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Hello everyone! Here are three other kits I finished a few weeks ago but hadn't been able to post before as my PC was at the repair shop. All three are Mark I Models 1:144 kits which build up nicely OOB but benefited from some improvements. The Focke-Wulf Ta 152H only served in Jagdgeschwader 301 and there isn't that much variety in schemes. The kits offered options of captured machines in RAF markings and prototypes but I wanted operational machines and somehow, I managed to find some variety within the sameness. Since it makes no sense to post them separately, I'm posting the three here. There were no fit issues and the kits built up quickly. I hollowed out the solid supercharger intake and added all the missing aerials, as well as the radio wires, from stretched sprue. The only negative aspect I found was the main undercarriage. I believe it's 1mm too short. I realised it too late and had to cut the outer doors at the top (outer) end to align them correctly below. The kit included the rarely-used underside drop tank but provides a rack or pylon to suspend it from which is incorrect. Just for the sake of variety, I added it to one of the kits. All kits were painted and varnished by brush. First up: Focke-Wulf Ta 152H-1 Yellow 1, 7./JG301, at Alteno, Germany, January/February 1945. Apparently Willi Reschke flew this machine. Mark I Models kit with decals from the kit and an MYK Design sheet. Mark I have this as an H-0 but two books I have state it's an H-1 so I went with that. The Reich defence bands are all from the MYK sheet. The red is on the dark side but the yellow is right. The yellow on the Mark I sheet is too pale and lacks redness. For this same reason, I used the particular decals for Yellow 1 from the MYK sheet.

Hello everyone! This is one of four kits I completed over two weeks ago but I couldn't post before as my computer spent this period in the repair shop (nothing serious, fortunately). One of the sparks for my now long-running on-and-off Fw 190 family production run was my curiosity about the Japanese option in the special schemes boxing of the Mark I Models kit which I didn't get to buy. It proposed a 'reconstruction' of a German machine in Japanese markings. I was intrigued and did some digging, finding that the Japanese never received a machine but did get the technical drawings and specs to build it. This fired my imagination and, since there wasn't much variety in the Luftwaffe markings, I could spare one of the Mark I Models kits to use for a 'what-if'. What I had very clear was that I wanted to make it as if the type was built in Japan and had entered service and so wear a full IJAAF scheme. I found that the Ki-152 designation was never assigned so it was a perfect one to use. Since Kawasaki had built the Tony with in-line engines, it made sense that they would be involved in the construction of this type. I have even thought of a short backstory whereby this machine flown by an experienced pilot and another by his wingman happen to shoot down the Enola Gay and the other B-29s escorting it before they reached Hiroshima. Sadly, I don't have time... This is a Mark I Models 1:144 kit which I built together with another three. I kept the cockpit in Luftwaffe colours but the rest was very much along IJAAF lines, using schemes of the Ki-100 as a base. Decals came from various sources but mostly from a Warbirds insignia and numbers sheet. The diagonal yellow bands on the tail came from spare Sweet A6M Zero leading edge decals! Being Japanese, I dispensed with the underside aerials of Luftwaffe machines. As always, it was fully painted with brush. Here is White 89, of the 3rd Chutai, 59th Sentai, Japan, August 1945. I must say, it looks great in this scheme and I'm really glad I finally got on with it and brought the concept to life! Thanks for looking Miguel

Another one is finished and ready to be displayed at the SMW in Telford. It is Revell`s excellent kit of the Puma with some small improvements. I replaced the homing antennae at the nose with 0,3mm Ni. silver rods, the main rotor steering rods with thin sprue and the ILS localizer antennae at the tail with bent lead wire (0,3mm). The whole build was fun, especially the perfectly researched decals by DACO (included in the kit). You just have to cut small pieces. Thanks for looking!

