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Finnish Army K9FIN "Moukari" 1:35 Academy via Pocketbond The K9 Thunder is a modern 155mm artillery system developed by Samsung for the Republic Of Korea (South Korea) Armed Forces. The need to a new system was recognised in the late 1980's and the new gun system was produced and put into service 10 years later. This self propelled gun features steel armour capable of withstanding 14.mm Armour piercing rounds, and 152mm shell fragments. The 155mm 52 calibre gun has a range of 40km. The gun also features a hydro-pneumatic suspension system and a 1000hp engine. The Finnish Army realised their current Artillery systems would be outdated fairly soon and have struck a deal to buy 48 used K9's from the South Koreans. Now their neighbours Norway and Estonia are looking to procure the gun as well. The Kit This is a reboxing of Academy's 2009 boxing of the ROK 2009., with only new decals to differentiate it. You can always rely on Academy to give us kits of ROK equipment. The kit arrives as the main upper & lower hulls, five sprues of plastic and a set of runner tracks. Construction starts by adding the suspension components to the lower hull. The track return rollers are added along with the mounts for the lower suspension, once these are on the suspension arms are added. At the front the drive gear boxes are added. The two part road wheels (6 per side are added along with the drive sprockets. An idler wheel is added at the back. The rear bulkhead for the gun is made up and added to the lower hull. Construction then shifts to the upper hull. The drivers hatch, engine access hatches and grills are added along with a spare pair of track links. The drivers vision blocks are added along with headlights, and their protective covers. We now shift to the gun turret. The back is added to the turret and then it can be added to the base plate. Hatches are added along with external tools, and jerrycan stowage. A tow cable is added to the roof along with lifting eyes. A roof mounted sight is made up and added along with the commanders hatch and its heavy machine gun. Stowage baskets are then added to the rear of the turret. Next up the gun is put together. The front and rear parts of the barrel are in two halves and these are joined by a centre section, muzzle brake is then fitted to the end. The gun mount is then made up and the gun added, this sub assembly can then be added to the turret. The upper and lower hulls can then be assembled and the turret added. The flexible track is also added. A gun travelling mount is also then made up for the front hull. Markings From the box you can build one vehicle which was seen at the National Flag Day Parade in June 2017. Conclusion It is good to see models of these gun systems used by the less mainstream countires. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Hi Guys. Now that I recently finished 2 projects (one Bearcat and one Lavochkin), it's time to move on with another one. My next client will be the Bf109D in 1/48 from Academy. I intend to use the Eduard zoom set for this kit also. Because I want to convert it to a Bf109 A, I bought myself also the Kagero Top Drawings edition dedicated to Bf 109 early (A to D) series. I hope that it will guide me in order to obtain a decent 109 Anton replica. First, I present you the mandatory pics with kit box and its contents. Hope I will be able to finish this one. It will be a long-term project anyway, because I'm such a slow builder... So, I'm thinking about Spain...1937...

Evening All! I attended RIAT last year and saw the incredible display from the Ukrainian Flankers. As soon as I saw the scheme I knew I had to do it. Luckily, Foxbat do decals and paint masks for the Ukrainian digital scheme. The Academy kit was used as the base and I added the Neomega cockpit, canopy from Yufei (haneto), Quickboost nose and traffic cones, Aires exhausts, DAN models FOD covers and the NorthStar Models towbar. I decided to do it as it was at RIAT 2017 with the famous blue cones. Overall, the Academy kit wasn't too bad, however with the amount of AM I had added, blending everything in took many attempts. The nose cone was too large for the kit and the canopy took lost of blending (I'm sure it was down to my poor cutting of the canopy and not the mould!) I aded the blind flying hood to the canopy from stretched sprue and tissue paper. The scheme was painted with the AKAN Ukrainian digital camo set, however I found most of the paints to be way too dark and had to be lightened extensively. In the end, the scheme was actually quite easy to paint after having a couple of arguments with the masks. The NorthStar models towbar was great and fell together. I think it's a nice addition to the scene. Here's a few photos. Hope you all like. DSC_0695 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0668-Edit by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0667 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0674 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0676 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0678 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0683 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0690 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr DSC_0671 by Phillip Loughlin, on Flickr

Having just finished building a Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIC, I decided it was time to attempt a German fighter aircraft from WWII. Luckily enough I had just the right kit in my stash, so my next build is an Academy 1:72 JU87G-2 Stuka. This will be the first Academy kit I have built, however looking at the sprues you can see they are very detailed, fully engraved (like it says on the box) and have little to no flash. The kit contains a neat set of instructions, separate sheet showing the colour scheme and a small set of decals (I plan to airbrush rather than decal where I can). There are 5 grey sprues, all nicely detailed........ There is also a clear/glass sprue. I aim to produce an out of the box build, but may airbrush some of the decal sections. I am really looking forward to this build, and hope I can do the beautiful aircraft justice.

