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Supermarine Seafire FR.46 Airfix 1/48 Hi Guys Airfix's classic Seafire, build March 2014. I got this as a present from my cousin so, as it didn't cost me anything, I decided to splash out on a few AM accessories to tart it up a bit. so in no particular order. Quickboost resin seat Quickboost resin exhaust Barracuda resin wheels Rob Taurus vac canopy Montex paint masks (only used for the roundels) The Taurus canopy was pretty much essential as the kit part doesn't fit in the open position and mine was badly fogged anyway. The Barracuda wheels were fantastic, I'll definitely be using their stuff again. I was expecting a nightmare with the Montex masks but in the end they worked really well although it was a little nerve wracking pulling them off at the end, hoping that everything was in register. The only other additions were a few scratched details in the cockpit (which you can't see) and some brass tubing for the gun barrels. Hope you enjoy the shots Thanks for looking Andy

- A very strange bird which always attract attention on exhibition tables. Hobby Boss has done a good job, the kit is easy to assemble without any use of putty. I ve used after markett resin cowling and propeller as well as glazing mask and Eduard interior adhesiv photo-etched .

Just finished my first one of the new year. Built OOB. Really is a nice kit had no issues with it at all. Painted in Tamiya AS Aluminium and Revell fluorescent orange.

Finished last week for a GB on another site. Wellington Mk.X 'Z' of 311 squadron RAF Coastal Command, June 1943 : Comments and critiques always welcome. Regards Tom

This Dove is a Rareplanes kit I put together at least 5 years ago. It was finished as MMA's VH-MMN "Nullagine" but not long after completion I started getting some very strange paint shrinkage under the decals, and it was pushed to the back of the shelf, then banished to a box with the intentions of refurbing it. Well it's turn came up and it has been resurrected with a new paint job and identity. I still have to trim the decals with a scalpel blade. and touch up the nosewheel I just noticed, anyways looks miles better than it did before.

Airfix 1/72 Spitfire MkVb

The latest off the line, Canberra B.2 B(I)8 mod WV787. The kit has had the usuel mod's to bring it up to B(I)8 standard plus resin T.22 nos and scratch built spray head and boom. WIP can be found here. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234972820-canberra-b28-mod-wv787/ Thanks for looking John

Tamiya Israel Tank Tiran 5 1:35th scale What first attracted me to Tamiyas Tiran 5 was the box art. Going across the desert in a cloud of dust, the IDF Tiran looked all tank. The Tiran 5 was adapted from T55s captured during the six day war in 1967. Using Tamiya Acrylic paints for the entire build, I began by applying a white primer from a Tamiya rattle can. When this was dry, the identification line along the barrel & the V on the turret side was masked. Mixing XF49 & XF66 in equal amounts for the main hull colour I sprayed the mixed paint all over the primed parts. The road wheels were masked using round masking tape disc. Then the outer rim sections were sprayed XF85 Rubber Black. The tracks were painted XF84 dark iron before attaching them to the road wheels. Gluing the tracks to the road wheels with Revell Contacta adhesive gave them a sagging effect. After applying the decals, the model was dusted over with Mig Productions Pigment. To finish off, a Tamiya weathering set was used to hi-light edges with lighter colours. I used items such as kit bags, sleeping bags & sleeping rolls from the Tamiya Modern Military Equipment set to fill the storage baskets. I know this was not accurate, but the baskets looked better full. Thank you for looking

Finished at the same time as my Matchbox Welly as: Wellington Mk.Ic, W5674 / DF-O of No.221 Sqn, RAF Coastal Command, RAF Limavady 1941 I know that this particular aircraft should be carrying a set of 'stickleback' ASV antenna but unless someone has a set of the Paragon ones stashed away they'd like to sell me she'll have to stay as is for the time being. Comments and critiques welcomed as always. Regards Tom

My first completed build since my heart surgery. Kinetic 1/48 Mirage 2000D built OOB except for the seats which are from wolfpack and the decals are from DXM.

