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Dear Fellow Modellers Greetings to all! Please find enclosed my Airfix 1/72 B-17G. It is loaded with the Eduard PE and Quickboost resin guns and turbochargers. I did my own representation of riveting. The decals are for the 306th BG based at Thurleigh in England in 1944-45 from Kits World. This recent Airfix kit shows a more restrained panel line representation than previous kits. The transparencies are absolutely outstanding and shape looks spot on. Regards Andrew

Friends, This is the Italeri A-10 Warthog. I used decals from Twobobs to depict the Hog flown by then Captain ( now Colonel ) Kim Campbell. The kit itself was a bit tricky to assemble. The decals were flawless and I painted the Hog using Model Master acrylic paint. The weapons were a combination of what came with the kit and from the spares box. I also added a True Details resin ejection seat. Recommended.. Thank you in advance!!!!!!! Respectfully submitted, Mike

Hiya Folks, I`ve been wanting to build a Wimpey torpedo bomber,...... also known as a `Fishington' for some time now and when I found photos of `Little Joe' of 458 Sqn RAAF I just knew it had to be that one, with a gun fitted in the nose! I used the nose turret blank from Alley Cat models, intended for the Trumpeter kit and also DK Decals,....here is the WIP if anybody is interested; This was my first experience of Hataka brush painting paints and they were among the best of the currently available acrylics in this medium. Although Wellington`s used in the torpedo bomber role had the rear bomb doors removed and a torpedo sight fitted in front of the cockpit, reference photos also show that when used for mine laying or bombing sorties the bomb doors were left in place and the sight removed and as this was the configuration seen in the reference photos I went for that. Here is the real aircraft; And a general view of a Wellington torpedo bomber (in this case a radar equipped MkVIII) in its natural environment at 50 feet above the sea,....... which was usually at night and without radar assisted altimeters! Here is the model; Cheers, Tony

Hi, everyone! I decide to continue the Suez theme. And now I present you Se Venom from "Ark Royal".

Standard fare. OOB with Eaglecals.

The Kinetic Harrier is at long last complete. Kit has been fighting all the way, with fiddly assembly and confusing instructions, a good documentation is needed to avoid the version mix. Decals, however are a dream. But in the end it's a Harrier and certainly a gain over the old Airfix kit. Painted with Gunze acrylics, (H333 extra dark sea grey), been adding the Neomega cockpit, initially intended for the old Airfix kit. Complete photo album of the build can be found here : SHAR build photo Hope you'll like her. Best, Stef (#6)

Hi guys, here is my latest build, the D 520 from Tamiya in 1/48. The Luftwaffe used the D 520 to train their pilots. Free french forces get these planes back from German pilot school in late 1944 to use them against their former owners in the south west of France. Thanks for watching, Cheers, Manu.

Hi, Boeing 314 Clipper was constructed as luxury passenger airplane at late 1930s. Using this type Pan American company established first regular commmercial flights over northern Atlantic in May 1939. Twelve Clippers were constructed and they were impossed to military service during WWII as C-98. However, as I know, they never wore military insignias (I mean US white stars). Three of them were used in UK by BOAC during WWII. Each model 314 had individual name - the machine with registration NC 18605 had individual name "Dixie Clipper". Initial Pan-American silver painting on Clippers were replaced in 1942 with experimental 10-shades scheme of blue-grey colours. Leter some (or all?) US Clipers were painted to standard 3-shades Navy scheme, and at and of war, when returned to Pan Ameican they were stripped back to NMF. Clippers were used for overseas civil (for example to Lisbon) and military transport, including VIPs. US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt used "Dixie Clipper" to get in January 1943 for a meeting in Casablanca with Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle. Josef Stalin was invited to this summit but did not arrived bacause of the situation on eastern front. That is historical background of my build. The build thread is here: When I've learnt as a 10 years old boy about 1970 from Airfix catalogue on existance of Clipper I was unhappy that the model is only in 1/144. Some years passed I started to think on Clipper seriously when Anigrand resin kit appeared few years ago but a year ago a possibility of buying vacu kit of US company Combat Models from a colleugue from BM appeared. It was not so expensive as resin one so I was very happy that I've bought it and started gathering materials (photos, dravings) in aim to help in build. This is mine third construction finished this year, two previous were Consolidated Coronado and Martin Mariner, both from Mach 2. So it is a trio of big US flying boats, but Clipper is much bigger then those two others, the wingspan is bigger from that of Blohm Voss BV 222! Here she is: Details Scratch build trolley And finally - among other models on shelves Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek

After finishing a multi-month project (Ford Tri-motor diorama at the "Mountains of Madness") I needed something quick and relatively brainless to get my juices flowing again. Looking through my stash, I selected Tamiya's 1/72 Ki-61 Hien (Tony): Right off, I'll say the engineering in this kit is top-notch! Everything falls together with almost no fretting or putty needed. And the detail Tamiya includes in this little bird leaves little room for aftermarket. It turned out to be an excellent choice for my mojo-restorer. Stew Dapple has already posted a definitive WIP on this subject -- I couldn't improve on Stew's thread so I decided not to post a WIP of my own. For anyone who is interested, Stew's double-build WIP can be found here: I also decided to do this completely Out-Of-the-Box, with an eye to entering my Tony in this summer's local modeling contest. Tamiya's Tony includes three camo options. Stew chose the all-metal and overall green schemes for his two builds. That left me to do the version with overall-metal and mottled-green upper surfaces. This particular aircraft was flown by Major Tembico Kobayashi, with 14 kills to his credit (one being a ramming attack!) For the most part, I followed the instructions "to the letter", including paint call-outs. I deviated from the painting info in a couple of places. Stew used Colourcoats paints for his gray-green interior and the reddish-brown prop. I couldn't find Colourcoats here in the U.S., so I substituted with the paints shown below: I also used AK Interactive Xtreme Metal enamels to create the natural metal finish: Finally, for the mottled green upper surfaces, I cheated and bought a set of decals from Tamiya's Detail-Up Parts Series: That's enough jawing for now, let's get to the pics! First, some "beauty shots" taken in natural sunlight: And now a few under more controlled lighting conditions: Next, some detail pics: Beautifully-detailed interior: Yes, I used the kit's decals for my seatbelts: Gauges on the IP are also a kit decal: The canopy is extraordinarily clear, so my time spent on the interior paid off: Note the "ramming attack" kill marking! Gun barrels are molded in, but you can't tell by looking! b The landing light looks great, but I did have to sand and polish the clear part to fair it in to the wing leading edge. Landing gear bay. I wanted this to be a "clean" bird so I kept weathering to a minimum. Antenna wire was made using Uschi's "Rig That Thing" rigging line" And now, the bad news :-(( I used generous amounts of DioSol on the mottling decals. It really wasn't needed (except for a couple of small places), but I've never before applied large decals like these and I wanted to be sure they would go down properly. Well, as I'm sure you know, DioSol causes decals to wrinkle before finally settling in place. Apparently, when the decals wrinkled they took some of the Xtreme Metal paint with them, afterward leaving a fossil record in the metallic surface. Looking closely, one sees this: The camera makes it look worse than it appears to the eyeball, but it's extremely irritating nonetheless. Arrrgggghhhhh!!! So, there we are. Mojo successfully restored and I'm now looking for my next "big project". Thanks for viewing! P.S. If you didn't catch my Tri-motor diorama, you can check it out here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235052025-at-the-mountains-of-madness/&page=1

Dear Colleagues I recently finished a kit I had half finished several years ago. These were the days of nylon thread and I have now moved to the much more forgiving Uschi van der Rosten lycra. The markings are for the famous ace Georges Guynemer. I calmed down the look and markings with an overspray of the Gunze Israeli sand colour Shame people don't seem to do so much 1/72 WWI biplanes these days. Must try an Airfix BE2c though. Hope you like it? Andrew

Howdy I built this purely so I could have a go at using the buckles of Bob. I figured it was far better to have a first go on a kit that cost under £20 than one that costs north of £60. I also had some bits and odds left over from my WnW Camel (le rhone), so I used them up partly to improve the basic kit a bit but mainly as I preferred the colour scheme options to the kit ones. So this is done as DR MacLaren's 46sqn aircraft (option D in the WnW kit). I corrected one or two of the kits oddities, though frankly couldn't be bothered with all of them. Annoyingly, when taking the photos I realised I had forgotten to turn the machine gun barrels the right way up! Otherwise it was a reasonable build, apart from mounting the top wing which for some reason was a right pain in the nuts. As for the buckles, well I can say they are a great product and look good when well done. Most of mine aren't, and I might need another go before trying them on one of my WnW kits. Cheers for looking W-D

https://photos.app.goo.gl/x69bTyGaA6P8jnZ18 1/72 Airfix P51D Mustang. Stsrted with the best intentions but a few mistakes and painting errors marred the final result. Met with an accident that broke the landing gear hence the stand.

Special Hobby 1/72 Gant My first SH kit and a real gem, although I understand they're not all like that. Fiddly cockpit though. The decals were terrible - fell to bits as soon as you looked at them so couldn't save the stencils. Would definitely build another though. Thanks for looking

Hello Britmodellers! This is the first model I've stuck in RFI for a long time, and continues my on-and-off fascination with helicopters. I think they offer a challenging crossover between aircraft and vehicles to help a jaded modeller rediscover the old magic again. This one certainly did that! It's very cheap for what you get in the box and probably the best fitting 1/32 Revell kit I've made since the Hunter. It also has some of the best kit clear parts I've seen on any kit, so well done Revell! The decals were also very impressive, my only gripe being the colours seemed to fade out once applied so the effect of the black cat paintwork isn't as impressive as it looks in real life 🙄 Built from the box except for the addition of the Eduard Zoom cockpit set and exterior details. I used Colourcoats enamel paint which is still the best model paint I've ever used. The pics are from IPMS Farnborough website, all credits and (c) to Andrew Prentis. Not sure about the loadout and other details but it's a hobby, after all! Cheers Alan

