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Hi, friends. After introducing myself in "new members" thread I'd like to show you my latest work. This Buffalo was flown by Noel Sharp, a New Zealand pilot of No. 488 Sqn RNZAF. His personal aircraft, with a striking chinese dragon, made this model irresistible to me. Noel Sharp was credited with 3 kills during the Malayan campaign, including a Ki-43 and a Zero. He was shot down on 17 January 1942, but survived. Engineers were able to repair his aircraft, replacing the front section of the engine cowling with that of another plane (for this reason the ring colors don't match with the rest of cowling). Sharp was evacuated from Singapore before its capitulation, along with his Buffalo. The aircraft was destroyed at Palembang, South Sumatra, during a Japanese bombing raid on 7 February 1942. Sharp was KIA over Java on 20 February 1942, while flying a Hurricane with No. 605 Sqn RAF. He was 20 years old. Buried in the Kanji War Cemetery in Singapore, Sharp was posthumously awarded the DFC on 20 December 1946. Following two pics posted only for discussion purposes: The old Tamiya kit was improved with a PE set from Eduard, masks from Montex, vacform canopy (central section) and some add on (pitot tube made of metal tubes, Unithread for the wires) . I riveted the whole kit (I'm not a river counter but sometimes I do that). Everything is painted, roundels, letters, codes... using masks , with the exception of the dragon wich is a decal (btw too thick, I had to go over the rivets again). Undersurfaces painted with Tamiya Sky and Black. Upper surfaces (Dark Earth & Dark Green) with MRP (Mr Paint), I do like this new brand of lacquer paints. The pics: I love this barrel. Hope you like it. Regards JC

Needing very little introduction the iconic Laker Skytrain, one of the pioneers of low cost operations, operated the DC10 during the 70's and early 80's. They were familiar to anyone who frequented Gatwick, Manchester or Prestwick airports in the UK. I bought an MD11 from 26 last year as Ray was selling them at a good price and had originally intended to build it as an MD11 but, as I already had an Authentic Airliners MD11, decided that I would try to convert it into a late model DC10. The conversion wasn't too difficult, the main differences are a shorter fuselage, larger tailplanes, different tailcone, no winglets and different engines. The latter also required some work on the number 2 intake as the DC10 I wanted to model had the straight intake not the larger more rounded one of the MD11. Some later DC10s did have the same intake as the MD11. I took the GE CF6 engines from an Airfix A300 which were going spare as I intend to finish my A300 as an Iberia aircraft which used P&W engines, these were attached to the kit pylons with no problems. The hot section of the number 2 engine was cast from one of the Airfix ones. Despite some modellers experience with this MD11 kit I found assembly straight forward, fit was good and, with only a little adjustment, the wings attached nicely with the wingspar providing a good strong joint. The front fuselage was shortened simply by removing a plug from the constant diameter section, however this was not possible for the rear fuselage so I had to make some longitudinal cuts in the forward part of the rear fuselage to reduce it to the diameter of the rear part. This worked quite well and only needed a little Milliput to fair it in nicely. The tailcone was removed and the new one sculpted with Milliput. I used some acrylic tubing for the forward part of the centre intake and there was a little filling further along the intake where the engine sits just to reshape it a little. The tailplanes were perhaps the hardest part as I had to increase the length and the chord this was achieved with a couple of styrene inserts some Milliput and sanding to shape. Decals are from Flightpath and went on beautifully, windows and windshield are Authentic Airliners. I had to do a little adjusting of the centre windscreen sections as the EE kit part is wider in this respect. Paint is Halfords Appliance White with the grey belly Mr Color 315. The engines and wing leading edges are Mr Metal Color Aluminium 218 and the Coroguard my own mix of any old dark grey with a drop of silver. Of course half way through this project EE/MikroMir announced they were releasing a DC10! Regardless of that I enjoyed the conversion and at the time of completion this is the only way to build an injection moulded late model DC10. Having said that if you are after an earlier DC10 without the large forward wing fairing I recommend the AA kit. First a few WIP pics. Sorry about the messy workbench! Now the finished model. Hope you like it and thanks for looking. Cheers, Ian

A lot of work on this one : Aftermarket : Neomega MB Mk9 seat, Master pitot probe, Pavla intakes, tailplanes and nozzles. Scratchbuilt FOD covers and additional detailing to pylons, gunpods airbrake and bay. decals from the kit and various Harrier sheets. RBF tags from Airwaves. Paints Tamiya, Mr Colour, Vallejo, Lifecolour. I look forward to the forthcoming Kinetic GR.3

Much happier with my seam filling which I felt was a weak area on my previous builds. The next area which requires attention is canopy work, having said that these weren't the easiest of canopies to work with but something I'll be making more effort to get right in future.

