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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/06/20 in all areas

  1. I've been clearing out my shelf of doom during lockdown and have finished the Buccaneer. The build thread is here if interested. Any comments are welcome!
    37 points
  2. Hello all, I hope everyone is keeping safe in these crazy times. While I have been off due to this enforced lockdown I started the Trumpeter ME262 A-1a heavy armament kit and wanted to do it in the colours of yellow 3 from KG(J)54. The kit decals seemed a big 'off' so I invested in Eagalcals #95-32 sheet and the colours seemed much better than the kit originals. I have been my best to get the scheme right, but even I will admit that its not quite right, but I think it looks pretty good, certainly a good learning session for sure. Painted with Gunze Sanyo (best paints EVER in my opinion) and weathered with oils. I'd like to add that the markings aren't symmetrical as that's the way they are on the original aircraft (very odd that). All comments welcome
    26 points
  3. Another Virus Completion. This is the Hobbycraft kit and I built in mostly out of box. I added a few "Sugar scoops" and added a few fuselage vents that were not handled well by the basic kit. Painted with Alcad over decanted Tamiya Gloss Black. My go-to method for natural metal. NOTE..Im not big on real dirty aircraft especially a Pilot like Hartmann. Finding the markings for this aircraft was a bit of a challenge but I ended up using Peddinghaus decals. I would have to say they required a bit of effort and the photos are very forgiving. I had to cut each decal very close to the detail as the clear was not as thin as I needed for Natural Metal. Also the white trim is very hard to see as you try to trim the decals close. They settled down very nice with Solvaset. This is my 3rd attempt at this aircraft and I will be ok with this one. My grandson is flying the last one around the house. Thanks for taking the time to look. Comments always welcome Cheers Bill
    25 points
  4. Hi all, Now that the magazine it was published in is no longer available, I can show pictures of the Revell 1/32 Arado 196 that was built for Airfix Model World, where it made the front cover. It was done using the Eduard PE set for the exterior, and was mounted on an aftermarket resin beaching trolley. Some 'beach scene' photos first, followed by a few shots from the in-progress stages. Hope you like it... Cheers, Dean
    23 points
  5. I fancied a quick aircraft build without too much effort, so found this rather nasty harrier in the stash, there's so much wrong with this kit - shape of the nose, wings, pylons, errors in the gun pods, general lack of detail etc that is also hard to correct, so I was never going to build it properly. Instead I just lashed it together as a quick, fun build to get me back into aircraft, which it mostly was in fairness, apart from the canopy which has a big prominent seam down the centre and didn't fit especially well. I think It looks mostly OK and a bit like a harrier (from a distance!) so there you go Thanks for looking Nick
    23 points
  6. F-4J Phantom II US Navy "Show Time 100" 1/48 Hasegawa, box assembled, Tamiya acrylic paints, sealed with Modelmaster metalizer, cheers!
    21 points
  7. Hi, I just finished this 1/72 Airfix Hawk T.1. I used Eduard photo-etched and CMK resin parts. Tamiya paints and Future were used for the finish. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
    21 points
  8. I share with you the ancient kit of Monogram A-6E Intruder "Tram" ... 1/48 of the VA-155 Silver Foxes squadron of the US Navy and that was in Unite maneuvers with the Chilean Air Force in the early 1990s, this model I restored it, home made decals .... I re-made the kit in negative lines and repainted it with Tamiya acrylics, it was a great challenge but at the same time I enjoyed it ... greetings!
