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Greetings all! Im pleased to show you my latest the well-known and oft-built Matchbox 1-72 scale Armstrong-Whitworth Meteor, built in this instance as the NF.14 variant. This, the last in a series of night-fighter variants of the Meteor, really only saw active service for about 2 years ( I think from 1954-56), largely as an interim solution prior to replacement by Gloster's own Javelin. Common to all the NF variants were performance problems due to the extra aircrew and associated radar equipment, meaning that climb-rates and performance-at-altitude etc., were unfavourable when compared to other contemporary aircraft like the Canberra. Despite this I find the NF.14 a graceful-looking aircraft: theres something about the morphing of the various Meteor variants - from early to late - that seems to illustrate the evolution in jet aircraft design of the period,This is perhaps best typified by the NF.14 canopy and nose more flowing and aerodynamic feeling than early versions you can almost feel the later shapes of Hunters and Phantoms straining to burst out (if that makes sense?) The WIP for the build is over here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235002360-the-dual-build-diaries-a-meatbox-apocalypse-172-edition/page-1 A final bit of background: this was a dual-scale, dual-build, started at the same time as John (The Spadgent), who was himself building a 1-48 Gloster Meteor F.1 from Tamiya. You can find Johns RFI over here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235004487-meteor-dual-build-the-tamiya-148-one/ Wed done this once before as Britmodeller virgins (doing dual-scale Stringbags) earlier in the year, enjoying the process of building in tandem so much that we decided to do it again here with Meteors. For myself, its been a blast! My build is a largely pro forma job, using the included Matchbox 85 Sqn decals and paint scheme - the only AM items were an Airwaves photo-etch set for cockpit walls and aerials; everything else additional was scratch-built. This is, of course, an absolute creature of a kit to wrestle into shape (had I read some of the build reports of other modellers more thoroughly, I might have got cold feet). Im not going to criticize an old kit for different production values, but be prepared to spend a long time filling and sanding and scribing. The decals showed their age by being very brittle, which caused a number of problems that I covered in the WIP. Paint was self-mixed by eye, from a range of Tamiya acrylics. I started the build convinced that if I was going to build a model that had been done umpteen times before, I had to offer people something different to look at, so I decided to build the NF.14 variant with a removable radome, in order to show the AI.21 radar unit. I havent seen this done before. <pauses for flood of corrective replies> The biggest problem I faced was an almost complete lack of photographic documentation for this part of the aircraft lots of shots of empty nose units, but nothing with the radar in. As I predicted early on, it was only after Id built everything that I finally found a single photo of an NF.14 undergoing maintenance, in the archives at the RAF Church Fenton website here: http://www.rafchurch...er pic 015.jpg From the photo, (which isnt very detailed) my guesses about form and scale dont seem too amiss. If anyone wants to follow the research for this build with a view to making something similar themselves, its in this topic here in the Cold War discussion thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235001940-meteor-nf14-radar-images/ as well as further info here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234990198-nf-meteors/page-5 The following BMers were extremely generous with technical and historical advice on this build: 71chally, (who put me on to the YAM restoration of an NF.14). You can catch up with the lads here: http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?137187-A-W-Meteor-NF-14-WS788-Restoration-Thread Jun in Tokyo, John Aero, fatalbert, and NAVY870 all weighed in with a selection of drawings culled from various official sources, all of which were immensely helpful in visualizing form. John (canberra kid) also provided a couple of photo references, which helped greatly in terms of colour work. Thanks, you are gentleman all. The WIP says it all in terms of what needed doing. The scratch-built elements on this briefly were: cockpit (pilots gunsight area and observers radar units, seat frames), wheel wells, AI.21 radar equipment and radome, Hispano muzzles, brake lines on main gear, rudder pedal assembly, landing-light window in nose-gear door, topside aerials and flap at rear of sliding canopy, the Derwent engines, maintenance trolley for removal of radome. Be warned that some of the Airwaves etch for this kit is insanely small, to the point that there is so little surface area to glue onto the aircraft (like the steps) that I ended up leaving these out as simply impracticable. Also, the rudder pedal assembly seems oversize for the scale when compared to reference photography, hence I discarded these for my own scratched-up items (a biro refill seems the right scale for the rudder-pedal channels!) Aside from the above web links above, books I found useful on the build were the Warpaint (Good panel drawings!) and SAM volumes on the Meteor, as well as the Pilots Notes for the NF.14. My thanks to John, for being such an engaging and amiable companion on the build. Tony Firstly some plan views: Some obliques: Finally: the 'Night-Prowler': Thanks for all your support, comments, criticisms during the build