This is my interpretation of the venerable Matchbox Hawker Fury Mk.1 courtesy of the Revell reboxing in the wonderfully bright, eye-catching livery of No.43 Squadron based at RAF Tangmere 1932. I originally intended this to be a gentle excursion and break from my Dambuster build as a contribution to the Made in Great Britain GB. Sadly, and shamefully, I ran out of time and failed to make the finish, but reincarnated it in the WIP section. Build thread is here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235027219-revell-matchbox-hawker-fury-mki-172/& I believe it is Matchbox’s first kit way way back circa 1972: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/147812-matchbox-pk-1-hawker-fury The kit itself is a lovely little kit which goes together very well. Even after all these years, apart from some flash here and there, the tooling holds up quite well. It is also quite accurate with the exception of the tailfin which is a little undersize, and the undercarriage which is a tad high because it is moulded in the inflight position. That said these really are subtle nuances which are barely noticeable. Of course it has raised panel lines, the rivets are a bit OTT, as is the wing ribbing. The undercarriage is a little clumsy and toy-townish looking, but after all it is a kit from 1972. There aint much else on offer in 1/72, save the old Airfix kit and the Amodel Mk.1/2. I understand there is an MPM Production future kit in the pipeline. You’re not exactly spoilt for choice in respect of aftermarket – you can get an IP panel and some undercarriage conversions for the Spanish version, although there are plenty of decals for those tasty schemes to choose from. As for my build, well as I said above it started as a gentle OOB build, but I started adding details and ended up getting carried away, with the result that it was a proper kit bash in the end with quite a bit of scratch added and parts replaced. I sanded back the raised panel lines and re-scribed new ones. I pretty much rebuilt the entire cockpit interior, scratch building a new seat, cockpit frame, IP, gun mount, joystick, harness from take-away container foil, and other bits and bobs. The pit is pretty much Spartan as you can imagine with an early 70’s kit. You can’t see an awful lot of it, but as is the usual parlance “I know it’s there”. I trod on the windscreen and bust it so had no choice to make a new one from acetate with frames made from take-away foil. The guns were moulded on, so I cut and sanded them away and scratch built replacements from Albion Alloys tubing. Ditto the gunsight which was a bit oversize and clunky. I scratch built cross hairs and the pilot bead – quite fiddly but nice little touches I feel. I sanded back and cut out the exhausts which were moulded on. I replaced these with small sections of brass tubing, slightly squashed to replicate the oval shape. These were finished off in Humbrol Metalcote gunmetal. I left the rivets on the engine housing as I liked the effect, albeit they are a tad over scale. This was then covered in Bare Metal Foil to replicate the polished aluminium effect. The rest was finished off in Humbrol polished aluminium metalcote and HU 24 trainer yellow. The prop and wheels were finished in Tamiya NATO Black to give an off black effect. The wing ribbing was sanded back to give a more subtle effect, and I added the little actuators and counter weights. I used a little of the undercarriage but largely replaced it from flattened tube. Ditto the tail struts. I modified the wheels, spinner, tail, scratched a new tailskid and modified the radiator with little bits of mesh and a scratch built an oil cooler. The latter can barely be seen but “I know it’s there”. Made a pitot and venturi. The rigging is invisible thread. Phew! Anyroad it’s a great kit and an enjoyable build. You can build it straight OOB on a rainy Saturday afternoon like we did as kids, or go nuts like I did. Either road you’ll have fun. Thanks for looking.

Hi all This is my latest model finished. P-40C 33RD PURSUIT SQUADRON USA, 1941 Model improved with full scratch built interior, add new wheels from my spare parts box. Added new machine guns and new pitot from syringe needles. Painted mostly using Tamiya and Gunze aqueous Hobby Colours acrylics. Camouflage: Undersurfaces Grey FS 36440 = Tamiya XF-80 overall plus added a few drops of white XF-2 for highlights. Upper-surfaces US Olive Drab FS 34087 = Gunze H52 overall plus added a few drops of white H1 for highlights. Decals: FCM Decals 72-22 P-40 Galore plus spares for propeller's stencils. I had issues with the upper wing decals when trying to make them to conform to kit's surface, tried Gunze's Mr Marker Fit and it almost dissolved the decal completely. I had to try to fix as best as I could but didn't end perfect as I intended. Conclusion: Overall the kit is very basic and have some major mistakes. It's aimed for very beginner modellers. Serious modellers should by the Airfix new tool. PS: After looking the photos I've noticed I've missed the rear windows, it's now been fixed. Cheers! PS: Critics and comments are always very welcomed!

