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Another one to my "Falklands collection", this time 1:72 Mirage IIIEA, I-014, 1st Squadron, 8th Air Group Argentine Air Force, Rio Gallegos, May 1982. New Modelsvit kit, built "out of the box" except metal Pitot tube (Master) and squadron emblems decals on the fin (Condor Decals). Painted with Gunze Mr.Color C series. The Modelsvit kit itself is just great - extremely well detailed as for 1:72 scale, crispy molded, well fitted (although a bit complicated - definitely not for beginners). I think it was the best short-run kit I've ever assembled. "Work in progress" topic was on Polish forum: https://www.pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=884&t=90757 And now some pictures: Thanks for watching!

This is my latest contribution to Airfix Model World. Eduard 's superb special edition P47 'Jugs Over Germany'. Paints are MRP....

With the auctions over and model displays sent to the winning bidders, I can now safely post and share these images of my recent Phantom builds without contravening any forum rules or regs. Using a section panel from the real XV411 as a display base, I built the following models to raise funds for the ZE360 Restoration. Using the Revell 1/48 kit, 2 Sqn and 92 Sqn builds were created showing the earlier camo design and latter air defence grey. A certificate of authenticity was also supplied by the British Phantom Aviation Group. XV411 shared the burn area with ZE360 at Manston and has now been scrapped making these some of the last surviving sections of the aircraft. Thanks for looking.

Good afternoon, My first completion of 2021 is here! Talk about being a slow builder.. First of all a special mention to @Ray_W who sorted me out with replacement roundels after I buggered the originals up + all those who popped in to my WIP to help. Cheers gents! WIP here I started this late last year and thought it would be a fun idea to display with the flaps down. Duly I bought the Eduard PE flaps set and thought ‘how hard can this be eh?’. At least a month of misery ensued trying to fit the blasted things. I may use them again as they definitely add to the look of the finished article but they definitely added to my stress levels. The fit of the Eduard plastic is great, except the ailerons, which while fitting well, have somewhat flimsy attachment points. The coloured PE was lovely, the canopy masks were good although the rear canopy had to be trimmed, which was a bit of an annoyance. I had a minor disaster when painting as the upper cowling seam appeared out of nowhere and my paint decided to craze. So I had to do an entire upper surface respray. Paints used were Vallejo and Modelmaster acrylics, a pledge gloss coat and Vallejo matt varnish to seal it all in. Decals actually worked better than I expected. They bedded down well and the carrier film is invisible under the varnish. I dabbled with removing the carrier film but to no avail. No panel line wash as I didn’t think it needed one. Exhaust stains done with Mig Rubber paint and some drybrushing. All other weathering done with Revell weathering powder. Aerial was done with Uschi thread which I really enjoyed using. Without further ado, here is the finished article: Happy to hear your thoughts! Ash

Hi all, Here's the completed model of the Roland D.VIa, Ser No: 3615/18 during 1918 (Pilot and Jasta not known). Wingnut Wings kit Decals from Aviattic and ProperPlane Propeller by ProperPlane Rigging - GasPatch turnbuckles, mono-folamant and micro-tube. Figures from Model Cellar Paints used Tamiya, Alclad and Mr. Colour. As usual my PDF format build log can be downloaded from my site (link in signature). Build thread can be found here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235088230-132nd-scale-roland-dvia/ Thanks for following this build and for you encouraging comments, Mike

Čáslav Air Base, Czech Republic, June 30th 2005 Built for the Interceptor GB, this is the final QRA and last operational day of the Czech Air Force's legacy MiG-21 fleet. The jets were updated to modern standards as MiG-21 MFN and equipped with R60 missiles. The kits are from a special limited edition boxing by JBr Decals, combining the exquisite Eduard plastic with resin and decals to cover a variety of types. To this I added an additional pair of etch sprues from JBr to model the extra antenna of the MFN. The jets represented were two of those that stood the final duty, including 5581, the last of the type to receive the 21st Century modifications that carried a slightly different paint scheme. The extra details are a photoetch ladder from a Brengun 'MiG-21 maintenence' set (only the utter rarity of which prevented me adding two to the scene - if anyone has a lead on any more of these, please message me!) and two superly detailed resin figures from Heroes Models of Italy.

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

Another one finished....... Revell 1/32 scale Spitfire Mark IIA, P7665 YT-L, of No. 65 Squadron RAF . It was shot down by Messerschmitt Bf 109s on 5 February 1941. Yes I know the rear view mirror is missing, I dropped it on the floor and I think the dog ate it!! 🥴😤

Hello my Friends. This is my latest. 279 Shipborne Fighter Aviation Reg. 2 Sqn. Tigers Red 80. July 2005 - Severomorsk NAB. Apart from a few niggly instructions and poor fitting canopy I really enjoyed building and painting this. All the best. Ralph.

