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Bombardier CRJ-200 1:72 BPK (Big Planes Kits) The Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) is a a highly successful small airliner which started life as a development of the Canadair Challenger, and has been developed and stretched from the -100 series to the -1000 series. Entering service in 1992 the 50 seat CRJ-100 was soon developed into the CRJ-200 with more efficient engines, and sold widely to many airlines around the world, with a total of 1,021 of both models being delivered. The stretched CRJ-700/900/1000 series is still in production, with over 600 having been delivered. CRJ's can be seen at virtually any major airport around the world, and are likely to be in service for many more years. BPK from Ukraine have already released models of the CRJ-100 and 200 in 1:144 scale, which are lovely little models, reviewed here. In a logical move they have now released them both in 1:72 scale, with different marking options for each. The CRJ-200 has been received for review at Britmodeller, and comes in BPK's familiar yellow box with a sturdy cardboard base unit. A side profile of an 'American Eagle' CRJ adorns the lid, with the side panels announcing a Pilatus PC-6 in 1:144 and a Boeing 737-100 in 1:72 as 'Coming soon'. That will have many a modeller waiting with eager anticipation! Lifting the lid, we find that there are a number of large mouldings, several sprues, a bag of resin parts, an etched fret, a large clear moulding of the nose, a set of decals, a set of masks, and instructions. Most interesting is the now familiar style of BPK clear moulding for the cockpit area. This is a very innovative way of producing the cockpit glazing, and having used it on the 1:144 CRJ's I can confirm that it works really well. The unit comes sealed in its own ziplock bag to protect it, and is cleanly moulded. The actual window panels are lightly marked out, and the mask sheet provides each panel as a separate unit to apply before painting. Next we have the two fuselage halves, which look huge after the 1:144 versions. Similarly they have recessed channels where the glazing strips will go. On the 1:144 versions I cut them out leaving a 1 mm lip all around to retain the clear glazing strips. Panel lines are very lightly recessed, BPK have this exactly right as they are just deep enough to be visible, rather than the heavy 'trenches' that some manufacturers seem to favour. I prefer the BPK style every time. The 1:144 CRJ gives a sense of how much bigger this 1:/72nd version is. The lower wing is a single full span piece, the advantage of which is that the dihedral is perfectly set for you. The uppers are separate pieces for each side. Again the panel lines are lightly recessed, giving visible but subtle detail. Sprue D contains most of the cockpit parts, as having provided clear cockpit windows, there is a complete cockpit unit to put inside. Seats, control columns, panel, coaming, and etch brass details are provided, along with decals for the instruments and even the bulkhead behind the pilots seats. Rudder pedals are shown, but not numbered, on the instructions. It is a simple deduction to work out that these are parts Pe34 on the etch sheet. The mouldings are very nicely done, and will only require minimal clean up once removed from the sprue. Sprue E holds the engine cowlings, pylons, flap tracks and airstairs. This last is an interesting option. A very complete set of airstairs is provided, which on the real CRJ is the front door which hinges at the bottom and drops down to form the stairs. The etch brass sheet provides a number of fine details and handrails.The front door itself is moulded shut on the fuselage half, and will require removal if you want to use the open option. Chain drilling and cutting with a sharp knife will probably be the best way to do this, and then of course you will need to scratchbuild a bulkhead and floor to sit inside. I've started doing this on 1:144 scale airliners and while it is not for beginners, is not actually that hard to do. It is nice to have the option here for the more advanced modeller to take up. The engines are made from injection moulded upper