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  1. Wild Weasel 1 began with five F-100F aircraft and five aircrews. The Weasel crews began their mission in December 1965, with Major Willard leading the first strike into North Vietnam. The Weasel missions were code named Iron Hand missions, and their purpose was to lead a strike force into North Vietnam and pave the way for the strike force to drop its bombs. They did this by going out in hunter/killer teams. The Weasels would pair up with a flight of F-105D fighter/bombers and try to locate a SAM site. The Weasels would then attack the site to mark it and the F-105D's would finish it off. With Operation Rolling Thunder (the bombing campaign of North Vietnam that began in 1964) in full effect, the Wild Weasels were about to prove their worth in combat for the first time. On December 22, 1965, the Wild Weasels scored their first SAM kill in North Vietnam. Captain Al Lamb the pilot, and Captain Jack Donovan, his EWO led the mission into North Vietnam that day and when they encountered a hostile NVA SAM site, they engaged and destroyed it. With this success, the Weasels demonstrated their worth to the Air Force and from then on, the Wild Weasels were in Vietnam to stay. Despite the early success however, the original Weasels suffered a fifty-percent casualty rate in their ranks and it was clear that new tactics and equipment would have to be developed. Here we have the Trumpeter 1/72 F-100F Super Sabre shown in the markings of the aircraft that delivered the first SAM site kill. Also presented is the Trumpeter 1/72 F-105G with a standard load out for SAM Hunting. Both models have the Eduard photo etch cockpit sets, have been airbrushed free hand using Xtracrylix and Vallejo paints. Flory Grime and Dark washes applied and finally sealed with Xtrcrylix Flat. The reason that both aircraft were in the skies over Vietnam, the Gran 1/72 SA-2 Guideline SAM. I have shown the models as they are displayed on my shelf along with a die-cast F-105D and F-100D. Well done if you have got this far!! Here is my tribute to the Aircrews who were ‘First in – Last Out’ A little diorama play: Thanks for looking, Phil
    22 points
  2. More photos of the Mosquito!!! This time using my Spitfire display base as a backdrop: As I said above – I do apologise about the number of photos but I have to admit I enjoyed taking them almost as much as I enjoyed making the model. The Tamiya kit was a joy to build – as was the Zvezda Howitzer. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix
    21 points
  3. Mosquito FB Mk.VI MM417 EG-T No. 487 Squadron RNZAF Based at Hunsdon, Hertfordshire in February/March 1944 This 1/72 Tamiya Mosquito was my build for the De Havilland Mega GB that is currently taking place down in the GB section of Britmodeller. Ever since seeing the film '633 Squadron' as a youngster I always loved the Mosquito although, oddly enough, I don't think I've ever made a model of one before. I decided fairly early on in the project that I wanted to show the aircraft in flight so I purchased some new miniature motors - the Airfix motors I already had wouldn't fit inside the Mosquito's 1/72 engine nacelles. This also meant I would need a base to support it in flight so I also decided to make a small vignette on this base. The aicraft itself served with 487 Squadron from 29 February 1944 to 26 March 1944. On the 26th March she was lost while leading the attack on coastal defense emplacements which were under construction at Les Hayes and was hit by flak during the mission. Wing Commander I S Smith was forced to crash land back at Hunsdon. The crew survived but the aircraft was wrecked. Kit: 1/72 Tamiya De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI/NF Mk.II Extras: Eduard Zoom Set SS137 plus two mini coreless magnetic motors Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel and Railmatch Acrylics - all applied by brush Base: Zvezda Snap-fit German Howitzer and a Wilko's picture frame WIP: Here Vignette base photos: Here Shaky YouTube video: Here I really am sorry about the amount of photos! It is such a photogenic aircraft - I actually took about 3x as many as this and it took me ages yesterday to whittle them down to these. This first set of photos were taken against a white backdrop: The following set show the Mosquito in relation to the base: A few to give a sense of the Mosquito overhead: And finally, for this set, just one of the base itself: I have posted a few more photos of the base itself in the Diorama and Vignette section - here Believe it or not I have taken yet more photos - this time against a sky background - but I will put those in a separate post below. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix
    19 points
  4. Finally managed to get something finished after a long period of ennui, during which unfinished project have been building up around my workbench. So , here it is , Supermarine Swift F4 ,WK198 , this is the jet that attempted to beat the world speed record. The model represents the aircraft just before the record attempt , as the wing fences were removed for the actual record flights.. The model is a conversion of the 1/48 Falcon Swift FR5 , finish is from a Halfords rattlecan , Ford Riviera blue. Andrew
    19 points
  5. My take on Roden's Lockheed C141b Starlifter finished off using Caracal Decals. The only mod I made to the kit was to lower the windows of the rear emergency escape doors. Otherwise it's a cracking kit but I have to admit that the paintwork very nearly pushed me over the edge. Standard 4 x 4 walkaround : ...with an extra for good luck Okay, so my paintwork isn't entirely accurate but it's in 1/144 and it does have a cheatline ! Time to head off back to the work bench. Thanks for looking. mike
    17 points
  6. Completed today and finished in a very test weary scheme. Will be on display at Cockpit Fest on the 17th June.
    16 points
  7. Hi folks , I present the 72nd scale draken kit finished out of box as a Swedish machine . It goes together without any problem and while the kit is on the cheaper side , a downside is it doesn't includes any weapons ; the missiles are from a hasegawa weapon set . Regards , Basu Roy
    16 points
  8. .....and some more pics:
    16 points
  9. Hello Modellers Here is my build of the re-released Airfix kit - built a few years ago, actually. The decals are from Hawkeye Decals, who specialise in Australian Civil subjects, among other things. The scheme is for East-West Airlines in the 1960’s – a quite attractive colour combination in my view. It’s a rather crude kit, by today’s standards, but the small additional sprues (in the latest release) are very welcome; since they provide the radome nose and 4-blade, square-tipped props. The main tasks I undertook to improve the kit were: Heavily sanded the plan-view profile of the nose (needs to be a lot “sharper” than what the raw parts provide; I got out the Dremel tool and went to town on it with a course sanding drum. Extended the rear undercarriage to give a slightly “nose down” stance. From my point-of-view, if the legs are not lengthened, the plane sits too low in the rear. Increased the angle of the tail spine by inserting extra plastic fillets; Scratch-built main u/c doors to better replicate the real appearance; Scratch-built a matching starboard air intake at the rear (carved from a piece of sprue). Added bulged fairings at the roots of the horizontal stabilisers (made from spares box drop tanks). Increase the width of the main wheels with plastic card – rather anaemic-looking if left as-is, in my view. I note it is now almost impossible to find the re-released kit anywhere – obviously it sold well! I want to build more, so I am keen to see Airfix get it back onto the market again. Hope you like.
