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What are the different types of filters on sprue A, parts numbered 15, 16 and 19? Which one of them is the tropical filter, Vokes is it called? And did the Finnish Gladiators have some kind of local filter attached? On some photographs and profile pictures there seems to be nothing protruding under the cowling, does it mean that they lacked the filter?

Here's my 1/72 Airfix Buccaneer built as S.2B XW987 of the A&AEE. I've built it as depicted in a few photos I found online of this aircraft in 1992, with a buddy refuelling pod on one wing and a slipper tank on the other. The decals are from 26 and the buddy pod, towel-rail antenna and wingtip cameras are 3D printed. The build thread is in the Prototypes, Racers, Research, Record Breakers and Special Schemes group build here together with my build of a Buccaneer development aircraft, XK527. and one shot of the two Buccs together: thanks for looking Julian

Here's my 1/72 Airfix Buccaneer built as XK527, one of the original NA.39 development aircraft that was progressively modified throughout its life, ending up in S.2D standard. I've built it as it was in the latter stages of its life as an S.2D used by Hawker Siddeley at RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor for Sea Eagle trials. The decals are from Kits-World and the Sea Eagles are from Air-Graphics, and the nose probe and extra pitot (on the starboard wing) were 3D printed. The build thread is in the Prototypes, Racers, Research, Record Breakers and Special Schemes group build here together with my build of XW987, a raspberry ripple S.2B. thanks for looking Julian

Gidday All, as I said in my post in the chat section I originally intended to do a scratch built Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah in 1/600 scale, then my son gave me an Airfix kit of the aircraft in 1/72. And as I said, decisions, decisions. As I couldn't decide I've decided (a decision!) to do both. Here is the kit my son gave me:- I won't be doing her in these colours though. Many images of the aircraft show her to be brown or green. I'm not too pedantic of the shades of the colours and I've got both in stock, but which to do, brown or green? Decisions, decisions. Why not do one of each! But should the big plane be brown and the small plane green or the other way round? Decisions, decisions. I ran this by SWMBO who came up with the brilliant idea of tossing a coin. So heads/brown and tails/green. Or perhaps the other way round? Decis . . . Oh shut up Jeff! I'll decide on Saturday. As an aside, I think the box art is a little inaccurate regarding actual combat situations. As I've read yesterday the Mitsubishi Ki-46 was designed as a recon aircraft that could fly high and very fast, making interception by enemy fighters very difficult. They carried a lot of fuel but no armour, and only a single rear-firing machine gun for defense. Late in the war some were converted to shoot down B-29 bombers. In this role they carried a pair of 20mm cannon in the nose and an upward-inclined 37mm cannon in the fuselage. Their performance in this role was adequate but only just. The airframe wasn't built to take the recoil of the 37mm and without armour and self-sealing fuel tanks the B-29 gunners shot them out of the sky. Anyway, enough of me rattling on. Stay safe, and see you Saturday. Regards, Jeff.

Hello folks, for this GB I will be attempting two submissions, the primary one being the 1/72 Airfix Nimrod converted to AEW3 standard using the Cammett set. Begun in the 1970's, the Nimrod AEW3 (Airborne Early Warning) programme has gone down in history as one of the worst examples of British defence procurement (and that's saying something!), with around £1b in 1980's money being spent with little to show for it at the end. The AEW requirement was initially met by converting the venerable Shackleton, while the Nimrod AEW development suffered technical problems, changing requirements, and appalling management. With the plug finally pulled, the RAF adopted the E-3D Sentry, being brought into service in 1991. The base kit: The Cammett set, purchased direct from the manufacturer when it first came out. I will also be using the Model Alliance decals that covered the AEW airframes - I'll be doing the Light Aircraft Grey and White scheme: For references I have 'The Nimrod - Mighty Hunter' by Andy Evans and Modern Combat Aircraft #24 on the Nimrod by John Chartres. Both have some decent photos and details on the AEW variant. I'm looking forward to getting this beast underway and finally adding it to my shelf! Mike

Hi guys, some photos of my SWIFT FR5, Airfix 1/72 built for my friend... box model with added Eduard photo-etched dedicated. ciao Silvano

Hello Everyone, I would like to join with a skyhawk. I started this kit back a while, but I don't think it's more than 25% done. (Mods feel free to let me know.) My build will be mostly OOB, apart from what I can gather around the Internet on these birds. Been looking forward to this GB. Moe

