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Showing content with the highest reputation on 15/11/15 in Posts

  1. Good morning to all! finally, I'm glad to present my last work: an israeli Tzukit! The #501 was the firts Magister upgraded to Tzukit standard in 1982. Base kit is the Kinetic with Wingman conversion set & resin wheels. I add some scratch-builded details (like the air conditioned vent on top of fusoleage) to complete the israeli changes. Colors used: for the white, Gunze Mr.Base White 1000. For the International Orange, a mix of Xtracolor 103 & 104. Hope you enjoy. Cheers frome Rome, Italy! Magister 96 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 85 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 91 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 92 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 88 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 86 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 98 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 97 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 95 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 94 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 93 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 90 by valerio, su Flickr Magister 89 by valerio, su Flickr
    27 points
  2. Hiya Folks, Here is the new Revell Halifax Mk.III with Aeroclub metal propellers and with a few slight modifications including the reduction in the size of the engine cowling openings using plastic card, the clear nose cone was sanded from the inside to remove the unsightly mould marks with a Coastal Craft white metal Vickers K Gun replacing the kits large .5 Browning, the small kit wheels were replaced by a set of Airfix Lancaster wheels, some plastic rod was used to replicate framework below the canopy of the Air Engineers station and after losing the trim weights on the ailerons umpteen times I made a more robust set from metal wire with a blob of Clear Fix on the end. If anybody is interested here is the Work in Progress; http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234990192-new-172nd-revell-halifax-mkiii-nearly-done/?p=2132101D The subject of this model is Halifax Mk.III, MZ500 `Bambi' which was flown by Dutchman Vic Wijnberg and his crew from RAF Leconfield in Yorkshire with 640 Sqn. Originally coded C8-N, following flak damage caused in a raid on L`Hey in August 1944 it received repairs following which it was re coded C8-L as seen on this model. The ventral Preston-Green gun fairing mounting a single .5 Browning machine gun was originally fitted and remained in place for its first few missions following repairs but it was replaced by a H2S radar scanner fairing in mid September 1944, so the model portrays how this aircraft probably looked during the first half of September 1944. The decals for the nose art came from Dutch Decals but the yellow chequered tail markings and yellow outlined codes `C8' came from Xtradecal but after the intended yellow edged` L' from RAFDecal inexplicably disintegrated in the water (every other sheet that I have used has been fantastic!) the `L' was instead made up from a Modeldecal red L with scrap decal yellow edging! Anyway enough blurb,.....here is the model, I hope that there are not too many pics for you to wade through!; So thats the Revell Halibag Mk.III,.......it still has its faults but it is a much better prospect than the Merlin engined versions from the same manufacturer and I have two more in stock to get to grips with soon,......so it definitely has my vote! I also meant to say, for anybody wanting to know more about 640 Sqn Bill Norman`s book "Halifax Squadron- The Wartime Bombing Operations of 640 Squadron, Leconfield" (isbn 0-9547325-1-0) is the place to go and thanks to Norman for his help with this model. Here is the page of his book dealing with MZ500; Cheers Tony
    25 points
  3. Latest of the bench is the Airfix B2 in 1/48. In the markings of 149 Squadron, Germany, 1956. I picked this kit up for £2 at a Hornby sale.....bargain or what?? Markings are from a Xtra decal sheet. Totally out of the box. Hope you like. Please feel free to comment. Thanks for looking. Dick ​ ​ ​ ​
    23 points
  4. Morning all, WR963 was finished at 1.30AM on Saturday 7th November, with just a few hours to spare before the Telford show. I awoke at half six in the morning to scratch build some new bomb bay jacks and create a packing case ready for the show. Horrible weather in traffic ensued, but we made it with the Shackleton safe and sound to display her on the Coastal command table, with thanks to Tom W. My apologies for the RFI being a week late, but it's taken a week to get decent enough light for the final photos. Thanks for looking, I hope some of you got the chance to see her at Telford. I may have her at Cosford and hopefully Telford alongside an RAF B-24 next year. With thanks to the guys and gals who look after the real WR963 for providing the info on where to cut the bomb doors, without out further ado; Cheers, WV908
    22 points
  5. Hi everyone Something new (old) by me, finally took some time to take photos... It is a Tamiya 1:48 + CMK bomb bay and a quikboost seat. The decals are Two Bobs Kosovo Nighthawks... or something like that. Here are some pics: For more pictures, please check my blog: http://militaryaviation148.blogspot.si/ Thanks for looking in.
    21 points
  6. Hi, after many years I build only in 1:48 scale, here my first kit in 1:72. I choose the new and nice Swift FR.5 Kit by Airfix. Build it OOB. Here the result.
