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For a 25 year or so old kit it really stands up well in a number of areas whilst also showing it's age in others. The detail in the cockpit, weapons bay and wheel bays is as good as any new release that has come out in the past year or so; however the fit of the parts is very 1970's and the panel lines are raised. Rather than rescribe the kit I built this old gal in the manner of the day when she was released and built up any panel lines that had been lost during the sanding of the not to well fitting parts. Construction was completely out of the box, which just showed hoe well detailed this kit is. The main colour was finished in Lifecolor UA041 FS16473 ADC Grey and I am very happy with their rendition of this somewhat elusive colour. The Eaqle Strike decals performed flawlessly with Microset and just a little Microsol being needed over some of the more prominent raised panel lines. Weathering was kept to an absolute minimum with just a light highlighting of some of the panel lines and minor fading to some of the panels as the F-106's were quite possibly THE best maintained planes ever to have served in the US Air Force. So here we are, hope you enjoy the pictures... Thanks for looking.

Just finished Airfix's latest, and what a superb little kit it turned out to be. No fit issues, a little filler required here and there, a nice cockpit and a wonderfully thin canopy. It captures the sit-up-and-beg look of the real Vampire T.11 perfectly, and the method for attaching the wings and booms has banished all memories of misaligned tailbooms on other Vampire kits permanently. It will not be the last Airfix Vampire that crosses my bench, that's for sure. Hmm... Norway... Kit built out of the box with addition of masking tape seatbelts. Painted with Vallejo Model Air (first time- very impressed) Aluminium and varnished with Alclad matt clear lacquer. Decals by Bright Spark.

44-13691, G4-A "Passion Wagon". Pilot: 1st Lt. Arval J. "Robby" Roberson (6 kills), 362 Fighter Squadron, 357 Fighter Group, September 1944. Aircraft painted with British paints Dark Green and Medium Sea Grey. After Roberson left 357 FG "Passion Wagon" was flown by his wingman, 1st Lt. Charles E. ‘Chuck’ Weaver, who added another two kill markings to the fuselage side. Later the airplane got a fin fillet and was reassigned to 364 FS and coded C5-V with name changed to "Gypsy", but still with Roberson's pin-up girl. Kit: Airfix, 1/72. Fin fillet removed. Drop tanks from Revell P-51C, decals: Kits World.

I've just finished this on Friday after getting it at Telford 2012. I had no idea this was on the market or due out so was very pleased to see a pile of them and a built one on display on that stand. Like a western gun draw the cash was out and I was well chuffed. Anyway I got started straight after the Heritage JP3 build whilst in the groove. I was quite impressed by the cockpit although there are a couple of anomalies but hey ho its a 1/48 JP5 that's mass produced, I really didn't like the side panels I'd prefer it if it was molded rather than a separate panel. The kit itself fly's together and I had no real issues at all, except the canopy was quite cloudy but came up nicely with Klear, I nearly took the plunge to polish it but it didn't need it. I had a big issue with one wing join, one was fine the other was miles out standing proud and took a lot of sanding then rescribing. The seats are a very tight fit together when you get them in and with the throttle box as well it's all very snug (probably like the real thing) and you have to be careful that when the seats are drying that they don't get encouraged to point inwards towards each other before the glue is set. I've now found out the instrument cowling is wrong for an RAF version but this can easily be addressed if you want. I hand wrote (with my artist pen) the MDC on then Kleared it to seal it in. Gloss appliance white and Revell aqua red and Xtracrylix LAG with a blob of metalcote for the exhaust. I think the MLG is way too big as compared to the Heritage JP3 they are a million miles apart and the Heritage one looks right with comparison with photo's. I'd like to measure the JP5's real wheels and tyres to see what they should be. I did cut 1mm off all 3 legs as otherwise it looks like its on stilts. I put in the nose lights with the crystal jobbies from LittleCars but then the clear bit wouldn't fit from the kit, so in the mean time I've put some clearfix on it but I'm coming back to fit the lens. The seats are ok and you obviously cut off the extra bit from the headbox if you want an RAF version. Walk panels matted off and I left off the air intake one as its way out of proportion, so painted it instead, apart from all this I enjoyed it.

hi guys!! this fw 190 d-9 "Red 3" of the "Jagdverband 44" was flown by hauptmann waldemar wübke at ainring airfield as a member of the famous "sachsenbergschwarm" in april 1945. the "doras"where delegated as "platzschutzstaffel" to protect the taking off an landing phase of the me 262 jetfighters at munich-riem airfield. to make the d-9 clearly visible to the ground crews of the aa-gun protection the planes where manually painted to have a red underside with white stripes. the platzschutzstaffel of jv44 is also known as "galland's flying circus". it's a great kit and it was really fun to build this model. Best regards Stefan

Latest of the bench is the new Airfix 1/48 Spitfire PR XIX. This is a peach of a kit .....totally shake and bake. It's OOB except for the decals which are MA (the codes were a bit miss registered so I had to go to the spares box) and the addition of a boat antenna under the rear fuselage. A big thanks to Gingerbob and Miggers for their help with the dreaded cockpit colours. It's meant to have 4 spoke wheel hubs but these are not included in the kit. ( WWII machines had both the 4 spoke wheel hubs and boat antenna ..... why did Airfix not include them like wise the wing black walkway lines???? ) A really enjoyable build...... so much I bought another two to do. Hope you like. Please feel free to comment in any way Thanks for looking.

