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I've finally finished this one after leaving it almost finished for the last half a year... got a bit burnt out with stripey winged aircraft. It's the last of a group of four 1956 HMS Eagle aircraft I've been working on for a while now. The Wyvern looks like it's in the wrong scale next to the Sea Venom and Sea Hawk though, it almost makes that lump of a Skyraider look dainty! It's the Trumpeter kit... I thought it was ok, but a bit boring to make. The rivet detail isn't so bad under paint, but the rest of the detail is quite clunky and toy like in places. I much preferred their Sea Hawk. I also used the CMK wingfolds and wheels- the kit really needs the detail these provide, and they fit great. The other aircraft are the Aeroclub Sea Venom, Trumpeter Sea Hawk, and a mix of Tamiya and ESCI Skyraider

Hi Guys here is my latest which is built from a test shot of the kit which should appear soon from HK models. I had no decals or instructions to begin with but have added Airscale instrument decals and an MDC Sutton Harness. The markings are from various Xrtadecal sheets and parts stolen from a Revell decal sheet where I got the stencils. I have only published one image as this is for a magazine Model Airplane International . Hope that you like here? John

Hi All,yes it is,we,ve already had a brace of these kit,s posted every one first class and in the case of this night fighter scheme a few different methods of breaking up the plain black scheme,I sprayed the airframe NATO black maskoled the panels,then sprayed humbrol acrylic black,once dried the maskol was removed and a very very light misting of the humbrol black applied.I then glossed for the decals and added a thin sky gray wash which looks better in natural light to the few panel lines and rivets. I make no apologies for saying that in my humble opinion this is the best Airfix 1/72 release since their "re-birth" under Hornby,go out and grab one now you will not be disappointed!

Thanks for watching

Horst Carganico's aircraft as interpreted by Kagero's Topcolours. Completed this a couple of months ago. OOB - Thanks for looking, Happy modelling all. Ian

The Mitsubishi A5M Claude is best known as the predecessor of the A6M Zero, but it was a very capable plane in its own right. I've always liked its looks, especially the curves of the rear fuselage are a thing of beauty. I picked up the Nichimo kit for a few quid while on holiday in Japan a few years back. I had never seen it before, and it was being rereleased at that time. It's an old kit, but it has some modern features. The flaps are separately molded, and the kit has recessed panel lines. Fit is ok, I needed some filler in the usual areas at the wing roots and rear wing to fuselage joint. Quite a few of the parts had extensive mold lines and flash, this was particularly an issue on the propeller, which was left a bit thin after all the carving I had to do on it. The main challenge on the kit was the windshield; it had a lot of flash, and after cleaning it I realized some of the flash wasn't in fact flash - this left a huge gap between windscreen and forward fuselage, which required filling. I used white primer, followed by red on the tail and locations of the hinomarus, subsequently masking those off, resulting in nicely sprayed markings in those areas. However, I forgot to do the hinomarus on the fuselage, and used the decals for those, which luckily had a similar shade of red. The rest of the kit was sprayed with Games Workshop Runefang Steel, which is my favorite NMF paint now; it hardens very quickly and doesn't pick up finger prints. I gave it wash with some dark grey water colors. All in all a relatively easy build, and one that looks pretty good next to much more modern kits.

Hello all. After all the encouraging words I received after my first post, the Monogram Kingfisher, I present you the Tamiya 1/48 Thunderjet. This kit is a dream to build. The decals used are from Hi-decal. These are the worst I ever used! Each and every decal cracked in at least 3 pieces and they don't react to decal setting at all. And I used Daco strong!! Anyway, I really enjoyed the build and this was my first model painted with Alclad paints. Weathering was done with Mig Productions dark wash and some Abteilung oil paints. I hope you like the photo's. Comments are allways welcome. René

This is what I've been working on recently; should appear in SAMI in a couple of months. Firefly FR.5 of 703 Sqn FAA, HMS Daedalus, 1949:

I want to present you a pair of models from the Japanese series — the plane for submarines M6A1 /-K from Tamiya. Made models simultaneously some years back. Is painted with paint from aerosol automobile paints. M6A1 Seiran

