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Hi Guys! here is my 1/48 Musthave F-86K. The K was derivative of the D Sabre Dog and was fitted with cannons in stead of the rocket pack fitted on D models. This meant the centre of gravity changed and thus the fuselage was lengthened. Musthave has taken the standard RevellOgram F-86D kit and supplemented it with a new injection K fuselage which fits perfectly!. My model depicts machine from 702 squadron Royal Netherlands airforce in 1959. I've painted it with AK extreme metal colours. Erik

Finally, after what seems like forever, managed to finish something. I started a triple build of Hasegawa P-51D's a long time ago and just got bogged down with life, but a month ago managed to rediscover my mojo. The result is these three crossed the line and now ready to share. All three had the following extras: Master P-51D gun barrels (an absolute test of patience but look better than the original plastic) Eduard P-51 Cockpit etch sets Barracuda Resin - P-51 Wheels (beautifully cast wheels) Quickboost & Ultracast Flaps (Took a bit of work to make these fit the Hasegawa kit but nothing overly difficult) The first is the P-51D of Captain Fred Hutchins from the 302nd FS 'Tuskegee Airmen' - Little Freddie The second is Captain Ed Heller's "Hell Er Bust" from the 486th FS Finally Lt Jacques E Young's "Jumpin Jacques" of the 3rd FS As always comments and critique welcomed. Onto a Spitfire frenzy now which, hopefully, won't take as long as these did. Pete

Here a 1/48 Phantom f-4e in 32nd TFS markings based at Soesterberg (Camp Nieuw Amsterdam), Netherlands . Resin cockpit and exhaust and mr color paints. It's said the squadron was the only USAF unit authorized to use the Royal crest of another country. Some info on the 32nd, now inactive, if anyone is interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32nd_Air_Operations_Squadron http://wolfhoundsusaf.com/ Have a great day!

Hi all! my latest build is this Zvezda Yak-130 in 1:48. I add some Eduard PE´s und Bangladesh Air Force decals out of the Kitty Hawk kit.

Hi, everyone! The Eduard model has been a real headache to build; add to that my own clumsiness, I can safely say that this model has sucked me dry. You can see the whole building process and everything about “the Blue 12”, from 8./JG6 on my Blog. More photos of the finished model are available at: http://eberlemodel.blogspot.com/2019/11/focke-wulf-fw-190-d9-finished.html First, a comparison with the color profile: A few photos of the finished model: Greetings from Slovenia.

Seventeen year old John Gillespie Magee had an American father and a British mother and was visiting the US in 1939. Because of the outbreak of war, he was unable to return to England for his final school year, and instead went to school in Connecticut. He earned a scholarship to Yale but instead volunteered with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He gained his wings in Canada in June 1941 and was then sent to No. 53 Operational Training Unit at RAF Llandow, in Wales. On 18th August 1941 he recorded in his logbook: "Climb to 33,000 feet" He found this Spitfire flight so exhilarating that he wrote a 'ditty' about it and sent it in a letter to his parents. He was nineteen. That letter is held at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. On 23rd September 1941 he was assigned to 412 Squadron based at RAF Wellingore, Lincolnshire. The next few months saw convoy patrols and cover for a bombing raid on Lille. These sorties were interspersed with other activities: firing practice, formation flying, dog-fighting practice and being at readiness. In November the squadron was visited by King George VI. On 11th December 1941 this all came to a tragic end for John Magee. The squadron Operations Record Book records this in typically blunt fashion: “Pilot Officer Magee was fatally injured when engaged in Cloud flying. His aircraft Spitfire VB AD291 collided with an Oxford from Cranwell” The squadron had been practicing formation flying above the clouds. John Magee was part of a flight of four “letting down” through the cloud cover. Sergeant Pilot Dwayne Linton was part of that flight. Magee was #3 and Linton was #4. Sergeant Linton had caught sight of an Airspeed Oxford trainer approaching at right-angles. He warned his flight and two were able to get out of the way. However John Magee's Spitfire and the Oxford collided. John Magee got out of the cockpit and jumped but was too low for his parachute to fully open. The pilot of the Airspeed Oxford, Leading Aircraftsman Earnest Aubrey, was also killed. He was a student pilot flying out of RAF Cranwell, a short distance from RAF Wellingore. The squadron's ORB for 13th December 1941 tells us: “In the afternoon pilots attended the funeral of P/O Magee. Pilots also present at a lecture by G/Cpt Grumbull (this is unclear and I may have the name wrong) in the evening on “Caution in Flying” And that letter? Time hasn't been kind and the writing is now rather faded but it is still legible. He had called that poem 'High Flight' and it has ensured the name of John Magee will be long remembered. The first and last lines: Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth and Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. It isn't possible to list here all the references to that poem in the last eight decades or so but these perhaps give an indication of the impact it has had. The poem is in full on the back of the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial. Portions are on many of the headstones in the Arlington National Cemetery. It is on panels at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa and the National Air Force Museum of Canada, in Trenton, Ontario. It is the subject of a permanent display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, in Dayton, Ohio. At RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, a memorial to two Red Arrows pilots, killed in August and November 2011, has an interpretation of the poem. Meghan McCain quoted the poem at the end of her tribute to her late father, John McCain. Astronaut Michael Collins took a card with the poem on it for his Gemini 10 flight and included it in his autobiography. It has been set to music many times and referenced in numerous TV shows and films. John Gillespie Magee, who reached the grand age of nineteen and a half, has his own Wikipedia page with the poem in full: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gillespie_Magee_Jr. This then is my attempt at Spitfire Mk Vb serial AD291. I used the Airfix 1/72 kit as I believe it is still an accurate representation of the Vb even though it was produced in 1974 (not long after I stopped modelling the first time around). I opened the pilot's door and added more detail to the cockpit with an Airwaves p.e. set which didn't fit as well as I'd hoped - much of it needed surgery to fit. The cannon barrels are from Master and are a work of art - I almost didn't want to paint them. I also got a Falcon vac-form canopy as I wanted to have the cockpit open. My first go at one of those. The kit has nice restrained raised panel lines except around the nose which had deep trenches and huge rivets – I removed all of that. I reduced the fabric effect on the tail and opened the under wing intakes and the exhausts. Paints are Ultimate acrylic primer with Tamiya acrylic and Xtracrylic for the camouflage. As this is December 1941 I have the Fighter Command markings of Sky fuselage band and spinner with yellow wing leading edges. That yellow is a little bright for my liking. Thinned paint and not enough coverage I think. I got a set of stencils from profimodeller which worked great. I painted the wing black walkway lines. The serials are from Aviaeology with codes and roundels from various Xtradecal sets. I didn't find any photos of AD291 and I've guessed that the codes may have overlaid the serials a little (there's a lot of stuff on the side of a Spitfire). Here's the pics:

Hallo This is my Roland CII late. In contrast to the Roland CII early, it is much more colorful. My Roland CII early, you will find here. Beside this, I did two major changes. · The rigging without knots · The airscrew, now laminated. Well, I hope you enjoy it. Happy modelling

Hi folks, this is the new Arma Hobby kit and the build thread is HERE, where I believe all essential has been said. All in all, great little kit with plenty of details and some great features. Cheers, Libor

Hi everyone. One of my favourite aircraft is the P-38 so I was very excited to hear Tamiya released a 1/48 version. In fact I was so excited I bought a Pre-release version off EBay as I couldn’t wait for it to hit the stores. I have to say that this is by far the best engineered kit I’ve seen. My modelling skills are still lacking so I don’t do the kit justice, but trust me when I say that the darn thing just falls together perfectly. In the hands of a more experienced modeller, I doubt there would need to be any sanding, filling...etc. It really is that good. The kit comes with 2 variations; 339th FS, 347th FG, 13th AF 39th FS, 35th FG, 5th AF I chose to depict the P-38G assigned to Capt. Bob Petit of the 339th FS/347 FG, Kukum Field on Guadalcanal in 1943. Thanks for having a look.

2006_0101modelsphantom0010 by Iain Peden, on Flickr 2006_0101modelsphantom0009 by Iain Peden, on Flickr Picture 073 by Iain Peden, on Flickr Picture 071 by Iain Peden, on Flickr Picture 066 by Iain Peden, on Flickr IMG_0502 by Iain Peden, on Flickr These were taken pre-redecoration of "study". I know have an ex-compyer table as my work bench.

Mirage IIIO A3-31 3 Squadron, RAAF Butterworth, Malaysia ~ 1985 ingredients: Kinetic kit, incl RPK-10, Mk-82s Caracal/ Kinetic decals SBS cockpit AMK 1300 l tank and pylon HPM MB MK6 seat, wheels Brassin Matra Magic 1 ResKit nozzle good advice form the BM community, thanks! build in the fantastic and just ended 1980s frontline Asia GB! WIP thanks for looking, any comments and criticism! cheers, Werner

Hello Friends! Revell (Hasegawa) Kit 1/32. Second life of the broken model. Therefore, the chassis is closed. There was a large volume of restoration. The tail wheel used to be nasal from MIG-21 1/48. Head of a pilot from a panzercrew 1/35. Made a 600- series plane, colors 74/75 and 76. Brown tires of the main wheels. Maybe it was 83/75, It is unknown. Used decals EAGLE. Having trouble taking photos. Large object and ugly stand. Photo quality needs to be improved. Enjoy watching!