and lower halves and pylon, with resin exhaust cones and intakes. The resin parts eliminate the need for any join seams around the intakes, and simplify the cowlings into very simple units to make. Sprue F provides the fin, tailplanes, and winglets. All very cleanly moulded with the same fine recessed detail seen on other sprues. Sprue G holds the glazing strips for the cabin windows. Unlike the 1:144 versions which are plain, these have the windows etched lightly into them, which will help with locating the individual masks. Also on the sprue is the extreme nose tip and landing lights. We even have the individual bulbs (G5 & G6) to go behind the landing light glazing! Resin. Seven strips of resin components are supplied, and feature incredible detail. All are flawlessly moulded with not trace of any air bubbles or flaws whatsoever. The detail on the engine fans is outstanding, I doubt that it could be made any better or realistic. Each fan blade is beautifully curved along it's length, and separate from each of it's partners. The engine nozzles are similarly impressive, with beautiful compound curve shapes and lightly recessed detail. The wheels have circumferential treads, with separate hubs featuring crisp and fine detail. Separate tyres and hubs always makes painting so much easier than single mouldings, full marks to BPK again here. The resin components are some of the most beautiful I have seen, and without a doubt are of the highest standard possible. Etch. A small brass fret is packed with a large number of small details, mainly aerials and vents found at various points around the airframe. It is surprising how many tiny blade aerials are scattered around the CRJ. Decals and masks. Two main colour schemes are provided, two for the 'American Eagle' shown on the box lid, and 'Air Canada Jazz' in either red or green. A full set of stencils are also present, for placing at various points around the airframe. The Air Canada Jazz schemes are the most interesting, as the main elements are not decals but masks. This provision was also made with the 1:144 kit, where vinyl masks are applied to the model and paint airbrushed on to give the 'Jazz' titles on the fuselage and the maple leaf on the tail. I have actually used these on the 1:144 scale kit, and they work brilliantly. What you actually use is not the 'Jazz' lettering, but the vinyl around it. It needs care to apply it to the fuselage and line up correctly, not forgetting to put the oval inside the 'J'. It has since been suggested to me that a lightly soaped solution could be applied to fuselage first, which will allow some room to move the vinyl around. Apparently this is how it is done on full size vehicles. I have not tried it, but mention it here in case anyone else wants to have a go. Once pressed down, I airbrushed some white onto the masks. The idea being if that there was any paint 'creep', it would be white and match the fuselage. The red was then airbrushed on top to give an even coverage. Pulling the masks off revealed a very pleasing result. Another lesson I learned was to be very careful removing the masks. I managed to put a couple of scratches in the red paint with my knife blade and had to touch them in with more red paint. It was only because I was using the tip of the blade to lift the masks, and slipped a couple of times, so take care. The result is well wort it though. This is still under construction and needs all the silver work applied to leading edges etc, and well as the wheels. This is the result of using the masks on the 1:144 CRJ to spray the red paint on. Conclusion. The two 1:144 BPK CRJ's I have built are little beauties. I love the way BPK approach their kits and devise innovative solutions for them. The complete cockpit glazing sections and cabin windows are good example of this, and give the most superior results. The fit of parts on the 1/144 kits was excellent, and this 1/72 version looks to have the same finesse and precision about it. Although probably not suited to absolute beginners, they are very enjoyable and satisfying kits to build, and this larger version should be stunning when finished. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of