Thanks Tom, I like that a lot. I also like Nigel Day, that's got to catch on hasn't it? There are a number of these dinky little blade antennas that need fabricating out of PE, I have been giving these a lot of thought for some time. Clearly soldering them together was the best option but I was struggling to work out a way of doing that without obliterating all the details. Here is my solution, first I scraped clean the base plates: The next step was to cut a slit in the silicone rubber mould seen earlier and use that to hold the blade vertical: I tinned that exposed edge and then held the base plate over it and applied soldering heat: Well blow me, it actually worked, I now have a structurally sound, microscopic blade antenna with intact details: I have left it attached to a bit of fret for ease of handling, this is how it looks in about the right position: The second attempt was not so happy, it was off centre and the fret handle broke off: Fortunately Eduard supply a couple of spare parts and I was pretty happy with the third attempt: The next thing I looked at was this part: This is what it should look like in reality: I think it is clear that the bar part of the kit part is over-scale. I measured it and it came out as about 0.8mm: I think some 0.5mm brass rod would be more appropriate. I drilled out the blades with my trusty 0.4mm drill and glued in some brass mounting pins: When those had set I cut off the bar: After a bit of trimming, those were glued in place like so: Anyway, to answer hendie's request here is a general overview of progress to date: The blooming door surround pinged off but otherwise things look good. Bye for now Nigel

Well, 2014 was a bit of a bust for me modelling-wise, as I didn't actually finish a single thing. Fortunately 2015 is shaping up to be a bit more productive (actually infinitely more, if you're a stickler for math.) Hot off the bench is the good old Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vb, pretty much OOB. The only things I did to it were: - Refined the wing trailing edge a bit to fix the well known shape issue - Refined the shape of the nose a bit to make the rocker covers a bit less "broad shouldered" looking - Drilled out the canon barrels - Drilled out the exhausts And that's it. I didn't even add a seat harness, although I still have the option since the canopy hood is only tacked on. Paints are Gunze Mr Colour for the Dark Earth, Tamiya 75% XF81 Dark Green plus 25% XF49 Khaki for the Dark Green and 75% Tamiya XF21 Sky plus about 25% X2 White for the Sky. The roundels and fuselage codes were masked and painted, while the rest of the decals came from the new Airfix Mk.Vb kit (which will be next off the bench, as it happens.) The markings themselves are neither fish nor fowl, BM597 having never actually been painted in this camouflage scheme during her service career, although she did wear the codes JHoC while flying with 317 Sqdn. As a restored warbird, BM597 does indeed wear these colours, but there are several airframe details that are post-war modifications that the Tamiya kit does not include (obviously). So I've painted the model up in the restored colours, but weathered it as if it were in service, just because I felt like it. Questions and constructive criticism are always welcome! Cheers, Tony

Latest of the bench is the Tamiya 1/48 Fairey Swordfish Mk ll. 819 NAS based at RAF Manston in June 1944. I saw a picture of this aircraft in the Swordfish, From the cockpit book and as Manston is just up the road from me I thought it would be rude not to model it. The kit is a dream and the decals are from the xtra decal / MDC sheet. And yes there is a cover from the engine cowling to the oil cooler, a mod used on the Arctic convoys. Hope you like her, please feel free to comment etc. Thanks for looking Dick

My first completed model of this year, although it was started way back last September. Revell's Tornado F3 finished as ZE907, with decals from Xtradal and stencil data from the kit decals.

For interest here are a number of Merlin exhausts. John Name the aircraft which might use an example of each type of exhaust!

Painted by brush and weathered by mig and Ak pigments;

I seem to have exceeded my bandwidth with Photobucket so I've set up another account hoping I can retrieve my previous pictures but here are some new ones The oils are done and ready to start putting the insides together... Thanks Guy