    20 points
  9. Hi all Here is a model I finished a couple of months ago, an Eduard Bf 109 F4 from the royal class boxing. one of the biggest challenges was to choose a scheme, but my choice was this one stationed in Petsamo, Finland, because I like the way it looked and Finland is a neighbor country to Norway. The Finnish role in WWII is also quite interesting, being allied to Germany, but its leaders did apparently not share the Nazi views on race. Finnish Jews did actually fight alongside the Germans against Soviet, how many other places did this happen? The build was quite enjoyable with good parts fit and lovely detail complete with minuscule photo etch and some nice resin exhausts and wheels. I did not use the resin wheels simply because the styrene ones look really good already. One thing I didn't like was the windscreen armor that had to be glued to the windscreen. I gave that up after several unsuccessful attempts and just used a spare from the Airfix Emil.It fortunately was an almost drop in replacement. Constructive criticism is welcomed Regards, Isak
    20 points
  10. Good morning, I share with you one of my favorite helicopters, the Westland Wessex UH.5 from the house Italeri, Royal Air Force version NO.84 Squadron Akrotiri, Cyprus in 1987, excellent model, good details and accessories, a bit hard decals (use softener Mr Hobby Mark Softer), I did not make the Falklands version which, despite being very historical, was less conspicuous .... anyway, I used Tamiya acrylic paints and sealed with Modelmaster Metalizer
    18 points
  11. Thanks Mark Oooer! The things they do for films eh? Thanks Keith \ Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - get it out with Optrex Thanks Giorgio - means a lot coming from you, you super-detailer! Thanks Neil - I'm up to £65.05 at the moment. I can't quote the old joke about "Who gave you the 5p?" but those who know it can join me in a chuckle… Judging by the build so far the 1/48 would be a joy; you could see those levers! Wise man Mark, wise man… who's going to see them on the ceiling? More madness this morning. Knobs added to levers with Kristal Klear: I bet they fall off when I try to paint them The i/p, shelf and coaming have been assembled and are drying out of the way, resting on a Humbrol acrylic pot: Next step - wings. The gates for the parts are a bit unusual - they are sort of under the part. I found that chopping them off like this: …was much better and only left a small vestige to remove: There was a tiny amount of flash on one wing; inside the aileron slot and also closing off these pin holes: The locating pins (one shown here, the other in the inboard corner of the aileron slot) also hold the parts apart a bit: …but nothing that can't be cured with generous application of TET and a good squeeze. That said the wings are gorgeous: Nice thin trailing edges and no seams that I can see. I need to cut out the landing light next.
    15 points
  12. Syrian Air Force as used by government troops for many controversial attacks during the still ongoing war in Syria finally finished,... the war unfortunately not.... ingredients: Kitty Hawk Su-17M4 CWS intake and belly correction Yahu cockpit PE Amigo Models Al-21F nozzle Master pitots and cannon barrels Begemot Decals (MiG-25) Eduard Brassin Pylons Advanced Modelling ODAP 500kg bombs Quickboost chaff/ flare dispensor (Su-24 modified) BM input, without your help impossible, thanks! wip here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235066109-syrian-airforce-su-22m4-kitty-hawk-148-finished/ , thanks a lot for any comments, questions, etc! best regards Werner
    14 points
  13. Italeri Sea Harrier FRS.1, XZ451 “VL”, 700A Flight FAA. Out of the Box with Master turned brass pitot and angle of attack sensor. Painted with Hataka and Vallejo acrylics. Built for the In The Navy group build. AW
    14 points
  14. Pleasure Ced, This is a shot of one page of the eight pages of my drawings for the Proctor 1 to III and Vega Gull which were the basis of this kit, and I believe are the only accurate drawings to date of the early Proctors. There are three types of tailwheel used on the Vega/Proctor family. all the former's/ bulkheads were drawn from Percival construction drawings and all dimensions and radi were converted from Imperial Fractional to Metric. The small scale reproduction hides much of the fine detail and there may be parallax in this copied and reduced drawing. I was told that most of the Percival archive drawings were destroyed by Percival in a dispute with Huntings. A full set of Proctor production drawings were later found on micro fiche in Australia and these were the ones made available to me as well as the poor copies of the Exhibition shop drawings which came from the late Mike Eacock (Skybirds 86) who started his career at Percivals. John
    14 points
  15. In a minute - still itching… I thought "if I stick the levers on they'll be dry in the morning". Oh ha ha ha… The first one was bent (yes, the mount is two-part): I think this PE is scaled from the 1/48 kit. The levers are tiny - sorry tiny. The other two are smaller so I cut one off and dipped it in Gator’s Thin. Of course I dropped it. Can you see it? Those squares with the thick lines are about 25mm. Now? There it is! Oh, for goodness sake, I'm pointing right at it! Needless to say when I picked it up with the tweezers it pinged off. Oh good grief… Fine wire was located and levers scratched: For scale: Any comments like "Oh no, he's left the mixture rich" or similar will be dealt with, severely. I am likely to have an empty bottle to hand…
