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Another 1/72 kit I completed a little while ago, this time in October of 2022. This was the first time I had ever done a Hasagawa kit and I instantly loved the difference in quality in comparison to other brands I had done earlier. I was given this kit along with another Hasagawa Shoki, and these may be what also led me to this forum originally, since it was here that I discovered the absolute rabbit-hole that is Japanese paint schemes of the Second World War. Building this took very little time, but the research into painting it was another story entirely. I came across Nick Millman both in this forum and his own site, which I still use as a reference any time I do a Japanese craft. I painted this is Tamiya Chrome Silver as the base, then my standard AK Real Colors' IJN Green Black (which may be a little too dark). Were I to re-do this kit, I would also repaint the nose and spinner in a darker mahogany than this more red-based version. I painted the camo with an airbrush free-hand, but nowadays I would probably use stick-tac to mark off the spots. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the Ki-61 Hien, codenamed Tony by the Allies due to them at first mistaking it for a German Bf109, and later as an Italian Macchi C.202. The Ki-61 was a lightly armed general-purpose fighter. They entered service during the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service New Guinea campaign, and--due in no small part to being rushed into production--the Hien suffered many engine issues and failures, resulting in a large amount of non-combat losses. Aside from these, the planes did well initially until the Allies re-adapted. Apparently an early way for an Allied plane to escape a Japanese tail would be to fall into a steep dive, which the Japanese planes couldn't pull off. The Hien however could, and this naturally caused some distress among the Allied pilots. Unfortunately for the Japanese, many of these planes were destroyed before they could get off the ground due to Allied air raids on bases that were not sufficiently protected by anti-aircraft defences. The Hien eventually would be used to defend the Home Islands, and in the infamous Kamikaze attacks.

