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There are so many reasons why I shouldn't enter this GB but as has been said, You can never capture Africa's heart, but it will capture yours; so he I go... Roden's Bristol Britannia with the markings for African Safari of Kenya; a short-lived operation that did flights between Europe and Nairobi Maintaining may usual standard for GBs I won't be starting for a week. Once I do though it'll be straight OOB, because my New Year's Resolution is to keep it simple. But that's not to say there can't be some sprue fondling first I'm not a fan of clear windows so something will have to be done; not sure what for the cockpit, but there's time yet. Not too shabby, bit of flash to take care of, and I'm mighty relieved that I don't have to fit individual blades on the propellors because that really bores me and I don't see the point of it! No detail in the u/c bays but that doesn't bother me. What does bother me, but I knew this would happen is the size of that decal on the tail, especially as I don't hear glowing reports about Roden decals. But I'm looking forward to the ride.

Hallo Just to bridge the time gap of getting my oil dry on parts of my R.E.8 I will build this engines for display. Since most of them I built already with my aircraft from WNW, it is just to relax. Happy modelling

Roden is to release in 2016 a 1/32nd Cessna O-2 Skymaster kit - ref.620 Source: http://www.frogmodelaircraft.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=323 V.P.

Fokker D.VI 1/32 Roden The D.VI is not as well known as other Fokker fighters of the Great War, but it sits chronologically between the DR.1 Triplane and the superb D.VII. In fact it was entered into the same Idflieg 'Fighter Competition' at Adlershof in January 1918. It was already outdated with its rotary engine unable to provide the power levels of the inline engined D.VII. However a small number of them found a niche as Home defence fighters, as they were able to start up and take off immediately enemy bombers were approaching, whereas the inline engined aircraft had to take time to warm up. The Roden kit is based on their earlier DR.1 Triplane kit, with a new set of biplane wings as the main change. It also has the advantage of almost no rigging. The LMG/08 Spandau guns are solid mouldings, but they also provide unjacketed ones for aftermarket etched jackets - I used some Eduard ones I had on a Fokker D.VII set. The fuselage is pretty much the same as the Triplane kit. It comes with a full set of lozenge decals, which I was bit wary of having found previous Roden decals to be problematic. But these are a quantum leap forward, a vast improvement, they were easy to use, settled down well, and the colours are pretty good. So forget any previous experience with Roden decals, these are really good! On with the photos: I added some brass etched stitching to the under fuselage centre line. Thanks for looking, John

Roden is to release a 1/32nd Boeing/Stearman PT-13 Kaydet kit - ref. 631 Source: http://www.roden.eu/HTML/framemodels.htm V.P.

Hallo This B.E. 12b, I failed to finish it. Because of the gluing process. The strut support plates I designed by myself. This are photo etched parts. A big kit producer processed them. On three sample kits I succeeded. Regarding the strut support plates: The idea and everything around it is simple, clear and easy to implement. There is only one tragic ending in the end. This is the bonding of the struts. You need super glue CA because it's metal. And that is exactly where the problem lies. I built two Dh 2 (1/48 and 1/32) and one B.E. 2c in 1/48. You find them on the forum anyway. I failed at the B.E.12b in 1/48. The fact is that the Roden kits are perhaps unsuitable for this due to inaccuracies, but I stopped afterwards. If you want to revive the subject, please. I can give you the contact to the company (a big manufacturer). Take it further and succeed. Maybe you will manage to find a process-reliable bond or a way of working that is better than mine. Happy modeling

A first glimpse into the Roden programme/catalogue 2021. Sources: https://www.facebook.com/RodenKits/posts/4384265161589869 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3676419375785738&set=gm.3885845781474935 For Spring 2021: New aircraft 1/32 - ref. 633 - Boeing/ Stearman PT-13/N2S-2/N2S-5 Kaydet - link 1/32 - ref. 634 - Spad XIII - new tool - link 1/144 - ref. 343 - Focke Wulf Fw.200V-2 Condor - new variant - link 1/144 - ref. 344 - Heinkel He.111H-16/H-20 - new variant - link V.P.

Hello all Today a few pictures from a project I have been working on for a long time. My plan is to convert the W 39 as an early version into a tour bus of the artists for the troop support - therefore the title "Fronttheater". The Roden model is not that high in quality, but the price is 🤑 The entire conversion is not based on an existing vehicle but only on my imagination. For wartime use, vehicles were often converted to suit the needs, so in my opinion it is not unrealistic. Another interesting vehicle would be a workshop bus-but there are already a few of those. So now a tour bus-let it rock 😎 MD Modification of the wheel housing and new resin wheels the rear axle is lower to simulate weight Pictures of the inside will follow...

