kit, with home-concocted decals. The building post can be visited here: The drastically clipped wing and modified strut arrangement gives it an unusual but -to me, lover of oddities- appealing geometry. The model was possible thanks to aviation historian Paolo Miana and his team, as information found in their book on their Ansaldo machines filled a number of voids. https://www.gliarchiviritrovati.it/home/prodotto/gli-aerei-che-hanno-fatto-la-storia-ansaldo-sva/ They have publications on many other very interesting Italian subjects. Any potential inaccuracies are only mine. This was an almost painless adaptation of an easily obtained kit (there are many others by different manufacturers readily available) that presents a known plane under a mostly unknown guise, just the type of modeling I love. As always, I enjoyed very much reading about and working on an Italian racer, a nation that gave so much to that field of aviation, with luscious designs of undeniable appeal, even when they are unorthodox. Some of the images show my 1/72nd Italian test pilots, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Pier Paolo Pasolini, assisted by their mechanics (out of the frame) Domenico Modugno and Adriano Celentano.

I thought I'd open another box and get the saw out. This kit has been in various lofts for quite a few years, it was even put up for sale at one point, but with no takers I have decided to convert it to the Jan de Rooy 1992 Dakar Rally Truck. As there were two trucks entererd, No.381 badged 2800 and No.382 badged 3300, I've yet to decide which to go for but early leanings are the 3300. A plea for photos via Facebook elicited a decent walkaround selection fom a kind modeller who was vsisting a Dutch motor event at Zandvoort to go along with images I've found from various trawls on the internet. Recently I stumbled across a photo of the interior rear section of the box stuffed with much equipment, this is an area that too is still being considered, but knowing I'm a glutton for punishment the rear doors may get blown off 😉 Sadly a decent set of blueprints eludes me at his time, if anyone has a set please PM me. I predict a very slow build schedule for this. At least I'll have a handy skip to throw all the unused bits in 🤣

(According to the Paolo Mina's book (that translates as "Airplanes That Have Made History, Ansaldo SVA"), this is a heavily retouched photo of the second Brescia racer (250hp engine). The number 4 had actually a star background. In this photo the number has been altered to follow the decoration scheme of #3) This link will take you to Kees Kort (varese2002) flickr page, that features #3: https://www.flickr.com/photos/varese2002/42416308151/in/album-72157636093418425/ Racers are like the spicy dish on the menu of civil aviation, the curry or jalapeño of winged apparatuses. One may even refer specifically to Italian racers as the pasta alla puttanesca plate. I have build very many models of them, as they are just beautiful. Long time ago a slightly bizarre one caught my attention, a (drastically) clipped wing version of the Ansaldo SVA biplane, called Brescia, as it was designed to compete in that city's famous races. In one of my excursions to the surrounding modeling grottoes (in this case during a trip to Palm Desert) I spotted and promptly acquired a Pegasus 1/72 kit of the SVA-5 with the purpose of conversion (that is to obtain a more civilized version). I have a few Pegasus kits stashed somewhere, and to be sincere they don't make a wonderful impression on me (and for what I can tell on many others as well), but having built veritable monsters that even today invoke nightmares in my mind (Merlin and the old Dujin kits, to name just two) this is not really a bad kit. Yes, it has a lot of flash, no locating devices whatsoever, some of the parts are a bit coarse, and there is not much in terms of interior detail, but I think they are perfectly buildable with some work and patience. In this case, to obtain the racing version, the wings and horizontal tail will require complete reworking, the interior a bit of improving, and a few external details added, as well as new decals. During my research I came across a wonderful publication by Italian aviation historian Paolo Miana and his team: https://www.gliarchiviritrovati.it/home/prodotto/gli-aerei-che-hanno-fatto-la-storia-ansaldo-sva/ That made me immensely happy, as I have purchased and used as references before two of his titles: "Gli aerei che hanno fatto la storia – SIAI S.64", https://www.gliarchiviritrovati.it/home/blogs/gli-aerei-che-hanno-fatto-la-storia-siai-s-64/ that I consulted for my Savoia S.64: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235050050-scratch-built-172-savoia-marchetti-s64-1928/ and his book on the Savoia Marchetti S.79 racers: "Lost Archives - Pictorial history of SIAI - Chapter I - the Sorci Verdi". https://www.gliarchiviritrovati.it/home/prodotto/siai-s-79-capitolo-i-i-sorci-verdi/ That were helpful in building two of them too: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235050724-savoia-s79-corsa-adaptation-from-the-172nd-scale-airfix-kit/ https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235050725-savoia-marcehtti-s79-corsa-conversion-of-the-172-italeri-kit/ A bagged kit, conveys a sort of vintage flavor... Contents. The machine guns are swiftly trashed: Plenty of flash: In spite of the prominent and ubiquitous flash, the plastic is soft and cleans perfectly in a matter of minutes: The "instructions" let you know that you have to fabricate your own struts. Again, do not panic, easy peasy for any modeler with a bit of experience: And in this very special and VERY happy day, an unusual and welcome sight in California: a life-giving rain, as if the sky would want to wash away the filth of these last four years, and to top everything, the sun is coming out again, shinning on all things, without distinction:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/profile/31456-maartenschonfeld/ Belgian modeller Maarten is converting the MikroMir 1/350 scale HMS Resolution SSBN kit into a Churchill Class SSN. As he has no means of posting WIP photos on Britmodeller, I offered to post them for him.... Over to you Maarten........ Ken

