Search the Community

Back in March, when @trickyrich launched the Specialist GB I wasn't late to join in with the intention of doing a F-100F Wild Weasel. Progress was fairly swift as can be seen here: However, I got distracted by a certain deHavilland Hornet and the enthusiasm for the little WW faded for a while. Also, I had some ideas to add intakes on the bottom of the fin, enlarge/add some RWR on the fin pod and a few other things...and we all know how that goes. Correct, right into the cupboard of doom! Well, we cannot be having that no more, can we? I relaunch the thread here, in the hope of actually finishing it this time. Famous last words...I know, I know I decided to skip all further detailing, since I wasn't really feeling it anymore. Nothing was cut however so I could just carry on. And carry on was what I did...and decided to start painting that lovely burned rear end! I found this image as inspiration: Linky Armed with a sense of exploration, I decided to shoot some Vallejo metallics first The I began to ponder. How to do the burned metal? I needed something that was sort of brown-red but a bit translucent. Tamiya smoke is one way, but I felt that it's too dark. Well, I settled for a mix of Tamiya clear and flat brown, the reasoning being that it should be sort of translucent. It worked after a fashion but since I made it very thin, it was tricky to the avoiding spider runs. The fist coat turned out ok, but a bit light. I redid the mix, but starting with red brown instead. That made a better richer look: The tricky thing was to make the dots up at the wing root. It's T.I.N.Y. in 1/72! What do you think? Should I try to improve it a bit further before masking it all up and slap on some primer?

Hello It's really a long time I haven't entered in a group build here. This time I have chosen an early F-4E in Israeli Defense Force in 1973. To build this aircraft I have selected in my stash the Revell F-4F which has nearly everything to make a Kurnass (Sledgehammer). Actually, I had to take from a Fujimi kit the sloted stabilators as the F-4F did not have those. Here is the box art and first pictures of the build will follow soon. Cheers. Patrick

I'd like to join this GB with this kit. I intend to build a WWII SAAF Ventura with it. I have only done about 45 mins of research so far, but I think that I should be able build a SAAF Ventura from this kit, with relatively minor modifications. I do believe it was used for maritime patrol, so should fit nicely into the criteria of this GB. I'll post the mandatory sprue shots as well as some reference photos later. Cheers Jimmy

Sword is to release very soon a 1/72nd Arado Ar-196A-3 kit - ref.SW72085 Source: http://swordmodels.cz/cs/coming-soon/100-sw72085-arado-ar-196a-3.html V.P.

I have split open the bag for my build and it sired some memories from a childhood build. I will build OOB as I need something to get the mojo back. The parts in a lovely brown plastic Instructions and washed out decals And the decals I will use for the build Not sure if I will build as a 816SQN Mk1 or an shore based 724SQN T Mk2

Bf-109G-6 | 1/72 | Airfix Fliegerkompanie 7 | Swiss Air Force | 1945 I finished this on July 29th, 2019. It is the much maligned Airfix kit. I had to wait for some enamel to cure on my Banshee and decided to give this one a try. I'd wanted to do a Swiss Bf-109 since seeing one as a computer desktop wallpaper, but heard bad things about this kit. After seeing @John D.C. Masters build of this kit and reading how much fun it was, I decided to give it a shot. It took me about 2 days as there wasn't a lot to it. It was ready to paint within 2 hours. Much of the criticism of this kit is deserved. Airfix did something unforgivable by merging the 2 blisters ahead of the cockpit into one, for reasons unknown: I can understand how this would be enough to put someone off of the kit (and even off of Airfix!), but I decided to fix it with an Xacto knife and some sandpaper prior to gluing the fuselage together and it looks good enough from a distance that I am satisfied. It's very hard to take a picture of, but here's the best I could do: Other criticisms have to do with accuracy, but most of which didn't concern me because I don't know as much about 109's as other planes. Others were unhappy with the lack of cockpit (just an inaccurate seat), but I found you can't really tell when looking through the tiny frames of the canopy, so I wasn't too concerned about that either. The good points of this kit are that it is well engineered, so I had little seam work before painting and the parts fit together beautifully. The wings were a bit of a challenge as the wing tops taper in such a way that you can't mate them to the fuselage if you follow the instructions. I had to kind of gently bend the wing assembly into an anhedral to fit the fuselage in the opening. My suggestion is to glue one wing-top on, glue to the fuselage, then glue the other wing top on. Another good point is the decals: with a strong enough solvent, they settle in nicely and have lots of tiny stencils that really add to the build. My only concern was that the red of the insignia was brighter than the Insignia red they have you paint on the fuselage and rudder. I don't know if that was the way they were in real life, but I suspect not. Painted the aircraft by black basing with Mr. Surfacer 1500 black, and used Mr. Color paints, except for the testors enamel insignia red. Thanks for looking! Comments, questions and constructive criticism always welcome!

