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Hi everyone. Next off the bench is the new Airfix Tiger Moth. A nice simple kit that went together surprisingly quickly for me. Living in Cambridge all of my life I wanted to build G-AHIZ , which along with it's sister airframe G-AOEI has been burbling around the city for as long as I can remember. A couple of firsts for me making this one, rigging a bi-plane and DIY decals both of which went reasonably well. I needed to make a few modifications to accurately make G-AHIZ , this included an extended exhaust pipe, a generator on the underside, a new pitot tube assembly, a couple of whip aerials and a rear view mirror mounted on the port centre strut. Painted with Alclad semi matt silver and a mix of MRP yellow with a few drops of red for the fuselage colour. For the rigging I used EZ line Thanks for looking, gazza l Here she is in real life at Cambridge.

"Valiant and Brave" -SAR Sea King HAR3A (1:72 Airfix) Hi everyone, I hope you're all keeping safe and well. Well, my final exams are all done now, so back to the bench I go while I nervously await the results! This kit was given to me many months ago by a close friend at university, and I wanted to save it until I had the time to have a good crack at it. On with the build! Kit: Airfix 1:72 Sea King HAR.3/Mk.43 Paints: Vallejo, as always, along with (for the first time) a dash of Tamiya clear green to tint the upper canopy (I think it's worked well?) Decals: Mainly kit decals, along with some from the Xtradecal RAF Anniversary Update 2011/12 set *Disclaimer: The decals used represent a bit of a hodgepodge of various markings that the aircraft carried, and are not 100% accurate Scratchbuilt: The sensor pod under the port "stub" is entirely scratchbuilt, the aircraft instrument panel was scratchbuilt (not that's it's particularly visible), the riveting is all done by hand, and there's a full interior (it's just a shame I couldn't get the lighting/focus right to photograph it!). The filter "box" in front of the intakes is also heavily adapted from what came with the kit- I had some photoetch grill sections lying around, so I used those. I scratched some of the main rotor mechanisms and added the "whisker" aerials with thin wire. Well, there we are. I'm quite happy with the result, and I'm certainly tempted to have another shot at this wonderful kit from Airfix in the near future. Thanks for having a look! Best wishes, Sam

Hi, During lockdown, like most of us, I have made a few models, this gave me a change to hone my modelling skills and try my hand at modeling aircraft. Not my normal genre of model making, usual make restoration dioramas, figures & rust vehicles. I have put them all here, to save starting three individual threads. So here they are my three 1/32 Spitfires. Tamiya Revell - "Aces High" Revell MK. IXc clipped wing Stay safe Richard

F111A, 66-0025, 428th TFS/474th TFW 'Combat Lancer', Takhli RTAFB, Thailand April 1968 The USAF decided to rush a small detachment of F-111As to Southeast Asia under a program known as "Combat Lancer". Six 428th TFS F-111As were allocated to the "Combat Lancer" program, and departed Nellis AFB for Takhli RTAFB on 15 March 1968. By the end of that month, 55 night missions had been flown against targets in North Vietnam, but two aircraft had been lost. 66-0022 had been lost on 28 March, and 66-0017 on 30 March. Replacement aircraft had left Nellis, but the loss of a third F-111A (66-0024) on 22 April halted F-111A combat operations until 1972. 66-0025 was one of the replacement aircraft. The Italeri kit is not too bad a kit to put together - tricky bits were the ill fitting tail area and the forward fuselage. I do have a Hase version up in the loft 🙂 A very decent sized model even in '72. With a re-issue due sometime soon I would well recommend picking one up. Cheers all, Phil

Kyūshū J7W1 Shinden, or 震電 - "Magnificent Lightning" From the old Hasegawa 1/72 kit. Spurious markings, as the real thing only flew once, in 1945, in boring green/grey. shiden01 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

Hi, After the weathered corsair, I wanted to build something quick and less involved. I picked this up from a club member, it is the 1/48 ICM Spitfire MK8 I had the montex mask for this usual colour scheme. Almost felt sacraligious adding stars and bars to a Spit, but I liked the colour scheme. Quickboost exhausts, canopy door, chin cover and a photo etch set were provided by my club member. The wheels were horrible so I found some eduard ones in the spares box. The canopy was also horrible, managed to replace the sliding bubble section from the spares box The PRU blue was a home mix and the grey was A medium sea grey (Tamiya XF-83) with a lightened version of the grey used to break up the uniform grey All marking Painted. I started this just under 2 weeks ago (definately a quick build) 20200525_175720 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20200525_175840 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20200525_175812 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20200525_175850 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20200525_175859 by Richard Page, on Flickr20200525_175908 by Richard Page, on Flickr

Hello All, The simple, but very nice ICM Gladiator. No issues. Very enjoyable build. Thanks, Guy

