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Here is the first of three two-seater Starfighters I have been working on the past month-and-a-half. It's a CF-104D from Mark I's reboxing of the Revell kit. It represents RT-657 (104657, ex-CAF 5327) of Esk 726, Royal Danish AF, at Alborg AB, Denmark, in 1983-85. Apart from sanding down the main undercarriage door bulges as indicated in the instructions, I made some more modifications. I found photos of this machine and it was one of the later Canadian-built Starfighters equipped with RWR blisters under the nose and on both sides of the tail. I also added some aerials, one behind the cockpit (clearly shown on Mark I's colour profile!) and two below the nose as well as a position light on the spine closer to the tailfin. The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. I made the scheme with the paint starting to fade. Photos showed that it had a certain sheen with the nose section being more matt. Due to a mistake of mine, the kit came out with more sheen than I intended but I'm living with it. As a comment, checking photos of worn machines the effect is reversed with the nose maintaining colour and sheen and the paint faded to a matt finish. The decals were slightly out of register but otherwise went on very well. I'm very pleased with the result. This one finished ahead of the other two due to the simpler scheme. Now to get the other two finished before year's end! Thanks for looking and comments are, as always, welcome Miguel

Here is another Luft 46 project I built back in 2014. It's a Blohm und Voss P.209.02 forward swept wing fighter project by Anigrand Craftswork in 1:144 and in resin. I added some belts in the cockpit, thinned the undercarriage bay doors as much as possible and split them according to references as opposed to what Anigrand seemed to propose. The kit was fully painted and varnished by brush. Thanks for looking Miguel

I have a few Welsh Models vacforms on the go at the moment, one of them being this HP Hastings. I have opened up the main passenger/cargo doors and added a deck internally; however, that is about as much as I know on this aircraft. I would be grateful if someone could provide advice on types that can be built and what the internal cabin/cargo area would look like. I do know that they were used for passenger, cargo and meteorology taskings but I have some queries: where the passenger variants all passenger, or passenger and cargo mix? Apart from the seating facing rearwards, what would a typical seating/cargo area layout look like? If they did have mix and match that is. cheers, Mike

Here is my 1:144 scale Anigrand Craftswork resin Blohm & Voss P.215 which I built back in 2014. This was an unbuilt German WWII nightfighter project. I added details to the cockpit as this was meant to be a three-seater and the kit only came with two. Apart from scratchbuilding a third seat, I added belts, headrests, a stick for the pilot and some boxes in the rear section. I also thinned the undercarriage doors and added gun barrels from metal rod. The kit was fully painted with brush and only the Vallejo Satin varnish was airbrushed. This scheme came about as a way of fixing a scheme I wasn't happy with but since it's Luft'46, I can just about get away with it! Thanks for looking Miguel

Here is my Platz 1:144 North American P-51D-20-NA Mustang which I built back in 2007. It represents 44-72218/WZ-I "Big Beautiful Doll", flown by Lt. Col. John D. Landers (78th FG CO), 48th FS, 78th FG, 8th Air Force, USAAF, from November 1944 to May 1945. The kit was built OOB and fully painted and varnished with brush. As I have mentioned before, these Platz kits are a real delight with great finesse for this scale. Eduard has released these same moulds under their label. Highly recommended. Thanks for looking and, as always, all comments are welcome Miguel

Here is my Jach 1:144 Messerschmitt P.1101N which I built back in 2010. Jach offers a two-kit box covering two possible variants (A and N) of this unbuilt German WWII project. The "N" is a proposed nightfighter variant. I scratchbuilt a cockpit since there was none. The aerials came as etched metal parts. The kit was fully painted with brush except for the final matt varnish which was airbrushed. Thank you for looking Miguel

Here are a pair of desert scheme Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF "Fresco Ds" I built back in 2014. Both are from the Attack 1:144 kit moulds, the Syrian one from the original boxing whereas the Egyptian one was from the Mark I re-boxing. The Mark I kit came with a resin cockpit so I used it as a guide to scratchbuild one for the Attack kit using a Matador Models white metal MiG-21PF seat. Both kits had the radio mast and wing probes added from stretched sprue. The missing sway braces for the drop tanks were also added from thin plastic sheet. They were fully painted and varnished by brush. Firstly, ‘452’ of the Syrian Air Force, Syria, early 1970s. Secondly, a MiG-17PF of the Air Defence Air Regiment, United Arab Republic (Egypt) Air Force, Egypt, June 1967, during the Six Day War. Thanks for looking Miguel