Hello! In this article I would like to describe the build of the Clear Prop 1/72 Mig-23 MLA model (CPA72030). You can find detailed photos of the kit contents on the manufacturer's website here. A few words about the model. The basic kit includes: Sprues of the model with highly detailed surface. Pane lines are clear, thin and neat. The riveting is imitated well. Sprues with armament, for nearly all underwing combinations available for Mig-23MLA; Transparent elements sprue. The canopy is given in two versions - separate for the open cockpit option and one-piece, if the cockpit is closed. Two photo-etched panels, one for the model and the other for R-60 rockets. Decal is made by silkscreen printing method. It consists of four sheets: technical stencils of the aircraft, pylons, armament, and identification marks for 4 variants (two Czech, one Soviet, one GDR). The decal has a thin lacquer underplayed and works well with fixing fluids. Detailed colour instructions. The model itself has a number of features, which I think it is important to dwell on in detail. The first thing I would like to mention is the wing. As you know, all Mig-23/27 aircraft had a variable sweep wing. Literally all manufacturers of these planes made the wing movable. But Clear Prop has chosen a different approach. The kit allows you to set the wing in one of two wing positions: 16 and 72 degrees. For each wing position there is an individual set of parts covering the hole in the fuselage where the wing fits. This approach provides the best possible match to the prototype and takes into account all the kinematics of wing movement, which is impossible to achieve on a model with a movable wing. This is the only model of this plane for today that offers such precision. Another important advantage of the kit is the duplication of early and late modification of the aircraft, such as the front landing gear strut, rudder, keel fin, front cockpit instrument panel sight. Thus you can select a set of parts to match your chosen prototype exactly. To complement the kit I used the following aftermarket from Clear Prop, designed specifically for this model: Cockpit canopy and Wheel Mask Set CPA72077 Set of landing gear doors CPA72096 Set of wheels + dirt shield on nose strut CPA72079 Set of exhaust nozzle + combustion chamber exterior + external air intakes CPA72080 In addition to the aftermarket from Clear Prop, the following third party aftermarket was used: Nose Pitot tube by Master AM-72-040 Pitot set + antennas + cannon by Mini World A7292 Missile set of AIM-9D ResKit RS72-0233 In order to give a complete picture on aftermarket for this model, I can add that Clear Prop released 2 more sets of add-ons specially for this model, namely a set of cockpit parts + cannon (CPA72098), as well as a set of masks for exterior (CPA72099). However I didn't use them in this build because by the time they were ready I had already finished these stages. I chose Czechoslovakian Air Force (Czechoslovakia) Aircraft No. 4850 as of February 1983 as a prototype. Final photos of the model Building process In the article I will summarize the main stages of the build. If you want to know as much detail as possible, you can go here. Cabin One can assemble a great cabin straight out of the box. Assembly starts with the front instrument panel, which includes PE parts and decals: I hardly refined anything on the instrument panel except for the sight (black panel on top centre). The rest of the cockpit is pretty much untouched except for the space under the front canopy visor. These parts ended up looking as follows: Next, I assembled and installed the seat and also installed the front canopy visor: The final stage included the tilting part of the canopy. Changes here mainly concerned the of the blind screen, I also added a few details: I should note that a set of masks for the canopy makes it much easier to paint it. Nose landing gear niche and strut I made a number of modifications here, which caused me to change the assembly order suggested by the manufacturer. Below are some photos of the process: The nose chassis strut was reworked according to the prototype photos: Main gear niches and struts Out-of-box version of main landing gear niches are quite highly detailed. The left niche in the OOB version may look as follows: Next I made some changes, with the following result: The right OOB niche version may look like this: Here is what we got after the modifications: General view of the main niches: The main landing gear struts and landing gear flaps have undergone a number of refinements: Air intakes The air intakes are in my opinion one of the most difficult steps in the assembly of this model. I recommend to be especially careful when fitting all the parts, and double-check the assembly several steps ahead. To start with I added some of the trim lines, riveting, and holes: Next I advise to paint some elements beforehand, otherwise it will be problematic to paint them later on the assembled model: After that I continued the assembly of all elements of the fuselage, and fixed the air intake. I painted the air intake inside at the final stage with a brush. A distinctive external feature of Mig-23 air intakes is its riveting, which I reproduced on the model. Also it is necessary to add a line of decking on the air intake cowling: The final stage of air intakes included internal imitation of the air intake cowling which I with the help of painted pieces of decals: Wing and tail unit I chose a wing position of 16 degrees. In the process, the wing was further riveted, and a few panel lines and other small elements were added. The fixed part of the wing is one of the challenging stages of assembly. At this stage extra caution is advised as well. General view of the wing and tail unit when assembled: Stabilizer The stabilizer and its base is made in one piece. I have separated them in order to deflect the stabilizer downwards by a small angle - typical parking position. Ventral fin Assembly of the ventral fin is easy, but some additional details are required: Nozzle and heat resistant panels The heat resistant panels should be riveted for better realism. Combustion chamber assembled from plastic parts, PE and parts from the CPA72080 add-on kit. As for the nozzle, its distinctive feature on the Mig-23 is the sagging of the blades in the parking configuration. This is imitated perfectly in the Clear Prop CPA72080 add-on kit. The nozzle from this kit compared to the plastic OOB version is shown below for comparison. Weapon carriage points and pylons The fuel tank is taken from the kit, I just added my own simulation of the outer welds using pulled sprue. I decided to make the following variant of the missile armament. 2 R-60 missiles under the fuselage, assembled from the box with some modifications. R-13M (Soviet copy of the American missile AIM-9D) missile under the fixed part of the wing. The R-13M missile is included in the kit, but I chose to buy AIM-9D missiles by ResKit and use them to make the R-13M missile. I spent a lot of time finalizing the pylons and beams for the missiles. General view of the weapons carriage: Exterior details I imitated a lot of different exterior details throughout the build. Some of them are from the kit, some are scratchbuild, some came from other manufacturers. Painting and filtering The main painting of the model was done with Mr.Color paints and varnishes. Most of the colours are available in their color range, but two camouflage colours have to be mixed independently. The main difficulty of colouring the model was to reproduce the shapes and positions of camouflage spots: Unfortunately, at the stage of colouring I made one mistake in weathering, which was pointed out by my ukrainian colleague Andrey aka palanbor: There was unfortunately no opportunity to correct this mistake. Well, there is probably no such thing as a perfect job. Respect to colleague palanbor for his attentiveness. Other traces of wearing and other artistic methods were carried out with the help of Revell enamel paints, oil paints and Tamiya pigments. Weathering is moderate, as the model was made for the period when the aircraft was just delivered to the troops. Conclusion The new Mig-23 MLA model by Clear Prop is in my opinion the best kit at the moment for this aircraft. The model is complex, aimed at modellers who already have some skills and experience. This project took me approximately 9 months. This time I spent to squeeze the most out of this kit, as well as my skills and capabilities. I would like to thank the team at Clear Prop for giving me the opportunity to work on this project. Moreover, I had the opportunity to start familiarising myself with this model even at the stage of castings testing. I am happy that in the final stage of the pre-production development before I was able to make a small contribution. I would like to thank everyone who supported me during the building of the model. My sincere gratitude to my ukrainian colleague Karpenko Bogdan aka bogdan777 for all information support at all stages of this project. Sincerely, Dmitry Ahopian aka DimaADA

