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Tamiya 1/48 IL-2

Hello everyone... I present to you my first build of the year. R.S.Tuck’s Spitfire Mk.I FZ*L, 65 Sq. R.A.F. Hornchurch U.K. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments, or visit the build thread. Dennis

Good evening, colleagues! Allow me to present to your court the next model from the Star. Recently, I have seen several models of this helicopter on the site, I don't see any point in talking about a prototype. The model both liked and disliked. I did not like the huge rivet, the "glass" material, muddy and not amenable to polishing. The decals are normal, for the joy of sticking an additional tech from the KA-52. I did not delve into the match much, I added an imitation of hoses, wiring, etc. to the box. I used aluminum tape. After processing the photos, I was a little upset – I did not remove the masks of the side windows, I did not take a photo, but my colleagues will forgive me. Paints Mr. Hobby, Citadel, Vallejo, art oil. Enjoy your viewing. Sincerely, Mikhail

Hello all. This is the Dorawing Bf 109 A/B, completed as the plane of Oblt Erich Woitke from 1/J88 in Spain in 1938. Those planes were painted in RLM63 with RLM 62 irregular patches of green painted on the field. The kit is not easy to do but can be completed as a A or B mark. So the fit of the cowlings is delicate to say the least, and the undercarriage is not a piece of cake. Anyway here are the pics: 6FAF7779-63F3-47DB-8E69-0DF94CCFF128_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 672324BC-0517-4ED1-9F05-AF06B0F0BAE8_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 85FD5D70-5545-47EE-87B1-712431F2DE7A_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 2ECFCBC2-05E3-4703-9AB3-523E28FB1AE9_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 7003C9E3-3E68-4488-ADD7-964D1716B3AE_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr C87BC028-72A2-4E4C-B5D2-CDB12D8A618C_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 01C200EB-8422-424F-AE7E-9F740629F411_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr

Hi all, here my new IBG PZL.11c in 1:32. Pretty nice kit with fine details. Add Eduard PE`s and Master Guns

Greetings Brits- Here is another 2021 Model RFI. This is the Excellent Tamiya Do335A kit in 1/48. It was one of the most fun models I have built. This kit has the Bomb Bay and internal detail and that is very neat... Enjoy and naturally not weathered much as it's on the Ramp at Oberfaffenhofen back in the day...

I'm calling this done, after a long-ish pleasant build - with some problems entirely of my own making. The WIP is here ........ .......... and grateful thanks to everybody who looked in / liked / commented and contributed, particularly @Anthony in NZ @Spookytooth and @(ex)Sgtrafman who regularly commented and chivvied me along - especially as this was my first WIP. Special thanks to @(ex)Sgtrafman and @DaveJL for providing replacements for the decals I was clumsy enough to destroy. This was a build of the Revell 1/48 Phantom FGR.2 using Xtradecals for a 74 Squadron line jet on QRA. The idea was to stretch my skill set with a bit of resin / etch and to gain a bit more experience with the airbrush. And have fun! Revell base kit. Love it - goes together easily - all flaws seen here are of my own making. Eduard Big Ed FGR2 set - Rather wish I hadn't bothered, as many of the contents are not applicable to RAF jets eg RBF flags and intake FOD covers - most useful component was the Eduard 49262 cockpit set. Eduard Brassin AIM9L's (none included in the base kit) Great set which includes noddy caps and decals. Flightpath ladder and pull-out cockpit steps. Excellent. Aires seats. Excellent. QuickBoost FOD covers and resin covers for nose data probes. Excellent. Home made (RAF!) RBF flags. Xtradecal transfers for 74 Sqn History (set X48080). Excellent. MRP paints - absolutely love them - I'm no longer scared witless of my airbrush - they are simply idiot / Quack proof! W&N oils for weathering - actually doesn't show well in these phone pics - better with the Mk 1 eyeball. What I learned I really enjoyed this project and I feel my builds are improving steadily - still uphill on the learning curve! 1. Must not take shortcuts / rush things. 2. Some seams are still not great eg the step still visible at the intake join above the leading edge wingroot. 3. Also learned to seal decals in quickly after drying as they are more delicate than I thought (thanks again for the replacements guys) 4. Research the aftermarket stuff better, rather than buying the first big bargain set I see..... false economy 5. I learned that I still love doing this stuff! Big Kid again! OK, on with the final pics - 199 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 200 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 201 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 202 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 203 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 204 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 205 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 206 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 208 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 212 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 211 by Niall Robertson, on Flickr Building this reminded me of just how massive these beasts were - I have dear memories of (FG.1s) lifting off from Leuchars, making my chest resonate with the noise as they went - an amazing sense of power. The base seen in some of the pics is a Coastal Kits 1/48 base which my Hawk T1 barely fill - the Phantom in contrast overhangs all round! Heavy Metal indeed. Thanks to all for tuning in. Keep safe 😷 Keep Calm and Mangle some Plastic Q

The old Matchbox model, which like most of their models, represents relaxation for work. Although my box is from 1979, the decals were top notch. I am satisfied with what has been achieved, the colors are Model Master and Humbrol. I also plan on a Buffalo with Finnish markings, just a Hasegawa model. Here's the picture.

