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Here’s the Airfix 1/72 DH 125-1A. It's done in the scheme of the one I flew for a time. The cabin windows are clear epoxy, decals were made with a Dell 1250C color laser printer, and Bare Metal Foil replicates the weeping wing surface deicing system. It's not perfect, but then neither was the real one. But as I did and do the real one, I forgive it it's faults and will remember it fondly.

Hi Folk's just scraped in on the final weekend of the Trainer's GB.Managed to build this in a couple of week's to replace the failed RAF Vampire.Now the Provost has never really set my pulse racing as an aircraft in fact I can't remember even bothering with Airfix's original way back but I have to say this little kit is a beauty for seasoned modeller's to beginner's you have to have a go at it you can almost build it without glue the fit is so good,she's a tail sitter even with a big fishing weight just aft of the cockpit so beware already on with a second now.Thank's for looking in.

Hi all, here my new Eduard Fw 190 A-8/R2. Built it out of the Kit "Reichsverteidigung". Just a great model with lot of details. Add the Brassin-Löök instrument panel, Brassin pitot and the PE exterior set by Eduard.

Latest dio from the tc production line. The FGR2 being from Airfix while the `J` is from Academy, both in 1/72 Scale. Thanks for looking.

Model aircraft F-104C Starfighter. ITALERI / ESCI set. Scale 1/72. I invite you to the gallery.

Revell 1/48 Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress (04297) B-17F-10-BO was built by Boeing and on 15 July 1942 delivered to the 324BS 91BG at Bassingbourn. Her crew named her “Memphis Belle” after her pilot, Lt. Robert J. Morgan’s girlfriend. She was reported to be the first USAAF bomber to survive 25 missions in Europe following her 25th mission on 17 May 1943. However, B-17F-25-BO “Hells Angels” of 365BS 305BG flew her 25th mission out of Chelveston on 13 May 1943.

Some pics of my 1/72 Whirlwind. Its the original, poly bag, Bliek kit in rather hard and brittle plastic. I gave it a cockpit using an Airwaves etch tub and instrument panel and scratch built everything else under the canopy, some wingtip and landing lights from clear sprue and scribed panel lines ( need to improve my skills in that respect). Anyway thanks for looking.

hi guys finished this of last week. nice kit to build as have done one before. testors and humbrol enamels for finish and kit decals. thanks for looking.

Morning Everyone. 🤩 Thanks for all the kind comments. I have a rather busy weekend ahead but I’m hoping to get some more time on the hurri before it’s out. I have managed some work over the week so I’ll post up now and hopefully add some more on Sunday. 😇 I don’t know about you lot but as I progress in model making i have found that the painting part gets more jittery. Not in the actual doo g it part but the choice of colour part. There are so many voices and such an onus on office colours and the like. I find it hard to take that first jump into colour kind of like the “first page” in a sketch book. So saying that with all the info I’ve gathered from you good folk and te interwebs I took the leap. If it’s wrong 🤷‍♀️ I did ma best. 🧶 First up. I did a dry fit to see if the whole construction fitted into the fuselage. sweet!!!!👌🙌 Next I painted the seat and struts silver. looks super shiny here but it’s not. About right for the pic I have seen. I’ll top coat in Aluminium paint then chip.🥳 Here are the other parts. I’m assuming the control stalk is green grey and everything pedals and such are aluminium paint? The top part of the walls are grey green and the lower half silver. One side of the bulk head is green the other silver. I also pre shaded the engine. Then it got a top base coat in Tamiya black rubber. Nice and smoooooth. 🥳 last night I decided to hit the chipping on the seat. I’m aiming for this. (Thank you to whoever took the pic) I added the chipping fluid then sprayed with Vallejo Dull Aluminium. You know Dull aluminium. 😳 what even? That’s more shiny that the base coat. 😫 Right this calls for sideways thinking. After a dog walk I mixed Tamiya Light grey with Tamiya Titanium silver and did a light coat. bear with me. This then got chipped and scuffed. I also used the Tamiya tape technique I made up on my Catalina build to make it eventually look thus. I also added the belt. 🥳 I need to top coat and weather now. I’m happy with this though. I’ll do similar to the pipework. 🤓 Next up was the Merlin, I always do a bit then move on to something else before moving on to see it with fresh eyes first. 😎 So. Merlin. I added some Tamiya weathering and picked out some of the pipe work with silver and copper. I know the engine is mostly black in the actual MK1 but I wanted some variation. I wanted to make her look used so I added some depth and oil stains with Tamiya black wash. I’m super happy with that. 🤓 That’s your lot for now. Fingers crossed for more later on.😇 Hope you’re enjoying the build as much as I am. All the best, thanks for dropping by. Happy Modelling. Johnny. 🌪