Good luck in Houston, and I'm with you on day dreaming about living in that general direction. Mostly due to the fact that it is still snowing out there. When the spring comes and I get out to work our yard and build new garden etc I might change my mind. My mother in law (bless her) has in the past vicariously asked me to move to Georgia, and transfer jobs into Aerospace with Gulfstream. Her brother in law works there and she was trying to broker a job for me through him so that she could follow suit once my wife and I were established. When it was discovered her niece's boyfriend in Tustin also worked in Aerospace, I was nearly driven to the airport and shoved on a plane to go pursue a career. This is all tongue in cheek and anecdotal, but the truth resides in the fact that this behavior, although hilarious, is largely driven by the abhorrence of the cold. When I was in Palm Springs, I imagined that it was like the rest of the desert type environments in the lower west U.S. I loved it. My wife was somewhat uncomfortable, but less so than a hot day in our back yard. Good job on getting back into shape. It isn't easy at first but the pay off is long lasting once you get a routine. I have the same problem with largish ears, and was teased relentlessly by my immediate family growing up. Wearing a toque presents issues parallel to your cowboy hat, but the latter I could never don thanks to the relatively small diameter of my head. Yeah, I feel you. I have, been very very bad lately. Needless to say there is going to be another thread like the one I have going to address the growing number of spitfires I have coming my way. I think because I was called back to work in such a way that it seemed like I was being begged, gave me this unjustified sense of victory and celebratory spending was in order. I'm not convinced I am happy my vacation is ending though, so maybe is was a subconscious urge to fight off depression with the purchase of "happy times ahead"

OK, after a grub around on the intergoogle, I found a pic of the operators seaty and along with the pic, above I got on a did a little scratch building on the interior. So, this is where I was yesterday pm... At the forward end of the cabin area is the electronics which I presume drives the scanners etc. It won't be visible unl;ess you peek through the cockpit glazing, as I'm not going to risk opening the door. I had a look on the Big H site for Eduard PE sets, I got up to 35 Quid with a set of paint masks before postage, which I thought was totally OTT, so I did a download of the instruction as pointed out in another GB build thread. I'll scratch what is needed and with the money I've saved I'll be able to by two HC4's when they become available. I also started on the crew seats and made up a jig to bend some soft .4mm wire for the framing, I'll post the seat pic later. I've also been adding some exterior detail missed or fogotten by the Revell toolmaker, more of that later. Colin

Enzo, that joke is a black marque against your name....

I just did this as a quick build with no detailing, purely for fun. And it was an awful lot of fun. Yes, I know I should have filled the panel hinges for the photo flash flares and maybe should have dirtied the exhaust area but for now I'm happy with her. The decals, from the kit, are for a Norm 90 Spook but I just wanted to practise painting a Norm 81B scheme. Airbrushed in Tamiya acrylics. [/url

Found this while browsing. Some incredible photos! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11342934/Happy-End-photographs-of-miraculous-aeroplane-crashes-where-everyone-survived.html?frame=3163470

Old testors kit. Added aftermarket and painted with craft acrylics. Hope you like. Comments welcome. Mark

Hi, all This is my last completion for 2014 - a "Scooter" from Airfix in Vietnam war markings. I liked the construction process a lot - Airfix offering is really well engineered and requires minimum dry fitting and putty. Major modifications made to the kit: - Eduard PE set used wherever appropriate - cockpit, wheel bays, interior surfaces of dropped slats, released flaps, etc. - I armed Scooter with LAU-10 launchers from Hasegawa weapons set. I went for this option as I came across a photo of the prototype with LAU-10 being recharged on board of Intrepid - Bobtail fuel tank supplied by Airfix has a very slim rear part. Kit's standard fuel tanks with stabilisers have better shape. So I did some surgery by cutting standard tank and reshaping its fin to resemble what's seen on photos and drawings. - I added some extra panel lines on underside as Airfix omitted many of them. Not bad actually if you don't like Airfix's engravings.. Markings are for VA-15 'Valions' on board of USS Intrepid in 1966 from Xtradecal set for A-4B. Actually that is the only alternative if you do not like kit's 'Green Lizards' but want a Vietnam A-4B. From what I was able to find on the Web, no other squadrons were equipped with A-4B's in Vietnam. Should I wait for another couple of months - I would definitely buy a resin mod to get an A-4C which allows much wider choice of Vietnam war options. A warning note! Please do not even attempt to apply Airfix red stripes for intake! These decals should be longer and have curved shape to get into place smoothly. I failed to read about this issue in other posts of completed Scooters... So I ended up brush-painting red edges on my intakes trying to match with "danger" arrow color... Stupid oversight from myself and ridiculous error from Airfix The only suspicious thing about kit parts fit was attachment of speed brakes in extended position. Initially I wanted to make them fully extended. But if attached as is, they are visibly sloped down. I decided to avoid surgery and attach them in just slightly opened position as can be seen on many photos of Skyhawk standing still on the deck or airfield. Finally here are the photos: Happy New Year to everyone! Dennis

Here is the AFV Club SdKfz 251 C, with Gaso.line figure and Tamiya dog All painting done with Vallejo. Weathering with various oil paints, art store pastel pigments, colored pencils, white glue, flocking, etc. The base is just a cut of birch with celluclay soil and flocking for grass. The rock is just that...a small rock. Still have a lot to learn about figure painting, but the nice resin figures truly are easier to paint.

