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Good morning all Thought I would make a thread seeing as I actually cut some plastic over the weekend. The idea of doing a dio is one that appealed to me, I'm more a railway modeller and just love doing scenics, so with this in mind I set about starting. I'll add some photos in tonight, but I've made a good start in the cromwell tank from airfix, bare in mind this is my first go at doing a tank, and I thoroughly enjoyed clubbing it together. So where am I going with this, well the plan is to have a river/stream, with a destroyed bridge across it, either side we have the tanks, one the cromwell, the other a tiger, more about these in the coming posts... Now you can't really have a D-day themed model without having some invasion stripes? Don't worry I have this covered in the form of a 1/72 tiffy, but for now it's role in the scene I'll be keeping hush, element of suprise and all that A fair bit going on but hopefully it'll all come together and I'm not biting more then I can chew, hopefully a few pics over the coming days All the best Matt

It’s been a while since I’ve completed a model and this has been due to some fairly serious family issues (enough said), but finally I’ve managed to do a quick build of what is probably my most favourite 50’s Jet, the Hawker Sea Hawk. This is the Hobbyboss 1/72 version of the Mk. 101 in German markings and as kits go the fit and finish of the parts is excellent, especially compared to the ancient Airfix moulding. The only mods I’ve done to the kit is the addition of a resin ejector seat and to replace the kit aerials with stretched sprue versions. I can already see one or two areas for improvement on my next aircraft build, but as ever any constructive criticism is welcome. P.S. I quickly made a base from plasticard to sit the ‘Hawk on so I’ve swapped out the original photos for these. Hope you don’t mind.

MGB 40 awaits a paint job and I'm awaiting parts for a defunct compressor. So...inspired by Kev Longshanks and his Dog boat build MGB658 I'm going to kick off my attempt at a Fairmile B. They were in many ways the unsung work horse in motor launches and were deployed in a miriad of roles including acting as navigation leaders to mark channels for landing craft to use in their approaches to the D-Day beaches - as represented by ML 196. Pictures of these comparatively rare types are hard to come by. I am indebted to Christian Sheppard-Capurro for passing on some pics This pic portrays ML or Q196 as she was on or about D-Day... Mark Smiths "Coastal Craft History Volume 3 - Motor Gun Boat, Motor Torpedo Boat and Fast Patrol Boat depicts Q196. It's an indispensible volume for anyone interested in British Coastal Craft of WWII as our volumes 1 and 2. Volume 4 is due and will specifically detail Fairmile As, Bs and Cs. Further references will include And unlike the Dog boats there are still a few extant originals of which RLM 497 is probably the best well known having served as a ferry and pleasure day boat around the Dartmouth estuary for many years, she now resides in Portsmouth and I believe will become part of the Naval museum Th hull comes courtesy of Christian at MTB hulls and is truly a thing of beauty. if you have any interest in coastal craft - check his site out - he does a huge number of different hulls in different scales and here it is against the HDML that he also supplied ( this is approximately Vosper MTB sized) As Longshanks reports with his Fairmile D - the moulding is superb with barely a blemish. The deck is loose and will need epoxying down which fits with my plans I'll also be using Coastal Craft Model products Coastal Craft Models from Martin Blundell which are uniformly excellent. And Thanks Also to Longshanks for his encouragement and help to date. If I make half as good a job as MGB658, I'll be delighted. More soon Thanks for looking Rob

Here's my attempt at the 1/72 Revell (Airfix / Heller) Concorde. She's built out of the box except for the addition of a pair of pilots, a tiny bit of scratchbuilding under the visor and the F_DCAL decals, although I only used the window / door decals from the latter. It's an impressively large model once built, with a length of 85cm and a wingspan of 37cm. I definitely wouldn't describe it as an easy build.....here's a link to the build thread, which will hopefully give a flavour of the blood, sweat and tears required to undertake this kit! https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235047199-revell-172-concorde/page/8/&tab=comments#comment-3368409 Thanks for looking!