    20 points
  7. Hi folks just off the bench. sorry for the poor pictures as the weather is not conducive. I will take better shots later.....finished OOB paints are gunze and custom mixed. A great kit with wonderful fitting....only areas to watch for is the wings, the nose light .....and that's it I guess really nice to build a 1/32 kit after so long. Got one more to get done as a Thai of Indonesia bird happy modelling mr b
    18 points
  8. So here is Part 2 These photos show just some of the detail that I put into this project....couldn't get all the detail else there would be hundreds of photos!! Some of the photos were taken during the build as you will see........ Well that's it chaps!! My thanks for all the support I got from some of you when I was building this over the years...you don't know how much it helped! and thanks to all for looking in Until the next time and model................ Cheers Fozzy
    18 points
  9. Hello and thanks for your interest! This is my latest model, the 1/72 Airfix Hawker Typhoon, dressed as "F-3A 'Diane'", serial number MN716, flown by Pilot Officer R.G. Fox in November 1944. The model was built from the box, the only addition was photo-etch seatbelts from CMK. Decals are from the Aviaeology sheet "RCAF Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB 1944 to Bodenplatte" (https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AOD72008). The Squadrons covered are No 438, 439 and 440 Sqns during 1944 through to operation Bodenplatte. The series covers nine different subject aircraft including one car door version and eight bubble canopy versions. Aviaeology include an exclusive on the two sizes of the early “type B” upper wing roundels. Aviaelogy supply far more than your average aftermarket decal sheet, in fact it is a multi-page b/w booklet with background info and b/w pictures of some of the aircraft featured. A colour PDF version of the colour scheme is available for free though registering on the Aviaeology Web Site. The decals are of highest quality and perform flawlessly. However I did manage to break up the correct "F3" codes for this particular machine by mishandling them; I had to fall back to another "F3" code that has a slightly different font. I guess you would not have noticed unless you're an expert on 2.TAF aircraft (or you work for Aviaeology). Former squadron codes ("5V") were overpainted; I copied this by spraying the "5V" codes with dark grey through a paper mask before applying the "F3" codes over it. If you look closely, you will notice that the "F3" codes look brighter then the code letter "A" - this is intentional as I believe only the "5V/F3" code was changed. I tried to replicate the tatty appearance of the invasion stripes on the lower fuselage. The model was painted with Gunze acrylics. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel, IGM Cars & Bikes.
    16 points
  10. Despite already having an outing to Telford and many people seeing it with the paint still wet last week, I've finally got some daylight photo's taken of the finished build. N6086 was the first Stirling to bare that name following Lady MacRobert personally donating £25,000 to fund a bomber after tragically losing all three of her sons Alasdair, Roderic and Iain on flying duties... "It is my wish, as a mother, to reply in a way my sons would applaud - attack with great fire power, head on and hard. The amount of £25,000 is to buy a bomber aircraft to continue my son's work in the most effective way. This expresses my feelings on receiving notice about my sons … They would be happy that their mother would avenge them and help to attack the enemy. I, therefore, feel that an appropriate name for the bomber would be the MacRobert's Reply. The aircraft should also bear the MacRobert's coat of arms the family crest, a crossed fern leaf and an Indian rose. Let the bomber serve where there is the most need of her and may luck be with those who fly her. If I had 10 sons, I know they all would have done service for their country". No doubt that the shear size of the Stirling made it such a fitting representation of her determination to revenge her loss. Given the codes LS-F and formally named in October 1941, N6086 entered service with 15 Squadron as the first of two aircraft to be given this name. It's first of 12 operational missions was to Nuremberg with 7 other aircraft. Another notable raid that it took part in was on the 18th December 1941 when the squadron took part in an attack on the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst warships berthed in Brest. Following an attempt to attack the Tirpitz from a temporary base at Lossiemouth, bad weather caused the plan to be abandoned and the aircraft attempted to fly back to it's home base of Wyton on the 6th February. Unfortunately, the aircraft slid from the runway on take-off striking a Spitfire and ripping its wing off in the process. Whilst none of the Stirling crew were injured, the pilot of the Spitfure was tragically killed in the accident. I'm not going to go in to detail about the kit or the build (build thread here if interested), a more comprehensive and stunning undertaking has been written by our very own General Melchett who has made a much more thorough job of correcting the faults. It was painted using Mr Hobby H72 Dark Earth, Tamiya XF-82 Dark Green 2 and Tamiya Rubber black underneath. It was great to finally see it serve its primary mission of which was to serve along side many other Stirlings as the centre feature of the Bomber Command Sig display at Telford last weekend. A huge thanks for the interest along the way. With a house move in the middle and a million other things to do, I lost motivation several times, but it was the enthusiasm here that kept me going Anyway, hope you like the finished result... Thanks for looking Cheers Neil
