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This time F-5F Kitty Hawk Kitty Hawk models are not my favorite. However, the F-5F is a beautiful plane so it could not be missing in my collection.

HI Everyone, thought you wouldn`t mind seeing a few pic`s of my latest completion My attempt at a Far East Theatre Mk VIII Spitfire from Eduards 1/48 Weekend Edition kit Finished to represent an aircraft of 615 Squadron, flown by Flying Officer Hank Costain and based at Palel, India around 1944 Built as usual almost completely from the box contents.... ...didn`t even have to make seat belts as I managed ( i think ) to get a good result from the kit decal ones Decals were from Xtradecal set X48-129 I was attracted to this scheme because of it`s unusually coloured code letters.... and simple nose art. Hope you enjoy the photo`s, thanks for looking Cheers Russ

So here we have Revell's 1/390 747-200 in Air Canada livery. Originally released as a Matchbox kit with BA (Landor?) & Air Canada livery in 1990 it was re-released by Revell in '97 with just the updated Air Canada livery. It Has the registration C-FTOC which was infact a 747-100 built in '71 and scrapped in 1999. And here she is.... Not perfect but for £5 and a lick of paint i'm happy with it. 20200130_094006v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr 20200130_093943v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr 20200130_093914v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr 20200130_093841v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr 20200130_093807v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr 20200130_093745v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr 20200130_093731v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr 20200130_093649v2 by MikeGBlues, on Flickr Thanks for looking!

This is my completed Wessex from the Italeri Falklands Anniversary kit, built oob, tried to weather her a bit, hope I succeeded, as usual all comments welcome.

n. Not perfect, but my first attempt at airbrushing and building this scale. I've learnt a lot, but with lots more to learn.

This is only my second P-51 and still a rookie when it comes to building models but it’s really fun so happy I can show this one... It’s a Tamiya in 1/48... Build OTB and was a pleasure making it... I made a couple of faults but still a learning proces so fairly content with the result:

R-33K Protocol Droid Bandai 1/12 Another repaint of Bandai's C-3PO to add to the collection (I still haven't built this kit as it's intended subject yet). As with the previous ones, this is a non-movie droid of my own design by the name of R-33K, or Reek to his friends (if he had any). He's clearly not had the best of lives, and is probably even more decrepit and useless than Boris. No real modifications to the kit apart from the various hacks and gashes, and the missing arm, the joint for which was made from spares box bits and a few lengths of wire. Thanks for looking Andy

Another ugly tank..

Another long term stash resident. Part of Dragon's Ju-88 series. Fairly decent kit with some awkward bits and pieces. Decals disintegrated on contact with water which wasn't helpful. Finished with Xtracrylix RLM76 and RLM74. 20200130_082632 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr 20200130_082616 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr 20200130_082607 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr 20200130_082552 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr

Rotol prop - tick. Thanks alt Thanks Johnny Thanks Wince - or dungarees… best not to go there, you'll set 'em off Missing intake, just in case there's any confusion. Thanks Steve I believe so, certainly where the instructions (quite detailed) specify it. Got a bit paranoid about the pitot: I'll try to remember to hold on to that. Ocean grey drying, nice: Having looked at some references I've decided she was painted in 'A pattern' camo so that's been added to the masks.

he did a roll and Ida fell off?

Been doing something similar for my Sea Kings - using GIMP II, made a page of cabin roofs, with variations as appropriate... ....but rather than transfers, they're simply printed onto thin card, and fixed in position with PVA glue - couple of examples:

Not ideal weather for taking photos but here is my build of the ancient Airfix Draken J35F in what are apparently the markings of F13 wing, date unknown. The colours are rather washed out due to the lighting, and rather darker in real life. Here is an indoor pic to compare the colour. It is rather crude and lacking interior detail as you would expect of Airfix kits from 1971, so I did a bit of work improving the cockpit and boxing in the wheel bays. Thanks for the great assistance of several other modellers in this GB - I have hopefully not made too many mistakes. Pete

