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After having read the fantastic book "BOAC and the golden age of flying" by Malcolm Turner I decided to build the Boeing 707 and the VickersSuper VC10 of BOAC in the Speedbird livery (IMHO the most elegant airline scheme of all times) The 707 is an Authentic Airliners kit in 1/144 scale and with 26Decals. The VC10 is a Roden kit with 26Decals.

Hi all, The rather fun, pocket money Gladiator from Airfix. Out of the box pretty much and using the Airfix decals which are excellent. No vices, just a well designed kit. It’s the box art Battle of France version with a rather complicated 6 colour scheme! I got help there with the ‘Top Notch’ set of camouflage masks. Guy

I'm sure most of us have seen this one before... Wherever possible, I used the kit part and tweaked it. I added a resin cockpit and substituted the kits radar antenna with aftermarket. These antennas were great and will use them again when the opportunity arises. I moved the kits drop tanks inboard to the correct position, lettered and dented. I vac formed the kit canopy and opened it up. Canopy frames done with decal strips. The ubiquitous bottom shot. I am converting, (kicking and screaming,) to acrylics. In this case I'm using MMP paints and they performed very well with no problems. I wish I had done the camouflaged blotches better, my airbrush failing not the paints. Clear gloss, decals then dull coat and panel lines drawn on with a fine ink pen. Are there better 110's out there?, yes, but this was great fun reworking olde plastic.

Hi all, the German Air Force will retire its very last C-160D in September this year. For me a good reason to build the nice 1:72 Revell kit in the Eloka version. Built it OOB, apart from the RBF (Eduard parts). Used Mr Hobby acrylics for painting. the original 50+55🙂

As a kid, a visit to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1976 permanently fixed my interest in armour modeling. One of the vehicles I always photographed on the numerous return trips I made was the Japanese Ho-Ni self-propelled gun and after a visit in 1994, I bought the 70s-issue Tamiya kit. I didn’t get around to building it until 2017 and when I pulled out my Aberdeen reference photos, I decided to build it not as it would have been in WW2, but as I remembered it from Aberdeen. The Tamiya kit is actually pretty nicely done, even for being almost 45 years old. And what the real thing looked like in the 2000s:

Hello all, Here is my recently completed 1/48 Tamiya F-14A Tomcat in the markings of VF-1 'Wolfpack'. BuNo 162603 scored the Tomcat's 5th, and last, air to air 'kill' in US Navy service when on the 6th February 1991, pilot Lt Stuart 'Meat' Broce and VF-1’s commanding officer, CDR Ron “Bongo” McElraft, shot down an Iraqi Mil-8 helicopter using an AIM-9 Sidewinder whilst escorting a daylight airstrike over Kuwait. Extras used included Quickboost resin seats, Quickboost TCS pod, Phase Hanger Resin ECM bumps, Steel Beach vinyl tail stiffeners, Master pitot tube and Fightertown decals. The build thread is below. Overall Light Gull Grey is from MRP, with the rest a mixture of MRP and Tamiya. Flory Models panel wash and various Abteilung oils for the weathering. With my VF-32 (Mig-23 kill) and VF-41 (Su-22 kill) Gulf of Sidra jets: Thanks for looking and stay safe Dave

This model was started in the Mediterranean Theatre GB but stalled after a decal disaster which can be found here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235079643-23-squadron-mosquito-fb-mk-vi/ In July 1943 23 Squadron was based at Luqa in Malta with a mix of Mosquito Mk II and Mosquito FB Mk VI. One of the latter was HJ675 (code YP-V) which for a short time was regularly flown by Flt Lt (later Sqn Ldr) Paul Rabone who went on to become a WWII "Ace" before losing his life in July 1944. Several of the squadron's aircraft were used for long distance intruder missions (on 19/07/1943 Paul Rabone flew the longest such sortie to date at approx 5 hours), hence the use of underwing fuel tanks rather than rocket racks. Anyway, enough background info and time for some photos: This Tamiya kit was mainly painted with Mr Paint colours and as a relatively new airframe at the time has minimal weathering. Mike

Ah. There you are... Rather busy still both at work and out in the garden also now that Spring is doing its green fuse stuff.. Rewilding may have gone a bit far though as there was a 'wolf lose in the garden last week and it ate a hedge: Well, actually it ate the tops of a lot of our hedging which had been trimmed before the moratorium back in February but had taken this long to hire a chipper due to every every other pilgrim in the county seeming to have the same idea. Profoundly satisfying in a Thunderbirds/Crablogger vibe: With a large pile of chippings in front and back gardens there's no excuse now for not laying out the various paths that I promised Cat she could promenade along over a decade ago. You want what? 👂 Sorry Ian, the line's terrible. Can't hear a thing old boy. 😁 Dead handy when searching for those aforementioned brass bits when you inevitably drop them into that dark crypt below the bench Ced! The Carson Magnivisor is a reasonable halfway house between the expense of an actual Optivisor and the cheaper end of the market Chris. Having used it for a week now I can certainly vouch for both the comfort of fit and quality of the lenses. For finer detail the extra time involved is definitely worth it Alan - I'm sure the results your end are superb. I've also got my eye on some of that new Siraya Navy Grey resin - impossible to get in this country but the results on Greg Kourakos' Utoob channel look startling good in terms of crispness. (He also did a great April Fool's recently about unboxing the new Elegoo 8k printer.... 🤣) Who do you think I am working at that pace Giorgio - Ced? Thanks G: each successive version gets better as you get more chemically-confident... (Sound like a dodgy line from Breaking Bad....) Now. I may end up doing just that Keith. Occam's Razor n'all. Most kind as always James. Any spare time recently has been spoken for cleaning up various parts of XJ481 in preparation for colour work. The actual print quality itself is fine but the really time-consuming part is cutting away the print support structures without damaging any of the surrounding surfaces: With that done, it was satisfying out of all proportion to the size and complexity involved to actually stick the first piece of PE into place: I'd decided that it made sense initially to paint all the internal nose and cockpit fittings of both aircraft at the same time as with so many common parts, it would be less hassle than getting the same set of paints out twice. Having gotten all he relevant parts mounted on cocktail sticks last night, I took a long lunch today to get them into the paint booth for priming, using my perennial favourite Alclad Black Primer/Microfiller: I won't bore you with a load of closeups of this stuff until we get into the nittygritty of paint in detail, but just include a a few examples here of how the detail really starts to 'pop' under primer when the translucent indeterminacy of the grey resin is replaced by nice sharp opaque surfaces. XN708s radar installation: - and corresponding 'scrying glass' inside: PAS and top pilot's IP for XN708 aslo ( I did actually have the wit to test fit this part prior to starting to paint it and that front pressure bulkhead did indeed need a little filing along the top): An MB4 pan mated to its rails: Most pleasing of all perhaps is the way that the various knobs and fixtures of the cockpit panels around the joystick are so much more sharply delineated by the black: The IP run from lower pilot's side, doglegging back and across to the observer's panels: I'm so pleased with the way that the Alclad black performs optically that I may actually just retain this as the base coat for black areas of the cockpit and radar, just highlighting structure a little further with dry brushing and a little tempera colour work (in homage to @giemme).... I've also been experimenting further earlier with Krystal Klear on forming the convex lens at the front of the Martel trials unit: It's still a little opaque in the centre so not sure does it just need longer to cure the core of the (rather large) blob as it were, or do I need to follow the suggestion on the bottle of making a lens separately on the surface of greaseproof paper. I'll see what it looks like in the morning. Thanks for looking in as always and yay the beginnings of paint etc. Tony

