sunray

You are spot on the money as I have a Pucara by Special Hobby as well and the sprues are identical. With the Special Hobby one you get some photo etch and resin seats but because this is going to be a flying display I decided to use the Airfix edition and save the Special Hobby one for another day as I will be building another one of these.

The kit decals aren't the best so I will using a set from Hannants and the pilots will be from a Revell set if they fit. Anyway here we go.The kit has recessed panel lines and no locating pins. Also after dry fitting a few of the parts the fit isn't the best but thats the price you pay for doing an old Airfix kit. The first job I did was to workout where I was going to attach the bolt in the fuselage for the stand which wasn't a problem as it is going to go near or enough in the middle of the wing roots. Before that I added a small of squared plastic rod to give the cockpit floor support a bit more strength and to act as a guide the keep the support vertical.I did the same for the support in the nose wheel well.While it was easier to get to I closed up the nose wheel well using scrap bit of plastic to support the nose wheel doors. Next I used a pair of calipers to find the centre of the fuselage.Then using a 4mm drill I made the hole for my M4 bolt.Then I did a bit of test fitting.As the kit plastic is a bit soft I added another bit of scrap plastic to give the plastic around the bolt a bit more strength and to make the level area where the head of the bolt will sit to give a better joint.I then stuck it all together with quick drying epoxy.The epoxy gives a strong and tidy joint.The support or marker for the cockpit rear bulkhead required a bit of help.So I added a touch more plastic to both sides of the fuselage halves to help as a guide for the bulkhead.While I was waiting for all the glue to cure I moved my attention to the wings which were a good fit.Now for the fuselage which wasn't a good fit. The fuselage halves were warped but when pushed together they weren't any large gaps. To attach the halves I decided to glue them in stages. I started at the tail. As I have said before there are no locating pins so I used the panel lines of the fuselage halves as a guide. So I lined up the panel lines on the tail section and I clamped the tail fin. Then I applied the Tamiya Extra Thin. I waited until the glue had a good bond on the tail then I moved down the fuselage ensuring that the join was rock solid before pulling the halves of the next section together, clamping them and gluing them together. As I came nearer to the wing root I taped in the cockpit floor\nose wheel well section in place and again pulling in the fuselage halved I clamped them together. Luckily they dropped in quite well and again I glued in position. The problem I had was no matter how I tried there was a big step on both sides of the cockpit\fuselage wall where it joins the cockpit floor\nose wheel section. (if you know what I mean). To get around this I decided to try and balance the amount of step on each side then when I came to fill and sand them down they would look the same. So using my homemade Tamiya Extra Thin filler I applied a thin layer to start to build the lower step in the fuselage up. I waited over night for it to harden then I sanded it and I applied another layer. I kept this up until the fuselage sides were level. The downside of doing it this way apart from the time was that you lose a bit of detail but this can be added later. I would of took some photo's but I couldn't find my camera. Anyway while I was waiting for the filler to cure I ran so filler down the main fuselage seam lines to fill any gaps and I sanded them smooth.Once all this was done I added the rear cockpit bulkhead using the guides I installed earlier then I attached the wings. Luckily I found my camera so I can show you the result.As you can see there is a bit of a gap at both wing joints. So as "Blackadder" would say "bugger". At first I though that one wing would be bigger than the other because one gap is wider than the other and it would put the balance of the aircraft out but when I measured the actual wing parts one was smaller and it balanced out the wings, if that makes sense. So that was that problem solved. To sort out the gaps in the wings I just used plastic shims glued in the gaps then once the glue has cured, I cut the waste away and sanded them down.Now for the tail plane.To attach the elevators wasn't a hard job. All I did was to make my own locating pins out of copper wire. The good thing about the copper wire is as well as supporting the elevators you can bend it helping with alignment. So armed with my copper wire and drill I made a hole in one of the elevators and using CA glue I attached the wire.Then I cut down the wire.I then aligned the elevator with the tail and I used the copper pin to mark the tail so I had something to follow when drilled a hole in the tail. I didn't drill the hole all the way through in case I made a mistake. Happy with the location I drilled another hole in the elevator and glued in another copper pin.I marked the tail again but this time I drilled the hole all the way through.

