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@vaoinas's Kettenkrad this is not. I built the Tamiya 1/35 OOB many years ago, long before I imagined all that could be accomplished with such a small kit. Now I've got a 1/72 version. Might add some pedals and levers for the driver, rework the engine a bit and arrange for an opening engine cover. Looks like painting the rubber blocks on the tracks might prove interesting...... Anyway, lets see where this one goes...................................... As always, comments, criticism and advice welcome.

Completed for the F-15 Eagle 50th group build. USAF McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle USAF 91-0603 494th 48th FW D-Day Heritage Jet - Lakenheath 2019. This was a very good excuse to add a locally based F-15E to go with a few other East Anglian based fast jets from over the past 60 odd years. I chose this as I never managed to snap a photo of this airframe with the yellow tails, but managed to get the other two. I hope one day someone produces decals for the 493rd F-15C with the blue tails. I don't know if it's true but story goes that each of the three sqaudron jets got the wrong colour tails. If that's not true then I'd like to know why. The 494 is red, 493rd yellow & the 492nd are all well known as to be blue respectively. Academy 1/72 F-15E kit (most recent) version. Really nice & fine surface detail for a 1/72 kit with plenty of pop together style contact joints. The whole kit can't be classed as a push together toy like kit as there's plenty of parts that do need glueing, but the engineering tolerances are such that is doesn't need any filler which is heaven for me. No filling sanding & cleaning up. All the decals went on really well apart from the nose checker band which I sliced up to make sure it extended all the way round the nose. that meant I had to touch up with some red & white paint. Early on in the build I really wanted to pose the canopy up with some human element going on but discovered that anything integral to tha canopy like the central brace & the rear canopy deck are actually moulded into the top of the cockpit which meant I would have had to do some unnecessary carving & chopping to extract the canopy brace from the top of the central coaming between the two seats. I did use two Aires ejection seats & the Aires jet nozzle set for this particular Academy kit which meant a lot of plastic had to be removed to accept the resin nozzle tubes into the rear. Paints used were Ammo Mig & Vallejo Metal Color. Intake blanks were scratch made out of thick sheet plasticard & downscaled the 494th Panthers logo. Just paper stuck onto the red painted blanks with white canopy glue. Extinguisher & the maintenance steps are from the Hasegawa ground crew set. I might still attach the bombs.. just hadn't initially got round to it as the 494th don't normally send their jets up fully loaded. Many thanks for looking! Martin

A Holger Dansk for the 21st century...a protector for Denmark! This was built as part of the Nordic GB, with some great models being built over there. This was the Academy kit, with Hataka Blue line Have Glass paint (Tamiya Xf77 for the counter shade of grey) and Lima November decals to make L-001, the first Danish F-35 currently based at Luke AFB in the US. A very good kit; perhaps just pipped by the Hasegawa kit (although you do get weapons bay in the academy kit and weapons) it is also much much cheaper, so will probably stick with this kit for future projects. Getting a good feeling of hygge with this...it just went right, if you know what I mean!

Evening all, having had this drop through the letter box today I thought I'd join in with this GB! Alone among the operating nations (aside from a test Isreali F-35 I think), the Danes are applying full colour (very almost- the white of the roundel is actually a very light grey) roundels, which look very smart! My first Danish model (I'd love decals for their Have Glass painted F-16s), I am marrying the Vingtor designed decals with the Academy kit and Eduard masks. My reading is that on balance, the Academy kit is probably the favoured option. Having built the Hasegawa, Italeri and Orange Hobby kits I'll have a chance to compare and contrast. In the meantime on with the modern day Holger Dansk, protector of Denmark! 🇩🇰

