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A late finish from the Vietnam GB and my favourite aircraft . The kit is the superlative Zoukei Mura F-4C. This airframe 64-0829 is probably best known as Robin Olds's Scat XXVII in the SEA scheme and he achieved two MiG 17 kills with it on 20 May 1967. However this is the jet seen in its twilight operational scheme with the Texas ANG before it was repainted in its better known SEA colours again as an exhibit at the National Museum of the US Air Force. Link Aftermarket used: Caracal Decals CD48038 Air National Guard F-4C/D Phantom Part 3 - Really good sheet with some interesting schemes of early Phantoms in their later years of ANG service. The decal quality, thinness and colour density are excellent. Looking forward to using their decals again, the fit especially on the fin flash was fantastic. @CaracalModels ZM F-4C/D Etched Brass - Made by Eduard for ZM's own label. Aires Martin Baker Mk.7 Seats. Eduard Fabric Ejection Seat Belts. HGW RBF Tags. Quinta Ejection Handles (from their phantom sets). Master Pitot tubes Paints are Gunze with levelling thinners, over a black Gaia Notes primer coat. Post lightening and shading done with adding greys and yellows. Alclad 2 for the metallic shades with lots of masking Matt finish is SMS Matt Varnish Original Build Thread: After this enjoyable build, I'm looking forward to see what Tamiya can do with the Phantom in 1:48 scale

Here you go @Shalako as Promised. There is a long story behind this build. Back about 8 years ago my son's boss saw my models and asked if I would build one for his 85 year old father. His father had always loved the P-38 since he had worked on them in WW2 and had a kit that he bought "a while" ago but was no longer able to build. I said "sure I 'd love too" About a week later he showed up at my door step on a Monday evening and hands me a well battered and worn model box. It is a 1/48 Monogram P-38J in the white box. This means it is at best a run from between 1973 and 1975 and a 1966 mould. He also hands me a much newer decal sheet and says he wants the Bong aircraft but with the black triangles on the tail. OK his call. Then he drops the real bomb! "Dad's birthday is on Sunday can you have it done by then?" Since I am a sucker for a vet I said sure no problem. Went in and went straight to work. Opening the box I found all the parts off the sprue mixed with original decal flakes, dead spiders and the earthly remains of once had been instructions (we have all seen this before I am sure). Undaunted I took all the parts, placed them in a mesh bag and threw them into the dish washer (no heat cycle of course). Once clean I laid them all out and to my surprise everything seemed to be accounted for. To my even greater surprise the detail was not bad at all for the age of the kit. It was designed just at the strat of the era where models were transitioning from toys to accurate representations of the subject. Yes it had loads of raised panel lines and rivets but they were more subdued and at least basically in the right places. For nostalgia reasons he wanted built out of box and did not care about accuracy or massive amounts of added detail. Considering the time limit I was also fine with that. In the end I finished it the Friday for him to present it on Sunday. Dad was very, very, very surprised and happy. Unfortunately I have lost the build pictures and all I have are the handful of shots that the guy sent me. Assembly, base painting and panel line/rivet reduction (not removal) were all done in an evening. Five different tone of Bare Metal Foil covered the exterior in a random pattern the next evening. The only extra I added was a tape and wire seatbelt. You can sort of see the top of it sticking up if you hold your tongue just right and squint at a 33.26 degree angle. The cockpit was actually pretty nice for the age. Don't want to open the whole "how much weathering is too much" can of worms but most of the non posed for the press pictures of Marge clearly showed she was a dirty, dirty girl (Marge the airplane not Marge the lady in the picture) so she got a nice scummy wash of black and brown tinted Pledge. Whipped up a basic base with info and a semblance of a South Pacific airfield with some wall plaster, kitty litter and model railroad foliage. Grabbed a random figure in a nice casual pose out of a Revell bomber kit and painted him up. Take a good look at that guys face even in 1/48! If that figure wasn't sculpted based on Major Bong I will eat my hat! Sorry for horrid quality of the pictures but that is all I have. The recipient passed away last year but his son still cherishes the memories this display brings him.