Let me present to you the next model from my series of soviet aircraft of World War II. I consider it necessary to note that this aircraft (prototype I-200) was actually the brainchild of a talented air constructor Nikolay Polikarpov (not only Mikoyan and Gurevich). In 1939 Polikarpov was sent on a mission to Germany. In his absence, the plant manager Pavel Voronin and chief engineer P. Dementyev separated from the part of CB (Constructors Bureau) units and top designers (including Mikhail Gurevich), and organized a new experimental design department, and in fact - the new CB, under the leadership of Artem Mikoyan. Remarkable is also the fact that Artem Mikoyan agreed to become the head of the new Bureau only on condition that his deputy will be Mikhail I. Gurevich, who unlike Mikoyan, almost the only "advantage" which was consanguinity with Anastas Mikoyan, was indeed a competent professional designer. Kit from Hobby Boss is typical "easy kit" with very poor cabine detailing. But this kit is better at this moment among other MiG-3 in 1/72 scale. I had to mill the entire cabin and primitive imitation to acceptable thickness of wall less than 1 mm. Cabin made entirely of an additional set of resin parts from "Goffy Model". Also used rubber chassis from the "Elf" company. Shields chassis also is resin. Added wiring rack, re-did the pitot tube, rods chassis plates, indicators of the harvest, guns and exhaust pipes. I distinguished the landing flaps, hatch radiator. Dashed off a fairly long riveting. Wasted a lot of holes of air intakes. Antenna cable out of the nylon thread. Sliding canopy - squeezed again (because the native canopy has nonscale thickness). Landing light - is rhinestones. The navigation lights on the tail made from stretched clear sprue. Stabilizers of rockets (named “RS”) was made more thin. The prototype is selected from "air war" № 115. HB offers another aircraft of the same IAP and boring "white five" owned russian ace Alexander Pokryshkin. Colored with acrylic Tamiya, varnishes Tamiya X-21 and X-22. Washing with MIG. The numbers on the tail fin painted in black marker by hand. REFERENCES: 1. War in the Air 115 - MiG-3 2. MiG-3. The first high-altitude tactical fighter (Bear A. Khazanov, DB) 3. "Soviet fighters" (Voronin, P.Kolesnikov) 4. Samolot Mysliwski MIG-3 (Piotr Bartoszewski) 5. Magazine "Wings" № 8 M-Hobby

Hi all, Some 56 Squadron added, more to add later. Brian.

Was delivered 20/02, started building 22/02 and finished today. Bit of a record for me! The model almost builds itself. As I was building it with the lid closed, I used an antique set of Extratech belts. The cockpit is more than adequate if closed up. Regardless of what Brett says on HS, you cannot pose it canopy open using the kit canopy unless you do a bit of excavating to the inside of the canopy. That's what I did when I built the Mk XII. I drilled out the exhausts replaced the air scoop with one made from sheet copper and fitted a monofilament whip aerial and that was about it. The MSG was Gunze and the PRU was a hombrew of 4 parts XL18 Medium Blue + 1 part XL66 Light Grey plus a couple of drops of Tamiya clear blue and clear gloss was added to brace it. http://img10.imageshack.us/i/p1110017h.jpg/'> Dave

Hi all!! Here comes my Bf 109 E-7 "Trop" from Revell....but actually it's a Hasegawa-Kit. My model shows the "Yellow 13" flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille at the beginning of his participation on the africa campaign. Later he flew the famous "Yellow 14". The fit was great so the assembly was easy. For painting I used colors from Gunze and Revell. The camouflage spots on the top of the wings and the fuselage I made with a paper template. The antenne wire is made of pulled sprue. At last everything was sealed with matte clear coat. Hope you like my "Emil"?!

