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The new BM 30 from Zvezda, I first built up the multi part chassis and weathered it, the part fit was good, although it looked a bit daunting at first and rife for mis alignment, it goes together quite easily with practically zero room for errors. the wheels are just put in place and not fixed. the cab and crew cab go together just as easy as do the rest of the body. whilst I was at it, I dragged the S 400 kit also from Zvezda that had been lounging round unfinished out. The missile tubes are a pain though, each part comes in two pieces with some of the rear parts having three. this is before cleaning seams and attachment points! getting the tubes to fit was problematic at best, although they do have positive location points getting them all aligned was fun! best part of an hour for one section! Everything is just placed on the chassis nothing is glued in place apart from the tubes, the next section went a bit quicker, possibly because I put one of the tubes in a safe place! and possibly because I only glued the rear portion and the front piece is just there for alignment. I also gloss coated the cabs and launch area so I could start weathering. whilst I was on a roll I thought I might as well get on with the Pantsyr

This will be my second entry to the GB to go along with my Beaufighter. As I mentioned in the chat, I put a £15 bid in for this on eBay with no real thoughts of winning it, but I did. As an added bonus it had the Eduard canopy mask included which was not mentioned in the description. So, a right result! During WW2 the PE-2 (nickname “Peshka”) was the most extensively used Soviet medium front-line bomber. This is the newer 2019 Zvezda version. The mouldings look good. My eye was drawn to the 3 figures, which have separate arms, legs and heads. Something you don’t see very often in 1/72, but might be a bit tricky to put together. I think i will give them a go as they do look nice. 5 marking options provided. I will hopefully make a start on this in the next few days 🤞 George

As a 12 year old,my grand parents took me with them to Kenya for hollidays. That was back in september 1990...how the time flies... We should have had a flight from Zurich to Mombasa on the Balair DC-10-30,but for some reasons this was changed,and instead Caledonian Airways took us to our destination on a Boeing 757-200. Due to the limited range of the 757,we had to make a tank stop in Athens. I always had a latent interest in airplanes but this flight actually started it all,my passion for airliners and modelling. In fact,my very first kit that I bought was a Hasegawa 747 in 1/200 soon after our return. But I always wanted to build the aircraft that started it all. Unfortunately back then,no 757 kit was available or none that I was aware of nor could I find decals for the Caledonian version,no internet back then,so tracing such items was rather difficult and one had to rely on the local hobbyshops to stock the latest kits. Anyone remember ? Some good 25 years ago I came across the AHS decal set but was still missing a 757 kit... Some years later Minicraft released a 757 kit that was average at least. I bought some of them but for some reason I never actually built one with the Caledonian decals that I had.Maybe the reason was that the AHS sheet had white parts that needed to be applied first before the yellow decals and also a lack of detail on it. Many years later,in 2021 Zvezda released a bew 757 kit which beats the Minicraft version in every aspect. 26decals released also many decals for the new kit,offering countless airlines,amongst them British Airways/Caledonian. So finally this year I came around building the very 757 that I had flown on back in 1990. The Zvezda kit is superb with almost perfect fit and only a minimum of filler needed. I built it straight out of the box The windows are open,no decals used,so also a bit of the cockpit can be seen. To get the correct windows/doors layout,I had to close 4 windows as Caledonian,as well as many other airlines,have/had an additional door aft of the wings. The last row of windows consists of 13 windows,so just need to count from the back forward and then close 4 windows in a row. The additional door is provided with the decals. The emergency exits on the wings need to be filled and sanded and one window between the former exits added. Yep,I still have the onboard magazine from that flight... Paints used,Tamyia Royal blue with a few drops black for the belly and engines,Gunze light grey 315 for the upper fuselage,Testors Voodoo grey on the wings,the corogard is a mix of dark grey mixed with aluminium. Othe metallic parts are painted with Gunze metallics. As mentioned,the decals are from 26 and are absolutely wonderful. The fit is perfect and the carrier film is almost invisible. The window frames are from the kit decal sheet Caledonian Airways was founded in 1988,emerging from British Airtours In 1999 it merged with Flying Colours Airlines to become JMC,which went to become Thomas Cook Airlines in 2003. Unfortunately,this company went into bankruptcy in 2019. The Boeing 757 G-BPEA was delivered factory new in march 1989 to British Airways and came to Caledonian in april 1989. It was frequently leased out during its service with Caledonian and after being sold in 2001 it remained in service with different airlines until its retirement in may 2018,aged 29. Sadly it was scrapped in 2019. I have still vivid and fond memories of that flight and those wonderful hollidays in Kenya and because of that,this model has a special meaning in my collection. Hence the slighly longer than usual thread... Here some pics from my grand parents photo album,of the 757 upon our arrival in Mombasa I hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane cheers Alex

