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Recently I was quite lucky with my eBay trawling and came across Eduards 1/48 bf 109 G Royal Class for bargain. Now, I'm well aware of Eduards folly with their initial 109 G-6 release, such as bulges where they're not wanted, unusual joins and the 1/47 point something scale they managed to measure it out to, but to me this isn't a deal breaker. Besides the known issues, which can be made to disappear, and ignoring the unusual scale, this is reported to be the best Gustav out there. To have found a complete Royal boxing, that wasn't in need of a call to my bank manager first, seemed too good to miss. As you're no doubt aware there are a good 14 marking options available, two of which are for North African based Gustavs, and I plan to build Werner Schroer's bf 109 G-2 as part of the MTO group build. As an insurance policy should something go terribly wrong (and things always try to with my modelling!) I've got a new tool Airfix 1/48 Emil lurking in the shadows. So, onto photos. Below we have the full kit itself (minus the glass, it's in use), the decals and the marking option I plan on using. I plan to brush paint this entirely but unfortunately I picked up Humbrols RLM range with high hopes and was horribly surprised, thus I'm lacking all of the required paints. New ones were ordered from Sovereign on Sunday, they shipped Monday so hopefully they'll be here Wednesday and the chaps have been kind enough to give me plenty of info on them so I can just jump right in. That's it for now, I'll make a start on what I can and then start making decent progress once the postie has been! Only worked against the clock once before so we shall see how this goes, but with just over two months I'm feeling confident.

"Road to Berlin" - 1/48 Tamiya IS-2 Kit: Tamiya 1/48 IS-2 (built for the Great Patriotic War GB). WIP: Here. RFI: Here. Figures: Tamiya and ICM Base: 4mm MDF mounted in a Wilkos 7in x 5in picture frame Scenery: Filler over expanded polystyrene, painted with Humbrol Dark earth and then a variety of turf scatters, grass tufts and trees from Woodlands Scenics, Greenscene, etc. applied. The fencing was wooden coffee stirrers mounted on square strips of softwood and the road sign was created in Photoshop. Vignette GB WIP: Here. The Vignette: One of the IS-2s in the Russian tank column, en route to Berlin, is passing the female army traffic controller who has just given permission to proceed. Just at that second there's an alert that there's possibly German troops/armour in the fields/forest to the south. Some of the IS-2 troops/crew are more alert than others and instantly spring into action - the others are getting there more slowly as the tank commander smiles as he brings his large gun around ready for firing. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edit - On a personal note: Thank you to everyone who voted for this Vignette in the Vignette GB - I am so surprised it won - there are so many brilliant Vignettes in the Gallery. I was obviously delighted but on the day this won it was also a very sad day for me. Unfortunately my mum passed away that same afternoon after being poorly for some time. I have dedicated my win to her as she was always very supportive of my modelling and in fact she purchased the Revell Schlingmann Fire Truck for me a few years back when I was getting back into building kits. I had shown her some photos of this Vignette the week before she died, while she was in hospital. She was delighted when I returned to the hobby because she remembered how I used to love making models as a child. For my mum Betty 10/04/27 - 09/11/16

FW190 A-8 'Brown 6' WNr 175140, JG26, Melsbroek, Belgium, July 1944 Kit: 1/72 Airfix Starter Set Extras: Tamiya tape seatbelts and EZ-Line aerial wire Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel acrylics all applied by brush WIP: Here This was my build for the FW190 GB and was in in fact my first build of a German aircraft. I mostly enjoyed the build although the kit itself did try to fight back at times. The fit is not great in places and I think that it really couldn't be considered a 'Starter Set'...........I think if this had been the first kit I had ever attempted it would probably have been my last. Full details of the issues I had can be found in my WIP here. I also had some issues with the paints I used - I tried Humbrol's RLM range for the first time but found them a little difficult to use compared to the other Humbrol paints I have used before. I also took a lot more photos on my Spitfire display shelf: ......and a few of the above photos in B&W: Finally a big thank you to all the people who contributed to my build thread - especially Troy Smith who found me photos of the actual aircraft and offered advice about the necessary paints.........thank you Troy. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix EDIT: 22/08/16 Troy Smith spotted in my earlier photos that there was a problem with the gear doors - I had shortened the legs a touch but hadn't altered the doors. I have now corrected the problem and retaken the photos. As the light seemed better I have taken a few more which I have included above.