Good evening everyone! I hope you're all keeping well? After almost 5 weeks of work (and more money than I should probably admit to) I've finally completed my rendition of an American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER in 1:144 scale: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I could write a lot about this build (and I have on the Work in Progress thread), but I shall try and keep it relatively short and sweet. Just over a year ago I took my first flight, in an attempt to get over my fear of both flying and heights. In the space of 2 weeks I'd been on 6 flights and it was on the 7th flight that I had the pleasure of flying on the Boeing 777. We were originally supposed to fly back with British Airways but delays caused by the weather meant we ended up catching an American Airlines flight the next day. The flight was incredible- there was very little turbulence, the views were unbeatable, the crew were friendly and the flight was empty (so plenty of opportunity to move around). The thing which captured my attention about the 777 was its size. It's comparatively gargantuan! Although we flew on a 777-223(ER), I didn't fancy modifying the Revell 1:144 -300ER kit dramatically- except for doing a bit of scratchbuilding and using Pas-Decals decals for the AA scheme. On that note, many of the lumps, bumps and antennae are placed as per the instruction sheet and are likely not 100% representative of where they are on the real thing. But despite this being my first airliner kit in a long while, and my first real attempt at using rattle cans, I really enjoyed this build. Look at the size of it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So there we are then. The base is only temporary, as I'd like to have something a bit more structurally sound than a cardboard box, but hey it works. As I said previously, this build has been an immense amount of fun to work on and although I'm pleased with how it's come out, I am even more satisfied with the skills that I've had the chance to develop along the way. I had planned for this to be my last project prior to starting back at university (again!) but naturally the situation has since changed and I should be able to get away with commuting. The next project might just be a certain venerable workhorse that had (until recently) served with distinction as part of the British Airways fleet... Thank you so much for following along, and dropping by to have a look. See you on the next one! All the best, Sam

Here is a Minicraft 1:144 Heinkel He 111H-6 I built back in 2015. It represents 1H+MM, of KG26, Luftwaffe, based in Italy. It was built mostly OOB but using the Matador Models white metal cockpit part. The guns were are replaced by new ones from scrap plastic and stretched sprue. The missing underfuselage aerial, wing pitot and engine carburettor intakes were also made from stretched sprue. I also tried to improve the shapes of the propeller blades. General fit of parts was poor, especially around the underside gondola and wing roots. The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. Decals were those of the kit except the swastikas which came from another sheet. Thanks for looking and, as always, all comments are welcome. Miguel

Here is my other Eduard 1:144 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21Bis "Fishbed N" which I built back in 2012. It represents "Blue 223", of the People's Air Force of Mozambique, at Beira AB, Mozambique, in 1988. The kit was built OOB and painted with brush except for the final light coat of matt varnish which was airbrushed. The decals came from a Berna Decals sheet. The rocket pods came from an Attack 1:144 MiG-21 kit. I had arranged the pylons so that they would be carried on the inner ones but the undercarriage fouled the fit of the pods so I put them on the outer ones. It seems this machine was used for attacks on FRELIMO guerilla forces. I did some weathering but it isn't noticeable in the photos! Thanks for looking Miguel

Here is the second of two Armory 1:144 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4s that I have completed this past week. It represents E-4/N Black Chevron and Bars, W.Nr 5819, flown by Oberstleutnant Adolf Galland, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26 'Schlageter', Luftwaffe, at Audembert, France, in December 1940. For notes on the build check the other one (Wick's E-4). I added the telescopic sight from stretched sprue. The kit was built mostly OOB and fully painted and varnished by brush. Decals came from an MYK decal sheet. Thank you for looking and, as always, all comments are welcome. Miguel

