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Hello,Friends - Here are my two 1/72 builds of this type.Like all my models,they're finished in 'Xtracolor Enamels and Varnishes'. I hope you may enjoy viewing them.Thank you. 😉👍 All the very best,Paul.

Here's another RAAF Hawk I built a little while back. It is the Kinetic 1/32 kit made into a 79Sqd bird I photographed at the RAAF Base Pearce Airshow a few years back. I used Ryan Hamilton's resin set and decals plus homemade decals I needed for various areas including the pilot's name under the cockpit. A very nice kit...would love to build another one.

And another one finished project. It's Tamiya's F-14A Tomcat in 1/48 scale. I build it straight from the box without any aftermarket parts. Building this kit was fun and so easy. But for that price... i wish tamiya would spend some extra parts like different chin pods and beaver tails, to build some different blocks of this beautiful aircraft. Painted with gunze colors. Washing was done with MIG-washes . I tried to keep the weathering simple and tried not do overpower for the time period this plane was in service (around 1979) . Edit: For the painting, i didn't used any alclads on the hot section. This was done with tamiya colors. I was inspired by a youtube bild from " Scale-a-ton" . It's worth seeing ! Lets go... Some Details....

Hi Gent's ! I want to show you my newest finished model. It's the Revell F-15E Strike Eagle 1/48 scale. The model is painted with gunze colors (H305), gunze metallic colors and alclcad around the heat section. I also added a few aftermarket bits. Eduard photo etch cockpit panels and some exterior parts. eduard heat seaker cover and RBF-tags for the sidewinder missiles and sensor covers from two mikes. So, thats the model... hope you like it. Feel free to criticise ! Some Detail pics....

Just finished this 1/72 Tamiya P-47D. Really a great kit to assemble and built OOB except for decals. Used MRP paints which are fantastic! Thanks for looking!

RAF BE2c, the newish 1/72 Airfix release. Nice kit, I had strut problems but I think that was me. The checks are all decals, some of them don't quite match up if you look closely but again, me I think. Not fully rigged. I might add some tailplane rigging later but I'm sick of rigging right now...

Defiant Mk.1 N3328 was first taken on charge by No. 10 M.U. on 13.11.1940 and allocated to No. 151 Squadron as a night fighter on 12 December 1940 and stayed until 22 August 1941. The Squadron was at RAF Wittering in Northamptonshire at this time. During the early months of 1941, No. 151 Squadron was flying Hurricanes and Defiants. On 4/5th February a Defiant crew claimed a Dornier 17C, which crashed at Weldon and was the first enemy aircraft to be shot down in Northamptonshire. Flight Lieutenant Desmond McMullen, DFC Bar, and Sergeant Fairweather made a most successful Defiant crew, claiming two Heinkel 111s on successive nights in April. In the following month they downed a Junkers 88. On 3 May 41, a Defiant brought down a Ju 88A-5 over Norfolk. The crew were P/O Guy A. Edmiston and Sgt. A.G. Beale. The 151 Squadron Operations Record Book shows that P/O Edmiston and Sgt. Beale had a busy time on 2nd and 3rd May. They flew in Defiant N3386 S from Coltishall to Wittering between 14.45 and 15.20. Between 20.55 and 21.10 they took N3317 O up on an air test. Between 21.50 and 22.30 they were again in N3317 O, on patrol. Between 01.30 and 02.45 on the 3rd they were up in N3328 Z on patrol. P/O Edmiston's combat report at Kew times the incident at 01.36. Although the camouflage value of RDM2 may be apparent, one problem was the continued use of grey codes; therefore, night-fighters soon came to wear red codes. DZ-Z of No.151 Sqn also has a most interesting piece of nose art in the form of a shark mouth and eye. After having been returned to Reid and Sigrist, presumably for modification, N3328 was later allocated to No.1 Air Armament School at Manby on 08.04.1942 and from there it was allotted to No.10 Air Gunners School at Walney Island near Barrow. On 23rd October 1942 Flight Sergeant John Leslie Coulter from No.10 AGS was flown to Manby via Grimsby, as a passenger in an aircraft flown by the Officer in Command of No.10 AGS, Squadron Leader Hubert Norman Gravenor. En route he was briefed regarding his duties concerning the collection of the aircraft from Manby. N3328 crashed in a hailstorm on 24 October 1942, killing the pilot, Sgt J. L. Coulter RAAF. Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I N3328 No. 151 Squadron RAF Wittering, Northamptonshire, May 1942.

