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Here’s my just completed model built from the newly released Airfix kit. It’s like the curate’s egg: good, in parts. I fixed the incorrect aft bomb bay fairing with some styrene rod, and I appreciated the mask parts provided for the wheel wells. The cockpit and bomb bay are well detailed for the scale too. But … the kit is let down by the transparencies. The nose cheek windows would be a foot thick in real life and the main canopy framing lacks finesse. I’ve been building a Tamiya B.Mk.IV alongside this one and the clear parts are far superior. Still, it’s a big improvement on the Matchbox kit and I’m mostly happy with the finished model.

I’ve just succumbed to one of those crazy impulses generated by looking at someone else’s RFI post, and bought an Airfix Vulcan from that well known auction site (Why don’t we ever say its name?). Now I’m not crazy about 1/72 scale, though I recently did a Phantom just to see if I could manage it. The Vulcan, I believe, might be a gnat’s whisker larger? And impossible to display in my tiny flat? But I HAVE done one recently so that’s ok. I’m also not a huge fan of Airfix (Boo! Hiss!) mostly because of the deep and wide panel lines which I think are designed for brush painting. But the old Vulcan has fine raised panel lines so that’s not a problem, just a little bit of rescribing required. I’m also not usually successful when I attempt an aircraft that I actually worked on in the RAF. I don’t know why that is but I suspect it’s because I unconsciously compare the model unfavourably with my mental picture of the real thing. Well it’s over 40 years ago now, just a little bit longer than the age of the kit, and memories being fleeting, perhaps I’m over that hang up by now. I’m even experienced with this kit. I built one to a crude standard about 20 years ago and wasn’t happy with my result. Now it’s time to start over and get it done right. So here I go, offering you yet another Vulcan WIP. I bet you’ve already read a dozen of them. Maybe doing one is some mysterious rite of passage that we all have to go through? At least I can guarantee that you will be here right from the start, the kit still being in Lisburn at this time. Hence no pictures. I will take up this loose thread as soon as I’m notified of its arrival in my town.

The Arado 234C DML/Hobby2000 kit has a cut-out on the underside to fit a bomb or other device. What little reference I have for the aircraft isn’t at hand and since I hope to model one of the very few documented recce aircraft, I won’t be fitting any of the under hung ordinance. I suspect the real thing didn’t have a permanent oval cut-out, but I also have no idea how it looked if not carrying anything centerline. Any suggestions or information?

So I'll be building this for the GB - got a bit of aftermarket stuff, some resin crew, Eduard photoetch and masks. Probably go with the low-vis scheme as it's a single overall colour making masking life easier for myself. I probably haven't built a Tomcat kit for almost 30 years, this one looks nice - even though it's in the 'easy assembly authentic kit' range it looks from the instructions to just be a rebox of their other F14 kit. Some of the kits in that HobbyBoss range look very simplist, however I really enjoyed building their 1/72 P-61 Black Widow in this range. Sprue shots etc. once I get started

Here’s my 1/72 Airfix Blenheim Mk.I finished just last week. The model won 3rd place in its category at the Granitecon show in Manchester, NH this past Sunday. It was a well attended show with over 500 models entered across the various categories.

IJN carrier Shokaku, Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.

I fancied building something Finnish: https://www.armahobby.com/70025-hurricane-mk-i-east-front-limited-edition.html After building an arma hobby Hurricane in the BoB GB, I promptly bought one more - and this felt like a good time to build it. I’ll be building the one on the box cover, HC-452. If I did my googling properly, I should just replace the kit spinner with a Spitfire DH spinner, which is slightly wider, and I’m good. I’m pondering whether rummaging through boxes on the attic will be more work than ramming the kit spinner with a semi-hot poker to widen it just a bit. We’ll see. Sprues: as you can see there are three spinners here, none correct? In addition there are resin wheels with 5 spokes. I’ve made a start: The IP has some nice decals. I only used the right side, the left and middle sides I just painted with some random white squiggles. I actually think the squiggles look more realistic at a distance (closeup not so much). The real reason is not realism however, I wanted to use the instrument decals for an open-cockpit biplane and after having a peek in the BoB Hurricane and seeing absolutely zilch of the IP I decided to keep it for when it will actually be seen.

