Leaderboard

Fresh off the bench is the Academy 1/72 P-51B Mustang "Old Crow". Built completely OOB, this kit was a good fit with a decent level of detail. This was my first build with invasion stripes. The kit provides decals for the invasion stripes, but I chose to paint these instead. The white on the decals was rather translucent, which I touched up with white paint in areas over the invasion stripes. I had a lot of difficulty moving the decals once placed. Where they landed, they stayed, but they conformed very well. I simply focused on trying to keep both sides of the aircraft similar. In my haste, I placed the decals on the wrong side of the prop. Since I didn't realise until the final stage, I painted over them with black paint and cracked on. Issues and errors aside, I tried something new, learnt plenty along the way, and I'm pretty happy with the end result. Thanks for viewing!

This is the AMP kit of the McDonnel Douglas KC-10 Extender. I have used Caracal decals to make an aircraft of the 2BW that operated during Desert Storm in 1991 that also had nose art. Although Caracal thoughtfully started the blue section around the nose as a decal , I could not get a real proper match for this colour so I masked off this area up until the start of the fuselage stripe so that this mismatch is not too obvious. Any C and Cs gratefully received.

Hello Friends, Just finished the F-15DJ of the JASDF in the Aggressor Color Scheme of Sand, Brown and Black. Academy F-15E Strike Eagle kit has been used as a donor kit and built into this F-15DJ. The model is built OOB and no mods have been used. The paints used are locally available acrylic paints. It has taken me around 20 days to build this model and I feel that it still is incomplete. Specially the decals and the stencils. Due to the pandemic I haven't been able to get my hands on the Relevant F-15DJ Decals and Stencils. Thus for the time being I just write the stencils and will paint the markings with grey paint and use the decals later on. The Work In Progress build is divided into a 3 part video series. Do have a look and do mention your valuable comments to improve upon in the future. Let me know what you think about the techniques and my ways. . . Do Enjoy the Pictures and the Build . . . . .Cheers Friends . . .

Here is my finished Zvezda Airbus A320-232 in the new colours of United Airlines registration N486UA in 1/144 scale. The kit was OOB with the aftermarket decals from RichW and the detailing A320 set from Authentic Airlines. The Zvezda Kit speaks for itself, it comes with the option to have the flaps and slats extended or retracted, as is the option I went for. Something I learnt making this kit is that the United A320 doesn’t have the coroguard sections on the wings. Paints used were Holts Grey for the Wings and Stabilisers, Halfords Appliance White for the fuselage and a blended version of Revell 54. The metals are a mix of Revell Aqua colours. The decals again are excellent, and I highly recommend them. This was the first time I’d tried the AA Detail sheet and I have to say I was very impressed, it just helps to add that extra bit of realism to the build. I have the 737 sheet for my Ryanair B738 that I’m working on, so I look forward to seeing how that one turns out. I also replaced the Grass on my Runway baseboard, and I am happy with the way it has helped to resemble actual grass as apposed to the ‘flat’ sheet grass I had before (Jet2 B738 build). As always thank you for looking and any feedback/comments are always greatly received. Alistair

Here is my Tornado F3 built for the Tornado Warning Group Build. Revell (ex Italeri) with PJ productions seats, Master pitot, decals from Model Alliance set 72152 painted with Hataka and Tamiya acrylics and Vallejo metal colours. Thanks for looking. AW

Hello everyone, This is my first post to Britmodeller. I have chosen to present a model I completed last year. It was an A-7E that I converted to A-7H of the Hellenic Air Force and specifically of the 336th Squadron "Olympus". I used Humbrol enamels for the typical SEA camouflage and the cockpit was the AIRES A-7E early cockpit that I managed to copy (I have quite a few A-7s in stock ). The wheels are also resin copies of the Italeri A-7D kit. The weapon load is a typical readiness configuration in the HAF and consists of 5 Mk84 general purpose bombs, 2 AIM-9P and one external fuel tank. All decals except roundels are homemade (printed on decal with laser printer) and RBFs are made from aluminium foil. I hope you like it! And a few on the small base I made. Take care everyone!

Having increased my Harrier love during my Falklands Dogfight build I expressed a wish to build more, especially the prototype P1127. Our own @perdu came to the rescue and within days this arrived in the post: Thanks Bill, very much appreciated This is a rare kit, tooled in 1963 and since then only reboxed. So very old Airfix. You know I like a challenge! I can't do the customary shots of the part trees as most parts have been removed: I've checked the parts against the instructions (took about five minutes) and I seem to be missing the starboard outriggers: …and the port retracted one has a wheel missing. Looks like there's some scratch building / molding in my future! I've also been warned about the canopy being to wide: …but this one seems fine so it's been dipped in Aqua Gloss: Looks pretty good. Of course the sixty-plus year old transfers need care: They're in a bag stuck to the window in the hope some of the yellowing will go: Yes, they are hung with the transfers to the sun. Well, what counts as sun at the moment. We'll see what that does over time. Looking forward to this one!