Hi all I've not built a model aircraft for a couple of years now, but just after Christmas I had a massive urge to build a Lightning. So, following a visit to my local model shop, I came home with the Airfix F.2A/ F.6 kit. The kit itself was lovely to build, not many issues with it at all, this is the result: While I was building the Lightning, I remembered I also had an Airfix Buccaneer which had been sat on the shelf of doom for well over 5 years! This was recovered from the shelf and also finished off: This kit had already been built and sanded, so just needed finishing off. The decals behaved really well, even though some are out of register. The Sea Eagles were missing from the kit, but due to the kindness of Caerbannog, 2 replacements were received and fitted. Next build was the HobbyBoss Hawk T.1A, which I spotted in the local model shop. This was a beautiful kit to build, with hardly any filler required anywhere. The inclusion of etch seat belts really helps the cockpit come to life. There are extra wing fences on the wings, but these were easily removed. Here is the completed build: Next on the list is a Hasegawa 1/48 Harrier Gr.7. Any comments/ constructive criticism more than welcome, thanks for looking Antony

M6A1-K Nanzan

Hi all, Normally I build in 1/144 scale so doing something in 48 scale is like normal people doing something in 1/16th!!!! This one is OOB with the exception of an OWL SN2 resin radar aerial set for the Ju88. - It's a 'what if' - if they had of gone into service they would have troubled even the mighty mossie..... Thanks for looking .... she is just about done. Happy Modelling all, Ian

BASE FLIGHT NAVAL AIR STATION "WHIDBY ISLAND" WASHINGTON STATE INSIDE THE NUMBER 3 " EXTRA LONG FUEL RANGE TANK. ORION.

Build topic here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234977589-dutch-tbm-3w-avenger-warner-aew-conversion-trumpeter-132/

Well, it's finally off the workbench...well dining room table actually! A thoroughly enjoyable build that you can see HERE for some tips and pointers if you're looking to build one. This particular aircraft served with 100 Sqn in 1950 on detachment from Waddington to RAF Tengah in Singapore along side Lincolns of the RAAF where they flew bombing missions as part of the anti-communist operations during the Malayan Emergency. It was flown by Squadron Leader Danny O'Brien and was inspired by the profile drawing on the inside front cover of the Lincoln Warpaint publication. The picture on the left above is the actual aircraft, the one on the right is a sister aircraft operating along side it. The kit is the excellent Lincoln resin conversion that was released last year by Blackbird Models. The quality is excellent. A couple of omissions are the correct rear turret shape and later larger H2S dome, but Glenn is looking to get these produced. Big thanks to the following people for helping out on decals: Perdu (Bill) who did the superb 'The Burra Hornet' text & flag for the nose art Tony OT who sent me a spare 100Sqn logo for the nose and lots of photo's for Lincoln inspiration Ed Russell who sent me lots of info about the Lincoln stencilling, although in the end I chickened out of making some! John Aero for clarifying the rear end modifications made to the Lincoln from the Lancaster & Hacker for posting the profile drawings As always, I feel the finished article is a collaborative effort, learned lots along the way Learstang (Jason), going to sit back now and wait expectedly to see some of your Avro heavies appearing here soon It was painted using Tamiya MS Grey & Rubber black. Decals were a mix of Blackbird roundels, Model Decal generic lettering, bespoke nose art & bits from the spares box. Enough waffling, here's the pictures... Thanks for looking Neil

This project arose while talking with a friend about the possibility of making a small plane would look like a real one (like on films) with the right weathering and photography. And this is the result is this: a Su-34 trumpeter with huge panel lines that i hid with lights and shadows. I cut flaps and canards to leave them in flight position Painted with humbrol enamels. Orlando.