    15 points
  11. My Latest Effort. Model 1:32, Ammo 1:1 Here he is with his older brother.
    15 points
  12. Good afternoon to you all! After over 2 years of heartache and over 2.13GB of information collected in photo form... I would like to present to you all my scratch built front end of a B17G! Why just the front end I hear you cry?...well I have always been fascinated with the "Fortress" ever since I was a young boy...in particular ,what was inside the fuselage!.I have been wanting to build a project like this for many years and thought about doing the entire aircraft!...but I wasn't sure if I could pull it off.....I mean this was going to be in 1:20 scale (a scale I like to scratch build in) The project would mean scratch building absolutely everything! .....and so I thought that maybe I should start with just the front end showing the Bombardier/Navigator section....the Cockpit right back to the Upper Turret before the Bomb compartment....and then if it turned out okay ..then maybe I would continue down the fuselage! The materials I used to build this B17G were Balsa wood/hard wood...plastic/wire/ paper/the aluminum from coca cola cans/and loads of other stuff I found useful in the kitchen waste bin!! It wasn't all plain sailing I have to say....many an hour was wasted re constructing parts that I just couldn't get right but with loads of patience I got there in the end! For those of you who are interested the entire build with all the blood,sweat and tears can be found on WIP A little information on the B17G 'Fuddy Duddy" I chose to build (info taken off an internet site http://www.johnweeks.com) Delivered to USAAF as 44-83563 on April 7th 1945. Fuddy Duddy was built too late to see action in WWII. She was retired in the mid-50's, and changed hands a few times until be purchased by Columbia Pictures in 1960. After a short movie career, Fuddy Duddy was converted to air tanker service. She flew as an air tanker until 1986, which she was acquired by the National Warplane Museum and converted back to her warbird look. The museum has continued to restore and improve Fuddy Duddy over the years, and she is one of the finest looking B-17s in the air today. I have made a makeshift base to display the model for taking photos...I will build a proper stand later! Quite a few photos so bare with me! Here are some photos of the overall model.....interior shots to follow! I will now have to post these photos as too many for one post (as you all know!!)....I'm gonna make a cuppa tea and then post the rest of them!!
    14 points
  13. G'day people, I wanted to build this scheme the moment that I saw it. The build is based on the venerable Hasegawa kit, which although recently eclipsed by Tamiya's offering still provides the basis for a respectable looking viper. I used some aftermarket PE as well as scratch building some small additions here and there. The WIP can be found here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991561-hasegawa-148-f-16a/ Now for the finished article cheers, Pappy
    14 points
  14. After having a bit of a fight in the closing furlong with decals I am happy to present my attempt at the new Revell Tornado IDS. Work in Progress http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234990425-revell-148-tornado-ids-luftwaffe/
    10 points
  15. The required information can be obtained in eighteen easy term, fixed rate, low monthly payments (APR variable) with a cash donation to a moustache hammock restoration fund of your choice.....just see Darling for details, he's quite adept at pumping people thoroughly for details..... Von Genschler...I thank you for the offer and the spirit in which it is offered but quite frankly I wouldn't lick a German if he were glazed in honey !
