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Messerschmitt Bf 109G-4/R6 Lieutenant Giuseppe Giannelli 365^ Sq 150° GA Sciacca May-July 1943 Eduard 1/72 Ettore 🍡

XM607 created from the original Airfix kit (I bought the kit and extra decals long before Airfix brought out their own Blackbuck version!) Extra details in the bomb bay and crew access are loosely based on XJ823 at Duxford. The bombs hide most of the extra detail so may just leave them out. Just the Valiant to do...

Haynes Spitfire - no mark or scale given. This item has been in the stash for a couple of years, and after New Year was over I felt in the mood to take it out of the stash and complete it.. It comes in a large top opening box, a bag inside containing the 1,000 - yes, 1,000 parts - but no instructions save a poster of the completed item. Here's the box art; I opened the bag and straightaway noticed that the parts were already off any sprues, just loose in the bag. Thankfully, there was no loss or damage to any of the parts, so I was able - in the absence of instructions - to plan my approach to building. With aircraft, it's almost compulsory to start with the cockpit, but I decided to go with a modular approach that started with finding all the corner and straight edge parts. As you can imagine, given the overall pure white background scheme, finding all of them proved to be a little tough and I had to carry out two searches of the parts to find them all. I decided to start with the title of the piece, the large text "Anatomy of the Spitfire", finding all the parts and constructing the title. This proved surprisingly undramatic, so I moved on to the manufacturer's logo in the opposite corner, and it had the bonus of securing some of the straight edge pieces and a corner piece. This was a fiddly job, as many of the straight edges had to be checked against the logo pieces to find the ones that fit. I then built the separate blocks of text identified with red numerals occupying large areas of the item giving me a means of judging the size of the plane and its location. Onto the plane proper, ignoring convention I built up the propellor and engine first, then moved on to the cockpit. The starboarrd wing and armament were next, followed by the undercarriage and port wing and weapons. Once I'd completed those, I approached the fuselage and tail which needed some some extended dry fitting of the parts which took some time but was successful. Soon, the Spitfire was completed, and much of it joined into the other modules - the title, the logo, the text blocks so that I now had the unenviable task of completing the all white background and straight edges. Here my patience was tested, as the straight edge parts were, in several places, clearly inserted wrongly. I had to take them out and fit background parts in place to the accompaniment of much teeth sucking as dry fitting these parts to get the right one in place took ages . So here it is, displayed on the dining room table, my second build of the year, the Haynes Spitfire (1,000 piece jigsaw). With acknowlegements to Mrs Hughes, and Dalwhinnies Winter Gold Reserve Single malt for their assistance in this build.

Hi all, This is my first RFI since June last year when I completed my 1/48 Sea Harrier FRS.1 of the Falklands War. I've been interested in the Fuerza Aerea Argentina Skyhawk, since building the Airfix Falklands War 25 year anniversary set in 2007. Having watched period footage of the Skyhawks flying at ultra-low level, taking anti-aircraft fire from the British warships they were targeting, I can't help but have a massive amount of respect for the pilots' courage in carrying out their missions at long range, through foul weather, with the Harrier threat - 17 Argentine Skyhawk pilots died during the Falklands war. Skyhawks damaged or destroyed multiple Royal Navy warships, which destroyed (with the British personnel losses in brackets); HMS Ardent (22 killed), HMS Antelope (1 killed), HMS Coventry (19 killed), as well as being responsible for the Bluff Cove air attacks (56 killed). A small jet, with a very large impact. When Hobby2000 re-released Hasegawas 1/48 Skyhawk A-4B and A-4C I immediately bought one of each, to convert to FAA examples. I made the following upgrades to both aircraft; CAD modelled and 3D printed full-length intakes, with corrected splitter vane and fan face, CAD modelled and 3D printed FAA antennas (nose, upper dorsal, lower rear Omega, VOR fin), Eduard ejection seat, Nose oleo and the smaller linking strut were replaced with aluminium tube, Quickboost resin cannon barrels, Refuelling probe replaced with brass tube, AK Interactive lens for the landing lamp, Aero 1D tanks were replaced with ResKit 3D printed tanks, Weathered with AK oils and MIG Panel Line Wash, Finish sprayed with Winsor and Newton satin acrylic. To finish the A-4C Painted with Mr Color FS36495 and FS34079 over FS36622, Decals from Aztec Models, CAD modelled and 3D printed 1000lb bomb. To finish the A-4P Painted with Mr Color FS34087 and Dark Earth over FS35622, Decals from FCM, Triple Ejector Rack from @Stephen (thanks!) CAD modelled and 3D printed Expal 250 bomb. A-4C Skyhawk C-313 - Destroyed on 9th May 1982 when it crashed into high ground on South Jason island with the loss of Teniente Casco (whose body was found in the wreckage). A-4P Skyhawk C-236 Thanks for looking I hope to eventually get around to building all Argentine combat aircraft of the Falklands war! Cheers Ben

