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Ya know, I will be getting this kit for a couple of reasons. One, I really like the aircraft, have the CA kit in stash. Two, I like to encourage manufacturers through purchases to make the odd planes rather than another decal variant of the Spitfire IX. (Of course, this doesn't really explain why I have at least 4 Eduard kits in the stash does it?) The Trumpeter kit will have its flaws like every other kit I have ever bought. How terrible they are remains to be seen. However, in my life, I am not sure how many Whirlwind experts will come into my office, see the kit on display, and then proceed to tell me exactly how it is incorrect. I bought the Spiteful and the ME 509 for the same reason. It is safe for manufacturers to build the popular planes. And, do any of those kits not have design flaws? It takes a bit of far reaching to produce a kit of a relatively unknown aircraft. I look at it this way, without this kit, there is only the CA kit around and that is not exactly perfect either. I would imagine whatever flaws it will have could be correctable. And, there will be two kits out there and if it sells well, some other manufacturer will produce another kit hopefully correcting the flaws of the previous manufacturer. Off my box now.

"..the Xtrakit Sea Vixen was pretty good??",.............Now there's something you don't hear said very often!!!!

A gift from my 2013 Secret Santa over on UAMF -- thanks, whoever you are! In the markings of Cpt Stefan Bastyr, of Poland's No. 7. "Kosciuszkowske" Squadron, fighting on the Russian Front in 1919/20... I already have a WW2 Kosciuszko Sqn Hurricane and Spifire RF-D, so this was the obvious choice from the markings offered in the kit. The "interesting" upper and lower wing "camouflage" is my interpretation of recent research on Fokker production colours. Apparently the plywood wings were simply painted with furniture stain, in green and brown for the upper surface, purple and blue for the lower. The uneven coverage is simply the way the wood absorbed stain... there is actually some "grain" painted below the Citadel wash "stain", but it's not as visible as it might be! bestest, M.

Just got the latest issue of FlyPast, the one with a rather nice Frightning on the cover. Inside there are some Fairy Battle features (and a nice cutaway). One of the images is a computer generated picture attributed to Airfix......... Trevor

Hi all, I've started to convert Tamiya's 1/48 Spitfire Mk.I into the Speed Spitfire N17. For the four-blade propeller and the large radiator fairing, I made only slow progress through traditional scratchbuild techniques, so I decided to take a different route. I made a 3D model of these two parts and had them 3D-printed. The shape was well rendered but the surface needed smoothing. This took quite a lot of time. Now I have a complete set of parts, ready for casting: There is all is needed to build a Speed Spitfire in its first configuration, except the special canopy that is sold by Falcon: - the four-blade propeller - the large radiator fairing Other parts were converted from Tamiya parts: - the shortened wing tips - the special oil cooler, carburettor intake and tail skid The oil cooler should have two engraved lines, but I'm afraid of damaging the pattern. I'll try to add them to a casting later. The parts should fit the Tamiya wing, the two radiators dropping into the depressed slots made for the original parts : The central portion of the wing was merely filled and primed, I don't plan to cast this part. I'm currently studying the best way to make the molds. I've already cast minor parts before but this will be the first time I cast something that difficult. Adrien

I have been trying to complete a number of long standing builds and this has been on the back burner for quite a while. I finally completed it a couple of days ago. It's the S&M Models kit and I have used Two-Six decals. I hope that you like it, next up will be the Airfix MiG-15 which I will be working on between my MiG-21 builds for the STGB.

Here is the latest in my USAAF Station 150 / RAF Boxted tribute in plastic - the Matchbox Mosquito NF.30. These NF.30s were only based at Boxted for a matter of months in 1946, before heading south to West Malling. This model is certainly not one of our hobby's defining moments, due to various setbacks along the way, as you can see from the Work in Progress thread. The worst part is the canopy , which is too wide for the fuselage - possibly due to over enthusiastic clamping of the fuselage halves to get the rather large nose to fit! Thanks for looking. P.S. I've just noticed that I haven't painted the wing-tip navigation lights!

