Good evening everyone please find below, after a 40 year build ! Berwick Winston Churchill's Boeing 314 Clipper. Here is a photo of the man himself at the controls, with the signature cigar: Below are the pictures of the completed build. The kit was lost in my parents loft until being recovered when we sold the house after I lost my father. I failed to finish in the KUTA IX Group Build so here it is. All comments greatly received and many thanks to all the BM members for the continuing encouragement, it would never have been finished without you Cheers Pat

I thought that this would be an ideal subject for this Group Build. Produced by British Executive and General Aviation Limited (BEAGLE) the Basset 206 had it's first flight at Shoreham in August 1961. After a fly-off between the Basset 206 and DH Devon as a replacement aircraft for the Anson, an order was placed by the RAF for 20 B206R's (Basset CC1) and this will be the subject for this build. I will be a little while starting because I have a couple of builds going on in other GB's to complete first, but hopefully there will be enough time left to squeeze in a second build that will allow me to make something outside of my comfort zone again.

Right - here we go - finally got her finished - my entry for the De Havilland GB - Airfix 1/72 Vampire T.11 So here she is in all her 'Day Glo' glory - I hope you enjoy and as always your comments and feedback are always welcome.

As a side topic to the 'what should Airfix be making' and the inevitable 'why?' and 'why not' posts that follow can you list your personal wishlists in 3 categories: Near term - those you feel are likely to come to fruition in a year or two, even if you won't be buying it Medium term - within say 5 years, and can include those models You want to see that are a faintly realistic proposition. Long term - when you will be planning a release from your cryogenic chamber. (note: whilst the long term plans may include unlikely makes or marks, or even a corrected version of a current bestseller please try keep them fairly realistic - I doubt Airfix will be making a Tibetan homemade glider at any point despite the clamouring for one) .... Ok I'll start off (and I'll try to keep it as new kits only not rereleases) Near: Single seat Vamps P-47 (razor and bubble) D3A Val (extending the pacific WW2 niche) Buccaneer (a big UK seller and the old one is aged) Meteors (including at least 1 each T & NF) 2 seat Lightning (so many fighters, needs a matching trainer) Medium: Whirlwind (the forgotten WW2 fighter) DH106 Comet (4s please, RAF & Dan Air schemes) Victor (much demanded to replace the aging Matchbox) F-4 Phantoms (a European sized hole will persist unless FujiGawa get cheaper, or Revell add to their F) Panther/Cougar - (expanding the USN theme in to post war) Long: Vulcan (old mould is creaking) Wellesley (Forgotten type, fits with a WW2 desert theme) Gazelle (hard to find, simply needs updating to modern standards) Wasp/Scout (a missing link so long oop) Viggan (actually pretry much any Saab as the reborn Heller seen reluctant to mass market, and non-Gripens aren't commonplace) *I reserve the right to change my mind if I think of new options (and given time I could extend to top 100s!)

And we're off......Well, now that I have managed to complete the Vampire for the De Havilland GB - I can crack on with the Bf109. Below is the kit that I am building: I'm just going for OOB on this one and so far the kit has proved to be excellent and is going together without any hassles. I've made a start by beginning with cockpit and managed to get that completed today - pics as follows: The kit is going together like a dream - in fact I don't think I've ever had two fuselage halves go together better than with this model - the tolerances make for a perfect fit. I'm currently busy bringing all the fuselage, wings etc together so I'll look to update with more photos once I've made some more progress. Kris

For me, there's something quintessentially British about the Boulton-Paul Defiant. A misconceived oddball that nevertheless went on to find roles that the designer would never have dreamed of. Crews that, despite being outmatched, kept on fighting. I think of it as the fighter equivalent of the Fairey Battle, and I've always had a soft spot for it. So, of all the possible candidates, it seemed a good fit for this GB. I had a four month hiatus from modelling from November last year. I think that helped me consider my approach: it had been all about the detail before, PE, resin. But I'd neglected some basic skills. I finally located my airbrush as well, something I'd never learned to use. So the focus now is on getting good results from plastic. This won't be my first airbrushed kit; that "honour" goes to a Spitfire PRXVII. But it will be my first attempt at camo with an airbrush. And it won't be wholly devoid of aftermarket, as I'm going to try the Eduard steelbelts (I cordially detest PE seatbelts so that could go out the window!) Here's the obligatory uncut sprues: The kit has two very similar marking options: PS-V of 264 Squadron in July 1940, or KO-I of 2 Squadron in September 1940. I prefer PS-V as it has a slight tie-in to my preference to build aircraft that served in bases local to me (in this case, Duxford, where 264 spent some time in 1940, though in July they were at Martlesham Heath). At the time, the squadron was resting and training after its efforts over Dunkirk, and the various photos that I can find show little fading and only some exhaust staining, so I'm not going to weather it too much. Cheers, Chris