    15 points
  10. Finished this nice kit a few weeks ago, I added Quickboost seats and Begemot Decals. The model depicts a well worn aircraft Yellow 35 of 396 Ship Based Antisubmarine Squadron in 2004. Painted with Mr Paint Laquer.
    14 points
  11. Hello everyone I'd like to present my latest model, first 1:32 Kit Hasegawa ST 29 PE Eduard cockpit+ seatbelts RB Montex mask painted with enamel MM a few photos of the finished model: P-40 E Maj. Edward F. Rector, China 1942. enjoy the photos.
    13 points
  12. The Hawker Siddeley HS 121 Trident is such a lovely aircraft and it's really a pitty it sold so poorly compared to the 727. I'm a big fan of Tri-jets and I have build all of them, except for the DC-10 and L-1011 (I have the kits by Authentic Airliners, so maybe I will get around to them this year). The kit is from F-RSIN. I have build F-RSIN models before and I always enjoy them very much. Obviously it's short-run a garage kit, so definitely not for beginners. This kit is one of F-RSIN's finest and quite accurate (the central intake is perhaps a bit too triangular). I chose the CAAC livery as I didn’t have any livery’s from China yet. The engines where airbrushed with Alclad II polished Aluminium with a wash of ModelMasters Chrome. I re-scribed the lines on the wings a bit, because they were a bit too shallow (hard to weather otherwise). I sprayed the decal sheet from the kit with a decal spray before applying them. I find the decals from F-RSIN always way too thin to use otherwise. The window decals are from Authentic Airliners 737 sheet. The cockpit window decals are home made by myself. The quality of the photo's is a bit less than nowedays, as I still used a normal camera back then. Still, I hope you guys enjoy. Cheers!
    13 points
  13. Lots of extras, check out build thread below. Build thread!
    12 points
  14. This is build number four of six late model Spitfires on the go in this thread. It's the 1/72 Airfix Spitfire 22 kit modified to produce a Mk 24 - starboard hatch was filled and rescribed, the prop blades were replaced with longest blades from the Special Hobby Griffon Spitfire/Seafire kit, and late model landing gear doors and rocket rails were pilfered from the same SH kit. I left the long barreled cannons as this airframe seemed to feature them throughout its career. VN318 served with 80 Sqn in Hong Kong, and then with the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF), finally retiring in 1955. Part of a growing group Southeast Asia Spitfires.
    12 points
  15. Thanks for all the lovely comments. I'm a little bit out of action at the mo as I have put my back out. lifting bags of slate in the garden this weekend. Never mind lots of lying down and seeing what you guys are up to. I did manage to get some work done before that. first off I primed the tail fins and got the nose and main tail masked ready for colours. I did a pre-shade using flat brown as to avoid the bruised banana effect. Nose. And tail. Then a base coat of yellow. yes, I know the nose is red but a base yellow brings out red a treat. then the tail got some attention. another coat. third time will be a charm. I'll show you when the masking is off. (such a tease) some red nose action then. All looking good! Time to remove the mask! After a third coat the tail looked like this. I glued the fins in place. The nose got un mummified. yay! Not bad. here she is all together. before I gloss coat for decals I had a go at oil filters. a bit subtle huh? It's the panel right in front of you, the middle one just after the wing tip. Slightly blue / brown? No? Ok the panel on the nacelle just off the wing on the front. Well I can see it. Maybe I'll darken them when my back gets better. hope you're all still enjoying the lightning. i had a look at the wheels too. They look rather spiffy. thankyou all for popping by. hope you have a great week. Take care and as always. Happy Modelling. Johnny. "I'll be back" "Back in Black" "Ouch was that snapping noise my back"
    11 points
  16. Some days ago Sandbagger shows his Nieuport 11, something I can show here too. This one was flown by Turenne. This was my last finished model 2016. The base of this build was the Eduard weekend edition, but I added the offered PE set and used the precut mask set too. The engine is again a kit from Small Stuff, Gaspatch provided metal turnbuckles and the resin Lewis. The struts, air screw and skid assembly are self made from different kind of wood. The painting was done with Alclad and Gunze, some oils are used for weathering. I hope you will like it, Frank The view from below with real metal plate on the front: Some details, here engine, brass fuel cap and wooden prop: The engine on a 1 Euro Cent coin: And the mentioned wooden/metal skid assembly. The flat spring is from a cordless mouse, because it has to carry the whole model.
    10 points
  17. Hi Folks, This is the build that nearly broke me, everything that could've gone wrong went wrong. I bought this kit on flea bay ages ago for a song. It comes with demonstrator or Australian AF schemes. I decided I wanted a Hawk T2 from Xtradecal's excellent 4 sqdn package....................this is where my problems began. Looking at a T2 walkaround I saw that the wing fences on the kit were unlike those on the T2, so more daption and scratch building the fuselage halves didn't fit well and required much filling and sanding to get a good fit........................then you find you should have fitted the tail pipe before closure so you split your flawless work to insert it !!! Undercarriage doors were also a major problem, they are too thick to fit together so I replaced with plasticard. The final insult came when I went to fit the canopy, when the blast screen was fitted the canopy would not seat properly, hence the open canopy(showing the poor interior that wasn't meant to show Believe me this model nearly actually 'flew' on a number of occasions. On the plus side I learned a lot and the supplied stencils were very sparse !!! Cheers, All comments welcome PS: I just noticed the tail fillet is wrong too !!!!
