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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/03/21 in all areas

  1. Hi all, hope everyone's keeping safe, looking after themselves, friends and loved ones. This is a model I finished for Airfix Model World a few months ago that featured in the March edition of the magazine. It is, of course, Airfix's all new Vulcan B.Mk2. Early in the project I was asked by Airfix to provide research for the kit, in particular detail photography, aircraft history and to select colour schemes. Working with Chris Joy, the designer was both fun and informative. I have a fairly substantial library here on the V-Force as well as access to different archives, courtesy of many friends, several of whom worked on and flew the aircraft. The most useful source, quite naturally, was the real thing, in this case XM594, the airframe scanned by Airfix using LIDAR technology. The aircraft resides at my local museum at Newark, so was easy to access, prior to any restrictions being put in place. The museum staff were extremely helpful, even providing me with a 'giraffe' maintenance ladder to gain access to the topside of the aircraft to photograph normally inaccessible areas such as the cockpit windscreen and canopy, spine and upper wing surfaces. This proved extremely useful to say the least and my sincere thanks go out to all the staff there. As for the kit, well overall it was a pleasure to build, however there were a few annoyances along the way. Most noticeable was the fact that the forward fuselage/nose is split in an awkward area where no natural panel line occurs and it took some careful filling and sanding to ensure that the seam was invisible and that the streamlines shape of the nose was maintained. Incidentally, three nose configurations are provided, one smooth, one with just the TFR thimble and one with TFR and IFR probe thus allowing any combination of styles can be built. The intakes took some fettling too as they're provided in three parts, again all seams had to be completely eliminated before being masked and painted. The ECM tailcone is provided in two flavours, the earlier smooth style for the Red Steer Mk 1 Rear Warning Radar and later bulged dome for the Red Steer Mk 2. The options continue with two styles of fin cap, one smooth, the other featuring the rectangular AR 18228 passive Radar Receiver fairing and both styles of jet pipe, 200 series long cans and 301 shorter. These are accurately shaped and tow out correctly however they are provided in three parts making alignment a bit tricky (although a jig is provided). Once assembled and painted they are quite convincing although a single-piece moulding would be preferable. Incidentally, only Olympus 301 engine facings are provided, the 200 series looked quite different. Having said that a pair of intake blanks are also provided which can be used as an alternative. As moulded, the lower wings come equipped with full Skybolt attachment points including the rear point, two fairings for the forward hard point and the domed coolant blister. Only 18 aircraft were fitted with the full suite so it's best you check references when deciding which model to build as there were a few different configurations over time. Easily the best reference for this is to be found in the superb book by Craig Bulman 'The Vulcan B.Mk2 from a Different Angle'. Other options include a choice of three differently configured ECM counterpoise plates, fitted between the jet pipes and two styles of X-Band emitter fairings, a single head and a twin head. I provided all information, dimensions and photos but a few things still seem to have been missed as there are a couple of odd omissions, for example the short separators (basically short tubes fitted with long level indictors) located at the top rear of the main gear legs, (although they may have been removed for restoration on XM594 at the time, as a rear door and attachment ties were also missing) and the central windscreen wiper is missing, again this has been removed on the Newark aircraft. For some reason the entrance-hatch retraction struts are also absent and these were replaced using steel pins cut to length. Also Chris didn't realize that the lower red strut fitted to the main gear's bracing struts are only fitted to airframes in long-term storage, (hence painted red) and not fitted to operational aircraft, as such they need to be removed from the parts. The weapons bay and undercarriage bays are well done, featuring plenty of detail although I'm sure the aftermarket chaps will have a field day in these areas. One small gripe, the 1000 pounders are moulded to the carriers, making painting a bit of a pain. Careful masking is the order of the day. Anyway, I don't want this to turn into any longer a review, congratulations if you got this far without glazing over, if you're interested, please read my article in AMW for more details. For those interested I'll probably write a post about building the kit, in detail, after it's officially released. Being a pre-production kit, no decals or box was supplied and so my friend Chris Clifford, the former editor of AMW and now of Flypast, helped in providing some decals as well as a copy of his latest Combat Machines No 6, book on the Vulcan, well worth getting. Another good mate, Jan Forsgren kindly donated a set of the excellent Fundekals and Freightdog sheets too and these proved invaluable with this build. The aircraft chosen here was XM597 as she appeared at the 1974 Greenham Common Air Tattoo. I chose here due to the unusual combination of squared off fin cap, white tail cone and circular dielectric panel on the upper fuselage and early 'D' style markings. The ground equipment comes courtesy of Aircraft In Miniature. Cheers all and happy modelling Melchie The well appointed weapons bay with three carriers supporting 21 1000lb bombs. A Blue Steel stand off bomb is also included along with the correct fairing. Bit of 60's nostalgia... Vignette consisting of Noy's Miniature V-Bomber base and AIM RAF Ground Equipment. As no decals were supplied with the kit, the cockpit detail was built up using parts from Eduard's Victor B.Mk2 set and appropriate parts I had in the spares bin. The seats were beefed up using Tamiya Two-Part Epoxy as the kit parts were a tad undernourished. Seatbelts, harnesses, ejection-seat firing handles etc also came courtesy of Eduard. The cone fitted to the front of the cockpit is to allow you to fit any nose weight, (in this case Liquid Gravity). AIM RAF ground Equipment
    36 points
  2. Hi Friends! I built a helicopter for the first time I liked Sikorsky's orange helicopter very much There were no difficulties in work I mixed the color of the paint myself from three cans of different manufacturers Because I was too lazy to go and buy the desired color in the store Thanks for watching!
