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Hello, Time to show I'm still alive and kitting 😁. So here is my latest project: Zvezda's 1/48 Yak-3. I looked for a hassle free build, and the kit being simple and with about no surface details - which I'm prone to smear with gluey fingerprints - it was the perfect candidate. Also I never built a Zvezda kit. I'll present it "in flight" on a stand (Zvezda too) and won't use the kit decals but those of an Eduard one binned long ago. This plane was the mount of col. Anton D. Yakimenko, commander of the 151st. GIAP in 1945. So, as per the infrangible rule, construction began with the cockpit. It was sprayed with my new airbrush, a H&S Ultra 2024, and I must say I'm more than happy with it, so that my Evolution Silverline now has plenty of resting time. I made my own interpretation of steel grey adding 10% of Tamiya XF66 (light gray) to XF53 (neutral gray). Details and pilot were mostly painted with Revell Aqua and the weathering done with Vallejo Metal Color aluminium and a very light wash that nearly completely faded after the finishing flat coat. Well then, let's say I applied "stealthy weathering". Sparse but nice detail on the side panels, I just used decal bits to add a red cross on the first aid kit. I didn't paint a figure since I was a kid and smudged Airfix "small soldiers" with Humbrol enamels. Quite satisfied with the result. As I said, that's my first Zvezda kit and it goes beyond my expectations as it's simple but the essential is there, it's well moulded and fit is real good. More to come next week (or sooner, if possible). In the meantime, I wish you all a nice weekend and happy modelling. Pat.

My aircraft WIP started off with a couple of 1/48 RAF Phantoms I was building, but somewhere along the way I started putting together a background to photograph them with. This turned in to a hair-brained scheme to build a Hardened Aircraft Shelter (HAS). I live near Wattisham and have taken some photos while passing of the site, and using google maps I got started on some plans. A full size hanger in 1/48 would just be too big, so a single aircraft HAS seemed do-able. So this is what I was aiming for: Most of the build so far is on my other thread, so I won't repeat it all here. Suffice to say it got rolling with a bit of rolled up cardboard: The main structure is about 76cm x 45cm. But then add the apron in front, doors, vent at the back, annex, etc, etc. Its got pretty big.

This kit was issued in the mid 1950s so no problem with meeting the timeline requirement. I do however have some reservations accepting Lindberg as a "Lesser Known Manufacturer". At that time I was just entering my teenage years and had cut my teeth in aeromodelling by carving up bits of balsa. I saw my first plastic models in my first year of high school, walking up the main street from the train station to Penrith High. There in the newsagent's window were some of these new fangled plastic model kits. The names I remember were Aurora, Lindberg and Hawk. I saved up my allowance, (skipping lunch helped), and bought a Lindberg P-47 - I think it may have been an N. Putting it together was a breeze after building balsa models. Paint was purloined from Dad's supply in the shed. I do remember that I used a lot of red. I progressed on from there and even built my first biplane, an Aurora D.H.4. There were also other temptations like XF-88, F-90, P-38, not to mention Aurora's biplanes, all in 1/48, (or thereabouts). A bit later some upstart from England named Airfix, also introduced a range of kits but, these were more like toys in little plastic bags, in some minute scale, not real man's models in 1/48! In later years I did go to the dark side and build some 1/72 models but I soon reformed and went back to 1/48, the only true scale. So, for a trip down memory lane I will be building Lindberg's VOO DOO. That's what it is called on the box and the instructions, although these days we are more familiar with the designation McDonnell XF-88. To describe the kit as basic would be an understatement but, it does have a number of 'features'. These include engines in the fuselage which can be seen by opening a panel on the fuselage top, and moveable ailerons and rudder. It even came with a stand. The raised detail and rivets are also excruciatingly bad. Needless to say these will not be retained as features on my model. Cockpit, wheel wells, gun barrel fairings etc will all have to be added. Peter M

