Search the Community

P-51B Mustang (70041) 1:72 ARMA Hobby Originally developed to fulfil a British requirement for new fighter aircraft, the unmistakable North American P-51 Mustang famously went from drawing board to first flight in just 178 days. It went on to become one of the most famous and successful aircraft of the Second World War. Transformed by the addition of Rolls Royce’s legendary Merlin engine, the Mustang went from strength to strength and was eventually developed into several variants. Even though the D model is the most recognised the earlier models were still great aircraft. The B & C were the first to use the Merlin engine which gave better performance over 15000 ft. They were known in RAF service as the Mustang III. The B models were built at Inglewood and the C models which were identical were built in Dallas. The RAF decided that the original hinged canopy did not offer enough visibility for operations and the British corporation R Malcolm & Co designed a sliding bulged canopy for the aircraft which then became known as the Malcom Hood. The search for better all round visibility would lead to the later P-51D, however some pilots are said to have preferred the Malcom hooded P-51B/D than the later P-51D as it was lighter and had better handling, one of the downsides was only 4 guns as opposed to the D's six. Exiting the B/C in an emergency was also said to be easier than the D. The Kit This is a new tool kit from ARMA Hobby which seems to have garnered good reviews. It really also was time we had a new tool B/C in 1/72. The kit is a rebox of the P-51B/C which we reviewed here but here comes without the PE of the earlier kit; however tape masks are included here (but now pictured in the review). The kit arrives on two main sprues, a clear sprue, and sheet of decals. The quality of the parts is first rate, all surfaces feature fine engraved panel lines, there is a great deal of moulded in detail in the fuselage and main wheel wells. Bombs and two types of drop tanks are provided for the wings. Due to the different options being provided from the kit its worth while checking the instructions for these before starting work. Construction starts in the cockpit. The frame for the seat is built up and added to the floor with the seat then being fitted. Belts here are provided as decals. The fuel tank is installed behind the seat with the radios going on top. The control column is added in front of the seat. Next up the instrument panel and its coaming are built up. with instruments being provided as decals. Work then moves to the inside of the fuselage with side parts going in, again here decals are provided for more details. The main radiator is assembled, following this it can be installed in the right fuselage half, along with additional controls and the tail wheel compartment parts. More parts and details are added to the left fuselage half. Once all of this is complete the tail wheel and cockpit can be installed, and the fuselage closed up. Moving onto the wings, the wing spar part is installed along with the parts for the main wheel well. These are installed into upper wing, and the two wing parts can be assembled. The separate flaps can then be added. The wings can then be mated to the fuselage. Following this at the rear of the fuselage the tail and tailplanes can be added. The main landing gear can then be made up and fitted. At the front of the fuselage the chin intake, propeller; and exhaust are added., with two different styles of exhaust stacks being included. Different canopies are provided for the model, though for the main decal options in this kit only the Malcom Hood will be used. The normal canopy being used for the bonus decal option. There are parts for this canopy to be open or closed as needed. A slightly larger Malcom hood is supplied for the slid back option. Then if needed bombs or drop tanks can be fitted to the wings as needed. Markings There are printed by Techmod so should pose no problems. 4 marking option are provided for the kit (plus a bonus option); "Old Crow" 43-248423 B6-S, Cpt Clarence "Bud" Anderson, 363rd Fighter Sqn, 357th Fighter Group June/July 1944 "The Mighty Midget" 43-6964 C3-G, Lt James H Clark, 382nd Fighter Sqn, 363rd Fighter Group, Maupertus, France July 1944 "Geronimo" 42-106473 G4-N, Cpt John Pugh, 362nd Fighter Sqn, 357th Fighter Group, July 1944 "Patty Ann II" 42-106872, John F Thornell Jr. 328th Fighter Sqn, 352nd Fighter Group, Bodney 1944 The Bonus option for the kit is "Geronimo" in its early 1944 fit with the original canopy and red/yellow nose. Conclusion It is great to see this important aircraft being kitted by a new manufacturer. The kit seems to have been very well received by modellers. Very Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello A couple of photos with my latest kit. Arma Hobby 1/72nd PZL P.11c modified into a PZL P.11f with parts from Azur-FRROM (engine, cowling, proppeller) and IBG Models (ailerons, stab and elevator). P.11f were produced under licence at IAR Brasov and only used by Royal Romanian Air Force. Comments are welcome 001 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 002 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 003 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 004 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 005 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 006 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 007 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 008 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr in the last image, alongside an OOB P.11c from ArmaHobby.