Hi everyone! I used to do be an air modeler till teenage but now I haven't built anything for about 25 years. So, please, be understanding for imperfections. Recently, I decided to make my modelling dream come true: I built the Monogram B-52 in the SAC 50s livery. The model is built out of the box with just minor adds like the replacement of the rear gun machines with 4 "Mini World" Cal 50 machine gun barrels. The colors used are: Dull aluminium areas: "Tamiya flat aluminium - XF-16", lightly buffed (to reduce the glitter aspect) and then covered with "alclad Klear Kote Matte - ALC313". Shiny metallic areas: gloss black, nicely polished, covered with "Alclad Chrome - ALC107". Anti flash white: "Mr Surfacer 1500 White". I know, this one sounds odd but due to the covid, the Testors colors I ordered took ages to arrive and I just used what I had. I'm anyway quite happy with the final result. Even though it's an old kit, I had fun with it. I hope you enjoy it.

1/72 Straight out of the box. I have a lot of masking mistakes on this and I felt its a sloppy finish but I just have to accept it.

So armour build number 6 is completed and a nice kit from Tamiya that I thourghly enjoyed building. I kept the weathering down to a minimum on this one and I think it looks ok. Here's a few pic's of the finished build So I'm happy with the final results and now need to decide what's next. Thanks for looking back soon 🙂👍

Good evening All, this is my latest completed model. Xtrakit's 1/72 Gloster Meteor F.8 which is an MPM mould and has also been boxed by Airfix. The fit was very good and this is definitely a model I have enjoyed building. Paint - Vallejo Acrylic Metal Color Aluminium over Alclad Gloss Black Primer, knocked back with W&N Galleria Matt Varnish. Extras - Eduard etch and Aeroclub white metal ejection seat. Decals - Wing walk decals are from the kit (Aviprint; excellent) with the remainder Isradecals IAF Gloster Meteor IAF26 (didn't like Micosol).

DSG it is Bill, according to the scheme - dapper nonetheless Thanks Martian Thanks Jason Used for ground attack? Rockets, tick, torpedo? I claim artistic licence… Ah Crisp, those were the days eh… Then the politics took over the other way around and we got the F111 instead of the TSR2 Carry on talking amongst yourselves chaps, the gloss coat is drying:

This started as a "what do I have in the stash that I can do as a simple build to get my mojo back" project. Of course, that's never how it goes... 🙄 Kit is what Airfix list as the E-3, though I'm not entirely convinced whether this particular subject wasn't actually an E-4. Some sources say one thing, some another. If it's an E-3, it's been brought up to E-4 spec with the canopy - which is good, because that's what the kit has. 😁 The aspirations for doing this OOB went out of the window as soon as I saw the moulded belts on the seat. They were sanded off and replaced with some made from Tamiya tape. I also broke one of the wing-mounted guns, and the antenna pylon. The pylon I made from stretched sprue. Barrels are from Master. Canopy opening limiter is made from stretched sprue, and I added the some UvdR line for the antenna. Also added some riveting detail. Thanks for looking.

Managed to finish this one before Christmas but have just taken delivery of a photobox so have only just managed to get some decent photos of the finished kit. It's the Hasegawa kit with Aires cockpit, Eduard Brassin pods and ResKit Paveway IIs. Really enjoyed this and I've caught the Harrier bug so have just bought Kinetic's T-Bird to do as the VAAC Harrier and also the new GR3. Hope you enjoy. DSC_7828 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_7829 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_7855 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_7843 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr

These kits are just plain fun. I know they are made for the war-gaming crowd and the detail is not exacting, but they just fall together and look really good when complete. All I did with this one was add the exhausts to the carrier and separated the satchels as they came as a string of three. The figures are ok, not the best in this scale, but certainly adequate. My only problem was getting the carrier crew in place. It's very cramped and there may have been an amputation or two to get them in place. As is, I think the driver is going to need a lot of dental work after a few bumps. Anyhoo, here 'tis.

No worries Bill - I had to check the references several times Transfers. Underside first. Ah, the stripes go over the serials. Great. The scheme shows both serials the same way up but reference shots show alternate, as usual, so I'll do that. Looks like most of the '7' and the 'W': Done: Then the top: Walkway stripes. Yikes. Note that the scheme shows the 'Sling' markings in different positions on the wings so I followed that. What do you mean you can't see them? Cuh!