As a tribute to Tamiya, I will be building the Dewoitine D.520, often referred to as the French Spitfire. It was an exceptionally advanced aircraft for its time, though the French defeat in 1940 deprived it of the chance to influence the outcome of the Battle of France significantly. Nevertheless, many distinguished pilots flew this fighter, including several Polish airmen. Within GC II/7, four Polish pilots served, among them Wing Commander Maciej Maczyslaw Mumler and Wacław Król. A unique tradition of GC II/7 was to mark each aircraft with the initial of its pilot’s surname on the fuselage. The Germans extensively photographed this particular aircraft, and many of those images remain accessible online. Mumler entered the campaign in France with valuable combat experience already behind him. During September 1939, he had distinguished himself in the skies over Poland, downing two aircraft individually and two more in shared victories (0.5 × Ju 86, 1.5 × He 111, and 1 × Hs 126). These achievements made him one of the most effective Polish fighter pilots of the campaign. On 1 June 1940, he scored his first official victory in France, destroying a He 111. By French standards, this brought his tally to three individual and two shared victories, granting him the title of ace. Only two weeks later, on 15 June, he would experience an action that etched itself into memory. That morning, Mümler and Nowakiewicz were assigned to patrol as wingmen to the French ace, Valentin. Before long, the three fighters encountered a formation of Dornier Do 17 bombers. They immediately attacked. Mümler closed on one Dornier and, after his opening burst, saw the crew bail out by parachute. The bomber itself went down nearby. Post-combat reports credited him with half a victory, suggesting that another pilot had also fired on the stricken machine. No sooner had he broken away than he spotted Nowakiewicz locked in pursuit of another Dornier flying just above the treetops. The chase was perilous: the German pilot clung to the ground, twisting and turning, while the bomber’s rear gunner fired with remarkable precision, keeping the Poles at bay. Nowakiewicz pressed the first attack, a burst before pulling aside. Mümler then followed up. His fire found its mark, riddling the Dornier—but in that same instant, the rear gunner managed to hit the radiator of Mümler’s Dewoitine. Glycol spurted across the windscreen, and with his engine wounded, he had no choice but to break off and turn south. Over Langres, the oil temperature began to rise, and soon the stricken engine shuddered violently. The airfield at Chissey was tantalizingly close, but the Dewoitine was failing fast. At last, twelve kilometers short of safety, the engine seized completely. Mümler set the crippled fighter into a glide, guiding it toward the bend of the Loue River near Ounans. Spotting a field at the edge of a forest, he lowered flaps and landing gear for an emergency landing. The terrain was rough; the wheels snapped on contact, and the aircraft skidded forward on its belly. Inside, the cockpit filled with the pungent reek of glycol, while the overheated engine hissed and steamed like a boiling kettle. Climbing out of the wreck, Mümler left the Dewoitine behind in the stubble field, still on the French side of the lines, and set off on foot toward his base. On the way, he was intercepted by suspicious villagers who mistook him for a saboteur. Fortunately, soldiers soon appeared to resolve the misunderstanding. A few days later, advancing German troops discovered the downed Dewoitine. They photographed the wreck extensively—images that survive today as a testament to both the battle and the pilot who flew her. During the Battle of Birtan, Mumler was the first commander of the 302nd fighting squadron.

As the Spitfire builds for this GB seemed to have stalled a bit , I thought that I should have a go and I managed to get a cheap 1/48 Spitfire Vb from eBay: A photo entitled -Still life a Spitfire and bowl of fruit'. The kit came out in the early nineties and is renowned for its ease of assembly (being Tamiya of course). It is less renowned for its overall accuracy, compared to the latest crop of 1/48 Spitfires. The sprues: They come as a light relief after the parts count for the Eduard 1/48 Spitfires. I have some old etch that I can use and might try some Eduard spares where appropriate.

Taking advantage of the start of the year being relatively free of group builds, this is another kit that’s been starting at me from the stash for a bit, Revell’s F-84G Thunderjet: I picked this one up from @modelling minion for a very nice price, so I thought I’d treat it to a couple of additions in the form of some Hi-Decal markings for a Yugoslavian aircraft and a Quick Boost bang seat: This is my first experience of building a Pro Modeller tooling (though I also have their Ta 154 in the stash) and I’m really enjoying it. The surface detail isn’t up to the same standards as the latest Tamiya or Eduard kits (but it is a 25 year old tooling), but more than acceptable, and it all fits together beautifully. So far I’ve got the cockpit tub assembled and painted in interior green: The bang seat has also had a coat of that: As has the equipment tray that will fit under the canopy: Detail painting is next on the cards for all of those. I had some trepidation about the drop-in panels on the nose, as I’ve had them leave big gaps that need lots of filling & sanding on other kits. I needn’t have worried, these dropped in perfectly and will only require the tiniest bits of filler in one or two local spots that have shown up under primer: And yes, I will sand off the dust that was caught under the primer. The last bit of progress (other than a multitude of smaller parts that have been primed that I’ll spare you the photos of) is the assembly of the wings. Slightly unusually, the smaller gear doors are moulded as part of the side panel of the bay. The nose gear doors are similarly moulded as part of the bay as well. Not a big issue, I’ll just need to do some careful masking at paint time: James

