Leaderboard

Hi, Messerschmitt Bf 109 was one of the main fighters of the Swiss Air Force during World War 2 (the Swiss used the Me 109 designation instead of Bf 109). There were 115 of these fine plane in Swiss service, most of them purchased directly from Germany, some assembled on-site from spare parts. But four of them chose a more adventurous way to get to Switzerland 🙂. Two Fs and two Gs were also acquired from Germany but through an internment rather than a purchase. One of them was a Bf 109F-4/Z (WNr 7605, PC+JY, "blaue 10"), a machine operated by Feldwebel Martin Villing. On 25.07.1942 he was flying his Bf 109 from Paris to Munich accompanied by another 109F (piloted by Heinz Scharf). Due to poor weather conditions both pilots lost their way and eventually mistakenly landed in Switzerland, at the Bern-Belpmoos airfield. The pilots were interned and their planes seized by the Swiss authorities. Although there were almost a hundred of Bf 109s already in Swiss service, those were entirely Dora and Emil versions, somehow different machines than the two new Friedrich birds. This is why the Swiss never assigned them to combat units but rather used as testing platforms instead. Bearing numbers J-715 and J-716 both planes remained in the Swiss service until 1948. There is no exact data how the plane was repainted after the internment. It’s also quite likely that its painting scheme was changing during the service (at some point it probably received the neutrality stripes that were introduced generally in Swiss Air Force in 1944). So I decided to follow the general contemporary pattern used in Emils, with no side numbers, but I retained the yellow colour of the undersides of the cowling. I have no proof that it looked that way but afaik there is also no proof otherwise. Kind of licentia poetica. The model was built mostly out of the box. I replaced the pitot tube with a metal rod and the exhaust stacks with respective Eduard resin parts. The kit is well engineered and manufactured so the building process was almost effortless. I highly recommend it (the kit, not the process 🙂). Please enjoy and comment at will! Marcin

Hi All, Just completed this for the Boomer GB so thought I'd share in the RFI. Thread is here for anyone interested Cheers Nigel

Hi everyone, Got a soft spot for P-40`s, especially from the 49th FG, for some reason. So thought I`d bother you with some photo`s of my latest addition to my Pacific collection My latest attempt at Hasegawa`s 1/48 P-40N kit, but from the Hobby2000 boxing Finished to represent an aircraft of the 49th FG, based at Gusap, New Guinea Built OOB as usual, with obligatory seat belts and brake pipes added Also drilled out the filter cover ahead of the exhausts and added antenna and whip aerials evident on later P-40`s Was originally going to do it as `Geronimo` in sand camo` but when I found the Keystone Kathlene markings new I had to do them Deviated slightly from the decals in the kit as couldn`t find any pictures of the stars and bars with blue surrounds and painted the spinner to represent how it looked in what photo`s I did find. The kit decals I used went on great and the alternate stars and bars came from an Eduard Airacobra set Hope you enjoy the pic`s, thanks for looking Have a good Easter Cheers Russ

As a rule I stay away from bi-planes, too many wings, and then there is the rigging!😲 However, I have always liked the look of the 0/400 and I was challenged to build the kit by my son! The kit was a struggle, the fuselage being made up from four panels was a bit of a challenge, and the whole structure has an unwanted twist in it which I couldn't correct. The other thing I did was to sand off the overdone rib detail on the wings & tail and simulate the rib tape with thin strips of masking tape secured in place with liquid poly. I also added an etched scarf ring for the front gun with the Mini World item, which includes a beautifully cast Lewis gun, and I used two more after market Lewis guns from Gaspatch. The model was painted with Tamiya acrylics. Thanks for looking Angelo.