Handley Page Hermes IV BOAC, early 1950s This was from the Welsh Models 1/144 kit – vac form fuselage / resin wings & tailplane / white metal undercarriage. I started off my Hermes project using the FRsin kit because I wanted BOAC markings which Welsh Models don’t do, but I gave up on that. The FRsin fuselage is a large, solid resin moulding and in my kit the resin had not cured properly, this resulting in the resin bubbling up through 4 or 5 layers of Halfords white primer & appliance white. So thank you Denzil at Welsh Models for producing a very usable kit on which I used the FRsin decals. Finish is Halfords Appliance White on top. The natural metal parts are Halfords Nissan Silver with a coat of Daler Rowney ‘Goldfinger’ silver (which seems to be the current marketing name for what was ‘Rub N Buff’). This was then polished and sealed with Klear before decaling. The Hermes was not the most successful airliner ever, but it fills a gap in the BOAC collection. It has a marked similarity to the DC-4, and hence the picture with my Minicraft SAS DC-4.

Hi, i'd like an advice or your tips / tricks on how to mask complex curves on airliners bodies, see here below. How to make the masking tape horizontal and nicely elyptical? Many thanks for your tips!

Bombardier DHC8-Q400. F.toys 1:300th scale. The Q400 was developed from the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 twin turboprop STOL airliner. (DHC is now Bombardier Aerospace). Starting with the 100 series, the Dash 8 has progressively stretched fuselages through the 200, 300, and 400 models, although only the 400 remains in production. Widely used, Q400's can be seen at airports around the world, in a wide variety of liveries. There is no 1:144 scale injection moulded kit of this aircraft, so I was pleased to recently stumble across this little 1:300 model on my travels. Effectively it is half the size that it would be in 1:144 scale. It is click together and pre-painted, with just a few decals to apply, but the detail is very fine and I think it is a cracking little model. It seems like a bit of a cheat, as I have hardly had to do much to build it and nothing to paint it, but it is unusual so I hope you like it. And for an idea of how small it is; And the generic box it came in. The CRJ's look nice! Thanks for looking, John

KLM New Colors F-100's 1:144 Draw decal Derived from the F28 Fellowship, the Fokker 100 features a stretched fuselage, new wing and Rolls-Royce Tay engines. First flying in 1986, 283 were built before Fokker went into bankruptcy in 1997. A shorter version was developed by removing 4.7 metres from the fuselage, as the Fokker 70. Both versions have been operated by KLM Cityhopper, although the 100's have now all been retired from the fleet. The Revell kit is the only injection moulded model of the aircraft and is getting hard to find now. Fortunately Bradley on this forum kindly sent me an example. It build easily, but would suggest modifying the wing fit. There are 2 pegs on each wing that fit into holes in the root profile on the fuselage. Unforunately they knock the whole wing incidence down too low, and leave a step on the leading edge underside. I cut the forward pegs off my wings and simply aligned them with the root profile, which solved the problem. Decals are from Draw Decal reviewed here, representing the final scheme worn by the KLM Cityhopper fleet,and fit very nicely. There are options for 2 different window & door layouts, and a variety of registrations. Follow Draw Decals instructions and use the hot towel method of pressing the dcals on to the model, it works very well. One more addition to my airliner fleet; And finally with something else', my Revell Boeing 737-900 conversion, also using a Draw Decals KLM set Thanks for looking, John

KLM New Colors F-100's 1:144 Draw decal Derived from the F28 Fellowship, the Fokker 100 features a stretched fuselage, new wing and Rolls-Royce Tay engines. First flying in 1986, 283 were built before Fokker went into bankruptcy in 1997. A shorter version was developed by removing 4.7 metres from the fuselage, as the Fokker 70. Both versions have been operated by KLM Cityhopper, although the 100's have now all been retired from the fleet. This sheet represents the final color scheme worn by KLM's Fokker 100 fleet from 2002 until withdrawl in 2013. Two window & door arrangements are supplied for the port fuselage side, and a full set of registration numbers to cover the whole fleet. The sheet is printed on constant carrier film, so you need to cut around each individual design.After allowing 10 - 20 minutes for the decal to grip, a cloth dipped in hot water can be pressed over it to blend it in to the surface. I use a sheet of kitchen paper folded over many times, dipped in hot water from the kettle. The decals will the conform to any curvatures, and stick like limpets to the surface.As with all types of decals, a coat of Kleer/Future will seal them in. More info here With the Revell kit all painted and ready to accept the decals; And after application; More in Ready for Inspection Review sample courtesy of

