Leaderboard

These have been built for a family member of P/O Handyside. He flew both marques and was awarded the DFC on D Day for destroying five armoured vehicles threatening to over run an allied position. The kits are a Hasegawa Hurricane with conversion, and the Typhoon the sublime Eduard Ltd Ed.

Last completion for 2019. Nice model that builds up into an impressive replica. Seriously, don't waste any time on the fuselage interior aft of the cockpit as it won't be seen & is in any case pretty sparce. My biggest issue was with the transparencies - the starboard side cockpit window went completely opaque, the port side one is in back to front (I really don't see how that was possible but I managed it!) & the portside after bubble window disappeared inside the fuselage when everything was buttoned up. I managed to get it out but it can't be fitted from the outside so I have simply used Kristal Kleer which of course results in a flat rather than domed finish. I REALLY wish model manufacturers would design kits in a way that allowed clear parts to be fitted from the OUTside at the end of the build because in addition to the above problem, it would avoid the risk of the clear parts getting sh1tted up with detritus from sanding etc. - ah well!

What a kit! Rough does not some it up. Thick plastic. Loads of moulding defects. Poor fit. A lot of filler and sanding required. Very grainy surface. Absolute;y loved building it ! It was almost like making an early resin kit, with lots of surface imperfections and a lot of part preparation. I don't know why I went for an airliner, not usually my thing, but a change is a good as a rest. Thanks for looking Angelo.

Hi, The third my model build within Flying Boats and Floatplanes GB II, the Savoia SM 55 X. Kit by Delta 2 (Italy). Scheme for Italian machine which was shortly used during Spanish Civil War, based in Mallorca, 1937. The construction thread is here: Here she is: This increased my SCW set to 41 : Comments welcome Regards Jerzy Wojtek I wish All - Have a Merry Christmas!

TBD-1A Devastator Floatplane - GWH - [1:48] Great Wall Hobby - 1/48 - Entirely out of the box WIP and more pics here

Thanks Giorgio and Keith Serials on (can you see them?), watery H30 on the sides and floats and some Citadel Sepia shade sloshed on the nacelles and wings: That'll do. I need to stick the exhausts on and spray some Tamiya Smoke staining. Then it's sticky out bits on and we're done!

Thanks Tony and Heather Estuary pong added to underside: You can see the tray and sponges used in that photo - the brush was just to mix the paint and water. I think I'm going to go for 'subtle' now with just a bit of H30 lightly sponged above the water line and a bit up the sides. Oh, and I need to apply the serials.

A bit different, but yet another 109. There aren't many Bf 109s in a natural metal finish, which is what drew me to this one. I The V-30 was a prototype, basically a 109 F morphing into a G. It began as an F-1 airframe but has the pressurized cockpit of the G-1. This involves changes to the canopy and cowling...and a very interesting paint scheme; but more of that later. Construction began with the cockpit (doesn't it always?). In this case a very nice resin piece from Resin-IM. The only addition was a set Eduard pre-painted steel seat belts. [/url] [/url] As I mentioned this bird has quite a bit of natural metal, mostly on the fuselage. I haven't done a NM model in a while and materials have changed in the interim. My first impulse was to go with the known: Gunze Sangyo, i.e. "God's paint". I have experimented a bit with with this line and decided the best starting point is SM08, Mr. Color Super Metallic, Next Plate Silver. The finish is superb, but it rubs off with even light buffing. The solution is to mix the paint with GX-100 clear gloss lacquer. Panel variations were done by adding Gunze Gloss Black lacquer paint. I experimented on some spare Fine Molds fuselages, first by riveting, then painting. The finish was then buffed with a Q-tip, followed by random streaking using Uschi Van Der Rosten polishing powders. Here are some of the trials. [/url] These parts also show some oil washes as well. The photos have limitations but give you some idea of the process. Comfortable that this could work, I proceeded with the V-30. Here is where she stands at the moment. Notice the small air scoops on the cowl. These were not present on the original 109 F airframe and are in different positions than on the 109 G. The scoops from the Fine Molds G kit could not be used so the search for replacements began. The solution came from the Hobby Boss Bf 109 G-10 kit. These cowl scoops are a bit too prominent. After removing them carefully using a single edge razor blade and sanding them thinner, the looked right. There is another unique scoop at the rear of the cowl, facing rearward (!). [/url] After the oil washes dry I'll overcoat with Alclad Aqua Clear, then proceed to the other colors. Thanks for looking.

