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Place holder for my entry. Last year I bought this Academy Gabreski duo P-47 and F-86: The Thunderbolt I will build as Dave Schilling’s last mount, a P47M without the fin fillet using these decals: The Sabre I am saving for next years STGB. AW

My Hurricane is entering a painting and decalling phase and I want to take my time letting each step cure because I am using Vallejo acrylics. So I'm considering my next project... inspired by @Brigbeale's restorations, and @rob Lyttle's Lockheed Ventura/Lodestar masterpieces. Gentlemen, any tips, tricks, and input most welcome. I will also be reviewing builds from @Ed Russell and some articles. Tony O'T was the king of the venturas. I now have four 1/72 minicraft Venturas that I have picked up second hand. This one is a partly-built 1/72 minicraft Ventura I got at a show for $5. The vendor tried to sell me on the fact that a "museum-quality" modeller had done most of the work for me but I told him I was going to take it apart anyway. The paint and seams look good but I want a 1942-era Ventura, freshly built, wearing TLS cammo, and turretless and gunless, snatched away from RAF delivery for the purpose of RCAF training at 34 OTU Pennfield. So this fellow needs to come apart and come clean! I want to make this one into the Ventura coded FY-F AE728 crash that my great uncle experienced while training (described elsewhere on BM). I'll remove the turret and cover the turret and astrodome holes, collapse starboard landing gear, open the escape hatch in the cockpit roof, and open the passenger door on the port side. . In the pic below some more issues... two identical pilot seats? Each with an ejector pin seat cushion? And a giant full bulkhead with a space-age circle in the middle? Nope nope nope. My Ventura needs less than half a bulkhead behind the pilot only, and only one seat. And a better seat. And seatbelts! Behind that would be the radio op position. I'll add that too. I've read crash reports and it's interesting to read the radio op witness statements. They sometimes have no clue about what's going on because they are tied up in the wireless training exercises. I'll need to do something about the nose. I need the windowed version. For some bizarre reason all four of my minicrafts are the USA version of the plane. Same with other ones I've seen in stores. All the RAF versions are being sold cheap down in America where shipping would cost me as much as all four kits together. Drives me crazy but there it is. I may try sawing off the noses and vacuforming new ones in clear. Unless there is a source of noses somewhere? Ah but shipping! I dunno. Does minicraft sell replacement noses I wonder? (for their alternative RAF / B34 Lexington versions) I sent Academy an email. We'll see what happens! Bomb bay is buttoned up. That's fine but it'll come apart anyway probably. In the background you see the tailplane pieces. I would like to cut out the rudders and elevators. I probably need to check on @rob Lyttle's work. Finally, what's this? Some creepy psychopath modeller trophy? No, it's phase 1. Soaking the pieces in water. Then I'll drain them and freeze them for a few days. If CA was used to glue them, supposedly this should help expand and break the bonds. Phase 2 will be handing the pieces over to my wife. She soaks 3d prints in IPA at work and she's due to replace the liquid soon. She'll toss the pieces into the stuff for a week maybe before sending the liquid on to be properly disposed of. I'll clean the stuff off at that point and see what's what. So why start with this one instead of the pristine ones? Something to learn on and just try everything without worrying about it. When my wife bought me the Revell Ventura last xmas (first kit in 40 years) I got so tensed up with perfectionism it really surprised me. Having extra copies helps! This one will proceed slowly as I need to see how well I can break apart and clean his thing first.