Here is one of two Armory 1:144 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4s that I have completed this past week. It represents Black Double Chevron, W.Nr 5344, flown by Hauptmann Helmut Wick, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 2 'Richtofen', Luftwaffe, at Brest, France, in October 1940. The Armory kit has enough optional parts to make any of the Emil subvariants with etched parts that give good scale thickness (or thinness) to some parts and a decal sheet covering 14 options (my kits came from Set #2 "Battle of Britain Aces"). Unfortunately, major parts suffer from excessive flash and overall fit of parts was poor with everything requiring trimming and sanding to get a good join. The kit also suffers from an inexcusable flaw: the main undercarriage legs are outboard of the wing roots (I didn't try to fix this). The kit was built mostly OOB and fully painted and varnished by brush. Decals came mostly from an MYK decal sheet but I had to use some from the kit's sheet to make Wick's aircraft before his last promotion. Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome as always Miguel

Here is my Anigrand Craftswork 1:144 resin Kawasaki Ki-108 "Randy" I built back in 2011. It represents one of the prototypes at the Rikugun Koku Shinsa Bu (Army Air Testing Centre), Gifu Factory area, 1944. It's one of the bonus kits of the Kawasaki Ki-91 bomber set. Only four prototypes of this aircraft were built and flown, the second pair being of the improved Kai variant with greater span and length. According to what little references I could find, this kit seems to be a little in between both variants but closer to the first pair. This was a particularly troubled build. Some parts were poorly moulded and the fit was quite bad. All of the parts had an 'orange peel' surface so I had to sand them all smooth first. I added the top radio mast (from a Sweet Zero) and the wing pitot tube (stretched sprue). I thinned the main wheel doors as much as I could. The kit was fully painted with brush except for the matt varnish which was airbrushed. I used White Ensign Models Kawasaki Army Green for the top surfaces and Vallejo Light Blue Grey (RLM76) for the undersides. This kit had the decals missing so I sourced them from other sheets. Since it was a prototype, I kept weathering to a minimum. Thanks for looking Miguel

Here is my Revell 1:144 Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter which I built back in 2004. It represents 28+31 of JaboG34, Luftwaffe, based at Memmingen, German Federal Republic, in the 1970s. It was built OOB, painted with brush and only the flat varnish was airbrushed. This was a delightful kit which has been fortunately re-issued by Mark I with new decals and schemes (so I have several in my stash 😉). Thanks for looking Miguel

Here is my third "what-if" fun build with an Fw 190D kit, in this case an F-toys 1:144 kit, back in 2013. It represents a hypothetical Fw 190D-9/R11 nightfighter Red 3 of NJG11, Luftwaffe, in Germany, late 1945, where a pod with a more modern dish array radar was added to one wing similar to those carried by Hellcats and Corsairs. Since the previous radar-equipped Fw 190 had the R11 Rüstsatz, I named it thus. I later found that there was an R11 all-weather modification for the Fw 190D-9 but not like this! This was a pre-painted, semi-assembled kit so I removed the paint and made some small improvements, like widening the supercharger intake hole. The conversion modifications were basically adding the radar pod to the port wing and engine and gun anti-dazzle shields on the fuselage sides forward of the cockpit. The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome as always Miguel

