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Yes, that’s my hobby; making a reasonable stab using any starting point that comes to hand. The grandly titled “1/72 Scale Model Construction Kit Vickers-Supermarine SPITFIRE VB”, all 33 parts of it, was the best Airfix could manage in 1974. It arrived in our household in 2013 as one of the three models in the Under the Red Star Airfix club set. Its time has come to be built, and that’s what I will show here. There is a pre-story, that as a lad I built this kit in 1977, taking for me (then) a very long time of about 30 days. I have that model still, and it has survived in good shape, so there is a neat reference comparator: out the box in 1977 using a teenager’s skills (it was one of my last youth kits); and research and aftermarket a plenty in 2024. According to the Airfix catalogue, it cost £0.34 back then. Ouch! I have spotted that there are a lot of Spits on BM recently. I’m going to struggle to match those results, but I did start further away than a newer issued kit would allow. I think I am from the same school as these two modellers @Brigbeale, @PATRICK FROM THE SANDSwho like a challenge beyond the usual. Before starting, I tested BM on ideas for the direction to take. I didn’t get a huge amount of ideas, and not much encouragement frankly. Still, I have plenty of Spitfire reference books, access to the worlds aftermarket and some time crawling around and under a museum Spit to help (thank you Hendon). Dozens of photos and measurements came from that exercise. I used the Soyuyo plans for the Vb, happily believing they are accurate but with no proof at all they are! As is life. For books I used the indispensable Franks, plus a few other more slimline reference books, like Wingleaders. Overall BM users suggested that dimensionally and shape-wise the Airfix 1974 mould is fair. It was pointed out that the wing-fuselage fairing is wrong, and the Frise ailerons are not represented. Actually, I found a lot more wrong with it. The upper nose shape is all wrong, the underside centre-section is wrong in a hard to describe way, and various panel lines (raised) are in the wrong place. The control surfaces are a poor replication of the fabric covered originals. All that to me is a challenge, not a turn-off. I tend to react well to encouragement and ignore the why bother comments. I wasn’t encouraged to consider a cockpit, but that didn’t work for me. If this Spit didn’t deserve a decent cockpit, why would any at 1/72? My choices of main aftermarket were: Marabu PE cockpit (very, very good). Actually for the KP kit, but a cockpit is a cockpit. CMK control surfaces, for the later Airfix kits ABRA guns Barracuda DH spinner Quickboost DH blades, and antenna Falcon canopy SBS exhaust stubs Eduard bronze u/c legs and weighted wheels I thoroughly recommend the Marabu PE, and would take a guess that any of their PE cockpits are good stuff. It went together well. One downside are the instructions, which are not brilliant at showing the precise fixing position of the parts, and the instrument panel is a complex sandwich of three PE layers and two acetate layers. At conclusion the instrument panel is rather dark, so all this faff seemed a bit wasted. The radiator grill looks more like those for a MkIX but the set is described specifically as a MkVb. I won’t go through the build in fine detail. Aside from obvious work needed to fit the aftermarket, the major areas worked on were: a/ nose removable access panels cut away, reshaped and fixed back b/ main u/c bays remodelled with better geometry and interior detail c/ major wing gun blisters needed shifting and changing shape, and numerous small blisters added. d/ radiator innards cut into lower wing e/ cockpit sidewalls scratch made to patterns from Franks f/ radio access panel opened up; cockpit entry panel likewise g/ IFF wires added I didn’t have a particular fixation with a Spitfire to represent. I wanted a bog standard one and at random chose Vb AB908 and the Aviaeology 71 (Eagle) Squadron decals. It was identified that this Spit was a DH prop, original pattern (MkI/MkII) exhausts, internally armoured windscreen, but flat sided canopy. Obviously, my aftermarket purchases were targeted accordingly. This took me down an offshoot of reading up on 71 (Eagle) Squadron via Listemann’s book, plus it made me read Alex Kershaw’s “The Few”. I have had the latter for nearly 20 years on the unread shelf, but I can report great disappointment. Being told that the Hurricane’s designer sadly did not live to see it enter service and a lot of remarkable (aka fantasy) exploits really sounded alarm bells. I would summarise it as a collection of urban rumour tales wrapped around a (probably) well researched core. Back to modelling, I could find no photo of AB908 but the general weathering was an easy guess from countless like-subject photos. I sprayed most of the model with Alclad Aluminium lacquer and then used Marmite to mask it when camo spraying to give a fairly well-worn look. I used roundel/fin flash masks and kept decals to serials/codes/stencils. Painting the roundels is a vast improvement over decals because a nicely worn “can’t be bothered” feel can be achieved (if roundels can have feelings). The downside is that spraying enamel masked roundels is a time-consuming business. It took a week to create the roundels. With over 4000 Vb manufactured there are countless small details that varied through the run, and across the multiple factories for final assembly. Therefore, exactly what AB908 had in areas like gun heating vents, landing lights, wing skin stiffeners etc is never going to be known. I made informed guesses as best I could. The one photo that purports to be of AB908 is of the central fuselage/cockpit, so the glazing options are clear, but only if the photo really does depict AB908! Despite the kit being basic from the 1970’s, Airfix were generous in their 2013 Red Star decals. So, a good set of stencils were “in the box”. I augmented the selection by acquiring the currently available Vc set from Airfix which were printed better. What slowed me down? Quite a lot really. I worked a while on fettling the rudder and fin to gain a more accurate thickness, and making the rudder have a better surface appearance. Overall getting the rear fuselage sufficiently slim and dainty was a challenge. Cutting the panel lines is always a job and a half. I drilled out the numerous circular mini access panels and fitted plastic rod replacements. Recovering the wing-fuselage fairing was a bit fiddly. The main flaps fell into place, but the small inboard flap was a problem needing a brass scratch build item to allow the wavy surface to exist, and fixing the internals behind the small flap went wrong and had to be repeated. Remodelling the nose removable panels and then refixing along with a re-bossed prop was a bind. It all has to fit together in way that captures the multi intersecting curves of the DH spinner and the forward fuselage. Fixing the bronze undercarriage legs was a job and a half. The Eduard legs are for the Eduard kit and have a totally different fixing to that for Airfix. Further, they are effectively 1.2 mm too long because they are held deeper in the wing in the Eduard model. This required the leg to be shortened, which was a good lesson on how hard bronze is, but how workable. They are also for a Vc but I took the view that the leg is pretty much the same as a Vb, it is simply oriented very differently between the two wing configurations. The Falcon windscreen and fixed rear canopy were no trouble at all, but fixing the sliding hood was hard. Even a slight difference in fuselage width makes the hood tend to pop up. I don’t think I can add to the sum of human knowledge by commenting on the less than perfect fit of the main kit parts. It is what it is, and 1974 was a tumultuous year a long time ago. Perhaps the dies were cut in 1973 by candlelight? I have never been a Spitfire person, having instead a connection to and affinity with the Hurricane. However, I have set some prejudice aside after this dip into the world of the Spit, and come out a bit more a fan of this oh so beautiful machine. I have a 1/48 Spit in the stash and the random kit selector has about a one in 50 chance of turning it up some time, plus a 1/72 Mk XIX. I am well set up if it does. I hope you like what I did. She looks better than my 1977 attempt (thankfully). Any comments that I wasted my time will be read with relish! We all waste our time! Alongside the two Vb’s is a Seafire IIc I made about 10 years ago. This is the Frankenstein kit where Airfix provided the same fuselage as I have just sweated over, but with a different kit’s wing to allow a c wing to be built. That c wing is an affront to all things Supermarine. kitchentable