I love the colour schemes of the jolly rogers vf84 f-14a's of the 70s and 80s I'm building the academy 72nd kit ,i have a hobbyboss B , and the amk D, both in the stash in 48th but i can't be sure I'd get either finished in the allotted time scale of the gb,but the academy 72nd has a bit more of a chance at crossing the line though, it looks a great little kit ,very detailed, also if anyones interested it looks as though you can build at least a B and maybe a D from the box , there looks to be all the parts there. (to me at least) inc a litening pod, amongst other bits Although the kit decals are by cartograph and look superb, I'm still drawn to a vf 84 Hi-vis "A" aftermarket set, i also have quickboost resin seats, and mask set , but in the stash there's a pair of 72nd f-14 resin pilots too and I'm tempted to do an inflight model, I'll decide when the time comes

Hi all, back again with another fighter build I've been after an F-22 kit for some time, having previously owned an Italeri from back in the early 2000s. Needless to say, the outcome on it wasn't stupendous, lol So, having seen some decent reviews about the Academy entry, I managed to snag one for a birthday. After much research into how to paint the thing, and an attempt to get the scheme as real as possible, I finally took the dive into building and painting it. The build itself wasn't too bad, although there were some very minor fit issues. Primarily in the weapon bays, which frustrated me enough that I just decided to close them up. That of course resulted in a bit of a fitting problem with making the bay doors flush with the fuselage, and a significant amount of sanding. Unfortunately, it wasn't flawless, but worked well enough. Painting instructions were mostly straight forward but the intakes and the sizing of the Light Ghost Grey around them was left ambiguous, resulting in a little bit of a cramped decal placement on the port side. Overall, I'm pleased with how the paint scheme came out. The Raptor seems to be notoriously difficult to match up with the real thing in colours and finish. My research led to me applying a combo of Aggressor Grey and Mod Eagle grey, mixed with Aluminium, for the camo. Initially, this didn't look correct. The aggressor looked too warm a colour, and the mod eagle was barely discernible. So I made an adjusted top mix of Mod Eagle + Aluminium + 2 drops of Gun Metal + 2 drops of Flat Blue. Initially I thought it would come out a little too blue, but by gently applying it over the mod eagle camo patches, it worked out better than expected. It even had some metallic sheen, although the varnish layers knocked this down a little. Strangely, a small amount of crazing appeared around the edges of the intakes after the Light Ghost Grey was applied over some Ultimate Primer that had dried. Bit confused about that. Overall, happy with the result, even if the upper roundel silvered a little (not entirely sure how it happened on the gloss surface on only one half of it). The panel wash of medium grey worked out nicely in giving it a bit of a brownish tint, which shows up on the real planes when they look a little worse for wear. Biggest annoyance was realising I'd left out the ejection handle after installing the canopy, despite having put a piece of tape next to the handle on the sprue to remind myself. Anyway, enough muttering, time for pics Thanks for looking Gaz

Last summer I bought Academy's 1/72 P-51B during a visit to Canada, and subsequently painted it before realizing I didn't really know what markings I wanted to put on it. Since then, it sat back in it's box. Over the past few weeks, I've started to go back through unfinished kits so that I can finally get them done. Using some Swedish roundels that came from a Microscale Texan sheet, I decided to finish the P51B as J-26 #26001, the first Mustang in Swedish service. The aircraft came into Swedish hands after an American pilot landed it there in the spring of 1944. The '16' on either side of the fuselage has been added since the photo was taken, courtesy of a Foxbot P-40 Stencil Sheet. The shape isn't exact, but I don't care to spend anything to get it closer. I went light on the stencils this time as most of the ones in the kit weren't legible. Paint is Tamiya Khaki over Vallejo Neutral Gray. Brush painting with Tamiya isn't easy, but I think it gave this one a decent weathered look. Prop and landing gear are all mostly painted and awaiting a few decals and touch ups. Hopefully this will be done by the end of the week. Thanks, Tweener

Hi all, I haven't gone very far with this kit in the just finished P-40 GB, so if it is OK, I would like to join the KUTA XII GB to try and have it finished before February!!!! Here is what I achieved in the course of the P-40 GB. Very little, if truth be told. I have done bit more work on the kit since my last post in the GB, so I am quite confident I can finish it by February. Will post more photos in a day or two. Cheers. JR

Hello every one. This is my latest build for a dear friend who is a Marine. These Academy kits are absolute jewels, fun to build, very little sanding and filling, and a wide range of options. I'm even thinking of taking a crack at Academy's Big 1/32 scale of this same jet. This is a war weary CAG Bird from its 2007 deployment to Afghanistan. The base is from Coastal Kits and represents Kandahar Air Base. Well, on to the pics! Semper Fi!