"Hey, Ridley!" "Yeah?" "You got any Beeman's?" "I might have Mystic." "Well loan me some, would ya? I'll pay ya back later." "Fair enough!" "I think I see a plane over there with my name on it!" The film was "The Right Stuff" back in 1983 and this was the cue for Chuck Yeagar's flight in the F-104 Starfighter which. for me, is still one of the most thrilling aviation sequences ever filmed. I started this kit three years ago and it depicts 63-13269, one of the two Lockheed F-104G Starfighters used in the film. It is unusual in being mainly covered in silver foil to try to give an accurate metallic effect. She measures 22 inches in length. The kit is the old 1980 vintage Revell 1/32nd scale F-104G Starfighter, I think I got it on eBay for about £8! It is a very straightforward build, not too detailed, goes together fairly well. It does have raised panel lines which is perfect for 'foiling' and as you can see here I have been able to add different shaded panels especially at the 'hot' end of the plane. Overall the foil went on well, I also used Humbrol 27001 metallic paint in a couple of areas, also a rattle can of Halfords Aluminium spray. The white wings upper surfaces were sprayed Halfords Appliance White. The decals were a mix from the original kit, the spares box, and a few from a Victory decals set. She first flew on 2nd March 1962 and became the 69th TFTS Commander's aircraft at Luke AFB in Arizona in 1980 wearing "Fighting 69th" tail art. She starred in the film "The Right Stuff" in 1982; the pilots were Lt Col Robert Patterson (USAF) and Oberstleutnant Heinrich Thueringer (GAF); she was flown until end of operation at Luke AFB on March 16, 1983. She was struck off charge order July 19, 1983 and transferred to Taiwan (ROCAF) in 1983 coded "4383" under project "Ali Shan No.8" to 2 Wing. She was withdrawn from use August 6, 1996 and written off in 1st Depot at Pingtung AB, then scrapped. And this is her in the sun. Have to say I am really pleased with this build and I want to dedicate it to Major Mike Vivian (USAF Retd) who helped train German pilots as an Instructor Pilot with the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing at Luke AFB in the early 80's. As always all inaccuracies and mistakes are purely mine! Michael

Hello after a long time,Friends - Finally,with the more than appreciated help from 'Plastix', I'm delighted to be able to post my photos again on the Forum.My photos are now on Flickr after the Photobucket Debacle and able to use my iPad!! Now I need to get my current build completed and posted! 😉👍 All the very best,Paul.

Hello there! This is my latest build that I wanted to share with you. I hope you like it. KIT: 1/48 Hasegawa Spitfire Mk.IX After market items: Eduard RAF Seat Harness. Decals: Hasegawa/Italeri Paints: Tamiya acrylics. Weathering: AK Interactive washes.

Greeting folks, After few searches on the internet finally managed to get a Hasegawa F-104J 1:72, it was a simple kit, however, the fit was bit problematic and required or need to do a bit of sanding and dried fits. After that I choose nmf scheme for the paint work, I used Tamiya paint and little Mr. Color for the painting, the decals quality was bit mixed up, somewhere were little yellowish. Here is the end aircraft, hope it turned out ok, cheers

My latest completed build which was done as part of the 'From Russia With Love' GB. An enjoyable build and despite my initial reservations, a nice kit! I added the HAD Models shock cone, Model Maker Decals and I had to use a set of pylons from the KP kit for under the fuselage as the kit doesn't supply enough to go round. Finished with Mr Hobby Colour Aquious paints. Comments welcome.

I got my mojo back! The last kit I produced (new Airfix 1/72 Wildcat) was at the start of the year. I since got married, went on honeymoon and got a promotion at work Coming back to modelling, I just didn't have the motivation to start a build. I did however try to build an Arii Cesna 172 in order to get my mojo back, but it did the opposite and destroyed it. Anyway when I finished that kit with all it's white paint, I felt like a nice camo finish build could get me motivated. I've had this kit in the stash for a while, and decided to build it. The Airfix IX isn't the best IX there is, but it builds nice, and even though there are no cockpit or wheel well details, I decided to build OOB - with the exception of a canopy mirror scavenged from my spares box, foil seat belts and a custom underwing aerial. I brush painted the kit with Humbrol acrylics, and sprayed gloss followed by matt Tamiya TS-80. Anyway, hope you like looking at some new pics of a much-before-seen subject. Cheers Jimmy

I've finished the U/C legs now (promise.....no more boring U/C posts) - with the exception of lead wire for brake lines on the main U/C - which I think I'll leave until the end of the build as I'm bound to dislodge them during handling if I do it now. Nose leg: There are a couple of stencils on the real leg - and I approximated them with small squares cut from spare black number decals, and superimposed on top some small sections of spare white stencil decals . I'm pretty pleased with how Crisp's favourite Albion Alloy nickel tubes look as the fescalised sections of oleo. I think I'll always try and use it for this purpose from now on. The effort involved in drilling out the legs to receive the tubing is easily repaid by the neatness of the finish. I've (self evidently ) spent far too long on what is only a small sub-assembly - but I've enjoyed myself (after all - its the 'journey' not the destination.......as they (by appropriation) say on 'Strictly' ) and its an improvement on the Airfix supplied U/C - which apart from anything else are too long and to use them unmodified would mean the aircraft sitting too high off the ground. Main U/C: The main U/C also needed a white on black stencil. Photo's show that the the U/C looked quite dirty in use - even on the RAF Valley based red and white Hawks which were otherwise kept nice and clean. I've aimed at keeping it proportionate. And with a wheel dry-fitted for now. All four can get put away somewhere safe for the time being And a comparison with the Airfix original - which again just didn't capture the right 'weighted' look of a parked Hawk. Not sure what to do next. It's probably time to do the cockpit coamings - I vac moulded a bunch some time ago and I s'pose i'd better see if they fit and are useable......