    9 points
  18. Great restraint Simon, good man Thanks Tony Despite the Hannants 'despatched' email on Saturday I've had another this morning with tracking information (they insist on 'signed for' if you use Paypal) so I guess they won't be here soon. To keep me busy I've opened the box on a DH60 Gypsy Moth, another kind donation from Phil (HP42). Amy Johnson's 'Jason'. Nice subject. I have done a bit of fiddling this morning and then did some more on the Rapide (fnaar fnaar!) First up, blades for the pressurisation prop. Just need to select some strip: Tip: don't clean your cutting mat with cellulose thinners - it cleans off the grid! I may get another but the blank area does stop my iPhone camera fitting on the lines. Some strip selected and a length measured against a window which my reference shot shows is about the same size. Glued on with Gator's Grip: I'll take a macro shot when it's finished. Maybe. I dry fitted the lower wing and there's a problem caused by the fuselage warpage: Easily cured with some careful shaving and a nice fit achieved: Top wing fits nicely with a bit of shaving: Exhausts drilled out and fitted: Now put to one side until the transfers arrive. Hit the pause button...
    9 points
  19. Thanks Rob, glad to know it's not just me. I test fit the one on the still unfinished Mk 22 and it seemed to fit OK. The Mk 21 is almost complete. Some of the decals silvered, but were sorted with the 'poke with a needle and re-apply Micro-sol' technique. The exception was the serial number on the left side. Phooey. Also, the pastel desaturation on the roundel turned out a little funny, but I think I like it enough to keep it as is. I went ahead and painted over the silvering. Of course, this just brings attention to that fact that I used mismatching individual serial numbers in order to come up with 'LA200'. To make up for it, I added the missing bit of the 'D' squadron code to the cockpit door. This will be the last time it is ever seen. Door attached, mirror painted, and toothbrush bristle aerial fitted. Just a couple more little bits to add and it'll be ready for RFI.
    9 points
  20. Over in the GB section, as part of the De Havilland Mega GB, I built Tamiya's 1/72 De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI. I decided to make it as if it were in flight so I purchased a couple of motors so it could have working propellers. Because it would need a base to house the batteries and switches I decided to use a small Wilkos picture frame on which I decided to create a small scene. I decided to use Zvezda's Snap-fit German Howitzer kit as the focal point of the base and the result can be seen below. Aircraft Kit: 1/72 Tamiya De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI/NF Mk.II Howitzer Kit and figures: 1/72 Zvezda Snap-fit German Howitzer Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel and Railmatch Acrylics - all applied by brush Base: Wilko's picture frame A lot of photos of the Mosquito can be found here The WIP for the whole project can be found here A rather shaky YouTube video of the scene can be found here The whole scene: The Howitzer and crew on the base: And finally a few from low down to try to give an impression of the aircraft flying overhead:
    8 points
  21. Hi guys, here is my latest build, the Eduard Macchi MC 202. It is the Hasegawa kit with Eduard goodies. i've added the brassin engine bay. This build will appear in a future issue of the french magazine Wingmasters. Cheers, Manu.
    8 points
  22. Hello all. I just finished the A6M2 Type 0 Model 52 Zero in ATAIU SEA (Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit South East Asia) BI-05. This was a unique find when I was looking for something to complete for an RAF Group Build on another site. I like Japanese aircraft very much and was fortunate to to find decals for it from Rising Decals. The kit is the Hasegawa kit and went together quickly and easily as most 1/72 Hasegawa kits do.
    8 points
  23. Hi My father has built 10 Boulton Paul Defiant out of 24 (or so) for our current project. We still not decided the final list but we have 14 more kits to build. Here are the photos. 1) Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant (K8310) Prototype - August 11, 1937 2) Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant K8620 Second prototype, with turret and Merlin II, flown May 18, 1939 3) Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant (K8310) Fighter Prototype 4) The Defiant first prototype, K8310 with a single 20mm Hispano cannon 5) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I N3328 DZ/Z - 151 Sqdn as night fighter. 6) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I N3340 DY/D 255 Sqdn based on RAF Kirton in Lindsey Lincolnshine UK, early 1941 7) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I V1110 RA/H of 410 Sqdn based at RAF Drem, UK, Autum 1941 8) Boulton Paul Defiant Mk II AA370 England 1941 } Here are four new Boulton Paul Defiant finished. 9) Defiant Mk I L6950 with bomb racks, for trials at Aircraft Experimental Establishment 1939. 10) Defiant Mk I T3997 on Air Sea Rescue duties with N 276 A.S.R. Squadrons 1942. The 10 Defiants done so far together at the display cabinet. Cheers Santiago
    7 points
  24. Hiya Folks, Having recently built the 1/48th scale Special Hobby Wirraway I decided to have another go at its smaller brother from the same stable and it is a very nice kit indeed. Here is the WIP if anybody is interested; This one was built as A20-47, GA-B from 21 Sqn RAAF based in Malaya in 1941. After re equipping with the Brewster Buffalo the unit passed its Wirraway`s and some experienced pilots to form part of Y Sqn RAF at Kluang, Malaya which was set up to train newly arrived fighter pilots. During the Japanese invasion these aircraft also flew ground attack sorties against the advancing Japanese and at least one was fitted with a rudimentary dive bombing siren. Here is the real aeroplane; And finally,....here is the model; and here is another I built earlier,...well 2013 to be exact! The new model was brush painted using Polly Scale acrylics for the camouflage and Tamiya rattle can was used for the silver undersides, Cheers Tony
    7 points
  25. Tentacles crossed. Here you go James - the download link is on this page: http://diskokosmiko.mx/porrecamario/italeri-44767/italeri-c-119-boxcar,539294.pdf Some good drawings! Terry, I've attached a metal pin to the bottom of the bracket and this can then locate the part via a hole drilled in the ceiling: a dab of epoxy to keep it in place should suffice: I didn't relish gluing the frame straight onto painted bin-bag - I can't imagine it would have ended happily! Nowt for you tonight I'm sorry to say - busy day and out of patience so anything delicvate was sure to be a source of frustration. Mrs. B has an opening tomorrow night as well so I don't imagine getting any serious bench time until midweek at the earliest. Anyone see the moon and Jupiter in close conjunction last night - I wahacked the smartphone up to a piar of binoculars for a shaky shot: Jupiter is at the 5.30 position in relation to the la Lune. The cameraphone won't show it due to their faintness but through the binocs you could just discern the sparks of a couple of Jupiter's own Galilean moons. Eeerily beautiful with just the last few birds singing plaintively as the night-shadow came up from the East. Most Matthew Arnold-ish, though I couldn't find myself mourning a loss of faith: Dover Beach The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits; on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! Only, from the long line of spray Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land, Listen! you hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, At their return, up the high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in. Sophocles long ago Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow Of human misery; we Find also in the sound a thought, Hearing it by this distant northern sea. The Sea of Faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world. Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.