The Curtiss Hawk 75 was developed as a private venture by the Curtiss factory in the early 1930s. A number of versions with different engines and armaments were produced for different countries. By September 1939 the Dutch government had speeded up the modernization of its air force and ordered the Hawk 75A-7, which was equipped with the Wright-Cyclone R1820 1200hp engine. After the fall of The Netherlands, the planes were rerouted to the Dutch East Indies. The Hawks engaged Japanese invaders from December 1941 but were withdrawn from service in February 1942 due to engine issues. However, its more famous descendant, the P-40, served with much distinction in the Indies during and after the war. Since I’m on something of a Pacific Air War modeling spree, the P-36 / Hawk 75 has been on my list for some time. I’ve had the DB/Airwaves conversion nose in my stash for over 20 years, and I was always impressed by the quality of the part; it’s nicely detailed with recessed panel lines and flawless casting. The Revell/Monogram kit to be used for this conversion represents an A-4 and it’s old… raised panel lines, little interior detail, few parts. However, what’s there, is pretty good. Fit is decent and the transparencies are very clear. Installing the nose was a relatively simple job, but for some reason I misread the instructions, ignored common sense and used 2-component glue instead of CA to mate the new engine to the fuselage. This resulted in endless cycles of filling, sanding and priming. In the end I gouged out the 2-component glue and refilled with CA. I never did get the join quite right, but only I will notice (I hope). One issue caused by the nose job was that it removed the front on the cockpit. This resulted in a less than optimal mating surface for the windscreen, so this required some cutting, filling and blending. In turn, the sliding part of the canopy would not fit in the closed position, so I left it open. I added a QuickBoost gunsight and some tape seatbelts to spruce up the cockpit a bit. Since the nose has recessed panel lines, I decided to rescribe the entire kit. This was quite easy as there are only one or two curved panel lines, the rest are on flat surfaces. Even for me this was a relatively easy job – I’m useless at rescribing! Apart from the nose job, some other minor conversions were required. The Dutch planes only had the inner wing guns, so I removed the outer ones and the shell ejection chutes. Then I removed the inner ones as well as they are quite crude – and replaced them with Albion Alloys tubing. Same for the pitot tube. The propeller hub needed replacing as well as it’s the wrong shape. I cut off the original and replaced it with a reshaped piece of sprue. Finally, the Dutch planes had the lower portion of the gear doors removed, so this required some cutting and carving of the original parts. Painting was done with a layer of Tamiya fine primer followed by two coats of Games Workshop Runefang Steel, my NMF color of choice at the moment. It dries quickly and hardens very well, it’s easy to mask and does not pick up any nasty finger prints. The ailerons and elevators were sprayed in the same color with some grey mixed in to give a slightly faded look. Decals are from FlevoDecals ML-KNIL set 72012, which went down very well, as usual with decals from this manufacturer. I really like their sets, being a Dutch guy they are really indispensable to building my collection. I’m very happy with the final result; it’s a good-looking plane, and I’m very happy to have finally done this conversion, which has languished on the shelf for so long.

finished my first one today as well...still haven't got any decent pics of it though unfortunately (camera phone and dusk)..finish was Humbrol 33 with a misting of schwarzgrau 66 and light grey and then more black 'post-shaded' ..that probably needs toning down a little too...now to do the BoB scheme ..but was the turret/turret framing black on that one too? thanks to Stew and Steve for ideas and inspiration!

In progress topic, here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234977693-iar-81c-azurfrrom/

MPM kit recently finished for the P-40 GB where more pics can be viewed in the Gallery. And here for the build: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234977159-merlin-engined-p-40/ But for now and my third and final entry. I think the 'Skipper' name may have been on both sides of the nose. But the ecals I used only provided the one. An interesting build of an earlyish MPM kit.

Training version of ugly Su-15. Ukrainian Air Forces in early 90's. Trumpeter kit with Eduard's Brassin ejection seats and resin nose cone.

Hello All, Dragon's nice little SU100 Out of the box including decals for the 17 Mechanised Corps Hungary January 1945. Happy Modelling all Ian

I may still add a Whirlwind at some point- someone very kindly sent me some great photos, but it's not an easy one to get hold of at a sensible price. And to be honest I've got a bit tired of this project, so no diorama to tie it all together either... maybe later. So for now I'm calling this done:

I managed to get some paint on last night. I'm using the mid section as a test for how I'm going to finish the rest of it. I decided to go with a black base and build the grey tone up from there. Primed and undercoated in one with Tamiya NATO Black The grey was built up with thin coats of Tamiya XF-83 Medium Sea Grey leaving some of the black as a pre shade. I added a bit of Gunze H21 Off White to the grey and sprayed a few highlights and streaks The parts were then given a dry brush with a pale grey mixed from Vallejo after which the final assembly was done I've still got the various cables and hoses to add. I'm not sure about adding a pin wash yet. There's a lot of fine detail and a wash might over accentuate it. I might just do some tonal shading with oils. I'll let this sit for a bit while I carry on with the rest of the kit. I've also got to decide on the setting for the base which will affect the route I go with the weathering. Although this is technically based on the ROTJ walker I've been toying with doing a snow base. Either way I won't be using the kit base as I want something a little bigger. Andy