Bombardier CRJ-200 - 1:144 BPK 1:144 BPK (Big Planes Kits) The Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) is a highly successful small airliner which started life as a development of the Canadair Challenger, and has been developed and stretched from the -100 series right through to the -1000 series. Entering service in 1992 the 50 seat CRJ-100 was soon developed into the CRJ-200 with more efficient engines, and sold widely to many airlines around the world, with a total of 1,021 of both models being delivered. The stretched CRJ-700/900/1000 series is still in production, with over 600 having been delivered. CRJ's can be seen at virtually any major airport around the world, and are likely to be in service for many more years. The Kit BPK released a kit of the -100 series aircraft last year, and have now followed it up with a -200 series version. As the only major difference is with the engines, this kit contains almost the same plastic, resin, and photo etched parts as the previous kit, but with a completely new decal sheet and masking set. The box has a side profile of a CRJ-200 in a British Airways livery, which is one of the six options provided. Inside there are 3 grey plastic sprues of components, 1 clear sprue, 1 photo etch fret, resin engine parts, a sheet of masks and a decal sheet. The first thing to notice is that model has a complete flight deck, with pilot’s seats, instrument panel, centre console, and rear bulkhead. Decals are supplied for the panel and console, and even for the rear bulkhead. This assembly fits into a separate nose moulding, which itself is in clear plastic, which is then fitted to the main fuselage sections. This is a great idea, which makes it very simple to obtain a flush fitting clear windscreen. It is even easier to use than the ‘top half’ windscreen inserts found in some of the Minicraft and Revell airliner kits. It is so much better than using decals, and the cockpit interior is actually visible on the completed CRJ-100 kit reviewed previously. Also unusual is the treatment of the cabin windows. The fuselage has recess running along it, into which you fit a clear plastic strip each side. Window masks are the placed over these, and removed after painting to reveal the cabin windows. Having used this method on the -100 review build, I was very impressed with the results. The rest of the construction is conventional, with a 1 piece lower wing with 2 uppers, and a main gear bay. The 'T' tail and undercarriage complete the model. The tailfin moulding on the main sprue in the original release did not meet BPK’s high standards as it had a small ‘sink’ mark near the top (barely noticeable), so a resin replacement was supplied. The -200 kit now has 2 fin halves as injection moulded pieces to correct this minor flaw. The engines are made from injection moulded upper and lower halves and pylon, with resin exhaust cones and intakes. Having the intake and fan detail as a single piece like this is by far the best way of doing it, as there is no awkward join inside to clean up. All detail is finely engraved on the kit, just as it should be on an airliner. Although difficult to photograph in grey plastic, hopefully it is visible here; Decals are provided for 6 liveries. Lufthansa Regional (Lufthansa CityLine) Lufthansa Regional (Eurowings) British Airways (Maersk Air) UTair Ukraine Air Canada Jazz (Red) Air Canada Jazz (Green) The decal sheet is silk screen printed with good colours and in perfect register. All the edges and lettering are crisp and sharp. A large range of tiny little stencils are supplied. The Air Canada ‘Jazz’ liveries are partly supplied as paint masks, to produce the ‘Jazz’ titles on the fuselage and maple leaf on the fin. Fine detail for the stalk and veins on the leaf are on the decal sheet. What better way to get that ‘painted on’ look than to paint it on. I am really interested in this, as I've never used pre-cut masks to create markings. I would think that lining up the masks accurately and using an airbrush will be essential, but results should be really good. Conclusion. It is obvious that BPK have set themselves very high standards in engineering their kits, as the surface detail and fit are extraordinarily good. When I built the previous CRJ-100 kit, the dry fit of the lower wing to the fuselage was so good that the join line was all but invisible. Few manufacturers can achieve this, so full marks are due here. What I really like though is the way that BPK think of new solutions to problems. The clear moulded front fuselage section takes a little care, but is not difficult, and gives an outstanding result. No doubt this is the best way to do it. Likewise the cabin windows. A little filler will be needed to blend the clear strips in, and then the masks need to be applied. The result though is top quality, clear windows with perfect smooth surfaces. Just imagine if other airliner kits were offered like this, how easy it would be to represent different window layouts. The choice of 6 alternate liveries is the ‘icing on the cake’. I would like to do all of them but can’t quite decide which one it will be yet. I like the British Airways one and it would fit in my other BA models. I’ve flown several times on Lufthansa CRJ’s so I could add that option to the ‘airliners I have been on’ part of my collection, and the Air Canada ‘Jazz’ ones look really interesting, the masking intrigues me and should give a good result. Whatever I decide, this kit is heading straight for my workbench ahead of ongoing projects, as I enjoyed building the last one so much. This is a beautiful little kit, do yourself a favour and get one. But I warn you, you’ll want another after that…. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of Footnote: The build thread of the previous CRJ-100 kit is Here Last picture, the completed CRJ-100 previously reviewed on Britmodeller;

TWA Delivery Colors DC-9-15 1:144 Fly Models with Draw Decals First build of 2015, but really it was mostly done in 2014 and just finished today. This is the Fly Models kit of the series 10, in the Itavia boxing. It comes with 2 complete fuselages for a series 10 and a series 30 DC-9, and a litlle resin set of smaller wingtips to shorten the 10's wing, and the little fences that the 10 also had. It was a straightforward build, the only slight thing I disliked was the solid cockpit windows, prefering to have them clear if possible. I wasn't that taken with the Itavia livery, but fortunately Draw Decals produce a lovely set for TWA's delivery scheme from the 1960's reviewed here.I can't resist a classic 60's scheme with a cheatline, especially on the DC-9, so these 2 made the perfect match. Here she is looking very much the elegant lady that she was back in the day; And for the traditional 'With something else, how about a Pan Am 727-100 Airfix with TwoSix decals) I couldn't resist a second 'with something else', this livery is so evocative of the original Airfix 1960's boxing of the 727 in the TWA scheme. I still have one in my stash, but the decals have yellowed. I'll build it one day if Greg at Draw Decals ever produces it! Thanks for looking, John