Under the ship killer category - He 177A-5 with Fritz X guided missiles. In 1943 Fritz X missiles sunk the battleship Roma. I hope to do a couple more in the GB time allowing, but i will see how i get on with this one first. TFL Cheers Greg

My last finish is a 1/72 Fw189A by ICM. I always like Hungarian aircraft with its white cross on black. This ICM kit is quite recent and it offers a much better Uhu than MPM's one. The only real need of filling/sanding is the joints between the booms and the wings. Nanond

Built OOB and tried to get the very worn finish of the Bounty Hunters Tomcats using multiple shades of grey. Not exactly as I had hoped as it is slightly too dark I think, but I'm calling it done. Missing a couple of small bits that I offered up as a sacrifice to the carpet monster, so need to replace the pitot tube and 2 airspeed/AAT probes. The decals were a bit thick and silvered a little despite gloss coating beforehand, although other than that quite a nice kit to build. Crew figures from PJ Productions.

Hi Guys. I usually do 1/48 kits, but I received this little one as a gift from a friend and I just gave it a try with 1/72 also. This small plane is also very dear to me, since I learned to fly on one of the descendants of the Zlin 126. The kit itself is very small and cute, reasonably fit, good decals. I just added some small details and that's it. Hope you'll like it. Cheers,

My most recent completion, totally exhausted with the effort that went into decaling on this project. First off, the build. Pretty straight forward, fit was okay (but not a patch on Japanese and, more recently, some of the newer Korean engineering). There are quite a number of sink marks in the plastic though - perhaps due to the age of the molds themselves? I didn't worry about these too much as the markings would tend to draw the eye anyway. Almost completely OOB, only aftermarket used were the Master Model pitot tube and AOA sensors. Now the decals. I've heard that these are Cartograf - if so, thank goodness! My kit had an old and yellowed decal sheet. Quite a few were brittle and shattered on application. I suspect that being Cartograf they had some inherent strength which limited the number and severity of breakages. Even so, there were many hours spent playing decal jigsaw on a minute sub-millimetre scale. I ended up using Mr Color Levelling Thinners sprayed through the airbrush as the decal setting agent (after first applying Mr Mark Softer and then Micro Sol!). I restrained myself with regards to the weathering, this is a show-bird after all, but felt some oil streaks and stains on the underside were in order. Anyhoo, enough with my rambling... on with the pics! As always, thanks for looking

This kit is now winging its way and should be with me by the end of the week, so just a placeholder for now. I'll post the box contents once it arrives.

The crew were: Pilot: Flying Officer Keith Alan M Foottit Flight Engineer: Sergeant Raymond Charlton Navigator: Flight Sergeant Alistair Chisholm Goodwin Air Bomber: Flying Officer James Hunter Wireless Operator: Sergeant Arthur Melvyn Roberts Air Gunner: Sergeant James Currie Air Gunner: Sergeant Albert Edward Grant In the late afternoon of 20th January 1944 they flew Halifax Mk V LK725 KN - B, along with 18 others from 77 Squadron, on a mission to Berlin. Having taken off from RAF Elvington at 16.17 they returned at 23.52. Along with a mixed load of bombs they also carried 'nickels'. They had dropped leaflets as well as bombs. Less than twenty hours later on Friday 21st January 1944 the same crew took off again, in Halifax V LK730 KN – G, with 9 others, on a mission to Magdeburg – again deep into Germany. They took off at 19.32 but this time they didn't return. Three other 77 sqn Halifaxes also didn't return from that mission. That night Bomber Command had suffered the heaviest losses of any night so far: 57 aircraft were lost; 35 Halifaxes and 22 Lancasters, representing 8.8 per cent of the force. The Halifax loss rate was 15.6 per cent and almost double that of the Lancasters but 77 squadron's loss rate on this mission was 40 per cent (ten planes sent and only six returned). The RAF noted that many night fighters were in the bomber stream before it had crossed the German coast; they believed that the night fighters had accounted for about three quarters of the losses. The crew of LK730 are buried in graves, side by side, in the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetary. One month later, because of the continuing high loss rates, ACM Sir Arthur Harris withdrew Halifax II and V aircraft from operations against German targets. On to the model and my attempt at LK730. This is my build thread if that's of interest: This is the Revell 1/72 Halifax Mk I / II boxing. I had originally thought LK730 was a Mk II as the squadron's Operations Record Book for January 1944 lists it as such. The ORB shows all the Mk Vs as Mk IIs - not sure why. However after some great help in the WW2 sub forum it was clear that LK730 was in fact a Mk V built by Fairey Aviation. The Revell Mk I / II boxing has parts which are suitable for the Mk V but not mentioned as such in the instructions. This meant using saxaphone style exhausts, rectangular tail fins, the clear nose and the Dowty undercarriage (marked not for use). Overall the kit is well engineered with good fit, some nice detail and plenty of options. However it is badly let down by inaccuracies, particularly the nacelles, propellers, spinners and wheels, and also by poor instructions. So, in addition to very nice Revell (Eduard manufactured) photo-etch, the extras were AML resin replacement radiators, propellers and spinners and AML main wheels. With all those windows I just had to have some Eduard masks. I opened the bomb bay which required some minor surgery. The inner doors are molded as one piece but the instructions show where to cut. The outer doors are molded as part of the fuselage halves, again with lines showing where to cut, although this is not mentioned in the instructions. Pictures of the Halifax with bomb bay open clearly show these two sets of doors. I'm pleased with the end result and she seems to be a fair approximation of a Halifax – at least to my very untrained eye. So here's some pics starting with a couple of WIP ones. The bombs and trolleys are from the Airfix Bomber re-supply set. Comments appreciated All the best Mark