Thanks Carius. You are right about the Eduard set. I will be using the kit tracks as I couldn't get my hands on a Bronco set. I normally make a stand from oak flooring the same way I have previously.

Thanks guys. I had a rest from the photo etch and I had a play with the wheels. First I tidied them up.Then using my dremel I sanded the edges and with them a nice and round I used my razor saw on them to add a bit of damage to the wheels.All I did was to put random cuts into the wheel then I lightly sanded them and finally I gave the affected areas a tiny coat of Tamiya Extra Thin glue to remove any sharp edges.Now back to the photo etch. Eduard instructions being easy to follow I proceeded to work on the jack and the sledge hammer.First I cleaned up the parts as per the instructions.Then I started on the photo etch.I used CA glue to attach the photo etch and plastic parts.After this I added one or two more bits.

I have never built one of these tanks before so I here is my entry. As you will see I have brought the Eduard photo etch set as well to add a bit of detail.First job was to clean up the upper and lower hull parts which didn't take too long then I filled the holes in the lower hull. I also started to remove the plastic detail off the upper hull ready for the photo etch.To do this I just used a needle file for the moulded detail, a razor saw for the storage box and a knife for the plastic grills.I also used a dremel to thin down the mud guards.As this is an old kit I decided to fill in the gaps in the mud guards underneath where the moulded box detail. To do this I used scrap bits of plastic and plastic sheet.I filled any small holes as well with homemade filler and I added plastic sheet where the grills are going to be to make the hull light tight. While I was waiting for the glue and filler to cure I assembled the wheels.When I was happy I started to assemble the hull as per the Tamiya instructions which was straight forward.The turret went together next without any problems.Now for a bit of photo etch and a tiny bit of scratch building. I attached the photo etch for the mud guards and grids with CA glue and then I bent the photo etch for the exhaust muffler and used CA glue to attach that. When I had a look at the kit part for the exhaust pipe I though I would have a go and see if I could make a better pipe myself. All I used was a piece of copper wire which was roughly the same thickness as the kit part. I clamped the copper wire in a vice then I flat the end with a file. I marked the centre with a metal scriber and then I slowly drilled out the centre.The problem I had with my first attempt was that when I tried to bend the pre-drilled copper to the required shape the copper sides of the now copper pipe would start to collapse. So take two. This time I bend the copper first then I drilled it and that worked a lat better.All I had to do was then cut it to size and fit it. To make the exhaust from copper wire was really easy to do. I only had two attempts and I found the copper easier to drill than plastic. If you have a go and you will see what I mean. Anyway here is the pipe attached.Next was a bit more photo etch to do. This time on a box.I removed the detail.I then started on the frame and here are the tools I used.Then just checking the fit.Then I added the handles and a few other things.Then on the hull it went.

Thanks chaps. Thanks Skip. The Vallejo Dark Green works quite well but I still would add a drop of flow improver to you colour cup on your airbrush to keep the needle clean. As for the colour, here are a few photo's I took at Duxford last year so you can compare.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments which are most appreciated as always.

Here is my attempt at this excellent kit.

Here is my go at this kit. The full build is at http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235015412-172-airfix-tsr2-takes-flight/

Thanks mate and I am happy to say that it is finished! I added a touch of exhaust smoke and a bit of dry brushing then a coat of satin varnish to seal and tone down the finish. I then added the aerial cable and made the stand.

Here is my go at the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk.1. The full build is at http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235014214-148-airfix-supermarine-spitfire-mki-in-flight/

Thanks guys. On with the paint.I used Vallejo metalizer for the exhaust. Then I gave it a few coats of Tamiya X22 Clear, sanding between coats.I add the decals and gave it another clear coat. Then I made up an oil pin wash and on it went.

Thanks Simon. I gave the Spitfire a few coats of Tamiya X22 Clear slightly sanding between coats and then on went the decals.I used Micro Sol on the decals to settle them down. While that was doing its stuff I moved my attention to the antenna and pitot tube. For the antenna I decided to make one from scrap photo etch sprue just cut into shape and filed down to finish. I used the kit part as a template and I attached it with CA glue.I made the pitot tube the same way using a piece of small brass tubing as well.To attach the tube to the photo etch I taped the parts to a piece of MDF to hold and align them. Them I joined them with solder.Then I attached the pitot tube with CA glue as before.They took less than 10 minutes to make and they were made from just stuff knocking around my bench. I proceeded to hand paint them, I attached the prop and then gave the Spitfire another coat of clear to seal everything.I made up an oil wash and I added it to the panel lines.

