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Hi, Not sure if there was an Aircraft Vignette section? Anyway, I `messed` up an Airfix 1/72 FW190 a while back, so instead of throwing it out, I decided it would be an ideal donor to my first vignette. Also my first practice at rust technique. Rust was basically loads of liquid poly all over the model, then stippled with rough brush, which created the bubbling and rough texture. Then painted brown and highlighted with red and yellow etc. Decals had already been put down, and then roughed up and scratched away etc. Wall is polystyrene painted grey, and base is covered in dried moss, and lots of PVA to get it to set. Some random stones are CA on. I call this "Target Practice"...basically a wreck thats been used over the years for pot shots for bored Dutch farmers Anyway let me know what you think...

Hi all, Just wanted to share my two latest completed projects. The first is the Airfix 1:48 scale Supermarine Spitfire VIII of 'A' flight, No.152 (Hyderabad) Sqn Meiktila, RAF SEAC, Burma, May 1945. This was a lovely model to build and the finished scheme is quite attractive and different from the normal Spit colours. and just a normal shot. The second is a 1:72 Scale Revell offering of a Mk Vb of 234 Sqn flown by P/O Axel A. Svendsen from RAF Tangmere in 1942. Good little kit which I was going to turn into a Russian MkV but at the last moment went with the OOB decals. I will be posting some more completed Spitfire's soon, an Airfix PR XIX and the F.Mk 22 which are nearly completed. Thanks for looking. Tommy

Old ESCI kit packed by Italeri. Still not bad IMHO. I added Pavla cockpit and AML resin exhausts.

hello! here is my latest build! work in progress : http://www.arcforums...howtopic=141131

Hi all, Some pictures of my two SMB2. The build pictures are here: http://users.skynet.be/fb990055/SMB2_12-ZQ.htm and here : http://users.skynet.be/fb990055/SMB2_12-YJ.htm Cheers Pierre.

Hello friends. It was going time without posting anything in this nice forum Today I show you my last model, an A-10 Thunderbolt from Academy in 1/72 scale. It is constructed directly from the box, and I only limited myself to looking for a decals in Hannant's. I hope that you like it. I liked much the scheme of painting. It seems to me to be different. Good. Regards from Spain Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Hi everyone, here`s some pic`s of my second Testors 1/48 Skymaster that I`ve just finished Done to represent an aircraft of the 14 Special Operations Wing, Nha Trang Airbase S, Vietnam Which was used for Psycological warfare missions such as Broadcasting and leaflet drops Sometimes known as `the bullsh*t bomber` ( I did google it and some pic`s came up ) Apart from seats, glare shields by landing lights and aerials every thing was in the box hope you enjoy looking at, Cheers

Silly me, I thought this would be an easy OOB build! The kit is Hasegawa's special "NASA" boxing of the 1/72 F-111E, with decals for the two aircraft involved in NASA/USAF's Advanced Fighter Technology Integration programme. The problem is the kit doesn't include the highly modified Mission Adaptive Wing needed to build the second aircraft depicted on the decal sheet! So, a pair of scratch-built wings later and a little cockpit help from Verlinden, here's Hasegawa's AFTI testbed in 1/72nd! I managed to catch a glimpse of the actual aircraft--which is still around, though a little worse for wear out at Edwards AFB... Hope you enjoy...

Hiya Folks, As there was not enough room in the biplanes thread, here are the Swordfish done separately! Swordfish; Airfix 1/72nd scale kit; Frog/Novo 72nd scale kit; Matchbox/Revell 1/72nd scale kit; Tamiya 1/48th scale kit; Trumpeter 1/32nd scale kit; There are more models for other threads if anybody is still interested, early war fighters, American fighters, second line etc, not to mention RAF, RAAF, RNZAF...or are you bored by now? All the best Tony O

This is my first build of 2013. It is the old 1/48 scale Monogram kit which had the South Vietnamese decals included. The decals had suffered terribly with age and were a project in themselves but all in all I was quite happy with the result. This A-37 depicts one from the 520th FS, Binh Thuy Air Base, Vietnam.