Good evening everyone. The de Havilland Sea Vixen is an aircraft of singular appearance is it not? You notice it. The sweep and curve of its geometry. Formed not only from the requirements of naval aviation but (covertly, one suspects) from those1950s fantasies about how fast and silver a technological future would look. It was the kind of aircraft Captain Scarlet would have trained on and was capable, if required, of protecting the Earth from UFO invasion. At least I think so. I'm going to build two of them partly for the aforementioned reasons, and partly as a way of celebrating the friendship and generosity to be found on this forum. (More on that in a bit.) For now though, posting this in full view means there's no bottling out. Choice of Subject Having wanted to build one these for a long while, I'd been collecting various bits and pieces and images without (as often happens) a definite subject in mind. Always liking a build to be rooted in a meaningful narrative of some kind, I was leafing through some of the entries in the Dorset Crashes site and noted that a FAW.1 (XN708, from 890 Sqn) had gone down in Lyme Bay on the night of 25th November, 1964, killing both crew: Lt Michael J.W. Durrant RN. & Lt Basil A.Last RN. We can sometimes be guilty of building things only to celebrate the notable or the heroic in conflict; in this case it seemed fitting to build something to note those who end uncelebrated in the footnotes of history as peacetime or training casualties. This is the only clearly identifiable shot I've found so far of XN708/R244, original date of photo unknown: Image credit: Imgaylard Brian Patterson has an excellent colour gallery of a sister aircraft here though that will doubtless prove highly useful as references. For the second choice, I'm (as frequently the case in matters of naval aviation) indebted to @Ex-FAAWAFU for drawing to my attention the powerful, nay provocative, black & white diagonal scheme of XJ481 when undertaking Martel trials: Image credit: Roger Winser This has not only the challenge of building a replacement nose to incorporate that camera housing and a Martel to scratch up (I knows there's a 1/72 resin one out there but think the fins are too thick) but a snazzy 'dazzle paint' work to do also, for which @Terry1954 has also kindly supplied some colour references. The Kits I'm going to modify both the venerable 1/72 Frog offering and use the High Planes kit, which has a FAW.1 option. I'd mentioned above that this build was in part a celebration of the generosity no be found on this forum. Let me start by detailing such matters here: The High Planes kit was sent to me some time ago by @Procopius. How gracious is that? Thank-you Edward for this kindness. As a young shaver on the forum, not long after joining I'd mused aloud in a thread about the absence of FAW.1s in 1/72 and been overwhelmed by a (characteristically) generous influx of references and diagrams from both @71chally and @canberra kid regarding the feasibility of modifying the Frog kit. The fruits of these discussions are posted here and I must reread them myself prior to commencing any work in this direction! If you've had a look at Brian Patterson's colour shots above you'll notice prominent in one of them is a Palouste starter. I never used to know about these until seeing @perdu resinate superb examples in his Buccaneer build. Not only that but again without saying anything he'd tucked some of his output away in a package he sent and so I'll be proud to use one of his Paloustes in this project. Thanks Bill! The High Planes kit first: As it says on the box: In fairness I see 'adjustment of parts required' on every kit I buy.... I haven't looked closely-enough at the canopy yet to make any decisions regarding suitablility: Some replacement Aries wheels (I'd forgotten I'd bought them) to replace the originals: The Frog File: Check out the crazy patterning all over the plastic. Weird.... That nose: Subject of much discussion with John and James on the original thread, as might be imagined.... How to '1 a '2: Picked this up dirt cheap of 5thletter bay many moons ago. Think that resin is the 'Final Touch' set (?) but no idea about the white metal provenance. Wheels and legs don't impress: The Airwaves stuff was in the Frog box when I bought it, honest guv: Vaguely possible one or two of those bits may prove of use but certainly not the grotty wingfold. Here's what's really going to offset a diorama - a beautifully perduced Palouste: The markings on both aircraft will be painted rather than decals, but thankfully I've the Model Alliance decal set for the Ark's air wing that I can snaffle the moonlit witches from for the 890 Sqn Vixen: I'm aware of multiple issues with correcting the Frog to a FAW.1, but the High Planes I believe is to be generally trusted in shape terms? (Please correct me if wrong on the latter point). There will of course need to be a wingfold involved somewhere but this has given me a pause for thought: the colour scheme of the Martel-tester is so good that the wings on that one will have to be fully extended to display this handsome plumage, so XN708 will be the one to get the folding treatment, though which kit do do which with (if you see what I mean)? The Frog is moulded with the break in the wings where the fold is so a natural candidate, yet one with such problems in its nose area that this really makes it a better candidate for (the unfolded) XJ481 viz. a totally new and angular schnozz. I'm sure that the High Planes kit can be 'persuaded' to fold so: High Planes = XN708/Palouste (wingfolded) Frog = XJ481/Martel (non-folded) Nearly forgot. XN708 will have the RR Avons visible. So I'll be building 1/72 Avons as well.... References As standard for me, along with contemporary photographs, will be working from original technical documentation, namely several thousand pages of these: I've all 4 volumes of the above, plus: - for the engine build. As the technical manuals are obviously for the FAW.2, help with that handful of specific differences such as canopy etc comes in the form of relevant sections from the FAW.1 manuals generously provided previously by John (@canberra kid). Who else? I'm hoping to have the current Anson build finished by the Autumn so if you've nothing planned for those long winter evenings you'd be very welcome to pull up a Palouste and keep me company here. Thanks for reading, as always. Tony