This is the F-8E Crusader from the F-Toys US Navy Collection Volume 2. These are pre-painted Gashopon trading kits from Japan - apparently you can buy these in vending machines. Oh how I long to live in a country where I could pick up a kit in a vending machine! I stripped and repainted it completely. Well worth picking up if you want a few evenings worth of fun. More familiar in this scale is the Platz F-8, though that is an earlier mark. For a gashopon, this is among the nicest I have built in terms of fit and details. I'd quite forgotten how good it is. I think the only Gashopon kit that rivals it is the F-Toys Curtiss Helldiver. Truly must have been a labour of love for the creators - the attention to detail is brilliant for this scale (and a kit that sells for less than £6 over there) - even the interior of the engine burner can is nicely moulded. Yes the panel lines are heavier than the Platz kit but they are very modest indeed compared to many other styrene or resin kits being released in 144 these days. The only bits I added were to tart up the cockpit a bit with some seatbelts and a few details on the ejector seat like the yellow/black pull cord. I also stole some Zuni rockets and pylons from the Platz kit (incredibly fiddly to assemble I found) as the photos I could find of a VF-13 Crusader showed it with Zunis mounted. Paint was Hataka. I probably weathered it way too much for a mediterranean cruise but you do see photos of these quite dirty and I was having fun and trying some new techniques. I'm really quite pleased with the results, I have to say. My one regret is the oil panel wash on the white belly particularly is too harsh, but I don't really want to mess with it any more. Knowing when to stop is good - ask me how I know... The decals area also from the kit - though I stole the insignia from the Platz kit as well as a few spare stencils from the old Microscale sheet. The F-Toys decals worked remarkably well - they are often very hit and miss. Though on the thick side they settled into the surface detail very well with some setting solution and they are very well printed (none of the graininess of some F-Toys decals). The one thing I notice now is missing is the number 1 on the flaps/ailerons. I'll have to add that now - I always notice something when writing these things! The scheme I went for is for an aircraft from VF-13 Nightcappers which flew the F-8E from 1964-1966 on several cruises in the Mediterranean aboard USS Shangri-La. The paint scheme changed in 1966, so this dates this particular aircraft to mid-1965. I wanted a change from photographing things on aircraft carriers so this particular F-8 has put down on land. Probably never happened but indulge me. Heroes Models figures and cart, Brengun MD3. A lovely kit - looking forward to the new F-Toys Crusader release in November (which my conscience is now cleared to buy having finished all my previous release boxes!). Finally - with some of the other USN aircraft I've finished the past couple of months. There's a bigger brute in the works next... Thanks very much for looking, as always, if you made it this far. Angus

Here is my Attack 1:144 Shenyang J-5 radar test-bed which I built back in 2014. It represents 2424, of the PLAAF, China, in late 1950s/early 1960s. This aircraft is now an exhibit iat the Changping Air Museum, Beijing. I couldn't find much about this prototype. It seems to have been a test-bed for the radar-equipped J-5A. A source claimed only one was modified this way but I found photos of a second one in another museum. Interestingly, the Russians had made the same configuration tests before settling in the result seen on the MiG-17PF variant. These Chinese tests were completely independent from Russian ones. This was a dual package of Attack together with the MiG-17PFU missile-equipped variant. It was the basic MiG-17F kit with a new resin nose. I ignored suggestions of adding the missiles and their pylons since I found no evidence of this prototype ever using them. The kit was built OOB and was fully painted and varnished with brush. Thanks for looking Miguel

Here are a pair of Platz 1:144 Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-Kai (Late) "George" which I built back in 2007. Both kits were built OOB and fully painted and varnished with brush. Both are from the 343 Kokutai (Wing), the only one to use the type, but from different Hikotai (squadrons). The first one represents C-343-45, 343 Kokutai, 701 Hikotai, Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force, Matsuyama airfield, Japan, in April 1945. The second one represents B-343-30, 343 Kokutai, 407 Hikotai, Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force, Matsuyama airfield, Japan, in April 1945. Thank you for looking and all comments, as always, are welcome Miguel

Here is the third of a trio of Sweet 1:144 "BoB Aces" Hawker Hurricane Mk.Is built back in 2009. It represents P2798/LK-A, flown by Flt Lt Ian R. Gleed, "A" Flight Commander, No. 87 Sqn, RAF, Exeter, September 1940. The kit was fully painted with brush except for the final matt varnish which was airbrushed. Thanks for looking Miguel

Hello everyone! Here is one of my two latest kits finished during this week, both being Mark I Model's 1:144 Dornier Do 17Z-2. This one represents 5K+EA, Stab./KG3, Luftwaffe, based at Le Culot airfield, Belgium, during the Battle of Britain, summer 1940. This wasn't an easy build due to poor fit of parts, especially the transparencies. Both together have been 2 months in the making! I made the following modifications/additions: - The gun barrels were too thick so I cut them off and made thinner ones from stretched sprue. - The exhausts were way too long. Initially this was helpful as it enabled me to hold them while removing them from the sprues and gluing them in place. I then sanded them down to size and shape. - The rear underside clear part stood proud of the cockpit bottom. Sanding it down wasn't an option and besides this area slanted up rather than down as it should so I built it up with CA glue and sanded it to shape. - The spinners were too short. I built up the tips with CA gel and then CA glue and sanded them to shape. - The underside mast and "towel rack" aerial were made from stretched sprue. The latter suffered some damage from handling. The radio wires were also made from stretched sprue as was the missing wing pitot. After taking the photos, I realized the latter was bent at a steeper angle than it should be (probably due to handling). I fixed it afterwards. - I added the wingtip lights with blobs of Kristal Klear. - One of the kit's flaws I didn't correct because I realized it too late was the join of the engines to the nacelles. The engines were correctly round but the nacelles were oval. This meant that the sides have the correct gaps behind the cowlings but the top and bottom don't. I have an idea how to fix this next time I build this kit (I have more in my stash). The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. The outlined "E"s have the white outline too thick and I later found out they should be dark blue not black. I found a profile that suggests the spinner tips should be dark blue too. I left things as they came. It's not an easy kit and requires work but a decent result can be achieved. I'm pleased with how both came out. I'll be posting the other one in a few days' time. Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome as always Miguel