Evening all, First of all I must thank @Deanflyer for all of his help on this build as without him I would not have been able to reproduce this aircraft. I present to you today the AZ models 1/72 spitfire Tr.9 dressed up in the colours of NH341 Elizabeth. The model is built as a gift for my brother who was lucky enough to have a fly in and fly, for a bit this plane for his 50th birthday. I was originally going to build the brigade conversion but @Deanflyer was happy to let one of his spare AZ ones go to a new home and he also let me have the template for me to print off my own decals for the nose, code, squadron crest and kill score markings, plus some masks for the fuselage letters. Thanks again Dean! The build itself was a little more of a challenge as I'm only used to airfix and revell. There are no locator pins anywhere on the kit and the wing tips and tail elevators are all butt joints. No tabs! Plenty of filling and sanding to be done but enjoyed the build and pleased with how it has turned out. Plus its going to be in a case so most mistakes will be hidden, result!. As always, thanks for looking.

Hello Dears, Here we go in the Korean peninsula ... Yes... Once more !! Then, it's the 3rd Mustang out from my Pony's lunacy... If one had an intrerest in the deeds of the Tuskegee Airmen, or in the Career of Col Robin Olds... There's a common point in these two stories...The common point is named Daniel James Jr !! The man has been fully trained as a fighter pilot but war in Europe came to an halt just before he reached the front... Then, he participated in the Korean War, in 12th FBS, 18th FBG, flying the Mustang in a jet war !! I will not tell the whole story here since I still have some Chappie's build to do... One thing to keep in mind is that, Daniel James finished his carrer in the Air Force as a 4 star General, commanding the NORAD ! I spent a lot of time searching for the right serial but to no avail.. So, best educated guess has been the path I followed up. Since pics of Chappie's bird are rare... Here's one !! Of course, I altered the so nice Tamiya's sharmouth !! And in showing the pic of the real thing... the one who always complain about overdone weathering have a right answer... In fact, I stayed restrained Paints are Alclad and Xtracrylics, armament came from the box, Napalm bombs were made from War weary fuel tanks ! I can't resist a Pony family pic ! Well Gents, comments are welcome as usual !! Banter are mandatory !! Have a nice modelling sunday !! CC

Albatros D.V 1:48 Eduard ProfiPACK This is the venerable Eduard Albatros DV/DVa kit Reviewed here back in 2018. I've always liked Otto Kissenberth's black aircraft with the large edelweiss motif on the side, so took the opportunity to build this from one of the kit options. In the review I was not sure about the colours of the lozenge decals, but having applied them over the same black paint as the fuselage, they look pretty good. The model is virtually 'out of the box' except for the slight alteration to the undercarriage legs to lengthen them (see review link). I think the Eduard Albatros sits too low without this mod. On with the photos: The kit supplies the 'fore and aft' rib tapes as decals, but it also needs to be applied around the leading and trailing edges of the wings. I mixed some Tamiya acrylic to match, and hand painted it, which I think was well worth the effort. Thanks for looking, John

Hi! A few days ago I finished the F-15E from the Academy. Easy construction, very good detail. I just changed the nozzles to Aires. Main color painted FS36118 from AK RC. I also used Tamiya, Gunze, Vallejo and AK Xtreme metal paints.

hi all. Here is my last build from the Royal class box. Nice kit but decals were a nightmare : falling apart....i had to buy some extra decals form DRAWDECALS to achieve her. Anyway , here are my pics : i hope you enjoy.

Hi Friend's. I thought I would do something a little different.I bought this cheap pre coloured snap together kit. Well what a mistake that was,upon opening the box all I saw was nothing,I thought I had been ripped off but then I put my hand in the box and felt something even though I couldn't see. I realised that the parts were in the box,no problem I thought. There were 10 part's in the kit,head arm's torso,shoe's,leg's and hand's. I managed to feel my way around the part's of the kit before I snapped them together.One really annoying problem I had was that I dropped a part,it took me about 2 hour's to find.My wife had thought I had gone madder than usual because I was running my hand's slowly over the floor and desk. Having finally managed to put the kit together.I decided to add some ink wash's to add depth to the kit,of course I used invisible ink.I then placed the finished kit on this wooden plinth. Over all I think I did enjoy doing this kit and would recommend it to anyone interested in this sort of model. Hope you like. All the best. Ralph.

Hello All, This is my first model that I share in this community. Unfortunately I need to admit that I am a very slow builder. Still at last I could finish a model after 2 years. Well, the reason; moving to a new country, getting new training for my job etc. The model is detailed with very minor additions like seatbelts (FM Nano) fuel line, brakes lines, handles for the canopy, self made pitot tube, antenna. Also only the devil head and the number 154 are decals. Paints used are from Gunze Sangyo. Only the hard lines on the wings and elevators are masked. The rest and the wavy camouflage on the leading edges of the wings are painted without masking. I tried tro depict as if the colors are faded under strong sun. But as they kept working around the engine and cockpit those areas manitained the darker tone. Weathering is done with tonned down colors, Tamiya Weathering sets, Gaianotes enamel paint etc. I hope it is worth to be seen by You all. Critiques are very welcomed. Thank You, Arkut