    35 points
  3. Hi. This is an Airfix Jet Provost I finished earlier this year, in 1/72. It's made completely out of the box with kit scheme. Have to say it was a really nice little kit, went together with no issues at all. Regards, Isak
    25 points
  4. Hello Dears, Before going any further, I want to thank my friend @Grey Beema for the inspiration. So, let's go in Palestine in 1941, after the battle of cape Matapan and some Malta convoy escorts, the aviators of 803 and 806 Sqdn are disembarked at Dekheila.. The Fulmars were worn and inadequate, hence the creation of Royal Navy Desert Fighter Force... Or RNDFF ..... Equiped with RAF Hurricanes Mk I, they fought germans, italians aaaaand french aviation in Palestine... Enough with history... Let's get some plastic... Here we go in Sidi Haneish... followed by a pic of the real thing... The pics of RNDFF aircrafts are not very often seen... But, The one I saw shows only one bearing the Sqdn code OL... So, I choose not to put it on my model... Colors are Xtracrylics as usual Flory and oil paints as usual, and some pigments, but I think that I have to learn a bit about pigments.... My second Airfix Hurricane and I really enjoyed this kit !! More to come soon Aka, the family pics...
    22 points
  5. Hello there.I hope you are all doing well during this pandemic.I present you my MiG-25RBT of the Iraqi Air Force.The kit has been built mostly oob.The only addition are the seatbelts and the pittotube.If you want to know more about the build you can watch my video on youtube where I build the model from start to finish and all in around 15 minutes. https://youtu.be/9e-v6xLSfFs
    20 points
  6. Hi guys latest railgun finished after three months work , this was one of four super heavy railguns the British built using 14 inch naval barrels and saw action in France in the last months of the war this one was named BOCH BUSTER. The model is 14 inches long scratch built to plans found on internet the barrel is turned in aluminium .figs are from w w models altered arms etc. it was painted in the three colour dazzle pattern separated by black lines and this alone took two weeks.
    19 points
  7. Hi everybody, Here is my African Mig-23UB. This ArtModel kit comes with a detailed resin exhaust and two resin cockpits. The IP's lack detail, so I used a prepainted Eduard Zoom PE set for these and then mixed the cockpit colors to match the PE. Some parts to detail the exterior were also taken from the Eduard set. I added a bit of wiring in the gear wells and on the landing gear struts, some detail on top of the backseater IP, splitter plates in the intakes, a Pavla vacform canopy, Armory wheels and a Master pitot tube. Overall, the kit sports nicely engraved details. However, the fit of the fuselage parts is typical for a limited run kit: pretty difficult. The resin exhaust seemed to be too wide to fit the fuselage, so getting this to fit properly was a bit of a struggle. Surprisingly, the cockpits fitted perfectly without any extra work. I used Gunze and Tamiya paints to finish the aircraft in Angola AF colours. Decals and stencils are from the kit, working just fine, except the roundels as the black and red 'yin & yang' symbols are not correct. RV Aircraft's Mig-21 decal sheet came to the rescue. To add a bit of 'couleur locale', I attempted to build a simple base. All in all a pretty 'involved' build, but I would certainly build another one of these interesting aircraft (the kit comes with decals for no less than 16 colorful options). Thanks for stopping by; hope you enjoy the pics! Regards, Patrick
    19 points
  8. So here it is chaps, Great build and very enjoyable. I tried various new techniques with this one on the AFV and the crew, some paid off well and others need developing further. Moving onto a Tiger 1 now but I will revisit this and sort a base for it. Thank you all for following along and the fantastic feedback. Full Build is here:- Cheers Dan
    17 points
  9. The model is a new Eduard release in 1:48 scale. Painting widely discussed on many forums, i.e. a plane from 375 Squadron 361st Fighter Group stationed in England, piloted by Col. Thomas J.J. Christian Jr. bearing proper name LOU IV. They are all based on a photograph taken around 1944 of four Mustangs from this unit flying in formation. So far, it has not been possible to clearly define what colors the plane was in, the vast majority of modellers make it in (except for the yellow nose) one or two-color camouflage based on green. Such a scheme is promoted by modeling companies that released replicas of this plane. However, I chose to base myself on Dan Bell's analysis based on the original slide http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/showandtell7db_1.htm. So, treat this model as a reflection of this concept and as one of the proposals for painting this machine.
    17 points
  10. Hi all 😎 Although completed just before Christmas 2020, as I'm new to BritModeller (and I'm quite pleased with how she turned out), I'd like to present my third completed build since returning to the hobby after a 23 year break: Airfix 1:32nd 1914 Dennis Fire Engine. Built out the box with the exception of a few scratch built extras on the engine block, and a couple of lengths of fine brass chain on the rescue ladder supports. Painted with Tamiya acrylics except flesh tones and wood grain on the ladders are Citadel Miniatures. Weathering/stains using Citadel Miniatures shades and the odd dab of Tamiya weathering powder. As always, comments and suggestions welcome 😊👍 Cheers!