In @bootneck‘s thread, @Paul821 made a comment about 1:1 scale modelling. Which reminded me that the only 1:1 models I have are the Airfix birds. Which reminded me that I had built a 2:1 paper model of a hummingbird for one of my nieces. Which reminded me that I hadn’t built the 1:1 one! An artist named Johan Scherft has a website here that has paper model templates available for download; some are free. So I downloaded the 1:1 hummingbird at around 10pm this evening and started cutting: I couldn’t help starting assembly with PVA glue, and by midnight I’d finished: Great fun and a pleasant distraction from real modelling!

Hi, Here's my recently finished Razorback as flown by Frank Oiler out of Duxford around 1943. A very nice kit, much more so than the Academy bubbletop which I built concurrently as Sleepy Jean 3. This was supposed to be a quick dual build to widen the Thunderbolt family and to try out some new techniques; it ended up taking more than a year to complete. The Barracuda decals worked out very well, although I failed at applying the cowling checkerboard perfectly. Still managed to hide most of the issues. I was since told on another board that stencils were applied in black on OD Thunderbolts, and noticed anyway that the real plane didn't seem to have any. Cheers!

Dear all!! I hope everyone is keeping well. @Jb65rams, @Black Knight, @vppelt68, @PLC1966, @Arniec, @Ted, @Corsairfoxfouruncle, @CliffB, @MarkSH, @Adam Poultney, @klr, @Erwin, @helios16v, @Ozzy, @Wez, @badger, @ProjeKtWEREWOLF, @NorwegianWood, @theplasticsurgeon, @JOCKNEY, @stevej60, @srkirad, @moaning dolphin, @Robert Stuart, @Redstaff, @Alex Gordon, @AdrianMF, @Albeback52, @Tomjw, @Graham77, @Smudge, @MPaul, @Valkyrie, @Bengalensis, @Natter, @modelling minion, @Tim R-T-C, @Doug Rogers, @Misterfriend, @stevehed, @HoolioPaulio, @nimrod54, @janneman36, @Yetifan, @Hewy, @peterairfix, @Torbjorn, @Hockeyboy76, @moviedrone, @Threadbear, @Adrian Hills, @reini, @grufsnik, @Marklo, @TonyW, @wimbledon99, @zebra, @almac, @stevehnz, @halfwit, @TimJ, @bianfuxia, @JeroenS, @TonyOD, @Ned, @Richard Tucker, @Ray S, @jackroadkill, @Mjwomack, @rob Lyttle, @GrahamCC, @Beermonster1958, @tangerine_sedge, @Anatol Pigwa, @John Masters Just thought I would mention that - from tomorrow - it is one calendar month to the start of this GB - we actually kick off on Saturday 15th May!! Make sure you have all your cheap kits ready!! Judging by some of your recent posts we will have a fantastic range of builds to follow!! I can't wait! Kind regards, Stix

An end of vacation blitz build, 48 hours from start to finish. Love these IBG 1/72 military vehicles. A Crusader Mk III completed as a UK based tank belonging to the Polish Forces in the West (1st Polish Armoured Division I think). Brush painted with Mig AMMO SCC2. Build thread can be found here:

Hiya Folks, Bill (Navy Bird) asked me to photograph my Academy 1/72nd Ventura`s together,...... well I could only get to those in the cabinet,...... so here they are; From the rear L-R,.... Ventura Mk.II, Coded C-25 Sqn SAAF in Italy,-operating with the Balkan Air Force in Italy, 1944. This model is built more from the box, although it is fitted with a BP 4 gun mid upper turret (from a Special Hobby Baltimore or Revell Hallifax) as the Ventura`s of this unit were fitted with modification kits sent from the UK to South Africa to modify them for the coastal role which included this 4 gun turret, ASV Yagi antenna and additional interior tankage,...... however after flying across Africa to Italy in 1944 the unit was re roled to the light bomber role (which had been `outlawed' over Europe for the type the previous year following disastrous losses flying from the UK with 2 Group) so the radar and extra interior tankage was removed. These aircraft also had the distinctive South African style air intakes above the engines and to replicate this I used Milliput. Many early Ventura`s in South Africa had their undersides painted Sky Blue and had A Type roundels applied; Ventura Mk.IIa, coded B2- -34 OTU RAF based at Pennfield Ridge in Canada,- Basically straight from the box but with a scratch built cockpit. Ventura Mk.II, SB-J- 464 Sqn RAAF 2 Group in the UK- his Ventura Mk.II is from 464 Sqn RAAF, 2 Group of Bomber Command in the UK and I used the interior detail set and resin tail from Pavla, Neomega resin engine nacelles plus a spare BP mid upper turret from a Revell Halifax, which required the hole in the fuselage to be opened up. Also, see if you can spot the shark mouth Ventura Mk.IIa/RB-34 Lexington-13 Sqn RAAF in Australia- Another straight from the box, with scratch cockpit, spares box extras. And here is an earlier post which my be of interest as it include some others,.....1/72nd nd 1/48th scales; Cheers Tony