This is my latest completion, the Revell 1/48 Republic F-84G Thunderjet, built as an aircraft from the 88th Air Regiment, Yugoslavian Air Force, Batajnica in 1962. Largely OOB, I’ve used a Quick Boost resin ejection seat and some Hi-Decal Line decals. Although the decals turned out to be awful to use, so some of the markings are painted. Paint is mostly MRP lacquers and Tamiya Acrylics, and weathering was done with oil paints. This was a short-lived experimental scheme, so I’ve kept the weathering to a minimum as I doubt the aircraft would have had much time to get “well used” before it was repainted to the standard scheme. The WIP is here: James

Hi all! Thanks to @Wez for reminding me about this upcoming GB, looking forward to some more twin-boom goodness! This will be a straight out-of-the-box build of the decent Academy P-38J kit as boxed by Italeri. The advantage of the Italeri boxing is the excellent decals options, and the many variants you can build with this kit. This attractive option in PRU Blue will be my contribution 👍 Yes, it's no Tamiya, but still a great representation of this iconic fighter. All the best, Alan

Running a bit behind on builds but I'm not going to let this GB pass me by! I'm not getting much modelling time at the moment and I've got some other (too many) builds on the go as well so it's going to be straight out of the box for me, possible exception for a bit of stowage. Here's all the sprues in a single shot. I built a Churchill gun tank from this kit in a Blitzbuild last year as one of A Squadron, 147th Regiment RAC, 34th Tank Brigade supporting an attack by 1/5 Battalion Welch Regiment around Martigny in Normandy on 16 August 1944. So this time I'll be building the Crocodile variant; I believe that 147th Regiment RAC may have had some Crocodiles attached to it from 141th Regiment RAC in August 1944 so I'll do some digging and see if there might have been any anywhere near Martigny on 16 August and, if so, take a punt at markings accordingly. In a history of 53rd (Welsh) Division I found mention of Crocodiles supporting 4 Battalion Welch Regiment earlier in the Normandy campaign; a Major Lewis recounted "The 'Crocs' arrive and fire large squirts of flame at one of my platoons. The Germans and my own troops run away from those hellish flames. The 'Crocs' then turn their attention to a house on the corner where some twenty Germans letting out agonising screams are sizzled to death. My lads appear to have dodged the flames, but God knows how." Horrible way to go, and it sounds like they weren't always safe for the friendlies either. This one won't be a blitzbuild but hopefully I'll be able to post some progress before too long. Cheers, Richard.

Revell-USA is to release in first quarter 2014 a 1/48th Lockheed Ventura Mk.II RAF "Promodeller" kit - ref. 85-5533 Source: https://www.facebook.com/RevellUSA/photos_stream#!/photo.php?fbid=671343499564587&set=pb.105923262773283.-2207520000.1383675581.&type=3&theater V.P.

Well this was the kit that kicked off this nonsense and it's the one I'll be building for the GB, markings TBC once I get back from holiday.

Evening, all. Just finishing my 2nd build in the Tamiya GB, so I would like to contribute this somewhat battered boxing, that came via a charity purchase (although the contents look fine).. This looks like quite a complicated build, so I may need all of the GB time for this! Icarus

as everybody seems to prepare for the start: COMING SOON ICM 48291 Cessna 0-2A US NAVY SERVICE stay tuned.

Bought for the princely sum of €15 in the Dublin Model Shop. Scalemates says 1991. Sprues a weird mix of flash and very fine moldings, very nice panel line detail. Gotta love that cockpit detailing 😃 Not sure which scheme the kit has a blue navy scheme and red civilian scheme that requires some modifications to an F8F-1 which is detailed in the instructions but I’m leaning towards the -1 atm.