Well I got myself the excellent Zvezda TU-154, the kit is a dream. It fitted together very nicely, minimal filler and I think very good surface detail. I painstakingly airbrushed the Aeroflot silver and blue colour scheme, and it looked quite nice (even if the blue wasnt quite right!). Then I came to decal it. The decals are very poor. Poor standard of printing and then when applied they wouldn't settle down so tried a bit of Micro Set and then disaster. They just wrinkled horribly, I had left it overnight and the state in the morning was bad. I had to rub down the cheat lines and the flag on the tail was wrecked. I have now rubbed down and dont know where to go from here. I did ponder on doing some heavy weathering and go for a faded look but not sure if it would work on the tail. Or trying to paint in the red white and blue but would not be able to replicate the highlights on the flag. I really dont want to strip it and start again. I have their A320 in the stash but am worried those decals may be poor as well, any ideas? The tail areas: I have already repainted the orange cheat line, but can fade it if necessary

What's a girl do on the weekend? Get a Air Do, of course. And one with her younger sister

Does anyone have a wrecked 1/72 Britannia? One of the halves of an outboard engine nacelle mysteriously evaporated out of mine, and since I really don't have any interest in doing a twin-engine Britannia, I need to replace it. Alternatively, does anyone have any ideas on how to build a nacelle?

Bombardier CRJ-100 1:144 BPK The Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) is a a highly successful regional airliner which started life as a development of the Canadair Challenger, and has been further developed and stretched from the -100 series to the -1000 series. BPK from Ukraine recently released an injection moulded kit of this little airliner, and very nice it is too. A full review appears Here. BPK have used a very unusual, but succesful, method of reproducing the glazed areas on the model. The whole cockpit area is moulded in clear plastic, and clear strips with masks are used for the cabin windows. There is even a full cockpit provided, with instrument panel decals. I was so intrigued by this that the kit went straight from the review bench and onto the workbench, pushing several other projects out of the way. It is a beautiful little kit, with exceptionally good fit and was a pleasure to build. A work in progress thread is Here On with the photos; And the traditional 'with something else' shot to lend a sense of size. The most likely companion I could find was a Zvezda Boeing 767 in American colours. I expect these 2 often met in real life. Thanks for looking, John

Bombardier CRJ-100 1:144 BPK The Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) is a a highly successful small airliner which started life as a development of the Canadair Challenger, and has been developed and stretched from the -100 series to the -1000 series. Entering service in 1992 the 50 seat CRJ-100 was soon developed into the CRJ-200 with more efficient engines, and sold widely to many airlines around the world, with a total of 1,021 of both models being delivered. The stretched CRJ-700/900/1000 series is still in production, with over 600 having been delivered. CRJ's can be seen at virtually any major airport around the world, and are likely to be in service for many more years. BPK of Ukraine have just released a 1:144 scale model of the aircraft, Reviewed here. When Mike asked me to review the kit I almost snatched his hand off, as I have a liking for these small airliners in the 10 - 100 seat class. Usually I have to build them from vacforms or short run kits. The range of injection moulded kits is growing, so it is good to see another manufacturer present a new subject. In the review I was very impressed with the kit and intrigued to see how the glazing would work, so it went straight from review bench to workbench. As an airliner modeller, it is great to be able to say 'Work started with thh cockpit'. We hardly ever get to say that! A floor, bulkhead, center console, and two seats are provided, along with decals to detail them. (If you build this model, note that the bulkhead sits on top of the cockpit floor).I painted the seats dark blue with light blue straps and white headrests, in the hope it will make them stand out when viewed through the windscreen. With decals on, and a penny to show how small the whole assembly is. Next the fuselage halves went together, showing the recess for the clear strip that will form the windows. Also dry fitted is the resin tailpane. I am not sure why it is in resin as it is also in plastic on the sprues, but it fits superbly. I wondered whether to paint the recess black, or cut it out. In the end I decided that it would be more interesting to cut it out. leaving a lip all around the inside to reatin the glazing strip. It was easy enough to drill a series of holes and roughly join them up with a blade, then neaten it all up. All 3 stages shown here; and the finished cut on the other side; And then with the glazing strips installed. When I cut the glazing strip to size I initially just pressed hard on the knife blade. Beware, I got stress fractures in the clear plastic. On the other side I made several cuts to trim it, which was the smart way to do it. The plastic parts for the engines were assembled next. Note that part 8 (a lower cowl half) in mentioned twice in the instuctions. 8 & 9 should go together, and 10 & 11. Not 10 & 8. The fronts are resin inserts, which gives a nice seamless intake, as are the rear exhaust cones. On all my airliner kits I usually scrape the inside trailing edges of the wing halves to thin them a little more. It is not stictly necessary, but gives an even thinner trailing edge to the assembled wing. I did it here, it only needs a little scraping, a couple of minutes work on each mating surface is plenty. Finally, I attached the wing parts to the fuselage and glued the resin fin on. This is where we finish today; Thanks for looking, John