My latest completion the 1/72 Lightning F2A and Sword Lightning T4 completed as aircraft from 92 Sqn RAF, as I am no Lightning expert these were built virtually OOB with the exception of Xtradecal sheet X72155 used on the Airfix Ligntning so I could depict a 92 Sqn aircraft and a Pavla replacement seat, the Sword kit had a Master pitot probe added to replace the kit item that was like a tree trunk. Both kits went together pretty easily with no great problems all I would say is that some of the decals in the Sword boxing seem a tad overscale. As I have mentioned I am no Lightning expert and can't comment on the accuracy of either kit. Anyway enjoy, C + C welcome. Willy IMGP6755 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr IMGP6762 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr IMGP6760 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr IMGP6751 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr IMGP6757 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr IMGP6758 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr

I'll be honest from the start; This kit very nearly wasn't going to get built. I bought it on a whim with a view to building a full set of the various interceptor generations. Lightning, Phantom, Tornado and Typhoon. I was so underwhelmed when I opened the box that I just packed it all back up again and pushed it to the back of the shelf. But then I bought myself an airbrush and needed a couple of mule builds to practice on and try out the various types of acrylics that were available locally. I looked through the stash and chose a Revell Fokker Dr.1 to paint with Gunze and Tamiya paints and this Tornado to paint with the much maligned Humbrol Acrylics. First up was the cockpit. Now when I say cockpit what Airfix supply isn't isn't so much a cockpit as a smooth, flat, featureless bathtub. After their delightful little Vampire model this was a real disappointment. Rather than try to make a silk purse from a sows ear by adding detail I've elected to fit the pilot figures and build this as an "in-flight" model with the cockpit closed and undercarriage up. Even so, I think it'll need a little more than a quick coat of 164 - Dark Sea Grey to be acceptable. Airfix-Tornado---cockpit by Martin Fay, on Flickr I've also made a start on the wings, replete with raised panel lines and enormous ejection marks. How very 70's. 2016-09-09-11.30 by Martin Fay, on Flickr Much slicing, scraping and sanding later and we're getting there. Airfix-Tornado---Wing-WIP by Martin Fay, on Flickr And finally I can actually glue something! Airfix-Tornado---Wings-WIP2 by Martin Fay, on Flickr

And now on to my third GB for the year so far - no pressure then - the perfectly formed little De Havilland Vampire from Airfix: This is of course one of Airfix's more recently tooled models and for me it's a little cracker. I'll be building predominantly oob as is my way but there's plently of nice detail for the scale. You'll see from my pics below that I've filled the nose cavity and the space behind the pilots seat with lead weighting to prevent her from being a tail sitter. This stuff is brilliant - so small but yet so heavy and can be perfectly arranged to fit into even the tightest spaces and glued in place with PVA. I will be adding the pilots to the build too - pic below - although they need a lick of paint first. So below is my progress so far and will update as soon as possible: Instrument panel painted up and awaiting decal which isn't bad for this scale and should look fine once fitted

Well I couldn't let this GB go without building a DH. And I haven't built a Mosquito since the first series 2 release with the button wheels in the 1960s. So I'm in. I have until Friday night cos I'm going to Brum on Saturday morning. Here we go... The parts: Decals. The yellow is out of register but I may try to stick the two better halves of the roundels together - if it doesn't work I have an Xtradecal sheet: Box in the wheel wells: Cut out the footwell: cut away the front of the wing box and its tab. There is still enough to hold the wing securely and it actually makes it easier to fit: Sand down the boilerplate. Built by furniture makers and steam train manufacturers: Spot of filler: New wing box: The wonders of plastic card: Humbrol acrylics: Where I got to: I haven't stuck the nacelles on because the Molins fairing is going to get a lot of sanding tomorrow. And the propellers turn but don't blow round 😟. Thanks for looking, Adrian

Today (May 13th) is official Top Gun day! Don't believe me? Take a look here: http://www.topgunday.com/ As I browsed the hobby shop looking for a new model, it occurred to me that now would be an excellent time to build an F-14, something I've wanted to do for a while. Nearby I spotted Airfix's A-4 Skyhawk and realised that with some extra decals (currently en-route), and decided to put together a trio of aircraft. The thought for now is to pose them "in flight", lined up to represent the conclusion of this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC976fuQm4E Not much progress yet, but I wanted to prove that I started it on Top Gun day. The Skyhawks will need a bit of cosmetic work to turn them into "E" models, but they were the only type I could find in the shop, and close enough. I've built that kit once before and very much enjoyed it. F-14 Contents A-4 Contents. This should be fun!