Good Morning everyone, This is 1/32 Hasegawa Focke Wulf Fw 190F-8 with the markings of Black M – I (W.Nr 584 205) of III./SG 3 flown in Sweden May 1945. Top surfaces are RLM 75/83 with RLM 02 patches and bottom surfaces RLM 76. Modifications are: Eduard Löök instrument panel and seat belts. Quickboost exhausts and gun barrels. Eagle Parts wheels Henri Dahne propeller set Paints: Gunze Sangyo acrylics Decals: “M-I” markings are from Kagero book Fw 190 Monograph Vol 3. Happy modelling

Hi There, A nice little kit pretty much straight out of the box other than some masking tape belts, vaping wire ejector seat loops and some white decal lines. WIP Here Primed with UMP Grey Painted with Colourcoats Extra Dark Sea Grey, Sky Type S, Light Admiralty Grey. Tamiya Nato Black and Rubber Black. Washed with Flory Dark Dirt. Finished with Windsor and Newton Satin Varnish. Some pic of the internals that will never be seen again. And the finished atricle. Thanks for looking As always any comments and criticism welcome. Cheers, Alistair

A bit of background to start with; I normally work in Myanmar every winter and get to see 'real' life there. After WW2 a lot of vehicles and equipment was just abandoned there for which the locals were very grateful! When I started working there nearly twenty years ago it was very common to see allied trucks and vehicles 'repurposed' as buses(buscars in local parlance), trucks and village transport. We ourselves have 7 buses converted from Chevy and Ford CMP C60 trucks, and every village has or had, an allied vehicle of some sort to transport villagers to town for shopping, charging house batteries(no mains leccy in a lot of places), and as general freight transport. Obviously spare parts are very hard to come by and maintenance is erm, basic! It's a bit difficult to know where to post this as it's (ex) military but not an AFV, but at the same time could fit in the civvy section🤷‍♂️ Anyway, I thought I'd have a go at converting a US truck to a 'village truck'...Somewhere I've got a load of pics of typical vehicles, but I can't seem to find the hard drive they're on🤔 I'll attach one to give you an example... As I said, a lot of equipment was left behind as well as vehicles: PSP is a very common garden fence material! As a model it was fairly straightforward even for a very old kit. The assorted junk in the back is from a Tamiya(?) stores set, the rice sacks are made of putty, and the tarp is tissue paper soaked in PVA glue, and painted in the typical colours of Chinese imported sheets: Blue one side and orange on the other. This was my first build since I was a kid, apart from the Revell 1:24 Landy which I built a few weeks before. I got back into modelling like many others I suspect, during Lockdown last year, having not built anything since I was about 14! The Landy was a revelation in how far kits have come in 40 years😱, so this one was a step back in time! Looking at the pics now, I can see many ways I could improve it based on what I've learnt since then, but I prefer to leave it as-is...

Hi Chewbacca, I'm not sure adapting this to a D is a goer considering the dimensional differences. Be better off scratching the hull which of course would then cause The Universe to react and Trumpter to announce a "D" The wood deck was lightly stained with diluted Neutral Grey wash and then the aft superstruture was stuck down. Meaning that the Foc'sle deck could then be stuck down with the wood deck being stuck down. All without fuss and drama - I do like these wood decks Tne base was sanded down ....and down prior to painting I've used a bluer shade than previous as befits a mediterranean sea Work continued on the Bridge Superstructure And the 4" guns had camo applied as per Dick's pics Detailing soon and finishing the base Thanks for looking Rob

Hi all The latest in the 'Sywell Series' for the Sywell Aviation Museum. I am only doing some small gap filling projects at the mo as am hoping to move house and I don't really want to be half way through a big job! Ex RAF DH Tiger Moth N6986 was purchased by David Lloyd as G-AIXD on 25-11-1946. He was to own her for some 39 years (until 1985) during which time she was mainly based at Sywell. She was extensively flown in air displays including with The Barnstormers Flying Circus and for various TV shows such as ‘The Late Late Breakfast Show’ and ‘Game for a Laugh’ when fitted with a ‘wing-walking rig’. Sadly she was destroyed near Rendcomb airfield in a non-fatal accident after hitting power cables in July 1995. This of course is the lovely Airfix 1/72 Tiger (Oh how I wish they'd tooled at 1/72 Chipmunk to the same standard before they did the 1/48 one - or conversely that they break their 'no downsizing rule' to issue a new tool in the future!) I must have built a dozen of these now and they are great - its a simple fun project so I didnt bother with rigging as I think it looks oversize in 1/72 and I am lazy. The main object of this job was to scratchbuild a wing-walk rig - the Tiger Club and Barnstormers Flying Circus rigs are different, fact fans and am grateful to the BFC FB page for their help. Built OOB - the only parts to watch for are the underside wing attachment which needs fettling and the cutting and adding of the spin strakes which I've never mastered really - the instructions say assemble the fuselage then cut the rear section and add the two part strakes. I thought this time I would cut the parts out and add the strakes on each fuselage half before bringing them together - frankly it makes no difference! Sprayed in the excellent Rustoleum White Plastic Primer from a rattle can - trust me it's excellent - then three brush coats of Humbrol 60. A coat of clear then some Aeroclub reg letters - the border of the letter sheet was used for the go faster stripes. Final coat of clear and we're done. Pilot modified with a bone dome and the wing walk rig was made of brass tube with the canvas back cushion from Tam tape. The girl was a railway figure off ebay - she was wearing a jump suit already and I thought her pose looked fine braced against the slipstream rather than trying to graft on a new waving arm! So, all in all a bit of fun! Hope you like it - - apologies for the poor photos - stay safe everyone ATB TT 1436B363-4B88-429C-AB44-9C1174A50A5E by Ben Brown, on Flickr BDAA2124-7608-4D8E-A454-886E9EA284F8 by Ben Brown, on Flickr 6CB51EE0-0220-4142-BE52-A142BB67EF69 by Ben Brown, on Flickr EBC47E42-0217-4757-9B1B-FFFAFBF403FF by Ben Brown, on Flickr D21610A2-BB75-4D63-8188-5ED4393EA066 by Ben Brown, on Flickr 73FE42F8-481F-4603-B4EC-1D89D1CB3D63 by Ben Brown, on Flickr (C) JOHN TEMPEST F52A025A-7BD2-438F-BC2B-819BE650CAF6 by Ben Brown, on Flickr (C) TREVOR THORNTON

Hello colleagues, I would like to present here a few photos of a model that I built sometime around 2012-2013. I built the model simply from the box, painted with a brush.