Hi all, Today marked the end of lockdown for me, back to full-time employment in a bizarrely different workplace, it must be said. Safe to say modelling got me through the lockdown, particularly the groupbuilds right here on Britmodeller. I usually build four or five models a year (I think the most I've managed in a calendar year was 9) so to have built nine in just under two months says a lot about the time I've had available to build! So - in chronological order, here they are: 1/32 Revell Hunter FGA.9, 1/32 Revell P-51K Mustang (for the Mustang STGB) Monogram 1/72 F-82G Twin Mustang (for the Mustang STGB) 1/72 Airfix Vulcan B.2 1/32 Kinetic (Academy) F/A-18D Hornet (for the In The Navy GB) 1/32 Revell F/A-18E Super Hornet (for the In The Navy GB) 1/72 Airfix P-51B Mustang (for the Kit You Built As A Kid GB) 1/48 Airfix Seafire FR.47 (for the Spitfire/Seafire/Seafang STGB) 1/48 Hobby Boss P-38L Lightning (for the Blitzbuild 2020 GB, built in 24h 36min!) The usual build rate will now be resumed, but this year will probably be an impossible milestone to ever beat! Hope everyone stays safe as we step back into the danger zone... Cheers, Alan

Here's my attempt at the Javelin. It's all out of box and didn't mess with anything.

Hi All, A few months ago, I made the brave step to switch to 1/48 models and I sold off a huge amount of 1/72 models I have built over the years (I kept a few of the really nice ones). Only in the last year have a made I return to modelling, having finished university and settled down in my first home (with enough rooms to have a few shelves up for models, oh the look on my girlfriends face when I told her of my plans!). A few of you may remember that about 5 years ago I had built up a fairly large Spitfire collection, I decided to do something similar in 1/48. I've aimed to cover most major variants of the Spitfire, as well as a few theatres of operation. There was one main criteria for the builds, that is, all the Spitfires were to have the original wing (i.e. not the later laminar flow version), I also decided I wanted to model full span versions across all the builds to show how it was the one constant among all the marks. I'm really pleased with how they've all turned out, I also now have a 1.2 metre shelf with 8 Spitfires (3 flights, nearly a whole squadron!) sat wingtip-to-fuselage on it Spitfire Mk Ia N3200 - Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk.Ia N3200/QV flown by Sqn. Ldr. Geoffrey Stephenson, No. 19 Squadron RAF, Duxford, England, 1940. Seafire Mk III NN452 - 1/48 Airfix Kit Bash Seafire Mk.III NN452 S/141, flown by Lt. Cdr. N. G. "Buster" Hallet of 24 Naval Fighter Wing FAA, HMS Indefatigable, British Pacific Fleet, 1945. Spitfire Vb AB264 GN-H - Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk.Vb AB264 GN-H flown by Pilot Officer R.W. "Buck" McNair D.F.C. RCAF, No. 249 Squadron RAF, Ta' Qali, Malta, March 1942. Spitfire VIII A58-300 DL-R - ICM 1/48 Spitfire Mk.VIII A58-300/DL-R, No. 54 Squadron RAAF, Darwin, Australia, 1944 Spitfire IX ML135 YO-D - Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk.IX ML135/YO-D flown by Flying Officer J. Billing, No. 401 Squadron RCAF, B4 Beny-sur-Mer, France, June 1944. Spitfire XIV MV264 EB-Q - Airfix 1/48 (Second Attempt!) Spitfire Mk.XIV MV264/EB-Q flown by Flying Officer E. Gray, No. 41 Squadron RAF, B118 Celle, Germany, April/May 1945. 1/48 Airfix Seafire XVII - RNAS Yeovilton 1950 Seafire XVIII, SX156, of 767 NAS,Deck Landing Control Officer Training Unit, RNAS Yeovilton, 1950. Spitfire XIX PS852 - Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk.XIX PS852, No. 81 Squadron RAF, Kai Tak, Hong Kong, January 1951. That's them all! I must get a photo of the collection together when the weather is ideal for photography Cheers, Ben

I used an Obscureco detail set and Canuck decals for the 3 AW(F) OTU 'Bald Eagles' team from 1960 at RCAF Station cold Lake

Hello mates, here big new pics of my Blinder made with my newer camera 6500px. Full resolution in flickr download for details. Cant find old thread... New Edit: As for the questions of mates below i took a picture at Nuremberg, Trumpy is not convincing to me.... Cheers, Tom

Hi All, Popping this one in here after completing her for the 'Built as a kid' GB. Cheers Nigel

#10 in my Vermont ANG History series, finally done. No conversion exists in 1/72 for the EB, so I had to scratch-build the myriad of antennae, radomes and chaff pods for this. Rebuilt and altered intakes to reflect the EB. Also no decals exist yet for this in 1/72 (until Caracal releases their new sheet in 1/72), so I had to scrounge with whatever I could find. I used Wolfpak EB-57 decals plus their Vermont F-102 decals, plus Hasegawa kit decals for the ANG badge, outstanding unit ribbon and bomb bay striping, and a ton of Superscale F-4 and F-102 data/markings. Took most of a week to accomplish. Quickboost ESCAPAC seats (tough to find) with their bottoms hollowed out to allow extra lead weight. Build thread here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235072528-172-eb-57b-vermont-ang/