Hello Dears, That did'nt occur very oftenly but !!! 2 RFI the same day !! Yiiihaaaaaa !! So here we go, pure cold war time. At the time being, tension were really high, 78th Fighter Interceptor Squadron is reclassed as 78th Fighter Bomber Sqdn charged with nuclear strike... The Mk 7 bomb has to be "Tossed over the shoulder" and there was a Mk 7 for every bridge on the Vistul river... Ahem !! With such an amount of nuclear blast, I think that the vistul river will have been evaporated.... Thus rendering the bridges totally irrelevants... The pilots were trained to fly with an eye masked over... In this way if they have to be blinded by the nuke blast of another aircraft, he still got a chance to get back home... The kit depict a Nuclear QRA Aircraft, fully loaded with the Mk 7 and 3 fuel tanks.. Of course, to get all this metal chunk airborne, the Jato bottles were used !! Basically, it's the 1984 Monogram edition, I added some plasticard, harness and so on I just improve the kit a bit Paints are Alclad, the decals were worn but I saved it with Microscale decal film ! I started this kit in Ahem... 1988 ! It is not my longest build yet !! Here's a pic of the original A/C used as a gate guardian. Well Gents !! Comments and advices are welcome, Banter is mandatory !! It's up to you !! Free fire zone in 3, 2, ... Sincerely. CC

Here is the latest addition to my 1:72 collection. This is a reboxing of a 1982 kit, with 2019 decals. I was actually very happy with the way this kit went together - there was good fit all round, apart from the canopy, which fits on one side, but leaves a bit of a gap on the other. There is no intake detail; it is blanked off just forward of the nose wheel bay. I painted the intake black, but I suppose more experienced modellers would be able to cut out that section and build an intake trunk. Similarly, there is no exhaust detail inside the nozzle, but the exhaust nozzle looks quite good. Some kits, like the Revell F/A-18 give two options for exhaust nozzles, in the open and closed positions. This only has the closed position. The kit does come with parts to make a two-seater variant, including two pilot figures, controls, seats, and double canopy - but the instructions only cover the single-seat version. The raised panel lines means that it's lost a bit of detail around the wing roots where it needed filling and then sanding, but with the dark paint, and no weathering, it's not that noticeable. Right now, I'm finishing up with the AGM-65 Maverick missiles, but I'm calling this one done for now.

thanks guys been a bit busy on the Fury - much of what I started to do has been binned and remade, so while you have seen this, you haven't seen the accurate version ..first I remade the tubular framework with squared joints which was a way Hawker managed to joint tubes in this way.. here also some of the brackets are being added (with dummy ali tubes) that support the control stick / rudder pedal assembly.. ..checking the alignment again by putting both side frames together..this is crucial for everything to be true & square.. ..also made up the fuel tank from a pen lid covered in litho sheet.. ..getting the right positioning of the mounting brackets.. ..then the seat - this was remade from drawings using sheet litho... ..then the addition of some detail parts - PPD turned around the PE in 5 days (for a premium ), they are amazing, but they did it in brass not nickel silver by mistake so while they re-do it I can use the brass bits on things that will be painted.. ..the height adjustment lever is a complex contraption.. ..and the entire kit of parts for the seat.. and dry fitted ready for painting.. ..all the parts were primed and painted with alclad and MRP.. ..and the whole lot dry fitted.. ..so, as you were, but at least now I know it's right ..probably do the rudder bar next.. TTFN Peter

No posts for two days? Sorry all, clearing leaves and calming down! Better now so let's see where we are… Could do. I think the problem though was flash in the slots. Painful - fnaar!! Now hendie you know I can't resist a nice gizmo Thanks for the smartie points too - is there a catalog for gifts? I bet I'll need another 2,334,556 points for that nice porcelain duck I've been admiring… Brilliant, thanks Bill Thanks Jont Thanks Ben - we don't have a wood burner here so I'll have to make do with wine leaf clearing Thanks Keith After a wipe down with IPA (being very careful of the greeblies) we're in the spray booth: Now then, the Scooter has an exhaust to shove a pipe up but the SHAR is lacking any suitable orifices. Rats. Badger say that Stynylrez primer dries in 5-8 minutes so I should be able to spray the fin and back bit, then spray all the other kit bits and then come back to the SHAR, like this: It worked! Primer, for me, is to hide any differing finishes (like filler) and to give the top coats something to hang on to. It's also for some shading so I wasn't looking for an even coat this time: Honest. Both models needed a lot of twisting around to make sure the weapon pylons were primed. Flippin' jets. I know there'll be some time waiting for paint dry over the next few days so I've started my next build thread, the P1127 kit kindly donated by Bill - thanks Bill!