I started this for a Twins GB on KG144 in December 2023. Embarrassingly. Reposting here as I’ve not seen any of these kits built up yet and I’ve added some comments on the build below for reference in case helpful for others. Anyway I decided to attack this in earnest earlier this year. Partly inspired by reading “Damned Good Show” by Derek Robinson, a truly brilliant novel about the early bombing campaign - painfully funny dialogue, very sobering at times and very authentic in its flying sequences. Highly recommended. The Hampden was a quirky looking thing, the “Flying Suitcase” as the aircrew dubbed it due to its slender boxy fuselage. The Valom kit does a basically decent job at capturing this shape I think. I’m not looking too closely. I don’t think I’ve seen one of these built up on here before though a few people have wondered what the kit is like. In lieu of a WIP thread, a few pointers... - the fit overall is basically fine (Valom grade fine anyway), except for in two areas: 1) the wing to fuselage join where there’s a step - I widened the locating holes to effectively lower the wing so that it was flush with the fairing in the fuselage. But even so a bit more work was needed to blend this in. 2) the transparencies didn’t fit brilliantly. I had to deepen the openings and the nose transparencies were a touch too wide for the fuselage so these had to be scraped back. Overall, quite a bit of filling, sanding and scraping to get these to sit nicely and blend into the fuselage. I think actually the main pilot canopy does stand prouder of the fuselage than I have made it but frankly when I noticed this my levels of care were largely depleted. - Undercarriage legs are too short if fitted OOB. The Hampden had a very perky snout high attitude on the ground. I found I needed to add about 1.5mm to get it to look right to my eyeball. - Canopies are nicely clear and it’s possible to see the passable interior. The mask set from peewit helps enormously but I found I had to adjust it to make the canopy frames the right sort of thicknesses and also add some framing that was missing. - One obvious thing missing is the tube fairing/ducting on the top and bottom of the rear fuselage. This is very easy to add from half round Evergreen strip. - Additional bits I added were replacing the guns with narrower gauge aluminium tubing, the DF loop with spare etch, the pitot under the nose from wire and plasticard, the T fuel gauges on the engine cowlings, the nose gun from brass rod filed to the fairing shape and the towel rail antenna under the rear from Shelf Oddity. I also replaced the antenna with plasticard. Finally there’s a guard rail for the rear upper gunner to stop him chomping through the Hampdens twin tail in his enthusiasm. I added this from wire. - Decals weren’t the best. I used the Valom tail flashes but replaced the wing and fuselage roundels with spares with less vivid colours. Valoms decals were quite brittle. The lettering was also a very very dark grey rather than medium sea grey so some Fantasy Printshop decals came to the rescue here. - Many bomber Hampdens carried underwing pylons to make up for the fuselage’s meagre bomb capacity. Valom doesn’t supply these (although they do appear on the paint guides). I have each of the Valom boxings of this kit but figured this was probably the only variant that would have carried them (even though in wartime photos it doesn’t have them fitted). So I figured something together with some ex-Shapeways 500lb bombs. - Cowl flaps seem to have been connected by some sort of black tape or something - definitely not something that a pin wash was really managing. So I bit the bullet and cut many 2mm strips of decal and spent a highly aggravating evening shuffling these around the cowling. It does look right I think. What else would I change? Well if you peer too closely the engines aren’t the best. But I didn’t have any Aeroclub white metal replacements to hand and I’ll try not to notice. I think I’d also refine my masking efforts further on the canopy on take two. Otherwise I’m pretty happy with this. I have no doubt that some wizards on here could improve the accuracy and of this kit in many respects. But I’ll settle. As I say, I went with a kit scheme, but swapped in different decals. P1333 served with 49 Squadron based at RAF Scampton in summer 1940. This aircraft was actually lost on a raid on Merseburg’s oil installations on the night of 16/17 August 1940. Perhaps typical of RAF bomber command’s efforts at the time, only one Squadron aircraft claimed to bomb the target, the rest bombed “targets of opportunity” (or jettisoned their payload). Sgt Stratton, flying P1333, made a forced landing at Breda in Holland, though quite why I do not know. He and his crew spent the next five years as prisoners of war in Silesia. I did some weathering as I thought that by August 1940 this would have looked pretty shopworn. I enjoyed myself but I probably overcooked things on this front again. Finally the figures are Armorys high altitude bomber crew. A beautifully cast set of resin figures. Conclusion Overall it’s a nice kit. Definitely short run and if you go into it with those expectations and eyes open, then it’s fine and a jolly kit to build. There were definitely no aspects which I found so tedious as to put me off building this. The length of time was due more to other factors, such as my singularly poor attention span. Here with another fork tailed bird recently off the bench. And here with Valoms next offering on the bench. Thanks very much for looking.

Someone gave to me an already started kit of a Sikorsky CH-53G in 1:144. I was about to bin it, when I found some pictures of an airframe, of which all usable parts had been removed. As the German Air Force is planning to replace their CH-53 with new CH-47 in a couple of years, we will probably see more of these airframes. Obviously there is a rule, that the registration of these airframes have to be painted over. As many parts of the kit were not used, it was a rather quick build. The original was only for inspiration, the model is not an exact copy of it. Hope you like it! Different camera, different lights = different colours!

Earlier this year a friend of mine found this book signed by Ray Hanna in his basement. Hanna gave it as a present to say "Thank You" to the crews of two CH-53G helicopters from German Army Aviation Regiment 15 in Rheine Bentlage, were I also served at that time. I participated in the operation of flying all the Exhibits of the German Air Force Museum from Appen near Hamburg to its new home in Berlin Gatow. At that time the Sea Fury was sold or traded to the Old Flying Machine Company at Duxford whose owner Ray Hanna was. Our Regiment was tasked with the transport. Immediately the idea of building this scene came up, because I have several kits of the Revell CH-53G in 1:144 scale in my stash. The kit only provides the old version of the rotor blades, which were changed to the newer ones starting in 1997. So they fit into this event. The Sea Fury was used in civilian markings as target tug based in Lübeck-Blankensee. It was the only single seat version among several two-seaters. For our crews this trip was a nice training in flying with external loads, and for our ground crews preparing the aircraft was also a challenging task. Building the models was no problem, but the rigging needed three attempts. First I tried Tamiya tape, but as it had to be coiled to prevent fluttering in the wind, it proved unfit. Then I tried aluminium foil , also not working properly. Finally I used 0,6 mm wire, onto which I glued thin stripes of Tamiya tape. This provided the necessary stability and I am now quite happy with the result. I added some "blur" to the tail rotor by gluing small stripes of clear plastic onto the blades after painting little faded markings onto them. I did not treat the main rotor blades like taht, because I haven't seen convincing results anywhere. So, just imagine, looking at a picture taken with a very short shutter speed. (Or is it high speed...1/1000 sec.) Someone took a picture of the arrival of both aircraft at Duxford, which served as inspiration for my little scene. Hope you like it! Here my diorama:

