Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 17/04/21 in all areas

  1. I modelled the The Pan Am Boeing 747SP from an Authentic Airliners 1/144 scale resin kit with the billboard decals from 26Decals and the cabin/cockpit windows from Authentic Airliners decals. As always, the quality of the AA kit was excellent and the 26Decals went on very well without difficulties. The white part of the fuselage is Tamiya Fine surface primer covered with Tamiya clear gloss spray. The metal areas were painted with Alclad polished aluminium and the light grey parts with Xtracolor Canadian voodoo grey X150 On October 30, 1977 Pan Am made history when the Boeing 747SP "New Horizons" N533PA completed an amazing around the world flight over both the North and South Pole in a record 54 hours, 7 minutes. Named ‘Pan Am Flight 50’ this amazing flight was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the airline. The flight started at San Francisco with three stopovers, in London, Cape Town and Auckland. New Horizons is in fact the very same plane (N533PA) that I have modelled. For some curious reason, when painting the plane with the new billboard livery the company also changed the name of the aircraft to "Clipper Young America". However, they kept the image "Flight 50" on the fuselage.
    33 points
  2. Hi All I have been working in this for the last few months. I have always wanted to build a Target Tug . Being a brush painter made things interesting. I use Humbrol enamels and thin them slightly. The model is the Revell 1/48 Lockheed Ventura and I have made this as an RCAF GR-V TT from British Columbia. The scheme is very striking for obvious reasons and believe it was referred to as the Oxydol Special. The decals are from the excellent Aviaeology set and there is some fantastic information and photos, I do like their decal sets. I would also like to say thank you to Tonyot and Ed Russell who were very helpful with some images. The Kit is very nice and the fit is very nice indeed. The only area which wasn't as good was the Bomb bay doors. The areas requiring change from the kit is the second seat in the cockpit and there is now second control stick and the Radio Op area was added with scratch built radios and seat. The Navigator desk was added too before I realised that you cannot see inside. I also added a higher cabin floor and added some details to the main spar. Curtain for the Radio operator area is a painted piece of Rizzla paper. Aerial wires are from invisible thread. The guns have been removed and the appetures were plated over and just removed from the turret. The Ventral gun position has been altered to be as like a Target Tug as I could make it as there is no ref pics that I could find for one of these machines so I used an image from an SAAF machine. The last addition is the observers blister window on the Port side and yes it is the right way round !!! Engines were by Quickboost and I added brass rod pushrod and ignition harness from very thin wire from Little Cars. The cowlings and Props are from Quickboost too and are very nice indeed. This is a link to the WIP Thanks for the support along the way Sorry for the waffle here's some picks. I am now doing an all over yellow FAA Avro Anson Mk1. Thanks for looking Chris
    32 points
  3. Hi folks, lately I'm on Luftwaffe nighfighters and this time I took on He 219; actually my third night bird in a short period. I built the original A-7 kit it as A-2 with couple of mods and added the Master radar antennas and Rescue Models wheels. The decals come from OWL for W.Nr. 290070 from 1./NJG 1, that was lost in February 1945 after shooting down a Lancaster (one of the gunner seemed to hit the Heinkel with return fire and the crew had to bail out). Airbrushed with Gunze Aqueous. Cheers Libor
    32 points
  4. This is the 1/32 A-6 intruder with a lighting chip, allowing all lights to function out side and in the cockpit. Along with Reedoak figures I also used and the verlinden mule, and the Eduard mer pods ,this is all then painted with Tamiya acrylics. Its a good kit overall, it has its dowe points, but mainly a lot of up points, I have another one to build later in the year so I am already looking forward to this any way enjoy The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace that was operated by the U.S. Navy. It was designed in response to a 1957 requirement issued by the Bureau of Aeronautics for an all-weather attack aircraft for Navy long-range interdiction missions and with STOL capability for Marine close air support. It was to replace the piston-engined Douglas A-1 Skyraider. The requirement allowed one or two engines, either turbojet or turboprop. The winning proposal from Grumman used two Pratt & Whitney J52 turbojet engines. The Intruder was the first Navy aircraft with an integrated airframe and weapons system. Operated by a crew of two in a side-by-side seating configuration, the workload was divided between the pilot and weapons officer (bombardier/navigator (BN)). In addition to conventional munitions, it could also carry nuclear weapons, which would be delivered using toss bombing techniques. On 19 April 1960, the first prototype made its maiden flight.
    30 points
  5. A belated RFI, for a model I finished last month... It was part of the recent 'Interceptors' GB and the build thread is here if you want to see it come together. I took advantage of the sunlight this morning and grabbed some shots - hope you like them! It was a great kit to build and one I thoroughly enjoyed. As ever, comments or critique are welcomed!