I've not been idle for the last 6 months or so: this has been on the bench, and now it's finished. Here are a few photos until I get out and do some "beauty shots". The model is Italeri's 1/32 GR4 in one of the box schemes, the Tornado retirement scheme for IX(B) Sqn. This squadron was the first RAF operational unit to be equipped with the Tornado GR1. IX Sqn flew several types in WWI, and was briefly disbanded in 1919. It reformed as a bomber unit in 1924 - hence the "(B)" in the title - and starting with the Vimy, flew Virginias, Heyfords, Wellingtons, Lancasters, Lincolns, Canberras and Vulcans, before reforming on the Tornado. Italeri's GR4 builds up quite well: it needs a little work to make it fit, but in the end it is a solid construction. I did use rather a lot of aftermarket, to whit: Eduard canopy masks; Bandit Resin Factory empty Sidewinder rails; HGW safety ("RBF") flags; Jet Passion 1500 litre tanks, exterior detail set (partly not used as not needed imo) and replacement back seat monitors (scrapped and reverted to kit parts for reasons I won't bore you with); Master pitot tube; Scale Model Developments (SMD) seats; Tradewind67 (eBay trader name) intake and Jet pipe covers, other covers, and back seat grab handles); and home-cut masks for the roundels and serials. And until I get what I call the "proper camera" out, here are a few quick post-finish bench shots. Comments and feedback welcome, thanks for looking.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb Trop EP341, 126 Squadron, Lt Ripley Jones, Malta 17th October 1942. Subject; Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb Trop, x2 Hispano Suiza 20mm cannons and x4. 303 Browning machine guns and overpainted squadron codes. This was a an aircraft flown by Lt. Ripley Jones, which fatally collided with a II.KG77 Ju-88 A-4 on 17th October 1942. Manufacturer; Italeri Scale; 1/72 Kit number; 001 Aftermarket; Kitsworld serial codes. Paint; Upper, AK Real Colour RAF Extra Dark Sea Grey and XF8 Flat Blue mix over RAF Dark Earth and RAF Middle Stone. Lower, AM Sky Blue mix using XF23, XF2 and XF19. Interior Hataka C025 RAF Grey Green. Various Tamiya X and XF and Posca pens for detailing. Primer; Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Grey. Varnish; AK Gauzy Shine Agent and Tamiya X35 Semi-Gloss. Weathering; Flory Dark Dirt and Grime wash, Abteilung oils and Tamiya weathering palettes. Ammo North Africa pigment. Extras; Prym Knitting Elastic for the antenna wires.

This is my first final reveal on here so please be kind. I am aware that there is a lot of flaws and imperfections in my build but for me I was really chuffed with the progress I have made over the last couple of years with lots of new things to learn and especially airbrushing not so long ago. so here it is for your thoughts. Its a great little kit. expensive but lots of detail that i did my best with. Couple of fit issues I struggled with namely the canopy but that is probably more me than the kit.

Two built Cockpits , The F16 took a while where as the F-104 was a couple of hours a night over two week period , I added very small LED's and 9v battery box to both for effect . The F16 was my third build out of after not doing any models for over 40 years , bought a portable airbrush and tools , watched many videos on modeling . Cheers Ian

Dear Friends This is the Revell Ju 88A-1 which has the short squared off wings compared to the A-4. The best part of the Revell kit is the beautiful cockpit. I felt some of the fuselage panel lines where a tad deep so sanded the whole fuselage right down, particularly near the cockpit. Here I added the Eduard PE cockpit and Eduard MG-15 machine guns. The decals are from the Xtrakit BoB set. This aircraft went out to bomb Woodley airfield in October 1940 near Reading under clouds, couldn't find it so went to alternate target of Hatfield and hit the de Havilland factory (with Mosquito prototypes damaged). The airfield defences weren't asleep and the hit the Ju 88 which crash landed shortly afterwards. Hope you like it? Andrew

Hi, Here's my rendition of an Argentine F4U-5 late in its service life. Details of this build, together with an AU-1 (F4U-6) and a F4U-7 are found here: Kit: Hasegawa 09075 (JT75) - F4U-5N Corsair, 2001 Paints: Alclad - ALC 117 Dull Aluminum, ALC 121 Burnt Iron, ALC 309 Black Primer & Microfiller Mig - A.MIG 0047 Satin White Mission Models - MMM005 Aluminum, MMP063 Light Gull Grey FS 36440 Model Master - 4749 Engine Gray, 4757 Aircraft Interior Black, 4851 Yellow Zinc Chromate, 17178 Chrome Silver Polly Scale - 505096 US Interior Green A/N611, 505252 British Dark Earth, 505260 British Middlestone, 505264 British Extra Dark Sea Gray Tamiya - LP-2 White, X-10 Gun Metal, X-14 Sky Blue, X-17 Pink, X-19 Smoke, XF-1 Flat Black, XF-2 Flat White, XF-7 Flat Red, XF-16 Flat Aluminum, XF-19 Sky Grey, XF-26 Deep Green, XF-69 NATO Black, XF-85 Tire Black, TS-13 Clear, TS-80 Flat Clear, Fine Grey Primer Vallejo - 71.062 Aluminium, 71.065 Steel, 71.300 Glossy Sea Blue Johnson’s Future Aftermarket: Aztec Models 48-042 decals Ultracast 48192 - F4U Corsair / F6F Hellcat Wheels Radial Tread (32” x 8” late style wheels) True Details TD48497 instrument panel Scratch built: Seat armrests; reflector gunsight; instrument panel “eyebrow” switches and wiring bundles; drop tank vent, feed hose, and rear strut; tail gear holdback ring; DF loop cover; propeller governor; distributor and magneto covers; radio altimeter antennas; aerial wire antenna; wingtip navigation lights; main gear brake lines. On to the pictures. IMG_4420 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4412 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4411 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4410 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4409 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4413 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4419 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4418 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4417 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4415 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr IMG_4407 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr Thanks for looking, and thank you all who contributed to the Work in Progress. Wlad

