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YoD-126, 1. Hikotai, 302 Kokutai, pilot: Sadaaki Akamatsu (27 air victories). Atsugi airbase, Kanagawa, Japan. The fuselage bears markings of Hellcats shot down on February 16-17, 1945. Kit: converted A6M5c of Academy (1/72). Canopy: Pavla, cockpit interior: Part, cannon barrels: Master, decals: Kagero (TopColors 6). Hinomarus painted with templates.

BII-124, pilot: Tsugio Matsuyama. Carrier Hiryu, Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941. On February 19th, 1942 the aircraft crash landed on Melville Island near Darwin, Australii, piloted by Sgt. Hajime Toyoshima, who became the first Japanese POW in Australia. The wreckage is preserved in Australian Aviation Heritage Center in Winnellie. Kit: Airfix (1/72). Decals: Techmod. It is the 4th model "team built" with my 4,5 years old son, Gustaw. He decided to put the pilot in the cockpit (which is uncommon in my collection), he decided on the colour scheme (his favourite colour is blue), prepared parts to fit, painted the interior and glued parts together until we got the complete airframe. I just painted the exterior, added details and decalled the model.

Polish F-16s have "small mouth" intake. What type of intake did you use?

Very nice, thank you. Horbaczewski's Mustangs are my favourite planes, so please forgive me if I'm too pushy with my remarks. This time I noticed that Polish chessboard with "POLAND" is missing on the starboard side. I suppose there is only one chessboard in Academy decals, but maybe you can get it from another kit?

Hello again and happy New Year everyone, I decided to check the Academy decals and compare them to the real FB387. I found a gallery of Stefan Zimmermann: (click photo to see more) Notice many errors in markings: Too short yellow leading edges are mentioned above. White stripes on tailplanes are also missing. Additonally you can see Polish insignia rotated 90 deg. The bombs markings (missions against ground targets) are darker than white in the chessboard - they should be yellow, not white. The kill markings under cockpit also do not look authentic. The FB387 had no mirror over the cockpit. I recommend you to replace the kit decals with Techmod set 72021. It is much more accurate. I used it on my Revell model of the FB387: (click photo to see more) If you would like to know more about this plane and it's pilot, I can send you na article (in Polish, sorry) about three known Horbaczewski's Mustangs with many photos. PM me your email if interested.

Hello Warren, Be careful with the aircraft's marking. FB387 had the whole leading edge yellow. It was against the RAF rules, but sometimes happened on Mustangs. The aircraft also had white striles on wings, horizontal tailplanes ans nose. See it on the photos:

Second photo is in "Monografie Lotnicze" (AJ-Press): And here is my interpretation of this aircraft:

P-51 Mustang in "Razzle-Dazzle" camouflage (Academy, 1/72): P-51C-10 Mustang "Ina The Macon Belle" (Revell 1/72): P-51C Mustang Mk.III flown by S/Ldr E. Horbaczewski (vacu JMK 1/72, finished about 20 years ago): P-51C Mustang Mk.III flown by S/Ldr E. Horbaczewski (Revell 1/72): P-51C Mustang Mk.III flown by W/Cdr S. Skalski (HobbyBoss 1/72): P-51D-20 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" flown by Col. John D. Landers (Tamiya 1/72):

I think this photo shows it all:

Thank you, I was not aware of such difference. I hope now it is correct. In Polish it is pronounced "Trzysta siódmy Nocny Dywizjon Myśliwski", which is translated as "Three Hundred Seventh Night Fighter Squadron". Now I will remember, thank you. BTW, correct Polish translation of "Squadron" should be "Eskadra". "Dywizjon" in Polish Air Force is bigger unit. But in 1942, a book of Polish traveller and journalist Arkady Fiedler, "Squadron 303", was issued in London. The book appeared in Poland in 1943 as "Dywizjon 303" and became the best known aviation reading in Poland. Even today the 303 Squadron is the most famous Polish military unit of WW2 period (deservedly, not only because of the book). It was impossible to change the title to correct "Eskadra 303" after some editions, so translation "Dywizjon" instead of "Eskadra" was left as is for all Squadrons in RAF, USAF etc.

There is Pavla with some fitting problems and expensive CMR resin kit. A local curiosity is a poor vacuformed copy of Airfix, issued about 20 years ago in Poland. I think MPM Hi-Tech kit is the best Defiant in 1/72.

I tried to show the Defiant in action...

P8385 RF-A "Impregnable", 303 Sqn. Northolt, June 1941. Pilots: F/O Mirosław Ferić (9,33 confirmed kills, 1 probable and 1 damaged, including 1 Bf 109 destroyed on P8385) Sgt Józef Szlagowski (2+1+1 victories, including 1 Bf 109 probably destroyed on P8385) F/Lt Tadeusz Arentowicz (1 Bf 109 damaged on P8385) F/O Jan Zumbach (12,33+5+1, including 1 Bf 109 confirmed and 1 probable on P8385) Kit: Tamiya 1/72 (Mk.I). Converted to Mk.IIb with Master cannon barrels, cannon bulges from Revell Spitfire Mk.Vb and starter bulge from Airfix Spitfire Mk.I/IIa. Canopy front part from Italeri Spitfire Mk.Vb. Decals: Techmod.

This is the Hi-Tech version with resin cockpit and some etched details. Assembly was easier than I expected working on a short run kit. The only surprising things were landing lights - there are transparent parts for them, but no cut-outs in wings. I also had to add some effort to make the turret fit to the fuselage and canopy. No problems with other parts, but as I mentioned above, the roundels and fin-flash had to be replaced. In general, it was a nice experience to build this kit. Soon I'm going to start another MPM kit of the same era: the Fairey Battle. Thanks everyone for your kind words.

Boulton-Paul Defiant Mk.I N3437 EW-K, Polish 307 Night Fighter Squadron, Exeter, April 1941. Crew: Sgt Franciszek Jankowiak and Sgt Jerzy Karais. Kit: MPM 1/72. National insignia: Techmod - MPM roundels were too bright, and Polish chessboards were missing. Turret frames made of Techmod decal stripes painted Dark Green (Gunze Mr.Color) - it was first time I used this method and I'm satisfied. Everything else is standard. Feel free to comment. Critics are welcome too.