Rosenberg92

This is exactly what I thought, that it was an absolute treat if you were into that scheme etc. Only until I saw next to it, the new Slovakian version, and was told they are the same sort kit with different decals, and that the Ukranian Demo one could be built OOB + Decals as a Slovakian nearly, then I knew I was going to get it. It will be my first 1/48 kit but for the price I really dont mind All the best, Dan.

Hello all, Have seen Academy's 1/48 MiG-29A Ukrainian Demo Team in Modelzone for £7.99 and even as a 1/72 modellor I think this is a steal, and has actually been a large part of me getting Revell's 1/48 Rafale B and now this. However, as it still comes with the 6 missiles and rails and the parts to do a non demo version, I was just wondering what was out there, at a fairly cheap price, to help me out. I was thinking, I will need new decals for it, so, who does them, and how much? I would love to do a Soviet bird but am open to suggestions on this, especially if the markings/camoflage is decent. I was thinking of using it as my first step into 1/48th scale, and as such also my first using aftermarket bits, and just wondered what sort of aftermarket stuff was out there to enhance this kit at a reasonable price, etch or resin etc I do not mind. I think the cockpit will need something and maybe something for the exshausts/engine. If anyone can tell me anything else about this kit I should know before I pick it up Wednesday, what it is like panel lines etc etc, I would be very appreciative, as well as any other tips on this. Thanks alot in advance and all the best, Dan.

Yes, they performed ELINT duties and thats about as far as they went, they were considered for much more service during the Vietnam war but was rejected. As far as I can remember they were retired in the last days of 1967? Someone may be able to correct me on that one. They were replced by the RC-135 types as Michael mentioned. I am not too keyed up on the B-47, though, so I may be wrong. All the best, Dan,

Okay some progress, sleeping pattern is a bit out since I have been doing my essays and only just noticed the time Nose cone attached and paint up. AIS sensor painted up, it looks a bit off in the picture but in the flesh its an almost luminous orange. Various parts painted up for assembly steps to come. Decalling begins on smaller parts first. I decal now, and assemble the whole thing at the end, as one of the last steps. This is the first time I have used Micro Set and Micro Sol, very very good stuff. That is it for today, seeing the time I am hitting the bed, hopefully put my sleeping pattern back before returning home next week. All the best, Dan.

Hello all, My current build, Airfix's F-5E Tiger II. Original plan was to do an F-5 in Vietnam scheme, however one thing leads to another and I have this. I would love to get another and do a Swiss Tiger Scheme one too one day but I have no idea where I would get decals for it. I started out but forgot to take pictures as I was thoroughly enjoying myself too much! Oops, but here are some shots of what I have been doing. It is in a three tone grey camoflage Aggressor scheme, as you can see the paintwork needs touching up and refining but I do this right at the end. I have started to decal some parts of the topside of the aircraft, and the bottom, as I was trying out Micro Sol and Micro Set for the first time I did not apply over a gloss varnish but am not really bothered, the decals look better than normal and as long as I am having fun, thats what counts. I have also got to touch up the tail pipes, which I slipped a few times and overcoated in lovely grey. Easy to patch up, overpaint black then silver then wash with a darkened silver. Wheel wheels and airbrakes are silver with a black wash drybrushed silver over the top. It looks okay but the wheel bays are very flat. If you havent already noticed, you will see in the first picture there is a strange tube blu-taked to the wingtip pylon. This is my rendition of an AIS pod that these Aggressors would normally carry along with a blue painted training sidewinder. I made this by taking the kit sidewinder, and removing all the fins. I then added a small pitot tube made from a spare pitot tube. It doesnt look much at the moment but by the time its painted up in a nice orange it should look good. You may also have noticed that the leading wing edge on the right side doesnt fit flush. That is as good as it will get without filler or putty and I have neither here at University with me, so, until I get her home in a week this is as good as it gets. The cockpit was painted dark grey, given a wash of black and drybrushed light grey. I picked out all the details with a small brush, most of it is probaly fictional but as I never use aftermarket bits and such it just livens up the cockpit. A better picture of this would have helped you see, but I sealed the pit up in my excitement ages ago... More to come soon, and I will keep on top of picture taking this time. All the best, Dan.

