Roman Schilhart

Very interesting marking options, I suppose they do not come with the Revell kit? What squadron do they represent? Looks like a very nice model - if only you'd have shared more pictures ....

The landing gear covers have been painted, decaled and sealed before gluiing them to the struts. The rack for the drop tank has also been fitted as this stage. Always triple-check that you have the correct angle of the undercarriage. When everything's dry, I'll give the model a coat of Alclad Matt Varnish.

Just got me two boxings of the La-5FN last Saturday, these kits are well detailed but do not match the standards set by Kovozávody Prostejov's Mustang B/C. They're more like your average short-run-kit with no locating aids, some flesh present (at least in my boxings) and heavy spruegates that extend into the parts. Nonetheless with some care and experience they should build up to a reasonable model and I hope to share mine with you soon (it's on the workbench already). Greetings from Vienna Roman PS. I do agree with Marko on the inaccuracies on Eduards La-7 and hope Kovozávody Prostejov will release this version as well.

After sealing the decals with Gloss Cote, it's time to start weathering. Here's what I use: I can of Turpentine, a small jar, a fine brush and Artist's Oils in various colors. I mainly use Black and Brown. I put a small drop of Oil Color on the jar. Dip the brush in Turpentine and take a tiny bit of color .... ... and put the brush onto a recessed area, such as a panel line. Capillary action will draw the color into the recesses almost by itself. Unwanted residue or excess paint can be removed with a dampened brush or Q-Tip. This technique adds some depth and interest to the surface structure, especially in small scale. Here's the difference - the 'washed' side (left) and the 'unwashed' side (right). All the fine details, such as maintanence panels and rivets, now really pop out, doing justice to the delicate nature of the Edaurd kit. All surfaces - upper and lower - have been accentuated with Black artist's oils. Aircraft in service usually don't come factory clean. I image this plane operated from rough airfields, collecting dust and mud around the landing gear bays. To replicate this effect, I use Brown artist's oils. Put a tiny drop of color on those areas affected, dip your brush in Turpentine and pull backwards in the direction of the airflow. Because artist's oils dry very slowly, you will need to rest your work for about 48 hours. The good thing is you can still make corrections on the model after many hours. And here's the result: Eduard's landing gear covers are overscale. I found a photo-etch replacement from Brengun (intended for the Airifx kit) in my spare box. Here's the Brengun etch part (left) compared to the kit's original plastic part (right). Photo etch pieces painted. Meanwhile I've added the landing gear. There's a very shallow location point for the main legs, making correct positioning difficult. Hint: glue the support struts (red arrow) first. Their position will help you align the gear legs (yellow arrow) at the correct angle!

Incredible model, the first of this version I have seen built so far. I've got this kit myself and hope it turns out half as good as yours! The Hercules engined Halifax has always been one of my favorite "Heavies"! Cheers from Vienna Roman

Hello and thanks for your interest! This is my latest model, the 1/72 Airfix Hawker Typhoon, dressed as "F-3A 'Diane'", serial number MN716, flown by Pilot Officer R.G. Fox in November 1944. The model was built from the box, the only addition was photo-etch seatbelts from CMK. Decals are from the Aviaeology sheet "RCAF Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB 1944 to Bodenplatte" (https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AOD72008). The Squadrons covered are No 438, 439 and 440 Sqns during 1944 through to operation Bodenplatte. The series covers nine different subject aircraft including one car door version and eight bubble canopy versions. Aviaeology include an exclusive on the two sizes of the early “type B” upper wing roundels. Aviaelogy supply far more than your average aftermarket decal sheet, in fact it is a multi-page b/w booklet with background info and b/w pictures of some of the aircraft featured. A colour PDF version of the colour scheme is available for free though registering on the Aviaeology Web Site. The decals are of highest quality and perform flawlessly. However I did manage to break up the correct "F3" codes for this particular machine by mishandling them; I had to fall back to another "F3" code that has a slightly different font. I guess you would not have noticed unless you're an expert on 2.TAF aircraft (or you work for Aviaeology). Former squadron codes ("5V") were overpainted; I copied this by spraying the "5V" codes with dark grey through a paper mask before applying the "F3" codes over it. If you look closely, you will notice that the "F3" codes look brighter then the code letter "A" - this is intentional as I believe only the "5V/F3" code was changed. I tried to replicate the tatty appearance of the invasion stripes on the lower fuselage. The model was painted with Gunze acrylics. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel, IGM Cars & Bikes.