Hello everyone! Here is the second of my two latest kits finished last week, also a Mark I Model's 1:144 Dornier Do 17Z-2. This one represents F1+AL, Stab II./KG76, Luftwaffe, France, 1940. All the comments on the other build apply here except that this kit has a loop aerial above the cockpit instead of the blister the other kit had. I had to thin the part as much as I could. As with the other one, the kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. Thanks for looking Miguel

Launch Tower & Space Shuttle with Booster Rockets Revell 1:144 Following the demise of the Saturn/Apollo programme, which ended with the Apollo/Soyuz Test Program (ASTP) in 1975, NASA moved on to a new era in space flight; that of the Shuttle Programme. The intention was to design, build and launch a manned vehicle that could carry a crew and cargo payload into low earth orbit, deliver its cargo, and then return to earth, land like an aircraft, and be reusable for future launches. The requirements for the Shuttle were to be that, unlike the Saturn/Apollo system which progressively discarded everything on the way to the Moon and return only with the manned crew capsule; the whole transporter vehicle (the Orbiter) would need to launch, deliver, re-enter and land safely back on earth in a controlled fashion. Two solid booster rockets (SRB's) would also be recoverable for refurbishment and re-used which left the external tank (ET) as the only disposable component. Although the Launch Vehicle would be a completely new design, NASA wanted to minimise the work and costs required for the launch pads (LC-39A and LC-39B) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Methods used were to modify the existing Crawler/Transporter (CT) and Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) hardware. The MLP would need the existing single flame trench opening to be filled in and the dismantling of the 36 storey Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT). The Shuttle system, comprising of the Orbiter, two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) and a large External tank (ET) required multiple flame trenches to be cut/built into the refurbished MLP's and the finished design provided for 3 rectangular cut outs to be incorporated for this purpose. The launch pad foundations did not require a great deal of re-work as the existing approachways, flame channels/trenches etc., could be re-used in their present condition; however the supporting structures did require a totally new support system for the Shuttle and was quite different from the Saturn/Apollo technology. In the Apollo era, the manned capsule was sat atop a massive 330ft (100m) Saturn launch vehicle and needed an even taller support tower in the form of the LUT to service it ready for launch. The new Shuttle was only 122ft (37m) but required access to virtually the whole length of the Orbiter and the access to all this had to be in a clinically clean environment. The solution was to have a two part launch tower consisting of a rigid tower; called the Fixed Service Structure - (FSS) which was mainly the vertical tower gantry, and a movable structure; titled the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) which swung around to totally encompass the Shuttle when it arrived at LC-39 from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). NASA was also able to recycle the top twelve of the original platform levels from the LUT and this became the new FSS Tower thereby reducing time and costs in some of the design and build of the new launch tower facility. The Kit(s) This is a re-release of the kit which was first seen in the shops in 1986. There are three major components to be found in the box; the tower complex, which comprises the tower (FSS/RSS); the transporters (CT/MLP) and the Shuttle stack (Orbiter, ET & SRB's) and altogether makes quite a complex construction. Let's get some important scaling issues dealt with at the outset. Although the box art description quotes 1:144 scale, only the Shuttle stack is to this scale. The RSS/FSS scales out at 1:168, which is nearer the international 'N scale' and the CT/MLP is a demure 1:200 scale. The aim of this review is to highlight the contents of the box, its component sprues and materials used etc. As this is a re-issue of an almost 30 year old production it is not the intention of this review to go into any long-winded and irrelevant history of how and why these differing scales came to be brought together or used all those years ago. Launch Tower Gantry Complex First thing that we cannot ignore is that it is a big kit, the box it is supplied in measures a massive 30in x 20 x 5in (75 x 51 x 13cm) and contains 27 large sprues. The breakdown is generally 19 sprues for the FSS, RSS, CT and MLP and the remaining 8 are for the Shuttle, ET and SRB's. That's an impressive 292 individual parts, broken