Now that my USS Olympia build is winding down it's time for an airplane again. I grew up close to a Norwegian Air Force base housing the RNoAF 333sqdn P-3s, Hence I've always had a strong affinity for this plane. On Sep 13th 1987 one of the units P-3s collided with an Su-27 Flanker. This P-3 will be the subject of this build. The plane The incident as depicted on the boxart for a Trumpeter Flanker, incidentally my next build to join the P-3 on the shelf... The kit Got some aftermarket sets to add some detail. Planning on the plane being parked with the rear entry door closed but ladder attached, flaps down and bomb bay doors open. In addition I plan on recreating the damage to the props. I'll have the affected prop feathered with the engine covers open. Since I'm not planning on using the rear interior I'll use seats in the CMR set up in the cockpit instead. Well, at least all that is the plan...we'll see how it actually turns out. Ken

My entry to this GB is the Airfix Cessna O2. The O2 was a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster for the USAF who used it for Forward Air Control duties in Vietnam. The O2 differed from the 337 in having more radio gear instead of rear seats and windows in the doors on the pilot's side for a better view downward. A total of 23 O2s were provided from US stocks to El Salvador commencing in 1981. Two were shot down by SA7s and one destroyed by mortar fire during the civil war. Reputedly, eight remain in service. The Airfix kit appeared in 1968 and mine is an example from 1973 in the blister packs. On first inspection, it is not one of the finest products from Airfix The transparencies are a poor fit and in general the kit lacks finesse. There do not appear any markings available in 1/72nd for these aircraft, and even marking details are a bit thin on the ground. There is an article in an old SAM about the FAS, but I have my doubts about the scheme shown. Spares box and home printing I think will be needed to put the markings together. I have looked at I have looked at billn53 build of the Airfix kit here, Going to be fun I can see, and you might ask why is MrT not sticking to the red white and blue roundel? The answer is a) a change is as good as a rest (yeah sure) and b) MrsT's grandmother was EL Salvadorean, the daughter of a vice President no less. It is a long and interesting story of how British interests spread themselves around at the end of the nineteenth century.

Hello all, I decided to establish this thread to present and share some of my builds or post some progress actually laying on my workbench. The reason behind this is that I am not able to maintain a thread with a certain subject in progress due to several reasons. Therefore I established a similar thread for my Czech friends on Kitforum written in the Czech language. There on Britmodeller I intend to post similar content (in EN of course) and will try to update it as the time and other circumstances will allow. Also, let me shortly introduce myself. I am living in the Czech Republic and modelling for more than 25 years. My favourite subjects are 72 scale fighter planes WWII or modern. I am trying to make collections like training aircraft or Finish, Swedish, Czech, Royal air force etc. Occasionally I am also making armour tanks or ships. In the past, I also presented and attended some group builds here on Britmodeller. Last time I present most of my finished builds on the 72insight blog.