Here is my entry for the RAF Centenary GB. Academy Spitfire FR.XIVe, certainly not the most accurate Spitfire on the planet, but is nicely moulded and a fairly hassle free build. I am certainly on a Spitfire roll on the moment and doing a Far Eastern machine in SEAC colours is slightly different. Looks the business with that big red spinner. Using a smart set of Xtradecal. I won’t be starting for a week or so as have a trip away planned for this week. Some photos. Thank for looking.

Hi, this my new finished kit. This is really good F-18E from Academy in 1/72 scale. I added one of the Eduard's GBU-12 bombs. Painted with Tamiya and Gunze H.

The Thunderbolt has always, just, been my favourite of the US piston engined fighters, though it faced tough competition from the Corsair. I used to drool over the colour profiles in Bill Gunston's Aircraft of WW2, and wonder how it was that the biggest and heaviest could also have been the fastest. But there are no P-47s in my display case, and it's about time that oversight was rectified. I shouldn't really be building this. I promised myself that I'd finish off some of the half-built models first, and there's a bottleneck of models awaiting paint (I can only airbrush at weekends, and only if we have no household guests, since the spare bedroom is the designated spraying area. But after a two week modelling hiatus (thanks, Aussie 'flu!), I really wanted to start something new. I have only one P-47 model in the stash, and it's the Special Hobby reboxing (with added bits) of the Academy 1/72 P-47 bubbletop. The SH parts are intended to soup the base plastic up into a P-47M, with improved engine parts and airscrew, resin wheels and tanks, and a couple of PE parts. In the box it all looks rather neat: I've not photographed the Academy plastic - that's the SH sprue, resin, and decal sheet. All the P-47Ms served with the 56th Fighter Group, so the five decal options cover the three, wildly varied and unusual, schemes sported by the three constituent squadrons. My preference is for the blue/light blue markings of the 63rd FS, and Cpt Flagg's Darling Dottie, UN-F. The belly and leading edges are natural metal, which will be a first for me. Captain Flagg went on to serve in Korea, and then worked with NASA on the Gemini missions (and apparently also the early work on the Shuttle). I found some gun camera footage on Youtube that is apparently from Darling Dottie: Hopefully this won't be a taxing build, though I do need to double check my paint stocks. Thanks for looking in!

Seeing as my scammell is a flat coat and some photos away from the finish line, i thought I'd have another bash at armour, so I'm entering the fray with academy's m4a3 calliope kit, as i had no luck finding some academy photo etch for this kit i took the plunge and ordered the tamiya m4a3 set, i'll use what I can and put the rest in the spare pe box Glynn https://i.imgur.com/FjZpYEu.jpg

Canadair F4 Sabre 71 Squadron Royal Air Force Germany Wildenrath 1955 Trying to get back into the modelling groove after a very quiet couple of years. So here is my quick build of Academy's F-86 sabre, representing a Canadair F4. Built OOB with the exception of Eduard Brassin wheels and painted with Mr Paint and Gunze Aqueous Colour. Decals are from an Eagle Strike set. Regards Howard

Hi all, This just turned up in the post today so I'll be starting this soon. I just haveto wait for a new airbrush nozzle to turn up Thanks for checking in, -Cam

Hi, I finish few days ago new Academy F15E kit. I added Aires exhaust nozzles to this kit. I'm happy with the work, there were no bigger problems. Unfortunately I destroyed decals for weapons under the wings. I painted the model with Gunze and Tamiya. The new project will also be Academy:

Good afternoon I am looking for a little advice, has anyone had any experience with the decals from this kit? They are from a new kit with the decals still in the bag. When using them several of the decals struggled to separate from the backing and even though the kit had been glossed and also using Micro Set and Micro Sol they just refuse to stick to the kit. I have stuffed it away in disgust and have started to look for other decal options. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Stef

So here's my entry for the GB:

Decided to go for a 1/72 FA-18F SuperBug for my next build. Always been a fan of Naval aviation, and have really been enjoying the Academy new tool 1/72 kits as well. I know they're snap-fit (sort of), but the detailing is superb and the size is perfect for my shelf. I am going for a Fleet Interception/ Air to Air specific loadout. Payload will be 6-7 AIM-120s and 2 wingtip AIM-9Xs. I am using 2 resin dual LAU 115/127 launchers from Attack Squadron, and 2 single LAU 115 launchers on each side. An additional AIM-120 is possible for mounting to the lower airframe right next to the landing gear. Will likely forego this, but it is possible. Part 1: The build. Began with the cockpit and airframe: Intakes installed: Cockpit: Dark Gull Grey. Part 2: Final build and weapons. Had issues with the nose fit, so putty was a must. and after: Good fix, and looks solid to boot! Weapons and launchers: Weapons are from 3 different sources: 1/72 f15e eagle, Hasegawa Weapons V pack and this kit. I decided to use 2 dual resin LAU lanchers for the AIM-120s, to bring the real Air to Air/fleet interception mission to life. I think these came out quite well, and will bring the total possible number of AAMs on the bird up to 8-9 depending on if I go for 6 or 7 AIM-120s with the 2 wingtip AIM-9X's. Final pre-paint assembly: Part 3: Priming and paint. Primer is Alclad grey primer and microfiller: Paint: Bottom: Light Ghost Grey MM enamel. Top: Dark Ghost Grey MM enamel: Bottom: Impossible to note difference between primer and paint. Top: I purposefully did the top with some thick blotches of the dark ghost to give me a head start on weathering. The blotches are to simulate salt air eroding the paint unevenly. Next update will be post shading and further weathering (maybe salt crystals on topside). I will also try to finish weapons, and paint the LG bays, gear, and doors. Stay Tuned....

My second refurb of the year after the Sea Fury was the Academy 1/48 P-47D. I was not happy with the original NMF finish so I decided to strip it and start again. I used kits-world decals, Tamiya/Vallejo paints and Winsor and Newton Matt varnish to finish. The gear doors were scratch built as I managed to lose the originals and the canopy is a vac-form from Squadron. Hope you like it! Thanks for looking, Chris

German Tiger-1 Ver.Early "Operation Citadel" 1:35 Academy via Pocketbond The Tiger tank was part of Hitler's obsession for bigger, heavier and stronger, which drove him to extraordinary and dizzying heights of impracticality later in the war, but in this case served him well. The goal was to mount the extremely successful and powerful 88mm cannon used in the Flak 36 in a tank with sufficient armour to withstand any round fielded by the enemy, and this was achieved, but at the cost of reliability and thirst for fuel. It also made for some interesting bridge-crossing as the finished article weighed in at almost 60 tonnes, which was too much for many smaller bridges of the day. There was a competition with only two contenders, and it was the breakdown of the Porsche designed prototype and subsequent fire that decided in the favour of the less ambitious Henschel design which became the Tiger, and then the Tiger I when the King Tiger came into being. When it first reached the front it caused panic and disaster for the Allies, being able to do almost everything it was designed to do, including knocking out tanks long before their guns were in range. Even when the Allies could get into range, it wasn't until they get VERY close that they had any significant chance of crippling or destroying the mighty Tiger. Many of the early Tigers were lost to mechanical breakdown due to the excessive strain on the transmission, and had to either be dragged off the field by half-tracks under the cover of darkness, armoured protection, or failing that, destroyed to stop them falling into the enemy's hands. The Tiger underwent many and constant changes throughout production to improve performance, fix problems and to simplify construction, but these are generally lumped together into early, mid or late productions for the sake of us modellers. If you want to get maximum accuracy of fit and finish, check your references for certainty. Operation Citadel was the German name of what became known as The Battle of Kursk. The German Army had planned an offensive operation against the Kursk Salient, however through various means including Allied Intelligence the Russian forces knew the attack was coming and were able to prepare an in-depth defensive of the area. The battle was to deplete both German Armour and Air assets. At the same time the Allies invaded Southern Italy and the German forces decided to withdraw from the action. This would be the last German offensive action on the Eastern Front. While there is some debate as to whether this was the largest tank battle ever, it is certainly up there in the top handful of. The Kit The Academy Tiger I is a middle-of-the-road kit that has an attractive price-point while giving plenty of detail to satisfy all but the most detail hungry modellers. This boxing also gives the Henschel turret, however no interior is included. Even thought the base kit have been around since the late 90s Academy have been improving it over time. The original two part split barrel is still in the kit, but there is a new multipart solid round barrel as well. Is worth noting that the new boxing now comes with link and length track instead of the previous rubber band ones. Construction starts with adding the suspension arms to the lower hull. PE fittings must then be made up and added to the lower hull as well. 8 double sets of outer road wheels are made up, followed by 8 double sets of inner road wheels , sandwiching a ploy cap between to the two wheels (inner ones only) . The drive wheels and idler wheels are made up, again sandwiching the poly caps between the halves. The inner single wheels are added to the hull, followed by the inetleved main wheels (two sets), and lastly the outer singles. Drive and idler wheels are also added. Once all the wheels are on the rear bulkhead of the tank is made up with the mud guards and exhausts being added. Next up the upper deck is assembled. Photo etch screens are provided for the engine cooling vents. Full detailed hatches are provided which can be opened, but given the commission of an interior unless you are adding crew figures most will leave them closed. The font bulkhead of the tank is also assembled at this time. The tracks can then be assembled and added to the tank. As mentioned earlier these are now link and length, however no track jig is included. Once the tracks are on the upper hull can be attached. Various tools and towing cables can then be added. Construction now moves to the turret. The multi part barrel and mantle are built up and placed into the turret sides, Smoke dischargers are added. along with stowage boxes and finally the roof; along with the hatches. Finally the turret is added along with the side skirts and a small length of track placed on the front of the tank. Markings As this boxing would suggest there are three marking options for Tigers which took part in Operation Citadel. 9th SS Panzer "Totenkopf" Yellow 921 8th SS Panzer "Das Reich" White S33 Black 211 Decals are printed in house by Academy and should pose no problems. Conclusion It is good to see Academy updating this kit as looking online the kit is quite competitive on price. Recommended Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Hi all and while I'm mostly a wings and rotors man, I decided to try out a braiille scale AFV for a 'Cars' GB. Probably my first AFV kit since I was a kid so still learning a bit about painting and finishing. Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_box by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr The only changes I made were to turn the front wheels and add some extra tyres from the spares box. Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_paint_2 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Paint looked a bit stark so tried to tone it back with some drybrushing. Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_paint_5 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_paint_6 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr For weathering, this is dark earth and mud pastels mixed with flat varnish and then layered on with a brush - probably a little heavy overall so lesson learned there. Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_1 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_2 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_7 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr I found these metal crew figures from SHQ Miniatures - really nicely moulded and great detail IMG_6697 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Which get posed like this. IMG_6698 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr To mimic this well-known photo (Source Wikipedia Commons) Men from 1st SS Panzer Div at Kaiserbaracke crossroads, between St. Vith and Malmedy, December 1944. by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Tried my best not to hide all that lovely detail under paint! Schwimmwagen_crew_crop by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr And happy with the end result! Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_Crew_2_crop by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_Crew_4 crop by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Will start on a little roadside diorama for it in a couple of days. Academy_1_72_Schwimmwagen_Crew_6_crop by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Thanks for looking and appreciate all comments and feedback! Cheers, Dermot