Hello, first model finished in 2025. No particular problem a+

#3/2025 Next one finished by my dad. It´s the "Foreign Users" 2022 edition of the 2020 released Dora Wings kit. The Dora Wings kits are somewhere betwen short-run and mainstream. Better to build than real short runs but still tricky. Especially a model like this with a parasol wing, all these struts, often hardly any alignement help and PE parts. regarding my dad´s age, bad eyesight and shaky hands, he did the best he could. Painted with Mr Paint White Aluminium, used EZ Line for the tailplane tension wires and between the outer wing struts. The windshileds are provided in the kit as clear film. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235148217-spanish-civil-war148-morane-saulnier-ms230-republican-airforce/ The Morane Saulnier MS230 was the main training aircraft of the French Airforce in the 1930s. Six of them found their way to the Spanish Republican Airforce. Don´t know if they were only used as trainers or for recon too. None of them survived the civil war. One former French aircraft is painted in Spanish livery and displayed in the Museo del Aire in Madrid. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 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_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0023 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0024 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Tornado GR.4 Italeri 1:32

Hi All, I built this for the 'Peace' GB and as usual, thought I'd share it here. She's 'mud free' due to what she's modelled on. Details in WIP if interested: Cheers Nigel

Over fifty? Forget chasing after younger Women. Find one your own age who can recognize the signs of a stroke

Hello team, Here is my Special Hobby 1/72 DB-7B Boston finished as A28-9 She's Apples from 22 Squadron RAAF. I didn't really enjoy this build. Maybe it was the kit, maybe it was me or a combination of both, but it seemed like it was 1 step forward 5 steps back. The final thing that knocked the wind out of my sails was when I was sticking down some stencils for the markings that I had cut out on a sheet of Tamiya tape on my Silhouette cutter to use instead of the kit decals, they lifted the paint and primer off back to the bare plastic. Is it the primer? (Alclad black) The paint? (SMS Acrylic Lacquer) Or should I have given the model a wash before priming to remove my fingerprints? Maybe different manufacturers of primer and paint? I've never had this happen before. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions. Anyway, I just wanted it to be over with, so I finished it with the kit decals (along with slight silvering) and decided to use it a bit of practice for weathering oils so all was not lost. I also had a go at adding a bit of detail to the kit engines using 0.3mm lead wire and stretched runner. It's a little overscale and not the best paint job, but I had fun doing it and it makes the engines look a bit busier in the cowls. Thanks, JG.

This is 1/32 Tamiya- Laminar Flow Design Spitfire MkVc with the markings of BR126 from Operation Bowery-Malta The base kit is Tamiya’s Mk.IXc. It was backdated to Mk.Vc by using Laminar Flow Design conversion set. I have used ; Eduard instrument panel, Barracudacast seat, Quickboost cockpit door and Barracudacast wheels. Decals are from Fündekals and Hobbyistdecals. Paints are Gunze Sangyo acrylics Happy Modelling

You could say that this build was inspired about 50 years ago, when my folks bought me this little book while passing through Heathrow ; Tucked inside its pages was a drawing of an Alia Royal Jordanian Boeing 707 : "Slow" forward to 2025, and here's my rendition of their Boeing 720 : Roden's kit finished off with 26 decals and AA passenger windows. (I did opt to paint the gold portion of the cheatlines using Mr Color SM207, before applying the red sections which had been cut away). I've never had any success with weathering, and after the hours that had been spent on mounting the engines to the wings, and the rest of the painting, I thought that it wouldn't be worth the risk to push my luck. Standard walkaround pics... ...and some upper views Thanks for dropping by. mike

Well, at this stage I finished applying the tank camouflage and I used H319 light green and H44 pale brown (Hobby Color acrylics). I also started the weathering effects...