Found the old pics of a build I did a few years back, thought I'd share it with you guys Basically when I got back into modelling around 6-7 years ago and first started using an airbrush and using a lot of the more advanced techniques I'd seen in a lot of modelling forums, I bought this kit as the F-22 is my favourite Jet. I used to love making jet planes as a kid, however after most of the building was done I was getting a little sick of it, especially as I had far more interesting models (mechs!) waiting to be done and it sat on the bench for a couple of years. While putting together a mech dio I was looking around for decals and happened to see some evangelion ones and BAM I just had a flash of inspiration to do the jet in a Unit 1 colour scheme. This build was far from perfect and there were a few niggles along the way, but overall I'm really happy with it, especially as I was so pleased with the aftermarket cockpit I bought from Legend and the paint job I did, so glad it didn't all go to waste as a half built dust magnet! And now it still sits proudly on my shelf to this day. Any comments and questions are welcome Raptor7 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor1 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor5 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor10 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor4 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor9 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor6 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor8 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Raptor3 by Nick Frost, on Flickr Hope I put this in the right place, I assumed the Evangelion paint job invalidated it for the standard plane forum

Hi, here is a build of mine, from the past. Not from my stoneage but quite old, done in the 2000-2002 time frame. If you build the Italeri offering of this well known type, you can do what ever you want, it won t look like a Ju 88 build from the box. That kit was probably the first time, that i noticed, a bad looking kit is not only my fault. While the wave pattern, sprayed free hand on,was quite good, i decided to make some changes, to bring it more to the real thing. -the nose cone got some strokes with a sanding stick -The props were shortened to achieve the look of the massive wooden propellers (the two this engine nacelles are way to slim, so undersized props are not to bad) -the undercarriage is way to long, i cut of most of the oleo strut and the tires lost some air pressure -the brooms protruding out of the canopy were cut back, the simulate the look of the MG 81 – The canopy was polished and got a layer of clear The L1 code of KG 26 should be the small one, may i change this in the future. The rebuild and the pix were done in fall 2014. Could be a Ju 88 ? I hope you like this oldtimer Cheers Bernd

Build topic here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234977599-luftwaffe-t-33a-5lo-czech-model-132/

Here's my entry. Not the latest boxing of Heller's 4CV police version. The decals need a bit of sunlight but otherwise it's like new.

More from Avalon, this time those big 'n' slow things... again in fairly cruddy lighting conditions Visiting JASDF KC-767 departing KC-767 depart by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr RAAF E-7 Wedgetail E-7 Wedgetail by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr RAAF C-17 Touchdown C17 Touchdown by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr And locking some brakes C-17 brake smoke by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr RAAF KC-30 with 3x F/a-18F's Rhinos on the tanker by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr RAAF P-3C Orion with C-130's circling P-3C Orion with C-130's by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr RAAF C-130J on finals C-130 Approach by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr ConAir RJ85 Water drop RJ85 Water Drop by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr Coulson C-130Q prop swirls C-130Q Prop swirls by Graham Mahoney, on Flickr

Hello Folks. This is my attempt at Frogs old F6 kit which I I understand is a good reprenstation of a Lightning, which I think is correct. A big thanks must go to a fellow BM'er for supplying a spare cockpit to finish the model as I threw mine away, idiot that I am!, you know who you are and as promised here it is. This model, being old had heavy raised panel lines which were all removed and re-scribed, some of which is a little heavy but I am still getting to grips with scribing, also, the Red Tops were very clunky in appearance so I scratchbuilt two new ones, altered the refuelling probe and added a couple of hoses to the main U/C, that was the limit of alteration. It is sprayed in various Alclad coats and is my first attempt with these, they are lovely to spray but unbelievably delicate, there are many marks and scratches visible, so many fingerprints had to be removed, leeson learned. The kit decals are old and some fell apart and did not sit well, it was like fitting carpet tiles, they seemed that thick, I also used an Xtradecal sheet to enhance the model which were a dream to set. This kit was only ever an excercise in model making and there are many little detail issues that are wrong but I am not too worried. I had an airbrush disaster while doing the yellow cockpit trim so it does not look to clever but managed to save it. I got carried away with my panel lines but I am pleased with the end result. Hope you like it and thanks for looking.