Thanks Hatty, the worrying thing about it is, that is actually my normal handwriting. I know what you mean though and thanks for the post which is most appreciated. Thanks. The finished article can be seen at http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235002868-the-bus-that-went-to-the-great-war/& and also Airfix did an article on the build which can be seen at http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/new-b-17g-artwork-takes-inspiration-from-the-past/

Thanks chaps. The canopies on the kit are clear so I decided to tint them with yellow ink lightly sprayed on the inside of the canopies.I have used the ink once before spraying the acrylic rods on my Red Arrows display which is one the forum and as you can see the ink dulls the plastic. To bring back the shine and make them more transparent I dipped them in Klear.I think it worked quite well.The problem I had with the canopies were that they were just too wide for the fuselage. To get around this I glued the canopies to the fuselage with PVA and then I used the homemade filler again made from Tamiya Extra Thin cement with chopped up bit of grey sprue melted in it. I used grey sprue because the interior of the cockpit was grey. This didn't fog the clear plastic, gives a strong bond and allows you to fill and sand. I didn't use it on the front canopy were it joins the windscreen there I stuck with the PVA.I wanted to get the canopies as flush with the fuselage as I could so I filled any gaps, left it over night to harden and sanded.Then on with the masking using tape and masking fluid.Now on to paint. I primed it and I noticed I missed a gap in the bomb bay doors. To fill this I just cut a strip of plastic, glued this in the gap and sanded it when I gave the whole kit a rub down. I then I did a bit of pre-shading.

Thanks Steve. The next job I did on the Spitfire was to mask off the canopy using thin masking tape and masking fluid.Then came the nav light and landing light.Before I primed the kit I inserted small pieces of foam/sponge packing in the radiator intake and outtake under the wing to cover the already painted radiators. The sponge fills the gap nicely preventing any egress of any unwanted paint. Now I just sprayed on the primer and added a bit of black as pre-shading.For the camouflage I decided to use the colours from the Vallejo Model Air "Battle of Britain" set which went down quite well. I sprayed the underside first then I added the masking tape once the paint had dried ready for the camouflage. I didn't use stencils, etc, for the camouflage I just sprayed the pattern freehand.

Thanks chaps. For the elevators I did the same as the tail fin by drilling a hole and attached a spigot or pin made from copper wire with CA glue. Then I test fitted the elevator allowing the copper spigot to mark the fuselage, this is where I am going to drill for the spigot. That done on both elevators it was just a case of attaching them. The good thing about using copper spigots is that the copper wire is soft allowing to bend it slightly to a line the elevators and holding them in the right position to allow the Tamiya glue to cure.Now for the cockpit. I thought this was going to be difficult adding the photo etch cockpit detail as the cockpit tub has already been glued in the fuselage, restricting any room I had to manoeuvre the photo etch parts to a minimum. But using a pair of tweezers it was surprisingly easy. So I just followed the instructions and it all went in without any problems using Roket Card Glue.I am not going to use the kit pilots as I prefer to use Revell pilots for their NATO set. To get them to fit some minor surgery was required with my razor saw. Also I removed a head from one figure and drilled a hole in it to attach some thin copper wire. Then I drilled another hole in the chosen body. Doing this way makes it easier to attach the head and allows you to move the head to different positions.Then it is just a case of adding arms.I test fitted the pilots a few times just to check that they fitted and looked right.Before painting and attaching the crew I had a problem with one of the canopies. One of the hinges had snapped off and there was a air bubble in the clear plastic. So with the help of a skinny stick I sanded the air bubble out from inside the of canopy and polished the canopy. Then I removed the remaining hinges from the two canopies as I decided to fill in the hinge recesses on the fuselage with scrap plastic and sand them down.Also there is a large gap between the front canopy and the fuselage so I decide that the solution was to use plastic strips to fill the gap.I then painted the crew and in they went.