Back in 2023 I started out on this beast of a kit and promptly got bogged down with adding details here and there. I put it away just before getting round to the cockpit in 2023 and haven't really thought about it much since. Love the subject, the kit less so much. Bit of a shame seeing as I think I remember it being quite an expensive project. Anyway 2 years later I'm now attempting to clear the unfinished kits in my collection and thought maybe blogging it would prompt some action. The plan is to keep this and an armour build going to keep the blood up. Here's where I left off. First thing I think is to figure out what I was thinking, then tidy up what we've already done and paint some wood. Thanks for popping in.

A quick and easy kit this one. Everything fits nicely and goes together quickly and without filler. Finished in the short-lived colours of G-FURY in about 1981 as a companion to my earlier build of G-FIRE. zz20250202_135743 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr zz20250202_135751 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr zz20250202_140544 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr zz20250202_140604 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr zz20250202_140619 by Derek N.Ferguson, on Flickr

This is the old MatchBox Gnat. It represents XR955 c. 1977 and I started it to commemorate the 60th Anniversary last year. The decals are a combination. Fin and roundels from the MBox kit. Serials, nose flash (shield on MBox one was way too big), ejection seat warnings (very poor but I had no decent ones small enough for the Gnat) from an original mould Airfix Red Arrows Gnat. I nearly decided not to do the white seal around the canopies but it's so obvious on the Red Arrows Gnats that I had a go - just don't look too closely. XR955 was eventually sold to the US, flew for several years and now appears to be stored in Colorado. I've never liked MBox stands. I can't understand why they thought just a pressure fit into a slot was a good idea and didn't put a tooth on them like Airfix and Frog. David

Dear all, Latest completed project - Roden's 48 scale Airco DH4. I got hold of this kit at a model show last year from Models for Sale stand for ?15 which is really good price for this kit. I've built this one pretty much OOB with the exception of some minor detailing to cockpit and observer's position. A very demanding (but enjoyable) kit to put together not helped by the usual confusing and vague instructions. Lots of test fitting, trimming, shimming, filling and sanding to get a good fit of parts. Painted by brush as always and rigged with combination of smoke coloured nylon mending thread for bracing and Oschi standard elastic thread for control wires. Rigging the wings gave me some problems as it seemed to fight me all the way - but I obviously got there in the end. I am pleased how this has turned out for me but do admit there are the usual flaws here and there ..... Completed in the markings of N6000, No. 5 (Naval) squadron, RNAS, February 1918. Regards Dave

Thanks to @FrancisGL, @ivan-o, @Bullbasket, @robgizlu, @mbthejester, @Keeff, @Dads203 and @Stef N. for the kind comments and to those who hit the like button it's very much appreciated. With the Bovington Tank Museum model show coming next weekend I have been checking the models I'm intending to display the poor old Centurion has taken a back seat but I'm intending to take it as a WIP so it has made it into the paintshop and has had it's coat of sand camo added although there is still a lot of detail painting and weathering to do. Anyway this is how it looks now Hope you like what you see and if your attending the show please stop by and say hello Thanks for taking the time to stop by Roger

Some progress on the MR2. I have completed the chassis in the usual mix of random metallics. Not a lot of detail to the molding. I have also finished the top engine detail, with some reference to photos of real cars for inspiration. The battery represents a common brand here in Australia. [/url] I have also completed the rudimentary interior. The seat backs were filled prior to painting and sandpaper put on the floor; which was not even flat. In fact, it looked like Fujimi 'forgot' to include an interior tub. Still, it is reasonable for inside a model vehicle that very few people will ever look in! Cheers, Grant.

The recent rerelease of an old 80's kit. It's billed as a snap together, but make your life easier and snip the (mis)alignment pins and glue it. Obviously it's no Bandai kit, but the price tag is reasonable and the detail is decent for a 40+ year old kit. Weathering is a mix of Tamiya black and brown panel liner, plus AK streaking dirt and dust pencils. I was going for a Tuskegee Airmen inspired color scheme, but I think I ended up at "hot dog stand" instead.