Hi all - here's my recently completed Typhoon in 1/48. The kit from Hasegawa is quite good despite it's age (1999) - though the fuselage inserts (allowing either car door or tear drop variants) are a pain to deal with - much sanding and rescribing is required to make the seams disappear. You also get large gaps at the top which require alot work to deal to. Big gaps in the wing roots too! Out side of those problems - the fit is actually pretty good. Eduard reboxed this kit and the fact that this is still probably the best kit in this scale, means that there is a truckload of after market available - so you can really spruce it up if you feel inclined. Speaking of aftermarket... I used: Resin 4 prop spinner from Ultra Cast Eduard Resin Wheels Resin exhaust stacks from Quickboost Resin seat from Quickboost PE interior details from Eduard Metal gun barrels from Master Models Montex Masking set for the markings and canopy All of the after market was pretty good - guns were tricky to install but look so much nicer (imho) than the kit versions. The Prop from Ultracast was top notch - perfect shape and v little clean up was required. The montex masks were quite nice - first time using masks for insignia so was fairly pleased with how they came out - the canopy masks left a sticky residue on the glass which I wasn't able to fully remove so will think twice about using these again. I added some scratch built details in the wheel bays, behind the cockpit, added some rivet details here and there, fuses on the rockets - stretched sprue for the antennae. Painted with Mr Color lacquers except for the Dark Green which was AK Real Color Dark Green which I thought is a nicer version than Mr Colors. Most of the weathering is oils with some enamel washes from Ammo and AK. I really enjoyed this build overall - I love the Typhoon and had great fun painting and weathering the hell out of it. It would be great if Eduard or Tamiya released a new version but I'll make do with the Eduard Tempest that's sitting in the stash. Thanks for looking - Cheers John

Hi, The Italian invasion of Abyssinia in yeras 1935-36 had some share in military airplanes history. There was a huge bias in power balane - from Abyssinian side there were only few machines, transport and recce, no even single fighter whereas Italy used about 100 airplane, mostly of five types at start: Fiat CR 20 as fighter, Romeo (IMAM) Ro-1 & Ro 37 bis as observation, light bomber and liaison as well as Caproni 101 & 111 as bomber/transport machines. I would like to recall this uneven war doing a couple of models. First finished is Fiat CR 20 bis AQ, machine of 111 Squadron commander based in Asmara (Eritrea) in 1935 . Model is a rather new short run by Kora in 1/72 build OOB (the only change - the prop is constructed rotable) within Africa GB. The WIP is here: And the model: Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek #5/2021 (Breguet 273, Hanriot 232, Saro Lerwick. Shcherbakov Shche2, Fiat Cr 20 bis)

Giorgio, contain yourself!

Good evening everyone. As they say all good things come to an end. I knew this was going to be quick but this is almost @CedB pace. (Well, Maybe not that fast) 🏃‍♂️💨 I don’t get much time at the bench due to work at the moment but every stollen minute is a joy! This morning I got a snap with all the decals on. Such a lovely shape. 😍 She’s got a gloss coat last night so now I can weather her. Flory time. 🤩😀😇 I used a wide brush and used it decanted into a flat dish. the bits and bobs also got some action. The last few bits also got a wash. I’ll need to add some black tamiya wash to the exhausts and legs after knocking back. I’ll also need some Tamiya weather powders. But only a few touches. One more session and she’ll be there: knock back; powders; matt coat; unmask and done. 😇😊 Before I go I’ll let you into what’s next. you’ve probably noticed a few builds around here for the 453rd Museum. Well this is what I’ll be Building for Jim. There are some extras in the box too. 🖤🤍 Ooooh exciting. Take care folks, thanks for dropping by and as always. Happy modelling. Johnny.

Hi all, this is my contribution to the 453rd Museum build, an excellent way of remembering those who fought and lost their lives at that dark time. Jim, the curator is an incredibly nice chap and doing all this off his own bat, so it's a pleasure to help out. We were given a choice of kits to build and while I would normally have been happy to build several, due to a lack of time, I opted to build a pair of 1/48th P-38 Lightnings, a unique and interesting aircraft. A while back the first of a pair of 1/48th Tamiya P-38s arrived on my doorstep, along with appropriate aftermarket PE and decals. As Crisp (Ex-FAAWAFU) is in the process of building a P-38F belonging to the 1st Fighter Group, 8th Air Force I opted for a P-38G of the 78th FG to mix things up a little. This aircraft will be P-38G 42-12926 '10' Mackie of the 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force based at Goxhill, near Kingston-Upon-Hull. These P-38s were only based in the UK for a short time before being transferred to the 12th AF ,North Africa to participate in Operation Torch in Feb 1943. The other model will be a P-38H of the 20th FG based at King's Cliffe which I'll add to this thread, once it arrives. All the praise heaped on the Tamiya kit is well deserved. The quality is exactly what is expected of Tamiya these days, perfect fit, crisply moulded parts and excellent detail. A perfectly good model can be built straight out of the box but as I already have some aftermarket for the kit, I've decided to use it here. Anyway, enough wiffle and on with the build. Crisp covered the contents of the box at the beginning of his build so there's no need to go through that here so I'll just concentrate on the build. The project will be a bit sporadic I'm afraid, due to other modelling commitments right now so please bear that in mind if nothing appears for a while. Looking through my EPDF books on the P-38 I managed to find a photo of '10' Mackie which will help in working out where everything went and the position of the camo demarcation lines. Interesting that the main wheels have their covers fitted while the nose wheel hasn't...and all that lovely British mud, the finest available. The American Air Museum in Britain (IWM) site will prove extremely useful. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/media/535 Thanks for looking and hope you enjoy it. Firstly, the obligatory box art, Jim supplied some aftermarket items including the Eduard Big-Ed PE set, (I'll only be using the instrument panel from the cockpit set but the airframe parts should prove useful). I have a review sample of the superb Quinta Studio 3D printed cockpit, unfortunately this is for the P-38F rather than the G, however, apart from the instrument panel which will come from the Big-Ed set, the rest can be used. The Eduard-Brassin Löökplus resin set, which includes wheels, superchargers, masks and instrument panel. The gun barrels are from Quickboost to replace the kit's underwhelming parts. First up will be the cockpit followed by the undercarriage bays. More soon. Melchie