Hello everyone! Here is my latest kit and the first of this year. It's Mark I Model's 1:144 Dassault (SABCA) Mirage 5BA representing BA 21 (No.021), 2nd Sqn 'La Comète', 2nd Tactical Wing, Belgian Air Force, based at Florennes AB, Belgium in late 1985. This machine was sent to a museum in Deblin, Poland, following retirement. Following my previous experience with this kit last year (Swiss AF Mirage IIIRS) where it was pointed out the kit had a nose-down sit rather than the opposite, I made a correction to the nose wheel leg part. It is clearly too short lacking some 1.5 to 2 mm. I sawed it in the centre and added a plug from stretched sprue. The end result was much better. I also modified the large drop tanks as the ones in the kit were not of the type often used by the Belgians with down-sloping fins and not straight fins with vertical stabilisers. The pylons used were those from the smaller tanks. I removed the missile rails from the outer pylons. As with the other kit, the tailfin leading edge probe was removed and the nose probe was replaced by one from stretched sprue. Two antennae on the spine were made from spare metal from etched parts. The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome as always Miguel

Somehow the word nose just doesn’t cover this monstrosity of a front end. I really did think the Canberra was one of the most elegant jets, right up there with the hunter, up until I saw this weird frankenmissileplane from Sova-M. I was so intrigued I had to get one. I haven’t posted on here for a while but thought this sufficiently unusual that it might be of wider interest. BOMARC was a nuclear warhead mounted on a rocket AND ramjet-powered surface to air missile. Introduced in 1959, it was deployed for just over 10 years in batteries across the US (and later - controversially - Canada), designed to work at long range to destroy fleets of Soviet bombers expected to fly over the icecaps towards targets in the continental US. The Nike system was the short-range counterpart to the BOMARC, designed for point defence. Like most systems designed to deter conventional bomber fleets it was rendered obsolete by the late-1960s with the shift on both sides of the Cold War away from bombers towards ICBMs against which a SAM like BOMARC would have been nearly useless. It was an impressive and complex weapon, with a conventional liquid (later solid-fuel) rocket that got the 7.5 ton missile to altitude, before switching to ramjets to achieve its Mach 2.5 cruise at 60,000 feet. Nearing the target, the missiles' radar would home the missile automatically onto the bombers and detonate either the large conventional or W40 nuclear warhead with a proximity fuse. All pretty impressive technology for the mid- to late-1950s. Of the various nuclear almost-catastrophes of the Cold War, one did involve a BOMARC which exploded on the ground, leading to about 80 acres of New Jersey remaining radioactive to this day. Anyway - this is the 1:144 SOVA-M kit of the BOMARC, scaled down from their 1:72 kit, plus a reboxing of the old 1:144 Amodel B-57 with a funky new nose. Or trunk. Or whatever. The B-57 (I read it was a C not a E as SovaM suggest) was used to test the BOMARC radar guidance system used for the final stage of the missile's flight. The missile built up ok. I enjoyed it, though EVERY part needed work to get them together. Lots of flash and pretty soft, soapy detail. I found a few good reference photos and had fun adding the various pipes and electrical cables from small gauge lead and copper wire. It really enhances the look of this to my eye. The B-57 built up well enough, though the mating of the newer SOVA-M forward fuselage parts with the older Amodel parts wasn't the simplest (especially the canopy fit). And anyway the Amodel kit, while eventually looking every inch the Canberra, is a menace to build, requiring lots of filler, sanding and rescribing. I'm not entirely satisfied with the canopy but it's as good as I could get it. Still the results were worthwhile I think. I replaced the antennae and probe, and also added some bang seats to the cockpit, but otherwise this is OOB. I remembered to shorten the main gear legs so this doesn't sit too tail high. I enjoyed both builds and this will look nice on the Shelf amidst various other B-57 and Canberra marks. Hooray to SOVA-M for bringing us this weird and niche aircraft in injection kit form. Many thanks for looking! Angus

