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Ready for inspection is my 1:72 Italeri Wellington Mk.IC. I found this one of my toughest builds, ill fitting pieces, poor moulding and a broken clear sprue all led to a long slow process. However, I do think the aircraft looks pretty smart in its coastal command colour scheme. It is a straight from the box build, painted using Vallejo model air acrylics. Thanks for looking.

After successfully completing my first Spitfire in 1:72, I decided to start working on my second Horten 229 from Revell. The kit will be painted in the box scheme of RLM 74/75/76 with yellow nose. Obligatory box and sprue photos:

Kit - Airfix A04061 Paint - All enamels Decals - Xtradecal 72-203 Extras - None Bristol Blenheim IV 53 Squadron Northern France Autumn 1939 The build took just three weeks from cracking the box. That has to be some sort of record achievement for me as normally I prevaricate like it's something to be proud of !! No matter, it's a superb kit with some self-induced niggles and occasional over-engineering but honestly I sort-of enjoyed that because everything really does fit as it should. If you haven't built one, be aware that you probably need some high-end tweezers to drop the prop-boss into place and a kit-specific mask set is a must (I used Montex vinyl masks), other than that, it's an absolute joy. Not much else to say, next from me will be a Eurofighter that I'm doing for a Group-Build elsewhere. As ever please feel free to make any comment, cast any criticism or ask a question. Best from NZ. Ian.

After seeing an impressive image of a Churchill Mk.IV AVRE tank in the narrow streets of Bergen op Zoom (The Netherlands), during the town's liberation in October 1944, I just had to build one in my favourite scale. Dragon has produced a very nice kit of this obstacle buster tank and as luck would have, I managed to find a reasonably priced one on eBay. Building was pretty straightforward and even the flexible DS track behaved as they should. After construction the whole model was sprayed British dark green, after which the tracks and tools on the back were painted gun metal and the exhaust given a rust colour. The areas were decals were to go received a quick brush of Klear and after sticking them on, another layer to seal them in. Then everything was sprayed Tamiya flat clear from a spray can. Weathering was done using Tamiya weathering set A (mud) as well as the mud 'marker' pen. I also added some stuff from Blackdog's 1/72 British WW II equipment accessories set and two figures to round it of. Peter On to the pics

Looking over the stash for the next project, I came across the ICM Tupolev SB. This was a definite temporary pash I experienced earlier this year, and went as far as buying the ICM kit and assembling some picture references. The SB belonged to that period of the war where things were particularly desperate on the Russian side. I have a fondness for underdogs, and the SB certainly fits into this category. Neither modern or effective by 1941 standards, it composed 94% of the VVS bomber force at the start of the conflict, so it had to do. The operational history of the SB with the VVS took in a huge degree of destruction in the air and particularly on the ground as the Germans advanced, and the aeroplane is bound up with a great deal of bitter human experience. But this is no fault of the SB - it was a plucky performer, and the fastest bomber in the sky in its day. Of course, it was quickly superceded by more modern and effective types such as the Pe-2 and Tu-2 as the war progressed. By 1945, records show there were a mere 5 operational SBs still on the VVS' books. It seems these were flown to Moscow in August 1945, to take part in a military flypast. In the end, it was cancelled due to foul weather - but I think this signifies a nod of respect to the venerable old SB, which was the thin end of the wedge at a desperate time. Embarking on this, I knew I wanted to build a GPW Russian example with flat fronted engines (the ones with tunnel inlets look dangerously modern). I like the idea of looking back wistfully on the SB a few years on. And whilst I would love to model one of the 'last SBs' described above, it would be pure fantasy as I don't have any pictures. So for my subject I am going to build a rare late war SB based on photos of a machine apparently used for weather reconnaissance by the Lyetno Issledovatelskiy Institut (Flight Research Institute) based at Rameskoye (now Zhukovsky). It seems this was a base for Pe-8s and Il-4s, with the SB supporting operations. The 2 photos and accompanying detail, courtesy of the excellent "Tupolev SB - Soviet High Speed Bomber" by Mikhail Maslov, aren't great, but show a flat engined example in uncharacteristic (for an SB) two tone camouflage, and most tellingly, late war white-outlined stars. Hardly a complex paint job - but it hints at a story. The photo is captioned as an SB 2M-100, rather than an 2M-100A, and I'd love to know what gives the author that kind of confidence. The only real distinguishing feature of the M-100A as far as I am aware is the cartridge chute at the base of the nose, and frankly it’s impossible to tell on these pictures. Still, I'm going build it as an 2M-100, making it a particularly poignant survivor as an early production SB still flying in 1944. I may even give it the 2-bladed propellers to drive the message home! Harry

CONVAIR F-102A DELTA DAGGER, USAF, 431 FIS, 1962 Kit: Meng Convair F-102A Delta Dagger (DS-003) Scale: 1/72 Paints: Vallejo Model Color Weathering: Oil paints, Brush painted Delta Dagger I did last summer. Very nice kit by Meng.

First finished (almost) model since returning after 20 year hiatus from the hobby! As a trial run for a future Martlett build, I picked a HobbyBoss FM-2 quickbuild kit. Vallejo ModelAir EDSG/DSG/Sky, XtraDecal 72-140 set (expect more FAA in the future). minor quibbles to be fixed/underway: - outer gunports should be closed (not used). - antenna wire (backorder). The Sky underside is not supposed to be straight @ trailing edge, but in true software dev fashion that will be included in the next version!

Since October I have been working on the 1:72 Heller 707. I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with 1:72 airliners at the moment, it just seems like the kind of slightly bonkers activity that one should embrace if at all possible. However, tempted as I am by Modelsvit and HpH super kits for £400, my fear of b*ggering them up precludes me from taking the plunge. (Money should as well, but until they take away my bank card its unlikely to work as a self-discipline mechanism). Happily, the Heller kit is an eminently sensible way to build a big jet in 72nd. This kit is fabulously good value - I have had 4 solid months building for £40 (£30 for the kit £10 for the PE) - and there are kits in this size class that go for 10 times that or more. I am going to say quite a bit about this build, as I didn’t do a WiP but I’ve been at it for months and have a lot to unburden! But before I get that all off my chest, here are the pics: ..and for scale I learnt quite a bit about 7 ohs and the kit along the way, and I'll record it here, although it's all been said before it bears repeating. There are many different models of 707/720, with different length fuselages, 3 different wings, and different engines, apart from smaller detail differences (there is an excellent guide here https://www.airlinercafe.com/page.php?id=72). The kit represents well the 300B/B Adv model, except the engines are slightly wrong, and need the small fan doors, which mark it as a lower thrust JT3D-1 or similar, sanded/puttied out and larger fan doors of the JT3D-3B engine scribed in, I did this. A 300C can also be represented by scribing in extra doors, specifically the big cargo door and the mid length emergency exit "hat rack door". To make other variants from this kit would need aftermarket stuff and/or advanced kitbashing skills. There are so many 707 schemes to choose, stretching in time from the passenger flagships of the 60s to cargo hacks of the early 00s. I chose to do a 707-351C as operated by BWIA in the late 1970s. This appealed as I like making my own decals, and this scheme crucially has no white lettering! Many BWIA planes had names and nose art, and 4 707s were named after birds, specifically Toucan, Humming Bird, Scarlet Ibis and Bird of Paradise. I just went for the nicest looking bird, and 9Y-TEJ “Bird of Paradise” it was. The BWIA scheme is in a fetching scheme of sand brown and turquoise, although period photos show a considerable variation in the brown, presumably depending on light and film stock. There are plenty of good photos of BWIA L1011s and DC-9s in the 80s with a warm, golden sand colour, but to my eye this appears slightly different to the colour I saw on the 707s - not just old colour film playing tricks. There did seem to be a consistently greeny brown tinge to it, although with variation between pictures. It was almost, I fancied, a bit like one of the more controversial car colours favoured by British Leyland in the 70s: So I mixed up Vallejo Model Color Yellow Green and Vallejo Model Air Concrete to make my 'Limeflower' mix. I used Vallejo not because it my favourite paint, but because I think they have the best range of non-military colours, particularly in the brush –formulated Model Color range, and I would rather start with something fairly close and do as simple a mix (ideally 50/50) as possible. The blue is VMC turquoise, straight up. In all, if I did it again, I would make it a slightly more golden brown, but it’s a ‘distinctive’ and very period colour, and I do maintain that in some light conditions they did look like that..possibly! In terms of modifications to the kit plastic, I did a certain amount here as I noticed from reference photos that 707s at rest very often have the rudder deflected and the Krueger flaps deployed. The Krueger flaps were added to the 707 as it developed, by the time of the 300C series each wing had 5 outboard, 5 between the engines and 3 ones inboard, 26 in all. I cut out the recesses and scratchbuilt interior structure. In a perfect world I would have scratchbuilt the (I think) 104 actuators/hinges that join the flaps to the wing, but I opted for just glueing the flaps in place at various jaunty angles (as they appeared in my references). My scratchbuilding in the end wasn’t so flawless as to merit going the full distance, but I’m glad I’ve achieved the Krueger flap look even though it took an age. I must say, 707 Krueger flaps would be a worthy (and epic) photo etch set.. Speaking of photo etch, I also used the Brengun photo etch set, which is a lot of bang for your buck and provides particularly worthwhile detail for the landing gear. It also provided the front nose gear doors, which were generally closed on the ground, but sometimes open for maintenance so I opened them up. The etch set also includes 50 odd absolutely tiny vortex generators, somehow to be attached to the wing – that for me is beyond my limit, so in the bin they went! The metallics were a mixture of Alclad sealed with Aqua Gloss (for the shiny stuff) and AK Extreme for the unpolished metal. The corogard was done by spraying Alclad dull aluminium on a light coloured matt primer. Streaking was mainly done with pastel, so as not to melt any metal paint with turps. For the fuselage, I used the salt technique with a couple of shades of AK Extreme to hint at the mottled alu look. It doesn’t look exactly like the real thing, but I like the effect, there is a time and a place for it definitely. It also took a few practice runs to get right – the key I found was using a hairdryer to quickly flash off the water, as if the salt is left too long it dissolves into the water and creates marbled effects which, although intriguing, bear no resemblance to anything. If you catch the salt particle before it completely dissolves, you get it to adhere mostly intact to the surface and create smaller, neater mottles. Decals were almost all homemade, including the nose art for which I painted a funky chicken using my GCSE art skills. I’m no Audubon, but it scaled down well enough… It has not been all plain sailing by any means, one of the challenges with a big bird like this is keeping the paintwork in good condition in the latter stages of the build, with the amount of handling required. Also, for various inexcusable reasons such as cack-handed use of a spray can and lack of patience, I ended up repainting the tail about 3 times. The tail markings were hard to do: I could have designed a decal, but I thought I’d struggle to match the paint colours, so instead I printed a decal with faint outlines and hand painted the brown and blue shapes onto decal paper. It worked – after 2 failed attempts! Also, full disclosure – I got the engine pylons wrong, and had to bodge on the hoof to get them to vaguely fit. The pylons are very misleading – the two halves of the long inboard pylons don’t match up symmetrically , there is an intentional step designed to fit with the step in the wing. Dry fitting should have happened or course, but I built up and painted the engines before I’d even stuck the wing together.. All in all, I’m pleased with the way this turned out, although I’m not sure I’d be so happy if I’d spent an arm and a leg on the kit. It was certainly good training for building airliners. To wrap up - and well done if you’ve got this far - I’ll give you my lessons learned, so all you aspirant 707 builders don’t make the same godawful mistakes I did: • Check and dry fit the engine pylons with the built up wing before you glue them up. Label them once you’re absolutely sure they fit and know where they go • Make all your painting decisions, eg what shade/finish of metallic to use, what weathering to do, after experimenting with a mule. On the model, commit, do it once, do it right. Sanding, remasking and repainting this plane is not fun.. • There’s not much sense in detailing most of the cockpit unless you love unseen detail, but the pilot seats are very visible and worth a bit of attention • The horizontal stabs have chunky locating pins that look like sprue – they’re not, so don’t snip them off • The wing fit is not good and is a known issue. The substantial gap between the top of the wing and the fuselage needs heavy duty filling, sprue goo, Miliput, whatever your chosen weapon. Whatever your process, don’t call it a day until you’ve put a test coat of metallic on it and found it satisfactory, this area is often NMF on a civilian 707. And finally..even though it is about DC-8s, I rather enjoyed reading this book as I built ‘TEJ’, and would recommend to any fans of giant silver skyships of the past... Thanks for reading, and any critique very welcome! Harry

Hi all, apologies if the initial title confused anyone - no, this is not a perverse rehash of that hideous girl-band song from the 90s. This is a new one on me in a number of ways; firstly, I've never started another project whilst still having one on the boil as it were. Secondly, to my knowledge this is my first go at an Italeri offering, although I have several such kits in my pile right now. It also represents my first go at something where major surgery will be required in order to get it to the required shape! Interestingly, the venture also appears to be a first for this forum - a fairly comprehensive search has not returned any WIP for this particular aircraft; unless anyone knows different, in which case please can you point me in its direction! It may be some days before I am even able to make a start, so I will use some of that time to look into what exactly I will need to do. First though, I would like to acknowledge the generosity of Mr @Bungled in forwarding to me the kit that will now form the basis for this project. It's currently missing any kind of front windscreen clear part, which according to Messrs Italeri will cost me the princely sum of 5-6 Euro to replace - assuming they are even able to locate replacements At the present time I am thinking of modelling the aircraft as used by Canadian Airways Ltd (registration CF-ARM) - sourcing suitable decals for that could prove problematic! Another challenge will be obtaining an appropriate propeller(s) - reference pics show that what at first sight was a 4-blade prop, was in fact two 2-blade props at right-angles to each other on the one shaft! The problem is, the prop blades are longer than the existing 2-blade props in the kit. So there it is, that's the plan - let the laughter commence...

Another finisher from the FROG Squad GB, this was my attempt at improving what FROG provided. Off the top of my head, I did the following: - removed the moulded in interior detail and scratched a 'pit - removed the fin and dorsal fillet; replaced with a cut down Airfix Mossie fin and scratch-built strake - reshaped nose and tail cone with milliput - removed raised lip at rear of cockpit opening - opened up and enlarged radiator inlets; added scratchbuilt rad detail - thinned down wing leading edges drastically, moving point of max thickness rearward - cleaned up landing gear legs and added support stays from brass tube - replaced tailwheel with Vampire nose gear - replaced main wheels with resin examples - reshaped and rescribed engine nacelles - added spar caps, and fuse main spar cover from Tamiya tape - added nav lights from clear styrene - drilled out cannon troughs - windscreen cut from clear sheet to dimensions supplied by @David A Collins - smash moulded canopy - added bomb racks from Airfix Typhoon and bombs from Tamiya Mosquito - substituted rocket tail fins from the Hobbyboss Typhoon Phew! Not surprising it took me over 3 months. The decals are from the kit and Xtradecal RAF roundels. Paint was xtracrylics PRU blue and dark sea grey plus Tamiya dark green rattle can (not the RAF dark green, I later realised!). The observant will spot the howler I made when painting the camouflage. Enjoy! Martin

It’s been a very arid year for model making, not really had a chance to get time at the bench since July. So I have a couple of kits unfinished, but I’ve been eyeing this kit for awhile and decided it might be what I need to get me going again. First thoughts - that’s a lot of plastic, somewhat harder than the usual Airfix fare. Busy decal sheet. I’ll be building this one: I was itching to get on with it - but then a delay. Nasty little heat wave here in Perth, WA - 4 days of 40 degrees. Managed to get to cutting plastic yesterday morning. Straight to work on the cockpit, and here is where I am at after 24 hours. Shame it’s going to be pretty much invisible, rather pleased with how that has come out.

I had this sitting in my stash for awhile. It was an absolute joy to build - up to the very last stage. I had intended to do the very attractive XP629 of the Macaws display team from the Xtradecal sheet X72291. Here is the only photo I have of the almost complete model (sitting next to my in progress Victor). On spraying a coat of Tamiya Semi-Gloss clear from a rattle can, within seconds I got a nasty crazed look on the paint which starting lifting. Somewhat odd, as I hadn't done anything different that I was aware of from last time I used the rattle can. After much gnashing of teeth I stripped back the paint, and started again. This time I decided to do XN577 from the RAF College at Cranwell in the 1960s. I have a Gnat and a Vampire T11 in the stash Sio I figured it would be good practice for the silver/orange-red colour schemes. Obviously this time round I don't have a complete set of stencils, and I had to bodge up some walkways by cutting up some spare decals. Paints are Tamiya Bare Metal Silver from a rattle can, orange is a home brew of brush painted Tamiya acrylic. I scraped, sanded and polished the frame across the top of the main canopy as I gather this is correct. The lights on the nose are 1 mm little-lenses dropped into small indentations drilled in the appropriate places. A fairly light oil wash, as I guess this aircraft were kept pretty clean. Finished off with a brushed on coat of Tamiya Semi-gloss clear. She looks a bit bashed up, but I am pretty happy with the rescue job. Looks nice in the early evening sun. Have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for looking.

I had picked up the supermarket specials before Christmas of the Airfix P-51 Mustang and the FW-190. I had the decals left over from the Mustang IV starter kit so completed it in the 112sqn firewall scheme. When I got round to the FW-190, I didn't like the scheme it came with and after a little 'tinterweb and old school book research discovered that some FW-190's were operational from '43 onwards in Italy. I figured it was be good to make an adversary for the Mustang IV. having raided the spares box I cobbled together a scheme and although it is historically inaccurate. I'm pleased with the outcome. Research showed that the planes were over sprayed with RLM 79 and 80 with little concern for the national insignia or markings.

Hi All, Completed about 6 months ago is my take on Airfix' lovely 1:72 Mitchell MkII, finished as EV@W of 180 Sqn, RAF Dunsfold 1943. Completed completely OOB other than Eduard masks and Tamiya tape seatbelts. Airbrushed using Tamiya Olive Drab and Neutral Grey - to my mind the OD is far too dark compared to other excellent renditions I have seen of this subject (but Tamiya wouldn't get it wrong, would they???). This was also my first real attempt at preshading and differential shading - it's probably a bit too obvious, but I was happy at the time! Kit and decals were both excellent - lead fishing weights were added to ensure she wasn't a tail-sitter. This is now my last 'legacy' RFI - I'm now going to progress to my first WIP - Eduard's new tool 1:48 Tempest Series 2. Wish me luck!

Hi All, Here is a kit I completed about 8 months ago - Airfix' 1:72 Wellington MkIA, completed as N2980 of 20OTU, RAF Lossiemouth December 1940. Completed OOB just with the addition of Eduard masks and addition of Tamiya tape seatbelts. This was my first successful foray with an airbrush - painted with AK Interactives Dark Earth, Tamiya Dark Green (both acrylics) and Tamiya NATO Black (rattle can). I chose this variant for 2 reasons - I felt that the wavy camo demarcation added interest, and the glazed side windows would offer the best view of the diligently completed interior (hmmm, now I see why Airfix tell you that these components will be invisible!). Loved the kit, and I'm now keen to try the GR MkVIII version, prob'ly in Coastal Command livery. Comments welcome,

MTB PT-109 Revell 1:72 PT-109 belonged to the PT 103 class of MTB’s, hundreds of which were completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco. PT-109's keel was laid 4 March 1942 as the seventh Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) of the 80-foot-long (24 m) 56 ton class, built by Elco and was launched on 20 June. She was delivered to the Navy on 10 July 1942, and fitted out in the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn. The boats were manned by 3 officers and up to 12 crewmen. The Elco boats were the largest PT boats operated by the U.S. Navy during World War II, built with strong wooden hulls of two layers of 1-inch (2.5 cm) mahogany planking. Powered by three 12-cylinder 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) Packard petrol engines (one per propeller shaft), their designed top speed was 41 knots (76 km/h). For space and weight-distribution reasons, the center engine was mounted with the output end facing aft, with power directly transmitted to the propeller shaft. Because the center propeller was deeper, it left less of a wake, and was preferred by skippers for low-wake loitering. Both wing engines were mounted with the output flange facing forward, and power was transmitted through a Vee-drive gearbox to the propeller shafts. The engines were fitted with mufflers on the transom to direct the exhaust under water, which had to be bypassed for anything other than idle speed. These mufflers were used not only to mask their own noise from the enemy, but to be able to hear enemy aircraft, which were rarely detected overhead before firing their cannons or machine guns or dropping their bombs. The principal offensive weapon was her torpedoes. She was fitted with four 21-inch (53 cm) torpedo tubes containing Mark VIII torpedoes. They weighed 3,150 lb (1,429 kg) each, with 386-pound (175 kg) warheads and gave the tiny boats a punch at least theoretically effective even against armoured ships. Their typical speed of 36 knots (67 km/h) was effective against shipping, but because of rapid marine growth build-up on their hulls in the South Pacific and austere maintenance facilities in forward areas, American PT boats ended up being slower than the top speed of the Japanese destroyers and cruisers they were tasked with targeting in the Solomons. Torpedoes were also useless against shallow-draft barges, which were their most common targets. With their machine guns and 20 mm cannon, the PT boats could not return the large-calibre gunfire carried by destroyers, which had a much longer effective range, though they were effective against aircraft and ground targets. Because they were fueled with aviation gasoline, a direct hit to a PT boat's engine compartment sometimes resulted in a total loss of boat and crew. In order to have a chance of hitting their target, PT boats had to close to within 2 miles (3.2 km) for a shot, well within the gun range of destroyers; at this distance, a target could easily maneuver to avoid being hit. The boats approached in darkness, fired their torpedoes, which sometimes gave away their positions, and then fled behind smoke screens. Sometimes retreat was hampered by seaplanes dropping flares and bombs on the boats. The Elco torpedo-launching tubes were powered by a 3-inch (76 mm) black powder charge to expel the torpedo from the tube. Additionally, the torpedo was well greased so it would slide out of the tube. Sometimes, the powder charge caused the grease to ignite upon firing, and the resulting flash could give away the position of the PT boat. Crews of PT boats relied on their smaller size, speed and maneuverability, and darkness, to survive. Ahead of the torpedoes on PT-109 were two depth charges, omitted on most PTs, one on each side, about the same diameter as the torpedoes. These were designed to be used against submarines, but were sometimes used by PT commanders to confuse and discourage pursuing destroyers. PT-109 lost one of her two Mark 6 depth charges a month before Kennedy showed up when the starboard torpedo was inadvertently launched during a storm without first deploying the tube into firing position. The launching torpedo sheared away the depth charge mount and some of the foot rail. PT-109 had a single, 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft mount at the rear with "109" painted on the mounting base, two open rotating turrets (designed by the same firm that produced the Tucker automobile), each with twin, .50-caliber (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft machine guns, at opposite corners of the open cockpit, and a smoke generator on her transom. These guns were effective against attacking aircraft. The day before her most famous mission, PT-109 crew lashed a U.S. Army 37 mm antitank gun to the foredeck, replacing a small, 2-man life raft. Timbers used to secure the weapon to the deck later helped save their lives when used as a float. The Model Although based on the old 1963 release, I believe that this kit is from new moulds, and this certainly look the case when looking at the sprues as they are the more modern enclosed style and the dated on the inner hull sections has definitely been changed. The mouldings are nicely done, although the detail does seem to be a little soft and the plastic is quite glossy. There are no major imperfections, but there are quite a few flow marks in the deck section and only a few moulding pips. There are eleven sprues and three hull sections in a medium grey styrene, three sprues in clear styrene and a small decal sheet. The build begins with the gluing together of the two hull halves and the midships bulkhead. The small insert on the lower bow is then added, as is the stern section which includes the propeller shaft and rudder holes, plus the transom which is moulded integrally. The crew rest area is made up from six parts and glued to the underside of the deck section, along with the interior steering position. Depending on whether you want to build PT 109 with the bow mounted 37mm howitzer or not will determine which holes you will need to drill out before add the deck tot eh hull. Three cleats ate then attached to the deck and the model turn over to fit the three propeller shafts, propellers and rudders. The six mufflers and their control rods are then attached to the transom. The superstructure is then built up using individual sides and bulkheads, most of which will need the clear window parts to be added before gluing into position. The roof sections will also need holes drilling out before being glued into position. The deck above the engine compartment is then fitted with a three piece skylight, 20mm cannon guide rails and four ventilators, this assembly is then glued in place, as is the gun deck immediately aft. The upper steering position is then assembled from the sides and bulkheads to which internal detail is added such as the boats wheel, internal bulkheads, searchlight and console. The forward roof section is then added as is the steering positions windscreen and aerial mast Each torpedo tube consists of four parts and once all four tubes are assembled the can be fitted to their respective positions on the deck, either stowed, or in firing positions. Each of the twin 50 cal machine gun turrets are assembled from four parts, with additional two parts of the guide cage around the top of the each turret. The 37mm consists of seven parts and is fitted to the foredeck, while the 20mm Oerlikon is an eight piece assembly fitted to the quarterdeck. There are two three piece depth charges fitted one per side on the foredeck. While on the quarterdeck the smoke discharger and ensign staff are glued into position. Lastly, the folding mast is fitted to the main cabin roof and can be posed raised or stowed. Decals Since there is only one option with this kit, naturally there aren’t too many decals. Other than those for the compass binnacles and instrument panel, there are also the hull depth markings, ensign and PT-109s codes for either side of the bow, bridge front and the 20mm cannon pedestal aft. There are also two large decals for the stands nameplates. Conclusion It’s nice to see this kit being updated, and for the most part it looks like a nice kit that can easily be detailed to the modellers own wishes and there are already etched detail sets from Eduard to help with this. Seeing as the plastic is quite glossy i would definitely prime before painting. It would make a nice introductory maritime model for those modellers new to the genre of narrow seas boats. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

Hello all , I've finally got around to posting some of my efforts from the last year ish .... I wanted to try some unusual kits this year. this was to include etch , resin and a mix of old and new kits so here goes. Magna Resin Supermarine Scimitar F1. Straight in at the deep end then , this it was literally all i could find of the type for sale at the time and without paying mega cash for the xtrakit effort i decided to opt for this offering. This Kit took me some time and fought me all the way to the end but nevertheless this is it. Added P.E from Airwaves. Decals from Model Alliance "Royal Navy Aerobatic Teams" High Planes De Havilland Faw-1 Personally i think this is the most accurate representation of the vixen . the kit provides resin seats , gears and exhausts . Modeldecal Decals, Resin "buddy buddy pack", airwaves external P.E A tricky short run kit which had its issues but makes a fine example of the type. Note. Wing fences still to be added. Sword Gannet AEW3 For me the gannet has always been an interesting type and with the release of the AEW version i had to have one. A fantastic kit buy all accounts . i decided to use the airwaves wingfold set for the frog kit and adapt to the sword one. also a scratch built Ladder. Otherwise the kit is OOB. Airfix New Tool Buccaneer S2 This kit was also a must for the FAA line up , I awaited the kit as soon as the prototype was aired. I went to town on this kit and retrofitted the neomega cockpit tub for the old kit, also added p.e from airwaves for the wing fold and decals from Xtradecal. An S1 conversion will be done on another kit from the whirlybirds conversion. Finally ... Sword Lightning T5, Just like the gannet a kit that is fantastic for little money and with some nice P.E and Resin seats. Build OOB Some FAA doubles ... Thanks For Looking ! Regards , Steve

Morning all, I made a pink Skyvan: I've always been fascinated by Barra Airport in the Western Isles, and the whole landing on the beach at low tide scenario. This photo provided the inspiration, and a nice excuse for a vignette: Two Six Decals had the exact right stickers needed. The pink was 50/50 mix of Humbrol 200 and Cherry Paints First Group "Barbie" pink - who knew there was an enamel paint manufacturer specialising in authentic bus colours! The Airfix Skyvan needed a little bit of window adjustment and 4 blade props to become a Skyliner, but no big sweat. There is an interior in there including some passengers and some rather loud seat upholstery, but you'll have to take my word for it I'm afraid! The kit builds well for its age, although as the fuselage has four sides there are issues with symmetry and general fit. I also seem to have an issue with bowed wing struts as they were slightly warped, but hey ho. I'd love to know a bit more history of Interstol but haven't found it. I don't know if they briefly took the Barra route over from Loganair in the 1970s? And thank goodness for the model railway industry, otherwise where would one find OO gauge sheep? 🤗 All best, Harry

Details to be added later . V-P

It must have been a sudden onset of lunacy after a series of very hot days during the Christmas break in 2017, but I pulled out the Valom Hampden TB1 kit. It’s been two years almost to the day since I started it. Everything that has been said about this kit is true - particularly with reference to the canopies. I managed to finish it, but it is no doubt a model that is best seen from a distance - the canopies are truely awful! Having said that, it does look rather nice in the later afternoon sun (although the hound is wondering what I am doing invading his space). Brush painted with Tamiya acrylics and completed with the kit markings for 489 (NZ) Squadron RAF, Thorney Island, Spring 1942. Build thread can be found here. Thanks for looking!

Hello everyone! Here is my latest kit, completed this past weekend. It's AZ Model's 1:72 Messerschmitt P.1106T - the navalized carrier variant. I thought the concept so crazy and absurd that I couldn't resist getting it! I believe it's a first in Luft46 kits since I don't recall anyone releasing carrier-borne aircraft in this field. The instructions that came with the kit were for the B variants (the other two boxings), I'm not sure if by mistake or that's how they come with this kit. I had to refer to the boxart for the variant-specific parts (arrestor hook, underwing fuel tanks and gun pods. The build wasn't easy. The parts were a bit crude and with flash and needed plenty of cleaning up, reminding me of earlier Special Hobby and MPM kits. I built it mostly OOB only adding belts from Tamiya tape and replacing the wing pitot tube with one made from stretched sprue. I opened up the holes at the tip of the gunpod barrels. To get it to sit on its legs, I packed weight inside the engine and in the nose area above it. I made a forward u/c bay bulkhead to hold/hide the lead weights. I managed to get a reasonably good join of the wings to the fuselage but the other joins needed plenty of filling and sanding. The canopy was a poor fit and I only managed to get it in place after plenty of trimming and at the third attempt when I resorted to CA gel to hold it in place. The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. I didn't like the options proposed by AZ Model so I made my own scheme. I used the decals from option 3 plus the anchors of option 2, all placed as I saw fit. The decals behaved well and reacted to Micro Set and Sol. Despite the difficult build, I enjoyed it and am glad I decided to build this "flying fish"! Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome as always Miguel

It must be the recent run of hot days, but despite the tales of woe I have read about the Valom Hampden torpedo bomber I am going to give it a go. Nothing to lose really as I picked it up cheap at a model expo. At the least it will be character building. 🤣 A box top top shot to start with. As this is intended as an out of the box build, I will be making this 489 Squadron aircraft, although I will be painting it with the Temperate Sea Scheme of dark slate grey and extra dark sea grey rather than the green and brown bomber colours, as I gather that is more likely. I made a start with the instrument panel, more to keep my fingers of my close to complete Beaufort (so I don't rush and spoil it). The panel is a sandwich of a plastic back part, a printed film and a photoetch front. Not done one of these before. I painted the back plate white, stuck the film to it with some Micro Kristal Klear. The photo etch I painted black, and dry brushed with some medium sea grey while still on the fret. I then carefully attached it to the rest of the assembly with Micro Kristal Klear. Looks pretty good to me, although not sure how much of it will be seen through the canopy.

Happy New Year everyone. So far it has been a good morning. First, breakfast in the morning sun. Then I finished my first kit of the year 🙂 I started this back in April last year, was going great guns and then stopped....before picking it up again late last week. So ultimately actually quite a quick build (if you take out the intervening months). I finished her straight out of the box in the markings of "Nulli Secundus" EV-W of 180 Squadron RAF. Brush painted with Tamiya Acrylics, XF-62 Olive Drab with a touch of XF-51 Khaki for the OD and XF-53 Neutral Grey with some XF-19 Sky Grey to lighten it up a bit (thanks @Rabbit Leader for the advice). I also added a "collar" around the upper turret with some paint (thanks for the heads-up @dogsbody). Made her grimy with some oils and used graphite dust from a pencil scrubbed on after the final matt coat (Tamiya Flat Clear from a rattle can) the exhaust staining. Some how managed to stuff in enough weight for her not to be a tail sitter. Also made use of a canopy mask set from Eduard (CX507). A few minor issues, mostly of my own making, but basically a fun build. Build thread can be found here. Some more photos in the morning sun below. Thanks for looking.

I’ve been busy the last month or so, and really missed working on a model. At the same time, I have been lacking inspiration as to what to build (or complete... like most I suspect, have some half built kits hanging around). Picked this up last week and was almost enthused to start straight away, but decided to hold off for awhile. Now though I think I am ready, after looking at a few completed kits on this site (particularly @tonyot‘s collection - very inspiring). First, a box shot and the sprues: I’m going to do it straight out of the box in these markings, as Dunsfold is not far from where my in-laws live. I am sorted for the top colour, I’m going to use Tamiya XF62 Olive Drab (I brush paint mostly Tamiya Acrylics). However the undersides is another matter - I realise neutral grey may be a bit of can of worms. Any suggestions for a closeish match in Tamiya (or Vallejo at a pinch) would be gratefully received.

I'm joining in with this Revell boxing of the Matchbox DHC Twin Otter. Not not satisfied with the complexity of a floatplane I am going to attempt a fairly complex civil livery of this TMA aircraft that we flew in on holiday a few years ago Though this task has been made a lot easier with these 26decals transfers. The set includes a template for the extra door window and a set of masks.