    7 points
  26. Hello gentlemen, I've finished this little bird recently. It comes out of the Eduard Limited Edition kit, which is basically Hasegawa kit with some extras. I've added some more from Eduard range, namely wheels, nozzle, PE set, ordnance and RBF flags. Quickboost came for the rescue with gun barrels and the bang seat. I've added refueling probe tip from Master and accessory from Hauler/Brengun. Except stencils and several smaller decals it's all painted mostly with Mr. Paint colors and Gunze Mr. Color (C range). Depicted airframe served aboard of USS Oriskany (CV-34) during WestPac Cruise 1969 on Yankee Station, which marked the first deployment of VA-195 Dambusters with their famous eagle emblem and their last deployment on Scooters. I hope you like the result.
    6 points
  27. I am posting this thread a little prematurely because Photobucket is playing up and taking hours to upload photos. I have 2 out of 10 and my ancient PC is showing 11% completed - and has done for the last 4 hours! Frustrated or what?!! Anyway, here's the first one:- Well, that worked anyway. The second image is a little out of sequence:- Okay, not the best image but thats all I have so far!! I have a list as long as your arm of people to thank but first I must thank Rich (Trickydicky210) for letting me have the kit and also Alan P for info about his version of this airframe. it came to me in a part built state with Aries cockpit, gear bays and jet pipe already included so I just had to finish it! Rich also included a 'Free' Trumpeter MiG-3 and thats next in line to finish - I hope to add more images - when the Photobucket thing finally finishes - probably tomorrow! So, you may think that completing this build was straightforward - not so! I decided that I didn't need to be able to expose the engine so the rear fuselage is permanently joined. However, it seems as though an F-100 at rest does not have horizontal stabilators so I removed the tabs on the tailplanes, worked out where the pivot was and drilled each stab and inserted a piece of brass rod, around 2.5mm in diameter. I also had a corresponding piece of brass tube to go through the fuselage and, strangely, this just goes under the afterburner!! I then found that the stabs were pitching all over the place - answer ? - put a very slight kink into the stab rods so that the fit is a bit tighter - job done! I also need to box in the tail bumper under the rear fuselage. I was keen to model Triple Zilch so searched around for info and decals and, via LSP and a chap called Erik (Airfixer) in particular, I found out a lot about this particular airframe and was also able to get the rather rare Cutting Edge sheet. I also acquired the CAM Super Sabre stencil decal sheet which also gives you national markings and U S Airforce titles in dark blue, not black as provided with the kit. Fortunately for me this airframe flew with the standard sized (kit) drop tanks so no need for the AMS extension kit but you must get Harold's wheel set. You will read that the Trump kit doesn't sit right. I even had a set of French manufactured resin wheels and I have also seen reference to cutting about 3mm out of the main gear legs - don't do it! The kit legs are fine but the wheels are too big - as were the French resin ones - basically a flattened copy of the kit set (anyone want to buy a pair very cheap?!!) This airframe was also pre- arrestor hook so none of those bits were required and also the early airbrake - without the cut out for the 'device' - is appropriate. The Aries parts are basically beautiful, the chap who makes the masters is a genius. I discovered that North American used a dark 'brunswicky' green for the undercarriage bays, not the usual chromate interior green stuff so that was applied, also, most of the gubbins in the bays is painted black. I dry brushed and washed this area and the detail pops out beautifully. Same goes for the gear legs where they are basically painted in Humbrol 56 with grey washes applied and a sliver of self adhesive chrome tape for each oleo This airframe, being the boss's, is very clean and I have photos to prove it. The rear fuselage is not badly heat stained so no need to go overboard there. I had only used Alclad once before - white aluminium on a 1/48th Mirage - and so I was very nervous about what to use. I ended up buying a range of colours (with advice from Erik) and then made some colour chips out of rectangular pieces of white plastic card which I sprayed with Halfords grey plastic primer. I then sprayed each of the colours onto each chip so that I know what each colour actually looks like when its in situ and large enough to tell. I then primed the airframe with the Halfords grey and, after it was dry, rubbed it down with a piece of kitchen towel and this really did a good job of polishing the surfaces,. This airframe was mainly finished in 'aluminised lacquer' so the majority of the airframe is Alclad White aluminium although the drop tanks are in natural metal - so 3 shades of silver - and of course the rear fuselage is natural metal so I had some fun with different shades plus some swipes of the hot red, blue and purple and I was both pleased and relieved with the end result. All then sprayed with Tamiya gloss varnish - what strange stuff! - and that then left decalling. Main markings on first followed by 4 nights worth of stencil application - one night for each side, then top then bottom - don't rush! I admit to one mistake. If you look at photos of the real jet then you see that the red rectangle below the windscreen with Tolliver's name on it should actually be parallel with the top line of the red flash. I used the Cutting Edge guide and that shows it parallel with the panel lines!! We live and learn and its not coming off!! So that left the cockpit and the undercarriage + gear doors. I did the undercarriage and doors first. Another mistake - fit the centreline doors first because the legs, etc, get in the way! This is significant because each door has a pair of hydraulic pipes which connect the top of the door to the piping in the bay. Lead wire painted black but such a fiddle to attach with the legs in place. Again, we live and learn!! Also, check your airframe to be sure it has the smaller door that opens to clear a store on the centre pylon. I didn't so I made my doors as a single piece. Erik kindly sent me a spare set and I was then very careful about getting the angles right and the retraction jacks in the correct places. Okay, airframe the right way up with wheels and doors on. That left the cockpit. This came to me installed so I took the liberty to do some dry brushing and washing and the had the joys of the Aries etch to apply. Not easy but it makes a tremendous difference. This extended to the canopy where there was both