The Yakovlev Yak-28 (Яковлев Як-28) was produced initially as a tactical bomber, it was also manufactured in reconnaissance, electronic warfare, interceptor and trainer versions, known by the NATO reporting names Brewer, Firebar, and Maestro respectively. Based on the Yak-129 prototype first flown on 5 March 1958, it began to enter service in 1960. Yak-28L (Izdeliye 28L; NATO reporting name: "Brewer-B") was a tactical bomber with ground-controlled targeting system using triangulation from ground-based transmitter sites. A total of 111 were built. The build was a trial all the way. By comparison, Airfix kits are shake'n'bake. A six-footer at best.

Just wanted something quick and easy to try out rigging using EZ Line so picked up a new e.iii from Hobbycraft for £7. I wasn't bothered about the colour scheme as I was concentrating on the rigging so kept it as per the cad rendering on the side of the box.

Oh no! Yet another WIP from that opinionated northerner ... When I was a teenager I travelled to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune, east of Edinburgh just off the A1 many times with my dad and for the Air Training Corps' regional level aircraft recognition and model competitions. In the corner of the main hangar (it's all changed now - the main hangar has been redesigned to house their Concorde) was an old fashioned model shop front display with vintage kits in the window etc. In a display cabinet next to it were many built models and one shelf had a number of Soviet bombers including a silver Tu22 Blinder. I had already bought the Esci Tu22M2 Backfire kit from the now long-gone Brian Sherriff model shop in Aberdeen when out shopping with my mother and was fascinated by these big Russian bombers - many of which looked like something straight out of Thunderbirds. At the time there was no internet, only magazines with adverts for companies like Maintrack Models, Contrail, Formaplane etc and my dad and I scoured these for the Blinder kit. We drew a blank, and eventually dad wrote to the museum to ask about the model on display. The museum wrote back to tell us the model had been donated by someone who told them he had scratch built it. Sod. I had built (not very well) several vacuum formed kits including Formaplane's Nimrod but felt scratch building was well beyond me. To be honest I didn't even know where to get drawings to begin. Fast forward a while and I picked up an Italeri Tu-22 from Wonderland Models in Edinburgh. I had largely moved away from 1/72 scale in general and was mostly building 1/48 piston engine aircraft. The kit is still in my stash. I lost any interest in building it when I learned it was beyond redemption accuracy-wise. Much more recently again I happened across Flankerman's WIP and RFI threads for the much newer and much more accurate Modelsvit Tu22 and was impressed. It may sound a bit hypocritical but I'm not very good at buying model stuff online - it's much to easy to see the total in the shopping cart and then close the browser and forget about it. I happened to find one new at Telford last year for just over half the price Hannants want for them, and having seen how nice a model it builds into in the aforementioned thread, I bought it. My clubmate Alistair was browsing with me when I noticed these and is apparently easily led. The seller had two of the Tu22 kits. I bought mine and after a look in the box and a "should I? shouldn't I?" discussion with me, but really with himself, we returned to the seller and Alistair bought the second of them ... I also picked up the Barracuda Studios resin wheels and exhaust cans for it. I haven't much to show for it yet, but have made a start, plagiarising as much as possible from Flankerman's thread. I assembled the 3 ejector seats (16? parts each) and then sprayed them with RLM65 (Merrick and Kiroff light blue RLM65, not Eagle Editions turquoise RLM65) which sort of looked close enough to the photo of the real seat on Flankerman's thread. I need to add some seat belts. I also don't like how dark and yellowed this new phone camera seems to capture everything. I may revert to my old phone for this photographing malarkey. Next, I set about joining the fore and aft