Hello! Since the SWMBO is stalling all my attempts to get something done on the 1/24 Typhoon, i decided to post an older model here in RFI, just to show that i'm still alive. So, here we have the prototype for the B zerstörer series, M14 or RP+UQ Model from Tamiya, some etch in the cockpit from Eduard, Quickboost exhausts and CMK Wheels. Enjoy! Painted with Gunze acrylics, and some slight weathering here and there. Thanks for watching! //Christer

Hi Beard, nice to see you mate Yes I've had cause to call upon Airfix's Spares Department a couple of times (once my fault, once theirs) and was greatly impressed with them; for this though I won't - I appreciate it would drive some people demented to see it, but I didn't even notice that bubble until I was preparing to stick the canopy on (for the record and in my defence, it is tiny) so I feel I ought to be able to ignore it from now on rather than lose my momentum right before a Group Build is about to begin by stopping here to wait for a replacement I Can get by without Cheers, Stew

Slightly OT, so apologies, but I was in the Airfix concession at Haughton Hall today on my way south. I acquired a IVF for a fiver! Marked as part missing, all I can find missing from the box is Stew's skill to build it!

hehe, thanks Dylan...you can blame me if you want And I was quite gratified to read your comment Jockster!...thanks for that buddy! Got alot done this weekend, the weather is terrible here, blizzard...but as long as the power doesn't go off, thats fine with me. hehe ... guess I left these parts sitting around too long...a spider decided to inspect my work close up. Bow deck photoetch installed: Just have to add 4 pillars into this part, and then ready (I think) to install the 3 deck pieces onto the hull. Thanks for looking and comments are always welcome! -Tim

I've been thinking very hard about the front section. lately and I still can't commit to an idea. I am seriously thinking a few large antennas/prongs might be the way to go, but because I have no way other than simplistic drawings to use as a visual aide, it's hard for me to set in concrete. or glue as the case may be. It won't look anything like the screen ship if I do this and I'm sure it'll peeve off a few hardcore SBY fans too - not that that is a major hurdle if I think about it. I shall ponder even longer - although I had better shift up a few gears if I am to finish this in the allotted time! Here is where I am at currently. The machinery walls have been glued in place and so have the grills. I am quite happy with how they've turned out. The rear ones have been made and the first coat of paint has been applied. I just returned from Jcar electronics and picked up a suitable plug and socket to allow me to join the 2 halves of the ship together (front and back) and I will wire those in today/tonight. I have yet to make a solid start on the machinery in the main central intakes but I hope to kick that off soon. Once that's done, I can finish of the internal electrics (which fortunately will be kept very simple - just like me) and I'll try to finish off the engines tonight as well. Once that's all done, I'll start work on the exterior and then the bridge. I am going to use Doro-what's his name's bridge idea and create an actual bridge. I have some 1/700 figures around somewhere. Well, that's it for now. Once I've some something worth taking pics of, I shall update again Thanks for looking MH

last update for the weekend. Oh what frivolity and jollity can be had with this kit! I finally got to the point where I had enough confidence in the structure (i.e. got fed up filling and sanding!) to glue on the cable covers Then it was back to the tail. I gave the spine and the tail front edge a micromesh to try and round everything off nicely. There was a minor amount of re-scribing but nothing too drastic. The hardest part was creating the mesh covers at the top of the tail pylon. I used the same mesh I got for the engine covers on the Dauphin - a quick blast with my micro torch to anneal the brass then it was down to cutting and shaping. It was a fiddly job but I got there in the end. The mesh was fixed in place using 5 minute epoxy glue. Once it's fully cured I can take a quick file around the edges to tidy up any errant bits of wire etc. It looks pretty horrible under macro conditions but in real life it odes look a little better - still needs a tidy up though. This panel on the front of the pylon was the most awkward. I had filed off the front end of the pylon to bring it into line with the spine - of course, that removed the original recess, so I had to cut another one. Actually mine was better than the molded in version - that's what needed the filler. I can't put the top panel on until I fit the tail rotor, and I know if I fit it now, then I WILL break it in the very near future, so that's being left for a while yet. Then it was time to get serious with the tail pylon.... on went the kit PE parts without too much of a fight - thanks to the pre-work I had done over the last week or two. (note: I remembered to remove the top ribs on the IFF aerial) Next, it was the turn of the grab handles - sorry for the out of focus shot Then it was back to making more soddin' handles - this time the ones that fit over the cable covers. This was my newly patented method of ensuring that both handles were fitted with the same gap relative to the cable cover - the same method will be used when fitting the port grab handles over the emergency exit windows. Before I forgot about it - I made a small filler cap to cover up the hole I drilled when fitting the instrument panel. It consists of a small punch disc glued over the hole, then a slightly larger piece of runner sliced with the razor saw providing the cap itself. You can see that I also made an effort to tidy up the monstrosity that is the reinforced paneling around the base of the windscreen. It needs a bit more work, but I'll wait until i get the windscreen fitted in position first. Then lastly for the weekend, I tried the beetleback in place..... it's just a horrible piece of molding and I still haven't figured out what I am going to do with it yet.... The Gallery H34 beetleback looks to be much better, but I really don't want to spend $40+ just for one part - and that assumes that Gallery's 1/48 is the same as Italeri's 1/48 and they both started with something approaching the same aircraft. Ah.... such are the joys of modeling! There are still a few bits and bobs, gizzits and doobries to be fitted on the fuselage yet, so don't worry.... paint is still a good few days, weeks, months while away yet!