80 years ago today the evacuation of Dunkirk began The call had gone out for the ' Little Ships ' This is my tribute to those men and boats that didn't come back A big thank you to all who have supported and encouraged me on this trip Further pics will follow in ready for inspection Stay safe and avoid humans Kev Ready for inspection https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235074127-bray-dunes-dunkirk/

Airfix Sherman Calliope - 1/76th Scale, built OOB - Both hand and airbrushed Humbrol and Vallejo paints. Thanks for looking, well done to all who took part. IanJ

Frog Grumman Wildcat Mk.IV. 896 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, HMS Pursuer, February 1944. A real blast from the past, kit went together really well, and decals performed like they were new, I hope you like it Cheers Pat

ITALERY Ju 87 G-2 Stuka Kanonenvogel (1/48) + German Luftwaffe Pilots & Ground Personnel (1/48) 1944 - German Airfield What do you believe guys?? Thank you for the comments! Cockpit details! Engine details! Final Diorama!

Here is the Aeroplast Mi-2 which is my last completion. I have to start out and say overall the kit is great but there are a couple odd things about it, namely that there are no real clues to any colors. The instructions are great with that exception. They have a very nice table with colors at the front of the instructions but no further references to this. The other falt I have is that there are no decals for the instruments and no raised detail on them if you chose to paint them. Given that the decals for the kit are great and you have a large number of options this one addition would have been great. Otherwise a great kit and a great addition to any helicopter collection. This particular chopper flew out of Krakow, Poland in the late 1990's. The reason I did this version is I believe all the Mi-2's were built under contract in Poland so it had to be Polish and I have been to Krakow and it is one of my favorite cities, just a lovely place to go. And I thought I would include a couple shots to see the relative size: in 1/48 is the Special Hobby Mi-1, the Aeroplast Mi-2 (these two are virtually the same size) and the Monogram Mi-24. It is astonishing how large the Mi-24 is .

Messerschmitt Me 163B-1a Komet Rocket Interceptor White 14 of 2/JG400, Germany 1944 with Scheuch-Schlepper (tractor or hauler) 1/72 Academy Finished with Xtracolor enamels Build thread here

In May 1940 the BEF found itself with its back to the wall and the call went out for the ships to rescue them. Various Naval vessels and over 600 'Little Ships' set out to rescue them from the harbour and beaches, This is my tribute to those men and boats that didn't come back WIP https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235064445-dunkirk-tribute-completed/ Thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged me along the way Stay safe Kev Ps BBC 2 tonight 7pm little ships

Hi There, For your delectation and delight I bring you my build of the.... Ahem.... accurate Trumpeter Sea vixen OOB except fot some tape belts and of course Decals from XtraDecal as the kits ones were very wrong. I got this kit from a well known online seller in Brechin. A very very nice man. I also went into this with my eyes wide open regarding the criticisms of said kit. This didn't bother me and to be fair to Trumpeter the fit was very very good. Everything went together with no real problems. Painted with Mr. Finishing Surfacer White. Colourcoats Extra Dark Sea Grey, Matt White and Light Aircraft Grey. Finished with Winsor & Newton Galeria Satin Varnish. As always, Thanks for looking and any comments and criticism are welcome. Cheers, Alistair

Here is another one of my lockdown builds, which now that I have taken pictures I realize I need to add the wires from the end of the wings to the antenna mast. No model is ever perfect so it is probably not the only mistake that I have made but at least it is something I can easily add after the fact. The kit itself was somewhat of a struggle as the resin wheels were of no use and did not fit and it was difficult to determine part locations. I used Testor 1110 enamel paint in the little square bottles for the blue as I could not find anything else that seemed closer to the color. This particular aircraft was flying out of Wheeler Field in Hawaii in 1937. Thanks for taking a look!

Hello all, Flyhawk 1/700 Deluxe HMS Prince of Wales 1941 Denmark Strait version, Flyhawk wooden deck. Think she’s done. Superb kit, pretty faultless, my only whine would be I would have liked brass masts. I beefed them up a bit with the odd brass rod but I think you can always tell the plastic on the finished article. I’m learning in leaps and bounds about ship modelling and 1/700 in particular. Please feel free to say what you think I could improve upon and how. I always feel macro photography shows a totally different model to the one I see with my eyes. In hindsight, (and with the benefit of looking at the magnified photos) I would have found a finer, non hairy ‘rope’ for the lifeboats. Any ideas of what I could use for this scale in particular? Jamie? @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies . The ‘baubles’ (don’t know what they’re called) on the rigging could be more spherical 🤔 I’ve just got the Deluxe Flyhawk kits of ‘Scharnhorst’, ‘HMS Penelope’ & ‘Bismarck’ - that should keep me busy for a couple of weeks! Thanks for those that took the time to follow the build. Sorry, lots of pictures! Thanks, Guy ps I may even put this one on a base - still planning that.

