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Dear All, a question to the assembled populace if you could please indulge an old chap returinig to the hobby after a gap of 30+ years with some thoughts on the issues raised below. Having discovered this fantastic forum a couple of months back I've been avidly reading all sorts of threads. Fantastic stuff. Things have moved on since I bashed kits together out of the box and slapped on any roughly appropriate paint. I still have a stash from the early 80's of 62 kits and lots of old paint. But I decided I needed to upgrade my skills before trying one from the stash that I care about as I want to do the best I can. Sooo I chose a couple of items to use as "mules" and have been cutting, sticking filing, filling and eventually painting said items with varying degrees of satisfaction. Which brings me rather long windedly to my questions : After applying my chosen dark earth and dark green enamels by brush, I waited a good 24 hrs or so before applying a varnish. It instantly darkened the colours. I have reads pages of lerned discourse about the pros and cons of various shades and whether it is right to the eye of the beholder or not , or whether compliant with such and such a spec. Does this all become "academic" if you fundamentally change the hue with a varnish? What is the collected opinion about this? It seems vital to apply a glossier finish if decals are to be applied effectively, but if I've spent good £'s acquiring the "best" available is it worth it? I look forward to any words of wisdom or assurance that may be available please. I haven't quite figured out how to post an image of what I mean, but I'm a bit ashamed of what it looks like ( do we have a "Laugh at This" section.. or perhaps RFL (Laugh) instead of RFI?) Regards, Rob

Most people won't have visited my JGSDF Type 10 Tank thread in the 10th Annivesary GB and so won't have seen that I posted a video there showing how I initially paint my models with flat brushes. In this case it shows how I painted the initial coats of acrylic paint on the JGSDF Type 10. I don't own an airbrush, as I don't have anywhere suitable to use one, so I have learnt a way of painting acrylic paints with flat brushes that works for me. A few people over the years have asked how I acheive the finish I do using flat brushes and I always said - at some point I will make a video - well I have now done that. Please note it is not a tutorial video - more a video of me painting a kit - but some people say they have found some bits to be useful. It certainly isn't a perfect video. For a start it's a bit too long - I filmed me painting a few bits for over an hour and a half but then had the problem of deciding how and what to edit. I got it down to about 50 minutes - but that is still too long. Second - the first half suffers from it being the first time I had done a video like this - so you cannot always see what I am doing - the second half - when I'm doing the second coat - is better because I moved the camera nearer having reviewed the first half. It's a bit too quiet too - it sounds fine on the iPad I recorded it on but seems too quiet on my laptop. If you want to use them - the automatic close captions are not a bad match. Now this may be a good thing so you don't hear me rambling on too much! If you do decide to watch any of it please make sure you know where the Fast Forward, Mute and Stop buttons are! If people are interested I will post some videos of how I do some of the other painting and weathering I do. Finally - my suggestion is just dip in and out - life's to short! EDIT - The link to the video can now be found at the bottom of my signature below each of my posts. Kind regards, Stix

For a good start of a new year i decided to finish this little nice aircraft. Build was straight from a box. Model was easy to assemble only little putty was needed at upper fuselage connection and at intake area. I had some troubles with colors but it turned out well in the end. For weathering i used soft pencil and diluted acyrlic paint. Decals where amazing and i love that art ! Model was brush painted with vallejo and revell acyrlics. Well only bed thing is i lost nose tip during transport and cannopy had some molding seems where it was conected with sprue. Hope you gona like it, any comment and feedback is more then welcome. In the end i am pleased with finished result but there is still alot of things to immprove and learn. Scale modeling has some realy crazy learning curve. Sorry for my bed English and here are photos : First one with nose tip still there : IMG_20180107_210826 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr IMG_20180114_142106 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr IMG_20180114_142125 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr IMG_20180114_142518 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr I had a bit of fun with fuel tank and only decals that where missing are marking stripes for RB15F, i miss second half of stripe so i turned it to outer side: IMG_20180114_142532 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr IMG_20180114_142720 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr IMG_20180114_142634 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr And last photos is my collection so far, some desert theimed aircraft will be next on my scope : IMG_20180114_142828 by Karlo Miletić, on Flickr