resin and etch to fit and this was 'demanding' !! The seat is beautiful and actually slides down the rails. Assembling the seat straps was a night or so's work and cannot be rushed and must involve a magnifying glass. But I think it was worth it! Fitting the pitot was fun and requires some checking. I should say that the nose includes the Zacto correction and the pitot position needs to be adjusted based upon accurate side views, not the holes in the fuselage. I also used a Quickboost refuelling probe and that is only push fitted to the underside of the wing. The last job was the Sidewinders and pylons. I discovered early on that the kit pylons are inaccurate and that they actually extend forwards to support the forward part of the missile body. I'm not 100% sure about how accurate mine are but they are the result of looking at several photos and guesstimating. I also decided to fit a brass pin between each 'winder and it's shoe as these things have a habit of falling off! And then Sidewinder markings. I was very pleased to see that the Big H now have the Two Mikes set for Sidewinder markings (also Sparrow if you're interested) back in stock so I used that. These decals need to be cut up to allow application around the fins and that was another mornings work. The blue and yellow bands also have quite a thick coat of ink on them so are a bit hard to get to overlap. I also decided to give each missile a clear nose. Plunge moulded hot clear styrene. Not bad, could have been better but will do! And there you have it. 2 out of 10 photos of my Hun. Absolutely love the jet and had to have those markings! If you're lucky you may get more images from me in due course but I am very happy with the model and very grateful to Rich - and a lot more people - for helping along the way! Simon And here are the other photos - took almost longer to upload them than building the model. I am uploading one image at a time otherwise life feels too short!!! Tip for doing the black and yellow ejection seat handles - paint handles yellow then draw on black stripes with very fine, sharp pointed black marker! Wish I'd learnt that one earlier!! One other 'intentional' error - if you look at photos of the real jet then virtually all of the red on white warning signs on the rear fuselage are missing with maybe the remains of one of the smaller ones just visible over the stab pivot point but I decided that, as I had them, I might as well use them!!! Love the reflection of the stars and bars on the flap upper surface! And thats your lot ! I can't express how much enjoyment I got out of this build - love Super Sabres and finished a 1/72nd Hasegawa/Frog kit in the early 80's using the Modeldecal markings for Triple Zilch so I knew which airframe I would like in 1/32nd!! Despite the kits faults - easily corrected if you throw money at it - its a superb looking piece of kit when its done! Simon
    6 points
  28. I would like to introduce you to a model that I ended two days ago. Jaguar is one of my favorite aircraft. Enjoy.
    6 points
  29. Update - as alluded to earlier. Made a decision over the weekend - Seeing as I have more paint brands to use and more overtrees sat in the stash we may as well bring them to the party. Also being in the zone with building spitfires it (kinda) makes sense. However other projects will have to go into suspended animation for the meantime. So we have tamiya, mr hobby and vallejo model air to add, bringing this wip up to 9 builds. I have already used the Tamiya shades before on a 1/48 build, and they came out well. The mr hobby shades have been in the stash for a while but not used them yet so we might as well see how they stack up. They are the hobby aqueos shades reccomended by Eduard in the first release of their 1/48 mk9c spitfire, before the specific mr color shades came out more recently (C361, 362 & 363) Subsequent instruction sheets have the latest Mr Color paints in them. One of the sextet will be wearing the mr color shades so it will be good to see the mr hobby ones next to it. The last paints to try out are Vallejo model air and are fairly new to me, bought them along with the now stalled hobbytrump 1/48 Mig-31 at the start of the year. I don't have the model air interior grey green yet but it is on route. As for markings I will keep the foreign/exotic theme going so there will be two more E wing birds using the French and Israeli options from the royal class boxing, then a C wing with SAAF roundels (same xtradecal sheet the USA plane is on) Thanks for looking
    6 points
  30. Thanks Keith More on the cockpit to follow, see below. Hi everybody, here's WE progress report: catching up with the C205, here's a dryfit of the tub on the sidewalls and of the IP (without tub) In this case there was no interference with the fuselage sidewalls - the two kits must be slightly different; yesterday I was dry fitting the C202 wings to their fuselage, and erroneously did it on the C205 one: quite a gap at the wing to fuselage joins! When I realized my mistake and got the correct fuselage, the pairing showed a snug fit ... Anyways: here are the IP and tub in place (in this shot, the IP is actually super-glued in place, while the tub is held there with a blob of blue tack underneath; as I did on the C202, I will put a few drops of CA glue to secure it only after I've joined the fuselage halves; reason is that is way I have a little margin to play with when mating the two halves) those pics count as RFI shots for the C205 cockpit, so here's one for starboard side And eventually: As usual, I glued per sections and let cure overnight each section. Here's a quick dryfit of the canopy and windshield (the canopy, as for the C202, will be posed open; here it's closed just to check the level of transparency) I did polish the clear part with the specific Dremel tool, just like I did for the C202, then masked the windshield: and repeated the rear view mirror procedure just like for the C202 Then started working on the top front seam Still curing, I'll tackle it one of next evenings. You have probably noticed form the last pic that I knocked off the gun sight reflector screen ... I was luckily able to recover it, I'll glue it back just before fitting the windshield Back to the C202. I masked the cockpit and completed the job on filling the antenna mast mounting hole then I decided to reuse the aerial connection point on the spine, which needs to be relocated for the early style antenna I shaved it off with a razor blade and, looking at reference pics, relocated it slightly further on the fuselage hump I drilled out the front vent and then started working on the bottom seam: some CA used as filler after some scraping/sanding/polishing: and the brushed on primer coat shows it's OK Last thing: using razor saws and a blade I separated the top and bottom part of the rudder from the tail fin because all the reference pictures of this area show very noticeable gaps in those areas; see for example: That's it for the day, comments welcome as ever Ciao