Here's my 1/72 AW101, finished in the colours of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, built for the helicopters group build. It's converted from the Revell Merlin HC.3, which required a change of the window configuration and a few other detail differences. Decals were (mostly) custom printed, paint was Tamiya and Gunze (although I think the dayglo was AK real colour). Thoroughly enjoyable build, experimented with a few new things, windows didn't work out quite as planned but I learned a lot. Build thread is here. thanks for looking Julian

This is a model built 3 years ago, that I did not post. It will become relevant for another model that I will be (likely) building, hence this late posting. I am not particularly proud of this model, as I really struggled with the kit's quality, but here it is anyway. I converted the "normal" G.III into a civil plane, with enclosed cockpit. A page on the plane was found in Les Ailes #436, 10/24/1929, thanks to the wonderful Gallica archives. From that Gallica/Les Alies page: You may find a post here at the Passion Pour L'aviation blog: http://www.passionpourlaviation.fr/2016/04/23/cudron-giii-a-cabine-fermee/ The Chroszy kit provides a starting point, and it helps, but it has some shortcomings you may not like (I did not). A biplane is always a challenge at many levels, and this is no exception. The rigging on this one is quite a task, and the open twin booms uniting front and tail are especially tricky in more than one way too. My thanks to Mika Jernfors of Arctic Decals from whom I commissioned the simple images this one needed, being civil-registered. First the good: a detailed resin kit, mostly well molded (but with many parts not well molded, unfortunately) with reasonable scale thicknesses, with a nice photo-etched fret, and things bagged separately in an attempt (futile) to protect the contents. A piece of clear plastic was in the box too. The not so good: Quite so-so instructions, which seems to be the norm with so many kits, too small, and with the P.E. parts not differentiated from the resin ones. The parts of course do no have identification numbers, and there is no part diagram, so you will be left to guess in many instances, and trust me, you won't like it. As with other kits from this manufacturer, some parts arrived already broken, which really pisses me off. Choroszy could use those "ears" or sidebars that other resin manufacturers use to protect the parts in the casting blocks. The wingtip was broken, and I found (after much looking around) the fragment to glue it back, but one of the landing gear skis had its front broken, and no fragment was there. The way some parts are united to their casting blocks (like the seats) makes them prone to breakage in separating them. In any case, spares seem to be provided (difficult to asses since there is no part numbers or diagram). The too thick throttles come as resin parts, but they should have doubtlessly been included with the P.E. parts. My kit did not have the decals that according to the lid should have come in there. No worries, since I did not use them anyway, but heck! This kit in general is overoptimistic in the sense that part of the detail will have to be replaced by wire or very thin styrene rod. The fragile and in some spots uneven resin parts that depict the trusses are quite a bit of wishful thinking too. In general, the sense I got from this kit is an attempt to replicate a fragile structure that fell quite short, had poor mechanical strength, and molding that left much to be desired. Unclean casts, failed parts, and parts confetti upon arrival. Not to mention asymmetries regarding wing strut placement, that will make your delight once you realize it, hopefully not too late in construction. Not a happy camper I was with this kit. I had built before a Church Midwing racer from the same manufacturer, that was in general AFAICR a better experience, but with incomplete and bad decals:

A Golden Eagle is lost at sea Long time ago I came across photos of the Lockheed Vega "Golden Eagle" that participated in the Dole air race to Hawaii. The plane started, but never arrived, and is presumed by most as having gone down in the Pacific. The Golden Eagle was the first Vega build, bought by George Hearst, and entered in the Dole race flown by Gordon Scott (navigator) and Jack Frost (pilot). Whilst some photos show a plane with the 2788 registration and an unusual, early style of curved small windshield and open cockpit, others show a plane as it participated in the race (as also seen in the Dole race start newsreels), with a "V" shaped more common windshield (still open "roof" in the cockpit), the actual legend "Golden Eagle" on the side, NX913 registration, and that -often seen in Lockheed planes- linear "spread array" pattern on the stab. Both had the early exposed cylinders -no NACA cowl or Townend ring- the triangular vertical tail, and a rather simple, unfaired, landing gear array. As it happens, after long perusing, reading and browsing, it is clear that the two are one and the same, with the registration changed. The color of the plane is given in one source as bright yellow. The diverse characters on the plane are certainly not black, and in fact are almost the same tonal value as the airframe color, confirming the red "trim" stated by many accounts. Yet another source (an article by Serge Pozzoli) reports orange-gold and red trim, and that would be indeed my choice, as it closely honors the name of the plane. The book Lockheed Aircraft since 1913 by R. Francillon states orange and red, and again, I think that "orange" stands for a golden paint. The plane had large signs on the sides, almost invisible in all but two of the images I have, that play a bit on the logo of the San Francisco Examiner (the sponsor) but adding "Golden Eagle" split to each side of it. The tail has an early Lockheed star logo with the word Vega in it, and the lettering Lockheed bellow it. As per details: a whole new interior has to be provided (fortunately I found a diagram). The Vega 1 was conceived as a four-seater, but for the race two fuel tanks were located ahead in the cabin, leaving a crawling space on top, and a navigator station was created with instruments, seat, a space for provisions, emergency equipment, radio, etc. An earth-inductor compass was part of the equipment, its mast with spinning windmill on the fuselage spine. A hatch for a cut-out was provided for the navigator on the cabin roof and a foldable windshield ahead of it on the wing. Opposite to what will be seen on successive models, the ailerons did not have a compensating mass, thus the ailerons leading edges were a simple straight business. These early Vegas, as mentioned, had a triangular vertical tail, a door that hinged upwards, located ahead of what will be the norm in later models, and only four windows per side. As many of you know, there is a 1/72 kit by MPM readily available -which I have in the stash- but also an old and venerable vac by Gordon Stevens of RarePlane fame. I had the good fortune of corresponding with him before his passing, at a time when I was building some of his kits. We had our good chats, as he was an affable, kind and knowledgeable gentleman, and I hope he may be looking from a cloud now and smiling, since I have chosen his kit for this build. This kit is peculiar in the sense that the fuselage (and all the interior parts and engine) are vacuum-formed in a thick clear plastic, whilst flying surfaces and other small details come in the usual white styrene sheets. No decals were included in these kits, and many of the details like engine, prop, wheels, struts and other smallish parts are better substituted. Gordon included those additional parts in the clear sheet most likely to take advantage of the space, but it's not a happy solution. I have built in another life his Bell Airacuda, similarly fashioned, and that engineering solution, that may sound practical at first, ends up being not much so, for diverse reasons. As the vac kit represents a later Vega, I will have to remove the nose NACA cowling and vertical tail, and replace them with pointy nose and triangular tail: I will have also to move the cabin door one "space" ahead, delete the aft fifth windows on both sides and replace the wheel pants-cum-partial wheel for just plain whole wheels. Landing gear struts need to be fabricated, new engine provided and a different interior fashioned. And, of course, the decals. A hefty amount of time, more than many would deem reasonable, was spent researching the many details of this plane, and lately I solved the last detail mentioned, that is, the particular details of the lettering and decoration on the plane, all from few, vague, and not very yielding images, gathered one or a few at a time, after hours and hours of perusing and browsing here and there. The vintage boxing A spurious 1/48 AMT decal sheet was put inside by a previous owner: Instructions... Plastic A not very practical approach, but may have seemed "high-tech" at the time: The door and windows are there, although I will have to change some of that:

I fear quarantine has finally caught up to me and left me fit for the madhouse. While I finish tracking down the paints for a 1/72 Texan in Brazilian Markings courtesy of Tim and finish painting a 1/72 Mustang in Guatemalan Markings courtesy of Herb, I've decided to crack into what I expect will be a years-long endeavor. Having recently done more reading on the later marks of the ever-beautiful P-40, I came across a few more photos of the TP-40 models, both K and N, and somehow decided making a TP-40N starting from the Academy kit didn't seem all that difficult. So then, of course, I chose to make it difficult. And expensive. And time consuming. As only a modeler could. I stumbled back across Super Model of Polands fine website and began to take inventory of just how much aftermarket I could work into the build, from flaps and gear doors to engines and radios, and even bomb racks and machine gun bays. With some wheels, stencils, and control surfaces for good measure, I've gotten to work. Now I just need new cockpit parts, exhaust pipes, pilot figures, and resin wheel bays from Aires. Perhaps a new pitot and gun barrels will even find their way to the bench. PART flaps were chosen because they're vastly more detailed (and easier to use) than the ones Verlinden provide. Seeing a Hasegawa P-40N for cheap, I picked it up to make use of some of the leftover parts from the Verlinden set that won't find their way into this build, as a dry run to get more experience with resin and PE. Expect to see that in an Olive / NG Brazilian Scheme eventually. Once the Academy kit arrives, I'll be able to make more visible progress than just cleaning resin parts and opening access panels. For now, the parts: Wish me luck! Stay Healthy, Tweener

This started out as a 777-300 conversion using 2 Minicraft 1/144 kits. But over time it was painted, decaled, sanded and repainted until I did not like the finish so it was stripped and had its GE90 engines removed. I then had a brainwave to add some spare GE CF-6 engines from a 747 kit to it. It was repainted again and I used 2 Australian Airline A300 decal sheets to finish it as a What - If. So I present to you my Australian Airlines Boeing 777-476ER...