Freighter finally finished using the old Airfix kit, Magna conversion and lots of filler. Main changes are the engines beefed up with new exhaust positions, the Airfix ones are too small and the Magna ones simply wrong. Decals home made. A few pics... Just noticed how silvered the wing decal is, may correct that. Next project Contrail Blackburn Botha and a Bristol Scout.

EE Canberra Pr.9 1:48 Good evening! Finally, at long last I'm calling this one done. It's a 1:48 Airfix Canberra Pr.9 that I picked up at Cosford this year. Overall the kit is quite a good one- only problems are the thickness of the plastic, lack of a proper Pr.9 cockpit or Navigator's nose compartment and lack of a bomb bay. Thankfully the latter was amended with the help of @canberra kid who very kindly offered me one to use in this build! WIP: Kit: Airfix Canberra Pr.9 1:48 Paints: Vallejo, with Alclad for the exhausts Weathering: Thinned down Vallejo paint, Flory wash, as well as some AK Interactive washes Scratchbuilt: Almost the entirety of the Cockpit and Navigator's compartment, upper fuselage aerial, rear fuselage camera and bomb bay. And a few in-progress images of the cockpit: Thank you very much for having a look! Kind regards, Sam

I like to have 3 models underway at any one time. Definitely no more. This way I have something to work on while paint is drying on two other models. So, this one got started today as number 3 in the queue. 3 shall be the number of the count, and the number of the count shall be three. Anyhoo, was quite interested to take a look at one of the latest releases from the all new and improved Airfix. I'm a lazy modeller - I no longer have any time for hours and hours of re scribing and filling. I want good quality kits that minimize the amount of that stuff I have to do. My hat's off to the serious modellers who do all that to get the most accurate representation of a subject possible - it's an awesome approach. But I'm too lazy for that. So having heard good things about the recent Airfix incarnation kits, this seemed like fun. Box: The mouldings do look nice. There are very small amounts of flash here and there, but nothing serious. I haven't found anything in the way of sink marks either - so far so good. Made a start with the cockpit tub and ejector seat. Gone are the old days of a crudely moulded seat to be placed into a bare cockpit area - now the tub is made up of several pieces, as is the seat. Not bad really - I think that will look OK through a closed canopy once painted up. Certainly not up the look of a nice resin cast seat, but not bad. I thought it was interesting that there were two seat options - one without moulded in seat harness. Great idea - but no pilot chappie to put in place on the bare seat. Oh well. Cockpit parts Front wheel well assembles on to the underside of the tub. Dry fit of the seat into the tub looks good. I also assembled up the undercarriage bays on the wings. Really, I'm quite pleased with this model. For the price, there is plenty of detail included. I think that with some basic techniques this will make into a nice OOB model Meteor. I got as far as priming some areas today, and I'm looking forward to picking this up again next time I get to the bench.

I'm hooked on this modeling lark... I just can't get enough of the plastic, glue and paint fumes it would seem! I've just finished a vintage P-38 Lightning and I thought that the decent thing to do would be to build the iconic English Electric version. I've read good things about the recent Airfix offering and after reading the review on here I grabbed one before they disappear as apparently Airfix have discontinued them?! Anyway, obligatory box shot: I'll be building the NMF version 'XS927' based in Singapore as I although the grey toned one was tempting, I've already got a Harrier in a similar scheme... besides I always thing of a NMF scheme when I think of a EE Lightning. Here's some shots of the real thing: So first off, the internals need painting and assembling. This starts with the air scoop and exhausts. For the air scoop I thought I'd so some practice runs of the NMF as most of this is barely visible. After removing some horrible ejector pin marks and sanding back smooth I applied some Tamiya X-18, semi-gloss black. After this had cured overnight I sprayed Humbrol Metalcote from the tin after diluting 1:1 with white spirit. This has created a pretty good finish: ...but I'm not happy. I want a really solid NMF and after some research on here and other sites I've settled on some AK Interactive Metal paints. I've purchased the undercoat (black), chrome, aluminum and polished aluminium (two variations of aluminium to ensure different contrasts). Looking at the real thing, it's not polished all over so I'll base it with aluminium and highlight some panels with polished. I'll also darken some panels as per the picture... Looking forward to experimenting with this stuff! I've also grabbed their protective gloss coat which is supposed to enhance the finish instead of using Clear. This next shot shows Tamiya Chrome on the right in comparison to Humbrol Metalcote on the left. This is another little experiment to see if I needed the AK chrome... clearly I do! I want these bits gleaming as per the box art. I've added some extra detail to the top of the cockpit tub: Not much will be seen as the opening is tiny so I've left the rest alone. I will however go to town on the ejector seat which is really basic. Here it is halfway through with mock seat belts and buckles made from Tamiya tape and wire. This needs refining, painting and weathering: Finally here are the assembled air scoops and exhausts. As you can see I'll need to fill and re-paint the nose section as this was very warped and didn't fit together very well at all: That's it for today! Hope you've enjoyed. JB