Hi all, I recently noticed that the paintwork on my Airfix Sea Vixen from a few years ago was starting to craze and fade somewhat. As I have fond memories of building the kit and it’s not exactly easy to get hold of a replacement I decided to give it a refresh. MRP provided the paints, the EDSG being a much better match, and the decals came from a variety of sources. The stencils mainly came from print scale, probably the most traumatic three day decalling odyssey I ever hope to endure! Thin and extremely “grippy”! I used VMS satin varnish for the final finish which I have to say is absolutely lovely stuff - very very smooth! In the process of gluing the last few bits back on I managed to crack the windscreen, fortunately I too cracked and bought another kit along with the FAW.1 conversion from Alleycat which includes a new windscreen. The spare kit one will eventually find its way onto this model. Hope you like the model ! I think she needs a Phantom and a Buccaneer for company…. First the original: And now the 2024 refresh:

Hi All, This is me for the GB. Airfix 1:48 Gloster Javelin. Here's the thread for anyone interested I'm not great with a camera but there was a mention of a mirror so thought I'd have a go Cheers Nigel

Hi all, The Macchi M.5, Serial No.7242 as flown by Tenente di Vascello Federico Carlo Martinengo, Officer Commanding No.260a Squadriglia, operating from Saint Andrea Seaplane Station near Venice during 1918. As usual a detailed build log in PDF format can be viewed or downloaded from the 'Logs' page on my web site. https://mikesww1aircraftmodels.com/ The forum build thread is here: Build thread Mike

Hi All, Happy Easter to one and all! Whilst I am waiting for a replacement kit for my DAF duo project, I thought I'd start another build! Inspired by @AliGauld's lovely 1;48 B25, I thought I'd have another crack at Auntie's lovely Mitchell II. This was one of my very first RFIs on this forum, a whole 5 years ago, so I thought it was about time to build another. As that build was one of the kit schemes, I thought this time I'd try something a little different, so I'm going to build this as a PRU version, specifically MA956 of 684 Sqn RAF: You will note that this is a single colour scheme, so I will have to try and add some texture! I was a little dubious regarding the scheme as presented above - an AVM flying on operations?? There is very little photographic evidence I can find of this scheme, but the legend Tony O'Toole did build one a few years back. Here's the scheme as presented on his thread (I believe it is a DK Decals sheet): That shows no mission tally, no AVM pennant, white centres to the roundel, and a serial in white - hmmmm! Any photographic evidence gratefully received, but at least I can paint it PRU blue. Interestingly this version of the scheme shows de-icing boots, whereas the other does not (I suspect the latter to be correct, and it will certainly add a little interest). So, here's the boxart: Here's the sprues: The lovely transparencies: The decals (stencils only will be used), along with obligatory mask set: In order to make a PRU version there are a couple of changes I shall need to make: - Fair over the astrodome behind the cockpit - Plunge mould a large astrodome in place of the dorsal turret - The ventral turret is faired over - The 3 cameras were mounted in the ventral turret location arranged in a lateral fan (one pointing downwards, two oblique), so appropriate holes will need to be drilled. I don't think the cameras will be at all visible so no point adding them. As I say, references are scarce for this one, so any information gratefully received! As the wife is infected with the spicy sneeze we will be laying low this weekend, so plenty of available bench time. There's always a silver lining,,, Thanks for looking, Roger