They're deaf... 😥 Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZcM-J1ibsQ&fbclid= UPDATE V.P.

Good news, everyone! I definitely fit in the nose of the Canberra B.6. I was even able to wriggle out effortlessly. So there's clearly something wrong with the one back at Boscombe. This morning, we headed out to the field where Cookie's grandfather crashlanded his B-24H in 1945, while trying to make a forced landing at RAF Shipdham. We couldn't find the pond the aircraft landed in, though we found the lane it landed somewhere along, and a woman out walking her dog told us a bit of local folklore about a young woman who threw herself in the same pond to drown when a B-24 carrying her lover failed to return. (Not, I hasten to add, JD's grandfather.) We also drove onto Shipdham airfield proper, or what's left of it, which isn't much. The Shipdham Flying Club, who were not in evidence, maintain their headquarters there as well as a number of visual references to the airfield's somewhat more glorious past. There was also a small plaque, placed in 1988, in memory of the field's tenants, the 44th BG, but sadly it's not in the best shape: Then we went on towards Lincoln, with a quick detour to RAF Marham, where we hoped to catch sight of an F-35B, but alas all of them were probably on HMS Queen Elizabeth in America or conducting trials with HMS Prince of Wales. Fortunately, we happened upon the Marham Heritage Centre, where a helpful volunteer and former weapons engineer for the Tornado gave us a wonderful little tour and talked all about JP233, a weapon that's fascinated me since I learned of it in 1989. The centre has lots of interesting full-size stores, mostly replicas or training ones, for the Tornado, including a BOZ pod and Sky Shadow ECM. They also had a nice little shop area, and since the proceeds went to RAF Marham and my love for the RAF is I trust well-known, I picked up a 617 Squadron shirt, a Typhoon patch, and a very nice book of Tornado photographs, and they gave me a Tornado engine blade on my way out. Then, as I came outside, a pair of Typhoons passed overhead, with one barrel-rolling away and their wingman following. JD had never seen one in flight before, so he was quite pleased, and I was pleased too, because the Typhoon is gorgeous. We then headed to East Kirkby to see their Lancaster, Just Jane. I'd tried to arrange a tour of her in advance, but unfortunately she's being worked on now, and that wasn't possible. She's immense, and immensely imposing. It might not have been the best decision of East Kirkby to suggest one begin their tour with her, however; everything else is apt to seem an anticlimax. There's also what I understand to be the only intact Mosquito NFII there, in the throes of a 40-year-long restoration; I donated a few pounds towards this worthy cause. When we left the hangar, we saw yet another Typhoon, this one wheels down and much lower, so we got a good look at her. I think I shall never tire of seeing them. Then, after picking up some gifts for the boys and for Mrs P, it was on to the IBCC in Lincoln. The IBCC is a sombre place. It can't help it. When you step out the back of the building, you're faced with the spire, the height of a Lancaster's wingspan, and around it, the stone tablets bearing the names of 57,861 members of Bomber Command who gave their lives during the war. Perched atop a hill, it overlooks Lincoln below, the great bulk of the cathedral looming over the city in the distance. That building, almost a thousand years old, would see thousands of bombers pass over it between 1939 and 1945. Some returned. We walked out to the spire in almost total silence. What could we say? Nearly eighty years ago, the sound of them all must have been deafening as they passed overhead, to impale themselves on the spiked ramparts and drown themselves in the moats of Fortress Europa, each seven-man crew an entire lonely universe unto itself in dark skies punctuated only by terrifying flashes. And somehow, they did it: "In the summer of 1943, the disruption in the Ruhr manifested itself across the German economy in the so-called 'Zuligieferungskrise; (sub-components crisis). All manner of parts, castings, and forgings were suddenly in short supply. And this affected not only heavy industry directly, but the entire armaments complex. Most significantly, the shortage of key components brought the rapid increase in Luftwaffe production to an abrupt halt. Between July 1943 and March 1944 there was no further increase in the monthly output of aircraft. For the armaments effort as a whole, the period of stagnation lasted throughout the second half of 1943. As Speer himself acknowledged, Allied bombing had negated all plans for a further increase in production. Bomber Command had stopped Speer's armaments miracle in its tracks." (Adam Tooze, The Wages of Destruction) "We were attacked again. I went back to the pilot. We had our intercom on and he shouted out, ‘Don’t bale out.’ But the intercom was very bad and crackly and I think that some of them only caught the last two words. The wireless operator, the navigator and the flight engineer all went out. So, one gunner was probably dead, the other probably dying and three men had baled out, just leaving myself and Kevin. He tried to control the plane but the fire probably burnt through the control cables and it started to dive, with a terrible screaming sound. Kevin and I realized that we had to get out but, because of the G force, we couldn’t get to the hatch in the nose. I could see that we were going to go down in this bloody plane but Kevin managed to reach the escape-hatch in the nose and pulled it open. He then physically got hold of me, shoved me into the hatch and pushed me out with his feet. He said he was following. I pulled my cord. I couldn’t see anything but very quickly indeed I landed in some trees. The plane crashed three or four hundred yards away. Kevin never got out. We had been too low. I am very conscious that my life hinged on that moment when Kevin pushed me out. When my son was born in 1951, I called him Kevin, as a daily reminder of Kevin Hornibrook, to whom I owed the rest of my life. Never a day goes by without me remembering that he was first at the door and could have saved himself easily." -- Alex Bryett, 158 Squadron