Hello to all of you good people. I present you my finished Pucara in 72 scale. The kit itself is really bad and requires a lot of work to be finished to a satisfactory level. I upgraded the seats a bit and left the rest as is.The paints used are gunze and Tamiya. The decals are OOB and were a real pain to apply. Really thick and did not respond to the usual chemical threatment.I also made a YouTube video build and if you like you can watch me how I build it form start to finish. Regards,Dragan https://youtu.be/cMoB44z5ENY

I'd just lift the edge of the stripe and slip the transfer under…

I have rubbed down the glue that was ousing out and then applied some spots of sprue goo . . . I'm rather optimistic that it will turn our OK .... 🤞

Hiya Folks, The Mohawk equipped two full RAF squadrons 5 and 155 Sqn`s plus partially equipped 146 Sqn, all in India and operating over the Indian/Burmese border against the Japanese between 1942-44. During this time it wore quite a few different colours and markings combinations and they have always fascinated me, and I want to model quite a few of them. The AZ Model kit of the Mohawk Mk.IVwas only recently released and I have built two of them side by side, one as a SAAF aircraft opeating against the Italian`s over East Africa which is almost finished,.... and this one which represents the personal aircraft of Sqn. Ldr. `Porky' Jeffries, the CO of 155 Sqn based at Agartala in India. It wears the early SEAC roundels where the red of the roundels and fin flash was simply overpainted using white,...... and it evenually `morphed' into the better known small two toned blue SEAC roundel as the large white areas were deemed to ruin camouflage and be too easy to see,...... unlike the RAAF who were happy to remain with the blue and white roundel! As the Mohawk was one of the few radial engined fighters operating over the Burma front between 1942-44 it was often mistaken for a Japanese aircraft so yellow panels were added to the wing tips and under the engine cowling as i/d markings. Here are some Mohawk pics;, New Zealander Ray McLauchlan of 5 Sqn with his Mohawk circa 1943, note the yellow wing tip markings and the light bomb racks under the wings; 155 Sqn Mohawks at the time the standard C/C1 Type markings were converted,......; Anyway,.... onto the model,..... it looks nice on the sprues but it isn`t the easiest to build and the wing mating edges needed to be sanded like a vacuform,, the propeller doesn`t look very accurate but it is at least a readily available Mohawk and for that we need to be thankful! The RAF Mohawk`s did not have the full wheel door assembly so these were modified accordingly by removing the lower part. While building the model I could only find one photo of the aircraft and this was a view of the Welsh Dragon nose art so I went along mostly with the kit decals, although I based the camouflage pattern on a few different 155 Sqn Mohawks,....and just as the model was almost finished I found a photo of the aircraft,..... sods law,..... and it had a Sqn. Ldr`s pennant on the engine cowling,....so one was added from the spares box! The kits representation of the serial number was also too small,.... so one was cobbled together from various sheets. Here is the original reference photo that I had depicting the Welsh Dragon and Jeffries kill markings against Italian and German opponents,.....he would later add a Japanese hinomaru to his tally on this aircraft; Here is the model; I will be building more of these,..... and hopefully I `ll get better results! Cheers Tony

I recently finished Airfix's new 1/72 Spitfire Vc. After agonising over various Malta schemes I decided to use the kit decals for a USAAF 31st FG aircraft based in Algeria during the Tunisian campaign, flown by Captain Albert Holloway of the 307th FS. I'm not really keen on the sharkmouth, so I chose to represent the aircraft before it was painted on! The kit itself goes together well although I had to fill a fairly big gap at the wing roots. Cockpit detail is excellent - I just added some Eduard etched straps. My one major complaint is the thickness of the sliding canopy so I replaced it with a spare one from an Eduard Spitfire. I may replace this later with a vac-form one as it still doesn't sit properly. Airfix suggest painting out the starboard roundel but photos suggest the Americans often repainted these areas to blend in with the camouflage, so I went with that for a neater look. Hope you like it. As ever, all comments gratefully received! And finally a shot with the old Italeri Mk Vb Trop which I made many moons ago:

Another kit (or two) that I finished towards the end of last year. Both are 19 Sqn machines but one in May 1938 and the other in Sept/Oct 1940, hence the difference in weathering. I enjoyed seeing the slight differences between the two versions as different requests and upgrades were added to the aircraft in the first year of the war. Hope you enjoy. DSC_7838 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_7836 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_7834 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_7833 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr

Well, this giant has finally risen from the pile of scrap that came out of a skip. It was enjoyable (if somewhat large) project. I think I'll stick to little stuff such as 1/8 in future...

Good evening, Thank you very much Mates! Little time for models, but the Lotus is still progressing . Quite a few small things on which preparation, painting and / or blank assembly work is necessary: it will go faster during the subsequent assembly phases of these subassemblies. The exhaust has been prepped and painted, I have also started to make it more "operational" with a first oil pass of 3 tones. Same fight for the radiator and the shock absorber springs. The shade of these is a mix of BRG and white to conform to my doc. The remaining rivets (central strip) are primed and painted. They will be varnished with other elements also awaiting varnish. Blank mounting of the front bulkhead with the shock absorbers installed on the upper arms: this test almost allows him to finalize the front of the Lotus and its radiator. The crankset is installed for good. The front and rear bulkheads are now in place, as are the front sills and lower wishbones. The radiator and powertrain are blank mounted to ensure the correct positioning of the pipes and adjust the alignment of the elements. The same goes for the exhausts on which I still have to pass a blow of airbrush to blacken the outlets, oils and pastels to bring a little life ... And then ... La CATA !! A false movement by putting down the engine, the hull caught up in extremis: I breathe !! But, a little "clicking" alerts me ... I'm looking everywhere and all of a sudden: no more gear lever !!! He fell into the shell, inaccessible !! After some thought, I grabbed a small diameter cutting disc and ... cut off the tub to retrieve it. Lever (Very!!) well stuck, bathtub cleaned, an Alu "part" is prepared, then painted and the seat reinstalled: like new! Big waste of time then, but... The front end is almost finished, everything hooked up, the brake and clutch master cylinders wired. The discs are "run in" and the calipers are being prepared. The left front assembly is installed, the caliper wired and fitted with a banjo fitting. The nose has undergone a drastic slimming cure. More soon! Pascal