Hey everyone. I've been working on this model here and there for over a year now. Most of you have probably guessed that I usually do German WW2 armor, so I decided to try something different and did the 1/16 Easy Eight from Andy's Hobby Headquarters. Pssssssst.....I also have the 1/16 Tiger that's done, but I'll post that another time. This of course is a really a Takom kit that teamed up with Andy. Smart. I've been a fan of Andy's youtube channel for years. Glad he's been able to team up to have power of his own line of products. I've had my ins and outs with Takom, but this kit was well done. Good engineering. Quality. The Tiger too. Not much really to say about the build, it just, well, built well. Large scale models present their own challenges. However if you love the subject in question, it's always fun to have a "BIG ONE." I've done at least 8 1/16 scale tanks over the years. Usually RC. They're tough to weather to scale, not to mention that it takes forever. I decided to go with the green and black camo. And no, to my knowledge, there was no "Angst" nickname for any Easy Eight that I am aware of. I chose it to make the model my own, which I like to do when I get the chance. Not everything has to be historically accurate to me to be good, at least to me. I do enough of that. I felt that the definition of the word "Angst" was apropos for both the state of the world in 1944 as well as for the many young tankers that feared (and died) for their country sitting in these machines. ANGST /äNG(k)st/: A feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general. Weathering was kept pretty minimal I guess. I thought about weathering the heck out of it and maybe someday I will come back and beat it up, but I like the cleaner look for this one and since I usually sell my larger scale models, I thought I wold keep it neutral to start and can always weather more if a customer wanted me to. Anyway, hope you like it. Please share your thoughts, comments, or critiques. Yes, I am aware that the US did not usually have red fuel cans. However, green must have s splash of color. (Probably not helping with the "angst" of the crew though huh?) Cheers, G Some parting shots (and a quick video) as it's not easy to photograph this big boy!

After a long period of rest on this model, I finally managed to attach the small parts and then present the model as part of our night fighter project. The 302nd NAG (identification ∃D-xxxx) was one of the IJN's infamous squadrons for defending against incoming B-29s at night. In addition to the "normal" attack, there were also a number of converted machines with inclined armament, which, according to the specialist literature, should not have been serial conversions, but were tested in the field and then used if successful. The ∃D-1140 (J2M3) is one of the aircraft that was supposed to fight the high-flying bombers in a direct attack.

Well, I think the title is self explanatory on this one. The model comes pre-painted (excluding the cowling) and has a dummy rotary engine that spins with the propeller. I cannot fly it, since I do not have the right batteries, but enjoy these pictures. Also, please excuse the messy office desk. A special thanks to Jon Porter at MicroAces for creating these nice, well-engineered kits that are made in the U.K. Cheers!

Hello Martian, Here's a job that's going to be very interesting. Good luck with the rest. I built the PBM Mariner Mach2: (It's perhaps a little too deep in the water. OK, we'll say it's full petrol! And the two shades of blue merge, unfortunately.) You can imagine that you can't see anything when you close the fuselage! I built the interior and the first floor: The stairs go up between the navigator's table and the electronic cabinets on the left side. I was also inspired by the photos of Eduard 73499 PBM-5/PBM-5A interior S.A. Minicraft: I couldn't find a photo of this staircase, just a model maker's interpretation: I dropped the diorama a few months ago (two kilos of transparent resin to represent the sea, that's heavy!). I can see the kitchen again, which I haven't finished fitting out: That still leaves me with fish: Have fun in modelling! Regards, Eric-Snafu35

Although I am still hugely enjoying my Zeppelin builds, I have been hankering to build something else as well for a while. All Zeppelins and no play makes Martian a dull alien and all that. When Minicraft first released their MartinPBM-5A Mariner kit, I really wanted to get my hands on one. However, I could neither afford or justify the £60 plus price tag for the kit. When the model was re-released by Academy for a much more reasonable £30, that was another matter altogether and an example was obtained in short order. We all know that Martian would not be Martian if he didn't do something off the wall with a build and I fancied doing a Royal Netherlands Navy example. Most of the Dutch boats were finished in silver but two were delivered in Dark Sea Blue and these appealed to me.. Despite buying a dedicated book on Dutch Mariners there was not quite enough pictorial references for me to build one to the standard I would like. Dutch decal do a set for the Mariner, so a silver one it will have to be. What I will probably do if this model goes together well is to get another kit and convert it to the utility configuration and make an educated guess on the areas that I lack sufficient information on. There are plenty of redundant parts in the kit for the conversion and I think I can adapt some others, Caracal do a sheet of decals that have some blue US Mariners so I might go down that route. All that however, is in the future and seeing as even I don't have access to a Tardis, let's see what we can do with what we currently have to hand. Anyway Mrs Martian says the model will look good in silver, so a silver Dutch cab it will be. I was going to try and keep this build pretty much oob but some after market stuff seems to have teleported its way into the box and when I went to the Martian Cave this morning, I seem to have opened up the hatches in the bow section. The next thing I knew was that there was whirling of multiple tentacles, flakes of enough white styrene to keep even @Navy Bird happy flying around the room and we had the bulkheads for the two nose compartments detailed and fitted. I know that some people have remarked that there are a number of inaccuracies in the kit but all I really want is a fun build and to end up with something that looks like a Mariner so I don't intend busting a gut over them. I shall just concentrate on the areas of kit building that I enjoy. Thanks for looking. Martian 👽

