Luka

Great looking as always, and as others have already pointed out; that mottle scheme is particularly tasty.

Thanks! I think as a kit the P-47 is one of their best 1/72 planes.

Some nearly finished kits that I had lying around for ages, waiting for those final details to be added. I call them completed, for now.. Enjoy! Cheers, Luka

Really like the pose on the base this one. L1592 is the oldest extant Hurricane and on display in the London Science Museum; it does indeed still sport the 'broomstick' antenna. It was supposedly flown by the legendary Reverend Charlie `Drooper' Hyper-Squawk Smith, the cleft-palated RAF chaplain, who single-handedly shot down over five hundred German chaplains.

I think Vallejo Air's greys AMT 11 and 12 are very dark. I lightened and re-mixed them in new dropper bottles. For the shades I looked at older pictures of the Le Bourget Yak 3, when its paint was stripped to its oldest layers.

Thanks all! I built some of these photo frame bases to pose my finished models on; a grassy field (this one), a sandy field, a snowy field, concrete slabs and wooden planks.

Thanks for the info all! I'll take these points into account for my next step. @72modelerI have the Kits-World Charlie Brown/Franz Stigler decal set, so I want to build 'Ye Olde Pub' (for the 109 I'll use the Tamiya kit). I was already a bit suspicious about there not being a definitive B-17F. The option of mating the Airfix kit with one of the -F's seems a bit of a gamble for the reason you stated, especially with the investment into two models. I hope I can get at least one of them on the cheap in some online auction I'd give it a shot. Cheers, Luka

Maybe a simple question to ask, but I just can't figure out by reading some of the online reviews; which is the best B-17F in 1/72? The obvious candidates are Academy, Hasegawa and Revell. Any Britmodellers out there that have some good pointers for me?

A relatively quick build for my doing (under two weeks!) of the old KP Avia that I found in an online auction. No build report or anything, just a fun model of one of those kits that I always liked but never got around to actually building. It was nice to open the mail and see that awkwardly stapled box with the thin cardboard lid and the colourful (albeit somewhat yellowing) boxart. Finally I have one! Basically it was build OoB, but I just had to add some extra detail. It received a cockpit interior, a radiator interior, a new rudder and pitot tube. Also the undercarriage was shortened about 0,8 mm and it got replacement wheels. The canopy was quite brittle and unfortunately it cracked from the sprue gate which was located in an awkward position. Maybe someday I'll get a vac for it; check back for that in 10+ years or so. Markings are from when it left the Avia factory, so weathering was kept to a minimum. It was a tad late in the build that I realised that the roundels shouldn't have the blue border. Ah well.. Enjoy! Cheers, Luka

Great looking model, the aftermarket parts sure lift it to another level! I'm so annoyed that nowadays Revell's canopies often have mould problems. Sometimes they even look like they're completely made of ice (like mine ws). Have the people there ever heard of quality control? *grumble*

Now THAT's what this Cookie's supposed to look like! I must admit, I clicked the link and prepared for some horror that is the Revell kit, and much effort and skill of the modeler would be wasted on the misshapen plastic. How dare they still even sell that as a P-51?! Great decals though, and thus I was delighted by this great looking build.

Ah yes, I think I know the one; the 'Rivet King Deluxe' kit. You've totally turned it around though; if you hadn't mentioned those were originally those old Airfix kits, I'd totally have thought they were maybe of one of the more obscure brands out there.

Although I try to get as close to the available documentation of the pre-build research as possible, there was an instance where new evidence messed up 'historical correctness', typically in the finishing stage of the build. After clicking through a lot of pictures of a 109B for a long time and endless juggling with decals I finally got to actually building the damn thing. When it was practically done, I discovered a shot of the cowling which definitely had an inscription on it, most likely a name, but of course not clear enough that it was readable. I even tried to figure out some of the family history of the pilot; maybe it was the name of a spouse or a child. Maybe someday I'll find out and print a decal for it.. Didn't the famous ace Pouglas Bader do just that..?

The upgrading of those old Airfix kits is totally stunning. Say, that first Airfix Hurricane, which kit was that originally..?

It's a bit faint, but you can see similarly styled patches on the front two P-40N's fins' leading edges. With weathering under tropical conditions the demarcations are less stark, but definitely there. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3229/3080039796_a90ede9bd2_o.jpg