Anyway, I have a bit of progress to show. As I mentioned, I wanted to spray the blue bands across the fuselage, rather than using the supplied decals. So I first tried it on the paint mule using spray can Tamiya Light Blue, decanted and airbrushed. I decided to do the job in two steps, to avoid messing with the masking. So I masked for the vertical stripe first and there it is after unmasking I left this to cure overnight, then I'll mask for the horizontal stripe. Next time, though. Any comments welcome Ciao

Hello all - Just finished my Airfix 110. Built pretty much OOB - added some Eduard seatbelts, some Mig rigging for the antenna and replaced the under side circular antenna with some wire. I attempted to improve the cockpit details with some scratch built elements. I used the kit scheme - Staffel II / Zerstorergeschwadar 1, Northern France 1940-1941. The scheme is very dark - RLM 70 / 71 so I attempted a very worn air frame look to try and make it a little more interesting - I think this was successful but I sacrificed colour accuracy in the process. The kit itself is far from an accurate representation so I wasn't too concerned. Still, I'm pretty happy with the result. Tried a bunch of new techniques and learned alot. I've got the Eduard version which is far more accurate so it will be interesting to see them side by side when that's completed. For the cost, this is a very nice kit and was fun to build. There were plenty of fit issues but not too bad - lots of sanding and some putty work will be required - quite typical for some airfix kits in this scale. Decals were very nice - I added swastikas from XtraDecal. The kit comes with a good selection of long distance fuel tanks and bombs - however I opted for a clean fit out as I love the lines on this aircraft. Painted with Tamiya Acrylics, different brands of oils and pigments for the weathering. I had difficulty photographing this model - the colours change quite dramatically depending on the light which is how it behaves in real life... so the photos do represent this. There's a wip here for anyone who's interested - with a bonus side thread on New Zealand beer Thanks for looking - comments and criticism is welcome. Cheers John

Just a quick little project as I hadn't got an RAF Mustang in the collection. I used a few extras, namely, an Eduard propeller, wheels, exhausts and paper fuel tanks. Decals are from a fairly old Xtradecal sheet. Thanks for looking but oops! please ignore the second 2 photos as they look weird colour wise. I think something went awry in the editing and I don't know how to delete them. IMG_5778 IMG_5777 20190403_200834[/url 20190403_200848

Thats it!! I am getting on with something I was dabbling with all thanks to CedB Harvard build in a GB. Here are pics of work so far. I am not letting my wobbly arm get the better of me😣 Basic kit parts... New floor by Pavla One side with pegs etc cut away and smoothed down. Spread of the fuselage parts. Note the pencilled in shaded area that needs to be cut away. Side walls in place..... ... and painted up. ( Note the stalled Proctor build at back ...) Wings and fuselage joined up but not together yet. Sort of a view into the cockpit ... New Falcon vac form canopy on the sanding pad ready for fitting. Lost the original kit part but i was not much good any way as it got crazed from some heavy weigh on it... By the way, the roll over/ crash pylon 'tween cockpits needs pairing down a bit so it can fit and accommodate the clear part. And so far. The wheel selection is due to one of the kit wheels going AWOL so I found those here as possible replacements being the right diameter. The spoked ones are from a discarded Beech 18 long gone to the bin.

Corrected & improved HobbyBoss kit with Aires cockpit, Eduard Bullpups and EagleStrike decals. Hope you like it Best regards from Czech. Andrew

Hi everyone - the interior is now completed. It's mostly out of the box with a couple of additions - I added a Karaya 1/48 engine to replace the kit engine, and added some detail to the engine compartment to fill the large void behind the engine in the kit (namely oil tanks, fuel tanks, and some bulkhead detail - nothing significant as not much more will be seen with the top wing on). The seat belts are at a bit of a funny angle as the finished model will also have a nose-down angle. The shoulder harnesses will be added towards the end of the build. Fuselage is now together and it's off to major construction...! Cheers, BC

Duxone automobile paint and varnish Hobbydesign etch Handmade suitcase

Tamiya kit with Superscale decals, some bits of CMK and Eduard detail sets and scratchbuilt details (exhaus, canopy, gun barrels, nav lights etc.). I hope you like the result. Andrew