Thanks Steve. The reason for the filler is that the gaps were really wide so what I plan to do is to run a scriber down them once they are done. I love doing the old Airfix kits but this one should have "Filler Not Included" on the box.

I have seen TSR.2's at Duxford and RAF Cosford so I thought I would have a go at building one so here it is. The box has a picture of a TSR.2MS from a kids TV series but the kit has an option for the TSR.2 at both museums.I have bought Eduards photo etch set as well to add a bit more detail.As I usually do I am going to have this in a flying display with the stand made from brass tubing mounted on an oak base. So the first thing I am going to do is to workout how I am going to do it. After a few hours of studying the instructions and examining the fuselage parts I decided to mount a long steel bolt through the centre of the part that made up the rear wheel well and bomb bay. So I hand drilled a hole to take the bolt and I attached it to the part using epoxy. The epoxy is fast drying but I left it over night to cure.As you can see from the photo's I have added the epoxy at both sides of the hole for a bit more add strength. The I glued the wheel well to one fuselage half along with the front wheel well. Then I added some photo etch detail before I attached the cockpit tub. The reason for doing all this is because the fuselage halves are a bit bent and twisted so I wanted to make sure that the part holding the mount has a really strong bond.To help the fuselage halves line up better I also attached plastic tabs made from thick plastic sheet.After test fitting and test fitting and test fitting again I still have not attached the fuselage halves as there were other things to do before I could attach them together.Because of the way and location of the mounting bolt I glued the doors of the bomb bay in the closed position. Then marked and drilled the hole through the bomb bay doors. Again to add more strength I glued a piece of thick plastic sheet to the back of the doors. The width of the plastic was cut to allow the plastic to fit inside the bomb bay housing again add strength.Then again I did more test fitting.This time I tried test fitting the wings to check the symmetry with the fuselage.My attention then moved to the air in-takes. These had a few gaps that required filling and then sanding to try and get the inside of the in-takes as smooth as I could.I then moved to the jet exhausts assembly which went together without any problems.So with all this done I sprayed the inside of the cockpit and then I finally got around to gluing the fuselage halves together with the help of a few clamps.Once the glue was dry I attached the air in-takes to the fuselage. I also glued the bomb bay door assembly to the base of the fuselage lining up the steel bolt with the hole in the bomb bay doors. As this is a flying display I had to glue the undercarriage doors in the closed position. The doors are not a good fit so I used right angled plastic rod to help support the doors.Then in was just a case of filling the sanding then filling and sanding until it looked right.The cockpit tub and the fuselage had a few gaps that required filling thats why I haven't added the seats, pilots or instrument panels.I decided to use a pin for the pitot tube instead of the plastic kit part. I drilled a hole in the end of the nose cone then I dropped a few drops of CA glue into the cone then I pushed in the pin. The pin was one of those with a bead on the end which helped it attach a touch better to the cone giving the pin head more surface area for the glue. I then trimmed the end of the pin with a pair of wire cutters taking the length from the kit part. Out came the filler again and I sanded the nose cone smooth.The wings were then attached which was an easy job and the fit wasn't too bad. The fit for the tail plane was a bit too loose so I added a copper pin to the rudder and elevators which was just a case of drilling a hole in the base of the rudder or elevator. Then attaching a small piece of copper wire with CA glue then cutting to size. Then I gently pushed the rudder or elevator in position on the fuselage so the newly installed copper makes a mark. Then I just drill a hole at the mark on the fuselage for the copper pin. Its then just a case of attaching the rudder, etc using normal plastic glue.After I had attached the rudder I glued in position the jet exhaust assembly then I did a bit more filling.Now its is starting to look the part.

Thanks chaps. I remember making one in the 70's and I think then it was just the "A" but on the newer kits it gives you the option of add the roundels. So I checked the web for photo's of the interceptor from the original series and they had the roundels so on they went. Anyway Happy New Year everyone!