Hello Mates! This is the Italeri Tiger boxed by Revell with True Details resine seat, Microscale Decals (Changed), Hasegawa Data Recorder, sidewinder Dummy Rocket and a lot of detailing. I built this in 1999/2000. RAF Alconbury was chosen for Europe's aggressor unit. This was formed as the 527th Tactical Fighter Training and Aggressor Squadron in April of 1976 with the F-5E. It was renamed as the 527th Aggressor Squadron I hope you like the Snake 3-tone camouflage scheme Cheers, Thomas

Recently finished a real brain teaser getting the rigging just right. Used the supplied colour reference for Tamiya paints , lightened the fuselage colour slightly. Engine covers airbrushed using Valleyo Duraluminium metal colour then sprayed Matt the following day brushed on the patches , turn out better than I thought. For the rigging Uschi standard thread was used no chances of sagging .

This is the elderly ESCI 1/72 C-47 / DC-3 kit that I picked up for a tenner at last year's Driffield show as described in the Work In Progress section here: It's far from perfect, especially in the quality of its soft-edge camouflage, but it was primarily a first attempt to get a passable finish with my airbrush after it had laid unused for several years. As a kid in the early '80s in South Africa I used regularly to see and hear these Dakotas trundling through the sky. The brown was officially Dark Earth but the actual colour in service was much lighter. I think I might have gone too far and made it too light, but it's close enough. Decals come from a variety of sources: the national 'castle' insignia come from the old Superscale sheet, the code numbers (which are a bit too small) are from a 1/48 Airfix Spitfire kit and the yellow escape hatch lines are tiny sections cut from a decal stripe. More airbrushing practice is planned soon! Jon

Hi Folks Another warts and all Sea Hornet from CA.this time from 728 NAS based at Hal Far. Painted with the usual Xtracolor HSS and using the kit decals. Cheers Ian

— from Sea Harrier Over the Falklands by Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward, 1992 Inspired by a talk given to my hang gliding club by David Morgan, who (as of this writing) is still the last British pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat, I built my kit as one that he flew in the Falklands War of 1982. More photos and description on this page of my web site: La muerte negra

Not long ago I saw this on Getty Images while looking for something else: https://www.gettyimages.ae/license/3430428 It was love at first sight. The search begun, and I learned that there was a resin kit from Aeropoxy and an out of production vac from Aeroclub. The Aeroclub kit can be seen popping sometimes on online auctions, but is not easy to get, plus it's a bit dated. The few images I saw online of the Aeropoxy kit didn't tempt me, but in all fairness I did not have the kit on my hands, so this is subjective. I think that Contour Creative Studio produced at some point a paper kit of the DH83, but I have no direct knowledge of it, besides is not the media I build on. Since there are in the market now two relatively new kits of civil De Havillands in 1/72nd scale, the 60 and 82, it could be perhaps possible to borrow some parts and achieve a credible representation of such beautiful airplane. Very fortunately, I was directed by Ebil Genius and friend Sönke Schulz to a thread on the topic right here at Britmodeller, where a great deal of information was provided by John Adams, to whom I am grateful. I am using a combination of plans that are available on the Net, although none seems to be completely accurate. So here it starts this attempt to a half-scratched 1/72nd scale Fox Moth, this time the one with the aft rectangular window. All this is a bit tentative, and although hopes are high I really don't know how far this will go or how successful this may ultimately be. So let's start the road, but bear in mind that I am very practical modeler. The flat sides and formers are cut: Windows and doors are cut. Usually I am unable to extricate the door cleanly from a fuselage side, and have to carve out first the opening and then produce a separate door, but this time somehow it worked: Both doors will be posed open: Gluing begins: It is very small, smaller than I though it will be, how they managed to cram up to four people there I don't know: The window that communicated cabin and cockpit is carved, seat and controls prepared, and the oil reservoir made too:

Converted from the Tamiya F4F-4 using the Wolfpack Design conversion. I modified the ailerons as they deflected when the wings were folded but the conversion has them in neutral. Paints from Mr Paint.

