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  1. MiG-25RU Soviet Training Aircraft (72176) 1:72 ICM In the early part of the Cold War, the strategic bomber was seen as the obvious means by which to deliver a nuclear payload. The interceptor - large, heavy and fast - was seen as the equally obvious countermeasure. The MiG-25 Foxbat was, in many ways, the ultimate embodiment of this technology. It wasn't particularly groundbreaking and nor was it particularly sophisticated, but it was capable of incredible speed and could carry four large missiles to high altitudes very quickly indeed. The MiG-25's shortcomings as a combat aircraft were largely addressed through the MiG-31 Foxhound, but the type continued as an effective mission platform in a variety of guises. The RU version being the twin seat trainer for the reconnaissance version of the Foxbat. The Kit This kit is now the fifth iteration of ICM's new 1/72 MiG-25 family, following on from the other variants. The model is pretty much a scaled down version of their 1:48 kit, which is a jolly good thing indeed. Inside the robust top-opening box are seven frames of light grey plastic and one of clear plastic. The kit is almost identical to the previous iterations, but includes revised parts for the nose. The airframe is covered in crisp, recessed panel lines which look very good indeed, and the mouldings are crisp and clean. The instructions are an A4 stapled booklet which has been printed in colour and the decal sheet is clear and well printed. The overall impression is of a well-executed, modern kit which looks like it should be thoroughly enjoyable to build. Construction begins with the rear cockpit and nose gear bay. Some detail is moulded in place on the sidewalls of the cockpit, with extra parts provided to represent additional details. Before the main structure of the cockpit can be completed, however, you have to add the bulkhead that forms the front wall of the cockpit and the rear wall of the nose gear bay. The instructions have you installing the nose gear leg at this stage, but I can't see any logical reason as to why this can't be done at the end. This would, of course, save you from breaking the leg part way through the build. The cockpit itself is nicely detailed, with the ejector seat alone made up of no fewer than five parts. An instrument panel and control column completes this section. Once the forward fuselage halves have been joined together, the whole sub-assembly fits onto a spar that also holds the huge engine air intakes. I've noticed that kit manufacturers are moving increasingly toward this style of construction, where certain parts are provided for purely structural purposes instead of the older slot and tab style of construction. I guess the main advantage, other than strength, is that everything can be positioned at exactly the right angle - a helpful feature for kits that feature quit a complex breakdown of parts such as this one. Each engine intake is full-length, with engine compressor faces provided. What results is a complete forward section of the aircraft up to the wing roots, with the internal structure of the air intakes protruding from the rear. The lower face of the main fuselage can be joined to this structure once the main landing gear bays have been added. ICM suggest that you add the main landing gear legs at this stage. Again, I can't see any reason why they couldn't be fettled into place after the main construction has been completed. Once the lower face of the main fuselage is in place, another structural bulkhead can be added, after which the slab-sides of the fuselage, including the outer faces of the air intakes, can be added. The dustbin-like jet exhausts are added at this stage, and very nicely detailed they are too. Once in place, the upper face of the fuselage can be added. Some modellers have noticed that the central spine has a flattened profile instead of a rounded shape. This is true, but I imagine most modellers will choose to live with this flaw. All that remains now is to add the nosecone, flying surfaces and finishing details. Each vertical tail is split vertically, with a seperate rudder. The outer face is moulded with part of the rear fuselage in place, so presumably it will be impossible to fit these parts at the wrong angle. Somewhat surprisingly, the upper wings are not moulded in one part with the upper fuselage. Instead, they are split into separate port and starboard halves, with two separate flaperons and upper wing fences and fittings. The nosecone is simply split vertically and houses the front cockpit. This is made up and added in along with its rear bulkhead, Once closed up the completed nose section can be joined with the rest of the fuselage. The canopies are nice and clear and can be finished in either open or closed position. Even though the wing tip missile rails are present no armament was used, and plugs are provided for the underwing pylon spaces as well. Other than that, and a few aerials, lumps and bumps, the huge aircraft is now finished. Decals Two options are provided for on the decal sheet: MiG-25RU, 47th HRAP, Russian Air Force 2001 MiG-25RU, No. 102 Sqn Indian Air Force, 1990 The decals look nicely printed and a full set of stencils is included. Conclusion We've waited a while for a new, more more modern kit of the Foxbat in this scale, but the wait has been worth it. ICM's effort is excellent, with high quality mouldings and plenty of detail. Overall this is a well executed and carefully designed kit, while the trainer configuration is very appealing indeed. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  2. Ready for inspection is my Revell 1:72 Nieuport 28 C-1. I built the kit straight as it came from the box, using Vallejo acrylics. I brought the kit at a model show a few years ago, and it is fair to say it was old and battered. That said, apart from removing excess flash, and an ill fitting top wing, it went together nicely. The colour scheme was a treat to airbrush, lots of masking for the red and white striped fuselage which really makes the aircraft stand out. Thanks for looking.