I had a bit of a bad time with this one - I made many mistakes during the build. Overall I think I saved it reasonably well, but believe me I have done my best to hide the faults in the pictures. But that's reasonable - I always try to show off my models in the best way I can. In any case, here you go. Airfix 1/48 F3, with Model Alliance decals. Cockpit set by true details, which I did a horrible job on, so I closed the canopy.

I have just completed this for the Made in Britain II GB and thought that I would also share the images here. I used the 1/72 Airfix Kit Starter boxing and sanded the raised detail away then re-scribed the main panel line detail. Because the kits fin and rudder are too small I removed them - replacement items were made by laminating some sheet plastic cut and sanded to shape. The instrument panel was improved using my dwindling supply of Reheat dials and a basic centre console was added. Anyway here is the end result and as always thanks for looking. BEAGLE Basset 206R

OK OK - I'm now regarding this as finished - HOORAY they say - at long last - we thought this was going to be a quick build - but it's taken 16 days. Here's a couple of pix - I will try to get an RFI post up tomorrow night - it's getting late now... ...and for those that have been - thanks for following - the support and advice is most appreciated... ...cheers - Steve

Revell L-1011 Tristar Court Line G-BAAA 'halcyon days' Kit - Revell Decals - 26 decals and authentic airliners for cockpit and windows Modifications - 1. tail engine re-designed 2. area below rudder extended and corrected 3. trench cargo doors filled and sanded 4. nose reshaped thanks for looking!

Hello everyone, Time to make a start with my entry for the group build. A place holder for now; I sincerely hope it will become more, quickly. Either way, I'll finish it either now or later, as is my intention with all my BM WIP's. I have some other group build models on the go. I'm a little hesitant to push on with them all, as in the last 18 months or so, I've developed a liking for the airbrush method of painting my models. I've been unable to use the airbrush since late April/Early May of this year. This is simply due to a frustrating medical issue grounding me, almost all of the time, in the bedroom since then. Nevertheless, I've done work on them to the stage whereby I have to stop; that usually being main primer coat time. I'm going to go as far as I can with this one. I will use, most probably, LifeColor paints on the interior and details. Hopefully if and when I get to externals, I'll be 'vertical happy' for long enough to go into the office and use the old airbrush . Here's the box art of the kit I've chosen: I won't go into a history of the Dornier Wal here straight away, I'll bring information into the build little by little. That will also be the case regarding the use, place built and other details of the Do J 'Wal' (Whale) in Spanish and more specifically, Spanish Republican service. It's strange that many of the kits I buy/have in the stash are by Amodel. In the past (sometimes even now), they've been quite a challenge to build. When I returned to the hobby for the first time in around 2003, I bought quite a few Eastern European kits. I thought that was just how kits had become; short run, lots of clean up, strategy and filler needed. I had never had Tamigawa as a kid, so had no idea how easy it can all really be ! I do know better now. Yet those companies don't cater for my inter-war/early jets/Golden Age/lesser known Air Force and Spanish Civil War interests very well. Amodel and also Azur and all flavours of Special Hobby/MPM/FrroM etc have been my saviours in this area. AZ/KP and Heller amongst others are also helpful. I don't know how well this one will go together. It's the largest model, in terms of size and number of parts, that I've tackled since a KP Aero MB200 in 2004. I thoroughly enjoyed building that; spread it between other kits over around a 3 month period. Lets hope this goes the same way . There aren't that many sprue/runner shots of this one around, so why not put some on Britmodeller? That will be my next post. Give people an idea what's here. There are various boxings of the kit, I'm not sure if all have the same inside. I just took the photos and have set them to upload to Flickr. While that's happening; it's always nice to present photographs of the type being modelled. I have two of the exact OOB aircraft I will be making 'D-8'. I try very hard to stick to BM rules regarding copyrighted works; unfortunately both of those pictures are copyrighted. In line with a little background on the Wal in general; the type was somewhat groundbreaking and enabled a number of record attempts, pioneering flights. One was by Amundsen to attempt to fly to the North Pole. Yes, they landed on ice in flying boats! There's much more to the story. This Wal has different engines (a common theme), but is of similar basic outline: Meanwhile, here is one in Netherlands East Indies service: Both courtesy of Wikipedia. Just trying to build models is good for the bonce, I'm sure you'll agree. That's what I'm going to do . Thanks for popping in to have a look, hope to see you soon Best regards TonyT PS: I received a postcard from Percy today: He's enjoying the Literature Festival . T

This one had sat unfinished for months. It is a sod of a kit, and it was "finish it or bin it". The masking film had not aged well and the glazing is not great. I filled in the fuselage windows with gloss blue as the transparencies had clouded. It is OK, but not one of my best. Needs a new mould from Airfix...