Hi guys, I just finished this longer than usual project. Is the fantastic Fw190 A-4 Eduard 1/48th kit with some aftermarket details. Eduard's Advanced Brassin set which includes: resin engine & fuselage guns, resin wingroot gunbays, resin propeller and PE upgrade set. Master Models gun barrels, HGW Models fabric German fighter seatbelts and decals, Quinta Studio 3D decals cockpit set, and Aires resin inspection panel on the vertical stabilizer. For the colour scheme I wanted to do something different to the usual ones that we see in the Fw190 so I've opted for this very attractive North African camouflage. It was flown by Erich Rudorffer in Tunisia in 1943 Considered by many to be the Luftwaffe’s greatest all-round fighter ace of World War Two, Erich Rudorffer served on every major front, flew all of the classic German fighters and was renowned for his ability to shoot down multiple aircraft in succession. Beginning his campaign with JG2 during the Battle of France, Rudorffer then served in the Battle of Britain alongside top aces such as Helmut Wick and Gunther Seeger. Flying the Bf109E, his aerial victories soon mounted, and he continued to joust with the RAF during the ’Non-stop’ offences of 1941. By the time of the ill-fated Dieppe Raid in 1942, Rudorffer scored his 44th and 45th victories, both Spitfires. His Gruppe was then relocated to northern Africa where the war was going badly for the Axis forces. Now flying the heavily-armed Fw190, he began to demonstrate his skill at downing a number of aircraft on a single sortie. On the 9th February 1943 he claimed eight British aircraft and a short time later scored multiple victories over US-flown fighters. By June of the same year, Erich had moved to the brutal Eastern Front, assuming command of II/JG54, the famous ‘Green Hearts’, and continued to display his remarkable ability. On the 6th November 1943, he tangled with a large force of Soviet aircraft and shot down no fewer than thirteen of them, a record for a single mission. By this time Rudorffer had already been awarded the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and in January 1945 ‘Swords’ were awarded to this decoration after achieving his 212th victory. Shortly after, he was given the command of I/JG7, flying the potent Me262 jet fighter in the defence of Germany. Despite the dreadful war situation, lack of fuel, marauding Allied fighters over the jet airfields and heavily outnumbered in the air, he managed to shoot down a further twelve aircraft with the Me262. By the war’s end, Erich Rudorffer had flown more than 1000 sorties, scored 224 victories and was the seventh-highest Ace in the history of aerial combat. He died at the age of 98, on the 8 of April 2016. Fw 190A4 6.JG2 Yellow 1 Erich Rudorffer, Tunisia 1943 cheers and thanks for looking. Jorge

Good morning all. I registered because I follow the post of neil5208 and his Academy B24. I built the L version last December. The Academy model proposes an M version, but it seems easier to represent an L with a rear turret. I discovered that Consolidated A6B turrets had been retrofitted on the L. I wanted this model to wear the colors of a liberator from the Mighty Eight. I found pictures of the 93BG with this version of the B24. I didn't find a specific decoration, so I got part of the baptismal name on the decals sheet provided in the box, and the pin-up comes from a Kits-World board intended for lancasters. On the other hand, the serial number which appears at the top of the fins is compatible with the B24L series! There is no longer a ventral turret on the L series: I upgraded the pilots office, but we can't see anything anymore: I replaced the engines with quickboost aftermarkets: And here is the result: The parking lot comes alive when the crews return from mission: Regards, Eric-Snafu35

Thanks Mike - hope so. There were some great characters in the Eagle squadrons. In fact that probably goes without saying.... Ok, so I have actually warmed up my modelling muscles and started.......with the wings. Obviously. Doesn't every one? Actually I thought there were a couple of issues with the wing that would make a nice mini-project to get me started. I'm talking about the upper wing wheel bulges and wing stiffners and the internal stiffening to the wheel wells. This is the Tamiya upper wing surface; and you can see the over wing stiffening strips and to the left of it a large moulded blister/bulge representing the bulge in the wings to accommodate the retracted wheel (which lay at an angle in the wheel well so that the top of the wheel required a bulge in the upper wing surface). And this is the detail inside the wheel well that shows the not untypically depicted 'H' shaped stiffening. But. There's always a but isn't there? I don't think it's controversial that the over wing stiffening strips wouldn't have been fitted to the squadron Mk Vbs at the time the 4th FG flew them (the mod only went in to production as I understand it (so I've read) in July 1942 and all of the Vbs I'm thinking of making pre-date this - and whilst the stiffeners were retro-fitted they don't appear on any of the contemporaneous photos I'm working from. So they have to be removed which is at least a nice easy job to begin with. The question of the existence, shape and size of the Spitfire wheel bulges is all a bit more difficult. It's prompted at least 2 discussion threads on BM. In 2011 Here and in 2014 Here. And as far as the Mk Vb goes the (or at least a) answer seems to be this from Edgar in 2014: Well the bulge on the Tamiya wing can't really be decsribed as a smallish, kidney-shaped bulge. And Edgar also speaks of the early marks of Spitfires having a 'K' rather than 'H" shaped internal stiffening so as to leave room for the bulge. As it happens there's a photo in the SAM Datafile of the wheel bay of the BBMF Mk V which clearly shows 'K' shaped internal stiffening - but I don't suppose I can post a copy for copyright reasons. But I can post these pictures which do show a smaller(ish) Kidney shaped bulge on the top of ther wheel wells: IWM Mk 1A (ignore the wing stiffeners - they were a later retro-fit) Unknown Mk 1(?) And for good measure the Jumpie Temma Spitfire Vb plans Here have what seems like an accurate shaped bulge and also show the K reinforcement. Works for me. Using a cut out from the plans I sketched out the easy wheel bay mod: Soon done with a chisel, micromesh and some 0.5mm sq rod. Of course no-one will ever see - it but it got me back into the swing of things: As to the top of the wing. Working from the plans this is the shape and position of a smallerish Kidney shaped bulge. So began a somewhat laborious process of making some replacement resin bulges....(Now this is the sort of thing that I'd like to have a 3D printer for ) Copied the kidney shape from the plan onto 1mm card and cut it out: Used that to make a few left and right male bucks in casting resin. Plasticine is perfectly adequate as a female mould material for this. So I now had left and a right flat topped bucks, which I then had to file and micromesh into a bulge shape. I used a sharpie to colour the bucks so I could see where I was filing/shaping. And then used those bucks to make yet more female moulds and cast several left and right bulges. Resin casts from plasticine always have a slightly rough finish but micromesh-up just fine. All feels like very analogue modelling in the era of 3D printing don't it? And after thinning down - a bulge fixes here: (I've also filled off the over wing stiffeners - obviously!) And after a bit more refining - and what will no doubt be the first of several applications of Mr Surfacer - I have this: One down - one to go. A small modification but one that does change the look of the wing rather noticeably so I think worth doing; but not really deserving of such a long post - but hey I haven't posted any modelling for such a long time......