Tupolev Tu-134. Aeroflot. 1:144 Zvezda. The Tupolev 134 is said to the Russian response to the Sud Aviation Caravelle, and has an obvious similarity of layout. Unlike the Caravelle though, it has a very wide track undercarriage suited to rough field operation, and a glazed nose typical of Russian aircraft of this era. I understand that it was used to aid in navigation over the vast areas of the Soviet union where modern electronic navigation aids were not yet available. It was a reliable and efficient aircraft, in service from the mid 1960's until the present day, although no longer seen in European skies due to noise regulations. It is an attractive aircraft, tough, rugged, and yet delicate all at once. The Zvezda kit is beautiful, with fine and detailed mouldings that fit together like a dream. It is one of the best kits of any type that I have built, a real pleasure to work on. The only slight area for improvement is the decals. Mine had smudged main wing reg letters, but was no problem as I have a few of these kits stashed, so nicked the decals out of another kit, although these had a slightly yellow tinge on the carrier film. Having said that, they are good in every other respect and fit beautifully, just like the rest of the kit. The cabin windows are all 'cut out' with silver surrounds and line up perfectly over the glazing. For the next ones to emerge from my stash, I have aftermarket decals for Interflug, CSA Czech, and LOT Poland to put on. And the 'with something else' final shot. To give an idea of its small size, thais is an Airfix 727-100 alongside. The narrow, skinny Tu-134 makes the 727 look fat. Thanks for looking, John

I had so much fun doing the North Star and DC-9 for a Then And Now group build that I decided to do another pair. This time it's Revell's Lockheed Constellation in TCA colours paired off with Zvezda's Boeing 787 in my best approximation of the Air Canada colours it will wear when it enters service later on this year. The 787's fuselage fit is pretty good Only a skim of filler is needed on the bottom I blocked off the APU exhaust hole with a piece of styrene tube and filed it to shape The wings also fit well except where I stuffed up the assembly. But filler and sanding will save that A test fit reveals the size of the beast Turning to the engines, a coating of Humbrol Polished Aluminium on the fan bits While the hot section gets Polished Steel That lot can sit aside and dry while the primer dries on the Constellation