feel free to leave comments! bye

Hi mates, Here are all the models I finished in 2012. Seven kits in 12 months - that's a little less than two months each, time that I will never be able to get back. Unless, of course, time spent modelling is not deducted from your life span. If that's the case, I will be posting this kind of stuff for another 75 years or so. 1:72 English Electric Lightning Mk 2a, completed in February of 2012 Trumpeter/Matchbox/Aires/Quickboost/Eduard et al Kitbash 1:72 Hawker Hurricane Mk II, completed in February of 2012 Revell 1:72 Grumman F-14D Tomcat, completed in March of 2012 Hasegawa 1:72 Hawker Hunter F.6, completed in May of 2012 Revell 1:72 Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S.2, completed in July of 2012 CMR 1:72 North American Mustang III, completed in August of 2012 Revell 1:72 Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero, completed in November of 2012 Airfix 1:72 de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 (TT), completed in December of 2012 MPM/Xtrakit That's it for 2012 - see you next year! Cheers, Bill

Hi Everyone This is my first GB on britmodeller, so I'm interested to see how it go. I've had this kit for almost 15 years, so I think it's about time I build it. I'm going to finish it in JASDF 50th Anniversary of JASDF 305th TFS Hyakuri Air Base marketings. I'm also thinking of replacing the engines and maybe get a new cockpit. Anyway look forward to seeing everyone's F-15. Regards Ken

a straight out the box diorama, used a small tile piece of fake turf i got from work, the base was given me, just mounted the tile piece onto it. the spitfire is the help for heroes edition kit Mk.Va as flown by Sir Douglas Bader with the 'D' and 'B' on the side of the spit, the figures are revells 48th scale WWII RAF pilots and a few ICM figures i had lying around from another kit, looked very effective for such a low cost diorama, not bad for something i managed to squeeze in between doing my GCSE's at school back when i was sixteen 5 years ago enjoy

A few pics of my latest work, the Airfix 1/144 Saturn V. The model is built completely out of the box and painted with Tamiya and Gunze acrylics.

Happy new year to everyone! I felt I needed a bit of modeling therapy, so I started this as a quick, almost OOB build a few weeks ago to try to get my mojo back. It still needs a few fiddly bits like the landing gear and antenna, but I figure it'll be done in another week or so. It's a nice kit; not quite as refined as Tamiya/Hasegawa, but very good nonetheless. It required dry fitting and tweaking to get things just so, but very little filler was needed. Some folks have complained that the panel lines are a touch overdone, something with which I kinda agree. Before starting any assembly, I gave the fuselage and wings a heavy coat of Alclad "Black Primer and Microfiller" and then sanded everything back to the bare plastic, being careful not to obliterate any of the fine raised detail scattered about the model. This had the effect of smoothing the slightly rough surface texture and rendering the panel lines somewhat finer. The other thing I just had to address were the way-too-deep Dzus fasteners around the engine. I drilled them all out, plugged the holes with stretched sprue, sanded them all flush and redid them with a beading tool. This is the first time I've tried AK Interactive "Engine Oil" for the streaking on the belly. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out: The other must-do on this kit is to thin the wing trailing edges which were almost 1mm thick with the flaps raised. Elbow grease plus 400 grit wet & dry sandpaper sorted it out. Gunze Mr. Color 23 Dark Green and Tamiya XF82 Ocean Grey over Tamiya XF83 Med. Sea Grey. I used Montex Masks for the main markings and the kit decals for the stencils. Both products were excellent. Other minor tweaks included, sanding the propeller blades thinner, adding Master brass canon barrels, replacing the radiator outlet flap with 0.010" styrene, drilling out the exhaust stubs and fabricating the little scoop on the top of the engine cowl from sheet aluminum. Cheers, Tony Bell

Here's my first completion of the year, Sword 1/72nd T28C, picked it up from MIke at MJW models week before Christmas..... Kit went together well, but needs loads of nose weight, it's a real tail sitter....(anyone going to Bolton show next week with some spare lead weight ???) Any comments most welcome...... Dave