You and half the members on this forum.

Hello everyone, This is my first post in this section since joining BM and I chose one of my recently finished kits,the great Academy Phantom.It´s also one of my best work to date.In the first pic one of the missiles was falling and I didn´t notice.The missiles are a bit difficult to stay glued because the contact points are minimal,but the bombs and drop tanks fit like a glove!Hope you like it. Cheers, Bruno

This build was completed as part of the P-40 STGB and was my first limited run, multimedia kit. WIP here: I picked this one up knowing all about its flaws as a kit, but with a bit of patience it can be turned into a lovely replica. Mine is modelled as an aircraft of No. 5 Squadron RAF, based in India in 1942. Decals were from LPS. Hairystick painted using Colourcoats enamels and given a panel wash using a Mig wash. Exhaust and gun staining was achieved using a pencil. Paint chipping was done with a relatively dry brush and revell acrylic aluminium. After I had finished the build I dropped it... so if you look closely you will notice on the left hand side a piece of the undercarriage fairing is missing as well as the undercarriage being wonky... Cheers Ash

Yeah, that's what happens. Then, when you stand back and look at the pile of STUFF that you've collected, you remember that you're not a Rothschild, nor can you call on a friendly C-17 driver to ship it home, and so... you put it all back, keeping just one decal sheet and some etch. At least that's what happened to me the last time I visited there.

Well I started back up again as the Northern Australian build up has started for this coming Wet Season and in the last few weeks we have seen about a 100mm at both of our rural properties here in Darwin as the dry/ fire season was a little loose and crazy is probably a bit of an understatement to say the least. Will post some footage and pic’s down the track. Anyway my plan of attack was to complete for this year was too finish of the J Class, Minelayer, the two L Classes and the Cruiser. Before starting some DKM ships, but I have no cans of Sovereign Colourcoats 507c to finish of my RN ships and I don’t have a micro saw to tart up my DKM ships. So the choice got narrowed down to a couple of Wiff’s but can’t find hardware on Shapeways aka Radars and Missile etc, so I had a look at paints and bits and pieces laying about with a bit of reading along the way. So the Illustrious Class Carrier hit the W Balderstone, Sons and Co Shipyard. I’m hoping to base this build on one of the Carriers around late 41 to early 42 in the Indian Ocean/ SEA Area of Operations. Including the one that hit a wee rock during its work up in the West Indies at the time. The first lot of pictures will be on the heavy side as I have been a bit busy with some DVA stuff and medical appointments also the RWC got in the way as well. Note none of my 3 teams got to the final Ireland, Wales and the AB’s. So here goes, First off I have drilled out a number openings the blanked out by using a number of drill bits by hand using a pin hand drill and then using a file. I got a little bit loose with the file and to use some modelling bog/ putty and after it cued over night some gentle filling and sanding. I’ve adding some .2mm, but mainly its .4mm plastic card as it seems to be the right thickness and created a bit of depth and shading by placing longitudinal strips which were section off. At the stern I had to a bit of bog to seal up the gaps around the quarter deck. (See below) I started this yesterday this part of construction. The first of many sectioned beams and a lot of sand with a little bit filling has gone on to attach this wee piece of card. Once it was dry fitted and happy with it I then wack it with a bit super/ CA glue. This part is going a tad slow and maybe 1to 2 pieces a day. (See below) Today’s main effort was fitting the spaces/ beams or whatever the are called around the bottom end of the Illustrious Class Carrier and I’ve bog up the very end bits which I will attack tomorrow for an hour or so. (See below) I never thought I would be doing advanced modelling techniques that this stage as I’ve only got back into modelling 24 so mths ago. I hope I do this model some justice along the way and hopefully do a period style B&W photo shoot once I have do the other models on those dark days in 42 in the SEA area of operations and what could’ve been if all dices fell the right way?