    29 points
  6. Here's my Hobbycraft 1/72 Otter, built out of the box and finished as a Qantas aircraft using Hawkeye decals. First time using Hawkeye decals - loved them - and first time I built this kit. Nice little kit, shame it isn't in production any more. I built this for the Australia and NZ group build - build thread is here. thanks for looking Julian
    23 points
  7. Here’s the first of my Mustang double build. Both will use Aztec decals. They are excellent and highly recommended. The kit is the new Eduard kit and is typical for their later releases. Nice detail, couple of challenges but overall recommended.
    19 points
  8. This is my second Beaufort so I thought I'd build it slightly differently with the weapons bay doors closed and another colour scheme. In fact, I think I prefer it in these colors to the green/brown/sky variant. Built the same as my other one by using just some of the Eduard cockpit set, their wheels and of course the wonderfully useful canopy masks. Hopefully the next one will be a Mk.VII using one of Uncle Les's conversion sets from Australia as featured on Hyperscale during the past couple of days. Decals for this one came from the Kits World sheet. Thanks for looking again. BA BB BC BD BE
    16 points
  9. Delayed update - Priming and Engines done Again, apologies for the late update to this WIP, but I’m back on the horse now so hopefully it’ll be smooth sailing from now on (famous last words right!). Now the nose glazing did cause me a few issues and to be honest I’m still not happy with how it sits. The canopy part seems a smidge high and narrow, but that might be just down to my sloppy application. Overall, its only minor so I’ll press on and just get this finished. Here’s a few photos of my recent progress. Grey Green paint was applied over the clear parts and then a number of thin layers of Mr Surfacer 1000 to act as the primer base coat. Here’s another tip... don’t throw out those close bomb bay and wheel well door pieces as they make excellent paint masks! I also decided to fully paint up those troublesome Taurus engines prior to installation and soon realised that these little units have elements of all the paint colours I’ll be using on this model - Grey / Green, Aluminium, Dark Earth, Dark Green, Metallic Smoke, Night (Black) and Yellow. It took me three attempts to settle on what camouflage paints to use as Gunze’s new formula for Dark Earth (H72) is nothing like the old one. I ended up buying AK Real Colour’s version (RC 287) and it looks good to my eye. The Dark Green is Tamiya XF-81 and decanted AS-12 Airframe Silver is my favourite choice for Aluminium. A slightly dull semi-gloss coat should settle these all nicely. More paint will be splashed on in the following updates. Cheers.. Dave
    15 points
  10. This is Dragon`s old but still very good kit with the Berlin-Radar Nose from Quickboost, PE from Eduard and Decals from AIMS. The aircraft is 3C+MN as found at the end of the war, one of only a handful with this modern FuG240 radar. It was introduced as late as April 1945, only about 25 aircraft were equipped with it. The Fug240 could only be produced by Telefunken with magnetrons recovered from the "Rotterdam" devices of british bombers that had fallen into german hands. This fact understandably limited the production capabilities at Telefunken. After the war 3C+MN was flown to Farnborough were it was repainted with RAF roundels and evaluated. Thanks for looking! Volker
    14 points
  11. I present my two Hasegawa Spitfires. 1. "Hello" was in USA for tests with additional fuel tanks, on the way back in Greenland got this nose art. Decals are from Aeromaster, nice printed but to stiff, I only used nose art and serial number from it. Nos art is a bit too big for Hasegawa kit... 2. "Pauline..." used in India 1946, decals from Exito "Sexy Spitfire" sheet, very good quality printed by Cartograf. For both kits I used Quickboost exhaust and Master cannon barrels.
    12 points
  12. Just finished this one off. Airfix 1/72 P-51D as N6356T owned by Charles Masefield ca 1968 and based at Shoreham. This was the very first Mustang I ever saw and flying. I have always wanted to do this subject and thanks to Draw Decals I have been able to finally add it to my collection. Humbrol 220 red used and appliance white for the undersides. Uncertain as to the cockpit configuration so I remove the 'boxes from the area behind the seat and blanked it off with some plastic card. Also removed the head rest. The black antenna at rear of upper fuselage is from a spare resin item from one of the LEM RCAF P-51 decals sets. Appropriate as '6T' was an ex RCAF aircraft. Brief history after its time in the UK is it went to Spain for filming Patton... movie, to the US for a time and raced, then to South Africa and now back in Europe being now based in Germany. PICS: Note the louvres mid fuselage low down bby the 'dog kennel intake area. These are on both sides and found on several Canadian Mustangs. Depicted here in decal form as on the decal sheet.