Zvezda is to release in 2024 a new tool 1/144th Airbus A-330-300 - kit ref. 7044 Source: https://vk.com/zvezdamodels?w=wall-29859496_2798054 V.P.

In 2024 Zvezda is to release a new tool "easy-build series" 1/72nd Yakovlev Yak-1 kit - ref. 7327 Source: https://vk.com/zvezdamodels?w=wall-29859496_2798054 V.P.

In 2024 Zvezda is to release a new tool 1/48th Polikarpov I-16 Ishak kit - ref. 4832 Source: https://vk.com/zvezdamodels?w=wall-29859496_2798054 V.P.

Zvezda is to release a new tool 1/48th Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 kit - ref. 4833 Source: https://vk.com/zvezdamodels?w=wall-29859496_2798054 V.P.

This was one of the kits that took a long time to build, but it's finally ready. I started it in May 2021, during the COVID crisis. At the time I thought I would have a lot of free time, but with the happy relief of the health situation, life returned little by little and confinement projects had to be postponed and brought forward when the schedule allowed. Today, I finally managed to finish my Boeing 767 with Varig titles. My 3rd model in my collection, after 2 Boeing 747s (1 -200 and another -400). It was my first interaction with Zvezda, which I can confirm that as a manufacturer it surprised me a lot, since the mold was quite perfect and there were almost no flaws to point out. I can also say that this was the model where my transition to something more rigorous began. In this 767 I have already decided to apply some different techniques that I had applied in the 747s, however there are still many errors that I hope to develop and overcome in the next kits that I will make, but which are still on the waiting list due to daily appointments. I can say here that for a while I will leave the 1/144 scale and will start working a lot with the 1/1 scale, since I received the good news that I will start my Boeing 737 Type Rating this November Overall, the kit is acceptable and worthy of being displayed in my showcase. Unfortunately, the layers of paint that were applied caused the surface to be very thick, filling the lines, preventing the panel liner that I tried to apply from running. So the weathering work was very basic, having only made the shape of the jet bridge at L1 door. I only used makeup powder, which made the plane slightly dirty, and a little panel liner to simulate the dirt trails with the movement. I'll leave the photos below. If you want to see the topic of the plane's development you can see it here: Thanks see you soon!

Here is my latest finished model. I have built the well known Zvezda kit using the decals by F-DCAL. Additionally I acquired the LACI engine (3D-printed) and so I had to create a maintenance scene. Something must be wrong with the thrust reverser system and the flight engineer and a mechanic are taking care of this problem. Globus Airlines was formed 2008 by the S7 Airlines but ceased operations in 2019 again. For the maintenace platform I used Preiser figures and Evergreen profiles. Thanks for watching!