Now that I have wrapped up my Group Build commitments for 2021 I have time on my hands until the next round of insanity in 2022. 19 days, to be precise. Plenty of time to work a bit on my 19 Squadron Project. For those of you who don't know, I became interested in 19 Squadron last year and have been slowly building their aircraft. It was during the Hawk STGB when I built the commemorative aircraft in the Spitfire colours. So it began...Now I have some time, etc...here's what I have to work with... I know 19 Sq didn't fly the F3. I have done a bit of research and aside from some internal differences (avionics/motor) there is no huge external differences between the F1/2 and the F3. Except the tail fin. Here are two nice profiles that I did not draw or paint myself but rather took from Wings Palette. I am not sure of their original provenance. I have resampled the images to show the copyright information as we do here on The Forum...Clavework Graphics. I think I can adjust the fin on the Airfix kit to replicate the F/2 I wish to build. The decals are from Model Alliance, Electric Lightnings Part 4. Sprue... If you look closely you can see I have already marked out what I need to do with the fin at the bottom of the image. Looks good to me! --John

The last three months have been somewhat of a rollercoaster. We've become grandparents; endured 11 weeks of hard lockdown; purchased a new home; moved from NSW to ACT while negotiating a kaleidoscope of permits and exemptions to travel lockdown rules; I've chosen this time as a good one to change jobs (and career direction, no less); and now made it through 14 days of hotel quarantine. Whew! I planned to do some modelling in quarantine and accordingly brought a basic assembly tool kit. I chose two kits to build, a Dragon 1/48 Ta 152H-1 and an Airfix 1/72 Dakota III which will be the subject of this WIP. As it turned out, I didn't get as much modelling done as I thought and indeed only made some progress on the Ta 152. Most of its major assemble is complete and I'll complete that later, after the Dakota. Those that followed along with my previous Dakota build to commemorate the "Flying Nightingales" will have read about my intention to build the same airframe's markings once it had been passed on to the RCAF. To do this, I needed to create and get printed some customer decals and they finally arrived from the US a few weeks ago, albeit to an address I wasn't allowed to go to in locked down Sydney. However, I persuaded someone to mail them for me and as you can see below, they're now in my possession and look pretty good. Construction will begin shortly, and while this WIP has potential to be a bit of a repeat of the previous, I will try to bring in a bit more of the history of this airframe to keep it interesting. *Hint* - there may be one more build in this series! Cheers; Mark.

Realizing I didn't have an all black Mosquito in the Mosquito collection, I chose to do the old Airfix kit in all its raised rivet and panel line glory. The all black scheme is the first Mosquito I ever remember as a child so I thought the choice of the old Airfix kit appropriate. An Aires Night Fighter cockpit, bulged tires and my own vac canopy. My attempt at gray panel lines failed but in the end I got my all black Airfix Mosquito. Only lightly weathered with exhaust streaks as she appeared during testing. Drilled holes through the wings and used thin steel wire for the various antenna. Of course there are much better Mossies out there but I wanted the old Airfix. I'll do a Tamiya Tamorrow.

Hi everyone, this is a kit I will definitely build, but at a later date during the course of this GB. There are a couple of other kits I need to finish before I can start this one. Anyway, here is the victim: I did the model on the box art last year during the BoB GB. This time I have set my heart on the 109 E-4 of the Staffelkapitan of 9/JG 26. This Staffel sported the spectacular red griffon on the fuselage. I can tweak some X-Tradecals transfers to get the correct plane. In addition, as I have had the following bits and pieces for a long time, I may as well use them on this build. Cheers and have fun everybody. JR

I have been on and off this build for around a year and half. Every time I felt I was close to done I would screw up something and came close to making it a paint mule a few times if not trashing it. The discontinued Airfix kit has some nice detail in parts and is puzzlingly lacking in others. I scavenged my spares box to try and overcome some deficiencies and before I screw it up again by overcorrecting, I think this is good enough and will call it done. Apart from bits and bobs from the spares box, since I was building an Indian Navy bird, I used Magic Matra missiles from an old Heller Mirage 2000 and used my pin vise hand drill to make holes in the tailpipes of the missiles. Colors, wash and clear coat are Tamiya. The decal instructions said that this airplane, IN618, was heavily weathered by 2005 and the extra dark sea gray had worn down to a dark sea gray. Decals are a mix of the ones that came with the kit and Model Alliance Indian Navy SHAR decals though the roundels are from the Italeri SHAR boxing. This build could have been better but for my overcorrections and impatience. Regardless, I hope y'all like it. I do hope the new tool SHAR from Airfix out in the winter is much better. I have high expectations. LLAP

The stork-like Henschel 126 as minted by Airfix in their old (1977 original release, according to Scalemates) 1/72 kit. OOB with no corrections (say, to the plank-thickness bomb fin ring), few additions other than tape harnesses and aerial lines from EZ-Line. I thought it looked good in the kit-suggested desert colors.