    12 points
  13. Hey guys, This is my JA 37C Viggen built from the Tarangus/Special Hobby kit in 1/72nd scale. Most painting is done with Mr.Paint from Slovakia. Decals are from the excellent Moose Republic Decals. Weathered as per reference photos. Enjoy! //Nick
    12 points
  14. A little more progress. All the under-gubbins is in place. Anyone tacking this kit, be aware that the anti-tramp bar on the back axle and the exhaust system are slightly tricky to fit. so are the rear dampers, it all fits together but there are lots of bits to line up before assembly. I'm glad I glued the springs to the axle before installing them. Tyres sprayed with Tamiya NATO black. Getting the interior together. The seats sit at an odd angle but I've decided to go for the carpet. Some pictures I've seen suggest that Indys have quite thick carpet and it provides a nice bit of visual interest. Having another go at the wood rim for the steering wheel and wooden gear knob. Having a go at decals on the dashboard. That's not come out too badly.
    11 points
  15. I managed to finish this RAF1:48 Eurofighter Typhoon today depicting a special scheme worn in 2014 'TP V'. The Revell base kit is pretty good, I added Eduard photo etch set along with resin intakes. Thanks for looking
    10 points
  16. I present two trop Spitfires from 318 City of Gdansk Squadron (Fighter-Reco) Polish Air Force in Italy 1944. Planes have a mix of Mediterranean camouflage. Unit was formed in Palestine and equipped with Hurricane, before the unit was send to Italy, changed Hurricane against Spitfire MK.V. 1. Personally plane of CO of 318 Squadron Wing Commander Leszek Wielichowski was built as one MK.Vc but after an accident on Malta was equipped with wings from LF MK.Vb. Kit from Tamiya, used resin exhaust from Eduard for Spitfire MK.IX, Quickboost propeller and cannon barrels from Master 2.One other Spitfire from this unit. Kit Sword wit Aboukir filter and exhaust from Tamiya kit, cannon barrels from Master, Quickboost propeller.
    10 points
  17. 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.
    9 points
  18. Just to set the scene, the phone rings and it's my youngest calling from Uni: Dad, will you build a model for one of my mates? Me: Depends, what is it? My son: Dunno, but I gave him our address and it's arriving tomorrow. Oh, and can he have it in time for his birthday on 25th March?? Anyhow, that was 3 weeks ago and this is what he sent me: And this is what he's getting back. Hope he likes it!!
    9 points
  19. The Big Central Bit As I have said before on these pages I like to build models by starting with the biggest bits and add smaller and smaller parts until the project is complete. Preferably the biggest bits are at the center of the model allowing the entire process to start at the center and work outwards. The Mirage is a subject completely suited to this approach, so let's get on and build the big central bit. Once again I've chosen to use Jarrah, but since there's going to be plenty of beef left on this big block and no fine pieces taking large amounts of structural stress I don't really need jarrah's extraordinary strength for this job. I probably could have used any good-quality carving wood. This part will need to be split in two so that the central fuselage / cockpit module can slip in between them, so I must work on two pieces held together on the centerline, rather than a single block. Hold two pieces of wood together in a vice and drill some holes for dowelling as shown. In addition I'm trying something new to hold the blocks together. Here I'm drilling the first in a series of three smaller holes within the final fuselage outline. Note that I'm intentionally drilling them on an angle to the block. The holes are the exact right diameter to fit these these little guys that I found at a local craft shop. Look! they fit nicely. Being at different angles I'm hoping they will help hold the faces of the two bits more tightly together. Since they fall 100% within the perimeter of the final part they will still work even after the excess wood is trimmed away. This is the first bandsaw cut on the starboard piece - it will define the profile shape of the main body of the fuselage. After that cut is made I can re-assemble the two pieces using the dowels to ensure consistent alignment and trace around the cut shape so that the two resulting halves will be identical. See! Primary school work really. Another bandsaw cut yields... This! Which is looking promising. As you can see, I now must cut a rebate for the central fuselage / cockpit 'module'. Currently there's a couple of big bits of wood stopping it from fitting where it needs to go. I note that currently this looks just like something Chris Foss, the famous Science Fiction concept artist, would dream up. All I need to do is paint this bright yellow with big Black Zig-Zag stripes and a few red highlights and it'd be done! Anyway - I chose not to make a 'Tribute to Chris Foss' at this point and will continue with the Mirage project instead. To save tedious repetition I have added a red line to the photo below to delineate the rebate cut made on the starboard side to accommodate the central fuselage / cockpit bit. The same cut was made on the Port side. So now it's time to start working on the plan view. Same as before. I'm sure you can guess where this is going. Cut out the pattern and stick it onto the two topside as appropriate... Cut each one with a bandsaw... Quite a deep cut this one - just over 40mm deep - right at the limits of my little hobby bandsaw's capability . I'm thinking of upgrading to a bigger unit, but my little one is still as good as new and I don't have endless shed space or endless money so for now I think I'll persist with this little guy. Here's the result with both cuts complete. Tidy up and make final small adjustments with the bench sander. Now I trim off the various big excess blocks of wood that I no-longer need. Here the big bit aft of the aircraft is getting trimmed off. Leaving this... It all fits together nicely. The big blocky central bits are looking promising at this early stage and that's about it for this post except for one additional comment: Through this process I have learned something important; paper is incredibly strong. The two halves of the central fuselage / cockpit piece are now held together by nothing more than the two pieces of paper, one on the top surface and one on the bottom held on with nothing more than spray-on adhesive. The two halves are held together incredibly well and cannot be pulled apart regardless of how hard I try. Neither can they be slid about relative to one another. This is the reason that I've subsequently added the big white block of plain printer paper that you can see above onto the rear of the main fuselage assembly. There's another bit on the lower fuselage also. This paper - and hence the binding of the two halves - can be removed at will using white spirts. This method of holding two blocks of wood together is so efficient that on some future occasions I believe it will be a viable alternative to dowels. Bandsaw Steve
    9 points
  20. So. Seat selection. Somehow I had a choice of three. Tamiya on the right. Unidentified (Ultracast?) that I found in a cupboard in the middle; and Aires on the left. Only the Aires has the characteristic lozenge shaped depression in the seat base (for the dinghy air bottle I think) - but it (like the Tamiya seat) lacks the hole for the harness in the seat back and the leather padding extends too far down. I saw how Giorgio improved the Tamiya seat on his build: And borrowed the idea: As presented: And after some judicious carving and drilling: Should pass muster when ‘alf covered by the harness. That’s about all the modelling that real life left time for today.