... but only a little bit. More later I hope Thanks Wez, noted! That'll be fun to mask... Thanks Harry Yep, my usual technique. Jaime (jrix) suggested sticking small parts to cocktail sticks with CA (gulp) for painting and it's a great tip; just snap them off when done. I bet the RAF was in two minds over Pollock's actions on the day though... not celebrating 50 years of the service must have stung... but then rules is rules. I know! Always good to see some plastic, now and then... Thanks Benedikt No new tools planned for this one but hey, you never know... Pete, Tomo, Bill and Keith I hope you get the food sorted out... chuck some chips in for me please Welcome Gordon, no worries I was on a management training course once and we got back late from coffee to find the lecturer in mid-stream, ignoring our entrance. Some time later he told us a story: A man was fishing in a boat when a snake swam by with a frog in its mouth. The man grabbed the fish, released the frog (which safely swam away) and thought 'great, saved a frog's life'. Then he looked at the snake and thought 'Rats, I've robbed this snake of its lunch' so he gave it one of his sandwiches. Five minutes later, the snake came back with another frog in its mouth, looking expectant... Moral: Remember, it's the behaviour that's rewarded that's repeated. He then explained that we usually reward people who arrive late for meetings ('Hi there, grab a coffee and take a seat') when those that arrived on time are rarely given such attention. That's why, next time, they'll all arrive late to receive a reward. Yes, he was a smart-bottom, but then it was a management course Nothing done yesterday - playing with the new 'phone. The Apple website says "Order by 7:00pm for free next day delivery..." so I was a bit peeved at 5pm on Sunday when it said 'Delivery Tuesday, pick up tomorrow'. I'm having my haircut this morning so I won't be in. Chose 'Collect in store', took Mrs B to her Yoga and rushed into the store to pick up my new toy device. Nice chaps in the Apple Store and they quickly found a box and presented it to me. "Would you like help with the setup, it's free?". "No thanks," I said, "I haven't made an appointment and I've backed up at home so I'll be fine." He said "No problem, but there is a free slot now". Great I thought, I can sit in a coffee shop playing with my new 'phone while I'm waiting for Mrs B. "Yes please then" The very nice Person (so now you know it was a young girl don't you? P.C.? Pah!) took the new 'phone out and started the transfer from my existing 'phone. Great stuff Apple, it 'saw' my old phone and said 'Do you want me to move all the stuff from that?' Took a few minutes. Then she said 'Swipe up from the bottom' (cheeky) so I did. Nothing. 'Try again' she said, patiently, showing me how to do it on her own 'phone*. Nothing. She tried it. Nothing. "Oh dear, I think you've lost your touch"** and went off to get a new, replacement one which is fine. I must say that the 'X' is very nice, but it is very expensive. Very well made though and the 'Face ID' is much handier than I'd imagined. Lift the 'phone and look at it - unlocked. Press the side button twice and look at the screen - pay for things. Cute. Send someone an 'Animogi' - sad. But yes I did, just to me eldest. Yes, it was a Panda face. No Unicorns for me, what do you think I am? Don't answer that. I am hoping the camera will be better than the (pretty good) one on my 6S - we shall see. * How long am I going to keep typing that apostrophe before I realise that I don't need to show it's short for 'Telephone' anymore? Who knows... ** Not actually what she said but can't miss the chance for a giggle. Must be getting my sense of humour back now my neck pain is almost gone. Watch out! As previously stated I have a haircut this morning with my lovely stylist***. Also, I must get some house painting done if I'm not to be sent to the dog house. Might squeeze a bit of modelling in later though, hopefully. *** I know I should, by now, be queueing up with the other old blokes for a £5 haircut but 'my stylist', who's done my hair for years, is blonde and gorgeous. They also have youngsters that wash your hair and give you a head massage. Typing that I AM starting to feel a bit like a pervy old man. Only a bit though. Still time...

My build for this group Was going for a Fulmar but there's already two so thought I ought to 'book' my place. The scheme will be HMS Courageous.

I used the Ultracast aeroproducts spinner , decals from IPMS Canada.

Bored of my old black phone case I knocked this up last night, PVA rivets a bit of plastic card and some cheep cogs from ebay, all painted with enamel paints and matt sealed this morning. Its been one of thing I have been meaning to have a go at for ages, now were did the kids put the Nerf guns................

The mini Beast from the East gave me some unexpected time at the bench so I could put the finishing touches to this: It is my last but one Classic Airframes kit. When they stopped producing kits I had 16 in stock and have been slowly working my way through them. Not the easiest CA kit to build but not the hardest either. The main problem was getting the booms and tailplanes straight and level, and I'm not completely sure I did. It looks really wonky in this photo but not in real life!!! 14 Squadron RNZAF is better known for having Black rudders with white kiwis painted on but earlier they used these checks. As I have one in the later scheme this was a natural fit. I used Oldmodel Decals from NZ and they performed really well except for the Letter B's on the tip tanks which are not opaque enough and will get changed when I find suitable decals. Thanks for looking.