Hi All, Just finished one of . This kit was like their F/A-18 where its partly quick build so went together nicely. The only problem with this kit was the well documented poor exhaust nozzles so I substituted in some resin cans from Aires that were far better. The model was painted then gloss varnished. After this a light wash was applied using Revell weathering powders since most pictures showed F-15E's pretty clean. I also pre-shaded but didn’t realise it would be overpowered as quickly with dark grey so next time will apply one less coat of grey or use post shading on dark colours. Again, any feedback would be appreciated . Thanks BR60066

The walkways and the tail decals already in place. The top decal of the walkways is smaller, leaving an all-around edge seen in photos:

I started this build several years ago, and it has been languishing on the shelf of doom, glaring at me ever since. So Having already completed another SQ (Centaur), I thought, why not get on and finish this one too. There is no real WIP ,just a page of updates, as I built this long before I joined BM. I'll get around to making a base someday, but for now I've added a couple of figures which are old Tamiya ones from the Cromwell, suitably modified and given Hornet heads and wiring for their radios. Anyway, I hope that you like it. I'm reasonably satisfied with it. The basic history of this build can be found here; Thanks for looking. John.

Hi folks, this is the first 1/72 scale kit from ZM in their Super Wing Series, Horten IX/Go 229 scaled down from their larger scale kits. It was build for announced BOOK PROJECT. The kit is highly detailed as known from their 1/32 and 1/48 kits, but little bit tricky to assemble. I ignored all those wild 'what-if' schemes and I tried to model the V3 as it might have looked after its completion. I thought the airframe was much larger, but in comparison with Fw 190D it does not looks that huge. Cheers Libor

I'll add the Viggen Loadouts here I think. First of all, there is a difference between the AJ Viggen at the start of service, and after the AJS mod. First, lets look at the 1979 Loadout chart Legend: Sprängbomber = 120kg Bombs, carried on a special rack, like this Rb04 (note that when you hang it on the centre pylon, it cannot be fired...) Rb75 is the Maverick Rb05 is the Swedish guided weapon similar to Bullpup ARAKkapsel= rocketpods Like this Akankapsel = gundpods https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Saab_AJ-37_Viggen_37094_57_(7609646264).jpg[/img] Then the Rb24 is the well known AIM-9B Sidewinder Rb24J is the AIM-9P Sidewinder Motmedel is the countermeasure pods, primarily Kapsel KA (chaff and flares) and KB (ECM). Kapsel KB was later replaced by U22. in the end of the 80s it was clear that the AJ replacement would not be ready for quite a few years, and that led to the AJS mod of the AJ/SH/SF family. Then the loadout chart looked like this: Three weapons were added: Rb74, which is the AIM-9L Sidewinder Rb15F, which is a new anti-ship missile that replaces Rb04 BK which is a stand off cluster weapon I think that covers all for the Attack Viggens...

6 pot sidevalve Ford? The tail looks too light for a Pilot so I will have to give up Cracking find though With the Bilvedere I gave the printed interior wall a test run Not card but slightly heavy envelope paper (I had a few dozen A4+ sized envelopes left after finishing an AA project just before the sat nav hit the streets so lots of raw materials) What do you think? Thinking of adding a few of the ribs just in front of the doorway where they will be visible, ditto along the ceiling

If someone is sincere enough, you can convert the 4-blade props to three blades. For those interested, here's how I did it in my P2V-3 Neptune build a couple of years back: First, add the needed length to the props (sawing them off square first, if need be): Next, sand the blade's airfoils, and needed tip shape (based on the old prop, probably). Note that above right, sometimes you knock off a tip. That's why I made the fourth prop blades, as spares. Next, short lengths of stretched plastic sprue are used to fill three of the four slots in the 4-bladed hubs and backplates: Above right, my cheapie prop alignment tool, a printed out circle, divided by thirds and fourths, glued to a cardboard box with apiece of packaging tape, and a hole punched for the prop center shaft. Parts "A" are glued on with white glue, to set the tip center of rotation (so that the tips are all on the same plane of travel), and parts "B" set the desired pitch of the blades. Next, a triangle file is used to gouge out new mounting holes for the 3-bladed prop, in both the hub and back plate: Above right, all three blades are glued to the back plate, with their arc of swing and pitch all set the same. Next the modified hub is added: Which, above right, gives you a new 3-bladed prop, with lengthened blades, from the old 4-bladed prop... Something similar might be done for the XB-29. Ed