    9 points
  21. I'm going to have to try very, very hard not to overcommit to this GB since so much of my stash qualifies. I've got a lot of ideas for builds and there's no way they're all going to make it, but the one at the top of the list is an Il-76LL of the Gromov Flight Research Institute - specifically this one: This is RA-76529, which has been used to test a few engines - it appeared at Farnborough in (I think) 1994 with a propfan engine intended for the Antonov An-70 in the no.2 engine position. It was wearing a more traditional Aeroflot-style colour scheme back then. This incarnation has the Aviadvigatel PD-14 engine for the Irkut MC-21 airliner in that position. The Zvezda Il-76MD is the base kit. I've had this since it was first released so it's about time I built it. I've always been surprised we don't see more of these built. Here's the box shot: Obviously it needs a PD-14 engine, so I've drawn one up and printed out a test print on my 3D printer: Obviously I've printed two sets here - it's good to have a spare - and I just realised I forgot to print the heat exchanger intake for the rear fuselage, but there's plenty of time for that. I've broken the engine down into 8 components - the fan, separate fan spinner, engine core, nozzle centre body, nacelle in 3 parts, and pylon. Looking forward to building it up. I've also designed decals and had them printed by Dr Decal and Mr Hyde in Sydney, who always seem to do a good job. Looking forward to getting into this. If I can make quick progress there will be another Gromov aircraft to follow - a Tu-154. thanks for looking Julian
    8 points
  22. After pondering the next project for a week or so, waiting for inspiration, it actually came from an unusual source. My wife sent me this photo and said "isn't it about time one of your projects was about what women did in the war?" She's right, as usual, it definitely is about time. Two weeks after D-Day the RAF's Dakota's began to be used as Air Ambulances with nurses of the WAAF flying outbound with the supplies and ammunition and returning with wounded servicemen. These women soon became known as "Flying Nightingales" and it is in their honour this project is purposed. Choosing my subject aircraft was also quite easy because I've actually been inside it. FZ692 was built for the USAAF, delivered to the RAF's 233 Squadron and then joined the RCAF in September 1944 with 437 Squadron, the Huskys. FZ692 while with 233 Squadron. Not FZ692 but it would have been marked very much like this 437 Squadron RCAF Dakota. After the war FZ692 remained with the RCAF and when finally struck off charge in 1973 it continued earning its keep with Environment Canada as an environmental monitoring aircraft. When its professional career finally ended in 2014 (think about that for a moment!), it was donated to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum where it now enjoys an active [airworthy] retirement. I used to live quite close to the museum and visited many times, even as recently as 2019 on a visit back to Canada, and have been on board several times (though sadly, not for a flight, much to my regret). A lack of available display space forces me back to 1/72 scale. Not my favourite scale at all, but I have no room for a 1/48 scale Dakota III and my recent 72nd scale Lancaster wasn't so bad - the newer Airfix kit is is. I'm going to have a couple of challenges in the markings, depending on when in its active service I model it. If I go with the RAF markings as at or just after D-Day I'll need to find some way to add the "KWICHERBITCHEN" and mission markings. If I model it later, at "Market Garden" with 437 Squadron RCAF (which is the current plan) I'll likely have to paint much of the markings but the the "Royal Canadian Air Force" writ large on the fuselage is something I'll need to search for. The RCAF markings also off more weathering opportunities. I'll make a start tomorrow, all are welcome to follow along. Please don't be shy about offering advice as the Dakota is new territory for me. Tips, tricks and accuracy hints are all very welcome. Cheers; Mark.