Hi folks first one for 2013.Academy,s tempest flown by Pierre Clostermann as she appeared just after the war ended.A simple and nicely detailed kit all for a fiver.no doubt I,ve made a few mistakes but it sits well with their typhoon which is near complete thanks for casting an eye over it.

1/48 scale showing the first and last types flown by 74 `Tiger` Sqn. (Well..., if you choose to ignore the Avro 504 that is..?)

Hello everybody! i am back again with a 100% completed StugIV. i just finished painting it a few days ago, and finished my very first Diorama a couple minutes ago. I'm quite happy with it myself, and hope you will be too! enjoy! Here it is! Again, sorry for the bad quality of the pictures but you can see it atleast. You can also see my homemade woodstack i made cutting up a couple of sticks from a bush outside, and then gluing them together. it looks nice. Please share your opinions!!

Very disappointed. Canopy! Cowlings!! Prop blades!!! Looks nothing like a Beaufighter . . . regards, Martin

Hi Robert Airfix have got their act together, the kits they announce each year are now generally well into development, most will have been taken to test shot and and final approval before the range is confirmed, aother will be at prototype master or finalised design so they know how long it should take to finalise and produce over the course of the year. They have actually said in the past that they work 3 years ahead so they will be doing research for 2017 models now designing 2016 models and developing 2015 models ready for the end of November. This is why at the trade shows at the start of the year some of the new kits are to test shot and sprues, others are resin masters and the rest CGI or artwork, as the year goes on the road show then keeps abreast with development as we then see the models develop to test shots and eventual sale. Airfix have learnt from the past, they have developed their own research and design team and now work within their capabilities to ensure where possible that what they announce they produce within the desired yearly window. They really do put the opposition to shame as no rolling over of new kits, no piece meal announcements as and when a kit is ready to be announced and no grand 2 year announcements that may or may not happen, and surprise kits that just suddenly appear that have not been in the new catalogues. I say well done Airfix as they are showing how things can be done, about the one area i would like to see them expand into is starting up their own mainstream kit production in the UK

Alas, Trumpeter have only themselves to blame for the reaction to their new models. If their track record wasn't so appallingly "hit & miss", Im sure people would be more likely to hold off and wait before critiquing new releases. The fact is they dont give a "non-sunni" anyway, as Im sure it will sell well to those who dont know and/or dont care ( which is the majority of modellers). And yes, that is Trumpy-bashing, because they damn well deserve it. Jonners

My 11yr old daughter decided that she wanted to build a model plane, so off we went to the local Hobbycraft with some Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket. After much deliberation, she settled on the Airfix Bf110C-2 - purely because she likes the shark's teeth on the nose! Also on the shelf was the Bf110E-2 Trop, so I decided that we would do a parallel build together. She's done the vast majority of the cutting and trimming of parts (new knife skills for her and palpitations for me!), she used my airbrush to paint it (Lifecolour and Tamiya acrylics), did all her own glueing and sanding. When it came to the canopy we used the painted Sellotape method (thanks to my 1974 Airfix book of plastic modelling) which looks great. No help was given with the decals except for the shark's teeth which needed a few cuts and a drop of Micro Sol. My model was done in the same way with a bit of pre and post shading, plus oils to highlight the panel lines. The kits went together very well and, in my opinion, look very good together on the shelf! We'll have to see where this takes her... Concentrating hard...