Hi Gents, Please allow me to present my fourth completion of 2021, the very lovely ICM 1/32 Fiat CR.42 Falco in the markings of the aircraft flown by Capitani Edoardo Molinari of the 83a Squadriglia, 18o Gruppo of 56o Stormo CT based at Ursel in Belgium during the latter part of the Battle of Britain: The kit was built more-or-less out of the box, but I did add a Regia Aeronautica pilot figure from the ICM seated Axis pilots set. He was clearly designed to fit the CR.42 kit, but to be honest if I did it again I wouldn’t use him, as while on the one hand he saves the trouble of replicating the weird set-up of the contemporary seat harness used in the Falco, he also blocks out virtually all of the internal detail which really does deserve to be seen. I used the Eduard canopy mask set, some Albion Alloys Aluminium micro-tube for the bracing between the outboard struts, stretched sprue for the control surface actuators and some Infini Lycra thread for the R/T wire – apparently three aircraft in each squadron carried radios, and as a Squadron Leader Edoardo would have had one. The R/T aerial mast was also made from stretched sprue. I found out quite a bit about Regia Aeronautica camouflage of the period and most of what I found out was that I didn’t know half as much I always thought I knew. The undersides were finished in Colourcoats ACLW25 - Weißaluminium and the uppersurface camouflage was a base mix of ACRA01 Giallo Mimentico 1 and ACRA03 Giallo Mimetico 3, with a mottle of ACRA06 Verde Mimetico 2 and ACRA12 Marrone Mimetico 2. The camouflage pattern is loosely copied from that of the Falco that nosed over on Orfordness beach in November 1940 but the ‘jaggies’ on the top wing are too fat and the mottles over the remainder are too dense and fussy. The markings were mostly the transfers provided with the kit, but the kit’s codes are incorrectly portrayed as being yellow, whereas I was informed by three gents whose advice I respect that these should be blue. I’d like to give a big thank you to them for telling me long before I had applied the decals, and a massive thank you to @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies for making me a set of masks that worked really well (apart from the one which I applied on the wonk, which worked perfectly well but, of course, came out wonky) and even mixed me a tin of blue paint with which to paint them. Anyway my mis-steps, uncertainty and idiocy aside, I enjoyed building the kit very much and am pleased with the result as it makes a nice model. The build thread is here: Cheers, Stew

This model is built using the forthcoming Red Roo conversion for A94-922 - the Sabre used for the working up of the Blue Jay missile system. This was put into production as the Firestreak. This is the 1/72 version and uses the HPM/Tasman fuselage and the Red Roo slatted wings. The conversion will actually be a complete kit and will include the fuselage, wings, resin parts for missiles and radome and an Academy Sabre kit to use for wheels, tailplanes. canopy etc.

Hi guys, here is my latest build a H 75 in Dutch markings. THis plane was piloted by sgt P. Van Breen in Java in 1941. The Musthave kit is the Academy kit with add-ons from "Hi tech". It's an old but good model. Hope you'll like it, Cheers, Manu.

Afternoon all. Decided to move away from Tiger 1 I'm on at present to finish the Sturmmörserwagen. I'd say it's 95% complete and maybe some very minor touches needed here and there and maybe some stowage; once figured out. I learnt a lot here on hand painted camo', and some do's and don'ts. The tracks are what came with the the kit, and were very nice to put together with a small pin each side; then add the guide horn. I'm considering getting a set for the Tamiya Tiger and the AFV tiger at present on the bench. Finally the interior. Enjoyebale, but the actual rocket racks were a pain and I think they need re-thinking by RFM for a better build experience that I don't think would effect the accuracy. Still have to weather the racks themselves..... I still have to install the fold down seat against the rear wall, once it turns up. Anyway, that's all folks for today. Any comments warmly welcomed..

This is my BAC Super One-Eleven I built some time ago. In my opinion the ”Negus” livery scheme used in British Airways planes in the 80’s was very elegant with the blue underside of the fuselage, the speed bird above cockpit and the Union Jack colours in the tail. I built the model from an Authentic Airliners 1/144 scale resin kit. The British Airways decals are from 26Decals. The cockpit and cabin window decals from Authentic Airliners.

A trip into the dark side. First a Baade 152 (a what?) see here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baade_152 1/72 scale all resin kit by Aero Modell of Germany. Essentially a sawn-off B-47 with seats. Now a 1/100 scale Tupolev Tu-104 from the ancient East German VEB Plasticart kit, with aftermarket decals from BSModelle in Ukraine Makes a change from the usual stuff!

#13/2021 And my dad has finished the next 262. Hobby Boss kit, painted with AK Real Color RLM81/82/76, EZ line for antenna wires and brake lines. The kit includes decals for both prototypes. I don´t know why but HB printed the "V555" decals too large. Found no suiting replacement decals so my dad used the kit ones. He could have built "V484" too but there is only one half-frontal pic of that aircraft but a bunch of fotos of "V555". My dad prefers to have as many pics as possible of the original subject, so he built "V555". It seems this aircraft never had bomb racks mounted. On the pics you can see a box shaped apparatus? measuring device?, no clue what that thing was and how it exactly looked but my dad scratchbuilt a piece. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235090779-speed-bomber148-messerschmitt-me262a-2au2-with-glass-nose/&tab=comments#comment-4082751 As mentioned, two Me262, V484 and V555, were converted to a bomber with a cabin in the nose for an extra bombardier who lied on his belly, flying the aircraft during the final approach. V555 was converted in January 1945, testflights began in February. Besides the glass nose, also a new autopilot, the "Baldrian" acoustic radar and windshield heating was tested. By the end of March, the aircraft completed 22 flights. On April 24th, the Lechfeld airfield was abandoned and V555 was transferred. Most probably from München-Riem/Germany to Hörsching/Austria and around May 4th to Prague-Ruzyne/Czechoslovakia. A few days later it was flown to Zatec/Czechoslovakia were it was captured by US troops on May 8th. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0024 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0025 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