    14 points
  16. Howdy Partners I hope everyone is faring OK in these strange times. A little more Shackleton progress to update you on... I have been working on getting the cockpit roof attached to the fuselage of late. I spent a fun (not) couple of hours finishing the making of the sills for the transparent parts to sit on when the time comes - Evergreen to the rescue once again: IMG_0191 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr With that done, I made the pilots' overhead panel from some generic bits and bobs from the spares box - not particularly accurate but it's almost impossible to see it once the roof is on - and sprayed the inside of the cockpit roof matt black: IMG_0202 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr A final test-fit then followed to ensure all of the interior fits as it should - which thankfully it did: IMG_0204 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr You can see how little of the interior is actually visible, which is why I haven't really gone to town on the insides. Before finally attaching the roof section I made some more tabs to ensure a strong and secure join, and then masked the windows from the inside to keep dust and future paint out of the flightdeck. I then slathered P-38 automotive filler over the joins and allowed everything to settle for a couple of days before attacking it with the sandpaper. IMG_0207 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr As you can see things have gone reasonably well, but there is a pronounced dip where the cross-hatched area is that'll need more filler. This was due to me not being careful enough when constructing the fuselage but P-38 is the scratch-builder's best friend and it should make light work of this. You can see the 'dip' more clearly when a straight line is superimposed on the pictures: IMG_0209 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr So here's the state of play now - some more filling and sanding over the weekend and then some primer to see how it's all bedded in: IMG_0206 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Until next time, Tom
    13 points
  17. Hi all. I show the final finish of this model that has been the first one that I have done the riveting completely. It has been fun to do and I think I have become fond of it so it will not be missing in my next models if they require it. If someone would like to see the construction and painting process, they can do so at the following link. Andrés S.
    12 points
  18. The latest addition to my assemblage of airfield vehicles is this tandem hauling gas to the Mustangs of the 357th FG here (or to any other outfit in a variety of combat theatres). The truck is a Dodge WC 52 'Weapons Carrier' with an A-1 Fuel Trailer in tow. More about this model and the peculiar kits from which it was built in the AFV section here. Also in need of a tow vehicle - maybe a Cletrac or a bomb service truck - is the M5 Bomb Trailer that I finished recently. The M5 is a castered third wheel trailer with a payload of 5,000 lbs. It was a ubiquitous piece of equipment at every bomber and fighter airfield. Those who call the 1/48 Monogram B-17G kit their own will remember this bonus part which I enhanced with truck wheels, suspension springs, bomb rails, and other bits and pieces from the scrap box. The bomb trailer corresponds well with my M1 Weaver Bomb Lift, an inconspicuous little helper that made the life of groundcrews easier. It was used to move ordnance from a trailer or truck to the airplane and hoist it to the bomb shackle. This quarter scale model is 1½ in. long. I scratch-built it with parts of the Revell Ground Support Equipment set and the Resin2Detail kit. The latter cannot be recommended as a model by itself. The material is much too soft and fragile to assemble it without a tandrum. References: Technical Manual No. 9-760, Bomb Trailer M5, War Department, Washington 1942 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M5_Bomb_Trailer Another vehicle that I posted in the AFV section a while ago is this Willys Jeep used by Marine Air Group 12 in the Pacific. Full story here. If you want to enjoy more beautifully elaborated airfield vehicles of all scales and eras or present your own exhibits visit this link. Thanks for stopping by, Michael
    12 points
  19. HPH's kit of the Fw-189 in 1/32nd scale. A very advanced resin kit with detail that would make mainstream injection moulding companies quiver with fear to reproduce. Definitely no "shake & bake" kit with a number of challenges, but an enjoyable if taxing build. Painted with Xtracolor enamels and Tamiya acrylics. Thanks for looking. Angelo
    12 points
  20. Good afternoon, I bring you one of the most beautiful aircraft in history ..... the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I Revell 1/32 kit painted with Tamiya acrylics and AML decals (the best you have ever used) ... .regards!!