    15 points
  11. Here with my ICM 1/48 MiG-25PD finished as an Iraq Air Force aircraft from 96 Sqn based at Qadessiya Air Base (Al Asad). Some references quote this as the aircraft in which Lt Zuhair Dawood intercepted and shot down the VFA-81 F/A-18C flown by Lt Cdr Scott “Spike” Speicher, who was sadly killed, on the first night of “Desert Storm”, 17 January 1991. Whatever the truth, the model has been build for our club Desert Storm commemoration build. The ICM kit is pretty decent in my opinion with just a few oddities to overcome. The upper/lower wing joint on the underside does not follow any panel lines and I chose to fill and rescribe the area but tbh it is unlikely to be seen. The trickiest joint I found was on the rear fuselage where the large fuselage side panels c/w the fins attaches to the front fuselage - I couldn’t quite get a perfect fit here despite much fettling. This area is also partly natural metal on most MiG-25s too so it took some time to get an acceptable result. Although the kit cockpit is pretty good, I chose to use parts of the Eduard set designed for the kit, mainly to enhance the rather prominent open canopy. I did also add some scratch built bits to the open canopy to represent the canopy curtain and the area behind. I struggled to find a MiG cockpit green colour which matched the Eduard parts and in truth, the Eduard parts didn’t look too much like any of the pictures of Foxbat cockpits I could find so I wound up using Mr Paint MRP-001 “Russian Cockpit Turquoise” and painstakingly hand painted the eduard parts to match. I also used a Resin seat (Can’t remember whose). Other aftermarket parts used were a Master pitot and Reskit exhausts. The latter I had mixed feelings about. They certainly improve the detail around the rear end of the fuselage but the exhaust petals themselves look really quite rough. The kit missiles are OK but lack a little finesse. I started to try to thin the missile fins and tidy them up but ultimately bought PlusModel replacements. These I found really tricky to assemble and paint, especially the front fins which are extremely delicate so you pays your money and makes your choice. If I build another - it will be a recce bird with no missiles! I removed the moulded “Odd Rod” IFF aerials on the upper nose and scratchbuilt new ones, replaced the aerial on the upper nose and scratched the aerial on the aircraft spine which is missing from the kit altogether despite being shown on the boxtops! I could only find a few pictures of in-service Iraqi MiG-25s but all of the ones I could find, and the ones taken after the war, often looking in less than tip - top condition, all indicate that they were painted pretty much the same as all the other interceptor Foxbats - light grey. The grey did have a significant blue tint. Unable to obtain any Mr Paint “Traffic Grey” which is probably the right colour, I mixed my own using Mr Hobby H315 and H417. Reading previous builds here on Britmodeller and elsewhere, I found a number of interesting nuances of Iraqi Mig-25s of the era including the Chaff Flare dispensers on the wing fence, which in my case were scratch build using parts from quick boost MiG-23 units, the large RWR bulges on the cheeks of the intakes which are included in the kit, the larger and enhanced flag on the tail courtesy go Begemot decals and the odd looking placement of the wing national markings. All of this information was gleaned from numerous internet searches and books and with thanks in the main to Tom Cooper (Now banned) and Jabba. The kit decals looked oversimplified and of not quite the right colours to me so I substituted Begemot decals and made the serial up from various sources. I also used a large part of the excellent Begemot Mig-25 stencil set although in fact Iraqi Migs had all of the stencilling in English. One other thing I did do was to shorten the main undercarriage legs by about 4 mm to help give the characteristic nose up attitude when the aircraft was on the ground. Finally, I apologise for the quality of the photographs! I can take pictures of the real thing but I’m not so good at taking pictures of models I’m afraid! The pictures actually make the model look cleaner than it does in real life - maybe I will return ad enhance the weathering a little. Enough of my ramblings, here are some pictures. I hope you like. Cheers Malcolm
    15 points
  12. Well, if you are interested by my hurricane lunacy, here's the thread... Sooo family pics we said... There are now 2 Hurricanes in my cabinet... Both African ones... RTAG and RNDFF, I love special units.... African you say ?? I' have a 3rd one... Let's go to an undisclosed depot... Well Gents, comments and banters are welcome... It's up to you now !! Have fun... Sincerely. CC
    15 points
  13. Micro-Mir's 1/350 K class submarine (early), built as the unfortunate K4. The K class are often cited as technological horror stories, but the Royal Navy did eventually solve the many issues with this incredibly ambitious concept, if you count 'not suddenly sinking' as successful resolution. But it was a time when anything seemed possible and it was thought that a high speed "submarine cruiser" could make everything else obsolete. Turns out this theory was correct, but it required the power of the atom. Doctrine was the real problem - the idea was the Ks would essentially be destroyers that could submerge to lie in ambush, but were expected to fight just as much on the surface, thus the guns and deck torpedo tubes. The result was a vessel that "had the speed of a destroyer, the turning circle of a battlecruiser and the bridge of a picket-boat", and led to several tragic collisions that cost many lives. Micro Mir's K