Hi everyone. My latest build is the 1:144 Gates Learjet 35a in the Scandanavian Air Ambulance livery. This build is part of a Dutch Medevac group build, which my previous Medic'Air Dassault Falcon 50 was also a part of. The Gates Learjet 35 is an iconic aircraft that has left its mark on the world of business aviation. The story begins in the early 1970s, a time when the demand for fast, reliable, and comfortable business jets was growing rapidly. The first flight of the Learjet 35 took place in August 1973. The designers based the Learjet 35 on the earlier Learjet 25 model but gave it a longer fuselage to accommodate more passengers and carry additional fuel. This resulted in an aircraft that was not only faster and more efficient but also had an impressive range of approximately 4,300 kilometers—enough to enable non-stop transcontinental flights. What truly made the Learjet 35 special was its versatility. The aircraft could seat six to eight passengers, depending on the configuration, and was equipped with luxurious seats and modern amenities for its time. It was popular not only with business travelers but was also used for medical evacuations and by various military organizations. The United States Air Force, for example, used a military variant—the C-21A—for rapid transport and evacuation missions. The Gates Learjet 35 was known for its excellent performance at high altitudes, up to 45,000 feet, resulting in more efficient and faster flights. The aircraft was also equipped with advanced avionics, contributing to its safety and navigation capabilities. Scandinavian Air Ambulance is a leading air ambulance company in Scandinavia, founded in the early 2000s and headquartered in Umeå, Sweden. The company operates in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, with a fleet of helicopters and airplanes equipped as flying intensive care units. These are outfitted with advanced medical equipment and staffed by highly trained medical teams, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics. The primary goal of Scandinavian Air Ambulance is to save lives by providing fast and professional medical assistance from the air. They respond to emergencies such as traffic accidents and heart attacks, ensuring that patients receive the necessary care during transport. In addition, they offer scheduled medical transport services for patients who need to be transferred to specialized hospitals. The kit is from Kovozavody Prostejov, a manufacturer I was not yet familiar with. The kit was a lot of fun though, and builds well enough. The yellow color is RAL1018 (Sulfur Yellow) and should be an exact match of the yellow color used by ambulance services. The decals are out of the box, except for the windows which come from a leftover Authentic Airliner Tu-154 decals set. Also, the cockpit windows are made by me. I used AK elastic rigging for the wire antenna, while the other antennas are scratchbuild. Display bases are also made by me. Enough talk, on with the pictures: And finally, in in today's sunlight: Also, to give you an idea of the size of this model 🙂 I'm working on several projects at the moment, but my next finished build will either be the 1:144 Dassault Falcon 900 in Saudia colours or the 1:144 Dassault Falcon 2000 in China Air Rescue colours. Anyway, thanks for reading and see you next time! Martijn

Hello everyone! Here is another small kit I managed to finish last month. It's Anigrand Craftswork's resin 1:144 Heinkel He 176 V1 which I built together with the Horten H XIIIa which I have posted before. The Heinkel He 176 was the world's first rocket-powered aircraft using liquid fuel. Previous aircraft had used solid fuels. It was built as a private venture by Heinkel and first flew successfully on 20 June 1939. When demonstrated to the RLM, little interest was shown and further flying was banned due to the dangers of rocket propulsion. The ban was lifted a couple of times but was made definite in September. The prototype ended up in a museum in Berlin where it was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1943 or 1944 (sources differ on the date). This kit was another of the bonus kits of the Anigrand Fw 200 Condor. I was hoping for a quick build but due to some extra work I put in to it and some problems with the painting it took a little longer. I opened up the incorrect bulkhead between the cockpit and the nose, corrected rear taper of the wings which was wrong (the tips were too wide), replaced the overly thick nose wheel struts with new ones from stretched sprue, made proper tailwheel bay doors, and added the underwing handling bars and the wing probe from stretched sprue. I also opened up the exhaust pipe and thinned the main u/c legs a bit. The kit was fully painted and varnished by brush. Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome. Miguel

This CH-47D was constructed in 2014 as a civil aircraft and sold to a leasing company. It was leased by the australian province New South Wales as a fire fighting aircraft. Meanwhile there is a new owner and a new livery. The kit was originally produced by Revell and issued by Academy with different markings. It is an excellent kit with a lot of details and no issues. These decals are from australian company DEKL'S. Hope you like the colourful civilian version! cheers, Norbert

Here is another one for my 1:144 helicopter collection. F-toys is producing so called "Gashapons", a kind of surprise eggs, sold in Japanese toy stores. These models are prepainted and preprinted with some markings. Some have to be added as decals. The models are preassembled, but in a very rude way. I disassembled the model, worked on the fitting, glued them together again, put some filler in and sanded the joints. Of course the painting had to be repaired with a mixture of Revell Aqua colours, which worked out fine. The main rotor rods were way too big and crude, so I replaced them. Unfortunately the rotor blades cannot be bent, so I have to live with the current state. Thanks for looking, Norbert