    12 points
  21. I thought I’d pop my head in and pass comment on using PVA to fix lead in as ballast. DON'T DO IT! Railway modelling folk like to use the same technique to add ballast weight to locomotives. Over time, the PVA reacts with the lead and forces its way out of the model. It makes one heck of a mess. Better to use CA or epoxy resin or Evostik
    12 points
  22. Evening All Being a fit 'fussy' if you like .....(I'm sure there are other descriptions others might use), I needed an opposition piece to go with my Matilda from a couple of months ago. So here's my latest subject, the Panzer III from Tamiya. A pretty straight froward build which I built as a subject of the 10th Panzer Division in Tunisia 1943. I sprayed the model with a base of XF64 before applying chipping fluid, and then the top colours of XF60 and 88. In keeping with the desert theme I kept my weathering to nothing but playing with varying the tones of the base colours and weathering powders. No oil wash was used. I was pretty happy with the control I had over the chipping, although I do go a bit deep now and again. I notice now that Tamiya have brought out a couple of new DAK colours which might have come in handy for this effort. Here we go.... Thanks for looking. Cheers Gaz
    11 points
  23. This is Shiny Two from No.2 Squadron to commemorate their 100th anniversary, but I only just got round to taking some pics although I'm still not happy with them! I used the Extradecal set although the fin decal fell apart probably due to old age though I just about salvaged it, Eduard etch, a donor Airfix kit for the TIRRS pod and side window decals as it used to be a GR4A and for a more in-scale rear cockpit display, as well as some good tips from General Melchett's thread. I got some silvering on the intakes and no matter how much I polished the canopy I couldn't get it nice and clear, otherwise as this is my second Revell Tornado none of the fit problems I got the first time round! Thanks for looking!
    11 points
  24. Hey you lot hope you’re all having a great week. Thanks for all the interest in this big filler and sanding escapade. 🤪 So to begin with do you remember this. Well that dried. It looked like it was fitting pretty well so I popped it on the mat one morning and went back to work on the landing. (That’s where my work desk is now) guess what was on the mat when I got back at the end of the day? 🤨 what the hell. I figured it was the sun so I popped em back in and topped up with pva. ⏰🕰⏱⏲⌚️ two days it was in there. Two days and still it was soggy. 🤨😫😫😫 so out with the goop. I gave my balls a wash. (Steady) and did the same with rocket hot. That was dry by today. 🤩 I was planning on fitting this after I’d sanded as this can’t be a bad fit can it? ......🤞can it 🤔....... well let’s see. 🤨 Hmmmm keep your eyes on the balls. They mask my tubes (thanks @giemme) That way you don’t see the gaps.😶🙄😬 or that step. 🛤😯 Soooooo I did the mashed potato. Dried and sanded. That’s looking better. 🤗 now for the next little assemblies. The vents got their internals painted with EDSG and fitted. To be fair they actually fitted off the bat but ..... you guessed it. There were gaps. look there’s sunlight through this one. 🤣🌞 I see more filler in my future. 😬🙄🤣 I decided to fit other bits to check for monster gaps. The wings get a strength block added that needed some heavy duty sanding to fit. But I’m guessing because of the wing fold a seam here is ok? Actually huge. 🤩 I checked the nose with a spot of primer. I need to re scribe that nose cone. (Hold that thought) Here’s just before the nose cone re scribe. Stupidly I checked my reference after the scribing happened. Yup you guessed it. There is no line really. 🙄 so she now sits filled again in what seems like a constant state of ppp filled filing crazyness. 🤪🤪🤪 oh by the way I made a new purchase. This arrived. I know it’s lacking wings and the spiny bit at the front but I’ve been talking to my old man about his time in Egypt during the Suez Crisis. I said I’d build his “Calamity Jane” Obvs this was in the UK (Salisbury) to be precise. Hope you’ll all join along when the time comes. 🤗😇 Thanks for dropping in. I hope you are all still keeping well. Take care and as always. Happy modelling. Johnny. 🙌
    11 points
  25. I am going to be brave and show my latest effort as the first I have posted on here It is one of the Emhar series of Bedord O series trucks. Built OOB, only thing I added was some plug leads. Didn't have too many problems, crane parts are a bit fiddly, usual problem of being hamfisted and breaking things off One of the windscreens didn't fit too well but its passable and one of the transfers on crane slipped but I am not going to attempt to rectify it as I usually make things worse I have noticed that the no plates want some attention so will have to sort them
    10 points
  26. 1/48 Tamiya F4U-1 "Birdcage" Corsair. Another one started two years ago and finally finished. Marking for Marine Corps 2LT Kenneth Walsh, who became the first Corsair ace in 1943. Eduard PE used for seatbelts and instrument panel. Aeromaster decals for the markings. A Family Portrait.