This would have been an ideal entry into the Obsolete Kit Group Build as the kit first appeared in 1960 (I think) under the Kimaster label. It’s subsequently appeared both from Airfix and now Dapol. The moulds were evidently copied at some stage but never cleaned up or modified to my knowledge so I wasn’t too shocked when I got a close look. Now I’ll happily confess I know more about these locos than say a Spit or a Lightning and even got up close and personal to them in 67 just before their final days. Given the age of the mouldings and the fact it was designed as a “working” model detail is pretty basic and there’s plenty of compromises. The ashpan and trailing truck are moulded as one for example. However the basics aren’t to bad and a good basis for a bit of fun. The tender is pretty good but let down by the moulded on ladders which were carved off and replaced by whitemetal ones, the tender front was also remodelled and some more detail added to the tank top out of bits of plastic and wire. The plastic “coal” was carved out and a plasticard false floor added. When the model was complete it was filled with real coal broken down to scale size. On the loco some additional detail was added to the top of the boiler, a bit of extra detail to the cab interior and the windows backdated to the earlier 2 pane arrangement. Some fairly vague piping was added under the cabs to represent the injectors and other bits. At the front end brass wire was used to create the characteristic long drain cock pipes under the cylinders and the completely absent electric marker lights added to the front end from carved up plastic section. Finished in BR green from Precision and the decals used for the tender totem, number and lining from assorted sources. It was weathered with assorted paints,oils and powders. It is finished as 34062 17 Squadron which in the early 50’s was running regularly into Kent. Quite pleased with the result and now quite tempted with a 9F Apologies for the iffy pics and thanks for looking Stu

Hello everybody; second completed model for me here on BM, it's Academy's 1:48 Lavochkin LA7, Soviet Ace Ivan Khozedub's machine. The subject is probably well known, and the kit too; I built it as part of my learning curve, experimenting new (to me) techniques and some scratch building. Some details about the kit and my built: - first time masking with blue tac (called Patafix here in Italy, and it's actually white); I must say I'm pretty happy with the soft edge you get with demarcation lines - scratch built pitot, using a prescription needle - scratch built details in the wheel bay - scratch built minor details inside the cockpit (harnesses, some piping and control wheels) - I had a horrible time with the kit decals, so I decided to paint on the red stars on the tail rudder (I think it shows, as the inner star is a bit off center compared to the outer), the two red&white triangles on the engine covers, and part of the numbers. - aerials went south when I painted them, so lesson learnt for next time: first paint, then glue 'em in (it's a standard white cotton thread) - gun barrels are from the spare box On with the pics, any comments welcome Underside: More details: Cockpit details Pitot Cockpit again Tail Nose

Inspired by the recent Obsolete Kit GB, and found in a box whilst having a tidy up. Thought it was time to get this built, and this seemed like the perfect place. 'Sorry' about all the pictures, couldn't resist! Nobody ever paid more than a tenner for one of these, did they? £1.00 seemed reasonable. A stand. Two colours. Cool! Hope the decals still work ok. Watched a documentary on tv recently 'The Untold Battle of Britain' (or something like that). Basically about the Polish pilots and their exploits with the RAF. I'm sure most folks on here will be familiar with all that. Was going to do this in some aftermarket decals, but if the kit ones work out ok, this will be a little nod to those guys. No.306 'Torun' (Polish).

One of my latest builds, I focused mainly on the scheme, for which I used Humbrol enamels. The seat is scratchbuilt with plastic sheet and aluminium foil.

Bought this from Modelzone for a song before it's demise. Lovely model, but getting bits off the sprues was a Royal pita without bending things all over the shop. There was some silvering on the decals but managed to lose most of it with some more Microsol. I bought the airwaves wing fold, but ended up just using a few of the flat bits and using the kit 3D bits and scratching a few extra bits. I'm normally crap at seat belts and stuff, but I think these came out OK I was going to buy some extras but instead of getting the resin airbrake I had a go at scratching one (saved 10 quid on something that wouldn't be seen anyway). The plates in the intakes were a bit thick so I thinned them down. BB

Hi everyone Yet another of my 'lit' models. This time the Titanic. I had great fun building this one as there was plenty of head scratching when it came to getting the light to shine throughout the ship. By the time I had finished, the kit must have weighed half of its original weight. I used fibre optics for the mast lights but they didn't seem to come out too well in pictures (and my photography skills are way, way behind my modeling skills) and the navigation lights may be too bright for a ship from that era but that's something which can be remedied another time. Though it is not as good as others on here, the most important thing is that it was fun and enjoyable to build. Kevin

Hi folks,second build this year built alongside their Tempest posted recently.another lovely kit to build nice panel lines and detail for under a fiver.there was a posting a few days ago detailing the main faults with this kit mainly the over length u/c legs but it was too late to correct this and I am happy that it looks like a typhoon.Thanks for your time.

