Jay Gee

Been a little busy over Christmas so just came across your build, but that is a brilliant job there Dunny. Nice way to start the new year off by getting on the front foot.

G'day Ratch, I go with NO for the stencils. Refer to the picture of the 453SQN RAAF Spitfire at the top of the page here: https://www.classicwarbirds.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-invasion-stripes.php As you can see in this case the aircraft serial number is also painted over although later on it was painted around. Also the Spitfire had an access door for the radio in between the Z and the LH fuselage roundel that had a stencil on it which I can't see in these pictures. Other pictures I've seen also have the wing stencils painted over as well. Anyway this is good enough for me and this is what I have gone by on a Spitfire, Beaufighter and Typhoon, as the less stencils to apply the better. Maybe things changed later on but I haven't seen any pictures to say other wise. Also I find it easier to paint the whole invasion stripe area black first, mask the area with tape then paint the white on top. Happy modelling.

As @TheyJammedKenny! said they're either moved on (retire), up (desk jobs) or sideways (retrain to pilot). Down here the P-8 and Wedgetail still use them (I assume it's the same for the Poms) and I'm guessing there would be some job for them in the back of a spy plane too.

I got the F/A-18 Classic Hornet Flap down* set, 8222 ECM pod & revised fins and they all look great with very fine detail. Havent used them yet but they look like they'll slot right in (after a little clean up). Only issue is that they took a while to arrive, but I'm on the other side of the world. *Fun facts. No slats on a Hornet , they have Leading Edge Flaps and Trailing Edge Flaps. Also in Aus we refer to them as Classic Hornets not Legacy Hornets.

Hello all, Here is one that I finished last week that I finally got around to getting some photos of before it gets too dusty. It is the Airfix kit in the colours of a 31 Squadron R.A.A.F Mk X machine based at Coomalie Creek in the Northern Territory. This aircraft was lost on 24/09/44 after running out of fuel after it was unable to locate the airfield due to bushfire haze. The Navigator was found the following day but unfortunately the pilot was killed. According to the DK Decal sheet this aircraft is painted in TSS camouflage, however other sources state that the last batch of Mk Xs and XIs were painted all over EDSG on Sky so that's what I went with. I also painted the roundels and fin flashes which worked out better than I hoped, except when I painted the lower LH wing roundel too far inboard resulting in some stripping and re-painting. I thought about cutting masks for the SQN codes, but I'm not that handy with a scalpel and Tamiya tape. I've put a stencil cutter on the Christmas list. All photos were taken using my phone, so apologies for any blurriness. One of the pilots in 30 SQN played Australian Rules Football for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (now Australian Football League). Richmond is also known as the Tigers and the pilot painted a Tigers head on the nose of his aircraft. The Tigers head and motto 'Eat 'em Alive' also found its way onto 31 SQN aircraft due to a keen Richmond supporter in the unit, with multiple aircraft displaying the Tigers heads. And here it is with another one I completed about 18 months ago. Thanks for looking.

Brilliant work! (on the S-199 and the workshop).

Great photos Wally! Had a flight out of Darwin last week which was delayed, so had the chance to park at the end of the runway to watch a whole heap takeoff and saw them all landing from the airport terminal bar. Really like the reflection of the water in the canopy in the 2nd F-35 picture. The bird poo adds a nice touch too!

Brilliant work as always Roman. Very nice.

Thanks Markh. After building the Eduard Quattro, this Profipack and my 2 Aussie 8s yet to come, I should have enough parts left over for a Spitfire Mk IXVIIIVEC. I also have an FW190 fuselage left over too 🤔

Hello all, Here is a RAAF Spitfire Mk VIII that I finished a few weeks ago and thought I better get some pictures before it gets too dusty. This is an Eduard 1/72 Profipack using one of the many schemes from the Aussie 8 box set. This is particular scheme shows a Spitfire from 452SQN RAAF flown by FLGOFF Jack King from Tarakan, Borneo on the night of 23/24 July 1945 in which he shot down a "Helen". This was the last kill by a RAAF Spitfire in the Pacific. Paints used are SMS Foliage Green and RAAF Sky Blue which went down a treat. Thanks for looking.

Amazing work Libor!

Fantastic work, love the natural metal finish. Congratulations on the gold medal.

Thanks mate. I did see that about the red spinner which may be the correct colour. But by the time I saw it, it was too late to change. Not sure what the 1/48 is like but I also found it easier to divide and concquer the spinner spiral decal. Cut it into three sections, then apply, much easier. Thanks Bertie, that is my worst fear as my house is full of floor tiles. Although I still manage to lose stuff to the carpet monster 🤔

Hello, Here is an FW-190 that I built at the same time as my Me-109. I figured while I have the paints out, I'd knock over 2 birds with the 1 airbrush. This one is an Eduard Fw-190A8/R-2 Profipack painted up as an aircraft from 5/JG300 in Dec 1944. The red stripe sold it for me. The kit is typical Eduard with all the extras, a little fiddly throughout but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Painted RLM 74, 75 & 76 with Vallejo Model Air paints. I thought I better get these photos on quick as I snapped off the small straight aerial off the lower fuselage about 3 times, before I lost it completely and had to replace it with stretched runner. On with the pics. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for the kind words, it is a great little kit. I used the Vallejo Model Air RLM colours 71.128 Grey Violet (RLM75) 71.046 Pale Blue (RLM76) and 71.054 Dark Grey Blue (RLM74) with 50/50 mix of airbrush thinner 71.061.