Hi all, Yesterday I finished my Eduard 1/48 Airacobra in the colours of Jerry Yagen's example as she appeared when test flying after restoration by Pioneer Aero in New Zealand, registered ZK-COB. She is now registered N39FF at her new home with the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. This is an older kit but still apparently the most accurate/"best" P-39 in 1/48 scale, and in many boxings comes with goodies such as photoetch details and masks. Unfortunately my masks were fluffy thanks to improper storage on my part so I didn't risk using them. Another great bonus is a specially-moulded nose weight which is a must for a 'cobra. P-39 N39FF/ZK-COB, Eduard 1/48 P-39Q by Zac Yates, on Flickr P-39 N39FF/ZK-COB, Eduard 1/48 P-39Q by Zac Yates, on Flickr P-39 N39FF/ZK-COB, Eduard 1/48 P-39Q by Zac Yates, on Flickr P-39 N39FF/ZK-COB, Eduard 1/48 P-39Q by Zac Yates, on Flickr President of the New Zealand Warbirds Association Frank Parker did much of the test flying in COB, and coincidentally co-owns another Allison-powered warbird with his wife Liz Needham - Curtiss P-40N-1 A29-448/ZK-CAG. So here's a photo of the 'cobra with my model of the P-40: P-39 N39FF/ZK-COB, Eduard 1/48 P-39Q by Zac Yates, on Flickr The colors may look a little off because I used a filter on my phone camera to compensate for an overcast sky. Hopefully she looks about right on your screen.

I never enjoyed goggles - probably because at the stage I flew them they were still relatively unsophisticated, not to mention the fact that the cockpits were adapted for NVG in a pretty rudimentary/improvised bodge. It worked, but it all felt a bit held together with chewing gum & string. Worst of all in my experience was using them over the sea - and I mean really over the deep ocean a long way from land, so on a cloudy night there is pretty much no ambient light at all. The idea of having them at all was to help us identify ships / targets at a survivable distance (this is pre-HMA8, so before Sea Owl), but we also wanted to discover whether we could help ‘Mother’ remain covert for as long as possible (radar silent, no lights) by recovering to the deck using NVG. Bloody terrifying! Even on a ‘normal’ (i.e. non-NVG, Mk.1 Mod 0 eyeball) night sortie it can be very disorientating indeed to fly the whole sortie on instruments, including the approach to the deck... look up for sight at c. 50’ and 50 yards from the stern, adjust your brain and then land visually. Doing the same thing from goggles was 10 times as bad. Horrible experience. Even in those early versions, over land they were transformational. On a Harry Blackers night deck recovery, however, they frightened me f*rtless!

I know that some won't like to hear this but the "Rivet Counters" were the scurge of modelling show's, those that thought they knew everything, bought nothing and never built anything but critised others. I remember a very funny one who happened to be earwigging over a conversation one nationals many moons ago when the subject got on to a 'pink' harrier , when this well known RC piped up that RAF harriers were never pink cause they didn't go to GW1, the assembled group almost held there collective breath as said story teller explained that it had been done by the French Airforce and of course said RC interjected with , the French didn't have harriers. It was explained that the 'pink' was applied in retaliation for said story teller 'amending' the badge on the fin of a mirage some thing to do with a duck...…. Said RC was still adamant that the RAF never had a Pink harrier to be told in no uncertain terms they did cause I had to clean the bugger off...….. Moral of the story if you don't know what your talking about then STFU

Good evening guys, after more than a year, I finally finished my Blackburn Buccaneer. I started it as part of a bigger project involving the types on board Ark Royal carrier during her last deployment in 1978. It took long, but it was real fun. I'm not sure I'll purchase the new tooling Airfix kit, as it would be a bit... sterile after the amount of work I carried out on this one. Should anyone be interested inthe making of this model, here below the link for the wip. The resin seats were courtesy of Perdu. He made a lovely master from scratch for his SA1 and sent me two copies of them. The decal sheet we was courtesy of Scimitar. and of course I had some great support by many I'd like to thank. Now some pictures: Scratch built cockpit. The seats were courtesy of @Perdu, who made them from scratch and sent me acoupleof resin copies. Another area detailled from scatch was the air braking system Wing fold and landing gears And now the finished model. Thanks for watching Ciao massimo

Hi Here are a few quick edits from the first day of the COAP Media assignment to Andravida. Thanks for looking.

