zebra

Works for me! I've got something in mind for all these countries (except maybe the Maldives) - the ones that spring to mind are: Afghanistan: Mi-24 or Ariana Afghan 727 Bangladesh: F-7 Bhutan: Drukair BAe 146 or Airbus A319 India: Su-30, Sea Harrier Nepal: PZL M28 Pakistan: F-7, Tempest or PIA A310 Sri Lanka: F-7 or Mi-24 Myanmar: Shaanxi Y-8

Looks like I've been forgetting to post updates again. Basic assembly is done - here's one of them, the other one looks the same: Off to the paint shop...

Time to get started. First up, here's what's in the box: Clearly a short run kit. The surfaces of the parts are quite rough and will need to be sanded smooth, there are engraved panel lines which look ok and also look deep enough to survive the smoothing of the surface. But despite all that it actually looks fairly good. There's surprisingly little flash. BOAC decals are included. I've got aftermarket decals for RAF and A&AEE Britannias, but Dad would have liked to see it in BOAC colours so that's what I'll be doing. This is going to mean wings and lower fuselage in natural metal so I'm going to have to put a lot of work into getting nice smooth surfaces. Started by assembling the main airframe components: Here I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. I didn't have a lot of time or energy for modelling today (was watching Dad's funeral online at midnight last night - having been denied permission to travel by the Australian government - and struggled to get to sleep afterwards) and didn't expect to get this much done. The parts went together pretty well - there was a little sanding of mating surfaces to do, but not a lot, and it isn't going to need a lot of filler. F-RSIN kits don't have a good reputation but this doesn't seem at all bad so far. A bit of work to do with the sanding sticks tomorrow though! thanks for looking Julian

I was a bit taken aback just now when I misread that as not everyone is welcome. And Dennis is usually such a good guy, I thought. My excuse is not enough sleep last night!

Count me in. High time we had a GB that covered this region, seems to be quite under-represented on BM - there should be plenty of interesting modelling to be done for a region of about 1.7 billion people! Can I suggest maybe it could be a GB for the Indian Subcontinent? That would take in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives - not that these would add an awful lot of options, but there would be some interesting ones.

Thanks Wez. Not sure how I missed that one. Duly ordered - whether the build makes it onto the bench or not is another matter, I'll just have to see how I get on.

Just catching up on this fascinating build. It's looking brilliant, I think this is going to be an outstanding model. Looking forward to more!

This is looking fantastic and that tiny movie camera is superb. Really looking forward to the finished model.

Thanks everyone! Make some space on your bench and build them, it's a nice kit and you won't regret it! It's not too big in 1/144 - a little over 30cm long, so I've got room for another

Here's my 1/144 Zvezda Ilyushin Il-76, converted to an Il-76LL engine testbed. The test engine is the Aviadvigatel PD-14 intended for the Irkut MC-21 and was 3D printed and decals for the Gromov Flight Research Institute were custom printed. You don't seem to see a lot of the Zvezda Il-76 kits built which is a shame, it's an interesting aircraft. I've seen others comment that it's over-engineered - perhaps it's not as simple as many 1/144 kits, but it's a nice kit and I enjoyed it. Build thread is here. I have another Il-76MD kit and a Beriev A-50 in the stash. Might have to have a go at an Il-976SKIP next. thanks for looking Julian

Here's my Ilyushin Il-76LL engine testbed. The Aviadvigatel PD-14 engine is 3D-printed, decals for the Gromov Flight Research Institute are custom printed. Build thread is here. thanks for looking Julian

Can't believe it's been more than two months since my last update on the Il-76! Decided it was high time I got my finger out and finished it. Painted the wheels earlier in the week - the prospect of painting 20 wheels is daunting but much more manageable when you realise the hubs of only 10 of them are going to be visible. Last few decals on, undercarriage done, a couple of decals, engines back on, and it's finished. Here's one photo, more in the gallery shortly: thanks for looking Julian

Didn't realised I hadn't posted any WIP shots yet. Two complete fuselages: more soon cheers Julian

Bonjour tous le monde! I'm still deciding what to build but since I still need to get the Unarmed GB out of my system I have a little time to decide. One of the things I'm thinking about is a Meteor NF.14 as used by the CEV, in 1/48. Can anyone recommend a good source of decals for postwar French roundels in 1/48 please?

I'm joining in with the F-RSIN Plastic 1/144 Britannia. Just a placeholder for now, I'll start it in a week or so once I've made some space on the bench. This GB wasn't going to be a high priority for me, but that has changed in the last week, as my Dad passed away last Saturday and I'm going to build this Britannia in his memory. I have my Dad to thank for cultivating my love of aircraft and aviation. He started taking me to Manchester airport when I was so young I can't really remember it, and at one point we would probably have been on the terraces on top of the piers at some point every weekend. We went to museums and airshows together, even going on a tour of European airports once that took in an airshow at Sion in Switzerland. He cultivated and encouraged my modelling too - he wasn't the one that started it - (that was a family friend who gave me a Matchbox Lightning for my 7th birthday) but he gave me the basic skills and encouraged me to develop them. Over the years, aviation would always give us plenty to talk about, and he would always ask what I was building. Dad had a thing for Vulcans (who doesn't?. The Vulcan was the highlight of the Woodford airshow for both of us every year, but as a child he lived next door to an Avro test pilot for a few years and he remembered seeing the prototype flying over his house) but his real interest was in classic British airliners. In particular he loved the VC10 and the Britannia. So for Christmas in 2015, when Roden had recently released the Britannia kit, when he asked me what he could get for me the answer was obvious. So why am I building the F-RSIN kit? Because of Dad's (lack of) online abilities! I sent him a link to the Roden kit at Hannants so was a bit surprised when he gave me the F-RSIN kit. He was pretty useless at online shopping - over the years, attempts to suggest things for him to buy online for family birthday and Christmas presents turned into me buying everyone's presents and him sending me the cash (by post, no online banking either for him) as he would struggle to get an online purchase to work for him every time. So it wasn't at all surprising that he didn't manage to follow the link to the Roden kit and buy it, but I was quite impressed that he'd still been able to search for a Britannia and buy a kit! Dad was very pleased that I wanted to build a Britannia but, having had a not-very-enjoyable experience with a previous F-RSIN build, I wasn't in a hurry to build this kit and it has languished in the stash for a few years. But since he passed it has taken on some importance for me and I'll be building this in his memory. Dad, this one's for you, and when I can get my hands on the new Airfix Vulcan I'll be building one of those for you as well.