This is going to be a bit of an intermittent thread but I'm determined to get get this Hurricane finished. I started it as part of a double build over in the Hurricane STGB but only managed to get one of the Hurricanes finished in the allotted time. I basically had too many GBs on the go at the same time! Now the problem is that, at the time of writing this, I'm still finishing off a Spitfire over in the Edgar Tribute GB and going to start a couple more GB builds in the next month or so. I'm also co-hosting the Vignette GB which starts in June! So this thread is, hopefully, going to make sure I keep working on the second Hurricane whenever I get chance. The original plan for the two Hurricanes was to make a bit of a diorama with one aircraft taking off and one being readied on the ground. The one taking off ended up like this: More photos of the completed Hurricane can be found here. I had done some work on this second build (which can be seen in the photos below) and over this past weekend I got a little more done while I was waiting for decals and Pledge to dry on my Spitfire build. This is the kit I'm using: ....and I will be making it as this one: This is the PE I will be using - although maybe not all of it: ......and these are the replacement wheels: The following three photographs show how far I'd got up to before this last weekend - PE parts fitted for the top of the wheel well: Cockpit walls painted: Some work on the seat, seat frame and IP: More details can be found in my STGB thread. This weekend I first got the PE cockpit side walls fitted: The seat glued to the frame: .....and finally some PE detail parts added to the IP frame: With my Spitfire build almost complete I hoping to get a fair bit done on this next weekend. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Quick building of kits is not usually my approach but this sounds like fun and I think I have a suitable kit: I think I will have to go for the two 12 hour sessions because I'm not going to be able to stay awake for 24 hours!........I'm waaaayyyy too old! Kind regards, Stix

I'm afraid this isn't going to be an exciting build to follow but I'm looking forward to it. To be honest this GB wasn't on my radar at all. I'm sorry to say I only realised it was happening when these threads appeared at the top of the GB section. The reason I'm here now is that, when I saw the title, I suddenly realised I had purchased the above Starter Kit a couple of years ago when Aldi were selling them cheap over the Christmas/New Year period. The kit was hidden away among the few bits of my limited stash but I managed to find it. I'm going to have to do a bit of research into the proper colours for the cockpit, wheel wells, etc. because, as this is the starter kit version, the instructions only give colour call-outs for the limited range of colours provided with the kit and I want to try and do it a little more accurately. It will be predominantly OOB. I won't be starting it straight away as I currently have two ongoing projects in the Vignette GB and one in the Great Patriotic War GB (plus I'm co-hosting the Vignette GB!) Onto the photos - box: This is the starter kit version but I cut off the top bit with the paints, brush and glue to make it easier to store and I won't be using them for this build anyway. The contents of the box: Sample of the instructions: Decals: Version to be made - WNr 175140 'Brown 6' 7, JG26, Melsbroek, Belgium, July 1944: I have never made a German aircraft - I can't even remember making any when I was a child - so this will be a first for me. This is a new tool version and, to me, the detail looks quite nice - I have made newly tooled Airfix kits before (Spitfire and Hurricane) and they seem to go together okay. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Having had some problems uploading photos yesterday, I wasn't able to get this thread for my first vignette build started. My plan for this one is to basically use these: I built the IS-2 over in the Great Patriotic War GB and the WIP can be found here. My intention is to have a small scene with the tank out on a country road on it's way to Berlin - the base will possibly look something like this: The figures will either be on or around the tank - I haven't yet decided. This is the frame: I've got several of these and will be using at least two for this GB. .........and with the tank roughly in place on the frame: I'm currently building a 1/72 IS-2 also over in the GPW GB (in the same thread) and that will take up most of my time next weekend but I am hoping to get something done on this project too. Comments and suggestions welcome Kind regards, Stix