  3. My next build is Revell's 1:72 Nieuport 28 C-1. This is a vintage kit I picked up at Abingdon airshow a couple of years ago. This kit was the choice of my son who has recently been paying War Thunder on his xbox, flying various biplanes. Its been a while since I have built a biplane, and I had forgotten how small and minimal they are. The box is a little battered, and has pictures of the various schemes available to build. There are minimal instructions, a small decal sheet that shows its age, and 2 small brown sprues. These have varying amounts of flash on them, as you may expect from an older kit. I plan to build it straight from the box, using Vallejo acrylics in place of the suggested Revell. I am going to finish the build in the colour scheme of the 213th Aero Squadron training aircraft. There are not any decals for the red stripes doen the fuselage (thankfully), so I aim to mask and airbrush them on. The kit has has a wash, and I have given some parts a blast of primer, ready to get started!
  4. Hi all. Currently I´m working on my second Special Hobby Viggen in 1:72 scale. In the meantime I want to show you the first one. It´s the SK 37 trainer from the "AJ 37/SK 37 - Duo Pack". Only aftermarket item I added was a pilot from PJ Production. The Viggen is painted with different shades of aluminium from AlcladII. The base was drawn in Affinity Photo and printed on rigid foam board. Daniel
  5. Mojo restoration in the form of two basic Airfix kits without much in the way of frippery from me The starter set Jet Provost in the box scheme. Inititally started in the blitzenbuild GB when I got over confident and tried to fo 2 kits in a day. Needless to say this is the one that didn’t get finished in time. And a DH Chipmunk finished as the AEF plane that I had my first flight in. Made from an elderly Airfix kit with minor mods of a shifted exhaust, added anti spin strakes and a blade aerial.
  6. This exquisite little gem from the works of a one-man-in-a-room enterprise in Argentina is a refreshing and beautiful piece of the local aviation history. With a super-clean cast, delicately mastered parts, and fine detail, it is up there with the best in resin releases, and no doubt a product at the very top of cottage industry. If you compare this resin kit with most of what you see in the market (and I have built -and still have in the stash- many), you may feel the urge to trash some of the ones lurking in your stash, which compare extremely unfavorably with this one. The kit portrays a small training plane built in quite large numbers -that is for a country with an aviation industry that had its ups and downs-, that went into the civil and military market, being provided to the local aeroclubs as a way to encourage aviation by the government. It started as a pre-war endeavor, but had to wait until the 50's to be built in series. It still flies today, in some remarkable numbers, which says something about the design and construction, especially given the constrictions many times suffered by South American countries. This is not a kit for the beginner, and it's better if you have built a couple of simpler resins before, but it's a very noble kit, that requires of course care, a delicate touch, and some skill (as the kit box itself states). This release offers alternate parts and decals for four different machines. The decals are home-made and can be used, but Arctic Decals has printed a more professional set. I found no defects, whatsoever, in any part. Some of the detail parts are tiny and require mindful handling. The engineering is very sound and the approach intelligent. It took only a few days to build it, even in parallel with several other projects, but it's a build that you don't want to rush, given the delicate detail and small parts. It made for a short and pleasurable build, as you can see in the WiP: I wish other cottage industry manufacturers will take the hint and up their game. This kit demonstrates what skill, care and love for the hobby can do, even in less than ideal conditions for the maker. So next time you get one of those resin blobs, with pinholes, bent parts and dubious (if any) detail, here is a bar to compare against. Waiting now for the next kits that are soon to be released by this able, dedicated and meticulous manufacturer. Fantastically done, 72Topia!