Tiny steps forward. 🐾 Masking off after I had painted the wood effect on the top panels. I’m loving this technique. 🪵 It seems the time has come to start fitting this all together. Your engines please! This seems to be the only way to get the structure in. The whole lot got stuck in place with rocket glue. I had to cut the fuel tank back to get the cowl on but the “gift of peg” gave the oomph I needed to hold it all in place. After a short while. The peg was removed. Aaaaand. Now over the weekend some of the wonderful Britmodellers. @CedB @perdu @81-er @Tomoshenko @Fritag @Terry1954 and myself met up for a bit of a jolly and to swap some bits and bobs at the Midlands Air Museum. we had a great time and I ended up with some very kind gifts from @CedB I’ll not divulge all yet but a new build is on its way. 😀🙌❤️ Here are the boys! Having a nice cuppa and the odd toasted sandwich. We even had a guest appearance from @giemme on satellite link. 🛰️😆 We all had a lovely time it’s fair to say. It’s a great museum and I’ll post some pics in the new thread (soon). I mention this as I received a absolutly brilliant Jig from Mr B. That is helping we do this. It’s the kind of thing I never knew I needed but boy does it make like easier. Thank you once again Ced, far too kind. Next in line then would be to get the struts in place. Hmmmm drilling then. So the holes that were there got made slightly wider and deeper with my drill set until the struts fitted comfortably. All around we have a good showing. The struts and other wooden parts got painted in “wood effect” tm. Just before I finished up I added a spoke to the wheel cover. So it looks as though they’re all there. And that’s that. I need to start drilling holes for the roofing attachment points but I’m not worried about the process. Maybe I should be. 😬 More soon. Thanks for dropping by. All comments welcomed. Take care and as always, Happy modelling. Johnny

Recently had the light box set up so thought as display space is getting tight I would create a photo record of old builds. This is a very old build, brush painted, but I really don’t remember much about the which kit it is or what unit it represents. Something in the back of my mind says it’s a Fujimi. Any ideas?

Well maybe I seem to be fast in building models but frankly - most of them have been "in progress" for months and/or years. This one was started maybe 15 years ago but there was always "something" wrong. So finally finished straight from the box, painted with AK Real Colors brown and Tamiya Silver Leaf. Rigging is Uschi "Standard" as usual.

Hi My second kit of the year is finished I take a little time to finish it because I whished to use a resin exaust. I bought a file for the GWH kit and take time for having a exhaust in the good dimension I take pleasure to build this kit even if at some place it need some improvement or not use some option (like the air intake in start mode) I certainly buy another one for their special scheme And my little F-15J collection And another pics F-15J Platz

This is my newly completed Tamiya Marder III M in 1/35th scale. I used Tamiya acrylic paints and various enamel washes. Chipping / scratching effect was done with Tamiya hull red and a fine paintbrush.

OK, white, white or white? The Hu22 didn't cover too well so: White then

Welcome and thanks Bill and Ian Does that mean I can forget the rigging? I'll see how I feel (fnaar!) Well, if this isn't Ochre then tough: Almost done.

Thanks Pete - cheeky Wait no longer Johnny: I obviously took more care on this side. Just a few bits of seepage: I've touched up the silver. Now for the white.

I am expecting a potential fail with it Colin and I have several alternates in the stockroom, no worries there. Now after removing all of my previous attempts at the undercart I have finally added the stationary link between gearbox and swashplate. It looks crude at the moment, I'll have to see how much 'nicer' I can get it. The other push rods will be along in a short while.

