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This is my latest competion. I posted most of progress in the work in progress section. It has been finished as Wicked Wabbit, the mount of Maj. James C. Hare, 65th Fighter Squadron- " The Fighting Cocks", 57th Fighter group, Alto,Corsica, 1944. It was intended as my entry into the USAAF over Europe group build but over-ran just a tad. Built out of the box with tape seatbelts and decals from Rising Decals.

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Seeing as we have a long running airfix thread regarding wants.what about other manufacturers? Please add your wants/ dreams of new kits being produced!Doesnt just have to be aircraft either! Fingers crossed for a brand new Dornier Do 17 BOB era by Revell

Hi All, One more ship completed this year - it's the USS Dortch, a Fletcher-class destroyer converted to the late-war anti-kamikaze AA configuration of 14x 40mm Bofors guns and 12x 20mm Oerlikons. The model is the Trumpeter "The Sullivans" kit which makes an interesting comparison to the more highly-thought-of Tamiya kit. The Tamiya version is severely limited in how much you can make out of the box, whereas the Trumpeter gives you the option of two different configurations (1943 and 1945) and therefore far more options. Unfortunately it's not the best kit in terms of detail, and I added loads of scratchbuilt bulkhead details and antennae for the mast and ECM rig. I also used L'Arsenal Bofors and Oerlikons plus the GMM PE set for this kit. Paint was WEM Haze Gray 5-H and Navy Blue 5-N enamel with Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue acrylic for the deck colour . I finally added crew figures from Eduard. The seascape was my favourite recipe - polystyrene base, Acrylic paint and gloss gel, and toilet paper waves. Pics courtesy of IPMS Farnborough website. Cheers, Al

Airfix 1/48 scale F.1 kit with Czech Masterkits T.5 conversion. I hate the vac form canopy but until Airfix pull their finger out and produce a T.4/5 kit, it`s the best I`m gonna get. ..... and a couple with it`s F.6 stablemate.

Had a great day as usual at the Brunty show, (well who couldn't!), the weather wasn't playing ball to start with but having had a word with the powers above the sun decided to come out after the show got started.... Met up with young Radleigh for the day and spent a lot of time with Colin R and the Bucc boys, playing with the big boys toys......and managed to snag a few bargains too, before we went off to crawl over one of the Buccs..........all in the name of modelling eh ! Just a selection of shots of the wares on show. I know they've been seen many times before but who can ever tire at looking at Lightnings, Buccaneers, Victors etc thundering around the place in wild abandon.... First up the mighty hunter, Then the Bucc, my main reason for being there really... The gorgeous Hunter T7 JP and L-29, Nice little display by one of the JP's... Great flying again, Spit and Hurricane... They got quite close a few times...!! The superb Victor....hmmm ! And of course the main event...both Lightnings ......leaving in their wake, shattered ear drums, screaming offspring and wailing car alarms... John Spencer at the throttles of 'his' aircraft....wonderful stuff ! All that was needed was a vertical rotation at the end of the runway and all would be right with the world !! Then a final run by the Bucc.............. And finally Colin giving us a wave from the back seat of '544.........at least I think it was a wave !! My thanks go to him for letting us look around and clamber over his Bucc..... Cheers all, thanks for looking... Melchie...

I haven't had a chance to get any work done the past few days, but I'll be back at the bench today. The goal is to get a primer coat on it and the underside color sprayed and post-faded. Again on the topic of colors, I had considered trying the Akan line of paints, but the customer felt they were too pale and uninteresting so Tamiya mixes it is. And since everyone likes pics, here are some shots of everything masked up and ready to go with the "inside" color sprayed on the clear parts. I'll squeeze some foam in the radiator/oil cooler for the primer and then take it back out. The guns will also be painted along with the rest of the plane, but I'll wait to permanently attach them until the end to avoid snapping off the barrels:

Ah, the well-known dessert Harrier! Looks like the cream of the crop - was it a piece of cake? Sorry, couldn't resist. Nice!