Messerschmitt Bf-109 F-4, White 3, 10 Jabo, JG.53, Uffz. Dr Felix Sauer, Gela, Sicily, March 1942. Subject; Messerschmitt Bf-109 F-4 (Southern Europe Group Build) Manufacturer; Zvezda; Scale; 1/48 Kit number; 4806 Aftermarket; KV masks and Quinta interior set. Hasegawa decals. Paints; Exterior, upper, AK Real Colour RC278 RLM74 Olivgrun and RC279 RLM75 Grauviolet. Lower, RC320 RLM76 Lichtblau, RC267 RLM04 Gelb. Mr Finishing Surfacer White and RC274 RLM70 Schwarzgrun on the prop and spinner. Interior; AK RC273 RLM66 Schwarzgrau and RC265 RLM02 Grau. Various Tamiya X and XF and Posca pens for detailing. Mr Metal Aluminium and Dark Iron and Molotow chrome marker. Primer; Mr Surfacer 1200 Varnish; Mr Hobby GX100 Gloss and Tamiya X35 Semi-Gloss. Weathering; Flory Dark Dirt wash, Abteilung oils and Tamiya weathering palettes. Ammo North Africa pigment. Extras; Prym Knitting Elastic for the antenna wire.

Eduard is to rebox in October 2023 the Zvezda's 1/48th Sukhoi Su-25 "Frogfoot" kit: - ref. 11176 - Sukhoi Su-25K "Frogfoot"/ Hrábě - in Czechoslovak, Czech and Slovak air forces Source: https://www.eduard.com/out/media/distributors/leaflet/leaflet2023-10eng.pdf V.P.

Thanks Luis Pacheco - link . Worth a dedicated thread ! A strong rumour coming from Moscovia: Zvezda has a 1/48th Mil Mi-28 "Havoc" kit in design. Nonetheless Zvezda is reported having decided to give now the priority to its 1/48th Ka-52 project - thread link To be followed. Source: https://dzen.ru/a/ZM4FGUonYhvCyrvu?share_to=vk&utm_referer=away.vk.com V.P.

Thanks Luis Pacheco - link Worth a dedicated thread ! A strong rumour coming from Moscovia: Zvezda could release a 1/48th Kamov Ka-52 Alligator/"Hokum-B" kit at the end of 2023. To be followed Source: https://dzen.ru/a/ZM4FGUonYhvCyrvu?share_to=vk&utm_referer=away.vk.com V.P.

The new 1/144 scale Zvezda kit of the little Yak-40 tri-jet is my chosen build for this G.B., however i will be using the decals from the AZ kit which included Olympic Airways with it. A book I'm currently reading, Olympic Airways A History by Graham M. Simons, provides some background to the plane. In 1972 Olympic leased a pair of Yaks from Aertirrena of Italy for evaluation as a possible replacement for their recently retired Dakotas, but an order was not forthcoming. Here is the kit (with the extra decals).. Dave

Messerschmitt Bf-109 F-4, White 3, 10 Jabo, JG.53, Uffz. Dr Felix Sauer, Gela, Sicily, March 1942 Background This build will depict a Bf109 F-4 used by JG53 during the height of the siege of Malta in early to mid 1942. The jagdgeschwader were drafted to Sicily to counter the rising threat of the newly arrived Spitfire V's. This machine flown by Uffz. Felix Sauer was forced the land on the beach at Donnalucata, Sicily on 27th March 1942 after suffering damage sustained from a sortie over Malta. The kit For this build I have chosen the 1/48 offering from Zvezda and added a Quinta interior set and some dual masks from KV Models and Hasegawa decals. Manufacturer; Zvezda; Scale; 1/48 Aftermarket; Quinta interior set, KV Models dual mask. Paints; Exterior AK Real Colour RC278 RLM74 Grau Grun, RC279 RLM75 Grau Violet, RC320 RLM76 Licht Blau and RC267 RLM04 Gelb. Prop RC274 RLM70 Schwarz Grun. Interior; RC265 RLM02 Grau and RC273 RLM66 Schwarz Grau. Various Tamiya X and XF and Posca pens for detailing. Xtreme Metal Burnt Metal fir the exhausts. Primer; Mr Surfacer 1200 Weathering; Flory washes, Abteilung oils and Tamiya weathering palettes.