So, my second build of Finemold's 1/72 Slave 1 is now finished. This kit is actually the Jango Fett version but I've painted it here in the original Boba Fett colours. The two kits are essentialy the same anyway, with just a few detail differences between the two. I made a few modifications to the kit to bring this one closer to Boba's ship, and also incorporated some of the details that have shown up in the ship's appearence in the Mandalorian. This build turned out a little more accurate than my old one, mainly because I paid closer attention to matching more of the subtle but distinctive paint and weathering aspects of the studio model. I can't imagine that I'll be doing one of these again any time soon, unless someone sees fit to re-release the kit, so it's been fun to get the chance to revisit the kit which I originally built back in 2014. The full build can be found here And finally, the old and new ones parked side by side. 2021 on the left, 2014 on the right Thanks for looking Andy

As has been noted, Jim at the 453BG Museum at Old Buckenham in Norfolk was exceptionally kind to our forum-buddies @Procopius and @Cookenbacher during their last (but hopefully not their last) visit to the UK, so I was very pleased to be asked if I would contribute a build for the museum. I chose to do a couple of B-24D's, because I like the Liberator and haven't built one since the Airfix kit many, many years ago. Jim was having a bit of trouble sourcing kits for this (again, as noted elsewhere on this very forum Liberator kits are taking on the mythic qualities of hen's teeth), but I happened across a batch of part-started Hasegawa Libs which I snagged from ebay and Jim has given the green light and will provide markings for the aircraft he would like done - I don't know which particular aircraft he has in mind beyond that one is from the 44th BG and one from the 93rd. I don't usually buy started kits, but the good news is that whoever started them has done a good job of the parts they have assembled, the downside is that most of the parts are off the sprues and I suspect I shall spend as much time rooting through boxes and bags as I will actually sticking stuff together and painting it. Also, the cockpit interiors have been assembled (but mercifully unpainted) which will make painting them a bit of an exercise Here's one: The others are in amongst here: While I was finishing my last build, I ordered in some aftermarket: I don't think Jim has a specific completion date in mind, so if fortune allows I may build a couple of B-24H's afterwards depending also on how much fun the Hasegawa kit is to build Cheers, Stew

Here is another from my unfinished starters. Airfix 1/72nd Sabre as an F,5 of 438 'Wildcat' Squadron RCAF. Decals by Leading Edge, Pavla wheel set and seat, Eduard etched cockpit set pre coloured. AK extreme dark aluminium paint finish and some silver decal for wing panels and cockpit frame which I carefully filed away the too low frame that Airfix done, painted black frame to about the correct depth and overlaid with silver decal stripe of right width and cut to size By the way I moved the position of the wing fence and pylons for the underwing stores too. Since the photos were taken I added the red warnning stripe around the rear fuselage. I kept the Main canopy that Airfix provide which, as well as the too shallow frame is too tapered at the back end> In the box with the kit were various Eduard and Pavla sets ( I bought the kit for a fiver as it had been started but not too far gone andworthy enough to finish) and among was a vacform replacement canopy which is a copy of the kit part with the sharp taper so it wasn't worth using. And so, another Sabre joins my collection of RCAF models. Enjoy.

Hello Folks When I found out that Lidl were going to open a store round the corner from me my first thought was; “ooh, fresh pretzels from the bakery!”, the second was “I wonder whether they will have those Airfix kits for a fiver” in the central aisles. Guess what. They did. Just before Christmas as well. Below are the results of a happy festive season of modelling. They have been hanging from my ceiling in a never-ending winding match since the New Year. I decided to take them down for a dust and took the opportunity to photograph them. Obviously, it is a Spitfire and an Me109, both finished OOB with no aftermarket or concerns other than getting them finished in a prompt manner. Both were hand painted for the same reason. The Spitfire with Hataka Blueline paints, which were marvellous - like painting with melted Lindt chocolate! The Me109 with the Humbrol pots that came in the box, which were not marvellous. Only seeming to be able to exist in two states – lumpy custard or dishwater. However, they turned out alright in the end so I shouldn’t be too harsh on them. I have a little smile every day when I see them, hope you think they are fun too. Just a Lidl bit of fun by Erik Welch, on Flickr Just a Lidl bit of fun by Erik Welch, on Flickr Just a Lidl bit of fun by Erik Welch, on Flickr Just a Lidl bit of fun by Erik Welch, on Flickr Just a Lidl bit of fun by Erik Welch, on Flickr Just a Lidl bit of fun by Erik Welch, on Flickr In their natural habitat! 2021-05-11_07-55-14 by Erik Welch, on Flickr Cheers.

Last Friday, I became a reluctant adoptive father to yet another Burmese cat, another wee tom kitten because it had been deemed that our first one needed company. From the reaction in the first few days, he was not convinced of that, Marty is now just on 18 months old & the new one Jonesy(Ripley's cat) just on 3 months old, cat wars were a thing in our household. I was at work for the first few days but even the evenings were fairly torrid. On Monday, my first day off, I was left alone with them & was completely traumatised by the time the day was done. The next couple of days saw much more acceptance from Marty & then yesterday a breakthrough. Marty was asleep on my sons bed when Jonesy joined him. They spent several hours like this, the aspect of the photo makes Jonesy, the near one look bigger than he is, their heads give a better idea of relative size. Last night as did my thing on Britmodeller I was joined at the computer by Jonesy who proceeded to swarm up my arm & perch across my shoulders. Comfortable for him maybe, me, not so much. Edited to add this photo to show the difference a day makes, 24 little hours in fact, working things out but Marty still not quite reconciled by the look of his face. Steve.