Tamiya Nakajima KI-84 Hayate "Frank" Another one that's been in the stash for many years, hence the RIKO sticker ! Decals were missing from the kit so I have had to use after market ones from the old Super Scale International Japanese Unit insignia set. Pictures below I hope you like it Cheers Pat

Tamiya is a Japanese company, that sell at Japanese prices. Meng and others are Chinese companies that sell at Chinese prices. Not that Meng kits are particularly cheap themselves.... how much is a Meng F-106 ? £ 35 to 40 ? For a 1/72 kit... makes a £100 1/48 Phantom almost sound like a bargain ! Not to mention other Chinese manufacturers that are now becoming increasingly more expensive while producing stuff with a fraction of the quality of the modern Japanese products When it comes to aircraft kits, Tamiya is not just a brand, it's a guarantee that all parts will be designed to give the modeller the easiest possible job to get a very good looking model, in a way that no other manufacturer does. Others may be more detailed or have more options, but when it comes to an enjoyable building experience nobody has consistently managed to do better.

Hi all, here is the final reveal for the TB Mole vehicle. I made the base from an old diecast model floor, and covered it in some cork. I found some styrene rock base from a submarine kit I had not used and covered the remainder of the area in body filler and dusted some Citadel dead grass over whilst it was still curing. Then I padded it down with some kitchen foil. This gave a convincing ground effect, I finished it off with a bit of shading and dry brushed the stones with AK dust effect enamel wash. Flory pigments were brush over the ground and lock in place with Hataka Matt clear. For the Mole I used some Molotow liquid for the screw which was 2k clear coated. AK Star ship filth wash gave the grime and dirt effects and dry brushed with Mr Color Super Metallic 201 silver. Overall I think it turned out pretty FAB. Paints used Tamiya Mr Color AK enamel washes Flory pigments Hataka matt clear Thanks for looking and your comments in advance.

During WW2, more than 80,000 tanks were built in the US, compared to just 30,000 manufactured by the British. But this American total was made up of only four types: 49,000 Shermans, 23,000 Stuarts, 6,000 Lee/Grants, and 4,000 Chaffees, while the British total consisted of 8,000 Valentines, 6,500 Churchills, 6,000 Crusaders, 3,000 Matildas, 1,800 Covenanters, and 6,000 Cavalier/Centaur/Cromwell/Comets. And the latter was the pinnacle of British tank design before the advent of the first true Main Battle Tank, the A41 Centurion (although some authors have tried to call the A34 Comet the first MBT). Being slightly less armoured than the Churchill, but faster than the Crusader or Covenanter, Cromwell (and his siblings) managed to combine the low silhouette of Valentine and cruiser tanks plus the extreme mobility and agility of the latter with Churchill's armament and thicker armour than the Matilda. Moreover, from their mid-life upgrade, they were equipped with the Rolls-Royce Meteor (nee Merlin) engine - significantly more powerful than all other WW2 Allied tank engines. And perhaps thanks to these qualities Cromwell was the favourite personal steed of several commanders of Polish armoured forces in Great Britain (otherwise equipped with American Shermans), including Gen. Stanislaw Maczek and Col. (later Gen.) Franciszek Skibinski. Basically the Cromwell family consisted of six types: · the 1942 initial A24 Cavalier with 400 hp Liberty engine · the 1943 stop-gap A27L Centaur designed to get the Meteor engine, but (due to lack of Meteors) manufactured with the 400 hp Liberty · the 1943 „proper” A27M Cromwell with 600 hp Meteor (hundreds of re-engined Centaurs were also renamed Cromwells) · the 1944 lenghtened (six pairs of mainwheels) A30 Challenger with larger turret and 17-pounder gun · the 1945 definitive A34 Comet, combining the standard Cromwell hull with the 17-pdr gun · the 1952 FV4101 Charioteer - a rebuilt Cromwell with lightweight turret containing the Centurion 20-pdr gun Crewed by five and powered by a 600hp liquid-cooled RR Meteor V12 engine, the standard Cromwell Mk.IV, armed with a single 75mm (15-pdr) gun and two 0.312” MGs, weighed 28 tons. Some 1935 Mk.IV/Mk.V/Mk.VII (including the rebuilt Centaurs) were built in this configuration, compared to the 557 Mk.I/Mk.III with a 57mm gun and the 341 Mk.VI/Mk.VIII with a 95mm howitzer. Their predecessors were the 500 Cavaliers and 1059 Centaur Mk.Is with 57mm guns, 233 Centaur Mk.IIIs with a 75mm cannon and 114 Mk.IVs with a 95mm howitzer. After 1943, they were joined by 200 Challengers and 1186 Comets. And finally, in the early 1950s, the 442 Cromwells were rebuilt into Charioteers. The 2001 Revell kit is considered the world's best Braille scale Cromwell kit as the only other options are the Plastic Soldier and Armourfast kits for wargamers and the slightly smaller 1/76 Airfix kit. The #3123 boxing contains 128 styrene parts on 3 sprues. The decals are for two British D-day tanks (British SCC.15 Olive Drab overall, not to be confused with the US Olive Drab). Initially, I started looking for the aftermarket decals to portray T-187921 "Hela" of General Maczek (commander of the Polish 1st Armoured Division), but the real 15-pdr barrel looks much better than the wooden fake barrel of Cromwell Command. So I finally made a model (using the decals OOB) representing the T-187796 (originally built as a Centaur Mk.I with a C-type hull, then re-engined and up-gunned) of the 5th Royal Horse Artillery Regiment, 7th Armoured Division, fought at Villers-Bocage in June 1944. BTW the same markings are provided by Airfix in their 1/76 kit mentioned above. The paint is (as always) Humbrol 108 enamel, painted with an Italeri brush. Then the Vallejo matt acrylic varnish was brush-applied overall. The model was made OOB, with the exception of making two antennas of Aber 0.3 mm steel wire. The pictures are taken with an LG smartphone. Comments welcome Cheers Michael

