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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

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.

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

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

Oldie but fun...hope you like it...: Tks for visiting!

Ready for rivet counting is the Tamiya chally 1. This was an accidental purchase as I meant to buy the Chally 2. (beer and eBay don’t mix). This was knocked together in about a week and was straight out of the box. Very old kit that is certainly showing it’s age as the fit is terrible in places, sink and injection marks on the rear of every panel and sooo many seam lines. Hence I spent little time on it as hours were spent sanding and filling. I tried to imagine a scene on the range at Salisbury Plain in autumn in the late 80’s/ early 90’s. Anyway thanks for looking.

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!

For those who might be interested, the build thread for this model is HERE Without further ado, the pics: A fairly simply conversion. I hope you'll try one yourselves! Thanks for looking in, Ed

Hi guys been looking for a kit of this flak gun in my scale, could not find one so decided to convert a sd.kfz half track to one, all the armoured cab and rear was scratchbuilt using plans found on line. the 88 gun was a zveda kit converted to a flak 37.

Heyyy youuuu gguuuyyyssssss! Apart from the Red and green tip lights we’re done! 😍 Once again I’ll sign off completely when I manage to get around to the RFI. That makes two I need to do now. The sun is getting warmer so photo time is looking more likely. 📸 so any way down to the nitty gritty. I spent some time knocking back the Flory wash to how I wanted and popped on the props. The bits and bobs (tm) got the same treatment. The UC started coming together. The main airframe then got a protective matt coat. The UC then got glued in place. Which reminds me, I need to add some TET to the wheels as they are just pushed on at the moment. The Canopy popped off with only a little touch ups. The masking came off too. Mmmmmm shiny. The exhaust stacks got glued in after a black wash. I really like the way they fitted. The belly got pebble dashed with detail. And eventually she’s up on her pins. ❤️ In this shot you can see I’ve been a little lazy and painted the wing tip lights chrome. I’ll clear colour them tomorrow. To be fair I think that works well at this scale. I couldn’t decide what to do with the canopy so I’ll leave it unglued so I can move it about when I get bored. Lovely. 🤩 I’m happy. I sincerely hope she’s bought a smile to your face Alain @corsaircorp . On top of that I hope if you followed along you enjoyed the build too. I have my first Covid Jab tomorrow so it’s all a bit exciting. I’ll see if I can get the Pony thread up as I’m already fiddling plastic and finding it hard not to start. Thanks for tagging along it’s been a real joy to build this little wonder. I’ll post links and what not here do if you fancy the Mustang build I’d love to have you all along. All the best and as always. Happy Modelling. Johnny 🦈

At last I have got some better photos done for this section. So here we have my version of the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 winning the 1932 Monaco Grand Prix in the hands of the legendary Italian driver Tazio Nuvolari. This was a hard fought battle over 3½ hours around the famous street circuit. The base is the recent 1/12 scale, not my usual modelling scale, kit from Italeri and replacement wire wheels from FPPM, Fernando Pinto, in Portugal. I modified the shape of the leaf springs as they appear a bit odd in the kit. The fuel tank was also modified to get a better shaped bottom and a more likely configuration of the rearmost side panels. I also added or modified some other details. The wire locking bolts are 3D-printed and threaded with 0,1 mm wires twisted together. The red colour is the mix offered by Zero paints for this car, followed by 2K semi-gloss clear. In the build thread I said many times that my photos didn't show the red correctly, but on my screens these photos below do give a quite truthful representation. The race number and the gold stripes are masked and airbrushed. The build thread is here.

On 24th July 1938 young British driver Richard "Dick" Seaman reached the very top of international Grand Prix racing. He was driving in one of the two top teams, Mercedes Benz, and on this day he was the winner of the high profile and eventful German Gran Prix at Nürburgring. This is his car that day, the Mercedes W154 with a British green nose identifying Seaman. The base is the 1/24 scale resin kit from FPPM, Fernando Pinto, in Portugal. I modified the engine with my own 3D-printed compressors for the '38 configuration and added a few small details. The WIP-thread can be found here.