Well thanks again guys . Well was not satisfied with the deck and resprayed then when dry put a Vallego model wash of dark grey and left to dry. Added planking to the bow section. I think its better . Next it was the boats, as the bottom was just plain plastic I added plastic strips. Then painted and will matt varnish later. These boat will be on the water as I intend to have none on deck. Next its been the masts, here is the mainmast with more blocks and supports for the crew walkrope on the yards. Thanks to Jocko and Smudge for the wire for this. Lots of other things done. Still more blocks to add when I have purchased more from Scale Warship. Cheers foxy

Finished today, the nice Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair built as an RNZAF example using Ventura Decals, otherwise OOB with just a couple of bits of wire on the engine. Painted with Gunze,then weathered with True-Earth products, Mig Oil washes, AK Interactive potions and Mig and AK Pigments to try and get the 'i've lived in the Solomon Islands' look. I like how it's turned out, as the Ventura decal instructions state that the dark blue had faded to very close to the intermediate blue and to my eye that's how it's turned out. Build thread is available here Peter

Here's my latest build after 6-7 years. I added Eduard cockpit set and ejection seat set, scribed all the rivets on the wings, tail and fuselage as there's almost none on the kit itself. The flaps and the rudder I also cut apart... RBF tags are home made... I think I held the airbrush for weathering longer than needed on the gas vent on the port side wing, The exhaust effect there is a little bit heavier than actual aircraft right now, but I liked the overall look so let's assume this Typhoon is a little bit older and bears the aging effects as Tornados do... Thanks for looking and your comments are welcome...

Hello again. I began building the F-RSIN Latécoère 631 for the Floatplane/Seaplane Group Build, but Murphy frowned on me and I dropped the model a week before having to move house. I wasn't able to finish for the deadline. But we're in a new place, and I have had time to fix her up. Here she is, with only a little more sanding and priming to go (apologies to Monty Python): For scale, that's a kindergartener's foot. The group build thread is here.

Hello all, Here is my recently finished 1/48 Academy OH-6 with the CMK resin conversion to make an AH-6 from the 160th SOAR, the Nightstalkers. Build thread is here Beside my 1/48 MH-60L: Was a really fun little kit to build! Comments welcome, thanks for looking. Dave

Hi all, Just thought I'd upload a few pictures of the real space kits I've managed to complete since getting back into kit building. I'm sure everyone's seen them (and probably built them) many times but I enjoyed making them all. They are all mostly out the box with a few modifications here and there (for example I added plume deflectors on the Revell Lunar Module). The Revell kit was the first one I built after finding it on sale in Modelzone. I enjoyed building a Lunar Module so much I followed it with two more from Dragon Models straight away. Then while looking in the Airfix magazine I saw the Hasegawa Shuttle/Hubble kit. . Revell 1/48 LM 01 Revell 1/48 LM 02 Revell 1/48 LM 03 Dragon Models 1/72 First Lunar Landing 01 Dragon Models 1/72 First Lunar Landing 02 Dragon Models 1/72 First Lunar Landing 03 Dragon Models 1/48 LM 01 Dragon Models 1/48 LM 02 Hasegawa 1/200 Shuttle and Hubble Telescope 01 Hasegawa 1/200 Shuttle and Hubble Telescope 02 Hasegawa 1/200 Shuttle and Hubble Telescope 03 Hasegawa 1/200 Shuttle and Hubble Telescope 04 I'm going to upload a few pictures of my completed Sci-Fi kits in a separate post. They can be found here. My current build of Bandai's ISS Space Suit can be found here. Cheers, Stix

This car was a real pain, body-wise. I had to glue the upper and lower body shells together, do the body work and paint, and then assemble it like a ship in a bottle. Everything was loaded through the back window and glued in place with water-soluable craft glue. Re-finished in BASF lacquers and DuPont urethane clear coat. Engine was wired and plumbed. By the time I got done with it, I turned it into a skill level 10.

This project started off as a quick OOB sanity build just for my own entertainment, but due to the roughness of this kit, which was roundly praised in the early years of this millennium, it got a bit away from the original intent. I guess that just shows how far kits have come in the last 10 or so years. Anyway - it was built using an Eduard PE set (for the Nightfighter) that was going "cheep!" at Hannants, a Master barrel for the BK-5, which is a little stunner, and the new Eduard "fabric" seatbelts, which were hard to do (well), but worth the effort. I scratched the top of the control column, the pitot probe and that little stubby thing under the radio bay (probably another aerial), and amended the engine intake shape, because they looked a little over-inflated to my tired eyes. Fortunately, there was enough thickness of plastic to allow me to do that, which eased the task. Raised panels such as the cannon bay were laid down using masking and high-build primer, and all the rest was done with Lifecolor paints and Alclad metallics. Clear gloss was Alclad Aqua Gloss, and the matt was a mixture of their Matt and Flat varnishes. Pigments and washes were Mig simply because they were close to hand and I have a good stock. Pictures: I could have done better in places, but that's what it's all about - learning from your mistakes. I could also have gone mad and detailed the gear bays, but again, that wasn't within the terms of my build. I love the 262, and it's always been a favourite of mine. Since the start of this build, my stash has increased from 1 to 3 still to build, and I can see another one in my future once I've gathered together a few odds & sods The build thread is here if you're interested, and thanks for watching