Whille I have been making a few wheels for Buccaneers I have also been doing a bit of Wessexery I decided to use the Italeri rotor gear which even has representations of the BIMs on the blade roots, good on them I say, even if that is tempered by the over bent blades for parking the aircraft Yes, me praising Italeri, well done you lot I have been doing a little job on the blades, no Martian I'm not folding the damned things And I am no Hendie or EXFAAWAFU neither but there are some obviously missing bits Does this early experiment give you a clue? a' course it do! This is not the way I decided to go for the droop stops I reckoned I needed four bits of plastic for each so I trimmed an Evergreen I beam section to turn it into a T section and cut several thin slices off the T Turning a T into an odd shaped H huh? Then a side for each unit was cut from Slater's 0.010" plastic rod and glued on which, after a drop of paint became this No centre springs, sorry, but... I dont intend to change the pitch change rods, this will have to do but the counterweight setup for the tail rotor will be done next ...or soon And I hope to get the rotor head oil tank pipes fitted too, soon Do remind me if it seems I have forgotten them and their little hydraulic cylinders night

It's done. Took me about 3 years to pull it off. Only the second 1/32 I've built. I have mixed feelings on 1/32. They are fun, but also are easy to mess up for me. This build had several "its going in the trash moments" but it survived to see the end. Revell 109G-6 with Barracuda Wheels, prop, scoops, exhausts, decals, cowling bulges, and intake. I also used Ex Line and RB fabric seat belts. The top colors are Mr. Paint late war colors and the lower paint is tamiya mix. The RLM 76 tail is also Mr. paint. Big Thanks to Jason Brewer for once again taking pics for me! Pics: Thanks for looking!

So being a Star Wars fan and inspired by the many great builds here, I treated myself to this guy earlier this year. While it didn't take that long to build, the weathering put me off finishing it. But I decided to just try my best and see how it turned out. First, a coat of Satin to take the gloss shine off the armour (thanks AndyRM101 & Mike) Next up was a coat of Flory Models Grime wash.. Then tried some pastels which were a mix of sand, white and brown. And more pastel added to his gear. For the shoulder pauldron, I masked that and repainted it orange. Then a flat coat on that and some white pastel to try and fade it. And he's done. I still need to improve the base as it looks too plain. I had planned to use the big Lewis Gun blaster but couldn't get a pose I liked with it. So just the standard-issue E11 for this fella! Thanks for looking! Cheers, Dermot

Thanks Keith. I need to haul it out anyway to machine up some pipework, so I can see it being around for a while at this rate! My thanks for that Xmald! I suspect at some point the detailing required will feel more like making jewellery than aircraft. I tremble to think of the context for this Cc? Bank robbery? National Service? Yes. Yes you do! Thanks for that detailed exposition hendie. I think I may be able to adapt that procedure you suggest by fiddling with one of two of the Dremel attachements - I'll do a test in a few days when the thoughts have settled in the noggin. I'm determined to give it a go, even if it end in failure and ignominy, at least I won't be left wondering if such a thing were possible to achieve. I need to have a dig around the house to see what tubular elements are knocking about.... Help! It's: I love that film. You were great in it. Nice to have you along Martian! Thanks for that Mr. P! No pressure then... Oprah will want that as her Book of the Week for sure! There is a danger of obsession setting in Jaime, I need to be careful it's not just a cockpit come January.... It's a sweet thought Keith but far too much work for a speculative undertaking. Ta Steve. Those pointy-nointies are worth a punt at that price. There seem to be a few Chinese sellers around on Eplace who specialize in jeweller's and medical tools at the most extraordinarily low prices. Home dentistry can be within the reach of the common man! Now. Some small but nonetheless eye-aching work to relate. Having moved into the cockpit I got to work on detailing the rear bulkhead of it at rib 7. Amidst the baroque range of protuberances and levers that proliferate around this particular space, there's a kind of bassoon-like fixture on the starboard side of the bulkhead, which if my pitiful translation isn't too far astray, is a speaking tube allowing communication between the radio/navigation room and flight deck- voilà: I could actually feel my retinas throb after doing that. A mixture of Slater's microrod, 0.4mm brass tube, and 5 amp fuse wire went into the mix. Before mounting that I had added some of the wiring loom that runs up that side of the bulkhead at the junction with the wall, and a set of channels that run parallel to the side of the doorway: Conscious of using the pilot's seat as a brenchmark to keep things in scale, I bunged the floor in temporarily, using BluTak: The paper plan will come off of the floor eventually, but only after I've gotten the main features aligned and all necessary mounting holes drilled. Having exhausted my concentration now on that, I succumbed to childish temptation and taped this assembly into the fuselage to have a gander: That looks Ok. There was a serious point behind this as I wanted to eyeball the chair in-situ to make sure I'dgotten the height correct: That looks about right to me. You'll forgive me if that's all I have at the moment, I'm off to get some eye-drops and cucumber patches.... Oh. One rather exciting (in modelling terms anyways) discovery I made digging around in the parts manual is something I've never seen in photos or read anything about, and that is some kind of blind flying apparatus (blindfluggerrate) installed on the very top of the the upper motor housing (Motorgondel). Here's a crude sketch of the structure: As you can see, it's about 15' high and according to the manual it is installed on the aircraft for night-flying (Nachtflug). I haven't seen this configuration mentioned in relation to the Dornier 18 before, and was certainly unaware of it being a feature of the aircraft at all until now. Outside of the 'Battle of the Beams' stuff my knowledge of Luftwaffe radio-navigation stuff is too mediocre to offer any kind of authoritative statement about the particular system that was in use. Tony