First of all, please forgive my English. It will be 1/72 and this idea is very old. Sometime over a year ago, my friend and me figuried out a non-common dog-fight flight display, with TIE Fighter, and X wing. The idea was; the TIE will be at Luftwaffe scheme, and the X wing will be RAF scheme. My friend was ill a long time, but the idea still in my mind. Now here is the new idea. I'll paint the X wing in RAF scheme around the Battle of Britain, and I'll paint the Spitfire at Red 3 scheme frome the Star Wars - A new hope. I found Mark II mask set a year before, that what I want to use. But, when I want to buy a 72 scale Mk II, I did not found. Hello Mr Murphy. But I have the new Airfix Mk Va. A little changes, and it will be good for Mark II. I have to make some upgrade on the Airfix kit, but nothing fancy. There will be some figures. Two pilotes, and one civilian. The civilian is movie director. First of all, I made the base. This is a Costal Kit airfield. And this will be the composition. On the lower left corner will stand the director. But the base was 2D. I scratch the base, and made a heavy wahs on the lines with Vallejo blue wash, and it get some light wash everywhere. Maybe I'll use some pigments at the end ... I dont know yet ... I hope, you like it!

Hi folk's,got this for under a tenner at my LMS really as a practice piece for some idea's which I used on the Churchill,it's a real oldie but as with most if not all Tamiya releases doesn't show in the molding.Finished in the scheme of the JGSDF as I liked the idea of the flag on the turret,after paint and glossing a wash was added in black then after matt coating dry brushed the highlight's in aluminium and a watered down wash of Mr.Colour earth ran into the area's where dust would settle,many thank's for looking in.

Hi again, Number 3 in the BoB collection - Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Mk.1 Again a super little kit, panel lines overly deep but good fit and detail. Supplemented by the Eduard PE set. Paints are MRP and Xtradecal decals. Couple of glaring mistakes but I won't highlight them (I'm sure someone will!) Looks nice in the flesh, but hasn't photographed as well as the other 2 for some reason... It is hard in this scale tempted for a switch to 1/48... Anyway, still waiting for my perfect model... Cheers, Guy

Hi guys and gals, Back in 2014 during the 2 Lancasters tour I was lucky enough to get to RAF Coningsby for a hangar tour of the BOBMF whilst the both lancs where there. It was a great day and left me with some fond memories. I did take a few photos on the day but they have been sat on the hard drive without seeing seen by anyone apart from myself from time to time. So I thought it would be nice to share them with you. 20140916-01.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-02.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-03.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-05.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-06.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-07.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-08.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-09.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-10.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-11.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-13.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-14.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-15.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-16.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-17.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-18.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-19.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-20.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-21.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-23.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-24.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-25.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-26.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-27.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-28.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-30.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-31.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-32.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-34.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-35.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-36.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-37.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-38.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-41.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-42.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-44.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-46.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-47.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-48.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-51.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-53.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-55.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-57.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-58.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-60.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-61.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-63.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-64.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-65.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-66.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-67.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-69.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-71.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-73.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-76.jpg by Neal, on Flickr 20140916-78.jpg by Neal, on Flickr Thanks for looking. Neal

Tadaah! That is the brown down and the masking removed. As expected there is a lot of touching up to do. With all the bump and textures on this one I think it would be impossible to get it perfect first time around. I will now be going in block by block with tape and bits of card, just to tighten up the edges. I will probably need to go in with a brush and attack a few parts too.

Good afternoon everyone. Some of you may have seen my updates of my build of the Italeri Su-34 in 1/72. Pleased to say that the kit is now finished. The kit went together rather well and is all oob. The main downfall for the kit is the fact the kit was produced before we had better access to Russian aircraft and as a result there are a few glaring errors, this reissue of the kit just really provides an up to date decal sheet, when compared to previous issues. The parts also require some clean up due to the injection pins in some rather odd locations. All painted using the hakata red line su-34 paint set. For those that haven't use Hataka before. This build was a test build for me to see how these paints settled as my plan is to tackle the hobby boss 1/48 Su-34. So I needed to find out the psi required on the airbrush and what ratio paint to thinner was required, as this was my first time with them. I recommend using their own thinners and thin 75% paint to 25% thinners, spray at low pressure and use a primer. Great results and i will definitely use them again. Give me your opinions please.