Also found on Turkeys, I understand... At this stage, I would just like to say "Dewlap" - it is only vaguely tangentally relevant, but I do so like saying it Cheers. Stew

That's a wattle, not to be confused with the waddle, which we would never tell the women we love that they may eventually do as age sets in.

The only surviving Heinkel 219 is getting closer to being back in one piece. The Smithsonian have an intersting article in the AirSpace blog on painting the wings, which should be of interest to anyone building any of the available models. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/restoration/heinkel-wing-paint/

Hi folks,calling the base finished just did a bit detail painting and added a shattered telegraph pole just to finish it off,so tomorrow I will start thinking about the tank,thanks for looking in.

Maybe incorrect but I always had this impression that this was done to reduce hot gases close to the wing/leading edge.

Happily I'm so starved for human contact and my self-esteem is so low that I anticipate I'll continue to chronicle my misadventures in build form for some time yet. I resolved to buy no new kits until I finished one, then promptly put in a bid on a Trumpeter Wellington X. Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, if you omit the first word of the sentence ("foolish"). I've only been to Houston once before, Christmas 1995, and my then best friend Nick (who is now an investment banker in the far east, making more money a year than I will see in my whole life) beat Final Fantasy III (Japanese videogame, perhaps disappointingly infinitely less salacious than it's rather contradictory title suggests) just as the snow started falling, causing everyone in a forty mile radius to lose their minds. I generally didn't much enjoy being a child, but that was a high point. In any case, regarding the heat: You would be amazed at how often I have cause to use that. Oh right, building a model plane! Well, I'll be honest, I've started trying to run every day again, and I am EXHAUSTED. I'm older and almost fatter than I've ever been, and I was just too tired tonight. Instead I watched four episodes of Longmire in a row and daydreamed of living in the west, rugged and free, and then I remembered that I hate being outside and don't much care for horses, and my jughandle ears look ridiculous under a cowboy hat. In any case, I'm about 75% nervous and 25% excited for this weekend, when I will be running all around Houston and facebooking and tweeting and instagramming for the greater glory of the American legal profession. This will require talking to people, which I hate and am bad at. I'm sure you'll still see me on here then, hopefully not asking if any of you know of social media jobs.

Full to the brim of dem fine model makers that club of yours innit

A quick update this evening. Most of the week so far has involved sanding and filling, followed by some more sanding and filling. Filling and sanding of the raised panel lines. More sanding of intakes. Bored with all this sanding I thought I would make a start on the bomb bay. A dry run assembly. Thanks for looking, gazza l.

Thanks chaps, for your nice comments regarding my first vulcan... she looks very much better now after the refurb. Sorry to hear of your Vulcan disaster, what went so badly wrong? Thanks also for the decal offer, still not sure which airframe to go for so I will let you know. Anyway I've made some progress. Started on the cockpit and added some resin seats left over from couple of Xtrakit PR-9 kits, maybe not the correct seats but they look better than the kit ones. Also thinned the trailing wing edges which are very oversized. Before on the left, after the right. Removed all raised detail on starboard wing. Then assembled with numerous pegs. Moved the rear cabin windows back and up slightly using clear sprue superglued in place. Finally filled the terrible intakes using dissolved plastic card as a filler, which is a first for me. Thanks for looking, gazza l.

