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Here's my attempt at the 1:350 Academy HMS Warspite. She's always been one of my favourates, ever since building the old 1:600 Airfix kit as a youngster (I still remember the box art, and impressive look of the ship), I also got hold of the 'Ensign 4' Queen Elizabeth class many years ago and always admired this classic class, and recently after reading up on Warspite's history have been even more impressed with what this mighty capital ship acheived. I managed to get hold of an 'Anatomy of the ship' book for Warspite which was a great reference but also made fascinating reading, and also read Ian Ballyntine's 'Warspite', which is also a very good read. I've gone for her 1942 stint in the East Indies with the early two tone camoflage, which was post Puget Sound refit, but needed minor back-dating from the kit's 1943 appearance mostly by omitting certain 20mm mounts. The kit was bought at SMW (Telford) along with what was then the new Pontos full set of wooden deck, complete photo etch and various resin replacement parts. The build went well, lots of additional time required for all the extras in the Pontos set but well worth it, and finished with a bit of time spent weathering and adding L'Arsenal resin crew figures. She took around 12 months of slow but steady building, but overall I enjoyed building her.

Hello, here is my Mosqutio in the IAF service. W.I.P here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234941991-tamiya-148-dh-mosquito-fb-mk-iv/ I hope you will like it. Cheers, Ilan. Thanks for looking.

Hi folks. Here is my effort of an Airfix Mosquito Mk XVIII. I used a clear canopy from Falcon, part of a photo etch set from Airwaves and also a bit of scratch building for the cockpit and guns (I lost the original guns which now live somewhere in my shed). Anyway here are the photos. Cheers Ian

As ever, thanks for the support and compliments everyone. Just a quick iPhone photo with the flight deck painted, apart from decals for the numbers, everything else is masked and painted, it turned out to be much easier than I expected, and I'm really happy with the result. I'll now mask this before finishing the details and starting the painting and weathering steps.

Evening all. The Battle of Britain has long been my favourite period of aviation history, and for the last few years I have aimed to do a BofB subject every summer. This year it is one of the opposition, namely JG27. I have an old Dennis Knight BofB activity book (a treasured possession since I was 7!) that has JG27's badge (albeit labelled as JG3) on the first page, and I have always wanted to do a model of one of their aircraft, complete with tribesman and tiger head. Cue Airfix with their new 109 and Xtradecal's 70th Anniversary sheet! I am aiming to finish this by the 8th September, which will be the 73rd anniversary of this particular aircraft being shot down. As an aside, I have the Eduard kit of the ME110, which happens to have the markings for the exact sharkmouthed Me110 shown crashed in the activity book. Next year I think!

Been off but not out - here's my take on Airfix's pretty good kit of the Type 45. Used WEM PE set (very good value), Veteran Models CIWS and Harpoon launchers plus all the usual tweaks! Finished in WEM Light Weatherwork Grey and Modern Royal Navy Deck Grey (which is slightly green to my eye, but hey!) All pics courtesy of Farnborough IPMS website (Dr Flangemeister!) Really nice kit, nice decals, and this came out nicer than I expected. The only glaring miss for me was the four spines on the top of the SAMPSON dome. I also didn't reposition the starboard anchor which didn't particularly bother me. This has now been donated to a Royal Navy officer for eventual display in the ship's wardroom once the base has been tidied up! Something I'm quite proud of! Al

Hi, Here is my attempt at the Fujimi Spitfire XIV, SM888 'B' at Tengah March 1947. It is in 1/72 scale and compared to my 1/48 seems tiny but great fun. Try to ingore the awful attempt at the base/diorama but this was my first go and it was somewhat rushed. But I wanted to photograph the model with a base rather than a hairy rug. The sand by the way is the wifes garam masala. Also the prop needs replacing as I tried to dry it quickly using the wifes hair dryer and the blades curled, well, you live and learn! Thanks for looking, Russ

Well folks here is my first post for the forum! My little man was born back in May 2012 and I wanted to build him something to go onto his shelf from his dad Anyway when I saw this kit come along I managed to bag myself one. I finally manged to finish it a few weeks ago and must say I really enjoyed this kit even though the odd decal was tricky. Safe to say it now has pride of place in the little mans nursery and is the only model SWMBO allows on display in the house or is remotley interested in! Anyway hope you like as much as I do? Rich P.S Sorry about images being huge...still yet to get to grips with uploading them!

