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Another Lightning from Airfix. This one was built entirely out of the box with the exception of some tape seat belts (which of course can't be seen) and was brush painted using Humbrol enamels. I'm not entirely happy with it as I made too many silly mistakes during the build but overall I'm fairly pleased with how it has turned out. In what is becoming a habit, I managed to snap the pitot tube and have asked the nice folks at Airfix if they would be kind enough to send me a replacement. I decided not to weather this at all as I am building a range for my new display cabinet which will all be presented as fairly clean. Anyway, would welcome your thoughts as always! Regards, GJ

Finished a couple of weeks back but just got around to taking some snaps. Super kit with what should have been "fool proof" engineering - just not for me; I managed to stuff something up (not sure what or how) but the starboard wing was out in two dimensions at the front leaving me with an awkward gap that needed filling & sanding. I looked in vain for a pair of AM resin seats as these would rweally have helped, hopefully someone will do some in the future. Xtracolours for the main scheme with a coat of satin varnish (I don't like them too glossy!)

Here is my effort at the Airfix's 1/72 Buccaneer S2B in Gulf War livery. I used the upgrade resin parts from Freightdog for the nose, refuelling probe, elevators, etc and the decals for "Guinness Girl" were from Model Alliance. The stand was made from a piece of oak flooring and brass tubing. You will also need a lot of filler but the kit is pretty straight forward. The paints used were Xtracrylix, Tamiya and Vallejo. Anyway here are a few photo's and please let me know what you think or if you have any questions? Cheers Ian

Decided to try it in bare metal finish aka Alclad. I was mightily disappointed with the finish, I suspect it's a case of try, try and try again. Thanks for looking. BB

After a bit of a break I've managed to finish 2 in 2 days! I don't normally do 1:72nd stuff but these new tool Airfix kits have really caught my interest, so I found myself walking out of the model shop with this. And then I even started it, just as a little 'aside' build as I got on with other stuff. Picked it up every now and then and did a little bit more, until completion today. It's a bit of a blast from the past as I well remember when Airfix released their original Harrier back in the late 60's when I was a kid. I've always liked the early pointy nose version with its glossy paintwork and 'D' type roundels, so that's what I did! Now where is it going to sit on the shelf with my 1:144 Airliners and 1:32 WW1 stuff? It's an Airfix kit so we must put the pilot in! It was fun, on with the Lightning F2.A Next! Thanks for looking Johm

It is a good little bit of kit isn't it. I was really pleased with the results. I think you're right that an adaptor would be a good mod - to save wastage on plastic sheet.I have to say that the combination of learning to do rtv/resin casting (ta Mark) and having this little machine to make easy and reliably decent vac formed parts - feels like it opens up modelling possibilities hugely. I'm sitting in Manchester Airport typing this. Off walking in Scotland for a few days. But I managed to do a tiny bit more over the last few days - in between frantically trying to get up to speed at work in readiness for a break. I've nearly finished adding the surface detail to the JP5; here's the underwing airbrake and aileron actuators (in white): And the top ones: Started to build the frame behind the bang seats: Oh - and perhaps I should say that I too am a Mr Surfacer fan: And jolly useful it wos too in fairing in the rear canopy on the JP3: And once rubbed down: It's posed on an old mug I found in the attic - from my BFTS at Chutch Fenton. It was pre-RAF nickname days. Now you can see where the RAF nickname/BM user name came from......no one ever said the RAF was particularly imaginative.... Steve

Hi all, I am actually still busy with another project (1/48 KittyHawk Mirage F1CZ) which I posted in the "In Progress" section here; http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951466-148-kittyhawk-mirage-f1/page-1. I recently travelled to the US for a few weeks and on my return found myself totally uninterested to continue with that project for the time being. It turned out to be quite a difficult kit to build due to all the corrections that needed to be made which contributed to my temporary "builders block". To get the mojo back I decided to do a quick build of this kit, Hasegawa's 1/32 Fw 190F-8. This scheme on the Fw 190F-8 always appealed to me and I decided to give it a go. Research on the net proved that the grey RLM 75 should actually be Brown RLM 81, which I used: The build is mostly out of the box except for the exhausts (Quickboost) and the seatbelts (Fine Molds). Here is the completed build. Hope you like it. All comments welcome. Victor