Thanks guys! Tony - I was so exited that the GB already started I mixed the company up - now sorted :-) Pat the bike I work on is a Yamaha XJR 1300. A great chance to hijack my own thread! I bought it new back in 2000 and always changed minor components but was never happy with the look. For all my life I loved Cafe Racers and now that these became hip there are more options available to customize your bike and keep it street legal. So I change to clip ons shortend the frame, build a new tail skirt and seat pan from aluminum, changed the whole switches and stuff at the handle bar and build a new wireing loom and so on. It is not a bing-bling bike as this was my daily ride for many years (my only other ride in 2000 was my Moggie which I still own and which is crying for attention now) so has lots of patina - some of it will be cleaned up when I got the MOT done but I will keep it used. If interested I can post pics next time. Back to the SM.55 X - I added a pic of the box in the first post here is what is inside the box: I started to glue some parts together just to give it a go. I have a TÜV (MOT) date with my above mentioned bike tomorrow so had some other stuff to get done first :-) It looks as if there is quite some filling work to do and I suppose rescribing is also showing but the main thing will be the masking of the "swooshes" (?). Anyway - I really look ahead to this build :-D René

Thanks Ray I decided to go with sausage method to get a softer line between the colours. I started by applying a base coat of green. After a recommendation from a poster on Aussiemodeller I chose Gunze Mr Hobby H73 (RAF Dark Green WW2) It's greener than olive drab but more olive drab than the modern RAF green. I then added the sausages and applied the Mr Color Dark Sea Grey. This was an old bottle I had lying around that I’d used on my Jaguar so I had lightened it a bit. I pulled off the sausages and then added different shades of green and grey to break up the single tones.

Thanks Hendie I think this time, given time I am closer Sonobuoy is up its pipe, the transfers are on mostly, just a few to glean from other sheets Pylon needs adapting and tank painting and bunging on and the winch and wipers (and the OAT unit) rotary bits fore and aft and maybe get her into RFI for a tear down session isnt postimage.org great took these about five minutes ago laters guys

Thanks Jaime, thanks Pheonix! Today's next increment on the floats: refining the form of the bow. Starting with introducing a slight droop to the top ... ... and then removing excess white sheet & shaping the 'V' from below up to meet the nose. Not so easy ... After that a little detail to try to capture the keel strip along the bottom central 'chine', and those sharp edges to the curving junction between top & bottom surfaces, as shown here on the CR-3... ... & similar here on the R3C-2... Some fine strip CAed on & blended in... I think it's OK, but 'the proof will be in the priming'! While waiting for glue / putty / brain to cure, I took the opportunity to dig out one of my test home-made compressed aerofoil brass struts from my Short Crusader build, to check against the drawings. Very pleased it looks the part for the float struts, so now I know where I'm going with those!

The Pilots' seats are nicely detailed resin casting with seatbelts made from paper straps and etched buckles. All I added was a representation of the fleece seat pad. This was done using Milliput which was textured with wire wool. Once painted, There is a lot of detail to be added to the outside, etched, resin, and plastic parts: It is quite a size: Thanks for looking

Your approach to the internals sounds good Tony. Superb 2D plans you have there. Thinking about something you mentioned about the Dornier 18 bring the 'calf' of the 'Wal', I decided to look at the gun mounts included in my Amodel Wal kit: It looks like they're supposed to be the same as the ones on your Do 18. Tiny. I'm still stuck in this room and the lighting isn't very good at all. Nevertheless, I tried to take some photographs of my Whale parts. I had hoped a picture of my ring would be useful. Not very detailed. The gun mount is similarly very simple: When Mrs. T. returns later, I'll get her to bring a ruler in to measure my ring; it probably has the same dimensions as Keith's . Always nice to hear/see some Jethro Tull. Thanks for suggesting the newspaper column Tony. Sadly I wouldn't have a clue what to write about . I haven't written much in German for around 25 years, so in line with your suggestion, I've decided to write my memoirs in German. I'm hoping that Wim Wenders will help me get it published, possibly direct the film. The working title is: "Mein bester Freund ist ein Papageintaucher" Meanwhile, I've been thinking ahead about your nacelles. I have. Best regards TonyT

I started to paint it but realized that I hade missed to build some small details. I will worry about that later. Now I need to cut some masks for the registration letters.

evening chaps & thank you having made the elevators and it now being time to add the rib tapes etc, I was troubled when I looked back at the rudder.. I always felt the tamiya tape was too heavy and the picture is quite flattering, in the light it looked overdone - the real thing looks like this - the tapes are subtle, and if anything the ties and rods underneath the tape is what needed to be captured.. ..rather than make the elevators bad like the rudder, i stripped it all off and recovered the rudder to do the whole lot in a new way.. ..after experimenting with fuse wire, cotton and sprue for the rods under the tape, I settled on some ultra fine wire from a laptop lead, I also experimented with using solartex and decal strips for the tape, but found the best material to be some foil tape I have that is what heating engineers use (I think) it is like bare metal foil on a roll.. I tried running a rivet wheel along it and cutting along that line with a scalpel to attempt to replicate the 'pinked' edges - the real thing has zig-zag edges to prevent fraying (I think again).. ..after carefully adding wire on each rib, I added spots of CA gel to act as the fixings on each row and covered them in the home made rib tape... # ..compared to the original, I think the effect is about as close as I can get... ..same for the elevators.. ..these were wire wooled and primed with mr metal etch primer - I had a sudden nightmare it would react with the solartex, but turned out fine... then primed with mr surfacer 500.. ..and now i have the full set ready for paint.. ..speaking of which, I guess it's aluminium dope, it looks quite blueish in this photo - will have to try & mix something up.. ..then it's on to all the trim tab fittings and getting the registration right on the rudder.. TTFN Peter