  7. DHC-1 Chipmunk Warpaint No.123 Guideline Publications Designed at the end of WWII by De Havilland Canada, it became the intial pilot training aircraft for the Canadian Air Force, the RAF and a number of others, with many airframes being made in the UK (some close to where I live in Hawarden) and in Portugal. It stayed in service training many pilots for many years, leaving RAF service in the 90s after the introduction of the Bulldog from Scottish Aviation. Because of its mild handling characteristics, it was much loved by the novice pilots, and when it was withdrawn many were purchased by the private sector and a lot remain in service some 70 years later. The early aircraft had a framed canopy with bulged rear panels so the instructor could see his student's efforts better, but later Canadian produced airframes had the somewhat incongruous-looking bubble canopy that afforded a better view all round, as well as looking a bit out of place on the old bird. This book by author Adrian M Balch covers the birth and development of the airframe in detail, as well as providing tons of excellent pictures of many airframes of many nations both in military and civilian service, most of which are in colour due to their being contemporary shots, plus 1:48 plans in the centre, penned by Jan Polc and colour profiles spread throughout. There are even scrap drawings showing the bubble-canopy version. There are also pictures of some of the conversions including the re-engineered Thai Chandthra with Lycoming engine, new cockpit and tail area, a single seat crop-dusting variant, and other Lycoming engine airframes. The book is in the usual Warpaint format of portrait A4(ish) with a soft card cover and 44 pages plus content printed on the four glossy pages of the covers. A short introduction details the birth of the type and its subsequent upgrades. Design and Development Production Colour Profiles In Canadian Service Canadian Colours and Markings In Royal Air Force Service RAF Colours & Markings Unit Markings Overhead Profiles Aerobatic Display Teams In Army Air Corps Service The “Grey Owls” Team 1975-97 In Royal Navy Service 1:48 Plans In Worldwide Service With Belgium Burma Ceylon/Sri Lanka Colombia Denmark Egypt Eire/Ireland Ghana India Iraq Israel Jordan Kenya Lebanon Malaysia Portugal Saudi Arabia Syria Colour Profiles Uruguay Zambia In Civilian Use Conversions Chipmunk In Detail Colour Profiles The pages include a lot of useful pictures with informative captions of aircraft on the apron, on the field and even after crashes, with appropriate photos and drawings dotted around. In the short "In Detail" section there are many close-up photos with some items numbered that will be a boon to modellers as well as people that like to know what everything does. Conclusion The Warpaint series always gets a thumbs-up due to their inability to produce a bad one. This is an excellent book that will see plenty of use by anyone interest in, or building on of these early fighters. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  8. Hawker Hunter T.7 Conversion (for Airfix) 1:48 AeroCraft Models There was little doubt that once the new Airfix Hunter was released that someone would do a conversion for the T.7 Family model. First of the mark was Ali from Aerocraft in time for 2019 Telford. They were used for training by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as well as overseas (With different designations). In the box are 27 resin parts including a full cockpit and ejection seats. A beautifully cast resin canopy (in two parts), additional clear parts; a small PE fret, a length of plastic rod and the decal sheet. Instructions are available to download from Aerocraft models thus saving costs on printing them and posting them. There are two versions available with the same high quality resin parts but with different decals for you choice of RN & RAF. RN Version This comes with decals for 4 aircraft from Yeovilton, Lossiemouth and Brawdy Royal Navy RAF Version This comes with decals for 5 aircraft from Valley, Guttesloh, Leuchars, and Coltishall. Royal Air Force Review sample courtesy of