This is Airfix's old Devastator kit with Starfighter Decals markings for a VT-6 TBD circa 1940. I used White Ensign's PE set for the interior and added a small bulge for the machine gun breech to the fuselage side and a pitot tube, the rest is as Airfix made it. -Dan

It's taken a long time, but the third part of my DC-8 trilogy has just rolled off the bench. Once again, this is the Minicraft kit, but this time, I didn't have to change the engines ! Markings for Air Zaire 9Q-CLG "Domaine de la Nsele" came from 26 Decals (Sheet 144-147). They performed flawlessly as usual, but I did notice a couple of anomalies comparing them to photos of the real thing on the net.......after I applied them and then buried them under layers of Future. A link to the somewhat tortuous WIP can be found here : http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234937676-minicraft-douglas-dc-8s-in-1144-done/?p=1281565 Family photos of all three appear in Post #11 below...

Hi My favourite airframe in the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden is the 1941 Hawker Sea Hurricane Ib. "Hurricane Z7015 was built by Canadian Car & Foundry at its Fort William, Ontario, plant during 1940 as a Mk I, after flight testing Z7015 was shipped to the UK. On June 27 1941 it was converted to Sea Hurricane Ib standard. Z7015 had a patchy wartime flying career, which ended in 1943, when it was delivered to Loughborough College as an instructional airframe. It remained there until it was transferred to the Shuttleworth Collection in 1961. Z7015 was used statically in the 'Battle of Britain' film, before restoration to flying condition began." Here are a few of my pictures that I used for reference during this quick, straight from the box build: I understand that this kit is a re-release, and I must say that I didn't find the construction to be particularly easy. She was painted with Humbrol enamels and finished with a coat of Klear to match the real aircraft. The only weathering was exhaust staining courtesy of Mig Pigments Black Smoke. There were six decal options in the box, but (surprisingly?) none of the options was for the Old Warden aircraft, so a lot of cutting of decals was required to create the codes and serial for this aircraft. Anyway, without further ado, here she is:

I always liked the look of the Panthers fitted with extra armour plate to the turret roof and engine deck, so when I had the opportunity to get the Italeri kit featuring the add on armour I jumped at the chance! The kit isn't of the quality of Dragon or Tamiya, but it is a good kit and fits together reasonably well. I used a dental burr to roughen up the armour plate, and a pyrogravure gave the weld seams and torch cut edges a better look. The instructions would have you paint the add on armour in the same scheme as the rest of the tank, but I like the contrast of the armour painted in red oxide primer. I could not get the kits individual link tracks to stick together so I used a set of spare vinyl tracks. The Sand yellow is Tamiya acrylic and the rest of the paints are Humbrol enamels. Various filters and washes were applied along with chips and scratches. The commander figure is from dragon and he too was painted with Humbrol enamels. I plan to place it on a base with some more figures. adult image host imagehost picture uploading image host image hosting 15mb image hosting free uploading images image ru upload pictures online image hosting 20mb Thanks for looking