This project still has a little way to go, but March 2021 marks 40 years since I joined HMS HERMES as a wide eyed Midshipman. Sadly, 2021 also sees the end of her, as the INS VIRAAT is dismantled at Gujarat Ship Breakers. I've alread posted pictures of my HERMES Wessex V, now its the SHAR's turn with this pair representing the arrival of her first Sea Harriers in 1981, and the departure of her last Sea Harriers in 2016. This first aircraft is FRS.1 XZ450 of 800 Sqn and is the ESCI kit with Sky (and other) decals and ladder from a Hasegawa kit, plus a Pavla seat. It was one of the first operational aircraft to land on the ship, an event that I remember well. Sadly this is also the aircraft in which Lt Nick Taylor RN was shot down by anti aircraft fire and killed on 4th May 1982, whilst attacking Goose Green airstrip. The second aircraft is FRS.51 LUSH IN617 of 300 Indian Naval Air Sqn "White Tigers", based onboard INS VIRAAT (or Giant) in 2016 for her decommissioning ceremony. This was a LUSH upgraded aircraft with Elbit radar and capable of carrying Rafael Derby missiles as well as MBDA Magic. It is the Fujimi kit, with a mix of Italeri kit and home made decals and scratch built Derby missiles. To complete the project, I have an 814 Sea King HAS.1 currently on the stocks, ready to join my other HERMES SHAR, plus the Wessex, Buccaneer and Scimitar that I have already built. Depending on progress, a few more Wessexes and a Sea Vixen may yet join them, but, so many models to build, so little time!

Hi Folks A question for you. I'm trying to find a set of decals for a friend of mine. Namely Spitfire MH434 in 1/72 as shown below Many thanks for your thoughts Kev

Not the most unusual subject to be presented here, of course, but here's another little Airfix Hurri. It's built out of the box in 85 Sqn markings with just some seat straps added. I've done a few of these now, and better options are available in this scale, so this will be the last - I think... With my last attempt at this kit: Best wishes, Ian

Finally joining you with this kit. Cost me £15 from Wonderland in 2003. Bags of parts. Containing the biggest pile of plastic that I've ever seen. Decals and instructions. A Bundesmarine Atlantic that I photoed at Fairford. And a French Aeronavale example. Quick assembly of the rear fuselage. Lots of tape and the clamps holding it together.

Hello, A couple of weeks ago I made a post in the Forum about our current proyect. Although we still have to get some kits, my father has started to build the ones we have in our stash (14). We have some black holes in our reasearch but our intention is to build the following aircrafts: 1Fairey Barracuda Mk I - P1767 (prototype with lower elevator) 2Fairey Barracuda Mk I - P1767 (prototype with upper elevator) 3Fairey Barracuda Mk I - P1767 with fixed main undercarrier 4Fairey Barracuda Mk I - RK328 with deep charges 5Fairey Barracuda Mk I - RK328 with four SCI 6Fairey Barracuda Mk II - P9647 used to test Merlin 32 engine fitted with a container as ballast 7Fairey Barracuda Mk II P9597/G A&AEE June 1944 with CUBA canister 8Fairey Barracuda Mk II - LS789 July 1944 fitted with a torpedo and radar. 9Fairey Barracuda Mk II known serial number - D Day invasion strippes. (We only have one photo but don´t know the serial number) 10Fairey Barracuda Mk TR III DP855/G Defford Feb 1944 For ASV MK II band evaluation with rear fuselage mounted scanner and radome 11Fairey Barracuda Mk with shark mouth. We only have one photo but it is not possible to iddentify the serial number 12Fairey Barracuda Mk V P9976 May 1944 (third prototype) 13Fairey Barracuda Mk V PM940 Oct 1945 Fith prototype 14Fairey Barracuda Mk II - unknow serial number used to test air radar container instalation. 15Fairey Barracuda Mk II PM963 371/A 812 Sdn HMS Vengeance August 1945 (En alagun lugar dice PM949 16Fairey Barracuda Mk II PM954 R1C 814 Sdn Ceylon Ashore RNS Katukurunda 1945 17Fairey Barracuda Mk II MX613 A&AEE January 1945 with a boat 18Fairey Barracuda Mk II LS7 China Bay in September 1944 (small SEAC roundels) We can not do these two aircrafts with the information we have. 19Fairey Barracuda Mk fitted with RATOG. We only have one photo but it is not possible to iddentify the serial number 20Fairey Barracuda Mk with SEAC roundels (Big blue ones with small clear in the center). We only have one photo but it is not possible to iddentify the serial number Here are some photos Cheers Santiago

