bull-nut

I came across this image this morning; Spitfire LF Mk Vb of 501 sqn RAuxAF, taken at Ibsley, Hampshire. Does anyone know the airframe registration? The only other LF Vb I know of that flew with 501 is this one; EP710, now wearing the colours of 403 sqn RAAF, out of Duxford. Could they be the same aircraft? Also, could anyone recommend a decent LF Vb in 1/72?

I think Gremlin is right about the perforated strips, if you look at pictures of M4A1's in Tunisia, you'll see a lot of them have full length sand guards over the upper track run. Could also be to add tinwork when the tank is wearing extended end connectors, either way I'm pretty sure they weren't intended for adding foliage to. Of course that's not to say that the Marines in question didn't do it anyway!

Looking good, I like the really dusty look. Have you put the tracks together yet? If not, I suggest you line the jigs with Tamiya tape before you start, otherwise you may find the tracks glued to the jig if you aren't careful, ask me how I know! On the subject of tracks, you should try Tamiya's Dark Iron, it looks great on treads.

Combat: Reference pics? Colour callouts in the instructions, and I think I watched a walk around video on youtube and guessed the rest! KAYELL: I came back to the hobby after a long hiatus about 3years or so ago, so in my terms, 2 years is a long time on the shelf! Stix: Thanks. I have an idea in mind to include this model in the Vignette GB. Watch this space! Pigments have been applied to the inner hull, and turret construction has commenced. Pics later when I canget to the camera and laptop.

Just checked mine, I painted all of the uppers the same grey as the underside, I think I used Tamiya ocean grey. The only upper surface areas that aren't covered by decals are the tailplane and the mainplane trailing edges.

Paint the fuselage grey all over, the decals will meet/overlap slightly to cover the upper surface grey with the orange needed, the wing fence decals should cover them, but I found it easier to match an orange paint and paint them rather than fiddling with decals. I left off the antennae strakes on the fin, but I guess if you were careful you could add them afterwards, I think I'd carefully cut a space in the decals for them though, and I'd suggest painting the whole fin area black before you add the fin decals, mine didn't like bedding down over the very complex contours, and needed multiple applications of Microsol too snug down. Hope that helps. Not the most lucid reply I'm afraid, trying to edit my Tigerday footage here and just found out that Windows 10 doesn't like my current editing software installation, hoping an update will solve the problem.

Looking good there. I've built this one myself. Watch out for the upper surface decals, they cover a lot of real estate and mine wanted to bed down as soon as they touched, leaving almost no time for adjustment. Of course that could just be my technique I'm off to Cosford for the show in June as well, looking forward to a great day (it usually is)

Beefy: That's coming along lovely. Haven't seen a pacific Sherman in a while, so I'll be interested to see what you do with this. Work waste can be great, can't it? Mine is supplying my whole new patio surface, free pavers beats paying out for wooden decking any day, harder wearing, too. AgentG: I disagree with the whole marine diesel argument. Having watched the Operation Think Tank videos several times (found Here, if you haven't seen them I encourage you to, they come out with some great snippets, and they are good for a laugh as well) It seems the Marines took the Diesel M4 because they could get it quicker, since the US Army only wanted Petrol M4's to go to ETO. Of course I am happy to be proven wrong.

Thanks 'Stix. I have a few ideas in mind for the GB, just need to sort out which ones are achievable in the timeframe.

A good start indeed, those quarter scale kits are lovely, aren't they. Completed half a dozen of them myself, with another 7 or so in the stash. Not sure I'd be brave enough to separate the tools from the hangers though, so good on you for trying it, you've done a grand job. By a happy coincidence, I've just resumed work on my Hobbyboss T34/85 which, if I may blatantly hijack this thread, may be found Here.

Sorry for the double post, I couldn't remember the image limit, so played it safe. One the initial washes had dried, I broke out the Agrax earthshade and, thinning it 1:1 with water, applied it over all of the white areas, thus: And stippled a little German Grey on with a sponge where I thought the paint might get chipped. I know I need to retouch the bow gunners seat and wash the corners, I'll get that tomorrow: Attention then turned to the engine bay. The inside got an overall wash of Agrax Earthshade, then I painted and installed the engine, fan and final drives: The engine bay rear bulkhead got the same wash, then I painted the exhausts with Tin Bitz and treated them to a light coat of Modelmates Rust, standard shade: Rear wall installed and radiators fitted, it's a bit tight back there, Pigments tomorrow, then I can start on the turret.