I've long admired the glorious turquoise and white scheme that adorned Rolls Royces Mk XIV Spitfire in the mid to late 1060s just before G-ALGT played a supporting role in the epic film the Battle of Britain. A challenging build with a number of self-imposed setbacks, it is with no small measure of relief that GT joins the rest of movie stars in display cabinet! Im not sure if this model is best described as a kitbash or a conversion; it consists of Hasegawa Mk IX wings, horizontal tail surfaces and a modified fuselage. The Hasegawa fuselage was modified by removing the Merlin and grafting on an Airfix Mk 22/24 Griffin nose and an Academy Mk XIV vertical tail and rudder. I chose to base the model on Hasegawa's Mk IX/VIII for a couple of reasons. The companion BoB movie star Mk IX is a Hasegawa and I wanted there to be a definite relationship between differing marks. Using the same kit as the base insured the small details and nuances would match. Any differences between the models would not be due to differences in the kits, and would represent the development of the real aircraft. WIP here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234922144-spitfire-mk-xiv-g-algt-148-conversion-return-from-the-shelf-of-doom/ Other changes to make a Mk XIV from a Mk IX include, larger radiators, larger wheel with different tyre. A bit of trivia: these tyres were sourced from Buccaneer /Sea Vixen nose wheels when Spitfire specific replacements became scarce. (Note my use of tyre vs tire as a nod to subject ancestry in spite of my yanky origin) G-ALGT also had the tailwheel locked down, the doors notched to fit around the extended strut, closed and deactivated. These are all documented in the work in progress posting here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234922144-spitfire-mk-xiv-g-algt-148-conversion-return-from-the-shelf-of-doom/ Just a hint of weathering as befitting an active aircraft. G-ALGT alongside her cousin, Spitfire Mk IX, MH415 already in costume. This allows a comparison between the two marks. I hope you can pardon my indulgence in a few pics in a more natural type of setting. Thank you to all for your support and help with research and information during this build! Eric aka The Yankymodeler A short history of G-ALGT Built in 1944 as a Spitfire F.XIV, construction number 6S/432263 was given the RAF serial RM689 and entered service with 39 MU on 3rd July 1944. Participating in Air Fighting Development Unit trials in the fall of 1944, RM689 apparently suffered some damage as she was repaired on site in September 1944. Turned over to the 83 Group Service Unit in February of 1945, RM689 was then assigned service with 350 Sqn and 443 Sqn, being transferred to the Ministry of Supply on 9th February 1949. Rolls-Royce then purchased the Spitfire and received the registration G-ALGT. Based at Hucknall, GT was used for many years for Griffin engine development work and a chase/communications aircraft. In 1967 GT joined the cast filming the move the Battle of Britain, trading her colorful civilian dress for a drab wartime costume. Replacing the original short wingtip fairings with standard length tips helped her play the supporting role of an earlier mark in the summer of 1940. After filming was complete, she retained the standard tips and flew for many years marked as RM619. Tragedy occurred June 27, 1992, at the Woodford airshow when pilot David Moore was killed when unable to recover from a loop began at too low an altitude. The wreckage was stored for a number of years and a restoration project was begun in 2002. Quite some progress had been made but the project was halted in 2010.

Airspeed Oxford I V3354 14 SFTS, Cranfield, 1940 Kit: Admiral 7234 Build thread HERE

I think they are too deep for the liquid green stuff, I have already applied some Squadron green filler anyway. Getting things ready for some primer I tided up the missile racks, the ones on the left have been done and on the right this how they came off the sprue: The mounting pin holes also had to be drilled out. I think these are the only location features on the whole kit. I have a theory that these parts have been copied off another kit - they look just like the ones on my Hasegawa Me 262. I removed these parts from the sprues and that is it, there is nothing left on them: I said this thing was simple. By now I had a nice stack of parts ready for some primer: All done: I was particularly pleased how my salvaged seat had come up: I tided up all the iffy panel lines: Here is a typlical example: I decided to add some location pins of my own to the missile racks to remove any guess work during final assembly (when you want the thing to come together quickly and easily): The sharp points on the 1mm rod make it easy to get the holes in the right place on the wing: I think I will now tidy up the fins and dowel them.

Hi everyone, Here's my conversion of the Airfix Merlin HC.3 to a Royal Navy HM.1. Along with plenty of scratchbuilding, it also benefits from the Eduard etched set, Archer rivet decals and Belcher Bits Stingray Torpedoes, by the time I'd finished, about the only parts not modified were the glazings. The WiP thread can be found here for anyone that's interested in seeing the changes: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956388-airfixevergreen-merlin-hm1/ The aircraft I've modelled was part of 457 flight of 829 NAS Fleet Air Arm, based on HMS Lancaster. The airframe is overall Medium Sea Grey, much of the aircraft is faded, but with a few panels freshly painted. Markings are a combination of painting and various decal sheets from the spares box. Andrew Here are the photos: Finally, three family shots:

This is the CA Battle TT in 1/48th scale with the Heritage Aviation resin correction set for the nose and tail sections. The full WIP can be seen in the Training Types GB which finishes tomorrow. Max