This got started several years ago after reading a couple of articles by Tony O'Toole in a modelling mag. There has a lot of work gone into it, including changing the dive flaps and there is a three blade prop bought for it along with resin British bombs for the bomb bay. It has sat not quite finished for a few years. The paint finish is pre my Flow Enhancer revelation but the transfers went on fine. It has taken dive bombing practice at least three times, unfortunately without the benefit of being giving able to pull out at the bottom of the dive, one of which was about 8-10 feet. So there has been a bit of repair work and replacement parts done. Now is the time to finish it and I have an Xtradecal sheet with the correct serials, markings and squadron badge. The first job will be to get the ingrained dust out of the panel lines and the find the box with the rest of the bits in.

I've always liked the Fulmar and it was key to air defence for the FAA in the Med. Malta convoys were dependent on them for defence against airborne torpedo and dive bombing attack. I think that despite their limitations Fulmars shot down more enemy aircraft than any other FAA type, including the much modern US types. I think this is the former Smer boxing and has also been boxed by Revell. I will do it OOB and I like the high demarcation, so although I have some transfers in the stash I think this version is the one I'll do. Obligatory sprue shot The detail on the big parts is reasonable And the clear parts look fine. Although masking the canopy will be time consuming.

Airfix did a really nice job with their F-4F-4 kit. The fuselage looks a little bit over-inflated, but just a touch, and then, it is only obvious when compared to the Hasegawa kit. Fit is excellent throughout (but see below), there is plenty of good detail in the wheel well and cockpit, and there are plenty of build options, the greatest of which is the ability to build the kit with folded wings. I had a bit of trouble fitting the wing folds, as the instructions aren't entirely clear on how to angle them, and the design allows for a lot of play in any direction. I may have done it wrong, or at least, not how Airfix envisioned, as I was unable to fit the bracing spars between the folded wing-tips and the horizontal stabilizers. I replaced these with a piece of styrene rod. Best of all, is that the kit is a simple build. I finished mine over the course of a week, while on average, a single-engined fighter in 1:72, takes me about three to four weeks to complete. Enough talk. here are the pictures. A poor shot of the kit sitting next to the Hobbyboss Wildcat, which I built almost eight years ago. That just made me feel really old.

Completed as a quick build this week while recovering from surgery. Build thread can be found here. An absolute joy to build. Brush painted with Tamiya acrylics. Completed OOB as an aircraft from 893 Naval Air Squadron flying from HMS Formidable during Operation Torch, November 1942. Thanks for looking.

I have had a bit of modelling hiatus the last month - a few weeks travelling in the UK followed by some abdominal surgery. I have spent the last week recovering from the surgery which has left me feeling rather sore (my darling wife has described it as "Naveloplasty - all the rage for middle aged men who have image issues with their belly buttons), I am going ever so slightly stir crazy. Now I have reduced my intake of painkillers, anti-inflammatories and anti-emetics I thought of a straight forward quick build to do. Considering the Naveloplasty gibe I figured a FAA aircraft would be fitting. I settled on the new Airfix Grumman Martlet Mk IV, which I picked up just before heading to the UK. I had purchased the original F4F-4 Wildcat intending to do a FAA machine, then discovered that may not be so straight forward (I still plan on that - any suggestions of a straightforward way of doing this are very welcome). Sprue shots: Markings: I am going to do the following: Thankfully (as I am currently not able to drive on doctor's orders) I have all of the Tamiya acrylic paints I need in stock. I had a careful read of http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/wildcatfaaba_1.htm and have settled on the following. First, the exterior, Extra Dark Sea Grey (represented by XF24), Dark Slate Grey (represented by XF22) and Sky (XF21): Interior colours, cockpit in Bronze Green (represented by XF70) and everywhere else Grumman Grey (represented by XF19): Any comments/suggestions gratefully received!

Can I join in with this? Even if it is going to be in RN colours, probably a 771 Squadron bird, based at Culdrose in the early 1980's, It's an absolute challenge for me. Everything I would rather avoid: resin, vac formed transparencies, limited run (and boy oh boy does it look limited run), the need to use cyanoacrylate (lots of glued fingers but parts falling off) and masking windows and the cheat line. Apart from that a straightforward build.

This has been worked on during the year and needs the canopy and undercart and will be pretty much finished. I've tackled more canopies this year and so less phased by the greenhouses of early war FAA and USN types. The engine on this was a nightmare resin and etch inside a polystyrene cowling. Took forever.

I started this last year and ecided to have it in the KUTA, and ran out of time. I have down some work over the year and put it aside for my MTO and Civil GBs. As this year's idea in the KUTA is not to try the impossible I'm going for things I should be able to finish. The big challenges have been done; the interior, the rotorhead and the bane of my life, the vac formed canopy. Just the canopy framing, final ssembly and transfers, which will need to be sourced for my FAA version. So should be achievable.

Ok time for a quick relaxing build (lol). After the spitfire I'm back off to 1:72 land. I was hoping to build one of my nice Tamiya or Eduard kits but the paints I need are taking their sweet time to cross the Tasman sea... Anyway rather than waiting I've decided to get through a quick OOB build from my (tiny) stash. I've had Airfix's new tooled 1:72 Wildcat F4F-4 kit staring at me forlornly for ages and I decided to put it out of it's misery. I know... another Airfix kit but the plastic on this one especially on the wings and fuselage looked suspiciously smooth and had nicely refined details . I tentatively cut out a few bits and test fitted, and everything seemed to be in order. It's got a nice easy camo scheme to boot. Time to crack on then, Started with the cockpit bits. All seemed to fit, though there was some of that soft Airfix moulding on show on some bits. Nothing major though. I'm not going to spend weeks detailing this little office, looks good enough out of the box. Got some Gunze H58 Interior Green on, and sprayed some H51 Light Gull Gray around the wheel well bits. Annoyingly enough the H51 is a gloss paint so takes ages to dry and is very prone to acquiring fingerprints. I'll have to be super careful. Especially when I get to painting the underside Also had to do a bit of early glass masking with the underside windows but it wasn't too taxing.

After having fun with the Airfix 6 pounder and Universal Carrier I decided to have a go at another vintage Airfix piece of artillery, the 25 pounder, quad and limber. I first made one of these many moons ago and IIRC it came in a plastic bag. These guns were the standard field artillery for the British Army in the desert and Italy as well as every where else in WW2 and later. There were in use right into the 60's with the U.K. and later with others. Four sprues with nicely moulded slightly shiny plastic. Has a full gun crew who although nicely moulded I probably won't use them this time around. There is a bit of flash and some mould ejector marks. Not that bad considering age of the kit and I'll only deal with those that can be seen.

BAe Harrier Gr Mk. 7/9 1:72 Revell Developed from the prototype Hawker Siddeley P.1127, which flew for the first time over fifty years ago, the vertical take-off Harrier has become one of the most famous post-war jet aircraft of all. Awarded what some would say is the ultimate accolade for a non-US designed aircraft – a purchase order from the United States Government – the first generation Harrier was successful enough to merit the development of a second generation. Despite a slightly troubled development, during which Hawker Siddeley pulled out of the joint Ango-American project in 1975, only to rejoin again (as British Aerospace) in 1981, the resulting aircraft was a quantum leap in terms of capability compared to the original design. The second generation of Harriers, to which the GR7 and GR9 belong, feature a larger wing, more powerful engine and extensive use of lightweight composite materials throughout the airframe. The GR9 boasts a wide range of improvements to avionics and weapon systems compared to the GR7. The aircraft has seen extensive combat service and both the GR7 and GR9 have been employed over Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick. It’s no secret that Revell’s Harrier GR Mk. 7/9 is actually Hasegawa’s GR Mk. 7/9 in a blue box. Revell must like the Japanese manufacturer’s take on the Harrier as this is at least the second time that they have released it in their own box. They also released the 1:48 version a few years ago too. The kit is comprised of 91 parts, moulded in the familiar glossy grey plastic used by Hasegawa. Despite having been around the block once or twice, the moulds are clearly in excellent condition and there is no trace of flash anywhere. The panel lines which make up the surface detail are very fine and clear. This is one area where the kit has the edge over the newer Airfix version. Whilst the panel lines on the Airfix kit are pretty tidy, these are just that bit more refined. The cockpit is pretty typical of other Hasegawa kits in this scale. The overall shape looks good, but there is no raised detail to represent the instruments or controls on the instrument panel or side consoles. Decals are provided instead. If you want something a little more convincing, then aftermarket resin or photo etched parts will be the way to go. The ejection seat provided is actually for the AV-8B rather than the GR7/9, so it is closer to the American UPC/Stencel seat than the Martin Baker Mk.12. As the seats provided in kits in this scale are usually only rough approximations of the real thing though, it’s not exactly a deal breaker. Other interior detail includes the intake trunking and turbofan blades, both of which are moulded in a single part and so will require careful painting. The auxiliary intake doors are moulded with the upper three in the open (or dropped) position, which is a boon for those of us who model their aircraft with the landing gear down. The front jet exhaust nozzles are moulded in two halves, which will create a troublesome seam to clean up. The rear nozzles are moulded in one piece, but are solid, with no real attempt made to create any impression of depth. I’m not sure which approach is better, but this is one area of the kit where I really would recommend some resin replacements. To be fair to Revell (or Hasegawa), this tends to be a problem area for all small-scale Harriers. The nozzles are designed to rotate too, thanks to rotating joints which fit inside the fuselage. The other major parts of the aircraft, including the nose, wings and horizontal stabilisers are all very nicely recreated. The nose in particular is bob-on. The Leading Edge Root Extensions (LERX) that are characteristic of second generation Harriers are the earlier 65% type, which means that if you don’t plan on using the kit decals, you will need to check to see if the aircraft you plan to build had the 65% or 100% versions fitted. If it’s the 100% versions, then there are a couple of aftermarket options available to you. The undercarriage is all quite nice, although in-flight versions of the wing-mounted stabilisers aren’t provided. The nose gear wheel is moulded in one piece with the leg, which is a pet hate of mine, but I guess it makes the whole set up a bit stronger. Hasegawa blow hot an cold with their ordnance. Some kits have very little whilst others have a veritable surfeit. Unfortunately this kit falls into the former camp. Aside from the option of gun pods or strakes for the under-fuselage position, you are provided with a couple of drop tanks and a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinders. If you want a full load of stores then you’ll need to rob the more generously appointed Airfix kit or the spares box. The canopy is thin and clear, but owing to the horseshoe profile, it has a mould seam running down the centre. This should be fairly easy to remove with a nail buffer or similar tool though. The MDC is moulded in place on the inside of the canopy. A decal is also provided for this feature, but the carrier film is quite large, so I personally would avoid using it. Two options are provided for on the decal sheet: GR.9 ZG858, flown by Wing Commander Simon Jessett of No. IV Squadron, Joint Force Harrier, RAF Cottesmore during the Harrier retirement flypast on 15 December 2010; and GR.7 ZD404 “Lucy” of 1 (F) Squadron, depicted at Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan, 2007. As usual, the decals are superbly printed but they do look a little matt. I would recommend applying them over a gloss surface and using a decal solution. The decal sheet is amazingly comprehensive and includes decals for the ordnance, undercarriage and even the individual numbers for the Rolls Royce Pegasus compressor blades. Conclusion Most modellers considering a Harrier GR.7 or GR.9 in 1:72 face a straight choice between this kit and the Airfix alternative. The Airfix kit holds quite a few aces in terms of ordnance, cockpit detail and optional extras (closed auxiliary doors, in-flight undercarriage, 100% LERX), but this kit is still well worth a look. Although it is slightly simpler, it has finer surface detail and will build up into a very handsome model. Revell’s boxing is also good value when compared to the later Hasegawa boxings. Recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

Finished at last! I present the Cyberhobby (Dragon) 1/72 Gloster Meteor F3 completed as Australia's first Meteor A77-1. This aircraft was delivered in June 1946, but it didn't have a long career being written off after a heavy landing in February 1947. Some nice photos can be found here: http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/gallery/Meteor-A77-1. The boxing I had came with the extra RAAF decals, and I made some minor modifications to the basic kit to better represent the Australian airframe (spade grip joystick and some etched seatbelts scavenged off some long gone Spitfire, and modifications to the exhaust pipes to represent the shorter exhaust Derwent engines). The build thread can be found here. Finished with brush painted Tamiya acrylics as always. Thanks for looking. And here it is paired with the CMR resin DH Vampire F1 A78-1, Australia's first Vampire which I finished earlier in the year.

Greetings fellow modellers, I'd like to share the results of the first of several 1:72 Vampire builds. I'll be sharing the others when they're completed. I posted a short Work in Progress here on how I did the lowered flaps and brakes. There's not a lot about the kit I can tell that's not already said multiple times. I think it's a nice kit - I found the build fairly relaxing and didn't get many surprises in regards to fit and such. The kit is quite accurate, though in my opinion suffers from rather deep and wide engraved panel lines. The kit was built OOB except for Pavla main wheels and Albion Alloy tubing for the pitot tube. The decals were sourced from all kinds of places - the kit decal sheet, the Xtradecal Foreign Operator sheet, an Xtradecal sheet for Lightning F.3s and some other tiny bits (like a small yellow arrow pointing at the windscreen) from whatever I could find. I built the Vampire up as a T.11 in later Rodesian service. It says 'T.55' in my work in progress, as I'd initially planned to do one of the ex-SAAF Vampires acquired from South Africa in 1972 to beef up the aging fleet, but I decided to go for an 'original' instead for reasons that frankly now escape me. The T.11s like the model depicts were delivered in 1955 and as far as I'm aware came relatively fresh from the factory. This example is finished in the last colours it flew in before written off on September 1973, namely in early Bush War camouflage and Rhodesian republic markings. The T.11s wore no national markings on the wings; boom roundels and fin flashes only. I threw some weathering at it to simulate the effects of a warm climate and hot sun beating down on the wing surfaces. Two-seat Vampires were often waxed in Rhodesia, so I tried to replicate that too - the aircraft looked very glossy at times, though for the scale effect I tried to tone that down towards a satin sheen. Hope you like. Jay

For my next project I have dug out this kit which has been languishing in the stash for a while. I picked it up going special in a local toy shop (its normally pretty pricey when I have seen it on the shelves in hobby shops). The plastic looks nice, although I note the that there is nothing to go in the space where the engines should be - will need to use some plastic card to stop any see-through effect. Neat decal sheet, although the roundels look a little vivid to me. This boxing came with something extra - markings for Gloster Meteor F3 A77-1 - the RAAF's first Meteor. So of course I will have to do that. This aircraft was delivered in June 1946 - so 70 years almost to the day. It didn't have a long career being written off after a heavy landing in February 1947. Some nice photos can be found here: http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/gallery/Meteor-A77-1 So a couple of things to deal with. First I gather the F3 had a spade type grip for the joystick, rather than the pistol grip type that is in the box. I had a semi-broken up carcass of a Spitfire from which I rescued the joystick, and as it happens a photo etch harness which looked OK after I cleaned the paint off. Now for the markings. The decal instructions suggest dark sea grey/dark green camouflage on the top, medium sea great underneath and a white fuselage band. Now would I by right in thinking this would more likely be ocean grey/dark green on top and sky band (for which there is a decal in the box)?

Hi, Last year, very soon after I'd started three Gnats (which have been completed - seen here and here), I thought to speed things along by starting another three - Vampires this time. Of course things seldom work out exactly as planned, and now, some time later, I've decided it's for the best to leave the production line workflow for what it is and build no more than two models at the same time. I have now caught up the Vampire build, leave one for later, and concentrate on two; the first a Swiss T.55, and the other a Rhodesian T.35. Construction wasn't anything special - I added bits and bobs to enliven the cockpit somewhat - but the real challenge came recently when starting on the wings. I had planned from the outset to lower the flaps. Upon closer inspection, I came to the conclusion that adding extended wing spoilers I thought I'd share the progress from that moment onwards. Firstly I cut out the flap and spoiler area from the wing (inboard flap was cut out previously) CIMG0228 CIMG0230 Some plasticard CIMG0231 Cut to fit CIMG0232 Glued and used Gunze Mr dissolved putty as filler... CIMG0225 ...then sanded, used Surfacer 1000, sanded again, again a bit of Surfacer, sanding, et voilá. CIMG0238 Now for the wing spoilers. I got out a strip of fairly thick Evergreen and sanded one side into an edge. CIMG0241 glued another bit to it - this process speaks for itself I believe: IMG_1255 Evergreen plastic paper-like sheet: IMG_1258 IMG_1264 Finally I sanded the spoiler into the appropriate shape and then I glued the thin sheet around it with Tamiya Cement. (Revell contacta, another glue I use often, is far too aggressive for thin plastic.) IMG_1262 IMG_1265 To be continued. Thanks for looking Jay

Evening all! It’s taken two years of on-and-off work, but I’ve finally finished my Airfix 1:72 Vulcan! The Vulcan has been my favourite aircraft since being wowed by the Duxford aircraft as a child, so without it sounding trite i tried really hard at this kit. Still, I am unbelievably glad to see the back of this, a really very strenuous build which required quite a lot of willpower to get through. Much whisky has been consumed and much filler dust produced! I used the following aftermarket stuff: · Wolfpack resin intakes and engine faces · Wolfpack resin undercarriage bay set · Master turned aluminium NATO refuelling probe tip · Fündekals Vulcan set for XM605 of 101 squadron RAF c.1977-8 · CMK resin Canberra PR9 ejector seats (they’re close enough through that tiny canopy!) I also did quite a lot of other mods: · Full rescribe including quite a lot of added panel lines and inspection panels, and correction of the lines around the nose radome. · Rear crew seats from the Airfix Valiant (though you need a torch and a dentist’s mirror to see them) · Scratchbuilt ladder, retraction jacks and interior around the inside of the door · Brake and other undercarriage hydraulic lines from wire. Thinned out the u/c scissor links and added several other details from plasticard. · Replaced pitot heads and aerials from plasticard stock, added several other details such as a tail bumper. · Lined exhausts with brass tube to approx. 4 inches deep, and used kit engine faces as exhaust faces at the ends of them. · Drilled out most of the small exhausts and intakes, and lined the four protruding heat exchanger things under the engine areas so they weren't see-through. · Thinned out the splitter plates at the inboard edges of the intakes with files, sandpaper and anger. It’s a mixture of rattlecan and brush finishing – the Humbrol 165 Medium Sea Grey was straight from the can, but the Dark Green (Revell Aqua 68) and the Light Aircraft Grey (Humbrol 166) were brushed on, as was the flat coat (also Revell Aqua). References include trips to XM594 at Newark and XM598 at Cosford, as well as the excellent BM walkaround threads here and here, and the magnificent "Vulcan B Mk.2 from a different angle" by Craig Bulman, and "Vulcan" by Ken Ellis and Duncan Cubitt. WIP is here although I've done more comprehensive WIPs in my time. Anyway, I'm very happy to move on but I’m pretty pleased with this one. Hope you enjoy it too! Addendum: I learnt loads for this build from surveying previous BM builds, so it’s only fair if I summarise some of my advice for taking on this beast of a kit: · The Wolfpack intakes and undercarriage bays are SERIOUSLY worth it if you can find them. They’re the most trouble-free resin add-ons I’ve ever used, very accurate and detailed, and fit pretty much perfectly if you are careful removing the kit undercarriage bays. The intake parts have one slight niggle, in that they are drop-in replacements for the kit parts and locate using the same hole on the underside, which fits a pin on the lower wing half. If fitted as per instructions, there’s about a 0.5mm gap between the intake lips on the kit and the front edge of the resin. I supported them slightly further forward with plasticard stock, and solved the problem.. · When sticking the kit together I recommend you join the three wing/fuselage sections of each half, then join two huge halves later, rather than the instructions' approach. That way the gaps are relocated to the fuselage sides and wing leading edges,rather than being large steps between inner and outer wing sections, which are very difficult to deal with. · The Fundekals sheet is the best Vulcan sheet by a country mile, and the only one to correctly depict the badge for 101 Squadron (the Airdecal offering is 50% too big and the colours are too dull!). It has only one fault which is that the fuselage roundels are about 2mm too small in diameter. This very much notices on the finished model, so replace from other sources. The Cartograf sheet for XH558 provided by Airfix in the recent boxings works perfectly.

Lifted up a few boxes in the stash and look what was lurking underneath.... Here's the obligatory 'see it isn't started yet' shot Looked at the paint instructions. Oh dear. No I don't think it had bright green rotors (155) .... will have to revert to the tried and trusted method of S.W.A.G . Glued the engine-y bits to the side-y pieces as per instructions. The English language does not contain enough words to indicate how unsatisfactorily it fits (not ones that the mods will let me use round here at any rate! ) !!!!

I thought I would do something a bit different from my FAA planes for this. I do have a Fulmar,Swordfish and Maryland sitting for later if time permits. My other interest is the 8th Army in the desert so I had a look in the stash for something that shouldn't be too difficult and came across this. I first made one of these back in the 60's when still at primary school. It came in the old Airfix poly bag and cost 2 shillings. It was probably bought at Woolworths. The mouldings have stood the test of time pretty well and although not 100% crisp are pretty good, almost flash free, without short moulding or mould seams. The plastic is a little soft and there are a number of ejection pin holes. I will fill those that will show with Perfect Putty but not bother with the rest. A single page of instructions and a set of transfers for a Normandy example. I'll scavenge transfers from other kits.

Latest completion the Revell boxing of the F-5B or SF-5B in Spanish Air Force operation. Started as part of the single type F-5 build and only just completed - oh well! Simple enough kit built OOB and using kit decals. Painted with AK Extreme Metal, which is very easy to use with good results. Not perfect, but I am reasonably happy with the way it has turned out. I have a single seater following this.

Hi! Here for your perusal is Special Hobby’s two-seat iteration of their new Mirage F.1 series of kits - which judging by the ridiculously fast sell-out times must be a successful investment for them. I’ll go into the kit below, but do have a look at the Work in Progress thread here for the build and excellent contributions from forum members to improve accuracy. For those who are not familiar with the type: it’s an interesting version of the Mirage, being the only one without the typical Mirage-esque delta-wing configuration. This is the specific ‘bac’ I’ve made to represent, the fourth AdlA F.1B built: number 505, or 5-AE: Dassault-Breguet constructed twenty F.1B (B for biplace) operational trainer versions for the Armée de l’Air between 1980 and 1984, entering service initially with the test squadron, CEAM (Le Centre d'Expériences Aériennes Militaires), at BA 118 Mont-de-Marsan, but subsequently all twenty served in 3/5 Comtat-Venaissin, based at BA 115 Orange-Caritat in the South of France, until 1988. My model depicts one from the latter unit *. The Special Hobby kit goes together well. It's excellent for having an accurate shape and for being generally accurate in detail, with some notable exceptions such as the panels on the spine behind the cockpit. So it’s not without faults, both in terms of fit and nitty-gritty accuracy. But still, all in all I was surprised how easy the build progressed; especially the cockpit tub deserves mention as that fits like a glove. Haven’t had that in a while. Also nice was how some other clever solutions for fitting parts together actually worked. And the excellent decals - they deserve mention too. A really nice kit. In plastic, fit and quality, I'd compare it to Italeri, maybe Esci. Things to watch out for: one area for particular concern during the build were the lower kit parts of the wings, which needs considerable thinning, particularly at the edges, to get it to sit flush with the rest of the wing. And it needs to sit flush - because the F.1’s wings were quite thin, and you want them to look thin otherwise the effect is lost. Another problematic thing was the windscreen. You kind of plop the transparency on the nose section, but fit - well it doesn’t really. I used Mr Surfacer to deal with that. I used no aftermarket stuff apart from bits of several Berna decal sheets. Also used: stretched sprue and wire. Thanks for looking, Jay *In case you’re not familiar with the French Air Force structure as used during the Cold war: ‘3/5 Comtat-Venaissin’ denotes: 3rd Escadron of the 5th Escadre de Chasse - Comtat and Venaissin are the two escadrilles which are historical units (flights) to which pilots belong - aircraft are maintained on escadron level - hence the differing symbols on each side of the aircraft’s fin.

(Edit: From all the suggestions for modifications on the kit later on in the thread, I made a continuously updated visual list here.) Hi all, Aaaaahhhh.... I've been looking forward to this moment. One of my favorite aircraft. Looks almost like it's designed by a science fiction artist - with the extreme pointed nose which contrasts nicely the bulbous curves of the two-seat canopy. In between several builds I received this kit. I gave it right of way over other builds, which I have put on hold for the moment. I'll finish them, but curiosity got the better of me so let's start! I'll be building as Out-of-the-Boxily as possible. I might seek out aftermarket decals, but I'll think about that later. I am gravitating tworards a standard Armée de l'Air line bird from the mid 1980s. But I am known to change my mind. Anyway... The kit! The kit's contents look as detailed and generally yummy as the single-seater versions, only now we get two sprues with the complete F.1B (B for Biplace) fuselage. I gave the plastic a lukewarm bath, and this is the Mirage-to-be drying, giving me a chance to look over the parts. Notice the two complete fuselages. Unfortunately the pitot tube came bent. As the part is essentially unprotected in the box, I can’t see how that could have been prevented. The two-seater retained the separate nose parts intended for the single-seater. The refuelling probe needs to be detached from part B61 if you want to build the colourful 50th anniversary version of 3/30 Lorraine of the Armée de l'Air in 1991. I'm not sure yet what I will be going for. Of note is the second cockpit tub plus instrument panel. On to a test fit - I was first of all happy with how well the fuselage halves fit. The wings are a little problematic, as the wing's lower half is slightly too thick and protrudes from the upper wing part. The left hand wing fits like a glove, but the right hand wing, at least on my example, and still with the lower wing part too thick, did not fit the fuselage. After an inordinate amount of pushing and squeezing I came this far: The wing's locator tabs are split lengthwise in a lower and upper half and considering the lower wing half is too thick as it is, one would easily assume that's the culprit. However the left-hand wing tabs fitted perfectly and even had a little play. I decided to open up the locator holes slightly (from the inside!). Even if I create a little too much room in the process - at least I'll know the wing will fit. That's better. The following isn't though: the wings are practically level. There should be very noticeable anhedral in the F.1's wings. Probably a result of the lower wing half being too thick. I'll try again after sanding the lower wing halves to manageable thickness. I first shaved off the edges on the inner area of lower wing half in an attempt to make it fit the top half better. To be continued! Jay

Morning all, I picked up this little gem of a kit for just over £4 from my LMS, and what a great purchase it was! The quality of the tooling itself is rather terrible- raised panel lines, no cockpit detail apart from some basic seats, poor wing-fuselage join, thick one-piece canopy and minimal level of overall external detail. But its redeeming features are So, I began by first of all cutting and dropping the flaps, positioning the elevator and ailerons and cutting the canopy into two pieces. Secondly modification was the cockpit, now this is quite literally what you get with the kit: (control columns modified slightly) I couldn't let that remain unaltered and so I started to add some detail: (note the compass in each cockpit) One or two coats of paint and gloss varnish later and it was completed: Airfix 1:72 De Havilland Chipmunk T.10 Notes: -Painted with Vallejo "Model Air" -Kit decals with a few from the spares box -Weathered with Vallejo "Moden Wash"- dark grey -Varnished with Alclad aqua gloss Well, that's it- thanks for having a look! Kind regards, Sam

Yet another ebay impulse buy occurred last Saturday following a few pints and it arrived today. The new tool Revell Hawk. This rather neat little kit comes trying to be a modern hawk with 2015 Reds decals however it has the old style curved rear upper fuselage. Now this gave me an idea, make it into a very early hawk. As early as it comes, the prototype XX154 as it was when it first flew in 1974, looking something like this:- http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001133060L.html The Revell offering will need a bit of modification, but not a lot. So things I know I need to change are as follows Wing fences moved inboard and reshaped, - Plasticard Absence of vortex generators. - wet & dry Wide ejection seat head boxes - Scratch built or modified old matchbox seat Fritag style So far I cant see any other changes needed. This sounds far to simple to be true so.... Anyone know what else is needed?? Thanks for looking CT

Sadly not a full WIP build just wanted to share this quick build in it's current state. Been wanting to do an F-16 ever since I got back into the hobby over the last year and snapped this up on Amazon for £6 recently, never built a Hasegawa kit before so didn't quite know what to expect. It's not a bad kit but does have it's flaws, few fit issues to contend with..especially with the main landing gear! The supplied decals were just awful though! Pretty much unusable so I decided to order Daco's Belgium Air Force 349 Squadron from Hannants just to have something different, two pics below.. ...I'm still very much a novice at all this right now so quite new to after market decals, and certainly had issues with the tail fin! But I'm quite happy with it so far. First time spraying from a can using the blu-tac worm technique too (practicing for the 1/48 Tornado going on at the moment!) which I've just about got the hang of I think. Will post more pics soon, thanks for looking!