P-51 C Mustang Mk.III (70039) 1:72 ARMA Hobby Originally developed to fulfil a British requirement for new fighter aircraft, the unmistakable North American P-51 Mustang famously went from drawing board to first flight in just 178 days. It went on to become one of the most famous and successful aircraft of the Second World War. Transformed by the addition of Rolls Royce’s legendary Merlin engine, the Mustang went from strength to strength and was eventually developed into several variants. Even though the D model is the most recognised the earlier models were still great aircraft. The B & C were the first to use the Merlin engine which gave better performance over 15000 ft. They were known in RAF service as the Mustang III. The B models were built at Inglewood and the C models which were identical were built in Dallas. The RAF decided that the original hinged canopy did not offer enough visibility for operations and the British corporation R Malcolm & Co designed a sliding bulged canopy for the aircraft which then became known as the Malcom Hood. The search for better all round visibility would lead to the later P-51D, however some pilots are said to have preferred the Malcom hooded P-51B/D than the later P-51D as it was lighter and had better handling, one of the downsides was only 4 guns as opposed to the D's six. Exiting the B/C in an emergency was also said to be easier than the D. The Kit This is a new tool kit from ARMA Hobby which seems to have garnered good reviews. It really also was time we had a new tool B/C in 1/72. The kit is a rebox of the P-51B/C which we reviewed here but here comes without the PE and masks of the earlier kit. The kit arrives on two main sprues, a clear sprue, a sheet of decals. The quality of the parts is first rate, all surfaces feature fine engraved panel lines, there is a great deal of moulded in detail in the fuselage and main wheel wells. There are two choices of tail featuring the small fillet tail, and the one with no fillet. Bombs and two types of drop tanks are provided for the wings. Due to the different options being provided from the kit its worth while checking the instructions for these before starting work. Construction starts in the cockpit. The frame for the seat is added to the floor and the seat is fitted. Belts are provided as decals. The fuel tank is fitted behind the seat with the radios going on top. The control column is added in front of the seat and then the instrument panel and its coaming are built up. Instruments are provided as decals. Work then moves to the inside of the fuselage parts with more decals being added. The main radiator is made up and this can be installed in the right fuselage half, along with additional controls and the tail wheel parts. More parts are also fitted into the left fuselage half. Once done the tail wheel and cockpit can be installed and the fuselage closed up. Moving onto the wings the wing spar part is installed along with parts for the wheel well. These are added into upper wing, and the two wing parts can be assembled. The separate flaps can then be installed. The wings can then be mated to the fuselage. At the rear of the fuselage the tail and sailplanes can be added, a finless and filleted tails are provided for the different decal options. The main landing gear can then be made up and fitted. At the front the chin intake, propeller and exhaust are added. Different plates/vents are provided for the lower engine cowl. For the spine different antennas are also provided for the different options. Different canopies are provided for the model. If the normal canopy is to be opened then the modeler has the option for this. A slightly larger Malcom hood is supplied for the slid back option. Lastly bombs or drop tanks can be fitted to the wings as needed. Markings There are printed by Techmod so should pose no problems. 2 marking option are provided for the kit; 42-103532, FB382/PK-G, 315 Polish Sqn RAF, Coolham June 1944 42-103258, FB328/GA-S, 112 Sqn RAF, Lesi Nov 1944 Conclusion It is great to see this important aircraft being kitted by a new manufacturer. The kit seems to have been very well received by modellers. Very Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F4F-4 Wildcat (70048) 1:72 ARMA Hobby Grumman began development work on a new fighter in the mid 1930. Originally the new aircraft was outpaced by the Brewster Buffalo and Grumman resigned their aircraft to carry a supercharged version of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine. Original orders from France were delivered to the British Royal Navy after France fell. The RN designated the aircraft the Marlet. The US Navy would then adopt