In a moment of bravado I thought to myself that I should do a WIP. Here it is. Whilst not nearly on the same planet as Fritag and his Chipmunk & JPs, I have taken some inspiration from him and have started doing these two just that little bit further 'out' of the box. My plan is to do two Airfix 1/144 737-200s (already started) each slightly different. One will be in landing configuration - full flaps, slats etc and reversers deployed - and the other to be 'at the gate' with a couple of the doors open, being loaded etc. I prefer to see my models active and have things going on. Box shot. I laid my hands on two - this one and an old Lufthansa box kit from the 70's (?) in that silvery grey plastic. I'm not sure why, but I made the mistake of crossing the streams of half and half... I tend to do stuff I have a connection with - in this case I worked these in the dim/ distant past. I'm going to do the Landor BA Manchester and the Negus Airtours versions. I reckon I'll be able to squeeze a 'BRITISH' version out that decal sheet as well. Like I said I've made a start and most progress has been on the one that's going to be in landing config. I glued the supplied clear windows into the fuselage halves and filled the outside once dried. I cut the droopy bits off the wings at the panel lines and saved for later. The kruger flap (? - front of wing, inboard of engines) was scored and chiselled out. The outline of which I got from references online. Note that I've not boxed the wheel wells - I know I should (Fritag would) but I don't want to. I may do it for the second one. I remember the many times we sheltered from the rain & cold in the main gear well - the heat the wheels brakes was good for warming hands... The kit engines are a bit on the skinny side and need a bit of filling out - I think it's a difference in engines from standard -200 to -200 Advanced versions. I have the Braz replacements which I'll use on the 'stationary' version, but I've hacked the kit ones to show them in reverse. This is the image (from internet) I've been working to... Haven't really got a good photo of my take but I'll get some and stick them up soon. There is a problem with the intake on the kit as the two halves don't make a smoothe transition from the intake lip to the first fan section, which is smaller than the surrounding cowl. All I did was wrap the fan piece in some thin plasticard to make a cylinder and glue it in as per the instructions. Once dry a trimmed the surplus to give a more representative version. So that's about it so far. Please any C&C's welcome as are bright ideas.

..and I thought you might like to see Also If anyone here uses Facebook, I now have a page that I'm slowly filling up too, that can be found HERE Some tricky conditions and some not-so-tricky, anyway - onto the pics! 87-0023 MC-130P - Brize Norton by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr 87-0023 MC-130P - Brize Norton by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr XV104 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Head on with a classic. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr N545CC - Kidlington by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr UAE C-17 - Brize Norton by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr XV214 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Climbing out from Hanoi. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr 9M-AHN taken from ATR-72 RDPL-34174 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr RDPL-34175 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Let-410 RDPL-34158 - Wattay International Airport (Vientiane airport, Laos) by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr HS-PGM by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr 5020 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr F-AZJS Supermarine 389 Spitfire PR19 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr M-JACK - Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr A400M - Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr A380 marking it's terrority! by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr C-27J by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr

In 1919, the world's first commercial international airline flight took place between London and Paris. A reporter from the Evening Standard newspaper, a bundle of newspapers and a small cargo of potted Grouse was the load for the flight. The fate of his luggage is unreported. This is the Roden kit. It's a lot more fiddly than a comparable Eduard kit because the fuselage is made up of about 6 parts and before the glue dries it's very flimsy. Even afterwards, the lack of locating tabs means that fitting the various parts together is more than a little approximate. The decals are also pretty horrid; they silvered even on the gloss surface, and peeled up at the slightest provocation. But there are no alternatives so I suffered through them. I note that I've got the top wing a bit crooked I think that's because the cabane struts aren't as precise as they could be. I think if I'd do this again, I'd want to use a template for the struts to keep everything in line.

This summer I took the family for a holiday in Stavanger, Norway, flying from Manchester with Norwegian. The aircraft waiting at the gate was LN-NOM 'Greta Garbo' so when Ruben of Lima November decals announced a sheet for this very aircraft I just had to get one. The kit is the Revell 737-800 with my own mods to extend the winglets and fix the undersides of the engines to get the correct shape. This particular aitcraft carries a satellite receiver on top of the fuelsege in front of the fin, and this was scratchbuilt from plasticard. After that it's an easy enough build. The Lima November decals are superb, fitting very nicely and with good colour density. All are silk screen printed except for the 'Greta Garbo' on the tail which is laser printed. The instructions are very good, even containing photos of the real aircraft including a good close shot of the satellite instalation. So, I introduce you to Miss Garbo.... And with another of my Norwegian fleet, "Edvard Grieg" Thanks for looking, John

Boeing 727-200 Iberia Delivery Scheme - Late 1960s Taking a walk on the civil side...Airfix 727 with wing rescribe and added fences,etc. Decals are from classic-airlines.com by Nick Webb and worked very well. These are ALPS decals but with a thin coat of Klear work like any other decals. The advantage of these is that the windows, doors, logos, etc are all printed as one decal which means no problems of alignment. This is unlike Two Six decals where separate decals are printed for cheatlines, doors, windows, etc.