    9 points
  16. Evening folks. I have returned from my travels, nodded acknowledgement to my other half and completed the list of chores that t'other half had lined up for me in my absence. I even managed to put in a day at work this week as well. I decided that it was time to tackle a couple of things that I had been putting off - mainly 'cos I was scared of them.... the aerials! I had made a few abortive attempts at making them out of plastic before - none too successfully I might add. I then drew them up in SolidWorks and was about to order them from Shapeways when I though I might give them another bash. This time I opted to go down the brass route as I knew they were going to be fragile, and the lightest knock on plastic parts would likely deliver an ex-aerial and an impossible repair task.... therefore brass was the chosen way forwards. I started with some thin brass sheet, cut to a light taper. Thankfully a few weeks ago I bought some micro tubing, and the plan is to insert whatever I end up using for the aerial wires into the tube (sacrifices small animal here). The section of tube on the end was easy - solder a big chunk on then cut back to length. The two mid aerial protuberances were a tad more difficult as I was trying to prevent solder flowing down inside the tube and making it a rod instead. The great thing about solder is that (in most cases) you don't have to be too finicky as you can always dress it back with files and such. As you can see, this one is not very pretty at all However, with a little dressing.... It can end up looking reasonably acceptable - and still way better than the kit effort. Now the aerial needs a mounting - I took some more brass sheet, drill and pinned it so I have a good solid mounting point for the aerial, then soldered my previous almost-aerial onto it. When cleaned up, I filed around the base to create the mounting plate. In progress on the left and sorta almost finished on the right ... and a quick check to make sure it isn't too large, too small or too ugly - hey, this could work after all!! Then a quick clean out with a drill to make sure I still have actual tubes attached. Then primed, painted, and just waiting for a coat of protective stuff and they'll be good to go (I hope). Here you can see one of my earlier attempts with scrap plastic, along with one of the nasty nasty nasty kit parts. I am glad that is behind me - still got to fit them though... and add the wires... so there's still plenty of fun to be had further down the road. I also got the cabin step painted - that just needs a little bit of weathering and some protective gunge and it will be ready to fit, however, I'll leave it for a while before fitting as I am bound to try and lift the Wessi and squeeze the step into oblivion-ness. Now it was back to the fiddly stuff, though it certainly felt like I never left it behind. Fiddly ? What fiddly.... Brake lines of course! The Wessi has brake lines coming down behind the oleo swing arm and swooping around the bottom backup to a valve/union fixed to the root of the swing arm. My original attempt (stretched runner) broke off so I decided to go with some enameled black wire. The wire is a bit shiny so will be dirtied and grunged up a bit when the time comes. If you look hard you can just about see the valve in front of the swing arm. It's much easier to see in this shot of the port side. The valve will get secured to the root of the swing arm and I am using fine stainless steel wire for the brake lines down to the calipers. Fitting was actually a bit easier than anticipated. It will probably never be noticed but helps add to the overall Wessexness of the large lump of elegance that is the Wessex. Starboard side completed.... .. which then allows me to fit the tripod mounting for the Night Sun. This is really starting to get difficult to handle, though that does not prevent me from carrying out a few dry fits just to see how things look. Here be a trans deck door... The trans deck doors are supported by some "L" shaped pieces of wire. Holes are drilled into the trans deck it self and into the edge of the doors. It's very tempting to slap some glue on there and fix them in place and try and claim "progress" but with my pigs t*ts for fingers, it's just asking for trouble.... later.... later There is actually very little left to build on this epic adventure - it's more an assembly process now, but there is one last thing which has to be constructed before it can all start going together..... the Night Sun itself. I hummed and hawed between styrene and brass but ended up choosing the brass option, mainly because I can get a cleaner edge on the parts. However the styrene did come in useful as it allowed me to try different lengths to see which looked better. I did try scaling from reference photo's and what scant literature I could find on the t'interwebby on but in the end it's going to be done by eye - there's too many features out of place on the kit effort and trying to match everything up is an effort in futility. By eye it is then. The night sun bracket was a bit of a pain, but I am glad I chose the brass option - a bracket this small in styrene would never have lasted..... I probably wouldn't have broken eleventy six drills on styrene though. Once the holes were finally drilled it as an easy process to string a bit of wire through there, solder it up and then cut out part of the middle - leaving me a nice little mounting bracket with pivot points for the night sun. (after it's all cleaned up!). I would strongly suggest to all and sundry to run out and purchase a soldering iron for the tool box (if you don't already have one... obviously!). I am finding that it has come in extremely handy on numerous occasions - much more than I ever anticipated when I first planned on buying one. - and if I can get the hang of it, then anyone can! My plan A for the reflector started out well.... I forced some wine foil over the end of an old paint brush, then rotated the punch over the end. The result can be seen hanging off the end of the tweezers - easy peasy up to that point. However, that was where it all started going south.... trying to get the wine foil into the brass tube destroyed about 3 or 4 reflectors so I gave up on that method. Plan B was to stick some aluminum tape over the end of the brass tube, then push the end of the paint brush into it while rotating the brush... again quite successful up to this point. - When I filed off the excess tape then tried to push the concave reflector back into the tube it all went pear shaped. PlanC was the winner - that involved mixing up some epoxy putty, shoving it down inside the tube, then as it was drying - rotating/pushing the end of the brush into the putty as I did with the foil in the photo above. I now have a nice and solid concave surface inside the brass tube. Once the night sun is painted, I can throw some BMF down in there and hopefully make it look sorta reflector like before adding the glass cover. ooohhhhhhooooooohhhhhooooooooo... almost finished Then I decided to add some more (slightly out of focus) greeblies... I still have to figure out the best way to add the wiring for the night sun but that should be relatively straightforward after doing those brake lines - I'll just need to be very careful in order not to break the tripod, or any other sticky-outy bit of airframe. and last thing for this evening was to throw some primer over the night sun. - that showed up a few tiny bits that need reworked before final coat but all simple stuff and should be quick. When I primed the night sun I also primed the exhausts - I'm really not very happy with the exhausts - the kit parts aren't even round. I have considered ditching them and buying some seamless ones but I think I'll carry on and get them painted before making any final decisions. Oh... and look what arrived last week..... it's now in the stash..... and I ain't touching it ... FOR A LONG TIME!!!!!