Hi all, this is Tamiya's lovely little 1/700th USS Saratoga, circa 1945. I built this one for Airfix Model World four years ago and it was the first ship I'd built for over 25 years, what a great little kit it is. Quite a few extras were added including additional Hellcats and Avengers for the Air Wing, using the Trumpeter packs, as Tamiya only supplied four of each type. The packs certainly came in handy but each aircraft had to be modified to include the starboard wing mounted night radar radomes, (F6F-5N and TBM-3D). Gold Medals PE was used for the aircraft and Toms Modelworks for the carrier's superstructure along with many scratch built parts, using the excellent David Doyle USS Saratoga Squadron at Sea book for reference. The excellent Five-Star USN radar set FS700029 was used to replace the clunky kit parts. Uschi Van der Rosten supplied the rigging line. Painted using Lifecolor acrylics and WEM enamels and weathered with Abteilung Oils, and AK products and the deck markings were all stencilled and airbrushed on. All in all a lot of fun and certainly whetted my appetite to build more maritime subjects. The sea base was also my first attempt and as much fun as the kit to be honest. Plenty more to come. Hope you like it Cheers Melchie

The postal gods looked upon me with favour today…. the cockpit parts arrived! Well the important parts, these look suspiciously like Eduard parts, even though they don’t do any for this model! (Gosh I should get payments for the amount of their products I'm using on this build!!!) But gosh their stuff is nice!!! Right, this is what I’m starting with…..and I really don’t like what I’ve done at all. Now I got soooo carried away with the modification process I forgot all about taking any photos at this stage or even later when closing up the front fuselage! The new cockpit is a vast improvement, I even got the colour right this time as well, it’s a much lighter grey colour…not that the original instructions were any help! For the moment I’m using the kit supplied seat for test purposes, this will be replaced with a new resin one…..which will hopefully fit this time! With the cockpit in place I could now assemble the front fuselage section….and again I forgot photos of some of the stages! Basically I didn’t follow the instructions at all! After lots of test fitting I decided to do it this way: 1, fit the intake ducts to the lower fuselage. 2, once dry test fit the top fuselage section. You may need to remove plastic from the intake outer sides to allow the sides to fit flush with the lower fuselage sides. You may also need to wedge the upper fuselage sides to make them a wee bit wider. 3, Glue each section of the upper fuselage in sections and allow to dry, this allows for better alignment of each section. But again first test fit plenty of times before applying any glue!!! After a light sanding the results aren’t too bad. The main fuselage side need just a touch of filler. The intakes joins will need a bit more work, some stretched sprue should sort this out. With the new cockpit I’ll now probably leave the cockpit open. Gosh I do love the look of her!!! I really hope I can pull off this paint job, done right she’ll be a stunner! What an awesome looking aircraft…now why couldn’t the RAAF have a beasty like this! Hmmm a bit too much work with this model for a RAAF Whiffy! Whilst I had some free time on my hand (idol hands are the Devil’s tools ) I managed to do some work on the Hasegawa F-14D and the Su-24! I may sneak in some photos next instalment.

Thanks Ben With Paul and Dave's guidance (thanks chaps) I've re-positioned the side panels so that the bit protruding 'fits' in the canopy gap like this: I had to trim the locating pins off AND cut down the edges but then the side panels fitted: I'm having trouble with my CA again - it's not gripping the resin to the plastic. It may be Bill's explanation that I'm messing about too much and the CA won't stick to itself if there's some dried on the surface. Whatever, it's a pain After more fettling the floor now fits and the rear i/p seems to be in the right position: I've also cut out the front of the cockpit so that the front i/p is flush with the opening and glued it in with CA, backed by some Roket powder (may as well use it up): Sorry about the blurred photo - probably just as well. Just need to fit the control columns and seats then I can spray stuff.

Barley Grey was devised by Mr PJ Barley as part of the three tone paint system designed to "merge" the aircraft into any background. It comprised 20 parts Light Aircraft Grey to one part Black (according to Dick Ward - who phoned and asked Farnborough !!). The resultant scheme as devised was dead Matt on purpose. As far as I know, Barley Grey, which was mixed at RAE Farnborough and issued to the MU, was never given a number, either BSC 381 or BS 4800. For commercial production, and also to overcome the problems with the Matt painted aircraft as discussed here, a new colour, BS4800 18.B.21, was selected as this was the nearest that Farnborough could get to the original Barley Grey. This colour was slightly darker and much bluer than Barley Grey but the most important point about it was that it, and the other two colours - MSG and LAG, were produced in a Satin finish, almost semi-Gloss. The introduction of this new colour resulted in Phantom Mod 741 as indicated on the AP drawing that Canberra kid published. There was not a lot of difference between the Satin/Semi-Gloss BS4800 colour and the Satin/Semi-Gloss Medium Sea Grey Many commentators, including the late Dick Ward got the impression that Barley Grey had been given the designation BS4800 18.B.21. This is incorrect. The latter paint was a commercially available paint and put into production in a manner fit for aircraft use by the various paint manufacturers. In 1982, along with a set of decals, I received from Dick the following urgent request :- The aircraft that Alan was talking about was the first post mod aircraft that Leuchars received and I new immediately that he has passed on to Dick his reservations as I had been talking to him that very same day. I had already checked the recently amended AP and knew that the aircraft was still in a three tone scheme although it was at times difficult to tell the fuselage colour from the upper inner mainplane colour :- Post Mod 741 As a comparison, I am attaching a shot of the first Grey aircraft that we received, XT870 in 1980 also fresh from the St Athan paint Shop :- Barley Grey, MSG and LAG Strictly speaking, Barley Grey should not be referred to as the fuselage and outer mainplanes colour after the first half a dozen or so aircraft had been painted but some how, Barley Grey appears to have set itself in the consciousness of modellers and commentators ever since. It has, as I have already said, been associated incorrectly with BS4800 which it never was. The decals that Dick was designing at the time would have been Set 65 but the Falklands War got in the way and the 43Sqdn markings together with my notes were relegated to Set 67 as a bit of an afterthought. HTH (a little bit) Dennis