Hi, As a surprise build (not my scale or subject) I built this alongside the F-14D. Not my usual 'thing', my interest was piqued by a Tucano job-lot sale and the rest, as they say, is history. I fancied something uncomplicated (yeah right!) and with a monochrome scheme that I could whip together in under a week and make with no reference other than the boxed instructions. There was a nasty bubble in the canopy that set me back a few days while I waited for Airfix to send me a replacement (excellent service BTW, I received it in two days). I used Humbrol enamels and used Klear to help stick and blend the canopy det cord decals. I decided not to use the white decal canopy surrounds as they didn't seem to match the canopy size. Anyone reading this and contemplating building one - you need a LOT of weight in the nose to prevent this from being a tail sitter. I'd recommend drilling out the backs of the exhausts to fill with lead, fill the nose cavity as much as possible, fill the nose gear bay, put lead in the leading edge of the wings - ANYWHERE! With a light puff of air this still falls back on the tail! Oh, and the decals stick like nobody's business. I added a tiny drop of Fairy dish wash liquid to the decal water to break down the surface tension and this seemed to help. On to the pics - I've included the extra seat detail as you just can't make it out through the glistening canopy. Added some extra belts from thinly cut pre-painted Tamiya tape. You can just make out a sneaky ball bearing peering out of the nose gear bay

Hi Everyone Finished my Hobby Boss 1/48 Bearcat the other day, so I thought I`d share some pic`s with you Done as an aircraft of L`Armee De L`Air, G.C.1/22, Savitange, French Indochina, Mid 1950s To go with my small collection of aircraft from the conflict Built OOB including markings, only additions being; some wire antenna and engine embellishments, seat belts sway braces and fuses for the bombs Very heavily weathered as plenty of photo`s show these aircraft to be Hope you enjoy looking at... Thanks for looking, Russ

Airfix 1/72 Gloster Gladiator MkIII/J8A A02063 Box art. Same kit as A02052 and A55206 but with additional sprue for the skis etc. Niiiiice! http://www.airfix.com/shop/aircraft/a02063-gloster-gladiator-plus-skis-172/

Decals are on, it's starting to look like Pavlov's bird! Still need to slice/poke the decals and apply more solvent, but at least it's pretty now! Once the decals are settled, I can do an oil wash and some weathering so I can get a flat coat on this thing so it won't look like a toy anymore

Always with the negative vibes.

This is my latest completion: Revell's 1/72nd scale B-17G in the colours of 'Fuddy Duddy' of the 447th Bomb Group based at Rattlesden. This Fortress never actually carried these bright squadron identification markings during WWII as it was lost before they could be applied, but this particular aircraft is operated by the Lyon Air Museum as a flying memorial to the men and machines of the 447th. It was a more or less 'out of the box' job, with the exception of the right waist window being moved forward to represent the staggered set-up, and decals coming from Kitsworld. All paints were automotive acrylics. I also added the modern aerials seen on the present day 'Fuddy Duddy'. My steadily growing Fortress fleet: 'Fuddy Duddy' of the 447th, 'Liberty Belle' of the 390th, and 'Little Miss Mischief' of the 91st: Tom

My very recently completed Airfix Lancaster which i can tell you has been re-tooled, neat panel lines not too heavy or too light, the addition of the dropped landing flaps underneath the wings add a very nice touch (you can have them in the retracted position if you wish) for 72nd scale very nice interior detail although the only draw back is the complete decal that goes onto a flat instrument panel, but you hardly see it anyway, they have given you a bomb trolley for Barnes Wallace famous creation again you can have it fixed onto the aircraft if you wish, overall a clean build, hardly had any problems they have redesigned the undercarriage bay, the struts that come out of the fuselage which then the two wing halves attach to it create a very strong sturdy structure, had minimal problems with the kit bit of filling and sanding in some places but we'll allow for that because it is Airfix This was a competition ran by Airfix between our branches where i work at ModelZone for the Dambusters 70th Anniversary, winner to be decided, hope every one likes it, will be on display in the shop in one of our cabinets, my little tribute to the men of 617 Sqn and of course Bomber Command, beautiful aircraft, enjoy Photo of the newly added dropped landing flaps