    9 points
  17. Trumpeter 1/35. This has been the most enjoyable build so far in my short afv modelling career with lot's of lessons learnt to carry over onto the next project. The main one is to fill horrible glaring gaps... how did I miss them?
    8 points
  18. Hiya Folks, Here is my last update as the model is finally finished!!! The ventral gun position was made from a converted old Airfix Catalina turret, using the kits glider towing bracket as a gun mount with the kits .5 Browning nose gun in place upon it; It might be slightly too small but hey, I can live with it! Here is the finished model; I`ll sort out a RFI later. Thanks to everybody who followed this build and for your encouragement and help along the way,.....as always it means a lot! Cheers Tony
    8 points
  19. Hi all. This is very late arriving here I made this in December 2013 for my Dad's Christmas Present and I finished it in the small hours of Christmas Eve after working on it for a few weeks every day. A wonderful kit for the money a bargain and highly recommended to anyone wanting a nice big Spit. It has a few issues with the front canopy and rear fuselage for a MKVB I am told. This aircraft has always been special to our Family as my Dad had an Original of the painting of this aircraft coming out of a stormy sky. I had to got to Mel at Miracle Masks who made me the codes which you can't get in decal form having an odd font and size. Same goes for the serials which Pip Moss kindly made for me in decal form. Both performed wornderfully. I brush painted the Codes, spinner and band with revel aqua sky. The main colours are HU163,106,165 From a rattle can and Humbrol Matt varnish from a spray can. I added a metal foil mirror, Decal instrument gauges and used a citadel wash in the cockpit along with the wrong colour green... The decals where good but fragile so watch for that. Chalks where used for the weathering. All in all a great kit Cheers Rob
    7 points
  20. Hi everyone, Here is my latest attempt at the very old Airfix Vulcan. This particular aircraft is now residing at the IWM Duxford, just up the road from me. Build thread should be here if anyones interested: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975800-airfix-172-vulcan/ I wanted to build one with it's bomb bay open so the only option was to scratch build it which was a first for me at this level of complexity but I'm happy with the outcome. I also sanded off all the raised panel lines and rescribed... a very laborious job! I used the Freightdog 202 jet pipes and Fundekal decals set (beware, nose roundels provided in the set are to small in diameter). Painted with Xtracolor enamels and various bits of brass microtube, plasticard, lead wire, mv lenses and turned brass bits. Once again many thanks for all the technical help provided by various members, particularly that of Robvulcan's. Cheers gazza l Next to one I made many years ago.
    7 points
  21. Latest in a long of Spitfires. This time Revell's new Mk.II in 1/32 scale. Nice kit with decent fit most the time. Rotal prop and spinner lefover from a Hobby Boss kit. Finished in the markings of P8044 "EB-J" from 41 Sqn RAF Catterick in 1941 from Xtradecals sheet 32-054. Painted as usual with Xtracrylix and a brush. The Sky blue was RLM 65 much lightened a fair bit. I hope it's decent match
    7 points
  22. Same town, under new management. A quirky little vignette.
    7 points
  23. Hi Folks, Today I have been continuing to work on the left hand door. I got the glazing bars installed and started to clean off the surplus solder but during that this corner snapped: This and a bit of finger pressure was my setup for fixing it: More clean up and the middle rail broke so I fixed that: as well as the centre bar: I used the 188 deg C melting solder for the glazing bars BTW. After some more cleaning up I can present two finished basic frames Now for the grab handles, this was my setup for adding those using 0.3mm rod: I soldered them on using this 70 deg C melting whitemetal solder: Its slightly spooky stuff to work with but seams to give a strong enough joint. I used my power supply to turn down the voltage to 50% at which point the iron wouldn't get hot enough to melt the existing joints but easily melted this low temperature stuff: A little while later both handles were done: Now I just have to add the strap handles and these will be ready for some paint. Bye for now, Nigel
    7 points
  24. 15/11 update: Two tone camo applied to the fuselage along with the silver dope for the tail plane undersides. Matt varnish applied and fuselage codes applied, (wrinkles will disappear as they dry). Engine fitted and exhaust fitted: Next weekend the wings and its getting there (camo applied with my Harder and Steenbeek using the 0.4 needle. Getting to like this airbrush)
    7 points
  25. My last Revell build of the year.F15E with bombs in 1/144.Hope you like it!
    6 points
  26. And we're finished! The decals came from a variety of sources including squadron markings from an Azur Nid-62 kit. Despite being about 35 years old, the Heller kit is still very nice and it stands up well against some of the newer completion such as the Azur kit. Here's one I made earlier...
