Search the Community

Hallo Just to bridge the time gap of getting my oil dry on parts of my R.E.8 I will build this engines for display. Since most of them I built already with my aircraft from WNW, it is just to relax. Happy modelling

Hallo This is my next project. The funny looking RE.8 from WNW. Since this model requires some skill for rigging, it is the perfect challenge for me. I did already the R.A.F. B.E.2c in 1/48 some time ago. Anyway, I am looking forward what this build will offer to me. In any case, I like this challenge in rigging. The DH 2 from WNW is ahead (from Roden already done) and also the Bristol Fighter. The Fe.2b is already done. You can see it under RIP some time ago. Happy modelling

Hallo This is one of my British a/c from WW1 from WNW. As for so many kits from WNW, the instruction is not quite accurate. The same will accompany now at the next build, the RE.8 and afterward the F2b Bristol Fighter. You may also have a look on my WIP. All insignia are sprayed. Happy Modelling

Hello gents, I've long had an interest in the activities of the Corpo Aereo Italiano during the Battle of Britain, so I was very pleased when I heard that ICM were adding to their range of 1/32 scale kits with a Fiat CR.42 Falco and doubly pleased when I got one and found that one of the markings options is for 83-1 of the 83a Squadriglia, 18o Gruppo of 56o Stormo CT based at Ursel in Belgium in autumn 1940. Although it is not noted in the instructions, 83-1 was the aircraft flown by the CO of 83a Squadriglia, Capitano Edoardo Molinari. Molinari was already an experienced pilot at this point, having served in the Spanish Civil War and the Regia Aeronautica's campaign against France. He had been commander of the 83a Squadriglia for over a year when they transferred to Belgium as part of the Corpo Aereo Italiano and would survive the war as a Maggiore in the Regia Aeronautica. Here's the kit: ... and here's what you get: The little decal sheet is a correction for the serial number of Molinari's CR.42, as only one was provided on the main decal sheet and three of the other option, instead of two of each. I got this to go with the kit: A masking set from HGW for both the inside and outside of the windscreen. It's lovely, and a little cheaper than the Eduard set (which does not include masks for the inside of the windscreen) but I have to say that the amount of packaging used for a piece of tape a couple of inches square is just wasteful. I also got these: ... with the intention of populating the cockpit with the Italian pilot, in the middle here: Finally, I got my paints sorted, of course: Giallo Mimetico 3, Verde Mimetico 3, Marron Mimetico 2 and Grigio Mimetico for the underside, though I may go with Aluminium if the mood takes me or I get some positive evidence that all of the CAI CR.42's had Aluminium undersides. For the interior, judging from the photo's of preserved Falco's (and there aren't many) it was grey primer inside but it does appear to have been a different type for the wood/fabric areas and the metal parts. I'll be using these: Right I think that's enough to be going on with... Cheers, Stew

So, to start with: I'm not after accuracy, I only build and paint for the sheer fun of it. This Spit has been in my stash for a while, waiting for a suitable paint scheme to present itself. Then I saw the Silver Spitfire, and thought now, there's an idea! Unfortunately I can't find any decals for that machine. Then I came across this one: https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/RN201 Not the same aircraft, I know, it's an FRXIVe, but that I have to live with. I love the paint scheme. Some pics of the "office" to begin with. I couldn't resist putting in some cables and then some. And some left over decals. And as usual, you can trust Tamiya to engineer their kits well, and the fit is very godd. The fuselage halves came together like they had never been apart. I really love that in modelling, not having to work around bad fits. Stay tuned, I'll be back when this pandemic allows me to have some more fun at my workbench.

my last built, enjoy :

With my SMTS TVR nearing completion and my Airfix Aston Martin DB5 looking like it might be a bit of a slow-burn I thought I'd try something a little different. On the Airfix Facebook page there was a challenge to build an Airfix starter set using just what was in the box and a few simple tools. I thought it might be an interesting experiment to take that approach with this kit. Can I build something to an acceptable standard using just the supplied parts, paint and glue? Box photo. Close-up of the "extra" bits, six paints, two brushed and some Poly Cement. I think the colours are silver (was Humbrol #11 called Silver Fox?), red, white, matt black, matt aluminium and some sort of tan/brown. Apart from the starter set parts I want to stick to some cutters, a knife and some sanding sticks. I think that's what Airfix suggest as allowable tools. I guess I should have gone back to basics with some nail polishing files rather than "proper" sanding sticks. As for the kit, it came neatly packaged and even without opening the bag I was pleasantly surprised. Straight out of the bag it actually looks like a Triumph Herald. Some cleaning up to do, but really not bad. Overview of the other parts, it's quite detailed. Clear parts in their own bag. Pretty clean too, apart from the tail lamps. I have to say that this is a really charming kit, it deserves a decent build. I've made a start and there will be another update soon.