Update time. Firstly on the Weather, how's the weather Brad? Brad: IT'S WET, REAL WET, DAMN WET. WETTER THAN A TROUT IN SPAWNING SEASON. Thanks Brad, now for sport. This weekend has been spent decaling the two Spitfires as planned apart from a slight deviation in the markings on the Mk.IIa. I had originally intended to build it as UM-J "Gibraltar" from Authentic decals which I'd had for ages. Unfortunately they were miserably out of register and honestly, terrible decals. I wouldn't say don't buy them, but don't expect Cartograph quality and some trimming is required. I ended up modelling OU-C of 485 (NZ) Sqn in 1941. This was probably my subconscious intention the whole time but I have a roundabout way of doing things. However, I'm chuffed that I have a Mk.II from 485 as it will sit proudly next to her sister Mk.IX from the same. Who said Kiwi's couldn't fly? 485 also flow Mk. I, V, XVIs, Typhoons (really?) and Tempests so there's lots of scope left. I was surprised to read about the Hawker girls but it is true. Finding a serial # & individual code however would be nigh impossible. I used the kit insignia for the Mk.II and Aeromaster insignia for the Mk.I. All performed flawlessly and settled surprisingly well into the panel lines with (sometimes multiple) application of Microset & Tamiya Decalfix. Codes came from Aeromaster & Modeldecal with 8" serial #'s from Ventura. Highly recommend Ventura serial #'s, they so thin they look painted on. The kit decals were excellent and it was with much astonishment that the confirmed to every little bump on the lower wing. Remember those two little 'lumps' aft of the lower gun panel? Perfect definition as the decal matted down like it was painted. Full marks to Airfix and will be using kit decals in future (Defiant & Hurricane Mk.I to name only two). I feel I should've swapped the Starboard codes with the Sqn marking by the cockpit as it looks squish ed, but I'm happy altogether. Next will be final painting of landing gear then weathering before final sealing coat & into the cabinet. I'd promised myself I'd finish by Waitangi weekend which is a public holiday next week, so get cracking. Teddy (Roosevelt) decided to help in the war effort too by providing moral support. Although he usually provides moral support from the comfy spot behind me.

The newish Airfix kit completed as Wing Commander Guy Gibson’s G-George. Kind friends of mine gifted me this for my birthday just before Christmas, so I decided it would be this year's 'Christmas build". First time I have completed the annual Christmas build within the holiday period. I have had an interest in the Dams Raid ever since reading Paul Brickhill's book during a wet week in Betws-y-Coed as a young lad. Later on when my father was posted to Soest in Germany we lived in a flat in Korbecke, just a short walk from the Korbecke Bridge across one arm of the Mohnesee. I believe this was where Gibson turned to head up the lake towards the Mohne Dam. I have previously made the old Airfix version - but it did not survive a fall from a great height 10 years ago. For some reason I still had the remnants in my garage: Any way onto the completed model. Brush painted with Tamiya acrylics. WIP thread here. I really enjoyed this, although I did find it a bit fiddly at the end fixing the last pieces. First time I have had a go at serious exhaust stains, which not having an airbrush I did by some sequential dry brushing of tame acrylics (Nato black, buff and medium grey). I also tried Clearfix for the side windows in the extreme nose, which I think I need some practice with (got an air bubble on one side). Thanks for looking.

Hi All, This is Tamiya's 1/72 version of the Bell X-1 and it's a fine kit to build, with enough work for the modelmaker to do to keep it interesting. My aim with this build was to finish with something that I could use as a desk ornament and I wanted to pose the model in-flight, which meant coming up with some sort of display solution. I had some 4mm acrylic rod in the drawer so that bit was easy enough, and I decided to use acrylic for the base too. After a little head scratching, I decided on 10mm black acrylic sheet. It's pretty easy to cut (with a normal handsaw and then I used an electric planer to get smooth, square edges - various grades of micromesh brought the edges back to a glassy finish) and it has an interesting, highly reflective surface. The acrylic rod was bent into shape around a template using an adjustable 2000W heat gun set to about 1/3 power. It did take a few goes but it wasn't too taxing. Holes drilled in model and base, Araldite applied and here are the results - Cheers all, Roger

Built this couple of years ago but just getting round to post some photos Sort of copied this paint scheme from another member on here Beefy

Hi Next Imperial Japan Navy bird - very elegant reconesance biplane Mitsubishi F1M (Type Zero) , in Allied code "Pete". Model is made out of early MPM (1/72) kit. Markings presents airplane from battleship Yamato. The trailer is scratch built. Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek

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Thanks Col. I've been doing a bit more today and things haven't turned out too badly. Hi Roger. I know what you mean about the prop , although looking at photos the real thing can look quite dumpy too sometimes. The jury's out ...... Today I tackled the interior. As usual, the macro is pretty unforgiving! I've added a bulkhead at the front as: 1) It's visible from the front cockpit 2) There's see-through from the engine if you don't put one in. I used plastic card for the bottom bit and a blob of blue-tac to seal up the complex shaped gap at the top (that's where the see-through is). It's worked fine. Here are the instrument panels. Sorry for the dust! For some reason Amodel only provide one joystick (for the rear cockpit) and one set of rudder pedals (for the front cockpit)! Easily supplemented though. Clunky though this all looks on macro, it looks much better in context (honest!). Cheers Cliff

And so here we pin-headed, big eared, baldians unite. Glorious.

I have spent the last three evenings painting and making masks for the camouflage on the model This is how it turned out The colors I have used are :- FS 36622 for the underside FS 30219 with a few drops of black added to it for the Brown FS 34079 and FS 34092 for the Green

Day 6: CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE Well Folks! Here we are ready for PAINT!!! There are 23 separate sub-assemblies on this build. The main turret, with the radio aerial attached. ALL the turret hatches are taped into position. The Track runs which are fully articulating and comprise 133 links. These were surprisingly easy to construct. You can see here: 45mm, 12.7mm turrets, exhaust, spare track links and the turret light covers. The 8 bogie units with all their PE parts attached (4 on each unit) along with the rear deck fan cover. Main Hull, with all the PE strapping attached. Now, this is prone to pinging off but I am hopeful of it surviving the painting. I haven't spent every spare moment on this build, it's just surprisingly straight forward in the build. There are no nasty shocks and provided you don't rush at it, it will assemble very well. Day 7 onwards... PAINT Now then, for me, it's our Build Club Saturday coming up so, the painting may likely start on Sunday! But, you never know???

Thanks you Giorgio I gave the clear parts a spray with the interior colour and a coat of Humbrol clear afterwards. I've also added some archer resin rivets to represent the panel screws that are quite noticeable on the side of the alouette III. You can also see that I've added the top door rails too, added some more panel lines and even tried my trumpeter rivet wheel. These may disappear after a coat of primer but it was more for practice. If they can still be seen after primer then great. I've also decided to glue the rear wheel struts on now. They still need a bit of a clean up but I think it will be easier to do this with then glued in place. Maybe some small bits to do, then a clean and finally primer I forgot to mention this when I was working on the cockpit. Although this kit isn't a tail sitter I still added some weight underneath the floor. For small helicopters where space to add weight is minimal (airfix gazelle is a prime example) I use this. a bit pricey for what you get but it is darn heavy and can be pushed / squished into all those nooks an crannies. This was bought from an online fishing store. Thanks for looking Cheers Aaron

Should be possible to graft an existing two seater F-16 cockpit on to it? Like you, I have several "what ifs " in mind - including at least one two seater Allan

Another little update, progress over the past couple of days has been a bit slow, running to the hospital for blood tests with my lady back on chemotherapy... Thanks for the tip Clive, duly posted in the memory banks. OK, got the yellow TR warning band applied andnthe start of the decals, TR warning mand the serials, exhaust outlet cover plate and dots of white for the anit-collision lights. Stenciling next. I need to go back and airbrush the blades the hairy stick method was a bit of a failure! Colin

I think a 1:350 Ark IV in resin would cost an arm and a leg, plus a kidney or two, so it isn't going to happen. BUt we may be seeing an Ark III in 1:350 from Trumpeter if the latest aircraft sets are anything to go by. The only other company that might do it are Merit, so start badgering them.

next step

I will be announcing further details next week but as a tease and seeing that it is a reply to the original posters question. Late last year I purchased the toolings for the 1/72nd Airways Vacform Range of kits. We will be putting some of these into production later this year starting with the VC10 and Britannia. Without wishing to hijack the thread any further I will post more details in our traders section in the next few days along with our other 2015 releases.