Hi All Sad news for you Fokker fans im afraid! The first KLM Cityhopper Fokker F70 has been withdrawn from use and stored at Norwich International Airport, EGSH. It is ex Air France PH-KZV, 1995 build. Sad to see the first one go, but they are not going to get any younger sadly! KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 PH-KZV by Bradley at EGSH, on Flickr KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 PH-KZV by Bradley at EGSH, on Flickr Cheers Bradley

Over at another site we're doing a "Then and Now" group build. The rules require two models to be built, finished in the colours of one squadron or company (or its lineal successor) with at least 20 years separating the two. My first pair for this build are a Canadair North Star of Trans Canada Airlines and a McDonnel-Douglas DC-9 of Air Canada. The North Star entered service with TCA in 1947 and the DC-9 in 1967. My models are painted as they would have appeared in approximately 1955 and 1985 respectively.

I have always liked the big propliners that found work as cargo haulers when the new jets started taking all the prestige work with the major airlines in the 1960's and 70's. There are a few kits for the big Douglas airliners and Lockheed Constellation, mainly from Minicraft, and even fewer aftermarket decal sheets to put on them. Having found Draw Decals sheet to Cayman Airways Cargo DC-6, I just had to have one. Both the kit and decal sheet were obtained at this years Telford and work started as soon as I got home. Decal sheet reviewed Here Minicrafts kits can be a bit hit and miss in terms of accuracy but as a general rule those of Douglas aircraft are very good, whilst the Boeing subjects are less so.The Dc-4, DC-6, MD80's and particularly the DC-8 are excellent. The Boeing 737's are also good, but I feel that the 707, 727, 757, and 777 require a fair bit of work to improve them. Lucky for me then that I'm starting a DC-6! The build is fairly straightforward. I started by scraping and sanding the insides of the wing trailing edges to refine them a bit, not strictly necessary but worth the effort. I also put in a strip of plasticard to act as a lip inside the fuselage where the wing trailing edge will meet. The fuselage fits together nicely and even features a rudimentary flight deck. Most work is on the engine cowlings which come in two halves each with a separate engine. Rather than fit all three together at once as suggested in the instructions, I just fixed the cowl halves together and let them dry. It is then easy to sand the inside lips of the cowls with a bit of wet and dry paper wrapped around a paintbrush handle, and fix the engines in from behind by lightly sanding around the rim and push them in with a cocktail stick through the crankcase. I fixed the cowlings on to the nacelles before fitting the wing, as they need a bit of filler all around and it is far easier to sand them without having the fuselage in the way. I will attempt to keep the cockpit windows clear as I like the look better than using black decal, so the clear part was fitted and a white Milliput applied to fair it in. It is then sanded down to smooth the filler and join, and Micromesh cloths used to polish the windows back to full clarity. At this point the wing can go on, and all is set aside to dry before more Milliput is used to blend the wing/fuselage join. Thanks for looking, John

I don't suppose anyone has any better pictures of the Houchin 690 GPU than can be found on Google images? The 690 is the standard slidy cover towable GPU seen at many airports worldwide. I'm after a good clean shot from side on and from the rear/ front so I can get the angle right. An even better find would be some plans... https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=672&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=Mw5HUpHfBsiM7AaEp4CACg&q=houchin+gpu&oq=houchin+gpu&gs_l=img.3..0.2525.3523.0.4399.6.6.0.0.0.0.128.591.3j3.6.0....0...1c.1.27.img..5.1.103.S4ZqmMCbORw#biv=i%7C5%3Bd%7CNz1W4pRpa3yfyM%3A

This is the tiny little 1:144 Dragon Rapide from Aeroclub in AA colours. It's a little jewel of a kit, injection moulded with etched details like struts and propellers. Constuction was fairly simple - it's the colour scheme that complicates things! I assembled all the plastic parts. including both wings but not the struts, then painted it yellow. A lot of masking later, it was sprayed black to give the basic scheme. Note that this version does not have the extra cabin windows on both sides behind the wing, you'll need to remove them from the decal sheet. I toned my windows down a touch with paynes grey oil paint thinned down, to darken the windows a little. Rigging is stretched sprue. Not very big! 35 years between first flights. You can still fly on one of these aircraft, but not the other! Cheers John