Class kit is available for rebuilt 'swan bow' boats or this version, as built. Its a nice kit with good fit but suffers from a lack of sources. The Maritime Museum plans are available online, but they don't show good external side views and depict the K's as built - modifications immediately started! There are few good photos available, by far the best being the famous photo of K4 beached showing the starboard side: The kit has the port side exactly the same, which isn't possible as the hull beam torpedo tunes are staggered. I fixed the tubes and repositioned the ballast tank openings to match other photos. The kit comes with photo-etch but its designed for a K after rebuilds that moved the 4" guns onto the superstructure deck. As built the Ks didn't have a hand rail or ladders, instead there were hand and foot holds which I drilled out. So all I ended up using was the propellers which look very nice. I also: Added flood and drain holes as required Added railings made from brass rod and EZ Line Scribed various deck details Filed out the funnels Cut out and faced the funnel wells Built the main deck hatch on the starboard side of the superstructure Added life rings per photos from rolled up brass rod. The kit's main sprue comes with guns, propeller shafts and masts, and then there is an extra sprue with the guns, propeller shafts and masts again, but better cast. All the guns are identical, so I improved two of the 4" with some small details and rebuilt the other as the superstructure's 3". The masts and shafts are nicely done but I replaced them with brass rod, using Albion alloys 0.4/0.6/0.8/1mm tube for the masts. Until rigged and painted they worked, retracting into 1mm tubes set into the hull. I painted them duraluminum to look like greased metal, but they may have been simply grey. The spread aerial was worn by on fitting out trials, I can't tell from photos if it was used in service but I thought it would be good practice. The triangle is nickel silver wire and the aerial itself 0.08 fishing line. The kit provides the bridge windows as decals, but I drilled out the round ones and built the square ones out of photoetch ladder with Krystal Klear glazing. The bridge has an interior with pelorus and hatches, but its invisible. Oddly the decal sheet has nothing that fits the name plate on the kit stand, so I used 1/72 8" RAF letters which fit nicely. Paints are Humbrol satin 123, 164 and 165 with each used to weather the others. I ignored the kit paint scheme and followed photos - K's had black decks. Flory was used for washes on the details. Note the kit depicts the submarine in an unlikely configuration - funnels up but the boiler air intake doors (between the funnels) closed. So she can't be under way. I chose to build K4 not for the famous photo, but because she lies with K17 and her entire crew just over the horizon from my house. Brave men.
    13 points
  14. Hello guys, It's been a while since I posted anything. Today I bring you this A-4AR Fightinghawk of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina. It wears the scheme of the 100 years of the FAA.
    11 points
  15. Just arrived today. Hopefully these are of use. Looks very nice at first glance
    11 points
  16. Hi all! My next model. Anti-aircraft weapon system – ZSU-23-4. As usual, small ZVEZDA kit in 1/100 scale. This AAWS was designed in USSR in 1964. The Soviet AAWS is intended to cover ground forces, destroy air targets at ranges up to 2500 m and at altitudes up to 1500 m from a standstill, with a short stop and in motion flying at speeds up to 1600 km / h. Armed with a 23mm 4-barreled charger. Rate of fire - 3400 rounds per minute. It aims at the target both manually and in semi-automatic and automatic modes. In the Soviet Army, she was part of the air defense units of the ground forces. Its modernized modification is currently in use. The model makes with some changes My changes: - added all handrails on the hull and turret - modified headlights, spotlight and radio station antenna - drilled holes in barrels - added front and rear mudguards - made some additional parts on the hull and turret PAINTING – AKAN enamel colors WASHING – MIG, TAMIYA (dark wash) WEATHERNG – MIG and TAMIYA pigments VARNISHIES – matt TAMIYA, REVELL and gloss - FUTURE I present soviet ZSU-23-4M (bort number 676) Afghanistan, 1986 Enjoy watching!
    10 points
  17. Another blast from the past. All 54mm. I like how the arrangement turned out. It sums up the infantry's opinion of cavalry. I can't quote the infantryman's verdict from the early days of that campaign after the British cavalry got a slapping. Suffice it to say, it wasn't sympathetic. See Spilsbury's excellent "Thin Red Line." Grenadier Guards officer, 7th Cavalry private, 30th Infantry private. These would turn out a bit differently now, but I'm pretty happy overall. Cavalry by Andreas. Others... forgotten. But this theatre is sadly under-represented.
    10 points
  18. Here's the third Kittyhawk I built for the ANZAC GB currently running. This is the Smer kit with spare bits from Special Hobby kits (cockpit parts, exhausts and drop-tank). Not a great fitting kit but nowt a bit of modelling didn't solve. The canopy was far too narrow to fit, I scraped some plastic from the fuselage and the canopy but you would end up with a step in from the sides so just glued it on with tube cement and taped it down to stop it from springing off. Not my best effort, got fed up with it and I just wanted to get it done, so rushed at the end, but I think it looks a fair representation of a desert Kittyhawk. Vallejo ModelAir paint throughout, Klear Gloss and Vallejo Matt varnishes. Xtradecal markings. Comments and critique welcome. Davey.