This is my latest creation, as it typical for me an OOB build. Paints are a combination of Model Master, Gunze and Tamiya. This is Revell's 1/48 kit number 3925 of the Panavia Tornado F.3 ADV, No. 111 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Leuchars, Scotand July 2002. I have to thank some fellow Britmodellers for the heads up regarding the fit. The fit is great provided you pay attention to the fuselage and snug it up as the assembly goes along. Also, given it is swing wing you need to plan ahead and in my case the wings were painted before they were attached as it would be near impossible to do this after the fact. Overall I think this is a great kit for the money provided you can get the fuselage parts to all match up. Some silvering of the decals but I think that is partly my fault. I don't have another kit with trust reversers as an option so I thought I would deploy them just because. But it is fidley to get them to work and I would not do it again. The last picture I have paired it with a really great kit (at least to me it is a great kit but partly because I love the plane), which is the Airfix 09179 BAC/EE Lightning F.3 111 XR711 which was flown by the CO in 1965 out of RAF Wattisham. Although the pictures don't really show it the two planes are almost the same size.

Hi, It’s been a while since I last posted so I’d like share with you some photos of my recently completed Ju88 A-5. It’s built from the ICM 1:48 kit. This is the first of their range of Luftwaffe bombers I have built and I am very impressed. Excellent detail, great fit and all at a bargain price. I wanted to finish this model a little differently and chose a winter camo scheme – something like this aircraft would have seen in service on the Eastern Front. The pattern is based on giraffe skin (!) and was masked (slowly) using the blu-tak sausage method. Although probably not historically accurate I’m pleased with the way it came out and I feel it looks the part. The kit also comes with a pair of well detailed Jumo engines which I thought would be wasted under the cowlings so I opened the engine covers on one and completely removed the cowling panels on the other (a little surgery required here) to show them off. A bit of dry brushing and added plumbing and there we have it. Construction was without any major problems. Well detailed cockpit, detailed and sturdy landing gear, some nice engineering on the lower wing hides any joins under the engine nacelles. And the decals are OK too. ( I recently built an ICM Spitfire MkXVI whose decals were useless) For the glazing I used liquid mask, as some of the very small panes in the nose would be impossible to mask otherwise. All painting done with Gunze Acrylics and finished with a Flory Models wash. So, all in all, a very enjoyable build and I would thoroughly recommend this ICM kit. ( I also have their Do 215 – hope it’s as good.) Thanks for looking, Bob

A quick look at the internals before they're gone for ever: Now, that fit. This is what you get: …if you want this: … but this still taunts you: Only one answer in my book - lots of TET and many, many clamps: I'll leave that to dry and see what we have later.

Good day to you all, Happy Thursday! Welcome along to my latest completion. This is my Trumpeter 1:48 Seahawk FGA 6 converted to an FB3 and dressed as a member of the Red Devils. The Red devils were an aerobatic team of 5 aircraft from 738 Naval Air Squadron running for a couple of years in the early 1950s. Their claim to fame was being the first team to (intentionally!) use smoke as part of their display. I have depicted the aircraft folded as the aircraft started their display folded, taxied to the dispersal and then did some synchronized wing spreading just before taking off. Also, it shows off the large underwing Royal navy. The model is OOB with only an aftermarket seat installed which is a huge improvement on the kit version. It was a spare I had kicking around, it looks a bit different so may well be the wrong type for this aircraft but it does look better! I also remodeled the nose, gun ports, wing fold, intakes and tail bullet. The decals are aftermarket from Model Alliance Naval display teams set, a nice set but I felt the white was a little too transparent. The paint finish is Model Master Acryl signal red which almost gives the red a 1950s shade to it! To convert from a FGA 6 to an FB3 was more or less just an antenna change around. There was no other major modification involved. See link below for the WIP Build link Anyway, enjoy the phots! And here it is with their Classic Airframes counterpart Thanks for looking in! Bob

Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VI Kit: Tamiya Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VI (#61053) Scale: 1/48 Paints: Vallejo Model Air, Vallejo Metal Colour Weathering: Flory Models Wash, oil paints, Mig & Tamiya weathering products, A superb kit by Tamiya, a pleasure to build. I went quite heavy with the weathering, with chipping and oil paints. This plane represents those that flew anti-ship missions from Malta - which might have worn coastal command topside colours instead of desert colours, but with azure blue undersides. Images show the colours bit more blue as they are in real life and the colours shifted quite far from the original paint colours due to heavy oil paint weathering. But this was more of a product of having fun rather than trying to acquire 100% historical accuracy. I had fun with it, so mission succesful I suppose? Built for MTO GB - but missed the deadline. Feel free to comment & offer constructive criticism. Partial WIP thread can be found here:

Thanks Mark, thanks Chris First rule of modelling retail Duncan, don't get high on your own supply I would very much like to see your mottling skills applied to one of those Well I don't really know what to say about the last 48 hours with the Belgian Gladiator, it sort of got out from under me and went rampaging off with me hanging on for dear life and taking photo's when I remembered to; I can't really compose a coherent travelogue but I'll let the photos do the talking as far as possible... It all started innocently enough, painting the footplates on the upper half of the lower wing and threading the knitting-in thread through the holes I drilled earlier. I needed to apply some of the transfers before proceeding much further, for reasons that will be apparent in a couple of photo's time. Both the aftermarket sets of transfers I'd bought were disappointing: The ICM decals are nice enough, colourful, nicely printed and seem to be of good quality; BUT the Belgian aircraft they offer in the set is an unarmed personal aircraft of a high-ranking Belgian officer (General Hiernaux) which does not carry the famed badge of 'La Comete' squadron which was one of the principal reasons I wanted to build a Belgian Gladiator in the first place. For what it's worth the set does offer options for Norwegian, Greek or Chinese Gladiators too. The other set was the LF Models set and this does include the 'Comete' badge, but the colours are a bit washed out, the printing is not quite of the same quality and the whole sheet is one big decal from which you have to cut what you need and remove as much excess carrier film as you dare to. In it's favour is the fact that it has three options (one of the aforementioned General Hiernaux's aircraft) and I think the underwing lettering is better in size and stroke than the ICM ones which are larger and thinner, but it's hard to find a decent picture of the underside of a Belgian Gladiator so you need to reach your own conclusions there. The upper wings were fitted, the tail and rudder markings applied and the struts tidied up: I used the ICM transfers for the national markings and the LF models ones for the codes and lettering. As you can see I broke the prong for the tailwheel off somewhere along the line, I drilled it and reinforced it with a bit of brass rod and re-fitted it. I don't even know what's happening here, but the tailwheel has been refitted and the rudder attached: ... the stabilisers, main struts and radiator(?) fitted: This is why I needed to apply the transfers to the tail before going much further: The upper wing was fitted and the various rigging elements threaded through their intended holes and glued: ... and finally the LF 'Comete' transfer was applied; these indicated every sign that they are going to silver like absolute sweethearts and I'll have to see what the various decal setting solutions can do about that. So that's where I am; noticeably closer to the finish for the Belgian Gladiator and armed with a fair amount of experience that will help with the same process for the Sea Gladiator, I hope. I do feel slightly dazed however as the last bits of the process just seemed to be me skittering from one almost disaster to another but never quite having an actual disaster. Sort of exhilarating, sort of terrifying. Perhaps I'll take the day off modelling today Cheers, Stew

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

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

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.