My long term 1/48 scale Flying club and aerodrome diorama is finished and it will be on show at Telford. It is hoped that it will form the basis of a new SIG devoted to Vintage Light Aircraft (in 1/48), I started it during my convalescence as an exhibition base for my own models and those of like minded friends. For the inaugural 'Fly in' I already have acceptances from as far apart as Glasgow, Perth shire and Yorkshire. It will be adjacent to the demonstration and Bomber Command SIG area. John

Hi folks After many weeks have finally completed this build Quite a challenging kit OOb attempted to do a winter camo scheme Cheers Keith

#26/2019 Some more Latin-American stuff from my father. Airfix kit (export version), Quickboost gunsight (kit has none), Eduard Superfabric RAF seatbelts, Barracuda Studios replacement resin cowl, a scratch part for the missing headrest cushion. Initially intended to use decals from Blackbird Models for the rudder, but the red triangle was too long and you would have had to paint the blue and white stripes anyway. So my dad decided to mask and paint the complete Cuban flag. Only the white stars are decals from a Microscale WW2 US vehicle markings sheet. Gunze H309 FS34079 and AK Real Color US Interior Yellow-Green used for the camo. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235060681-bay-of-pigs148-hawker-sea-fury-fbii-fuerza-aerea-revolucionaria/page/2/ After a bunch of Cuban aircraft were destroyed by airstrikes and an invasion became imminent, the FAR added additional field camo to their remaining aircraft for better ground coverage, each looked different. The colors used are subject of discussions, my dad chose the above ones. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0023 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

G'day all. I've just put the final touches on the Royal Thailand Air Force F-16B from the 1/48 Hasegawa kit. I had a lot of fun building it and learnt a few things at the same time. Details are the Hasegawa F-16B Plus Fighting Falcon, Quick boost seats with Eduard ejection ring pulls, W&D Studio pitot and AoA probes, Mk82 slicks from the Hasegawa weapons set, AIM-9L from an AFV Club F-5E, Siam scale decals (meh... Not the greatest), Verlinden ground power and comms panel and homemade intake and exhaust plugs. The rear exhaust bung is made from Tamiya epoxy putty. And paints are the ubiquitous Mr Color. The front canopy section even has the smoke tint! Now to make the Polish Tiger meet version... Hope you like it. Cheers, Mick

It's a complicated story but in the 1990s five Me262 replicas were built in the USA, three of them flyable with modern J85 engines. One of them ended up with the Military Aviation Museum at Virginia Beach, Jerry Yagen's collection of aircraft which includes many rare aircraft which fly. Several of them were restored in New Zealand, including his DH Mosquito, and they get regular outings at airshows like Warbirds Over The Beach. For some reason I had a craving to build a 262, probably because of following the restoration of the original example of the late Paul Allen's FHCAM, which should fly any day now. This is the new Airfix kit and was great fun to build although I messed up somehow and the wing has much less dihedral than it should - probably due to me not scraping paint from cockpit parts before assembling the fuselage. Anyway, here is my 1/72 model of N262MF! Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr Along with online image searches my main reference was Gavin Conroy's superb book Fighters and Bombers, which has a bunch of air-to-air photos of this 262 including one with the Mosquito. I noticed in these photos that there was a folder or ringbinder behind the pilot's head so, just for fun, I replicated this as well Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr

After three days applying the decals, and a few fit issues around the intakes, she's finally complete! It's a great kit with loads of options but test fitting is a must, it's quite complicated in parts, though generally it was nice to make. The detail is amazing and those stencils and decals really bring it to life! I chose the 767 Sqn option as something a bit different as most photos and models I've seen are 892, but I like the yellow bird and big codes on the fuselage sides. I used spray cans because I'm rubbish at brush painting, and although I'm happy with the colours I'm wondering if the EDSG is just a tad too glossy? Not sure how much weathering to add. Overall though it's an impressive kit and a nice addition to my FAA shelf. All comments and suggestions for improvement more than welcome!

I present my Revell Airbus A319 in the retro BEA ‘Red Square’ Livery to commemorate 100 years of British Airways. I love this livery, it really brings a sense of the past depicted on a modern Airliner. I have another retro scheme I am working on which is the B744 in the BOAC livery. The build was OOB with the Decals from Classic Airlines. This was originally going to be an Alligent Air A319 but I made a complete mess of it at the time, and what I was left with was something that was fit for the bin... I saw these decals a while ago and knew I had to do this lovely scheme. I tried to tidy up the kit as best I could, then repainted it. I was tempted to buy another A319 kit but seeing as it has ceased to be produced anymore and the prices for them on eBay are obscene, I opted to give it a new beginning. The paint used was Humbrol Gloss White for the upper fuselage. The lower fuselage and engine nacelles I initially went for Halfords Racking Grey then went over it with Revell 371 Aqua paint. The wings were done using Revell 371 and then the coroguard a lighter version of Revell 374. I have now managed to pick up some Holts grey that I will be using on my future Airbus builds. Blacks and metals were various Revell Aqua colours. The decals are lovely, and laser printed. They are very easy to work with and manipulate around the curves of the nose. They are translucent though, and I wish I had filled the windows in when I made the kit over a year ago... they really look great on the model. As always thank you for looking and any constructive feedback and comments are very welcome. Regards, Alistair I was too excited to share this with you that I forgot to add the antennas... Here is the progress I have so far with my BOAC 744...