Hi Everybody, here is my latest build, not my usual scale but a thoroughly enjoyable build. Built entirely out of the box, just the addition of some scratchbuilt harnesses and buckles. Painted with Tamiya and Revell acrylics. A few pictures of the interior before it all gets closed up. I know the buckles are not correct but this was my first attempt at making them. I decided to paint the instrument panel rather than use the decals. Thanks for looking, as usual all comments and criticisms are welcome.

Another one finished....... Revell 1/32 scale Spitfire Mark IIA, P7665 YT-L, of No. 65 Squadron RAF . It was shot down by Messerschmitt Bf 109s on 5 February 1941. Yes I know the rear view mirror is missing, I dropped it on the floor and I think the dog ate it!! 🥴😤

Fokker D.VI 1/32 Roden The D.VI is not as well known as other Fokker fighters of the Great War, but it sits chronologically between the DR.1 Triplane and the superb D.VII. In fact it was entered into the same Idflieg 'Fighter Competition' at Adlershof in January 1918. It was already outdated with its rotary engine unable to provide the power levels of the inline engined D.VII. However a small number of them found a niche as Home defence fighters, as they were able to start up and take off immediately enemy bombers were approaching, whereas the inline engined aircraft had to take time to warm up. The Roden kit is based on their earlier DR.1 Triplane kit, with a new set of biplane wings as the main change. It also has the advantage of almost no rigging. The LMG/08 Spandau guns are solid mouldings, but they also provide unjacketed ones for aftermarket etched jackets - I used some Eduard ones I had on a Fokker D.VII set. The fuselage is pretty much the same as the Triplane kit. It comes with a full set of lozenge decals, which I was bit wary of having found previous Roden decals to be problematic. But these are a quantum leap forward, a vast improvement, they were easy to use, settled down well, and the colours are pretty good. So forget any previous experience with Roden decals, these are really good! On with the photos: I added some brass etched stitching to the under fuselage centre line. Thanks for looking, John

Hi Folk's,second 1/32 build of the year and a real change from the heavily weathered Vb,the BBMF Spitfire P7350 veteran of the battle of Britain and kept in immaculate condition by the flight's engineer's and ground crew. Now I found this scheme she wore in the late nineties the only time she has not been painted to represent a front line fighter squadron,she represent's the Vb's operated by 277 air sea rescue squadron.Now I'm not a user of AM apart from decal's but to try and do justice to the kit I've used a set of Mastercaster's wheels and a Quickboost exhaust in the style she wore at the time. Any way here she is many thank's for looking.

Another Spitfire Mk lX in Desert Colours 145 Sqdn North Africa 1943. Had quite a few problems with this one, mainly trying to adapt the undercarriage to flight mode, the canopy not fitting well (big gap between the fuselage) and the decals breaking 😤 I think I should have taken a bit more time and care with it. I made my own stand from 3mm brass rod and a wooden plinth.

Hi folk's a marker for a future build once the BBMF Spitfire and Tempest are done,finally got the right kit sent after the Technik version was sent in error(yes I know I should have said nowt and kept it) but really all that light and sound isn't really my thing. Anyway Revell;s mk ix was picked up on e-bay for 20 quid including postage which is a lot of kit for your money.I then looked for something a bit different scheme wise as I did with their Mkii This scheme screamed to be built,now I know someone is bound to point out no photo evidence exist's of it's origin which is fine it's still getting built! .