Good morning. These picture inspired me: copyright photo: B17 in action, Squadron Signal publication n°63 p39 I used the model of the Airfix 1:72 Chevrolet M6 bomb trailer, and here is the result: And the last one: Regards, Eric-Snafu35

Hiya Folks,..... a bit more progress on my Beaufort`s,..... .I`ve been cracking on with assembling and painting some of the `ancillary' items like the wheels, propellers, torpedo (still being worked on!), turrets, and the guns, including the twin Vickers guns in the nose. The Brownings for the turrets are Aeroclub white metal and they have been removed from their moulded mounting on the sides to be attached to the kit part in an upright position where they are closer together. The beam guns are Coastal Craft white metal Vickers guns..... only because I used the excellent Airfix guns in the nose mounting instead. A bit more progress on the turrets; Here is the SAAF aircraft so far; The undercarriage has been partially fitted into the nacelles and the torpedo bay doors have been fitted in a closed position as this aircraft carried bombs and depth charges in its anti submarine role,... these doors were cut from the closed bomb/torpedo bay part; The 22 Sqn SEAC aircraft so far,.... And the torpedo bay doors are fitted open, ie pushed open or in,... as it will have a torpedo fitted and the torpedo mounting is now in place. Again the undercarriage is partially fitted; Cheers Tony

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.

This is the old Imai Spectrum Helicopter from Gerry Anderson's 60s TV show Captain Scarlet. I removed its toy-like features of working missiles and a huge under fuselage container for a battery to make it more like the studio model. I'm a bit disappointed in how it turned out. I tinted the main cabin windows to hide the big old electric motor and wish I had ditched the motor and fitted a few seats and left the windows clear. The tinting has changed the whole look of the thing to my eyes. Anyway, it's done and I opted to add a few stencils to liven it up and changed its serial number. The decals are for A-42 and I think that is the only Spectrum helicopter that appears in any episode of Captain Scarlet but I could be wrong. In any case, A-42 gets destroyed. So I numbered mine S-21 and will say it is a VIP transport and hence the tinted glass! The motor does power the rotor. So I may play around with that one day to see if I can get any 'action' shots. Comments and criticisms welcomed. David

MikroMir is to release a 1/72nd Martin XB-51 kit - ref. 72-025 Source: https://www.facebook.com/mikro.mir.dnepr/posts/4094017577342614 V.P.

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

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

I reckon that’s an Occam’s result too. Clear sprue micromeshes well (obvs.). An entirely non-Occam’s approach would be to cast the front of it in clear resin. After all....I’m not really sure this build is challenging/complicated/multi-media enough.....

I am calling this one done now , props, aerial wires, streamlined blister added and some exhaust staining. I will post some RFI images when I get better light. Better wear shades !!! Thanks to those who have supported me and @tonyot and @Ed Russellfor thefor help ful info and photos especially the interior details, on this epic essay in yellow. Thanks for looking. Chris

Good evening, dears! It's my next model. The model's main error is a very irregular canopy visor. It's absolutely wrong angle. I grinded down the front of the visor at an angle to 0 to correct the situation a little. There are several mistakes in the instructions. Better to look at photographs and drawings. I separated the landing gear and inserted chrome tubes there. Added some details from stocks. Generally, this is a labor-intensive model in the result.

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

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:

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

Thought I ought to put up a post on this just to show that between sessions on trying to refit the Harbour Patrol launch while still afloat, something of a nightmare but getting a lift out at one of the boatyards around here is virtually impossible at the moment, I have been plodding away at this build. I have actually been doing quite a lot as I find this project very difficult to put down for any length of time. This is most likely because I love learning new things and this build is providing that in spades. The first issue I hit and one that I had not seen coming, is that the interior framing as indicated by Mikro-Mir, does not match that as moulded on the outside of the hull. Cue much swearing and gnashing of Martin fangs. I got round this problem by letting in a couple of thick sections of plastic card and reducing the size of two of the openings in the hull. Next I added the framing down the port side of the hull and drilled holes where the rivets would have held the hull plates in place. For a breather, I did some soldering and made a connecting piece for the two snorkel pipes. I still have to make the bellows for this system. It seems that the system did not work very well in practice, but as it was a distinctive feature of the boat, I felt it was worth putting a bit if effort here. 🎵 How many more £$%*&*$* rivets to go? I need to be sedated, Don't answer that, I don't want to Know, I've been crispinated, 🎵 (apologies to the Ramones but not to @Ex-FAAWAFU) I knew from some of @Pappy 's comments that a degree of crispination was going to be needed on the model and had assumed that I could use rivet decals for this process. Wrong! The decals I have are nowhere big enough for those on the Hunley. Most likely because they were flattened out as much as possible to cut down on drag. I also noticed that the kit rivets were not always evenly spaced and that with the new patches let into the hull, I was going to have to replace the lot to get a uniform look. I agree with Pappy that replacing rivets can be therapeutic but not having to punch out hundreds of them. What I really need is the loan of some of those little goblins that @general melchett keeps down this battle y-fronts. That way I could order up the requisite number of rivets before I went to bed and when I woke up in the morning, they would be ready for me. Then all I would have to do would be to return said goblins to the General's pants, pop his ostrich feather back in to keep them there and I could crispinate the model to Crisp's content. In reality, I am going to have to do the riveting in small batches or I will go stark staring bonkers. I will try and keep updates down to matters other than crispination as I am convinced that the only person who will find this a riveting experience is Crisp himself or maybe including @Navy Bird as he sees more and more swathes of white styrene covering the model. You want some more pictures? Oh go on then and thanks for looking. Martian 👽