the type in late 1941. Originally armed with 4 0.50 cal machine guns the F4F-4 was introduced in 1941 with 6 of these guns. The aircraft also featured a wing fold system to allow more aircraft to be on a carrier. Even though the armament was increased to 6 gun the ammuntion capacity was not, thus actually giving pilots less firing time which was disliked. The extra weight from the guns and wing fold also reduced performance. The Kit This is a new tool kit from ARMA Hobby which seems to have garnered good reviews. This kit is the same plastic as the Expert kit we reviewed here, except this kit comes without the photoetch and masks of that kit. The kit arrives on a main plastic sprue, a clear sprue, and decals. The moulds are crisp with what feels like the right level of detailing and recessed panel lines for this scale. Construction starts with the cockpit. The instrument panel is attached to the front bulkhead (instruments being provided as decals). The rudder pedals then fit to the back of this bulkhead and it can be attached to the cockpit floor. The seat can then be attached to the read cockpit bulkhead. with decals seatbelts provided. The rear bulkhead can then be attached to the cockpit floor. Side parts then join the front and rear bulkheads. The cockpit can then be added to the right fuselage. The front bulkhead for the landing gear area can now be added in front of the cockpit. The internal parts of the gear mechanism can then go in. We then follow this up with assembling the engine and it's bearers as this goes onto the front side of the gear bulkhead. twin banks of cylinders have their parts added, the gearbox then fits to the front. At the rear the mounts and exhausts go on along with the oil tank and oil coolers. Once the bearers are on the fuselage can be closed up and the engine mounted to the front. The engine cowls can then be added. This is split in half with a front ring, with different ones being provided for one of the decal options. The propeller can then be fitted. Now the tailplanes and rudder can be fitted along with tail wheel. The wings can now be fitted, these are conventional left/right with uppers and lowers. If using the drop tanks you will need to open up the holes for these. Once the wings are one the complicated landing gear itself needs to be built up. Arma provide a frame to align some of the parts or this. The ear can then be added to the fuselage and the wheels added. Some nav lights will need to be removed from the kit for this boxing and then wing lights and pitot tubes added. Bomb racks and the drop tanks go on if you are using them. Lastly the canopies and top aerial are fitted. Markings There are printed by Techmod so should pose no problems. only 2 marking option are provided for the kit in this boxing; VMF-111 Western Samoa, Spring 1941 VF-11 Sundowners, Henderson Field, Guadalcanal 1943. Conclusion It is great to see this important aircraft being kitted by a new manufacturer. The kit seems to have been very well received by modellers. Very Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

FM-1 & FM-2 Wildcat (70050) 1:72 ARMA Hobby Delux Set Grumman began development work on a new fighter in the mid 1930. Originally the new aircraft was outpaced by the Brewster Buffalo and Grumman resigned their aircraft to carry a supercharged version of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine. Original orders from France were delivered to the British Royal Navy after France fell. The RN designated the aircraft the Marlet. The US Navy would then adopt the type in late 1941. Originally armed with 4 0.50 cal machine guns the F4F-4 was introduced in 1941 with 6 of these guns. The aircraft also featured a wing fold system to allow more aircraft to be on a carrier. Even though the armament was increased to 6 gun the ammuntion capacity was not, thus actually giving pilots less firing time which was disliked. The extra weight from the guns and wing fold also reduced performance. While Grumman's Wildcat production ceased in 1943 to make way for the Hellcat General Motors continued to produce the Wildcat. Even though technically obsolete by this point it was still a useful aircraft for the smaller escort carriers. The FM-1 was identical to the F4F-4 but the number of guns was reduced to the original 4 with provision being made for bomb racks, or rockets to be fitted. The FM-2 was an improved airframe with a more powerful engine, and increased rudder area to compensate for the extra torque. The Kits These are new tool kits from ARMA Hobby. There is a common smaller sprue with different main sprues for the 2 versions. The kits will also need some modifications by the