This will probably be quite a slow project, but here goes! I'll be building a Grob Astir CS77, and, if all goes well, it will be G-CFTR/NU, my Astir- or the closest there is to it! NU belongs to the University of Nottingham Gliding Club, which I am currently the president of and one of the few members who can fly our single seater. NU is currently in the workshop for its annual, so it's a good time to start this model with better access to unusual areas of the glider. Not every day you get to build a model of an aircraft you have unlimited access to and fly. The kit is the 1/72 Kovozávody Prostějov Grob Astir CS77. It's a bit... basic. It certainly looks Astir 77 shaped, which is a good start! I'll be putting in a resin cockpit by Brengun. The cockpit also comes with PE airbrakes, but I won't use these. Astir 77 airbrakes will stay out if you put them out on the ground, but the slightest knock and they'll crash shut. They're certainly never left open. I sometimes wedge the lever in the open position when doing a DI (daily inspection) on NU so i can have a look inside the airbrake box on each wing without needing to get someone to hold them open. In the topic of the airbrakes, they are modeled on the kit as both upper and lower surfaces, Astirs only have top surface airbrakes.

Hello all. A build from when I was going through a Mach 2 stage. Like the Caravelle posted a week or so ago the canopy needed hours of polishing to get it clear-ish. All the struts were replaced using plastic rod. The winch was scratch built and the camera ball was from the spares box. other bits were from brass rod or plastic card. Decals from my decal stash apart from the red crosses which I printed. (An aftermarket sheet came out only weeks after I had finished it.😖) Of all the Mach 2 kits I've made this one was the most enjoyable. (if that's the right word.) It depicts a Harbin Z-8 which was/is? used by the Chinese Navy in the SAR, Anti-submarine and Heavy Lift roles. We could really do with an up to date mould of this aircraft as there were quite a few users, with interesting colour schemes to choose from. Here's hoping. Anyway, onto the pics. Hope you like it. Thanks for looking. Pete