... and not just hoard unbuilt kits, here are a couple of aircraft that I've completed recently. The TSR.2 Eagle was completed a couple of months back and is the Airfix kit with a load of resin bits and bobs and Model Alliance decals. This was the first time i used Hataka paints, and I have to be honest is saying that I'm not entirely happy with them and don't really give a smooth finish, but that could just be me. The B-17E is on the Hawaiian Air Deport scheme that was used shortly after Pearl Harbor for a a period on a select few aircraft and was completed last Sunday. Decals are a mix of Kora and Printscale. The Sperry remote turret conversion is from Kora, the engines and cowlings are by Quickboost. Masking the glazed nose was a right pain and one wonders why no one does a mask that includes the E nose!

Greetings Frog Fans! Here is the first of my three entries to the GB. Its the Kannone Vogel Stuka, which has long been a favourite of mine. I will try and add some basic details to the interior as i go along but it will mostly be OOTB as i have triple booked myself with GBs this year: Tiger GB; D-Day GB, and this one! Its going to be a busy old time, but hopefully an enjoyable one....pics Tanks for looking, cheers Greg

Hello again! My second entry for the GB is the Dornier Arrow. This is a Matchbox issue but Scalemates confirmed that it is the Frog parts from 1974. One of the great Frog esoteric subjects it was never actually used in combat as a nightfighter (i think) but the two seater certainly did exist as a trainer version. Cheers Greg

Hi all, How about this? One of the earliest Night Fighters courtesy of Airfix's 1/72 scale model - To be built OOB but as I'm a glutton for punishment it'll be rigged whilst we're at it. Kind regards IanJ

Hello! My contribution for this GB will be the F100F Wild Weasel I. I've had the deepest respect for all crews involved in the SEAD/DEAD mission (or rather, I remember how tricky it was in the good old PC flight Sim EF2000 back in the 90:s) During the Vietnam war it was clear that something needed to be done about the SA-2 threat on a more permanent basis, and the Wild Weasel concept was born. A fast(ish) two seater was needed, and suitable modded to pick up and and locate the SA-2 radar. Once found, they would then mark the target to lead a bunch of strikers to take the site out. The aircraft chosen was the old (that that time) F-100F because they were available, not because they were the best choice. Equipment were different radar detectors and homing devices and to deal with the threat it was then attacked with cannon, rockets or napalm. Unfortunately the F-100F was slower than the strike team the were supposed to protect, and after less than a year it was replaced in theater by the much more capable EF-105F and the F-105G, which had the speed, equipment and weapons to be a better Weasel. This little picture sums it up best: There is a lot more to read up on the F-100F and its Wild Weasel missions on the net, and I might add that to the reference thread later on. Anyway, the plastic I've chosen is this: Trumpys model is lovely detailed and has plenty of parts which is always nice. I know about the fin having the wrong sweep angle, cockpit being way too long and its also missing all the stuff to make a Weasel out of it. I do not plan to change the cockpit nor the fin, but will make an effort to scratch all needed ECM and radio stuff. Just to show that I haven't started yet, here are the runners: Since I'm almost unable to build models without some AM stuff, I tried to keep my AMS in check and have only got this: LAU-3 and napalm canisters will be taken from the old Hasegawa weapon sets. I can already say that I have no idea of how to paint the rear fuselage with it's massive heat distorted paint/metal but I look forward to experiment on it!

Hello everyone... Im thinking about starting my next Hurricane build soon. I'll be using the newer tool Airfix 1/72 kit. I have a couple of questions concerning these. 1) First question is which squadrons would've operated the type with the early fabric wings including both the battle of France and Battle of Britain ? 2) Second question, is this a good option for pre-war 38-39 era ? 3) Third question is pre-war hurricanes, when did they switch from two to three blade props ? 4) Fourth question, i know the color call out for the kits marking is wrong for a yellow spinner. Whats the correct color if i use the kit option ? Thank you in advance for any assistance. Dennis

I'm building Zvezda's re-pop of the Dragon MiG-17 Fresco A in another GB in aftermarket markings but... One of the kit options is for an aircraft of the NVAF and it depicts the machine that caused the US's first air to air casualty of the Vietnam War, an F-8 Crusader, on 3rd April 1965. A couple of months later I showed my face and things would never be the same again for so many people on three continents Couple of place holders while I wait for the postie to deliver my second kit, these are the box and sprue shots from the other build. It's 25 years old now but still builds easily and quickly. Incidentally, the new Airfix MiG-17 featured in their Workbench article today. Looks good, but it's the after burning version with the big air brakes so there's still a place for this kit for early Frescoes Andy

Hi All, please forgive the late entry but I was only given this one today by a friend I hadn't seen for a year and I thought it would be ideal for this GB. Its bit on the old side as it has 1963 on the inside of the wing and the interior is none existent, it has raised rivet detail but still fine compared to some kits. So some sprue shots. Note the price. 59p reduced from £1.20! When did this go on sale. Not many parts and quite a bit of flash on some. Raised rivets.... but not the mole hills that later airfix kits suffered from. The whole instructions is just 2 A4 sheets. Kit decals, don't look to bad but I wont be using them, I think being 56 year old they'll probably wont come of the backing sheet. I found a picture of a captured Hudson in the Asian theatre with Japanese marking's so I'll go for that. Made a start spraying the interior.