    10 points
  19. I finished Eduard's reboxing of Hasegawa's B-26 Marauder kit. Background and progress photos in this thread: I feel like I went a little bit too far with the weathering - tried to tone the chipping down with some OD but still looks quite heavy. Other than that, pretty pleased how this turned out. Finished with Spanish acrylics (various brands) and weathered with oil. The truck is from Airfix and the figures are from CMK sets. My interpretation of Dana Bell's colour research on the B-26 interior: The Eduard boxing comes with gorgeous resin engines: Thanks for looking - feedback and comments are welcome!
    10 points
  20. Slow progress on the base... And more trials Including this using oat bran which was a disaster I used varnish on ths test piece which Michael M suggested. The surface broke up and I think this is one methoid I'm going to abandon Multiple coats pf artists gesso with sanding between really does smooth out the imperfections And for those of you who obsess about these things I found this method on You tube that I thought intriguing... There's some epoxy putty on the way!! The portholes are all drilled out. There are moulded scuttles which are OK. But since I had the etch, I elected to use it and rubbed the mulded ones down - possibly unnecessarily so as not to see through the hull - I had to mount these inserts One issue was that the super structure piece was warped and I've had to try to bend it straight in a lateral (front/back) direction. There's now an area of fatigue crossways which I'll have to be careful about, lest it cracks. Here's my addition to the discussion on modelling tools... Getting it to sit flush with the deck is now an issue and I'm being tempted to glue it down BEFORE attaching the main deck to the hull (which means i can't use the wood deck that is slowly winging it's way from China!!) And you'll notice the pumped funnels - inspiration being lifted entirely from Christian Bruer who is building HMS Cairo and doing a Fab job on it, elesewhere. Thanks Christian. I have no idea how accurate this is, but it gives visual interest to what would otherwise be a void Building the County Class ships ahs taught me to plan ahead as far as possible and you'll see from the above pictures I've filled all the slots that the magazine lockers would slot into - I'll be using Micromaster Lockers that sit on tiny supports and if they aren't filled you get to see the holes underneath. Original photos (few as they are ) and Profile Morskie show these things prominently on the bridge superstructure - I've no idea what they are I'll be thinking of Crisp when I carry on the etch portholes. I tried sketching out the camo scheme. It's shocking that there are so few pictures of these Cruisers in wartime action especially Calcutta. I've been researching Landing Craft Infanty (L) vessels in anticipation of Black Cat's releases and there are so many pics of THEM - such a stark contrast to earlier in the war! We have 3 pics to work from - the 2 featured earlier in the blog and P107 from Norman Friedman's "British Cruiser Warfare" which shows the starboard side in reasonable detail. No pic really details the rear half of the port side so I'll assume that the scheme was similar to the starboard side. Don't larugh at the graphic attempts - I envy Jamie et al's facility with graphical representation The value here is to help me plan the scheme on the model by defining "landmarks" . Vertical cross hatching is "black" and diagonal 507A. I'm still pondering whether the lines are actually curved or straight ? (Or a mix) Anyone?? The one amendment I've already decided on the port side is that the colour block under the second funnel is in fact 507A NOT black. The P107 pic proves that the illustration in Raven's Warships Perspectives is partially inaccurate And finally a shout out and public thanks to Simon Percival of Micromaster. I received a Micromaster order today (roughly 4 weeks shipping time NZ to UK) and Simon very kindly gifted me some County class turrets to replace those on Berwick that he felt were inaccurate. Thanks Simon!! And now the order has come - with anchors!! I can finish Griffin - that has not been forgotten. Everyone stay safe and If you have been immunised and I imagine most of you from UK will now have been given our ages, remain cautious. It's not a 100% guarantee. Thanks for looking Rob
    10 points
  21. There are so many amazing builds in the gallery so far! I am honoured to include my first for tis GB, the iconic 'Grey Nurse' Spitfire Mk.VIII, OOB from Eduard. The WiP is here... Here are some images. Loads of fun! Thanks! --John
    9 points
  22. Within a month , april 12th , it will be a full 60 years since the first manned space flight, so i decide to commemorate this effort with my quick build. Old , good ($@&%@)Veb Plasticart, 1990s in Master Modell boxing, started few months ago, was on hold, but finished in less than week. This is my third VEB Plasticart VOSTOK build. The first was in the late seventies, the second in 1985, the third in the year of COVID 19. The model is basic, with many problems , during the research for story, details and color scheme on obscure Russian sites and forums, I learned that both Revell 1/24 and VEB Plasticart 1/25 were made according to the display model of VOSTOK 1 from the Paris, 1966. show . That full scale Vostok model was exhibited with a third stage segment in white, with a spherical capsule polished to a high gloss aluminium and with all its equipment of military and technological significance removed. In reality, the third stage of the carrier rocket was gray, and the spherical capsule of Vostok 3K # 3 was covered with hexagonal segments of asbestos plates 3-18 cm thick, covered with a thin aluminum sheet. Many other small details were added, service openings on the third stage were printed decals, hexagonal segments were vinyl foil cut on cutter, plastic antennas were replaced by steel wire ones , everything is shown in the following pictures. Original VEB Plasticart box, and Master Modell box, Kit parts and instructions, And work started... And finished model, gallery here: R.F.I. here:
    8 points
  23. I knew it wasn't going to be a good day for rigging when I couldn't get the toothpaste on the brush iinvoluntary hand tremor So it was down to rude & crude Foam base and quay. Boat protected by clingfilm All areas primed with PVA, don't forget the underside and edges Used some old tile grout stones and flagstones scribed whilst grout still damp Because the quay is set at an angle there is only a small section of wharehouse as indicated by the white sheet Trust you approve Stay safe Kev
    8 points
  24. Kittyhawk Mk.III, 450 Sqn RAAF, Tunisia. Smer kit with spare bits from Special Hobby kits. Vallejo ModelAir paint throughout, Klear Gloss and Vallejo Matt varnishes. Xtradecal markings.