Hello all Since I got into scale modelling armour under lockdown Ive focused on mainly on WW2 armour and mainly British bar a panzer or two. One thing I love about the hobby is how it prompts me to learn more about the history. Interest in cold war tanks had been growing at the back of my mind because mainly after ww2 most countries didn't build their own tanks and certain tanks became ubiquitous and none more so than the T-54/55 or Type 59. Ive heard it called the Kalashnikov of tanks which is cool. The number of variants is also huge. 1/72 T-54 and T-55 tanks kept appearing (like magic ) in my stash so it was about time to forget about ww2 for a bit and build one. I choose to start on the Ammo by Mig T-54B kit, as I liked all the non-soviet decal options it comes with, in fact is has multiple options for north Vietnamese tanks which I think is great (the kit is themed for Vietnam). I took these pics a couple of weeks back and I'm largely finished the build but I thought the pics may be of interest. Up to now I've mainly been building older kits, this is my first recent mold/manufactured kit and Ive been surprised by some if its features. There are jigs for the tracks which are great, but what I appreciated even more is the fact there are jigs for the photoetch hopefully we will see more of that in kits that are becoming photoetch heavy. Actually having a metal thread/wire for the tow cable included is great too. Decal's have multiple North Vietnamese options as well as Egyptian/Syrian for the Arab/Isreali wars (I feel an Ace IDF Centurion vs a T-54/55 standoff coming on at some point) Cheers

It was a choice between this and VF-51 MiG Killer, but the limited edition deserves to be built. As you can see I've already been testing paints to see what I had that was close enough as we have restictions on movement still in Melbourne so the hobby shops are closed. Anyways I think I have paints that are about right, not sure what I will do with loads yet, you can really bomb them up or later in the Iran-Iraq war they became rather deadly tank killers due to the Iranians adapting them to carry Mavericks.

MIG-21 PFM out of the Eduard kit with some accessories (also from Eduard), slightly modified by adding 2 outboard wing pylons (same type and position as on latter versions, M, MF, bis, etc) it was a one-off Romanian “upgrade”; the plane was in service within Fortele Aeriene Romane till late 90’s. Decals (roundels and tactical number) are from spare box; painted with Mr. Color enamels. Any comment is appreciated. GX9A4237_031 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr GX9A4250_034 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr GX9A4252_032 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr GX9A4247_033 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr GX9A4249_033 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr

Hello all, These vintage Heller kits date back to the mid '70s and are known for several shape issues of which I corrected (only) a few. The bulges on the tail fin and horizontal stabilizers were flattened. The cockpits were completely scratch-built as the kit is pretty much devoid of anything. Same for the nose gear wells. The ejection seat in the J-6 is homemade, with a Pavla resin MB seat being used in the F-6. The Heller kit builds into a long-nosed Mig-19PM, so I shortened both noses by some 2 mm and reshaped the intakes using Milliput and styrene strip to better resemble the overall Mig-19S / J-6 profile: not perfect, but close enough too my eyes. The distinctive guns are also absent in the kit: I added some Master gun barrels (the pitot tubes come from the same set). The parachute housing and AIM-9B sidewinder pylons on the PAF aircraft were scratch-built also. Final touches are Reskit resin wheels and the smaller scratch-built fins/actuators on the wings. I used Printscale decals for both aircraft. The PLAAF roundels are from the spares box though, as the Printscale ones are way too large. Paints are Gunze/Tamiya acrylics; weathering was done with oils. Thanks for viewing - comments always welcome! Patrick

Hi, I love Phantoms and I wouldn't want to miss out on the GB. I'd like to finish in time, so I won't be going for one of the big 1/48 projects. Here's my beloved Hasegawa kit, straight from the 1990's and still wrapped in plastic. This box-art is in my top two of Shigeo Koike's work, the other one being the Bicentennial F-4N's that are on some boxings of the 1/48 F-4B/N kit. For the decals I'll use the VMFA-314 option from this microscale sheet. I've always wanted a VMFA-314 F-4B. I wish there were more 1/72 decals for USMC Phantoms in Vietnam. If they turn out to be too old to be useable, I'll switch to another squadron. I'm aiming to keep this simple and finish on time. Cheers, Stefan.