Here some pictures of my recently completed Airfix F-2H Banshee in 1/72. The model is effectively built straight out of the box as intended. It is actually a very neat little kit with some very fine detail on the landing gear for example. Only real changes I made was to re-scribe the fine raised panel lines (many a fine zoom meeting was spent re-scribing while listening to others’ need for self-aggrandizing bog….). Also I replaced the canopy with a Falcon vac-formed one as the original one had a rather obvious and severe crack in it. The model actually is a restored kit as it is one of the early kits that I built, when I got into this hobby just after starting school, hence there were some parts that needed a bit of re-building or replacing. Fortunately, I never applied the decals, and I still had them in perfect condition. From my research the fin tip should be light blue and, not red, as the instructions tell. Otherwise, the decals and instructions are really spot on. Some weathering was applied as carrier borne aircraft tend to weather fast, but I did not want to overdo it and rather have the model just feature the nice dark blue scheme with contrasting white markings. R

Hello all, this is just a place-holder at the moment for my build for this 'Less than a Tenner' GB. I have decided the first subject will be the Airfix Sopwith Pup, I have had it a long time, but I cannot recall when I did buy it, but it was when Airfix were doing a 'Buy one, get one Free' promo. That is good news, because however much I paid for this or the DH4 I bought at the same time, in reality it only cost half that. I have done some research though, and I found that in this magazine... ...there is this advert from MIL Slides... ... which shows the Pup in 1988 was £1.75. This is the boxing I have, the kit is moulded in the cream plastic, and looks very sharp and crisp: As I had some of the £10 left over, I hunted for some transfers and found something suitably subdued for this drab workhorse... ... and they cost me £5.00 from Hannants this week: ... so that makes £6.75 in total, and even adding 75p for the postage is still under budget. This morning and afternoon I was hunting through all my other Windsock Magazines trying to find an article that I remembered about improving the Pup. I looked through three times but could I find it? No. Then, I tried the fourth and final time, and lo! there it was. So any more upgrades to this will be scratch built (if I do any) except for the rigging which will probably be InfiniModel rigging thread which has not been bought for this but is helping me out with a Felixstowe I am doing in another GB. Hopefully I will get started soon, I have two GB's on the go at the moment but this will start soon. All the best everyone with your builds! Ray

I've been a bit distracted of late, but hopfully i shall get a bit more modelling time for multiple builds if i keep things simple, and this gb fits the bill , I'll be building airfix's 72nd scale gnat t.1 in its yellowjacks boxing ,i had a large choice for this gb as i get cheapo stocking fillers at cristmas and birthdays from family members, so there maybe more to come ,i aim to start it in the next day or so, I'm looking forward to seeing how glossy i can get it, a pic of the box Cheers all Glynn

G'day all; Here's my recently finished Airfix 1/72 Dakota finished as an aircraft belonging to No.233 Squadron, RAF. I chose this particular aircraft to build for a few reasons, not the least being that I've actually been inside it as it's housed in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario (not far from where I used to live). The build itself was inspired by the story of the "Flying Nightingales" and I built the model and wrote my piece around those remarkable, courageous and largely unsung women who risked their lives in these Air Ambulances; the aircraft weren't marked with the Red Cross because they carried munitions and supplies on the outward leg of each trip. More info in the sig link. So, here's the WIP which as usual outlines the build as well as the decisions I made in how to mark and weather the model. And, here's the photos of the model. It's not perfect (the most egregious fault being the way the astrodome has sunk into the fuselage - I tried to get it out but it was well stuck) but I very much enjoyed building it and will certainly build another. I'd like to complete one as the next iteration of FZ692 when it joined No.437 Squadron RCAF in September 1944. Cheers; Mark.