Hello everybody. I've been thinking about building this beauty for a while now and after looking for some info and possible builds to follow I have come to the conclusion that either I've stumbled upon a lesser known kit that people just don't know about (prolly not) or that it's a kit that's been started, become a pain right up the Harris (understatement) and relegated to the draw of doooom. The few I have seen together and finished are wonders to behold I'm fascinated by its enormity and sheer balls out crazyness. It has curtains!!!! For better of for worse I'm going to run at this with everything I've got. it's going to be OOB pretty much with some scratch work here and there. I hope you'll join me on this adventure of plastic and string. It's going to be fun!!!! I'm starting this thread to attach to my P38-RFI Currently it's sitting waiting for move one. Here is the obligatory box shot. isn't she brilliant! I've bought a couple of the windsock ref books and I'm planning on building the "last days" one. Here we are as of now. The mouldings don't look too bad and I think all the parts at there. Now the RFI has been done on my P-38 I'm looking forward to getting my teeth sunk into this. Updates soon. Take care and as always happy modelling guys. Johnny Stringbag.

Well, I didn't notice this one coming but I'm in. With all the firsts in the world to choose from, I'm surprised how aviation this bg looks and wanted to broaden it out. I'm going with https://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=109407&p=timeline which is The world's first steam locomotive, can't show you it yet as I've only just ordered it! Have to say not my first choice which was going to be the first locomotive to break the 100 mph barrier, City of Truro but Nimrod54 did this so brilliantly that I wouldn't come close, if you missed it here's his build Hunting around I came across the Airfix kit for Trevithick and a cheaper Minicraft version but that is a strange 1:38 scale while the Airfix is the more conventional 1:32, which is gauge 1 for railway modellers, so it might get a crew to attend to it. But all that to come, first I need the Postie.

For some time I've been thinking of putting a small railway scene together using Airfix kits in a static display. Colin Marrow sparked this idea with his Airfix Village project. Alan Bean (Beany) and others added fuel to the fire with their projects, and with my recent railway builds I decided it was time to stop prevaricating and actually make a start. Firstly I measured all my kits - buildings, platforms, all statics - and cut out scale templates. I only have two platform kits, so decided this would be a terminus station with the Booking Hall facing the buffer stops. I was looking to use a single 607mm x 1220mm baseboard, and my crude plans indicated this may be possible - the determining factor would be the track geometry. Having reclaimed some track from my long-stalled loft layout, I laid out the point-work to discover that the station throat alone would need the 1220mm length, and an additional board was required for the station area. I purchased two hardboard sheets and four battens to support them an give them some rigidity, and set about gluing and screwing the frames to the boards. This had to be a simple construction as my woodworking skills are lamentable. The two boards bolt together giving an overall area of 2160mm x 607mm (that's 7'1" x 2' in old money) The tracks are glued down and only tacked at the ends. The turntable ring is dry fitted and positioned only. Likewise, the level crossing is an old one, merely laid down to check dimensions. I have found locations for the two footbridges I am working on.