Just wanted something quick and easy to try out rigging using EZ Line so picked up a new e.iii from Hobbycraft for £7. I wasn't bothered about the colour scheme as I was concentrating on the rigging so kept it as per the cad rendering on the side of the box.

I pray that you may find the peace of one soon Brother Anthony. From the Sensei of Interior Framing this is praise to be treasured. My thanks. Convention be damned dear heart! Ta Simon. The old workbench had plenty of space but hadn't been built originally with modelling in mind so was too deep and the shelves out of reach. I can still use it as a painting area but have the new one abutting it at 90°, making a nicer L-shaped work area. For the first time ever I don't feel like just 'making-do'.... Splendid to hear Heather. A tip of the Homburg to the enduring heritage of Eileen & spouse. This is indeed to be my chosen method for re-profiling the belly Ian. Thieved it from one of your biplane builds some time back for just such a moment.. On the naughty step.... Being an epoxy fiend I may try that instead. Stand by for furture reports on why epoxy isn't the best choice... Yes of course I do. Probably...I'll need to check! I'm one of those people who talk about painting Rob but then remember they mightn't have actually bought the paint. Unfortunately I did buy the paint to do the upstairs windowsills of the house. Does Dulux gloss gothrough an airbrush? Bit suprised at this sudden fledging myself tbh Johnny. (Don't they grow up quick!) Armstrong: Houston, I'm nearly at the bottom of the ladder now...wait...there's....there's a guy down there pointing at my boots and holding up a sign saying 'No work clothing'.... Nice. A little more in the way of substance to report today Bill. Idling through the Flightglobal archives last evening my eye was caught by this rousing advert: Once Annie's finished there's the makings of a Dogfight Double in the display cabinet now! 😄 This is rather a poignant image as am currently re-reading John Terraine's Business in Great Waters: The U-boat Wars, 1916-1945 and he makes a couple of deeply hurtful remarks that call the martial prowess of the Anson into question. I've talked before how useful I find film clips as an aid to getting fixed into your head a mental map of the thing you're building. Plans and manuals are great of course but I like to see the thing turning and moving in space, especially when it comes to getting the overall profile of an aircraft 'right'. Can't remember if I posted the link before but there's a great piece of film up on the IWM site, shot in 1942 (at location unknown) on what looks like 16mm b/w stock: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021034 This has been most helpful the last couple of days in getting the essentials of the wings dihedral correct and consequently ensuring a correct symmetry of the starboard nacelle with the port one of the kit. I can't get the link for the film to show in the page here but here as some views from the film that are also going to be useful in getting the belly profile corrected next. The original footage was very low contrast so I've processed these tonally and due to the shutter speed producing blur at times, used an unsharp masking routine where possible. This shot is tantalizing from the way you just can't quite read the serial: Great for the dihedral: Useful view of the belly 'bulge' from the rear: A low pass reveals the belly from the front: Good reminder too of the various pitot and aerials yet to arise from brass: Fortified by such visual goodness, the ground was prepared for checking the fit and alignment of the undercarriage in all three axes (the starboard nacelle is only taped into place here): I originally thought that the oleos went straight up vertically into the nacelle but from multiple photos it appears that there is *slight* rearward slant at the top as shown above. A crucial factor is of course to make sure we aren't lopsided: The oleos were deliberately left slightly overlength in order that they could be trimmed to produce the correct height. Those Alien-like blobs along the wing root and middle fuselage seam are simply excess epoxy that hasn't been chiselled back flush yet. Note also the corrective strip of card in the front of the starboard wing root giving away how clumsy some of my filing had been! At this stage I also cleaned up a mystery that had been bugging me about the (apparently) differing lengths of the radius arms that I'd mentioned previously. As on many occasions the oddity was finally crystallized by measuring details in a photo - in this case working to remind me that way way back in time I'd begun filing off the rear underside of the port nacelle, intending to rebuild a new (and correctly sharper profile for this section) but had forgotten to do the same to the starboard one. The visual mismatch that had been irking me was the differing lengths of the necalle rears (red line) and not the radius arms (blue line): Another self-created puzzle solved! 🤦‍♂️ Feeling that wings and undercarriage were now in a safe state to proceed, next step was to fix the scratch built starboard nacelle permanently into place. As the engine bearer assembly has to be inserted into position through the rear of the nacelle, this required soldering it into place now once and for all: A quick eyeball with the Cheetah on top: Sufficient unto the day. Right. A big blob of epoxy and some Washi tape later and the starboard nacelle is finally in its forever home: The custom vertical gluing rig you see here is in fact a most blatant example of product placement: A tin of Campbell's Perfect Tea, grown in East Africa, sold from Dublin; aside from some of S.D. Bell's choicer blends (put together in Belfast) no other tea is allowed into the Baronial canteen. Anyone posting 'alternative' suggestions - I'll see you outside in the car-park right? For a Thermos of tea (and a jammie Dodger if you're good.) 😁 Thanks all for your forbearance of my witterings. Hope you have a splendid evening. Tony