Hi All Those of a nervous disposition should probably look away now, things got a little... agricultural... Starting from here My plan was to replace the pilot's headrest and skin the rear interior to cover the gaps. There again, might as well take the centre bulkhead out and replace it However, looks like Eugene is a little low, and so is the rear interior deck (couture headgear for demonstration purposes only) This is where it gets iffy. I cut a piece of plastic card to get a better idea of the level it looked like it should be Encouraged, I roughly marked it out Drilled a couple of guide holes And got an approximation of what I was after Most of the rest of the kit interior was removed, and those ubiquitous resistors were pressed into service again to provide a hint of internal bracing Guide holes sunk into the original floor And the bent wire CA'd in It sort of looks ok-ish from a distance, and I'm hoping I can live with it at least until I can get a coat of paint on it all and see how it turns out I'm hoping not much of it will be seen once it's buttoned up. Sorry if I've put anyone off their tea. Comments and suggestions welcome Cheers Steve

A small update. After getting all of the relevant parts together, I discovered that I didn't have the base plates for the VVSS units. Well, I did, but it would mean robbing another complete kit again, which I didn't want to do. So I posted a thread on BM and Missing Lynx to see if anyone had a spare set, and lo and behold, success. Over on ML, Greg Buelcher who produces some lovely resin conversion parts for Shermans, came up with the goods. So, while I waited for them to arrive, I was able to rob the ones from the kit knowing that I would have replacements. Final drive housing and rear hull plate in place. I've drilled a hole through the forward base plate on the left side and roughed it up a bit as this is where one of the AT shells entered. There's a hole in the second one also. That's because I didn't check my references properly. It'll be covered by the base plate. As can be seen here, the component parts for each VVSS unit came from four different manufacturers. The main body of each unit and the return rollers are Dragon, the springs and track skids are Tasca, the burnt out road wheels are Verlinden and the green swing arms are Revell. I also discovered that I only had five sets of the swing arms, so I had to use a pair from Academy's M3 Grant, which the tan ones in the photo. Unfortunately, they need altering as they are about 2mm higher than the Revell ones. It's like four feet six inch high magistrates….little things sent to try us!! The track skids were thinned on one edge to make them appear better and once in place, the four retaining bolts were added. I also added four retaining bolts to the trailing arms and drilled four holes on the front faces of the units. Surprisingly, given the mixture, they went together very well. The AT shell hit the first VVSS unit on the LHS, so I attacked it with a 2mm drill to give the impression of shell damage. More soon. Thanks for looking. John.

I was building this in last year's STGB which ended in February, unfortunately I was also extending myself with my Westland Wasp HAS1 and the timetable for this slipped and so, it came to pass that it found a space on a shelf Yes, that shelf As another of the stalled Wessex build models has resurfaced here and I have been doing a bit here bit there on this one I think I can allow her to resurface too The STGB is here I can pop a few of the old pictures in here to set the tone if you like Where it all started Bits rescued from a second version Matchbox Wessex added to bits from a first version Wessex which came with the noses for the early single engined one that I didnt use on my HC2 and Modeldecals sheet 99 Lots of innards made up from pictures And because I didnt want to buy any more after market stuff than the transfers I made up the missing bits from plasticene to cast them from This gave me the hump and the sonar bay position for under the floor Soon tidied that up I built the sonar gear on a false floor that was slid in place when I was ready for it, no way could I do the 'shipinnabottle' thingymajig The winch was rescued from the front of a Minicraft US Army deuce and a half and popped into a custom made frame Electronics racks built up seats made The walls were wired and piped up/down prior to closure And the hump fitted on The parrot beak was moulded and added And the driver and looker's seats made up from plasticard I started to make them both with the seat pans flat for sitting on then changed my mind Flat here Here seen with the one seat up to allow passage from back behind to up top at the front A pull moulded canopy came next with roof console and rotor brake fitted later The home brew sonar well was popped on and the underside plumbing added thanks in the main to photos from Mike/Bootneck and the 4+ magazine drawings after adding surface detailing including the refuelling in flight filler a coat of RAFBG was applied, this was a jar of thirty five year old Compucolor2 paint which was in perfect condition, amazing stuff yellow paint to come which stymied me, horrid evil colour Whatever was the Andrew thinking of bunging it on aeroplanes? This awful mess was where I stalled, time crept quietly by and the STGB Westland Wessex event ended with this unfinished Many very nice Wessii emerged from the STGB so it wasn't all wasted time, only my own wasted endeavour Here is where I'll drop this but rejoice, I have been beavering away at it and there will be better prospects to see later Thanks for looking bill

This one has been sitting in my stash for quite a few years, , pretty much straight from the box, but I did use Neomega Martin Bakers and Xtradecals to finish it as a display machine from 2TWU based on a set of photos I took more years ago than I care to remember. Sadly for me the internal blast shield has moved during painting but I don't think I can remove the canopy without doing more damage. Thanks for looking.