15/3 update: Engine has been fitted to the aircraft. Fit is amazing, all exhaust pipes line up pefectly and the last exhausts that are fitted just glide into the openings alongside the other exhausts. The exhaust stains are built up using Vallejo smoke, Tamiya smoke and Mig black smoke pigments. The main wheels have been fitted. The tailfin has been dry fitted for now and the "Big Hog" moniker has been applied: Quite chuffed so far,

British Phantom FGR.2. Hasegawa kit. -Aires cockpit and exhausts -Aires wheels -Xtradecal

Just finished the Revell 1/48 Ventura. Really enjoyed the kit gave me no headaches at all. It's done in the markings of a Canadian GR.V from No.8 (BR) Squadron from the Operation Polar Bear era. Decals were from Aviaeology set 3. Painted with Vallejo Offwhite, I really liked this paint. And camo was Xtracrylics. I tried to pick some panels out in normal white, but not sure if that looks right now. I somehow managed to get primer splashed up the inside of the canopy so I've not shown that side.

Last week Bernd suggested the following: I thought it sounded like a good idea so - Dragon 1/72 on the left and Airfix 1/76 on the right: I have to say the size difference was slightly bigger than I expected. Having said that, comparing the two, I was still quite pleased with the results of my efforts to upgrade the Airfix version. The WIP for the Airfix Tiger can be found here if anyone is interested: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971585-airfix-176-tiger-i-yeah-that-old-one-upgraded-a-bit-update-291214/ Please note that out of the box the Airfix Tiger 1 does not have the same amount of detail as seen in the photos above. The stuff I added can be seen by following the link above. Hope that's helpful Bernd. Kind regards, Stix

Hello All, Here's my "in progress" pile: Given the interest in the Privateer, it was the first one out of the gate when I got back to my modelling bench. The kit provides a very deep lattice to represent the framing of the undercarriage bay. I cut it back a lot to give the wheel a space to retract into, which improves the realism quite a bit: I added some finishing/fictitious touches to the fueslage before painting. Someone used the term "imagineering" and I think that sums it up. Chunks of solder have been PVA'd in to help with the balance problem. For some reason two years ago. I used cardboard for the nose wheel well bulkheads and top, so I carried on using a box flap for the sides, detailed with plastic strip: The fire extinguishers are made from sprue offcuts to add a bit of interest: Here's a closer view of the cockpit and nose area: Well, this seems to be back on track now. I will add the observation seats and close it up, because I don't think you will see much more, even through the big windows. Thanks for looking, Adrian

G'day people, A little more progress today. Having completed the left engine, the engine assembly was installed into its bay and some additional wiring was added to busy up the engine bay, Satisfied, the left engine bay assembly was installed into the left fuselage The lower engine access panels double as work platforms on the real jet, and they feature a small box like structure which is missing from the kit parts. I knocked up a representation using some plastic card Meanwhile the engine air intakes have been fitted [/url] cheers, Pappy

I was able to find some time (and some Jeff Wayne) to do a little assembly tonight: The plastic is soft and creates a lot of burrs, but it seems to clean up OK with extra-thin. For wargamey kits these are nice - decent detail and good fit, plus lots of options to choose from. These are two Mark II Steam Tanks (the vanilla US tank) versus one assault tripod with heat ray projector. To give you a sense of scale the tripod's base is 80mm in diameter. Cheers, Will

Lovely work EXFAA...I've had one of these in a fully stalled position for the last four years sadly but one thing I noticed with the Alleycat set that I just had to correct were the odd mouldings just ahead of the upper boom fairings I just couldn't find any photos of this area being anything other than dead flat so sanded mine off and smoothed the area flat. I know it's an early FAW 1 but the area wasn't changed any. FAW 1 at Flixton, (for reference only) I sanded the area smooth as per photos, really must finish it one day !