Greetings from the ROK, This is my depiction of an F-5E in service with South Korea. It's the HobbyBoss kit, which wasn't much of a joy to build (I had started with 2, and only one has made it to completion). It was interesting to learn that the ROKAF operates, or operated, both US made F-5s and indigenous licensed KF-5s, mine is supposed to be an F-5E which are identifiable by their black, round nose cones as opposed to light grey, flat ones as seen on Swiss airframes, on the KF-5E. The serial numbers are not correct as they are for a two seater, they were taken from a rather old looking Microscale set, with roundels from Monokio (think they're gone now), and some stencils from the kit. The obvious silvering on the tail is a little bit of a let down, and I'm certainly still learning with decals after too long. I'm aiming to get all the active jets of the ROKAF done, so this is an essential ticked off. I was waiting for Wolfpack's upcoming release, but this has tamed that a bit (I imagine I'll still pick that up of course!) Thanks for looking, Matt.

It's funny how we see domestic colours through the lens of military names! Here's our 1/1 scale garage door in RLM65 🤣 Just realised I need to put that poo bag in the bin! Back to 1/72 scale, the masks are off. Somehow there was a bit of residue on the inside of the canopy so I had to pull the pilots hatch off to get inside with an ear bud. All sorted now. I also painted and fitted the wrong exhausts, so need ot paint the correct ones now! Fitment of those side windows is questionable close up! Getting there slowly. I realised that Airfix have included a decal for the white ring on the tail wheel, that saves some thinking capacity on how best to do it, so just the main wheels to sort when I get there. Cheers

Thus spoke Dr Emmett Brown in 1985 in what his maginficence has declared the best film of the 80s, so here we are... Now, before anyone gets too excited, this is the original tool, not the all-singing, all-dancing retooled version. Though I think someone said they'd be bring that to the party and judging by the number of car threads already we're in for a wheely good time in this GB. Just to reassure you that it's the original version, here's the low quality decal sheet... TBH, the new version would be wasted on me and my eyesight so I perfectly happy with this edition, it's not like there's a shortage of parts... That's a tube of grease in there, or to be exact 'new grease'! I'm sure the instructions will cover it, or where to cover it, in due course... Already seriously adrift on this year's builds so won't be starting until deep into April (or I get disracted). I've got a good feeling about this GB, even with the mullets. I did see a real DeLorean on the A11 once, it was so noisy that I had to overtake it to get away, dread to think what it sounded like inside the cabin.

Welcome to Kendari Airport. The plane is ready, take your seat please. The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was first used in combat in August 1940 in China and accompanied Japanese pilots throughout the Second World War until its last day. It was the navy's primary fighter and not only, as it also surpassed the army's aviation machines with its performance. Even after the start of the war against the USA, it performed very well against American fighters. Excellent flying qualities such as fast climb, high manoeuvrability, long range and good visibility from the cockpit, together with experienced pilots, meant that their crews achieved great success over the Americans. This gave rise to the myth of the super fighter, which ultimately turned against the Japanese because the belief in the invincible Zeros caused delays in the development of their more modern successors. Many of the aircraft's advantages were due to its light weight, which was also bought with disadvantages such as poor armour, lack of self-sealing fuel tanks and low firepower. As time went on, the design from the beginning of the war did not stand up to competition to the increasingly modern american planes. The American tactic of using speed and altitude and not engaging in manoeuvring combat also did its part. In addition, the Japanese began to run out of experienced pilots. All this meant that the A6Ms was no longer a challenge to enemy planes and they began to be used more and more for suicide kamikaze attacks. This does not change the fact that the Zero fighter became legendary and remains to this day an icon of Japanese aviation and air operations in the Pacific during the Second World War. The model was made from Eduard's Profipack kit and depicts Lieutenant Kunio Kanzaki's plane from 1944 stationed at Kendari Airfield on Celebes Island. I also used Eduard's flaps, wheels and machineguns, EMP3D's valorisation kit and HGW's seatbelts for the build. This is my first finished aircraft model and I invite you to see the end result of my work with this kit.

Another post of another ROKAF type. This time a properly Korean built airframe, which I have tried to model as a TA-50 Block 1 variant of the KAI T-50. The Academy T-50 leans towards to toy side of the market, being snap fit; only coming with stickers; and lacking any landing gear, it's a bit of a shame for a 1/72nd modeller that it's so limited. For my build I heavily used parts from Academy's KF-16 kit, as the landing gear for each aircraft are very similar, but different and I'm well aware of this builds many inaccuracies. The TA-50 Block 1 variant was chosen as handily it shares the same tail as the T-50 and needed not too many modifications elsewhere. The wing tips were sawn off and replaced with AIM-9 rails, the upper antenna reshaped, and a probe added in front of the cockpit. I had added some AoA probes but they were a bit over scale and their snapping off turned into a happy accident. Decals were taken from the decently extensive KF-16's Cartograph sheet, and cut up to form the correct serial. I'm not happy with how poor I've ended up applying them however with a lot of silvering visible, I'll really have to take more care next time. Lastly, just when I thought all was done I unmasked the canopy to find a load of water stains on the inside, knowing I'd never be happy with it, I managed to pry/snap off the cemented canopy, and ordered a new kit to redo it properly (thankfully Academy kits are ridiculously cheap in Korea). Anyway, thanks for looking. Have a great day! Matt.

Indeed! Buy one! You know you want to… Thanks Johnny. No idea what the red button's for. Stopping? Weird. Mine seems to fit fine. Yes, I have just checked! Ah, thanks AW. Second coat of Ochre. Still nowhere near as dark as the scheme: Is it me or the paint? I'll put a ball in the bottle and shake it. Again. Getting ready for the, gulp, rigging: I'd forgotten I had the Bob's Buckles. I've looked up the instructions on Bob's website. Hmmm. Can I be bothered? These things are tiny: Johnny do you want these? I know you're making your own but PM me if you'd like me to pop them in the post.