  9. My entry will be a Kiwi Resin Models CT-4A from 1 FTS, RAAF Point Cook, Victoria. They were knick-named 'Plastic Parrots' in service due to the yellow/green delivery scheme. Later they were painted in an orange/white 'Fanta Can' scheme (one the kit box). This will be the scheme I will be building. It is a full resin kit with a Falcon vacform canopy. I will be doing one of the aircraft I flew in as a Navigator trainee back in November 1990. I managed a whole 7.6 hours in 4 flights, the last log entry includes a landing (for lunch) at the halfway point (Horsham, Victoria). I also have a Flying High Decals sheet that will allow me to do any of 3 from my logbook, now which one? A19-043, the first I flew in (with some stick time), or perhaps A19-056 with the longest flight time? I suppose I will decide at decalling time. To my surprise, I found a second (more basic) kit in the same very small box. This kit lacks a lot of interiors parts and a nose wheel and strut The kit supplied in the box is more detailed with cockpit detailing parts and separate flaps. It is missing one of the main gear legs and some plastic tube for the exhaust pipes which I could use from the other kit or make up from card and my spare tube stocks for the exhausts. Again I will decide when the time comes. The instructions a very basic, they include a list of parts and a note to use epoxy or superglue. No assembly sequence included. A painting guide for both schemes is included with some painting notes for the prop and gear legs Comparing the 2 you can see the dimensions of the 'bagged' CT-4A are off, too long and too skinny, the tailplane of oversized as well. The wings are correct though.
  10. Harrier T.4/T.8 BigEd Set (BIG49192) 1:48 Eduard BigEd In case you're unaware, Eduard's Big ED sets are a great way to purchase all the sets you want for your model whilst availing yourself of a bulk purchase discount that can be quite tempting. The set arrives in a large cardboard envelope with the Big ED branding and a sticker in the top left that details what's inside. Within the envelope the sets are all still individually packaged to protect the frets from shuffling past each other and getting damaged until you're ready to use them. This set contains four previously release sets, which you can buy at a discounted value in this format. Exterior (48945) This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades, such as new heat-shields for the aft nozzles, with scrap diagrams showing how they should be fluted with a biro and arranged; an interior surface skin for the air-brake bay; an upgrade to the detail in the bicycle landing gear and the wingtip out-rigger wheels, along with some bay enhancements and replacement bay doors, while others are detailed rather than replaced. New in-scale vortex generators are supplied for the upper wing surface, along with a set of templates that ensure accurate placement, but keep that glue on the frugal side, or you'll have a permanent jig! Lastly, there are pylon mating surface skins for if you're not arming your Harrier. Interior (49882) Two frets are included, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. A complete set of new layered instrument panels and side consoles are the primary parts on the painted set, with new rudder pedals; ejection seat details; sidewall details; coaming instrumentation and some canopy internal structure are also supplied. Masks Tface (EX576) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the interior of the glazing so that you can paint the interior and give your model that extra bit of realism. There are two centre panes to the windscreen on both sides of the pane, due to there being a choice of parts between variants in the kit. I guess Tface stands for Two Face or something similar? Seatbelts STEEL (FE883) In case you don't already know, these belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. As well as the two sets of crew belts, you also get a set of the pull-handles over the pilot and co-pilot's heads that gets them out of there in case of an emergency. Review sample courtesy of
  11. Harrier T.2/T.4/T.8 Upgrades (for Kinetic) 1:48 Eduard Before Kinetic's relatively new kit of the much missed two-set Harrier trainer, we had a couple of resin conversion sets of varying quality in this scale, so I'm pretty sure the kit has sold very well since release last year (2017). Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Interior (49882) Two frets are included, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. A complete set of new layered instrument panels and side consoles are the primary parts on the painted set, with new rudder pedals; ejection seat details; sidewall details; coaming instrumentation and some canopy internal structure are also supplied. Zoom! Set (FE882) This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above. Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements. Seatbelts STEEL (FE883) In case you don't already know, these belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. As well as the two sets of crew belts, you also get a set of the pull-handles over the pilot and co-pilot's heads that gets them out of there in case of an emergency. Exterior (48945) This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades, such as new heat-shields for the aft nozzles, with scrap diagrams showing how they should be fluted with a biro and arranged; an interior surface skin for the air-brake bay; an upgrade to the detail in the bicycle landing gear and the wingtip out-rigger wheels, along with some bay enhancements and replacement bay doors, while others are detailed rather than replaced. New in-scale vortex generators are supplied for the upper wing surface, along with a set of templates that ensure accurate placement, but keep that glue on the frugal side, or you'll have a permanent jig! Lastly, there are pylon mating surface skins for if you're not arming your Harrier. Masks (EX577) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. There are two centre panes to the windscreen, due to there being a choice of parts between variants in the kit. In addition you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the out-riggers, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Masks Tface (EX576) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the interior of the glazing so that you can paint the interior and give your model that extra bit of realism. There are two centre panes to the windscreen on both sides of the pane, due to there being a choice of parts between variants in the kit. I guess Tface stands for Two Face or something similar? Review sample courtesy of
  12. I've now finished my AZ Spitfire trainer type. It's been built OOB and painted with Tamiya acrylics. I've really enjoyed building It though some of the short run nature of the kit was challenging. I bought it earlier this year from a model shop in the Czech Republic that had the last two for sale in the world or at least on the web. The only alternative would have been the CMR resin version, which is way more expensive and maybe even harder to build! My kit was the Dutch boxing which I chose as I loved the look of how SM250 was restored and converted to look like H99 until Boultbee took it down to Goodwood and put it in wartime markings. Needless to say AZ recently reissued the kit with the same Dutch markings as well as Irish Air Corps and a civilian target option. The kit could also be built as the Tr.8 as the parts are in the kit, though you would need to find the right decals (AZ did do a boxing with three of the Tr.8's civilian colour schemes if you can find it). Anyway here's some views of the completed aircraft. It was built alongside an Airfix PR19. Here's the RFI thread I have AZ's Russian 2-seater to build as well, and a plan to kitbash a Grace type too. For some reason l find the unusual Spitfires like clippies and bubbles more attractive. Cheers Will
  13. My second, or first, build will be a Percival Provost T. Mk.1 [box and frame photos to follow asap] Photos; I'll be doing the RAF version, the top option The decals are rough and have foxing. The roundels will need replacing as they are printed out of register. I hope I can use the badges. I have spare day-glo decal incase its needed
  14. I rather like odd looking Spitfires, such as with clipped wings, so the trainer type is ideal. When one was recently built / restored at Thruxton, some of my daughter's classmates got to sit in it on their primary school aero club visit. As first reflown the plane was in Dutch markings, which look a bit different, though it's now down at Goodwood with WW2 RAF markings. As this kit had been oop for a while I ordered one of the last two apparently available in the world from a model shop in the Czech Republic. Until I worked out the relative price in Koruna (Crowns?) I wasn't sure but even with postage it wasn't too bad - a lot cheaper than the CMR or Brigade conversion options... Now AZ have plans to rerelease the trainer kits this year, but at least I'm ahead of the curve! Basically you get an AZ Spifire 9 kit with an extra fuselage and the second cockpit interior and canopy. So far I've painted and assembled the interiors. It's not Eduard or Airfix, so it's all a bit delicate until the glue cures as everything is butt joints rather than any locating pins etc. Cheers Will
  15. Really enjoyable new-tool kit, needing only minor tweaks. This was a pre-release kit built for the current (November) issue of Airfix Model World, so there were no decals included; I used Xtradecals 72250 instead.