    8 points
  23. Hi all, here is my recently completed Zvezda 1/72 IS/JS-2. This has probably got to be one of my favourite amour builds of all time, as the kit went together beautifully and the details were nice and crisp. I added a cast iron texture on the turret with a sponge and some filler, but apart from that, the kit was built out of box. I used a brown oil paint and a small amount of dry pigments for the weathering. Hope you enjoy! Questions and feedback welcome. Regards, Riley
    8 points
  24. A rescue project from humble beginnings. For some reason I decided to go with the most difficult finish possible and it bit me. I'm glad it's all over now.
    8 points
  25. This is the Hasbro tread speeder, that I modified to a desert speeder instead. I sawed off the treads, the toy-like missile launcher and it's mechanism, and other parts that I didn't want and replaced the opened areas with plasti-card and some minor scratch built and other small detail parts from 'box of tricks'. The result is what you see. I posed the figure that came along with the Hasbro tread speeder. I posted photos without the figure as well. Thanks for looking.
    8 points
  26. Hello Dears !! I will reassure my friend @Dunny !! Don't you worry Man... Sharmouth are on their way... Repairing the wing.... and engraving it by the way... Then, the fuselage is on its way too.... But the russian will probably be in RFI first... I was about to let the gun bay open, but..... Everything has to be done.... And then I need room for the ballast, so enter the usual .38 special... A bit of fun now !! Rule 1- Read the destructions, that could be fun sometimes...😉 Study the drawings... From reference books... Rule 2- Except when this old kit has travelled a lot and parts are loose in the box.... Rule 3- Let's go but check real painting references... Rule 4- That make sense... Rule 5- Aaaaah that's where you start crying.... Rule 6- Really ??? Rule 7- My fav one... I do not rush at all, it's more a glacial pace.... I must add this !! Rule 8- Have a good old beer !! It help... Then if you start a Fonderie kit.... Have more beer... and Rum, cognac or anything at hand !! Now @LorenSharp it is also applicable to AZ kits, Mach2 kits.... And so on... Stay safe gents !! Happy modelling week end !! Sincerely. CC
    8 points
  27. Hi All, and wishing you a happy Friday despite the loss of Nick the Greek - he will be sadly missed by many, especially those ex-RN chaps who have probably met him and enjoyed his off-the-cuff irreverent humour, regardless of rank or branch. RIP HRH Here's a Malta Spit Mk.IX in the colours of EN530, allegedly flown by C F Gray DSO, DFC and 2 bars. I make no apologies for inaccuracies with the presentation (apart from a missing canopy in a couple of them!) because accuracy isn't my primary concern in modelling subjects! This was a therapy build for me while fighting the Tornado F3 conversion in my signature - this Revell kit is absolutely perfect for it. £20, easy build and beautiful subject, what's not to like? This was built completely out of the box apart from seatbelts fashioned from Tamiya tape. I used White Ensign Colourcoats for the camouflage, MRP RAF Cockpit Green and metalizers for the metallic parts. Sun bleaching and wear effects were done using enamels. Really enjoyed making this kit. Very unlike me to have multiples of 1/32 kits but I made an exception in this case. I think the recent Revell 1/32 WW2 releases are just brilliant to build. May they live forever! All the best, Alan P
    8 points
  28. I haven't tried the HGW rivets yet Crisp, they seem to get a mixed response from what I've read, not too sure how they'll react to all the chipping and weathering to come but there's only one way to find out. I've used Archer's rivets before (mainly on the 1/24th Buccaneer where they worked perfectly and looked good, given the scale, dead easy to apply). I've got several HGW review sample sets to play with before using them here, in anger. I read your method for applying them in the Sea King thread, excellent info and results. Still unsure whether to go down the rivetting tool or wet transfer route, I'll see after some ferocious experimentation. Anyhow, might as well do a bit of modelling to fill the gaps between banter and severe thread drifting. Just to be different I made a start on the cocklepit. Thanks for looking Melchie Started orf with a combination of AK Xtreme Metals AK488 Matte Aluminium as a chipping base, Mission Models MMP-059 U.S. Interior Green and AKs Worn Effects chipping fluid. These aircraft were operated, albeit for only a short time, from Britains gloriously muddy and rain-soaked airfields so it'll be weathered accordingly., Firstly the central nose wheel-bay hump that protruded into the cockpit was dealt with , this was slightly forward of the seat so would have been scuffed easily by the pilots great big hob nailed boots. With the Quinta Studios 3D instruments applied the control stick and yoke were attached and the fabric gator painted tan and weathered using Abeilung502 ABT007 Raw Umber oil paints thinned with their Matt Effect Thinner. To add some life to the cockpit I applied enamel effects and pigments from AMMO MIG's AMIG.7408 Europe Earth set fixed using AK-00048 Pigment Fixer. Following this a few light coats of MRP-126 Super Clear Semimatt clear coat were misted over the parts to seal in all the goodness. Next came the sidewalls decked out with the Quinta 3D parts. These make for a more realistic representation of the real thing than the two dimensional Eduard parts as the various switches, lumps and bumps are all there in glorious 3D. I think I'll be using these