After the ICM's Mustang ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234981984-148-north-american-p-51bc-d-mustang-rebox-icm-by-arsenal-model-group-amg), Arsenal Model Group (AMG) is to rebox the Roden's 1/48th North American T-28 Trojan as "aerobatic" - ref. 48504 Source: http://hobbyterra.com/product/american-t-28-trojan-aerobatic-amg-models-48504.html V.P.

I'm calling this one done. A relatively short build for me! And mostly OOB. My usual deliberations on which scheme to go for, from the five RAF markings on offer with this kit. I liked them all, so another build may be on the cards. I picked up an old copy of Roald Dahl's Going Solo in a charity shop for 10p, and have only just finished it. Had I picked it up before I started the build I would have chosen the 80(F) Sqn markings shown on the box art, the squadron Dahl joined in Greece after recovering from crashing his Gladiator en-route to joining them when they were stationed in Egypt. In the end I went with my default preferences for prewar RAF, and chose 33 Sqn based out in Palestine in early 1939. There are a lot of things I could do better on this kit, which isn't without it's faults either, but it was still fun to build. And I received some excellent advice and tips on the build thread. This is my first attempt at rigging a biplane. It is a little rough around the edges and a few short cuts were made. Hopefully they aren't as obvious to you as they are to me! 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr 1/48 Roden Gloster Gladiator Mk.I by Mike, on Flickr

Roden is to release in 2019-2020, 1/144th: - ref. 334 - Convair CV-340 - ref. 338 - Convair C-131 Cosmopolitan V.P.

Latest off the bench is my first WWI fighter, the Roden 1/72 Sopwith F.1 Camel. This aircraft is my first biplane, as well as my first attempt at full rigging. I used 0.047 mm rubber thread for the rigging. The rigging is clearer in the photos than on the actual model - I think maybe next time I would try ~0.06 or 0.07 mm rigging for better visibility. I originally drilled small holes to sit the glue/thread, but these just became drops of CA glue on the surface after repeated attempts, particularly for the rigging between wings. The rigging took me two long (4+ hr) sessions, and was a definite exercise in patience. The kit also had a small windshield on plastic sheet to cut out and add, but I only remembered once the top wing was fitted and half the rigging was done - I'm too scared to try and add it now! Building a biplane was definitely a whole different experience, particularly one on such a small scale. Fitting the top wing without a jig was a battle, and the aircraft has a bit of a lean, but I will definitely be adding a few more WWI biplanes to the stash. I've already started on a 1/72 Lancaster just to give my eyes a bit of a rest. Thanks for looking. CC welcome. Edit: Better photos

Well, after the 6 month Blenheim build I finished a little while ago, I fancied something quick and easy and a change of scene, so out came the 50th Anniversary Apollo 11 kit from Revell that my wife had bought me for my birthday. Even something as basic as this ancient kit had its difficulties though, and I agonised over the very basic paint instructions that Revell supply! A very simple kit, but little things like cutting and fitting the windows out of plastic sheet, and fixing the gold foil to the lander, were still challenging. Seeing these shots has reminded me I forgot to take the masking off Eagles windows ...🙄 50th anniversary Apollo 11 Revell kit by Mike, on Flickr 50th anniversary Apollo 11 Revell kit by Mike, on Flickr And all the while this pleasant distraction was going on I was wondering, as always, what to build next. While researching one of my pet subjects, Schneider racers, I discovered Special Hobby make a couple of Sopwith float planes, in my favourite scale, 1/48! I'm still struggling to acquire their military Schneider or Baby float planes within my budget, but a Tabloid has been purchased, for under £20 posted, and it looks like a lovely kit, with resin and PE parts. I'm currently reading Sopwith: the Man and his Aircraft which is a mine of information. Another new kit that fell into my lap was the 2010 Revell 196A-3 Arado float plane, a charity shop find! I have Tintin on my shoulder here telling me to paint it yellow, which is very tempting. I'm going to sit on it a while and think. And another sub-£20 kit I found a few months ago, the Roden Gloster Gladiator, which I've decided is next on the cutting table, although I'm still undecided what colour scheme to go for - silver dope or RAF temperate. The kit has two options for prewar/Phoney War, my current go-to. Detail looks good in places, not so good in others. The wings and tail surfaces seem devoid of any detail at all. My current financial situation means building OOB is preferred, but I see there are a couple of PE options available - Brengun and Eduard. Are they really worth the extra expense? Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr [/url]Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - assessment by Mike, on Flickr

Roden is to release a 1/48th Arado Ar.68E kit - ref. 0427 Source: http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2019/Nuernberg_2019.html V.P.