Ready for inspection. My first gallery on Brtitmodeller. This is Lockheed F-104G Starfighter on Matchbox kit PK-28.

Right oh here goes I'm building this as a gift to be given to my father in law who worked on this aircraft XW664. I am not a proficient aircraft modeler the perfect finishes scare me, but I'll give it my best shot. I'm planning to build out of the box part from I have an extra decal set the horizontal stabiliser needs re shaping and I've seen that the canopy doesn't fit very well so I might look into that. Any how here goes a stormy Saturday morning let the fun commence, i think this is the bigest model I've attempted. Dave

Hi All, After 2 months my Tristar Flakpanzer is finished. I added an RB barrel, Masterclub tracks (amazing!) and painted it with Gunze and Tamiya acrylics. This kit, while complicated and fiddly had PERFECT fit... yes, perfect. Everything lined up beautifully. The 4 piece etched shell basket drove me mad at times but I wrestled the sucker into submission. I based my kit on a few photos I found on the web of a newly completed Flak38 which had little to no weathering and the early drive sproket. Interestingly, as this is the Hobbyboss repop of the Tristar kit it only comes with the early sprocket whereas the Tristar had the late. Hope you like the result: More pics here: http://www.timboth.com/models/armour/Flakpanzer/Flakpanzer.htm Thanks for looking. Tim

This is the 2019 boxing of the lovely 1/72 kit from Airfix which includes the appropriate June 1944 markings seen here. I built this for a Twitter based Group Build, #DDAYGB which has just finished. Put together OOB, paint is all by brush, Lifecolor acrylics for the camouflage and then details using Lifecolor\Citadel\Vallejo. Glossed with Vallejo before the decals and a final few coats of Mig Ammo matt to finish with Vallejo light\dark grey washes to add a lightly used look. Hope you enjoy More pics here: http://blog.cjhm.net/2019/06/08/1-72-airfix-hawker-typhoon-d-day-1944/ Work in progress pics here: https://twitter.com/search?q=cjhm airfix typhoon&src=typd See stuff the other members of our group did: https://twitter.com/search?q=ddaygb;src=typd Excellent video from our ‘leader’ here:

Hi I happened to noticed that over the past few years some people have been asking for photographs of Royal Naval F6F Hellcats. My father was radar officer aboard HMS Emperor from Sept '43 until Jan '45, and he kept a small collection of photographs from his Naval career. I've scanned and cleaned most of the HMS Emperor ones, which are here if anyone is interested: https://www.flickr.com/photos/167119724@N05/albums/72157707228517651 Hope this helps somebody. Cheers, pemcg