    10 points
  27. Sound right up my street. Currently working on Mrs. B as to how a cockpit section in the garden might offset the clematis in a strikingly iconoclastic piece of garden design. Wasn't that a Wurzels single in 1975? Most kind of you Chris - hope all is well with you and yours. That was you in the Dragon capsule? 🚀🤯 Yes we have no bananas! (you cheeky moneky). 😁 Gah! If not an outright egad or zounds. Between the unseasonable heat pulse and various online shenanigans eating up time at work it has been a spectacularly unproductive week in the 1/72 hangar, so a quick Friday lunchtime update. Some fruitful consultation with James (including a delightful Vixen Zoom conference last evening - thank-you again!) however led to some necessary revision of the aircraft profile, viz. taking some of the 'bow' out of the belly beneath the cockpit area. Simple enough in principle but needed some fiddly redrafting of the control lattice for that area with the revised cross-sections involved. Whilst in a stern corrective mood, some minor adjustments to the radome 'shoulder' and boundary layer fairing were added also in order to finesse some of the sleekness back in where things in retrospect looked a littly hefty. This really sets things up for the next exterior detailing phase, in conjunction with which I've taken a few decisions about the differences there will be between the Martel trials XJ481 and XN708 lost on operations: It's prudent to take stock at this stage as the coming phase has to inccorporate the differences between the two aircraft, from minor but easily-overlooked matters such as XJ481 being an early production model minus the Microcell bulges and deciding (because of the attactive paint scheme), to have this as a clean airframe in flight, poss. w/ flaps down, not to mention the truncated Martel test nose. By comparison, XN708 will have radar, RAT, engine bay, airbrake, Microcell reveals, along with a wing folded and U/C down/canopies open. Within a few weeks at the most then the designs are going to bifurcate into two separate sets of plans in oder to accomodate these distinctions: This stage also necessitates cutting away and defining the various features such as control surfaces and U/C doors as an increasingly long list of sub-components for printing - something that it might be wise to generate a third design project for in order to host such sub-assys. and thus avoid having to much clutteraround in the main airframe ones. Ditto for when it comes to interiors like engines and bays, cockpit & etc. The plan for both pilot and observer cockpits is to build them up on an integrated floor that can be slid into place from the rear of the nose section, which (in theory) should allow for maximum ease of installation. The engine bay(s) on XN708 will be a major challenge however and I expect this to eat up considerable time on the build, not just in terms of building a reasonable replica of the engines themsevles but also regarding their installation within the airframe. This may involve mimicking installation of the real thing where there are removable trunions between the access panels affording the required longitudinal access: I found a section in the manintenance manuals also that has drawings of all the non-standard tools provided to ground crew for maintaining the Vixen but be assurred that particular rabbit hole will remain unsullied by Baronial ferretting. I hope this finds you all well. Tony
    10 points
  28. True ben, thankfully! Thanks John - a very timely photo too as I start to pull the i/p together Here's one of the photos Steve posted of their Proctor: Similar, with one straight and one 'looped' control stick (I wonder why?) Yours shows the position of the compass nicely, another doubt elsewhere. Note though that Steve's has the red splodge on the left of the shelf (no idea) if you can see it under the accursed 'Proudly hosted' nonsense. There's some variation in the instruments too - the kit PE looks like Steve's with the missing panel on the right like your photo. All black though - good news! Thanks Giorgio, Dennis, galgos, John (1/32 build one day), Simon and Johnny I can always tell if I'm enjoying a kit if I 'get an itch' in the evening. Tonight's was scratched a bit with more on the i/p. It's an unusual setup with the cowling as a separate bit, shown top here: Then the panel with transfer applied, PE dash, PE shelf (with red splodge fitted) and throttle lever support. On the PE sheet you can see (ahem) the levers, parts 11, 12 and 13. More tiny stuff. Rats. The PE is very nice. The 'gates' are very thin so cutting with a blade is easy and leaves no nubs! One day all PE will be this way… I have learned from experience that trying to glue tiny levers onto flat plastic is impossible. Well, actually, keeping them there is impossible. My answer is to cut some slots in the plastic to represent the real slots: Sadly, hard to cut and harder to photograph! I'll leave things like this for tonight: Wine will be had…
    10 points
  29. Welcome Ian and thanks Thanks John Really good to have you along to add to our knowledge - much appreciated. Landing light sawn, chopped (the S-M fine chisel fits just right) and micro-filed: You know how I like to show off my tools! Now, the ailerons. I may have got them mixed up but this doesn't fit: The hinges are nicely represented and fit in the 'half slots in the ailerons, but they're not quite square in the moulding: Cutting them carefully using the aileron as a guide helped and they're on now, with the really nice PE filler caps: Over the page and onto the interior.