This was started last Nov 2012 bit too long for me,other ships kept getting in the way Link for build http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234929546-hms-renown-august-1945-1700-trumpeter/ Link for trawler http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234931996-round-table-class-trawler-1700-white-ensign-models/

I`m now calling this done, although I still need to order the Abe Lincoln decals. This by far has been my longest ever build, 8 months in total, although there was a 3 month gap inbetween. So with no further ado...., (Dedicated to Stewart - `The old un`s are always the best`)

Hi all, Here is my Sea Vixen, in 899 NAS colours. I added the Pavla cockpit set, and Aires wheel wells and air brake sets, plus an Eduard ladder. Dropped a clanger weathering the under side of the outer wings so tried to knock it back a bit by spraying some thinned white, which is why it looks a bit odd. I lost the navigator's side window so had to scratch a replacement, which I'm rather pleased with. I made some FOD guards and ID lights for the nose gear door as well. Its got my first ever attempt at post-shading on it too. Thanks for looking, Gareth

Hi everyone this is my latest off the bench,Not much to say about the kit apart from it went together beautifully It is out of the box apart from the seat which was out of the spare box the base is as basic as they come and was added for a bit more realism thanks for lookin this is the out of box interior the finished plane on base i hope you all like it thanks for lookin Regards Chris

Well, I'm not using one specific software only. Sometimes, creating a CAD file, requires cooperation of several programs. If you start using simple software you can usually buy cheap or even get for free, shortly you will surely become able to use more complicated software & create almost anything you like. For me, the AutoCAD is the Mother of all. As for the 2nd part of your question, small parts, are printed with a MakerBot Replicator home 3D printer (click HERE for more). On the other hand, for the wings printing (approx 70 cm from one windtip to the other) I had to forward the file to industrial printer. I guess its the first of my projects you find. OK, if you are interested for more, please allow me propose some my previously uploaded WIPs. They are also uploaded here on Britmodeller. You 'll find that I always try to combine step-by-step building presentation, with useful tips & techniques No need to feel a bit inadequate as you just said. I am just a moderate level scale modeler with same skills as many other person here. In fact, I'm sure there are much better and more talented scale modelers in this forum, than me. And yes, I am also I'm trying to learn the intricacies of an air brush - who doesn't? I agree. I am sure he was not being disrespectful at all. As you said, itsa just because we all tend to jump into familiar threads for few seconds, peek on the pictures and go. That; sthe spirit! Go ahead and try. If I can do it, anybody can also do it - possibly much better than me. When I first learned about 3D printing technology few years ago, I immediatelly realized that this "tool" was about to become a great change for scale modeling, but never had the right oportunity to start exploring the story behind it. I started my quest on 3D printing world few months before, by studing user's manuals, tutorials & books found through the net or my local book store. I tried my first 3D designing attempts, using the basic CAD software and within a short time evolved, I became better and better every day. Now, I 'm able to operate more sophisticated e-tools & professional CAD software and I can design almost anything. If I was able to do it (with no special CAD studies), anybody can do it! If I managed to learn how to 3D design, improve, reconstruct & print my own models, in only few months period, anybody can also do it - possibly much better than me. Sketchup is like the Cessna 172 Skyhawk for the professional pilots. Even if you are a Captain on Airbus A380, you'll never forget that you earned your wings and had your first solo with a Cessna 172. We all need to learn walking first before start running and Sketchup is a very good start.

Looks good so far. If you've got sausage fingers, then it doesn't show! The first kit I ever build was a P-51, The Dooley Bird, probably from Matchbox.

Thanks a lot guys. I'm really glad you like her as I have never considered myself to be a very skilled painter when it comes to this type of paint work. But I have actually tried to build subjects over the last two years or so that should push me much more in that direction. So hopefully I'm learning. Bringing her to UK... Well that was a brave idea. I fear she may be difficult transport inside my house when finished, but who knows. I fitted the deck guns. Or rather I have fitted the number of deck guns that Airfix supply. I have opened up the two missing gun holes on the upper deck towards the stern, so I really need to find two more. I looked at the guns from one of my Revell kits, as it won't need them all with my plans for it, but they are no good match for Airfix guns.