sets, where available, for most of my projects from now on. Following some light chipping the parts were washed using Abteilung's ABT Starship Filth and Raw Umber. Again, enamel effects and pigment were applied along with another clear coat. The cockpit floor in place. The fit as with everything else in the kit, was superb. Another light application of the effects/pigments were given to the mating areas to ensure uniformity. The instrument panel, I'd like to have used the Quinta or Brassin items but these were for the P-38F. The G version differed in the dial arrangement on the left hand side of the panel. The only choice was the Eduard pre-painted version which after a wash with Starship Filth and an application of Bondic UV 'glue' for the dial glazing came out quite nicely. I wasn't keen on the moulded rudder pedals with their solid lightening holes so removed and replaced them with the Eduard PE items which were suitably dirtied up. The sections ready for fitting. All parts went together seamlessly, makes a refreshing change from the usual models I tackle. Quinta's 3D seat straps were easy to use and bend to shape, once in place they were tacked into position using a few drops of Gorilla CA gel. The tub being a simple drop-fit into the upper fuselage means that the whole thing can be assembled quickly and easily. Good job Tamiya. I'll leave the radio pack and rack until a bit later. Next up the undercarriage bays.
    8 points
  29. I built this a couple of years ago.The first project of the Aermacchi MB326 trainer aircraft had the seats side by side.As there is only one drawing of the aircraft this is my interpretation of it.It is the Italeri (ex-Esci) 1/48 scale kit combined with the nose of a Trumpeter AT-37. Saluti Giampiero
    7 points
  30. It’s dead, Jim: Yellow fever...
    7 points
  31. No longer the kit-that-shall-not-be-named --- so did mine - extras - Minicraft Ventura kit for either Op Oyster or the raid that spelt the end of Venturas in Ramrods and made Leonard Trent a VC. - one can never have too many Spits. - KP/Italeri F/A-18, mainly for the Spanish markings - witnessed the last ones being delivered back in 1990 at Zaragoza AB. And cleaners and thinners as usual, TET, Sand & grass bits for a Dio later this year. And because some markings are a right pain in bigger scales - think codes and civil registrations, or roundels I've taken the plunge and got a Portrait 3 to make my own mask sets.
    7 points
  32. My first completed build in a number of years and my first posted here. Revell kit, originally the Red Bull OTM 320i, bought second hand, missing the decals and the chassis part started. What I really wanted was a nice, straight forward build to get me back into the swing of modelling but I properly chose the wrong kit for this!! I guess this kit is typical of Revell's offerings from this era and it fought me every step of the way, not helped by the fact that I wanted to make a few mods along the way too. Luckily the inspiration of the subject kept me going.... After a few different ideas (including a convertible conversion that was clearly beyond my ability) I settled on the idea of a track car, the type of thing you'd see at one of the many club/track days at UK circuits. Parts were pulled from various sources to give the look I wanted. The wheels are from Tamiya's S2000, the spoiler from a Honda Integra, the seats from Revell's Ferrari F50, mirrors from a Porsche 996 and the RHD dash/gear lever/handbrake combo came from the spares box but possibly originated from a Tamiya Merc SL? Paint is Porsche Arctic Silver from Zero Paints (which is a reasonable match for BMW's Titanium Silver and I also had plenty of it to use up) with Halfords clear.
    7 points
  33. Well, I am sad to report that @Brandy seems to have let the side down big time. I left an order for two thousand rivets from @general melchett's goblins before I went to bed last night and what did I wake up to? Nothing, zilch, bugger all; not a single tiny disc of styrene in sight! Not even a signed photograph of Lady Melchett in full NBC gear and tiara! Very disappointing! Fortunately, I am made of sterner stuff than the average Earthling, so I girded my loins (Now there's a disgusting word!) and started knocking out more discs of plastic to replicate the rivets. I found that the best way to tackle this potential mojo sapping task is to firstly accept that it is not going to be done in five minutes and then punch out thirty or so rivets. Having, very carefully, set these in place on the model, stop. Stop and walk away from the model for a while, while your concentration levels recover. Go back and repeat the process, when and only when you feel up to it. You need to be very focused when applying the rivets in order to stop them looking ragged. I am stopping short of the seams of the hull halves and will finish off the rivets in these areas when they have been joined and cleaned up. Mimicking real life somewhat, I shall give the rivets a good sanding, the rivets on the real submarine being filed back having been bashed as flat as possible when they were red hot. I will then brush any sanding dust clear and paint on a coat of Tamiya Extra Thin (Quick Setting) to clean everything off. Anyhow, here is what she looks like as of this evening. Beer and curry time methinks. Thanks for looking. Martian 👽
    7 points
  34. to all Tomcat fans, here is my take on the F-14D in 1:72, it's a great kit of an epic fighter aircraft. Decals came from Hasegawa, cockpit from Aires, avionics bays from Black Dog: That was fun! Now, where is this Hasegawa kit whose decals I robbed, might as well build it in the toned down version!
