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Happy not quite Christmas from me to me. Don't really know what if any kits have been bought for me by family beyond an Airfix Victor (because I had to order it), so I got myself something suitable for the GB. Masking set also bought of course. I also may have just ordered a Tamiya 1/48 V1 on next day delivery because I needed a paint and well Amazon won't ship paints on their own and I may have needed airbrush cleaner, the local wargaming store stopped selling that and my trip there just to get some ended in 20 quid of other purchases...... A productive day for getting modelling supplies. I'll probably either do this on the 26th, 28th or 29th depending when I'm working. I'm hoping for a 12 hour total build time like with a previous build I did of a spitfire prxix because I woke up and wanted a new spitfire one day. This kit is somewhat bigger though....

This will be my second attempt at doing this P 40-N RNZAF Gloria Lyons 1/48 model. Last time I got distracted by some Zero's. This time there is no distraction here. Hopefully I will get it done. It is a Hasegawa kit. I once had a RC plane I painted as it see below.

Hi Chaps, I've been looking forward to the Night fighter Group build for a while. This kit was almost stated last year for the 1960 NATO GB and again it just missed the 1950 NATO GB in January. So 3rd attempt to start will commence when my 2 Hawks in the Training Group build are done. Not decided the scheme yet but I have plenty of choice. Colin W

Hi Chaps Now for something completely different. How about one of these for your front line defence? I got this from Victoria Hobby centre in Melbourne Australia in January 2003 when I was there for the Avalon air show. It's been lurking in the stash for 15 years so this GB will be it's moment in the sun. The parts It looks pretty easy so the hard part might be the silver finish and the canopy. The canopy is currently taped to the window using the glorious Thailand sun to make it clear again. The canopy also has a dent and I found a fax ( remember those? ) in the box which I sent to the manufacturer in 2003 asking for a new one. After 15 years and no reply i don't think they are going to send me one. A challenge for later? Colin w

I have decided to start a new thread for my Frog Blenheim Mk-1. I have removed images from the Typhoon tread and put them here. This is an old Frog Russian kit that was totally covered with flash. I spent a lot of time removing it and digging out the engines. This is the result. I have also used the Eduard PE in the cockpit. This was for the Airfix kit. There is also some resin parts in there too and a scratch built back wall. This is the main parts together with my first attempt of scribing. The first wing side was terrible the last side was ok. I learnt a few things along the way. The plastic is very hard, so it wasn't easy. Wings and tail are now attached. I had problems getting the left wing fitted because stupid me forgot I had added the cockpit rear wall. The wing tab was hitting it. After trimming the tab all was well. I had to fill some of the damage I caused to the wing joint.

I intend to build this one more or less out of the box, I have an Accurate Armour resin crew to man it and I may or may not use the Bronco individual link tracks I have in the stash. Here are the obligatory box pictures I intend to build this along side a 1/72 Mosquito so this will be a slow build Thanks for looking more soon Roger

As I have run out of time to do justice to Gloria I have decided to do the Oscar instead. This will be a faster build and at the same time give me a bit more experience before I do Gloria on the main forum. This plane operated in Burma so should fit in here. If it doesn't that is ok as I will build it anyway and just finish up my Zero and call it a day here. Rich could you let me know if it fits.

Hi Chaps I think this won't be too unusual as there's at least 3 other builds of the Tamiya Tomcat on here already. The Tomcat has always been a favourite aircraft of mine so when this was announced I dropped the long term plan to build the 1/32 kit and decided to go this way. Not long after the GB was announced I saw the kit in M Workshop in Singapore so picked it up and managed to not build it yet. Here's the scheme I am planning to do. VF2 on the back of my USS Enterprise in 1977. The situation today Being a Tamiya kit I wasn't going to add any resin but then I saw these in Hannants and couldn't resist I hope to make a start soon. Colin

I need something easy to do right now, so I thought I would do an Tamiya A6M3 Zero. 1/48 Scale. This will be out of the box with only PE seat belts. I thought I had started it , but it seems I haven't. I will have a go at doing a Solomons scheme with the green sprayed patches over it. I did an RC plane Like that. This should be the only challenge for this kit.

Hi all I would like to know whether a P38 would be legible for this build I am on kind of a roll and have the academy kit no 2215 in the stash it has been glaring at me for ages.I plan to build it out of box with no aftermarket decals. Regards: Shaun

Hi all.Having recently returned to the hobby I now find myself having dismally failed at my first attempt at a group build but it would seem that I have in the meantime shall we say re hit my stride and will gladly try my hand at this group build seeing as I have a bit under a month and that the Roden bristol is supposedly a good kit that goes together rather snazily(on Roden standards anyways). So if you guys would have me then well here is the kit and proof of incompleteness: I should get cracking by late tonight and failing that tomorrow morning. Regards: Shaun