Good afternoon This is my build of the 1/72 Douglas Dakota from Airfix as used by the Royal Australian Navy. I completed this earlier in the year. In the 1950's this particular aircraft, N2-43, was fitted with a Sea Venom nose and radar and a Gannet radar under the rear fuselage and served as a flying classroom for Observers (Navigators) for those front line aircraft. When the Sea Venoms and Gannets were replaced with Skyhawks and Trackers in the late 1960's the radars were stripped out and N2-43 was returned to general duties but retained the modified nose. Built as a C47A, it's original USAAF serial was 42-92711 and it flew with the RAAF as A65-43 until being delivered to the RAN in 1949 as N2-43. It flew with 851 Squadron which became VC851 when the RAN flew mostly American aircraft. I used decals from Hawkeye Models and a resin nose from Southern Sky Models in WA to modify the kit. This Dakota is currently on display at the Australian Fleet Air Arm Museum at Nowra NSW. Paints used were: Tamiya X-2 Gloss White Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium various Tamiya blacks Minimal weathering, as these aircraft were kept in very good condition. Flory grey wash to highlight panel lines and Abteilung oils for exhaust and hatch stains. The kit went together quite well except for gaps on the upper wing roots which required some attention. Also some of the smaller parts were a bit brittle and snapped. This seems to be common with some of Airfix's new plastic or it could just be my not so small fingers. Just behind the wings on the fuselage underside I have scribed a square panel which is a patch on the real aircraft covering the hole where the Gannet radar used to drop down. The underwing serial '800' was not included in the decals so I made a stencil and air brushed it on. This is the aircraft on display at the RAN FAA museum at Nowra, NSW. These photos were taken by me in March this year in between covid lockdowns.

My next project will likely get some attention -- a lot of you have already told me that you're interested in seeing the Fine Molds Ki-100 come together. This was an adaptation of the Ki-61. My reference books have different accounts: one says it was prompted by a shortage of the liquid cooled engines they were using in the Ki-61, another says it was prompted by the un-reliability of the liquid cooled engine. Whatever the reason, they had Ki-61 airframes without engines and the engineers were clever enough to graft a radial engine on the front of them, producing a fighter that was reportedly better than the Ki-61. Ever since I discovered this plane a few years ago, I've really wanted to do a model of it. So here we go! There are some nice options in this kit. I was going to do the one on the cover, but then I saw the alternate schemes: I decided I'm going to do that last one. I had found pictures of the plane on the cover, but when I changed my mind about which one to do, I found I had collected pictures of the one with the blue stripes while I was researching. That' was a nice discovery! The subject in the picture was not terribly worn and had a semi-gloss look to it. So that will be guiding my finishing decisions. The model has very nice surface detail, and some dry fitting shows that it fits together well. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of flash to trim off the fuselage. Started out with the cockpit, of course: I was very pleased with the Ki-61 Tony I did a few months ago except for the cockpit color, which I found out after the fact was an old modelling trope. @Corsairfoxfouruncle pointed me to @Stew Dapple's Ki-61 Build which had a well thought out interior color. Since I don't have any Colourcoats paints, I mixed some up to match. The recipe was one drop each of Hataka RLM79a (Sand), RLM02 (Yellow) and RLM82 (which is a bright green -- bleah). It matched what was on the screen, but now I'm comparing pictures side-by-side, mine looks a tad more yellow. Still, it is reasonable and beats the Tan color they recommend. That cockpit and landing gear detail is terrific. No scratchbuilding on this one! I'll post better pictures when I do the detail painting. That's all for now -- off to work!