So I managed to sneak some work in here and there over the weekend. Of course, as soon as the kids got in the tub for an early bath and Mrs P was off to watch them, and I really had a chance to get a head of steam going, my sister, who's finally moved out of my parents' house at 38, stopped by for a visit. I would be more annoyed, but she brought Key Lime pie with her. It was exquisite, and tart enough to cut glass. Mrs P, who's a bit of an ascetic, liked it so much she had another slice for breakfast. Now, I had meant to do a leisurely, methodical job on the cockpit, but in some (most, some might uncharitably say) ways, I still suffer from the problems of a teenaged boy, and with a fumble and an abrupt spasm, I assembled the cockpit tub. It does not benefit from close inspection. Very, very stupidly, I had waited until then to try to do the harness straps, only to realize I was out of photoetch ones, and that I had forgotten, if I even knew, how to use those little gummy Eduard ones. Eventually, after destroying the main harness for both of my last two, I resorted to a mixture of the lap belts from Eduard and the ABS plastic Fine Molds harnesses, which really, really benefit from being glued to the seat before it's painted. It also meant I never applied a wash or did any other cool things that would result in sexy cockpit photos. I console myself with the knowledge that barely anything can be seen when it's closed up. It really is extraordinary. Winston is currently banned from my grotto, because every time he enters it, he's told to not touch anything, especially if he doesn't know what it does. Unfortunately, he's apparently an experiential learner, because I not that long ago turned around to find him using my little razor saw to cut a groove into the concrete floor, which not incidentally removed every tooth on that side of the blade. Or I'll be working and suddenly hear a crash, as a precariously balanced pile of likely-never-to-be-painted 3d prints crashes to the floor. It just keeps happening. Or the dreaded "I wish I had that," as he points to one kit or another. I did buy him a 1/48 Trumpeter Wyvern a while ago, because he was obsessed with the working contraprops on my 1/72 one (which he loved to death as a smaller boy) and wanted my replacement kit. Once he built the props, he was saddened to discover that yet again, his imagination outpaced reality, for there was no way to motorise them (that I was willing to entertain), and it lies, incomplete, in the craft supplies closet.

Wallace and Gromit took a wrong turn on the way back from the moon, Via woodworm hole and ended up in a galaxy far far away. I give you the wrong trousers (star wars style). Have a giggle, all the best Chris

Lately I've been mainly painting yellow paint, & think I might just about have done enough, thank goodness. I'm using Humbrol #69 as it seems to match the yellow decals quite well. I'm going to try Humbrol #60 as the best match I have even though it is matt. It may need a little yellow to lift it, hoping not. Steve.

What ho! First, thank you to those that are following and have given a 'like'. Well, this is unusual .... in a rare flurry of operations and flying hours, the next update is upon us. I applied Vallejo Insignia white across the area for the stripes with some definition of the white stripes. Now the Tempest looks like this: This will dry while real life and work resumes before the black gets added. As always, comments welcome! Keith ☺️

Hi. On Saturday I sat and watched ice hockey on tv and painted up some container stacks. When you only use acrylic markers to paint with it's quite nice to sit and watch tv when working. I've now got the first five stacks painted and clear glossed. 047 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr I'm a bit eager to see how this looks with the logo stencils on, so perhaps I can put some on later this evening. And then my wife invited me to the dinner table. We shared a kilo of some very fine shrimps, some toast with a rather nice cheddar cheese, and a bottle of nice bubbly. 048 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr To be continued..... /Bosse

What? The MX-5 is my dream car! Oh, sorry! I didn't notice the orange wheelcart at first.

Nothing too exiting to report. Mostly cutting off all the detail on the kit, straps, clips and padlocks in prepreation for the PE. I'm not going to use all of it as sometimes the kit parts are more 3D. Studying the real thing the skirts around the body are very thin sheet metal so I thinned the kit as much as I dare. I do belive there is a PE replacement for this. Before skirt (with one sides worth of scrapings!) After which I think does imprive things a little Everything cleaned up and ready for the PE, well most of it. There are a lot of parts which still need trimming back but I'll do those as I go. I also scratched a shovel as I cocked up the kit one when I tried to cut it back! Plus the replacement tracks which will involve a nice cup of tea and a good podcast 😉 Things should get more interesting once the PE starts to go on. I'm at the stage where a lot of forethought is required before barging in and sticking stuff on etc. Cheers all Andrew