Thanks for all the great comments, I've painted the undersides ,and the resin engine,which went together and fits the model really very well, also I've sttarted to rough the camo in I've actually got the green on too but my pad died before i could get the photographic evidence, i did it freehand and i intend to crisp up the edges with silly putty,

Love those Flory washes. Their Dark Dirt is exactly what I used to create a suitably dirty underside for my current Zoukei-Mura Phantom build.

Nav lights can be seen in photos, on the wingtips and tail end. Here are the ones for the wings, which look a bit like magic lanterns, having one lens to the front and another to the side:

What size drill are you using? I gave up with 0.3mm drills and moved up to 0.4mm, that wee bit bigger makes the drills so much more robust, I've only broken one in well over a year - and yes I have done a lot of rigging holes! Here is my B. Bulldog. Perhaps you can work out the rigging pattern from it

Tried that but it was too complex for my little heid Alan did this instead in Paint Allow grid guides Draw along them with the shapes tool set on line Altered the colour to a slight contrast with the interior green (can be altered to suit obviously) Then imported a small image which was introduced to Word as a picture and pushed and pulled until it fit the fuselage I think I can now print a transfer that will add contrast to a green interior wall on to the next conundrum huh? This will run over the ceiling too and will only need a few upper rib formers popping in place where they can be spied from the doorway next...

Greetings all. For my next project, I'm thinking of tackling this Gladiator flown by Finn Thorsager. It's apparently the only one in Norwegian service that had some form of camouflage on it and it looks intriguing: I've searched the forum and found just a short mention of it here: On another site (http://persprojects.blogspot.com/2012/02/gloster-gladiators-of-jagevingen.html) the following is quoted: "433 had been at the forefront of my mind ever since I ordered these miniatures. While 11 out of 12 Norwegian Gladiators were painted in the peacetime matte silver and national colours, in January 1940 Gladiator 433 was painted in an experimental camouflage pattern suggested by a Norwegian Army Air Force staff officer. Very little information exists about this pattern, so I was left with guesswork....In addition to two black-and-white photographs [I have only found the one above] showing the aircraft from the same side, this was the only written description I was able to find: 'On the experimental aircraft, Gladiator 433, areas of the wings and fuselage (the dark areas) are partially covered with brown-green (khaki) and grey, wavy lines that blend into one another. The remainder of the fuselage sides and bottom (the light areas) are painted in a mix of matte silver and light blue, intended to make the aircraft as inconspicuous as possible when seen against the sky. Areas of the top of the wings (the light areas) are instead painted grey or grey-green." (Cato Guhnfeldt - Fornebu 9. April, published by Wings, Oslo, 1990).' " Well that's pretty clear isn't it?! Looking at the B&W photo above, the light areas of the upper camouflage do indeed seem to be made up of two colours, either mottled with a light colour over a slightly darker one or a wavy pattern of a darker colour applied over a lighter colour. The profile that accompanies the picture does not show this. As always, I like to depict my models as accurately as possible and would like to do this one justice, if good information comes to light All help is welcome and perhaps @Kjetil Åkra and @Vingtor can offer any advice? Thanks in advance. Andy

i had been sharing this in the work in progress forum. so it's done the new Airfix MKxii in 1/48 and i found it to be a great kit i did the most common photographed MKxii as i found out it was flown by an Australian..also interesting it was also the last MKxii delivered and is based on a MKviii fuselage rather than a MKv. 83514583_1180390075489696_1406653999062450176_o by paul sabin, on Flickr 83467653_1180390192156351_4754175823374712832_o by paul sabin, on Flickr 83340302_1180390152156355_4170509352899182592_o by paul sabin, on Flickr 84056969_1180390045489699_6274459775027642368_o by paul sabin, on Flickr 83171320_1180390115489692_6180200447064670208_o by paul sabin, on Flickr overall a lovely kit....and the only things wrong i'm pretty sure i caused it....i had a ball building it and may well buy another.