OK plodding on Can you see what I've done yet? ? Yes at long last Transfers going on Thanks to Richard who emailed me the instructions for the Revell version of this kit which had a far more comprehensive dec. sheet that he sent me a huge chunk of which he will not be using, I now know the placings for all the marks I have ready to use The above uses mostly the Italeri early kit marks but there is input from Richard's sheet too, thanks mate Now what can you see here? ? Yes the first set of link fairings is in place Underneath I will be carving the uppers tomorrow It's Tuesday, where am I going? (By the way, it seems I have done nothing but ask YOU questions--- Just checking to see if you are awake) A further job underway More rotary fun ahead ciao

Hi all, I've recently started a little aircraft crash diorama, based on the Eduard Albatros D.Va in 1/48 scale. It's not based on any photographs or historical event, rather, I got the idea many moons ago when I saw Stan Stokes' painting "Gotcha": I've chosen a different aircraft (I am thinking an Albatros painted in markings from mid / late 1918, when they were very much outclassed), a different angle into the water (slightly more dramatic), and a different pilot (to help tell the story), but the basic concept is there in the painting. Here is where I began with fleshing out the basic concept: The figure is a modified figure from the spares box, utilising bits and pieces from various figures (rather grotesque, really...). Next came some ground work. This was rather scary for me as it's my first time at any kind of terrain other than flat ground.... so feedback is always welcomed. First up, I used sheet plastic and cut foam to define the shape of the ground work: I then covered this in sculptamold, and scattered various grades of woodland scenics rocks / gravel over the base, secured using mod podge. Once this had dried (several days), I base coated with Tamiya gloss black from a rattle can. This helped to produce shadows for the top coats: Next came some Gunze dark earth, keeping some darker patches for the river bed: Then some dry brushing: Next came some long grass and reeds, as well as some small shrubs, again from woodland scenics: And some more dry brushing to get the final effect: A bit more of an idea of how this might look. You can probably get a feel for where I will have the river level, once I work out the best way to do that without making a huge mess.... ??? 😕 As I said, first time at something like this, so i welcome all feedback! Anyone know where to get some 1/48 scale ducks....? Cheers, BC

Right oh, the pretty stuff needs airbrushing, the colour scheme begins. As stated earlier, absolutely no decals whatsoever are included for the fuselage livery/colours, which is disappointing to say the least ( ...... ) so these will be airbrushed and masked, along with the fin/rudder. The instructions in the kit call out specific colours in the Vallejo acrylic paint range, however, I do not use these paints (I am not a great fan of acrylic model paints in general, only in certain circumstances) so instead I will be basing the scheme on paints in the Humbrol enamel paint range. For airbrushing these paints I thin them with Cellulose Thinners, and not Turpentine or White Spirit. Usual practice is to start with the lightest colours first (White) but this time i will start with the central band along the fuselage which surrounds the windows, does not really make a huge amount of difference at the end of the day. All colours Humbrol enamels. First three colors applied: rear fuselage is sprayed Brown (a mix of four parts No.10 Service Brown to one part No.9 Tan), which blends into No.9 Tan on the mid fuselage/wing root, which then blends into No.69 Yellow on the forward fuselage. Fuselage band around windows, rear fuselage and fin areas masked off. Circular mask on fin/rudder was cut with the compass cutter. The REALLY awkward part to mask off was the canopy/windscreen, it is so small and fidly! The three blues airbrushed on. Rear fuselage is No.15 Midnight Blue, which fades into No.14 French Blue on the mid fuselage/wing root area, which blends into No.47 Sea Blue on the forward fuselage. Masking tape removed from the fuselage. There are narrow Brown and Yellow 'pinstripes' to be added top and bottom of the central Brown/Tan/Yellow stripe later, but these will be added using thin strips of sliced decal film. The circular 'Icarus' logo will also be added to the fin/rudder, which I am currently trying to print onto clear decal film.