Here's my Airfix 1/144 BAC 1-11, converted to a 1-11-500, which I've just finished in the A Kit You Built As A Kid group build. Build thread is here. It's a pretty simple conversion - main jobs are to extend the fuselage and wingtips, mostly done with plastic card and milliput. Other, smaller jobs included reprofiling the nose cone with milliput, replacing and moving the wing fences, adding an APU and reprofiling the flap track fairings. Decals are from TwoSix - I chose G-AVMR because I flew on it back in 1981. thanks for looking Julian

Finally completed: Jackie Cochran's Northrop Gamma with its P&W Twin Wasp engine. Unfortunately she had to drop from the 1935 Bendix, encountering rough weather that forced her to return to the origin point. The plane was later on leased to Howard Hughes, who re-engined it and used it for his record flights. The step-by-step building article with the modifications needed for this specific version can be visited here: The old and venerable Williams Bros kit was modified to obtain this version. This is one those gifts that keeps on giving: I had previously built the Conqueror Gamma, also flown by Cochran: And the Experimental Overweather Laboratory (yes, @Martian, laboratory, not lavatory, so don't get confused, we know what happens when you do ) Besides this very old build: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vb4vjFCwMeU/XyCvQ9AroFI/AAAAAAAAxWw/0gO3Z1-bebUr-GpXww1-xFjFh9I0900VwCLcBGAsYHQ/s650/01.jpg A set from Arctic Decals was commissioned for this model, and it delivered the usual quality and precision, even including masks for the tail. A word about the different schemes. Under Cochran's ownership, photos show the plane in different schemes. The one chosen here has those curved motifs on the cowl, an X registration -letter that was applied on a white patch that covered the NR one-, on tail and wings, and a line on the fuselage sides ending in an arrow at the front, and with a running hare in the middle on a rhomboidal shape. The regs. on the wing are not perpendicular to the fuselage, but parallel to the leading edge. There were other schemes, again still under Cochran's ownership: -At the race (that the plane did not complete) a number 55 was applied to the airframe, and the reg. is preceded by NR. -During what seems like the original trials, again the reg. numbers are preceded by X, and no other decoration is visible anywhere on the plane. I leave you know to dream of unending skies and open landscapes, speed and elegance, and some remarkable woman.

Hi All. Here my RaupenSchlepperOst (RSO) from Italeri converted in ambulance. It was an hard job as Italeri kit was nice but terrible to work! The rear compartment was completely built from Evergreen plastic foils. Interior cab was scratched using some kit parts and Eduard pe. Tracks from Friul, side red cross are decals while top red cross was painted with airbrush and stencils. Anyway, I'm happy for results. I'd like to built another RSO using Dragon kit but its cost is absolutely too high (+/- 50 GBpounds)!😟 Hope you like. Ciao Filippo

My second build in this GB is the Airfix 1/144 BAC 1-11. I built one of these when I was about 8 or 9, didn't paint it, but used the British Caledonian decals. This time it's going to be converted to a 1-11-500 and painted as G-AVMR of British Airways - this is a significant aircraft for me as it was the first jet I flew on, aged 7 - I'd flown on plenty of Viscounts at that age, but a jet flight was exciting for 7-year old me. Here's the kit: Not a lot of parts, and (as always seems to be the case) smaller than I remember. The Airfix kit is based on the prototype and will need a few changes to make it a 500: The main modifications are to add 18mm to the forward fuselage and 10.5mm to the rear fuselage, and 5mm to each wingtip. It also needs the nose cone reprofiling (it needs to be pointier), the wing fences need to be moved, and an APU exhaust needs to be added to the tail cone. And probably a couple of other mods. Started yesterday by cutting the fuselage up: Then put some rolled-up plastic card in the gaps and applied suplerglue. Then I realised I'd made possibly the most ridiculous modelling mistake ever: That's right, it's the BACwards 1-11! Cut apart again, centre section turned the right way around, stuck together and milliputed and here's how it looks now: Also filled the windows. I'm sure there were windows in the kit 30 odd years ago, but not in this boxing. I'll do the nose job next, then on to the wings. more tomorrow Julian

Here's the 1/144 NKC-135A I built to go with my EC-24A in the In The Navy group build. It's the Minicraft KC-135A with scratch built (mostly 3D-printed) conversion parts and decals from various sources, including some I printed myself. Build thread is here thanks for looking Julian