Hi again, Soon after the Harrier comes this project that's been sitting gathering dust in the loft for many years now: Looks pretty familiar, the old Revell GR.1 kit which has now been not so much surpassed as smashed into the Stone Age by the new Italeri masterpiece. This will be a conversion to the F3 using Heritage Aviation's resin conversion set as a basis. Thought I'd better get on and do it before Italeri release an F3! (I hope!!) The set includes a limited decals set with those all-important walkway decals! Also using the white elephant Avionix/BlackBox cockpit set for the non-existent 1/32 F3... Planning to display this in flight so pilots are necessary - two PJ Productions RAF aircrew ready to go! The BlackBox set includes these two beautifully produced MB.10A seats with some of the nicest moulded seatbelts I've ever seen. However... They do appear to be very underscale! Possibly a couple of 1/48 seats managed to sneak into the box? Guess I won't be using these, so will save for a future project. At least I don't have to chop off those lovely seatbelts! Also have these @djparkins Flightpath ALARMs from an earlier Tornado build - they'll need a bit of work as they've been rattling around in a spares box for about ten years. But that gives you a clue what the finished aircraft will be representing...! One of 11(F)'s finest hours - a SEAD EF3 armed with ALARMs and ASRAAMs. The tanks are the 1500L standard type (from the kit), a BOZ pod on the left wing (also from the kit) and a Phimat on the right (sourced from the Revell/Italeri Mirage IIIE). The ASRAAMs come from Eduard Brassin. The 11(F) decals are sourced from an Xtradecal GR.1/F3 sheet from years ago, but I'll have to make the serial number somehow, along with the stencils as the kit has no decals 😩 The aircraft is interesting, being the old two-tone Light Aircraft Grey/Camouflage Grey with one Dk Camo Grey tank and one still in grey/green. I intend to pose it inflight at a steep bank angle so it should be an interesting build! Cheers, Alan

Revell's old kit from the early 80s, rehabilitated with a modified Trumpeter cockpit and Wolfpack ejection seat, Reskit wheels and lots of scratchbuilt details. Painted with MRP lacquer paints (wasn't sure about the shades, but it looks better after the decals and gloss coat). The decals are all from the kit, Revell's recent releases have brilliant decals and take a lot of the fear factor out of that part of the build! The subject aircraft was a 20 Sqn wing commander's aircraft based at RAF Wildenrath in 1971. It was lost in an accident the same year. There's a great photo of it in the hangar looking ludicrously shiny, so I've tried to replicate the glossy finish without crossing into Toyland! Some of the added and modified details: intake shapes rebuilt with Milliput new cockpit and modified seat auxiliary doors cut out and modelled from plastic card nose camera port reshaped and enhanced airbrake bay built from scratch tail stinger remodelled and detailed all RCS ports and various vents opened and detailed fwd and aft canopy area remodelled and detail added gun pods remodelled and opened new resin wheel set from Reskit raised panel lines removed and rescribed with rivet detail I'm glad I went to the effort in the end, it's the only early Harrier in 1/32 and was worth it! Anyone interested in the build log should click here: All the best and thanks for looking, Alan

Hi folk's, my foray into 1/32 continues and this time fit's in with a GB.Pete(in lincs) had this kit for sale so I grabbed it at a cracking price as these kits are becoming very rare these days and the Stuka one of the rarest. First thing to say it's big! next it has to be said for the scale it's lacking in the kind of detail more mainstream manufacturer's would cram in so it's going to be the paintwork that will make or break it,what needs to be done is to paint it in European theatre colours then over paint areas in sand but more on that as the build progresses. Here's the basic part's and decal's. Cockpit part's and two of the best figure's you'll get free in a kit!

Hello gents I was fortunate enough to receive the ICM Gloster Sea Gladiator as a Christmas gift from my folks and my Dad has enquired after its progress a few times since; as I rashly promised that it was next in the build queue it's past due time I got started on it. I also have the original issue Gladiator kit by the same company, which I had been planning to build as one of the Aéronautique Militaire Belge (Belgian Air Force) Gladiators of the 1/I/2 Aé (Comet) Squadron based at Schaffen in May 1940. The Gladiator will be built as G-22, flown by First Sgt Denys Rolin, who had what might euphemistically be described as an 'interesting' day in this aircraft on 11th May 1940 when he was part of a flight of 6 Gladiators tasked with escorting 9 Fairey Battles of 5/III/3 Aé on a mission to bomb the bridges over the Albert Canal. The Gladiators became embroiled with Bf109s of JG1 and although Rolin claimed a 109 as a probable he was in turn shot down and bailed out. The article linked to above says that he bailed out and was captured, but another article states that he was in fact 'roughed up' by Belgian troops when he landed, locked in a cellar and later captured by the advancing German forces. I am planning to build the Sea Gladiator as N5519 'R' of the Hal Far Fighter Flight using the kit decals, having been inspired in my childhood by the story of the three plucky biplanes holding off the might of the Axis powers, which is how I saw it at the time and if, later on, it transpired that it was true only for a comparatively short time in the opening chapter of the Siege of Malta still it left me with a certain fondness for the symbol of Faith, Hope and Charity and for the Gladiator as an aircraft. N5519 'R' was the only Gladiator destroyed in aerial combat when it was shot down by a Fiat CR.42 flown by Sergente Manlio Tarantino of 23o Gruppo, Regia Aeronautica, on 21st July 1940. The Gladiator's pilot, Flying Officer Peter Hartley escaped alive but was badly burned. Here are the kits: They're good sturdy boxes, with a more flimsy outer cover. Here are the parts; the different sprues for the Sea Gladiator are in the middle: Here's some of the bits and bobs that have accumulated: I've ordered another set of the LF decals for the Belgian Gladiator so I can make the G-22 serial and numbers. I've got another Eduard mask set on the way too. The kit's painting guide for the Sea Gladiator fits well with the information in Britmodeller's Tony O'Toole's excellent book on the Malta Battle 'No Place for Beginners'. Oh and I got some resin exhausts from Quickboost and a Top-Notch camouflage masking set for the Sea Gladiator: I think that will do for now... Cheers, Stew