Hello friends, A small little tabletop that still makes me happy, when I finished it after a long time. Model is from eduard 1/48 scale. Cheers Andy

Hello Britmodellers, here is my last finished Elco 80 Model in Measure 21 Colors before Kennedy in 1:72 made by Revell, there is some homegrown extradetail and some eduard etch... Cheers, Tom

Further progress Rack made for side of wall, to store masts etc.. with oversize mast Doors and windows added Duck boards laid in place That's all for now folks Kev

Thanks Giorgio Some detail painting needed but I've made a start (see below) Thanks Paul - the CMR kit is on its way, fingers crossed Cabin has been assembled. I needed to cut a slot in the bottom of the pilot's seat to go over the control linkage: Interior base colours painted and wings glued together: I'm using up some of those little pots you get with starter packs so these are Humbrol colours.

I decided to replace the rudder servo tabs, since the kit's, a bit chunky, wouldn't really do: The new parts have a better airfoil: A cap present in the plane is added: Work is a bit procrastinated due to the parallel build of an Aeroflot bus (modified 1/72 GAZ-30 kit):

She's finally done! It took only 11 monthsIt's the ancient Academy kit, which I still believe is far more accurate in terms of the overall shape than the modern HobbyBoss one. Aftermarket goodies: Verlinden cockpit (modified according the F version) and AN/ALQ-131 Paragon flaps & slats FlightPath Pave Tack Master pitot tube Eduard GBU's, some of the photoetched details NorthStar wheels Afterburner decals Made of scratch: gear bays, bomb bay, doors, wheel legs, nozzles, Pave Tack cradle, blah blah... Cheers from Czech rep. Andrew F-111F Miss Liberty II, No.70-2390, 48th TFW flagship, Col Tom Lennon

Eager to 'upgrade' to the impressive new AFV Club 1/144 Sea King double kit, I decided to polish off my last (in the stash, at least) Sweet 1/144 eggbeater. Markings are those supplied with the kit, the long-serving scheme for one of the busy search-and-rescue machines of the Marineflieger's MFG-5.

Hi all Miketheexrock is trying his hand again after 30 years. Caught up with a very old and good mate Danny , thanks to this forum, I thought I would show my on going work . Now remember before you start rivet counting and such like, I am great believer of beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This doesn't mean I cannot take criticism. Danny will tell you i will listen and take on board so with out further ado here we go . Oh yes , this is also the first attempt at Photoetch ..... enjoyable ....... trying to decide on how weathered to go I'll trow some more up as i go be safe Mike

Hi all, I thought you might like to see my 17th 1:32 scale build - the German Fokker D.VII fighter. This model is the ‘Wingnut Wings 1:32 scale model (Kit No: 32027) representing the Fokker D.VII (Albatros built) ‘Nickchen IV’, Serial No.817/18 operating with Jasta 53 during August 1918 and flown by Offizierstellvertreter Fritz Blumenthal. This model is displayed showing the Dutch designer Anthony Fokker posing and about to have his photograph taken. The basic list of modifications and additions to the model are as follows: Engine: Spark plugs. Cylinder fuel primers. Valve springs. Ignition lead support tubes. Ignition leads. Oil reservoir sight glass. Cylinder jacket coolant pipes. Cylinder separation. Hydraulic pipes. Intake manifold lock rings. Sump oil tube. Modified or corrected: ‘GasPatch’ Spandau machine guns. Gun installations. Cockpit control cable pulleys. Cockpit control lines. Cockpit cross bracing lines. Gun firing cables and hand throttle cable. Engine controls. Instrument leads/cables. Fuel pressure pump pipe. Wind baffle behind pilots head. Seat harness. Rigging points. Animation of control surfaces. External flight control lines. Rubber tyres on wheels. Photo-etch radiator. Aftermarket additions: ‘Proper Plane’ Heine 1:32 scale wood propeller (WP-003), ‘Taurus Models’ engine intake manifold lock rings (3211), ‘Taurus Models’ engine fuel priming cups (3219), ‘Taurus Models’ engine complete timing gear - conical valve springs (3209), ‘Gaspatch’ Spandau 08/15 extended loading handle (18-32128), ‘HGW Models’ Fokker D.VII seat belts (132302), ‘RB Productions’ Fokker D.VII radiators (RB-P32031), ‘Steve Robson’ supplied wheel rubber tyres, ‘Blackdog Models’ German photographer figure (F32008), ‘Aviattic’ Legend Series - Anthony Fokker figure (ATTL-02), ‘GasPatch’ Elite Accessories 1:48th turnbuckles (Type C), ‘Albion Alloy’ micro-tube 0.4 mm (NST04) and 0.5 mm (MBT05), ‘Steelon’ mono-filament (0.12 mm diameter), ‘Stroft’ mono-filament (0.08 mm diameter), ‘Aviattic’ linen effect decals - Fokker D.VII (Alb) 4 colour lozenge (ATT32164), (ATT32170) and (ATT32171). As usual I've created a downloadable build log in Adobe PDF format, for those who might want to refer to it for reference or build details. It contains full step by step descriptions of the model build, its modifications/changes and is also supported with illustrations and photographs. If viewed in Adobe Reader, each build log has book marked chapters/headings for easier navigation through the log. My model website has the gallery page, so to view any model, go to the gallery and select it. If it has a PDF build log, it will be available to download using the 'PDF' icon on that models photo's page. For any photograph, just click the photo to enlarge or reduce the viewing size. http://igavh2.xara.hosting My next model will be the ‘Aviattic’ stripped down (skeletal) model of the Fokker D.VII, which will be displayed alongside this Fokker D.VII model. The major airframe components are 3D printed and were purchased from the ‘Shapeways’ web site. All other components for the model will be ‘donated’ from the ‘Wingnut Wing’ kit of the Fokker D.VII (OAW built) (Kit No: 32030). Mike