On 26 February 2021, a Royal Air Force Sentinel R.1 aircraft – serial ZJ694 - carried out the last operational flight of the type from RAF Waddington after 14 years of service. The five Sentinel aircraft and V (Army Cooperation) based at RAF Waddington will be retired and stood down respectively on 31 March. The Sentinel R.1 aircraft have flown circa 32,300 hours conducting approximately 4,870 sorties – mostly on operations, during its service life. The withdrawal from service was first announced as part of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review. The UK continues to invest heavily in NATO ISTAR capabilities, not least Maritime Surveillance (Poseidon), Airborne Early Warning and Control (E-7 Wedgetail), Armed ISTAR (Protector), Rivet Joint and Shadow – all of which have either entered service or will do in the near-term. The genesis of the Sentinel programme goes back to the early 1980s, when the UK government identified a need for a battlefield reconnaissance system to provide awareness over a broad area. Expressed in the Corps Airborne Stand-Off Radar (CASTOR) requirement, the programme elicited responses from Thorn-EMI and Ferranti. The former’s radar was tested in an English Electric Canberra from 1982, while a Britten-Norman Islander modified to take the latter, first flew in 1984. By 1988 the programme had become ASTOR and, with a Thorn-EMI radar installed, the Islander flew low-altitude trials examining its compatibility with the USAF’s prototype E-8 J-STARS (Joint-Surveillance Target Acquisition Radar System). This work was part of a definition phase which, it was hoped, would enable a contract award in 1994. Finally, in 1999, Raytheon was contracted to develop a five-aircraft ASTOR system, using Bombardier’s Global Express business jet as the airborne platform, and basing the mission system on its ASARS-2 radar, developed for the USAF’s U-2. Raytheon took a first Global Express for modification in 2002 and re-flew it with the ASTOR system installed in May 2004. Initial aircraft deliveries were made in 2006. Service trials began in 2007 and V(AC) Sqn flew the first operational Sentinel R.1 mission in November 2008. The aircraft immediately proved its worth on Operation Herrick over Afghanistan and again during Operation Ellamy in Libya in 2011, becoming a vital link in the chain of target identification and prosecution, especially where fleeting or ‘pop-up’ targets were concerned. The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review nominated Sentinel for withdrawal as soon as the Operation Herrick commitment ended, but such was the system’s value to British and allied commanders that it was given a reprieve. It continued to prove its worth in Operation Shader (Campaign against ISIS), and closer to home, the squadron also provided support to the civil authorities in 2014 during the UK's flood emergency in southern England (Operation Pitchpole). However, following the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the out of service date was finally set for end of March 2021. The five aircraft delivered to V (AC) Sqn were given serials ZJ690-694. In recent times just three aircraft have been operational with ZJ690 stored at Waddington, and ZJ693 at Raytheon Systems Ltd at Hawarden. In 2020 expressions of interest were being sought by the MoD from “companies wishing to purchase the five Sentinel aircraft and spares for teardown to harvest all reusable parts for potential resale, recycling or disposal and final cutdown and removal of the remaining platforms”, but that “these aircraft are not for re-use”. Sadly we won’t see a Sentinel in the RAF Museum; it’s earned its place. It is highly like though that as one of the RAF most senior squadron, V (AC) will return though perhaps as a Protector operator. Here is a selection of images from throughout the type’s relatively short but illustrious RAF career. First public appearance of the Bombardier Sentinel R.1 was at the Waddington International Air Show in June 2006 where these two photos were taken. This photo shows newly delivered ZJ692 looking pristine, but lacking the squadron fin markings that were initially applied to all the fleet. The Waddington home team.. This three ship of Nimrod R.1 , Sentry AEW.1 and Sentinel R.1 opened the flying display at the Waddington IAS in 2007 and demonstrated the station's growing ISTAR hub capacity. Also from 2007, two views of ZJ690 at Waddington in July that year, in full sqn markings including a closeup of the V (AC) fin marking. ZJ694 about to depart on a mission from Waddington in June 2011. From the 2011 Waddington IAS, ZJ694 in the static display. 2013 marked V (AC)’s centenary. To mark the occasion this commemorative t shirt was produced for the squadron showing the Avro Type E – their first mount in 2013, through to the Sentinel of 2013. Sentinel ZJ692 also received special fin markings to celebrate the squadron centenary as seen at Waddington IAS in June that year. The maple leaf in the squadron badge - approved by HM King George VI in June 1937, commemorates the Squadron's close links with the Canadian Corps during WWI. Sentinel ZJ692 was joined by the Red Arrows to celebrate V (AC)’s first 100 years and to open the flying display at Waddington IAS 2013. From around 2013 the squadron markings began to disappear from the Sentinel fleet presumably due to the aircraft being deployed so often in real world combat ops. Also, the matt camouflage grey paint scheme finish was replaced by a high gloss finish which is easier to maintain. This photo depicts ZJ692 in the anonymous new livery at Waddington in 2014. ZJ692 once again, this time arriving for RIAT 2018 at RAF Fairford. Hope these have been of interest. Mark

This is my initial build of 2021 and also my first build of an A & A kit, these appear to be short run kits by Modelsvit ( although I stand to be corrected!!!). I believe this is the first kit of a Messerschmitt Me109T (not an adaption of an E version) the kit actually represents the later T-2 version with the two fuselage covers which show the machine was fitted with GM-1. Not all the schemes supplied with the kit are correct for this particular variant, the two oval fuselage panels would need to be filled and a single round panel re-scribed to back date the kit to the T-1 version. I stuck with a T-2 version, as with all short run kits some extra work is required in cleaning up the parts but other than that the kit goes together well. the only exception I found was using the closed canopy, the fit leaving something to be desired. The model was built O.O.B. I chose to represent a T-2 from Jasta Heligoland 1942/43. Kit was finished in the usual RLM74/75/76 scheme using AK Real Colours, decals were used from the kit and went on really well, except the green/white 3 from my spares:- A comparison of an E and T's wingspans, the E-7 is an Eduard kit. Cheers Andy

Hello guys and girls.I hope you are doing well.Here is my latest finished model.The Sword EE Lightning T.5.A really bad kit that requires a lot of work to turn it into something worth of having a place in you display case.I built it OOB.The paints used are gunze. enjoy the photos.