Hello all, here is a Revell 1/32 Spitfire I have been building to break the slow going Ju-87 build I am on. It is painted with Humbrol colours and with only seat belts added to the standard kit. It builds ok with a few fit and mould issues, but nothing to serious to worry about. Hope you all like it, all comments are welcome :-)

This is a my second build in a few days that I have completed while I'm trying to get my mo-jo back for the ju-87 I am building. The model kit is from Trumpeter kit and builds quite well, only issue I found was the correct seating of the undercarriage. The way the undercarriage is built up is a bit of a strange approach and doesn't exactly help the modeller and once complete, it isn't the strongest 'set' I've come access, other than that, a good build. Built out of the box and painted with Humbrol paints except for Mr Hobby for the RLM04 yellow Hope you like it, all comments are welcome :-)

One of my A-10 flight tests in 1984-85 with the 6512th Test Squadron. The A-10 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB was shut down at the end of 1983. The remaining A-10 test programs and two A-10s were turned over to the 6512th. When the test programs were completed in mid-1985, the A-10s were sent to the 3246th Test Wing at Eglin AFB as part of a consolidation of Systems Command A-7Ds at Edwards and A-10s at Eglin. '666 was my Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS, pronounced jip-wiz) test jet. A program aimed at reducing controlled flight into terrain incidents. The A-10 GPWS consisted of a black box processing radar altimeter (RADALT) data and making voice and HUD warnings. Because of the low altitude maneuvering of the A-10A in prosecuting close air support, RADALT transmit and receive antennas were installed on both vertical tails as well as under the horizontal stab. An attitude sensor switched which RADALT pair were active at any given time to preclude a sidewards proximity, like a canyon wall, creating a pull-up warning. '666 prior to GPWS installation After. GPWS antennas at the base of the tail. You can just make out the GPWS antennas beneath the horizontal stab GPWS evaluation essentially consisted of throwing the jet at the ground in various attitudes and verifying that the "roll-out" and/or "pull-up" warning came on when it was supposed to. Not the best camo for the Mojave Desert... Approach to a touch 'n' go at nearby George AFB Refueling from the 'Business Effort' tanker from the Illinois Air National Guard With test events completed, joining up with a 6512TS 'Vark Return to base. South end of Rogers Dry Lake flooded - not unusual in the winter/spring. Always check the status of the lakebed runways before stepping to the jet! Thanks for looking, Sven

Finished! 1/9 scale painted in oils & acrylics.

landing boat from Trumpeter on 1/35 scale. I placed it in the diorama and it was not that simple, so I did it when landing and putting off the assault section. Do you like it?

Marvellous stuff Tony, all that hard work coming beautifully together... I watched the adverts too - ah, the memories! I especially enjoyed the Twix ad - so handy, bigger than other snacks and two bars so that when your lovely, blonde girlfriend arrives you can give her one... Oh, OK, if you must, fnaar fnaar!

Research vessel find the USS Juneau which lost five brothers, the Sullivan's, when the ship was sunk in WW2

Starting to look like a Huey now. Lots of bodywork, had to fill the roof in several times to make it rounder. On the interior you can see the bodywork from the original fuselage to the new parts. I masked up the floor before everything went together. The doors I made and can be positioned opened or closed, they don't slide, to much work to make that. The smaller rectangle doors are glued closed. I cut off the original lights and reglued them on again, make sure to mark them where they came from. Another view showing more of the interior. I also added strips to the inside chin area to make the fit better. Just another view. This shows the flange I made on the tail boom. I had to squeeze it a bit to make it fit the new fuselage joint.

I would like if I may to share my trip to Canada and Alaska in 2001. It was an Ian Allan guided tour and pre dated the 9/11 atrocity so we were able to wonder at will within the bounds of common sense of course. A couple at JFK and then on to Greybull Wyoming and the Hawkins & Powers base. Yes the B26 has a duel scheme.

After visiting Hyakuri with the Centre for Aviation Photography http://www.centreofaviationphotography.com/home six months ago the prospect of another visit that included a trip up north to Chitose to photograph the base's F15 Eagles was too tempting to ignore. The visit to Hyakuri was planned to coincide with some visiting F15 Aggressors from Komatsu. Unfortunately they changed their plans and visited the week before we arrived! We didn't miss out entirely though as nine F15s from 303 Squadron at Komatsu were present. In addition to Chitose we took a day to go and visit the army helicopter base at Obihiro. Both of these visits will be in separate posts. Sorry about the number of images; I got a bit carried away. 1. I thought I'd start with this and the next image as it provides a bit of context in terms of the viewing opportunities at Hyakuri. Taken from the tower in shot 2. 2. This tower has been erected at some point since in the last six months. It is more stable than perhaps it looks. 3. 4. Unlike on the previous visit we were treated to a number of pairs take-offs. 501 Squadron. 5. 6. 7. 302 Squadron 8. We could see the radar dish moving as they tested it. 9. 10. On two successive days a flight of three F4s did some 20 circuits of the airfield which involved diving at a target and then pulling out and going round for another go. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 17. 18. A brief visitor. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. Preparing to evict us from the naughty field down by the QRA area. 30. 31. You can see the new tower in the background. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. A live scramble. Four aircraft are held on QRA. First there was a tango scramble followed shortly afterwards by a live mission. Locals told us some Russian aircraft were being intercepted. A pair of QRA aircraft are taxied out for a check at 7.30am with the second pair around mid-morning. 37. Taken at the last chance area down by the QRA. We were evicted shortly after a flight of three F4s had taken off. 38. 39. 40. Sky Airlines. 41. 42. 43. 45. 46. 47. If only he had taken off 25 minutes earlier. 48. Six Eagles landed after this pair. Taking photos was pretty pointless by this stage as you can see. That's it. Thanks for looking.