My "Last Of the Year" build is Finished, Thanks all, a Hapy new Year... here goes my 1/72 Meng Models G-91R Ginah WIP here: http://kitmaniac.com...g-91y-finished/ Hope you enjoy Cheers

Here's one from earlier, Trumpeter's 1/72nd F100C, complete with kit squadron markings, and Xtradecal decs for national markings, had to 'cos kit dec's were wrong blue... Very nice kit, easy to assemble, looks the part. First natural metal finish in ages, used alclad...... Hope you like..... Dave

Bell P-39 Airacobra Revell 1:32 The P-39 Airacobra was designed in 1937 in response to a tender by the U.S. Army Air Corps. In many respects the P-39 Airacobra was an unusual aircraft. The basic idea was to install a powerful engine as close as possible to the aircraft's centre of gravity in order to improve manoeuvrability and stability. An Oldsmobile T-9 37 mm cannon fired through an opening in the propeller spinner. The P-39 was the first American fighter to fitted with a freely rotating nose-wheel. The Airacobra also aroused interest in the British Air Force; the RAF however later rejected the aircraft. The Russian Air Force also expressed strong interest in the aircraft and initially took delivery of 179 units. The U.S. Army Corps also equipped some of its newly formed units with theP-39, including the 8th and 35th Fighter Groups which operated out of New Guinea. Often underrated in the West the P-39 proved to be an exceptional aircraft in the Far East. Its top speed of 580 km/h was sufficient to dominate an A6M Zero in a dogfight. The Model Originally released by Special Hobby this kit came with pre-painted etch, resin exhausts and gunsight. This Revell re-pop doesn’t come with these, but it shouldn’t really matter too much to the general modeller. The kit comes in the rather feeble end opening box which Revell seem determined to stick with. The box art is of P-39D Air A Cutie, with a rather comely naked lady on the nose, in flight over an island in the Pacific. Inside the box, there are 5 large, and 2 small sprues of light grey styrene and one small of clear. The parts are all well moulded with only a small amount of flash, there are a few moulding pips and some strengthening bars where needed. Panel lines are nicely engraved along with raised detail as per the real aircraft. Beginning the build with the nose wheel bay, which is made up of five parts to produce the bay and a further two parts that make up the rear bulkhead and rear bay roof, which is also the cockpit floor. The well detailed cockpit is made up of the forward bulkhead to which the rudder pedals are attached. This assembly is then fitted to the cockpit floor along with port control box. The instrument panel is made up of upper and lower instrument clusters and lower binnacle. The panel is attached to the floor, whilst the two machine gun breeches are fitted between the front bulkhead and upper IP. The control stick, rear bulkhead, seat supports, seat and rear decking complete the cockpit. Before fitting the cockpit to the fuselage, frame parts, control boxes and auxiliary intake interior are fitted. The cockpit is then fitted and the fuselage halves are closed up and the two part radio is fixed to the rear decking. From the fuselage to the wings, the upper and lower horizontal tailplane halves are joined together as are each of the primary control surfaces. The moving surfaces are then attached to the fixed in the desired position. The single piece lower wing has the radiator intakes and outlets are fitted, as are the outer main landing gear boxed units, the inners being moulded to the wing. The outer wings and ailerons can then be attached. The completed wing is then fitted to the fuselage, with the horizontal tailplane assemblies and rudder. At the front fuselage, the front upper decking piece, which includes the nose machine gun troughs, is fitted, once 50g of nose weight has been added. The nose gear, consisting of two wheel halves, main oleo, two part scissor link is fitted to the nose gear bay once the prop shaft and uplock are fitted. The retraction struts and actuator are then attached to the oleo, followed by the nosewheel doors. The main gears are made up of four piece wheels/tyres, outer doors and scissor links. These assemblies are then fitted to their respective bays which are finished off with the inner doors and actuators. Whilst the model is upside down the lower navigation lights, landing light and radiator outlet flaps are fitted as is the optional drop tank and associated sway braces. Flipping the model over the exhausts, each are made up of two halves, which could be a little problematical with cleaning up of the seams. The completed exhausts are then fitted with their outer panels. In the cockpit, the gunsight mount, gunsight and sighting glass are fitted, followed by the main canopy and the two doors which can be posed open if required. The final parts of the build are the addition of the nose and wing machine gun muzzles and pitot probe are glued into place. The propeller is built up of the backplate; separate blades, spinner and cannon muzzle, and then attached to the aircraft. Decals The large decal sheet provides options for two aircraft. Air A Cutie, of the 36th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group at Milne Bay, New Guinea 1943 in olive drab over neutral grey with a white tail, or an un-named aircraft of the same squadron and group, in olive drab over neutral grey. The decals are nicely printed, with good opacity, in register and slightly matt. The spinner of the second option is provided as a decal since the complex pattern would take some painting, but the decal will probably take a fair bit of softening solution to fit. The same aircraft also has a large green band around the rear fuselage which could be painted instead if the right shade could be identified. Air A Cuties more noticeable insignia are the ladies either side of the nose, and these are pre-cut to fit the doors, but will take a bit of patience when fitting and the use of softening/setting solution to settle down over the raised panelling. Conclusion Another very nice re-pop from Revell, this kit will build into a very good looking model. I have only heard good things about this kit, in its Special Hobby incarnation and can’t see anything difficult in the build. There is no engine, or gun bay that you may see in other kits of this scale, but this is not really a problem as it simplifies the build and probably improves the fit. There is scope for adding extra detail in the cockpit and undercarriage bays, but that’s about it. Personally I would only add some seat straps and build it out of the box. I can easily recommend this model to anyone interested in an unusual looking aircraft in a nice size. Review sample courtesy of