I haven't put up a WIP for a bit. I still have loads unfinished on the shelf but hey. Most of my future builds will be of local historical interest to me. I grew up within spitting distance of the Boulton Paul factory and also the associated Pendeford (Wolverhampton) Airfield. I have a WIP that is currently stalled of a Bristol 170 Freighter that featured in the feature film "The Man in the Sky" starring Jack Hawkins and can be seen here. I have various kits in the pipeline, including resin, that will represent all of the aircraft, including experimental, that were produced by BP. The travel company Don Everall had a small airline that operated from Pendeford in the 50s and 60s. Their aircraft were Dragon Rapides and two DC3 Daks. With this build I want to represent one of Don Everall's DH89s using the the Airfix, (originally Heller) kit. I recently put up a request asking if anyone knew of the livery details for these aircraft as all of the existing photos are black and white. That thread is here Anyway here is the boxart for the kit. I forgot to take any sprue shots The kit is quite good comparing it to the drawings I have. There is a bit of flash but nothing to extreme. Anyway I started with the cabin seats. They are not too bad but not really representative of the actual ones. I had a bit of a play. They are still a bit clunky but look (a little bit) like the actual seats. Lets not forget how tiny these are! The kit seat:- A couple I slightly adapted I cut out the door so I can display it open.... The aircraft that Don Everall bought were at least third hand and were (slightly) shabby. Especially around the nacelle/undercarriage trousering. In this shot I show a nacelle fresh from the sprue and one I have detailed a little. I punched in the access panel bolts and scored the bottom of the engine cover. I tried to represent the hinges but one is short. I have sanded out the little breather port as it does not appear on the aircraft I am depicting. Here are the seats attached to the cabin floor I have added a bit of detail to the cockpit using strip and some bits from a rather nice PE set from Eduard but now marketed by Kuivalainen... I know it isn't perfect but it is eye strainingly small! More soon. Thanks for looking Andy

I've been lacking motivation lately and have gotten stalled on the past few projects, so I pulled out a Tamiya kit in hopes of breaking the builder's block - and it worked! This kit was also an excuse to use up a bunch of spares and leftovers in the closet, so it's a bit of a hodgepodge of aftermarket. It was also my first attempt at mottling, and with many other 190's and 109's planned in the future I need to learn to mottle! You can check out the WIP here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234957565-148-tamiya-fw190a-8-to-break-builders-block/ A "quick" rundown on the aftermarket and work done: - MDC cockpit tub - Vector seat - CMK rudder pedals and control column - Eduard instrument panel - Quickboost gunsight - Hasegawa armor panels - Eagle Editions gun cowl and barrels - Ultracast wheels - Ultracast spinner and wide paddle prop - Quickboost pitot tube - Hypo tubing for wing root barrels - Brake lines, antennae, gear down indicators, etc made from wire - Riveted using RB Productions Rivet-R - Markings are a combination of Montex masks (insignia), Miracle Masks (Green 3), Eduard decals (emblem and W.Nr), and stencils from EagleCals - phew! - Aerial antenna wire is EZ Line, but cut and split to half width for better scale effect - Weathering is a mix of airbrushing, oils, sponge chipping, and artists colored pencil I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but that's close enough - on to the pics!

Hello I have just finished this one even if I built her over one and a half year period. This is because I am always building many kits at the same time ! It was easy to build but I discarded the decals from the box when I found a couple of pictures of this very aircraft of 349 squadron Belgian Air Force circa 1946. So the decals came from some different sheets (Modeldecal, Syhart and Daco) to get the closest markings even with two types of ratio for the roundels. On the other hand the fin flag does not appear on the pictures so it is conjecture. I hope you will like her, but I am open to any comment. Patrick

Hello Folks, I`m not sure whether I have ever posted this old model on here before but if I have, please forgive me. It was built for a magazine article a few years ago, before I had a digital camera. It wears the camouflage that I have researched comprising of PRU Blue, Medium Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey (although I did lighten the latter colour somewhat) and the 208 Sqn bars came from a 1/32nd Hunter decal sheet from Xtradecal. Anyway here it is, in the markings of 208 Sqn at RAF Luqa during the 1956 Suez Crisis; Also,....here is my 1/72nd scale Vampire wearing the same scheme in the markings of 213 Sqn based in the Middle East; I`ve got a Hornet in this scheme too, I`ll dig it out and photograph this too, Cheers Tony O

1/72 Airfix Hawk T1 XX230 Aeroclub early seats, CBLS courtesy of Giorgio , markings from Xtradecal, metal nose pitot from cut down needle