Belts done; Eduard won. The seat is not as shiny as this photo makes it appear ... but you’re going to have to take my word for it, since all is now buttoned up. Windscreen and rear section glued permanently; centre section will be open on my model (and the F & G had slightly different canopies anyway), so using the kit’s closed P-38G version - tacked in place with PVA - to act as a mask (but still trying to take no chances with the joins). Now the fun really starts!

Hmm. A rummage through my stash in search of something else has probably significantly changed the odds of the HGW belts reaching imminent fruition: Meanwhile, everything in the cockpit is now done except the seat (& belts) - seat & frame dry fitted here: I’m masking up the rest of the canopy framing, and then some real fun can begin...

From the Africa GB... Sud Aviation Alouette III, the personal helicopter of corrupt despot and noted sartorial icon General Mobutu Sese Seko, 1967. Heller 1/72 kit with Brengun etch and a bit of scratch work here and there. Not the easiest of kits to work with simply because it's so small and I'm chronically clumsy. The fit isn't great and is downright rotten around the front transparency. As always close-up photography is brutal but it passes the three foot test and I'm quite pleased with the result, although it was a lot of hours for a tiny outcome. I'm indebted to Martin @RidgeRunner who supplied the Berna decals (twice as it turned out 😉) and Mr. Pierre Gillard who runs the outstanding www.alouettelama.com website, surely the definitive online resource for information about this versatile little chopper! He kindly allowed me to reproduce pictures from his website in my build thread, here: Mobutu had a very fancy red leather interior (he was all about understatement) which I had a go at reproducing, it's about a third kit, a third etch and a third scratch. I suspected it would be invisible (and I was right) so I took a pic along the way. A (whirly)bird in the hand... ...and there are some pics of the real thing here. https://pierregillard.zenfolio.com/drcaf Thanks for looking!

Its been a while since I have built something because I am back to work but I was finally able to finish this. The kit is pretty much an out of the box build. Weapons and pods are from the Hasegawa weapons set B. the pilots are from PJ productions and a spare from a Tamiya kit. Decals are from Model Maker. Not my best work but not my worse. I have seen many of these aircraft in flight on various training and real world operations. As a Marine on the ground it is always comforting to know that Marine Air has our back. Semper Fi and thanks for looking! Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr Usmc Vikings by Reginaldo Reyes, on Flickr

Hello to all, This model was started in September of 2019 after a 2 year hiatus of modelling. It was started as a good way to return to full scale modelling. My thought was to build a panther different that the usual blue ones. Hasegawa had out of the box the decals for the Advanced Training Unit 206 (ATY-206), so I started it immediately. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F9F_Panthers_of_ATU-206_at_NAS_Pensacola_1956.jpg G000E by Nontas B, on Flickr G001E by Nontas B, on Flickr G002E by Nontas B, on Flickr G003E by Nontas B, on Flickr G004E by Nontas B, on Flickr G005E by Nontas B, on Flickr G006E by Nontas B, on Flickr G007E by Nontas B, on Flickr G008E by Nontas B, on Flickr G009Ε by Nontas B, on Flickr G010E by Nontas B, on Flickr G011E by Nontas B, on Flickr G012E by Nontas B, on Flickr G013E by Nontas B, on Flickr G014E by Nontas B, on Flickr G015E by Nontas B, on Flickr G016E by Nontas B, on Flickr G017E by Nontas B, on Flickr G018E by Nontas B, on Flickr G019E by Nontas B, on Flickr G020E by Nontas B, on Flickr G021E by Nontas B, on Flickr G022E by Nontas B, on Flickr G023E by Nontas B, on Flickr G024E by Nontas B, on Flickr G025E by Nontas B, on Flickr G026E by Nontas B, on Flickr G027E by Nontas B, on Flickr G028E by Nontas B, on Flickr G029E by Nontas B, on Flickr G030E by Nontas B, on Flickr The model now is waiting for a nice opportunity to spray the white and the red. To be continued... Nontas

Recently completed the Eduard Tempest Mk.V series 2. A great kit however the AMS struck so I completed it with some aftermarket; PE flaps from Eduard, wheels, seat, radiator and exhausts from Barracuda studios. The squadron letters and serial are from Dutch Decal to represent the machine of Jan Linzel. This was a "Mayflyer" who managed to escape to the UK and flew with 33 squadron of the RAF. Approved by "Kitty" A fine cockpit OOB but not much can be seen when the fuselage is closed. Full WIP here; https://www.scalemates.com/profiles/mate.php?id=14213&p=albums&album=66781 Thanks for watching Erik