This is my build of the Hasegawa 1/72 Boeing EA-18G Growler ECM aircraft. For this build I also used the Wolfpack flaps down wings and their cockpit interior. I would not have bothered with the interior, but the kit, wings and interior came as a package off of Ebay so since I had it I may as will use it. The Hasegawa kit is excellent and any issues I had with it were of my own making. The Wolfpack interior is nice, but the instructions it came with were totally lacking in guidance on how to install it in the fuselage. There is some minor surgery needed to the kit but no mention of it in the instructions. Below is what I needed to cut away: Once done the front and rear cockpit tubs fit well with minor sanding. This is the third F/A-18 variant I have built and the third set of Wolfpack wings, once on the Hasegawa F/A-18F and once on the Academy F/A-18C. As in both those previous cases they were a drop in replacement for the kit wings with no need to make any modifications to the kit fuselage. The only recommendation I would make is to wait as long as possible to attach the rear flaps. This will minimize the number of times you will have to reattach them since they are only held on by 4 very tiny attachment points and are fragile. The decals were very complete with a full set of stencils and were excellent to use. There are markings for VAQ-129 and VAQ-132. I planned on doing the markings for VAQ-129 which didn't require painting the tail. However, one of the squadron marking rolled up into an unrecoverable ball when I applied MicroSol to it and I was forced to switch to the more colorful VAQ-132 markings which did require me to paint the tail, setting me back several days. But ii does have a rather striking appearance. There was one other unsolved issue. After decaling I usually rinse off the kit to get rid of any solvent residue. This time water has made its way into the cockpit clouding the canopy. I tried several strategies to get it out, but none worked. I can only hope that if it found its way in, it will finds it way to evaporate out over time. If I haven't bored you too much here are the pictures: Next up is the Grand Models' Beech T-6 Texan II Enjoy

I first became aware of the Northrop BT-1 after watching the 1941 Warner Bros / Errol Flynn movie ‘Dive Bomber’ in the 1980s (and made a fuzzy VHS recording of it which I played back many times). The film was the last in a series of 1930s Hollywood movies with a naval aviation theme (mostly with a screenplay written by ex-naval aviator Cmdr. Frank ‘Spig’ Wead) and the only one in glorious Technicolor. As ever in aviation movies, the true stars were the aircraft. The BT-1s don’t have a big role in the film, but form a backdrop to some of the final sequences. It was the only type in the film with which I was then unfamiliar and I was struck by the prominent ‘podded’ semi-retractable landing gear a bit like its contemporary the Seversky P-35. Naturally, I was inspired to build a model at some point...... The first in a long line of carrier aircraft to be designed by the legendary Ed Heinemann, the BT-1 was nevertheless a flawed design, but lead directly to the very successful SBD Dauntless, with which it shared the same outer wing panels. The BT-1 had poor low speed stability; not exactly a desirable characteristic in a carrier aircraft and although delivered in 1938, it was 1940-41 before the 54 built were committed to carrier use with squadrons VB-5 & 6 aboard Yorktown and Enterprise, after some of the flaws had been fixed. The prototype had ‘solid’ dive flaps, which caused extreme tail buffeting during the pullout from a dive, which was cured by adding holes to the flaps in various sizes and patterns until an optimum solution was found. Test pilot Vance Breese performed over 100 9g pullouts during this activity and the resulting perforated flap design was a great success. The low speed stability problem was eventually improved by adding slots in the outer wings, carried over to the SBD. The rear, hinged portion of the gunner’s canopy caused turbulence which affected gun aiming, so these were removed some time after delivery and the SBD had a different rear enclosure, which slid forward rather than projecting into the airstream. Carrier service of the BT-1 was short and they were relegated to training in Miami when the first SBDs became available around mid-1941. I recently completed my BT-1 project, based on the 1/72 Esoteric Models vacform kit, which I had 90% completed around 1997. I had difficulties with the paintwork, which relegated it to the ‘Shelf of Doom’ for over 20 years and it was my longest-uncompleted model. The arrival of the Ginter ‘Naval Fighters Series’ volume on the BT-1 rekindled my interest in the type with its remarkable collection of photos and inspired me to rework a few areas. Like most of my vac projects, it’s really ‘Scratchbuilding-Lite’ as only the basic fuselage and wing components get used (heavily modified) and everything else is scratchbuilt. In this case, that includes the P & W R-1535 Twin Wasp Jr engine and Hamilton-Standard 10’ controllable pitch prop, all control surfaces, flaps including flap motor, torque tubes and actuating links, landing gear and fairings, canopies, wheels and all the other external details, including the gun camera and practice bomb dispensers. I challenged myself to see if I could reproduce absolutely everything in the cockpits, which took months, including the 40-piece Douglas gunner’s mount....not sure if I’ll go that far again, but it looks the part. So here is my model of Bu.No. 0614, the 4th section leader's aircraft of VB-5 'Winged Satans', aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5), 1940......