Hi Gordon, Done! Cheers, Stix

Enzo About half were guns in pods. The others came out of the bay but we fitted them before loading the guns/pod assy. Also have (fond?) memories of removing the Guns for deployment, I hated fitting those wooden "Tit" blanks in the front fairings! At Deci I arm started a jet off to the range. Just got my brew from the tea bar when we got the message: "The range, she is closed!" Aircraft is returned and in circuit. I Collected one Flem and my GS to see it in and unplug it, and stood at the slot ready. 1/4 hour later no jet. Nipped into the line hut. "So where's this armed jet then?" One phone call later lots of ATC people seen on the ATC balcony with bino's searching the airfield. Meanwhile intrepid growbag is taxying in thinking to himself, "Whats all these airliners doing here?" He's only landed at Cagliari airport by mistake - in an armed jet.........................! Selwyn

I used LifeColor acrylic paints, which are easy to use - both airbrushing and paint brushing, and they do a good range of naval colours. I got both their US Navy box sets previously when doing the USS Missouri, and found them good to use then, and found they do a decent match for R.N. colours 507A, B and C. I'm thinking about the next one, certainly Belfast is a contender, but have a Black Swan to do, and recently got hold of USS Essex (CV9), but may go with one I've been wanting to do for some time which is the Trumpeter kit of USS San Fransisco (CA38). Ooh, decisions decisions ... I will probably try some of those new North Star 1:350 crew, they look really good, and would have a good time doing them up. For this Warspite, I used the old favourate L'Arsenal little resin figures, with various officers, CPOs, POs, ratings in tropical no.7s and no.10s, and various working clothing, many informal as seen on many photos and reported in what I've read, also a few Marines. I did them after finishing the ship (as a kind of reward), and got them together for a team photo the night before 'boarding' for the first time ...

Having drawn great inspiration from foxy´s current 1/180 Airfix Victory project and admiring the great work going on there, I have managed to restart one of my sleeping projects; the 1/144 Airfix Vasa. Thanks for that, I doubt it would have happened at this point had I not seen that thread. Although this thread will jump in at more than half way through the build, I thought that starting it would put me under the right pressure/motivation to actually finish it within a foreseeable future. So the kit is Airfix Vasa, now old and classic. It has a number of inaccurate areas, some smaller and some larger. But considering it's age and how relatively early after the ships rescue it was created, and the limited research and knowledge about the ship back then, I have to say that Airfix did rather well indeed, keeping that in mind. Over the years this kit has sold in large numbers in Sweden, to no surprise. I usually say though, only half joking, that this kit is responsible for many young Swedish boy's one and only attempt at model building. It has often been bought as a present by people with limited knowledge of what it's about, and the receiving kid with high expectations rarely managed to finish it, leading to disappointments. Many kids I knew had it like that when the kit was quite new in the -70's, I don't think I ever saw an Airfix Vasa finished, even though many friends tried. Myself then? Well I actually never even tried, despite being a more experienced model builder than most kids I knew at that age, so no points gained there. 8 or 9 years ago I bought a reissue and thought that I would make my own attempt with the kit, at last. I started the build in May 2011, and made good progress during that summer. I spent a full day at the Vasa museum as well, highly recommended if you ever have your ways to Sweden and Stockholm. Or just make the trip for that sole reason, it's worth it. The sight of the mighty ship when you enter the main hall is breathtaking, and there is so much more to see. I worked away and prepared all the parts and built up the main components rather quickly. A number of corrections were made to make it a bit more accurate, but I soon decided not to try and fix everything. Somewhere around this time it also became known that Revell would release their all new tool 1/150 kit, which of course would be much more accurate, so I decided to keep my modifications limited and concentrate on finishing an Airfix Vasa to a good standard with a full set of guns and sails. In the late fall of 2011 the project stalled with everything painted in it's basic brown colours and the hull in brown and red. Not really sure why it stalled, but I was unsure how to best proceed with the paintwork and other things got in between. Sadly I seem not to have taken a single picture of my work back then. And so we arrive at the present day. Having looked through foxy's Victory build I felt time had now come to do something. So I picked up the hull and the reference photos I have and just started painting, now probably with lesser demands on myself of what I wanted to achieve. After spending a week or so painting away on the thing this is what I have come up with after a final coat of matt varnish. The main correction work I did on the hull that can be seen here are probably the railings. There are a number of details that are not accurate in the Airfix moulds here, but I have tried to adapt the latest research on her colours to what the mouldings provide. The other parts have also been painted up and should be ready for assembly. Only two anchors will be used, and I'm not sure how to display the boat, if at all. It was towed after the ship. I hope I can now keep work going on her and actually complete this build before too long...