*** Slightly better photos added Feb 2021 *** Still struggling to get really good snaps of this big bird but at least the lighting is a better in the photobox. Enjoy! Hi all, photos of my finished Academy 1/72 B-29, sorry for the distinctly mediocre picture quality, haven't really figured out how to photograph big models like this... The scheme is "Celestial Queen" with decals from warbirds and I also added the Eduard etch set. She's painted with various shades of Alclad - it was a bit of a battle at times as I was pretty much learning how to airbrush and how to do NMF as I went along. I enjoyed detailing the cockpit and scratch built a few bits and pieces like a lamp, map and headphones for the radio operator. The front of the fuselage is held on with little magnets so you can take it off to see the detail inside (looks better in real life than in the photos!). This works quite well but if I was doing it again I'd make the whole upper half come off so the joins appear along panel lines rather than on top. I also put quite a lot of effort into the bomb bay with doors open and all those bombs to decal! It took me most of 2018 to get done but in the end I'm really happy with it and it looks pretty cool alongside the B-17 with matching red wing tips! I learned absolutely loads along the way, thanks to those who provided help and encouragement, the WIP is here: Enjoy!

Hello All It has been a while since i post here something, so here it is..my recently finished F-84G Thunderjet of the Portuguese Air Force 1953 of the first 25 received via MDAP These Thunderjets formed the 20 squadron ,the first equipped with Jets..and many of them ended their lives fighting in Africa....but thats another story.🙂 It´s the Academy 1/72 kit painted with AK´s extreme metal ,used eduard´s photoetch and decals from various sources. Enjoy, regards from Portugal FBorges

Morning all, here is my entry to the B17 GB. It’s Academy’s SB 17 kit (with a box that opens correctly requiring no modification😉) As you can see I shall be improving the wheels with the assistance of Eduard and also using a slightly stronger undercarriage courtesy of Scale Aircraft Conversions, apart from that though it’ll be all Academy’s finest plastic. I’ll do some shots of that as I build it rather than one large one here. So what was the SB17 and who is Pop Pop? Firstly Academy sum up the SB17 quite nicely on the instructions Onto Pop Pop, well he is my Wife’s Grandad and towards the end of WW2 he joined the Army Air Force as a pilot and started flying the PT 17, no sooner had he started the war in Europe finished and so the requirement for pilots reduced and he was re-trained as a radio operator/waist gunner on the B17 and as part of this he got to float around in the sea waiting for these boats to be dropped for training and testing as the system was developed. Alas before he was signed off operationally the war in the Pacific finished and he spent his whole time training in the states. At the time he was upset like the rest of his course, looking back he reckons he had one lucky escape. He talks fondly about the B17 and the PT17. For his 85th Birthday he got to fly in one again at Fantasy of Flight near Orlando, not to far from where he now lives. A while back I built him a PT 17 in the old Army colours he remembered and he has it on a wooden pole next to his TV, not too sure how to get this from Merry Old England (as he loves to call it) but that’s a problem for another day! I’ll fish out some photos of him in the Stearman for later on in the build, until then looking forward to getting started on this beauty! Cheers for now Graham