Of course it could be a scale model of Leonard Nimoy...but that would be illogical...

Thanks for the info! Actually, I never had troubles with older ones too, e.g. those in the Sword kits. Now, it is time to dealt with the details. On the spinner I drilled out the solid centre part which is suppose to be the cannon barrel, and then cut the "teeth" on it for the external starter (Hucks system). Yak's engines were started using compressed air, but the option for the Hucks remained on the spinner, perhaps as a back up measure. The cannon barrel will be then inserted inside later on. Next I painted the undercarriage parts and installed them.

I've been flying low level using NVG in HEMS role (120 kt.) and I can only imagine the thrill riding at 450 knots using goggles. For me it has been rather magical every time; you can see the stars right down to horizon and so many distant airliners with their flashing anti-collision lights. And you can't see them by naked eye. Now I'm a NVG instructor myself and think that everyone should have an opportunity to see the world through NVG. We used to execute "Run-in and breaks" when we were flying a Learjet 24 in photo survey flights. Quite often the ATC asked if we could land immediately because of other traffic. No problem, 330 knots over the threshold and then into a steep turn to port to kill the speed for flaps and gear. Streaming the drag chute right after touch down it really took a little more than a minute to vacate the runway. Later I have been flying aerogeophysical survey flights in a Twin Otter. Maintaining just over 100 knots and exactly 100 ft AGL over the mountains in Kosovo or in Kenya has been the most demanding flying I've ever done. Here we are approaching Isle of Wight in a Twin Otter: Cheers, Antti

"in the Navy" has just hit the predicted magic number, it's safe to start planning your builds for this one!! ... and to celebrate...

Finally got a moment to put the decals on and I'm calling this one finished. I hope you like it cheers Pat

Time to jump back onto this after finishing my RAF ASRL for Telford. Canopy masked and painted interior green. Floats and legs painted with Tamiya AS-12. Intake grill built from 7 lengths of wire conductor that were glued together using CA and stuffed into the mouth. Everything given a coat of Tamiya AS-12. All being well, I should be able to apply a coat of varnish in the morning, decals later. Stuart

It's been leaked!! It's happening!! I have a screenshot to prove it!! Airfix are releasing a new Vulcan I know this is real. Another member told me about it and I took this screenshot myself of the Airfix Telford livestream which is scheduled for 41 hours away. It shows the description.... Someone is in trouble at Airfix. @Mike hope this is ok to post

Well here are some picture of the proto-type ready for roll out at SMW Telford at the weekend. The model shows the T.7 Conversion set, the undercarriage set, the flying surfaces set and the wing pylon set, all available from my stand at Telford on the weekend. Apologies for the lousy lighting / pictures, getting dark far too early in Scotland these days.......... If you are at Telford please come and say hello EVEN if you do not buy anything it is always good to put faces to names....... thats if I can remember them all. SEE YOU THERE.........Ali

Merciful gods - no overspray! Now I need to source a sheet of decal paper to print tiny little black ‘N’ and ‘226’ to finish that off. Think I’ll take a look-see at what others are up to here in the group build..

so, this is basically the only way to get the purple right. when i started painting i thought the tone is too bright and its too purple, so i mixed it darker...which was a mistake 😩 i have to repaint that...and even worse, i have to mask it again. anyway there are some touch ups and cleaning necessary

Hello guys, I spent some time with the Deuce and have a small progress on her: As you can see, I started from the fuselage and wings assembly to save up the time. The fuselage halves went together really well and the cockpit can be inserted later. The wings assembly wasn’t so straightforward because of the lacking the location pins, the upper side looks great, but the downside still needs some cleaning. The plastic is soft and melted under excessive amount of the glue - I haven’t had this problem with previous builds and some seals that I usually fill with a glue needs the putty this time. Also I assembled the cockpit and added the spare PE belts to the seat along with a scratch-builded from the plastic rod seat catapult: An afterburner already assembled and I think I’ll put it to the fuselage prior painting. That’s all for today! 🙃