My initial thought for this GB was a Spit, everyone loves a Spit particularly an early mark. I have an Eduard Me109E "in the stash"but I didn't fancy modelling the "bad guys" this time. I took a bit of advice and settled on a Gloster Gladiator. 247th Squadron flew the Gladiator in protection of the SW ports from a pretty rough strip near Roborough (also known at one time as Plymouth Airport) (More history of the site here). The strip was unsuited to more modern monoplanes at the time so the Glad was deployed having moved the squadron down from Sumburgh in Shetland where they were tasked with providing cover for Scapa Flow. Since deciding on the subject of my model I have done some internet research and I will add more of this as I add to this thread. So this is the kit (love the pixie boots!) Contents of the box... And these are the add-ons I have chosen I decided against the resin engine and cowl as they almost doubled the cost of the build and I'm not particularly fond of working with resin. So I have the Yahu etched instrument panel a set of turned brass gun barrels (as I more often model armour plastic bun barrels seem, wrong) and then we have the real challenge of this kit... rigging on the recommendation of another Glad builder I have chosen this elastic material. Wish me luck! One thing that does concern me is the decals. I am told to expect these to be a pig to work with. I will try the Finnish swastikas to see how they handle. If they are as bad as people suggest I will be looking for alternates and would welcome pointers as it looks like I will be buying multiple sheets. This is what I hope to model.

Here is the Roden Boeing 720B finished as G-BCBA, a former American Airlines aircraft operated by Invicta International in the summer of 1974. G-BCBA seems to have been the only jet to carry Invicta’s full red and black livery. The model was inspired by reading “Take Off to Touchdown” by Malcolm Finnis, a fascinating book highly recommended to anyone with an interest in second-level British airlines and the lives of those who worked for them. To digress for a moment, the book also contains a thorough debunking of the official report into the 1973 Basel Vanguard crash which blamed Invicta’s pilots. The author argues a persuasive case that the accident happened because of problems with the airport’s navigation aids rather than errors by the crew. Since the pilots died and the aircraft had no CVR they were convenient scapegoats. Well worth a read for anyone interested in that tragic event. Getting back to G-BCBA, this was my first build of the Roden kit and it didn’t give me any major problems although I was surprised by the amount of filling at the wing roots. I knew the fit of the engine pylons to the wings was poor so I attached these before painting and managed to achieve decent joints but at the expense of fiddly and awkward masking complicated by G-BCBA having unusual grey pylons. I replaced the over-sized and inaccurate nose wheels with a pair found in the spares box, possibly from a Revell B767. I also added plastic rod pegs to strengthen the rather precarious joint between the tailplanes and the fuselage. Otherwise the build was OOB. White paint is Halfords. The lower fuselage was noticeably darker than normal Boeing Gray and I used Halfords Ford Polar Grey because I had a can handy. Natural metal is mainly AK Interactive Aluminium plus some rattle can silvers, a little Rub’n’Buff and a touch of MiG Polished Metal. Coroguard is a home brew of Humbrol 11 and 128 mixed by eye (probably about 1:5). The grey forward sections on the upper wings (which don’t show up well in the photos) is Revell 374 sprayed on to clear decal film. Some aluminium decal completed the ensemble. Decals are by 26 with an Authentic Airliners windscreen. Although the decals are accurate and a good fit on the model I found considerable care was needed with the red ink which was very “fragile” - easily scratched and prone to flaking if I looked at it the wrong way. It didn’t help that the red is a difficult colour to touch up and a few areas of G-BCBA don’t really bear close inspection, particularly around the fin. If I was building the model again I would spray the fin with a circle masked for the logo. Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Dave G