Russian Heavy Tank IS-2 - Model 1944 ChKZ 88th Independent Guards Heavy Tank Regiment - April 1945 Kit: 1/48 Tamiya Extras: Hauler Photo-etch HLX48324 and stowage from a Tamiya Jerry Can set Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Railmatch and Citadel acrylics - all applied by brush WIP: Here This was my first build for the Great Patriotic War Group Build. As with all 1/48 Tamiya AFV kits I've built so far it was an absolute pleasure to work on. The fit is superb and the crisp details make it a joy to paint and weather. These photos were taken on my Spitfire display shelf - I am going to make a proper base for it over in the Vignette GB - here. ....and some photos to show a bit more of the detail: Thanks must go to everyone who contributed to my WIP thread either by offering support or advice. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edit 13/07/16 - As I mentioned at the top of this post; this 1/48 Tamiya IS-2 was built as part of the Great Patriotic war GB. Once I had completed this one I began work on a 1/72 Italeri IS-2 and once I had finished it I took some photos to put in the RFI section and I included a couple which showed this 1/48 version next to the 1/72nd one. So I thought I would include the two photos here too: EDIT: 15/08/16 - some photos of the tank on it's vignette display base which I made in the Vignette GB: Loads more photos of the tank and it's base can be found here. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Intoduction taken from TANKS ENCYCLOPEDIA A new standard in hell: The IS-2 1943 onwards - Heavy tank - 3,854 built As the escalation between German and Russian engineers reached a new point with the introduction on the German side of the Panther and Tiger, plus the knowledge that something bigger was brewing, the IS-2 was pressed into service as soon as its main armament was ready. With partly sloped, 120 mm thick frontal armour and moreover, a new massive 122 mm main gun, the new heavy tank seemed to be just the trump card Stalin needed to wash over any armoured opposition on the Eastern Front. Or so it seemed on paper. In reality some shortcuts were taken to meet the expectations that will prove real issues in the long run, starting with the gun itself which was slow to reload and with bulky two-pieces naval ammunition that consumed the available room in the turret you can read more here at TANKS ENCYCLOPEDIA This was a great looking tank and both the Tamiya and Italeri versions should make up into good looking models. The Italeri version was very kindly donated by Sgt.Squarehead and I'm intending to build it as part of this GB and then design a scene for it in the Vignette GB which starts on the 25th June. First here's a photo of the box of the Tamiya Version which I will be starting first at the weekend: I'm also intending to use these with the Tamiya version: Then from the 25th of June onwards, to coincide with the Vignette GB, I will be building this one as well: I am really looking forward to the weekend when I can get started on the Tamiya kit. Kind regards, Stix

Unknown unit - Berlin - April 1945 Kit: 1/72 Italeri Extras: Tow cable from twisted 0.2mm Lead wire, aerial from stretched sprue and stowage from a variety of other 1/72 figures sets. Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Railmatch and Citadel acrylics - all applied by brush WIP: Here This was my second build for the Great Patriotic War Group Build. This kit was in fact a gift from Sgt.Squarehead - so a big thank you to him! This is actually a very nice kit to build although there are a couple of places where there are no precise locations for joining parts which made it a bit tricky. Also the instructions for the tracks are not quite accurate but with a little careful thinking the tracks build up really well. The kit provides the top run of the tracks as straight sections but a distinctive feature of the originals was the sag between the return rollers - to create this I carefully bent the tracks to shape. These photos were taken on my Spitfire display shelf - I am going to make a proper base for it over in the Vignette GB - Here Just one in black and white: .....and some photos not on the display shelf to show more views from higher up - one to show the comparative size: Finally two just for fun - showing the 1/48 Tamiya version alongside this 1/72nd Italeri version: [The RFI for the Tamiya 1/48 version can be found here.] Thanks, as always, must go to everyone who contributed to my WIP thread either by offering support or advice. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Hi all. This is my second entry in the Vignette GB. Both my vignette builds involve the IS-2 Russian Heavy Tank but this one is in 1/72 and from Italeri whereas the other one is Tamiya's 1/48 version. I will be using these for the tank and figures: I will be building the tank itself in the Great Patriotic War GB and will only be posting a couple of progress images here. This was the current state of play with the tank on Sunday afternoon - most of the parts here have been painted and it has had some weathering applied: The start of the WIP for the Italeri IS-2 can be found here. I'm not sure about the artwork on the box for the figures but the figures themselves seem to have some nice detail and get reasonable reviews: The plastic the figures are made from is a little rubbery and there is a lot of flash in places - but a quick test with a scalpel blade showed that the flash and seams cleaned up reasonably well. I don't think I will be able to sand them though. The plastic isn't quite as bad as early Airfix figures. Like with my 1/48 version I will be using this frame that I got cheap from Wilkos: My intention is to make a Berlin street scene of some kind, the buildings for which I am going to scratch build. With some buildings I made for my model railways many years ago I used filler over thin plywood - the stonework and bricks were then scratched in with the point of a needle. I haven't made any plans yet but will hopefully do so soon. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Crusader Mk.III / British Cruiser Tank Mk.VI T126799 - 6th Armoured Division - Tunisia Kit: 1/48 Tamiya Paints: Humbrol and Revell - all applied by brush. The tank is built OOB but I have added some stowage items WIP: Here This tank was built for the Made in Britain Group Build and was great fun to make. I had originally planned on making a base for it but my commitments in other GBs means I'm not going to get time - so the photos here are ones I took after I'd finished the tank a while back. Troy Smith posted a photo for me in my WIP thread of one of the actual Crusader tanks. Thank you Troy! The original photo (below) is from Wikipedia and was taken by Sgt. Lambert of No.1 Army Film & Photographic Unit and shows a British Army Crusader Mk III tank in North Africa in 1943. Wikipedia says the image is in the public domain but if there are any issues with me including it here then I can remove it. The original image can be found on this page. I have edited one of the photos above to make it lighter and black and white: I reckon Tamiya have done a pretty good job with this kit. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