That it can, but, can't all kits in the end? All the best, Dan.

As others have said, very poor. Back home before I moved to University, I nipped into to the local model shop to pick up some paint. The guy who owns the shop had taken a small order of PM kits to see what they were like, and didn't shift one. He wanted them gone so much, he offered me one for free with my paint. Needless to say I still turned it away, firstly I had not heard of PM at the time and secondly I had a Heller Mirage back home. Looking back on it now I am at University I would have snapped his hand off at a free kit. All the best, Dan.

John, that looks astonishing. Simply superb. How on earth did you get the seats to look like that in the cockpit? It looks like you have trimmed a bit off of an actual seat and attached it. They look amazing. All the best, Dan.

Stepped in and got Academy's 1/48 F-16C 'Flying Razorbacks'. Looks a good kit for the money. All the best, Dan.

That's great, thanks alot. I keep seeing it on the shelves in my local modelshop, being quite tempted but hanging back for fear of it being a bit of a dodgy one from Revell. All the best, Dan.

Thanks for the information. Can anyone recommend the Academy 1/48 F-16C ''Flying Razorbacks'' or the Revell 1/48 F-5 Tiger II? Have seen both quite cheap and as tempting first buys in this scale. All the best, Dan.

I may just have to go check that out. I am trying to do something similar to what you do, 1/72 for a fix and 1/48 to take my time on. I have never really detailed a kit as such but something big and alot more noticeable may just make me take alot more time over things, especially with a bigger canopy to see into. All the best, Dan.

Hello all. Am thinking of upscaling from my 1/72 collection, I have had a good time with it but feel as though I should upscale now. Of course, this is more a plan for future builds, as I do want to continue my 1/72 scale collection and of course, I could never really leave (its my childhood). I am thinking of 1/48 but do not want to jump in at the deep end, so to speak. As a relative newbie to the scale, does anyone have any ideas on jets that could be built in 1/48 as a starter? I.E. relatively cheap (about the £10 mark), well detailed and of course, a good introduction for me to 1/48? What caught my eye was Academy's 1/48 F-16C ''Flying Razorbacks'' kit. This was just a bit more than my budget but I could push the boat out once I am off the mark. Any ideas greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Dan.

Dan, Is that the Hungarian option camoflage from the Airifx kit? What are the Humbrol numbers they recommend for it? I have always liked different 3 and 4 tone camoflage schemes especially those out on the eastern bloc countries. A very nice looking MiG so far, cracking job. All the best, Dan.

Thanks alot this had cleared up my issues. Do you know how much detail the kit has? Panel lines, cockpit, wheel bays etc? What is the ordanance like? Thanks, Dan.

Hello, Can anyone tell me anything about Revells 1/72 F-16 with the box code (H222)? I managed to pick it up very cheap but there was no picture next to the kit in the catalogue, so, whilst I know I am getting a 1/72 F-16 I know little of what options it might have or what variant it might be, even what decals it might have. Can anyone help me out? Thanks alot in advance, all the best, Dan.

I do not wish to add a fully biased opinion to this, but, I think at times certain scenarios call out for an acrylic paint. For instance, I put together small sub assemblies first and probably do not need to go using them until near the end, stores, pylons, the undercarriage or the wheels if in sperate halves. These parts I can paint up with acrylics and put a bit of detail into in no time at all, and then not have to worry about scratching the paint as it normally has a while to sit whilst the rest of the model comes along. That aside, I think acrylics do have a more lasting benefit. When I first came into the hobby my Airfix Spitfire had a few pots of acrylic paint. The model was smeared in glue and the canopy was a different shade of off white from the glue. Paint went everywhere, but, my mum was not left with horrible enamel paint stains across her kitchen table, me, and the walls which had my sticky mitts on a few minutes later. If I had come into the hobby with enamel paints, it would have ended there. Firstly my mum would never have let me have another, and secondly the waiting around before I could do anything again would have made me lose my interest in what I was doing. Now I am old enough to appreciate the hobby and such I did try and go to enamel paints. But, I am extremely accident prone. I knock tinlets and pots over constantly and I have no idea why. Enamel is not a good thing to knock over, but the acrylic I use just wipes off. I know that we all have our own preference but I can recommend Revell Aquacolor to those optimist that still use enamels. I have found the range to be very good, slightly thinned with water and after a couple of thin coats a streakless finish can be obtained. Even with the hairy stick. At the end of the day it is about having fun. As a boy, building Airfix kits, I had exactly that and I put part down to them having acrylics to save them from my mother. Just a few thoughts. All the best, Dan.