More finished builds! Here's yet another 1/72 Tamiya built in FAA colors for the aircraft of Lt. Wally Knight flying from the HMS Victorious, British Pacific Fleet As for the kit, it is obviously one of the great Tamiya WW2 kits which is virtually flawless. One of the only issues is that the frontal stub of the fuel tank needs some shaving off so that it will fit. Not sure if this is only a problem when you use the open flap cowling piece, the kit offers closed flaps too. The kit was built almost entirely OOB, the exception being Eduard's excellent Super Fabric seatbelts. A few millimeters of the wing tips was cut off given that FAA Corsairs had them clipped. Vought FAA aircraft were painted in US equivalent paints, which officially were ANA 610 Sky, ANA 603 Sea Gray (Extra Dark Sea Gray), and ANA 613 Olive Drab (Dark Slate Gray). In order to provide a slightly different shade to my usual use of Gunze H71 for Sky, I used the new AK Real Models RLM 76 late war variant, which is very close. ANA 603 was represented with Tamiya XF-24 (equivalent to FS 36118) while ANA 613 was Gunze H52 to give it a brownish tint. It is possible that the Olive Drab was actually OD 41 which should be slightly greener but whatever. For some reason I was a bit unhappy immediately after spraying but after weathering and a matt coat I am actually very pleased with the result. I also should mention I used Microscale liquid mask for the camo pattern. It was the first time I used it and it was great. Just need it to fully dry so it can be properly removed using kabuki tape (there was no damage to the lower coat) Decals came from the Skymodels set which provides the shoddily painted "T" version of this aircraft which I find amusing. The decal is a bit cartoonish but I like it anyway. Being Cartograph, they were very easy to apply. No stencils were used as I rarely see them in FAA Corsairs, only the black wing panel was used from the original kit decals. Weathering began with Humbrol Dark Gray panel line wash, followed by some black streaking to the flaps, and hard pastels for the engine and gun stains. Some raw umber enamel was used for dirtying up the lower fuselage. I think this has been my favorite build of the year so far. Enjoy!

Here is my Airfix 1/72 Folland Gnat T1. As provide by Airfix + some seat belts and a new pitot...…. ….and a glaring error! Many thanks to the host and co-hosts Cheers, Mark.

What's this?!? Actual modelling? The Lanc now has three of her four nacelles on, plus her horizontal stabilizers (the elevators are unglued, in case I decide I want to commit the aesthetic sin of drooping them in the service of authenticity). I also did some work with the aim of getting closer to putting on the nose turret: And all closed up: It's been so long since I've done this that I completely forgot to mask the clear part first, so that should be a ton of fun. Win has been home all week from school, but we're to try again next week to see how it goes. We've been clamping down at home (and in return he got halfway out of his second story bedroom window before I caught him), and he seems more obedient, I guess, so hopes are high, even if I feel like a spirit-crushing monster. A week or so ago we played a round of Picket Duty, a solitaire hex-and-counter wargame where the player is the commander of a Fletcher-class destroyer off Okinawa. Despite questionable allocation of the ship's antiaircraft guns (all aft Bofors and 5" mounts on one, and a paltry three Oerlikons against the second), Winston managed to bring down both inbound Kamikazes (he had no difficulty grasping the idea of a plane wanting to crash into a ship to break it, which shows the approximate level of sophistication of the tactic) and was very pleased. He helpfully suggested we get rid of Grant so we could play more. Perhaps we will, at some point. Play more, that is. Grant is a delight. Speaking of Grant, here he is as he might normally be seen, eating:

This is the old Lincoln (also issued over the years by Kader and International Models ) Canberra. Lincoln was a Hong Kong company back when it was a UK Crown Colony so maybe it's close enough to be considered a CBK? Anyway, the kit is pretty basic - no interior or undercarriage and represents a PR3 but is pretty accurate!. Although it comes with decals for VX181, the PR3 prototype, the colours used for the codes are wrong. I shortened the fuselage back to B2 length, added some scrap to represent the pilot's head and ejection seat and made my own decals. Here she is as Canberra B2 WH638 of 32 Squadron RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus c. 1960. Not my best but I am pretty happy with her and she looks good next to my 1/96 Vulcan B1 and Victor B1. David

Just have to weather it up now for a dusty environment. this is a nice kit to build with lots of detail in the cockpit and i used kit decals and good old Humbrol enamels for the paint scheme. still think that Humbrol has the best Azure Blue out there.