fuselage parts. These fit really well - IF you give the lap joint some attention before gluing. I have had a modelling chisel as part of a set which until now I'd never had a use for - but it's ideal for opening out the "female" part of the lapjoint such that the wall thickness remaining to the outside of the fuselage is reduced allowing the male part to fit in without causing the female part to stand proud causing a big filling, sanding and rescribing headache. The joint was then reinforced with a strip of 10thou. You can see at the bottom of the fuselage I what I mean about opening out the lap joint a bit. This allows the outer diameters of the fore and aft fuselage parts to align very well indeed. Now this will horrify some zealots, but that fit is infinitely better than I have yet to achieve on the much worshipped Tamiya 1/48 Corsair kit's inner and outer wing panel joints. Unfortunately the fuselage bulkheads are indeed too large to fit inside the fuselage, and the degree to which is not something which can be bodged around. I didn't take photographs of that sub assembly yet, but the current task is reworking the internals to fit.

I`m got my second Revel FAA Corsair On the bench, having been through all the corsair related stuff on here and given myself square eyes searching for relevant images I cant find any real detail regarding the ejector fittings for FAA BPF Corsairs, I have a couple of nice British Bombs, since I read that the FAA used British rather than US Ordnance, from an Airfix Tiffy which look suitable, however the "gubbins" from under the Tiffy wings for hanging them is much longer front to rear than the relevant fittings under the Corsair wings. Now I know that Revel have supplied the wrong drop tanks, since FAA Corsairs used the Brewster centre line one not the much later smaller pair often seen on US aircraft, but the pylons, for want of a better name are correct to a degree. Anyone got any polite suggestions? Granto

This project was started in May 2018, just over a year ago! Those that have followed the build thread will know it well, and the sorry story that happened around November last year. It was declared "finished" ready for Telford 2018 and indeed took part in its original form. On returning from Telford, I decided to refine the model by the addition of some subtle pin washes to accentuate some of the NMF panel detail. The idea was fine, but the execution was a big blunder. Me, the reasonably experienced modeller managed to completely ruin around 40% of the rather neat looking Alclad finish by not properly sealing it with Acrylic varnish, and then using an oil/enamel based pin wash. The result upon clean off was large parts of the Alclad finish being wiped away! Well, since that time, I have threatened the model with the dustbin, sworn at it, vowed never to build another NMF aircraft, and certainly never another sabre. Between those moments I have spent some background time carefully cleaning up and restoring many of the damaged panels. The result is declared finally finished. The model is the Airfix Sabre with modified positioning of wing fences and pylons, and a totally scratch built cockpit interior. I chose an early RAF Sabre 4 as it would have appeared after the early delivery flights with the red conspicuity markings applied for the occasion. Alclad shades were used to give differing panel effects and the red used was Xtracrylics RAF Red Arrows Red with a touch of a deeper red. Much technical assistance came from @Sabrejet and @Tony Edmundson plus others on here too numerous to mention. Also very grateful to @Courageous, @perdu, @Martian Hale, @TheBaron, @RidgeRunner, @opus999 and many more who encouraged me to press on when the disaster happened! Original RFI is here, for those who like to see a long build with a nightmare towards the end! Thank you all. A few close up shots, which can be a bit cruel on the modeller! This one shows just some of Airfix's magnificent stencilling decals. And finally, she is in good company. A head to head shot each with an Avon Sabre and an F-86H And all three together: Other projects to crack on with now, but there will be another Sabre build quite soon. Thanks for looking Terry