I would like to pay tribute to a brave fighter pilot, Group Captain Wacław Król. He participated in multiple campaigns throughout the entirety of World War II. His journey began in 1939, flying an outdated PZL P.11c during the Polish Campaign. He later flew with Skalski's Circus in North Africa and eventually took part in D-Day, piloting a Spitfire. Over the course of the war, he achieved nine confirmed aerial victories and one probable kill. I would like to focus on his role during the Battle of Britain. At that time, he was flying with No. 302 Squadron (City of Poznań). Initially, the squadron was stationed in the north of England at RAF Leconfield, under No. 12 Group. Because of this location, they had limited opportunities to engage the Luftwaffe in combat during the early stages of the battle. Much like the famous No. 303 Squadron, No. 302 was soon transferred south to RAF Duxford in mid-September 1940, where it was thrown into daily combat operations. By this point, Pilot Officer Wacław Król was already an experienced fighter pilot, with three kills to his name—one during the Polish Campaign and two in the Battle of France. While flying with 302 Squadron from Duxford, Król shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109—most likely while flying the aircraft coded WX-V, a plane he frequently piloted. After the war, Wacław Król became a popular writer and historian, authoring numerous books about the war and Polish aviation. I grew up reading his works, and they deeply inspired my admiration for his generation’s courage and sacrifice. The kit isn’t as glamorous as the one from Arma Hobby. However, Arma hasn't released the Mk I version yet. Therefore, the obvious choice is Hobby Boss—and their kit seems to be quite decent. I'll be adding photoetched parts and resin exhaust pipes, both from Eduard. I’ve also ordered custom-made decals for this specific aircraft. The decals included in the kit aren’t the best, so I’ll be using something else as well.

Having a shelf of doom bigger than my display cabinet and adding to it all the time, I have now paused my previous project in search of something new. This time it will be an experiment to find the holy grail of aircraft modelling: a really realistic natural metal finish. I usually use Vallejo water based acrylics, and while their Metal Colour range is about as good as it gets when it comes to water based metal colours, there is no denying that there is a limit to how small particles you can suspend in water. And enamels and lacquers smell and gum up your airbrush if you forget to clean it properly and use water based acrylics afterwards. So when AK released their True Metal Colour series some years back it peaked my interest. They're not water based, but a wax of some sorts, doesn't smell at all and can be both brush painted and sprayed if thinned enough, and they are even buffable (YAY!).. So what's not to like? Let's find out! The subject of this experiment will be Tamiya's venerable 30 year old P-51B kit. I could have used the newer and probably superior Eduard kit, but I don't think it beats the Tamiya kit for ease of build and quick results. My only additions will be a Quickboost resin gun sight, some spare Airscale instrument and cockpit decals, and the excellent looking Lifelike decal set for "Bigmac Junior". I'll be speeding through most of the cockpit build as I plan to build it with the cockpit closed to save time. First of all is the instrument panel, which has neither raised instrument details or even a decal to slide on top, so needed some Airscale instruments to look OK. Floor, which is incorrect for a B series since it is modelled on the A series curved floor, was painted Vallejo Interior Green with black floorboards and a bit of weathering plus some decals for the fuel gauges in the floor. That's it for now, but I have test fitted this kit and based on that it should be a breeze to build.

Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone knows of any ground equipment available in 1/48 scale. I am looking for basic items like fire extinguishers and loading carts used by the USMC and USAF in Vietnam war. GPUs, air conditioning units, or air starters would also be nice, along with jacks and other maintenance equipment. I've searched forums and other sources, but had no luck. Any suggestions would be welcome. Regards, Eddy

Last year I had a go at building a 1/48 aircraft from scratch for the first time. Have to say I learned a lot and enjoyed the process in a way. Still nice then I have had a go at a helicopter with some complex decals and a few fairly out of box kits. But i have been thinking for a bit about what to build next. I had a crazy notion to try a VC-10 but a mock up of that just showed the sheer size of it. So I am not saying never to that idea, just not yet. So something smaller. A Jetstream? Last one was a Dominie, so a bit to similar. Did consider a Britten-Norman Islander, or an Andover, both would be nice. But I settled on an aircraft that used to give cracking displays amongst the jets at 1980’s air shows. And one I built in 1/72 as a kid, but can’t get in 1/48 - even though a page on the internet suggests ESCI made one (they didn’t) So what am I talking about? She will be Dutch and a transport turbo prop. Yes a Fokker F-27 Friendship. Here is the show programme from Airfete 84 - sharing the bill with a Blackbird and Concorde! So how would she look. A quick print out, a bit of cardboard tube and some backing card, and this is what we have Not it as big as you might think. Here with my F-8 Crusader So the scary bits - turbo props & 4 bladed propellers. High undercarriage struts on the wing wheels. Scratching all the undercarriage. The main body is very similar to a stretched Dominie shape, just a bit wider. When will this get started? Who knows. Need to get some 50mm tube, probably go clear tube as before & start to shape up the nose or tail. This website may help https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?346259-Building-of-a-Fokker-27 i don’t really have enough information or good plans, but why let those details get in the way? So I thought, start a thread & then the idea is out there - can’t keep putting it off! Don’t expect lots of quick progress.