I'm currently participating in a Dutch group build called MedEvac, we we build various subjects together that all have to do with medical evacuation. One of my first contributions to this Buddy Build is the Welsh Models 1:144 Dassault Falcon 50 in the colors of Medic'air. I love tri-jets, and I thought that after finishing the L-1011 Tristar, I had built them all. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the Falcon 900 also flew in civilian colors (for example, with Saudia). The Falcon 900 is based on the Falcon 50, but since it doesn't carry that many passengers, it fell outside of my scope. However, the Falcon 50 is used for medical flights, so this Buddy Build was a perfect excuse to build one. Coincidentally, I also built a Dassault Falcon for the French Buddy Build (the Falcon 20, which the Falcon 50 is based on). Anyway, picture of the original: https://www.planespotters.net/photo/208324/f-hfmb-medicair-international-dassault-falcon-50 The Dassault Falcon 50 was designed for both transcontinental and transatlantic flights. As mentioned, its design is based on the earlier Dassault Mystère 20 and Falcon 200. Initially, an attempt was made to add a third engine to the Falcon 20, but this led to stability issues. To resolve this, the fuselage was extended. The prototype of the new aircraft made its maiden flight in November 1976, followed by the first pre-production model on June 13, 1978. The first production models were delivered in July 1979. In 1995, the improved version, the Falcon 50EX, was announced. The EX stands for "Extended Range." This variant was equipped with more efficient Honeywell TFE731-40 engines and a modern cockpit with the Collins Proline 4 system. The 50EX made its first flight on April 10, 1996, and the first aircraft was delivered in January 1997. Medic’Air International is a renowned French company specializing in medical air transport services and providing global repatriation. Founded in 1991 and based in Paris, the company has established itself as a leading player in medical emergency and transport services, with a focus on safety, speed, and high-quality care. Medic'Air provides medical repatriation, air ambulance flights, medical escorts, international medical support, and disaster evacuation services. The resin kit is from Welsh. While fine, it does lack some details (which are easily fixed with styrene) and the WBF is way off (which I couldn't fix). Still, I'm happy Welsh releases these kinds of kits at all in this scale, so I'm not complaining. Decals were custom made for me by my buddy TheFlyingDutchman. The cockpit and window decals were made by me. I also used some of the decals provided with the kit. Anyway the pictures: (display bases made by me) Measuring only 13 cm in lenght, it sure is a small one! Next up will be either the aformentioned 1:144 Falcon 900 or the 1:144 Learjet 35. Probably the Learjet. Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Maybe I should give peace a chance with this Roden 1/144 Convair CV-340. I bought this kit second hand and it's already been started. Windows have been glued, nose weight added and wings glued together - but still well under 25% I'm sure. Windows have been sanded flush with the fuselage, I think the idea is to use the decals for the windows. Kit decals. But I will be using Kar-Air decals by Arctic Decals instead.

Hello everyone! Here is my latest kit. It's a Polikarpov I-185 (M-71) by Sputnik 3D Labs in 1:144 scale. It represents the fourth and last I-185, built to 'Etalon' or 'Production Standard' and used in tests at Novosibirsk, USSR, throughout summer 1942. The story behind this aircraft, related to Nikolai Polikarpov's fall from grace is quite interesting. Despite having his design bureau taken from him (by a certain Mr. Mikoyan and Mr. Gurevich) following the crash of the I-180 and with the limited resources given, he still managed to surprise with this superlative fighter but the odds were against him politically. After one of these prototypes crashed killing the pilot in 1943, he was finally removed from aircraft designing to some bureaucratic desk job, a clear sign of Stalin still having some appreciation for him considering the worse fate of others who fell from his graces. This 3D-printed kit has been a real delight and I'm very pleased with how it came out. Some parts needed a little trimming to fit properly but nothing major and the sole addition from my part was the pitot probe. The canopy is vacformed. Despite the low part count, I took longer to complete it due to the use of enamel paints and their inherent longer drying times added to real life time limitations meaning some days I could only give one coat! The kit was fully painted and varnished by brush and I used White Ensign Models Colourcoats paints for the main scheme colours. This time I did some pre-shading which came out nicely on the green surfaces. I refrained from more weathering since it represents the prototype in its early days. For more on this build, check out my WIP in a group build on Kampfgruppe144: https://www.kampfgruppe144.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=10449 Thank you for looking and, as usual, all comments are welcome. Miguel P.S. While placing the images, I just realized I didn't dust the kit before taking the photos! Oh well...

Hello everyone! Here is my latest kit. It's a Westland Lysander Mk.IIIA by Fox One Design in 1:144. It represents 361, of Esquadrilha de Ligação e Reconhecimento, Aeronáutica Militar, based at Tancos, Portugal, in late 1943. Portugal received eight Lysanders in September 1943 and these sere finally withdrawn from service in 1953. Fox One previously released resin kits of all three marks of the Lysander, these being the only kits of the type in this scale, and have recently 'retooled' them as 3D-printed kits. I have a couple of the previous releases in my stash and the breakdown of parts has been simplified. These were very nicely printed with hardly any surface clean-up other than reducing the exaggerated wing rib and fuselage fabric effect. Assembly only required a little trimming of tabs to get parts to fit properly into their slots. The only trouble I had, apart from the tricky wing assembly, was the cockpit upper section which had to be cut in two to fit better. Sadly, the wings warped upwards after release from the blocks and I failed to notice this before I had them glued in place. The kit comes with full ordnance but I only added the stub wings as that was all I could make out from the two photos I found. The kit was fully painted and varnished by brush. Sadly although Fox One is to be commended in retooling their early kits, the decals represented a big step backwards. They came in two sheets, one with the white elements and backing decals, well printed, and the other with the colour elements, very pixilated. I had bought this kit precisely for the Portuguese option to add to a sub-collection of aircraft from my country. I ended up replacing all of the insignia, including the missing underside roundels, from a Mark I sheet. I only used the white numbers from the kit's sheet, the stencils being unusable. For more on this build, check out my WIP in a group build on Kampfgruppe144: https://www.kampfgruppe144.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=10326 Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome, as always. Miguel