Hello people This is my first RFI. I feel strange in putting it here as it is the last model I completed. The thing is, I completed it 13 years ago. I was in the UK then and I didn't know much about the internet modelling wise. At the time I relied utterly on my LMS. That was M.G. Sharp Models of Attercliffe Road in Sheffield, the city I was living in then. I had started modelling again for the first time since 1979 as I had become a widower and, well, thought I needed to find something pleasurable and nostalgic of better times upon which to focus my thoughts My first model upon returning to the hobby was an Airfix Mosquito. I have to say, it wasn't easy! Nothing fitted very well and I found myself buying filler for the first time since the age of 13.. I also did the Australian all silver option, meaning, sand, fill, smooth...and repeat. I got there though and it builds into a lovely model doesn't it, not at all bad for an old Airfix? I had been to Spain in a professional context (1989) and really loved it. I had been introduced to the recent history of Spain, above all, as I went to Barcelona, I became aware of the very recent Spanish Civil War. As time progressed, back in 2003-2006, I researched this from a personal interest point of view, rather than anything to do with work/profession. I loved the intrigue I found. Clandestine air forces (Russian, German and Italian), aircraft being smuggled in from Mexico, 'Golden Age' art deco passenger aircraft being used as bombers! Anyway, this little Heller Bf 109 B was about the best I could manage at the time. I know now it might be classified as a B1. I also know this kit isn't 'rivet counter' perfect, but I can tell you, I utterly enjoyed making it. It is a pleasure to build and yes, it is almost 'Shake 'n' Bake'. It goes together so well, extremely little filler is needed and if one is fine with raised panel lines; they don't need to be sanded away. This is a model of BF 109 B1 6*16 of Legion Condor 2J/88, based at Vittoria, Spain as it would have appeared late March 1937. It is based on a Profile shown on page 130 of 'Jagdwaffe', Luftwaffe Colours; Volume one section 2, 'The Spanish Civil War' by E. Mombeek with J.R. Smith & E.J. Creek. Classic Publications, 1999, ISBN 0-9526867-6-7. The transparencies are kit parts, absolutely lovely, clear and in three parts. I have tried to build the Avis/AML/Amodel (all the same) BF-109 B/C/D/V3-4 prototypes and I can honestly say that I feel time is far better spent 'tarting up'/rectifying this Heller kit to the level you desire. The other kits, and the Aeroplast kits, simply don't cut the mustard (this is Britmodeller isn't it? ). The model is OOB with the exception of decals. I used the kit round black spots and wing spots/crosses then handpainted numbers and tail cross with the help of Tamiya masking tape cut finely (using slightly lightened Humbrol 33). All colours were enamel. I still have a jar of (useable) grey-green colour from this build! I mixed the grey/green. Why this shade? I have no idea, it seemed right at the time . It is a long time ago, I may have done 6*16 as I was pretty sure it was the first number Bf-109 B To be a real 'B'. I guess it should have the Hamilton propellor, but I just thought; "First use of Bf-109, Spain, anything could and would have happened in war, regularly". I still think that about all wartime aircraft to be honest. Also, it isn't an 'A', prototype or anything else with long leading edge slats, the Heller kit has the shorter slats, so 6*16 seemed a reasonable compromise. It is completely brush painted, even the varnish. I liked the way the Humbrol Matt varnish sealed the decals, and I also liked that the kit roundels didn't silver onto an, essentially, satin coat with no decal solvents (I didn't know they existed). No weathering - I simply didn't (and don't) know how to do it, and I also think at the time, there may have not been many washes/tints/other trendy things on the market? Enough chat, here it is, I hope it is bearable, perhaps likeable as a window into what was ok 13 years ago? Thanks to The Spadgent for encouraging me to post this Port view I forgot, I stole the 'Top Hat' from an RPM Bf-109 E-1 Legion Condor kit. Starboard..hmm, the Humbrol Matt coat went a little white, as seen over the black roundel. Nice big prop . I hand painted the canopy. I can see the paint was too thin. Never mind, I was happy at the time. Thanks for reading All best regards and happy modelling Tony Edited for spelling a friend's moniker incorrectly