    9 points
  30. Tim's Airfix SBD-5 Dauntless.
    9 points
  31. I've been building a lot of small models recently - The Sioux, Skeeter and a couple of LA-7s. Time for something bigger. Much bigger. I bought the Airfix Catalina PBY-5A a long time ago before I realised that manufacturers re-box old moulds. Some really old. Some, like this one, almost as old as me. In this case 1964 old. I had the usual problems and issues with this kit as can be seen in the WiP. Over twenty pages. But she's done now, thank goodness. New vac formed canopy to replace the kit short shot one, framed with Filmoplast. Replacement scratch built Vickers .303 guns. The kit has foldable floats so, having foolishly decided to have them down, the struts had to be scratched. Stynylrez white primer sprayed with Humbrol acrylic brushed for the camo. Glad she's finished and I hope you like her. Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr The new Vickers: …and the new canopy: Floats and closing rods showing the scratched bay covering: She's now on the ceiling: In formation with the Sunderland and Nimrod: Thanks for looking
    8 points
  32. Hi there, Many moons ago I promised @29Triplex a Phantom from his old Squadron. It is my goal to have built one from each eventually. Well here she is. XV399. Revell re-box of the Hasegawa kit, Xtradecal markings, Aires wheels, Eduard cockpit. Top Notch masks. I used Hataka paints for the camo, Halfords Racking Grey for the underside. Flory washes and Mig Oil Brusher starship filth. Any other staining and weathering was from a selection of cheap boots eye shadows. Enjoy.
    8 points
  33. This is Tameo's 1/43 Ferrari 312PB (kit TMK068). I built it in 1988 (so it's the same age as my eldest son!) when it first came out and it sat on a shelf for a good few years. I can't recall exactly what occurred next, save to say that it ended up on the floor and I trod on it. Being white metal, it bent rather than broke, though it did do a fair bit of both. So it then went in a box, in bits, gradually losing parts along the way and staying that way for probably 25 years. Until a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for spare decals and came across it, as well as two old Airfix kits (Scout helicopter and Bristol Bulldog), still in their bags. Not sure what I'll do with the Airfix, but the poor old Ferrari caught my imagination, so out it came. Paint was stripped with a night spent in a glass jar of MEK and all the lost bits re-made. The MEK also loosened the glued joints and the rest was either unscrewed or just fell apart. A new screen was crash-moulded and replacement decals came from Le Mans Decals (www.lemansdecals.com). So there it is; de-bent, refurbed and ready (with luck) for a second life. I do have a few more kits which need TLC and if I can find replacement decals for them I shall be doing another one soon.
    8 points
  34. Excellent, thanks John It is a sad fact that we've lost so much information that would be a treasure trove to current modellers and it's great to see at least some of it surviving. I guess some of it is due to the old records taking up valuable physical space and being 'culled' during 'efficiency drives'. Other material, like the wonderful Bristol Aircraft Company records I was able to paw over in the Bristol Aerospace archive are bizarrely 'restricted' by product liability concerns. Thanks Roger, you too Thanks Bill There is something about the Proctor isn't there? It just 'looks right'. Nice idea John. I've been fiddling with the internals prior to deciding what I need to paint before (sub) assembly. Holes have been drilled in the bottom of the fuselage and floor as directed: There's a problem though with the locating pins on the floor - they don't line up with the holes: Future builders note. Unless you want to spend a few minutes moving the floor around and wondering what you're doing wrong, like I did The radios have been assembled: …and their shelf prepared in the bulkhead: All very nice so far.
    8 points
  35. Airfix 1/76 Panther with scratchbuilt schurzen fuel tanks and aerial added.
    8 points
  36. One down (up?) and one to go at the front. Five do...UP and two to go at the back. Tell you what, without Ced B and Crisp WAAFU and other interventions this would not be this advanced, arise Sir Pixnor! Champion tweezers of all tweezers. Those wire inserts are of seventy or eighty year old 34 S.W.G. tinned copper wire and the Pixnor finely pointed tweezers went to bench level and picked each piece up and allowed me to measure and cut then fit into the hole each one with no 'droppage' at all. Why am I still waiting to do the final three? I am not the modeller I used to be and picking them up was straining my eyes, even with my Optivisor. Tomorrow (TODAY) is another day, I will do it this afternoon. Ciao.