This kit used to belong to a fellow kit Modeller called Donald John MacKay, who lived locally in Oban and was a good mate of @Scimitar. Donald passed away recently leaving his family with an extensive stash of both books and models from a lifetime of collecting and @Scimitar real name Richard was a great help to the family in enabling them to get proper value for the items. This kit and others Donald never finished were rescued from the rubbish bin as the family were clearing the house. I asked Patrice @TEMPESTMK5 for special permission to join the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations III GB with this kit to finish it as a tribute to Donald. Patrice was kind enough to allow the kit to join the GB, for which I am especially grateful. I hope you like it, and as importantly really hope that Donald would have liked it too. Many thanks Pat

lovely stickering Ced. How did you get the rest of the serial to go under the paint at this late stage? enquiring minds want to know

Hi folks, I built Aeroclub's lovely little Gamecock about 20 years ago, finished it in 43 Sqn markings from the kit's superb decal sheet and rigged it with invisible thread. Three house moves later it was looking very sorry for itself, relegated to a cardboard box in the shed and with parts broken off. I recently decided to salvage it, especially as it fits right into my current interest in between-the-wars RAF biplanes. It was stripped to its component parts and restarted almost from scratch. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the kit, it has injection-moulded wings, tail surfaces and fuselage with white metal nose, engine, prop and detail parts: The soft white metal interplane struts were replaced with brass strut stock and the one-piece kit wheels were replaced with Aeroclub hubs and rubber O-ring tyres. The windscreen was cut from acetate and brass tube was used to represent the guns: I was able to salvage the 23 Sqn markings from the tattered remnants of the original kit decal sheet but had to print my own serials: I used Humbrol aerosol Polished Aluminium and Tamiya Ocean Grey for the finish, matted after decal application by a brushed, thinned coat of Humbrol Matt Cote. The prop was given a wood effect using burnt sienna oil paint over a tan base. The rigging was made using EZ Line. Some parts are a bit agricultural - a competition model it certainly isn't! - but I'm satisfied with the result, especially as it's less than 3 1/2 inches long. I've also just realised that I haven't finished the tail skid! Oh well... Jon

P.11c kit deliveries starts this week. Mean-time Marcin Ciepierski, the kit designer, posted a tutorial on making nice controls panel out of the box: See tutorial on armahobbynews.

Let's see, where was I? Oh, right, Shorts Tucano. (Am I allowed to refer to this as the "Fruit Loop?") I added the firewalls and engine upfront, followed by the nose and radiator intake. The nose was actually a bit undersize, so I used some filler to blend it in. I also plucked down the rudder in its neutral position. If you recall, when I cut out the kit rudder following the hinge lines, I discovered they weren't the same on each side. This necessitated a bunch of sanding and refinement to this opening so the resin rudder would fit. Still not entirely happy with it. Then the wings were assembled and added. Some dabs of filler were necessary here and there, especially fore and aft of the wing roots. I suspect I will be refining this further after some paint or primer goes down. As I mentioned earlier, the ejection seats were removed to make it easier to mask off the cockpit. The resin tailplanes and elevators will have to wait until the fuselage has been painted and those decal stripes applied. This seems to me to be the best way to approach the decal application. The resin tailplanes fit well enough that there will be no filler needed, so they can just be glued on. Oh, I decided on this scheme: I think you can see what I mean about the stripes around the tailplane. Since this scheme appears to be Aluminium lacquer overall with Roundel Blue on the underside and spinner, I needed to buy a bottle of the blue. So I bought two bottles of Hataka Roundel Blue (future projects may need this as well - hint, hint, tease, tease), but when they arrived one had leaked in shipment. What a mess! Thank goodness they were both in a Zip-Loc bag. I was able to save the contents of the second bottle into a Gunze Mr. Glass Bottle (or something). I notice that there is a lumpy protrusion on top of the fuselage just forward of the windscreen. This is not on the kit (and no, I didn't sand it off). What is this lumpage? Size, shape, etc. Any help here is appreciated. Thanks! Cheers, Bill