    6 points
  31. It's been a while, but I've finally finished a ship! This is a scratch build of HMS Jamaica that I kicked off about 2 1/2 years ago, but then stalled while I collected a few accessories and brass sets. My aim was to model her configuration in December 1943 during the Battle of NorthCape. Here's the rest of the photos: Closeups And a couple of shots alongside my HMS Sheffield, also at both North Cape nad Berents Sea battles: I'll try to be a bit quicker off the mark with HMSs Belfast, DoY and Norfolk... Andrew
    5 points
  32. Hey everyone, After watching Rogue One I fell in love with the U-Wing and I've decided to have a go at making a diorama with one flying low along a stretch of beach with some palm trees and water effects. Revell's U-Wing, while not entirely accurate, is a nice little model that captures the look quite well. The plan is to keep this build relatively short, simple and not worry too much about screen accuracy. I intend to build up the U-Wing first then work on the diorama on the side while I do a few droids, troopers, etc. This is the general look I'll be aiming for with the U-Wing... And the dio will be a strip of beach similar to this screen grab with the U-Wing a lot lower and rolling just slightly toward the port side. With the ship in a flying position, the first thing I wanted to work out was how to light the engines. The kit comes with a green cockpit light which admittedly looks very toy-like when lit but the upside to this is that a power source and switch are already perfectly placed just waiting to be customised. The goal is to clip off the existing green LED, place a white LED in each engine, run the wires through the fuselage then join the positive and negative ends to the matching ends of the cut off green LED. Here's the internals with the green LED and switch. The speaker won't be needed so I clipped the wires and removed it. I'm going to have the model sitting on an acrylic rod so the space can be used to install a mount. I cut a few squares of styrene sheet, epoxied them into the space then drilled them out. Instead of using blue LEDs for the engines, I'm going to try something different. The kits parts are not moulded in clear plastic so I made casts of the engines in clear resin which was dyed blue with a few drops of food colouring. Mould made of the engine. Clear resin.. under the supervision of my cat Captain Jack Sparrow Blue food colouring. Cast made. I'll only be using the engine nozzle (grafting it on to the existing engine). Test looks good. The outside will obviously be painted with the centre being left clear. The look I'm going for is to have the engines lit enough to be cruising but not full throttle. Similar to this pic... I drilled holes through the engines and fuselage then test ran the wires through. This actual step however won't happen until after painting and weathering. I primed the model with Tamiya white primer then did some very rough pre-shading with Vallejo grey. I REALLY need to improve my airbrushing skills I made up a base coat with a mix of Vallejo White, Light Grey and Deck Tan. It tuned out pretty well and pre-shading looks nice and subtle. Next up was the blue markings. I masked off the areas to paint then dabbed on a little Maskol to simulate chipping. I was a little heavy handed with the first attempt and not much of the blue went down so I kind of reversed it and used the same technique to add more blue into areas it was lacking. It didn't turn out perfect but I'm happy enough with it That's all for now. More soon
    5 points
  33. Hey guys, here is my latest work - the kit is very nice Eduard 1/48 Bf 109F-4. It was finished in a bit over a week - on very last minute i have decided to go and see the Moson kit show this year, as it was my dream for some time already. And because i did not want to go there with empty hands, i had to build something.. The kit is amazing, goes together realy well and all problems vere caused just by myself and the limited time i had. I have used the Profipack boxing, so i had some basic PE sheet and canopy masks from the box,on top of that i bought the Eduard Brassin flaps - the flaps in the kit have sadly some sink marks (i have noticed it on the G-6 kit earlier too, which is using the same sprues with little parts) and also the Brassin flaps have some very nice details added. Because of the rushing i did not make any WIP thread around, so hope you wont mind some WIP shots I have added a bit of details on the cockpit sidewalls - mainly in the front areas as these were totaly empty (but as you ll see later, these front areas of the pit are almost not at all visible after the fuselage is glued together). I wanted to create some textures for the basic camouflage as i was not sure how many of it ll be visible later (did not know how much of the white i m going to remove, but on my next winter camouflage model i m going to skip this step as totaly nothing of this is visible later, so it is just waste of time/paint.. + so many paint layers effectively lowers the visible details later. But when i have already put the time in, here we go with the shots The original idea was to make the winter camo scheme and also some snowy base. As a part of it, i wanted to make the canopy glass icy/frozen from inside as i have seen it like that on some photos. So i tried some stuff for re-creating ice on it. At first it looked ok, but in the end.. well.. simply it did not turn as good as i hoped. The snow on the base also did not look good to me, so i have scraped the idea for now... I ll need to practice and try more and more Then the fun with Washable white started (in my case from AK751 as it was in stock in local hobby store). The effects you can achieve with this kind of paint is very nice, also the effect depends on how long you let the white paint dry, before you going to wash it off. Long drying time makes the paint goes off in some kind of chips, after short drying time the paint is washed off in sort of "fuzzy" way First layer of washable white, washed off after long dry time Second layer of washable white, washed off after short dry time Third layer: chipping flow + dusty layer of flat "dirty" white, chipped down after few minutes, followed by brown-ish filters (mainly on wing roots where the crew would be moving) And here it is in the very end I m sorry for so many shots, but you know me guys, i cant decide which shot to use, so i use more of them... And trust me, i have used only like half of the images i have made.. Hope you like the result and thanks for watching guys Have a great day.