I'm trying not to let, Geoff. It’s not easy sometimes. Primer. Yes, I did remember to mask the wingtip lights, thanks for asking. I always seem to get tape lifting on transparencies. I think it’s the particular manufacturer. I just need to remember to use the better sort in future. Now comes the fun part: working out the order of markings, stencils, paint and whatnot. It’s very tempting to return the thing to the Shelf of Doom for a spell.

As I'm co-hosting I suppose it is about time that I get my build thread up and running. If you have been following the proposal of this GB for a while then you might be aware that I made a promise that if we got through the bumfight that I would commit to building a subject that I have been wanting to do since it was first announced, that kit being KP's 1/48 Sukhoi Su-7U, a modified version of their old 1/48 Su-7 which enables you to build the two seat training version of this iconic Soviet strike fighter. You can also build it a s a single seater if you wish because the original kit is there as well as the extra bits needed for the trainer. Lets have a look at the rather good box art; All the parts still sealed in their plastic bags; The kit comes with three options, a Soviet one in a nice three colour camo scheme but that won't be happening as I have stopped building things with nasty red stars on them, a Polish one in an all over aluminium scheme, and a Czech aircraft in camo with large white bands and wingtips for taking part in a WarPac exercise, as shown on the box art. This is the one I'm most drawn to and it is shown better in this picture from the instructions; This will most likely be an OOTB build with the possible exception of a resin seat or two and maybe a resin rocket pod under each wing. If I completely loose my mind there's the possibility of it being joined by a single seater for which I have a resin cockpit, we shall see. Thanks for looking in. Craig.

Looks like the next few months is going to be busy. I have two entries in the Vietnam GB and am planning at least two for this one. My first entry will be Xtrakit's Hawker Hunter T7. I will be doing it in the ETPS Boscombe Down marking from 1989. More to follow................. George

This is my first submission, so please be gentle. It's the Italeri DC-3 kit with Leading Edge decals and and a Starfighter nose donated by my nephew. Pinocchio was used by the CAF for training pilots to use the Starfighter radar.

Philosophy maybe? I didn't hear the conversation so your guess is as good, etc. Four wise men captured in contemplation... I mentioned push rods I also mentioned removing all traces of the undercart applied over the preceding days. No you are right I didn't like it, so I hope, no intend redesigning my efforts with some greater accuracy (I'll explain, the struts were all over size thicknesses and because of that I removed some of the struts at which moment my little gremlin sneaked in with a comment "You know you wont like a bodge and need to do it properly!" He/she was right so here we are. At the upper fitting point I have measured careful like and added two anchor points from white plastic to mark the beginning. Now next can you all have a look around your modelling places for my little clear plastic protractor, I need to get this angle down on paper, then I will begin. This side on view (very rare in aircraft photography I believe) show the wheels aligned at 90º to the line of the fuselage which gives me a fighting chance of getting the strut angle near enough right which will be a damned good start From that I will be able to measure the upper hinge places and get the distances set. Where is that 'insert agricultural language here' protractor, anybody?

Thanks for the post Giampiero- I think this was from the Squadron Signal in Action book - it’s helpful but doesn’t tell the whole story 🙂 As discussed above there’s an awful lot of differences- the one that people fail to pick up on is the differences in the ‘birdcage’. The T-6 series is very cleverly designed- a Mr Kindelberger had a hand in it and if you look at a DC-3 in plan form you will see the similarities in wing and centre section shape. He was involved in the DC-1 and -2 before he moved to NAA. he was, no doubt, a genius. the centre section holds the undercarriage which retracts inwards, then a fuel tank each side aft of the gear. The fuel gauges are in the floor of the cockpit which is the top of the C/S with footboards like a Hurricane. Two large stress panels bolt underneath to enclose the tanks. the birdcage is a tubular structure welded and pumped full of lanolin to stop corrosion. The Harvard and T-6 had different birdcage bracing so at a distance even if it is the bare frame you can tell them apart. Also some have the welded support for the swivel rear seat mount and some do not depending on the variant. No kit manufacturer has even made this distinction. Floorboards/footboards are bolted to it- a torque tube links the sticks and the pedals (same as on the P-51 and B-25) are on hangers. the birdcage simply bolts to the C/S. the rear fuse monocoque bolts to the bird cage. The fin then bolts on to that and the tail planes (which are not handed and are identical as are the elevators) to that too. the clever part is that all the ancillaries hang off the birdcage. Down one side runs all the electrics, the other side is the hydraulics on a hydraulic shelf- there sits the throttle quads, trim wheels flap/ gear selector etc. each side is covered by a dzused side panel which runs the full length of both cockpits and is easily removable for access. Very cleverly designed. then forward of the birdcage sits a large engine mount behind which is the firewall, oil tank and ancillaries. People don’t appreciate the large distance from the firewall to the R1340 which is cowled in three parts. another clever bit is that there are no wing spars. The outer wings attach to a wing attach angle/ flange which runs round the edge of the C/S with a matched angle on the wing and they bolt together with no through spar. this is the same as the DC-3/C-47 and means that in essence it is set up for mass production in that the wings can be the last things to bolt on before being pushed out of the assembly line. the aircraft has C/S central flap and a flap on each wing. The wings are handed as are the wing flaps - but I can’t remember whether the ailerons are - I think they were. to fair in all the big bits there is a huge amount of filletery- round the tail feathers, wing fillets and panels round the area in front of the firewall behind the cowlings. A detail often missed is the small hole containing a circular tube with a ring on it. You pull this out as a footstep to work on it but also to hand crank the engine (the crank is stowed in the baggage compartment) The flap area is pretty large and has a significant impact on airspeed. I have a fair bit of time in the Six and they are big pussycats and quite responsive but have a poor reputation at low speed with everything dangling down- their dirty stalls are a real attention getter and they love to ground loop. They’re also a massive greenhouse in the summer and can get very hot inside. the forward canopy (inside roller bearings) slides over the fixed centre canopy the rear one (outside roller bearings) slides underneath the middle one. So all three canopies are differently sized. The rear turtleneck if a moveable one swings over the head of the rear pilot and slides forward under the rear canopy which itself is pushed under the central one. With a swivel seat you have a very clear if draughty field of view/fire . if Airfix do kit this 😉😉 then getting those canopies thin enough will be tricky- unless they do what they did with their Stuka and mould a set stowed/open there are 600 horses up front with a socking great 12D40 prop and there’s an awful lot of inertia there which will swap ends if you let it get away from you. they are delightful and charismatic aeroplanes and their reputation as the Pilot Maker is well known. You’ll struggle to find any non-WarPac country which hasn’t used a T-6 in its military at one stage. the Six I used to crew on was ex Haitian AF under the thoroughly unpleasant Papa Doc Duvalier - his airforce consisted of two Sixes and a P-51. Sorry about all this- it’s one of my pet subjects having researched it for years and still not got my head around it all- primary and secondary sources and turning spanner’s on em is my education rather than the bloke down the pub 🙂! TT