Absolutely amazing work , great detailing , but why go to all that effort and then use the wrong colour for the cockpit ? . Andrew

I wish I could say that I wanted to be different by painting the one blue but the truth is that I ran out of whit paint at the time i was building it. I was tempted to do it in some form of camo but could not decide what camo to do so just went with the blue

Okay, so about two months since the last post and two holidays later i can call this 100% finished. I have finished all the decals and the paint touch ups. The reg above the wing is gone and iv'e got some half decent pictures this time! So here we go :-) Enjoy!! Next to a KLM Fokker 100 Next to a Germanwings A319 Thanks

I don't know for sure what deck code Formidable carried during Iceberg, but I think you are correct to be wary of assuming it was R. I can't find a photo that shows the stern or bow from the right angle for Iceberg. However, when Formidable arrived in Sydney in June 1945, she still had a camouflaged deck (not so for operations off Japan, when R was carried as a deck marking). So, my guess is that during Okinawa operations she was still marked with the Greek Phi. I doubt it would have been X, as Illustrious carried this deck marking. BPF Deck Markings (Fleet Carriers) Formidable: phi?, R Implacable: M Illustrious: X Indefatigable: F, D Indomitable: O, N Victorious: V; S

All that will be added before painting has been added All those "other" bits Undercoat and pre-shaded

Moving forward... some touchups needed.

Thanks Iain, its getting there now I feel, its always good to see the markings on as thats when the build really starts to come to life. Tim. Cheers Ruari, no those original codes just didn't look right did they. Its always better to wait and get things right rather than just plough on with the build I feel. Thanks Kent, I won't be going over board with the weathering as it would have been kept in pretty good condition, there certainly won't be any gun smoke stains on the wings! George, compared with applying decals there is more work involved using masks. That said its no more complicated to place them than using pre cut masks for canopies, its just a matter of taking your time and getting them placed in the correct position. If you use Miracle Masks you get a full set of written instructions on using them and for each particular mask. You also get 4 of each mask so room for error. You also need plenty of masking tape to cover to surrounding areas. Obviously you need to use an airbrush, and its just a matter of using well thinned paint and misting the paint on and building the colour up slowly. Like I've said you don't loose any surface detail at all and there is never any worry about getting things like silvering. The good thing about German markings is that they are pretty simple! Well I never thought I'd hear someone saying it looked gorgeous, not in these markings anyway. If you've never used masks before then why not give them a go? Thanks for looking in and your comment.

I keep hoping that Revell would complete their re-tooling of their Matchbox WWll 4 engine heavies. They've already 'replaced' the B-17, Lancaster and Halifax leaving only the PB4Y-2 Privateer. One can but hope, and wait....

Cool "Desert Harrier" - I like the weathering perticualy. -no chance of any profile shots ?

Cheers Carl - have gone ahead with the Hasegawa etch - but you're right - extremely fragile! In more 'break from Lightnings' news: Derek sections have had a lot of brass added - not painted yet... And don't be too critical - she's *very* small! Iain

The wings went on during the week, which revealed some minor gaps, which I filed with Gator glue thinned with water and run into the gaps. This resulted in nice neat joins which just needed touching in with some RLM 70 & 71. I've also attached the main wheels, having first replaced the the axle I'd managed to knock off! The yellow of the ID panels needed toning down a bit against the the weathered tones of the rest of the camouflage, so got touched in with a faded yellow tone. The rest of the markings will need to be toned down a little as part of the final weathering process, as they are a bit bright at the moment. The Balkan Kreuz have already been faded back with a touch of NATO Black. The engines and props have been assembled and will be attached once I've applied a matt coat and weathering. On the home stretch now, so hoping to finish this in the next few days, particular I got face to face with the real thing today at Hendon. Yes I know it's radial engined, but it's still a Ju 88 in the flesh. Karl

I always leave the paint to cure for at least 2 days before masking or applying further paint, I also do not use a primer normally unless some heavy duty filling/sanding has taken place. Cheers Dennis

What is the subject of the book? I must have missed that somewhere. Fifty Shades of Ocean Grey? Cheers, Bill

Nice cheap solution, I purchased a couple of sets of schnapps glasses from Ikea to use as supports, also Wilkinsons are currently running a 2 for 1 offer on their 14"x11" 'No Fuss' clip picture frames so that is two glass shelves for £2.25. This is the result: The F-16 is on an upturned CD resting on a CD container cover. Won't suit everyone but it does enable me to get as many models as possible into the generic Ikea display case Michael

Railings finished off. Various storage lockers, with some 'artistic embelishments' and fitted More to come Cheers Martyn.