  16. Hello! So my obsession of Alpha Jets has become quite large. I've got 3 in progress, alongside this (click here) which was one of the first models I'd done in a very long time. This time I decided to do a 'normal' military scheme of Portugal (as I'm working on an Asas de Portugal one too). The build was very simple, as is the norm of an Alpha Jet kit. I think the final look is pretty nice and I'm quite happy with the result - perhaps with the exception of the canopy but I guess I can fix that at a later date. So here's just some nice shots. Please note I didn't have enough decals for the left hand side, so there is one missing. Bar the Portuguese specific markings the decals were also were pretty old and fell apart - but I'll sort that at some point. And here's a shot from a model show it went to.
  17. Morning all, I picked up this little gem of a kit for just over £4 from my LMS, and what a great purchase it was! The quality of the tooling itself is rather terrible- raised panel lines, no cockpit detail apart from some basic seats, poor wing-fuselage join, thick one-piece canopy and minimal level of overall external detail. But its redeeming features are So, I began by first of all cutting and dropping the flaps, positioning the elevator and ailerons and cutting the canopy into two pieces. Secondly modification was the cockpit, now this is quite literally what you get with the kit: (control columns modified slightly) I couldn't let that remain unaltered and so I started to add some detail: (note the compass in each cockpit) One or two coats of paint and gloss varnish later and it was completed: Airfix 1:72 De Havilland Chipmunk T.10 Notes: -Painted with Vallejo "Model Air" -Kit decals with a few from the spares box -Weathered with Vallejo "Moden Wash"- dark grey -Varnished with Alclad aqua gloss Well, that's it- thanks for having a look! Kind regards, Sam
  18. Hopefully a quick question... I'm scratch building a pair of aircraft ladders to go with my TF-86F Sabre Trainer like these: http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/tf86f Can anybody tell me if the aircraft ladders for the USAF in the 1950's were painted and if so, what colour? TIA
  19. Hi guys. Here is the beginnings of my first ever WIP. The plan is to build a 1/72 TF-86F, a 2-seater Sabre Trainer using the vacuform conversion kit from Falcon. The conversion recommends using the Heller kit which I will do but I'll be using as little as possible. The HobbyCraft kit will be used for most of it as I want to back-date the kit '6-3' wing to the narrow chord. The etched brass will be thrown into the offices as I want the canopy to be open. Not sure what the pace will be like as I'll be doing it during my lunch hour at work. Comments more than welcome. TIA
  20. Good morning! I picked up this kit from Bruntingthorpe on Sunday along with a 1:48 Airfix Lightning. I will be quite honest- this kit is a mixed blessing: Pros: -Great surface detail -Resin exhaust cans and seats -An Eduard photoetch fret included (this contains the instrument panel, belts and various aerials -A large decal sheet (which was barely used, decals sourced from the spares box for my alternative scheme) -Relatively straightforward to build and paint -Positionable flaps Cons: -Almost nothing in the way of guides to tell you where you should place the various parts (cockpit tub, intake cone and nose gear bay) -Nothing in the way of guide pins for the rudder and elevators -Main wheels with no hole through them (a hole had to be drilled to fit the axle through) -A myriad of ejection pins inside the fuselage, specifically of concern were those in the intake area -Wing-fuselage locating pins did not fit at all and these were subsequently filed down -No option to have open airbrakes!!! What I've done: Well, with a bit of fiddling around I apparently managed to get the intake cone, etc and the cockpit to line up correctly in the fuselage- once that was done I closed it up, added the various surfaces and painted her in Alclad. It's my first time with Alclad! I put down a coat of black Vallejo paint followed by a coat of Alclad gloss coat. I then sprayed on the Alclad, building it up to what it currently is. I didn't need to re-paint the black rudder because that was masked over before I sprayed the Alclad. I then masked and painted the yellow stripes on the wings and rear fuselage, added the IFR probe, small intakes and attached the PE aerials. Kit: Sword Lightning t5 1:72 Paints used: Vallejo model air: black, gold yellow. Alclad II Aluminium Note: Decals used and colour schemes are based off reference pictures but are to some extent fictional Thanks for having a look! Many thanks, Sam