Afternoon Folks built for the Stuka GB, as expected a good few of the superb new tool kits are being built so I thought it right an older tooling which many of us will remember should take its place too.A vice free build usable decal's OOB only the glazing was a little soft on detail for the framework,brush painted in I have to say not 100% RLM colours many thanks for looking.

This is another older build, circa 1991-'92. It had never had a photograph made until the photo session with my Me-262 at the Cameron airport. It’s painted with Humbrol and Model Master enamels and built basically out of the box. I’d have to look through my decals box to say for sure where the Israeli markings came from. When I look at the model now, I see so many things I would do differently these days. But back then, I thought it turned out great. 😉 But as my meager skills progressed and improved somewhat, I didn’t feel it was even worthy of a photo session. Loading up for my last trip to the airport, I looked over the display cabinets and thought, “what the hell!?!” Although it was very old and from my pre-internet days, I’d take out the old F-15 Eagle and see how it looked in a “different” environment. All in all, I think she did okay. The passage of the years hasn’t been that unkind once she was photographed in her natural setting. "Natural"? Well, I guess Texas will have to pass for Israel in these pics.😉 Although it's been said a lot, Monogram's classic kits were a lot of bang for the buck "back in the day" and I think they still represent their real-life types quite well. That said, thank you for stopping in and taking a look at this old model. Please feel free to comment, good or bad! 😀

Guys all this talk about Gimps, I mean I'm thinking of Pulp fiction - you all know the scenes. It's not healthy chaps, reckon you should find yourself a hobby, something harmless like building model airplanes or summat.

Hi Bill, I'm not very knowledgeable on the Belvedere, however I don't think there would be much chance for the guys at the back to chat to the front directly, apart from via radio. The engine would take up all the space immediately behind the cockpit. Plus the noise would overcome any attempts at conversation. The remaining images which I have taken will be uploaded to the Walkaround section, as time and availablity will allow. Putting the images into that section will give visibiltiy to a wider audience. cheers, Mike

I wasnt going to put this 1/72 Avia B35 on this forum because its embarrasingly bad but I thought what the heck anything for a giggle. I bought this off eBay for £3.50 iirc and when I received it and opened the box my first thought rhymed with Clucking Bell, what have I bought and what do I do with it. Its an old possibly 70s kit by KP Kovozavody Prostejov presumably from Czechoslovakia and it had no instructions. I was going to toss it in the bin but at the weekend I needed something to keep me amused for a few hours whilst babysitting so I cracked on. It was 2 sprues of some weird brittle plastic that was alternately thick as a plank and thin and fragile as spun sugar. The 2 fuselage halves didnt match 1 side seemingly made to a slightly different scale than the other. The nose was so thin I accidentally stuck a cocktail stick through the plastic on one side of the radiator when gently scraping some flash. The cockpit canopy was some randomly shaped yellow translucent blob and the wings were different shapes on left and right. I really should have taken photos to show the true horror. I built the fuselage around a Bamboo kebab stick to keep everything straight using superglue as all the styrene glues I tried seemed to do nasty things to the plastic. I just happened to have the Bamboo stick on the workbench as a paint stirrer but it seemed just about right for this craptastic job. I had to rebuild the nose with plasticard and make a new radiator intake I think I almost got the right shape. Surprisingly the wings and tail went together okay just needing lots of Sprue Goo to fill some massive gaps and lots and lots of filing to get everything the same size. The undercarriage legs needed the flimsy hollow insides filling and strengthening with Superglue and some Baking Soda as a bulking agent. The cockpit canopy took around an hour to get into reasonable shape I finished it off by polishing it with toothpaste. I didnt have a paint chart to follow just the box art which appeared to show a bright yellow and bright green paint job. I used Tamiya dark earth and yellow to do the yellowish Ochre, Tamiya Bronze Green and a mix of red and brown to do the reddish brown. Underside was a mix of black and white to make a generic grey. I didnt use my airbrush just hairy sticks. The transfers came from another kit. So here it is the blob that ate my weekend. I have actually grown quite fond of the little sod. IMG_20200129_200620335 by Stuart, on Flickr IMG_20200129_200358495_HDR by Stuart, on Flickr IMG_20200129_200415252 by Stuart, on Flickr IMG_20200129_200428791 by Stuart, on Flickr IMG_20200129_200606263 by Stuart, on Flickr IMG_20200129_200517309 by Stuart, on Flickr