Hello,This is my first model presented in this forum. My name is Johnny, and I hope you will enjoy my "models". Present model F/A-18 F Super Hornet in the latest colors Squadron VFA - 103 Jolly Rogers. Status: 30 January 2013 Place of stationing U.S. Fallon NAS. This year's "Skulls" celebrate their 70 years of existence. Hasegawa model itself is enriched with AGM-154 JSOW and the GBU-pylon 39 of Skunkmodels. Gunze paints, oils, pastels, belts made ​​of foil from cigarette.The Decal made ​​to order for me by a friend modeler ,based on images found on the web.Feel free to visit the http://www.tomcatsky.fora.pl - fans of the F-14 Tomcat. Janekzukosa Have a nice reception.

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

Hello friends This is my first MBT. It’s the Revell 1/35 Leopard 2A6 (the new mold) and it was the most challenger camo I ever painted till now I used no masks so it was even harder but in the end I think that it becomes ok. I hope you like it, (this is a under commission build so I hope my costumer like it too ) Thank you for looking. Best regards from Portugal Vitor Costa

Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1 1:72 Airfix The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is without a doubt one of the most famous aircraft to emerge from the post-war British aviation industry. Such was the leap in capability that it provided when it entered service in the late 1960s, it also became one of only a handful of post-war British aircraft to be used by the armed forces of the United States of America. The origins of the aircraft can be traced back to Air Staff Requirement 345, which called for a V/STOL aircraft for the Royal Air Force. Hawker Siddeley's proposal, penned by Sir Sydney Camm, utilised an innovative system of vectored thrust provided by a Bristol Siddeley Pegasus engine rather than separate lift jets or fans. The resulting design survived the political upheavals of the time, including the cancellation of the supersonic P.1154 version, and entered service with the RAF on 18 April 1969. Once in service, many Harrier GR.1 squadrons were deployed to West Germany, close to the presumed front line in the event of the Cold War turning hot. Before long, the GR.1s already in service with the RAF were converted to GR.3 standard by the addition of a laser tracker in an elongated nose, ECM equipment and the uprated Pegasus Mk.103 engine. The first generation of Harriers were eventually replaced by a substantially redesigned version, developed in partnership with McDonnell Douglas. The Harrier GR.5, as it was designated, featured a larger wing and extensive use of composites throughout the airframe. If anyone has speculated three or four years ago that Airfix would produce an all-new state of the art kit of the Harrier GR.1 in 1:72 scale, they would have been commended for their sense of optimism at best. That wish is now a reality though, as the first incarnation of this cold war warrior is now here. Inside the bright red top-opening box, which is adorned with the kind of excellent artwork that has come to typify the latest generation of releases from Airfix, are 89 parts spread across four sprues of light grey plastic and one small clear sprue. The mouldings are very nice indeed, with plenty of crisp, sharp detail. From looking at the major components of the airframe, I think it's now fair to say that Airfixs much discussed panel lines have pretty much reached the standard achieved by other leading manufacturers. Having dispensed with the mandatory bit about panel lines, we can breathe a sigh of relief and take an in-depth look at the kit. The cockpit is comprised of a two-part tub, a four-part Martin Baker Mk.9 ejector seat, a control column, instrument panel and gun sight/HUD. Decals are provided for the cockpit instruments as the instrument panel and side consoles are devoid of raised detail. This is in contrast to the fuselage sidewalls, which feature nice, raised details. The cockpit fits inside the fuselage just ahead of a sub-assembly which combines the engine intake trunking and the nose gear bay. The large turbine blade for the Pegasus engine is moulded as a separate part, and very nice it looks too. The nose gear bay is really well detailed, and thanks to some clever moulding from Airfix, are not ruined by difficult to clean up ejector pin marks. The main gear and airbrake bays are moulded as a single part and are also nicely detailed. Once the interior details have been assembled and painted, the fuselage halves can be joined. The horizontal tail is next. These won't take long to fit as the port and starboard sides are joined in the middle, meaning they just have to be trapped in place by a small plug. The vertical tail is moulded separately, presumably to make it easier to use the same sprues for the forthcoming GR.3 kit. The wings are comprised of a single upper span and separate port and starboard lower spans. The flaps and ailerons are moulded in place, albeit as part of the lower wing. Turning to the engine intakes, two types of auxiliary intake doors are provided fully closed for in-flight and dropped for on the ground. As with the Sea Harrier kits, the jet exhaust nozzles are moulded in two parts; although this time they are split just ahead of the exhaust nozzles themselves, which will make clean up much easier. Nevertheless, I imagine one of the aftermarket producers will produce some seamless resin replacements for these parts before too long. The undercarriage parts are particularly nicely moulded, with the tyres all featuring bulges and flat spots. Seperate outriggers are provided in case you wish to finish the model with the wheels up. A reasonable selection of ordnance is included, comprised of four pylons, a pair of drop tanks, a pair of Matra rocket pods and a pair of 30mm ADEN cannon pods. The clear parts are pretty good, although there is a little bit of distortion visible through the main part of the canopy. Two options are provided for colours and markings: Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1 XV748, No.1 (F) Squadron, Royal Air Force, England, September 1970; and Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1 XV785, No.20 ® Squadron, Royal Air Force, Germany, June 1971; and The decals, advertised on the side of the box as being printed by Cartograf, look excellent and include an extensive range of stencils. Conclusion The resurgent Airfix have really started to shift into top gear with their latest batch of releases, and this new Harrier continues that direction of travel. An outstanding level of detail has been included, and the quality of moulding looks great. The decal sheet deserves a special mention as it is superbly comprehensive. This kit should build up into an excellent model and it deserves to do well for Airfix. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I have the cockpit mocked up with the instrument panel in place and the compass added. Regards, Alan.