Hi all This is my 3rd model for this year This time I choosed the classical Mitsubishi A6M Zero. I build this model for a friend who has choose the A6M2 early model The kit is the Hasegawa kit. No major problem on this kit. The sole advice is to glue the upper wing on the fuselage before glue the lower wing. Some othe photos in the link bellow Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero

This is the Hasegawa 1/48 scale kit with the modified nose of a Zvezda Lavochkin La-5.This is not a what if.A Russian captured Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-4 was equipped with a Shvetsov ASh-82 engine. Saluti Giampiero

All complete and I've even managed a photo shoot with my other Sea Vixens too. This is the latest addition to my HMS HERMES Air Group, a Sea Vixen FAW.2 of 893 Sqn in the early 1970s. This is the Xtrakit/MPM model, built almost entirely from the box, but with a selection of various decals, some FROG Red Top missiles and a replacement ejector sea for the pilot. I know this kit has received lots of criticism and that was one of the reasons it has sat in my stash unloved since 2008, but now that it is finished the only thing that really still grates is the length of the tail booms (and if I had known, it would have been an easy fix to lop off a few mm from them). There are other disappointing detail issues, like the nose shape and Observer's window, but I can live with them and with a little care, the kit is certainly not unbuildable. ... and now to compare: with the superb 1/48th Airfix kit; with a FROG kit converted to an FAW.1 using Magna resin (with nose cosmetically extended a few mm) and Model Art decals; with an original FROG kit bought in 1976 when they first appeared (whose wheels disappeared way back in the 1970s!); with a Eastern European FROG repop kit converted to a DH110 Pirate; and finally, all the 1/72 kits together: FredT

Thanks for watch !

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This has been a Quick build of Tamiya's FAU-1A. I used several Decal sources for the makings and the only PE was the seat belts. NZ 5277 FAU-1A shipped from USA on the 19 April 1944 aboard “USS Breton”. Assembled in Espiritu Santo and the BOC Unit 60 on the 5th of May 1944. Coded “77”. To 14 Squadron on the 8th of August 1944. Badly damaged in a taxying accident with NZ 5275 at Kukum Field on 17th August 1944. Repaired and returned to service to 16 Squadron on 21st December 1944. Was with 21 Squadron by April 1945 and damaged on the 24 July 1945, but was repaired and returned to service by September. Finally ferried to New Zealand in October 1945.

Hi all, I am calling this done, not quite got it across the line for the May 4th Star Wars day, mainly due to shipping delays getting the last of my 1/144 Stormtroopers from Shapeways. I have 76 Stormtroopers in total in this hanger bay, 40 of them together with Darth Vader came last Saturday morning, thanks to Keith at Cozmic Scale models. The other 36 had a different pose and Shapeways had those. Anyway I got them on Tuesday afternoon. Darth Vader seems to have almost disappeared amongst the black flooring and lighting, but I have tried to show him best I can. I have continued the tradition of ILM by placing characters from other movies that they had worked on into the build. In the mother ship from Close Encounters they added an R2D2 on the edge of the ship just for fun. So, can you spot the Star Wars character from a later movie? I have placed it in the unlit photos to make it easier. I intend to display both this hanger bay and my recently completed Imperial Shuttle Bay together in a bookcase unit. Thanks for all the great comments and may the Force be with you always! Mystery Character Update Hi all, first of all thank you so much for all the wonderful comments on this build, it's very much appreciated. Just goes to show what you can do with a few old kits and a bit of imagination. Congrats to those of you that found BB8, yes it was staring at you in the face all the time! BB8 was in the Bandai Force Awakens Millennium Falcon kit and it sparked my memory for what ILM had done with the Close Encounters mothership. Let's see if I can hide another character in the next build. Bye for now, and may the Force be with you!

Sometimes you just have to smile at what's unfolding in front of you. The planets must be in alignment or something and things slot into place without the usual hassles and setbacks. Take this morning... I've cut up a couple of lengths of ABS plastic I had in my toolbox and slotted them into each other... Sprayed them white while there was a bit of sunshine outside... Then filled them with modelling clay, followed by a bit of sand and ballast. Then a bit of railway lichen and some garden herbs got planted in the pots... Stopping only to wipe a soppy smile from my face, I hotfooted it down to the the Showroom and tried them out. Adding a low wall to the front of the building starts to bring the showroom into being. I first thought to make the wall a planter bed, but trying out a strip of black card on it makes me think a solid top of some sort is the way to go. The floor is starting to fill up a bit faster than I thought. There's a salesmans desk or two, customer seating and a staircase to the mezzanine to add yet, along with an engine on a stand and various posters and what nots. At least, that's what I think it needs. Maybe four cars will be about right. I reckoned on getting at least a half dozen cars in there, but it looks like that will be too many. It's all unfolding nicely though, so I'll let it sort itself out as it progresses. More later.