    8 points
  37. George W. Rarey was a commercial artist and cartoonist working for the Washington Star when, in early 1942, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent for pre-flight training. On November 22, 1943 the 379th Fighter Squadron, along with the rest of the 362nd Fighter Group, set sail for England. George Rarey designed and painted the nose art for almost 30 aircraft. He would sketch a design based on the pilot's character and, if they were happy with it, create it on the cowling. His letter home of March 5, 1944: “Painted some cowlings this afternoon - have about half of them finished. It is a colorful thing to see the old 379th lined up for take off - looks like a menagerie. It sort of gives personality to an otherwise pretty cold collection of machinery. I think it means quite a bit to the pilots, and the crews that keep the planes in shape get a kick out of them, too - and I enjoy doing it, a pretty good thing all around.” He was described by fellow servicemen as gentle and friendly, always drawing or sketching during his free time. At grand old age of 25 he naturally was called “Dad”. On the 22nd March he heard that he had become a father to a son, Damon. In his letter to his wife he said “this happiness is nigh unbearable” and in celebration he renamed and repainted his P-47 as “Damon’s Demon”. In April the 362nd moved to the Advanced Landing Ground at RAF Headcorn in Kent. This meant more dive bombing and less escort duties although D-Day saw them escort a large group of C-47s towing gliders to the beachhead where they dropped onto the Cherbourg peninsula. But ground attack was a risky business and sadly he would never meet his son. On June 26, 1944, Captain George Rarey was leading a flight of four on a search and destroy mission which spotted a German lorry transporting troops. As they attacked, 20mm AA flak appeared around them and, George Rarey's plane exploded. Damon, the son who never met his father, later published a book of his father’s wartime sketches and cartoons entitled “Laughter and Tears”. There is also a website devoted to his father which includes sketches, extracts from letters and how he found the crash site. I can recommend it: http://rarey.com/rareybird/ This is the Tamiya 1:48 P-47D razorback which, as you might expect, was an enjoyable build. The extras were a Yahu instrument panel (I love those things), Montex canopy masks and Barracudacal decals for 'Damon's Demon' from the Maugin's Maulers sheet which includes stencils. The decals worked perfectly – my one gripe being no placement guide for the stencils so there was a bit of research done. Here we are then. Captain George W. Rarey's 'Damon's Demon' of the 379th FS, 362nd FG at RAF Headcorn, Kent, UK which I've attempted as at 6th June 1944. This last picture is my slowly growing collection of 9th Air Force planes - 'Damon's Demon' alongside 'Beantown Banshee' of the 354th FG just a few miles away at RAF Lashenden. I live near those old Advanced Landing Grounds
    7 points
  38. Hi friends! Relaxed work. ICM. I just could not do it. Replaced exhaust pipes from the Mustang. Then that the American motor. Made bulges on the wings above the wheels, wing lights. Decal Difficulties. The plane has scoliosis: tail part to the left. I tried to cook and bend hot. Wanted the best. it turned out as always. Enjoy watching
    7 points
  39. Just for a bit of fun and a break from a lengthy ongoing project I liberated this diminutive 1/200 scale Vulcan from my stash. Whilst it’s probably not the best Vulcan kit on the market, it does scrub up to make a fair representation of XM607, the scourge of Islas Malvinas. Paints are Tamiya acrylics with Humbrol clear lacquers with home made oil washes, and the stand is made by Gemini Jets. It’s built out of the box with no modifications (except opening out the four jet pipes to make them much thinner). I think that’s a first for me!
    7 points
  40. I share this Mirage 2000N Heller 1/48, French Air Force, Tamiya acrylic paints, box version, regular quality model, cut the flaps to give more life to the model ... thanks for stopping by.