This box for the 1/48 Airfix Hawk Fitted with Model Alliance MA-48105 decals. I depicted two black aircraft: 74 Squadron Tiger on the Port side, and 100 Squadron Skull&Crossbones on Stbd. Airbrushed Humbrol 21 gloss black, this model has a Neomega cockpit interior and seats - unaltered from a salvaged kit.

Dear Fellow Modellers I've always rather liked the archaic look of the Meteor NF12, an uneasy transition to the new world of speed offered by the jet engine from the rugged airframes of WWII. The NF11 and NF12 replaced the RAF's ageing Mosquito NF36 in the night defence role. Reading the Meteor Boy's book, radar operators said they were lucky to spot an opponent at anything over 5 miles and that they could only intercept a Canberra if the bomber 'co-operated'! The Special Hobby kit offers excellent interior and undercarriage detail but an uncertain fit. I replaced the cannon fittings with the Master 'E-wing' barrels. The markings are for 46 Squadron at RAF Odiham in 1955. Also included is the Airfix Bedford refueller and a Series I Landrover from Oxford diecast which I have re-sprayed and weathered hope you like the scene? Regards Andrew

In my quest for a complete 109 collection, I've wondered where should I begin (seems simple enough), but more importantly, where should it end? What is the ultimate 109? Where's the right bookend? In wartime use it would be the K-4. But some historians have found that Messerchmitt produced some prototypes using a four blade prop. So perhaps the mythical Bf 109 K-14 would be the terminus. But how about wartime, or even pre-war derivatives should be included: the Bf 209 V-1 racer, also known deceptively as the Bf 109 R. How about the other 209s or 309s. Maybe the BV 155, which was an extrapolation of the Me 155 shipboard project. Then there are the post war Avias and Hispanos. The mind boggles! Anyway, it's time the bring this one out of the hanger. For years I've wanted a good Me 209 V-5 in the lineup. There have been attempts from various manufacturers; Huma (what were they thinking), Airmodel vacform, Kora, even a privately manufactured resin kit from the iron curtain days. I have all of these and have even started a few of them. But none seemed to capture the essence of the bird. This may be because only one photo of the plane exists. 9B648150-CF33-4459-A9DD-EBD2AB64DF23_4_5005_c by Barry Numerick, on Flickr Important details are cleverly hidden by the wing in this photo. My references say this prototype was converted from a Bf 109 G-5 and was powered by a DB 603 engine. Hmmm, the DB 605 D engine had a DB 603 supercharger. This necessitated the characteristic refined bulges of the 109 G-5/AS through K-4 airframes. I have also found some wartime drawings the seem to support the refined cowling shape. So why not start with a Fine Molds 109 G-10? Now we're getting somewhere. Here is the first mockup. C9369B8C-C155-4FCE-9455-5002B2D71C23_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr I mentioned the privately made resin model. This is it at the point I abandoned its construction. 42FC33A8-0467-4FD2-96DD-3A8A755C7C47_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr Not bad, but it is crude in some aspects and some shapes don't look right. Particularly, the nose looks small. But how about vacuforming over it to give some increased diameter as well as making thin cowl flaps? Seems to work! The prototype was apparently unarmed, so I superglued some Evergreen rod in the cowl gun troughs and sanded them flush. 1B02001B-1840-437C-9301-2314CED1878E_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr Since this plane was initially a G-5, I used the excellent Aires cockpit set. I won't bore you with the details, but it looks like this. 3F705CD7-C753-453E-A124-8827C4AC6E06_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr I tricked it out with some Eduard pre-painted PE, including the instrument panel, belts and oxygen regulator. The fuselage appears to have some interesting ductwork on the lower cowl. Again, the single photo just gives the barest information as to its shape. Eventually, I decided to vacuform the bump over some shaped styrene. This would be faired in with epoxy putty The forward fuselage still looked a bit thin to me, so I angled the forward part of the lower separate cowl piece downward and added some sheet plastic cut at an angle to compensate at the exhaust cutouts. If you can avoid it, don't mess with geometry. Change one angle here, and you have to adjust many more there. 3C2DDF0B-8A22-4BD9-8525-7C022C647C46_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr D5F128FA-3A88-4AF7-9C97-2E35A70A1378_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr 993C2C9D-755B-4F14-AE43-1386B26A6964_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr As shown in this photo the bump didn't extend far enough forward, so out cant the poxy putty, sandpaper, primer (you know the drill). 2F11B34B-0551-4E24-8C10-D5FCAE9FF994_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr Now on the the difficult areas. What to do about the extended wings, tailplanes and vertical stab? The horizontals were simply spliced FM parts, with the elevators separated. The fin could have been formed from laminated sheet plastic, but I decided to slice it from the Hume kit and do the necessary reshaping. I'm not sure this was easier. The wings presented a greater problem. They were longer in span the the typical 109 and the landing gear retracted inwards. At first modifying the Fine Molds wing seemed possible, but eventually I caved and decided to use the Huma parts. These presented their own challenge since they are too thin for the FM wing roots and the wheel wells need reshaping. First I cut off the flaps and slats. When you're anticipating a challenging wing fit, it's best to reduct the mating area. Lowered flaps accomplish this. To widen the wing leading edge I inserted a wedge of .040" styrene until it had the proper shape. The resulting gap could be filled in a number of ways, but the idea struck me to use a piece of stretched sprue. It could be tapered to fit well and cut down on the amount of gap filling superglue needed to fill the hole. Several applications of superglue could have done the job, but you run the risk of bubbles. A7A13D43-AB5D-4537-9DD0-CD5DE1F2CECD_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr The wheel wells are just cutouts in the lower wing that had to be boxed in. I used .005" plastic card that was embossed using a Rosie The Reveter tool. If you press hard enough on the thin plastic, you'll get a nice raised rivet effect on the reverse side. 18C07CDC-E02E-4496-818D-D380BCEC685E_1_201_a by Barry Numerick, on Flickr This was the most tedious part of the build so far; .005" styrene has all of the tendencies of a spring, particularly when you've tried to pre-curve it using a paint brush handle. With the least provocation it will leap into the 8th dimension using quantum mechanics. This is even more frustrating after you've sanded, riveted, curled and cut the part to the point that you think that THIS one might just fit. Sproinggg! Glad it's done. CD9841BF-092F-449B-9570-9D543B4D2D9B by Barry Numerick, on Flickr The model is further along tan this, but Tapatalk is telling me that I've reached the maximum amount of stuff for one posting. More in part 2. Thanks for following along.