Thanks Chris! Now he tells me....sounds like a good idea thought! Yessir! Chocks away, tally ho and a spiffing good time for all. What? Oh, ok Doc. Cheers Ced! Thanks Crisp, much appreciated! I have not been idle. Despite the lack of updates there has been progress, it's just been very slow. Here then is a summary of that progress. When we last visited, I was getting psyched up to make lots of tiny pulleys. They are 1mm discs punched out of 0.25mm plastic rod, drilled, and mounted on 0.4mm aluminium rod. I needed 8 so I made 8 Silly me, I should know better by now. 4 fitted on the underside and 1 left! The other 3 are watching me from somewhere not far away and sniggering to each other. I also added 4 control horns while I was at it so I wouldn't have to wait for them to dry when I came to fit the wires. Of course that train of thought is only relevant if I don't didn't knock some off later anyway! Which left me with this x2 Then it was time to add more wire! I had decided on a plan of action previously. There are double linkages on the ailerons with the lines joined just inboard of the inboard pulley, so I had decided to add the first line all the way to the outer attachment, then tie another line on for the inner attachment. The biggest problem was simply getting the line to sit on the edge of the .25mm discs so I could glue it in place. Eventually the outer lines were done. Then when those were good and dry I tied on the inner ones and added a spot of CA to the knot to keep it from sliding. Getting the lines attached to the control horns has always been a pig of a job. For some reason this time around I suddenly had an idea. I snipped off a short piece of plastic rod of the same size as the horns and cut a slot in one side with a micro saw. I then simply slipped this in under the wire, just behind the control horn, with the wire in the slot, then slid it across until the wire was resting against the side of the horn at exactly the right height. A drop of CA was added while I held the wire taut - easy to do as it was resting on the little plastic block, et voila! To avoid pulling it off when tensioning the rear end, I used a piece of .25 x 1.5mm strip for the same purpose. Slipped under the wire just behind the horn it meant I wasn't pulling down on the CA joint while tensioning it. It worked! The underside rigging is finished with the exception of the landing gear and elevator control horns (both of which, needless to say, have been knocked off!) The landing gear has also been added. It needs a little tweaking to straighten it up, and while I was attempting that, I loosened the left strut between the booms again. I have managed to get it and the associated rigging back in place and am now leaving it well alone. I may remove the landing gear again to tweak the angle slightly but that will wait. To sum up, I am now on the home straight. I need to fix the undercarriage, do the aileron rigging on the top side, including adding the pulleys and control horns, then finish and add the engine. Then it's a quick touch up around the cockpit and add the Lewis gun, and she's finished! Stay safe, and thanks for looking in! Ian

The Typhoon/Tempest booklet you have been reading contains a lot of useful information but it is badly organised, with some unfortunate typos and some relevant facts are missing. So no wonder you found it difficult to read. 29 September 1942 The yellow stripe was applied in response to several 'blue on blue' incidents; above and below the wing. 2 November 1942 White noses and black stripes under the wings were added - yellow stripes remained over the wings. late November early December 1942 White noses removed and white stripes added between the black ones 3 February 1943 Yellow stripes over wings removed in 11 Group (after Fw190s spotted with same marking). c. July 1943 Yellow wing stripes removed in 10 and 12 Groups All the above compiled from official records.

With the recent disastrous attempt at an F2b and with the realization that in many respects I'm still a novice I decided that I am in need of some practice before I make a second attempt at an F2b. I currently have an Audax on the go, but you can hardly call that rigging (says he with complete naivete) so thought I should attempt something a bit more challenging in the rigging arena before another F2b becomes an FFFF (thanks for that phrase Crisp!) My camera seems to have had an appetite and a few photo's have disappeared so you'll just have to bear with me and pretend that I actually did the things that you can see - I'm way too tight fisted to sub-contract my modeling. First up was to prime a bunch of bits. Exciting huh? Rolling on I went to work on the engine. I should point out at this juncture that I am using the Revell boxing of Eduards Camel F1. I sincerely hope that the Eduard boxings are better than this. Whoever Revell chose to mold this kit isn't on my Xmas list. Almost every part has some degree of flash, and there's a parting line mismatch on just about everything. Why dammit? Parting line locks are off-the-shelf items available for literally a few bucks, yet companies always seem to skimp on this, yet with a simple machining operation these annoying mold mismatches could be eliminated. Of course, this meant that pretty much every single part needs some kind of clean up. Anyways... the engine. Eduard designed this kit with the engine components inside a circular runner. Nice idea and it offers great protection for very delicate parts, but how on earth do you get those parts out with causing damage? Answer: I couldn't Even gentle application of a razor saw bent the parts. In the end I cut off those spindly bits and replaced them with wire. That meant having to drill 2 x 03 mm holes through the tappets on each cylinder. Oh what joy. I also had to drill all the receiving holes in the crankcase and hope I got everything aligned properly. I wish I could remember what paint and what sequence I used for this engine color as I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The photo doesn't really do it justice. I know I used two flavors of Alclad but that's about it. I removed the rather misshapen blob of a filler cap on this oil tank and replaced it with brass rod For the floor I used Dull Aluminum BMF. It still seems darned shiny to me The instrument panel, though basic is still challenging to paint. This is probably some of my best detail painting to date. More luck than skill though. A bunch of work was done on other internals all captured for all eternity on the lost for all eternity on the great disappearing photos. Detail painting the interior. Adding thee cross bracing. A few control lines, oil lines etc. Then it came time for the last component before closing up the fuselage... the pilots seat. Well, not one of Eduards finest moments, lets say. I considered nicking the chair from the failed F2b, but it didn't feel right so I had to come up with an alternative... okay, lets have a bash at making one from scratch and see what happens. 1. (sorry for the blurry shot) Using the kit part as a template I drew around the seat a few times on some scrap styrene 2. A length of brass wire was bent around a tube of suitable diameter, then the ends were bent over - this was my third attempt to get the right dimensions/bend radius. Two holes were then drilled in the styrene, the wire stuck in place and superglued. A small strip of styrene was then glued around the base to form the "U" shape of the seat pan 3. A ratch around my scrap drawer produced a piece of diamond pattern brass mesh that looked about right so this was cut (roughly) and glued to the small strip on the seat pan. 4. Excess mesh was trimmed back and the remnants bent over the brass wire forming the seat back. 5. Two more sections of brass mesh (smaller weave) were then glued onto the seat back, and the seat back was then coated with Mr Dissolved Putty Which, when painted up has a passing resemblance to a WWI type wicker seat. I'll stick my neck out here and say that I think it's better than the kit part. (need to tone that gloss look down a bit though) Here's the state of play so far. I followed the kit color scheme for that fuel tank but now I'm not so sure - I may attempt to paint it a more bare metal color though it's not really going to be seen. I'd better go and feed my camera prior to the next session