After posting my first build a few days back I received many kind words of encouragement and a lot of helpful advice. Thank you all again. Now I have already fallen down the rabbit hole and picked up several more kits, among them this Hurricane Mk. I by Airfix: This shall be my next project, hopefully to be completed over the Easter weekend. There's nothing in particular I'm focussing on beyond "just getting better" overall, maybe becoming a bit more steady and neater with the brush. For the moment I've only just unpacked the parts and laid them out here before giving them a wash. To my untrained eye they look nicely detailed, especially considering the kit's price of around 10 Euros. @Julien reviewed the kit thoroughly here, in case you are interested.

Hi all, Please see below some pictures of my recently completed 1/72 Revell Harrier GR.7A. The kit generally went together well, I used an Eduard photo-etch set for cockpit details, exhaust nozzles and antennae, etc. I also used a resin seat, BOL rails and Digital Joint Reconnaissance Pod (DJRP) from Air Graphic Models; a metal TIALD pod from the Flightpath Jaguar set and the laser-guided bombs were spares from my Revell Tornado GR1 (next build!). The other diorama accessories are also from Flightpath. The pilot is from the Italeri NATO pilots and Ground Crew set. I added some rivet detail to the airframe with a riveting wheel and scratchbuilt a few of the RAF-specific 'lumps and bumps' on the wing tips and rear fuselage - see build thread here for deets! Paints are AK Real Colours and for weathering I used Promodeller dark wash, Mig washes, oil paints and Tensochrom 'smoke' for the exhaust stains. The aircraft depicted is ZD404 'Lucy', depicted as she served at Kandahar air base, Afghanistan in 2007 as part of Operation Herrick (kit decals). Cheers, James

I generally use a damp cotton bud, very lightly. Sometimes I use my finger, too. With the end in sight, I had three major tasks remaining once I’d taken care of the simple stuff like the pitot tube (.040 stainless tube), the antenna post, and the landing light (for which I used liquid clear built up in layers for that because - surprise - the kit part didn’t fit). Of those three, the propellers were first. There’s nothing very special there, a paint, a wash and some light weathering on the blades. I didn’t apply the decals because there’s no sign of them in the photos. Then, the second last job was the antenna wire for which I used EZline. It went amazingly well with everything sticking first go. I used a little Elmer’s glue for the insulators. Then, the radar. It was fiddly and the instructions were less than clear in terms of attachment points. I referenced the photos for final positioning but the kit parts stubbornly refused the align as far forward as I wanted to place them. Consequently, it’s really not as well aligned, square or level as I’d like but I didn’t want to push my luck when I had them close… I cobbled the centre array together from some brass tube and a spare 3D printed array from an earlier project. And then I sat back. It was done. What a frustrating kit that is, I’m glad to be moving on from it. So much potential spoiled by some really poor design and execution by Eduard. If I ever build another 110 I’ll try very hard to find a ProModeller version. Having said that, this build did produce a new paint technique for me, and I’m actually pretty happy with how it turned out. Many thanks to everyone in the GB, and especially for all of the encouragement and kind words. Next up for me is another GB build, this time a P-51D Mustang. Cheers.

But one final update today. Finally got around to cutting down the sliding canopy section for the observer, so that it will fit under the forward section. I just sanded until it fit with a tiny margin. After that ten thou plastic strip attached to the bottom of each side. Strips cut back until they are just proud of the canopy edge. These form runners which, when the canopy is gently squeezed and placed under the forward section, click into the tiny seam formed between the clear canopy section and the fuselage. The fit is tight, and I won’t have to glue it when finally put in place. Should look okay once all the framing is painted on.

Stickers on! Gloss coat of Humbrol acrylic straight from the rattle can, I know shock horror what a heathen! An upside to AFVs very few markings to apply. 30 min before work one morning, dish of warm water, micro sol and set and voila.... The decal for the name Briton is a little to tall to fit where it should but I wont tell anyone if you don't. The white and yellow markings are a touch translucent, however they are nice and thin, conform nicely and are quite happy to be moved around until positioned correctly. (The last time I tried using AFV Club decals every one shattered and were completely unusable). A sealing gloss coat is the next job prior to panel line wash. Thanks for looking Darryl

Hi All , Almost finished a small diorama featuring the 1/72 Spitfire Mk1a and have run into a small problem . after all the painting and building decided to dry fit the canopy and realized it dosent fit , My canopy was going to be open anyways but I've trie to cut it down with a new sharp blade to no avail . Any suggestions or any body got a spare one

One down, one to go; finished my Allied twin. Mosquito XVII of the RAF’s Fighter Interception Unit.