Afternoon everyone.. finally finished my AMK F-14D that has been in the stash for a while and only took me six months to build !! , due to my work commitments. Been putting this one off due to the expected difficult weathering techniques that I wanted to try but in the end, pretty pleased with the results. The kit itself is straight OOB and it is huge. I thought this kit had the ability to vary the wing geomatry but you can't. What you can do is choose which position you want and go with that. I chose fully swept due to display issues, or lack of space !! The kit itself goes together very well apart from where the fuselage slots into the body, take your time and be prepared to use some filler. Nice quality of plastics. Weathering was what I wanted to experiment with so I tried a black primer and mucked about with some pre weathering effects ( below ). Good fun and I used AK interactive paints. Note though that I had to use their own brand of thinner as everything else just reacted badly. Once I knew this, the paint went on well After this stage, I just took time and some patience to get the desired results. Decals were nice and crisp but didn't get a lot of time from laying them down to them setting or indeed splitting. May have been my usual heavy handedness or not enough gloss coat on the model prior to decal application. Anyway, here she is.. photos just taken on iPhone , indoors and outdoors . Always wanted an F-14 on the shelf and this just fits the bill nicely !! All the best, aye !! ... thanks for looking in. Best wishes all !!

There's plenty to choose from- one of my local model shops (as in only 30 miles away), has got a second hand stash for sale including a couple of Minicraft 1/144 Super Connie's and I was tempted, but I've got plenty of plastic on my hands at the moment. Because, oh my days it's big! I felt I was missing out on the 'nodding donkey game' so a bit of masking tape and some ballast. Mine seemed to only need a featherweight 90g in the nose. But I've realised that's where the flight deck goes and it needs to be further back, so I'm reckoning on getting a 110g in there🫣. At least there's plenty of space. Looking froward to I've got a Hasegawa 1/200 DC-10 lined up for that; I'm already worried about the optimism of the instructions that the supplied ballast is enough Basically 2 plastic discs of very little weight. there again I'm fast running out of things to use for ballast with this beefcake!

Had a good run at it this weekend, we're nearly done now. First the glass, and now there's a real difference 'twixt 500 and 600... As you can see, the (Tamiya) 500 utilises separate panes for each side, front and rear screens, with masks to facilitate easy(ish!) painting of the frames and seals. I used marker pens throughout and found the hard part was placing the masks after which marking them up was a doddle. The (Gunze Sangyo) 600 was an altogether different proposition - crude by comparison but producing the same excellent result. In both cases fitting was as easy as every other stage of both models, everything slipping into place with a minimum of fuss. All that remained then was fitting the 600's dashboard (unlike the 500 it fastens to the 'shell, not the interior), the 500's mirror and the wipers for both. The 500's were conventional chromed plastic but the 600's are photo-etch which gave me the dubious opportunity of learning how to bend PE parts! It turned out to be a little easier than envisaged but I still managed to scratch the 'screen fitting the first one. Hopefully it doesn't notice! ...and that is almost it. It just (!) remains to drop the 'shells onto the chassis' (with all the attendant horrors that something will break during that operation) and fit the 500's door mirrors - I'm leaving that to last to avoid them making a bid for freedom whilst the mating operation is in progress! Thanks for looking - not long now...

I managed to get the smaller parts painted over the weekend and them put everything together. Here she is: Thanks to @bianfuxia for the chance to build this. It's been on my 'want to' list since I first saw the kit!

I'll leave this here...

With some more work done, I could finally test-fit almost all the main elements of the ship; think they look quite nice. Essentially, all that is missing here is bridge house, guns, searchlights, boats and davits. The masts will stay off for as long as possible, including much of the rigging process. I also prepared some "deck clutter", just sacks and boxes. I think these help liven up the model and proveide a neat sense of scale.

I had to go down to the bottom of page 3 to find this, so it must be time for an update. I’ve realised I have made a major error. I forgot to spray a coat of the interior blue on the cockpit before my undercoat of Tamiya Flesh. Hopefully it won’t show too much. Sprayed a coat of AK 3rd Gen yellow thinned with their thinner. I only had to mask the tip of the tail and the Ailerons prior to a coat of AK 3rd Gen Red. I’ve also painted up most of the little bits, so I think I am ready to start putting it all together. Should be easy Peasy! George

Thanks Chris! Can't waiut to see how yours turn out 😀 Thanks! There is a just a month left now before the F-104 GB starts so I need to get cracking! Well, this time I stayed true to my word and actually painted some Dark Green during this weekend! I started with some Black and Blue preshade: Some nice thin coats of Gunze Dark Green later and here I was I also got to do the best part! Remove all masking There are a few areas that I still need to touch up, and off course paint the tail wheel bay. But it looks like it's time to break out the Markings masks, and paint all that! That could be fun 😇

OK, the tailplanes are on as well as the nacelles - no problem again.