I began this with the 2017 Sukhoi Flanker STGB group build but wasn't able to finish in time. To recap it is the Academy Su-30MKK kit with the Sol Su-35 (Su-27M) canards, scratch built instrument panels with the Neomega Su-30MKK cockpit, Aires wheel wells, new resin nose, A.M.U.R. Reaver burner cans, AKAN paint and Begemot decals. Bort 01 Neomega cockpit with MKI instrument panels being made. Tried to make some resin extras as backups but my casting wasn't very good. Canopy mechanism work Days of putty and sanding to come. I ended up filling it with foam to give it some internal strength to compensate all of the cutting of both fuselage halves. A.M.U.R. Reaver exhausts are a lot bigger than the original Academy pipes but look great. No complaints with AKAN's Su-30MKI demonstrator colors. The overall pale blue the dark blue were perfect, I grayed the middle blue just a bit to get a better match. I always use little 1/144 kits as color testers G Gear is on it's way. I found some photos where that wonderful Russian pink sealant was used on this plane's gear which certainly adds a bit more color. I'm using the resin Armory wheel set with the nice sagged tires. Thanks for looking, more to come.

Hi All, Here's the Academy T-35/85 with Bedspring Armour. I see Academy kits getting a bit of a panning sometimes but this was great apart from the decals being too thick to sit down properly on the textured turret sides. As the tactical numbers were very rough I would have a go at hand painting them in the future. The PE was pretty good to work with and the tracks are simple link and length with sag built in. I used Vallejo model air then a ragbag of effects to make it as dusty as I thought it would be fighting in an urban area full of debris. My figure painting is not much cop at all as you can see. Usual comments and criticisms welcome. Cheers David

Hello folks, This is the Academy (Accurate Miniature) kit. It is very detailed but the manual is poorly designed as it retained only the pictures of the Accurate Miniature's one without any explanation. I also used some Eduard photoeched in the cockpit, the decals are from Berna. Hope you like it. cheers