modeller to accurately reflect the airframes. As well as 2 lots of kis there is an additional PE sprue in this double boxing. An additional bonus in this boxing are two laser cut wooden decks. The moulds are crisp with what feels like the right level of detailing and recessed panel lines for this scale. FM-1 Construction starts with the cockpit. The instrument panel is attached to the front bulkhead (instruments being provided as decals, behind a PE part). The rudder pedals then fit to the back of this bulkhead and it can be attached to the cockpit floor. The seat can then be attached to the read cockpit bulkhead. PE with decals seatbelts are provided. The rear bulkhead can then be attached to the cockpit floor. Side parts then join the front and rear bulkheads. The cockpit can then be added to the right fuselage. The front bulkhead for the landing gear area can now be added in front of the cockpit with PE details for the gear retraction mechanism going in. The internal parts of the gear mechanism can then go in. We then follow this up with assembling the engine and it's bearers as this goes onto the front side of the gear bulkhead. twin banks of cylinders have their parts added along with a PE wiring harness, the gearbox then fits to the front. At the rear the mounts and exhausts go on along with the oil tank and oil coolers. Once the bearers are on the fuselage can be closed up and the engine mounted to the front. The engine cowls can then be added. This is split in half with a front ring, with different ones being provided for one of the decal options. The propeller can then be fitted. Now the tailplanes and rudder can be fitted along with tail wheel. The wings can now be fitted, these are conventional left/right with uppers and lowers. If using the drop tanks you will need to open up the holes for these. Once the wings are one the complicated landing gear itself needs to be built up. Arma provide a frame to alight some of the parts or this. The ear can then be added to the fuselage and the wheels added. Some nav lights will need to be removed from the kit for this boxing and then wing lights and pitot tubes added. Bomb racks and the drop tanks go on if you are using them. Lastly the canopies and top aerial are fitted. FM-2 Construction starts with the cockpit. The instrument panel is attached to the front bulkhead (instruments being provided as decals, behind a PE part). The rudder pedals then fit to the back of this bulkhead and it can be attached to the cockpit floor. The seat can then be attached to the read cockpit bulkhead. PE with decals seatbelts are provided. The rear bulkhead can then be attached to the cockpit floor. Side parts then join the front and rear bulkheads. The cockpit can then be added to the right fuselage. The front bulkhead for the landing gear area can now be added in front of the cockpit with PE details for the gear retraction mechanism going in. The internal parts of the gear mechanism can then go in. We then follow this up with assembling the engine and it's bearers as this goes onto the front side of the gear bulkhead. the cylinders are added along with push rods, the gearbox then fits to the front. At the rear the mounts and exhausts go on along with the oil tank and oil coolers. Once the bearers are on the fuselage can be closed up and the engine mounted to the front. The engine cowls can then be added. This is split in half with a front ring. The propeller can then be fitted. Now the tailplanes and rudder can be fitted along with tail wheel. The wings can now be fitted, these are conventional left/right with uppers and lowers. If using the drop tanks, and rockets you will need to open up the holes for these. Once the wings are one the complicated landing gear itself needs to be built up. Arma provide a frame to alight some of the parts or this. The ear can then be added to the fuselage and the wheels added. Some nav lights will need to be removed from the kit for this boxing and then wing lights and pitot tubes added. Bomb racks, rockets and the drop tanks go on if you are using them. Lastly the canopies and top aerial are fitted. Markings There are printed by Techmod so should pose no problems. 