Not so very Captain Scarlett more like Zane Grey at the moment, as I have now added a disclosing coat of grey which reveals well just how c*a**y the new surface is Just shows how bad my infilling is when one uses dis-similar fillers See? The jet pipes and their location can wait for a bit Blemishes cannot. Fortunately we now have everything in place And homogenising can begin Ah well there's a good few hours ahead on Tidyup St Let's get on, see y'all later.

Hi All, I built these last week: for these: Might be biting off more than I can chew, but I'll give it a go. Only ever managed two builds for a single GB before. I've a 1:32 too and the master plan is to build all 4 scales (these 3 wheels up and the 1:32 with engine on a trolley); but I don't think there'd be enough time here for that

Hello all, Being the 50th anniversary of the F-16, and being a fan of the F-16's, it was the right time to build an F-16 to display at the Yeovil model show in April, but with one problem, I have 0 military kit building experience and my best subject is airliner kits, but I wanted to give it a go. I purchased the Hasegawa F-16B kit last year for a tenner, and my friend had some spare decals I could use, so I chose the Siam RTAF F-16B 50,000th Hour / 15th Anniversary 103 Sqn special tail decals. I cannot however take 100% credit, as my friend did the final paint and undercarriage build which was apparently very fiddly. I wanted to build this fully but I soon realised that I just don't have the capability to build these, best stick to the airliners, I suppose we all have subjects we would love to do but just can't do it. I also found the instructions a bit iffy which probably didn't help, along with the paint guide which some parts didn't make sense like paint the air inlet strut flat black...really?? Didn't seem like a bad build to begin with don't get me wrong, but eventually it just felt like a chore rather than enjoying it, because it was just something that was too fiddly for me, a shame as I'd love to build more but I just can't so now this is done I'll be starting my Hasegawa Airbus A320 next. Still even though I done most of it my friend did an excellent job on the paint work and decals and if your at Yeovil on the 7th you'll see this along with other military and civil aircraft at the Trowbridge Composite Wing stand

This one has occupied me since Christmas. It's not an easy kit to build, with quite a few significant pooh traps, not least the 5 part fuselage. As I often find with big kits, I was getting a little tired of it by the end. Nevertheless, I am very pleased with the results and now struggling to find a place to display it! The kit comes from BPK (£99.99 via Jadlam) and the decals from Air Graphics (£21.99 via Hannants). Sadly, the kit does not have an opening weapons bay, and the nice looking Air Graphics resin one was out of stock by the time I looked. Given the problems I had fitting the existing weapons bay door covers, I suspect that fitting the resin might have been challenging. Equally sadly, the RAF have not procured wing pylons or anything to hang on them, so my wings are bare, although I am looking at how I can put together a set of SPEAR 3 Missiles to hang from the wings in the future. Brush painted as usual with Humbrol enamels (I used 127 Ghost Grey, which is a little too blue for Boeing Grey (gray?), but matches my own photos quite well) with a darker grey wash in the panel lines. I added two cockpit crew and one side observer, just to give the kit a bit of life! Like with the E-3D kit I did a few years ago, I have managed to leave the wing and centre section loose (at the cost of a slightly gappy join) which will help with storage and transport. Photographing kits of this size always poses me a problem, so I am afraid I have had to photoshop some extraneous detail (my conservatory, house and cherry tree) out of some of the pictures.

Canvas deck coverings all cut and glued in place now. Really, this stage could have been done better, the cotton, in spite of being varnished, shrank slightly as they dried leaving slightly exposed edges which is a shame but too late to change now. Something to bear in mind for next time to slightly over-cut them and them trim once dry. Before painting, some stuck some waiting to be stuck. Clearly getting those decklight holes to line up was a task for a younger man.... And painted, still tidy up to do but I like the effect. The uncovered section aft of the funnels is where the dinghy is stowed upside down. Open hatches still not fitted, some still being painted As as you can see, I painted the torpedo tubes and added some detailing, more to come, bit of dust around in this picture sorry Lastly a shot of the sea ladder with it's brass name board on top (just visible) Final work on the guns coming soon Cheers Steve