My second entry to the GB will be the Airfix Sea Harrier FRS.1 I was 16 and doing my Army Basic Training when the Falklands started. We all used to crowd around a 16 inch CRT TV in the corner of our Barrack room every evening to see what was happening. Being young lads it was exciting, but also very scary. More to follow including a bit of after market. George

Hi, With another Cobra Warrior looming I decided to get on with this previous ACMI participant, Austrian Air Force J-35OE Draken. Finished as No.12, of 1 Staffel, Zeltweg, and attempted to make look like how it appeared in 1997 at RAF Waddington for the exercises. Theres was no missiles or correct stores for this kit so i found a spare RB24 and created something looking vaguely like an ECM pod!!! Airbrushed using Mr Color Acrylics, with flory and Mig Ammo washes. Pitot tube was from Master (painted rather than decal) Decals are combination of the boxed Hase ones and the numbers are from Brent Air Decals, after a lot of searching!!! Those are on quite thick film, (so i cut the 2nd side ones much closer to the numbers etc) but i wanted a bog standard frame rather than one of the specials (this was supposed to be the red one). I also feel the wing numbers aren't quite as day-glo as i remember....... Kit went together quite nicely, any defects were my doing rather than its, like me losing one of the wing lights to the carpet monster 🤪 A few pics: Hasegawa 1.48 J-35OE Draken 12-4 by Jonathan Francis, on Flickr Hasegawa 1.48 J-35OE Draken 12-10 by Jonathan Francis, on Flickr Hasegawa 1.48 J-35OE Draken 14 by Jonathan Francis, on Flickr Hasegawa 1.48 J-35OE Draken 12-15 by Jonathan Francis, on Flickr Hasegawa 1.48 J-35OE Draken 12-16 by Jonathan Francis, on Flickr Hasegawa 1.48 J-35OE Draken 12-6 by Jonathan Francis, on Flickr Hasegawa 1.48 J-35OE Draken 12-2 by Jonathan Francis, on Flickr Thanks for looking Jon

From the Airfix Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialairfix/posts/pfbid036crwUkiDkSkqkNHh5pz2S56BiERpbrbp5w9AiNFCu3RxGUicvMhq9XmhvuHx2NPdl It's a picture from the front cockpit from C&CF Harvard Mk.IV with British civil registration G-BJST - https://www.t6harvard.com/uk-harvards/aj-841-wacky-wabbit/ A teaser for future North American T-6 Texan/Harvard kits ? A type that could perfectly fit in the Airfix range of aircraft kits... In 1/48th as in 1/72nd scales. Wait and see. V.P.

F-16B Hobbyboss 1/72 Modified seats, wings and fuselage riveted and detailed. Harpoon and HARM missiles modified and fins made from scratch. Ventral fuel tank from unknown kit and modified (a gift from other chilean modeller). Weapons from italeri kits. Fully painted with AK Real Colors. This is my F-16B Hobbyboss 1/72 painted in israeli color scheme. The kit was very very basic, and took a lot of time to build a decent representation of and IAF F-16B. I know the weapons might not be accurate to the model/year, but they look good and that's enough for me. Some photos from the building process are included in this post. I recommend this kit if you want something simple and cheap, or a starter kit as a gift. Greetings from Chile

Hi everyone. Finished this a few months ago and only just got round to photographing it. It's the fairly new Zvezda release which I was very pleased about when it was announced. Living in the shadows of Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge for the last 50 odd years, I've grown up with the sound of the Allison T56 so have become quite fond of the Herc, particularly the older K's. The kit went together without any issues and is naturally far superior to it's older competitors (much older from Airfix). I added an Eduard photo etch set in the cockpit, a set of resin wheels and the decals came from 26 decals. MRP and Alclad paints were used followed by a light oil wash and finished with an Alclad gloss cote with a matt cote on the walkways. I also added the aerials found on the early models which are not provided in the kit. Thanks for looking gazza l

Thanks Ian Anti-glare done: I think I'm ready for the cheat line and then a varnish coat pre-decals. Better check the wing fit soon. First?

Here's my entry for this groupbuild. Its hard to get more 80s than pop-up headlights and a turbocharger. The current plan is to go with SMS Salamanca Red, which seems just a touch darker than a standard red, and build it box stock. And obligatory sprue shots. Thanks for looking in, and I hope we all enjoy our builds, Justin.