Hi all This is my latest model finished. P-40C 33RD PURSUIT SQUADRON USA, 1941 Model improved with full scratch built interior, add new wheels from my spare parts box. Added new machine guns and new pitot from syringe needles. Painted mostly using Tamiya and Gunze aqueous Hobby Colours acrylics. Camouflage: Undersurfaces Grey FS 36440 = Tamiya XF-80 overall plus added a few drops of white XF-2 for highlights. Upper-surfaces US Olive Drab FS 34087 = Gunze H52 overall plus added a few drops of white H1 for highlights. Decals: FCM Decals 72-22 P-40 Galore plus spares for propeller's stencils. I had issues with the upper wing decals when trying to make them to conform to kit's surface, tried Gunze's Mr Marker Fit and it almost dissolved the decal completely. I had to try to fix as best as I could but didn't end perfect as I intended. Conclusion: Overall the kit is very basic and have some major mistakes. It's aimed for very beginner modellers. Serious modellers should by the Airfix new tool. PS: After looking the photos I've noticed I've missed the rear windows, it's now been fixed. Cheers! PS: Critics and comments are always very welcomed!

The kit from the Academy, on the semi-trailer is the Churchil tank, as part of the US-GB support. It's an older kit and it was a lot of work.

Good evening Today I started another Academy tempest and I will represent this one in the colours of the aircraft used by the famous french Ace Pierre Closterman during his short period with the 56 Squadon in April 1945 Some readings I placed the PE Eduard belts on the seat I also placed the Eduard Instrument panel on its support and placed it on the right fuselage half I painted the wheel whells , landing gear legs .. Patrice

Good afternoon For my first build in this Gb I will build the Academy Hawker Tempest http://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/previews/acad/1669.htm I will represent one of the aircraft used by Regis Deleuze a young french pilot who scored 8 V1 kills whith the Sqn 501 between august 7 and december 18 1944 . Three days after arriving at 274 Squadron on february 22 1945 Flight Lieutenant Deleuze was shot down by the german Flak at Werkhoven near Bunnik, the Netherlands . Patrice

Good afternoon My 2nd build for this Gb is the T6G Academy http://www.internetmodeler.com/1999/june/first-looks/academy_t-6.htm I am going to use the Prinstcaledecals sheet https://www.scalemates.com/kits/951907-print-scale-72-151- to represent an aircraft used by the 6147 TCG in Korea in 1953 . I am replacing the seats by Pavla resin and the engine by a Radial Engines and Wheels one Some books This morning I started to work on the seats and engine And on the instrument panels Patrice

When I was very young, building airplane kits using only tube glue and whatever decals were included in the kit (paint? who needs paint?), I remember reading in the newspaper about how the President had revealed the US was flying a super-secret, super-fast spy plane. Not long afterward, Revell released a model of the SR-71, which I bought from my local hobby store and quickly glued together. I built one or two others over the years, my last one probably some time in the 1970s. By then I had graduated to using putty and rattle-can paint, but that's about as far as my skills had progressed. Since getting back into the hobby over the past few months, I've learned a lot of new techniques on this forum and have been pretty happy with my last few builds. So here I am about to try them out on the 1/72 Academy SR-71A Blackbird: Aftermarket items that I plan on using are shown below: My god -- This is a big airplane even in 1/72 scale! Although the parts count is relatively small, I foresee a couple of challenges already. First, the wheel wells (especially for the nose gear) are much too shallow. Fortunately (?) the Eduard PE addresses this, but it involves building a new bay from PE; we'll see how that goes.... The second challenge is the paint job. What??? (you might say), it's all black, what could be easier? Well, black can be notoriously difficult to make look right, and after viewing some photos of the actual aircraft I've found that the Blackbird typically had a heavily weathered appearance. Judge for yourself from the pics below: In my last build (Italeri's A-6E Intruder, see the RFI here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235027369-a-6e-intruder-italeri-172/ ) I focused on learning how to realistically weather modern US Navy jets, which are in theory gray overall but in reality have many different shades of gray (50? LOL!) due to weathering, sun bleaching, anti-corrosion touch-ups, etc.). I'm thinking I can use these same techniques on the Blackbird, but with black instead of gray. Wish me luck!