Some more progress on the spitfire tonght . 43 parts later and the wing is assembled . Took a few hours but 47 parts latet and the Rools Royce engine is built . The detail on the engine is very detailed. Also assemled the firewall and engine mount. Stilla few more things left and time for primer. Going to build this model with the engine displayed with panels left off Brian

Hi, so I started a new industry again and this time I finished the Saturn V rocket. It's not exactly according to the model, but rather my own version more pleasing to the eye. The model is very old, which corresponds to the quality of the kit, but somehow I struggled with it. The size of the model is 115cm. It's a little bigger than I expected, the originally intended for the car collection :D. In the end, it turned out to be a nice decoration and a lamp to illuminate the living room, especially at night, it's nice 🙂 Maybe it will be liked.

Matchbox Hunting Provost 1/72 ( #PK-30) According to Scalemates a 1986 reboxing of a 1976 mould After a stressful week I needed a fast easy build and in the dark dank depths of the man cave I found this. Typical Matchbox of the time. 3 colour plastic, few parts, little detail and basic instructions. Decals give 2 options, one for the Omani AF and the one I chose from the Central Flying School. Paints are Humbrol Metal Cote Dull Aluminium #27001 covered with AquaGloss and Hu.193 for the leading edge Day Glo strip. Weathering was by differential applications of varnish and Tamiya weathering powders. Points of Interest. 1. Few panel lines but those that exist are raised and not the trenches Matchbox are (in)famous for. Fit was good tho quite a lot of sanding was needed at the nose. The cooling vents at the sides had their walls thinned to give a more scale appearance. 2. I couldn’t leave the bare cockpit so scratchbuilt an instrument panel, joy sticks, trim wheels and levers and fitted some spare Eduard harnesses over a scratchbuilt frame. I discovered too late the bench seat the kit provides is incorrect and there should be 2 separate seats. I added a whip aerial as well. I also thought there was a yellow roll bar in the cockpit but contemporary photos didn’t show it so I left it out. 3. The canopy is heavily framed so the interior is not easy to see but hand painting the frame was a lot easier. 4. Looking at contemporary photos other aerials and intakes are not present when the aircraft depicted by the kit decals was flying. 5. The wheels are in an uncompressed state as tho it were in flight. I didn’t change them as I decided the necessary mods were too hard to achieve convincingly. I should also have shortened their axles for a better fit. 6. Decals are from the kit and went on surprisingly well considering their age. Registration problems meant however I had to replace the fuselage side roundels with spares. I would have replaced the underwing roundels for the same reason but had no more of the right size and style. They took decal solvents with no problems. 7. There’s little AM but I understand Aircraft Design will be imminently releasing a decal sheet with a Provost on it. There are no masks either. The kit took just over 3 weeks from start to finish with no nasty surprises. (and within a week the new decal sheet was announced. Doh!)

Here are some pictures of the Breda Ba65 monoposto.It is the Special Hobby 1/48 scale kit in the markings of the later Italian ace Adriano Visconti from 159^squadriglia,50°stormo assalto based at Tobruk 2,Africa settentrionale in 1940. Saluti Giampiero

Hello, Here's my just finished 1/48 Kinetic F/A-18C Hornet, done as a VFA-81 jet from the 1991 Gulf War. I was originally going to build this for the DS GB here on BM, but I never really took in progress pics of it. Oh well... The kit is not the easiest to work with, especially around the nose and intakes, but I've learned from it, so a future build might be easier to put together. Other things used were a Walleye and data link pod from Astra Resin, a pilot figure from PJ Productions, and a laser spot tracker pod from the Hobbyboss Hornet kit. Painted with Mr Color mostly, and a VMS flat coat, which I really like. And the real one during ODS: Thanks for looking, I hope you like it. Pete

Thanks Johnny and welcome! Don't tempt me Craig… although I do have the 'Battle of Britain' video file and some editing software… Bit young for the 'These Fokkers were Mescherschmits' joke? I do, I do. Camo done. Stuka splinter required some tricky masking: …but all went well in the and with a couple of coats of thinned paint, brushed on: Now all I need to do is touch up their bottoms (fnaar!) What's that? Are the fighters mottled? Of course, only to be expected. And no, you can't have a close up…

Hi @Snafu35 Eric, Apologies, I've have only just noticed your reply, that is one beautiful build and a great inspiration to keep me on track. It must of been hard to let go of it, I get attached to a build when I've put so much into it! Hope to see some more stunners if this is what you produced 20 years ago Thanks for sharing, and no apologies required whatsoever. Thanks SD, I took a break on it due to doing the Mustang but now back on it and it's ready for paint. When I started the build, it was the only kit in town with no news of a new kit on the horizon. Now, we have a new kit in this scheme! This is where we're upto... Firstly, the rear cockpit was painted before gluing the canopy on And now it's masked up ready for the camo to go down

As a foreign visitor to Britmodeller with English as my tertiary language, I just did a copy and paste of the contents in an Email originating from England. I still think the meaning is clear; the 1:72 Beaufort kit is close to seling out and Airfix is doing another production run. It is a really nice kit of an often overlooked WW2 aircraft and deserve to be a bestseller - enabling the team in Margate to develop new releases.