  21. Hi Guys, I've aquired the vacuform kit to build an TF-86. Can anybody supply/ point to images of the cockpit layout or am I going to get away with fitting 2 tubs? TIA Stuart
  22. Dear Fellow Modellers, I intended to participate in this GB with two builds: a Typhoon Mk I.B and a Tempest Mk V. However, life got in the way (too much work, very demanding German classes and tests every month, including a Goethe Zertifikat B1, which I managed to achieve) and I didn't found the time to build them past the first posts. I will build them properly later, as regular WIPs, as these aircraft deserve all the care and attention I can provide. However, to regain some modelling motivation and still finish something for this GB, I decided to build a simple kit, just OOB. The choice fell on Airfix's 1/72 Folland Gnat T.1, which is shown in the following picture: IMAG3348 As usual, I started by taking the cockpit parts off the sprues IMAG3352 These were glued into sub-assemblies in order to ease painting: IMAG3353 IMAG3355 Next, I took the fuselage halves and air intake mouths off the sprues: IMAG3354 The air intake mouths were glued in place but fit is not the best, especially on the port side: IMAG3356 IMAG3357 This was followed by the wings: IMAG3358 Holes had to be made on the lower wing parts in order to install the external fuel tanks later: IMAG3359 The wing parts were glued together: IMAG3360 The external fuel tanks were, then, built and the poor fit is readily apparent: IMAG3362 A lot of filing and sanding will be needed on these to make them acceptable... The next step was building the main undercarriage parts. These must be installed in the fuselage halves before closing them. Here we can see one of the wheel wells (on the right) and a gear leg already glued to the corresponding wheel well door (on the left): IMAG3363 Here are both sides of the landing gear ready for installation in the fuselage: IMAG3364 It seemed to me that I wouldn't be able to install the gear legs after closing the fuselage. So, some complicated masking will be needed in order to paint the fuselage with these in place. I managed to break the nose gear leg while taking it off the sprue. As can be seen, this part was defective, as the shaft for installation of the nose wheels is missing: IMAG3366 First, I glued the broken part using super-glue: IMAG3365 Then I carved a shaft for the nose wheels from a piece of sprue. Here it is between the wheels, together with the remaining nose gear parts: IMAG3367 A slot was made in the middle of the shaft, to provide a stronger point of contact with the gear leg: IMAG3368 Finally, the shaft and leg were glued together using Tamiya Extra Thin Glue, later reinforced with a drop of super-glue: IMAG3369 Here are all the parts, ready for priming: IMAG3370 The interior areas and all parts to be painted with metallic paints were, then, primed using Alclad's Grey Primer: IMAG3371 The intake inner walls were painted with Alclad's White Aluminium and the main gear wells with Alclad's Dull Aluminium (these according to pictures of real aircraft): IMAG3372 These parts complete the inner air intake walls and were also painted with Alclad's White Aluminium: IMAG3373 The centres of wheels and all other parts making up the landing gears were painted with Alclad's Dull Aluminium. The exhaust was painted with Alclad's Jet Exhaust: IMAG3374 IMAG3375 After the paint dried, the air intake parts were masked off: IMAG3376 and the end faces (where the turbine face should be) were painted with Alclad's Steel: IMAG3377 Finally, these parts were glued in place. They form part of the inner cockpit walls as well. The fit, again, is not very good and some putty had to be applied in order to fill in the joins: IMAG3379 This is how the build stands right now. This post covers a week's worth of work, from Easter Sunday night till yesterday (Saturday). Thanks for looking. Cheers Jaime
