johnny akes

Crummy by whose standards? Some real crackers there!

Superb, a real master class in modelling and weathering. Excellent photography too.

I wouldn’t have used them either Keith if I hadn’t already started to apply them. Not sure what you’re looking at on the port side as there is no problem with the roundel there - there is meant to be a white ring or a gap separating it from the blue/yellow flash. The fault is with the wing flashes where there is a thin white line along the rear edges.

Hi Andy the rigging material is knitting-in elastic made by a company called Prym - much cheaper than EZ or other elastic threads and being colourless, gives the impression of being steel under lights rather than black. That said I used EZ fine elastic thread for the antennae. THe exhaust ring is a mixture of Alclad II colours, the base being brass with random oversprays of gunmetal, jet exhaust and burnt iron. regards J.A.

Exhausts moved - I'd attached them on the wrong sides. Lucky I hadn't applied any exhaust staining! Thanks to Colin and Invidia for the heads up. Regards J.A.

Well spotted guys, just checked the instructions and yes I’ve somehow managed to get the exhaust pipes above the wings rather than below them. The engine block should detach quite easily so I’ll get that sorted. regards J.A.

Hi folks ICM's kit completed as the Shuttleworth Collection's Gladiator 'K7985' using the Aerocraft decals (unfortunately slightly out of register). Regards J.A.

Back to the o/p, I don’t think it’s bare metal where the flame suppressor was removed but the original camouflage scheme?

Beautiful work Guy, that’s just how I hope mine will turn out.

Hi Oliver Great work there, very effective and authentic weathering on what would have been a well-used airframe. Regards J.A.

Thanks for the generous feedback everyone, much appreciated. It went together ok really, slightly misaligned forward fuselage which you can only see on the bottom corners (my fault probably) and the rotating wing pylon pins are weak which I had to replace with heavy duty wire (not very successfully judging by the gaps ). No, this was the Revell boxing picked up from the Wonderland stand at Telford 2-3 years ago for £25! Not much filling required and I don’t think I had to re-scribe any lines. All OOB, the tips are separate so easy to droop. thanks again all.

Morning All Built OOB, I went with this scheme to avoid all the stencils. Wings folded to save display space. Thanks for looking J.A.

That’s beautiful, a real focal point in any room it might grace.

Wow, superb!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. the rigging is Prym knitting-in elastic, much cheaper than EZ Line and as you can see, transparent (looks metallic under lights) rather than black. I tried experimenting with flat wire which I was planning to use on the ICM Gladiator kit, but just couldn’t get it to stay taut; this one nearly ended up in the bin but the elastic turned up just in time!