Well it's all a bit late but I'd like to enter these two: and: they are both relatively modern, state of the art kits. The Revell mould seems tired and has a lot of flash, particularly round the open cowling flaps: Revell correctly gets the gun alignment parallel to the ground, Academy doesn't. But the elephant in the room is the huge difference in fuselage depth: The Revell one (lighter plastic) has a huge belly. Now I don't know for sure (Academy is a -D, Revell is an -M) but I (and the Internet) think that may be a mistake on Revell's part. More digging required... Regards, Adrian

Some time ago, I can't remember if it was spring of 2021 or earlier, I started a 'quick' project involving a few T-6 builds: I like this subject a lot and already have a few built to which I wanted to add more. Unfortunately, as it often happens, this transformed in a lenghty/stalled/frozen project, mainly due to building kits of three different makes which had different issues to solve. In the end I had to face this as three separate builds to make some progress and here I am hoping to complete the whole project. The first iteration is an Heller T-6 in the last 'Red Chequers' livery, it is actually complete but for some reason I stopped before applying the final satin coat. Will have to remember the (surely good) reasons for that before doing anything and finding later why it was a mistake! While waiting for my brain cells to work on that, I present the second build, which is an Academy T-6 with the earlier 'Red Chequers' livery in silver/dayglo red and fern leaf roundels, also courtesy of a Ventura decal sheet. The third one for the moment I won't tell, just say it will be based on the Hobbyboss easykit. Cheers Fabio

Being currently a lot into Helos, it is almost inevitable that I come across the Boeing AH-64. Also, as it followed the AH-1 in the service of various armed forces and the related tenders around the world, it's only consequent it will follow it on my workbench. So it will be the Westland build incarnation of the AH-64, and Academy has a nice kit in 1/72 available, and since quite a while, me in my stash. It's this: It includes decals for the one Capt. Harry Wales, Prince of Sussex flew at RAF Cosworth Airshow in 2013, and I am tempted to do this. You know, a little bit of glamour on the shelf, not always just blunt plastic in olive drab without any personality, but some glitz of the real world red carpet airfields we so rare get close to. And here's the chance - what a rare occasion for us in the airplane section...

Evening all, after roughly 2.5 years my carrier deck diorama is done - just in time for SMW! It's an F/A-18C CAG aircraft from VFA-113 'Stingers', with the carrier deck based loosely on CVN-76 USS Ronald Reagan, circa 2005. Carrier deck is scratchbuilt, utilising the Flightpath US Navy Carrier Deck Diorama set. The Hornet is the Academy kit with much aftermarket (see build thread linked below), figures from Reedoak (4) and Scale 3D (1). The decals are from Superscale (set no. 72-904). The A/S32A-32 'Spotting dolly' and Nitrogen Trolley are fantastic little resin kits from Brengun. The LED lights in the hangar roof are ready-wired sets from Small Scale Lights - really glad I included these as they lend a nice realistic ambience (IMHO). The build thread is here if you are after more details. The diorama is called 'Hornet's Nest' - thanks again to @AlxBNE for the inspiration! Final pics below, hope you like them.

My other P-47 build will be of aircraft 42-8130, known as "Frankie". This Razorback operated in the Pacific, flown by Captain Samuel V. Blair, who scored 3 aerial victorious in this aircraft. Frankie was heavily damaged while landing in late '43, determined to be a lost and pushed off to the side at Hood Point Airfield, New Guinea. It was recovered in 1968, and despite initial plans for restoration, has been sold several times since. Most recently, this aircraft was bought by PIMA Air and Space Museum, where it will be restored. I've had the basic Academy 1/72 Razorback sitting around for a while, and figured this would be an excellent time to build it. Decals are by HGW Models