Don't know if I imagined this, but I seem to recollect seeing photo etch for the tail fin aerial connection and gun-heating air vents for early mark Spits. Of course I can't find anything online now! Was I dreaming?

Hello fellows, Let me show you my new project. The Trumpeter P-47 Thunderbolt, bubbletop, "2 Big and too Heavy", in 1/32 scale. As you know, this Tumpeter's model has a lot of interior details, which I'll try to made visible...(at least some of them). And here some pics...; this is the real bird, and the Trumpeter art box. As usual, I've started with the cockpit: As aftermarket, I only bought the Yahu Instrument panel. In my opinion It's worthy, and improves a lot. Most of the ducting and piping, wont be visible after the model is assembled... I'd like this part be visible, so I've added some hoses and wires... As also I did, behind the instrument panel: Prior cutting the fuselage, I did a fit test... My idea is gluing the two cut parts of fuselage, so they be easily to put and remove, in order to show the interior (the water tank, fuses added, etc..) And this is the way I hope the model will be seen (removing the parts): Note: the rear part of fuselage, won't be removable. Alhough I think is interesting, also.... So now, after putting AK putty for filling the gaps, the two halfs are drying... And finally, a last pic of the model.... I hope you enjoy it, and I would appreciate your comments! Thanks for watching.

Hi Folk's with my 1/32 year kicked of with Trumpeter's Spitfire Vb and Me 109 (both nearing completion) next is another Spitfire in the form of Revell's Mkll.This is my third crack at this nice but not without faults kit.I wanted to steer clear of the traditional BoB schemes but the later day fighter scheme's require a lot of correction's in the form of wheels prop's etc as a non rivet counter I'm not really bothered but for this build I am replacing the wheels with a set matching those of the flight's Mkll and finishing her in the 1997-99 277 air sea rescue squadron scheme which I believe was the first time the aircraft was not painted in a front line squadron scheme and no weathering needed! Here's the box I'll make a start next week.

Hallo This is my first A-5 version of the Fw-190. More than ten A-8 built. The Hasegawa kit 1/32 fails to show where the location of the actuator Y2 of the inner wheel well door is positioned. There is no hole for the pin! From my logic, the place where it is shown does not match, due to the wheel by itself. Can you experts give me an advice? Thanks in forward. Happy modelling

Hi again, Britmodellers! Kicking off the first new build of 2021 (yes I know I'm supposed to be doing the Buccaneer, but!) with a subject I haven't seen since the early 80s. Shiny new BIG box with included paint and glue! (Plot twist - I'll be using my own ) I think the '50 Years' refers to the age of the kit rather than the aircraft itself. It's infamous for being designed from the pre-prod Harrier GR.1 XV278 which was at Gatow in West Berlin. The kit as produced means you can make that one unique airframe unless you are willing to make some modifications! It's a very big box for what isn't a whole lot of plastic: The kit dates from the early 80s which means chunky moulds, raised panel lines and soft details: This is the cockpit and seat as produced! The general shapes are 'a bit off' with the area immediately aft of the intakes being the worst culprit - more on that later. I can't fix all the various issues and to be honest I don't want to. This kit was a product of its time and it's the only game in town if you want an early Harrier in 1/32. That said, I want to build XV802, a 20 Sqn GR.1 which was lost in a fatal crash in Germany 1972 (there's a lovely pic of it in its shiny glory HERE ) so...there will be some surgery required - wish me luck! Alan