Dear fellow Britmodellers, here's another 1/72 Dragon Sherman, built as part of my "2019 stash reduction program", out of the box with the addition of Eureka tow cable. This used to be included in Dragons 72 kits, but not anymore in their new boxings. I painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics and weathered with artist's oils and pigments from Tamiya. The figure is a resin item from Milicast. I'm not a very talented figurine painter, but I guess it looks okay from a distance. The antenna on the turret is Albion Alloys 0.1mm steel wire. The model represents "Thunderbolt IV", a vehicle of 37th Batallion, 4th Armored Division, operating in the Bastogne area, in December 1944. All photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. Thank you for your interest, best greetings from Vienna! Roman

.....the RED ARROWS would have had the phantom as there display aircraft, imaging the noise as they tore across the sky in formation. Just a bit of a fun build to use seasonal colours! BIG thanks to stevej60 who interupted his holiday to send me decals for the fin and RAF lettering, top man. Good kit, any mistakes down to me, main colour is Xtra color red arrows red with everything else either humrol or vallejo. Stencils all from the kit. Merry Christmas everybody!. Red Arrows what if! by peter crossman, on Flickr Red Arrows what if! by peter crossman, on Flickr Red Arrows what if! by peter crossman, on Flickr Red Arrows what if! by peter crossman, on Flickr Red Arrows what if! by peter crossman, on Flickr

Here's the last of my three Berievs - the R-1 - one of the bonus kits from the 1/144 Anigrand Beriev A-40:

Thanks Tony and Simon A nice lunch at The Pig - I had pig (crackling) followed by Pig (fritter) followed by Pig (Belly Roast). Has to be done. Can't move now and won't need anything to eat for, oooh, at least a day or so. While the family tuck into soup and cheese (more food? Really?) I took the chance to pastel some exhaust stains. I chickened out one the Smoke - more control with pastels IMHO. Mix up some exhaust looking stuff: …and scrub it on: Happy with that so on with the matt varnish: Right, back to the games…

Macchi M.5, the most beautiful derivative of the Curtiss flying boat. The M.5 was extensively used by the Italians and their allies in the Adriatic, this model depicts the machine of Ensign C H Hamman, Porto Corsini Naval Air Station. Hamman received a Medal of Honor flying this plane on a bombing mission to Pola. Built from scratch in 1/72, with propeller hub and wind screen being PE from the spares box: (apologies for the tape; the glue on the base has not had time to dry) Markings are Italian, since the US naval station in Porto Corsini was formally under Italian command. Some pictures from the station here: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/wwi/wwi-aviation/u-s--naval-air-stations/us-naval-stations-italy/italy-porto-corsini.html Build thread here:

Challenge accepted. I think....🤦‍♂️ Kind of you Dave - though what frightful rotter put you up to cracking a gag of that nature God only nose! I've been deeply lucky with the amount of technical info on the aircraft various people have been shovelling my way so if this goes pear-shaped it's certainly not for want of support. Errr.... I blithely mentioned a plan last night, and as frequently happens with sleeping on a problem, deep in the forest of neurons some birds began to sing. Think I have enough information in photographic and technical drawing form at this stage to be able to try a CAD solution to the inboard wing dilemma: as you're probably aware by now I like if possible for each build to be a learning ground for experimenting with new techniques and approaches - Annie certainly taught me plenty about working with brass so looks like the Female Sea Foxes are going to teach me more than initially anticipated about CAD & 3D printing. I hadn't intended to get sidetracked by resolving wing issue this early in the build but now that the matter has come to the fore, it makes sense to tackle the issue head-on. Spent an hour or so last evening wandering baffled an amazed around this site: http://airfoiltools.com/search/index?m[grp]=naca4d&m[sort]=1 Got a good 'feel' for the complexity of the task I'm facing but a pity I didn't have all the necessary Sea Vixen wing data to plug into their plotter! (At least to the extent that it may actually be buried in the technical manuals I have but as they run to several thousand pages in total, I just don't have time to search through columns of figures ad infinitum.) Here's an example of the kind of numerical data required to convert the aerofoil shape into a set of spline curves: Lacking the SV data to produce something this precise, I used both lateral photos of the SV wing as well as scans of the actual cut kit parts (which any new parts will clearly have to actually match) as bg references to generate a spline outline for each end of the end profiles: This is just a crude first pass at the procedure, really just to get a feel for the steps involved and the kind of tolerances I can work to with the references to hand. Already though we're beginning to head towards that characteristic sweep of the aircraft: The idea is to work this up properly get the profiles correct from all angles and then test print just this shape alone to ensure it blends in with the overall wing shape: Once satisfied that actual works visually with the kit, we can come back and look at integrating some boom structure, undercarriage recesses and the like. Good thing about this approach is the symmetrical nature of it - designs for one side of the aircraft can simply be mirrored to create their counterpart on the other side. In printing terms as well, with the resin photopolymer process it's as quick to print two identical objects as it is one. Only another couple of hours of solstice light left here as I write: Heading into the kitchen now as going to treat the family to a period 1970s Wimpy Bar mixed grill for a late lunch in a bit. Always wondered how they got the sausage in the Bender Brunch to do that round a tomato... Thanks for looking bye all. Hope you're having a good time. Tony