Welcome Mark, Frank, Roger, Ian, Heather, Craig, Johnny, Chris and Grey - great to see you all Thanks Andy I am looking forward to this one - must be my masochistic streak! I know! I just see to want to clear the Naval subjects from the stash next - a few more to come. I hope I don't run out of paint… Will, Mark, Graham - what research I've done so far confirms your comments. Not much room on a carrier so 'multi-role' was the way to go. As usual, pre-war, the specification seems to have been out-of-date by the time someone built one! There's a nice video here: Oooh, Bill, that's quite a collection! What are t'others? Quite right Heather, but that's why we like to build 'em! Unusual subjects rule - support the underdog! Er, not Sir. I may tinker with a few bits but mostly OOB Thanks Steve - on the reading list! Gorgeous Bill, as always. But that's the newer kit! What colours did you use though? That maybe the scheme I need for L2933… Or, right, read the WiP, will do. Don't worry Doc, good behaviour is optional in my threads Oh har de har har On the ceiling, wings OUT!

Hello again, Managed to get some time to attach some updates... Engine light housings. Lower hull skinning WiP. Ramp is hinged and expands, currently in stowed (Flight Position). Wheel Balancing weight trial to enable it to stand on its landing gear. Weights have been hidden behind the front bulk head. Legion Trooper for scale. Engines taking shape. All 3 hull elements now glued together. Just adding some detailing to the upper surfaces and making the nascels. You can see the ramp is now down slightly and extended. The cable will run through to the cockpit where the battery pack will be housed. Bit of tail gunner action, started to fill in some of the gaps using Vallejo Plastic Putty. Hull underside (Ignore the blu-tac thats there to keep the piece I've made safe) cabling and circuit board for my remote control. Also added a brass peg as I'm thinking of making a stand so it can be displayed in flight or landed modes. The two little lights at the top of the image are the landing lights 😬 All comments welcome guys... this is my first buld and im sure there are some horrible mistakes 🥴

My real first try at some weathering. Paints used were Tamiya and Mr color along with Mig pigments, AK interactive washes,and Abteilung 502 artist oils. This was a very exciting build for me and at one point I was ready to trash it completely. Thanks to someone's model videos, I had to press on. This builder is really a great modeler. I hope you like my first try at the weathering, I really had fun.

Thanks Nikolay For me, BM is most of the fun and the modelling - mostly, fun too. Thanks Rob To be precise it's DSG on this one although I have some EDSG plans soon! I couldn't go to bed without doing this: Look at all that tape! I was generally happy until I came to the last piece I took off. Seriously, the last piece: A hoard of rats! It'll touch in, as will this stupid little bit: …and this: The other side was fine: OK, a tiny bit on the end of the root but hey, who's looking? Oh, you lot, right

Last year was one of my worst modelling years. So finally this project found his end. I hope the next ones will go faster then this.

Kit - Hasegawa 1:72 Paint - All enamels Decals - Superscale 72-530 Extras - None Douglas AD6/A-1H Skyraider VA-65, NAS Miramar 1958 Had this in the stash for years, so over the post-Christmas & New Year, dragged it kicking and screaming to the bench. Such an easy build like so many of these 1990's era Hasegawa kits, hardy needed any input from me whatsoever. Painted in 'Old Skool' Humbrol and Xtracolour enamels and used decals from a twenty-five (plus ?) year old Superscale sheet which behaved flawlessly. Not much else to say, please go-ahead and ask any questions, make any comments or criticisms. All the very best for '21. Ian.

Good evening. Please find my christmas build below. Lovely kit to build. If you are put off biplanes due to the problems of fixing the top wing and struts on, this is a good one to start with as the struts fitted with no problems and were engineered to be at the right angles. I was a bit disapointed with my final paint finish as I wasnt sure about the green (seemed a bit too dark). I drilled out the gun barrels (situated above the nose) which I think made a big difference to their appearance. The figures were fun to paint. and all finished off on one of my homemade bases. 20210110_180037 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175942 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175926 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175904 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175841 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175815 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175749 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175723 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175652 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175627 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175552 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175453 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175422 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175354 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175328 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_175302 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_174854 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_174815 by Richard Page, on Flickr 20210110_174313 by Richard Page, on Flickr

Good day to all, I wanted to try some new techniques for weathering so I started this Airfix Spitfire Mk.II as a test bed. I learned some lessons that I will and will not apply on subsequent projects. While most everyone knows this kit, here are my thoughts........... 1. Paints used : A. Mission Models RAF Dark Green #MMP-077 B. Mission Models RAF Underside Sky #MMP-080 C. Tamiya Flat Earth #XF-52 D. Model Master Medium Sea Gray E. Various other colors for the exhaust, cockpit, wheels, tires, etc. 2. Seven different colored washes used 3. Dry brushed other colors 4. Simple construction / assembly. Nice fit of parts. 5. Used kit supplied decals which are excellent 6. Uschi bobbin thread for antenna 7. Chalk pastels used 8. Built entirely out of the box with no additional items. Thank you for visiting and checking out this early version Spitfire from Airfix. Thank you in advance!!!!!!! Respectfully submitted, Mike