After pondering the next project for a week or so, waiting for inspiration, it actually came from an unusual source. My wife sent me this photo and said "isn't it about time one of your projects was about what women did in the war?" She's right, as usual, it definitely is about time. Two weeks after D-Day the RAF's Dakota's began to be used as Air Ambulances with nurses of the WAAF flying outbound with the supplies and ammunition and returning with wounded servicemen. These women soon became known as "Flying Nightingales" and it is in their honour this project is purposed. Choosing my subject aircraft was also quite easy because I've actually been inside it. FZ692 was built for the USAAF, delivered to the RAF's 233 Squadron and then joined the RCAF in September 1944 with 437 Squadron, the Huskys. FZ692 while with 233 Squadron. Not FZ692 but it would have been marked very much like this 437 Squadron RCAF Dakota. After the war FZ692 remained with the RCAF and when finally struck off charge in 1973 it continued earning its keep with Environment Canada as an environmental monitoring aircraft. When its professional career finally ended in 2014 (think about that for a moment!), it was donated to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum where it now enjoys an active [airworthy] retirement. I used to live quite close to the museum and visited many times, even as recently as 2019 on a visit back to Canada, and have been on board several times (though sadly, not for a flight, much to my regret). A lack of available display space forces me back to 1/72 scale. Not my favourite scale at all, but I have no room for a 1/48 scale Dakota III and my recent 72nd scale Lancaster wasn't so bad - the newer Airfix kit is is. I'm going to have a couple of challenges in the markings, depending on when in its active service I model it. If I go with the RAF markings as at or just after D-Day I'll need to find some way to add the "KWICHERBITCHEN" and mission markings. If I model it later, at "Market Garden" with 437 Squadron RCAF (which is the current plan) I'll likely have to paint much of the markings but the the "Royal Canadian Air Force" writ large on the fuselage is something I'll need to search for. The RCAF markings also off more weathering opportunities. I'll make a start tomorrow, all are welcome to follow along. Please don't be shy about offering advice as the Dakota is new territory for me. Tips, tricks and accuracy hints are all very welcome. Cheers; Mark.

IPMS Ireland have an ongoing TV & Movie Group Build going on at the moment which I decided to join. Those that know me know that I’m a strict Fleet Air Arm 1/48th modeller so I’m going out on a limb a bit to model to Grumman J2F-6 Duck used in the film Murphy’s War starring Peter O’Toole, using the old Airfix Grumman Duck Kit. I know this aircraft has been covered a couple of times by other members of this parish but this is my version. I studied lots of stills from the film and came to the conclusion that there were two aircraft used to make the film with small detail differences like aerials etc. Which I have subsequently found to be correct. I remodelled the kit engine, I know it’s undersized but hope this doesn’t notice too much, I also remodelled both cockpits. Decals are what I had lying around, I have done a good bit of weathering and tried to finish out all of the outstanding details with frequent referral back to the pictures I had book marked. Rigging is complete using Uschi thread. I made the net for the bomb load from Garlic netting. The rope is twisted wire which was quite hard to manipulate but once in shape stayed in shape. Anyway, here are some pictures.. Movie Poster Murphy’s Duck with O’Toole at the controls. The model Another still from the film. The model with a bit of Photoshop. Hope you like it, thanks for stopping by..

Re purposing this thread to be a general farewell to 1/72 thread. Not that I won’t build some models in that scale but 1/48 is now my default. the list Airfix Typhoon P51D FW190 Swordfish Gnat Revell Ta 154 Me 109G Heller Me109K The 109s now have several friends and are reserved for the STGB but the rest must go. First up the TYPHOON Found this when going through my stash for bits for my current wip (guns, engines etc) I also happen to be reading this and have a new airbrush and compressor (my first this time around) sitting in a cupboard. So I decided to start the typhoon, that it will be largely if not completely oob and also that ...... it will be my first (attempted) airbrushed build. So off we go. The obligatory sprue shot Zipping it up, my new berna clamps are extremely useful here. Wings on. A little filler at the wing roots and seams (liquid green stuff btw) and it's ready for some airbrush action........ Now I've ordered some ultimate primer so I need to decide if I wait for that or bale in with the Tamiya light sea grey as an undercoat. Just arrived in the post no excuses........

To kick off my 2021 modelling, I’ve decided to tackle one of my ‘special’ projects, the B-17 warbird Liberty Belle, in which I had a memorable flight back in 2008. When I was on secondment in Wichita for a year, I heard on the local news that a B-17 would be doing ‘air experience’ flights the coming weekend. That B-17 was the Liberty Belle. I immediately called to book a seat! The flight was fantastic, and the best $425 I’ve ever spent (especially as the exchange rate was about $2 to the £). Once we were airborne, we got the word to say we could get up and move around. I immediately dived into the tunnel beneath the pilots to get into the nose compartment. The view was superb. I then went aft, through the bomb bay. The whistling of the air through the bomb doors brought home just how vulnerable the crews would have been. The furthest aft we could go was the waist gunners’ station, the tail gunner’s position not being accessible. Then it was back to the cockpit. Apart from the whistling of the air, the other thing that struck me was the noise, even through the headsets. Soon enough it was time to land. Once taxied and parked up, we made our way out. As I exited, there were a few veterans there enjoying a chat with the crew. The entry door was covered in signatures of those who had flown in the war. Tragically, 3 years later Liberty Belle was virtually destroyed. According to Wikipedia, she suffered an in-flight fire shortly after take-off. After an emergency landing in a field, all 7 people on board managed to escape without injury, but due to the muddy state of the field the fire trucks were unable to reach her and prevent the fire gutting her. Apparently, there is a restoration effort ongoing using the front fuselage from another B-17, but whether it will return to the skies is yet to be seen. One of my modelling themes is to depict the warbirds I have flown in. This is a very small number to do, but I’ve still only managed 1 so far! With the release of the new Airfix kit I decided it would form the basis of my Liberty Belle project. For the markings, I have the very nice sheet produced by Warbirds Decals. Sadly, at the time I had my flight I didn’t have the forethought to take lots of photos to support a future model project, but I did get a few internal shots and videos during the flight which will help. There are also useful shots on the web, of course. Essentially this will be an out of the box build with a few scratch details, including a few changes needed to suit the warbird variant such as extra seating. Intro done: next, on to the modelling! Mike