Chetverikov ARK-3 ABM Resin Kit 1/72 WIP and more pics

Thanks Giorgio, Heather and John On with the exhausts and props: I think I'll de-mask before adding the aerials - too much to knock off otherwise! Out to lunch now with the family - later.

Hello, I present my latest model. This is one of the latest sets from Arma Hobby. The model is very simple in construction, although it contains many small and precise details. The model shows the aircraft Yak-1b No.13, 2 squadron, Polish 1 Fighter Aviation Regiment "Warsaw", sgt. Patryk O`brian, "Operation Berlin", 1945.

Spitfire MK IX B floatplane, 1/72 by Brengun. Out of the box. Build log here!

Alright, for my first non-sci-fi jet completed in many many years, is Academy's 1/72 Super Hornet. This model was started by a request from a coworker who wanted to give it as a Christmas present to her Uncle. Like myself, he prefers the F/A-18F, so that was a plus. I won't go into the trials and tribulations of the build other than to say that Academy has made a great kit of this aircraft, and any problems were the impetus of my own dupidity... Build page is here... Sure there are some Push-Fit gimmicks that can be done without, but just cutting those off certainly help with the fit in some places when done so. The detail though is sharp and looks good, and like the Revell it has full trunking and better cockpit detail than the Hasegawa kit. I do wish the elevators were separate, but at least they were not molded with the fuselage, which made drooping them easier. I also decided to drop the slats and flaps, which required a bit of cutting and additional plastic to be added. All-in-all, a nice kit and one I will be buying again for my own shelf! All done and complete, and time to go! I used some smaller boxes to give support to the wings and nose, and toothpicks to keep the lid from pressing down too far. And thus ends that build. Now I'm taking a break for a week or two before I retreat to sci fi and my USS Falcon build. Model on! Thom.

You probably heard that whooshing sound as all that went right over my head at about Mach 1.8.

As with many modellers, I took a short break (15 years) between starting the hobby and returning, during a recent move, I fell over what was left of my stash , so after a few months watching new techniques on youtube, I started the AFV 1:700 scale knox class . still has a few areas Id like to improve on but as the first model back Im pretty happy, enjoy

Do Not, I repeat, DO NOT taste the brown ones! Chris

F4F-3S Wildcatfish No.4038 1/48 HobbyBoss Entirely out of the box. Paint a mix of Mr Hobby WWII US Naval Aircraft set and Model Master Light Gull Gray. Weathered with thinned oil paint wash, Tamiya smoke and Wilder Light Dust.

#30/2019 Most probably the last new one by my dad for 2019. Started with an ICM kit but switched to a Hasegawa kit with decals from AML, superfabric seatbelts from Eduard, painted with Gunze H306 FS36270 for the underside and Tamiya XF-82 RAF Ocean Gray 2 and XF-81 RAF Dark Green 2. Used darker shades of these colours to simulate freshly overpainted RAF roundels on the wings. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235061874-lend-lease148-supermarine-spitfire-lfixe-soviet-airforcepvo/page/2/ The model shows an aircraft of 26 GIAP PVO, Leningrad 1944-45. 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_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_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

DHC 6 Twin Otter -Trans Maldivian Airways. 8Q-TMA. Revell/Matchbox kit straight OOB apart from adjusting wing dihedral and adding additional float struts and steps. And an extra window in the passenger door. Painted with Citadel Ceramite White glossed up with Klear. Red is also a Citadel product - Mephiston Red. Black is Revell Aquacolor Gloss Black. Transfers from 26 Decals. I built this one as we flew in iton our holiday in the Maldives, so had actual photos of the plane to use as a reference. Hope you enjoy the photos. Thanks to all for advice and support.