Those who skip eagerly skip foolishly, in my experience So I skipped eagerly on and completed the de-spruing and cleaning up of the struts, which each got a dip in IPA to wash off any finger oils and sanding residue, and was put in a numbered compartment box: I have a (serious) question about injection-moulded struts... why are the sprue connection points always part way along the strut, where some careful cleaning up will be required, rather than at each end, where you could be a bit more relaxed about it? I accept that you need two entry points or entry/exit points for the moulding, but why not have one at each end? I would be interested to know if anyone does know As is visible above, I painted the wheels and gave them a slop of Citadel wash, Nuln Oil for the hubs and Agrax Earthshade for the tyres: You can see the difference in real life, honest Finally as a displacement activity between struts, the propeller got its spinner fitted: Mmm... colourful So big jobs* next I think; spray the undersides and the struts Aluminium. Bit much for a workday I think, but not far off the weekend now Cheers, Stew * Oh do grow up!

Tales of the Future The Grizzly turret, which has been conspicuous by its absence for a very long time, has now decided to join the party and have some fun, and this has also been given the Mr Surfacer stippled paint job treatment, mainly so that I can see how well the cast in applique armour cheek blends with the rest of the turret, I think it's very hard to tell whether blending work is ok until a coat of paint (primer) is applied to the surface, as you seem to need a uniform colour/surface to see where the problems are, which is the main reason why everything keeps getting painted to be honest. Picture above, the cast in applique armour cheek seems ok to me, It blends in well and looks cast in to me, a feature of the turret casting so to speak, so I'll take that, plus it's far too late in the build to start messing around with it, I've had enough drama with the applique armour on the hull, so I really don't need anymore. The three lifting rings have had casting seams added to them using masking tape and a thin painted layer of Mr Surfacer, plus some careful sanding afterwards, the lifting rings on these cast turrets are added as a sort of plug to the casting mould (I think) and very often have a seam line around them, which sometimes blends in well, and sometimes doesn't, leaving a line/seam around the lifting ring. Picture above, the mounting lugs for the turret bin have been added to the turret bustle, these are welded on lugs I think, but not sure on this, because some Grizzly turrets seem to have them, and some don't, which seems kinda strange to me because all the Grizzles were fitted with turret bins (as far as I know) either the early square bin with the curved bed roll bracket, or the later simplified angled bin, maybe the mounting lugs on some Grizzlies have been removed in an effort to hide it's Grizzly heritage? Make it appear as a US built M4A1? Picture above, the turret applique armour cheek looks ok to me now that the turret is sitting down in the turret ring, and sitting behind the hull splash guard that's cast into the hull, and the plastic strip in the mantlet opening is simply preparation for future things... Picture above, It's always nice to have a turret, when your building a tank... with a turret, and folks with a keen eye for detail will have noticed that there's very little actually fitted to the hull and turret, I tend to consider that a minor detail, or a hallmark of my laziness, we at least have a starting point now, though I think that I'm going to struggle to make some of the things that I now need to make... How its taken me so long to get to this point is beyond me, let's call it laziness and leave it at that... Matt

Good evening my fellow afflicted model builders! Now my Easter eggs are finished and safely in the display cabinet, it's time to get back on track with a 'real world' project. And here what found its way to my bench: Maybe I needed a short, stubby and colourful aeroplane in my collection... I don't know but I wanted to build one for some time. And now is the time! So here's what's in the box: Thankfully for everyone involved, a throne and a mummy are included. There is only one option as far as colour schemes are concerned but that's all I need. I want this! Already thinking of panting and masking for most of that instead of using the decals but we'll see what happens in the end. But that's wasn't enough for me. I wanted more pieces and more ways to mess things up and ruin everything. So I got me a detail set: (No I'm not using that propeller, the kit's own is better) Then I got me some reference material, a bottle of primer (first time I'll be using white primer) and because I wasn't sure about the blue I got me a few different ones to try so that I can decide, maybe. And finally I thought it would be a good idea to try bracing this time... So guys... wish me luck!