Finished just before I go back to work tomorrow - Christmas break well spent I think. This is the Modelsvit 1/72 Beriev Be-12, finished as a firebomber using decals from Begemot. I've been fascinated by the Be-12 ever since I first saw photos of it. I remember contemplating a Revell boxing of the VEB Be-6 in the model shop on Deansgate in Manchester, must be more than 20 years ago now, and wondering whether it could be converted to a Be-12 - clearly not, they're completely different aircraft, good thing I left it on the shelf. I love the unique, distinctive shape, although I wouldn't call it beautiful. It's proportions look all wrong - the wing seems to be in the wrong place, there's way too much fuselage in front of it. But then they must have done something right as it's given 50-ish years of service now (although there aren't many left). I love this kit - by no means shake and bake, it's short run and shows it - for example there are no locating pins and the fuselage is in four pieces (six if you count the nose glazing) - but it goes together well if treated with care. Definitely a case of slow and steady wins the race. Surface detail is very nice and I managed not to obliterate much of it! I was impressed with the undercarriage - it's a complex structure but goes together well and is pretty sturdy. The only bits that gave me any trouble were the clear parts, which weren't the best fit ever but also not the worst. I'd definitely build another. The Begemot set includes 20 or so options, most of them very similar grey maritime patrol aircraft but with two different firebombers - this one and one with yellow panels and blue trim. I was tempted by the Egyptian option, but in the end couldn't resist this firebomber. The set included masks for the red panels on the fuselage - which was nice, but the masks for the top of the fuselage weren't flexible enough to follow the complex curves around the wing roots or around the observer's blister window, and the decals for the white trim weren't the same length as the masks - fortunately they were longer so they could be trimmed back. The decals performed well but were challenging in a couple of places - particularly around the observer's blister, where I had to fix it up with some xtradecal white stripe (which was more opaque than the Begemot white stripes, so doesn't look great close up). I'm not normally much into weathering but had to do some this time - photos of Be-12s, particularly this one, without filthy tail fins are pretty rare, so couldn't not add the exhaust stains to the tail fins. Back when I used to work on combustor aerodynamics for a living I'd have been pretty horrified at this - that much soot shows they clearly didn't manage the temperature inside the can very well, but since the engine is a 60 year old design I'll cut them some slack! On to the photos:

Right. So I'm back from travels and armed with my US-Airfix "F-111F" kit. I am currently slammed for time and know little about F-111s, so this will be more or less OOB. I won't be correcting any shape errors, but I will be adding some detail because my home audience (my daughter) likes stuff like seat belts! I will therefore spend some time on making it look less toy like: * cockpit detail, possibly opened canopy * deeper and detailed wheel wells * better wheels * engine details Extra detail will come from the spares box and scrap plastic. I also have an ample supply of filler, which I am sure I will need! It will be in an Upper Heyford scheme, which ironically is in the native but not the US boxing. I will cross that bridge when I get there. So gentlemen I beg your indulgence! The box and the parts: Paint scheme could be a little clearer... That pesky main undercarriage assembly sequence explained: Thanks for looking, Adrian

Intended for the Starfighter STGB but finished a few days past deadline - build here An old mould Hasegawa F-104J which started out as a build in Japanese colours with some scratch building in the cockpit and wheel wells. Unfortunately the near 40 year old decals fell to pieces (I know. Foolish of me to think they’d do otherwise). Kit was halfway toward the shelf of doom (or the bin) when I decided to see what I could do from spare bits and bobs of decals. Some modifications to change a F-104J into a Q-104A and some scrabbling around the internet for references and here we have it as per (the resolution isn’t great but that gave me some leeway for improvising with my cobbled together decals) http://www.916-starfighter.de/916starfighter/pics/camo/55-2957 QF-104A 52957 AFSC Eglin 1964.jpg History (& fate) here http://www.i-f-s.nl/f-104-miscellaneous/qf-104-drones/