It was in 1995, when I was on a refuelling stop with a CH-53 in Oostende/Belgium and this big helicopter was parked there. I was fascinated and took some pictures. This year there was a Group Build of "Flying Cranes" in a German modelling forum, so I took the opportunity to build a model of exactly this aircraft. The kit by Eastern Express is a very nice kit, only the glass parts are very thick with unusable engravings. So I had to paint the windows. The decals are selfmade. Hope you like it! cheers, Norbert

One short question and a request for your answer, Gentlemen. I have read a dozen or so opinions about Airfix (A300B4) and F-RSIN (A300-600 in the form of short-run fuselage and tail added to Revell's Beluga) kits. Some experts warn against the antique Airfix, the other half - against the quality of the French short-run (though no complaints about Revell's wings and details). I don't have enough space in my display case to build both and I don't care whether my A300 will be Garuda's B4 or American's -600. Just help me choose, please (both kits are available in Polish stores). Cheers Michael

Aviation Traders Limited Carvair. 1:144 Roden kit with Classic-airlines.com decals. The Carvair was developed to replace the Bristol Freighters used to transport cars & passengers across the English Channel to France, hence its name (Car-via-air). Modified from C-54/DC-4 airframes it was considerably cheaper than an all new aircraft would have been. The modifications consisted of a completely new forward fuselage, relocating the cockpit on top, much like the later Boeing 747, and a new tail fin to counter it. Its has been widely thought that the fin was from a DC-7, but apparently this is not true, they were new build units. The Roden kit build very well, although I did have to shim the upper inboard wings to avoid a gap where they meet the fuselage. The main gear legs were way too short, initially resulting in the rear of the fuselage almost touching the ground. I removed them and inserted a platform about 4mm deep to attach the legs to, in order to achieve the 'sit' you see here. I wasn't too keen on the kit supplied colour scheme for British Air Ferries, but found this 'British United' scheme at Classic-airlines.com, which I really like. There are also several others available. They are laser printed on constant film, so you have to cut each subject out individually. I can heartily recommend them though, they went on superbly and were easy to use. Enough chat, time for the photos (ugly innit?) ; 'With something else - an easy choice - A Welsh Models Bristol Freighter. Thanks for looking, John

Hello everyone! Here are the other two of four Me 262 kits I finished right at last year's end (10 minutes before midnight!). Both are Me 262B-1a trainer variants from the Mark I Models 1:144 reboxing of the Eduard kit. Both kits were built very much OOB with only the wing pitot, underside IFF aerial and the radio mast and wire added from stretched sprue. The FuG 16ZY Morane mast and the spine loop antenna came with the etched fret in the kit although the instructions fail to mention the former. The painting instructions show a rearward-pointing aerial under the tail. This is a mistake as this was only present on the nightfighters. Both kits were fully painted and varnished by brush but were barely weathered at all as both machines were new. Firstly then, Messerschmitt Me 262B-1a V15 (ex S5) VI+AJ (W.Nr. 130010), with Blohm und Voss, responsible for the conversion, at Wenzendorf Air Base, Luftwaffe, Germany, July 1944. This was the prototype of the B-series and can be considered the first jet trainer. I didn't find any photos or profiles of this one except after being repainted on entering service with KG(J)54. Mark I suggests RLM83 Dunkelgrün for the darker colour of the top surfaces but I disagree. The change to the new green tones was stipulated at around this time so this machine must have still been in the previous grey 74/75/76 scheme as other early Me 262s were in this period. When I finished the kit, I realized that this one didn't sit on its nose leg at all, so I had to glue it to a base. Interestingly, the other one does, apparently thanks to the drop tanks! I decided to do this one with the racks but without them. Secondly, Messerschmitt Me 262B-1a B3+SH (W.Nr. 170075), of 1./KG(J)54, Luftwaffe, at Giebelstadt Air Base, Luftwaffe, Germany, November 1944.. KG54 'Totenkopf' ended its career as a bomber unit in August 1944 and was reformed as a fighter unit, hence the "(J)", in October, converting to the Me 262. Its career wasn't very illustrious. Although it scored several kills, mostly of US bombers, the inexperience of its pilots in fighter combat saw many shot down by Allied fighters. This must have been one of the first machines delivered to the unit together with other two-seaters. Only about 15 trainers were built in total. "So this is what we are going to fly now!" Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome. Miguel