    6 points
  27. Due to overwelming response to the Gannet, it's given me the confidence to subject to lot to another one... Having real problems with photobucket at the moment!!!!!!
    6 points
  28. Thanks guys, I took lots of photos at Telford and amongst them was very pleased to make the acquaintance of Martin's space cat down there in the nice warm thyristor bay: Very well done on the medal placement. Sadly none of my models (except for bits of the Gazelle) made it to the show or competition. Ah well, there is always next year...
    6 points
  29. Hi every one....Fozzy the Newbie here!! I wanted to get involved with these brilliant forums so I thought I would post some pictures of my Stuka that I made last year.I usually scratch build all my models but I wanted to do something special with this large scale kit...hence the Cutaway finish!.It took me about 9 months to complete and I would appreciate feedback....good or bad The biggest problem I have at the moment is trying to download these photos!!!.....anyway here goes. Here is an overall view of the model
    5 points
  30. Hi everyone. She is finished, and what a kit she was. Kit is completely OOB as we have no aftermarket available yet, I plan to build more shacks, as I have 2 more of these and a Revell one due soon. I used Tamiya XF-2 for the white and a 50/50 mix of XF-82 ocean gray and XF-77 IJN gray with a couple of drops of X-4 blue to give it a hint of blue. I'm not a fan of using enamels and could not get hold of 44 pastel blue for the prop spinners so I mixed Tamiya X-14 sky blue with some white and used that as a substitute. Glossed in Tamiya X-22 clear and sealed in with X-35 semi gloss. I pretty much followed the build in the recent Airfix model magazine build of the kit. My grandfather spent 25+ years in the Raf as a trained pilot, but due to there being to many pilots in the 50s, he found himself as a signaler, he spent 10 of those years on Shackletons, and this aircraft I build here, WR966 he few on many times. His log book is linked below. WIP here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234990355-airfix-172-avro-shackleton-wip-finished/page-4 I finished this at midnight and took some snaps in the study, but the light doesn't give it much justice, I'll try and add some more photos in natural light in the morning, but these still look good. Hope you like it Added some more snaps today, brought a good size mirror to use as a display base and taking some photos.
    5 points
  31. Steady progress being made on assembling and painting all the bits and pieces 0.50cal Kit part modified with RB barrel and etch from Eduard When these guys went out they went loaded for Bear, amazing fire power for a boat only 32' long (9.8m) The PBR were made from fibreglass the exception being the capping gunwale which was aluminium, hence the wear/chipping shown. At present looking way to prominent but with weathering I hope will tone down. Thanks for looking in Kev
    5 points
  32. Morning all! So I've settled on the later ejection port layout - and here's the first side done. The link ejector position is, of course, "conveniently" sited over the filled slot for the Sabrina - so there's a bit of drilling and trimming through the CA and plastic, but hey-ho, it's no fun if it's not just a bit challenging is it! Brass tube is ised for one of the shell ports, and small bits of plastic card form the 'flat-T" shape for link ports. And now for the nose: To add the canopy slide slots, the rear fairing needs to be removed and reduced in width. This allows the rail slots to be added with a scribing tool, then a new sill is added from thin plasticard and the whole thing faired in with filler. At the same time the front of the cockpit where the windscreen goes is levelled out a tad too, and with everything taped together, some energetic sanding is gently applied in a loving fashion to give the nose the plastic equivalent of the Atkins Diet ( or perhaps Tommy Atkins Diet! groan) Removing the rear fairing also means a new top bulkhead can be made for the rear cockpit wall and attached to the tub, allowing the control run fairing to be added, and the whole cockpit will now have some extra detail applied - a darn site easier than trying to work with the split bulkhead. Working with the components taped is trickier than doing this when they are glued, but it does mean the sanding swarf has no chance to contaminate painted areas ( I find plastic dust and dark cockpits dont ever mix - there's always some ingress no matter how much you seal the cockpit, and its a sod to get out). Heres the initial results of the rough sand: To my eyes this all looks far more Hunter, than the (Billy) Bunter fat look before Your opinions are welcomed. cheers, Jonners Ops now suspended for a large Sunday lunch (alas vigorous sanding will not reduce my girth after this...)