down to 194 for the tower complex and 98 for the Shuttle. How the model should look can be seen by the close-up photo details which are posted in the Walkaround Section titled: NASA Kennedy Space Centre Launch Pad 39A. As already mentioned, the tower complex consists of two main components; the FSS and the RSS and these together can be built as a stand-alone model, just as the launch pad has stood for most of it's 33 years - the various shuttles only occupied the pads collectively for a total of approximately 10% of that time. These sprues are quite large and the first section in the instructions refer to the FSS, comprising the tower gantry, platforms and central lift shaft. There are two sets of sprues for the tower gantry below and these provide the four sides plus the base platform and lift machinery house. Another pair of sprues of similar size, as seen below, are those for the internal lift shaft unit. They also have parts for the gantry supports and lighting posts. There are two different sprues containing the platforms, one platform for each level on the FSS; one sprue has six standard platforms whilst the second has six different platforms each depicting various items of equipment in position. The standard shapes are for levels 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9; with the remainder being specific to levels 4, 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12 The gantry supports also have the vertical support arm for the RSS and this is a tubular section where the RSS is attached to the FSS and is the point where it rotates towards the CT, MLP and Shuttle stack in order to protect the shuttle whilst being prepared for launch. There is so much framework, gantry and crane elements that the kit looks just like one big mesh of girders and tubing and this can be seen in the sprue below which holds much of the overhead crane unit and other tower items. The overhead crane is a free-rotating unit and the kit has a spindle to pass through locating holes in the base of the crane and the top of the gantry platform; much like the facility used to connect free-rotating propellers to the fuselage of a model aircraft. Next we come to the sprues for the RSS. This is the large moving element of the Launch Tower which travels on a curved piece of railway track and brings the RSS up to the Orbiter. The main elements for this are the large cylindrical housing unit, the box-like holding frame, and the rotating gantry framework. Shuttle Stack and launch platform The shuttle stack comprises the main re-usable spacecraft, known as the Orbiter; two solid fuel booster rockets (SRB's) and a large external tank (ET), the latter items detach from the orbiter once their fuels are expended with the SRB's returning to earth under controlled methods whilst the ET is destroyed during its re-entry fall to earth. The Shuttle Stack is also from the original 1986 kit offering, although possibly with updated decals, and shows signs of age with flash evident on many of the sprue parts. Four main sprues contain the Orbiter and payload components with a further five having the combined Mobile Launch Platform and Crawler Transport (MLP/CT); SRB's and the ET. All the parts are produced in a glossy white plastic and these appear to show more flash and mould-wear than the Launch Tower components. Each of the first two sprues hold one half of the orbiter fuselage, two pieces to which form the upper and lower planes of the wing, the trap-door type hatches for the payload compartment, and the engine exhaust mounts etc. To assist in the positioning of components and colour schemes, close-in detail photos can be found in the Walkaround section titled Rockwell International Space Shuttle/Orbiter. The next sprue has the Orbiter payload bay base and side frames, the outer hatch deployment covers, and their inner linings. There is also an astronaut with a length of umbilical cabling so that it can be positioned in a space-walk setting. The fourth sprue has the payload assembly which consists of two satellites and their holding components within the payload bay. A choice here can be that they are positioned inside the Orbiter together; or just one, or neither depending on the mission scenario chosen to be built. The remaining kit parts are for the Canada arm and this can be assembled in various positions such as folded, short pickup (V shaped) or fully extended and, possibly even with one of the satellite units attached, ready for deployment. The next sets of sprues hold the external fuel supply units; the ET and SRB's, with their connecting components for attachment to the Orbiter and the MLP/CT for the whole Shuttle stack to sit on. In the top left corner of the sprue below can be seen two items, with two little lugs projecting below them. These are stabilising stands to hold the model of the Orbiter vertical on the MLP base but these items would not be found on the real Shuttle stack or launcher unit. The tractor units, of which there are eight, are the components for the CT and are attached directly underneath the MLP to become a single integral unit in the model. In reality they would be two separate vehicle and launch pad components. Interestingly, the pieces for the Tail Service Masts below appear to be at the correct scale of 1:144 even though they attached to the 1:1200 MLP. Probably as they sit either side of the Shuttle stack and give the setup a better perspective. Decals This kit comes with a comprehensive set of decals, with different sized markings - for Atlantis, Enterprise, Discovery and Endeavour pre-1998 and also for Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour post-1998. Additional to those, there are various ational and commercial emblems; such as "USA" and "NASA" motif's, again depending on which era of the Shuttle program you may wish to depict. Other decal items consist of colour demarcations for the ET, SRB's, MLP and the gantry. A point to note here is, on a quick check of decal placement, that a few of the decal numbers for some components do not appear to match those on the instruction sheet. I would recommend checking with the instructions, and any available photos, for clarity. Conclusion This is a very large and complex looking kit and should be a great build, especially for those who enjoy detailing the insides of models; such as the insides of tank turrets, ship superstructures or aircraft cockpits etc. The difference here is that the whole thing won't then be lost to the eye, (when normally a fuselage, turret or hull is assembled) when it is all closed everything inside! There is some minor flash present on some of the sprues but nothing of great issue, especially for moulds which are almost 30 years old. One recommendation I would put forward is to pre-paint as much of the inner workings of the launch tower gantry, especially the lift shaft area and the insides of the gantry units as I suspect that it will be quite difficult to get a paintbrush into some of the deeper recesses once the kit is built. I understand that this kit has been on some modeller's waiting lists for a long time; as seen by some on-line sales forums having had the original listed, with some quite elevated prices, over the last decade or so and therefore I suspect that this will be a popular model to get and build. The most popular setting for the completed model would to represent the short period just prior to the launch of a Shuttle, however the Launch Tower itself stood without the shuttle for approx. 90% of it's existence and that is how most people would have seen it for real; therefore I would recommend perhaps to also consider an alternative diorama - of the tower in a stand-alone setting, as the photo at the top of this review depicts. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Here are another couple of Sweet 1:144 Mitsubishi A6M2b Type 21 Zeroes which I built back in 2011 with unusual markings. As with the previous pair posted here, both were built OOB and painted by brush with only the matt varnish being airbrushed. First, ?-143, of 261st Kokutai (Fighter Group), Imperial Japanese Navy, 1943. Apart from the white bands, the other unusual detail is the underside painted dark green all over. Second, 53-102, of 253rd Kokutai (Fighter Group), Imperial Japanese Navy, 1943. This plane was apparantly flown by top IJN ace Tetsuzo Iwamoto (202 kills). The unusual detail is the number of kills on one side. Once completed I found that there seems to be some controversy over this option. It's based on memories (not photos) and it could well be an A6M3 type 22 or an A6M5. Thanks for looking. Miguel

Here are the other two of four Jach 1:144 Lippisch P.20s I built in 2018. As mentioned with the previous two, apart from scratchbuilding a cockpit and wing probe, I built them OOB. This was a proposed jet-engined development of the Me 163 Komet. Jach suggests the N1 version has an earlier radar type with nose antlers and the N2 has a dish-type radar. The aerials were etched metal parts. Both versions have hardpoints and I decided to use different loads, with a pair of drop tanks for the N1 and an assymetric load of a tank and an X-4 missile for the N2. They were fully painted and varnished by brush. First: Lippisch P.20N1 "Red 4", NJG2, Luftwaffe, 1946 (fictitious). Second: Lippisch P.20N2 "White6", NJG5, Luftwaffe, 1946 (fictitious). Thank you for looking. Miguel

Here is another (the last) of my Sweet 1:144 Messerschmitt Bf 109Fs built back in 2008. It represents Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 "Yellow 7", of 9/JG3, Luftwaffe, flown by Lt Victor Bauer, in the USSR, in June 1942. I always liked these unique scheme used by JG3. The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome Miguel