A couple of years back when I returned to kit building, after about a 25 year gap, I built a few bits and pieces before thinking I'd like to try a Spitfire. Noticing Eduard's 1/48 Mk.IXc Spitfire on sale somewhere, I was immediately taken with it's lovely detail and the fact it included photoetch! My concern, before buying it, was that, at that time, I hadn't built a Spitfire since I was a child and it was a relatively expensive kit that I didn't want to mess up. So I decided I needed to do some practice builds first with smaller 1/72 scale Spitfires. My first Spitfire build was Airfix's new tool 1/72 Mk.Ia (WIP here). I built a couple more 1/72 Spitfires before trying Revell's (ICM's) 1/48 Mk.XVI Spitfire (WIP here) - in the first post is a photo of the three Spitfires I'd built up until then. By the time I got around to buying and making the Eduard Mk.IX I was already hooked on Spitfires. I built the Eduard Mk.IX as part of the D-Day Group Build and the resulting model can be seen here. Since then I have made four more Spitfires - two Mk.Vb Spitfires and two Mk.I Spitfires. Throughout all my builds I frequently sought out information about the Spitfires I was building and always found tremendous information and help from a wide variety of very helpful people here on Britmodeller including, of course, Edgar. I never corresponded with him but was always fascinated by the depth of his knowledge and his support of fellow modellers. So for this tribute GB to Edgar I am going to go back to my practice scale and will make a 1/72 Mk.Vb Spitfire - in fact this one: I was originally planning on building Airfix's 1/48 Mk.XII but I've currently got four other builds on the go in other GBs, so I figured I'd start with this one, which I hope to get completed in the STGB time frame. I may well start the Mk.XII during this GB as well but take my time with it. I may even try to get some PE for it. I'm currently planning on making it as the box art version which is as EN821 from No. 243 Squadron, Fighter Command: If you checked out any the links above you may have seen I have made the 1/48 version of this aircraft: I'm not sure when I will actually get this project underway but I'm really looking forward to it. Kind regards, Stix

I completed this a while ago but didn't get around to taking any photos of the completed model until this past weekend. It's Tamiya's fairly new (it was released earlier this year) 1/48 Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) Ausf.E/F. I have to say this kit was a joy to make. The WIP for it can be found here. To what comes in the box I added an aerial and some stowage which was primarily from the Tamiya Jerry Can set. These photos are taken on my Spitfire display base: And finally one to show how small it actually is: Kind regards, Stix

