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Many, many years ago I built the Bloodhound so I was excited when a batch arrived as part of a re-import. Like others I snapped one up. Usually I only build Aircraft and I'm a Bristol fan so I hope this counts as Aircraft Modelling... anyway, here it is: Bristol Bloodhound Mk I by Ced Bufton, on Flickr I've made some attempt to replicate the Ramjet intakes and starter rocket exhausts but the old kit soft plastic didn't make it easy. Of course I had to build the accompanying non-aircraft bits too and a base: More pictures in the WiP thread here.

Hi Guys. I'd like to welcome you all to my latest build, hot on the heels of my 1/72 vampire I checked the stash for a likely candidate. I have a few choice Tamiya kits that I'm eager to build but having built a few lovely models of late I'm really looking for a bit of a challenge. Taking cues from some of my friends on here, (you know who you are) I was intrigued and fascinated by the way you guys revel in bringing older kits kicking and screaming into the most wonderful states of fruition. One kit I bought on E-bay a few months back for the princely sum of £10 I think was the "Grumman ea-6b Prowler" I knew nothing about this kit but I loved the plane, such an unusual and lovely shape, to be fair being a 1/48 I expected it to me medium sized, how wrong I was. This thing is mahoosive. it's also super old, I didn't realize how different older models can be from today's lovely kits, all the better for what I have in mind. Any way as this is my biggest build to date and possibly my most challenging I'm going to document it here warts and all, There aren't many builds of the Airfix kit as from what I have read it was a scaled up version of a 1/72 with not very much detail but a rather good shape. I'm not looking to keep super accurate here but I'm aiming to have a fun time digging around trying to bring out the inner charm of this wonderful kit. It was all bagged up when I got it, I believe its the mid 80s kit, staples in the instructions and everything. The decals look good but I worry that they might disintegrate as they look a little flaky on the star and bar, we shall see. Any road up, as I'm back from my good friends leaving do at work, one pint as I was driving , the kids are in bed and the wife's out I'm going to make a cuppa and get cracking. ( I do wish I had an airfix mug like Phil's ) Ladies and gentlemen I give you the "MASSIVE and OLD" It's only a ruddy GRUMMAN EA-6B Prowler 1/48 by Airfix. First off a very old and dented box, with a bit of a rubbishy picture on the front. Good start huh. next up the sprues, I cant fit them all in one picture as they are the size of a small football pitch so have a few. Ther are two options with the kit, I'm going to opt for this one. as it looks a bit like this, and this looks ace. Here we go first thing as I pick up the parts and notice all the panel lines are raised This is my first encounter with such phenomena but hey how difficult can it be? I had bought some tools to help me out a while ago as I have a Tamiya F14 in the stash and was aware of some of its pitfalls. so re-scribing here we come. first off a good sand with one of the wife's old nail files. I know this makes me look like a maverick but I'm not, I used the straight edge of a try tool to get the lines then free handed them later to get them hopefully right. Here we are with half of one wing, I't took me about an hour. this is going to be a long and dusty road. But i'm sure it'll be worth it. wont it? Right i'm going to put the kettle on. Wish me luck, and if you wanna tag along for the ride feel free. hopefully it'll be fun, educational and emotional. See you next time and thanks for taking the time to look over and see what I'm up to. All the best and as ever Happy modelling. John

Hi Guys, So, my third ever aircraft along now, the Fw190... What drew me towards this was more or less the winter camouflage. Construction was easy enough, apart from when I went to put the propeller/engine plug-like module into the nose and cracked the fuselage in two. Of course this was only after I had painted, weathered and pretty much finished it! Painted the beast in Xtracolour Enamels, and did the red nose and fuselage band with Humbrol Enamel. The winter camouflage was Humbrol Enamel also and went on over the decals and a thick coat of Klear so it could be removed if disliked. Finished with panel line oil wash and basic chipping. Last touch was of course trying to put the fuselage back together! Thanks for looking guys! Sam