Hi all, Quite an enjoyable build for the 453rd Bombardment Group Museum based at Old Buckenham that has been organised by our very own @CedB along with a few other culprits who are building the collection. A famous bird that unfortunately met its demise in an accident, but fortunately without taking the life of it's driver Don Gentile who was soon to be returning to the US albeit perhaps with a little embarrassment as the accident happened in front of the press. @Tcoat is doing the same aircraft for the museum display in it's fateful state after the accident, you can see the build below 453rd Museum build No.1.5 - Tamiya 1/48 P-51B -BROKEN Shangri-La - Work in Progress - Aircraft - Britmodeller.com The build for this one is here.. 453rd Museum build No.1 - Tamiya 1/48 P-51B - Shangri-La - Work in Progress - Aircraft - Britmodeller.com Mainly out of the box except for the Eduard etch set and a touch of scratch building on the canopy frames painted in Tamiya XF-62 olive drab and MRP neutral grey. The weathering is mainly oils, I've tried to replicate the real aircraft as much as my skills allow. Thanks for looking Neil

Or maybe not, who knows kemosabe? Just to prove (to my self mostly) that although inertia sets in nothing really stops at The Streetly Carriage Works I have been working up these damnable wheels and fettling the undercarriage. I present for your scorn or amusement an essay in front axle-ery where the big bone connects to the thinner bone all supported with little actual glue intervention just a couple of dabs of Gator's Thick for presentation purposes. I really need to return to smelly glue for these, if it stays dry this arvo I may be able to slip outside to the garden table with a tube of Humbrol Polystyrene Adhesive. Oh happy day if it happens. Pop on the only available front wheel for comparison And it begins to look viable. As you can see I have actually finished (nearly) the rear wheels and tried a dry fit on the rear axle. And for giggles I present the missing wheel, possibly get that trimmed and be-rimmed this afternoon* * I feel I must advise all commentators to abstain from excessive ribaldry from herein, in case we get a visit, from THE MAN. Expect more work to be available soon, I bid thee farewell...

And so, on to weathering. FZ692 was delivered to the RAF in February 1944 and by June would have seen some wear and tear. The decals from the Italeri kit kindly sent to me include the mission markings as on the aircraft in this photo; These markings show two airborne drops, five air ambulance flights and six sundry cargo trips. In reference to the Operations Records of 233 Squadron, this places the time of this photo in late July. It couldn't have been much later than that as from August onwards the upper D-Day stripes would (should) have been covered. The photo itself doesn't give too many clues as to the state of weathering but contemporary photos of Dakotas and C-47's show an accumulation of grime and paint wear and tear but not much in the way paint chipping or bleaching. Interestingly, the rudder appears quite faded (which I replicated during painting) and there's something going on with the nose (which I didn't). The paint work around the doors looks chipped but mine will be posed open so not visible one displayed. I assumed therefore that the airframe would show some dirt and grime from general use, that there'd be some oil and fluid staining around the engines and access panels, particularly on the underside, and exhaust staining would be restrained but in-ground so more of a discolouration to the paint than soot deposits such as on the Lancaster, for example. I notice (as I write) that the exhaust was fitted with a flame suppressor, which I also didn't add... Anyway, all that to say there's no special weathering required on this one, more just the typical stains and grime. I also note that I'm much more comfortable in 1/48 scale weathering than 1/72 scale - I feel that in the smaller scale one must be much more restrained and suggest rather than replicate. As is my normal routine, I applied an initial flat coat and then applied some crushed chalk first. I wasn't happy at all with how that was going so I removed it and went to work with the airbrush instead and was much more satisfied with the result. I am finding I do more and more weathering with the airbrush alone. I did however use a dark wash to sort of dirty up the white in the D-Day stripes, simply painting it on and then removing it - there's no way to get white back to pristine once a dark wash has been slathered over it and it looks quite convincing when done. This had the added benefit of also fading out the black to a more convincing used look. With the weathering complete, I finished up with my own mix of Future, flat clear coat and Windex which to my eye gives a realistic painted-metal-like smoothness to the surface finish without being too shiny nor flat. Hard to explain, but even dead flat painted metal is very smooth, which I am trying to replicate. Here's how it turned out; Next is the same process to the uppers. There will be a little more wear and tear to the foot-trafficked areas around the fuel fillers, for example, but otherwise much the same process. Not long to go on this one. Cheers; Mark.

Intermediate Blue is on - but no photos until I'm finished! By the way, you'd think I would have learned by now. I picked up a set of resin exhausts for this build - from Aires, You know, the company that produced the wheel wells and intakes that I used only after laborious grinding and sanding. Guess what? The exhaust tubes are bigger in diameter than the holes in the back end of the fuselage, the engine face is too big to fit into the tube, the flame holder is too small to fit over the engine face, and the exhaust petals also look to be too big to fit into the tubes. None of this looks to be insurmountable, but... ...you just gotta love it. Keep smiling and say to yourself "the detail is worth it, the detail is worth it." Cheers, Bill PS. I wonder if anyone at Aires has ever used an Aires product?