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!

Cheer !!

Touched up the primer and laid down the yellow leading edges ready for the cammo pattern

I decided to go with the kit decals rather than risk screwing up painting the markings. Red paint (which I’d have used for “Red Four”) is unforgiving if you make a mistake-very difficult to correct! These will be blended/weathered when I install the tracks.

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!

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

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

I'd built a Hasegawa F/A-18F sometime ago and was all set to do the same company's F/A-18E to go with it using markings from Furball's CVW-8 decal sheet, but, I when I saw the Meng one was coming out I thought it would be interesting to have a comparison of the two. Now, I'm no F-18 expert but I must admit it looks OK to me and putting the 2 sets of parts together on the bench there wasn't a lot to choose from them. In fact, some of the panel lines etc are virtually identical so they're either both right or both wrong... It was certainly an easier build than the Hasegawa kit and parts fit together very nicely. The cockpit is a little basic but as I'd always intended to have it closed (like my 'F') anyway it didn't really matter. I did however put a Wolfpack seat in it. Panel lines maybe a little 'softer' than the Hasegawa one but not overly so. The nicest parts for me were the wheel wells. They really are quite nice. Very busy. There are plenty of options regarding weapons but I decided to use some of Eduard's JDAM's just to be a little different. As I aid markings are from Furball's CVW-8 decals and are very well researched. Looking at the parts breakdown it certainly looks like we'll be getting an F/G. and I'd certainly be happy to do a G using the same decal sheet. Anyway, thank you for looking and from an F-18 novice it seems to look the part to me. F181 F187 F182 F183 F184 F185 F186

I can assure you that the very next Brewster Buffalo that I build will be the KNIL version. Or maybe the Finnish... The paint is indeed curing, as the smell is very much reduced today. I suspect another day and it will be OK to mask. I bought the ejection seats and upgraded intakes from Iroquois (MasterCasters) and have their "detailing set" on backorder. I've been waiting for that even though I have no idea what's included. Probably just the ejection seats and upgraded intakes... Roger that, no more Model Master. As @Andwil noted, it's the Special Hobby kit. At first I thought the cowling was too large in diameter, but when I dry fit the cockpit I realised that the internals fit fine, and the cowling would be OK, as long as there was that gap. It was pretty easy to fix with some sheet styrene spacers: ***** Here, you can help me watch paint dry: Cheers, Bill

This just reminds me on how much I love building Tigers ....

I have just had another candidate delivered along with the laser cut frames and resin wheels and preformed canopies.

After some frustrating moments...you think you have everything sorted...planned for all eventualities etc. ...you find yourself fighting with 30+ year old bits of plastic...you know how it is...cursing...holding your breath...a few tears...then suddenly......... Very relived to have this all in place without damage or breaking anything...yet! Now it's time to get the cockpit sorted to be continued.......