When I first went to airshows in the late 70s / early 80s there was a very eye catching bright red Spitfire on show. Spencer Flack’s G-FIRE stood out from the crowd for me & I always wanted to do G-HUNT and G-FIRE in model form. So when Airfix released their Mk.XIV kit with G-FIRE decals I had to have one. Nice enough built too. Great cockpit detail that you can barely see. There is a great thread on here of advice regarding build & colours too. Anyway this is how she looks And this is a picture of her I took at Mildenhall Airfete 82 (I think). Funnily enough I found a better photo from the same show at the same time on Flickr. I think the guy with a better camera was stood behind me when I too this. I was only little at the time! And a few more of the kit Well that is a bit of my childhood recreated. Thanks for looking

Hiya Folks, Another refurbishment,...... I built this High Planes Beaufort Mk.IX, known as the Beaufreighter well over 20 years ago,.... but it was looking its age, was one of my first ever limited production kits and it was recently submerged in freeing cold water when my cellar was flooded,....... so it was about time it got some TLC,..... it started off like this; Was sanded to this; Then the filling, sanding, cleaning and painting began,... brush painting using Polly Scale RAAF Foliage Green ; here is the WIP if anybody is interested; Here is the aircraft that I wished to restore the model as,...... A9-712, coded R of No 10 Communication Unit, Lakunai Airstrip Rabaul in 1945, where it crashed on 21/11/45, It had Japanese writing under the wings which read "NIHON KOFOKU",..... which basically reads as ,......Sunrise Land Surrenders,.... or Japan has Surrendered,..... and it carried out leaflet drops over the surrounding jungle to try to convince Japanese troops that the war was over! Here it has underwing bomb racks fitted with `Storepedoes',.... supply containers; At least one more Beaufort received the Japanese writing on the undersides,.... but this was a standard aircraft,.... note the turret; Another Beaufreighter with standard underside markings; And here is the refurbished model; Cheers Tony

Sud Aviation Alouette III, the personal helicopter of corrupt despot and noted sartorial icon Mobutu General Sese Seko, 1967. Heller 1/72 kit with Brengun etch and a bit of scratch work here and there. Not the easiest of kits to work with simply becasue it's so small and I'm chronically clumsy. The fit isn't great and is downright rotten around the front transparency. As always close-up photography is brutal but it passes the three foot test and i'm quite pleased with the result, although it was a lot of hours for a tiny outcome. I'm indebted to Martin @RidgeRunner who supplied the Berna decals (twice as it turned out 😉) and Mr. Pierre Gillard who runs the outstanding www.alouettelama.com website, surely the definitive online resource for information about this versatile little chopper! He kindly allowed me to reproduce pictures from his website in my build thread, here: Mobutu had a very fancy red leather interior (he was all about understatement) which I had a go at reproducing, it's about a third kit, a third etch and a third scratch. I suspected it would be invisible (and i was right) so I took a pic along the way. A (whirly)bird in the hand... Some pics of the real thing are here: https://pierregillard.zenfolio.com/drcaf Thanks to everyone who's offered encouragement, when I was suffering the eternal torment of etch hell it was much appreciated. Now I'll sit back and enjoy everyone else's builds. 😁

thanks chaps ..just a quick one I cut away the under fuselage to allow mating of the rad structure - the roof of the rad intake at the front seems also to have some sort of slat arrangement, but I only have a couple of oblique photos to work from so imagineered this bit.. ..also the flat panel in front of it was let in by using a template glued on to cut away the skinning and then some work to flatten the underlying structure before adding a more detailed panel.. TTFN Peter

Dear Colleagues The Royal Navy only called upon nature to inspire the naming of warships with their Flower class corvettes, but for the Japanese all their destroyers were named after poetic natural images. In this case Hatsuharu apparently means 'early spring'. Unusually, the 1931 design genuinely tried to fit the treaty restriction of a sub-2000 t weight (which they later abandoned) and the ship was launched in 1933. However, a drastic redesign was needed in 1935 due to top heavy problems with a super-firing B turret arrangement (later moved to the stern). Hatsuharu lasted until 1944 when sunk by bombing in the Philippines in November 1944. The Aoshima kit has a lovely hull and is one of their better ship kits. As is my way I have added a lot of photo etch apart from the stuff that came with the ship and used brass rods for the masts. Hope you like it Andrew

I have done a build thread in awhile, so with a week off over Easter I thought I would pull this one out of the stash. I was brought up on Salisbury Plain, and then later Germany so this was quite the nostalgia build. Completed as Chieftain of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, based in West Germany in the 1980s (which was when we were living there). Brush painted with Tamiya Acrylics. Build thread can be found here: Thanks for looking.

For the 2001 Airshow at Leeuwarden AFB, F-16A (MLU) of the Dutch Air Force was painted with a special tail scheme depicting 323 Squadron's badge of Diane (the hunter). In latter years it has carried several other tail designs (most of which are available from Daco Products). The only photos I could find of this airframe from 2001 had rather boring loadouts but I did find an undated one where it has live GBU24s and AIM120s (though with a plain tail - so I've wielded my Modeller's Licence to produce this combination) It was built from the Eduard "Nato Falcons" limited edition boxing of the Kinetic plastic, which included resin seats, exhaust, wheels and photo etch for the cockpit and some airframe details. It is one of my earlier efforts which never got fully finished - I'm not too happy with the fit around the nose BUT Kinetic's use of multiple choice panels to enable various Block versions to be built can lead to fit issues. Painted with Gunze acrylics, decals are mostly from the kit though those on the armament were mainly from the FighterTown F-14 "extras" sheet. Mike