In 2017 I started one of these for a Group Build. It went disastrously wrong, glued the wings on and the whole lot dried out of kilter, looked odd and I lost heart and binned it. I bought another and vowed to return as it was going well and I enjoed it up to that point. I also hate not completing things. So here is the results of stab 2. The game changer was the very good LMG jig I purchased for this project which will come in useful on many other builds, but it does show the wisdom of the 'wing spar' attachment used by Airfix and others now rather than the old slot & tab of old. Enjoy. Exhaust collector rings were painted using Humbrol Metalcote steel, then painting a thin coat of Tamiya Bronze over the top and wiping it off when still wet which gave it a sort of goldish look which is about right. Exhaust staining was done with black eyeshadow and then white eye shadow brushed over the top, which I've been using for a while and I think gives a very subtle effect.

As I'm in a classic Airfix British Jet phase and my Canberra is ticking on, I thought that I'd build some simple and less involved alongside it. Please explain why my brain gravitated towards this then? I always loved the look of the Jaguar and when I saw a T2 for the first time I just had to build one. That happened many years ago with the Hasegawa 1/72nd scale offering but I'm a 1/48th scale man now, so time to revisit the type. I'd bought the kit a long time ago, along with the Paragon extras and finally they are going to get some fresh air. The unexpected bonus of working from home is that I still get up and ready for work at the same time but have an hour of nothing to do before actually starting work. Great for a bit of extra modelling time and this morning was spent cutting this one up. The Kit The Bits An hour in The resin has a little shrinkage that will need to be allowed for but nothing major (fingers crossed) Who knows what lies ahead but please come along for the journey. Pete

Hi all. Currently I´m working on my second Special Hobby Viggen in 1:72 scale. In the meantime I want to show you the first one. It´s the SK 37 trainer from the "AJ 37/SK 37 - Duo Pack". Only aftermarket item I added was a pilot from PJ Production. The Viggen is painted with different shades of aluminium from AlcladII. The base was drawn in Affinity Photo and printed on rigid foam board. Daniel

UH-1D Huey 116th Assault Helicopter Company, Vietnam '71 There is no doubt that the Huey will always be associated with the Vietnam War. No 'Nam collection should be without at least one of these beautiful workhorses. Employed in many roles and many different variants I have built a pretty standard 'Slick' troop transport. I actually have another 2 of these on the go - both different again, doors removed, no seating inside etc. I also have pretty much all variants in the stash to be built at some stage. I am really looking forward to the Dust Off version. Not too much weathering or wear and tear on this bird. One thing I did do was to hollow out the front step on the skid as this is moulded as a solid piece. Very quick and simple mod but looks so much better. I have left the side doors off as this was a common practice to reduce weight. Here is an Academy M35 Truck - looking a little too clean for 'in-country'.....!! Cheers all, Phil