    6 points
  35. Hello everybody, here's my latest off the bench, Italeri's 1/48 Stuka in the markings of 239a Squadriglia of the Regia Aeronautica. A quick summary: KIT: Italeri 1/48 Junkers Ju-87 B2-R2, No. 2769 AIRFRAME: Junkers JU-87 B2, M.M. 7085, Captain Giuseppe Cenni's mount PAINTS: the camouflage was airbrushed using Tamiya (my own mix) for the underside RLM65, again Tamiya XF27 Black Green for RLM70, Lifecolor Dark Green for RLM71. Two different versions of home brewed RLM02 for the interiors, one using Lifecolor paints (more of a grey hue, I used it to paint the cockpit and canopy frames) and one with Tamiya (green hue, used for the firewall, wheel spats interior and engine bearers). Decanted Tamiya Gloss Aluminium, Model Master Metallizers and Molotow Chrome pen for the metallics. Other assorted Lifecolor, Italeri and Tamiya acrylics for detail painting MARKINGS: I cut my own masks with my Silhouette Curio and airbrushed the underwings Fasci and the tail Savoia Cross; the fuselage white band was masked using regular masking tape. The Italian Stukas were all German former machines, so the German insignia were painted over with Italian paint patches (Verde Oliva Scuro for the upper wing crosses and the tail swastikas, Grigio Azzurro Chiaro for the underwing crosses); I airbrushed these over-painted areas using a mix of Oramask home made masks and blue tack masks. All the rest are the kit decals WEATHERING: assorted tempera and oil washes; very thinned Tamiya Flat Black for the exhaust fumes. Oil dotting in some selected areas. Lifecolor Sand Yellow for the wing walkways and wheel and spats dirtying up, applied with a sponge AFTERMARKETS: None. The kit actually sports a PE fret with parts for the IP and cockpit, plus the tail planes mass balances and the wing walkways. SCRATCH BUILDING/IMPROVEMENTS: quite a list, sorry....feel free to skip it and go straight to the pics.... - Pilot's seat, from scratch; the kit part is for later versions (D onward), so I put together a new one vacforming the main part and adding the structure from a paper clip, some Curio-cut stock card and various brass pipes - Gunner's seat structure: I replaced the square plastic chunk molded on the cockpit floor with a scratch built structure form styrene sheet and brass rods. Again, the plastic bits were cut with my Curio - Pilot's aiming window: Italeri didn't think of providing one, so I completely scratch built it from styrene sheet and acetate - A few more improvements in the cockpit area: the gunsight reflector was replaced with acetate. The rudder pedals supplied with the kit are, again, for later versions, so I replaced them with a scratch built version, using styrene sheet and brass sheet. The gunner seat adjustment pedal was also added. - Inside the windshield, I added the handle bars from brass pipe and the rear view mirror, made with brass sheet - Since I intended to build the kit with an exposed engine, I completely scratch built the firewall, discarding the kit part; the firewall itself was cut form 0.3mm styrene with My Curio; all the piping, cabling and valves were scratch built form brass pipes, sprue bits and copper wires. Brass sheet for the lower panel - The engine itself received quite some additions, in terms of pipe and cables (using various steel rods, copper wires and solder) and of structure: the cowlings frames were scratch built from styrene sheet, again cut with my Curio, adding various bits from brass pipes (such as the radiator flaps actuators) and sheet - I scratch built the two hatches right in front of the windshield, using 0.1mm brass sheet - Having the engine completely exposed, I had to scratch build the supercharger intake, using mostly milliput - The engine cowling were modified too, removing the parts that were molded only for kit assembly purposes, notably right aft of the spinner - There were a few shape issues with the kit that I had to fix (as much as possible): the propeller blade shapes (simply by filing/sanding them to the correct shape); the fin and rudder, reshaped adding plastic card strips and sanding them to shape; the tail planes cord, too narrow, again fixed adding plastic card strips. I also re-positioned all the elevators hinges, because they were moulded in an incorrect position. - Other improvements included: the main wheels spats, reshaped with wine bottle cap foil; drilling the exhaust stacks ends; canvas protection for the tail wheel strut, scratch built out of masking tape; main wheel tyres bulges sanded back, because they were oddly shaped; pitot pipe replaced with as syringe needle and brass pipe; rudder cable, scartch built form 0.6mm solder; elevators actuating arms, from brass pipe; antenna wire, using one of my daughter's hair - Finally, the wingtip light were completely missing, and I scratch built them from stretched clear sprue, sanded to shape and polished A huge thank you to everybody who followed the build and provided help, tips, reference documentation (in that regard, I recall @Giorgio N and John @Biggles87 right off the top of my head, but I'm sure I forgot someone else - apologies for that) and companionship On with the pics, now: Cockpit details A few more for the cockpit, from the WIP thread Last pic, here with what was Cenni's last mount (supposedly), the Reggiane RE2002 Ariete - please ignore the base, it's a lame attempt done many years ago, and on top of that, it was built for a 1/32 model All comments welcome Ciao