4 marking option are provided for each of the kits, FM-1 A32/S31 VC-33 USS Nassau, Sept 1943. Wildcat V JV579/F "That Old Thing" 846 Sqn FAA, HMS Trumpeter (invasion stripes as providing anti-submarine cover over the landings) FM-1 No.7, VC-6, USS Core, Dec 1943 North Atlantic. Wildcat V, JV439/C9-N, 733 Sqn FAA, Tricomalee Airfield, Ceylon 1945. FM-2 No.8 "Hot Lips", VC-99, USS Hoggatt Bay, Pacific Theatre 1945 FM-2 No.D6, "Judy", VC-14, USS Hoggatt Bay, The Philippines 1944 FM-2 No.4 VC-13, USS Tropoli Atlantic Ocean March 1944 Wildcat VI JV752/320-9 AAEE Boscomble Down Feb 1945 Carrier Decks Two deck sections typical of a US Escort carrier are provided in the box in laser etched wood. Conclusion It is great to see a double boxing of this excellent kit now being offered with the bonus inclusion of the carrier deck sections. Very Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51 B/C Mustang (70038) 1:72 ARMA Hobby Expert Set Originally developed to fulfil a British requirement for new fighter aircraft, the unmistakable North American P-51 Mustang famously went from drawing board to first flight in just 178 days. It went on to become one of the most famous and successful aircraft of the Second World War. Transformed by the addition of Rolls Royce’s legendary Merlin engine, the Mustang went from strength to strength and was eventually developed into several variants. Even though the D model is the most recognised the earlier models were still great aircraft. The B & C were the first to use the Merlin engine which gave better performance over 15000 ft. They were known in RAF service as the Mustang III. The B models were built at Inglewood and the C models which were identical were built in Dallas. The RAF decided that the original hinged canopy did not offer enough visibility for operations and the British corporation R Malcolm & Co designed a sliding bulged canopy for the aircraft which then became known as the Malcom Hood. The search for better all round visibility would lead to the later P-51D, however some pilots are said to have preferred the Malcom hooded P-51B/D than the later P-51D as it was lighter and had better handling, one of the downsides was only 4 guns as opposed to the D's six. Exiting the B/C in an emergency was also said to be easier than the D. The Kit This is a new tool kit from ARMA Hobby which seems to have garnered good reviews. It really also was time we had a new tool B/C in 1/72. The kit arrives on two main sprues, a clear sprue, a sheet of PE and canopy masks (not shown). The quality of the parts is first rate, all surfaces feature fine engraved panel lines, there is a great deal of moulded in detail in the fuselage and main wheel wells. There are two choices of tail featuring the small fillet tail, and the one with no fillet. Bombs and two types of drop tanks are provided for the wings. Due to the different options being provided from the kit its worth while checking the instructions for these before starting work. Construction starts in the cockpit. The frame for the seat is added to the floor and the seat is fitted. Belts are provided as PE with decals on top. The fuel tank is fitted behind the seat with the radios going on top. Two of the decal options dont have this tank and that is also shown in the instructions. The control column is added in front of the seat and then the instrument panel and its coaming are built up. Instruments are provided as decals. Work then moves to the inside of the fuselage parts with more decals being added. If the Recon version is to be made then holes for the cameras need to be made. The main radiator is made up and this can be installed in the right fuselage half, along with additional controls and the tail wheel parts. More parts are also fitted into the left fuselage half. Once done the tail wheel and cockpit can be installed and the fuselage closed up. Moving onto the wings the wing spar part is installed along with parts for the wheel well. These are added into upper wing, and the two wing parts can be assembled. The separate flaps can then be installed. The wings can then be mated to the fuselage. At the rear of the fuselage the tail and sailplanes can be added, a finless and filleted tails are provided for the different decal options. The main landing gear can then be made up and fitted. At the front the chin intake, propeller and exhaust are added. Different plates/vents are provided for the lower engine cowl. For the spine different antennas are also provided for the different options. Different canopies are provided for the model. If the normal canopy is to be opened then the modeler has the option for this. A slightly larger Malcom hood is supplied for the slid back option. Lastly bombs or drop tanks can be fitted to the wings as needed. Markings There are printed by Techmod so should pose no problems. 