    5 points
  33. Looking great Neil, like the mods you've done to get the legs in place safely and securely....was going to say 'nice legs' but have the reputation of the regiment to consider !
    5 points
  34. Mancunian airman A Manchester with two Merlins wouldn't have been a great aircraft simply on power alone. 2 Merlins produced 2x 1030hp or 2060hp total, less power than two Vultures at 1450hp each or 2900hp total. And that was after they were derated from 1750hp for a total 3500hp. The idea of the Vulture was sound, unfortunately WW2 meant time to work out the problems didn't exist so the four Merlin Manchester was born. And a good job too cos she's the best looking aeroplane ever. Not that I don't like the Manchester as well, Regards Paul
    5 points
  35. 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:
    4 points
  36. Well I've given up trying to resist joining in on this GB and thought I would throw my hat in the ring with an AFV Club 1/48 F-5F that I will build as an aircraft operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. Iran is probably the most important operator of this classic aircraft and has used every model from the F-5A through to the F-5F and is now producing it's own upgraded versions, in fact Iran (then the Imperial Iranian Air Force) was the first country to operate the aircraft when their F-5A's were delivered in February 1965. The kit I will be using is the by now familiar AFV Club F-5F which seems to have some very good details both inside and outside the airframe. I will be building pretty much out of the box but will add a few homemade details to the seats and cockpit area. Anyway here are the ubiquitous box and contents pictures.... The kit does come with markings for an Iranian machine (and a very tempting Jordanian one!) but I will be using a set from Hi-Decal which has markings for 3 F-5E's and one F-5F all in Iranian markings. The markings are for an F which is still in use today and has a large Tigers head one on side of the tail and an Eagle on the other, I am unsure whether to use these tail markings or to build an aircraft as it would have looked during the Iran-Iraq War, here are some pictures of the decals and the option on the sheet that I will use in one way or another.... Hopefully I will be able to get some work done tomorrow and be able to post an update either then or early next week. Thanks for looking. Craig.
    4 points
  37. Hello modelers, Finally managed to take nice photos of my recently completed Panther. Best Omer ERKMEN
    4 points
  38. I don't really know what a 'Hi-Mock' is but another website had a little 'build a hi-mock' thing going on so I got one and this happened.
    4 points
  39. This week it's been detailing the approach lights set-up beneath Flyco. The trapeze thing on the left is a bracket for the two sets of traffic lights (on the left, steady lights for fixed-wing flying, on the right, flashing lights for rotary). And here the DAPS (deck approach projector sight) dry fitted. I have a PE version, but it goes well beyond fiddly into the realms of almost impossible to get neat, so I am using the kit part and adding some PE detail. Similarly, I used two pieces of plastic strip for the traffic lights. You can actually see a PE one on the left hand edge of the bridge as you look in this photo; that's a folded box, and it took bloody ages to get it looking half-decent - at this size, a pice of plastic properly painted will probably look better in the end. Some pretty annoying sink marks in hard to fix places - thanks, Airfix! Proof that I have got the geometry roughly right; you should be able to see the traffic lights underneath the DAPS gantry from anywhere on the deck, and I reckon you could if you were the right scale height! Away next weekend, so there might not be anything for a couple of weeks. It's slow, but I am getting a lot of satisfaction as the island gradually takes shape. Crisp
    4 points
  40. Here it is finished at long blinking last, my Battle TT from the I might say, rudimentary Airfix 1/72 jobbie with Xtradecal extra decals, as already described in my Work in Progress entry... final finish is Xtracrylix matt varnish (black stripes were hand painted!) Wings, rudder and nose all modified to make it just look like a Battle, let alone the one that tugged targets in Canada (least popular job in the RCAF). Interestingly this one lacks the usual TT appendages of "windmill" and banner housing - possibly it was a demonstration aircraft or used in exercises that didn't involve towing anything. Now for a model far less of a pain in the housings... (apologies for the yellowy colour balance in the photos, it's an old camera and its memory isn't what it used to be...)