Today I finally got round to doing the hull numbers which I had been dreading. Before handling many tiny bits of photo etch I completely cleaned and hoovered the modelling board. IMG_4054 by Snapper_city, on Flickr So with only the carpet monster to worry about I pressed on. Once they were all clipped from the sprue they were all individually held with a razor blade and any excess removed with a new bladed scalpel. They are so small they fit on the end of a cocktail stick. IMG_4057 by Snapper_city, on Flickr And here they are attached using a tiny bit of PVA. IMG_4062 by Snapper_city, on Flickr IMG_4063 by Snapper_city, on Flickr IMG_4064 by Snapper_city, on Flickr IMG_4065 by Snapper_city, on Flickr The other side. IMG_4066 by Snapper_city, on Flickr The final result after a coat of klear to seal them in. IMG_4071 by Snapper_city, on Flickr The hull from the front. IMG_4072 by Snapper_city, on Flickr Next up will be attaching all the suspension components. IMG_4074 by Snapper_city, on Flickr

OK. 1 of 3 completed so far. Still working on the other 2, but just to make sure that one makes the deadline I give you: Lebanese Air Force T.55

Next I assembled the seats: Then it was a quick job to assemble the rest of the cockpit and give it a coat of matt varnish: I put a couple of surplus prepainted PE parts that I found in the spares box in there for the radar operator: The the whole lot could be fixed in the "fuselage?": Now the two halves of the aircraft can be joined together.

Hello Everyboy, After the P-39, another one in the soviet row, Zvezda's Yak-3. Do build like a dream, finely detail out of the box, just used the Begemoth decals sheet for the scheme. Hope you'll like it and as usual comments and remarks most welcome, Best to you all, Stef (#6)

Can't thank you enough for the kind comments and the support that I've had along the way. I've got to admit that changing the engines on the 43 and 55 nearly buried the project, so I'm more than pleased to be able to eventually drag all three of them over the finish line. Here are the family snaps I promised in the original post : Thanks for looking. mike

Some small work done today. I have finished the tail and removed the 2 inlets(?!) on top of the fuselage. Here are some pictures. The tail after making it the right profile (I hope). The bulges/intakes removed in two stages. bulge mostly removed with a hobby knife. I have taped of the surrounding to safe the nice detail. And here after sanding the rest away and make it look nice again. This is a picture of the model to get a look at how the model is. Boy what a nice lovely kit this is. Now Airfix please scale it up in 1/48?! Cheers,

Because the cockpit inner "cage" ll need a bit of thinking, how to do it, i continued with adding some details here and there. So i made new armor plate, which was behind the operator´s seat, it was possible to fold it back down, probably for better acces to the radio and other stuff. I ll glue this in the folded position - its simple evergreen sheet with drilled hole for the glass. I used clear fix to make the glass there. At the end it got some holder from wire. Added few more details to bomb bay, the tanks are still dry fit there. The cables at the back side (actualy it should be hydraulic stuff i think for the pistons (to control the bomb bay doors) ll be cut off and positioned after i paint the bomb bay. The pistons ll be added at the end, so i know how long should i make them, to fit the doors.

Lots more sanding last night and today, and a bit of gluing, to get here: The decks are all loose still, but the superstructure is all attached to the relevant deck. More to do building the upper levels. I re-did the front superstructure and got rid of the big gap with the deck, I'm pleased with that now. I also finished sanding the bottom as described in the previous post: and finally I've been sanding my weapons and finishing off the Styx launcher. I think it came out pretty well. The gun turret now has the curves that it should, and I've thinned down the edges of the armour from 1mm to about 1/3mm at the back - will provide a pic of that next time. Only three more turrets and another launcher to do, then I can think about masts and such... Cheers, Will

This is the last of my most recent builds. Hellcat Mk II made from the Eduard ProfiPack F6F-5 kit (with US markings). My model is pretty much built straight from the box with minor exceptions; I don't know if I captured everything right for a FAA aeroplane but all I changed was the aerials and masts on the fuselage and I added better resin machine gun muzzles. The kit does come with its own resin updates for the wheels and some PE for the cockpit. The kit went together very well and I liked the quality of the surface detail and transparencies. I used Xtracolour for the Glossy Sea Blue applied over light and dark grey primer/pre-shading. Nose panels where painted with Zinc Chromate prior to the Glossy Sea Blue. Markings are from the Xtradecal X48104 'Yanks with Roundels Part 3' sheet. The aircraft depicted is JZ931 'C3-M' of 800 squadron, SEAC, at Trincomalee in October 1945. I found a picture of this aeroplane on the internet having crash-landed; see here ...but only after I'd finished the model!

Fantastic kit of an extraordinary car... bestest, M.