Here we go then: For a little while I as debating if I was to start the Airfix Vampire instead, but I haven't built a modern ICM-kit so I think it's about time to do something about that. Yeah yeah yeah, build them both and allt that...but maybe I should finish that P-61, or the two P-38:s or even that Sea Vixen that has been laying about for ages instead? In any case, for this Bronco I got some goodies: Since I'm also a sucker for Euro-1, I got this little sheet: This should be fun!

Hi all, Just completed an F6 mostly out of the box except for some scratch built seat belt straps. I used camouflage masks for the first time as the Lightning appeared to be painted with a very hard edge camouflage pattern. Cheers for now.

We need more J21 in this Gb! I'll do my part with Pilot Replicas first kit, the SAAB J21A-3: This is the only modern J21 in 1/48 and is a quite decent effort I should say. Not Tamiya-quality but neither a total dud of a short-run kit with cm thick plastic in a material that defies all adhesives. What's in the box is this: There is also a clear sprue, but I forgot to take a picture of that. One does get a small etch fret though! The decals are designed by Moose Republic and looks VERY nice! Since this is me building this, I need some extra bits off course: Let's harm some plastic! Oh, and that piece of Swedish in the title? J21 never got an official name like Tunnan, Lansen, Draken, Viggen, Gripen...it did get a few nick names though and "den flygande tvestjärten" is one of them. It literally means the flying earwig, but a more poetic translation of the bug "tvestjärt" would be "twin tails"...and looking at those bugs I'd say a Twin tails is a better description than "Earwig" but what do I know?

Hello all, I've been a member here for over a year, and I've finally worked up the gumption to start a build thread. As the title states this will be an MH-47G, the special operations variant of the venerable Chinook, in 1/48 starting with Italeri's CH-47F and adding Aladdin models 3D parts. I will also use Werner's Wings decals, Kelik interior decals and Eduard's minigun set. Aladdin Model's set is available as a 3D print file. On their website it is listed as being designed for the Trumpeter 1/35 scale Chinook. They were able to scale the file down to 1/48 allowing this build to happen. I printed them with a PLA filament printer, so there are layer lines that will have to be smoothed during the build. Most of the 3D parts will be a simple add-on fit, but the nose is going to take some surgery. The tiny Ziploc holds a Master Model refueling probe tip that is a spare from a Buccaneer set. As you can see, the 3D printed one is a bit rough. The 3D parts are comprehensive, including the larger fuel tank sponsons, the FLIR pod, the IR suppressors for the exhaust and various sensors and countermeasure systems. So with the starting materials laid out, let's get into it. Here's what I've done after the first day: I laid down an initial coat of green for the fuselage insulation on the sides and room. I also masked and painted the floor and ramp. As you can see below, the front ends of the kit side sponsons had to be cut back to fit the new 3D printed parts. The rear windows were also reshaped to rectangular ones that are present on the MH-47. That's all for now, thank you for looking.

Morning folk's an unplanned second bight of the cherry,a combination of the xtradecal set of decals on the way, a great scheme I just had to do and Amazon flogging the kit at a good tenner off RRP.the kit is the same as my other build.The aircraft I believe was the last one off the line in 1944 and went onto the BoB memorial flight for many year's but don't quote me on that! An all over high speed silver finish is requires and minimal weathering a bit more research to do but the most obvious thing seems to be faired over gun port's.

I am another person who is intrigued by the idea of CAM ships. Launching a Hurricane off the bows of a merchant ship to defend a convoy. Used operationally 8 times before MAC (Merchant Aircraft Carrier) and escort carriers where available. Benn planning a build for a number of years and have slowly been collecting references and aftermarket. First up my highly detailed references. Plan is to display the hurricane sitting on a catapult. To this end I have the NeOmega Resins catapult. A lot of etch which makes me a little nervous, used the odd ip and seatbelts but this is different league. Originally planned to use this kit, the Airfix Sea Hurricane 1B. Decided to use this kit, the Hurricane 1A and build a Sea Hurricane 1B at a later date. Also have this, a 1/700 CAM ship, will build this at a later ship and include on the display base.

Ok so winter is here, and starting something new, been on the shelf for a while now, think I'm now brave enough to attempt it. Avro Lancaster B Mk.I /III HK Models | No. 01F005 | 1:48 Scale With a few added extras from Eduard, cockpit and seatbelts A mere 362 parts, might take me a while... A quick tape up to get a sense of scale ... oh boy ...I will need a bigger display cabinet. Wish me luck! Peter