Hi all, Not my usual subject matter - jets or Russian, but I stumbled across a photo of a ‘bare’ Flanker in Russian lemon green primer and thought how cool it could look in model form. This combined with the fairly new Great Wall Hobby Su-35S Flanker in 1/48 tipped me over the edge 🙃. I ordered one from Hannants and on opening the box I was gobsmacked at the quality - literally the best looking kit in the box I think I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. It’s stuffed with very finely moulded parts and the small details are super impressive. I don’t know how it would build but a great start! In fact, on the back of this I picked up a GWH Fw189 and that looks equally good. I’m a convert. The kit is huge for this scale. It’s a beast of an aircraft. I started with the cockpit as per usual and the detail level is exceptional. Raised switches and details in abundance. There are decals for each of the areas but you’d have to file off all the raised detail, so these seem a little superfluous. I did use elements of them though for the screens (yes, I know they probably should be powered down and blank, but I couldn’t resist). Next up were the wheel wells and again are packed with detail - all the plumbing and wires are separate parts. Its cleverly engineered too, there are no join lines on the top surfaces at all and I’ve just fitted the top half to the bottom half and so far so good. I'm planning to make this totally out of the box as I can’t see what you’d need to add. There is a Photo Etch sheet - just for added surface detail. The only slight quibble is the decal sheet - it’s not bad, just doesn’t look quite up to the standard of the rest of the kit, but I’m not planning on using them anyway as it’s bare primer. There seems to an excellent weapon load and these are all one piece mouldings - so no tricky seam lines to remove. Here was my inspiration: Thanks for looking in 😊 Guy

Hello modellers, have recently completed this 1/72 Esci F-8E Crusader. I made the very same model more than 25 years ago for the first time and wanted to do better with this one. It depicts a Marines Crusader of VMF 235 "Death Angels" from Da Nang. Building the model in the take-off configuration made a lot of wing surgery necessary, but this wasn´t the main issue. Greatest challenge were the stars on the tail fins, as for some reason, Esci has provided only one single star for that area on their decal sheet. I had to scan the sheet and select the stars of the proper size and paint the areas between them matching to the color of the other decals. Shortly after finishing the model, I found a Microscale decal sheet with all the necessary markings... Another problem was the air to ground ordnance load. I used two MERs from the Hasegawa weapons sets, and high drag bombs from Esci´s A-7 kit. The Zuni launchers are completely scratchbuilt from wooden toothpics and Evergreen sheet. I also extended and modified the nose landing gear, made the intake deeper, modified the afterburner cooling scoops, shifted the wing pylons more outward, detailed the cockpit and made some changes on the canopy to be able to display it in opened and closed position. Had some doubts regarding the old decals, but they worked surprisingly well. Only the national insignias had to come from the spares box. Paints used was Mr.Color for the light gull grey and Revell Enamels. A preshading was applied with Tamiya acrylic black. Clearcoats used were from Gauzy and Tamiya, weathering with oils and pastels. Is not the Academy kit, but I´m quite happy with the result. For comparison I took one pic together with the old build. Cheers, Mario

Finished! More photos on RFI So it took exactly two months.... Thanks for watching, and for very valuable comments. Special many thanks for @TallBlondJohn for your help! Also I am grateful for @occa who was at the start of this trip Regards Jerzy-Wojtek

Lastnight I only applied the large decals, stencil fun I saved for today.

Making a bit more progress on the Hurri. The Dark Green (Humbrol 163) has been applied and then masking was done and the Night/Black (Humbrol 33) was applied in very thin coats. Next up is gloss coating in preparation for decals. I was originally going to use Humbrol's Clear instead of Pledge which is what I've used for my last two builds, however I was in my local arts and crafts shop and spied this water based range of varnishes in gloss, satin and matt, and being cheap (the paint not me) I thought I'd pick them up as nothing ventured, nothing gained. I've been playing around with the stuff over the last day or so and I'm seriously impressed with it so I'm going to have a go at using this for the gloss and subsequent matt coat. I posted a thread about this stuff in the Paint subsection of the Tools and Tips section here: Link Anyway here is the Hurricane as she stands this morning.

More sanding ensues. If you don't want a clunky-looking vac, you have to put some effort in it. I remind you that you start with this: And you have to get to this: This -that loose sort of filament- usually gives you the clue that you are about right: The double-faced bulkheads are ready, and some of the other elements have been sanded already too. Stabs and vertical tail halves are united: It may not look like much, but it took several hours to get there.