Hi all, hope you're keeping safe and well. I'm in with this rivetted oldie pulled from the attic (those kits in the background are on the way to market - long story) Airfix B-25J by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr This plane will be shooting....film of course! When I saw the decals were available for the Psychedelic Monster, I jumped at the chance to build it. B-25J_Draw_Decals by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr The plan is to build it in-flight, more on that later. Thanks for looking and good luck with your builds. Cheers, Dermot

Here's my first project for this GB, a Hasegawa Lancaster in Rescue mode! Will be done OOB apart from Pavla intakes and CMK post war treaded tyre wheels. Any recommendations for the Orange is welcome please! The fuselage band is included as a decal but I will just airbrush that as I don't fancy trying to match the colour! The book doesn't show any real variation in the Aluminium panelling but I may add some slightly different shades here and there just to break up the overall effect, we'll see how it goes. Davey

I got this in a pile of incomplete / unchecked kits years ago, no box but looks complete so why not ! picture from Scalemates cheers Pat

More of a display than a proper diorama, but a couple of my cyber-mates have been bugging me mercilessly for some photos from my very small collection of commissioned 75mm figures, so I thought I'd share them here. And then I thought, why not spice things up with a Conan figure bursting in on things and causing chaos. As I said most of these are commissioned figures and only three of them were painted by me, but I hope the overall display has enough visual appeal to merit being included here. Cheers the Noo

This is Frog's ancient Tempest V finished using FreightDogModels decals as SN330, 3 Squadron, RAF Wunsdorf, Germany 1947-48. The rocket rails are courtesy of Chris in Alberta ('Dogsbody') and Classic Frog Skybase courtesy of Splash in Somerset. I used the 'propblur' that Frog provided. I believe it was only in early issues of this kit and they didn't do it for any of their other moulds. Pity. Comments and criticisms welcomed. David

It was for Beer now it's for Monster Energy drink. As if rescued from a local scrap yard, the rear bed has new wood, but the cab, chassis and some of the chains are still a bit rusty.

Hi all Apologies if this has been posted before, but I did a quick search and couldn't see anything obvious. A lot of fascinating pictures here documenting captured German military equipment on display in Moscow during and after the war. Including (about 3/4 down the first page) an image of what appears to be possibly a Fw190D-11 or D-13. Whether this particular a/c had been previously documented, I'm not sure. The whole thread is well worth a look for the pics alone. https://smolbattle.ru/threads/Выставки-трофейной-техники.61701/?fbclid=IwAR2AdKZkUEsYgUe1HzmLTFxwe59QL34_LehV2RXgd-EMIbr8RUmP7BgYpj8

Hiya Folks,..... a small update on my Beaufort`s,..... .I`ve built up a set of depth charges left over from an Airfix Wellington and added them to a set of bomb racks from a Revell Lancaster which have been altered slightly; Then they were added to the bomb bay of the SAAF Beaufort,...... a more suitable load for its anti submarine and convoy escort duties; So tonight should be undercarriage, torpedo, propellers and radar antennae night! Cheers Tony Cheers Tony

I finally stopped putting off the inevitable today and made a start on threading the spokes. I fully expect the first wheel to take a while as I find a method that works. To that end, I first did a dry run of the inner row of spokes. The plan was to attach all the wires then go back and tension and secure each one in turn. Here is the first half done That looks promising. At least it appears to be symmetrical. I continued with the second half of lines and got this. A couple of problems showed up. Firstly it was obvious that my intended method was not going to work, I would have to attach each line and secure it as I go. Second, I need to ensure that the lines are pulled into the hub properly at each side. Not a problem until about 4 lines from the end when it gets a little crowded and the lines have to be pulled in at both ends to ensure the geometry looks right. If that is not done the angles on the hub are all wrong. That can be seen on the pic above - the triangles formed by the spokes around the rim are even but around the hub they are very irregular. I'm also a little worried about having room for the middle row. You can see from the pic below that the hub has spread where the spokes have been fitted. The middle row should fit in the slot just in front of those already done, but the slot has closed up. It will be interesting to see if the lines will fit! Here's the second fitting, with the wires secured. That looks a little better, although the inner geometry is still off. I'll do the middle row tomorrow and see how it looks. I have a feeling I may have to resort to thinner line to get it all to fit! Thanks for looking in, stay safe! Ian

Here's the original boxing of the Zero.