Hi All Recently joined the forum to participate in the fun. Here's my first model completed since joining; a Revell 1/72 Hurricane IIc representing a 1 Squadron machine using Xtradecals. One of the reasons for building it is a pre-cursor to an R/C model of the same prototype. But there's a twist. It won't be a powered R/C model, but a glider! Seems odd, but there is a genre of R/C glider called a Power Scale Slope soarer that is a scale model of a full size a/c (either piston or jet or rocket powered) that is then launched from a hill and soars on the wave lift. I think it originated in the early 1980's when both electric power and miniature turbojets were not as developed as they are today, so the PSS genre made scale models of jets in particular viable. The UK based PSS Association has a bi-annual event where a model is designed and members are then free to select their own prototype, do a build thread on an R/C modelling forum and then there is a mass get-together at a soaring event where all the completed models are flown. See here for a little more info if you like: http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=134035&p=1 Anyway, back to the matter in hand. I enjoyed slapping the kit together. I had bought the Eduard etch but only ended up using the mesh screen for the carb intake (the kit part pinged off somewhere) as I thought most of the kit was reasonably detailed. I did use AML vinyl masks to help speed up painting and it's the first time I'd used those instead of copious amounts of Tamiya tape and tin foil. They made it easy for sure, but are they cheating....

Enquiring minds need to know where the fish came from.... I fully agree, certain standards should be maintained (but I must admit that I did read the end of your comment in a faux 'allo 'allo type French accent there Crisp...'nit the man to ask'.... But I do seem to be just nit picking throughout this post, so I'll just get my Keith

hi buddys...o buddies? Tonight I carried out some more samding and filing to improve some areas which needed some more CA glue to correct some mishapes. Then I added the two bulges in front of the engines' intakes, Once it's dry, I'll have to do some more sandingto shape them down a bit. I also added some thin strips and some CA glue on the outside, to shape the area afterwards. That's it for tonight. Goodnight! Massimo

Hi everybody, time for a WE progress report Where were we? Ah, yes, after some good music, courtesy of our friend Benedikt , it was time to rescribe the few panel lines that got lost in fairing in the front gear bay: the nose is only blue-tacked in place, enough to see it needs attentions ... the gun fairing is obviously the worst part of it. I glued it in using Tamiya Green Cap, and while setting I installed the HUD. CA gel used here While I was at it, I also glued in the windshield A few drops of CA gel to set it in position, and once cured, I used a pointy brush to let Tamiya Green Cap flow along the joint. In this case, this was enough to completely seal the gap. Back to the nose; after much sanding TBH, the nose shape is quite incorrect, and I thought about fixing it, but judging from pics of the real thing it looks like the problem can't be fixed by just reshaping the very tip of the nose; my take is that, starting from immediately fore of the windshield, the whole top part of the fuselage should have a steeper angle, if that makes sense. So I decided I can live with that Gun fairing: I used a very thin (0.1mm) yogurt cup cutout and glued it in (well, almost melted in) with Tamiya Green Cap and after some TLC and a bit of CA as filler Now, the A-10 gun fairing has some distinctive features, that you can see here: So I first used some thin styrene strip (usual 0.1mm from yogurt cup), glued in with Tamiya Green Cap and refined using various sanding devices Then some alu adhesive tape And finally, I carved one groove per side (very carefully, because I previously had to reduce the thickness of that gun fairing to wafer-thin, to be able to accommodate the Master gun) Then I glued in place two strips of ... guess what ... 0.1mm styrene form a yogurt cup I will trim them once properly cured. Last thing for the day, the windshield needed to be faired in, so out with PPP and a moist microfiber towel This will very likely need some touch ups, but I'll check that with the prime coat. That's it for the day, comments welcome Ciao