I've sorted the bodywork, painted it and started to add other details. I'm not bothering about 'underneath' too much, as TBH - I'm not going to look at it...... My little E Type collection are proper 'look and don't touch' models, so what's the point of adding suspension etc that will NEVER be seen. Just to mention - I very carefully masked the windscreen frame to paint it green - it took an age - and then I realised I was about to paint the WINDOW! I'd masked the frame.......... Hoh hum. Old age. Wheels, lights, decals and exhausts next...... Roy.

Had the house to myself today. Quite apart from the peace and quiet I have managed to start Spitkit and this is the progress: As it's a basic kit I've chopped some of the control surfaces off to reinstall later. Also - could any Spit experts comment on the accuracy of the underbelly fuel tank please. A bit of fuselage and wheel well detail. As the radiator housings had a "see through" appearance I have added blanks to both front and rear . Bit of a start on the fuselage. As the cockpit is completely devoid of any detail, even anything I add can only be an improvement (I think). Thats it for now folks.

Thanks for the link Steve, what a great bit of film, bare arms, leather helmet, they don't know they're born these days... Smudge

Wow, right up my street. One of my favourite race cars. I know the rules don't permit it but there are some wonderful real spoked wire wheels available on ebay or you could use the tutorial posted on BM. The old Merit kits can look great oob as the general shape was usually very good. Vid of J M Fangio at the wheel. Cheers, Steve.

Murph's correct, additionally a small fairing was added on the lower part of the LRMTS nose - this was an "I-Band transponder" to give the aircraft a friendly signature upon approach to HMS Hermes. Also chain tie "eyes" were added to the outrigger legs - similar to the Sea Harrier. Tracor ALE-40(V)4 chaff/flare dispensers were added in recesses near the air-brakes. Only four GR3's had "Blue Eric" installed in the front part of the Starboard gun-pod. These amendments are included in the new Airfix kit (well, apart from Blue Eric that is!)

Ok folks, I have returned with updated photos. I apparently suffered from what I affectionately like to call MMOMMY "Magical Moments of Modeling Mishaps Ya'll". I do not understand how I did it, but I managed to paint and take pictures of my build without realizing I had placed the ailerons on the opposite side aof the aircraft thus making them upside down. Thanks to Tbolt for pointing out that error on my part.

Just finished this Kinetic Kfir C2. Apart from the "Israeli" removed before flight straps by Eduard and a MB Mk4 seat by Pavla its OOB.

Thats a cracker Perdu, lovely, mine on the other hand...what do you reckon, snog, marry, avoid!!

Nearly there! Still have the missile armament to do and some final tweaks here and there, but she's looking like an RAF Phantom! Ejector seats done and installed: picture sharing screenshot program Starting to come together. screenshot windows 7 windows 7 screenshot windows 7 screen shot free screenshot Thanks for looking!

Spent some time this morning and yesterday on the Bulldog. Despite all of the lead I put onto the nose it turned out to be only just enough to stop it tail sitting, any slight vibration being enough to tip it back. So since I had not finished painting the prop I decided to hollow it out and drill a bigger hole in the engine front. This now has another piece of lead inserted that will hopefully make it much more stable. Unfortunately both prop blades became detached from the hub in the course of the work so these have had a slot cut in the base and a brass rod inserted which will go into pre-drilled holes in the hub. I put the base together this morning as well from a piece of MDF picked up at a show, sprayed black and a section of Verlinden airfield hard standing glued to the top. Andrew

Thanks for your comment. It reminds me of days spent on the end of the International Pier, at a time when spectators where allowed within the airport, at Ringway collecting registration codes and highlighting them in my copy of Civil Aviation Registrations (Ian Allen - I think). Anorak or what.

Hobbyboss T6G Texan. Link to build - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234952456-172-hobbyboss-t-6-texan-finished-1-2-14/

If they were designed for the old Airfix kit may be they should release also a pair of half fuselages and a wing set.