To view my build please click on the links below - I don't use photo sharing sites. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0YTyzb37wqFSmRRZTBNdldubXRzLWJYOWZqSS1aUFZDblFn https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0YTyzb37wqFZGpPclRpLURxS09fSW96WlF0bUN6UmI3RC1v The kit is built straight out of the box, I used the Kits World 1/72 OV-10 Bronco decal sheet, I lost the lettering and numbers - They curled and tore on removal from backing sheet, so had to make my own decal replacements. The canopy was probably the most difficult part of an otherwise and enjoyable build. Comments appreciated and any help as to how to prevent my decal disaster welcome.

Good afternoon, Can anyone help me? I am building an Academy 1/72 OV-10 Bronco kit and wish to use the Kits-World 1/72 decal sheet for it using the Indonesian decals option. Clarification sought: The decal sheets suggests a color scheme of field green and light gull gray, but, online sources show the 3 tone color scheme, which is correct please? Thanks all.

Submitted for your inspection is Academy's 1/72 Fw190 A6/A8 kit, done up as Ltn. Karl-Heinz Koch's well-used 'Blue 9' of JG 5 'Eismeer,' Herdla, Norway, in the spring of 1945. Build was strictly out-of-box save for cannon barrels from brass tubing and aerial wire from stretched sprue. I liked the kit quite a bit, but there were a few minor annoyances: the fuselage cannon cowling is a bit too narrow for the fuselage, and some of the molded access cover latches are too prominently raised---I'll take them down a bit next time I do one. (I have several of these in the 'pile.') Camouflage done in home-made mixes of Tamiya acrylics. Decals a mix of Print-Scale, which behaved themselves for the most part, and the Academy kit ones, which were typically miserable to try to get to lay down. I realized after the fact that the spinner spiral goes in the wrong direction, but that was the only workable decal I had to do it with. Comments, criticisms and accusations of diminished capacity cheerfully accepted. Enjoy!

Another GB? Oh, go on then. Herewith my entry. Academy's 1/72 Razorback to be built with the LPS Hobby 'Thunderbolts in SEAC' decals, which are printed by Microscale. The kit comes with only one each of two types of external fuel tank, for the centreline pylon, so I'll try and find a proper pair for the wing pylons. If not it will have to do without, but apart from that and decals (and shortening the over-long undercarriage) it should be OOB ish. I picked the kit up at the 2013 Scale ModelWorld for £6:50 and the decals about six months ago from evilbay. I actually opened the sealed bag with the sprues in it for the photo. This will not be the first in the gallery, so be patient with me.

Good morning My 2nd build for this Gb is the A37 Dragonfly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_A-37_Dragonfly Last Week end I started the Academy kit https://www.scalemates.com/kits/103896-academy-1663-a-37b-dragonfly I am using Pavla seats and an Eduard Zoom set to detail the cockpit I prepared the seats and instrument panel I also worked on some other parts : I painted the undecarriage and the well landing gear in white , the interior of the cockpit in grey etc.. Patrice

Hi, Here is my Corsair in RNZAF markings. Thanks for looking Cheers Plasto

Good afternoon all Let me present you another entry in this Gb : the Mustang in the recco version used by the Groupe de reconnaissance 2/33 Savoie during the last months of the war and until 1953 .. To replace the Spitfire of the GR 2/33 Savoie The Armée de l'air received in January 1945 from the Us depots in the Uk around 27 Mustang of various version B C D and even a K model , these aircraft were equipped with cameras for aerial reconnaissance hence the designation F6 but they were also equipped with guns in case they met german fighters .. The pilots said that the Mustang was the best tactical reconnaissance aircraft in 1944-1945 they also praised it for its comfort , range and the reliability of the K22 (the photo camera that equipped the F6 ) .. Only 2 aircraft were lost due to ennemy aircraft .. After the end of the war they continue in the Recconnaissance role and were only retired in 1953 .. I am going to build the Academy model to represent this model Or this one with the Bubbletop canopy Using the Model Art decals sheet https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MA7230 Patrice