Good day, Finally I am able to post something for this year. A previous failed project consumed the first month and half of the new year so here is my first submission for 2024. This is the Tamiya F-16C displayed from the 57th Fighter Weapons Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The highlights are as follows………… 1. Paints used : A. Airframe : Vallejo Pale Brown, USAF Tan, US Forest Green, USAF Medium Gray B. Exhaust : Exterior - AK Extreme Pale Burnt Metal ( Tamiya Black Panel Line wash ), Steel. Interior - AK Buff with Tamiya Black & Brown panel line wash C. Misc : Tamiya Flat Black, Flat White, Gun Metal, Metallic Gray, Lifecolor Dark Gull Gray, Polly Scale Lt Ghost Gray ( FS36375 ), AK Deep Blue 2. Wolf Pack AN/ALQ-188 ECM pod ( centerline station ) and dual chin pods ( all three resin ), Italeri ACMI pod ( port wing rail ) 3. Twobobs decals ( Fighting Fulcrums #72-002 ) 4. Master metal pitot tube & AOA tubes 5. Washes : Vallejo black, dark gray, light gray. Tamiya black, brown Tamiya continues it`s reputation of excellence with this kit. There were no issues with the parts fitting together without major or even minor surgery. I used putty in just a couple of small sections of the kit. I decided to include the pilot figure. I used my customary plumber`s putty and small lead fishing sinkers for ballast in order to have the Viper sit right. I inserted the putty and sinkers inside the nose and just aft of the cockpit. Despite the age of the decals, ( I cannot believe just how long I had these decals for ), they adhered and settled well with solution. I chose the early release from Tamiya of the F-16C for this particular subject as it did not require anything under the wings ( although I could have as some Aggressor Vipers tote external fuel tanks and four missile launch rails ). I enjoyed this kit very much and recommend it for all skill levels. Thank you in advance. Respectfully submitted, Mike

Hello all, A, hopefully, easy question, though I have not been successful finding the answer... Can anyone tell me if the Italeri 1/72 SM.81 Pipistrello kit is the same as the Supermodel offering? If so, has Italeri improved the kit at all, or just repackaged it under their label? Thank you.

This is my latest build, Eduard's 1/72 Bf 110. This was overall an enjoyable build and resulted in my first proper Luftwaffe build in over 5 years, it was also my first attempt at battle of britain luftwaffe camo. The model was painted with Ak Real Colors acrylics and was weathered with Abteilung 502 oils and Tamiya enamel washes and weathering powders. This was a weekend edition kit, but Eduard PE was used along with decals from another boxing of Eduard's 110. Quickboost exhausts were also used. The FuBl antenna on the underside of the fuselage was scratch-built using brass rod and uschi standard wire. This was also my first proper attempt at doing exhaust stains with an airbrush, I used Ak Real Colors Nato Black. Happy modelling to all! Anna

Hello everyone, My first post to the armour forum and the first armour model I had done. I completed this Trumpeter KV-2 in the summer of 2022, so it's a couple of years out of date. Nevertheless, I figured I'll start from the beginning. These were taken before I was putting much thought into getting multiple angles in my photos, so I apologize for the lack of any rear views. This being my first tank model, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Having made several more now, I'm glad I started with a Trumpeter build. The fit of the pieces was all good, but the treads did snap on me at the time (I still have terrible luck with the single-piece rubber treads; any advice on fitting these would be much appreciated). This little guy was painted in Tamiya's German Grey and given a quick dry brush of silver to simulate some wear and tear. I've since moved onto more sophisticated and time-consuming weathering techniques, but I still think the results are decent for such a quick go-over. This was made before I discovered filters, chipping, washes or really anything outside of an initial acrylic paint layer. I believe this was made shortly after I bought my first airbrush (and that was revolutionary enough!). Any feedback or advice is welcome! I'm still fairly new to armour modelling, so while I have improved since this build, I'm still open to any suggestions. Stan

An old Aurora-Heller kit from 1977, I finished this kit in November of 2022. This was still before I was adding any weathering detail to my models, but by this point I had gotten a good handle on using my airbrush, masking off details and generally improving my paint skills. I would probably do the mottling a little different now, but I'm still happy with this kit overall. Painted nearly entirely with AK Real Colors. I usually like to do a quick write-up when I post these on my social accounts, so I will start pasting those here as well (unless that is frowned upon; let me know if so). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 109K was the last Messerschmitt Bf-109 series fighter to see large scale production and use during the Second World War. The 109s were one of the main backbones of the Luftwaffe during the war, and one of the most advanced fighters of the time. In typical German fashion, there were variants produced constantly in order to keep up with Allied advancements, and the 109s stayed effective throughout. The 'K' variant was the last operational Bf109, created with the intention of streamlining the long list of previous variants into one. This model is specifically the plane of Erich Hartmann, the most successful fighter ace of all time, with 352 Allied craft being shot down credited to him. Known as The Blonde Knight of Germany, Hartmann was only 18 years old when he joined the Luftwaffe, and was not a member of the Nazi Party. After the war he was convicted of war crimes by a Soviet military tribunal, but was released in 1955, and acquitted of all charges in 1997, three years after his death, by the Russian Federation, who stated he was wrongly convicted. After Hartmann's release, he began training US airmen and flight instructors, but was forced into an early retirement after being outspoken about the F-104 being an unsafe aircraft, at which point he became a civilian flight instructor (the F-104 later went on to suffer from many technical issues resulting in non-combat crashes and over a hundred pilots dying in non-combat missions due to the jet's faults). Erich Hartmann died in 1993.