The Clangers!

They're a nice little kit, make sure you give the plastic a good wash, fill it with as much weight as you can (seriously - in the wing leading edges, nose gear bay - anywhere!) and be prepared to fill the gaps between the canopy and the body.

The curious case of Pilot Office Meier..... I read this extract a while back from 'Bomb on the Red Markers' by Pat Cunningham which was a little disturbing. The book is a collection of wartime accounts from operational flyers of Bomber Command during WW2. It comes from Flt Lt Frederick James DFC: 'I have often been asked about my emotions during those days. I respond by saying that what is now seen by some as a moral issue hardly weighed then. We were all well aware of what happened from countless cities from Warsaw to Wallasey. And there was a war to be won. And yet a poignant revelation awaited me. When my first SO (special operator) Pilot Officer Keith Gosling had failed to return, we fatalistically accepted that he's got the chop. It transpired however that it had not been that simple. His pilot on that fill in trip had been a Pilot Officer Meier RCAF, and of German extraction. Having bombed the target and although the aircraft was undamaged , Meier later claimed that he had tried to persuade the crew that bombing was morally wrong. Certainly the bomb aimer was either ordered to bale out, or decided to - his (the bomb aimer's) account varied -and successfully evaded capture. But twenty minutes later, Meier seems to have put the aircraft into a banked dive and jumped himself, leaving six other crew, including Keith to crash and burn. Meier became a POW, but in 1945, when his fellow POWs were forced marched westwards he disappeared, re-appearing years later in East Germany seeking to be allowed back into Canada. The Canadian authorities, having investigated the case, became embarrassed and continually stood him off until his death in 1977, finally reckoning him among those of their black sheep who were deemed 'never to have served'. So we learnt that Keith and his fellow crew members may have fallen victim to their Pilot's flawed moral conscience' Now this is the first and only instance I've ever heard of something like this. Looking through Volume 5 of 'Bomber Command Loses of the second world war' by W R Chorley I found the loss of this crew. The aircraft was from 101 squadron which was part of 100 group on special duties - RCM or radio countermeasure operations which is why there is a crew of eight. The special operator Keith Gosling being the eighth crew member using the jamming equipment so this confirms its the right plane. The record shows Meier as having bailed out and captured, and Sgt L K Williams as having bailed out and evaded capture, so the record fits the account of the story. The record shows the aircraft as having been hit by flak near Lille in the early hours of the 21st July 1944. I'm curious to know if anyone has heard this story, or if anyone in Canada who knows about the RCAF can find out anymore about it....

OK, here it is, pained backdrop and all. Helicopter? Err, it's off visiting. I may at some point find the enthusiasm to do it as i have another Russian - a Corvette in the works and it has a chopper too. Thanks for looking! Fraser

Russ you've done it again, very nicely done as well may I add. Congratulations. RR

Very nice paint finish there.

What can I say? Absolutely gorgeous! I have a bit of a soft spot for the Tucano and I think you've done a cracking job! Having built a few, I haven't succeeded in getting one to sit on its nose gear, so you've done very well there! Some of these quick builds can be a real tonic, can't they?