Hi All, Another Build, this like the Meteor to be reasonably quick-ish builds (yeah I know famous last word right ) When folks think of New Zealander's and Mosquito's, they would think Raids on Gestapo HQ/Amiens etc. Two Article XV Squadrons flew them in the ETO during WWII, the likes of 487 Squadron Mosquito, HX855 EG-O 487 Sqn attack on Gestapo Headquarters at Aarhus, Denmark (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) 488 Squadron (this Squadron forming at1941 at Rongotai in New Zealand, and our first true Fighter Squadron) Possibly Gilze-Rijen, Holland. (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) The New Zealand association with the Mosquito didn't end with the close of WWII. In 1946 and 1947, the New Zealand Government purchased for the RNZAF a number of Mosquitos, both from Britain and Australia The below are some of the Aussie Mosquitos preparing to leave RNZAF Station Whenuapai for RNZAF Station Ohakea the first two are A52-1005 and A52-1006 Respectively (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) The Mosquitos from Britain were flown out by RAF/RNZAF Aircrews - A number of these (along with some of the Australian Mosquitos were put into Storage (much like the Mustangs), a number being brought back into service early 1950's The main operator of the Mosquitos was 75 Squadron, now a true/total RNZAF Squadron. These operated from RNZAF Station Ohakea coded YC - * (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) The predominate Colour was HSS (High Speed Silver) as in the above photos, however there were a few that retained the RAF Camouflage, even Roundels/Codes/Serials for a short period of time or Service. (This was not untypical of RNZAF practice, especially during WWII a number of aircraft types wore the Roundels they arrived in for a period of time) This is an Airshow at RNZAF Station Taieri - Note the two RNZAF Mosquitos in Camouflage, the closest is R-9Y(?) RAF Serial PZ474 - RNZAF Serial NZ2384 (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) The RNZAF during these years the RNZAF loved like any other Air Force, to show the good people of New Zealand their wares and prowess and also participate in Exercises. Open day at RNZAF Station Whenuapai -75 Sqn Mosquitos taxiing past the Headquarter Buildings - Note 40 Squadron Hangar in the background (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) Armed and ready for Bear (we don't have bears in NZ ) 75 Squadron at RNZAF Station Ohakea with Exercise Hardtack (who dreams up these names ) - Note rockets on the rails (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) Like anything, all good things must come to an end, and make way for more advanced types, the Mosquitos were slowly withdrawn from Service, put into Storage and eventually sold for scrap Funny thing about New Zealander's, is our Number 8 Wire attitude, a number of ex RNZAF Aircraft were acquired by Farmers/Orchards and appeared in strange places with strange uses. Aircraft wheels for trailers etc. Merlin Engines were used for helping keep frosts off Flowering trees in Orchards, my Grandparents telling me in country areas you could hear the rumble of engines at dawn on these farms/orchards A few pics of these aircraft in various states of disrepair Warning on this, if aircraft destruction is not for you look away now Anson NZ1349 and unknown Mosquito (in camouflage) behind, most likely as part of a "tender" package at an RNZAF Station, being scrapped in situ (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) Hudson NZ2013 on a Farm at Oamaru (South Island) before being rescued by RNZAF Museum (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) Avro 626 NZ203 being recovered by RNZAF Museum, from a farm in North Island (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) 75 Squadron Mosquito NZ2308 - YC-Z at an unknown farm in New Zealand - fate unknown (RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions) This last photo acts as a conclusion for my preamble above, some of these Mosquitos survived and were rescued We have one here in Auckland at MOTAT, it being one of the Aussie birds A52-1053. began life as a FB.40 serialled A52-19, but was converted mid production to a T. MK 43 Trainer and serialled A52-105, arriving in New Zealand from Aussie 1947. It was given the RNZAF Serial NZ2305. One of the ones put into storage, it was SOC and sold to a farmer in Marton, where it sat until circa 1967, when in a derelict state it was donated to MOTAT Needless to say after a long rebuild/preservation process the aircraft was put on display albeit not quite complete Outside at MOTAT Some years later inside and looking decidedly much better Sooo, with that what am I going to build? Well a 75 Squadron Aircraft likely one of the ones in either Exercise Hardtack, or doing the Roll by at Whenuapai NZ2349 YC-C So Requisite Photos of Kit (not much to see) Box art Kit parts Kit Instructions The marking to be from Old Model Decals Thanks for looking in, more soon Regards Alan

Hi all I don't do much in the way of Modern Jets however the gorgeous lines of the Tiffie Tempted me back when it was released and for £15 it is a bargain considering the amount of plastic you get. I started this a few years ago and the loft conversion meant it got packed away. I dug it out recently and just added the finishing touches. Built OOB apar from the second set of Asraams from a kind BMer whom, i am embarrassed to say cannot recall, sorry and a big thank you and launchers courtesy of @peterairfix and the 3 Sqadron decals (after I had an incident with the originals) courtesy of @Stephen. Thanks to all of you who came to my rescue. The airintakes were smoothed out as per the article in the Tamiya model Magazine of the time. Hope you enjoy and hanks for looking. Chris