This one almost defeated me. Lots of filler, problems with painting and finishing, bits breaking off, cracked canopy.... sigh. In the end it looks ok from a distance. Finished in brush painted Tamiya Acrylics, with a finish of semigloss clear from a Tamiya rattle can. Straight out of the box. Thanks for looking.

Well, no surprises I suppose but I’m not going to finish in time! I will be carrying on in WIP. I actually got my first hour to myself for a long time today (after Christmas preparations, which I expected, and clearing the blocked drain outside the kitchen, which I did not). So I made myself another fuselage, just to see if I’m improving: Either I got lucky or I am improving! I used groundnut oil on the moulds, which didn’t stick or get damaged. I used lots of staples and tape on the plastic - it needs both. I had it up in the oven at 125c (ours runs a bit hot) and grilled it for the last 30 seconds. So this is my new best fuselage. Thanks for the GB and all the interest and support, and I promise to choose something sensible for the next FB and FP GB! Thanks for looking, Adrian

Supermarine S.6B - S1595 13 September 1931, Schneider Trophy winner, pilot Flt. Lt. John Boothman 1/72 Pavla kit. Out of the box build apart from the tie cleats at the ends of the floats.

Hello! I start to build characteristic model of Corsair. I found one photo and advanced workshop on polish forum. I try to make some of that. Revell's model is quite detailed, but parts are not very good mismatched. Model is used to try make advanced weathering. I place some photos below. I finished at painting camouflage and preapring to make dirt, oil and surface scratch.

Been out of the plastic modelling game for the last few months due to an new extension being built, the family having to live upstairs with minimal room, so why not post some blasts from this years past in the meantime. (Normal service will resume shortly) In no particular order.....,

Sprayed on a couple of coats of Vallejo Air 71.324 BS Dark Green and I am rather surprised how well its come out. I have previously struggled to get a hang of my H&S Ultra airbrush and no name compressor but after lots of juggling with pressure and endless practice on newspaper I think I have got the right pressure and trigger technique. I am not going to claim I am any good but I think I have cracked covering a good size aircraft with a smooth run free paint layer, now to crack on with masking up for the Dark Earth coats. I have bought some A4 sheets of low tack Vinyl off eBay which I will practice with on a piece of spray painted plastikard before I slap it on the model. IMG_20191222_143920607 by Stuart, on Flickr IMG_20191222_143906017 by Stuart, on Flickr

Aaaand it' finished! RFI photos soon.

Thought I'd post this here - I've just finished an Airfix Walrus Base made with expanded polystyrene foam, plaster bandage, acrylic modelling paste, gel, and paint with soft toy filling for the foam. Build thread here:

From what I understand digitally, it's not Orthochromatic film itself that turns yellow to black (though it certainly does darken it). When used in combination with a blue filter is when the starkest change results. Here's an example using a plug-in that mimics different film types and various colour filters applied to a modern Hurricane photo: regards, Jack

Thank heavens for that - a rotary washing line, something I actually understand and know how to use....!! K

@Beardie it’s not only Scots Gaelic that is now assimilating English but is happening in Wales too. Both my parents were native Welsh speakers (I, to my shame, can’t speak it confidently, but know enough to hear the gist of proceedings). In the 60’s going on visits to Wales, dad would rail against the people daubing out English place names and the practice of introducing new ‘Welsh’ place names. A case in point is a village called Four Crosses near Pwllheli. It’s new Welsh name is Y Ffor. Y = the, but Ffor? That is a made-up word that just sounds Welsh. On a lighter note, the Welsh for oven is popty and there is an urban myth that microwave is ‘popty ping’. Pity, as I quite like that one! Trevor (with a v not an f)

Red ones are Raspberry flavored and yellow ones taste like bananas. Honest! Interesting. May I suggest nose-pick-snot green ? Or a good horckle green to give that added slimy look? Love what you're doing here Ced. The "weathering" on the markings was very serendipitous and add that extra dimension to the overall look.