Afternoon all. Here is my Airfix 1/72 Vampire T.11. Decals are from the gift set depicting a Vampire from the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Finished with Vallejo acrylic Metal Color Aluminium. Cheers Allan

I have had this next build in my stash for several years, and am finally getting around to putting the thing together. Chosen out of the stash by my son is Revells 1:72 Halifax Mk.III, this is going to be a straight from the box build with the exception of using Vallejo acrylics in place of the suggested Revell (purely personal preference here). It's a big kit with many sprues, and a choice of 2 colour schemes and decals. The sprues are very clean, no flash to be seen (which is a bonus) and lots of detailing. I am planning on building the aircraft in the scheme of 'Oscar,' No.424 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air force, 1944. Let the fun commence.

My second Bf 109 in foreign markings, the first one was a Finnish 109G-2. I built this Hobby Boss kit in the span of 5 days, the build itself taking an afternoon thanks to the use of acrylics and the good fit of all the parts. The Swiss markings came from Aeromaster's 1:48 sheet "Foreign 109s" in 1:48, designed in 1997 for the Hasegawa Bf 109G-2/G-6. The fuselage band came as a decal, and I was a bit aprehensive of using it because I didn´t know if it would conform well to the model. Much to my surprise, it did conform without issues. Here are the photos:

An older build, which may offer some encouragement to those currently struggling with this kit. It is worth the effort, but an aftermarket canopy is strongly recommended as the kit parts are quite rustique. I‘m sure one can even do more improvements (such as wheel well detail, which I didn‘t) but here I focused on the cockpit and exterior. I decided to do things the old fashioned way and scratch whatever was possible plus brush painting. Paints are Humbrol 147 for the underside and a Testors blue for the upper which I don‘t recall the number. Seat and canopy are aftermarket (TrueDetails and Falcon).

Thanks Bill - done! See below No need to apologies Keith - my awful photo White and green - it will be done! It is, well spotted! It's not there in the expectation of being used but to remind me that some PE is just too much for me to try. Did you see what happened? (Ooh look, Photobucket is showing my old photos now, albeit with an annoying message… 'proudly' is not how I think they hosted my images) My fault Hendie, sloppy grammar. It's my small-parts drawer. I do have different sized drawers for different sized parts and, of course, some of the are enormous! Fnaar! Small progress before the house wakes up - why oh why can't I lie in anymore? Chop off end, drill a small hole and stick it to the bottom of the i/p: Looks about right. On with the end of the stick: Good enough for the ceiling. Of course with my wobbly hands that took several goes: - tube glue to start with; fell over - try to right with tweezers; stuck to the tweezers - TET; dragged the stick onto the surface Anglo-Saxon sorted it of course. As always

Hello all, Here is my recently completed Tamiya Spitfire MK.1 (the new tooling) in the markings of 19 Squadron during the summer of 1940. The build is part 1 of 8 of my RAF 'QRA through the years' project and the build thread can be seen here. The kit is OOB except for the decals and a paint mask which was used. An absolutely brilliant kit which was a joy to build. It's also my first 1/48 Spitfire (shame on me!) but despite this I'm happy with how it turned out. The base is from Coastal Kits and the patch is from my own collection. Thanks for looking. Dave

Airfix's little Provost T4,a little gem of a kit go and give one a go!

Pilatus PC-21 A-107, Swiss Airforce Kit: 1/72 3D Blitz Models Decals: Matterhorn Circle

Hi all Here is my finished 1/72 scale Hobby Boss gladiator finished in Belgian markings. all markings where painted. the pictures are not the best so i might add some more when i have the chance to make better ones Build thread here:

F-111Ds of the 523TFS out of Cannon AFB at Nellis AFB for Red Flag 84-5, August 1984: 68-0086 68-0112 68-0115 68-0116 68-0126 68-0150 68-0156 Thanks for looking, Sven

Dear modellers, Here is my tutorial how I build my scratch models. I remembered I had made an extensive photo gallery building this model, so after some searching I dug up these pictures. I hope, they are of some use for the modeller community … For the story of this plane, please have a look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_D.XII To the pictures: The whole "family" of the prototypes together. I hope you enjoy the building story .. With kind regards JohnHaa

This is my third airplane model F-104 at Britnodeller. Tum together, a tiny model from Crown, also sold by Revell. This is one of the oldest models in my collection and is about 30 years old. The model was renovated by me and re-painted. Originally, he wore the Liftway markings currently Japanese JSDAF. Decals are original from the Revell set. obrazki na avatar

After getting back into scale model circa 1988 or so, I started buying kits. Remember, this is pre-internet days and I had never even seen a Finescale Modeler magazine at this point. I simply bought model kits that caught my eye (or my budget 😉). A nearby Michael's (think "Hobby Lobby" type store) was closing and all their models were reduced in price. I bought several, including the ancient Lindberg F-100. A few months later, I was introduced to FSM magazine and came across a letter from a gentleman critiquing a recent article on the F-100 Super Sabre. He had flown the type in Vietnam. The letter had his name and city and so I called him up via directory assistance. I had a lot of questions about the Hun and he said he would send me some info! In a couple months, a big box arrived and it contained a very nice note from retired Air Force Major Don Schmenk along with a Monogram 1/48 F-100D. Major Schmenk said in his note that the model was the plane he had flown in Vietnam. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the kit's decals did replicate the same exact plane he had flown, down to his name of the plane's sill. He included spare parts and instructions needed to convert the kit's drop tanks to the correct size that he had used in service. I had that kit in my model stash for many years, until it finally saw the light of day around 2006 or '07. After finishing the model, I sent pics to Major Schmenk, receiving some very nice, gracious comments in return; a real gentleman he is! This is the venerable Monogram 1/48th North American F-100. The plane has the markings of the Hun that Schmenk flew in Vietnam. The kit is challenging to say the least, and required much fitting and sanding and filling. I added the bombs (found somewhere...) and did a lot of detailing in the main gear bays that is for all purposes unseen now, and also detached and refitted the horizontal stabs. Otherwise, it's mostly OTB. That was good experience but also a lesson learned about spending valuable modeling time on things never seen! The paint used was Model Master and Humbrol enamels, weathered with an over spray of Floquil Dust, all through the Paasche H. The heat-weathering on the engine area is sort of a toss-up. I think the color looks good but the paint seems much too thick and out of scale...oh, well, that's how it goes sometimes! 😊 Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Comments always welcomed. I hope you enjoy! 😀

This is the starter set kit that was being sold in Aldi, painted with Mr Hobby paints. It's been a little project to tinker with while doing other stuff and waiting for paint/glue to dry etc. consequently it's taken awhile to complete but all in all an enjoyable little build.

lovely little kit to build only drawback is the decals. they are matt,matt and tough, would advise aftermarket for this kit. used the Revell enamel for paint job and it went on beautifully. thanks for looking.

painted with Testors enamels and a mix of kit decals and aeromaster decals. went together very well but beginning to show its age in one or 2 places compared to the hobbyboss kit i built. thanks for looking. thanks for looking

390P Republic P47 Thunderbolt 1959 This one's the first issue of this kit, from way back in 1959. It scrubs up well for a sixty year old! A straight out the box build, everything sort of fell into place on this build. All the parts fitted very well, not that there was many of them in the first place. The polished metal finish is S n' J polishing powder rubbed into the bare kit plastic. The product is no longer available unfortunately, I like it a lot. I'm also rapidly running out of the stuff. It's a bit delicate, fingerprints mark the finish and need re-polishing. It also dulls down a bit over the years but that makes it even better in my opinion. It can take a re-polish if you are careful around the markings. It will stain transfers at the drop of a hat. The transfers performed faultlessly. No cockpit detail is provided with the kit. you can't see a lot in there anyway. Ditto wheel wells. nothing provided, bar an outline. I painted the wells black and had done with it. All in all, a highly enjoyable build. It only took a day from start to finish as well. That's a good moral booster for my further contributions to the Group Build. Here's the model...

F-15DJ Eagle 202 Squadron, 5th Wing, JASDF 1/100 Ben Hobby kit, built OOB. Finished using Humbrol enamel paints. The build thread is here. Cheers Cliff

This time model from WW II times, I generally avoid model aircraft with a propeller. I definitely prefer modern aviation. However, from time to time I make a model for someone to order. I present to you such a model F4U-1A Corsair model from the Tamiya skal scale 1:32 This is one of the best models I've built, all the elements fit together without a problem. Model made straight from the box with one addition from yahoo. I invite you to watch, I hope that the model looks good.