Mirage IIIE No.501 / 3-IB EC1/3 'Navarre' Nancy-Ochey, France, June 1985 This was built from the old Revell 1/72 kit from the 1970s. Not the best Mirage kit out there nowadays by a long way but it's been in the stash for so many years and it was time to build it. The inspiration was that Modeldecal sheet with those attractive EC1/3 anniversary markings. The French are usually very good at anniversary schemes, and though this one is quite simple it's also very French and looks good. The kit was basically OK. It gave the impression that it had been scaled down from the Revell 1/32nd scale kit of a similar era. This was noticeable in some of the attachment points and detail. particularly on the undercarriage, which were so small and thin as to be unusable. In the end I replaced the main gear with that from a Heller kit, and used the Heller nosewheel in the Revell nose leg. The inner main gear doors were leftovers from a resin conversion kit for a Mirage V and had nice internal detail. I added quite a bit to the ejection seat but the cockpit is a black pit so there's minimal detail apart from the seat. I struggled to fit the canopy neatly but just about got there in the end. I used Mig Ammo paints from their French Modern Jets set for the top surfaces which sprayed very nicely and dried in no time, and a mixture of Xtracrylic aluminium and light aircraft grey for the undersides. Decals were all from the Modeldecal sheet except for the roundels which were replaced with others having better depth of colour from a generic sheet. The topcoat was Humbrol matt varnish. Overall a fairly quick (by my standards) and enjoyable project And some of it's brothers :

The USAAC 25th squadron existed in the final days of World War One. Many of its senior staff were Americans who had flown with the British, and had experience in SE.5as. Although the Unit did not score any victories, 30 victories had been scored by its personnel in their days flying with the RFC. Interestingly, the current USAF unit originating from this Unit is the 25th Space Range Squadron, based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado and assigned to the Nevada Test & Training Range. On March 31, 2020, it was announced that the 25th would be moved to the newly formed United States Space Force. This transfer will make the 25th the oldest unit in the USSF. This kit is the ancient Revell/ESCI kit. I used some decals from kit, as well as from an old Decal Master decal sheet. The Aircraft Number on the wing is actually taken from Luftwaffe Numbers, I believe - but were similar enough in size that I used them. The result is a very colorful SE.5A that I think reproduced the functional lines of the SE.5A. Figures are from the excellent Orion WW1 Aviator set - and I find that they really convey more realism to any display. Lastly, a member of the 25th, Warren J Brown, wrote a book "Child Yank Over the Rainbow" which I may have to seek out and read.....

Hi all, First up, along with many people, I managed to pick up the new Airfix Beaufort early on through Jadlam on preorder. A brilliant kit from Airfix with some superb engineering. Kit is from the box with the exception of Eduard cockpit masks and replacement resin wheels to add a little extra detail. Build went together very well and especially pleased that the included schemes represented examples from St Eval, Cornwall - a location not far from me. Not my best build, I used a new brand of Gloss Varnish for me and ended up going on too thick, resulting in a very high shine and nasty orange peel effect. My own fault, but lessons learnt. In addition, the Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk.1 was finished sometime back in late January, but due to other commitments I have been away from the modelling bench for 2 months. Also a nice kit from Airfix and despite some trouble around the cockpit glazing, a pleasing result - although the Vallejo Model Air colours used are a little over saturated from the bottole. Displayed alongside the Noys Miniatures hangar and diorama base aswell as the Airfix Bomber Resupply set.

And that's pretty much it for the basic build: It's a big beastie! Time to get to work on the decals, and then probably some light "track" weathering to bring it all together: I quite like the images of the 66 car at the finish, where you can see the road grime, and also the bright marks where it's been wiped off by working hands... best, M.

Rareplanes did so many subjects that, at the time, no one else was ever likely to do and they were always very nicely done. The Venom is a decent kit but the canopy is way off and needs to be replaced, decent decals are easily sorted from other sources. I was looking at your Savage build the other day and it's coming along really well, your kit must be a very late one as the 'Produced by Hannants' text wasn't around for long before production stopped. A fair bit of progress this afternoon/evening, I've got everything rubbed down, the wings, tailbooms, fuel tanks and tailplane halves together and the fuselage about ready to be joined. There's lots of weight as far forward as I can get it but I can always get a bit more in once everything is in one piece before the jetpipe goes in. Steve

Finished with programmable functions. Finish isn't great.... I'm more of a put bits together person rather than a neat and tidy finish person.... So this has all the usual lights inc wheel bay and cockpit. The top and bottom strobes flash. The tail lights are unfortunately in wrong position.... should have done more research! The after burners use candle LEDs and programmed to vary intensity. Finished with a satin spray. And a video... with added sound (not from model)

Well, after more garden preparation fun, and other stuff, I'm back again. I've only had the chance to work on the model, a little at a time -- one of the reasons for choosing such a relatively simple conversion at this time of the year. Anyway, after a coat of primer, and more sanding and filling, it now looks like this (note added wing bumps): After even more sanding and filling, a coat of black primer, a coat of Alclad II Polished Aluminum, a coat of Alclad II Aqua Gloss to protect the paint from decal -setting solvents, and some decals added, she then looked like this: After finishing the decal application and some drying time, a layer of Alclad II Light Sheen was painted over everything to seal the deals and to kill the shine of the polished aluminum a bit. While I painted some panels with other shades, they don't distinguish themselves here. I should have used White Aluminum, but oh, well. At this stage, only the mundane chores were left, adding the landing gear and doors, nose probe from stretched sprue, etc. and she's done. Really, a very simple project albeit with a LOT of sanding! In all her final (for me at least) glory, may I present Miss Lockheed YF-97 -- later reduced in rank to simply YA-94C: Sorry it took so long, and please, be aware that some of the components such as the nose and tail end, changed on this ship over time, and I have tried to capture just one point in time -- with no guarantee of correct photo interpretation! RFI pics up HERE Thanks for looking in, and in some cases, helping out a lot! Ed

A Pipe and a Faithful Friend RAF Pilot and Dog by Elan Miniatures - 75mm by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr

1:48 Eduard Bf109 E-4 Here are some photos of my recently completed Bf109 E-4. As the kit comes with quite a detailed representation of the DB601 engine I thought it would be nice to display it and not fit the cowling panels. As you probably all know the kit is a pleasure to build with no issues I can recall. The only additions being photo etch seat belts, some plumbing to the engine and landing gear and 1.0mm aluminium tubing for the m/c gun barrels. Decals are from the kit and went on without any problems. Paints are Gunze Aqueous and Tamiya acrylics. As an aside, has anybody any experience of the 1:48 ICM Bf109F kits? I would be interested to read any comments. Thanks for looking, Bob.