'The prisoner is marched into a tent lit by one flickering lantern. There is a good deal of side play. The interrogator snaps out the routine questions: "Name—rank—number?" When the next question is greeted with silence, the sentry is ordered to leave the tent. The interrogator fingers his revolver. "I don't want to resort to methods we dislike," he says, and hopes the prisoner will believe the opposite. He may be taken into a confined space, such as an armored car. The interrogator talks in a low voice. He explains that he wants some important information and that he is determined to get it. He is candid. "You are alone; you have a family. You want to live. It is nice to be a hero when someone is looking, but you are alone."' -- Military Intelligence Service, "Prisoners of War (German)", Intelligence Bulletin, December 1942 "I admire you, but in the end everybody talks." -- SS-Hauptsturmführer Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie, to Lise Leserve, who he tortured for nineteen days. Her husband and son were both killed by the Germans. "Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves." -- George Orwell, 1984 "Undergrunden i Jylland er ved at blive revet op af Gestapo." [The Resistance in Jutland is about to be torn up by the Gestapo.] -- Brigadegeneral Vagn Bennike, Head of Danish Resistance Operations in Jutland, in a message to London, 15 October 1944 THE FURIES: Our anger never works against a man whose hands are clean— all his life he stays unharmed. But those men guilty of some crime, as this one is, who hide away, concealing blood-stained hands— we harass them as testament to those they’ve murdered. Blood avengers, always in pursuit, we chase them to the end. -- Aeschylus, Eumenides In 1943, SOE agent Jacob Jensen was captured by the Germans after parachuting back into Denmark. This was not unusual: SOE was in many ways an organization of enthusiastic amateurs, and their agents had been, for the most part, ordinary people before the war, leavened with a handful of professional soldiers who remained in or returned to their home countries to continue the fight. Like many before him and many after him, Jensen, who had been a fisherman before the war, broke under torture. The Geheime Staatspolizei in Denmark, better known as the Gestapo, was able to roll up almost the entirety of the Danish resistance operating in the Jutland peninsula. To compound matters, Grethe Bartram, ostensibly a Danish communist, began informing to the Germans for money, even turning over her own brother, and causing the collapse of the communist resistance groups in the country. (Bartram was sentenced to death after the war, but it was commuted and she was released from prison after a decade. She had informed on over forty people; fifteen were tortured, and eight were taken into Germany under the nacht und nebel decree, never to be seen alive again. Bartam herself lived to be 92, dying in Sweden in 2017.) Matters came to a head on 7 October 1944, when the Gestapo captured one of the couriers for the resistance, who reported directly to Vagn Bennike, a prewar officer in the Royal Danish Army now coordinating the activities of all resistance cells in the Peninsula. If the Germans could identify, locate, and capture Bennike, they would be able to completely wipe out any trace of resistance in the region. In desperation, Bennike signalled London on 15 October: "The resistance in Jutland is about to be torn up by the Gestapo. More important to get the archives destroyed and save our people than getting our people destroyed and save the archives. I implore that residence hall 4 and 5, repeat 4 and 5, be destroyed by air strike. They are the two farthest to the west, repeat farthest to the west, buildings of the university complex. Urgent, repeat urgent." The two buildings in question were located in the densely packed university campus, with three hospitals, Århus Kommunehospital, Århus Amtssygehus, and Marselisborg Hospital all nearby. In 1944, there was only one air force in the world who could even attempt such a task. A single Mosquito from 544 Squadron surveyed the area on 26 October. A wing attack was planned for Halloween, with 24 aircraft drawn from 21 Squadron and two of the Article XV squadrons, 464 (RAAF) and 487 (RNZAF). Wing Commander R W "Reg" Reynolds DSO DFC and his navigator, Squadron Leader (later Air Commodore) Edward "Ted" Sismore DSO DFC, who had helped to plan the prior Amiens raid, were to lead. Mustangs from 315 (City of Deblin) Squadron would escort them in. Flying in four waves, the Mosquitos came roaring in at extremely low level. The first wave hit at 1141, dropping 500-lb bombs with eleven second fuses; one of the weapons bounced away and exploded against the main university building, killing ten civilian workers, the only collateral casualties of the raid. Four minutes after the first wave, the next three waves came in, one after another, dropping incendiaries. The raid was a stunning success. The critically important resistance courier Ruth Phillipsen and the distinguished theologian and saboteur Harald Sandbæk were both able to escape. 27 Gestapo officers, including the local commander, Sturmbannführer Eugen Schwitzgebel, were killed. Their files were burnt to ash. A single Mosquito, damaged by flak, force-landed in Sweden, and the crew were interned. The resistance in Jutland experienced a resurgence, even managing to sink three German ships in harbor before the end of the war. So obviously I'm building a Tamiya Mosquito FB.VI. I have decals for SB-S/HR352, flown by Flt/Lt. W. C. Henderson & Fl/Off. R. S. Hawke on the raid, but the proooooooblem is that they're for how she appeared in early 1945. At least as late as August 1944, we know that 464 was using an extremely annoying and likely difficult to mask properly form of invasion stripes: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C288048 And in this footage from the RAF B.IV camera ship that went along on the Aarhus raid, we can see, at 0:27, that at least some of the aircraft had their stripes up the whole side of the fuselage, obturating the squadron code, but not the individual aircraft letter: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060030265 Which seems very sloppy, not having the wing standardize on one style of marking. SO. Anyone with a copy of The Gestapo Hunters, which is presently unobtainable in this country, I'd be much obliged for your help. In any case, we start in earnest tomorrow.

First entry into this GB and first modelling for over 3 months What can i say; i have an interest in post war french trainer, liaison and transport aircraft and this one had been in the stash since it was released ….. about time I built it