Skirts are on. Time to dry.

Good day, everybody! I present you model of famous modern aircraft of Turkish manufactory. Despite the very low characteristics, it is safe to say that this device made it necessary to completely change the tactics of modern wars.

Hi There, I managed some time tonight and got some transfers on. Thanks for looking, Cheers, Alistair

Well I'm probably not going to win anything with card vs resin lol so I'll just stick this here. Blackpool Open Boat Tram 600, "Little Willy" in 1/76. I intend to scratchbuild in plastic and ended up developing it as a full card model first. Everything from the bogies to the trolley pole is card....three pieces of 160gsm A4 all to my own design. Since the plastic kit and conversion kits are long gone I want an open boat even more. Now I'm half way there!

I have now started to build the internals of the turret, first off was the gun assembly, its doesn't look like it but quite a lot of parts went to make this, nice detail though... Then I started to make up the rack for the shells and the shells themselves, the rack was quite a delicate bit of construction but everything fitted quite well... I have now started the construction of the base of the turret, just positioned the shells for now to show how it will look, quite a few more bits and pieces still to construct and add to this. Next stage is to start painting these bits and then slowly start to build and paint everything up. Will be back when I have got some paint and a bit of detail added to these... thanks for looking in Ed

Thanks Giorgio Tim I agree, of course. The Eduard kits are far superior - I'm looking forward to doing the Spits Tops:

Thanks Craig Yes it must have been getting pretty rank under that plastic cover Thanks very much Ced Thanks Richie, it's quite noticeable to me, but it was a learning experience Thanks very much Dennis, it's not quite how I imagined it would look when I started, but as a model I'm pleased with how it turned out Thanks very much Mark, I'm glad you like it Thanks very much James Well after spraying the satin coat, the end rushed to meet me, before I knew it the last little jobs had been done. Wee Eduardo's dust-cover was removed and the leather cockpit edging retouched where a little overspray had got in. The canopy masking was removed, and the navigation lights, tinted with Tamiya Clear Red and Green, were fitted to the wings. The bracing between the outboard struts was pretty substantial on the real aircraft, more like rods than wires; I made mine from Albion Alloys 0.4mm Aluminium tubing, which had the additional benefit of not needing paint: The wing and rudder actuators were made from stretched sprue, and the R/T wire from Infini Lycra Thread: ... and here we are: The weather looks set to be pretty dreich today, I'll take the 'Glamour Shots' for RFI if I get some decent light later on, or tomorrow. I'll add the link here when I'm done. Thanks to you all for the advice, encouragment and flattery It's been a hoot. The ICM Gladiator, Sea Gladiator and the CR.42 have all been really enjoyable kits to build and I recommend them to you if you wanted to get your feet wet with a larger-scale biplane Oh, and Wee Eduardo says: "Salve, ragazzi!" EDIT: RFI pictures are here Cheers, Stew

evening chaps, hope you are having a great weekend at the bench thanks again for all your comments ..bit more Fury mayhem... ..attached the lower wings - I replaced the carbon rod spars (two of which had snapped off anyway as I had to partially cut them after realising there was dihedral..). Basically I drilled out the first inch or so and put brass spars through the tubes in the fuselage (already part of the cockpit frame) and slid the wings on - I also perforated the mating face on the wing itself for better adhesion as all the time I had been concerned with the strength of those carbon spars after i compromised them by cutting them the whole lot was jigged up and JB Weld metal used & left overnight - they are good and strong now.. ..with this done the radiator bath was added too so I can do the final skin parts around it.. ..also some last minute detail was added to the radiator - I couldn't find the pics as I don't have these refs of an oil cooler inside Derek so went without.. ..the wing gaps will be taken care of when I skin this bit.. ..next up was the prop - I had a crumpled drawing to work from.. ..this was cut and cropped into sections so I could align a datum line and get it as near as straight as possible and a new drawing made in scale.. ..with that and a bit of basswood left over from the fuselage plug I had what I needed.. ..I had originally planned to try 3D modelling, but it's way out of my wheelhouse, so I thought I would just try it.. ..stuck the drawings to the wood and used my new bandsaw to cut the outlines in both axis I had..side first as it leaves a flat top for the plan to go down.. ..I tried really hard to get the angled hub right, but in the end thought it better to turn a hub and vacform a skin having checked K2902's prop was painted.. ..got rid of some of the wood underneath to make room and made it fit - filling the void with CA.. ..after quite a bit of refining I was happy with it - I also turned the hub from perspex acrylic.. ..I would have liked to have stained the prop after so much work, but not to be... ..I tested painting just the wood as I wanted to preserve the texture, but the result was overall better after a prime with Mr surfacer and then paint.. ..probably can't see it in this dry fit, but the grain can just be seen and it has a lovely texture.. ..it looks overscale here, but I think it's just because it's missing the top wing so looks out of proportion - it is as per the drawings and other plans & I think looks fine.. ..just that radiator and under wing skinning left here then its onto the upper wing where it will get dull for a bit TTFN Peter