Russian GAZ Tiger Etch Sets 1:35 ET Model The Meng GAZ Tiger armoured utility vehicle was another very pleasant surprise that they like to give us modellers. The kit, reviewed HERE, is already well detailed but ET Models have now released two sets for it, one for the interior and one for the exterior. As with their other sets, these come in the standard ET packaging of poly bag with card header. The main sheets are taped onto black card, whilst the smaller sheets are contained in a zip lock poly bag, and the instructions of 41/2 sides of A4 are on green paper. These are very clear and well laid out, but they will still require careful reading before starting to assemble the etched parts, as some of the kit parts need to be altered or removed before these can be added. Where holes need to be cut or drilled there are clear measurements to help the modeller get it right. Plastic or brass rod of various diameters will also be required to use as directed. Exterior Set (E35-184). The first operation before cutting any etch out of the sheets is the removal of all the window hinges, rear bumpers, front clamps and GAZ logo and the windscreen wipers. These are all replaced with etched parts the hinges being the trickiest with the two hinge parts being bent to shape then joined by a short length of plastic or brass rod depending on your preference. Other items to be replaced include the tow cable for which a length of wire is included in the set and the fourteen clamps that hold the cable to the side of the vehicle. The tow cable eye pieces need to be removed from the kit part to be joined onto the ends of the metal wire. The windscreen wipers have new wipers and their associated motor covers. The rear bumpers look like they will be rather challenging to bend to shape but ET have provided a scale drawing of how it should look to help the modeller. The items that go to completely replace the kit parts include a new shovel blade, and saw with their clamps, new clamps for the axe, replacement number plates, front and rear mud guards, underbody armoured panels, a new pintle for the machine gun, which also receives a new ammunition box, lid, holder and a length of ammunition belt. Also included in the set is a pair of round ammunition containers that presumably are to be randomly placed within the vehicle should the modeller not wish to buy the interior set. Interior Set (E35-195). This set is quite a bit larger than the above set, mainly due to the detail that is already in the kit interior. The set contains all new replacement parts for the main vertical ammunition rack for the rectangular ammunition cases. This is quite a complex assembly and is made up of the four sides plus four shelves along with a small container on the top and the flask holder on the side. To each shelve two piece straps are added which will look very effective in situ. There are three horizontal ammunition racks, which hold the either the circular or rectangular cases. These are each made up of a folded main rack piece, into which four angles dividers are fitted. To the completed racks each divided section is fitted with a four piece strap. Two of these racks sit on the rear wheel arches whilst the third is fitted with an extra angled part underneath so that it sits correctly on the box on the left hand side just in front of the wheel arch. Fitted to the rear of the vehicle on the left hand side near the doors is another large rack. This is made up of an open fronted frame that’s folded to shape, then fitted with a vertical divider and a single shelf. This rack is fitted with four more rectangular ammunition boxes, whilst two support brackets fitted to the side away from the door with associated straps is for a very large ammunition box. With the main racks built up and fitted there are two smaller stowage racks for the light anti-tank rocket launchers and these are fitted to the hull sides just above the windows. There are three racks are included in the set for the storage of six launchers. The rest of the interior parts make up new blinds for each window, new pedals for the driver, window latches and openers, new locks for the rear doors and new grilles for the radiator, oil cooler and intake on the right hand side of the front wing. To populate some of the racking there parts for six circular ammunition cans, four very large rectangular boxes and four standard sized rectangular cans. If required the kit parts could be used to fill any empty spaces in the racks with the etched parts closest to the doors. Conclusion This is another great set from ET Models, even though some may question whether it’s really need after Meng had done such a great job on the kit. Well that’s up to the individual, but I feel that these sets raise the bar and provided lots of little touches that will make the model stand out from the crowd. Particularly if the doors are to be posed open to show off all the fiddly work that is required to get the best from the sets. Recommended Review Sample courtesy of

Cheers Ruari. Kent, to apply the filter, I either use a No 6 round or a 6mm flat brush. To apply the oil I'll use something like a No 0 or 1 and to blend them I'll use from No 2 up to No 6 rounds. I really should treat my self to a half decent flat brush as well. The flat brushes I've got at the moment are W & N sables so I don't want to be stippling with those! Thanks IIan, I'm just after a used look for this one, nothing to drastic. Tim.