7 marking option are provided for the kit; P-51B "Ding Hao" Major Howard, 356th Fighter Sqn, 354th Fighter Group, Boxted UK, April 1944 F-6C "Azel/Boomerang" 162nd Recon Sqn, 10th Photographic Recon Group, Chalgrove, UK 1944 Mustang III, CV-C 3 Sqn RAAF, Cervia, Italy, 1945 Mustang III, "Barbra Jurek" F-C-F KH516, Captain Mencel DFC, 309 Sqn (Polish) RAF, April 1945 P-51C "Evalina" 1st Lt Strawbridge, 26th Fighter Sqn, 51st Fighter Group, China 1945 P-51C "My Pal Snookie" Lt Pawlak, 282nd Fighter Sqn, 363rd Fighter Group, France, July 1944 Option 5 but captured by the Japanese after landing due to technical failure, Japan 1945 Conclusion It is great to see this important aircraft being kitted by a new manufacturer. The kit seems to have been very well received by modellers. Very Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F4F-4 Wildcat (70047) 1:72 ARMA Hobby Expert Set Grumman began development work on a new fighter in the mid 1930. Originally the new aircraft was outpaced by the Brewster Buffalo and Grumman resigned their aircraft to carry a supercharged version of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine. Original orders from France were delivered to the British Royal Navy after France fell. The RN designated the aircraft the Marlet. The US Navy would then adopt the type in late 1941. Originally armed with 4 0.50 cal machine guns the F4F-4 was introduced in 1941 with 6 of these guns. The aircraft also featured a wing fold system to allow more aircraft to be on a carrier. Even though the armament was increased to 6 gun the ammuntion capacity was not, thus actually giving pilots less firing time which was disliked. The extra weight from the guns and wing fold also reduced performance. The Kit This is a new tool kit from ARMA Hobby which seems to have garnered good reviews. The kit arrives on a main plastic sprue, a clear sprue, a small sheet of PE, masks and decals. The moulds are crisp with what feels like the right level of detailing and recessed panel lines for this scale. Construction starts with the cockpit. The instrument panel is attached to the front bulkhead (instruments being provided as decals, behind a PE part). The rudder pedals then fit to the back of this bulkhead and it can be attached to the cockpit floor. The seat can then be attached to the read cockpit bulkhead. PE with decals seatbelts are provided. The rear bulkhead can then be attached to the cockpit floor. Side parts then join the front and rear bulkheads. The cockpit can then be added to the right fuselage. The front bulkhead for the landing gear area can now be added in front of the cockpit with PE details for the gear retraction mechanism going in. The internal parts of the gear mechanism can then go in. We then follow this up with assembling the engine and it's bearers as this goes onto the front side of the gear bulkhead. twin banks of cylinders have their parts added along with a PE wiring harness, the gearbox then fits to the front. At the rear the mounts and exhausts go on along with the oil tank and oil coolers. Once the bearers are on the fuselage can be closed up and the engine mounted to the front. The engine cowls can then be added. This is split in half with a front ring, with different ones being provided for one of the decal options. The propeller can then be fitted. Now the tailplanes and rudder can be fitted along with tail wheel. The wings can now be fitted, these are conventional left/right with uppers and lowers. If using the drop tanks you will need to open up the holes for these. Once the wings are one the complicated landing gear itself needs to be built up. Arma provide a frame to alight some of the parts or this. The ear can then be added to the fuselage and the wheels added. Some nav lights will need to be removed from the kit for this boxing and then wing lights and pitot tubes added. Bomb racks and the drop tanks go on if you are using them. Lastly the canopies and top aerial are fitted. Markings There are printed by Techmod so should pose no problems. 6 marking option are provided for the kit; VMF-121 Capt Foss (26 Aerial Vicotiries) Guadalcanal, Oct/Nov 1942 VF-6, USS Enterprise, April 1942. VGF-26, Ex Operation Torch Aircraft, Guadalcanal April 1943. VF-3, USS Yorktown, Ltd Cmr Thach Battle of Midway June 1942 VGF-29 USS Santee, crash landed by Esn Gallano during Operation Torch Nov 1942 Martlet II, 999 Sqn FAA, HMS Formidable, Algeria Dec 1942. There are also 4 additional bonus markings included; White 50, VMF-121 Capt Foss, Guadalcanal Nov 1941 Black 53, VMF-121 Capt Foss, Guadalcanal Nov 1941 White 1, VF-3, USS Yorktown, Ltd Cmr Thach Battle of Midway June 1942 29-GF-1 VGF-29 USS Santee, crash landed by Esn Gallano during Operation Torch Nov 1942 Conclusion It is great to see this important aircraft being kitted by a new manufacturer. The kit seems to have been very well received by modellers. Very Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi all, First and foremost best wishes for