Jim, both kits - Eduard and Airfix- have their pros and cons. For ease of construction, I would prefer the Airfix kit. However, you get less detail with this one - for example, all the antennas (DF loop & morane mast) are missing. Eduard's new kit is a very complex affair with little (if any) tolerance, hence only recommended to the experienced modeller. Eduard supplies everything you need in the 'Profi Pack' - Masks, Photo Etch, various canopies and pylons, different propellers, wheels and hubs plus 5 attractive decal options. And, there's a difference in retail price as well. Airfix' Fw-190 sells for around half the price of the Eduard kit. I will continue to build Fw-190s from both manufacturers (especially since Eduard's Fw-190 F8 has not been released yet).

Hello and thanks for your interest. This is the new Eduard 1/72 Focke-Wulf Fw190 kit, released a couiple of weeks ago. The box contains two grey runners, a clear sprue, photo-etch parts and masks for painting. All parts are sharp and very clean, this is not an average short-run kit, it’s on the highest technical standard possible. Eduard did not repeat Airfix’ mistake – the access door on the tail fin is on the left side only: Two different propellers are included, a standard one and the broader one also found on the A-9/F-9 or D-9. You can’t replicate a textbook A-9 though, as the later 14-blade fan is not included. Radar antennas for the A-8/R11 conversion (night fighter) indicate another possible variant: Undercarriage doors come in two styles as well – one for the A-8, another for an earlier version (a-5/A-6). These parts are a little overscale in thickness and I plan to exchange them for phot-etch parts from Brengun. You get two different types of wheels, with or without tread, and different hubs too: There’s a variety of gun cowlings as well. Clear parts come in variations for open or closed canopy. Both styles of canopies are included, as well as ‘blinkers’ that indicate a ‘Sturmbock’ is likely to follow this release. If you decide to use Eduard’s pre-painted photo etch parts, you don’t have to grind down the structure of the plastic parts – there’s a part without structure as well if you go for the photo-etch. Fine rivets are represented on the skin, the best I’ve seen on a 1/72 Fw-190 kit so far. Strangely, Eduard have molded the pitot tube on the wing. I doubt this is a good idea as it will inevitable break during construction and painting. Five attractive decal options are supplied in the ‘Profi-Pack’ box. I chose "White 6" of JG300. So, how does the kit go together? As ususal, we start with the cockpit. And of course I threw in all the nice colored phot-etch parts. Looks great in that scale, doesn’t it? Well, the problem is, all of the beautiful assembly will not fit into the fuselage! It’s too broad on the front end and needs to be reduced significantly. Sadly, also the photo etch parts are oversized and need trimming. The wheel bay assembly is a very complex affair, made up from 12 parts. There’s little tolerance in Eduard’s kit – if you don’t work super precise you will face major problems later on. If you have ever built a 1/48 Fw-190 from Eduard you’ll recognize similarities between those kits. The inner guns have to be mounted before gluing the wings together. While this makes sure they are in the correct position, they will be in the way when you clean up the mating joint on the front of the wings. There are locating aids on the inside of the fuselage for the positioning of the cockpit; nonethelss, it takes some time and patience to get a good fit here. The front part of the cockpit is a very delicate assembly with some leeway; Correct positioning is mandatory to make the clear parts fit later on! A dry run reveals some tension on the wing/fuselage joint. Wheel boxes must be sanded down. A little pressure helps to align the wings: Another fit issue appears on the fuselage side where the wing meets. Filled it with water-based Vallejo putty. Now the front clear part can be glued on. A gap appears on the motor cowling ring. I know that this is present on real Fw-190s but it looks odd on the model, so it was closed with Vallejo putty. Next up is ‘Primer Time’! I use Tamyia Grey Primer, decanted into the airbrush. The coat helps to detect irregularities, dust and scratches. Let’s do some pre-shading, that gives the finished model a more realistic look and adds depth to the surface structure. As I chose “White 6” from JG300 out of Eduard’s marking options, first comes the Blue/White RV band. I start with the White color. With the places to remain White masked, next comes the Blue color. The underside color RLM76 is applied. After about 7-8 runs of highly diluted paint, the density of color builds up. Upper colors are RLM75/RLM83. We start with the lightest color, RLM75. I always add a drop of pure white for scale effect. Blu Tac sausages are draped over the wing to replicate the camo pattern. Paper masks keep paint away from Grey areas. Some more pre-shading before we go along with RLM83 Dark green. Looks alright, doesn’t it? Painting instructions show a rather dense mottling on the front of the fuselage. See if we can replicate this in small scale.... Ouch! The RV Band didn’t turn out as expected. Color looks iffy, too. Let’s do it again! Second attempt looks more convincing: Now it’s time to put decals on. These are of highest quality, like you expect from good aftermarket manufacturers. Decals are very thin but tough and can be moved on the surface for some time. They do tend to fold up when slid off the backing paper, though. That's been two weeks on my workbench; more updates to follow next week. Cheers! Roman

