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Very nice work on this AEG... I've not long finished this kit as well. I got the 'early' variant but finished it as a 'late' version using the kit pieces. I had to buy alternative sheets of lozenge transfers as the WnW markings are the larger, chunkier lozenges. I agree that the engines are models in their own right. I did find the rigging between the fuselage and engine nacelles to be extremely fiddly, although very eye-catching when everything is complete. You've done well with this kit, especially as it is time-consuming, but the end result is excellent. Well done... :-). Regards, Paul

Hi Dave... I've never built a Zvezda kit, but I've certainly got an A-Model kit in my collection - the military-version Luftwaffe Do26; certainly, it was challenging, but it is absolutely light years ahead of the old Mach2 offering, and for me, with a bit of perseverance, a lovely model when done. The other thing I like about the A-Model Tu-134 is that it's in 1/72 scale, which would certainly make it stand out in the display cabinet! 🙂 Regards, Paul

Ah, Interflug... takes me back to Gatwick airport, 3 August 1980... I used Interflug through the East German travel agency Berolina for my two-week package holiday to see 'the other side', as I'd already been to West Germany twice. Admittedly, it was the Tu-134 then, but the colour scheme always brings back memories :-). A-Model do the Tupolev, which isn't my area of German aviation, but I am always tempted to buy it, for posterity. There seems to have been a tri-motor version, but I think mine was the twin-engined variant. I do wish I could find out the exact version and codes of the aircraft I flew in. It seems not to have been commonplace to see a Tu-134 at Gatwick, or anywhere else, for that matter - they seem to have been thin on the ground as opposed to the Il-62. Notwithstanding, a lovely build, Dave... very eye-catching... :-). Regards, Paul

Exquisite work... both are lovely and beautifully executed. Regards, Paul

That's a well-executed kit. Weathering is excellent and you've got the splinter pattern absolutely perfect in its layout and presentation. I had to fight with the side windows as well on my kit but as you'll perhaps know, the trick is to insert them, sand them flat and 'revive' them before painting. My only slight criticism of Airfix with this kit is the arrangement of the nose transparencies. I still think the Italeri '111' had by far and away the best looking and easiest to build/modify nose glazing albeit needing some careful re-alignment on the underside; their respresentation of a one-piece, superbly engineered central nose section is the ideal offering for me, as you don't/didn't have to be faffing around at the sides trying to align other transparent sections. Their upper rear canopy section and separate nose turret was the best for nigh-on forty years prior to Airfix's new kit. Hasegawa's was decent, but the canopy was too thick for my liking compared to the Italeri one and the fuselage seemed more akin to an expensive cigar, rather than the sleek, elegant lines of the Italeri model, which Airfix have also rendered very nicely. Unlike Bigglesof266 above, I jumped at the chance of an He111 in the late 1960s, drooled over seeing a Revell version built up and on display in a toy shop when I was on holiday, happy as punch with the Matchbox version as it was an early 'H' variant, and absolutely spoilt with the Italeri kit on its arrival... happy memories. The best '48' scale offering is, for me, undoubtedly ICM's range of '111' kits.

Nice work, Colin... a vey good end result. In answer to your question about why the Airfix kit has the external fuel tanks, I would guess that it may be because late-produciotn Ju87B-1s were the first to have the additional fuel lines in the wings to be able to use external fuel tanks. A small but important detail is that the exhaust pipes on late-production B-1s were the ejector variant, as later standardised on the B-2 sub-type, not the earlier 'stub' exhaust pipes, and sometimes that can cause some confusion. Regards, Paul

Alan, I echo the comments of others here, and would only add that this is both a very sophisicated and elegant looking end result. 'Il Gobbo' was always one of my favourite aircraft designs and you have captured it's beautiful lines expertly. It is a real pleasure to see such a high-class finish - you're modelling skills are evidently many and manifest... superb work, utterly superb. Kindest regards, Paul

Excellent work on this kit. If ever there was a very good reason to consume chocolate - is there ever a bad reason? - then this is it! A very nice finish to a rather unusual model. Well done... :-). Regards, Paul

Beautiful... ;-).