With two other running GB builds I shouldn’t be doing this, but those two are in the painting stage and since that’s boring, here goes. The kit, Roden’s fabulous little ship’s Camel: As the title suggests, I’ll be building the N6602 of HMS Furious (though the plane seems to also have served on half of the navy’s plane carrying ships) which is on the bottom here with the strange diamond pattern: Some cockades seem out of register Roden says PC10 and linen, but WnW says that maybe, just maybe it instead was PC12 with light blue undersides, and that is quite tempting since all my other British Great war planes are painted PC10. The fuselage has some fine detail, both inside and outside. A bit of flash but I have never seen the big deal with that since it is so easily removeable: You get no less than 3 engines, one Bentley, one Clerget and one le Rhone - N6602 had a Bentley. I wanted to build Joseph Jacob’s Fokker with a captured Camel engine so some spares will come to good use. The engines are provably the nicest and most detailed injection moulded rotary engines I’ve come across: And I bought some goodies. Wicker seats: Plus seat belts from uncle Eduard.

Dear modelers! We announce Pre-Order New RODEN B-36 Peacemaker plastic model kit 1/144 model release in early September 2020 https://amarket-model.com/

Roden is to release in 2016 a 1/144th Lockheed C-141B Starlifter kit - ref.325 Source: http://www.frogmodelaircraft.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=323 V.P.

This is the 1/72 Roden Fokker D.VII (OAW Mid) kit, finished in the markings of Ltn. Rudolf Stark when he was commander of Jasta 35b in August 1918. Plenty has been written about Roden's Fokker D.VII kits and much of it is pretty uncomplimentary; most of it is also true. Although it looks very well detailed in the box and significantly more delicate than Eduard's example, very little fits without widening, narrowing, shortening, lengthening, filling, fiddling and fettling. The lozenge decals are brittle and unyielding to Microsol or Mr. Mark Softer, and even after plenty of both was used, along with very warm water, significant pressure was required to get the decals to conform, and that pressure tore and shattered many of the edges necessitating much hand retouching of missing lozenge. Roden's rib tape decals were completely unusable and split into varying lengths on contact with water, even after overcoating with two coats of Future/Kleer on the sheet. Eduard's newly released sheet of rib tapes, while intended for their recent kit, fit the Roden kit quite well, so they were used instead. The remaining Roden decals were variable, with the crosses and personal markings working quite well, and the codes and stencils silvering quite badly. There's around 120 decals on this model and, to be honest, finishing it became a chore about three weeks before actual completion, so the control lines remain unfinished for now and I'll return to them eventually. But the final result is quite pleasing and it looks good in the cabinet alongside Udet's 'Lo' and Berthold's winged sword examples, both of which I made years ago from the Esci kit. I built it alongside Roden's 1/72 Fokker Dr.I, finished in Vzfw Ulrich Neckel's Jasta 12 markings from April 1918. This kit isn't as bad as the D.VII with respect to fit and decals (no lozenge for example) but it's no shining example of state-of-the-art and was less frustrating but not completely trouble-free. Triplane aficionados may note that the upper support struts do not match the location of the lower struts. This was an error of my own making when I failed to increase the length of the cabane struts (they're about 2-3 mm too short out of the box), which threw out the wing geometry. Once again, I'll live with it; it looks OK in the cabinet. There are less frustrating kits of both of these aeroplanes offered by Revell and Eduard; choose one of them if you want a trouble-free build. But with better lozenge, care in building and a bit more planning, both of these can build quite nicely. I have a few more in the stash, especially the D.VII and I'm sure I'll build more down the track. Cheers, Jeff

Douglas DC-7C, JA6301, 'City of San Francisco', operated on the intercontinental routes in the late 1950s by Japan Air Lines. This is the Roden kit in 1/144, built oob. It has lovely box art, and the fit was reasonable in most places. Just remember to use lots of nose weight! The decals take ages to soak and were prone to cracking, but not so bad that I couldn't slide together. I used spray cans for the two main colours and Humbrol 40 for the landing gear and wheel wells. I ran out of e-z line so only one wire done so far! Light weathering with Flory dark dirt wash.