Just noticed your comment matey, lets catch up soon lol, my son is on that when he isn't You-Tubing! Well, I haven't got much done over the last few weeks but did get a bit done this weekend. This is the reason for the delay, we got him from Cheshire Dogs Home a few weeks ago and he's an absolute joy to have a round Back to the Manchester, the wings are now done and work has started on the fuselage again... I've somewhat cheated in the cockpit. To keep things simple, I've painted out the instruments that shouldn't be in the Manchester cockpit on the panel and engineers panel although I've not come across a photo of the latter, so artistic license prevails. Once the lid is on, the over paint won't be as noticeable.

That's a very nice bike . A very good friend of mine had a 1971 Kawasaki triple cafe racer. Complete suicide machine. He returned it to stock (it took 12 years). I'm torn; I think maybe I liked it more as a cafe racer; it was very 'honest'. I didn't have that kind of bike; for me a Yamaha DT 125 then Suzuki ER 185. Dad had a Velocette Thruxton Clubman (500cc single pot fishtail). That was lovely. Great start on the Savoia . There is a bit of filler involved in this kit. I think a good thing to trial fit is Wings to root. It can end up with a step; but maybe with a different build sequence A fleet of these flew Italy to USA. Italo Balbo; 1933 Very advanced and impressive. This film clip could be useful from around 4.25 onwards Best regards TonyT

I take full concentration on the low parts count Jamie - how bad can it be ;-) There you go Pat: René

Dorniers also make an appearance in H P Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, used to convey the ill-fated Dyer party from Miskatonic University's Antarctic expedition to their doom.

Well chaps, work continues. This is a test fit; nothing (aside from the seats) is glued together. Still a little more work to get the cowl to join smoothly to the fuselage, I think. In the background, you can see I painted the PART instrument panel transparencies with a white back -- I accidentally brushpainted with lacquer, and boy did it smell! Tiny stirrups for the rudder pedals: The kit doesn't actually have rudder pedals or the little post-and-bar they attach to, and neither does the PART set. I could, should I wish to, fabricate my own, but I'm not sure the result would justify the investment of time. I annealed the photoetch fret and tried my hand at bending the PART replacement part for the aft cockpit coaming: They look quite different, and I'm not thinking I'll use it, but it's nice to get into the habit; you never know when you'll want to use a lot of photoetch but your lack of skill with it will force you to do something fun and easy instead. I've been in a weird mood as of late -- the impending arrival of Protoprocopius Mk II has me in an introspective mood. I'd love to say I'm excited, but mostly I'm just thinking of all the ways my life hasn't turned out like I planned or (as I'm not much of a planner) as I hoped.

That reminds me of a Japanese flight student I taught a few years back. I was training him for his initial Flight Instructor certificate so he had to go through everything as though I were an initial student......in the aircraft, check for full and free movement of the controls, and his comment was "we check fright controls".....I couldn't stop myself laughing.....his description was pretty accurate, especially if used incorrectly! Ian

Adding more detail to the winch area, there is a handle just over the crew door which is missing from the kit so I made one from brass rod. Also I tidied up the winch support bracket on the engine area, it was a bit messy but now looks a bit more like it. I also added a bracket to the underside of the winch which has a hole in it, you can just make it out in the pictures. Next I added the protective cover to a connector of some type just above the sponson, the other side is also done. I've done more scribing on the tail area but its not worth taking a photo of this yet. Slow progress I know Cheers for looking and the likes Dan

Here is my Airfix A300 with a Bra.Z nose and home made decals. Another of my 'planes I remember from Heathrow around 1980'. The Airfix kit is fairly accurate and could be built OOB and still look very good, however I've used the replacement nose available from Bra.Z as I feel it really captures the Airbus widebody family nose shape 100%. The only other changes I've made are to move the tail bumper to a more correct position and scratch build the intakes on the underside of the fuselage between the wings. The cheatlines have been painted as has the tail with the logo printed on white decal paper and doubled up. Titles, names, coroguard etc were all home printed too except for the small logos on the engines and below the flightdeck windows which I found in my spares box. Stabiliser rubbing plates are from the 26 A300 detail decal sheet as are the door handles/details. Passenger and flightdeck windows are from Werner at Authentic Airliners. I've depicted D-AIAA Garmisch Partenkirchen as a fairly new aircraft and so have only lightly weathered the wings. Overall I'm pleased with this model as it was my first attempt at designing and printing my own decals and it seems to have turned out alright. Hope you like it and thanks for looking! Cheers, Ian