Hi Guys, Here is my first helicopter for many years, Italeri's superb 1/48 Wessex. I managed to acquire all 3 of the Revell offerings but never built one as they really don't capture the look of the Wessex. This kit however does justice to the Wessex, the long serving workhorse of the Royal Navy. Construction was pretty much from the box. The PE provided a good touch but I did find the guide pins for mesh round the main rotor were too low when using the PE. I built them up with some thin strips of plasticard which worked well. I lined the interior cabin with tissue coated in dilute PVA to represent the waterproof bag used on the rescue machines and added a few red first aid rescue bags and some wiring in the cabin roof. A few other bits were added to the cockpit and cabin. I used the kit decals and found them good. Only 2 'RESCUE' signs are too small and a walkway for the tail is too big, otherwise they were OK and went on well. Aerial wires were done with Aeroclub elastic Eze-line. Overall it took less than 2 weeks and was a very satisfying build. Cheers Colin W

I thought this was BritMODELLER so use your skills and don't expect perfection from an £8 kit. If you can't use your skills to overcome the alleged faults perhaps it time you took up another hobby. From my point of view its a little cracker and well done to Airfix for it.(The last one I built with my Father was chunks of balsa and a plan in the 1950's) Not really a rant but just to show you how far we have come in our hobby.

Here's my progress so far on my 1/72 Italeri Westland Wessex. She's a RAN 31A with a scratchbuilt tailfold and folded rotors. I've also added a window to the starboard door and cut away the nose intake and replaced it with some interior detail and mesh taken from a bit of fabric ribbon. I built a contraption on the port side which may be to do with sonar as I've also seen what looks like a dipping device attached. Despite a lot of googling, I can't actually find a name and description of what his is for so any help appreciated here. It was easy to cut the rotor blades off, but getting them back folded is another matter. I decided to build a mini "hinge" and hope that will be strong enough when supported on the fuselage braces which I'm yet to complete. Paint scheme will be oxford blue with white upper surfaces. I have a lot of reference photos I've taken of 3 different RAN Wessex helicopters on my photo site that have helped immensely: http://abat.smugmug.com/Fleet-Air-Arm/WestlandWessex This is a slow build but I'll post progress when it happens! Andrew

I've always wanted one of these but can't shake the idea that the 1/72 version is a bit big, so here's Pit Road's boxing of Trumpeter's little LCAC: I got one (actually two!) for a bargain price in HLJ's sale at the end of last year. This seems like the ideal opportunity to make it, although I realised I have a couple of 1/144 Gundams lurking in the cupboard too. Maybe later... For a relatively small machine the box is quite full. The parts are laid out much like their ship kits - one piece deck, structures built up from separate walls, and lots of fine detail. I'm quite looking forward to the cutting and sticking, I'm not sure yet how much to leave separate for painting and decalling since there are quite a lot of markings to consider. Does anyone know of any suitable vehicles I could load into it? Will

How do chaps, All done and fit to be seen. Comments welcome, Regards, Steve

So here's my first build posted to the forum. It started life as a 1/72 Revell Gannet to which I scratchbuilt (butchered?) a starboard wing fold. I doubt the configuration is authentic operationally, but my aim was to replicate the Gannet on display at the Nowra Fleet Air Arm Museum as seen in the last pic - and scratchbuilding two wing folds was a bit beyond my endurance. I've made a few changes since taking these shots, including modifying the attachment point of the wing brace which I got totally wrong initially and painting a few more of the attachments and struts red. The paint scheme came up a bit grainy and I'm hoping to improve my airbrush skills through the forum and lots more practice! Thanks for looking. ... Andrew

Hi all, just thought I`d show you some pic`s of my very latest effort: Hasegawas RF-4 Phantom in 1/48 Built from the RF-4B kit, as I couldn`t find a `C` version and done as `Snoopy War`s Hell` from the 11th TRS, 432nd TRW, Udorn, Thailand circa 1969 Apart from after-market decals it`s mostly OOB exceptions being; home made seat belts , rear view mirrors, detail on rear cockpit stbd side and ECM pod from Hasegawa weapons set Had to cut a few lumps and bumps off the kit but most of the `C` bits were on the sprues took a while to get finally finished for some reason. Hope you enjoy looking at Cheers Russ

This is my B-17 its was a bit of a pig to put together lots of filler and flash and had a few mishaps with decals i dint put the camo patter on and i think the flaps are the wrong colour, i will say some it looks better than the one i built when i was 13 (in 3 hours:shutup: ) Thanks for looking

Hi Mike, these might help, took them when we visited Duxford in 2010. Cheers Den

Now to the cockpit and the nose , cleand the wall of the nose so to take the resin parts . using pva to hold them in position over night to see if they would fit !! Well it did but not very good and they do not go to the frount of the nose , so now held by cyano then put so more detail in . looking forward to the easy bit Arnold !!!

She's a great looking example.

She looks fantastic.

More done Today - the Ace rebox is'nt quite as well molded as the normal AM boxing was so it's needing a bit more work. However got the wings on, and masked and fitted the cockpit Then a few passes of filler on the underside Before paint - first primer, then a rub down, followed by the Neutral grey ( with some random lightening) Then the Olive Drab, again with some lightening Ready for some more post shading tomorrow Peter

Thunderbirds are go

My last Vignette done! Some rocks, catched on the street, cat litter, earth and DasPronto, and i have a montain terrain. The figures are German paras in Italy, 1944. Hope you liked!