I ordered a piece of brass flat stock to reinforce the longitudinal beams of the Culemeyer. The two part construction and slight warping of the resin parts would make it very difficult to assemble a straight chassis otherwise. The brass piece fits perfectly inside the beams. My soldering board proved to be the perfect tool for aligning all parts of the chassis. Same goes for the crossmembers, which have no real indexing for assembly besides some faint lines for positioning. Add in further resin and PE parts, as well as some brass rod and styrene Now i have to figure out a way to attach 24 wheels to 12 axles in perfect alignment. I also began work on one of the Kaelbles. The fit of the Weinert kit is very good, only minor clean up is required. I added an additional hitch on the front bumper, since this truck will be pushing the trailer. Florian

Good afternoon all, Bit of a mammoth project for me. It's taken five months and one week of (almost) daily modelling, and thus well in excess of 200 hours. It could (and maybe should) have consumed so many more. The basic kit is from Academy and the decals are a scheme provided by AOA Decals that represents a CH-53E from HMM-264 in 2006. The sheet covers multiple types and thus some of the markings are required from the kit sheet, and some (like the national insignia on the horizontal tail surface) need to be painted. Additions are numerous: Added UHF antenna above and below fuselage Scratchbuilt GPS antenna on fuselage spine Modified antenna mount on starboard side of spine Peanut light added to tail tip Eduard and Archer resin rivets all over (of several pitches) Resin wheels (Armory - nice but don't fit) Resin exhausts (ResKit - nice) Resin air intakes (ResKit - awful) Resin tail rotor (ResKit - nice) Resin main rotor hub (ResKit - mediocre (at best)) Blades dropped Blades magnetised (i.e. removable) Rotor blade hub magnetised Resin refuelling probe (ResKit - nice) Refuelling probe magnetised Cables for NVG sensor arm Cables for engine intakes Cable for refuelling probe Scratchbuilt search lights lower front fuselage Exhaust shroud made from foil Scratchbuilt engine intake struts Scratchbuilt Lifting eyes Scratchbuilt Maintenance struts x2 Eduard brass (inside and out) Pitots replaced with brass tube Rotor hub wired ANYZ connectors dotted all over the place AOA decals NVG sensor removed Chaff buckets modified to be empty There's a lot wrong with it, but I won't list that here. On to the photos... Thanks for looking and comments welcome. Jon

Okay, spent a lil' time on Nellie. Kept losing bits to the Carpet Monster, then finding them. Here's what I've done so far: It didn't fit too well, lots of filling and sanding. I think I got wings and empennage square though. Maybe you can see some of the gaps that I must fill. Hopefully, more soon... Dave

Completion photos, with anti-dazzle repainted Humbrol 155 olive drab.

Hi guys, This is not very imaginative but I recently realised that I do not have any completed models of any current RAF aircraft, a situation I need to rectify. I bought this kit when it came out so it is about time I built it! Cheers, Dave

Wimpys not going to happen as I’ve got a bigger fish to fry in a Vulcan , but there’s no reason I can’t get this one done, hopefully a funner build than the dak turned into. Going with the grey/green/black scheme, I do have decals for an Aussie beau which I considered before realising the engines were different.

Hi all!! My last job finished today. Very good model but some little things not so cool to glue/ put in correct position (pitot, antennas, hydraulics...). I know, I´m a little limited with small parts.... 🙂 Decals are RV Decals with some modifications in the code numbers. Paints are Gunze (Acrilic) and MRP varnish. Wash with oil paints and some "pastel chalk" was utilized. I hope that you like. It was not my best job, but It was the best I could do. Especial thanks for Pierre Baudru and Rogério Marczak. Best wishes for all. Claudio

Got a bit of weathering done, and started to add some of the ancillaries so it looks more like an aircraft. I've given it a lightly used, slightly misused look, assuming it's been used incessantly for a couple of weeks/months. That's included some chipping and scuffs with silver pencil and grey paint, but it's hard to tell it from dust on the pic below! It's not far off finished now, but I still have a few bits to do, including the radar antennae, which I've kept in a tiny box so they don't get lost or bent, as that's pretty easy, due to their small size. I noticed that there's no scissor-link on the nose wheel, which is odd, so am thinking of scratching one to glue to the rear of the leg, as the bay door would baulk it at the front. Here's where we're at now: Unfortunately, there's a bit of a scuff on the inside of the canopy (opposite side to the one shown), but I can't do much about it now other than rip off the canopy with all the making good that would entail.