Yak-3 White 6 Lieutenant Marcel Albert, 1st FAR “Normandie Niemen”, 303rd FAD, Autumn 1944/Spring 1945 It’s been a few months since I have built an aircraft model but, for the ‘From Russia with Love’ GB, I decided I’d do something similar to my MTO GB build where I made a diorama with three German tanks and one aircraft. My original intention was to have the aircraft flying over the three Russian tanks (similar to my MTO GB project) but when I saw Zvezda had included a rather nicely detailed engine I changed my plans and decided to have it on the ground with the covers off. It was a lovely kit to build and apart from when I had a bit of an issue with how I had painted the camo colours it was one of my most pleasurable builds to date. The Yak-3 is a great looking aircraft which was developed from a Yak-1M airframe and had a strong resemblance to its forerunners. The Yak-3 was superior to the Yak-1 – it was lighter and with smaller wings, powered by a Klimov VK-105PF engine - it was much faster and more agile. It was also better than most of its German opponents – especially at low altitudes where most aerial combat in the east took place – and during the last ten months of the war Yak-3s played a key role in defeating the Luftwaffe. Just under 5,000 Yak-3s were produced between late 1943 and early 1946. “White 6” (as I have built this model as) was flown by Lieutenant Marcel Albert, 1st FAR “Normandie Niemen”, 303rd FAD between Autumn 1944 and Spring 1945. Yak-3, “White 6” carried a white arrow/lightning bolt on either side of the fuselage and had a tri-colour spinner. Kit: 1/48 Zvezda Yak-3 Extras: Tamiya seat belts and EZline aerial wire Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel and Railmatch Acrylics - all applied by brush WIP: Here Tank RFI: Here Diorama photos: Here As I mentioned above - this Yak-3 was made for a diorama - so here are a few pictures of it in place - more photos of the scene can be found here Finally - a big thank you must go to Peter (Basilisk), the hard working GB host, who supported us all throughout - and everyone who took the time to comment or offer advice in my GB thread. Kind regards, Stix

Hi guys. Welcome me to the RFI of my Revell Stearman Kaydet 1/72 It's been a while since this little bird was finished but I didn't have a spare moment in the sun to take the pics. I had to go to the docs today so I had a few hours to myself, I got some nice pictures taken in the garden with some nice autumn sun. The WIP can be found here. I scratched the office from plasticard. re-built the prop painted with Tamiy acrylics and rigged with ez-line. An excellent fun little build to bring the love back after the Mamoth prowler build. Here we go then, Welome the Stearman Kaydet. (Yellow Peril) 1/72 And there we are. I really enjoyed this build, the rigging seemed to go well giving me some confidence to do a bigger string bag I have in the stash. I hope you all like the shots and thanks to everyone who helped along the way. Take care y'hear. Johnny Ramone.

This afternoon I managed to get the canisters for the floatation gear finished and fitted to the model. I reasoned that there was less chance of them getting eaten if they were attached to the main wheels. As these will be getting brush painted, masking will not be an issue. The issue I had with the kit parts is that they look way to angular in cross section to my eye and the flange that runs around the edge looks to wide. As I happened to have some plastic tube of the correct diameter, knocking these items out was no big deal with the most time consuming part being waiting for the basic canisters to dry properly before I could go to work carving and sanding them to shape. I have also begun fettling the canopy so that it fits better and once this has been masked, glued and fitted, I think its just a quick session reinstating any lost panel lines, finish up masking and she will be ready for paint. Thanks for looking Martian

Thanks Greg, the old kit is good for its age, but I was really chuffed when I saw they were making a new tooling. I hope so Tony, it has had good reviews for the fit so I hope I won't be spending too much time filling and sanding. I was particularly pleased that they included the crew before I saw them - now I have seen them I am doubly happy as they are superb, but just hope I can do them adequate justice (I hope I can, given that most likely very little will be seen of them once they are inside!) Haha I will settle for finishing it in a manner I consider satisfactory PC Thanks Pat, I think the old kit is still well-respected but... well, sometimes you see something and your heart overrules your head and your wallet, the outcome was never really at issue with me. Thanks Greg - yes, when the kit s complete the wings are actually designed to be removable for storage, apparently it works very well, but i'll have to see how mine turns out... if I remember I'll put up some pics with the Italeri Sunderland for comparison, I don't feel it is that much bigger but I'd be interested to see... incidentally my friend and evil overlord Jamie from Sovereign Hobbies referred to the Emily as "the steampunk Sunderland" Thanks very much Jaime, and thanks for having me - I'm looking forward to building this one too Thanks Alex - but beware, that way lies madness There is a forthcoming H8K1 in October, I believe. I believed so much that I ordered one I'm not sure what I was thinking and I'm not sure I care Cheers, Stew

Dear fellow Britmodellers, here's my 1/72 Eduard Spitfire IXc built from the 'Profi Pack'. I chose markings for UF-Q, No. 601 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Fano, Italy, November 1944, as I wanted a change in color to my armada of green/grey Spitfires. I painted with Alclad 'High Speed Silver', which does not resemble the quality of Alclad's Aluminium lacquers; it left a rather grainy looking surface, and is reluctant to masking, as it easliy pulls off with Tamiya Tape (something that's never ever happened with Alclad lacquers before). So, while it may not be my best model, I'm happy to have it finished! Thanks for your interest. All photographs: Wolfgang Rabel, IGM Cars & Bikes. With best wishes from rainy Vienna! Roman