Mk.Vb Supermarine Spitfire EN821 from No. 243 Squadron, Fighter Command Kit: 1/72 Tamiya (No.56) Extras: Eduard Photo-etch Zoom Set SS213 and EZ LIne Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel acrylics all applied by brush WIP: Here This Spitfire was built as part of the Edgar Brooks Tribute - Single Type Group Build. It was a thoroughly enjoyable build in a great GB. This kit was superb to make and, although the PE was a lot more fiddly in this scale, it does really add to the overall look of the cockpit. The kit doesn't come with an open canopy section so I had to do some careful work with an Exacto Saw! Photographs taken, as usual, on my Spitfire display base: One from below: ......and one from above: A while back I built the 1/48 Tamiya version of this kit so I took a few photos of the two of the together: 23/05/16 - Some black and white versions: Comments and Suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix 'For Edgar'

As I'm writing this I'm lucky enough to be sat in our kitchen looking out at the back garden, watching the local squirrels industrially going about their business of acquiring nuts from the feeders and then digging holes in the lawn to bury them. There's the distant sound of the motorway we live near and occasionally the sound, overhead, of aeroplanes off to sunnier climes. It's drizzling with rain here. As has been mentioned by others on BM before, it's difficult for someone my age (55) to imagine what it must have actually been like at this time 75 years ago. When I was growing up in Derby, in the sixties, I remember being fascinated by the stories told by my relatives about the war. I'm pretty sure I was building kits by about the age of five or six and I know some of the earliest kits I built (badly) were British and German World War 2 fighters. I was 9 or 10 when I first saw the Battle of Britain film at the cinema and remember being absolutely obsessed with everything to do with the actual Battle of Britain after seeing it. I spent ages going through the booklet about the film, which was bought for me at the cinema (those were the days!) and any other reading matter on the subject I could get hold of. I know I built more aircraft from both sides in the months/years after. I remember I was was particularly impressed with the sound of the Spitfire's engine in the film. Then, a year or so after, I was lucky enough to go to some kind of event at Crich Tramway Museum, in Derbyshire, where they had aircraft doing displays, including at least one Spitfire. I remember I was so excited, not just to see one, but to hear one too! I took some photos of it/them in flight but when the prints came back from the chemist I seemed to have only taken photographs of the sky with the odd black speck in it. We're now lucky enough to live within a mile of a place which holds a two day air display every year, so I actually get to have Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancasters, etc. flying over our house! So I now have some photos of the aircraft, not only in flight, but over my house! My younger self would never have believed it possible. If anyone has seen any of my previous builds here on BM they'll probably know that, since getting back into building kits, after a gap of too many years, the bulk of the few kits I have made have been Spitfires. So, when this Group Build was mentioned I knew I wanted to be a part of it and I knew which aircraft I would be building. At the time I signed up for the GB, the kit I chose to build was the slightly flawed 1/48 Tamiya Mk.I and I also picked up the Eduard PE set to go with it. Then Airfix released their new tooled version and, as I've not long finished two Mk.Vb Spitfires, I thought I'd do the same with these two Spitfires and build both alongside each other. Although I haven't, as yet, fully decided which actual aircraft I'm going to build these two kits as, I thought I would post a photo of the bits and pieces I'm going to use: I'm really looking forward to getting started next weekend and I know, while I'm making these, I will think about what it must have been like 75 years ago for The Few and, as a result of their efforts and sacrifice, how lucky I am to be sat in a peaceful location, building kits of my favourite aircraft and occasionally watching squirrels digging up our lawn. To The Few