First masked off where the Wards lettering is so that the clear decal will show the white underneath to make the letters then it was a drum roll moment for me.placing the decal (clear paper) in position.. close but no cigar, the decal red is darker than the paint and I should have masked off the front window on the starboard side. I will play around trying to get a closer red, the window I will fix by cutting one out that is printed on white paper, but I must say I am quite pleased!

The Hasegawa kit is excellent and plentiful. A pointless release if there ever was one. J.

Well, after a wee bit of work it didn't turn out too bad. I only listed 27 areas where I had to improve the kit. Mind you, those were just the ones I listed! http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234932239-de-havilland-sea-vixen-faw2-tt-172-xtrakitmpm/ Cheers, Bill

I ended up ordering one. Will share my experience after receiving it. C

Grab one of those old Airfix England footballers, hive him an orange shirt and socks and black shorts,.....and there you have it,....Wolves!! I`ll get my hat! Tony

Not if you build 1/72nd it isn't. I'm rather pleased that this set, the bigger bomber support set that they originated in, last years Harriers, Typhoon, Hurricane & Vampire T11, the Lightnings (at last, but where are the small tank jets Airfix), the Blenheims, Do-17, Swift, Tiger Moth, DC-3 etc are all in 1/72 - that was Airfix's traditional strength & I'm glad they seem to still remember that. To an extent anyway, real shame that the Javelin & Sea Vixen were done in 1/48th...!!

Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb...

There are faults with every kit, but to me it looks like a Whirlwind and 99% of the people who see my completed kits in the display case won't even know what it is anyway, so I'll probably be getting one

Update. I'm calling this finished, keep seeing problems with the men on photographs but looking at it with my eyes it looks OK. It's not perfect but it was a good learning experience. Bugger, just seen a man with an invisible gun, it's now in place can't be bothered doing the photos again, just imagine it. BB

The kit isn't even out yet but already its ruined in the eyes of some . Last time it was Airfixs Hurricane that got ripped apart Why not wait till its out and being reviewed and then make your mind up. Amazing how many EXPERT model designers we have on Britmodeller

You asked for comments........ It's a nice little model - well made and finished - but it looks like the undercarriage legs aren't raked forwards enough - making it sit too high. I've noticed it on other builds of Eduard's kit, so presumably its built-in ??? Here's Kozhedub's La-7 at Monino (where I photographed it in 2004)....note how the wheels are well forward of the wing... Kozhedub was the highest scoring allied ace - with 62 kills..... this is a closeup of the kill markings, plus the three 'Hero Of the Soviet Union' stars and a laurel wreath.... I'm not sure about the authenticity of the markings - Monino are not too bothered with historical accuracy. Just to finish off, I photographed his grave in Novodovichy cemetry, Moscow in 2009..... Ken

Nice job indeed ,liking the base mate Terry

OK, the cab is in-progress and a bit of a filler mess ATM, but its now Right hand drive-ish. Bit of work with the sander and I can start to add some of the communication equipment and extra bits to the cab inside, I have some stuff on the way! SONY DSC by richellis1978, on Flickr The locker doors have been added, the moulded bar-handles have been sanded off and will be replased with rod later in the build. The body is almost ready for paint, all over Aluminium ready for decals. SONY DSC by richellis1978, on Flickr I need to get the rams on the crane painted chrome, then the crane can be built, the rams masked and it can be painted black, along with the chassis. I do want to add a bit more to the basic chassis. I also plan to have this at Cosford, but it may be awaiting final decals for then though.

This is Minicraft's DC-4 right out of the box. I'm not really happy with the painting given it was my first attempt at using Alclad. I can definitely do better. I managed to repair the rooftop decal where the two halves didn't meet with paint, and the wing where the Alclad rubbed off with Rub 'n Buff. I'm going to claim that it's very used and worn out.

this plane seems to invoke more debate than the spitfire. please guys westlands don't have drawings there aren't any in existence all we can work to is photos looking at what I have seen its a whirlwind or very close.

Looking great mate, will be following this one