Hi Folks, As some of you may know my eldest son, Scott, who is 12, was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma just before Christmas last year. His treatment so far has been intense, but he has responded very well to it, prognosis is good and most importantly he is in very good spirits. He has taken an interest in modelling so what sort of a father would I be if I did not encourage him to get stuck in ( beats him playing games consoles) We have bought the great wee Airfix P-51D Mustang to start with. This is definately a kit I will build more of in the future. The obligatory box art. I have started the cockpit for him- he is more interested in trying to paint the pilot, LOl. The only Modification I have done so far is a styrene disk punched out to represent the elevator trim control wheel. That is all so far.

My effort: Airfix Bedford MW 15cwt Tender, painted to represent a home-based RAF vehicle from mid-1942. Using Mike Starmer's guides the colours are Khaki-Green No3 base colour, with Nobels Tarmac No4 disruptive pattern to MTP20. Tyres were painted with a mix of Humbrol no21 satin black and Revel no67 tank grey. After a coat of Microscale gloss to put the decals on, I finished with mattcote, then weathered, lightly, with artists pastels. I added wing mirrors using brass wire and plasticard.

Latest from the bench, 1/48 Hasegawa F-4F with loads of resin updates, Seamless Sucker intakes, Aires Cockpit, Brassin Exhausts, Wheels, Master Pitots, scrounged decals from AirDoc Sheets and the Hasegawa kit. JTY

KP - Siebel Si 204 / Aero C-3A Luftwaffe Trainer Decals chosen by builder Builder - my son Dylan aged 8

Hi all! A couple month ago i have broke my leg... It was an week end in a month))))) So i had a lot of time to have my favorite job- modelling! The kit was chosen under impress of Arkady72 work (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234914022-aermacchi-mb326-italeri-148/ P.S. Thank you for the high modelling level i had to achive!) The build was completely out of the box. The fitting process was the one of the simplest and easilyst. The prototype is the a/c from 1 st Esqadrilla de Ataque- Punta de Indo 1970/ Any comments and esp critics are welcome! From Russia with LOVE! Kind regards! Egor.

Hawk T Mk.1 XX164 4 FTS, RAF Valley, 1990 - 1991 Kit: Revell 1/32 Red Arrows Boxing Decals: Xtradecal X32-027 and X32-031 Aftermarket: Eduard Hawk T Mk.1 / Mk.51 Big Ed Set Build thread: Here

Yay - Finally, after a day of frustration, I have finally finished. Among the snapped pitot probe and nose leg, as well as a botched MDC decal, I have finally completed my first WIP and Group Build. The are a lot of issues with this build, and I am to blame for all of them. I've got to admit though, I am pretty happy with it, and I have learned loads. Thanks to you all for your support and encouragement. Taking part in this Group Build has resulted in me building a better kit, so that I can live up to some of the other builds on BM. Pictures...They are crap, but I was taking them in a hurry to meet the deadline. Thanks again to all for looking in. Cheers, Tom.

Ok...so a few hours have passed and the paint has dried!. The wiring up of the boxes was a bit of a pain but I am happy with the end result! What do you think?.................................... ...So now I will move down towards the instrument panel. More to come soon Fozzy

Personally I only use the stuff in the small glass jars like those in Steve's photo above. I only use it as a filler, but people also use the stuff in aerosols as a surface primer. Others also thin the stuff in jars with cellulose thinners to spray it through an airbrush as a primer/microfiller - I've never tried that either, as I just prefer using Tamiya or Halfords primer. As mentioned previously there are three grades with 500 being the thickest, 1000 a medium & 1500 the thinnest. To use it as a primer, I usually use the 500. I apply it with either a cheap paintbrush or cocktail stick to the area needing filling. You can then either let it dry & sand it down with wet n dry like any other filler, or when it's still wet after just being applied you can remove the excess with a cotton bud dampened in isopropyl alcohol. This will often fill a gap perfectly leaving you with no further work to do on it. The finer grades are also good for filling things like fine scratches or surface marks. Can't help you with using the aerosols of the stuff I'm afraid HTH (& with apologies to Steve for the thread highjack) Keith

Here's the real pilot, my father W/O Toby Williams! Max

Hello All, I have been doing some more wood effect practice with acrylic retarder over a light base: I think the most important thing I have learned is to keep the effects light, much lighter than here, as the real thing was made out of the highest quality plywood they could source. Less is more! Thanks for looking, Adrian