Good afternoon, colleagues and interested. Today I want to offer you for a "review" a model that is out of my usual role. A civilian car in a glossy color. The assembly of the model was inspired by one photo found in the family album. Unfortunately, the knowledge of who exactly is in the photo has been lost. Grandfather called this man "Uncle Misha", but alas, it is no longer possible to ask who exactly it is. In general, the assembly itself did not cause any problems. Separately, I want to talk about the photo etching from the MicroDesign that I used. Of the really necessary things - nameplates and a grille. The rest has been scrapped. Most of the details are simply not needed. Incomprehensible pedals, a re-sized wiper. Window panes are applicable if you make them open. And then they look bigger than they need to. From own "improvements" - replacement of straps inside the cabin Wheels from the Miniarm. Paints: basic black - Tamiya LP series,chrome markers with Ali, a little AKAN Weathering - AK Enjoy your viewing

Another outing for the Zvezda kit: Having shuffled the parts around from one place to another and then another, some of the main UC parts are missing. No problem, as I want to build this wheels up, I have another in the stash with all parts accounted for. I won't be building either of the OOB schemes. My plan is for a I/JG 54 machine in green/brown upper camouflage with temporary winter white disruptive camouflage. First step: Cut out the stand slot, and tweak it to fit an old-style Airfix stand: Next, join the fuselage halves together, remove the lowered tail wheel, and replace it with a spare, probably from Airfix: The tail planes were probably only dry-fitted at this point. Theoretically, this is a snap-together kit, but I won't be taking any chances by not using glue. At this point, I have assembled the wings and added the cockpit "tub". Note the inboard port cannon was broken off at some point, and I have drilled out a replacement hole. More to come soon (promise!)

The Ilyushin Il-76 (NATO code name Candid) made its maiden flight in 1971 and it still is the standard mount of the Russian airborne forces. It has also been used as a refuelling tanker and a flying command post. Almost one thousand Il-76’s of different variants have been manufactured so far and the new ones are modernized. In the civilian role the Il-76 has seen extensive service as a commercial cargo plane especially for the big and heavy items. It has also been used as an emergency transport for evacuations ands transporting humanitarian aid. Due to its ability to operate from unpaved runways, it has been useful in undeveloped areas. Some versions have also been produced for aerial firefighting. In the 1970 and 80’s The Iraqi Airways operated many Il-76’s as a cargo plane. Some of them had the rear gunners post even if the two 23 mm guns were not installed in them. I built my model from a 1/144 scale Zvezda IL-76MD kit. Its quality was very good and almost no putty or sanding was needed. Of the two variants of the plane I chose to build the one with a pointed rear tip. The other alternative would have been the version with the rear gunner’s post. The other options to choose from were 1. the plane in the flying mode, 2. with the flaps and slats extended and 3. the plane on the ground (which I chose). Additionally one could have also built the model with the cargo ramp lowered. My model depicts the Iraqi Airways plane reg. YI-ANG from the 1980’s. I ordered the smart looking decals from Liveries unlimited and the ones for the multiple glazing of the cockpit from Authentic Airliners decals. I painted the dark green areas with Tamiya TS-9 ”British Green”, the white areas with Tamiya Fine surface primer and the light grey underside and wings with Mr. Hobby’s Mr. Surfacer 1000. Afterwards I then sprayed the whole model with Tamiya TS-13 clear gloss varnish. For the minor details I used Revell’s and Vallejo’s paints.

This is the Zvezda Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" (Hokum) in 1/72 scale. A nicely detailed kit with good fit: the rotor assembly, in particular, is excellent. Tamiya and Alclad paints, weathering with Mig and AK enamel washes, Mig oils, AK pencils, and Tamiya pigments. The instructions give equivalent Tamiya paint codes for the colors, but the codes don't match the color names; (e.g. instructions refer to XF-51 as Khaki, but it's really Khaki Drab) I took the codes to be definitive but alas think I erred because the camo scheme is much closer to Khaki than Khaki Drab (which is a rather dark brown). Thanks for looking!