the new year, including lots of good modelling time! As a had a few days to relax these days i thought i'd look for an interesting little project that would be engaging enough but i could finish over the holidays. enter the Fokker by Arma Hobby Post WW1 Belgium acquired a single Fokker E.V that had been brought up to D.VIII standard (as far as i can tell this was a mandatory upgrade made by the Germans as the early E.V had a serious structural flaw that could cause catastrophic failure of the, than very advanced, wing structure, so it was in essence an early factory recall. in Belgian service this single machine participated in air shows and had a short career in a civil air school. a flying replica of this very machine exists today. Arma Hobbies Fokker E.V in the "expert set" is a lovely little kit. it consists of a single small sprue and some photo-etch to supplement some of the finest kit parts. not much at first glance but a lot of fun to build with not much room for error. the markings where painted on but kit decals where used for the instruments en interior wood and fabric textures and these worked beautifully, there is also a wood decal for the prop, but i chose to paint it. i find a good technique for painting markings is to start with the light colours and masking those, working your way up until the entire marking is painted and masked, and only than paint the entire model. this reduces the chance of heavy paint build-up against the masks when trying to get light colours to cover dark cammo. one this i forgot about was to coat with a varnish between each mask, the idea being the invisible varnish will bleed under seal all mask imperfections rather than the subsequent layer of darker paint as i has some minor issues with now. there are a few differences between the model en the real thing, it looks like the real plane had the guns removed, and featured a different winshield, but i installed the kit parts, it's on of the areas where photo etch makes all the difference the engine, although largely hidden is also a thing of beauty, again here the photo etch pushrods add a lot or realism. things to look out for when building this kit: - two of the decals for the dials on the cockpit side and engine hood are swapped in the instructions, and as they are a different diameter this would give problems - the framing for the sidewalls is very fine and a ended up breaking one so take care removing those from the sprue. - there is a minor amount of flash and mold lines, witch need to be removed carefully. this is not difficult, but given the overall finesse of the parts it's sometimes hard to see if it's flash or a sharp edge that should be there - the stick has a control lever that protrudes trough the bottom of the airframe, i didn't realise this until it was to late and i had replicate the arm and rod from scratch, i didn't do the best job. Overall construction went very well, and fit and alignment was surprisingly good, the extra detail you get in the "expert" boxing was certainly worth it. the only downside is you have to get real close to see all the details at witch point every minor imperfection becomes visible as well, so there's the question of what level of detail you really want in this scale, regardless i had great fun building it!

Hello to all.I hope you are all doing well and are safe in this crazy times.I would like to present you my latest finished model kit.It took me 4 days to finish this aweosme kit.The fit is almost perfect.No nasty surprises there.I have only added the machine gun made out of a hypodermic needle.I used tamiya and mr color paints to paint it an vallejo varnish for the final matt finish.I have also made a video of the assembly process so if you are up for it you can watch that.It is not that long, around 13 minutes from start to finish. Regards,Dragan

I'm in the finishing mode atm - trying to close projects I've started some time ago (weeks, months or years ). Below another done - Arma Hobby P7a in 1/72 scale. Not their best model, but overall nice build. Painted mostly with Hataka and Mig Ammo with a little bit of Vallejo, Tamiya, GW and Kimera. I've attached group picture of my whole Arma collection as well (2 more still in the boxes - Hurricane and Fokker, will buy P51 for sure, Wildcat is very tempting, but I'm trying to paint as many planes as possible in Polish markings, couldn't find any Polish Wildcats).

Love, lovely Yak 1b from Arma Hobby (1/72 scale). Had a great time assembling and painting that model. All mistakes (and there are lots of them) it's my fault, not Arma :). No antenna, have to practice first and I see that I can drill guns - I will do... someday ;).