Another beautiful build in the usual 'Fuad-Quality' - flawless execution and great paint job!

Mitch, the armor plates come with the Brengun Etch Set: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/BRL72075 It also contains scissor links, seatbelts, cockpit details, antennas etc. Here's a close-up of the 'problem zone':

Hello and thanks for your interest in this topic. This is my 1/72 Airfix Fw-190 A8 dressed as a "Sturmbock" of II/JG4. This particular aircraft is well documented on color pictures (seen here: http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/luftcambg_5.htm). It was piloted by Walter Wagner on January 1, 1945, participating in"Operation Bodenplatte". It was hit by flak during the attack over St. Trond airfield, when the engine died and the pilot had to make and emergency landing. The plane was captured by the US Forces and sent for evaluation. It later carried an all-red color, decals for the caputred version are available from aftermarket manufacturers as well. This aircraft had black/white/black RVT bands (denoting JG 4) and the emblem of the left side of the fuselage only. I added additional side armor from the Brengun etch set, which also provides various antennas and cockpit interior. To my chargin, the left armor plate lifted off with a "ping!" during the paint session and would not go back into position by any means, which spoils the look of the model from a certain angle. Nonetheless I decided to finish the build wtih it's flaw. The decals are from Sky Models Italy, are of reasonable quality and can be recommended. The sheet also provides the spinner spiral. Painted with acrylics from the Gunze/Mr.Hobby range, weathered with artist's oils and pastel chalks. The red blotches on the fuselage represent primer spots, as seen in the original pictures, and have been hand-painted using Vallejo colors. Pitot tube is a metal piece from Master Model. All photographs by Wolfgang Rabel of IGM Cars & Bikes - a big 'thank you'! Here's some in-progress shots I took during construction stage. The fuselage halves were badly warped, evident in this picture: ... and so were the wings ... Cockpit with Brengun etch, very little can be seen afterwards: Fixing the side armor panels was a difficult task due to the curvature of the fuselage: Thanks for your interest ... and off we go for another mission in the ever expanding universe of Plastic Modelling! Until next time, take care, and all the best from Vienna/Austria! Roman

Vlad, the first examples of the "Diana/WNF G-10" that were sold at Modelbrno show in June did include another (second) fuselage half; comparing it to my reference drawings (Kagero) it looks like it's the fuselage for an Erla built machine. (The Erla examples have a slightly different cowling.) These extra fuselage parts did not appear in the regular "WNF/Diana" boxings sold at my local modelshop a few weeks later. Add: To illustrate this issue, here's the pictures. First, the WNF/Diana fuselage: This is the mysterious second fuselage in the kit bought at Modelbrno, looks like the Erla fuselage: This may well indicate an "Erla G-10" version is under way!

Looking super-cool in her grey-green suit with the black & white tie ;-)

Harder & Steenbeck's Evolution is considered the 'top class' of airbrushes (at least here in central Europe). I have mine for about 8 years and it still works perfectly fine! There's various nozzles and needles available depending on the scale and general type of painting, good for precision work as well. I work with Revell's Masterclass compressor: http://www.revell.de/produkte/airbrush/kompressoren/id/39138.html I can fully recommend this product.

"for a beginner like me?" This is absolutely a professional work of art. Great craftmanship on the Special Hobby Kit! One of the nicest Ansons I've ever seen!

Very nice, indeed. I've always liked the Spitfire's outlines. Great job on this conversion. I just realized all my Mk XIVs (Sword/AZ) are "e" wing, not "c".