Supermarine Walrus, Irish Air Corps, 1938-39 Used: Airfix 1/48 kit, crew from Tamiya WWII German Tank Crew Field Maintenance Set, acrylic disks Base: Expanded polystyrene foam, plaster bandage, acrylic paint gels and modelling paste (mainly Golden), soft-toy filling Build here:

I've finished the kit - well 99% but wanted to get it on here before Christmas. I must be honest it's been a challenging build and the age of the mouldings meant that some parts were poor fits. Most of the chromed parts were unusable and had to be stripped then sprayed. A few of the flexible parts (on the Q frame) were perished and split into pieces when fitted, and some of the additional details I put on were probably more trouble than they were worth in the end as they can't be seen - especially in the engine department. I also had to respray certain areas again after a botched attempt at recreating windscreen surround rubbers. I took advice from here and used a permanent marker in the end and I'm happy with the results. I must have cocked up the front suspension as well as the screw threads sat proud of the body and had to be dremmeled into oblivion. Getting the ride height even close to what I thought was right was a major faff. It was fortunate that I had two sets of decals with the kit because the originals had yellowed and were intact a bit blurry. The colours were also a bit off. I had to use a couple of them and they broke up when released from the backing, so thank goodness for the other set, which were clearly newer and after-market. I ended up applying some gloss varnish to the decals only and the whole model will be polished when it's all dry and cured. I'm aware of some of the faults with my efforts here, but I'm not going to highlight them. If nobody notices, then happy days, but I'm sure a few will spot the errors, but in then end I did feel I'd bitten off more than I could chew with this one. Most of my kits have been military and I find there's always a way to cover up mistakes with a bit of dirt, but with these cars it's much more difficult. I have a lot of respect for those of you who manage to build cars that look like they've come from a showroom. I have a way to go yet, but may not do another one for some time due to all the aircraft I have stacking up! Thanks for looking. Comments welcome, good bad or indifferent.

I have reached a lull in my current builds and am suffering from Idle Hands syndrome. So, inspired by @Steve60's output and style on his Airfix nostalgia epic, I decided to have a similarly straightup go at this old beauty. Also it's an encouragement for @Nikolay Polyakovto take another shot at the Deuce, after the first one stalled. My kit came in a bag, so no box artwork but you'll probably recognise the B&W picture at the top of the instructions. .... which are very simple.... The first thing I found in the bag was a one piece embossed sign rather nicely done,, and I foiled it, just for the practice. The real fiddly bit of the build is the 6 missile racks, and with all parts stripped from the sprues and tossed in a bag, I thought I'd better find them, count them and get them assembled. All present and correct... The cockpit is no exotic work of art, I tried with some belts and a small extension of the seat and reshaped the headrest So as it stands, that's in and the fuselage sides are together complete with intakes and ramps, and the tail end part. So far so good 😎

Hi mate, For sanity sake, I'm thinking of just keeping the canopy closed but never say never! I'm hoping to run a few copies off once I'm happy with the shape. Last night, I did some further playing with the part that I'd cut out because it was too long. The good news is that because the former is over size in length, there's some room for manoeuvre. I reckon the clear part should now fit a kit that has been built from the box and there's enough material to allow final fettling to shape. I was thinking about the rear turret last night and possibly the nose cone. The benefit of redoing them is that the plastic I'm using is much more durable and clear. This is how it's looking with the existing clear part, but once I've finished updating the former, the upper profile will taper more towards the windscreen. The usual approach of measure once, cut 3 times as been upheld 😂

Mine tastes of warm roasted chestnuts around a flickering fire... Holly gleaming off the soft warm candle light and the aroma of a freshly boiled plum pudding in the background scents Yep mine tastes like, er wood and wax Mind you I only use the very best, Rexel Cumberland Derwent Watercolour Pencils Other browns are available and may well taste less, desirable Great looking weathering Ced, what a good idea

decals done DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Mr Milligan was, and still remains, one of my hero's. No doubt he would reply to such a statement with rude words if he was able. I wish he were. I think he'd hate this world. If I may, Arabic may be one of the planets oldest languages, yet even I could see when I was out there that it too is being corrupted by modern technology terms and the general influx of American English. Add to that 'street' Arabic as spoken by those under about 30. The written word is, I think, still holding out. And I was reminded the other day of an old Arabic proverb that I love. 'I murmured because I had no shoes. Then I met a man with no feet'. By the way, try reading an English book written in the forties or fifties and see how things have changed. Even then 'show' could be written as 'shew'. For example.