Airfix Hawk T1a (1/48) built for a friend. Thanks for looking. All comments welcome as ever. Before she was closed up. Thanks for looking Sweaty

Lotus 72C Oulton Park Gold Cup, 22nd August 1970 This is the Ebbro kit straight from the box apart from the addition of Tamiya seat belts and Tabu decals (how could anybody finish this kit without 'Gold Leaf Team Lotus' writ large on the sides?) I was 19 years old in 1970, and hitch-hiked to Oulton Park with a friend to see this event. It was a significant meeting on 3 counts - 1. that it was the first win for a Surtees F1 car, 2. that it was the first race of the first ever Tyrrell, and 3. (although no one knew this at the time of course) it was Jochen Rindt's last race as he was killed at Monza two weeks later. Chris

A few years back I took my wife and daughter to the Commonwealth War Grave at Bayeux. The grounds were beautifully tended and immaculate. I told them we were only going to concentrate on one small section, initially they didn't understand why but after a few minutes they were in floods of tears, absolutely heartbroken! The section contains a 17 year old 2nd Donkeyman from a merchant ship blown up by a mine, alongside him was the ship's chief engineer, a 70 year old. The latter should have been at home playing with his grand children, the former would never live long enough to have children. Beyond them there were numerous young men who died in their prime, it's all very humbling My own grandfather went up the beach on D-Day with the Ox&Bucks to meet up with the glider troops from the same regiment at Bénouville (aka Pegasus Bridge), note these guys were NOT paratroops, as part of Lord Lovatt's brigade, he was 42, I thank God he survived not only D-Day, the Riechswald Forest and the liberation of Belsen but also Dunkirk, El Alemain, Salerno and Monte Cassino. Poor old bugger should have been at home tending his allotment! He was a very taciturn man and after 22 years of military service myself, I understand why. Thanks to all of those that gave their lives, RIP.

Now how often does this happen in the modelling universe: Tried a few pilots for fit and the cheeky Zvezda 109F chappy grabbed the stick on the first go. Look he's even reaching forward to fiddle with a switch or two. Not doing too much in the 'pit as I observed in the P-47 last week, once the pilot is in you can't see anything but the barest details on the IP but seeing as the big assed radio is on full view, did some random "greebling" in prep for my impending excursion to the slightly unhinged scratchbuilding world of @Pete in Lincs Its more Death Star than Marconi but all good practice. Primed and zinc chromated, detail painting next and we may have some closure tomorrow, this one is humming along nicely, an easy finish for June as I have few paid fors backing up right now. Note PITA two part canopy still on runners to assist mating with clear piece.

Hi Everyone, so after a varnish coat the decals went on quite nicely with the aid of some microsol, another layer of varnish. The varnish made a big difference to the colour of the base coat and darkened it quite a bit. It also seemed to interact with the previous coat to create some darker patches. Overall I was quite happy with the effect and moved on to some washes and then some dry brushing. A bit of mild chipping and then some fun with my homemade mud solution. Basically some of our garden clay soaked overnight in water until it softened to a paste and then with a wet brush applied to the tracks and lower hull. A final splatted with some mud by flicking off an old toothbrush. As ever the photos highlight a few touch up jobs but apart from that I’m calling this one finished. It’s been a struggle at times, but the Tiger kept pulling me back because it’s such a cool vehicle. So onwards to some other projects in the stash. Thanks for looking 🙂

Quick update on the 10' dinghy. The picture below shows it after the inner ribs and sheer strake were added and the interior and exterior painted. You can clearly see the clinker lines between the frames taken from the mould. I've also adjusted the crutches and added ring bolts ready for tying it down BTW, in the background Lambert's drawing shows an 8' dinghy and it sitting somehow on the lower deck. The specs say it was a 10' dinghy and many pictures of the port side show the boat stowed as I have it, on the coach house roof but hanging over a little. I added braces as it seemed odd without. I'm guessing the outer crutches folded and allowed the boat to slide over the side, there is no crane or davit assembly, must have been very tough to get it back on board.... The next picture shows it with the internal ring bolts, floor boards added and the seats and knees installed. I know there should be two per seat, but try making them in wood at this size, they just break. I've settled for one per bench though looking at the photo, they look too chunky, will work on thinning them a little. The proble with these photographs is they show it better than I can see it, so I just stare at all the imperfections, sigh.... This is still very much work in progress, still quite a bit to do, but I wanted to show the steps. Once I've made the oars, I'm going to display it with the tarpaulin installed but pulled back to show the interior The observant can see I've also made a start adding flags to the flag lockers, Holman projector in the background I still have to do the port side stanchions, boring job so putting it off.....