Not claiming i'm an expert, but have built a number of AZ Model's 109s. Parts 11 & 12 are the cooling flaps, which can be seen in lowered position on many parked Bf-109s. In the AZ kit you only get the lower halves as seperate parts (actually the upper flaps go down, too). May I suggest you take a look at photographs from Bf-109s to verify the position. Or have a look at my Bf-109 G14 (note - I did replace the plastic parts with photo etch items from Brengun): http://z15.invisionfree.com/72nd_Aircraft/ar/t5371.htm Hope my comment has been useful. Greetings Roman

You are right, Joachim. Unfortunately, the clear canopy part is narrower than the fuselage, resulting in a gap. This only became visible to me after painting. If I would build another kit, I'd sand the fuselage halves down, hoping for a better fit. Mitch, it's a rough little kit - your typical Czech short-run from the early days. Wings and wheels are butt-joined. The fuselage halves need a lot of sanding and filling to blend them together. There's also considerable amount of flash to be removed. Apart from that, it only has 35 parts, so it's a managable task! Here's some in-progress shots of the interior. The Bü-181 is one of the rare airplane kits where you can actually fit the cockpit after the fuselage halves have been joined: I added seatbelts from Tamiya tape: Here's the luggage compartment, complete with belts: Not much will be seen through the rather thick clear plastic canopy at the end, but at least, there's something in it:

Hello and thanks for your interest, this is another marking option from AZ Model's latest G-10 "Diana" kit. It represents 'Gigi', a machine of II/JG 52, in the closing weeks of the war. I could not find a historic photograph of this machine, so I had to relate to AZ Model's paint instructions and a color profile in a Kagero book (JG 52) respectively. Photo etch parts from Brengun, vacu canopy from Rob Taurus. Painted with Gunze acrylics. Weathering with pastel chaks and artist's oils. Greetings from Vienna! Roman Photographs: Wolfgang Rabel, IGM Cars & Bikes

Hello, here's something without guns, just for a change ... It's AZ Model's 1/72 Bücker Bü-181 that I had received from a fellow IPMS member a couple of years ago. A very simple kit with only 35 parts, that seems to be one of AZ Model's earlier production runs. Fit is vague at best; expect a lot of grinding, filling and sanding! Some surface textures appear to be 'unclean' (minor irregularities and scratches) and need to be polished. The clear parts looked foggy, however, a dip in Alclad Gloss Cote improved the looks. The wheels were one of the poorest parts, being molded in one piece they were slightly off-center and were replaced with resin wheels from a Tiger Moth that have about the same size. Thanks to fellow IMPS member Walter Gagawczuk for providing these! Handrails behind the cockpit and exhaust stubs on the underside are scratchbuilt. Painted with Gunze acrylics, decals out of the box. Thanks for your interest, with kind regards from Vienna Roman Photographs: Wolfgang Rabel, IGM Cars & Bikes

Probably a wise decision, Duncan. The resin wheel bays are almost impossible to fit into the wings as I've learned the hard way: I grinded down the inner surfaces, as per instructions, until they turned almost paper-thin. Still, there was about 1,5 - 2mm overhang, and the wings would not close. I started grinding down the resin inlays as well until the almost broke. Again, the wings would close with a lot of pressure only. I had the stupid idea of clamping everything together - but forgot about that I had thinned the wings down so much. Result: the clamp went straight through each upper wing, damaging the parts beyond repair. I don't mean to put AZ Model down, maybe it's been just my clumsiness, but I wouldn't buy another one except for the nice decal sheets.

Jamie, unfortunately I only took one image (apart from the cockpit interior shown above) from the construction process: Some of the kit's parts were warped - most affected were the upper wings and the cockpit insert - so I had to put some moderate pressure on the airframe to get the parts to fit. The plastic Airfix used is relatively soft, so take care when cutting the parts from the sprue, especially around the engine cowling. The main "error" of the kit is the undercarriage. It is fully elevated, e.g. in the take-off position. That's why the Airfix kit sits too "high". I have to add though, this is only noticable when directly compared to another manufacturer's kit (Hasegawa, Revell, etc.). All in all, I'd say this is a great little kit and can absolutely recommend it!

I don't agree on the Dakoplast kit being among "the best on the market" - it's rather crude, has some shape issues (wing roots are too thick) and is not an easy build. The Valom kit seems to be an updated copy of the Dakoplast moulds with better/cleaner surface texture. I have two in the stash (Yak 7/Yak 9 early) but haven't got around to build it. In my opinion a new mould Yak-9 would be very welcome.

Wasn't aware you have sandy beaches and palmtrees in Leicestershire ;- and there's a nice model in front of it, too!

Very impressive Blenheim, I do like your paintjob. She's a beauty!