Hello A couple of photos with one of my my latest kit. Arma Hobby 1/72nd Hawker Hurricane Mk.Ia - Eastern Front limited edition. Almost OOB. Painted old roundels under the decal crosses (as on the real machines) and painted tactical numbers. Vallejo Model Air paints. Comments are welcome 210 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 209 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 208 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 207 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 206 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 205 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 204 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 203 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 202 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr 201 by Iulian Macovei, on Flickr

Just finished it. 1/72 P11c from Arma Hobby. Had some problems with making pictures - that's the reason behind different backgrounds. Still lots of things to improve (it's my 3rd serious aircraft model, I've painted a lot of wargames miniatures in 1/100 - mostly tanks and infantry; will post 1st and 2nd attempt later on with tine tanks as well) - it's not as clean (construction wise) as I wanted it to be, have to be more patient and use more fillers, etc., but I'm quite happy with painting though. Painted with Orange Hataka's (details with Vallejo and Kimera). Lovely model BTW. I'm surprised tbh - polish models we had in 90s were ... not the best, but this one is top notch. Model straight from the box, I've only added "stretches" (not sure if that's correct term in English) next to landing wheels.

Well, my parcel from Poland arrived on Wednesday, it took a wee bit longer than previous parcels from Arma Hobby, but considering the postal situation at the moment it was still reasonably quick, only 12 days. The sturdy card box contained one Expert Set FM-2 Wildcat and 3 sets of Overtrees neatly wrapped in bubble wrap, I've got a few sets of decals for Martlet/Wildcat VI's, so there's a fewe schemes for me to choose from. Wednesday afternoon the Expert Set was unboxed and had a good fondling whilst I perused a selection of references. Box and contents:- The overtrees supplied are just the two grey sprues and the clear sprue, nothing else. The kit comprises of a main sprue for the FM-2 / Wildcat VI release:- Plus a common sprue for this and the forthcoming F4F-4 release:- The clear sprue is also common with the F4F-4 release, as it contains the lower fuselage windows and wing landing light cover not used on this FM-2 / Wildcat VI release. Also shown here are the small etch sheet and the masking sheet for the canopy and wheels which are only included in the Expert Set:- And here's the decal sheet from the Expert Set which covers 5 US FM-2's, and 3 FAA Wildcat VI's, all of 882 NAS on HMS Searcher, 3 individual code/serials being supplied for the same basic scheme:- If you want to see photo's better than my phone snaps above, there's more on the Arma Hobby website, unfortunately the links they provide on this page for the instructions don't seem to work for me. Initial impressions? It looks like a top quality product, with pretty much all you'd need to build a well detailed model straight out of the box.

Canadian born John Urwin-Mann joined 238 Squadron in May of 1940. On August 21st, he shot a Ju88 for his 5th confirmed kill. Record books have him flying serial P3930 at that time and blue 2 position. Have chosen R as a possible individual code letter, so will look something like this: Based on the few period photos of 238, it should have a blunt nose spinner, I think, maybe... regards, Jack

Hello, I had a long journey with that kit - it's easier than mk.I, however my low skills caused several problems on various steps. I cannot wait for 1/48 kit which should look as 1/24 in the box. 😀

Hi! We are about to launch new boxing ("Limited Edition") of the 1/72 Fokker E.V/D.VIII with decals for four new painting schemes. The kit should be available on 11th November (Armistice Day and Polish Independence Day) as this plane is legendary first operationally used Polish fighter. The kit is quite new but some of our Fokkers built from previous boxings have already been shown on the Britmodeller: Procopius' Fokkers Katurbo's Fokker Stanley Ipkiss' Fokker Boxart: All four schemes are lozenge-covered and the box includes excellent Cartograf sheet with lozenge, plywood and wooden propellers decals (both Heine and Axial propellers) while the second sheet is by Techmod, completely new with two 1919-war Polish and two Great War German frontline Jastas decals. Techmod marking sheet: Cartograf lozenge/wood sheet: Enjoy!!! Grzegorz