Hi Craig. Thank you for your comments. I know some modellers are able to solder PE parts - into some quite complex structures - but I'm terrible at soldering........and superglue isn't always appropriate for some PE parts - but it was okay for this one. I have now managed to complete both track runs - as you will be able to see below. Thank you Glynn.....I was pleased with how it came out, but I still need to get some paint on it to see if it really will work. Hi Bob and thank you. Yes Dragon are being shown as pretty poor with their instructions during this GB. Their Pz.IIIs and Stug IIIs kit instructions all seem to have sections that are a bit 'wanting'! If my PE cover works okay, do you want my plastic version? Quite happy to put it in the post to you. I'll try and get some paint on the PE version in the next couple of days and let you know. The plastic version does look a bit bulky in comparison though. Hi Darryl. Thank you for your comments and I will certainly use the etch part if it looks okay under paint. Good point about them getting damaged too. Also I quite agree that Dragon are not the only manufacturer to have errors in their instructions - I think it's just the amount of errors in some of their kits, that makes it more frustrating. Hi MD and thank you for your comments. I only got stuck to it a bit, a couple of times!! Yeah, the plastic version is a little chunky! Hi Ray and thank you very much for your kind comments. I'm really looking forward to seeing you make a start on your Dragon StuG! Shame it's got DS tracks, but I have had to use them a couple of times and actually found them okay. Best to avoid anything other than water based acrylic paints on them though. I usually apply a couple of coats of thinned Revell Aqua's Anthracite - as I do on all my tracks - before dry-brushing them with Humbrol Acrylic's Gunmetal when dry. I then build up a variety of acrylic, very, very thinned (with water) washes - usually Humbrol's Desert Yellow, Railmatch's Light Rust and then - depending on the location - something like Humbrol's Dark Earth. I also managed to get a bit of sag in them by carefully using superglue over more of the tops of the return rollers. Let me know if I can help with anything when you do yours. Hi Robert and thank you for the comments. It is basically a nice kit - just the instructions are a bit off in places. Hopefully you'll see some of the errors in this thread but just PM me when you do get around to making yours if you can't find something. Time to bring this thread up to date. I decided I wanted to get the tracks on so I needed to get the basic weathering applied to the sides of the lower hull. I know most armour modeller like to build everything first and then paint and weather, but I'd find that really difficult. Perhaps because I brush paint. So, first off, I applied very thinned Humbrol Acrylic Gunmetal, with a fine pointed brush, to a variety of areas where I thought there might be wear or chipping. Over these and around them, I applied very, very thinned Revell Aqua's Anthracite - again with a fine pointed brush. I use the Antracite to dull down the Gunmetal a little but also to represent other worn bits. I should mention that all my paints are thinned with water. Then I used a bit of very, very thinned Railmatch's Light Rust. I don't use this necessarily to represent rust but more to look like light dirt - maybe combined with a bit of rust. This was the result: The tracks at this stage (and some of the other tools that were going to have some dry-brushed, metallic Gunmetal applied) were given a thinned coat Revell Aqua's Anthracite - applied with a medium flat brush: This was how the tracks looked after being dry-brushed with Humbrol's Acrylic Gunmetal: On the sides of the hull I next applied some streaks and runs using very, very thinned, Gunship Grey, Light Grey, Anthracite and Light Rust using a fine pointed brush: I then used some of Vallejo's European Thick mud - which I applied sparingly, with a cocktail stick. To get a more dried, lighter look - I stippled on thinned Desert Yellow and a lighter version of the desert Yellow over the mud and over some of the hull sides: The tracks at this stage were given several, very thinned, washes of Humbrol's acrylic Desert Yellow followed by some patchy washes of very, very thinned Railmatch's acrylic Light Rust: Dragon's instructions don't tell you to fit the last two items to the sides of the lower hull until the very last stage - so I had to add them now: Not sure what these were but, apparently, they were fitted like this to some units of StuG IIIs in Sicily. My guess is that that they were to hold the aerials when not in use or maybe gun cleaning rods. I hadn't ever seen these type of things until I got this kit. I weathered them before fitting them both. This photo is to show that I was also doing some work on the rear of the hull as well at this time: Next up it was time to fit all the wheels, return rollers, idlers and drive sprockets - all of which had been weathered in a similar way to the sides of the hull (described above): On the port side I also did a test fit of the sections of track I had made up before, painted and basically weathered: They seemed to fit very well. With the above tracks glued in place and fully set, it was time to make up the top runs. The last time I made up tracks for a Pz.III, the top runs were 36 links long - which was enough to give a bit of a sag between each roller. So I fairly quickly used some Tamiya thin, sparingly applied, to the join to glue 36 links together, on my cutting mat, for the first side. I find Tamiya thin is excellent for this kind of thing as it holds quite well quite quickly, but also remains flexible enough to drape over the rollers. When I picked up and tried this first set in place, there was way too much sag - so I removed one link and it fitted fine with, what looked like, a reasonable amount of sag. On the other side it did require 36 links to get the same effect. And this is how they looked while setting: I left them for at least half a day to set and this is how they looked once removed and ready for painting: This next photo is the tracks after they were given the same painting and base weathering as the rest of the tracks before (please see above): These were then glued in place using Revell's Contacta glue on the back wheel of each of the pair of return rollers and Tamiya Thin where they joined up with the other links on the Idlers and sprockets: It always feels like I've reached a bit of a milestone when I get to this point with the tracks on. Finally I got the remaining parts fitted to the rear of the hull: Next up will be getting some paint on the parts for the superstructure - hopefully over the weekend. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

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.