    5 points
  34. A bit of fun while some serious modelling should have been going on (Mach2 WB-57F)............... I found a Hasegawa Ki43 in my local discount store for £4.69, remembering it as a decent kit I couldn't resist especially as i had just joined the Asian Air Arms SIG and had thoughts of Indonesian markings. A thread on here diverted me to Communist China and enquiries were followed up with help in the form of decals and information. Thanks go to Patrick for decals and guidance and Nicholas Millman for detailed help. Built straight from the box the main problem was finishing. The information from Nick Millman was that the 4 aircraft used by the Communists came from a Japanese training unit which had early Ki-43-IIs. The problem is they had a mix of solid and mottle finished aircraft and it is not known what the Chinese took, with the additional complication that a worn solid finish can look like mottle in a photograph, especially a poor quality one of only part of an aircraft. No photos of aircraft in Chinese Communist markings are known anyway, the only source known to Nick is a drawing in a Chinese book. This seems to have been interpreted many ways online and by decal manufacturers. What follows is my interpretation, all errors are mine and do not reflect on Nick, Patrick or any other source. The mottle finish was my first attempt with a double-action airbrush - more practice required! Colours were Tamiya JA Green and Flat Aluminium as they were what I had to hand while the cockpit was a mix of US Interior Green and Zinc Chromate Yellow to try to get to the colour advised by Nick.
    5 points
  35. Morning folk's it's 109 day today got a little more prepwork on the 1/32 kit and primed these two in their respective bottom colours. the G will be a head ache as my basic airbrush doesn't do mottle in this scale so this is as good as it gets,I find by the time I get the second colour on the glossing tends to blend it in to a passable level so finger's crossed!
    5 points
  36. Here is something finished! It took me quite a while. Especially the last bits and pieces. It is still missing the antennas (since I couldn't figure out a good way to do them. This is my first serious attempt at a 1/32 scale plane. I used to build some as a kid, since I often got them as presents for christmas etc. People just wouldn't understand I didn't like them that much since they weren't good to play with and didn't match the 1/72 soldiers and tanks. So I was never really into that scale. Now that I finished this one I am actually quite encouraged to do more of the "big stuff". Perhaps also an age thing ("old man's scale"). Hope you don't mind the stupid background. It's all I had at the moment.
    5 points
  37. Quick Friday update, everybody. Working on the central seam in the cowling area I had to do some filling with CA glue there, and used the tape to protect the surrounding areas from the glue and the consequent sanding. After a first sanding and polishing session, I brush painted some Vallejo Grey Primer on the seam: The picture isn't very clear, unfortunately, but this showed more filling to be done on a few small segments, so I had to do a second masking/filling/sanding/polishing session, this time adding some talc to the CA to speed up the process. After that, some rescribing was needed, and then I glued on the windshield: On the real aircraft, the windshield frame sits slightly proud of the fuselage; in the kit, most of this frame is moulded in the fuselage plastic, meaning that the clear part should be flush with it. The kit windshield, instead, is slightly smaller than said framing, so I had to glue it in place with small CA gel glue drops and keeping it pressed down as if squeezing it out to the right width. I left this to cure overnight, then I'll run some Tamiya Green Cap capillary along the clear part edges, to ensure a stronger bond. The back fuselage top seam was also sanded smooth (no particular trouble there) and, since this specific airframe sports the early style antenna, I glued in a mounting peg coming from a spare propeller blade of a 1/32 Spitfire kit to fill in the antenna mast mounting hole: This was glued using Tamiya Green Cap and left to cure overnight as well, prior to cutting out and sanding smooth (tonight, hopefully). Once done, I'll mask the cockpit and start working on the bottom seam. Back to the C205 rear bulkhead, I decided to use the vacformed curved part, and glued it to the PE: A dryfit with cockpit and fuselage halves showed (just like on the C202) that I had to adjust the seat position a bit (no pics, sorry, but they would have been absolutely identical to the C202 ones). Here it is: The C205 control stick was also glued in place - note the four firing cables for the wing and nose guns, as opposed to the only two on the C202 Now I still have to do some dryfit of the C205 IP with the fuselage halves, than I'll be ready to button them up too. Comments welcome, as usual Ciao
    5 points
  38. This is Tamiya's 40 year old kit, OOB except for replacing the plastic latch arms with metal ones: Regards J A
    4 points
  39. I shall be starting with this. Im on a role with big jets at the moment. A big box DSC_0015 by stuart wellard, on Flickr With a lot of goddies inside, most of which are weapons so il try to use some on this A/C. DSC_0016 by stuart wellard, on Flickr
    4 points
  40. This is my last Lithuanian Fokker D.VII, so this topic is finished for me. Next will be three of Polish Fokker and one from Finland, but I don't know when. I have 3 or 4 Roden and 1 additional Revell and 1 ESCI and 2 PE sets from Part for it. So I present you my Fokker D.VII - 5 from Lithuanian Air Service ca.1928. Enjoy it here both of my Lithuanian Fokkers in early national markings and last version of it
    4 points
  41. Just an old kit I picked up off Ebay. Not sure what it comes from. Its a snap together kit, no glue required, which creates it own problems. The colour scheme is mine.
    4 points
  42. Hi Here are some photos of my finished MIG-23. Kit is OOB painted with Gunze acrylics. Original decals dissolved on the model, however with donor help from Zvezda's MIG-21 kit I have managed to finish the job. Cheers! Rade
    4 points
  43. Fantastic diorama Stix, and it does appear that the best way to simulate spinning props is to have spinning props!
    4 points
  44. Over the weekend I ended up taking loads of photographs of the finished Mosquito and base. The RFI photos can be found here: Be warned - there are a lot of photos! Photos concentrating more on the base and overall scene can be found here: The gallery photos can be found here: There is also a slightly shaky video: ...and a few of photos here: Finally a big thank you to everyone who contributed to my build thread with advice and support. As I always say - my models wouldn't be what they are without the Britmodeller crowd. A big thank you too to the great GB hosts as well as Enzo for all your hard work. Very well done. Right - I'm off to build some Soviet WW2 armour over in the the "From Russia with Love" GB. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix
    4 points
  45. Can recommend those decals. Apply beautifully. I've built the white one, am summing up courage to build and paint the camouflaged one. My freehand airbrush skills not quite there yet! Am practicing on a Caudron 714 in Finnish markings for now....