Thanks, Eamonn... much appreciated. Regards, Paul

Aargh...! Jean, what a shame about your collapsed shelves and the partial destruciton of your collection. You had some really nice kits there, including the Italian aircraft. Your Dornier looks great. I built the Revell kit and also had issues with fitting the CMK engines but it looks decent. Hopefully we may see some more of your handywork in future. Regards, Paul

Thanks again, guys... :-) Paul

Thanks, guys, for your comments... much appreciated :-). Regards, Paul

Hi, guys... This is my last kit for 2020, and it's a refurbishment of an old favourite. I bought this kit in 1990, although I used an article in a modelling magazine from 1985 to make some basic improvements at the time. It has been repainted twice since then, this being the third and hopefully, the last. Perhaps the modelling gods will give us a more up to date kit in the coming years. Anyway, I stripped off the old camouflage and markings, right back tothe gaudy coloured plastic which this company became renowned for. I wanted to make the later version, the Do18G with the cannon installed in the rear fuselage turret. Matchbox gave the option for making this variant, but the turret left an awful lot to be desired, it having been made to fit the same space as the MG position, rather than having been provided with a fairing so as to accommodate a better representation of this assembly. I also added on various bits and pieces from the spares box and acquired a Kora beaching carriage to finish off the revamped look. So, to business... I had long-since filled in the trenches of the upperwing and engine cowling panels and had no intention to rescribe, either then back in the day or now, although I did leave the underside panel lines intact... no, I don't know why either. I removed the seats in the cockpit, gave them a passing coat of paint and attached some makeshift, homemade seat belts. I slightly and carefully widened both openings for the weapons, the nose MG position being furnished this time round with the insert from the Italeri He111 dorsal MG position, which also includes an integral seat. The MG mount was made from fuse wire. In the first image below, the internals of the aft turret have been removed from a Revell Fw200C-4 Condor kit, including the cannon, and the transparent turret can be seen test-fitted prior to building up the sides of the fairing. So here, the fairing to the turret has been made. This was done by using a small part of two upperwing engine nacelles - the rounded rear tip - from an Italeri Me323 kit, inserted under either side of the turret overlap, and padded out with filler, which would later be sanded smooth. Strake lines for the upper fuselage were made from stretched sprue. You can see that both the fuselage and to the left, the wing, have now received an undercoat of pale grey in preparation for starting the camouflage. Once happy with the turret fairing, I added in two upperwing exhaust outlets for the front engine; the outlets for the rear engine had been made years back by hollowing out six circular openings either side of the rear set of cowling intakes; when using the magazine article all those years ago, it suggested the two poorly moulded intakes, sitting one in front of the other, should be removed and four put in instead, but I have since learned that not all versions had four intakes in this position, therefore later in the build, I was obliged to remove the front two as they didn't properly represent my chosed variant. The camouflage greens are from the Humbrol Luftwaffe-specific range, although I'm not a fan of the darker shade straight out of the tin, and always mute it somewhat by mixing it with the lighter shade. I thinned but did not replace the flap/aileron attachment pins. Once the paint scheme was complete, a couple of coats of floor polish as varnish were applied and once dry, the markings went on and varnish applied again before a blackwash was put on and left to dry slightly before the excess was removed. This gives a slightly weary look which I quite like. Again, the aft turret transparency was test-fitted and a DF loop was made from fuse wire and sometime thereafter attached between the turret and the fin leading edge. The canopy was provided from the relevant Falcon vacuform set and any small misalignments were carefully tidied up. Some time thereafter a few coats of a homemade satin mix were applied and this give the model a lovely dull sheen; all of the small antennae were then re-attached, and the main struts supporting the wing were re-rigged using elasticated thread. The propellor blades were also sourced from the previously-mentioned Fw200 kit as they were more slender, and a pointed spinned was fitted to the rear propellor. The one you see will have to suffice until I can get a better offering that will cover the exposed area between the propellor backplate and the spinner. The small rudders under the fuselage were also re-attached at this time. For a little bit of added interest, two small bombs were used from the spares box - previously part of an old Airfix Ju87 - and the RATO units were taken from a Dragon Ar234 jet bomber kit. So, now to the beaching carriage... a nice item from Kora, made from resin, but sadly, no instructions as to where the pieces should go and only a sketch of the carriage once built, was provided. I had to consult the internet to see how things should go together, and another modeller provided the basis of something approaching correct in his build article. In real life, I imagine there was sifficient weight ahead of the centre of gravity to ensure this aircraft did not tilt backwards and off the end of the carriage, as there was no rear support for its rear fuselage; in the world of the modeller, however, the kit is too tail-heavy so I attached a small transparent support to the back of the carriage where it sits discreetly and largely unseen. Sadly, I also have to rely on a piece of Blue Tac under the small front wheel of the carraige to ensure the model stays put on it. If I had realised this was going to be a problem, I would have inserted some type of weight into the upper fuselage opening prior to attaching the wing and sponson, and pushing it as far forward behind the cockpit bulkhead as possible to ensure the kit was front-heavy. Hindsight is a great thing, I suppose... And finally, two photos to finish, showing the completed model. All markings were sourced from my spare transfers box with the exception of the unit emblem, which was printed onto white-backed transfer paper, sealed using Halford's car laquer and then water-slid into position like any other waterslide transfer. Due to the amount of laquer I apply, the transfer is sometimes a little reluctant to move from the backing paper, so this is a delicate job and patience must take precedence. Also remember your face and eye covers when using the laquer in a well-ventilated area. So that's us done... this was an enjoyable kit to revamp and it represents two weeks' work. I hope you like the end result as much as I do. Keep safe and here's hoping 2021 will be a better year for all. Regards, Paul