Hi all. First ever posting on Britmodeller. I've been lurking around at for quite a while, and thought that now was the time to finally contribute with something myself. My name is Ragnar, and I live in Norway in a small town called Horten (around 100 km south-west of Oslo). I've been modelling since the beginning of the eighties, but being a quite slow modeller I've really not finished that many models. Anyway, here is my latest effort. It is based on the old Matchbox kit, but has been extensively modified. I've boxed in the wheel wells, scratch built new undercarriage, reworked intakes and exhausts, installed a Pavla resin cockpit, heat & smash moulded a new canopy and rescribed the panel lines. The 300 gal drop tanks are from Freightdog. Regards, Ragnar 😀

Čáslav Air Base, Czech Republic, June 30th 2005 The final QRA and last operational day of the Czech Air Force's legacy MiG-21 fleet. The jets were updated to modern standards as MiG-21 MFN and equipped with R60 missiles. The kits are from a special limited edition boxing by JBr Decals, combining the exquisite Eduard plastic with resin and decals to cover a variety of types. To this I added an additional pair of etch sprues from JBr to model the extra antenna of the MFN. The jets represented were two of those that stood the final duty, including 5581, the last of the type to receive the 21st Century modifications that carried a slightly different paint scheme. The extra details are a photoetch ladder from a Brengun 'MiG-21 maintenence' set (only the utter rarity of which prevented me adding two to the scene - if anyone has a lead on any more of these, please message me!) and two superly detailed resin figures from Heroes Models of Italy. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235087145-june-2005-the-last-mig-21-qra-at-čáslav/

Well here we are again... This was then, back on page 16 That is the lovely little bracket that caused a lot of work... And working out. This is now, here we are again I cant begin to tell you how happy I am that I measured and drew the plans for this and then kept the little book Drilling it out for the pivot pin now A little tidying up and this will be ready for another blooming camera. Luckily I did draw a sketch of that but didnt measure... Cut fifteen times measure once, that's right isn't it? See ya laters

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

Thank you everyone. Back to the bench and the Pom-Pom, plus associated platforms:

Hello all. Another parallel build finished yesterday; this is the F-100F from Trumpeter. I really enjoyed this kit, it had next to no fit issues and minimal cleaning up was required on the parts. It’s finished as a RoCAF example from Chiayi AFB, Taiwan, circa 1960. The decals coming from the Xtradecal sheet X72-119. Paints were my usual Humbrol 27002/3 with Flory wash for the panel lines and a little Tamiya burnt metal blue powder on the engine panels. Nothing much else to say other than now I want to do the Trumpeter single seater to use more of the excellent Xtradecal sheet. Trouble is which one to do?🤔 Hope you like it. Thanks for looking Pete

Closing in on 3 completed pom-poms - actually all 3 still have bits to do, but you get the idea: More soon Crisp

Definitely! Looking forward to getting a wash on it already! We have primer! Woohoo First time using Mr Mahogany 1000, once I remembered to switch my needle from the 0.2 to 0.4 it sprayed really nicely. Mixed about 50/50 with SLT. And then after leaving it over night to cure, spotted this damned bit Tiny job for when I finish work today and then tomorrow I've the day off so can get some more colour down.

Thanks all for your help and support. Couldn’t have done anywhere near a good enough job without you guys. I have powered through the last few weeks to get her finished. Decals bedded down nicely under the varnish so that’s a relief. Did the aerial with uschi thread, first time using it and it was a dream to use. Weathered with revell weathering powder and Mig ‘rubber’ with white drybrushed for the exhaust staining. I will be posting an RFI soon so I hope you enjoy the finished article. On to the next project! Ash RFI - here

No, Exactly the same plastic in both boxes. I have followed the comments both on here and other sites , and I wonder , what do some modellers expect from a kit. OK , so the wheels only have six bolts not eight , but then the kit also includes 2x 75mm guns , a 95mm howiter and three alternative mantlets , 2 types of cupola , and a photo eched set of grills . the cost of adding these details to another manufacturers model would probably out weigh the cost of replacement wheels for the Airfix kit . So as far as I can see , it's you pays your money and you take your choice, and if sales encourage Airfix to produce more 1/35 models then I for one will be pleased .

When posting a reply on this thread (which in case anyone has forgotten is about the new Airfix Cromwell kits), do I think about the starving of the world? No. When having a discussion about the latest offering from Tamiya, do I consider what's going on in Syria (or any other trouble spot)? No. Why? Because this is basically a modelling site. I'll think about that kind of thing when I'm watching the news on TV. That's not meant to sound cold and uncaring, just real. John.

Glad to see you back at the bench Crisp, but this was all a bit extreme just to delay laying some primer down by a few days wasn’t it? 😉

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