    7 points
  41. ICM's new and excellent 1/32nd scale Gladiator Mk 1: Please note, K8000 certainly was a 56 squadron Gladiator but there is no documentary evidence that she, nor any other 56 squadron Gladiator sported the famous chequerboard scheme. This is wishful thinking on my behalf. Max
    7 points
  42. The commissioned Arctic Decals set has arrived! In preparation for the blue, the area around the nacelles is masked:
    7 points
  43. And if by magic So chaps, the three colour scheme, swapped out the NATO green for IJN cockpit green, seems to me to match the faded green better. And NATO Brown Then the black Freehand using my trusty Iwata TR1, I'll tighten up the demarcation with my CM-C, some overspray but nothing too bad at this point. Cheers for looking in Dan
    7 points
  44. Wow, those engines are quite an effort! I've built a couple of models with less parts than in one of them. Here's a parts diagram for the engine sprues. There are 5 parts for the crankcase with mere suggestions of alignment. Much dry fitting and find shaping is needed. The instructions would have you assemble the sides (60, 61) to the top cover (55) in the first step and then get to the rear (43). After much dry-fitting I decided to first attach the rear (43) to the top cover(55) and square them up. This then better aligned the sides (60,61). When attaching the rear, I made sure to make it flush to the rear of the top cover. Note the cylinders have 2 asymmetric sides (69, 72) and are, in theory, keyed to the crankcase bottom (70) to ensure correct orientation. Sadly, the cylinder locating pins are too large for the openings, so I had to drill them out, losing the keying. Now for the errors. The parts diagram and assembly instructions disagree on parts 69 and 72. This bears on the cylinder orientation--we can fix this. Next are parts 73, the valve covers. There should be one per cylinder; sadly, both the parts diagram and actual sprues only have 5. I've looked all over for those last valve covers but they're not to be found. I'll need to make one for each engine. Also notice the pushrods implied with part Pe26, There's no other mention of them. I'll use some 18 mil brass rod for these. Finally, the cylinder tops are apparently keyed to fit the valve covers-sadly the square keying doesn't fit--they'll need adjustment. After a day's off-and-on effort, I've managed to get the crankcase assembled and am now working on the cylinders. Note the two cylinder sides (3 left v. 3 right). You can see the keys in the bottoms of the left cylinders. Hm, lookng at this photo, it's clear the crankcase bottom needs some more shaping... I'm still thinking on how to paint these beasts. I'm also wondering if these engines will be an example of "at least I know it's in there". Thanks for watching my oh so slow progress...
    7 points
  45. My Pirate of Penzance, Revell 1/72 F4U-1B Corsair Royal Navy 759NAS. XtraDecal X72142 Yanks with Roundels part 3.
    7 points
  46. Hi all, Slowly working through my small stash with the help of lockdown, its either that or a trip to Barnard Castle I bought the Eduard D11/D13 dual combo off the back of taking part in the FW190 STGB back in 2012. At that point the absolute next model I needed to do was the D13 'Yellow 10' that was in the boxing, hard to believe that was nearly 8 years ago now but gives you an idea of my slow build rate! I finally cracked this out properly a couple of months ago and decided to build both Yellow 10 and Red 4, as who doesn't need a JV44 bird in the proper scale. I was aware from other builds I had seen on the net that this kit needs a bit of care to get it fitting right so decided to focus on Red 4 first and hopefully learn from any mistakes rather than ruining 2 kits at the same time. To be fair, although the fit is to very tight tolerances it can mostly be persuaded to fit where it should, just a lot of patience and glueing and clamping bits at a time to pull it all together. The main areas of difficulty I encountered were those usually mentioned, i.e the wing root cannon covers and alignment on the engine plug and front cowl, but nothing terrible and i reckon its still well worth the effort what what is otherwise a lovely detailed kit. The build was pretty much as supplied in the box, with the addition of some Ultracast resin exhausts I had kicking around, they were meant for the Tamiya D9 but fit with far less trouble than me trying to hollow out all the kit tips I also tried scratching some of the finer details such as the brake lines, electrical cabling on the gear legs and landing gear indicators, plus some fishing mono for the aerial cable. Paints were mostly Gunze for the RLM colours and Tamiya elsewhere sprayed through an Iwata Neo. Then sealed with Alcad aqua gloss and finished with an oil wash and Xtracrylics matt varnish. Anyway, I hope you like the build and now to pick up with Yellow 10 properly, just hoping I can achieve the camo! Any C&CC welcomed as ever, thanks Stu And one last adversary shot with my Airfix Mk.XIVe
    6 points
  47. Morning folk's,this little kit is turning out to be the most enjoyable so far.Not a jot of filler needed and after a couple of brushed coats of Humbrol silver time for the black anti-glare panel and tail to get some attention.Next will be the yellow leading edges which I'll paint rather than decal and finally it's dot dot dot time.
    6 points
  48. Another update. Seems to be going ok at the moment, despite initially completely omitting the outer wing cannons. Some blatant bodging later, and the guns are now on. Weird early war colour scheme for a 190 (RLM 02 and 71 upper camo), but that's what the plane requires, apparently. When compared to the Pembrey pics, the mottling looks a bit under-done at the moment, but I think it will turn out ok. A bit of detail painting tomorrow, followed by a clear coat, and then the decals can go on...
    6 points
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