I love Hawker Hurricanes and have built many of them in 1/72nd scale over the last two years (see: Hawker Hurricanes around the World), but 1/144 is NOT my comfort zone (actually I've never tried before). So, I thought, why not? I think I feel even less comfortable now that I look at the sprues, but nonetheless, here we go . . . First up will be the Zvezda Mk I kit, kindly supplied by @Mjwomack! I have three of Sweet kits (each allowing you to build two Hurricanes, so that's six total!), too, which look to be somewhat better quality than Zvezda, so we'll start with the Zvezda and see where it goes. The Sweet kits include extra propellers, so I should be able to steal one of those to replace the one missing from the Zvezda kit. I have a few decal options for this, and have not decided which way I'll go in terms of markings yet, but fairly confident I won't be using the Zvezda decals. There were two sets in this kit, including two canopies, but they are not impressive decals. Here are the sprues, including the stand, which I do think I'll use. Seven parts total for the a/c itself--one fuselage, one wings, two UC, two stabilizers, and the canopy! What have I got myself into!? 🥴

Zvezda has just reissued the old Novo/Frog 1/72nd Fokker F.VII/3M "Southern Cross" kit - ref. 7233 Sources: https://zvezda.org.ru/catalog/sbornye_modeli/aviatsiya/vtoraya_mirovaya_voyna_aviation/fokker_f_viib_3m_yuzhnyy_krest_/ https://www.aviationmegastore.com/en/modelling/fokker-fvii3m-southern-cross-ex-novofrog--reissue-zvezda-7233-35159.html V.P.

The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the popular A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321. Re-engined with CFM LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines and fitted with sharklets as standard, it is 15% to 20% more fuel efficient than the A320ceo family. The airline depicted is Cebu Pacific Air, founded in 1988, and the largest low-cost airline of the Philippines and the largest airline of the country based on passenger numbers. Operating out of Cebu and Manila as main hubs, the A320 family makes up the majority of its fleet, the A320neo making up 9 of its fleet of 48. It was an ambitious paint scheme for sure, but one I've always wanted to do. This airline is a big part of my and any travelling Filipino's memories, after all. The project ultimately got bogged down quite a bit, but I will elaborate on this later in the post. The aircraft depicted is RP-C3281, a Cebu Pac A320neo that I took on a domestic flight to Dumaguete and then saw again in Caticlan Airport. Thankfully, as an owner of a camera taking reference pics proved to be very useful in the build. Here's the A/C itself as I photographed it in Caticlan Airport. I also compiled some of the timelapse footage I got of the build and put it into a sort of "reel" - First time trying this and I didn't want to spend too much time on it, so the editing and cinematography might not be the greatest. I chose to spoiler tag the rest of it as they do have quite a few images and are talked about in length Review - The kit itself is pretty good for an airliner offering, and it's no secret that Zvezda makes some of the best airliner kits out there. Personally I'm content with how the build went together, I don't have any major gripes or issues with the kit and it's still very good. However, there are a few nitpicks worth talking about - Masking Process - The masking was one of the most challenging parts of the build, and the sweeping curves all around the A320 were certainly very hard to replicate. I've been asked quite a bit about this process when posting about it, so here's a thread explaining the process. Decals: Painted with a combination of Armored Komodo lacquers and Tamiya acrylics. Gloss is GX112. Now, to summarize the build experience as a whole... This build has honestly brought me to the edge of quitting modelling more than any other build in the past, partly due to mistakes as a result of my own negligence, and partly due to luck so bad it was comedic, and certainly much worse than I've encountered on any other build. Issues ranged from paint peel on the white paint that then wouldn't feather when sanded, to incorrect hues on the first rounds of paint resulting in multiple rounds of masking and painting the (very difficult!) Cebu Pacific logo on the rear fuselage. For some reason, the white paint I used then started to yellow over time, which I had to sand back while the decals were already on - look closely around the windows where I had to avoid taking a sanding stick to it and you'll see some of the yellowing still there - Afterwards, seams reopened which resulted in having to repaint over the already peeling and yellowing white paint. The painting of the engines then went awry as the coverage of the white wouldn't lay down correctly, having to strip and repaint each one around 4-6 times each. The paint I used on the wings for some reason lightened under one of the registration decals as well, which meant I had to repaint a good fourth of the starboard wing to correct it. I had to speed up the final phase of the build as I wanted to make it in time for the local Nationals, which ultimately resulted in lots of compromises of the build - it was in the IPMS hall with the engine exhaust cones missing, left at home because they were still drying! Needless to say, it didn't really win any prizes but did catch the attention of quite a lot of people, as the only airliner build put in the competition, and with the vibrant and recognizable colors of Cebu Pacific no less. It then got damaged on the drive home, with the engines and landing gear breaking off and another fuselage seam reopening. Ultimately, the cowling ring and one of the nose landing gear wheels went missing, so I had to 3D print resin substitutes, which then made it onto the build in time to be make it my last completed build for 2022. Any modeler with a good eye can spot quite a few mistakes in the build's craftsmanship, many of which I honestly no longer had the energy or time to correct. In the end, I'm just happy to have gotten this project through the finish line. Thanks for reading, especially if you've gotten this far through the wall of text!