Hi all, not sure I am going to finish anything else this year, so I may as well post this now. Not a bad year, all things considered. First off, I set myself the challenge of completing 2 builds at once, with the common theme of 'P-40'. Mainly to see if I could do it and not completely hash it up, but also to address the fact that I had never ever in all my life ever built a P-40 of any flavour! So the result was my take on the Airfix 1:72 Hawk 81-A-2, in tandem with the MisterCraft (cough)1:72 P-40K. The fact that it was boxed as an 'Aleutian Tiger' P-40E should have forewarned me as to the likely pain I was going to endure. Anyway, as it turned out they didn't polish up too bad. The Airfix result, portrayed as aircraft number 21 of the 1st Pursuit Squadron (The 'Adam and Eves'), flown by Greg Boyington : RFI WIP (same for both obviously ) The MisterCraft result, portrayed as "Hyde's Harlot", aircraft number 10, the mount of Captain Gordon Hyde of the 78th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, Kauai Island in 1943: RFI Next up was my first foray into RS Models, with this 1:72 Re.2005 Sagittario: RFI WIP After that, and with another project in mind I decided I would have a go at using foil to obtain a bare metal finish - for this, I chose the Airfix 1:72 Mig-15 from my stash. I don't normally do jets, but this seemed a good subject with which to try my luck: RFI WIP Next, a freebie kit from a fellow Portsmouth IPMS club member - only problem was, it was Hobby Craft's 1:48 interpretation of the De Havilland Vampire Mk.1! But, like the MiG-15 it was an ideal opportunity for another crack at foiling: RFI WIP The next was a quick and not-very-complicated build (hence no WIP) of Tamiya's 1:48 Fieseler Fi-103 'flying bomb', completed just in time to enter into a club competition (no joy, sadly): RFI My most recent completion was a small (1:22.5 scale) vignette depicting 2 ex-servicemen: RFI WIP Finally, and even though such projects are doomed never to finish, I would like to include a few shots from this year's progress with resurrecting my garden railway: The never-ending WIP That's all from me, folks! Thanks to everyone who has commented on my builds, your input is always valued. Here's to a productive 2020!

Hi everybody, here's WE (meagre) progress - actually, most of the work was done on Saturday, I had friends over today, so not much got done Ordnance received all its stencils - a lot of them! This task took most of the modelling time of the WE, and drained most of the mojo.... So I ended up doing some minor jobs, like painting the assorted antennae by brush using Italeri Flat Black adding a black tempera wash to the exhaust nozzles and masking the canopy. Outside and inside The model and various bits and bobs also received a final Aqua Gloss coat, and are now ready for panel lines wash and a very restrained weathering. Still, the thing that bothers me more now is how to reproduce the internal details of the canopy, to wit the three rear view mirrors and the two handle bars; those are quite distinctive features, and I just can't get away without scratch building something to represent them - PE parts would have been a nice complement, but the Pavla cockpit set doesn't offer them .... I shall ponder... Meanwhile, all comments welcome Ciao PS: there's bound to be one more update before Christmas, but just in case: Merry Christmas everybody!

One I've wanted to build for ages. I got a Hasegawa FGR.2 version at Telford and courtesy of Xtradecal I was able to put together a model of one of the aircraft of my childhood. A few minor alterations were needed to make a FG.1 from the Hasegawa kit, some of which were in the box but some weren't, like the correct tailplanes. Anyway here it is, finished as XV571 "A" of 43 Sqn in the mid 1970s. z20191219_133530 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr z20191219_133523 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr z20191219_133513 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr z20191219_133506 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr With the 111Sqn version I made a couple of years ago z20191219_133547 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr

Right then, Here's part three of my previous builds and the final look at my back catalogue. I've collated all the German cars this time, all built in the past 18 months or so. As this is a retrospective, I invite you to straighten your kipper tie and step back in time. It’s 40 years ago and we’re stepping into the premises of our local foreign car specialist, seeing the world in black and white because colour film is more expensive and we need to watch our spending what with the economy tanking and everything. However, someone is clearly doing well with a new BMW 323i, capable of warp speeds from its fuel I injected 2.3 litre six-cylinder. In another few years the owner will be called a yuppie but for now they’re just guilty of being a bit flash. Perhaps some city type, or perhaps best not to ask. A couple of older cars are in the adjacent workshop. There’s a 1970 left hand drive 2002 ti (forerunner of the fuel injected tii) and a 1972 right hand drive common or garden version. The newer car is in for a replacement trailing arm on the nearside, and the body is showing signs of degradation at only 7 years old. When they say they don’t make cars like they used to, that’s a good thing. The ti is in good nick though, nice cars and rare around these parts. You can get a better view if you climb up this tall ladder and lean precariously out, the advantages of being in a time before health and safety. That’s odd… they all look like they’ve moved around from this angle… I could show you more but they’re keen to get off down the pub for a few Courage Best and a pack of Players No6. In fact I’ll probably join them. Did you see the match last night? We was robbed… etc… etc But enough of that nonsense, its 2019 and you want to see them in full technicolour colour, right? The 323i is Fujimi Alpina kit. It’s a strange thing as from some angles it looks quite convincing but sometimes it appears as if Fujimi based their drawings on a description telephoned in from a drunk person on a bad line. The interior is fairly rudimentary so I had a go at adding some texture by cutting up some old clothes and gluing the fabric onto the seat insert. The paint is a Ford metallic black from a Halfords can, and is passable apart from the problem of the metallic flakes being out of scale. I don’t know what the trick is for scale metallic paint, does anyone know? The 323i wears Dutch plates for no other reason than it is left hand drive and the dashboard was too contoured to allow an easy conversion. The pair of 2002s are from Hasegawa and they’re great kits, only hampered by being curbside. I’m too tight to buy one of the resin engine bay transkits as they’re more expensive than the already quite expensive car. Other than that failing, I know these cars well in 1:1 scale and Hasegawa got the shape bang on. The box includes early and late parts so I built the orange one as an early short bumper ti and the blue car as a long bumper variant, made for a few years before the change to the plastic radiator grille in 1974. The paints are VW Brilliant Orange and Vauxhall Atlantis Blue, both of which are a decent match for BMW period shades. I converted the blue car to right hand drive and weathered it to replicate a used example, which I find more enjoyable and less stressful than aiming for an immaculate museum piece. The main advantage of having 2002s in 1/24 scale plastic is that they don’t rot for fun, something the full size metal versions are quite adept at. Finally, a Revell Golf GTi, resplendent in rattle can Volkswagen Mars Red with dark gunmetal alloys borrowed from a Tamiya MX-5 I salvaged from a build nearly 30 years ago. As it’s an early car with without the extra driving lights in the grille I added a pair of spotlamps from an Italeri Escort, an upgrade that anyone anyone who has driven an old Golf in the dark would approve of. It went together really nicely and it’s hard to believe it comes from the same company that produced the Mustang in my first instalment. I suppose it’s just a much newer moulding and technology has moved on. I’m not a VW anorak but I think it’s quite a good likeness, and the decals for the seat fabric are well groovy. That’s all previous builds dragged out into the light now and any future content will be all-new. I’ve got a super complicated looking Fujimi M635CSI waiting in line for a ham-fisted attempt, but when I’ll get round to it is anyone’s guess. Come the time, I’ll do a work in progress thread on it for what it’s worth. Until then, I’ll keep getting inspiration from the people on here who really know what they’re doing! Anteater Out.

Managed to trim one and do a dry fit. It's not too bad although I had to cut a bit out of the forwards fuselage as it's longer so I doubt it would fit a standard fuselage unless the same mod is done. The lower fuselage is splayed open here so it looks a bit wonky EDIT: After comparing the shape of the canopy to photo's, the taper at the front of the canopy isn't prominent enough (far too square) so tonight, I've sanded it more and will remake the canopy over the next few days. It's quite a critical area to get right so better to have a set back now rather than it forever bug me!

Mirage Hobby 1/48 Lublin R.XIII Ter Thanks to everybody who had a look.