    8 points
  25. Extras used: Furball 48-049 decals, Steel Beach ESC pipes, resin seat, Flory Dark dirt wash, Paints and colors used: Model Master LGG and DGG for the airframe and MM Engine Gray for the spine and tails
    8 points
  26. Some piccys of my very slow paced build.........trying a different photo host and not sure what i'm doing so let me know how this looks ......
    8 points
  27. RNZAF Airfix Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless No25 Dive Bomber Squadron Royal New Zealand Air Force Auckland NZ December 1943 First RNZAF aircraft I've ever made, most holes I've ever drilled in my life, and thanks for all the help to enable me to get it right, WIP below, I hope you like it. Cheers Pat
    8 points
  28. This is probably @Martians fault. The vacform tutorial build got me thinking about challenging myself to do something other than an injection moulded kit. I stick to 1:48 and almost always the end-of-the-cold-war through to modern era aircraft that I've seen at shows since my childhood. So there really isn't tons of choice in vacform, as soon as I saw the Lightning I knew it was the right one for me. I don't normal go for the un-boxing type shots, but a lot of you might be as new as me to this form of modelling. the box Unfortunately no longer with the etch or the redtops that have been redacted from the front The fuselage Wings Spine stiffener, belly stiffener and an over wing tank Another tank White metal parts for the undercarriage, cockpit, exhausts and nose. injection moulded parts canopy Decals and sticks attached to the bottom of the box First job, as it says in the instructions is to read the instructions. I might have done this in excess of 30 times before I was brave enough to do anything. But eventually the time came. I bought a new cutting mat Outlined the fuselage halves with a fine pen and with my new #11, cut the fuselage out of the backing. Sanding and more sanding until they fit together and also the nose and the exhausts fit snugly at opposite ends. I have no idea how that ended up working so well. Until next time.
    7 points
  29. Here's a couple of P-40 Kittyhawk's I did for the current ANZAC GB. Both OOB SH kits, apart from Xtradecal markings used for Kittyhawk IV. Both beautifully produced kits which went together with no problems apart from the open canopy on the Mk.1A which didn't fit well, I managed to split it as it's that thinly moulded but that's to do with my cack-handedness. Vallejo ModelAir paint used throughout with, for the first time, Humbrol Decal setting solution which worked really well. 'Klear' Gloss coat and Vallejo Matt varnish airbrushed to finish. Very minimal weathering as usual for me. Comments and critique welcome. Davey. Kittyhawk Mk.1A, 'Orace', 75 Sqn. RAAF, 1943, New Guinea. I lost most of the port side 'Orace' decal! So painted in the rest. For some reason took less photo's as well Kittyhawk Mk.IV, 450 Sqn. RAAF, Italy, 1944.
    7 points
  30. Thank you everyone. Back to the bench and the Pom-Pom, plus associated platforms:
    7 points
  31. The cockpit wash duly given a light was, a dry brush and fitted to the fuselage. Top part of fuselage fitted , glued and clamped. Methinks some filler and sanding will be required. Now you see it. Now you don't. And finally I glued the wings together and added the PE. That'll be it for tonight. I'm off on the Night Shift again. More tomorrow? Thanks for looking, Cheers, Alistair
    7 points
  32. And stuck together, with a bit of stretched sprue here and there to fill the worst gaps: It’s surprisingly big at around 28cm (~20m or 66ft IRL) span.
    7 points
  33. So, here is the truncated engine in place. I then did some work on the Ejector Seats, The IP was stickered last night and some Krystal Klear was placed over the dials this morning. It's still drying. Last night the control column pinged off into that paradise that all lost pieces wend their way to and so I just bent a piece of brass tube and stuck that in. It probably won't be seen anyway. I put a piece of masking tape on to simulate the handle but it doesn't appear to like paint much so will use some of the boy's green stuff putty when he's using it later today and fashion one from that. Once everything is dry I'll give the cockpit a light dry brush and wash and it'll be time to start sticking bits together. Thanks for looking, Cheers, Alistair
    7 points
  34. RAAF Airfix Brewster F2A-1 Buffalo Brewster B-339E Buffalo Mk.I Royal Australian Air Force 453 Sqn. TD-V/WR243 December 1941 - Sembawang Work, in progress below Really enjoyed this build, hope you like it. cheers Pat
    7 points
  35. Hasegawa 1/72 F-86D Sabre Dog (JRV - 14088) - Gunze acrylics - Artistic oils wash - Lift Here decals - Eduard PE Zoom set - Landing light made from Kristal Klear Cheers, S.