The two Spitfires below were built for the Battle of Britain Group Build. The group build comes to an end on Saturday 31st October 2015, so, if you haven't popped in yet, then now's your chance: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/523-battle-of-britain-group-build-iii/ Both of these Spitfires were built alongside each other, pretty much in the same way as I did with my two Mk.Vb Spitfires. They are not OOB but they are both painted with good old hairy sticks. The Work in Progress for both of these Mk.I Spitfires can be found here. Spitfire Scramble Kit: 1/48 Tamiya Mk.I Spitfire Extras: Eduard photo-etch set, EZ-line, Airfix figures and an Airfix propeller motor Paints: Humbrol and Revell acrylics all applied by paint brushes Aircraft: Spitfire X4593, UO-A, of 266 Rhodesian Squadron RAF, based at RAF Wittering, July 1940* Video: A video on YouTube demonstrating the prop working on this kit (sorry about the shaky video!!!) *This aircraft crashed on November 22nd 1940 near Holme Lode Farm, Holme, Cambridgeshire. More details about the aircraft, the pilot at the time of the crash and the aircrafts possible excavation in the near future, can be found here: http://www.greatfen.org.uk/pilot-and-crash Spitfire Re-Arming Kit: 1/48 Airfix Mk.I Spitfire (New Tool version) Extras: Eduard photo-etch set, EZ-line, Airfix and Revell RAF Ground Crew figures plus equipment Paints: Humbrol and Revell acrylics all applied by paint brushes Aircraft: X4382, LO-G, of 602 Squadron RAF, P/O Osgood Hanbury, RAF Westhampnett, September 1940 Edit - 24/05/16 - I recently purchased a cheap picture frame from Wilkos as it seemed to have deep enough sides so I could get a battery holder and wiring underneath so I could properly display my 'Spitfire Scramble' scene. Here are a few photos: Switch in the corner: .....which turns on the motor for the prop: Comments and suggestion welcome. Thank you for looking. Kind regards, Stix 1/72 Mk.Vb Spitfire

My original intention was to build two 1/48 Hurricanes for this GB but I've ended up up with three GBs on at the same time - 'Made in Britain', 'P-47 Thunderbolt' and this one. So I decided that, if I was to stand any chance completing some or all of the kits, I'd need to do them basically OOB or attempt something which is smaller in scale instead - hence these two in 1/72. I haven't made a Hurricane since I was a kid so it's perhaps better that I try something in 1/72nd anyway - I made three 1/72 Spitfires before attempting any in 1/48. The kits I'm using are these: They are basically the same kit but the bottom one of the two is the 'Starter set' boxing (from which I have removed the top bit of the packaging with the paints, glue and brush). I am currently planning a small diorama with one Hurricane on the ground (without a pilot on board) and the other in flight. For the one on the ground I felt I could add a little more detail so I managed to get this Eduard set (with two sprues of PE) really cheap of the big A. I probably won't be starting these for quite a while - I'll be working on the other two GB projects - but that's not a problem as I'll be able to follow and take notes from all the other builds happening here. I know next to nothing about Hurricanes so I'm going to be playing catch-up and doing some research before I start. I'll be making them as the schemes included in the boxes. Really looking forward to having a go at these. I know there's a few issues with this kit ( ) but I have seen it made up into superb models here on BM. Kind regards, Stix

Hi folks! Here is my newly completed Revell Mustang, straight out the box. Brush painted with Humbrol acrylics. Another nice easy kit which was looking good till i added the cockpit transparency, which is a poor fit and has very faint framework. This made painting the frames time consuming. I'm not best pleased with that part of the build but felt its the best i could do at the time. Decals were good, especially the sharkmouth which went on without too much effort. Its a 112 Squadron machine based in Italy at the end of the war, and i opted to go for a dusty weathered finish using humbrol weathering powders. Hope you like, thanks for watching Cheers Greg.

This build will include a number of firsts for me. In terms of aircraft this will be my first non-Spitfire build since getting back into making kits again. It's also going to be my first metal finish paint job. I'm planning, at the moment, to try brush painting it but I may end up using spray cans depending on how well some tests go when I get around to them. The version I'm planning to make this aircraft as also includes some very large decals.........and I don't get on well with decals at the best of times.....could be fun! It may be a couple of weeks before I properly get around to starting the build as I'm in the middle of making a 1/48 Tamiya Crusader tank in the Made in Britain GB. The kit I'm using: And this is the version I'm planning to do: As flown by Lt.Col. Benjamin Mayo, 84th FS, 78th FG, Duxford Air Base, 1944. The detail on the kit itself looks superb - I'll post some photos of the sprues soonish. Kind regards, Stix