Dave... overdone? Who cares, that's a superb finish...! And in our part of the world, snow and wintery weather won't be too far away, I imagine... Regards, Paul

Very smart, Fuad... well done. Regards, Paul

Dmitry... you really need to ditch the psychiatrist. There isn't anything wrong with you if you can turn out this level of modelling; smart idea, clean build and superb paintwork on that wonderful colour scheme. Very well done... 😉 Regards, Paul

Tony... I've just seen this thread, and the wonderful photos of how your collection used to look in the basement before the flood... what a fantastic collection that was, easily several hundred kits in view! I know you said some of them were old, but they all looked excellent. It was like a model shop you would have found on any High Street when I was a youngster, a veritable Aladdin's Cave. I cannot imagine how distraught you must've been when you saw the damage. I'm really pleased, though, that you've got new shelving in place, and none of us modellers need an excuse to fill shelves with kits... ;-). I also liked the photo in your earlier post of the cabinet in what looked like your living room? A lovely cabinet, never mind the contents. Did those survive? I do hope so. I wish you well in restocking the shelves, and the enjoyment of doing so. One last question...does your wife take commissions in shelving-building? I may need someone with her DIY skills in the not-too-distant future... ! Best of luck, Paul

Smart work, Gary... I like the MG on the frame above the wing. And you're right, it is a joy to build. This was my first WnW kit a few years back and a good choice to start with. Well done on your handiwork; very nice. Regards, Paul

Again, excellent work. Regards, Paul

For such a small scale, that's a very well finished model... I struggle with hand-painting 1/72 Do17 canopies, so I can only imagine how much more difficult doing that in 1/144 scale is! A smart finish indeed... well done. Regards, Paul

I can only agree with the other contributors here... a leisurely stroll down memory lane indeed. I grew up in a small town on the west coast of Scotland and in the late 60s, I remember walking past the newsagents almost daily heading to and from school, and eyeing this kit up as it sat displayed in the shop window. I always liked the box art, and for many a long year, it was the only '200' available but in amongst a plethora of 109s and 190s, it was certainly a breath of fresh air. You've done an excellent job with this offering, and the colour scheme is spot on... well done. Regards, Paul

Any update as to when this kit may be released? Thanks, Paul

Smart work, and a well-executed colour scheme... well done. Regards, Paul

Great work, Fuad... this is a nice kit to build, and you have done it justice. Well done... ;-). Regards, Paul