It probably blew them off the roads due to the cloud of exhaust smoke billowing out of the rear end! More importantly, the Japkiddies probably let it past as they didn't want to be seen with it! BTW, Aprilia is Italian!!

To the same scale - A Medusa Class SD(P) would be 1975.71mm long and 297.14mm wide. and a Minotaur CLAC would be 1615.71mm long and 270mm wide.

My first one was Blake's 7. Loved it back in the day. Looks a bit tacky by today's standards though I think Star War was the film that got me truly hooked though

I've got 8 Phantoms with vinyl tyres... Nice works by the way. Sean

I don't think you can draw the conclusion that we wish/need a national chain of shops from this. Although you would think a large national chain would have the ability to drive some good deals with suppliers, I think the MZ episode has shown that they couldn't or wouldn't. So, although I would like to see more shops throughout the country, what I don't want to see is a clone of MZ. I'd prefer (though it's unlikely) to see more independent local shops.

Last update for a while as we are off to italy tomorrow for a week or so! Started work on the outer wings and painted the wing fold, my scratch detail doesnt look quite as bad as I first thought...

More pictures [/url]

Okay, update on the battle with the chrome parts. I am now a bona fide believer in the power of Coca-Cola. Look at the picture below for results. The sprue without chrome on it sat in coke for 2 days. The sprue with, for the most part, all of the bright shiny chrome intact sat in DOT 3 brake fluid for more than 2 days. One has warning labels on it that is it highly poisonous if swallowed with instructions as to what to do if swallowed. The other is adored by millions and consumed in massive quantities every single day. Makes one think about what on earth we put in our bodies and how we survive. The rest of the chrome parts are now in a bath of coke to be uncovered in the next 2 days.

Paulo is more than a brilliant modeller he is also a good and simple person! Really different from some proud and arrogant modellers whom cover all modelling tricks under "the black magic handkerchief". I can say it because he is helping (actually teaching) me a lot with my projects and everytime when I'm in doubt how to scratch something... Modelling is an individual hobby however if we are sharing our hobby on Internet it means that modelling can be a "collective" hobby as well! Do you dare? So ask Paulo how he does all those wonderful stuffs!

Photos must be ok now

why why why does no one make this in 1:48...

Once the acrylic paint dried, the outcome had tonality differences and looked like been faded by the sun. I had obviously overdone on highlighting the areas and therefore I had to fix this and make the shades softly blend each other. To do so, I mixed artists oil paint "Red" by MIG Productions “502 Abteilung” series and artists white spirit by "Winson & Newton“ in a ratio of 5% / 95% (actually a filter) and sprayed over the windsock. I hope now it looks better than did before. Meanwhile I found some time to deal with the green grass. Having a couple of different methods in mind to simulate green grass in scale, I found good idea to follow an old fashioned technique! I planted some grass seeds, watered daily and I'm now expecting to grow high grass soon. I’m just kidding of course - watering once every three days, is enough. Kids, don’t try this at home. Progress has been slow for various reasons, including: I'm slower than a turtle trying to climb a muddy creek bank, I always find errors and later trying to develop ways to make model look more realistic, Mid-July heat & expectation of upcoming vacations, caused laziness that lead building process to slow down, Wife visits my bench, holding a hammer and that could possibly means that it's about time to quit 1/18 model for a while and give full attention on 1/1 model. Due to all the above reasons (aka excuses), once the windsock painting process complete, I had to stop for a short relaxing brake and puzzle things out. Next update ETA, late August or early September. Summer is typically the time for vacations and a good chance to relax, unwind & recharge batteries. We all need a break once in a while and I am no exception. I hope you can do the same and enjoy some well deserved time off. I will be back soon, picking up where I left off and complete this project. In the meantime, I plan to unplug, disconnect from anything for a few days, enjoy sunny beaches & crystal waters and hopefully have some SCUBA fun with playful dolphins - as happened last summer.