The current plan is that I'm going to make this Cromwell during my lunch times at work. It's not quite a tray on my lap, in front of the TV, but it's going to be about the only time I get to make this with four builds going on in three other GBs. I have made one of these before and thoroughly enjoyed it and thought, at the time, I'd like to make another - and this GB seems as good an excuse as any to make one now. The kit arrived today: I will need to wait until Monday before making a start. I'll post a photo of the limited equipment I shall use once I've got it sorted out. On a side note; Mrs PlaStix has expressed an interest in taking part and she is planning on making Airfix's Mary Rose kit - she's hoping the kit will arrive before the weekend. We'll get a thread started for her once the kit arrives. She has made kits before and she thought this GB sounded like a great idea. Can't wait!! It should be fun trying to make a kit like in the old days!! Kind regards, Stix

Designed and manufactured by Nuffield Mechanisations and Aero Ltd. the Crusader tank was one of the main British cruiser tanks during World War 2. In total over 5,000 were built and mainly saw action in North Africa where they made important contributions to British victories in the North African Campaign. I'm going to be using this kit of the Mk.III Version and, because I've got quite a few GBs planned in the next few months, I'm going to make it OOB: The tank I'm going to make it as is T126799 from the 6th Armoured Division in Tunisa: As of me posting this, the start of my thread, it's currently the only tank in this GB - so it would be good if we could have a few more British AFVs to keep this company. I'll get some photos of the sprues, metal lower hull and other bits and pieces when I get chance over the next few days - I'm currently trying to get my Australian Centurion finished in the Vietnam GB. Kind regards, Stix

Back in March of this year I was in the middle of some practice builds to get my limited skills ready to build a 1/48 Eduard Mk.IXc, Spitfire. One of the practice kits I purchased was this 1/48 Mk.XVI from Revell - the first 1/48 kit I'd ever attempted. Before I'd started it Dreamcatcher began to build the very same kit and luckily he posted his build in the WIP section. This turned out to be brilliant because, once I'd started mine, it became like our own mini-group build with expert advice from numerous other Britmodellers. Miggers was especially helpful - he provided both Dreamcatcher and me with loads of information plus tips and tricks to help make this kit the best it could be. Thank you Miggers. I'd planned from the start that I'd build it with the engine on show so I purchased some Revell ground crew figures and made up a small base to display it on. The WIP for my Mk.XVI can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959827-another-revell-icm-148-mkxvi-spitfire-base-and-ground-crew-finished/ Dreamcatcher's excellent WIP can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959134-spitfire-mkxvi-revell-icm-molds-148/#entry1602360 Dreamcatcher's RFI for his brilliant Mk.XVI can be found here:http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234969551-revell-spitfire-mkxvi-icm-molds-148/ And here is my Mk.XVI: All comments and suggestions welcome. How my Eduard Mk.IXc turned out can be seen here:http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234967960-eduard-spitfire-lfmkixc-ml135-yod-no401-squadron-as-flown-by-jerry-billing-on-7th-june-1944-b-w-photos-added/ Kind regards, Stix

So for my next project I thought I would have a go at some armour - my second AFV build. I have chosen the Airfix 1/76 scale Matilda, with plan to be to finish it as a quick build of an Australian vehicle over the Australia Day long weekend. Box top and sprue shots: The decal sheet (so much smaller than the aircraft ones I am used to!): And here is the scheme I intend to build: So far I know I will need to adjust the hight of the cupola (thanks SleeperService), but my main concern is the colour. Darkish (jungle?) green seems to be the general consensus on the various websites I have looked at. I have checked http://www.mafva.net/other%20pages/starmer%20camo.htm and the suggestion is for SCC116 Very dark drab for the Far East however I cannot find a recipe for the Tamiya acrylics I use and I don't know whether this would also be suitable for Australian vehicles - any advice that could be given would be very welcome! I also have to mess with vinyl tracks, which I gather can be awkward, so any advice on how to deal with them would be very helpful.

Another kit from the shelf of doom finished for the current KUTA group build. This sad beastie has been hanging around for awhile. I made a start, but then managed to lose the canopy (Airfix kindly sent another but it took awhile to get here) and I felt like I made a bit of a botch with the intakes. Whatever, its languished on the shelf for over 2 years. When I took it out to have a look I realised it wasn't actually too far from being finished. Brush painted with Tamiya acrylics and finished as out of the box as WZ507 operated by the Vampire Preservation Group. Build thread can be found here. Thanks for looking.