Hello to all of you guys and girls on this forum.I present you my East German MiG-21f13.I built it OOB with the exception of the homemade seatbelts and the missiles and rails that came from the spares box.I used gunze and tamiya paints on this one.Enjoy it. https://youtu.be/r-jGsZITjSE

#23/2020 My dad´s latest completion. Airfix kit, seatbelt decals for the pilot seat from the sparesbox, masking tape for the other seats, painted with a selfmixed RLM65 (mix not known anymore), ochre paint mixed with Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow and Gunze H310 Tan, Gunze H309 FS34079 green and Tamiya XF-10 Brown. Markings are from Lift Here Decals and LF models. Used EZ Line for the antenna wire. The kit provides only one type of pitot tube, so my dad cut off the lower part and glued a plastic rod onto it to get the needed one. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235079732-balkans-brit148-bristol-blenheim-mki-royal-yugoslav-airforce/ Besides the initial two British Blenheims which came in silver, Yugoslavia produced 40 licence aircraft that where factory painted in the Yugo 3-tone scheme, a further 20 used RAF aircraft were bought too. These came in DG/DE over black camo. Most of them were repainted in Yugo camo until the German attack in April 1941. Decided to build one of the repainted planes. Lift Here Decals were for aircraft No.3548. This was the only imported Blenheim that received additional defensive guns and a new turret. Because my dad is no scratchbuild god he decided to leave the number away and apply none. The roundels were too big, so I bought a LF Models Yugo Bf110 decal sheet (used one of these recently as you may remember) and these roundels suited much better. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0024 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0026 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Hi all Following on from our amazing Centre of Aviation Photography visit to Andravida in November 2019, we paid a visit with some local enthusiasts to the Santomeri Mount Skollis Region Low Flying Area and were rewarded with this! This was my first experience of this type of photography, so I played it safe with shutter speeds, but I was happy with the images from an incredibly exciting experience! Thanks for looking.

Hi, everybody! It's my next model.

Time for family pics now !! Early U.S jets !! Now My Cold War jet serie !! And why not the full Cold War serie ?? Have a great modelling sunday Gents !! And take care of you and yours !! Sincerely. CC

Come on Ced, took me longer to work out how to attach this to the post than to find it. Image 4 on a quick Google search The canopy sits on rails and slides up, in the process the two little canopy recesses give clearance to the antennae

What do you think ?? Only one batch of pics from CC ?? Nooo !! I got more for you.. Here's my Korean war serie so far !! I say so far... 'cause the next one is almost done... Well @Biggles87 please feel free to show your F-51 on here, And if one of you Guys know how to use Photoshop properly... Feel free to put the 2 F-51 side by side with a suitable background !! I'll try it but, I'm far from a PC wizzard... And here's an incentive for our friend @The Spadgent And still I have some other grinning aircraft... Look how one can be affected.... Whatever !! Thank for the support, the infos and friendship here on BM !! It's up to you now !! Sincerely. CC

Thanks RGL Well I guess it's over half way through this project with HMS Kent sitting in RFI And here are the sisters with berwick soon tobe planted in the Styrofoam I've got to that stage where an awful lot of work goes in with very little to show so here's a summary of current component progress This particular launch is not available from Micromster and derives from kit plastic hull and WEM etch cabin - didn't tun out too bad I mentioned before that the hangaer structure is almost a model in it's own right. Sitting atop are the 36" searchlights from micromaster - things of sheer beauty! The boat nearest is a Micromaster 30 ft gig, Ough states, "The gig was gnerally called the "Blue boat"as it was painted dark blue in the Home Fleet and pale blue in the Mediterranean Fleet, and it was kept in a condition of extreme smartness, evenmore so than the rest of those carried, whcih were also maintained at a high stnadard for it is an old saying in the Royal Navy that "a ship is known by her boats" and when away from the ship her boats'crews carry the credit fo the ship with them". A nice touch from the WEM set is this Walrus trolley that was used to carry th aircraft in to the hanger And one query for you all - the following pic shows the HACS mk IV on the right and the HACS Mk III on the left thatI've just received fom Mm. The III is substantially smaller. References indicate that the C class cruisers definitly carried HACS III and this is what it was bought for - Kent I'm certain carried HACS IV with the Type 285 radar - I can't find any specific mention as to whether Berwick would use III or IV in 1940. Can anyonoe throw light on this?? More soon Thanks for looking Rob