Good day, Here is my sixth submission for the year. This is the new(er) tooled Academy F-14B Tomcat. The highlights are as follows…………… 1. Colors / paints used : A. Engine - Tamiya Gun Metal X-10, Tamiya Metallic Gray XF-56, Polly Scale Burnt Aluminum dry brush highlights B. Airframe - Upper surface aft of cockpit : Mission Models Medium Gray (MMP-072) FS35237, Nose and undersides : Model Master Dark Ghost Gray FS36320, Wing Gloves : Model Master Euro 1 Gray C. Misc : Tamiya Flat Black XF-1, Gunze Flat White, Gunze Flat Yellow, Model Master Light Ghost Gray FS36375, Tamiya Khaki Drab XF-51, AK Buff #AK11031, Tamiya Titanium Silver X-32, Gunze Silver, Tamiya Filed Gray XF-65, Tamiya Clear Red & Blue, Tamiya Dark Iron XF-84, Gunze Burnt Iron D. Washes : Mig Stone Gray ( main panel lines on entire airframe ), Tamiya Brown, Tamiya Black, Vallejo Light Rust, Vallejo Light Gray 2. Kit decals 3. GBU-16`s from Hasegawa Weapons set #VI, AIM-7 & 9 from kit 4. Photo etched seat belts 5. Aluminum metal rod added for support of canopy 6. Master metal pitot and AOA tubes 7. Chalk pastels : black, mid gray, and light gray The fit between parts, details, and options are excellent. The included decals are very good. I often use aftermarket ejection seats but these included with the kit are superb. While there are a multitude of parts, I highly recommend this excellent kit. I enjoyed working on it very much and I`m certain you will too. Thank you in advance, Mike

Hi folks, I'm late to the party with this one I'm afraid. Times just got away from me and this STGB had crept up without me realising. Anyway, thank you to @Corsairfoxfouruncle and @81-er for the greenlight to throw my hat into the ring as I really wanted to enter something into this GB as the P-47 is one of my favourite warbirds. So after a root around in my stash, I decided to go for this one: I've made a start and good progress so far - pics to follow shortly. Hopefully I'll be able to get cracking and be able to get her finished in time as I'm not renowned for being the quickest of builders 🤞 Good luck to everyone with their builds too - looking forward to seeing them all in the gallery. Kris

Although I built one of these many, many years ago in my youth, this subject is outside my normal sphere of interest or knowledge. That said, who cannot love the lines of the Blackbird. I remember a TV programme many years ago about this aircraft, how the crew wore space suits and how fuel leaked wherever it stood, but it was all worth it for the performance. There really isn't much to this kit. Not that many parts, goes together without issue, and it looks the part to me. Painted with Vallejo, Humbrol, Revell, and Hataka acrylics.

Hey, looking at the rapidly growing built models clogging up my bookcase shelves, I thought to myself " I haven't got a proper APC, yes I have the Namer (big) and the Nagmachon (So many metal bars!) but not the legend that is the M113. So Jadlam it was, and with express next day delivery selected I was hoping to have it in my hands before the weekend, alas it's somewhere between Bristol and the North East and the Royal Mail tracking is useless. So here's the box art from their website. Hopefully it turns up tomorrow or at least before the weekend (first child free one since lockdown), I'm curious to see what it's like as Scalemates doesn't have much on and the instructions are for a different version, the figures will be a first for me. Will be right out of the box, no eduard etch sets for me (that's money I can use on the Merkava 4) and I should have enough of the AK paint left otherwise it's a trip to the Folks/Brother for a bit of light robbery. Hopefully an update soon.

In 2022 catalogue, Academy is to release a new tool 1/48th Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat - Battle of Midway - kit - ref. 12355 Despite rumours It won't be a rebox from the future Eduard F4F kits family (thread), dixit words from M. Vladimir Šulc, boss from Eduard–Model Accesorries ltd., as from M. Gustav Jung, boss from Wolfpack Design, who's close ties with Academy Hobby Model Kits - see here: link Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4666693050091873&set=pcb.4666695563424955 V.P.