OK struggling with real life problems, like mowing the lawn before it gets out of control, raining a lot, but then it's that time of year, better than last year when we got 2 metres in 10 days, only 77mm last night and 110 the night before, mostly smallish amount before those, going for a week so far. I'm off to a model show tomorrow, so nothing for a while. Not got a lot done, but stickers on, and it's up on it's gear, so getting closer. The real one showed a lot of missing anti slip near the cockpit, my decal bulged up in that area so took off the offending part and painted with matte aluminium

I started the chop . and getting it ready for extending But I have been made aware of a -200 kit, so I may be able to source one and make things easier. Stay tuned.

This is my best approximation of the real seat. Nowhere near perfect, but probably good enough, once the canopy is on.

Evening all. Neutral grey on tonight. I tried to get some variation by pre-shading. I’m not sure I’ve managed it though as I find it difficult to know when to stop. I’ll look at it in the morning with a fresh perspective. Cheers Allan

Whilst working for ABRO/DSG in December 2007 I was asked if I would like to go to the British Army Training Unit at Suffield, Alberta, Canada for three months winter repair season. I left the UK on 2nd January 2008 on a 24 hour trip to Medicine Hat the nearest town to Suffield with an airport. We were put up in the Medicine Hat Lodge hotel as there was insufficiant housing on the camp and we travelled dailly, the journey taking about 3/4 of an hour each way. Towards the end of the three month deployment I was asked to stay on in Canada as part of the year round support to the BATUS training fleet which lead to me staying in Canada until October 2010. Anyway what has all this waffle got to do with modelling, well just before Christmas 2019 my daughter and son in law presented me with this saying I could make something to remind me of my time in Canada Well I worked on heavy A vehicles second line serviceing/repair and Challenger 1 tanks were not in UK service at this time, I very diplomatically said this to my daughter and son in law and was promptly told to open the box............................ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH Accurate Armours combi kit of the CRARRV that changed to out look to the build somewhat! This then was the original CRARRV replica so to update to the 2009/10 spec Challenger 2 track and sprocket carriers and later type road wheels were added to the mix, I also obtained a copy of the Tankograd BATUS by Carl Schulze which has pictures of a great deal of the BATUS fleet types during exercises on the training area, this book covers the 2007 year exercises when the vehicles were in green/sand colours as apposed to the single colour sand of the period that I was there. I will start this project in the near future but as @Dads203 asked what was next this is a sneak preview Thanks for stopping by Roger

As seen on Braille scale discussion group and scalemates

Just a little something a bit different. This Tamiya kit is a real joy. Extra bits by Redzebra. Fully recommended. Hope you like. Please feel free to comment etc. Thanks for looking Dick

This next little bit speaks, in a way, to a thread running about the 2021 GB, namely the Double-Decker GB that Heather is ramping up. Alignment of the top wing. Not so hard really. For the Fokker DVII I get the interplane struts in and set first, then assemble the three-part cabane structure, whether via scratch or kit. Try to avoid using the Roden interplane struts as they are out of whack, i.e. the Roden design throws the upper wing too far forward and pitched lightly downward. Plus, the plastic is junk and shatters when used. best to scratch build them and for this I wish to thank all the kind folks at Windsock Datafile for their very fine series on the Fokker DVII (still waiting for Volume IV). The plans below are taken from Volume II, which deals with OAW Fokkers. And so... Just a wee touch of CA on those joints to get them stable, then remove from the paper and CA on the back side. Strong as steel. Notice I have also added the exhaust and a windscreen... Let that set for a few minutes, put a tiny bit of CA in the mounting holes on the underside of the top wing, insert tab A into hole B...you get this: Now...given that I have a plethora of Roden Fokker DVII fodder laying about, I will try to use their cabane strut bits as much as I can. They are awfully thin and nice. I might also try to use their undercarriage struts. We shall see. Brittle stuff to negotiate! --John