This is my last Hasegawa model. The kit includes a set of the most awful tracks I have ever seen. Here they are in all their glory............. The "guide teeth" are an almost continuous ridge along the centre line. The destructions look like standard Hasegawa, not bad and reasonably easy to follow. There's a paragraph at the foot of the paint scheme that points out that, as an early Jagdpanzer IV this should have Zimmerit. I've seen after market zimmerit for this kit but I'm not minded to spend any more on it. I'm going to attempt a mod to a later version, post September 1944 when Zimmerit was stopped. JP IVs continued in production until November 1944 when somebody dropped a lot of HE onto the Vomag factory where JP IVs were being built so this will be representing a JP IV from almost the end of production of the L/48 version. On examination of the parts there appears to be a bit of an issue with the rear panel. The cylinders on the back panel behind the idlers on both sides do not line up with the rear of the idler axles, they're offset above them. I don't want to sabotage the strength of the running gear, particularly as the tracks might prove to be a bit tight, so I think this will be left as it is. The early versions had two ports for an MG42, one each side of the main gun. The left hand MG was difficult to use. (Probably gave the driver a headache.) So it was deleted in later models. So I've filled the left hand port and will sand it smooth when dry. Thanks for looking in.

”Moonlight” is arguably a better name for a night fighter than the funny salamander which my brain pictured when I first saw the name. I had forgotten I had this kit: I ordered the other boxing, which had all blackish schemes rather than this with two green-over-gray schemes, and got sour and put it away. I hope the GB format will produce enough mojo to complete it. It is certainly an interesting machine, with some 500 completed of different versions. This one had four cannon in schräge-musik-like configuration, two up, two down. The box, containing Japanese plastic repacked in Poland with Italian decals (yes, Cartograf!): Two large sprues with individual protective plastic: The engines are rough, but will be mostly invisible deep inside the nacelles anyway. Looking a bit closer, one can see the age of the tooling, with some of these sinkmarks in strategical locations: I’ve begun priming some parts. Perhaps I may find some all-black (or rather blackgreen) scheme I can patch together decals for - basicly need only a code number on the fin.

An old favourite, first released in 1974: As everyone knows, Novo wouldn't touch the molds for Axis subjects, so Revell bought them. My kit, bought in 1995, may say Matchbox on the cover, but it's really Revell, as confirmed by a stamp on the inside of one of the fuselage halves. As far as I'm aware, the A-6 never flew, let alone see service - open to correction of course. Rather than the late-war day fighter splinter scheme, I will probably paint this in dedicated night fighter scheme, probably RLM 76 all over, with disruptive markings on top.