IMG_4255 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr Following the early success of Germany’s Stuka dive bombers, the US Army decided that it had better get on the bandwagon and come up with a dive bomber of their own. Luckily, the US Navy and Curtiss were already well into the development of the “Helldiver” a then modern, large, single-engined carrier dive bomber. Curtiss had supplied the Army with three generations of Shrike attack aircraft since the 1920s, so it seemed a natural fit. The bean counters rejoiced too, this would be one of the first truly multi-service aircraft programs. However, transforming Curtiss’ bomber into a standardized jack of all trades for both services resulted in degraded performance through additional equipment and weight, delaying production for approximately two years, and exploding costs. By the time the aircraft, called the A-25A Shrike by the Army and the SB2C Helldiver by the Navy, was ready for acceptance, the Army had decided that it didn’t need a dive bomber at all. The P-47s had proven far more than capable in ground attacks. The initial variants used by the Navy were a disaster in combat, a fact that was rectified by a considerable Navy-only redesign. The A-25A never saw combat. Of the 900 built, around 500 were transferred to the Marines who used them in a few Pacific backwaters. The remainder ended up restricted from combat duty and were used as transports, trainers, and target tugs. A-25A serial number 42-79744 was assigned to the 3rd Target Tow Squadron at Fort Stewart Georgia. This and similar squadrons were notable in that they were almost entirely “manned” by women. “Kathie-M” was usually piloted by WASP Helen Wyatt Snapp, towing a large fabric panel to be used as a target by trainee fighter pilots, bomber gunners, and anti-aircraft artillery men. IMG_4190 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr My model started as Academy’s 1/72 Scale SB2C-5. A bit of work was required to change it into an A-25. A three blade prop was made from one provided by a Tamiya Corsair, the blades shortened and reprofiled. The spinner was made from a heavily modified one from the spares box. The wing armament and arrestor hook were removed and the gunner/radio station was modified: a gun mount was made with no guns and the life raft compartment was removed. Some other army specific details were added, some were left off as being more work than would be noticeable. Finally the aircraft was painted in Curtiss’ distinctive olive drab, medium green, and medium gray scheme with markings provided by Wolfpack Decals. IMG_4249 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4253 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4251 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

Hello colleagues! This is my first post in the armour section, I hope you'll like it. The previous Macchi C.202 was a challenge to finish because it is so delicate, this was rather a laborious kit to finish. For the main interior colours I used Humbrol 224 Dark Slate grey, and another Humbrol for the white, possibly Humbrol Ivory. The mechanical parts are gun metal + aluminium dry brush, and as a finish PLW Deep Brown wash. The shells are painted with Humbrol 54 brass metallic. For the main exterior colours I used: Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow, Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown and Tamiya Dark Green XF-61. The model is stock, but it was lacking interior decals so I bought Archer Fine transfers decals: German 88mm ammo stencils and Panther and Tiger stencils (for interior). I kept weathering and damage to a minimum, I do not have much experience in that anyway. I wanted a tank in a nice condition albeit oily, the wash is PLW Deep Brown. There is no varnish on this one, just paint. Here is the Google album with all the pictures.

Answer Plastic Kits is to release 1/48th Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50/TA-50 Fighting Eagle/Golden Eagle kits. Release is expected in the Summer 2023. This kit will be based on the Academy's KAI T-50 Golden Eagle original kit with new injected plastic parts (no resin). Source: https://www.facebook.com/Answerkits/posts/pfbid037MHsRTQnB1XfmHg65qQWkb1CAifqTK2hSbQb5dxDmRb3jzFQ2ALCrVb9TWTXBXoil - ref. AA48021 - KAI FA-50 Fighting Eagle - Polish AF & RoKAF - ref. AA48022 - KAI T-50 Golden Eagle - Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand AF V.P.

Hiya I have decided to try this F-14A. I know it has it's flaws and fit issues, oh well. I couldn't afford the Tamiya. Fun will be had and satisfaction gained. 🤓

Academy has just reboxed/reissued the Minicraft 1/144th Boeing E-3G AEW&C Sentry/AWACS kit under ref. 12629 Sources: https://www.hpd.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1625_1642&products_id=72336 https://mmzone.co.kr/mms_tool/mt_view.php?mms_db_name=mmz_free&no=397759 V.P.