I know this doesn’t start till next weekend but want to leave this here to remind me Exhibit A - an elderly 2nd hand Hasegawa F-104 Exhibit B - the somewhat basic innards plus a rogue additional set of HobbyBoss decals

This 3D Blitz Model Pilatus is my latest completion. I used a set of Matterhorn Circle decals for the markings and with the exception of some foil belts on the seats and the scratch built aerials everything else was as it comes in the box. It's a bit photo heavy so I apologise in advance and thanks for your patience. Swiss Airforce Pilatus PC-21, A-107 by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr And a final photo alongside my 1/144 scale Patrouille Suisse F-5. by John L, on Flickr

Hi all Completed the lovely Special Hobby Firefly T2, this is a nice kit to build and consists of the usual injection Moulded plastic, resin and phot etched bits. I enjoyed building this very much and will now attempt a T5 from the Special Hobby Mk5 Firefly kit and Pavla Firefly Kit which gives you all the bits to make a Mk1 or a T1/2 or a TT variant, so will use the rear cockpit section of this also. I have kept the weathering to an absolute minimum as they appeared to be kept quite clean, with just a bit of exhaust staining and oil leaking underneath. The kit does have some rather nice details and they can be seen on the WIP thread if you want to. The model was brush painted in Humbrol 56 Aluminium and 24 Trainer Yellow, brushed over with several coats of Klear prior to decaling. The Kit decals are superb and behave very well and are very thin too The Etched details are very nice (and fiddley, with the carpet monster devouring one of the rear view mirrors) Hope you enjoy the photos Thanks for looking in. All the best Chris

Another one for the shiny corner: The lovely Revell 1/72 Jug. Finished in Alclad and Mr Hobby as usual with decals from a Skys Models sheet. A quickish build with no issues, maybe 3-4 hours total at a gentle pace. The pilot came from the excellent Revell RAF pilots set. Got a really mean angle on the stand and looky, for all those folks who keep making the same comments about drones, a pilot! And not because of your complaining either, next batch of paid for builds all requested pilots so its market forces Most pleased with how "box art" this looks- each to his own but, boy, do overweathered planes squatting forlornly on their wheels look boring to me, what is the point of making a fast, sleek (ish) airplane and turning it into a three wheeled ground vehicle? I suppose it's mostly to do with the fact I'm up in something two or three times a week these days and parked planes excite me as much as parked tricycles WIP: And onto the beauty shots... 2019 is shaping up nicely with 8 builds done. Well back to the bench, its getting an equally shiny P-51D playmate that isn't going to build itself. Cheery byes Anil

It's been quite some time since i posted anything, but I recently started hobby boss's Gloster gladiator (or RAF gladiator as they call it). (i hope the flickr pictures will show up as it's the first time i use this site for pics) I also have airfix's gladiator wich is a more detailed and accurate kit, but since i will be finishing this kit as a Belgian maschine i will be airbrushing the markings and since i have limited experience with this i wanted to try it first on a kit that would build up quickly so i could get right into painting. contents of the box 3 piece cockpit At this point i realised the belgian gladiators had a differentstyle windshield but fortunately the airfix kit had this style and the option of an open and closed canopy so since i'll be building the airfix with an open canopy the closed item would be a straight swap right.... Turns out the hobby boss made the rear taper far to wide so the solid portion should only be half the with... what to do... moddify the hobby boss clear part... a lot of work and no accurate result still so out with the saw for the solid portion i made a mold from milliput and plug moded a nes piece from clear blister plastic Cardboard backing with CA reinforcement... took a few tries as usual but works well enought for such small parts. More sanding needed but much better I added a few more details to the interior, i didn't go all the way, as not much can be seen trough the canopy. i'll save that for the airfix kit. For the interior green i started with a much darker green and than came in with a dusting for a much lighter shade followed with an enamel wash since i had some color left i sprayed most of the top as well, it gives an impression of the final color and to play with the wing shading And that's where we are right now

A small vignette featuring the Odemars' Wellington's Staff figures populating Amera's Campaign Tents (S216)