I've used some self-adhesive flocking sheet for the front carpets, not least to cover up the uneven floor and its grooves. Completed interior. Interior and body united. After some hacking about and no small amount of glue, I've got the new Mazda wheels, brakes and suspension mounting points all working in harmony to give me the ride height I want. The car now has a positive rake, the front tyres are less than 1mm from the arch, and the back has some decent height in it. The wheels all do turn and still steer and none of the glue is visible even from underneath, so I'm calling that a win. Neither slammed nor safari, the ride height is exactly what I'd expect to see on a car of this era. To avoid upsetting this balance, I won't be trying to remove the wheels just to see what the original wheels looks like. 3/4 view of the same. Some decals are left to apply, door mirrors, mud flaps, number plates and such. Despite the bonnet, the car still does look like a Nissan Sunny right up until that glorious wing is added.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I present to you my next model.

I thought I'd use the 289 from an AMT '67 Mustang, bur on closer inspection, it won't do. The gearbox appears to be someone's idea of a Borg Warner T-10 . Those were used in earlier Mustangs, but by the '67 model year, they'd been replaced by Ford's Toploader, so AMT went a bit off-piste there. The Griffiths didn't have T-10s either, so I've ended up drawing a Toploader, with the early Fairlane/Sunbeam Tiger/Griffith tail housing. Yuck. Work in progress. Still needs the shift linkage rods.

The cruiser's hull is filled and sanded.

Decals on, next stop pin wash and tyres....

Decalling has been done (cobbled together from various sheets and the spares box) and flat coat has been successfully applied: It’s always a heart-in-the-mouth moment when the masking comes off, but I’m pleased to report it’s come out ok… A few little touch ups to do, and then it’ll be some weathering with oil and muck on the upper wings. More when there’s more! Tom

Presenting my entry to this group build: This is the recently re-issued kit from Tamiya that comes with a Motocompo folding scooter and middle aged man pretending to be a student. The sprue for the scooter isn't very well thought out and would involve seams and way too much masking for my liking (the car already requires a load for black trim), so I got the resin version from ZoomOn that is much more logically thought out. Also, I have the Aoshima Honda City Turbo II kit, so will use the spare Motocompo for that, when the time comes. The sprue shots... The car kit is quite basic, possibly originating from a motorised version looking at the rear axle area, and it has no hub or brake components at either end. 🤔 Now to the plan...! Obviously, I'm going to lower it and swap the wheels! I feel like this car need slamming on the floor with some aggressive camber and fat wheels/stretched tyres... BUT! Because this is the 80s, and that sort of nonsense doesn't exist yet, I'm going to refrain (and save that for the Turbo II ) and give it tasteful 35mm lowering springs with -1º of camber and a set of 1 inch wider, 15 inch (1in larger diameter) Work Equip 40s that were available at the time. In the process of creating the lowering/camber system, I'm planning to model the missing hubs and brakes and get rid of the metal axle and screws that hold the front wheels in favour of the current Tamiya wheel fastening system. Finally the colour scheme... and this is entirely inspired by @Toftdale's builds of a few months back. Specifically some shots of the paint in progress where the car looks pink. I thought the colour suited it so well, I'm going to paint this one, and the Motocompo, in Porsche Frozen Berry over pink primer from ProScale Paints. As you can see, the pink primer really 'pinks' it up a bit Anyway, that's it for now. I need to go and finish my Trabant for the 'Give Peace a Chance' GB. Thanks for looking! Martin

Meng's excellent pre-painted snap- and screw-together kit built as a break from soldering ancient white metal racing car kits! It's a really nice kit, if you like this sort of thing. Crisply moulded, astonishing fit and engineering, and the instructions are 100%-error-free, which as we all know is not always the case! Now I'd better go and screw that brace between the rear pannier cases back in place ;-( best, M.

Afternoon all, thought I'd document the process on this one as I've been very much looking forward to it. Will be gifted to a friend upon completion (although he doesn't know it yet). I'm in danger of running out of space for completed models until I figure out a suitable wall mounting mechanism, so as I near the end of each build, I'll send pictures of my stash to an unsuspecting chum or family member under the guise of 'Hey, you get to decide what I build next', then make them accept it upon completion. Nobody has turned down the surprise gift of an unasked for plastic aeroplane yet, and it means I get to keep building, which is important. The accidental purchasing at the last Telford got a bit out of hand, so I've imposed a moritorium on kit buying until one of three conditions are met: 1. I have just five unbuilt kits left, or 2. HKM releases their 1/32 B-26 Marauder, or 3. An injection moulded 1/32 Me410 appears. I've allowed myself one wild card exemption just in case I find an Airfix 1/24 Hellcat or Typhoon anywhere, but apart from that, its just aftermarket and consumeables in the shopping baskets. Anyway, enough waffle and on with the build. It seems that anything which can be said about the kit, has already been said, and sprue shots have been pored over in forensic detail, so I'll give that bit a miss, except to say that it's an absolute belter of a kit. Immediately ran into a problem, as the new version of my trusty Halfords grey primer is, to say the least, somewhat suboptimal... Fortunately there's a gaming/miniatures shop just up the road, so I availed myself of this: Which I think TBH is a bit better than the original Halfords stuff I've been using for decades. With that mild irritation overcome, the first step was drilling. Lots of drilling. And then on with the cockpit; I cut out the transfers to reduce the carrier film, and was pretty happy with the results. Found a tiny bit of etch in the spares box for this, not entirely sure what it is, but the transfers are phenomenal. Things came together pretty quickly, although the very first thing I glued together I managed to put upside down. And all the subs ready to go. I went with the HGW belts as usual, fiddly as hell but a great product. And it builds up into this. The kit really is rather good! And that's about it for now. More soon I hope, as there really aren't many bits left once the cockpit's done! Thanks for looking, Peter