Hello everyone! Here are two of four Me 262 kits I finished right at last year's end (10 minutes before midnight!). Both are Me 262A-2a attack variants of KG51 using the Trumpeter 1:144 kit although one uses the main decals form a Mark I issue of the Eduard moulds. Both kits had the incorrect inner main u/c doors replaced with new ones made from Evergreen card using the Mark I kit parts as templates. I added the spine loop antenna from the Mark I etched set which came with four, so there were spares. The underside aerials were made from stretched sprue. The schemes are 'representations' using educated guesses and considering that reproducing them accurately in 1:144 is really difficult if possible at all. Both kits were fully painted and varnished by brush. For more details and WIP build, check out my posts on the Kampfgruppe144 site: http://www.kampfgruppe144.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=10269. The Kettenkrads came with each kit. Firstly then, 9K+YH of 1./KG5, Luftwaffe, based at Rheine, Germany, autumn 1944. I am well aware the white Y is wrong and it should be a "y" instead. I left it alone as painting it with a black outline wouldn't work out well. The bomb load consists of a single SD500 bomb which was a common practice in attack missions. Trumpeter actually supplies both 250 and 500 kg bombs as well as R4M rocket racks (but ignore using them on this variant and with bombs loaded as they suggest in the instructions). Secondly, 9K+BH of 5./KG51 Luftwaffe, Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental, Germany, autumn 1944. This scheme was in one of the Mark I Models reissues of the Eduard kit and I used the decals here. I modified two 250kg to represent AB250 cluster bombs, another load often used by the Me 262. I questioned the wave pattern being only applied on the fuselage so I applied it on the wings too. Mark I suggests the wavy pattern should be white and I have seen suggestions of using RLM02 but, in the only photo I found, a close-up of the nose of one machine painted like this, I agree with others in that it may well have been RLM76. Thanks for looking and all comments are, as always, welcome. Miguel

Hello everyone! Here is my latest kit. It's Minicraft's 1:144 Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress representing 44-8007/JD-Z "Screaming Eagle", with the 545th BS, 384th BG, USAAF, based at Grafton Underwood, UK, from August 1944 to May 1945 when it was transferred to the 305th BG at Chelveston. It was assigned to 69 missions and received combat credit for 50. This kit was the old Crown moulds from the 1970s repackaged (several times) by Minicraft and this time with a small upgrade in the main canopy area, making the upper windows available as clear plastic. The kit OOB is very basic but the general shape is there although some features ruin it. The improved main canopy was a poor fit by the way. I decided to make a series of improvements which I'll list in no particular order: - I opened up all of the solid windows and some that weren't even marked. The kit supplied them as silver decals but they would have looked bad on the metal finish anyhow. Most were filled with Kristal Klear and some were made from clear flat sprue. I realized too late that I didn't make the waist guns in the staggered position. - I managed to sand the nose glazing to practically the right shape. This is one of the worst features of the kit but the plastic is thick enough to allow all the sanding. - The same applied to the chin and top turrets which are too tall and needed some reshaping. - All guns were replaced by new ones made from stretched sprue. - The wheels were replaced by lovely resin ones by Armory. - The straight turbocharger pipes just behind the wheel bays were removed and replaced by new ones curved outwards from Evergreen half-round strips. All four exhaust holes were opened up. - The missing pipes on the outer sides of the inner nacelles were added from the same material after opening the corresponding trenches. - All of the intakes along or just below the main wing leading edges were made. - The cut outs for the main wing landing lights were also opened up and filled with clear sprue sanded to blend with the wing leading edge. - The cowlings were opened up and 3D-printed engines added. The files for these are available at the Kampfgruppe144 forum. - The awful propeller blades were reshaped to just about the right shape. - Wingtip lights were made from drops of Kristal Klear. - All of the missing antennae and wires were made from stretched sprue. The bullet-shaped D/F loop antenna was fashioned from one of the 'in-flight' propellers in the kit with CA glue and sanded to shape. No cockpit detail was added as I surmised correctly that none could be seen! The kit was fully painted (freehand), weathered and varnished with brush. I may have overdone the weathering but it looks good. The decals were all from the kit and performed well. For more details and WIP build, check out my posts on the Kampfgruppe144 site: http://www.kampfgruppe144.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=10115 This gave me more work that I expected but I had fun improving this old basic kit and the end result, although not perfect, was really worth it and I am very pleased with what I have achieved. Looking at it, I can hardly believe it's the old Crown kit!! Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome. Miguel

BAC 1-11-500 British Airways. Mark One Models with 26Decals. 1:144 New airliner kits are few and far between, especially those from the 60's/70's/80's, so I was very pleased when Mark One announced a new range of 1-11-500s. The kit is fairly basic with no clear parts, but nicely engraved mouldings, but at around £35 retail in the UK fairly expensive. I had to get several though, and first up I wanted to do G-AVMH in the 'British' version of the Negus scheme, as I flew in this aircraft in the jump seat from Heathrow to Bordeaux and back in April 1981, with a turn in the left hand seat on the way back! 'MH was the first production 500, which added further interest, but sadly it no longer exists as it was scrapped in 2002. The kit assembles well, but I had to shim both wing roots to avoid a gap, and next time I will probably replace the wing fences with thinner plasticard. the Cockpit area used the excellent Authentic Airliners photo realistic decals, and should be considered essential for this kit due to the lack of clear parts. The engines have a curious 'S' curve where they meet the pylon, when the should be straight. I left mine alone, as modifying them would be a lot of work. Resin replacement might be better if it bothers you. I used to modify Airfix short fuselage 1-11-200s to make a 500, here is a Landor schemed one with the Mark One kit. I had a bit of a disaster during the build, nothing to do with kit I hasten to add, but the painting. I have used Halfords grey plastic primer for years, and recently bought a new can. It now comes in an orange coloured can, rather than the old silver one. On first spraying I noticed it had a very different smell, but went on very smoothly. I then gave it a coat of Halfords 'Appliance White'. Next up was to apply a thin strip of Tamiya tape to mask the lower fuselage dark blue. Upon putting the the tape down, and then lifting it to adjust, it ripped up all the paint, down to the bare plastic. I ended up with a big area around the nose that just flaked off: There were patches all over the model that just came away in small to large areas, flaking off like paper. I've never had this happen with the old formula, so won't be using this new stuff again. Anyone else had problems? I'll try Tamiya 'Surface Primer' next, but it is a blow that the Hafords stuff has been changed as I have relied on it for years. (It was not just this 1-11 that suffered, I'm also building Armory's 1;48 Dragon Rapide and had the same problem). I nearly binned the whole thing, but put it aside for a week to think about it. I then went over it with wire wool to cut it back, and found I still had a little of Halfords original White primer, and re-did it with that. Decals are from 26Decals, and were as superb as usual, with the 'British' and 'British Airways' titles as options, and all fleet names and registrations for the 1-11 500's and 200's used by BA. It has the red & blue fin flashes on the sheet, but I chose to mask and paint all the red areas to avoid having to match the painted tailplane with the red on the decal sheet. This is the finished paint job before any decals were applied: Thanks for looking, John