I can easily change the order in the charts! I have the power of the holy spreadsheet! You'll need to file the right paperwork first, it needs to be done in triplicate, in 8 size Leelawadee UI Semilight font, on Moravian 180gsm Vellem, and in Black Nut Gall ink. All signatures must be verified and witnessed by 9 vestal virgins before being rolled up and placed in a golden tube before carried aloft by carrier Budgie to our Great and every Watching Dear Leader Ezno the not quite so magnificence as he use to be, for his thoughtful and ever wondrous judgement. This of course needs to be done before the 3rd lunar cycle of the 4th smallest moon of Saturn, Enceladus, but no earlier than the 2nd lunar cycle Neptune's Laomedeia. Though if you're using the Julian Calendar this must be in before the 20336th. Plus remember our Great and every Watching Dear Leader Ezno the not quite so Magnificence as he use to be doesn't like to be disturbed before 9am.....he needs all the beauty sleep he can get. Of course this can all be made to go away through an envelope containing a large quantity of small denomination bills......... in US currency of course! Plus you do know how Craig "I'm not making drinks any more" likes to fib!!!

Evening folk's,another of my all time favourite kits Airfix's old tool Vb.Lord knows how many of these I've built since it was a new release this is the second this year,now before the flaming torches and pitchforks are dug out I seem to recall Airfix molded the prop blades back to front certainly they don't look right anyway here she is and thank's for looking. Here's Airfix's old tool 109 my other MTO GB build. And the other of this years builds of the kit.

These were a couple of quick builds that I did over the summer. The first is the familiar Trumpeter LAV-25 kit, with a few add-on attachments. The kit was missing wheels when I bought it, so some of the ones you see are Milliput cloned replacements, all but one of which worked very well. The second kit is a cheap "4D Puzzle Model"s Chinese kit (£10 incl postage) of the Cougar, which was surprisingly good, especially at this scale. In retrospect, my windows are far too green (oops), but my only criticism of the kit would be the too prominent markings on the tyres. It does come with the "flagpole" anti IED device to fit on the front bumper, but I decided to leave this off. FredT

Hello my Friends. This is the 1/700 S Models kit with Artwox deck. All the best. Ralph.

Evening all This is my attempt at '332700' - a Bf109K-4 of JG27, found unserviceable by the allies at Wunstorf in April 1945, along with many other aircraft types, apparently including 18 other Bf109s, four Fw190s, two Ju88s and an Italian SM75 transport, mostly in various stages of 'dismantlement' - is that a word? The Fujimi kit went together well, using a Montex mask set (the Hakenkreuze are decals) and finished mainly with Vallejo and some Mig acrylics. There is a bit of calculated guesswork on the colours, but I went with the consensus, which seems fairly well documented - either way, the late-war colour variations are all part of the fun. Pics taken outside in low light - as usual for West Wales in November. One day I'll take some decent pics.. Hope you like. Comments welcome.

Here is my other Eduard 1:144 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21Bis "Fishbed N" which I built back in 2012. It represents "Blue 223", of the People's Air Force of Mozambique, at Beira AB, Mozambique, in 1988. The kit was built OOB and painted with brush except for the final light coat of matt varnish which was airbrushed. The decals came from a Berna Decals sheet. The rocket pods came from an Attack 1:144 MiG-21 kit. I had arranged the pylons so that they would be carried on the inner ones but the undercarriage fouled the fit of the pods so I put them on the outer ones. It seems this machine was used for attacks on FRELIMO guerilla forces. I did some weathering but it isn't noticeable in the photos! Thanks for looking Miguel

Thanks Giorgio I've just checked the scheme in a panic and, luckily, no transfers on the lower wing. Phew! I have noticed the white runners for the AIMs though. Gah! Bill I've just seen your post about messing with my head in the 'Server' problem thread. Assuming this isn't one of those attempts… Before: After: Surprisingly few suitable reference shots so I used the box art from the Airfix kit. We aim to please… If they're still in the wrong place then please post a suitable reference shot - I'm sure future builders will benefit, but those are staying there!