Hi Shan, Gunze acrylics RLM 75 thinned with lacquer thinners and lightened with a little gunze acrylic off white as the base coat. The squiggle pattern is gunze acrylic RLM 76 thinned with lacquer thinners to a rough skim milk consistency. This was shot through an Aztek A470 tan tip airbrush at about 12PSI. I admit it took 4 goes to get it right so there was some colourful language each time I got splodges, spider legs, or a little dose of the runs. I really wanted to push the envelope of what a) I could do and b, what the aztek airbrush is theoretically capable of doing. The pattern is just a lot of tight "s" and figure 8's. Here are a couple of close ups. Hope this helps - Ian

White is a swine but it is possible with care and good technique, always in thin layers built up and resist the temptation to take the brush back and forwards over the surface, As for insulting brush painters I think that is rather unsporting and not at all helpful to the spirit of the hobby. I am a brush painter by choice despite being a professionaly trained user of airbrushes. The brush requires patience skill and control that the airbrush does not. The airbrush is used because it makes results easier and requiring of less skill and control and more of a mechanical and straightforward if laborious process (I always hated all the masking just to get straight lines which I could do in seconds with a good signwriting brush). There is no doubt that if you want the most perfectly smooth surface finish without having to work very hard at it then airbrush is the way to go. If it is the hands-on enjoyment of slathering paint onto a model without having to plan everything out on the basis of what needs to be masked off and painted in what order then have at it with the old hairy stick.

Glad I could help! And the markings are done All that's left to do is mask and spray the trim tabs red and then it's ready to gloss for stencil decals and washes

Hi, Perhaps the biggest secondliner so far on mine shelves: Curtiss C-46 Commando. Model is made from Williams Brothers kit. Markings (nose arts are hand painted) are presenting machine which survived the war, was used in Pacific area and is now on display in Pima museum in US. I was searching for some interesting markings and was not successfull with this some years ago, when I was making this model. Just from curiosity I started to search in web yesterday and found very interesting set of photos of C46 from Burma, 1944-45, with yellow strip going across all windows, probably with red nose and many different nose arts. I made a post about in in WWII forum - the llink is there. Perhaps one day I will re-paint mine C46 to those markings. I am so impressed about it... So far - she looks like this: Comments welcome Cheers Jerzy-Wojtek

Thanks everyone for your interest. Angstrom, I didn't know about those, but I think I will opt for a more anonymous working chopper. I have been following 'intruder 500' 's work over at Z5, but I didn't want to post a competing thread. The work on the donk continues. The KH engine is quite nicely detailed straight from the box but I wanted a 'busier' looking donk. The KH engine bay, the engine core consists of 4 assemblies; The bay itself which is already assembled, the engine core, a particle air separator and an plumbing line of some sort. The engine core was detailed with the addition of some bits of wire and leftover PE. My philosophy is not to replicate every nut and wire, but to give an impression of the details (based upon references) whilst not going overboard. Everything was now given a basic colour coat Detail painting ensued and I ended up with this: cheers, Pappy

Hi, Back to my secondliners. There are some of them not posted yet. Let start from Lockheed L12 "Baby Electra" (or rather just "Electra" or "Electra Junior"). This was a small transport machine, in size of Beech 18, but not so much successfull in production range. The injection kit - a very nice short run came some years ago from Special Hobby. The decal versions produced by SH are from UK (regular RAF and "civil" use in fact as spy), US and Netherlands East India (with turret!). I wanted to to some other, not supported by SH variant of markings. I have chosen markings of Netherlands AF on excile - in Australia. This presented machine is L2-100, and she belong to 120 Sq. Royal Netherland Air Forces, Australia, during 1942-45. She was used as command airplane, as far as I know it. Here she is: Comments welcome - thank you for watching Regrads Jerzy-Wojtek