Another of those projects that just kind of grows as you go along. This started as a "something to do while paint dried" on another project. I've had the Matador models Churchill Mk IV, V, VI conversion for years on my shelf, but it's rather poor quality casting and necessity of sacrificing a Matchbox Churchill AVLB kit kept me from doing it. Well, I finally dragged it off the shelf and cleaned it up, straightened some warped parts and located an old Airfix Churchill Mk VII I had saved for parts as it was also 1/76 scale. I mated the Matador resin sponson sides with the Airfix hull, then put one of the Matador kit's guns, in this case the 75mm, into a spare Matchbox AVLB turret I now had, cut down the Airfix track covers and Bob's your Uncle, I had a Churchill Mk IV (75). The Churchill Mk IV was initially armed with a 6 pdr. gun but later they re-armed many with their 75mm, making the Mk IV (75), not to be confused wth their Churchill NA 75. Being as it's made of a jumble of parts from three different kits, it turned out way better than I thought it would.

https://www.facebook.com/share/15v31Ye54G/ "Today we have a big reason for joy and satisfaction. The first test mouldings of the 1/72 scale Curtiss H-75 have arrived from the tooling workshop and they look very good! I have to say it: never before have our first test sprues been so close to the final product. Of course, these are still test injections, and only the first ones. The purpose of making them is to check how the mould injects, where there is a risk of short shots or excess flash, how the moulding comes out (or doesn't come out) of the mould. Usually at this stage the mouldings are not yet suitable at all for test assembly of the model to see how the fit is. And this time - as you can see from the photo - the quality is already sufficient to put the model together quite decently! This is very pleasing. The parts of the model are fine, we have a lot of nice small details, correct shapes, thin and even panel lines, the trailing edges do not cause any problems with moulding despite being realistically thin. The glazing is also very thin and beautiful. Although we injected at low pressure, there is hardly any sink marks at the initial testing stage. The test assembly showed that the fit of the parts is very good. Now we still have to complete the mould with many of the so-called convex engraving elements, i.e. what on the model are small, sharp details protruding from the surface - such as the hinges, the ribs on the control surfaces, the convex air intakes, the screw heads, the walkway on the wing, the instrument panel details, the rails of the sliding canopy, the mounting and positioning pins, the ribs of the engine cylinders.... This will take some time, as it requires precision, but is a normal and usually trouble-free stage of the work, where there are unlikely to be any surprises. In the meantime, the tooling workshop will also be working on technical issues, such as the final adjustment of the injection pressure and the fine-tuning of ejectors to ensure that the finished moulded part can be pulled out smoothly, so that production can proceed quickly and without disruption. We are very pleased with the quality of these test mouldings. It took a lot of work on our part and on the part of the tooling shop to achieve this, which is why the model is a slightly delayed one, but we have taken to heart your feedback, which you have shared with us in emails and here on Facebook - that it is better to wait a little longer to have a good model than to rush, risking that the quality will be inferior. We are already seeing this strategy was correct. All this gives us hope that we will be able to start production by the end of March, and in the meantime, we will gradually show more aspects of this wonderful model of a beautiful aircraft!"

Work continues, slow but steady. Wing halves have been joined together, after much, much sanding. But still probably not enough ... I threw in the towel before I was buried under dust. Leftover sprue was used as an internal splint in the wings, or maybe more correctly a 'spar'. 3 per wing, running the length of each section. Now I have started to add the dihedral to the lower wing. Appoximately 9mm at the tip. I simply sawed through the top plane at the join, and then ran sandpaper in it until it was wide enough to allow the wingtip to be lifted the desired amount. Then glued back together. Very crude! Hopefully I'll have time to do the other side tonight. No thought has been given to adding wing detail yet, other than filling in the existing trench lines with sprue glue. I did add narrow 0.5mm strips of wafer thin plastic card to the tailplane, but really wasn't happy with it, just looked heavy handed. Most of it has now been sanded off while I rethink. On the subject of glue, I was getting increasingly frustrated that the brush on my Tamiya Extra Thin didn't go down to the bottom of the pot. Am I the last person on Britmodeller to realise the blinkin' brush was adjustable?? 😤 🙄 Now I have pulled it out to the correct length it's a joy to use again. I can't believe I suffered for so long though! Setting the wing dihedral by Mike, on Flickr Rather too heavy wing detail by Mike, on Flickr In other news, this young chap has just emerged from his usual 5 month nap, a sure sign that Spring is definitely on the way! And usually a sign that I start to spend even less time at the bench ... but lets keep up the pace on this vacform and see the job through! I do need to get out more though ... Current health niggles have highlighted I've managed to put on over a stone since Eddy disappeared in October. Keeping my fingers out of the biscuit barrel is only halting the weight gain, I need to find the motivation to start putting miles on the bikes as well. I'm far too tight to spend money on jeans a size up! That money could go towards kits ... Eddy is awake! by Mike, on Flickr And talking of bikes, my commute home last night, over the River Itchen a stones throw from the Supermarine Factory where Southamptons were built. Not a bad view! Glorious sunset after a hail storm by Mike, on Flickr More when there's more.

Gradually getting closer to completion! Today I had lots of small jobs to complete, including some last minute additional decals. These were mainly the many extra white line makings that are not on the decal sheet. In addition I drew out the "Armamento" panel in Photoshop and printed that. You can see it below. It is now installed on the port side of the cockpit. I also got some of the minute red lining marks inside the intakes. Other than decalling I have painted a length of 0.3mm rod that I hope I can glue around the inner lip of the canopy to represent the seal. In reality this was variously dark shades or a bright orange. I've gone with the latter. The bombs also got their yellow "nose" rings applied. I hope to get another gloss varnish on in a day or two and then she can sit and dry before I tackle weathering. This will be predominantly on the undersides and undercarriage, where there was more likely to be dirt and grime. The upper sides tended to be clean but faded. Back soon. Martin