Hobbyboss 1/48 may do the lower of the two kit schemes. Tamiya 1/48 which I think will be in this scheme Revell 1/72 which will be in this scheme I’m going to build all three together as a way of making sure I don’t let this GB get away from me

Hello everyone! My first post on the site is the little Brewster Buffalo from Aoshima in the RAF temperate land scheme. I believe this kit is from sometime in the '70s, and I purchased it for around $5 from an antiques store. I built this the summer before last, so it's neither my earliest nor most recent build but as good a build as any to start with. The plastic felt very thin and flimsy from what I remember in building this, but I think the end result came out decently. I like to build models out of the box without any aftermarket details. This can lead to additional challenges in fitting pieces (or in worst case scenarios, low quality decals that disintegrate on contact), but I don't recall any major problems with this one. This was also before I started adding any weathering details to my models--it's only quite recently that I've begun to attempt this. This was painted with AK Real Colors' line of paints for the camo and Tamiya acrylics for the smaller details. Anyways, here are a few pictures. Again, this was from some time ago now so I wasn't taking as much care in getting multiple angles or setting up the shot as I have been recently (notice the rear wheel falling into the crack between planks on the table in the last photo...). More to come soon (and I may dig out some very early builds to show where I started). Any suggestions for improvement or feedback is welcome.

Hello Britmodellers, Here's my recent effort to build the old and very basic PM Fokker D.XXI to a more modern standard. Upgrades include: -The ski landing gear was repositioned into a 'loaded' position. -The cowling edge was thinned down and rocker bulges were added. -The engine face was improved with bracing bars. -A new rudder from an MPM D.XXI was installed. -A new Ratier propeller came from the same MPM kit -A new canopy was vacformed and installed. -A scratchbuilt cockpit interior was added. -Navigation lights and a landing light were added from transparent sprue. Thanks for watching! Luka

Hi everyone, well I did not finish this Etendard IV M in the Heller GB that just ended. Not by a long shot. So I am carrying on and hopefully can finish it in the next few weeks. Here is the WIP to date: Here is the state of the build at this moment: The re-scribing is almost over and sometimes next week fuselage halves and wings can be glued together once I have dealt with some work on the exhaust area. The decals are a bit yellowed and are going to be stuck behind my shed window (when the sun returns, which may take a while!). The crest of the 59S Flotilla is a terribly poor representation and has to be trashed (Shame on you Heller!). I found a possible very nice replacement on an Alize decal sheet. Just need to check the size... So things are in motion... Talk to you soon with some progress. JR

Hi Back to my archive shelves - the old Airfix kit of Savoia SM 79 Sparviero. I made it in two appearances - first as almost OOB (with some work anyway - mostly around engines and new decals), markings of 283 Squadron, 130 Gruppo Autonomico, Reggia Aeronautica, Medditerranean area, June 1942. I made her many years ago - roughly lets say 20: Since I really do like making scratch conversions I made also a second model - a two-engined version of SM 79 JRS in markings of 3rd Corpus of Royal Romanian AF, Eastren Front, 1943. Now there is a model of this machine by Azur-Fromm... Here is my scratch work: Could be a play- "find 100 details in which those models are different" I hope you like it, but criticism welcome! Regards Jerzy-Wojtek

With my Meteor only needing a few decals and Bf-110 waiting for a masking set, I thought it'd be a good time to start another twin. A quick search through the stash revealed a few suitable candidates but this is one I've been meaning to build for a while. A few photos of what we're dealing with. The boxtop (as if you couldn't guess) The sprues (to show it's unstarted)... I know the kit has its problems with cowlings, wheelwells, and the turret but I'm going to ignore them and just make the thing. Started by painting the insides Interior Green (although I've read, on here, that it may have been an equivalent to RAF Grey-green). Wings assembled Cockpit (although I think early British ones only had one pilot). Fuselage joined-up Thanks for looking.

Hello all, I am looking for some input on Italeri's 1/72 SM.82 kit. I've been giving some thought to picking one up, and have not been able to find any really good reviews on the kit, so I am hopeful that the members here might have experience with it and could pass along their thoughts and comments. TIA.