Evening all. Im new to Britmodeller and I’m a little late to the show here but..I have stumbled across the group build and I would have got involved from the start had I known about it as I have been working on two tigers recently. Would it be naughty of me to share my work with you? One is still in the weathering process so it isn’t complete yet. Thanks Alex

So the final update as the Pershing is finished. Thanks to everyone who followed along here's a pic of the finished build I will post more in the rfi section later 🙂👍

There's always a lot of leg-work in terms of running gear preparation with a Cent. I'll run through and let the pics speak for themselves. Amusing Hobby have really lifted the assembly process and fittings directly from AFV Club. And here's a comparisoon of the AH kit wheels with aftermarket PanzerArt... The PanzerArt wheels have the circumferential ridges that are prominent in the above pic on the isdie of the tyre. They generally have better definition particularly with the central securing nuts. Theya re about 0.5mm less in diamter compared to the kit versions and have those lottle holes that you can see pre-drilled, As to whether they are worth an extra £17? Centurions have a lot of wheels Jumping ahead - the tracks are good - really good - they come pre-prepared loose in a bag and need NO clean up (). Assembly is easy with good articulation and definition of the track structure is good. The AFV Club kit supplied tracks remain Vinyl . The Hobby Boss tracks are not so well detailed and do not articulate. Here's a comparison of the Amusing Hobby tracks up against the aftermarket AFV Club workable tracks... The AH tracks are on the Left. They are easier to fit together and have NO sink marks on the wheel side unlike the AFV Club tracks - I've scraped them off in the next pic!!! Kudos to Amusing Hobby for top notch tracks More soon though progress may hit buffers with Sovereign Colourcoats Light Stone still being unavailable. Thanks for looking Rob

Hello everyone--time for a pin wash/landing gear/odds and ends update. I have to say I was very happy with how the transparencies turned out once I removed the masks. I also reattached the wing root cannon muzzles and nose machine guns as recommended by Johnny @The Spadgent🙌 JG26's machines appeared to be very well maintained at the start of the Normandy campaign, so I kept my weathering to a min. I used Tamiya weathering dust to build up a metallic sheen where the crews frequently walked on the wing and brushed on Alclad 2 Airframe Aluminum in the foot holds/hand holds. I also uses the metalic weather dust around the engine vents just before the cockpit. Finally I used Tamiya's panel accent for control surfaces and key panels. The landing gear started with some surgery, although I would not hold a light towards some fo the great scratch building originating from @giemme, @The Spadgent, @opus999 & @billn53. Using Frank's FW-190 book as a guide, I cut the gear height down about 2mm at the shock absorber using a template to keep the struts even as a critique of Airfix's Fw190 is that it sits too high. Also, based on guidance from @G.R.Morrison, I decided to not put boots over the shock absorbers. In a nod to @rob Lyttle, I used foil for natural metal part of the strut--the strut is overall Tamiya RLM grey. Once this was sorted out I attached the gear and retraction arms to the wings. When the struts dried, I attached the wheels which had been painted Tamiya Rubber Black with Gloss Black hubs. As @opus999 pointed out, Airfix's wheels could be sharper, but I think they look fine under paint in this scale. My biggest self critique is on the wheel hub gloss--I should have probably toned it down a little--that said period photos and accurate restorations (yes, I know they cant beat period photos 😖) seem to have a variety of glossyness. JG26 seems to have had relatively clean machines, so I decided to leave well enough alone. With the basics done, I attached Eduard's photo etch break lines, tie downs and shock absorber scissors. Using Frank's photos of the Smithsonian's F-8, I touched up the gear with Tamiya RLM grey, German Grey and Red Brown (brake lines). I finally attached the landing gear door covers--I was relived they fit with the strut size without modification 🙌 Thanks to everyone for their ideas on how to make these builds better Best, Erwin

Some fondling done. The fuselage fits well with little work required for the top: Sadly, the same cannot be said for the bottom: I didn't cut the parts from the trees or there wouldn't be stress marks. No stress marks on my parts (fnaar!) AHA! I thought… if I clean off the excess plastic before I join up I'll have less work to do. A quick sand removed the flash - in fact, in some places, it gave up in strips: Has that left me with a perfect join? Er, no, there's a gap now, but easier to deal with than a bulge / hump. The crew have been cleaned up and had their Stew-trained base of rat skin Flesh: What colours now?? I've searched the web for 'FAA WWII Flying Suit' and get loads of ads, but no useful reference. Sort of grey green? Leather helmets and black boots with yellow Mae Wests obviously. The rest? I must say the mould designers could have placed the ejector pins somewhere else: Have some respect guys, honestly…

Thanks Keith Thanks Roger I'm waiting for things to dry before the gloss coat so, continuing the Naval theme, have opened the box on this: Come on over! Thanks Giorgio Touch ups done: Sky bits painted on the racks: I'll let all that dry overnight then gloss coat for the transfers.