  23. Good evening all, I've been following some of the builds on this group build for a month or two and alas last night I decided to enter into it. So, here I am- my first group build! What am I building? Well, during the "black friday" sales the Airfix Gnats were on sale for about £2, so I got 4 of them! I have already completed one (as seen below) as "what-if" British Airways Gnat (Note: NOT PART OF THE GROUP BUILD!) On a more serious note, the relatively recent incident regarding Kevin Whyman and the Gnat Display Team has given me an idea of what to do with the other 3 Gnats: the red and white "striped" gnat and the yellow gnat on either side of my Avro Vulcan (hung from the ceiling) with Whyman's red arrows gnat ahead, nose up and soaring into the heavens. Things that I have noticed about the kit during my BA gnat build and a previous OOB build is that: A. The landing gear legs need to be fully secured before the gear bays are inserted into the fuselage B. The seats need to be painted before they are glued to the "back-walls" of the cockpit C. Pitot probe is sturdy but not invulnerable! D. The underside antennae can be damage easily, so be careful! -It is also worth pointing out that these gnats will be built with the undercarriage retracted so the gear bays aren't a critical feature. Cue the pictures!!!: Picture of the 4 Gnat kits (note the Vulcan mouse-mat, i'm a huge Vulcan fan ) British Airways Gnat (not part of the GB) British Airways Gnat (not part of the GB) The aforementioned Vulcan (done many years ago when I was entering into the hobby, painted with a grey that was too dark ) So, that's it for today! Thanks for stopping by Kind Regards, Sam
  24. Greetings Fellow Modellers! I submit for your perusal a pair of small, so terribly small Gnats . Both models are Airfix's newish Gnat T.1 in 1:72 scale. They represent my return to the hobby, in that on these models I let loose every experiment from which I could learn. I initially wanted to build them OOB, but I ended up using quite a bit of aftermarket stuff: the pitot tubes are Albion Alloy Micro Brass Tubes and the nose wheels are from a nice wheel update set from the Hungarian company SBS. The nose wheels make an improvement over airfix's ones which are a little bit too small. The main wheels are from the kit, and the examples left over from the SBS set will be used later for a hangar diorama. The canopy was cut with a Revell precision saw to enable it to be posed open. The interior of the canopy was lightly detailed with thin plastic card and stretched sprue. For canopy work I mostly used bookbinder's glue, which is a strong PVA type. The windscreen was made flush with the fuselage with the aid of Gunze Mr. Dissovled Putty and then Mr Surfacer 500. Same story for smoothing the side walls of the nose wheel wells. Cockpit and ejection seats were detailed with plastic card of different thicknesses, stretched sprue and very occasionally thin brass wire. Paint was basically Gunze Sangyo Mr Hobby, except Vallejo for detail work and Citadel Runefang Steel for the silver. I had lots of trouble with the H1 gloss white, which I applies much too thickly and as a result wouldn't cure well. Thanks to tips from the Tools&Tips section (thanks DuncanB ) I learned some new skills. First matt white, a coat or two, then one coat of gloss. Works beautifully. Decals were from all over the place: lots of stuff from S&M models' sheet, wing stencils came from the home printer, and the rest was basically scavenged. Please forgive the format of some of the photos, I liked the idea of imitating 1970s film, so I edited the model's images accordingly. gnat2-7 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-9 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-13 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-1 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-3 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-15 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-4 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-5 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-2 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-14 by J Goat, on Flickr Thanks for looking! Jay
  25. I have a Heller Magister taking up shelf space, however I have a big reluctance to build it OOB because it's hardly inspirational as such... Option 1: Patrouille De France 1978, could there be a more colourful scheme? Or a more common combination...(tied perhaps with a Red Arrow Hawk) Option 2: All silver West Germany WS50 19966. Could this be the most boring Heller scheme? So without buying an AM decal sheet what could I come up with? 1. Put it back on the shelf 2. Build but don't paint/decal 3. Spend more money on decals, and blowing apart the idea of cheap + cheerful. 4. Wiff... Which do you think won? ********** Edit: Just found an old Matchbox G91Y in deep storage so now I have to wonder what a mix-n-match would result in...
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