Found on HK Facebook HK Models Official Plastic Modellers Page Bob Tauber This is HK Models, soon to be released 1/48 scale B17G (Early Production). This is a review sample that I received from HK Models, and I did this quick unpainted build to check fit and function and to get familiar with the kit. The build went very smoothly, with all major parts, wings, tail plane, fuselage, and landing gear fitting without issue. As a matter of fact, the wings have the same positive locking design as it's 1/32 scale big brother requiring no glue with proper dihederal being maintained. All the clear parts fit extremely well from the outside. All very well engineered!! The surface detail is very refined and to scale. Included are 2 photos of Neil Yans test build where he did a wash to make the surface detail pop! I've been a serious Fan of the B17 since age 11, now in my 60's, have accumulated many books, built many Revell/ Monogram B17's over the years, and have been around quite a few 17's, including as a volunteer tour guide during the 10 year restoration of Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby. I'm here to say, that this model builds up to be correct looking B17, with the correct stance! The only issue is that she sits just a little too high, because of the oleo strut being just a little too long. But this is minor and does NOT effect the overall look. Complete interior is included, with complete bomb bay with doors in open position. Also nose hatch and waist side entry door are separate and can be posed open. Be careful with the machine gun barrels as they are very small and fragile. My tail gun barrels flew off the table and into the abbis of the carpet, but fortunately I had 2 spare brass gun barrels that I was able to use. This kit came with 3 top turret domes, for an E, F and G. You also get early G waist windows and late G waist windows. Out of the box, waist gun opening is the cut out for an F, with instructions on how to EASILY open the bottom edge for the G enclosure. I have it on good authority that an E/F kit is coming sometime next year. Basically, this is a scaled down version of their 1/32 scale design, but with corrections to the forward windshield and nose directly in front of the windshield. Decals are high quality Cartograf, with markings for (2) 8th AF planes (camo 91st BG, and silver 486th BG aircraft). The Revell/Monogram B17G and F are great kits and with lots of aftermarket stuff, can be made to look very credible, but this kit is much superior and a MUST if your a fan of the Flying Fotress! I would recommend several kits under your belt before tackling this one and follow the Instructions. Again, thank you Neil Yan of HK Models for the review sample!! Any comments and questions are certainly welcome!!

Latest off the bench (one of those I will make it one day kits) is the Revell 1/48 F86 D Sabre Dog kit. Markings by Cutting Edge. Yes there are meant to decals on the wing tanks BUT the tanks are different and the decals do not fit this tank...…. oh hum. Great little kit for the money.. enough to make a reasonable model but also potential for super detailing if wanted. Totally recommended. Enough blabbing and on to the photo's. Please feel fee to comment and thanks for taking the time to look. Cheers Dick

This thread is entertaining, informative and often moving. john

Yes, the Heyford: Death by Aesthetic Shock. The most devastating weapon in Britain's psychological arsenal. Many, many moons ago (when I was still an heretic, blinded by the Dark Side of the Force) I built one for my British father-in-law, before his passing:

Sorry for pause; a bit of life getting in the way. Not that much to show you tonight, either; hard to believe I’ve just done 2 hours of work. These somewhat odd looking Tamiya tape miniature kippers are in fact the prototype masks for the fuselage of a 1/350 Swordfish - on the left in S1E with a high demarkation, and on the right in TSS in classic “Blackfish” wavy line down to the wings style. Though it’s not apparent in this photo, there are actually 11 masks here - each ‘stripe’ is a separate piece. I constructed them by building a single Swordfish fuselage, adding the tape, drawing in situ and then cutting out with a fresh blade. When I get the chance I will do some test spraying... [The true camouflage connoisseur will, of course (*cough*), already have spotted that these are both “Pattern A”. Not all my aircraft will be, though] If you're wondering why I’m faffing about with prototypes instead of just masking, you should remember that I have 15 Swordfish in my future! Once I have them right they’ll be scanned into Pixelmator so they they can be reproduced by printing as often as I’d like (Tony @The Baron has even offered to do a test run with his trusty Sillhouette cutter). The wing masks are already ready to go, but the fuselage is a harder process. More soon Crisp

Lovely little piece of detailing Steve. It is these little things that all add up. However, what really impresses me is the fact that you have a drill which can drill around corners. I'll see if I can find one at Telford...

Just to be a tinker, I would find it funny if this was a planned wind-up !!

Hi folks, During the 1990s a German firm called Flug Werk produced about a dozen new-build Focke-Wulf Fw190s for warbird collectors and museums, near identical to the originals but with Russian (or licence-built Chinese) Shvetsov ASh-82 engines. We're lucky enough to have the prototype flying in NZ and appearing at airshows (though I still haven't managed to see it fly). One was based in France until it was forced to ditch in the sea in 2010 or so, it was sold to Germany and restored by the wizards at MeierMotors. Operated by Hangar10 at Usedom this aircraft - registered D-FWAA - was the star of a recent event held at their home base last month. There are several videos on YouTube showing Klaus Plasa displaying this aircraft and I recommend you take a look. For my model of D-FWAA I used the Airfix Fw190 kit, what a delight it was! I made a couple of modifications to make it more resemble my subject (air intake above the cowl and oil cooler outlets on the wings due to the new engine) but it was otherwise OOB. https://flic.kr/p/2hDNh3P by Zac Yates, on Flickr Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr I'm now looking for an excuse to buy another Airfix 190 as this was such a fun kit.