Only a short session at the bench tonight. I fitted the kit supplied mask parts to the undercarriage bays and used the closed bomb bay doors part to mask the bomb bay. I used a glass fibre pen to remove excess filler here and there and to clean up one or two places were the TET had run and marked the surfaces. While I was at it I carefully measured and marked the positions for the three coloured identification lights. Airfix supply them as decals and the placement guide has the red light immediately behind the bomb bay, next to the narrow target towing fairing, and the green and orange further back. This is correct for a TT.35 but for a B.XVI all three should be under the rear fuselage. I drilled out three shallow depressions which are going to get a drop of chrome, appropriate clear colours and then a Clearfix lens each. I think I have stolen that from @Dunny. So far so good. Then I started thinking about masking the canopy to paint the frames, inside and out. Oh. Oh piffle! I am sure those stress fractures were not there yesterday. So now the "plan" is to watch crime dramas for the rest of the evening. At some point I will use that cracked canopy to mask the cockpit so that priming can continue and throw myself at the mercy of the Airfix spares department for a replacement. Ho hum. Murray.

Well thats the understatement of the year plus the MK1 had fabric covered side panels and rear fuse! It was basically a BC-1! I was part of a team restoring several for nearly 20 years - a Harvard IIB a IV and a T-6G (former T-6D which was MDAP'd to the French and saw combat in Algeria - helpfully Italeri reboxed the 1/48 Occidental kit in her markings - indeed my Avatar is a nose art design I did for her - Texan Tomcat - because the French called their T-6s le Tomcat - all done in the 'Anytime Baby' F-14 patch pose - note this one has a single tail - the F-14 cartoon has two - and the character is Tom Cat from Tom and Jerry - the six gun from the patch as he's a Texan..). Some T-6/Harvard parts are interchangeable (or can be made to fit with percussive assistance) but an awful lot aren't. One of the biggest changes being in the rear fuselage monocoque - the 45 degree cutout in the baggage door is there for a reason, as it shows the internal mod which enables the rear seat to swivel rearwards (so the trainee gunner has somewhere for his knees -without it you better be an amputee). Plus different top cowling configs, some with cowl gun, some with wing gun (but rarely both) and gun camera, different Mae Wests, (the leading edge wheel covers) the Harvard and Texan had slightly different centre sections too. then you have different instrument panels (they are TOTALLY different - I have several at home) , control sticks (spade grip, B-5 or just a wooden stick for the rear pit some of which were removable - ditto) then additional weapons panels if appropriate eg for French Tomcats or USAF Mosquitoes. Then different radio fit, different types of tyres, aerial fit, exhaust pipes (long one with heater for Harvard use )etc etc etc The canopy configs are barred sides (with or without breakout panels), barred tops, or single panels or a combination of both, fixed longer turtledeck (Harvard), fixed shorter turtledeck (T-6) or openable turtle deck canopy or even an all perspex fixed version on the J. My favourite factoid about those is the good folk at the Italian Air Force worked out that the side windows from a Fiat Panda could be made to fit and were safer (Triplex)! then add 10-15 years service mix em all up in the hangar so each one is different.... The NA-16 lineage runs all the way up to NA-197 over 20 years. Its an absolute minefield and is enough to drive anyone completely, utterly, fur-lined surround-sound ocean-going mental. Ask me how I know. Wanders off mumbling... TT

Thanks Tomo, Terry, Giorgio, Rob, Ed, Paul and James. Thanks John. To quote Beryl from Bristol "What, another one?!" My airbrushes and booth were packed away for the move and I've sort of got into the habit… So, internals. I chose a punch that matched the surround on the i/p: Anyone tried to handle 1.4mm transfers? Of course not, you're not that silly. After, er, quite some time: I've tried to replicate the dope, like a dope: Perhaps a bit excessive but hey, I'm new to this WWI stuff. Note also that I've opened up the hole for the gun. Close up: I removed the pilot as he'll slip in later and it'll simplify masking. Can you see the i/p? Of course not. That's 30 minutes I won't get back but we know it's there. Crooked dials and all.

Hi folk's 80's scheme.80's kit,Esci's 1/48 Jaguar came with a useless decal sheet so killing two birds with one stone ordered AM set which included an RAF Phantom for the GB later in the year.

Just got back from the Doctor's, he said my sugar was too high - how the heck did he know which shelf I keep it on???

On to the next construction phase. The plan is to breathe a little life into the deck in the form of a crew. And this is where the next 3D print comes into play. This time I’m using the figures from ION Model, which I won in a competition with my Bismarck. After an initial inspection, the quality is excellent. Then I started looking for photos showing IJN sailors in their uniforms, like the following image: Wow, much easier to paint than the DKM guys. I had a few leftover Kriegsmarine sailors and wanted to use them to save on figures. The first ones were supposed to go behind the gun ports, where they’re almost invisible. So I shaved his head and punched out flat caps from styrene. A small dot of superglue on the top hair, and the Japanese sailor is complete. Painted and ready to go on deck. To the cannon sailors, ahrrrrg… Fire free… And so the lid can go on. And the deck portside. Aged and found to be good. You don’t see much of the figures, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. The hint of the sailors at work below deck adds depth to the whole thing.

Born from Erprobungskommando 25, Jagdgruppe 10 was a unit tasked with studying the various tactics for using the WGr.21 rockets; some of its aircraft featured a beautiful yellow-red snake running along the entire fuselage. The model (Hasegawa 1/72, to which I only made a few small changes) represents the FW190 A-7/R6 of Uffz. Gerlach, of the 3. Staffel, operating from Redlin between 1944 and early 1945. The paint scheme, as always done only with a brush, is in the classic RLM 74/75/76 scheme. The colours used are Gloy and the decals Eagle Cals EC35. Model completed in 2002. The undersurfaces Hope you like. Thanks for viewing Giampiero Piva