    7 points
  36. Having rekindled the bug to build some classic airliners (see my 707/720 thread) I have decided to try and finish off a few airliner projects which had ground to a halt quite a while ago. One of these is the S & M Viscount 800 kit. It is actually a very simple model with not that many parts. It's reasonably accurate in outline although a bit chunky. The nose needed to be rehaped slightly as it's a bit too blunt. I actually started it about four years ago (when on a break in my motorhome) and, after getting it assembled, put it away in its box and left it. However, it's back out of the box now and I've actually made some progress with it. I was a keen plane spotter in the 1970s and I have abiding memories of Northeast and Cambrian liveried Viscounts whistling their way over my house on their way in and out of Dublin Airport. This is the decal sheet I'll be using - I'm going with the Northeast scheme. This is the assembled airframe which has been primed and had the top half painted white and the white along the cabin windows masked off in preparation for the yellow to be applied to the cabin roof and tail fin.
    6 points
  37. Did this lil kitbash for a contest on Starship Modeler. It's the 1/1000 Grissom suped up with a Refit's nacelles, torpedo bay and bridge dome to become a Dominion War torpedo boat. Just one of many of the hashed together designs Star Fleet through out there to fight while they were losing ground. Thom
    6 points
  38. Well after a year of sitting in the stash, I finally built my Airfix Buccaneer. It is a really nice kit, just with a few spots which you need to watch to get them to fit right. I know there's a lot of details that take should be removed for an S2C in 1971, but this isn't a Vulcan so I just left them on to simplify the build. This is the build thread: Anyway, despite a few setbacks and an unintentional flight, here's the result: The wings have been left detachable, less chance of breaking the joints if it takes another unintentional flight.
    6 points
  39. And we are off, a lot of catching up to do . Torsion bars fitted and a few other bits n bobs. Enjoy
    6 points
  40. While working on the Alfa Romeo I also did some careful surgery to remove the two stage compressor setup, and the twin setup could then be trial fitted. It seemed quite OK. I'm also cleaning up and filling the rear axle parts. It will even fit the engine bay as I hoped.
    6 points
  41. Decided to have a go at the Tiger tracks. The destructions are as follows. I decided to cement the road-wheels leaving the sprocket and idler to rotate. Glad I didn't go for the removable wheels! Every time I move the hull either the sprocket or idler falls off. So the wheels are fixed in place. Next step is to add the indy links to the sprocket and idler. This got off to a flying flop as the teeth on the outer rim meant the links went on at an angle if they went on at all. I removed most of the outer teeth leaving only a stub as there's a recess in the links. And went on to fit the required number, 8 on each wheel. There seems to be a problem with the destructions The top track run is too short to accomadate the three lengths specified. Thankfully I dry-fitted before I went to town with trying to fix all three! Posting the last pic above I just noticed a big muck-up. I should only have removed 8 outer sprocket rim teeth...............................that's really going to bug me now! Still, onwards and upwards as they say, and this is only my second attempt at link and length.🤫😢
    6 points
  42. Searching through my stash, looking for something suitable, I remembered these. Reminds me of a saying, "so I wait over 10 years to make a Bus model, and 16 come along all at once"! Spoilt for choice! Terry
    6 points
  43. Beechcraft King Air 200 45 (Reserve) Squadron, RAF Cranwell, 2021 Mach 2 kit as marketed by Two Six Models I picked this one up from Models For Sale a few months ago, mainly because it included a really nice set of decals for the current RAF training version. The kit was typically Mach 2 – lots of flash, nearly unusable transparencies, wings at odd angles if you assemble it straight from the sprue, brittle plastic, etc. Ironically the cabin windows were moulded quite well and would have been usable, but alas the windows were too small and had to be drilled out a bit (there was also a window missing which had to be added) so in the end I used Humbrol Clearfix. I had to find another nosewheel as the kit provides 5 identical wheels but the nosewheel should be bigger than the mains. My replacement is a tad on the large size but there were so many compromises on this one that I just wanted it finished. The props were completely unusable and I replaced them with a set modified from the Airfix F27 Friendship, including cutting off the blades and resetting then in feathered pitch. All undercarriage doors were replaced. Numerous coats of Halfords grey then white primer, followed by Appliance White, reasonably covered the huge expanses of Milliput. Undersides were Xtracolour Roundel Blue. The decals were nice and I got there in the end. None of the above was a surprise – I’ve made enough Mach 2 kits to know what to expect now – and actually it’s good old fashioned enjoyable modelling.