Started this kit back in November 2018, thought it was going to be an easy OOB build....boy was I wrong. Anyone who has built this kit knows the intakes are the worst...and the wing to fuselage join is just a PITA. I struggled with this build all Winter, messing up some of the painting (hurried my masking and made the red a little too red). Overall it's a 3 footer for the display case it will go in. Honestly I don't recommend this kit.

Decals on today. The majority of time was spent adding the stencils as there were only 9 decals from the Begemot sheet to go on! The sharks mouth fitted ok, required some Microsol and needed some adjusting with a scalpel, so I've had to clean up a few areas with red and white paint. Everything sealed in with a gloss top coat. Will be left to cure until tomorrow afternoon, then I'll get the panel wash on. More soon. Dave

Two exciting things arrived while I was away, the second etching sheet and the custom waterslide transfers First, the etchings. These are produced by 4D Model Shop in London from my drawings The composite picture below shows the artwork and the etching (they did two copies as the size was below their minimum), then the first stage of the silver soldering, then the finished soldered piece, below and above The edge rails were solder paste but the rest was silver-soldered in stages. The inside bars have been filed back but a small bar is left. This looks so much better, the next picture shows it trial fitted to the deck-house Next the transfers. These were produced by Rothko Frost, the only people I could find who could print in white. Their service is excellent, very attentive and only around £30 for the A6 sheet. These were the numbers and the draft marks. I think they look really good on the hull, now with 4 coats of matt varnish whihc evens everything up. I can see the finish starting to shape up now, deck house painting on the weekend

I did, first attempt wasn't great, did some more research, 2nd attempt a lot better, but I did the framing in Tamiya Aluminium, (seems to be the internal colour) then to match, Vallejo green, Xtracrylix and then W&N varnish. When I took the parafilm off, it given a great effect for a really work back to bare metal..... I looked at redoing it, this canopy I'd nabbed out of another kit, the original I stripped, and then noticed a fine crack. So, it's a really weathered canopy..... 50620679 by losethekibble, on Flickr Poster paint, good idea. I was thinking of opening up the water colour set i got from a charity shop for the daughter, I have been experimenting with ground up chalk pastels. I also scrubbed the fabric bits with pale grey chalk, and then washed it off, a little remains, and it has both matted and faded the fabric bits, quite subtly, though I still need to do the starboard wing, the difference is just visible above. i'll get it 'finished' for Thursday night, which is my IPMS meeting. Hmm, choices... Maybe one of those Cromwell's you got me (he got me 4 in The Works sale) , as I want to practice armour weathering, I'm very tempted by a Special Hobby J-21R., or my 1/48th Spitfire Vb to Vc conversion (one wing done) Daughter is quite impressed by the above, and interested in doing some of these with me, so maybe a kit I have multiples of (what me...a kit hoarder..) as it's easter hols, I did just pick up a Airfix King Tiger starter set in charity shop for her. (have another I was given) I have multiple Airfix Fw190's (from from @Beard as well) so that might be good... I am going to do some more Hurricanes, some OOB as going ' not worried about the faults' has made me concentrate on the paint job, but has meant I'm not fretting about stuffing up 'A Masterpiece' Thanks for the positive comments. Now where did I put that water colour set.....

Been busy working on both builds this evening, having secured the floor section into place I began fixing the wings the the struts. Now stumpy they may be but these wings are wide! However, Airfix have ensured there are some great locating pins and the pieces went together with ease. Leaving this to dry I thought I'd fit the nose to the big bird. This I thought would be simple, no glass just one piece of plastic, what could go wrong? Well, it didn't fit! Quite a lot of muttering and sanding later, the job I thought would take seconds was done, and the flat nose was in place. I then went back to the wing section and carefully fitted the top pieces onto the bottoms. These are now taped together drying. Coming along nicely I think.

Peter, you do sound really p.issed about the mess I did with the NMF on this model, don't you? In all seriousness, I do appreciate your comment. And I agree with you that we learn by making mistakes. However, I would disagree about this being a mistake - no entirely so, at least. First off, as I mentioned in my post, the air pressure for the task was set very low, between 0.1 and 0.2 bar (corresponding to less than 5 psi, for you British Imperials guys ). I had to thicken the original paint mix because I kept getting spiders spraying on my paint mule (which has the same NMF coat as the actual model). Having said that, I normally try to go by reference pics when I paint my models; sadly, there are very few period pics of this specific airframe, and their quality is very bad. So I elected to go by these: Next one probably isn't the same aircraft, still it's one of Kobayashi's mounts, and it's the only decent close up I could find I think I can spot overspray there, too. Finally I know profiles aren't to be trusted 100%, but this shows the effect I'm after. So yes, I could have done better, but I'm pretty happy with what I got because it's very close to what I wanted to achieve. And I trust the weathering and final touches will get me closer to that. Again, thanks for taking the time to comment on my build. Ciao