    4 points
  46. Hey guys I present this beautiful aircraft from the factory Kawanishi (currently shin meiwa ) also known as flying boat Type 97 ,this is proper aircraft design of the 30's and had nothing to envy American and English seaplanes and of the time , in fact for this design a team of the kawanishi company travel to the shorts brothers company (one of the best manufacturers seaplane of the interwar period) to become technical knowledge to manufacture this is my firstJapanesemodel so investigate a lot The model : Trumpeter did an excellent job with the model is the first of the new breed that bag with the aid of computer-aided design has nice lace and panels except the union umbrella type and the rear mounts that broken easily ( I had to make 2 again) another low point is the lack of the engines, resolve this details with scrath and added a stair in the trailing edge, i made the braces with guitar string of 0.009 Painted: For this use acrylic K4 (a chilean new brand of acrilic paint for models), I have to admit I am a novice in the using of acrylics, all my life I used enamel but I have to admit that K4 was excellent in every sense of the word, as was the Primroses time you used me assure applying a layer 147 matte Humbrol enamel paint and then only differ slightly pressure of 20 psi to 30 for use directly from the container without dilution and that was it, almost shading and painting I did in one afternoon, the washing was done with ammo mig pacific dust (which is a seaplane but operating from islands so I think it is justified) the same ammo mig pigments for the fouled engines i use track rust and black with oil fresh all the pigments come from the same wheathering set then, I use Humbrol enamel for chipped paint effects the the wheathering in the hinamoru wings was achieved passing a swab with gasoline White that gave the effect, well I will not bore any criticism is well accepted willingly provided to improve model and my apologies for my english it's very rust¡¡¡ regards from chile¡¡
    4 points
  47. Thanks everyone Thanks John, Yes I'd spotted the movable cannons. I'll be leaving them off for painting, but I might glue them in at the end, rather than leave them poseable, as I'm finding the main sliding cannon part to be a slightly loose fit on mine. Not sure if I'll go with the classic one in, one out pose, or have them both in their retracted positions. The length is just over 7" (18cm). The height will be a touch under that Subjectively, it's pretty small, especially when viewed along side the 1/48 AT-ST, but the sheer level of detail on it makes it seem bigger than it is Only a small update today. I've opened up the cooling slots on the chin cannon shrouds. These are the non-moving sections that John mentioned above. The main cannon clips under the shroud, and can then slide forward and backward. Opening up the slots is a bit of a waste of time to be honest, as you can only just see them when they're mounted to the head. The lower shroud in the photo is unmodified for comparison And that will be it for a while, as the build is on hold for a couple of days. I've finally got around to building a proper wall mounted paint rack for my work room and, while I'm putting that up, I'm taking the opportunity to move my painting bench to the other side of the room, where it's less prone to glare from the window. That will also mean moving my building bench across to where the painting bench was, and then having a general clean and tidy up of the whole room. Progress will resume shortly In way of a short intermission, here's a video of my cat doing her Houdini act Andy
    4 points
  48. Hello! I’m new here so I hope I won’t ruffle any feathers by joining in with this thread (nice work by the way). I have done a great deal of research into the F-86 in all forms and hope I may be able to add to what has already been written above. In essence, two TF-86F Sabres were produced, with this their brief story: No.1 TF-86F (NAA model NA-204) modified in production from F-86F-30 s/n 52-5016 with second cockpit and 63-inch forward fuselage extension. Maiden flight 14th December 1953 by Ray Morris. Aircraft crashed on take-off at Nellis AFB on 17th March 1954, killing NAA test pilot Joe Lynch (it was the aircraft’s 9th flight). No.2 TF-86F (NAA model NA-216) modified in production from F-86F-35 s/n 53-1228. Maiden flight 5th August 1954 (by Bob Hoover?). Short test career and then to 3595th Combat Crew Training Wing at Nellis AFB on 31st January 1955. USAF announced on 7th February 1955 that no production orders for the trainer would be forthcoming and on 10th March the No.2 TF-86F was transferred to Edwards AFB for use as a chase plane. The aircraft was flown to McClellan AFB for depot work on 20th November 1958, reclassified for storage there on 21st July 1959 and finally scrapped in March 1961. From a modelling perspective: No.1 TF-86F as-built (s/n 52-5016): Narrow-chord, slatted wing No armament No ventral fin (but see Note 1) Note 1: No.1 TF-86 later modified with increased surface area at junction of tailfin/spine + vertical tail ‘fence’. No.2 TF-86F as-built (s/n 53-1228): Narrow-chord, slatted wing (but see Note 2) Armament x2 0.5-inch machine guns Ventral fin Additional surface area at junction of tailfin/spine junction Note 2: No.2 TF-86 later modified (in/after 1955) with broad-chord, extended-span, slatted “F-40” wing. Attached some photos to show differences: No.1 machine, after modification: No.2 machine, after modification: No.1 aircraft at roll-out: No.2 aircraft, first flight: No.2 aircraft, final colour scheme/configuration: Hope these help and look forward to your updates! SJ
    4 points
  49. So a final Sunday night update, Here is a shot of the breech and associated plumbing where it will eventually live through the hole for the FCT Now you know why I had to build it! Without it all you have is a big empty space! There`s a lot of kit in here! These shockingly blurred fots give an indication of the length of the L1 120mm gun, even in 1:35 scale its impressive! The gunners platform now has some reinforcing on the support gussets This is the idea.............. And this is the visible end................... Oh, and I got some Mr Surfacer in the turret! Win column! Ta for lookin` no "G" Granto
    4 points
  50. Thanks Rob As suggested I'm doing 'half coats' and another has gone on just now: Enough already. I'll just have to fiddle now until the transfers arrive. Talk amongst yourselves...
    4 points
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