This is the Zvezda kit in 1/350. The kit itself is pretty simple with no real fit issues, the plastic is a little soft though. I picked it up second hand for 5 bucks as the decal sheet was stuffed. Upon review it looks as though the K-19 sailed without any identification numbers on the sail, so this is what I did. I also painted the silver sonar sections on the bow, but did manage to save the bridge windows that give soviet submarines that distinctive look. I kept the weathering pretty light. As for the K-19 herself, she gained the rather harsh nickname of "Hiroshima" while in service. Project 658 submarines were rushed into production in response to US advances in nuclear submarines in the early 1960s. The K-19 would be the first nuclear powered submarine mounting nuclear ballistic missiles to enter service with the Soviet Navy. However, due to the rushed production, multiple workers died while constructing her, mistakes were made in construction and some safety and back up systems were not installed. Several Russian commanders thought the submarines unseaworthy and perhaps they were right, as K-19 would suffer several major accidents, the worse being the loss of coolant to her reactors on her initial patrol, causing the death of several crew members due to radiation exposure. This incident was responsible for the withdrawal of all 'Hotel 1 Class' (NATO designation) for upgrades. K-19 would soldier on until 1991, where she was decommissioned and eventually sent to the scrapper.

Good day everybody, this is a placeholder for a maybe second contribution to the SSDGB, depending on how well my build of the Crusader will go. I intend to build this plane as the SAR/firebomber as shown in the boxart. Content of the box: We'll see if this will get started during the GB. Best of luck to all of you!

Hi all, back once more. This time with a project I've had in mind since May. Time spent having to drum up the appropriate masks, and then a set of decals, and then finally some metalizing powder for the display stand. Overall, came about fairly painless, aside from a few niggling moments. Kit itself varied a little from going together nicely, to being a bit of a pain. Biggest areas of frustration were fitting in the lower fuselage, and getting everything to meet up, causing some overhanging joins, and requirement of filler and sanding. After that, it was largely the pylons and stores having inadequate mounting points to make them fit securely without a lot of adjusting. Overall, happy with how it came out. Final bit of fiddling was adding metalizing powder to the base. Came out fairly good, and then I wanted to put the emblem on. Thought I had it positioned, but then it was off. Decal tore during adjustment, so had to remove and replace. In lining up, put two indentations in the surface with my ruler, somehow 🤦‍♂️, then accidentally scuffed the surface to the gloss beneath with a paper towel while buffing out the water marks. Second coat of powder didn't cover it, so in the end I went over everything with a 4000 grit stick to make it all look a little worn. Came out better than expected. May or may not ultimately gloss the base to seal that decal, though tit'll probably dull the shine. Anyway, without further ado. Here be my Ukrainian AF (Blue 30), 1/48 Zvezda Su-25. Painted up with the Hataka UAF acrylics set, masking with the DN Models vinyl masks, and marked with Aztec decals (pretty good decals, but they take a fair amount of softening). Thanks for looking, as always Gaz