I finally got around to mounting the T-Rex to her base. The model comes with a juvenile Triceratops for the T-Rex to stand on/over but when I put her in place, the alignment of the eyes no longer worked. So I left the Triceratops out and just attached her to the base directly. I used a couple brass rods inserted into her fett I hold her upright and that was the last step. I've got the adult Triceratops kit in the stash and hopefully all the parts to the Spinosaurus (my youngest ran off with it at some point). so those might be showing up soon. Carl

Eastern Express F164 Supermarine S6B World Air Speed Record Breaker, painted with humbrol 11 14 and 53. Post images is down so images pending

Hi everyone! UPD on Horten. The airframe is glued together. The p/e kit suggests twisting two tubes - a very sad imitation of engines. Actually, there's no need in those pipes and they don’t look like engines either. But if not to put them there at all, the front wheel well looks completely empty. I decided to make them, since such a detail exists. In general, based on this logic, absolutely any tubes could be glued there. The lower plate (floor) of the cockpit, which doesn't really exist in the real prototype, is puttied, since it will be very visible. I glued, after painting, the kit beams in the front wheel well area, the partitions between the fuselage and wings, and the cannons. I decided to make some additions in this well, otherwise it looks completely bare. I extended the cable bundles from the cockpit, made some beams - elements of the frame inside from extruded sprue. The crosshair under the cockpit floor in the front wheel strut area is proposed to be photo-etched, but it looks absolutely ridiculous there. I also made it from the extruded sprue. I painted and glued the rear elements of the engines. Glued the upper and lower halves of the fuselage together. In the landing gear wells I added some “pipes” to the existing ones. On the upper part of the fuselage behind the engines I painted the surfaces with “aluminium”. I put some weight in the front part of the fuselage. Masked the inside of the engines at the front, painted in aluminum.

A bit of colour on this otherwise dull bird. Decals on and sealed with a coat of matt varnish: The decals are very thin and had a propensity to fold up and were very difficult to move as they stuck fast on contact. Fortunately they are also very strong and could be wrestled into position. While applying the decals I realised that I had not fitted the large carburettor intakes on top of the cowlings . These have now been painted and will be stuck on at final assembly, the fit being quite good. Thanks for looking. AW

Released - ref. PE7271 - Westland Wasp HAS.1 - International service (Royal Navy, Dutch Navy, RNZAF)K https://www.lfmodels.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_26_86&products_id=4253 V.P.

Details, details now. Sanding and re-profilingremoved some of the panel and rivet/fastener detail along the upper centreline. There’s a removable hatch between the pilot and observer’s canopy. I replaced this with some AK metal foil tape, suitably embossed for the fasteners. Ditto for the split dinghy access hatch aft of the Observer. This stuff is just thick enough to subtly highlight the panels. You can also see the insulated entrance points for the wireless aerial. One of the vents on the port side of the engine cowling needs to be removed for a Mark I. Drilled out, filled with some stretched sprue from the kit, and puttied/scraped/sanded flush. Leave it for a Mark II. I have also settled on replacement exhausts. The kit parts are on the left in the photo below, and are very plain. The centre set are resin from CMK, meant for a Defiant. The ones on the right are from the Eduard Mk IA Spitfire and are the ones I have chosen. Why? The exhausts should pretty much fill up the provided slot in the cowling front to back, and the CMK (and kit ones) are too short to do this. A little ratting around in the spares collection and I came up with the Eduard ones, which are noticeably longer, and fill the hole much better. Is the slot too long? Maybe, but at this stage I’m not going to angst about a millimetre here or there. Need to add the pilot’s windscreen but it’s now basically up to the point of a wash, mask up of the transparencies, and off to the paint shop.

Now that would start discussions... We had a ~6 month "crisis" where the local marmite manufacturer failed and a black market trade in the stuff emerged (I kid you not!). Thankfully Bovril exists! Just don't mention vegemite... it is the lowest of the low and should only be used as a prank in public restrooms by making "skid marks" across the concrete floor. Just vile stuff indeed. Righto. Has anyone mentioned "bacon" recently?

Exhaust and cockpit are finally merged with fuselage I've put some lead balls in the nose area as a weight, although assembling manual don't mention the need for it, but... just in case On following photos exhaust looks much more like in reality - it's tricky to capture metalizer painted parts correctly, especially when you use flash on camera. I have to smooth out the joins on fuselage, and then will continue with assembling... Cheers, S.

Hi all, The Halberstadt D.II (built by Hannover), Serial No:810/16 Vzfw. Erich Schutlz, the Royal Jagdstaffel 25, operating from Kanatrlarci, Macedonia in early 1917. As usual a detailed build log in PDF format can be viewed or downloaded from the 'Logs' page on my web site. https://mikesww1aircraftmodels.com/ The forum build thread is here: Build thread Mike

Airfix 1/72 kit of the Messerschmitt BF 110E Trop, built using the kit scheme for a machine from 7/Zerstörergeschwader 26, Derna, Libya, 1942. WIP: James