Not a problem at all, it is interesting to learn these things and if they just come up so be it. At the end of the day I learnt something new to! All the best, Dan.

Such a lovely aircraft, something not seen often too. Fantastic job there, it looks smashing. All the best Dan.

Hello, So I managed to pick up the KP MiG-21 MF, KP Su-25K, Italeri Su-22 UM 3K and a Revell F-16 (box code says H222, I could not find any information on this does anyone know?) for £20 today, does anyone know if this is firstly a good deal, and secondly a good set of kits to cover the aircraft I have picked up? I was tempted by a Hasegawa Kfir C2 but know little of the kit to have chosen it, similarly the Hasegawa F-16C was around but I heard good things about the Revell one and chose that instead. The Revell kit was in an older sort of box though. Any information on the above would be fantastic. Thanks alot, Dan.

Heres my 1/72 Academy A-37B Dragonfly, 8th SOS 14th SOW, Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam 1970. Slightly fictional loadout, 2 droptanks, 4 Mk.82 Fuse Extenders and 2 SUU-14 Dispensers. Just thought it looked good and at the end of the day its about enjoying the hobby and that I most certainly do. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and thanks for a great first groupbuild. Build report is HERE. All the best, Dan.

And she's done! And she started to fight me at the end but it was nothing too much. The undercarriage did not want to sit and the front wheels especially would not fit flush in their hole. The ordanance too decided that it did not want to sit on the pylons (despite there being a slot and a clip). Anyway, here are some finished photos. Hope you enjoyed it, I had a blast. All the best, Dan.

Progress from the last few days. Decals are on, and all the pieces are now either attached to the A-37B or are ready and assembled and just need to be attached once decals are dry. I dont own any klear or any decal setting solutions here at University so, the decals are as per Academy wished them to be, shiny, thick and utterly useless. Stores are all together, decals applied to those too. Tomorow shall be the last day for this one, I hope. Canopy to attach, stores to the pylons and then undercarriage in place. Has been a very pleasant build thus far, the only let down being the decals. If there is any advice I can give about this kit, it is to replace the decals. This though, is not a problem as the kit itself is very cheap, and for what you get a bargain before you get it in the sales or second hand areas. Paying out for one of these and the extra decals is an investment worth considering. All the best, Dan.

I believe the Italeri MiG-27 is the reboxed Zvezda kit, but I know little of any of their kits so perhaps it sold better under Italeri was my initial thought. I have the Academy kit, it is okay, but one gets the impression that for a few pounds more you could get alot more kit for your money, plus a half decent decal sheet. The decals in the Academy one, as well as probably being very poor, are just the two aircraft numbers under the cockpit and the Soviet stars. I shall definately stick with the Italeri boxing of the Bilek SU-22 though, but if not to go for a Revell Su-25 does anybody rebox the Bilek kit? Or do Zvezda do one? All the best, Dan.

Hello all. Am currently going through a phase to try and build Vietnam and Soviet aircraft in 1/72 scale, things of a huge interest to me. I know little about kits, however, and although I am interested in a few specifics there are some that probably have better options out there. Is the Italeri SU-22 a good kit? Similarly is the Revell SU-25 Frogfoot a good kit and how about the Italeri MiG - 27 kit? I can get these relatively cheap on Kingkit and so am trying to save the pennies (harsh times being a student) in order to place a delivery with them. I also tried posting up in the trade forums and wanted forums but as so far have only managed to gather parts for my Vietnam collection, there seems to be less interest in Soviet Aircraft perhaps? http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=66763 - this is the link to where I posted kits I was after, are the ones marked by a certain manufacturer the best out there, and if not, what would you recommend trying to go for instead? If you can help it is greatly appreciated, as is any information you can give me. I am a bit lost on the searching and kit knowledge front. All the best, Dan.