Evening Gentlemen As the night had given me advice, I made today some of the details I was planning to make for the trunk yesterday. First, I made the brackets placed between the boot floor and the rear light panels And I used a new (at least for me) technology to made them: CAS (Computer-aided Scratch building) In fact, I wanted to make the brackets out of thin sheet of metal to get accurate and realistic parts. Since the size is about 1.5 mm wide, 2 mm high and 4 mm long, it would have been difficult to get a regular shape by scratching them with very thin plastic sheet (0.2 mm max) and gluing tiny rectangular or triangular pieces of plastic, It would also have been almost impossible to get absolutely identical parts for the left and right sides. Making them directly from a sheet of metal, without the aid of a template, was also unthinkable. My first idea was to make a template out of a sheet of paper, drawing on it the developed shape of their volume. Of course, drawing them freehand with such small dimensions was impossible, at least for me. So I used the computer and drew the shapes on Fusion 360, when all of a sudden I realised that I could just as easily extrude the design and print it in resin. Then I could use the resin template to draw the contours of the desired volume on the metal sheet. And that's what I did. I simplified drastically the design The dotted lines correspond to the bending lines on the metal sheet. And here is the printed part: I used an aluminium sheet of metal, of 1/10th millimeter thick, very easy to cut and bend. I glued the template to the alu sheet with a droplet of CA, and then I scribed the alu sheet, following the outline of the template, using a sharp new blade. I cut out from the sheet with scissors a rectangle encompassing the traced shape, then I peeled off the ganarit, and finished the cut with scissors And next, I used pliers and rulers to fold the alu plate, and got this: Secondly, I made the bracket for the spare wheel hook I used 0.1mm aluminium sheet again, and various tricks to shape the rectangle I cut out of it. Thirdly, I made the flat plates placed in front of the triangular brackets, using, once again, my sheet of aluminium And I glued all these tiny bits to the chassis Having done all this, I decided to move on, continuing to make other elements contained in the trunk or on its opening. I made the gas filler neck , referencing to several photos, especially theses ones: Here, too, a template was needed. This gave us a rough shape to imitate and approximate dimensions to respect. The, I used 2.0 mm thick aluminium tubing to make the filler neck. In order to bend it without distorting it, I introduced in the tube a plastic rod, just a little bit smaller than the inner diameter. I bent the tube using the handle of a hobby knife, and all the rest has been numerous fitting tests and corrections. I finally got this stuff: And that's when I realised that the tank top into which the filler neck fits needed to be modified: its rear tubular outlet had to be removed and replaced by a hole into which the little piece of plastic protruding from the filler neck I'd just made would fit. It was then necessary to make the rubber hose that connects the filler neck and the outlet of the tank: I used black shrink tube . And finally, the most difficult: making the hose clamps, which are specific: On a scale of 1:24, it is common to use photo-etched aftermarket parts, but I didn't want to buy these items, which are currently not available in France, and for which the shipping costs from Central Europe, Japan or the UK are insane. So let's get started! I scratched them: I used 0.18mm nickel chrome wire. I made a tight hairpin loop with a tailor's pin. Then I wrapped this buckle around a 3.5mm plastic rod, put the two free ends of the double buckle I got into the hairpin loop and stretched the whole thing: I detached the "hose clamp" And I fitted it on the rubber hose, fighting it again, and then cutting the excess wire. I did that twice: Finally, I had to make the hood latch striker plate and its support plate, through which the filler neck passes before it joins the tank. I 3D designed and printed the supports plate And I scratched out of a plastic square 3.0 mm strip the striker plate, using a scalpel and various files: Her, the striker plate has been glued to its support plate and the whole set only put in place without glue, just to get an idea of what it looks like: Not so bad 🤔 The filler neck, the striker plate and its support will be definitely installed much much later.... A lot of work I still to do on the trunk, but that is another story See ya later, guys

I outlined and brush painted the first layer of two of black on the inside of the clamshells that will be seen when the model is complete. Not 100% decided if I’ll leave it at that or elaborate on the fibreglass. I started to plan out the interior and began applying some PE parts. Super rewarding process it is.