So next up the kit below The box art is the look I'm going for and hopefully i can come up with a plan to reproduce it. The kit itself looks really good and the quality of the sprue parts is excellent with no flash to be seen anywhere. I've made a start today with the wheel assemblies which contain springs for suspension and although there's a few separate parts involved and a bit of clean up required they go together well. Not a massive amount to look at but a good few hours to fit together. The pic below shows the track sprues and there's certainly a lot of work involved in getting them put together So that's how things currently stand ,I think this may be a longer build than the Marder but I don't mind I'm enjoying myself. Thanks for looking back soon 🙂👍

This is a very simple rather crude white metal kit primarily aimed at wargamers. As you can see from the bag topper, it claims it's 25mm 1/72 scale, Only problem is most sources I find say that 25mm scale is actually 1/64, which is born out by the fact that a 1/72 W/D resin kit I have of the same vehicle is much smaller. In any case, it was a simple build and really done to practice the camouflage technique. It is OOTB with the exception of the bed in the back. It was cast completely flat and looked very bare, so I added a bed made from scribed styrene stock. Also I was shorted one of the front fender/side running board units, so rather than make one replacement that would look very different from the kit supplied one, I did them both from sheet styrene.

H

Woah...Yesterday was a day of crash. I tried to finish Lysander but each time I tried to do sth with it I was breaking sth. When spats disintegrated at one moment I had enough. Today is much better. I've finished this oldie, figures and base can wait. Let's sum it up...I've worked with Matchbox 1/32 Westland Lysander - in original Matchbox box, which is exactly the same as Revell. I bought Eduard seatbelst, Master's barrels and Montex masks. I've rebuild pilot's and observer seats. Elecrical panel was build from scratch as well as map box. I've rebuild MG-s, barrels were removed and changed for Master's ones. Panel lines were made deeper; also position lights were modified. I could's make wheels fit so I had to modify landing lights. Bomb lauynchers were scratchbuild, ones from box looked like something used to shave sheeps . Ammo boxes are left-overs from Legend set. Ammo belts are from Tamiya set. Montex masks for cockpit are usable but usually too big or too small. A lot of work is needed to make transparent parts fit. The worst part was windshiels-fuselage conection. I've mixed Vallejo 331 with acrylic water putty. As a resuld I've got typical RAF interior green. I've puttied seams, after it was dry, I've used white Tamiya putty to get rid of any irregularities. I've painted Lysander with Tamiya, AK and Mr.Hobby range. As a documentation I've used 4+ Publications, Warpaint and Orange series books. In one of them I've read that checkerboards were not identical on both sides, I've assumed that one of them was turned. As kit's bombs were looking like everything but no 20lb bombs I've decided not to mount them Weathering is AMMO fluids and Tamiya pigments. Also I've used watercolor crayons and eveliners for chipping and dirt along with AMMO silver for deepest chips. Wingspan of Lysander is astonishing I'd like to thank Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden for making my mojo flow while listening "Book of Souls" album, especially "Empire of the Sky" track

Hi everyone, Here are the final photos of the IL2 Tamiya, a super nice model to assemble and which allows you to quickly go to painting. For the patina it's traditional, from aluminum to foam pads and watercolor pencil, earth pigments for walking areas and trains. The exhaust traces are made with a first pass of a brown / black mixture, a trace of beige in the middle and dark brown on the edges. Antenna cables in elastic wire glued to the cyano and canopy in vac form from Rob Taurus history that everything remains visible. I finally replaced all the barrels with Albion Alloy metal tubes, they are painted black and brushed with gun metal pigments like the rear machine gun. You can found the WIP here: http://warpaints.net/viewtopic.php?f=125&t=15123 Regards Joel

Evening folk's Airfix old tool Spitfire Vb.

Sprayed overall with Tamiya XF-88 Dunkelgelb. The camouflage patter was then oversprayed with Tamiya XF-89.

A Bristol 2 litre looking quietly stylish today.... That's quite a family saloon, isn't it?

Tail rigging. It’s still a bit large, but it’s not far from the etched wire size. Having fitted and repainted all the struts, it comes time to do this bit. There’s some nice extra detail, such as inspection ports and control horns, as well as spares of the main rigging parts. The question is whether I feel in the mood for faffing with this today. The answer, it appears, is no. So, I shall go and do something else for the rest of the day.