Planning not to get bogged down on this one then Crisp? Actually - speed of progress to date seems to confirm this!

Who am I to refuse a chance to post pictures of a Constellation? A build that nearly failed as the decals refused to co-operate. The starboard side decals broke up and were replaced with home printed ones and a painted cheat line. It's not one of my finer efforts, but careful photography hides most of the dodgy areas. A three footer at best. There's a long winded build thread here....

Personally I think his art work is a shocker , colour film and photo's of 89th Bs A-20A's show them in the std single OD over NG , some early A-20's and A-20A's were in a two tone scheme in the US and Panama but in my probably 50-60 pictures of 89th A-20A's no where would you definitely say there are any in a two tone scheme. OD when it fades gives the impression of multiple colours , look at the wrong Interpretations of RAF Boston IIIA's (A-20C's), many thought they were in RAF DG/DE (some did get repainted but the overwhelming majority of RAF Boston IIIA's where in OD over NG) when they were just faded OD. The DB-7B's were in std factory (RAF Colours) of Dark Green/Dark Earth over Sky, these were diverted from the RAF contract not specific to the Dutch order for DB-7C's (which never got build , build to DB-7B specs and shipped to the USSR), these Boston's still had their RAF ALxxx serials on them when delivered (RAAF records from early April 42 still refer to them as ALxxx serials (03 Apr 42 2 AD Richmond AL358, 364, 365, 367, 892 became A28- 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 , the A28-xx was applied mid April 42) , just the Dutch D-xx number added on the nose and Dutch triangles on lower wing and fuselage positions covering the original RAF roundels, RAAF roundels were applied to upper wing and fuselage sides (just reapplied the same RAF markings as originally applied as the RAAF used at that time) and the ALxxx covered by A28-xx , initialy RAAF Boston's didn't run lower wing roundels but these were applied before deployment to NG . I have played with the original fuselage skins taken from A28-8 DU-J during its restoration and I was able to pick layers of paint off the roundel area revealing about 7-8 layers of paint , RAF roundel (4 colours), Dutch triangle (2 colours) re application of RAF style roundel (4 colours) then the overpaint of the yellow outer ring and red dot. Only variation to the DB-7B's was as they were damaged (belly landed) the Sky was overpainted in RAAF Sky Blue, this was not done all at once but as they were repaired , I don't think the last Sky underside disappeared till probably mid 44, in Jul 44 all remaining DB-7B's were painted in the new allover Foliage Green scheme for RAAF attack aircraft at that time, they also stayed in the DG/DE upper colours till the Foliage Green repaint in Jul 44, they got very faded and any repairs looked like Foliage Green as the original DG was so faded the new paint was very dark. His info on A-20G's (ie late 43 and later) is pretty good but the A-20A and RAAF Boston stuff is way out.

They don't get better as they get older though. Driving home Monday coasting at around the speed limit a little scroat in a elderly Fiesta is slowly catching up by speeding on the straights, but loosing almost as much ground on the corners. Get to the long straight by Ladybower reservoir he's about 150 yds behind & decides to floor it, we're aproaching the climb to a lind summit before he's alongside me & i see a cyclist ahead heading in the same direction as us and about to disappear over the brow so ease off. Scroat's now ahead but wrong side of solid white lines & as he gets to the brow slams his brakes on - he can't get past the cyclist for oncoming traffic. He must have panicked as every light at the rear of the car came on - how hazzards slow you down I've yet to find out. Oncoming traffic clears & Fiesta flicks to middle of the road to clear the cyclist, just. His brakes are still on as I too move across to give cyclist room. As the Fiesta pulls back into the left lane I see road ahead is totally clear and pass the him, after that he hung well back. At the end of the day what did he achieve - probably only skid marks in his underpants.

Your more than welcome for a tour of our porch and I'll have a word with the memsahib about you borrowing some of her Women's Auxiliary outfits...what size are you? that way you can contribute something substantial to the war effort, flog a few war bonds and boost their flagging morals, at the same time. Until then I can arrange a night out at the Lyceum Ballroom.....how about 'The Old Lady shows her ruddy great Medals' by J.M. Barrie, starring our very own thespian from the trenches, Baldrick, or might that be a tad too racy?