Hello all, Here is one of my latest models, the Tamiya Me-109G6 straight out of the box (apart from EZ line for the antennae wire) and painted with Vallejo Model Air paints, in one of the colour options from the kit 9/JG54. The kit went together brilliantly. The only issue I had was working with the Vallejo paints when trying to spray the Luftwaffe mottle. I usually use enamels and have been moving into acrylic lacquers, so I found these a little temperamental. What I did like was the 3 part decal for the spinner spiral. When I stuffed up my Eduard Fw-190 spinner decal, I ended up cutting another one in three which made it a lot easier. Anyway on with the photos.

Thanks Mike, I knew I had seen a build like this somewhere. I've found plenty of discussion and photos about the D2 gun positions and more importantly the shape of them, but not much luck on finding an easy conversion or better still a conversion set. The waist guns look fairly straight forward to graft in but the tail gun doesn't look like a straight swap as it had a single gun and a completely different shape to the J. Hopefully a late 2022 Airfix release?🤞

Hello everyone. I've been eyeing off the Airfix B-25 for a while now and I would like to build a RAAF D model as these were more numerous and therefore more schemes are available. However most of these were the B-25D2 model with the waist and tail gun postions added which are a different shape and location to the J model. Does anybody know if there is a 1/72 scale conversion set for these gun positions? Or is it possible to kit bash? Has anyone done this before and if so which kits? (although I don't fancy my skills in plastic butchery) Thanks.

They are basically a Sidewinder (although slightly longer) that's been gutted and filled with electronics. You will always find them on one side of the aircraft as they are Left or Right handed, depending on aircraft type. I made one of these by getting a 1/72 scale Sidewinder, chopping the fins off, lengthened it a little bit (eyeballed off pictures on the web by comparing AIM-9, ACMI pod and launcher rail length) and added stretched runner for the antennas. Also ran some tape around as they have 2 counter weights on them. Paint the body Hornet grey, the nose black and the antennas radome tan you're done!

You'll be pretty safe in doing a RAAF A-20G as these were loaned from US stocks in June 1944 and painted in Olive Drab & Neutral Grey. They didn't last too long though, most of the fleet was destroyed in a Japanese night time raid on Morotai in November 1944 with the survivors returned to the USAAF. 22 Squadron was then equiped with Beaufighter Mk21 (an Austraian built MkX with a buldge on the nose for an auto pilot and a slightly different navigators bubble canopy) Nearly all of the Beaufighter Mk21s used by 30, 31 & 22 SQNs were painted in RAAF Foliage Green. The UK built MkI, VI, X & XIs are a little bit of a mine field as these were painted in the Temperate Land Scheme or Temperate Sea Scheme depending on what aircraft you're modelling. DK Decals do some good and fairly accurate schemes for RAAF Beaus and Boston/A-20. This is some basic info to get you on your way, however there is a wealth of information here on Britmodeller regarding RAAF Bostons and Beaufighters by people who are more smarterer than me. Happy modelling!

G'day Mycapt65, B-25s were operated by 2 Squadron from the Northern Territory over the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) from mid 1944 onwards. Initially they used aircraft handed over from a joint RAAF/Dutch unit (18 Netherlands East Indies Squadron) where the Dutch provided the aircraft and most aircrew while RAAF provided majority of ground crew and had overall operational control. Most of the B-25s were D models with the -20 (I think) mod with tail and waist gun postions and forward firing cheek guns added. But there were B-25J models as well. For a complete run down refer to the link below. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a47.htm

Great work there Mark. Nice to see a chopper in RAAF markings too! 😝

Wow! Awesome work. That is a master piece.

Thanks for the kind words gents. Thanks Steve, I did another one a few years ago and used the standard FAA colours not realising how different the colours are to the ANA standard. This one turned out much better than the first effort.

Hi everyone, Here is the last kit I finished for 2021 which has been collecting a little dust before I could get some photos. It is the 1/72 Hellcat Mk I/II Dual Combo Profi Pack from Eduard painted in one of the kit schemes being 1844 SQN from HMS Indomitable. The kit which went together in typical Eduard fashion (meaning any mistakes are all mine) and was painted in my trusty Humbrol enamels. After a little research here in regards to ANA colours, I went with Humbrol 155 Olive Drab, 125 US Dark Grey and 90 Sky which looks alright to me. I went a little too heavy with the weathering in some spots, but apart from that I'm pretty happy with it. Sending everyone best wishes for a successful 2022 at their work bench! JayGee.