Happy new year to you all! Here is my finished tomahawk. Oob build, only added the decals on the props and made the seat straps from tape. Painted the underside with Mr hobby azure blue and the top side in Xtracrylic dark earth and vallejo mid stone, all the rest in tamiya. I wasn't going for accuracy on this one hence the red nose. Fun build no problems, its a good little starter kit. Thanks for looking. Dave.

Hello everybody... as some of you know Im a fan of Robert Stanford Tuck. Last year I decided to start building collections of aircraft based on my favorite pilots. I started a build for Josef Pips Priller first and recently started the second series of builds dedicated to R.S.Tuck. He for some reason has always struck me as the quintessential RAF pilot. My first build in the series was his Mk.Vb and was built for the recent Spitfire group build. I present to you one of his Mk.I Spitfires coded QJ*Z from 92 Squadron July 1940. To build this I used the 1/72 Airfix Mk.I and aftermarket code letters donated by another member from the Forum. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments, and or add thoughts. Feel free to peruse the build WIP or the Tuck build thread. Dennis

Hello all! Over 'lockdown' I have been building lots of the older kits in my stash, so having completed my VC-10 recently, I thought it was about time to liberate one of the newer kits I had acquired, The Airfix Dornier Do17z. Having read reviews online and in magazines, I knew I was in for some fun! The interior was a thing to behold, Airfix had put a lot into it, and it needed some care to get it all aligned. I am glad to say that all went well, and the fuselage closed up fine. I had some issues getting the joint on the upper surface where the fuselage and wing met, and needed a little filler along the wing/fuselage join too. I also had problems with Humbrols enamel 241 and 242 paints (Schwatrzgrun and Dunkelgrun) - they were quite thick, but after thinning with their own thinners, they produced a very streaky finish after brush-painting four coats. Their own acrylics brushed on beautifully to retrieve the situation. The cowlings were the most awkward bit. Reviews had suggested building the cowlings separately and slotting the engines in, but I could not work it out (no change there for me!). I added the exhaust ring to the nacelles, then the pre-sanded-to-fit engines, and then slid the cowlings over that lot. They did not need glue, the fit was so tight! The problem then arose when I tried to add the T-shaped insert to the back of each cowling. They eventually fitted, but do not look too closely! Anyway, here is my finished result, representing option 'B', which was a Croatian Volunteer-flown aircraft of 15.(Kroatische)/Kampfgeschwader 53, Eastern Front, 1941. The glazing was masked with Peewit masks, and I did wonder how they would come off, considering there was at least 7 coats of paint/varnish brushed on, but they were wonderful. Airfix also need congratulating on the clarity of the transparencies, they were amazingly clear. I enjoyed building this, despite being a known 'tricky build'. I do not have any broken crosses for the rudders, which would have finished this one off. Thanks for looking, stay safe, Ray PS, I did use Colourcoats RAF/FAA Yellow over their White (both hairy-sticked on nicely) for the wingtip undersides rather than RLM 04 Gelb, but I know you will keep my secret!

The postie dropped this off yesterday, but due to shielding requirements, and with Mrs N, being the responsible adult out of the two of us, suggesting that the safer option would be to refrain from opening the box for 24 hours, I have managed to keep my grubby mitts off the package until this afternoon. But now the genie is out of the bottle. Anyway, enough of all that nonsense, this is my first entry for the group build, and the plan is to finish it as either one of the KG.30 aircraft that targeted Driffield airfield on August 15th 1940 (fortunately some KG30 markings are included in the box), or as the Ju.88 shot down by three Hurricanes of 312 squadron when based at Speke on the 8th October 1940, but I would have to see if I can source some unit markings for that aircraft. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr With both aircraft coming under fire from Hurricanes, I hope to add a second build of one of the other aircraft involved, if time permits.