I have spent several pleasurable evenings reading these memories of Frog kits. Yes, I remember kits in bicycle shops and there was an iron mongers in Kings Lynn which had Aurora kits in plastic bags displayed on a rack. I had no problems finding Frog models in the south of London. There was Law's in Sutton and BMW was not far away. I recollect that it was in Merton High Street before moving to Haydons Road, or was that another shop? Some very old Frog kits which have survived the passage of time and a few changes of address. They were most likely built shortly after their release (The "stash" had yet to be invented 🙂) and so they are over 60 years old. The Venom dates from 1955 and I have vague memories of the paint coming in black and yellow tubes and purchased in a bicycle shop. The Sea Hawk is also a 1955 vintage. Frog Zero. I remember nothing of building this kit but Scalemates informs me that it came out in 1959 and, hey! it has engraved panel lines. Mike

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

Released 10/09/2021 Sources: https://icm.com.ua/aviation/b-26k-counter-invader/ https://icm.com.ua/2021/04/16/in-process-long-awaited-b-26k-counter-invader/ https://www.facebook.com/ICM.Models/posts/1618162415043357 Box art & 3D renders V.P.

The Vokes filter in the Sptfire Mk. VC (Trop) consisted of five layers of material - two of wire gauze between which there are two layers of fabric with a centre layer of special filtering material, (often cottonwool). These were stitched together and then corrugated into deep folds to increase the actual filtering area in the space occupied by the filter. O.K., I'm being a smart alec. I realise that you are referring to the Supermarine designed fairing that housed the Vokes Aerovee filter and enlarged oil tank on the Spitfire Mk.VC (Trop). Seriously though, many call the filter housing on the Spitfire VC, a "Vokes filter", and that on the Spitfire VIII, (and late Spitfire IX), an "Aerovee filter". In fact, both the MK.V and the Mk.VIII used a Vokes Aerovee filter. So describing one as a 'Vokes filter' and the other as an 'Aerovee filter' is incorrect - both aircraft were fitted with Vokes Aerovee filters. Vokes produced two basic types of air filter, the Aerovee and the Three-ply. The former was a dry type filter designed for use with liquid cooled engines. The latter was an oil-viscous filter designed for use with air-cooled radial engines. I realise that I am being pedantic but, as an engineer, I believe that it is important to separate the descriprion of the filter and its housing. Back to your query, this diagram and rough sketch may help. As you can see the ram air inlet feeds air directly to the Vokes Aerovee filter. The filter is mounted at an angle to keep the frontal area of the filter housing as low as possible, but also to present the maximum possible area of filter to limit airflow losses as the air passes through the filter. Vokes claimed a 95% efficiency, but there were doubts raised about this claim. The main drawback of this installation was that there was no direct ram air feed to the carby - air always passed through the filter so the power of the engine was slightly reduced when the filter was fitted. There was also a shutter that could close off the flow of air through the ram air intake and, instead, draw warm air from the engine compartment for running the engine under conditions that may produce icing in the carburettor. The photo below shows the nose of a VC Spitfire with the filter housing removed. The larger oil tank on this variant is readily visible. The main drawback of this installation was that there was no direct ram air feed to the carby, with a consequent reduction in engine performance. On the Aboukir designed filter housing, the filter was mounted above the ram air intake, and air was only diverted through it when required, direct ram air going to the carby under normal flight circumstances.

Bit of a random subject , but who would have thought you could buy a 2 nd division World Rally contender to build as a kit even a few years ago . Looks top quality , plenty of detail , decal window masks and a clear view sump guard ! One to be built I think Gary .

Ha!!! 👍 Just did it! I @Bandsaw Steve have just posted @general melchett’s ten thousandth like! Can you believe it!?!?! That I, a young and generally unremarkable fellow from the far off wilds of Western Australia, born and raised in humble circumstances in the everyday New Zealand suburb of Bandsaw Springs should have this honour! From here, the world is my oyster! I expect rapid promotion, fame, fortune, widespread adoration and a great deal of luck with the ladies! Congratulations on your achievement Sir and thank you for giving me this humbling opportunity - an honour beyond my wildest imaginings! I shall dine out on this for the rest of my life. 🥇