1/32 vintage cars: Bugatti 35 (Airfix) 1/72 aircraft: Farman F40 (even the Veterans resin one) Breguet XIX (waiting for an injected kit better than HitKit - BTW it's very hard to imagine any worse than HK) Mitsubishi Ki-21-2 Sally (a new tool needed eagerly) Lavochkin La-9 (a new tool needed eagerly) McDonnell F-4B Phantom (Hasegawa or Fujimi, later variants excluded) 1/72 AFV: Vickers MBT Mk.1 Vijayanta (never kitted in any scale - shame on you, Airfix. Especially since you make your kits in India). M47 Patton (Polistil or a new tool needed eagerly) K200 Korean IFV/APC (injected, never kitted in Braille scale so far) 1/700: HMS Vanguard battleship (waiting for the Flyhawk 1166 announced years ago) USS Midway/FDR/Coral Sea (straight deck configuration, prior to the SBC-110 mods) USS Forrestal CV-59 (never kitted in 1/700 so far) USS Enterprise CVN-65 (Dragon 7130 if anybody has seen it in reality) Cheers Michael

Hi everyone I just wanted to share my thoughts and progress using the Cricut Explorer Air 2. I received my Cricut last Wednesday, my wife brought it for me for my 50th birthday (thank you Leanne). Now I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to technology and I'm incredibly lazy I just want things to work with out any messing around but to my surprise the Cricut is very easy to use and I think the masks that you can make are as good as any commercially produced items. I started by looking for any additional software that you might need to use for designing and producing masks, the Cricut software is ok but almost every user I could find recommended using Adobe illustrator so I duly subscribed to Adobe (£19 pcm) down loaded the software and had a play. I started by producing a series of RAF roundels circa 1939 - 45, I found several references online that gave the size of each roundel type in inches so I found an online conversion tool and converted these measurement's to cm and drew them in illustrator to 1/48 scale. I then sent the image to the Cricut software and cut my first mask a Type A.1 roundel in 1/48 scale. I used some white vinyl which has proved to be very hard to remove because its too tacky and it lifted the paint. I had another go, this time creating a mask for a 56 in, 28 in, 21 in upper wing roundel again in 1/48 and sprayed that (see both roundels below) Not too bad I think I could be onto something here? I then decided to create some templates for RAF fonts circa 1939 - 45 again a search of the internet threw up some examples so using these a place to start I produced my own set of fonts again in illustrator.. ..for my next test I scaled my drawings to 1/32 and created some more masks this time using Frisk film as the masking medium and this time sprayed my 1/32 Fly Hurricane paint mule again applying a Type A.1 fuselage roundel and code letters.. I think with a little more practice the Cricut will prove its worth enabling me to produce any set of codes, markings, camouflage, wheel and canopy masks. I think the Cricut is a great bit of kit, not cheap (my wife paid £260 for mine) but I'm the kind of person that will spend a small fortune on after market masks so I think that for my it will cost effective in the long run plus its quite enjoyable researching and making the masking templates. Cheers all Iain

Hi everyone I just wanted to share my thoughts and progress using the Cricut Explorer Air 2. I received my Cricut last Wednesday, my wife brought it for me for my 50th birthday (thank you Leanne). Now I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to technology and I'm incredibly lazy I just want things to work with out any messing around but to my surprise the Cricut is very easy to use and I think the masks that you can make are as good as any commercially produced items. I started by looking for any additional software that you might need to use for designing and producing masks, the Cricut software is ok but almost every user I could find recommended using Adobe illustrator so I duly subscribed to Adobe (£19 pcm) down loaded the software and had a play. I started by producing a series of RAF roundels circa 1939 - 45, I found several references online that gave the size of each roundel type in inches so I found an online conversion tool and converted these measurement's to cm and drew them in illustrator to 1/48 scale. I then sent the image to the Cricut software and cut my first mask a Type A.1 roundel in 1/48 scale. I used some white vinyl which has proved to be very hard to remove because its too tacky and it lifted the paint. I had another go, this time creating a mask for a 56 in, 28 in, 21 in upper wing roundel again in 1/48 and sprayed that (see both roundels below) Not too bad I think I could be onto something here? I then decided to create some templates for RAF fonts circa 1939 - 45 again a search of the internet threw up some examples so using these a place to start I produced my own set of fonts again in illustrator.. ..for my next test I scaled my drawings to 1/32 and created some more masks this time using Frisk film as the masking medium and this time sprayed my 1/32 Fly Hurricane paint mule again applying a Type A.1 fuselage roundel and code letters.. I think with a little more practice the Cricut will prove its worth enabling me to produce any set of codes, markings, camouflage, wheel and canopy masks. I think the Cricut is a great bit of kit, not cheap (my wife paid £260 for mine) but I'm the kind of person that will spend a small fortune on after market masks so I think that for my it will cost effective in the long run plus its quite enjoyable researching and making the masking templates. Cheers all Iain