This was my oldest 'stalled' project--or 'shelf queen'--having been started in 2014, assembled to about 90% completion (including canopy on, masked and primed)...then stopped for reasons I can't begin to remember. The inspiration dates back to a color photo of the same a/c in the late lamented World Air Power Journal, published shortly after the conclusion of the Gulf War. VAQ-137 'Rooks' were part of CVW-1 flying from USS America (CV-66) during Desert Storm, the only EA-6B squadron to operate from both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In addition to regular ECM missions, the squadron's aircraft fired 30 AGM-88 HARM missiles in support of Coalition Forces. #622 was credited with 7 of those launches. Super Scale did a sheet of three Desert Storm Prowlers in 1/72 scale shortly thereafter, and fortunately this aircraft was one of those covered. After breaking out the kit several weeks ago and getting going again, the project was pretty smooth sailing. Various mixes of Tamiya acrylics did nicely for the patchy/weathered and spot-repainted look common to USN aircraft in the modern 'all gray' era. The Super Scale decals were slightly over-large in places, but for being close to twenty years old, went on like a dream with not a single crack, split or dissolve. (Whew!) Only aftermarket used was the Super Bug resin cockpit (which was gorgeous and easy to use, with probably the best-cast seats I've ever seen) and a pair of HARMs from the old Italeri US/NATO ordnance set (w/scratch-built launch rails). My only real difficulty arose after removing the ancient masking, which had ever-so-slightly etched the clear surfaces in spots to a fine haze, and left rough and crackly frame lines. (I know, I know...I actually do know better than to leave it on for so long!) A little judicious buffing and some Future took care of the haze. As to the frames...fortunately one of my 'old dog' tricks--learned the hard way through the years--is to spray up some decal stock in the various colors I use, against this very possibility. I managed to cut strips and restore the frames to something close to decent without too much trauma. The canopy actually has a slight copper/smoke tint applied, though it doesn't show up that well in the finished shots. Photos of the original a/c depicted show the 'real' tint to be fairly inconspicuous, just appearing to darken the canopies a bit. I followed that pattern, not wanting to obscure the lovely interior, since she was to be finished and displayed as 'buttoned up.' Last note: I must have scavenged the kit's drop tanks for some other project, at some point. The loadout depicted should have a fuel tank on the port inboard pylon; until I can find a replacement, I added an extra ALQ-99 pod on that station, just to 'fill it out' for the pics. Enjoy!

Hello Dears, Another one to share, a bit sad but, I've a lot of such spots ! We were in Mariembourg, not far from my home ! Pics are from SWMBO I think that we must have such a tiny spots, it is important !! This one is at 1 Km from the Brasserie des fagnes. More to come soon ! Sincerely. CC

A bit more foldy-Fulmar testing while glue cures on unfeasibly small lumps of WW1 steam crane brass: first, the components - clockwise from top right... starboard wing (complete); port wing with flap hinge glued; flap; wing-fold hinge (only partially folded); 2 x undercarriage with PE u/c doors, fuselage (with tail, wing stubs and interior glued); canopy - windscreen in centre. And the same from a lower angle, now with airscrew fitted and canopy dry-fitted. Recognisably a Fulmar, eh? More soon Crisp

Been putting off rigging the davits for far too long but had a day off from work yesterday after working 22 hours over the weekend so finally got around to tacking the job which I finished off tonight. Unfortunately the photos don't really show just how fiddly all the respective lines were and of course looking at them from this angle, I've actually hidden a lot of the work behind the boats. All done with extended sprue. I was tempted to use EZ line but I wanted to be able to get the boats level without any elasticity. They also don't show that as a result of doing all of this under the magnifying glass, I forgot about the foremast on at least 3 occasions and send the 277 radar flying across the workbench. It's all back together but looking a little battle scarred now! Apologies the second photo is slightly out of focus. I'll retake it next time I get the chance and replace it. BTW, almost every photo I have of BULOLO seems to show her with B2 missing (bar the ones when HM King George VI was reviewing the landing fleet at Beaulieu Roads in May 1944) so that's how I've portrayed her. The shiny patches on the funnel are Klear ready for some decals to go on when I've printed them. I forgot the do those ones when I did the LCP pennant numbers