Okay, the moment of truth... When I began the kit it was for something to do with a few friends during the lockdown. Here's a list of things I wasn't aware of when I started, but learned about on the way: Undercoating Clear-coating Weathering The hairspray trick Masking Varnishing the canopy and other perspex to make it look good That the RAF had standard camouflage patterns in 1940 Decal fixatives / softeners Scratch building bits to replace things you've broken Colour washes Silvering landing lights That "certain" brands of modelling varnish don't go off properly and they leave a sticky mess Photo-etch After-market decals and metal parts Improving the kit in terms of accuracy (making your own wingtip lights etc) Paint thinning Just how white the white part of the RAF roundel can be, despite your best efforts to tame it with multiple washes Using a flat brush That your weathering in the panel lines can turn bloody green when it reacts with your final matt coat Doing hours of research for a model I could go on; some of the above I learned about in time, some I didn't (but learned about in time to use them on the second model). In any case, I got to the end in a manner of speaking and have really enjoyed the journey, even if I'm somewhat nonplussed with the destination. I'm already thinking about a 1/48 Defiant, with a view to doing right by the old girl, as I seem to be much more fond of the Defiant than I was - she wasn't the useless death-trap she's often portrayed to be, after all. So, here we go - I know it isn't perfect, or even good. I know it leaves a lot to be desired in a lot of areas. I know that I have a lot to learn and a long way to go. Still, who cares? I've had fun. An overview, mainly showing the naff job I did of mounting the naff decal on the IP. A pretty cruddy underside; spot the missing decal. I put it on, but evidently didn't do a good job of fixing it. She doesn't look too bad here, I suppose. This shot mainly shows that I need to work on my leading-edge masking (see above) The turret looks better in real life, but still not brilliant. I won't use the blobbing-neat-alloy-coloured-paint-on-with-a-pin method next time I'm weathering. Not too bad perhaps, but I was hoping the exhaust smoke would look a bit more visible and convincing. If anyone has any advice or tips (apart from taking up golf) I'd be most grateful to receive them. I'd also like to say a special thanks to @ProfSparks, both for the inspiration and lessons learned from his Defiant WIP thread and for sending me some replacement decals after I made a pig's ear out of one of mine. Thanks also to everyone who posted encouragement and gave help and suggestions on my WIP thread.

Hello BM's! A while ago, 2016, I built an Airfix Hawker Typhoon in 1/72 scale and attempted some 'chipping' using maskol and not a lot of common sense as to how it might look! I had some constructive feedback on the forum after sharing the result and retired to the Typhoon to the back of the man cave as a lesson learned. Anyway, whilst creating some room for my latest models, I decided I would either improve the paint job or throw it out, now I have learnt newer techniques and generally improved with the hobby. Anyway, after some close calls with peeling paint and cock ups with the airbrush, here we are: And this is what it looked like before: I am happy with it, there are still some little problems here and there but it now looks a bit more authentic, after studying some colour photos from the period. I achieved most of the 'new' chipping and subtle changes in colour on the panels with a hairy stick, some buffing to remove brush strokes, washes and a good matt coat. Here's some pictures and a couple of the original. As ever, would appreciate any feedback - looks better, right?! 🤞 Cheers all! Oh and the nav light colours are the correct way round this time 🤦‍♂️

Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXc. S/Ldr Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, Polish Fighting Team, Afrika, 1943. KP kit Built OOB, brush painted with Xtracrylics, Galeria Matt varnish airbrushed over 'Klear' gloss.

1/72 Hasegawa Spitfire VII L decals codes and serial numbers Roundels from spares box Spitfire VII MB935 131 Sqn 1944 Lost on 23 April 1944 Pilot: W/O Douglas Frederick Phillips RAAF Age: 25 He has No Known Grave and is commemorated on Panel 259 of the Runnymede Memorial Thank you fellow modellers for your support and for the opportunity to participate in this group build.

David Brown Vig 1 tractor and 3 loaded bomb trolleys from Airfix WWII Bomber Re-supply set. Build time less than six hours. Brushpainted with Humbrol enamels 11, 29, 30 and 67 only. In my opinion a craftfully engineered and tooled magnificent minikit! Thanks to Enzo yet again for running the circus for us👍. Regards, V-P

The DK Decals sheet 72-073 for the 350th Fighter Group includes a miscellany of auxiliaries - a captured Bf109, a Piper L4H and a 2 seat Hurricane conversion. This was apparently converted by the squadron and used as a hack and communications aircraft. There are several photos of 2-seat Hurricane conversions and they all seem to be different. Particularly the canopies have been modified differently. The two pictures of this one are decidedly obscure as far as the canopy goes so guesswork is as good as can be done. The additional landing light is interesting. @Black Knight suggested a camera which seemed reasonable. Building the Arma Hurricane https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235073882-hurricane-tacr-arma-451-sqn/&tab=comments#comment-3697472 seemed like a good opportunity to do another one. There was a Revell Sea Hurricane in the unmade kit pile which was not going to be built as anything else so it was utilised for this build. This was somewhat of a mistake as comparisons were inevitable. The shortcomings of the Revell kit are known - the wing chord is a little large, the fabric on the rear fuselage is not well represented, the windscreen is an odd shape and there is a lack of dihedral on the outer wings. All of these are fixable depending on how far one wishes to go. The rear fuselage was filed and sanded, the upper 'triangular' rear part being sanded away completely and replaced by strips of stretched sprue which were profiled like the rest of the fuselage. It's a fair amount of work but the result is much better than leaving it. The dihedral can be corrected but it is also a lot of work. The wing chord was not that far out - a little bit of sanding. As the subject was an unarmed Mk IIB the gun ports were filled in and the gun bay access panels filled. it is not known whether they were accessible on the prototype but it would not have been that hard to rescribe them. Another wing problem was noticed here, the undercarriage legs are not far out enough on the wings, giving it a narrow track by a couple of mm but it was thought this would not be noticed. So, here it is [ While the build was not particularly enjoyable due to (1) the number of things to be fixed and (2) the invidious comparison with the Arma kit, which was a pleasant process, the result is quite pleasing - it's certainly something different.