After reading so many bad words about Roden’s D.VII I just had to try for myself. Unfortunately I can concur, but although nothing fits the parts are wonderfully detailed and you get a beautiful spare engine and two spare propellors. You might notice the absence of rib bands: I made a firm decision on keeping it OOB, and those bands disintegrated. The machine is that of August Hartmann of Jasta 30, 1918. He was fortunate enough to get wounded very early in his service and thus survive the war. His colleagues later described their planes as orange, while British reports call them brown. I therefore mixed up a colour that you could describe as either without getting your eyesight questioned. One tip regarding construction: I’ve often seen people say about the outboard N-struts, that the front one is too short and the back too long. I found the front one to be correct: put it lying on the drawing (manual is in 1/72) with the frontal lower end in the correct position, then pivot it around that point until the upper two points are somewhat correct. Then just trim the excess. This should righten the otherwise forward-tilted upperwings into the correct alignment (glue the outboard struts first, then the wing, then the remaining struts - some of which will NOt fit). edit: Another free tip. If you plan to build any Roden D.VII with lozenge camoflague, do yourself a favour and buy an aftermarket set! The stuff is extremely brittle and the only way to make it stuck is to drench it in microsol to fuse it into the plastic (and then it gets *really* stuck - trust me, I first put the lower side camo on the upper side: fortunately Roden supplies enough for two and a half aircraft).

Hi, here's the latest build using the opportunity afforded by furlough(!) Not an easy kit to put together (but I am just an assembler rather than a proper modeller!) with plenty of superglue and filler used. Decals from Authentic decals which were ok but not as good as other aftermarket decals I've used. Hope it's of interest (yes she's a tail sitter btw) oh and the Krystal Klear is still curing in some of the pics 20200502_173917 by bryn robinson, on Flickr 20200502_173902 by bryn robinson, on Flickr 20200502_173852 by bryn robinson, on Flickr 20200502_173720 by bryn robinson, on Flickr 20200502_173705 by bryn robinson, on Flickr 20200502_173627 by bryn robinson, on Flickr 20200502_173947 by bryn robinson, on Flickr

More precisely, here's one I started making around 14-15 years ago. It sat in the stash about a third finished until I pulled it out earlier this year, opened the Windsock Datafile on the Fokker Dr.I and spotted the colour profile of this aeroplane. It represents a Jasta 11 machine at Lechelle airfield in March 1918. The colour of the rear fuselage is speculative and, according to the Datafile, could equally be pale yellow. I liked the simplicity of Fokker turquoise so went with that option. The kit is the Roden 1/32nd Fokker Dr.I, built mainly from the box but with the addition of leading edge stacking pads and rivets around the cowling, both done with a punch and die, under-fuselage stitching made from small pieces of stretched sprue, and lead foil seatbelts with buckles from plastic card and some old etched brass from a Flightpath (I think) generic buckle set. The rigging and control lines are done with INFINI Model 1/32 Aero Black Rigging and Albion Alloys TB2 turnbuckles. Markings are a combination of the kit decals (many of which disintegrated in water and had to be pieced back together on the model) for the data placard, propeller logos and national markings, and masking for the pilot's personal markings on the rear fuselage. The bicycle is from the Tamiya 1/35 German bike riders set, as is the slightly modified figure, with a few uniform changes to make him look a 'little' more World War One. He's far from accurate but works quite well I think. The Alsatian was gifted to me many years ago by a fellow modeller when I originally set out to do this vignette. The barrels are solid resin but I have no idea of the manufacturer. Paints are Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo acrylics for external colours, and Humbrol enamels for details. The groundwork is done with Wilko brown wood filler, kitty litter and some fine railway ballast, all fixed into place with Johnson Kleer then painted, washed and dry-brushed. The grass is Jordan scatter fixed with diluted PVA, and the weeds are Heki moss. The groundwork was then flat-coated once the other fixed elements were glued into place. The vignette itself may not be accurate but it does look good in the case and it saves another model from the shelf of doom. Hope you like it. Cheers, Jeff

Hi Guys, due to the lockdown in France, I had to look at the bottom of my stash to find something exotic to build. I had bought the Roden kit of the Rolls-Royce armored car many years ago, but I was always frightened by the number of parts and low quality of the molding of some pieces. I usually build 1/48 scale aicraft, so this was quite a big change for me. I found a build by Andy Moore on this forum of the Meng rendition, which I tried to follow regarding the colors. Since I did not have access to AK real colors because of lockdown, I used custom mixes with Tamiya and Gunze acrylics. I used Mig Ammo premixed washes for the weathering. The small base is done with a sheet of foam board, covered with sand colored tile grout. The rocks and stones are two different grades of cat litter. Just for fun I added a milestone which is most probably incorrect for the place and period, but since this was meant as a relaxing build, I thought I could be forgiven. I hope you will like it, best regards to all, Christian.