I have had this model sat on the shelf for well over a year(it may even be two). I knew I'd got some way through construction, and as I seem to be on a roll of clearing the backlog of started kits, I figured I may as well make this my next one. That and I have finally come up with a way to display it. On unpacking the box, I found the hull built up thus far: Along with these other pieces: Not shown is the engine cooling fan, radiators, and remaining external fuel tanks that are also built to the same stage. So I broke out the acrylics and hairy sticks and put some colour on the main interior features until I got here: Then they all got a wash of the relevant colour Citadel shade so we are here: The shine is because the wash is still wet, the citadel shades dry nice and flat,

Not sure as to the accuracy, but the call outs for the Airfix 1/72 Zero are Hu75 Bronze green (upper) and Hu90 Beige green (under). For comparison, the Airfix Dinah calls for Hu195 Chrome green/Hu168 Hemp. I think the Tamiya acrylics I am planning on using for both of the above are XF13 J.A Green and XF12 J.N. Grey. They are out of reach at the moment, I'll check when I get to the bench tomorrow.

Welcome aboard Mrs Plastix, and a lovely looking Mary Rose. I have a short video walkaround of the Mary Rose museum on my YouTube channel Here. Visuals aren't the best I'm afraid, its a very dark museum and I had to use a low light setting on the camera, but it's OK.

Fabulous Whitley you have there, I really need to try that oil weathering technique on something. Funny that you should have chosen MH-F for this build, that's the very code I'll be applying to mine. Except in my case the MkIV- K9093 51 Sqn in DE-DG/Night, Lost 1/5/40.

Well, here we are, done. No more WiP pics owing to hard-wear failure on this end, but here's a pic of the finished article anyway. More pics in the Gallery Thanks for looking in.

Well its done, No more WiP pics I'm afraid, but here's the finished article. More pics in the gallery.

And now SWMBO's Hurricane, also from the Op Torch boxing, built OOB, brush painted with Humbrol acrylics. The Decals were applied straight over the paint, without a gloss coat, and treated with Decalfix. I'm quite impressed with how well they snugged down over a very Matt paint finish. She didn't want to go to the effort of putting the stencils on, so I've saved them and maybe I'll do it for her at a later date. Here are the pics:

Yet another last minute finish here, though to be honest, it was finished a few days ago and I've only just got the computer back. Airfix 1/72 Swordfish from Operation Torch. I struggled a bit with the windscreen, had to trim quite drastically t get it around the struts, and I've just noticed that one of the rigging wires has come loose, and the Starboard tyre has some paint missing. I'll get them later. In the mean time, here are some pics:

This is a small vignette I made for a friends birthday who's parents met while both serving in the RAF in the early 1960's. Figures and dog by ICM via Revell, All timberwork by my local coffee shop, embossed plasticard sheet for the brickwork and a variety of groundcover and plants by Woodland Scenics and Army Painter. The whole thing measures less than 9cm each side, and is now housed in a clear acrylic photo-cube and wooden base, hence the compact size. Sorry the pics aren't the best, they were taken with the Tablet camera, and without flash, while the computer was awaiting repair. The recipient loved the gift and has said it will be shown to her Mother who is currently suffering from Alzheimers. Anyway, enough babble from me, here are some pics. The specials board is an web grab of a period NAAFI menu board that I sized very roughly on the tablet and printed onto standard printer paper before gluing in place, took about 6 attempts to get the size right.

Not built either the 1/48 Sherman or Tiger from Tamiya (I know, heresy) but I have build the Crusader III and Panzer 38(t), and have a bunch of others in the stash, and found them great little kits. The link-n-length tracks work fine as long as you plan ahead and follow the recommended build sequence for them. If practical, build up the entire running gear as 2 separate assemblies, using the lower hull as a jig to keep them straight and true, and fit them last.

If you can spare the floor space, then I can recommend the Detolf cabinet from Ikea. It probably costs less than a single stand alone case, and you'll get 4 big heavies in with room for some support vehicles as well. The shelves are some distance apart, and fixed, so you are going to have lots of empty space unless you fit some extra shelf brackets (6mm wire rope clamps work). If you do decide to fit extra shelves, it will probably work out cheaper to buy another cabinet just for the shelves rather than getting them cut by a glazier.

I'd say that in 1/72 you want fine turf rather than static grass, especially on something that would be kept close cropped like an airfield. I'd mix several different colours together in a tub and apply through a mesh of some sort, you could use a sieve for large areas, I use a small bakers sugar sifter, like a metal can with a mesh lid insert, cost me £8 I think. Shouldn't be too difficult to make your own either.

if you can find one, the Inside the Armour set of tool boxes included a reasonable selection of PE tools as well, they are out of production now though, but they may still be hiding out in some model shops if you look hard enough (I know mine has some of the vehicle specific sets).

Lovely start too what looks like a fine model. Watch yourself though, those 1/48 armour kits can get addictive, you can never build just one ( ask my wife)!