    6 points
  44. Wow times getting short. To be fair I got offered some overtime so I worked 14 days straight, a mix of in work/work from home. Off today so had a wee bit of time to get some done. Finished painting and decaling gun panels, different colours to stand out a bit, a bit of pastels around the gun troughs, refuelling probe added Finished painting and decaling the over wing tanks, glued in place. Have to pull the old finger out, still quite a bit to do. Darren
    6 points
  45. As I had a couple of spare T56s left from a sacrificed Hasegawa P3 for a previous Mach 2 Convair conversion...I decided to start the SLOW build of another Convair...This is an Execuform vacform model so it took A LOT of contemplation and confidence (and lots of spare parts) to make a start on it. Lots of careful measuring, copying templates off plans, checking & rechecking going on here...along with filling, sanding, filing... So far its looking quite good, Im using C-130H resin props, P3 and B-25 cockpit parts and landing gear from P3 modified with scratch components to suit. This will be a freighter variant in colors of Airfreight NZ which operated on freight contracts in NZ from 1989-2017. Untitled by Harry Follas, on Flickr IMG_4129 by Harry Follas, on Flickr Execuform Convair by Harry Follas, on Flickr Execuform Convair by Harry Follas, on Flickr
    5 points
  46. I remember seeing the first Matchbox released kits in Andersons newsagents in Whitby in spring 1973 ( the same shop that sold FROG kits ) . I bought the Lysander, beautifully moulded in two shades of brown plastic, colours I could live with without painting it. It seemed on a different level to all the Airfix, FROG and Revell kits I had built up to then, crisp mouldings, no flash, no loose parts, everything went together with precision and superb transfers. Only thing that let them down for me was the poor standard of artwork and the poor colour printing of the colour guide on the back of the boxes. And at last I had a Lysander that captured the look of the real one as I had been so disappointed with the new Airfix Lysander released the previous year. Only thing that let it down was the absence of the landing lights in the wheel fairings. The first releases are featured here. I also bought the Gladiator and again was very impressed with the quality and the precision of it, but less impressed by the bright red and cream coloured plastics .............. The pictures here are from this book of mine, a great read for anyone interested in Matchbox models, and all in colour too. First pages dealing with the initial releases in 1973 and showing the imaginative colours that the Hawker Fury was moulded in. I thought that the Fury and Gladiator artwork was good, I could not believe that they were painted by the same person who did the Lysander and FW190 too, maybe they were not, or maybe the artist had a passion for British biplanes but not for war scenes. The reverse cover of the book, all of the Matchbox kits are featured within its pages and it covers where they went after Matchbox left us.
    5 points
  47. I was stationed at the Canadian base in Lahr Germany in the mid/late 70s and pumped fuel into many NATO aircraft during that time. This included both Belgian and German F-104s. Since I was aware of the "issues" with the aircraft I would talk to the pilots about them whenever I had a chance. Of course by this time most of the early training problems had been ironed out but the type still had a horrible reputation. Politics and historical hindsight aside the main complaints (as I can remember 40 years later) were. 1) Not enough flight time to truly become comfortable even with the improved training program. They got a fraction of the time the Canadians did. 2) Many of the airframes were made up of components from all around the world. There was some sort of program (I could probably look it up but am too lazy) where different sections were built in different places and then all assembled. In theory everything should be the same but as we all know this does not always happen. Apparently these airframes tended to change shape at the most inopportune times. 3) The conversions that were supposed to take the aircraft from a clear weather daylight interceptor to an all weather fighter/bomber really had little effect on the actual operation. The radar and visibility sucked for low level flying and they were often simply flown into the higher terrain. The pilots loved it when they were high and fast but slow and low terrified them. 4) Last but not least was the most basic of all air accidents. Bird strikes! For some reason (I am not an engineer) these aircraft suffered badly from a simple bird strike. An incident that wouldn't even be noted in other planes could take out a wing on a Starfighter. This may have been more a Canadian issue that my memory has lumped in with Europe though. Now back to the model (even if a bit late)! A couple of notes from seeing a dozen or so of these even if later versions. They were always, always, always, pristine and clean. No matter what they had done before they came to us there was not a chip to be seen nor any dirt to note. You can build a straight from the factory aircraft and it would be the same in German operational appearance. I don't know the make or mark of the seats (shame on me) but I recall there were at least 3 different ones in use at the same time. I never did a side by side comparison and it may be my memory playing tricks on me but I seem to recall that every single one I saw had exactly the same pattern for the camo. They were all in the two tone NATO green and black overall pattern. Again these were later aircraft than being modeled here though.
    5 points
  48. I promised some pictures, and am struggling with the camera for taking pictures of the tiny cockpit. The phone camera is simply not getting the details, and the macro of my Olympus is to very onforgiving in this scale. But anyway, I place myself at your mercy: I used the Löök dash, but found the kit's parts more appealing than the Eduard brass for the side panels, so I kept these, and it's all drybrushing you see here. The extensive belts and the net are included in the Löök-kit, so I uesd these of course. I decided to go for the early C2 seat, which is stated on the box to be an option in the kit. This is partly true, as the parts are there, but not in the manual. So I contacted Kinetic via their FB channel, and they reacted almost immediately, and sent me a picture from the Taiwan manuals, where it is included. Now, that's what I call service. 😉 A few additional pieces where added, like a piece of a guitar string for the hose to the upper handle of the ejection seat. Guitar strings are a mayor source in many build - it's a mayor advantage to have a second hobby. 😉
    5 points
  49. 5 points
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