In between waiting for the paint to dry on my Barracuda (FAA GB) and totally hacked of with with small grey stencils that Immediately disappear when placed on the my grey Hornet (Hornet STGB) thought I would make a start on this. As is customary, started with the cockpit. Having just tried a dry fit, going to need a bit of fettling to get the fuselage halves to close up

This looks seriously good. I keep buying these new Airfix releases, and I'm not really a 1:72nd modeller. I guess there's a bit of nostalgia in there, as I bought and built the Gnat straight away without it getting stashed, and the Harrier GR.1 is a similarly nostalgic kit. If I see one in the shop It'll probably be leaving with me! As for the Lightning when that comes out.......

I'm in as well. Neu has done his usual arm-twisting job on me, and I didn't put up much of a fight... I have a 1/48 Sabre in Korean war colours. I have always loved the yellow fuselage band on natural metal. I will take the opportunity to research a Canadian ace who flew Sabres in this scheme during the Korean war: Omer Levesque. ALF

Reading closes on 14th Sept ,was in today and lots of diecasts, a few models, mostly airfix and revell, but with quite a few overpriced Hasegawa kits but not much tamiya or vallejo paint but plenty of humbrol still. The guys siad they expect that the last day will see prices slashed further - maybe 70-80% just to shift it. I laughed and said that even at 80% discount people won't buy the silly priced diecasts and they agreed that was one of the biggest problems they had in the shop!

Hi Tim the general consensus seems that when Merlin didn't leak, worry! Now, this is a MkXII, ie early Griffon basically, it leaked out the back of the engine compartment and blew back. But, it would get cleaned off, and I'd imagine the Germans would take care of their 'zoo' specimens so depends if you want post flight or not... I'm sure others will have better pics, but this one sprung to mind.. here's a PRXI, just remebered this one HTH T

Since I raised it: First, I wasn't talking about the GR1 kit, but the GR3 and the sprue shots and, second, I was merely saying that the AIM-9s seem an odd choice, not least given that bombs were a key part of Harrier GR3 weaponry. I hardly think that counts as complaining about the quality of the kit or making Airfix wonder why they bothered. But it makes me wonder why I bothered. I'll keep my thoughts on such matters to myself in future.

You know it's getting close when the box art is ready

Thanks Iain. A few more photos taken recently: and some close ups, - amidships: - and the Foc'sle.

Thank you Gentlemen. The end:

If landing on D Day then you can use both. Even vehicles landed later direct onto the beach had trunking fitted I assume this was in case the ship couldn't get all the way in. You might find this page helpful: http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/gold/en_page.php?page=69landing In fact the whole site is pretty good If you're generally interested then this book is very good IMHO as well: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cracking-Hitlers-Wall-Assault-Engineers/dp/0811705897 You've got a lot of work ahead but the results should be worth it. You can build a very impressive model with what you've got. As a medically retired HGV driver I love your signature line. Been looking for that on a bumper sticker for a while.

Or of course you could just say that you are happy to put up with mediocrity and build any model as long as it has lots of whistles and bangs. I would counter that having a good model to work with is a damn sight better than a bad one; but as long as modellers put up with the bad ones, we have less chance of a good one. Frankly I'm tired of apologists for trumpeter/HobbyBoss and this fantastic idea that we should be grateful for being "allowed" the chance to buy shoddily research tat. I appreciate that no manufacturer is perfect too, but these guys lead the pack. Jonners

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...

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

I think you'll find that the NZ and Portugese aircraft are basically wartime T-6Ds (AT-6Ds strictly, I suppose!). The French examples were a mix of T-6Ds and the postwar T-6G, with most of the well-publicised examples being the latter. I can't imagine you being disappointed with the Monogram kit, given what you've already said.

Why do people keep harping on about the demise of Modelzone being the death of modelling? It's 40 odd shops. It's not as if there was one on every High Street. What will happen to the hobby now? Well, as it survived 50 odd years before MZ, I'm thinking it will carry on as normal. In the 70s we had lots of independent bricks and mortor hobby shops, but now they are in the Internet. Kids are finding kits in ASDA, Home Bargains, The Works, Toymaster, Hobbycraft, Tesco. Shows are well attended, new kits and aftermarket are pouring out daily. The hobby won't die because some shops have shut on a small island. All that's going to happen is people are going to change their buying habits that's all.

As it's the last time I'll be able to test fit everything for a while as I'll be masking and painting next, here are a few in situ shots.

Afternoon all Just a couple more pics of my painting progress... Yours aye Iain