Well another seadog going back to the land having been relegated to the kitchen table for any form of modelling I went back to the Old Academy kit just to keep building while the rest of the family have taken over my house and model room. Already built and base coated the main easy 8 now have to add the Dozer and crew with stowage just to keep me sane between all the decorating for the daughter's new house. Stay Safe beefy

This is my complete model of Academy's M1151, painted with Tamiya lacquers and weathered with oils and pigments.

it seems to be the same plastic as the OIF kit with new decals: http://www.academy.co.kr/eng/1p/1p_plaview.asp?pView=PLA0000001&pCode=849&pScale=SCALE00002

Thanks Stephen ! 👍 Rumour: there's a new tooling 1/48th Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II in the pipe line. Candidates: Wolfpack Design (too big kit for such a small producer IMO), Academy (dubious as not mentionned in the catalogue 2021, but in 2022 as the rumour source is M. Gustav Jung from Wolfpack Design who has close ties with Academy), Great Wall Hobby (is supposed working on a new tool 1/48th F-14 family, but considering the numerous new tool kits from the Tomcat... So why not a A-10), AFV-Club (after the 1/48th U-2...), Meng (after the 1/48th F/A-18E...), Kinetic (a surprise kit like the 1/48th (T)F-104, Wolfpack Design - so M. Jung - being the Kinetic distributor in Korea). All bets are off. Source: Reid Air Publications Facebook page. If you go to the link about the new A-10C decal sheet, there's a comment from Gustav Jung (aka Mr. Wolfpack Design - link) about a new tool 1/48th Thunderbolt II kit - see herebelow. https://www.facebook.com/177633712268219/posts/4024256017605950/ V.P.

First announced Academy reboxing scheduled for release in January 2023 - ref. 12353 - Vought F4U-4 Corsair - Battle of Chosin Reservoir Sources: https://1999.co.jp/eng/10935104 https://mmzone.co.kr/mms_tool/mt_view.php?mms_db_name=mmz_review&no=38038 http://www.interallied.co.jp/release/2022/11/13489 V.P.

Academy is to release a 1/72nd KAI KF-21 Boramae kit - ref. 12585 Sources: https://mmzone.co.kr/mms_tool/mt_view.php?mms_db_name=mmz_info&no=378735 https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid05vADP7ySDLhkBhzp6ypqkzwhwTJmtdVAXHdGZfZvtgnH9fpDXTDZmk2vk9ay1v6zl&id=100012407280698 V.P.

Built pretty much from the box, swapped the top .30 turret for a Sherman split hatch cuppola and left-off the tool boxes from rear. Paints are all Tamiya acrylics mixed by eye to 'try' and make the SCC13 Jungle Green. I've no idea what colour the earth is in Mandalay Burma, so mixed up some Mig Farm Soil & Vietnam Earth pigments and hoped for the best... Decals are by Star (35-C-1120) for a vehicle of the 3rd Carabiniers, 245th Indian Tank Brigade in Spring '45. Please feel free to make any comments or suggestions. All the best from New Zealand. Ian.

Hi all I'd like to join with this 1/200 scale kit from Academy please. It's a simple kit, but the parts are nicely moulded. The decals look nice too, although I'll only be using the windows. The kit comes without any undercarriage and is intended to built built 'wheels up' (a stand is provided). A previous owner of my kit was obviously intending to fit an undercarriage using gear from some other aircraft (definitely not a B-17), and has ground away the retracted wheel from one wing. As I'll be going back to the 'in flight' pose, I'll need to reinstate the missing wheel. Keen to build an RAF aircraft, I've been looking for some suitable schemes and come across the decal sheet for 241 (MET) Squadron, based in Iceland. I'm attracted by the nose art (is this unusual on RAF Forts?), in particular 'Hekla Hettie' (I know an annoying cat called Hettie). Here's a link to the decal sheet. I'll need to recreate these markings in 1/200. Otherwise, the only modification that I think I'll need to make is to remove the ventral ball turret. I'm no expert though, so please do set me straight if necessary . Cheers