Unusual looking aircraft Russ, and as usual cleanly built.

Moved and reopened. Can't help with the question though, as it's over 30 years since I dabbled with balsa modeling.

Ain't that the sweetest COOLEST build.. LOVELY!!

I'm just watching the Countdown for this Vampire kit. Hope it's released before 2112. Wonder if it will cost Big Money?

Yeah that is a cool scheme, nice model, armed to the teeth!!

I agree that's one awesome scheme! Good luck with the build but beware the GB, once you join one....

Let's Cut to the Chase, In The End you don't get Something for Nothing and there may be Tears, but I'm no Fly By Night poster and I'm doing the Best I Can, so if everyone's In the Mood, let's try and bring this thread Closer to the Heart of the original topic. And please no Witch Hunt, even if The Enemy Within sometimes lack Grace Under Pressure.

No because I cant build one that has "NAVY" on the sides until they do

My apologies Edgar, I stand corrected. Should have known better, especially with the amount of spits I make.

Monty, Monty, Monty... Anymore and we'll have the Full Monty!... WAG's get your tickets now!! I posted in Monty Python's thread before you had made this thinking he was you! Same name, same preference for 1/32 and same wit! Best of luck to you both with these large scale kits, I'm sure they'll both be great.

Another modeller who made a living out of making accurate Thunderbirds models is Martin Bower. MartinBowersModelWorld has several Century 21 models that are 100% accurate based on drawings he obtained or draughted himself from measuring the original. Having had several conversations with him about the real studio hero models, be aware that more than one model was used by the studio, several changes were made to TB2 for example. There are also several Japanese based model books on the TB's and exploded diagrams originally from the TV21 comic are easily found. This is from Amazon...Thunderbirds Manual (Agents' Technical Manual) for instance. The Japanese versions (try Hobby Link Japan) are usually far more accurate.

Russ, that's a gem.

Your craftmanship is always spot on and your attention to detail is second to none Your builds are always grade A-plus and this Deuce build is no exception. You are quite the master with your skills and photography too. Thank you for sharing. Congrats. Karen

Looks nice Russ are you thinking about putting it in a diorama because if you made it so it was flying and dropping leaflets it might be the most unique diorama ever

Can I suggest that this thread hibernates until someone actually fettles the plastic? I don't think that we are adding to the sum of human experience until Someone Opens The Box....... Just a thought Trevor

Mother of God's that things ugly I best have two

Funny how this thread gets worse after dark................................. Well it is about vampires....................fangs ain't what they used to be..................