I'd like to share an idea I had. Fast, simple throttle, gear and flap levers with a strand of copper wire. Hope you like ... With your #80 drill bit reversed in the chuck (using the shank end), wrap a thin copper wire 3/4 around the bit. Bend the tail end to center the disk, and snip off extra Flatten the loop with tweezers, and fill center with super glue (I add some talc for filler). Sand sides flat. Install into pre drilled #80 holes in quadrant. If you drill right through, you can cement with crazy glue from the bottom, avoiding any excess cement on the throttle quadrant. Hope you like this idea! Colin

Hiya Folks, Having already built a model of RCAF B-17F Fortress `Mailplane' 9202 wearing its Olive Drab and Neutral Grey scheme, seen here;http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234994080-b-17-with-a-difference-172nd-scale-royal-canadian-air-force-fortress-mailplane/?hl=%2Bfortress+%2Brcaf I decided to build another model of the same aircraft, again using the 1/72nd Academy B-17F kit, but this time wearing its overall bare metal scheme from 1945,........ and here it is; I [/url] It was sprayed using rattle can Tamiya Bare Metal Silver, sections were masked off and brush painted using Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminium, Tamiya Black was used for the anti glare panel and de icer boots, Humbrol 35 gloss varnish was brushed onto the model ready for the decals. The wheels are the rather expensive resin items from Eduard because I didn`t have any spare B-17G wheels (ie without hub covers) left in the spares box. The gun turrets were covered over using plastic card, as was the recess for the tail guns and as per the first model the framework for the nose gun mounting was also added inside the nose glazing using plastic rod. I didn`t cut out the small windows on either side of the astrodome this time as I could not see these in the reference photos depicting the silver machine and presumed they had been painted over? Some Humbrol Polished Aluminium was dry brushed over the model and polished with a soft rag to try and add a metallic sheen and to depict some sign of the surfaces being distressed during polishing of the real aircraft. Hope you like it, Cheers Tony

Please find my latest completion Italeri's Grumman Avenger in 1/48 Scale. The kit was nearly built out of the box apart from a P.E. seat harness and decals by Print Scale for the insignia and markings plus a Techmod sheet for the stencilling since most of the original decals were not usable anymore from this ebay purchase. (Which was made clear to me prior the purchase which was at a reasonable price) Had some trouble with the windows, which required a few polishes with Tamiya polishing compound after which there were still some blemishes apparent. I once came across an article or video where they did some "after" polishing with car wax (Carnuba wax). So I thought I would give that a try and it did have some effect on these windows. Unwittingly I then used my polishing cloth to wipe some dirt of the wing........................... which resulted in wax on the wing, which I was unable to remove. Since The wings were meant to be specular sea blue. So I thought...............Why not wax the wings? Subsequently I accidentally got some wax on the fuselage as well......😬 So decided to apply the wax on the entire model in a last ditch effort to save the model. I am curious to know how you think it worked out. I would not repeat this method, but one pleasant side effect was that the gritty-like sprayed paint on the wings (Should have thinned the paint a little more) and some orange peel effect was totally eliminated. Turned super smooth. So something to keep in the back of the mind. Paints: Mr Color and AK real paints coated and polished in Simoniz Car wax! I did use an Eduard mask for the windows as well............ That's all, thanks for watching. Regards, Rob

Olivia de Havilland of course! Who else? One of P&P's lesser known corkers if anyone's gagging some classic vixen action: Thanks G. It's such a delectable airframe when you spend time with it -- so much imagination went in to sending two souls hurtling through the sea air. Glad you approve! I had eyed the more elaborate version of course but even my weak morals couldn't justify the outlay. I don't know whether to laugh or cry! The funny thing is that even when I'm not doing any CAD work I'm still reaching out to for it to rotate what's on the screen. Makes no sense in MS Word! The lot! We're going ton-up in the next print in order to critique the whole set of outlines. Details below. Looks like I'll need a squadron of printers then! 😆 Ok. No blather today. Finally got the tailplane done and that means that all the coloured regions in January's diagram are now completed: A simple enough drrawing job to finish-off on (once I'd established distances and angles with boom): Lofted into solids and then the boom conoturs carved out of the edges on either side to enable fixing to the uprights: Plan view of the whole shebang: I'll post the next series of images without comment - a series of perspective views to eyeball apppearances from all angles: Not going to be able to put this on to print tonight as I need to hollow out the various airframe sections prior to getting them oriented in Chitubox and all the supports added for printing, which will take a few hours. After that I'm guessing about 10-11 hrs to print the lot and then a complicated clean and cure session on the resin afterwards. I've meetings online all tomorrow morning and have to drive down to work after lunch (first time in the building since the lockdown started here on March 13th, which will be strange to say the least) in order to collect a rake of camera gear and lenses so I reckon it'll be Thursday earliest before I can get near to playing with the supports and stuff. All being well then I'll get this on overnight Thurs and hopefully have some positive physical results to share with you some time on Friday. FAB ATB til then. Tony