Having got two of my more complicated kits underway from the stash I decided to start another one. I've had this since April 2021. It looked complicated so it's been postponed, put off, procrastinated and then postponed again. The sprue pics and destruction sheets are on the Henk of Holland site. Started with the engine. RHS LHS. I plan to add wire injector fuel pipes - or filler to the holes I drilled depending on how it all goes. Some suspension parts Painted some woodwork. I've decided it's too dark so will repaint a lighter colour. Put the chassis together. I managed to get the front crossmember upside down (RHS of above pic). The engine mount was on the wrong side when I came to dry fit it so I'll, have to replace it. The crossmembers had to be stuck one side until they were all in place and aligned to the other length wise member. Liquid cement then finished the joints. Ta for looking. I'll be back in between tackling the Pz. IV Ausf J and the Sd.Kfz. 9 Famo.

Hello all, This is my DHC-2 Beaver, as operated by the Royal Lao Air Force, in the '60s. I came across pictures of this aircraft, in its gunship configuration, on these 2 sites: https://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Arts/Art9878.htm https://dhc-2.com/id855.htm Thakhek West was also used by Air America, being designated "Lima Site 40". The armament of this aircraft, described as 4 small underwing bomb racks and a .50cal machine gun in the port cabin door, is also mentioned in the recent Warpaint Series publication on the Beaver. Here is another photo of a different RLAF Beaver, better showing the bomb racks: http://www.wings-aviation.ch/73-Laos/2-Aircraft/DHC-Beaver/Support.htm This Airfic classic has a pretty good fit, considering its age, but I did rework a few items: Removed most of the raised rivets and panel lines and rescribed the model; Added a few simple details in the cabin: a bit of floor structure and seat belts mainly; Replaced the entry steps on the landing gear struts and those below the main cabin doors; Sanded down the clear parts (except windscreen) as these were very badly molded, then polished them to get the clarity back - not perfect, but better than it was; Thinned the engine cowling; Scratchbuilt the pitot tube, a few small fuselage details and various antennae on the roof/bottom; Added a machine gun from a spare Hobbyboss H-34 kit. Paints were Tamiya/Gunze acrylics mostly, with a bit of Alclad on the engine parts. Markings were put together using bits and pieces from several decal sheets as well as a few stencils from the kit. Weathering with oil paints and pigments. Hope you enjoy the pictures: Credits background picture: freepik, photo by Kireyonok_Yuliya, https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/nature-background-dense-tropical-vegetation-palms_24172944.htm Thanks for looking and comments always welcome! Cheers, Patrick

This is the Fine Molds Kit in 1/72 that I picked up last year. There isn't a huge amount to this model, but it was a little more than a weekend project. Fit is good enough, but you will have to sand through the nicely molded welding seams. I replaced these with a fine brush and Mr Surfacer 500. There are a couple of options in the kit with regard to submarines used in different operations so pay attention to which version you wish to build. I chose to represent one of the boats used to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7th. The ships were overall matt black, with the torpedo being painted in oily steel. The instructions say black, however the torpedo that washed up on the attack on Sydney Harbour appeared to be unpainted. Weathering was kept pretty restrained. I had no problems with the decals and I finished things off with some EZ line and a small base whipped up with some pine and stain.

First finished model of the year for me. The WIP is there: The final pics: I am not entirely satisfied with thekit and the finish but I like the coulourful and original livery. The next Meteor will be the Airfix F.8 in IAF livery.

Spitfire LF Mk.IXc MH 712 "Pat" from 302 (Polish) Squadron during its operations in France after Overlord (summer 1944). I painted this Spitfire last autumn and since then it was waiting for weathering and some final detail. Finally some two weeks ago I sat down and painted scratches, worn paint and exhaust residue as per photos and some dust and streaking. She was painted with paints suggested here - it is a mix of humbrol, revell and Vallejo acrylics. I consider it done, Photos are a bit washed out but the weather is not really photo friendly lately. WIP thread: here

Even though my success rate for completing models in a Blitbuild is very low I thought that I would have a go at another with this Airfix Gladiator Mk.1. Some of the parts have been removed from the sprues but apart from that the kit is unstarted and it will be finished as the Shuttleworth Collection's K7985. Here are the box and sprue shots. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Having completed this Spitfire entered for Blitzbuild 2022 - Part 2 on the 31st July this year, I should expect to have this done by mid-2024. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr John.