'Pog' Recently I have taken up gaming - Fortnite to be specific - and I must say even though I am very inept it is quite addictive. I can certainly see the appeal. My daughters are my coaches and they are teaching me not only how to play but also about gaming culture. Apparently these days when a gamer achieves something that they are very happy with they exclaim 'POG' very loudly. Apparently 'gosh I'm happy with that' is not in the current gamer vocabulary. Instead one says 'Pog' - I guess it's quicker and gets you back to shooting people sooner. So now let's look at my recent work on the tracks. Specifically my attempt to replace the promising but rather messy set that was in the previous post. This time I've tried a slightly different method of fabricating them. The result - I think -is quite satisfactory. In fact I will simply say "Pog!” As per @Redshift s timely suggestion some woodwork is involved. Here is a block of balsa about to become a forming template for my tracks. Once again cut out the shape you need and stick it onto the block with spray on photo adhesive. Use a rasp and some sandpaper to bring the soft balsa down to the required shape. I would have used a bandsaw, but this was after 8:30 PM and my wife has imposed a curfew on power tools in my shed. ⏱️ Not that it really matters - it's balsa so it only takes a minute or two to get it knocked into order. Pog! Now carefully measure off the length between the tips of the cogs on the drive sprocket. This distance will determine the length of each pad on the tracks because one 'notch' in the sprocket must match one link in the track. Consequently we need to draw a line every 7.25 mm on this sheet of 2.5mm thick Evergreen plastic. As per the previous post I then used a combination of scalpels, chisels, files and Olfa cutters to make an evenly spaced series of notches on each track - configured in such a way to create the appearance of pads. I then carefully worked out the correct position of the track relative to the balsa former and tacked it into place with a series of drawing pins. One of the great things about balsa is that you can pin things to it very easily. At this point I have not bent the track at all but I have determined exactly which links joins will need to bend and have cut them about 0.5mm deeper than the surrounding straight links. This is in preparation for the bending step to follow. "Pog" Now for the clever bit. Boil a kettle... 👍 and hold each length where the track must bend in the steam until it's soft and squishy. Now bend the plastic until it yields and pin it in place onto the balsa. Here you can see the result of two separate bending steps - one at the base where the track follows the first road wheel and one where it wraps around the rear idler. 'Pog' Once all the bending is done let the entire thing cool down (I stuck mine in the freezer just to speed things up) and then remove the pins. Sorry about the dreadful photo - will do better next time. Now remove the balsa former and you are left with this... POG! Which now sits here quite nicely. And from a distance looks pretty good I think! 'POG' (apparently repetition of this phrase is acceptable and is - in fact - encouraged) The tracks are not finished yet, there's a lot of tedious detail to add to make them convincing, but I really think that this is the back of this job broken. This is by far the most satisfactory way of making tracks that I've tried and will be my 'go-to' method if I ever need to do something like this again. I also think that this steaming method of forming polystyrene plastic has potential for wider use. It's simple, quick, safe & effective and can reproduce essentially the exact same thing each time. It's going into my box of tricks for sure. Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve 'POG'

There is one thing about this hobby i love more than the kits themselves and thats books on the subjects i love to model........ look what just turned up from Historex for me.......... The Profiles book is particularly interesting ....all the colour plates are done using new information about 43-45 colours of German armour and cross referenced with official documents from the time and modern tech to colourize B&W pics of the period....and lets just say there are some crazy paint work going on especially on King tigers from 45....... The Diorama project is focusing on vehicles in this copy (the other parts are on figures, ground work, and other aspects of Diorama building) but this was the one i wanted as it is really up to date and thought it might be nice to update some of my weathering techniques...again a beautiful book with some stunning photos . Not sure i will buy the other issues as there released but glad i got this one.

Hi Pat, your wishes are my command... within reason. I have a phone again so can take bad photos of my builds again! So have been busy painting the top wing and a few odds and sods at the same time. The top wing just needs a few corrective touch ups and a coat of gloss varnish. Then I can add all the decals. I am quite happy with the way the green came out. The French called it "Vert Emaillite" (Emaillite being a paint quality: nothing to do with the color of the paint.) This is the same green all the Armee de l'Air aircraft were painted with until about 1938-1939. The fuselage is mostly finished and I just have to add the various panels on its belly. Great model to build! Have fun!!! JR

Not after a few sessions with my bandsaw they don’t! 😱

Finished with the wash and staining, and applied an initial dull coat. The dull coat is for the pencil and Tamiya weathering pastels to grab onto. I'll go over those with a last coat of dull coat before doing paint chipping. I've seen some terrific examples of dirt/mud foot prints on top of chipped paint (metal), but really don't know how those were accomplished. I'd love to figure that out... Anyway, there wasn't much to apply a wash to -- just the seams for the ailerons, rudder and elevators plus some around the few protrusions on the aircraft. Staining and streaking was accomplished by sharpening a toothpick and dipping it either black or burnt umber Windsor and Newton oil paint and then drawing on the oil/dirt streak where I wanted it. It goes on dark and dull coats always make these even darker, so I would then lighten it up by using a very small, folded piece of paper towel to go over the streak in the direction of airflow, or use a dry paint brush which seems to draw up the oil paint and make it fade as I go over it. The most difficult part for this build was to put dirt streaks coming from panels -- since I sanded off the panel lines and penciling them in comes later, I had to do some careful measurement and then put the edge of a piece of Tamiya tape where the panel edge should be and then apply the oil paint. It looks a little funny right now with the occasional streak appearing from no where, but will make more sense when the panel lines are drawn in. Engine exhaust and gun powder streaks will be applied in the next step. I'm not completely satisfied with the streaking and staining. Something about it seems off... but I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps I'm too critical of my own work. 🤔 I've noticed in the past that the dull coat is somewhat unpredictable. Sometimes it enhances the subtle tones in the paint and other times it makes them even more subtle. IN this case I think it made it more subtle, which is a disappointment. I could be wrong, however. Going from gloss to flat (or vice versa) is such a dramatic shift that it can take a little getting used to. It could be that I go down in an hour and look at it and find it it just fine. Next up is panel lines. I haven't decided if they are going to be a slow moving pain... or relatively rapid and straightforward. Need to let the dull coat cure a bit first, though. I also need to think about the canopy, which I've ignored up until now...