I decided to use the kit supplied pilot as its not too bad. So I glued the arms so they fitted over the control stick and throttles. I then drilled a small hole in his rear to enable me to fit a cocktail stick to him making the pilot easier to handle. It sounds painful I know but I can assure you that no plastic figures suffered any pain during this operation. I primed him with Tamiya XF1 Black.Then I just painted him using Citadel, Vallejo Model Color and Panzer Aces (also from Vallejo). Once dry I use Citadel washes to weather him down a touch.Next job was to seat him in the cockpit and once I was happy with the position of the pilot I applied a touch of glue to keep him there.With all the cockpit finished apart from the HUD I attached the cockpit assemble to a fuselage half ensuring it was lined up correctly with Tamiya glue. Once cured I then attached the other fuselage, cowling, wings, etc as per the instructions. All were a good fit giving no problems.For the exhausts I did think about getting resin ones but I changed my mind and decided to drill out the kit ones.To drill out the exhausts I use a pin vice with a small drill bit.For the rear exhaust as it was a narrower pipe than the other two I just drilled one hole in the centre. For the other two as they were wider I drilled two holes in each pipe.Then using a slightly larger drill bit I enlarged the rear most pipe by slowly working the drill bit so I made the hole larger by using the sides of the drill bit to cut the plastic and not drill into it. I did the same exercise on each hole in the other two pipes so that the holes joined up to make an oval hole.Here are the two sets of drilled out exhausts.I assembled the prop, tail plane and ailerons which were easy and had no fit issues.And in went the exhausts.Then I attached a few air intakes.I assembled the wing air intake and I painted the interior of it before it was attached.To finish the cockpit off I attached the HUD.The canopy had two scratches on the front and rear but they were easily polished out.I painted the HUD and then I attached the front canopy with PVA glue. Once that had cured I stuck on the rear facing mirror. Due to its size this was a bit awkward and then on went the rear canopy again attached with PVA. The last job of the day was to attach the tear drop nav light.

Merry Christmas everyone. Here is my effort in building Airfix's 1/48 Spitfire Mk.I hopefully in a flying display. The finish article is for my brother in-law so I hope he likes it. This is a straight out of the box build apart from the home stand. So here it is.With making this as a flying display the problem I had was where to drill in the lower fuselage. I could use an Airfix stand but I think I will make my own as I have done before. The detail in the cockpit prevented me from drilling the hole in the centre of the fuselage and wings as I didn't want to take a chance of it being seen. So after so thinking I decided to drill the hole for the stand a few centimetres behind the wing root and just behind where the cockpit assembly will be located. The diameter of the hole was determined by size of bolt and brass rod that I am going to use.I used a 3.5mm drill bit in a hand chuck and just took my time drilling the hole so it made a clean cut. Once done I test fitted which showed me that the head of the brass bolt was just too big and required a bit of filing with a flat needle file.The good thing about using brass bolts is that they are easy to file but a steel bolt would do the job. I used brass bolts just because they were to hand, thats all.Once again I test fitted to see if I had filed enough off.Also because the lower fuselage has a curve to it and the base of the head of the bolt was flat, I filed the head of the bolt at the base to seat the bolt a bit better in the fuselage.Once I was happy I attached the bolt with epoxy. When the epoxy had cured I then test fitted the cockpit half to make sure there was enough room, which there wasn't so I just filed and sanded the epoxy so it all fits nicely.Now I started to build the cockpit which was straight forward following the new instruction layout from Airfix.I was going to use Eduard's photo etch set for the instrument panel but I thought I would give the kit decals ago. What I did was using a punch set which I have had for a few years, I punch out the dials and placed them on the black painted panel and I think it worked rather well for a first attempt. The only thing I should have done before I started was make a note of what dial went where. Oh well lesson learned for the next time.I also drilled out a few holes in the ribs and painted the rest of the fuselage.I then gave the cockpit a coat of Klear to seal the paint and I gave the cockpit an oil wash. I didn't paint the top of the control stick as it wasn't added until I was happy with the position of the pilot then I glued it in.With the pilot added it blocks out some of the added detail but this doesn't bother me, as I would hate it if on the finished article you could see an unpainted part of the cockpit that I had missed.

Thanks chaps. Mark it still a crack'n little kit to build. John I would settle if someone would build it in 1/48.

Thanks chaps for all the kind comments. As for the kit, for its age I think its not too bad and if anyone wants to have a go at re-scribing its not a bad one to start if you have not done it before.

Thanks everyone for the support and I am happy to say its finished. You can see more photo's at http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235012458-the-angel-takes-flight/ Spectrum is Green.......