Canadair F4 Sabre 71 Squadron Royal Air Force Germany Wildenrath 1955 Trying to get back into the modelling groove after a very quiet couple of years. So here is my quick build of Academy's F-86 sabre, representing a Canadair F4. Built OOB with the exception of Eduard Brassin wheels and painted with Mr Paint and Gunze Aqueous Colour. Decals are from an Eagle Strike set. Regards Howard

Box art + 3D renders Release expected in late April 2018. Sources: http://www.icm.com.ua/news/530-mig-25-pd-soviet-interceptor-fighter.html https://www.facebook.com/ICM.Models/posts/769856953207245 Original box art Corrected box art - Spot the differences! V.P.

Some progress over the last few days. The 19 needs a touch-ups on the canopy, it's exhausts installed and a matt coat: The 24 needs a matt coat, once I've sorted out the underwing serials (some Ventura transfers are on their way): The 18 is done, apart from some weathering: The VI is waiting for the glue to set on its wing roots: I'll be taking a short break from Spitfires by doing a Fairey Fulmar in the 'Carriers Ahoy!' Group Build but I will continue on the VI. Thanks for looking.

Ahh, Uckers (or ukkers if you prefer)) I've had three ex-sailors try and teach me uckers and each of them had a different set of rules

Bit of Palouste action at about a minute in with these err, um Sea Vixens!

I can't match the anecdotes of you groundcrew who actually used a Palouste - but the Russians went one better and trialled a pod to transport GROUNDCREW on deployment... It was designed to fit under the wing of a Su-25 - note the hinged door and the small window to keep the occupant amused. I don't have any idea what the Soviet groundcrew thought of the idea - but it was never deployed. Ken

@MarkSH All in 8’x4’ sterling board and lengths of timber so passing through the house with an intermediate workshop in the dining room. The rebar and concrete for the base go in tomorrow so that will have to come round the side. You could get it craned over your roof? Meanwhile to allay folks fears I’ve done some more tidying of the model and started flinging paint around and scratching bits Some day I’ll find a white matt that sprays nicely and has good opacity

This will be forthcoming A couple of the samples have required a tweak but for quantifiable and justifiable reasons - i.e. I had to use zinc white for 2 of them which should have been made with white lead flake which is banned nowadays. Zinc is less solid/opaque than lead white so the correct staining ingredients have made it darker than documented records state. Keeping the first cards, last night I started to adjust the two "problem" samples by adding in a little more white, make another card, let it dry, digitally measure, and iterate until it's the correct tone. I expect these two to desaturate in colour slightly and have made a simple calculated prediction on how much but I really want something physical to prove it. As a general theme, almost everything is going to be less yellow and a lot of the tones are going to change such that each shade fits in to its proper space in the relative tones from dark to light that were the fundamental principles of the camouflage designs.

My boy, I want to thank you for taking one for the side. You'll just get it posted to RFI and somebody will announce an all-new, all singing, all dancing, Taurus and Wasp optioned Beaufort in 1:72 - you watch!

A short update today. I've slowed this build down (more than usual ) while I'm in recovery mode from cataract surgery. The operation went very well & now I can see all my modelling mistakes much clearer. I decided to revisit the mufflers on the PT boat. You might remember the kit mufflers were molded in two groups of three. [/url] I cut the mufflers apart, filled in the void on their backside, & added copper wire mounting/locating pins. I drilled mounting holes for both the mufflers & the exhaust butterfly valve operating mechanisms in the boat's transom. Next, I've glued pieces of plastic strip to the deck to locate the superstructures, and sprayed on a coat of primer. [/url] Once the deck was primed, it looked clean. Too clean! It's my understanding that these later boats had smooth plywood decks. In addition to the vents, & other deck hardware, the actual boats had a number of glass dead lights. The actual size of these windows is approx. 9" X 6". I concluded that I should add these to my boat, as they would add some detail to the deck, & would be a good test for my repaired eyesight. I started with .01" X .080" plastic strip cut to length to simulate the dead light frame. Then, I cut pieces of thin blue wine bottle foil to simulate the lights' glass. The actual glass is green, but these parts are so small the blue colour is hard to distinguish, other that providing a contrast to the frame. Finally, I glued the foil to the frame pieces, & then glued pieces of plastic sprue to the foil to simulate the cross members that protect the dead light glass. Here's the result; The scratch built dead lights will sit higher on the deck surface than the real ones, but I feel they'll add some much needed detail to the deck (modeller's license). Well, that's it for now. Thanks for looking in. John