    4 points
  41. Som older kits... Revell Fokker... The Esci Albatross...
    4 points
  42. ...ah yes, regarding armament options.... To a certain degree, this depends on what markings do you want to apply. An aid in finding this out is that black number in black circle usually applied between the fin flash and FY-serial. This number can only be 2 - denoting TFB.2/Tabriz - or 4 - denoting TFB.4/Vahdati (Dezful). This is so because no other bases ('wings' if you like) have operated F-5E/Fs (at least not during the Iran-Iraq War). TFB.2 flew air-to-ground and air-to-air sorties, TFB.4/Vahdati (Dezful) flew almost exclusively air-to-ground sorties. Then you might want to decide if you want to show one of aircraft involved in so-called 'special missions' (strikes deep into Iraq), or 'usual CAS' on the frontlines. TFB.2 flew plenty of special missions, but very little CAS. Once again, TFB.4 flew almost exclusively CAS. For special missions, armament almost exclusively consisted of four Mk.82 GP-bombs with Mk.15 Snakeye retarding fins ('Mk.82SE'). Plus 'obligatory' pair of AIM-9Js on wingtips (for self-defence purposes). Otherwise, for CAS purposes almost everything available was loaded. Better said, usually it was 'four of almost anything available' (one on each of underwing pylons), including: - BLU-1/B and BLU-27 napalm tanks (usually without fins) - LAU-3/A or LAU-7 launchers for unguided rockets (usually with plastic aerodynamic caps, but often without any) - Mk.82s or Mk.82SEs - M117s Heavier weapons were carried too, though then only in pairs (i.e. one on each of outboard underwing plyons), including: - Mk.83s - Hunting-Engineering BL.755 CBUs (UK-made) - CBU-57/B and CBU-75/B (US-made). Plus centreline drop tank, of course: this was something like 'obligatory', no matter what sort of mission. Curiously, and contrary to Ethiopian practices, it seems Iranians have never deployed any Mk.84s from their F-5E/Fs (whenever Ethiopians did so, they would load them under the centreline, instead of the drop tank).
    4 points
  43. Hope to be able to get more time back at the bench after my second stint as Florence Nightingale the missus is well on her way to recovery now after the other Hip operation fully bionic woman now So a bit time spent on getting the figures painted and replaced a couple of the Italeri heads with some from the Wee friends range. next job is the boats ID numbers and then the glazing Beefy
    4 points
  44. Morning all,just a quick update as I got an unexpected hour in at the bench today.the Bedford is built as far as I can go before I need to lay some paint on. And while various bit,s and pieces dry the Albion has had a bit of work started on her. Sadly the front cab bulkhead has snapped on the sprue around the windscreen but I can repair it strange though as the same thing affected the Bedford.Thanks for popping in.
    4 points
  45. We have talked about making some masters as I'd love to do one in this scale too, but the Paragon ones are like rocking horse poo. If someone wants to beat us too it, then I'll happily hand over my cash! There was talk of doing a twin Centaurus, there is certainly a drawing of the consideration, that might of been a different animal Got the second leg cut down this morning and both legs can now be fitted at the end of the build. I've used liquid poly which welds the plastic, so the joins are no weaker than the unmodified parts. Next job is to start on the spar construction to support the resin outer wings. I'll use the profile of a Lancaster drawing to approximate the dihedral, but as per usual, lots of dry fitting and fettling to get the wings equal will be necessary.
    4 points
  46. G'day people, Well, I sprayed the main colour on today, The forward fuselage was first sprayed semi-gloss white and left to dry, before masking off the step access areas (the white stripes). I have noticed a few spots that will need a re-spray as I did not give them enough coverage. The inner faces of the weapons pylons are proving to be a little recalcitrant in this respect, but otherwise, she is starting to look like a mean machine, cheers, Pappy
    4 points
  47. Did you buy it Rob, or are you going to hold out until the new releases are in stock? I added some colour variation to the pre-shading: I wasn't sure how that would pan out, either it would provide a subtle variegation to the colours or it would be a total waste of time... I then applied Colourcoats ACUS05 USN Light Gray to the underside and ACUS06 USN Blue Gray to the topside: Lacking any bananas in the house (it's a long story) I used the famed Blu-Tack Sausage method for the upper and lower colour demarcation which worked well enough, giving a fairly soft line but a bit soggy around the nose... I can live with it though. The pre-shading shows up better on the underside but it does make a difference to the topside too - a barely noticeable difference in each case, more the sort of difference you would notice if it were not there in fact... but overall despite the tedium and numbing effort involved I like the effect and I think it is worth it, at least on mono-colour camouflage schemes. I'll need to leave that a while for the paint to cook off, then it will be a gloss coat and transfers... if I get bored in the meantime I might start on the Kate, but only having one day off this weekend has left me a bit worn and I might have to try to squeeze a nap in today Cheers, Stew
    4 points
  48. This speculation is great fun by thunder......already knowing several of the announcements only means that my tongue is in a pretty bad way after all the biting it's done recently !
    4 points
  49. A productive evening at the bench: Now I just need to get them painted. Prime with a rattle can and then brush paint over the next few evenings.
    3 points
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