On 9 October 1966 Cdr. Richard M. Bellinger became the first Navy pilot to shoot down a MiG-21. He was flying an F-8E (149159 AH 210) leading three other “Hunter” F-8s as escorts for A-4s from the USS Intrepid. During the flight they were intercepted by a group of MiG-21s which were the newest communist aircraft and a real leap in technology. Using two Sidewinder missiles, Bellinger was able to nab one of the MiGs marking the first Navy kill over the new MiG-21. Back aboard Oriskany, Bellinger said, "I've waited 20 years for something like this. It was a tremendous feeling.". Cdr. Bellinger was awarded the Silver Star by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara aboard the Oriskany one week later. Now to the kit. Academy's F-8, eh... One of the best F-8 Crusader kit around, and the reputation is not without reason. I could go on and on about it, but I won't bore you guys since you can read all the reviews on the internet. Long story short, this is a build I really enjoy despite several complexities like the main landing gear. The reason why I decided to take 149159 as my build subject is because of the story of Cdr. Bellinger's kill that I read once when I was a little boy. As for the decal itself, Academy didn't actually provide decals for BuNo 149159, so I have to improvise by looting numbers from my friend's F-8C conversion build, and cut out the colourful stars on vertical tail plane decals and in place painted the rudder in yellow so I can get the normal all-yellow stars. Now some of you might notice that orange rusty panel on the gun ports, that was because I followed Academy's painting instruction a little too far and forgot to check my reference back so that's that. Enough banter, now for the (not-so-good) photos taken with my Sony Xperia Z1 phone camera. There will be more photos from my actual camera soon but for now this is what I got. Any comments and critiques would be more than welcomed.

This is a project I finished on my last leave. I forgot got I had these photos with me here so here it is, my first helo built as an adult.😁 Looking at this I feel I really need to perfect my filling and sanding technique. 😣 (Amongst other things 😂 )

here is My current build, Academy F-4C , Robin Olds USAF markings. Box and parts plus two Eduard sets and Aires resin cockpit. First I started with armarment... ... than some cockpit details, (Aires resin is great) Here some estra paint work need to be done, ..and front wheel bay, still work in progress..

And finally, the last of the trio of Vipers that I finished recently. This is an Academy F-16C Block 42 in the super attractive new Have Glass scheme. I used, for the first time ever, Mr Paint. It went on beautifully although I would have liked it to be a bit darker. I would strongly recommend MRP to anyone else, my only impediment to using more of them is living in a relatively small place in London where ventilation is an issue (it's lacquer-based) and yes, it smells bad. The much-maligned Academy kit has its major issues, namely a nose that is too straight and which shows when looking at it sideways. It comes in either Block 40/50 or 42/52 boxings with different intake/exhaust combos. The Block 40/50's wide intake is horrible, looks like the grin of the Cheshire cat. However, the narrow intake is much better, although I think it is a tad bit too small (about 1mm); still, it looks ok next to the Revell. On the plus side, the Academy is the only Viper kit in 1/72 that includes the holographic HUD that is standard on the Block 40/42s. For that reason alone, I felt I had no choice but to use it, rather than base it on the Revell kit which aside from the HUD also requires the bulged wheel covers, etc. The Academy also has much better fit than the Revell, with less fiddly bits to worry about, like the landing gear which can get tricky on the latter (I have yet to build a modern Revell kit that does not have some landing gear issues). Block 40/42 need strengthening plates, and these were taken from a vinyl set. The decals came from the Caracal sheet which is good... except for the fact that the walkway lines are too short. WAY too short, like 3-4cm more needed to cover the whole airframe. This is rather annoying, coming from a sheet that costs £13.99, it was not that hard to have added enough for two aircraft. I therefore had to mask the missing section (the part beneath the national insignia on the starboard rear fuselage) and paint with Gunze 36495. You won't be able to tell the difference unless you really really look (the painted line is slightly wider than its decaled opposite). Weapons came from the kit. Masking the JDAMs was a bit annoying but looks great in the end (note the instructions do not tell you that the tail of the JDAMs is usually grey too). The kit has a nice assortment of pods too. I left the aircraft with a satin-ish varnish even though it looks flat in the pictures. I need to find a way of replicating the metallic sheen seen on these birds... Finally, for some reason Academy does not want you to build this with an open cockpit, however, this is not too hard to arrange yourself, I was just too lazy and wanted to take pictures of it first. Later I'll find a way of leaving it open. Thanks for looking!

Hello all heres my entry for this build. Im going with Academy’s OV-10 Bronco. Im going to stick with the USMC Vietnam markings. Here are the obligatory boxtop and sprue shots. Boxtop ⬆️ Sprue shot ⬇️ As you can see its still all in plastic so the 25% wont be an issue. If i can change up and get a hold of VAL-4 Black pony or a VS-41 Shamrock decals. Then i will go US Navy. Enough for now see you in one week. Dennis