Hello everyone! Here is the other kit I finished this weekend. It's Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a "White 4" of Kommando Nowotny, Luftwaffe, at Achmer, Germany, October 1944. This time it's an original Eduard kit (1:144). Kommando Nowotny was the first true Me 262 fighter unit set up under the command of Walter Nowotny from elements of Ekdo 262. It was established on 26 September 1944, achieved operational status on 3 October and, following Nowotny's death on 8 November, formed the basis of III gruppe of JG7 "Nowotny", on 19 November, being officially disbanded on the 24th. From Wikipedia: Due to the experimental nature of the unit, and the technical difficulties in operating the jet fighters, the unit had a less than illustrious record. In the time from 4 October to 24 November, a total of 24 enemy aircraft were claimed shot down for a loss of 28 Me 262s either damaged or destroyed. The decals came mostly from the Eduard kit with some extra stencils coming from those unused on my Mark I Me 262 S3 kit. I discovered a flaw while putting the decals. The top colours should extend lower on the fuselage sides. The Eduard instructions confused me and I should have checked photos which I did too late. On seeing photos and a profile of this machine in the Jagdwaffe Volume 5 Section 4 book, I painted the rear section of the nacelle black. I later noticed that the colour profile suggests a forward panel aft of the intake may be RLM75 but I had finished the kit by then. I therefore decided to use the description from the book rather than the Eduard kit which represents the kit at Lechfeld in November. I did do some subtle weathering on this one since I think this machine was inherited from Ekdo 262 and so had been a bit longer in service. All painting and varnishing was with brush. As with the other kits, I added the missing underside antennae and the wing probe, as well as the radio wires from stretched sprue. The loop antenna on the spine came from an etched fret in the Mark I Models kit. As always, thanks for looking and feel free to comment Miguel

Hello everyone! Here is one of two kits I completed this weekend, both having been started at the same time as my previous kit which I completed before my summer holidays. This time it's Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a/Jabo "Black F" (W.Nr. 130179), of Einsatzkommando Schenck, Luftwaffe, at Lechfeld, Germany, July 1944. This was the first aircraft assigned to the Kommando and was used for bombing trials. It was plagued by mechanical failures and poor construction and left behind when the Kommando moved to France. It was written off on 19 July in a bombing raid on Lechfeld. It's also a Mark I Models 1:144 kit (Eduard reboxing). The Me 262A-1a/Jabo were a series of standard A-1a fighters modified to carry bombs while waiting for the A-2a bomber variant to come off the production line and therefore carried all four cannon unlike the latter which only carried two to compensate for the extra load. Kommando Schenck was a short-lived operational detachment of KG51 (June to September 1944) under Wolfgang Schenck that was actually based in airfields in France and later Holland. Between the troubles with the new type, poor weather, a 4000m minimum bombing altitude imposed by Hitler himself and the rapidly changing situation in the front with the Allies advancing, the impact of this detachment, although with several missions over France, Belgium and Holland, was ultimately negligible. By September, it was back in Germany and renamed as 3./KG51 before the month's end. The number of aircraft available and serviceable for missions ran from just one or three to fifteen at most (and this was rare). The instructions of the kit have two errors. First they state the top colours were RLM75/83. I find that unlikely as RLM83 only came into use later and the first service Me 262s were painted in the, until then, standard Luftwaffe fighter grey scheme. This is confirmed by profiles I have found of this machine. I therefore painted it accordingly. The other mistake is stating it was based in France. The information I mention above came from the Osprey Combat Aircraft No 83 book which has three photos of this machine and has comments about it. As usual, the kit was painted and varnished by brush. I added the missing underside antennae and the wing probe from stretched sprue, as well as the radio wires. Apart from highlighting moving surfaces, I refrained from any weathering since this machine had a short life. Thank you for looking and, as usual, all comments are welcome. Miguel