Battle

Here are a few photos of my recently completed Tomahawk (Airfix, 1/72). Quite an enjoyable build, with a 2 year gap in the middle during which I lost the canopy. Thankfully @2996 Victor came to the rescue with a spare canopy which he very kindly sent to me so I could finish the build. Following feedback on my recently completed Spitfire Mk1 (which was rather too glossy), I went with a matt varnish coat to finish it off. Looking at the photos now I've just realised I'm missing the pitot tube off the port wing. I'll add it next time I do some modelling.

Thanks both of you for this suggestion - I thought that they had stopped doing spares, but clearly I had misremembered. That would be fantastic, I'll send you a PM now.

I've just restarted an Airfix 1/72 Tomahawk which I got part way through building a few years back, and just found that I don't have the canopy any more. Could anyone advise me whether there is a chance the Squadron Canopy (SQS9115) for the Academy/Monogram kits might fit it? Would anyone who has both kits be able to tell me if there is a significant difference in shape? The replacement canopy isn't too expensive from Hannants so I might just order it anyway, but I thought it might be worth checking first. Thanks!

Pardon the cliche, but I genuinely believed that these were pictures of the real thing! Incredible modelling!

Thanks! It's brush painted with Tamiya acrylics (XF-58 Olive Drab and XF-54 Dark Sea Grey on top, XF-19 Sky Grey on the underside).

Thanks. It's been pointed out to me sometimes in the past that my glossy finishes can be a bit over the top. I like my models glossy even when it's maybe not totally accurate, although it seems like from looking at prototype photos the glossy finish isn't inappropriate.

Thanks!

A few photos of my recently completed Hunter in 1/72. A very nice kit, went together quite easily, the only difficulty being where the decals for the underwing serials need cutting up to go over the undercarriage doors. Unlike other kits I've done with similar cases of lettering on doors, the codes are supplied as a single piece only in this kit. On the whole, a very enjoyable build.

I definitely agree that it's a little on the shiny side - I used Vallejo gloss varnish, which was a lot easier to work with than the Humbrol gloss I have used before, but is perhaps a bit over the top!

A few photos of my recently completed Airfix Spitfire Mk1a. Brush painted with Humbrol and Tamiya acrylics. Thanks for looking!

I agree - a very realistic photo!

It looks great - especially the weathering on the white half of the underside. I really should do an aircraft with the white/black underside at some point - I've always thought it looks interesting.

I've had a similar problem in the past and I find that 'Humbrol Gloss Cote' can help to make brush marks less conspicuous.

Thanks Fernando. I agree the wing-swinging is a bit of a gimmick so it's not really the end of the world that I've had to fix them in position. It is a fantastic kit of a very nice aircraft. Other than the poor painting and decal instructions I would rank it very highly indeed.

This is a great idea! I'll look into the possibility of doing this. I was quite happy to glue the tailerons in a fixed position but this is a good idea too.

Thanks for the advice. I might have a go with drilling a hole and using a paperclip. Unfortunately I won't be able to make any progress any time soon as I need to go away very soon for a few months for work so I'll just try and get other parts of the model finished for now and try and fix the pylons if I get a chance in the future. The tailerons also snapped off earlier in the build but I was able to glue those back on in a fixed position.

For the past 3 weeks I've been building a Revell Tornado GR1 1/72 (posted here because it's in a late 90s scheme, so after the Cold War) and it's now about 90% finished, or rather it was until an hour ago when I managed to knock both pylons off the left wing within 5 minutes of each other. This is something I'd been worried about doing right from the start due to the ridiculously fragile mechanism for holding them on. I've tried making replacement swivel mounts from fine wire but that was going no-where, and even simply gluing the pylons back on has proved impossible so far, as the glue isn't getting any purchase on the gloss finish of the wing and the size of the 2250 litre drop tanks means that they topple over when the aircraft is upside down and cause the new joint to break. I had wanted to build a Tornado for quite a while so to reach a situation like this where I can't make any more progress is rather irritating and seems like a waste of £13! Right now it's looking like it will probably be consigned to the dustbin as I simply don't have the room for a 'shelf of doom' or similar. Has anyone else had a similar experience with this kit?

These are all excellent! I wish I could achieve such a smooth paint finish once in a while!

This has been fascinating to watch develop, I can't wait to see it finished. Makes me want to do something similar but I fear the jump from building kits out of the box to full on scratchbuilding is a bridge too far for me!

An Alpha Jet (at least I think that's what it was, I only saw it as it was heading away from me) headed north over Oxford at about 1000 feet (guestimate). It didn't show up on ADSB Exchange.

A really great model! The more I see pictures and models of WW1 'planes, the more I realise how brave the men that went to war in them were!

Thanks. I'm not entirely sure how RAF training worked in the 60s (I assume students went Vampire - Hunter - Lightning after basic flying training?) but it certainly would be a big leap in terms of performance and size.

Thanks for the encouraging comment! The natural light really helps with the photos (taken on my phone).

Here are two recent builds, the Lightning does need a few finishing touches but I simply don't have time to do them right now and I won't be able to work on this specific model for the next four months at least due to my circumstances so I thought I'd share it in it's 95% finished state. # Thanks for looking, comments and criticism welcome!

An absolutely stunning Spitfire.