Platz is to release a 1/72nd Heinkel He.219A-7 Uhu kit (manufactured by Dragon) - ref. AE-1 Release expected in July 2016 Sources: http://www.platz-hobby.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5446&language=en http://www.platz-hobby.com/products/5446.html http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10383511 V.P.

Hello everyone... Well I'm happy to say this one is done. As I mentioned in my build log this is a tribute to Lieutenant D.H.J.Owen (R.N.). While i was looking for some answers during the build process i found my aircraft XV348 was a part of 237 OCU. It was lost in a crash on 31/10/1977. The plane had left Bødø Norway for the U.K. and struck power-lines shortly after takeoff. The back seater survived the pilot did not.  This was my first ever build of a Frog kit, it was a pretty bare bones kit. I was able to scratch the wheel bays and build a cockpit. I have an Airfix Data-link pod given to me by one member for the Martel's. I am using an A/M pitot for the kit given to me another member. And finally i modified one of the Martel's to a T.V. guided variant. I hope the Buccaneer meets your expectations. I used this photo from Canberra kid as the basis of my model. This build is Dedicated to Lieutenant D.H.J. Owen (RN). R.I.P. ... Questions, comments, or thoughts ? If you're curious here is the build log link. Dennis

According to their email newsletter.

Hi all, I'm starting a Zil 131 soon and I'm just going through what paints I'll need for it. It says I'll need xf 5 for the green, does anyone know if this is the correct colour for Soviet military vehicles? I'm looking at doing a Zil 131 from the 1980s, would the green be different back then. I'm planning on spraying it. Either tamiya and humbrol paints will be perfect for me if anyone can help me out.

Hi there I recently completed my second Norwegian Air Ambulance using the Revell EC-135 kit. The first was using the Airfix MBB BO 155 kit. To make an up to date EC 135 I had to steal the radar nose from a Heller EC 145 kit. Both were finished using the excellent Lima November decals produced by one of our local IPMS club members. I see the EC -135 flying over my house sometimes when they are on a mission. These helicopters are often in the news for their rescue operations. There are some good clips on Youtube showing their rescue’s which are often very risky. Look for: Norsk Luftambulanse. There is a very good clip of a helicopter balancing on the roadside crash barrier to let the doctor out due to insufficient landing space on the road next to a cliff wall.. Unfortunately there was a fatal accident a couple of years ago when the helipcopter struck power lines when landing. Anyway, on the the pictures.

Sometimes you have yourself a kit that is pretty much faultless, the build goes through without issues and it restores your faith in life. This for me is one of those - great package, great book that comes with it, huge colour profile book (32 to choose from!), perfect fit of parts. Probably only couple of things to say is maybe too many parts/bit over engineered for 1/72 (cockpit took me ages and now can barely see it!). Really wish Eduard would do more of these special boxings in 1/72 but they seem to focus on 1/48 recently. Vallejo model air paints, I chose the following markings: #1 S/L Tom Trimble No. 457 squadron, Sattler Airstrip late 1944 #2 F/O Norm Turnbull No 79 squadron, Morotai, April 1945

Hello all, for my entry I will be building Italeri's A10. The kit come with four decal options 2 European green schemes and 2 low vis grey schemes but one has the shark mouth and the later the snake teeth options. I haven't decided which on to build as yet as the kit is not right for a or c model. Just found the Print scale decal sheet which has an experimental camo with warthog tusks and nostrils, 3 tone brown camo looks unusual. Now that the Blackbird is finished I can get started on this one. IMGA0746 by neil Connor, on Flickr

I would like to add a late entry. I have singlehandedly failed to do much modelling recently so I need a GB to kick me into gear. Buried in my stash (so deep it took some time to find it) I have this little gem. I cannot remember where I got it from but it must be 10+ years ago and the kit is obviously much older than that...raised panel lines anyone. The plastic also looks very shiny and a bit brittle. I am going to build it OTB. The main aim to (a) have fun and (b) complete a build. All comments welcome as always. Dave

Seeing as the my last request got some brilliant replies that let me score what I wanted in hours, here's the latest : Do any 1/72 decals exist/are about to exist for this? Maybe my Google-fu is weak today but I couldn't easily spot any in usual places. Cheers Anil

According to Hannats, Roden will release a new Great War model, Type B WWI Omnibus Ole Bill kit, in 1/72 (no 732). It is nice they are slowly but steadily add new kits to WWI ground range in 1/72 scale.

Number 3 for July and 13 done for 2019, our Russian Tank Factory is humming along nicely : Ghastly abomination of a new tool kit from Revell AG, the RFI will show more but truly awful release and vastly inferior to their not so great 1996 effort. That said it looks pretty, even with the wrong markings for a clip tip but necessary as the right ones had opaque carrier film, As usual my integrated Surfacer 1500/Mr Color/Mr Super UV Cut III all thinned with Mr Leveling , system was employed. No drama in this quick build, As its headed out for auction no aerial wire and pre attached pitot of course. That said if you're looking for an accurate MKVb, then keep looking, Buy this and you will regret it the minute you open the box. But awful kits don't really bother me as long as the basic shapes are right so more than adequate for me but YMMV. WIP Beauty shots Mazeltov! Anil