Hi All, Its been a while.....PhD is done now (apart from the viva) and as I have no job currently, there's some time for some modelling. In my grand vision, I will eventually own a collection of detailed and accurate fleet of modern Soviet jets. First up is the Su-27 'Flanker B', and I am using the venerable 1/72 Airfix kit. I felt I owed this kit another go, as I had made a gluey mess of it when I was a kid! I also had the PART photo-etch set, a Pavla resin seat and a Pavla vac-form canopy (the Airfix one is too short). When I get some cash I might get some Aires nozzles for it too. The scale plans that I have from www.airwar.ru show that the Airfix kit is very good in terms of accuracy. It has engraved panel lines, but most of them are wrong so what I am doing at the moment is laboriously rescribing correct lines and adding rivet detail, using photos of Masa Narita's 1/32 Flanker online and photos in Model Airplane International. I have rescribed the main upper fuselage and am part-way through the vertical stablisers. I have also started to detail up the nose gear and the front cockpit coaming, and will get going on the main gear soon. Yes, I am a masochist, but I'm actually enjoying this stage! Here are some pics, not too exciting yet I'm afraid but it hopefully gives a flavour of what I'm up to. Any questions/comments welcome. Cheers James

Long time lurker on here so I thought I'd post up some of my recent builds. Here is my 1/24 Typhoon that I recently finished. Whilst it was a marathon build, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Additions are the Airscale instrument decals, HGW harness, Master Models rockets, Eduard wheels and cannons. All markings were painted using Montex Masks. This was the first time I had used them but I've got to say I'm converted! Hope you like. IMG_2075 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr IMG_2078 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr IMG_2080 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr IMG_2082 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr IMG_2083 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr IMG_2081 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr IMG_2076 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr Finally, here is one on its base at Salisbury Model Show, eventually it will be busied up a bit with ground crew, pilot, missing cowls and general clutter IMG_2027 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr

I got this 1/72 Airfix (E-3) B707 kit a couple of years ago from PacificMustang (Bruce) part started, well actualy almost finished as he did not want to finish it up. As I had already built a good old RAAF Seven Oh I pondered what I would use it for. Along came the Recce GB over on ARC and I decided I would used the Flightpath JSTARS conversion to bring it back to life. Wolfpak decals released a sheet with markings for 93-0597 which was originally delivered to QANTAS as a B707-338 VH-EBU. Double win! Unfortunately the aircraft suffered major damage during mid air refueling when a tank in the wing over pressurised and ruptured (due to a test plug being left in the fuel vent system after maintenance) back in 2009. In 2012 the aircraft was reported to have broken up and parted out in Al Udeid, Qatar. So I started on the E-8C today. Mostly scribing and drilling out cabin windows and doors. The engines needed some disassembly so I could fill the huge holes where the turbo compressor are attached on 3 of the engines. The Flightpath conversion comes with a number of scribing templates. I had to carve out some of the fuselage for a missing cabin door Also had to fill some poorly rescribed panel lines and fill some for the new rear cabin doors at the trailing edge of the wing root. Finally I glued the missing etch door to the fuselage. That's it for now

Well a good friend of mine has asked me to build this amazing kit. So I am venturing out of my comy 1:48th zone and going large! There are a few aftermarket additions, namley the Eduard Interior PE, HG Fabric seatbely and Yahu instrument panel. I ambuliding MN666 'CG' which lead one of the first rocket attacks on the beach head on the 6th June 1944. This I hope is going to be a bit special, so I am going to take my time with this one! So I have started after giving everything a good warm wash. It is going together beautifully!

It's a while since I've done any serious work on historical model subjects. For the past decade or so I've concentrated mainly on wargame figures, but my interests tend to go in circles (or perhaps downward spirals), and I'm redirecting my focus back to aircraft. Up until the mid to late 90s, my scale of choice was 1:72, but then I switched to 1:48, and I embraced all the aftermarket stuff with as much enthusiasm as anyone, but I do miss the days before then, when all your extra detail had to be scratchbuilt. So I've dusted off (literally - it was covered in it!) an Airfix 1:72 Skyraider that I put quite a bit of effort into back in the day, but never finished. Here it is as it now, having waited patiently for so long for work to resume. It seems the rudder has gone AWOL, so i'll need to scratchbuild a new one. That's probably where I'll start, then detail and mount the engine. Still a lot to do, but I'm looking forward to it!

Finished this 1/72 Airfix Fiat G.50 today. Not sure what year my kit was from, I used a red stripe header bag release. It's entirely box stock with the exception of rescribing entirely with recessed panel lines and utilizing Sky Models aftermarket decals. I used a combination of Life Color, Italeri and Tamiya acrylics for paint. Also an artists oil panel line wash. It's a simple kit that was pretty cleanly molded and didn't require a great deal of fettling or filler to get ready for paint. Can't speak to accuracy, but I think it looks the part pretty well.

If no one objects I'd like to jump aboard with a build of an Airfix Spitfire PRXIX, I intend to finish in the Swedish option that comes in the kit and as I have them in the stash I am going to be using one of Attack Squadrons resin cameras. Obligatory box and sprue shot: