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This will be my first of two possible builds. It will be a 42nd FIS F-86D using the 1/48th Revellogram kit. Photo’s to come so be please be patient.

My first plane model in 40 years (usually it's tanks), I was inspired by the description in AK Real Colours for Night being a mix of a blue and black. Went for the Tamiya P-47M 1/48 - it's from 2005 (61096) - excellent model, any fault with the construction was mine and not due to the model! As I paint with rattle cans I got a custom filled rattle can and settled on RAL 5004 ie a very, very dark blue. I did try it out on various undercoats as testers and found it was too blue, when used on black undercoat. So finally went for a pale grey, as the final colour looked more black The weathering and inspiration for the model came from AK 56th fighter group in WW2 - the colour and weathering for the drop tanks, undercarriage doors, wheels, I lifted straight from the cover. Overall learnt an awful lot that I will carry over to my next plane, as I have the aviation bug now, including: - Pencils are harder to use than oils and scratch the base paint (I used only pencils on this) and the colour changes to a whiter look with the clear coat - The decals in the 56th FG book were awful and totally the wrong colour( great book, terrible decals), the decals in the box were (old?) difficult to get to sit on the model, even with a gloss layer for them to sit on, so I will go with spraying markings next time (as I do on tanks) -I'm sure most of you know this already, I didn't but the the Tamiya model was a masterclass in what a model should be for the way it all fitted together - I will actually be drawn to Tamiya planes first after this I have started a Loire 130 and looking to see what other aircraft I will do next.

When the B-17 STGB Part 2 will be history, it'll be time to tackle this. It'll be my first Thunderbolt in 40+ years and the first bubbletop ever - the previous was a Matchbox razorback. This kit came as part of this very nice Revell gift set. The P-51B got built in the Southern Europe GB with Academy decals from a kit I plan to build next year with these Revell (Cartograph) decals, either in the P-51 STGB or the D-Day anniversary GB. The Fortress is of course a WIP in the current STGB. The instructions can be found here and a review of the whole set in here, at our favorite modelling forum 🙂 See you later! V-P

Dear Fellow modellers I offer for your pleasure my latest creation. The 1:32nd scale Trumpeter P47-D Thunderbolt kit as “Rozzie Geth II” aka “Miss Fire” flown by Col Frederick J Christensen as part of Zemke’s Wolfpack. A second lieutenant and captain in the Army Air Corps, he flew P-47 Thunderbolts with the 56th Fighter Group -- Colonel Hubert ''Hub" Zemke's Wolfpack This was a nice kit to make. Some problems with fitting but in the end it came together ok. Paints were a mix of AK and Hataka Redline. The cans, buckets and fuel drums are the Tamiya 1:35th scale sets. The invasion stripes were spray painted white and then masked and hand painted black to give a slightly ragged and hurriedly applied look. Weathering is my usual NMF approach, restrained with some panel line black. The decals were a pain mostly so i elected to use the minimum number. About the pilot - Frederick J Christensen Fred Christensen portrait (IWM American Air Museum) While in England, Christensen adopted a stray black cat and named it Sinbad. He is reputed to have taken Sinbad with him on missions, carrying him in the cockpit of his P-47 as both a good luck charm and inspiration to his fellow pilots, then bringing the cat to the United States as a pet in September 1944 after the end of his tour. UPDATE I managed to find some pictures, stills from a couple of British Pathe newsreel taken at RAF Boxted of Fred C and Sinbad. Also the only picture I could find for the inspiration for the name and nose art picture . It's not recorded what she felt about being displayed naked on a plane over Germany several times a week ! But the picture of her shows her enigmatic smile so maybe she approved! Rosamund Gethro..aka "Rozzie Geth" Sadly she died in 1978 before her time . She didn't marry Fred C Sinbad pictures One of my cats, Zoe playing the part of “ Sinbad”! Diorama I wanted to set this model in a diorama. My first serious attempt at this. I made up a few scratch built items from wood to detail the setting. Wheel chocks, an' A' frame for storage for drop tanks etc with red FIRE buckets. US Jerry cans and .50 Cal Ammo box. The setting is at RAF Boxted Station 150 sometime after D-Day 1944. I used both RAF Halesworth and RAF Metfield for field visits to get a sense of these hardstandings on the ground. I chose to make a representation of a Class A bomber station ‘Spectacle’ loop hardstanding and did a fair bit of research in to this. The base board was a piece of hardboard with grey and black primer spryed and some ancient railway grass scatter. I even used a piece of plastic from a Covid Testing kit as a drain inspection chamber cover! Anyway I hope enjoy and like what I’ve done .Critique and comments would be very welcome as always ! This was taken at RAF Halesworth of a Razorback on a hardstanding. This was my in part my inspiration for my diorama. I visited this place recently. The buildings are mostly still in existance as industrial units for small businesses. Miss Fire with Fred Christensen and his Ground Crew circa Sept 1944 Here's another WW2 pic of Miss Fire Thought I'd be a bit cheeky and take a shot of my previous build on he diorama base too.. My uncle Peters Tempest V.. I was also going to add some 1:48 scale Harrier Sidewinders to Miss Fire as a joke but maybe that's for another time 😂😂 anyway .. the diorama base works for the Tempest too I think... I hope you’ve enjoyed this RFI. Its taken about 3 months to get to this point. I’ve certainly enjoyed the build, the research and taking the pictures. Kind Regards, Andy

This was started as part of the D Day Group Build but it did not make it , Thanks for looking ans all the best fo,the New Year Les (wellzy)