Thanks Ian - I've made my mind up; brush painting Thanks Rob Filmoplast painted with Stynylrez white: Once that's dry I can start framing. Bit of masking where there's no decent line on the kit:

Universal Carrier Mk.II, 10th Dragoon Regiment, 1st Polish Armoured Division, Holland, Autumn 1944. Tamiya 1/48, painted and inked with Vallejo and Hataka acrylics. Decals by Toro and Tamiya. You can see the radio in this one. My favourite bit of the build. Andy

Sorry Folk, Lost this in the Mist of Time. Masked with blue tack and Mask ol. Paint pulled off Surprisingly easy. Looks like this now so all's not lost, chin up and all that! [/url]610_1038 by Georgeconna32, on Flickr 610_1038 by Georgeconna32, on Flickr 610_1039 by Georgeconna32, on Flickr 610_1040 by Georgeconna32, on Flickr forgive the State of the Bench, I'll get around to it soon!

Little did you know how accurate your comment was! Thanks Ced! Thanks Mark, I didn't need it as I'd used Gators Grip and only a very tiny amount, see below! I know exactly where the error came in. The Datafile gives the "gap" as 4'6". Oh goody, I thought, now I can get it exact! So I measured everything to give me a gap of 19mm between the wings. Without reference to the plans. Or measuring the distance between nacelle top and upper wing. One simple check would have showed that I was doing it wrong! I think the "gap" referred to is between the lower (or upper) edges of the spars, not the physical gap between the wings! I did decide that accuracy had to come first (you didn't really doubt that though, did you!) and removed the upper wing this morning. By the way, 2mm is 50% of the correct gap between the top of the cockpit nacelle and the bottom of the upper wing, just to give an idea of how large the error was! Holding each strut as close as possible to the join I popped them out one by one with no problems. If anything it highlights just how fragile these models are, and how much strength the rigging adds! Only one of the pins came off in the hole (the rear cabane, which I had CAd on when it came off) and since that hole goes right through I was able to push it through with a piece of brass rod. Part 1 complete: wing removed. To shorten the cabane struts (which I left in place on the nacelle) I clamped a steel rule in my desk vice, which, by the way, arrived last Friday. I'd forgotten I'd even ordered it as it was ordered on Feb 28th! The cabane strut was rested against the rule to support it and I gently removed 2mm with a micro saw. I did take a pic showing the difference, but my camera ate it. Sorry! That is now correct! Here's 2mm chopped of the ends of each strut. I had to do each one individually as the pins are slightly different lengths so I couldn't just put the end of one pin against a reference and chop it. As of writing, the struts have all had new pins added and are nearly done with touching up the paint. The next session should see the wing re-attached. Thanks for looking in, and stay safe! Ian

Sometimes you've got to show these FM kits who the daddy is 😂 I'll no doubt live to regret that comment later! So great news. The UC is on and the wing tips are now level to within 1mm although I won't be taking any close ups of the gear bays! TBH, not that bad, just plenty of glue dollups around key joints. This is where it's up to Close up of the engines now corrected with black finish Still lots to do, not least, 16 wing bomb bay doors to put on, gear doors and get the turrets finished too. I've ordered a resin Vickers gun to finish the nose off as it will be quite prominent stuck way out front on its own.

54 mm Airfix American Soldier 1775, built as a member of the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment. I used mostly Vallejo and Reaper acrylics.

Started: Monday 25/05/2020 06:00 Finished: Monday 25/05/2020 13:52 Total build time: 7 hours 52 minutes (less 15 minutes for a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee). In summary, I thought a kit with only 36 parts, one coat of blue paint (two coats for the white) and a mist of satin varnish would be easy to do in 8 hours. It was really full on though, trying to get the small details right (the aluminium wheels and black tyres were constantly touched up), and trying to make a really good job of it. The decals behaved superbly, although the individual decals aren't numbered and there are no placement instructions as to which green stripe goes on which wing, which way up the green fuselage band goes on etc. It was trial and error until I worked them out. The time went by very quickly, which I suppose it does if your concentrating hard on something for so long. I'm glad I didn't chose anything more complex. By starting at 06:00 on the last day only gave me 18 hours, not 24. I'll start on the first day next time! The blue is matt Oxford Blue (Humbrol 104), sprayed with a satin varnish, which is much darker in real life than it looks in the pictures. I'll experiment with my crap camera to see if I can correct it later. I'm off for a snooze in the sunshine. Mike

GWH F-35A Snap Kit USAF in flight Originally bought in case of an 'under a tenner' build... it's turned out to be a fun introduction to building aircraft. Gave me a break from building Dinosaurs and a chance to 'brush up' a few skills. The build thread can be found here: Thanks to PlaStix (Mr P.) for the photos:

Hi folk's,Hobbyboss 1/72 Fw190a of JG54 Russia 1943.