Hi Gary. Unfortunately I am way too lazy to do that Lol. Hasegawa did actually release an F-8 with the new tooling. It is a very nice kit with a resin 500Kg bomb included. This is the boxing that I used: Victor

Yeah it's surprisingly nice. The fit is decent but not great once you get the parts straightened out. The butt-jointed-90' things like the superstructure are very accurate, but things like the mitred joins on the launchers were poor. Detail is not bad either, they obviously looked at the real thing. I did a bit more this evening having found some more reference (foolish boy, this is supposed to be a quick build...) and added the hull strakes from styrene strip. I'm not sure what the vertical ones are but they are definitely proud of the surface and flat-faced. I found some 0.5x0.25mm Evergreen strip in my plastic box and tacked it in place with Tamiya tape to line it up. Once it was about right I ran some extra-thin along the strip, waited, and ran a finger along it to seat it. Then removed the tape. The joins I filled with CA. The vertical strakes are the same, but they have a fillet of CA on each side. Then I sanded the whole thing down to about half the original thickness, both to get closer to scale and to round the edges. Learning lots on this project. Oh, the reference I found is here: http://www.haijun360.com/news/6607X/2010/1124/10112421633KG90E11J95BD237193DG.html I like what looks like an in-service pic of 103, with blast bags (?) and some other canvas covers (?) on the AA guns which don't appear to be on the preserved 101. [edit] I'd always thought those ribs on the sides of boats to take the impact from the pier etc. were called rubbing strakes, but it turns out that a strake is a more fundamental part of the construction so maybe that's not the right thing to say. To be safe, let's just say, I added some raised detail I copied off a picture Cheers, Will

I needed to weight the nose so I rolled some paper, glued the seam, plugged one end with rolled up tissue paper then soaked the plug in CA to harden it. Once my tube was made, I filled it with Liquid Gravity and CA then glued the whole thing into place through the intake. Have I just invented the "Heavy Metal" cigarette?

One of the problems with JP233 was that the lack of training with live weapons meant that crews had no idea what to expect when releasing them - one mate described the sound/sensation of the weapons coming off the aircraft as 'momentarily distracting', which his nav explained meant 'I shouted [expletive]! What the [expletive] [expletive] was that? [Expletive]! {final expletive being caused by a spurious warning in the cockpit}' because I mistook the weapons coming off for us being hit...'

God this gets tiring. No matter what we think would sell or how big a chunk of the market we think we are (not very) the manufacturers are only going to make things that make them a profit and keep the share holders happy. Tamiya keeps pushing out the Lanc because it sells as is and its paid for itself, no reason to make another. Halifax's and Stirling's may be much in want by forums members but means sod all to the average punter. All about the bucks people, pure and simple. Interesting thread over at the neighbours place http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1399120886/A+few+thoughts+on+manufacturers+kit+choices.++1-48+P-40B+anyone- A few interesting points as to why Luft 46 gets a run

The undercarriage is now more or less complete. The main struts were painted along with the main airframe, so the first task was to spray the retraction mechanisms matt black. Earlier in the build, these were scratch-built from plastic card and Evergreen strip, along with some wall tacs and cotton bud shafts: Here they are painted, with a light weathering of dark grey to bring out some detail, and the actuation struts covered in self adhesive foil: After painting and weathering the main wheels with some pigments, everything was installed on the model. The final touch was to add some brake lines: Considering the whole of the undercarriage has been scratch-built, I don't think it's come out too badly. Now to busy myself making some undercarriage doors... Until the next update, Tom

More progress to report. I've attached the two forward sections of the fuselage to their respective fuselage halves. The joints are simple butt-joints, which aren't exactly ideal (no locating pins), so I added some tabs to the inside of the fuselage halves, taped the two halves of the nose section together, and glued them: It's all held together with rubber bands, which are courtesy of the Post Office and Marks & Sparks £1.00 bunches of daffodils! They needed a bit of fiddling, as the profiles of the nose section don't exactly match the profiles of the fuselage halves, which is really helpful... And here's the progress on the bomb bay: Bomb racks are almost ready, as well as the cross braces and walkway. I've also amended the ammo boxes for the waist guns - they didn't look right, and also they're angled outwards at the rear end. I've started adding the smaller green oxygen bottles too: While I'm waiting for the glue on the fuselage sections to dry, I'll be getting on with the ball turret and starting on the cockpit. Simon