    6 points
  36. 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
    6 points
  37. Hello to all, Another one in progress build, another one Phantom and a vintage build. The kit was started in September of 2020. The inspiration was the last unmanned mission of the QF-4E version in 2016 https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/5065/the-phantastic-qf-4-phantom-full-scale-target-drone-takes-its-phinal-unmanned-phlight 000 by Nontas B, on Flickr 001 by Nontas B, on Flickr 002 by Nontas B, on Flickr 003 by Nontas B, on Flickr 004 by Nontas B, on Flickr 005 by Nontas B, on Flickr 006 by Nontas B, on Flickr 007 by Nontas B, on Flickr 008 by Nontas B, on Flickr 009 by Nontas B, on Flickr 010 by Nontas B, on Flickr 011 by Nontas B, on Flickr 012 by Nontas B, on Flickr 013 by Nontas B, on Flickr 014 by Nontas B, on Flickr To be continued... Nontas
    6 points
  38. Yesterday when I was going to dentist. And today.
    6 points
  39. Mr Surfacer on Wings duly fixed. Not the most thrilling of updates, but vital.
    6 points
  40. 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
    6 points
  41. Today’s progress so far: The hinges for the dropped flaps and ailerons are now in. The drawing shows fairings in front of the hinges. The only available photo I have shows a barely-discernible ripple on the wing surface. So I have marked the fairings with furnace tape rather than the obliquely-chopped 30 thou rod (also in pic) that I was initially going to use. By the time that’s had my customary umpteen coats of brushed dark earth it should look about right. And the wings are now on: You will note a section of mangled brass tubing with fragments of balsa attached. My handy wing joining mechanism gummed up prematurely on the superglue so drastic measures were taken.⚒️⛏️ A bit lairy at the time, but everything is now on and straight.
    6 points
  42. CAUTION: Ugly photo As soon as I placed my test print in I noticed I still had shape issues in this 'hot area' JB Weld to the rescue In good news Kerry is getting there with the Vari ramps, this has really been a cause for headaches for him...well done mate! Cheers Anthony
    6 points
  43. Thanks Stew, remember to use a nice anti-hemorrhoid cushion, that seat doesn't look too user friendly . The cockpit is about wrapped up now so here it is in situ. One important thing to remember before gluing it into place is to paint the inner sills of the fuselage, easily overlooked and would be a pain to mask later.
    6 points
  44. My Beaufort is here! And quite quickly, too. I ordered on the 8th and it was mailed out on the 10th. It arrived here, this afternoon, on the 16th. That's the best time ever for Hannants to The Backside of Beyond! Chris
    6 points
  45. Not much done today. Took my boy to the driving range. First time I've swung a club in about two years and I'm starting to hurt now. Anyway enough of the life stuff. Some bits were glued together. I didn't use the photo etch Instrument panel as i think there is absolutely no difference between the two. The plastic one is beautifully and finely moulded. After dinner I sprayed some primer. The paint is still wet. Some colour tomorrow? Thanks for looking, Cheers, Alistair
    6 points
  46. During the winter I built the Heller 1/8 scale Citroën 15 Six as part of the Heller Classic GB over here. It was finished and presented there a few months ago, but I've not come round to take any better photos to place here until now. Well, these are better, but only as good as I can manage. It's difficult to get descent photos of this large deep black object with my abilities. The model is largely built out of the box, with a good deal of care applied. My intention was to build a car in restored and very good condition, as it could possibly appear at a classic car meeting or show in modern times, hence almost no weathering, clean tires and a new stainless exhaust system. I have added some small details, like the net under the headliner, and most of the vinyl squids supplied in the kit for plumbing and wiring was changed to better materials. All in all it was a very enjoyable build. The build thread, that ended up quite long, can be found here:
    5 points
  47. Back again. Had a bit of an issue while fitting the canopy (but it was all of my own making! ). Anyway, I've covered the mess with masking and I'm hoping that no-one notices. 😆 Subsequently painted the black sections of the scheme and pre-shaded the model while I was at it: The black sections were masked off and I've applied the first layer of PRU blue to the bottom surfaces. I'll apply the second coat tomorrow. Once dry, I'll mask these off before applying Dark Sea Grey to the top.
    5 points
×
×
  • Create New...