Yes Al, you will need a code for the nose wheel door. 77ish sounds good as she went away for Major in 79 and, as she was the CO's aircraft, she came back in grey mid 80 according to my notes. Attached you may find interesting. Phantoms had an on going problem with the nose wheel steering which seemed to have a mind of its own on a few rare occasions, especially on take off. Attached is a43 following such an incident in November 1977 shown where the crew left her as she seemed to be on a collision course with Air Traffic and they decide that brickwork and Phantoms don't mix :- Note that the Wincos pennant is the wrong way round (I think) If you fancy a diorama !! - HTH Dennis

When I started on this kit I was not very optimistic. It is old and crude, and probably not as accurate as newer offerings, but it has actually come out quite well. The canopy must be clear - I can't see it! As mentioned before the nose probe may be a bit long, but I did not like the Master brass one - far too thin and flimsy. Perhaps I got a bad one as the pics on the website look rather better. I have given it a coat of flat varnish and am calling it done - I will try and get some halfway decent pics for the Gallery later. Thanks for watching. Pete

Starting to mask off the edges of the metal panels for a spot of chipping. In the first instance I'll just be using a lighter version of the base colour, rather than anything too drastic like bare metal.

Next to be tested in Finnish AF HX Challenge is the Gripen E. Currently at Pirkkala AB in Finland, it's the first trip aboard for the E. I can only dream... Photo courtesy of Siivet- magazine, model courtesy of SAAB.

Alright, masking, take two. And here's how it looks. I like these for a more worn look and it's closer to what I had in mind. So this one is a keeper. Next is masking for couple of smaller bits, like the nose, spine and couple of spots in the tail. Then I can move on to the bottom of the aircraft.

Yes, and there is a four seater version too Not with jump seats though! - - - - - - Office is pretty much finished. Before closing the fuselage, the little side windows need to be installed. As you can see, they don't do particularly good job of being the same size as the window opening. Nor being very clear for that matter But with little shaping, they fit. Nasty little sink mark on the middle but not much I can do about it. Cockpit parts ready for assembly. And this is how they look when in place. Not glued yet. Instructions say to close the fuselage at this point, but I need to check the construction more carefully to see that I'm not doing anything to complicate the build later on. I expect some heavy sanding, filling and part fitting ahead so I'll see if there's something I can do to help that out already at this point.

Sticking strictly to the instructions I have now completed the wing structure and most of the cockpit. All going together quite well but I did use Tricky Rich's idea to thin the leading edge at the first change of sweep angle. Some nasty ejection pin marks inside the thrust reversing shields took a while to remove. Colin

Ejection seat handles made out of plasticard rod. And also some basic Tamiya tape belts with plasticard buckles. Seats are rather large - and my additions to them did not help. I had to cut them down a little bit and adjust the headrest on a lower position. Still tight but canopy closes. More paint on the cockpit. Still not done but getting there.

Some people were asking about the wall plug in the nose of the mustang. Here's some pic on how I use it with the stand I made for holding my projects. So far, I've only worked with 72 scale subjects. I use a drill bit to turn the plane, as shown in the pic. It's not my idea, I did read about it somewhere in the internet. (Sorry I'm unable to give a reference to where I go this idea from.) Share some of your ideas on how you hold your subject for paint and handling. (I guess you would have to post it somewhere else, since this is the GB forum.) Enjoy. Feed back is always welcomed. Moe

I'm quite pleased with how the chassis has turned out so far. It's straight and true and it matches my drawing. Couldn't ask for more! The small pieces of .25 mm strip on the top and sides are there to help set the curves. They will easily sand away, the whole thing needs a bit of putty here and there anyway. I can now start figuring out where all the rest of the stuff goes. I'll start with the leaf springs as they are important for the positioning of the axles.