Having found myself with a bit more spare time than envisaged, the time had come to bite the bullet and drop the bodies onto the chassis' - always scary for me. To my surprise neither of them needed much wrestling, just a few minutes of gentle flexing and easing into position. Both have positive locating/retaining slots front and rear so thankfully neither needed cementing in place. Having breathed again I finally fitted the 500's door mirrors and the project was finished. Here are just a very few pics of the finished articles, later on in the week (I hope!) I'll do a full photoshoot for the RFI thread. This has been about the most enjoyable OOB build project I've attempted since the Isetta I built a couple of years ago now, also my first Tamiya kit in many years and my first ever Gunze Sangyo. I have to say that both kits are made to a very high standard with minimal mould seam removal needed, parts that all fitted first time and a very high standard of materials. Whilst the Tamiya is certainly a more complex and engaging kit than the Gunze Sangyo which is quite basic by comparison, Gunze Sangyo used more innovative design solutions than Tamiya. All in all I'll be happy, nay eager to build more of both brands as up to now I've been bred on a diet of AMT, MPC and Revell - need I say more? Thanks loads for your company during the build and for your kind comments. The WIP will follow as soon as I can find another timeslot. Cheers for now.

Hi All, This is my contribution. Hope you like her. Short WIP is HERE if you're interested: Nigel

A 1991 Merc 500SEC And a tidy 1995 Mazda B series Matt

finished and moved to RFI DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Been awhile since my last update. The whole family dealt with back to back sicknesses leaving no time for the bench. Between last weekend and this one; the F-16 is completely painted. Sometime this week I’ll be applying gloss varnish in anticipation for decals. It was definitely time consuming cutting and placing all the masking tape. I did each color in layers starting with black and finishing with the brown. I got a bit lazy towards the end and didn’t mask enough which lead to some overspray I had to go back and deal with. Cheers!

Well, except for some final touch ups, she’s about done. Note to self: waiting until the end of a build to add props, shafts, and rudders to avoid knocking them off is a mug’s game. You will do a lousy job because you are afraid you’ll mess up some topside work holding the model upside down; and you will. Speaking of which, getting said props and shafts off their printing supports was nerve wracking. These were replacements for the originals, which did not survive their Atlantic crossing (although they probably came in over the pole.). At any rate, the process reminded me of nothing so much as those iconic movie scenes where the UXB technician has the cutters poised to snip the wire and render the bomb safe. You wait with bated breath for a harmless click or a big boom. 😳 Oh, I redid the comm antennas going forward to the 6 pdr with stretched sprue to have the catenary in the line that shows in all the drawings—they were not taut. Anyway, here she is. I’ll rustle up an RFI entry when I’ve finished the few touch ups I have to do. Thanks all for your interest, comments, suggestions, and likes. Best, Jeff

Yellow stripes added to the Eduard fuselage and the tail flashes Just a bit to fix at the top next to the blue stripe Something not quite right at the bottom under the blue stripe. Also to be fixed next time. As I had the blue, red and white out, I did the tail flashes on the airfix kit, and the sky underside. Added wings to see the overall effect

February already, wow thanks for all the comments Warning, there are a lot of pics below For those that are interested, here's a video on the gardens Moving on with the build, Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 things are starting to take shape now Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10 and the pathways and bridge are complete I think this was steps 11 and 12 combined Step 13 Step 14 Step 15 and the roofs are going on Step 16 Step 17 Step 18 Step 19, buildings are nearly complete Step 20 Step 21 Step 22 Step 23, roofing complete That's where I am currently The groundwork and buildings are finished I now "just" need to do the tree planting More soon(ish) /P

Hi folks, estra photos before painting,,,, And now light green and initial chipping effects.... There will be more news today,,,

Pretty much finished the first LCU. Here you can see the PE rails, PE top of the bow door, and resin bollards a) midships (double) and c) at the bow (single), plus styrene rubbing strakes at the bow - and (you may have to look hard for this) a semi-circular aerial base visible just above and to the left of the sliding windows on the wheelhouse. Here again from a different angle: Here a low angle shot trying to use the edge of my bench to give an idea of how it will look when on the water (as it will be in due course); And finally the maritime equivalent of the "vroom-vroom-dagga-dagga" noises beloved of the aircraft modeller (well, me when I build aircraft, anyway): You can clearly see here why the mast needed to be retractable. All that remains to be done is the mast, the radar & a prominent fuel line on the starboard side - then etch prime the brass and give the whole thing a coat of my trusty Alclad Black Primer & Microfiller. The intention is to paint and decal these completely as they were in peacetime, and only then paint the black tiger-stripe camouflage added for the Falklands - since the original stripes were hand-painted over the top of the markings (numbers etc). More soon Crisp