Hi All, I'm really happy to be joining my first group build for many years. I hearby present the 1/72 BAe EAP from Pegasus. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment and this kit makes most other short run kits look like those from Tamiya. I bought the kit from the Huddersfield show some years ago for a mere £7. Looking at it now that I've unpacked the parts from the bag, I think I should have been paid £7 to accept it. So, without further ado, some photos:- The kit... The sprues and other bits and pieces... The decals. Not exactly Cartograph... And finally, the comprehensive instructions... Looking forward to the starting gun on Saturday. Cheers, Tom

Hi, One of the most important airplane of twenties and early thirties of XX Century was Fokker CV. It was a true workhorse comparable with Potez XXV, Fairey III family, Breguet XIX or Hawker Hart family... Italy was producing Fokker CVE under name IMAM/Romeo Ro-1. They almost did not survived in Regia Aeronautica till the outbreak of WW2, however took important part in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War (SIAW) which started in 1935. The Czech small short run company LF Models made a series of kits of Fokker CVD and CVE (with diffrent engines, undercarriages, decals etc). It is a remake of a wider in some aspects range of resin kits by they sister company Kora. Interesting modification of Ro -1 compared to original CVE was additional third seat behind the gunner position. It was done in almost all colonial used Ro-1s. The model presents machine from SIAW, namely from Squadriglia Somala in 1936, based on that photo: Here she is: The model was build within AFRICA GB, the WIP thread is here (joined with thread on Fiat CR 20 bis): I have post this thread by mistake initially in Work in Progress, instead of Ready For inspections, so if anyone see it twice I am very sorry about this... Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek P.S. this is mine No 8/2021

I thought I'd already posted this here but apparently no. Well never too late I guess. Story behind this started last autumn when I was heating up my sauna and rolled a log of birchwood in my hands and wondered what this could be turned into. I had done some cutlery when I was young so this wasn't exactly new thing but I wanted to try it out. 15 minutes later I found myself with axe in my hand trying to make the log little bit easier to work with. After axe I used a sanding machine to make it relatively close to final shape. After that I used some P400 grit sanding paper and sanded the final shape. Oars were made from splinters left after the axe so that it'd be homogenous with the main "hull". Hull was treated with mahogany colour oil and covered with about a dozen layers of varnish. Oars are just varnished over. Everything else on top is evergreen plastics, steel wires etc. scratch built. This was the beginning before the axe. Rough shaping before final sanding with hand. And the shape after about 30 minutes of sand machining. Final result. Took maybe 10 hours within 2 weeks. Most of the time was just waiting the varnish layers to dry.

Available to pre-order - ref. A03092 - PZL Lim-5 "Fresco" Source: https://uk.airfix.com/products/lim-5-a03092 V.P.

Just came across this (sorry, I'll try to pay more attention in future). Highly entertaining as ever Ced, and interesting to see the current state of the 1/144 art (though I fear that my eyesight is no longer up to the task) but I do have one small note of criticism if I may? I don't think you're taking full advantage of the mobile twirler and noise maker. As well as all the stirring tunes, why not include lengthy samples of Merlins and DB601s at full chat, interspersed with cries of "Achtung Spitfire!", "Yellow-nosed bar-stewards 6 o'clock high!", and the ever popular "EEEIIII-OOOOWWWWW! DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA!!!!!!!"? It may not do much or the kid's (or his parents') sleep pattern but you will be able to rest secure in the knowledge that Otto in being indoctrinated in the right stuff from the earliest possible age. Imagine, one day you're dawdling the sprog on your knee and he looks up at you and in a clear piping childish treble enquires "What's a yellow-nosed bar-steward grandpapa Ced?" You would be so proud! Craig.

At the Shizuoka Hobby Show 2021 Source: https://hobby.dengeki.com/event/1253029/ - ref. FP43S - McDD F-4J Phantom II - US NAVY - VF-114 "Aardvark" - release August 2021 - ref. FP47S - McDD F-4D Phantom II - USAF - 4th TFW "First MiG Ace" - release September 2021 - ref. FP46S - McDD F-4C Phantom II - Air National Guard - 171st FIS - release August 2021 - ref. 72843 - McDD F-4J Phantom II - US Marines - VMFAT-101 "Marlins" - release September 2021 V.P.

Thanks Chris. I'm not normally known for my patience but I really wanted to get this as accurate as possible.👍 Cheers Keith! Thanks Terry - I agree! 😀 If you're going to do a job, you might as well do it to the best of your ability. The final piece went on and was trimmed to size: Not perfect, but I'm unlikely to do it any better if I tried again! The fin from another angle: Those pens were great for touching up any minor tears/gaps in the design! I then masked the windscreen and anti-glare panel before giving the whole fuselage a coat of gloss varnish to seal it: I now have this pile of parts awaiting final assembly: I've already knocked one pylon off 🙄, so will fix this first before starting to put it all together... The end is nigh!

I am calling this one done, the clear parts did not when unmasked did not turn out the best. A good 3 footer I'd say. Also noted a fair bit of decal silvering. More pictures in the gallery