jean

Hi all, after those months of waiting, this keenly expected GB has finally arrived! I shall enter it with one of my favorite French Navy aircraft: the Etendard IV M. This beautiful kit is a Christmas present (with a few other gems) from our Scottish Father Christmas Pat, aka @JOCKNEY Here are a few photos of the box and sprues: All in all, it looks like a lovely kit! I have to finish my Me 109 for the BoB GB first and then try and make some serious progress on the Huey. But I am looking forward to this kit. It has been a long time since I last built a plane with a hook. Have fun! JR

Lucky you! Who would have thunk it, all those years ago?

Hi Enzo, a great little kit which I really like. Built it sometimes in the mid-nineties, and because I wanted it green on top, I had to paint by hand 2 new decals of the skeleton in white, along with the numeral 5!!! Now that was fun! Keep your sanity, do not do it! JR

Hi Pat, Superb choice!!! You can have it as well in dark blue. That color may suit the clothes you are wearing better! Coordination is essential. The good thing with this kit, is that the interior is like the Gobi desert. A whole lot of nothing! So yes, a few lounge chairs, a hammock or two... Just the usual. And make sure you give the engines a lot of TLC!!! Have a lot of fun! JR

Congrats Pete. Not one, but 2 Stukas for the same price! Great show! The Stuka was the most recent Airfix kit I have ever built, and I must say I was impressed by their engineering. Like you, and I guess everybody else, there are always the odd niggle, but we are just hard to fully satisfy!!! Re the depth of the radiator, the B2 had a deeper radiator bath than the B1, so this may be what you noticed. I am very keen to get my hands on the Airfix Beaufort, sometime in the future. This should really be superb! Super well done! JR

Hi Stew, the starboard wing is mostly fine, that is the topside green camo is OK. Pheeew! You may call that impatience, but I call it stupidity. I brushed the mat varnish when the Humbrol Gloss Cote was not 100% dry everywhere. No problem with the mat varnish thankfully. To put you in the picture, we live in the middle of the bush, and do not have glass on our windows (mosquito gauze only). being the dry season the outside bush is a dust bowl and it has been windy.... Modelling in a dusty place can be a challenge. So I put on a latex glove unaware that there was dust on it... End result: the starboard white wing tip and a little bit of the blue underside got full of grime, embedded in the gloss.... Did you just say stupid? As water was not removing it, I decided to try alcohol... More stupidity! The alcohol turned the by now dry gloss cote into a gooey mess... No comment! So I waited for it to dry nicely, and sand papered the mess. Now just have to re-paint a blue patch, wrap the model in diapers and re-spray the white. If, for once, I use my brain, what could go wrong? You asked for it! This is the long and sad story of my modelling life at the mo... Have fun! JR

Hi everyone, the 109 has progressed, albeit slower due to Life interfering... Well known story to all of us, Anyway, the decals are all done, and if it were not for me messing up the tip of the starboard wing (which I have to re-paint now), the model would be nearing completion. It has been mat varnished, with the exception of the right wing. So by tomorrow all shall be in order. I removed the canopy masks and some white primer can be seen in places, so a few touch ups are in the pipeline. Busy fitting the break lines on the undercarriage legs: on a 109, one has to follow a rather strict plan. No fantasy allowed, hence more time consuming... All in all, I am happy with it. Cheers. JR PS: Apologies for the rubbish quality of the photos! Better next time.

Outstanding builds!!!! Little gems, they bith are. Congrats! JR.

Hi, for any Frenchman interested in WW1, the St Chamond is an iconic tank. God knows what it must have felt like to take any of those brutes into battle! I love your diorama and I love your paintwork!!! Congrats are in order! JR.

Hi, I m anything but a connoisseur in armor, having only built two in my whole life! But I really like your model. I did build 2 Esci armors back in the day, and I loved their compact size. Congratulations! JR

Superbe! Absolutely stunning! And it must be rather big as well!!! Congrats. JR

Hi Ratch, this is a great looking Hurricane! Top show! I suspect I must be the only one left on Earth who hasn't built one. It looks like a great little kit, and after the Ratch treatment it becomes absolutely attractive. Congrats! JR

Goedenavond Gerben, your F-8 is fantastic! This brings me back many years int he past, when I was a fan of these Esci kits. Your model looks like a great looking Crusader. No kit is ever perfect. Yours looks terrific! JR

Hi Fuad, brilliant build as usual. Strange to see a 63-11 in other markings than French Air Force. Definitely exotic! Congrats. JR

Hi Miguel, this is an excellent rendition of this particular Bf 109. Brush painting looking good! I am finishing the same 109 in the Battle of Britain GB, and I should be through with it by the weekend. Brush painted as well. For such small kits a paint brush is just fine. Not that I own an airbrush! Congratulations! JR