Think I might have solved all of this............................. When I next go to the local model shop, I will have a crucifix and a string of garlic round my neck and carry a wooden stake. That way I ain't taking no poo-poo from them Trumpy Vampires. Sorted !!!

Mate your skills are really shining. I always say if you can do it, then do it! (if you get wot I mean?). Sod the purists/rivet counters. It's your model and you can damn well do what you like to it. Keep 'em coming pal.

Sometimes I feel somehow dissapointed with model building: With so much online reviews, correction sets, aftermarket parts, photoetched frets, decal setting solutions, etc.....my once wonderful hobby becomes a torment.... Those were the days when we had fun with models, instead of discussing about how rounded should an undercarriage door be :) I'm pretty sure that the boy that lives inside of me will force me to buy a few of them.... :) :)

I've used the scrap plastic on the inside and the tape on the outside methods. My favourite technique these days is to roll up a snake of Milliput, push it through the windows from behind and trim it flush with the outside with a hobby knife. It's fairly quick, simple, and needs minimal cleanup, since a wet finger smooths it down easily

You don't, no one anywhere in this thread said you had to, but equally people should be able disagree with you without being labelled. I agree, it a plastic kit, so I don't know what the rest of your missive had to do with that, other than other people's attitudes/approaches toward "a plastic kit" clearly bother in some way to have felt he need to comment on it etc etc... And now for Andrew, red lines...

This better be true, I've got 2 on back order from Hannants. Rick.

Quality over quantity wins

Nice stuff !!

Output this year has dropped (tut !), but really enjoyed the builds I have done. Next year hoping to get more Bomber Command stuff done. CMR Venom NF.2a 1/72 Italeri Sunderland Mk.I CMR Bristol Sycamore Matchbox Stranraer CMR Mistral Tamiya 1/48 Beaufighter Airfix Short Stirling Revell / Matchbox Halifax Mk.II Have a great Christmas and productive new year, Cheers, Neil

The reaction would probably be something like... "Jeez, a cockpit". Most kits I made from the 70's (Airfix 72nd) had just the pilot sitting on a peg.

Wasn't this a similar situation to post war Japan? The concept that everything that came out of that country was cheap nasty and reffered to as "Jap crap" then one day we in the west wake up and discover they have overtaken us as a manufacturer of just about everything. China appears to be on the same path for the 21st century. The days of the great American powerhouse of industry and here in Australia the heady days of the mining boom are on the way out, we got to greedy and to lazy and didnt watch what the Chinese (and India) were doing with their industries.

The problem is chaps, that if a manufacturer has "Previous" for releasing models that are suspect shape-wise, then its not surprising modellers tend to look for them in new releases, or pics thereof. There is a very simple solution to this for manufacturers - do you R&D properly and get the shapes right. I believe its whats called learning from your mistakes. GWH did with their late P-61 releases - and kudos to them for that. Kittyhawk look like they are doing proper R&D anyway - so there's real hope there ( USN fans will be very happy...) I agree its not the best way to do it - we should wait till we have plastic in hand, but one has to live in the world where we are, not an idealised one. Trumpeter and HobbyBoss do get it in the neck from the "Chicoms copy everything" crowd, but to my mind thats more a case of socio-political/economic jealousy and anger ( thats a polite metaphor for racism BTW) The bottom line is - if you do shoddy research and release a model thats "out" shape wise - a certain section of your customer base will not be pleased, and wont mind saying so. Alas, what's plainly obvious is that Trumpeter don't care in the least. I guess the majority of buyers are not that concerned and/or knowledgable. I hope its OK when it hits the shelves - but I think the photo shows you what you'll get: so its out with the saw and sanding sticks again, if you dont want to spend the cash on Ali's excellent resin. Cheers Jonners

I hope that it'll turn out a good'un. With Trumpeter's reasonable pricing and with the potential in colour schemes, this could, if all goes right, be a best seller. Trevor with fingers crossed (It should be better than Hobbycraft anyway!)