Next project so I have something to build while the MkIVs are in the paint and finishing phase. Expunging the WW1 bug, for now at least. I think I have a couple of armoured cars in me somewhere and I'm waiting to see how the after market for the CSM Lanchester develops. I believe some WW1 trucks are in the offing in plastic too, although I don't really "do" softskins. So this is a double build of the Meng riveted-turret FT17 and the HobbyBoss Schneider CA with additional armour. Limited after market parts here. I think the FT will be an MG version, French if I can find evidence for that configuration in French service or US if not. I have the ET etched brass set and the Blast stowage and update set. I looked at a couple of after market Hotchkiss M1914 barrels, but decided to stick with the kit barrel. I still have a pack of Zebrano resin barrels, which are nice but perhaps a little over-skinny and fragile: I might use one yet. I had a Magic brass barrel but the cooling ridges (they're really too thick to be fins) were all wrong: flat-topped rather than pointed. The diorama base won't be used, although I did invest in some etched barbed wire, metal pickets and real wood strip just in case. Painting-wise I did buy a J's Work masking set but have decided not to use it: seems like far more trouble than it's worth. The Schneider has the Blast Models upgrade for the sadly lacking kit running gear and their stowage set. I've had a Magic gun barrel set on order for months from Nordland Models, still only shown as "processing": fortunately not paid yet. But as noted above I have since found that their Hotchkiss MG barrel is not usable, and the 75mm BS gun doesn't really need to be replaced. So that will be getting cancelled. With the one-piece upper hull moulding this looks a relatively straightforward kit, but one weakness is the tracks. Each link is made of 3 pieces and the little spuds on each link are too fat. The Schneider used the same tracks as the FT as far as I can determine, so if anyone has any spare sets of Meng FT tracks I'd be very interested: I'd need 2 sets. I can't really justify a set of Friuls and life is far too short for the 8-piece-per-link Voyager etched brass links..........

Well having almost completed my Hawker Fury I'm going for something a bit more symbolic of the RAF 100 years with a Puma. This low profile always there but never seen Helicopter has now been in service for 47 years having joined up in 1971. Destined to remain in service until 2025, only the Hercules and Canberra will have served longer. Although based on the age of individual air frames the Puma may have the edge. So despite 47 years of sterling service we still don't have a 1/48 scale kit. Another F16 anyone? To fill the void in the RAF 100 line up I shall therefore be building the venerable and hard to find Heller 1/50th scale kit. According to Scalemates the moulds date from 1967 and this is the 1986 boxing. That said and the detail is basic by todays standards but was probably OK for 1967! Lets give it a go. What you get Who remembers when the instructions were one sheet of paper, printed in French? Some massive sink holes in the tail and those exhausts look ermm....... On the plus side the cockpit glazing is very clear despite being 3mm thick! A quick raid on the parts bin yields a pair of seats, some Flightpath PE and a decent instrument panel spare from Belcher Bits Lynx. Also the doors are moulded in clear so only the windows to mask, what a great idea! I think I'll go for an early scheme as the kit has no air filters and the HC2 has too many lumps and bumps to knock off. I figure there might be enough work already but lets see. May battle commence. Colin

Hi Chaps, I have been a bit spoiled for choice for this GB as the subject is so wide and there are so many potentials. After building a Hunter (for the BM10 GB) and a Hurricane (Hawker GB) I've decided to continue the theme and do the Fury. I see JB is already making a Fury and there is an excellent build by Tomoshenko elsewhere on BM so this has inspired me to build a biplane. I have refrained from starting before today but I confess to having had the parts out and starting to clean off the mass of flash and misaligned mould lines. Someone said in the Hawker GB that its best to get an old boxing of this kit rather than a new one. I agree. The wings also suffer from ejector pin marks which I have started to fill. Because the interior is so rubbish I plan to use the one from the Classic Airframes Hurricane in the stash and modify the Fury to suit. I've not decided on a scheme yet but will probably go for the RAF museum example. Colin

Hi Chaps This is my second GB for the year as I am well advanced with a Hawker Hunter FR10 in the Britmodeller 10th anniversary GB. I usually have 2 models on the go so I can tinker with one while I'm waiting for something to dry on the other. I picked this kit up last month in Singapore having read the review on Hyperscale last year. I have to say I am very impressed with the and the level of detail is not far short of the 1/24th scale Hurricane I made 20 years ago. That includes the engine which is about the only difference. So in good tradition despite having 20 years worth of kits in the stash I opened this and will build it next. Don't tell the wife! Well before I start here are the box and sprue shots. I have had a little look at the components and although the level of detail is excellent there are a few issues with alignment and distortion I do believe the angles should be 90 degrees and the lines straight. I might need to review the assembly sequence. Colin

Hi All, Can we start yet? Raring to go with the Academy FGA9, PJ FR10 conversion set and Xtra Decals Shiny 2. This is my 5th shot at this kit having done the F3, an F6 (ETPS), T7 and GA11. With just a new nose and tail this will be the easiest of the conversions. I'll build one from the box one day, honest. This will be a demonstration build for all those building the new Airfix kit in 2020 which will come with the FG10 option and 2 Squadron markings. Tell the Rumourmongers. And it will use up one of the last 3 Academy Hunters in the Stash. Colin W

Bought this kit just before Christmas,from a local guy who was moving and down sizing,really got a great deal on it with the Dragon German Artillery crew to go with it,it's going to be a large kit when finished,first time I have every put so many wheels on one kit(22) all up,it comes with one single shell,beautifully turned,but it would have been nice to have a few more even in plastic,so far in the early stage of build all is fitting well,just one hicup had a wrong number on a part,was a bit puzzling till I worked it out(confession with my wife's help),Cheers.

Just received these in the post on Monday so I thought I would get a start on them,give me some painting to do over the Christmas break,I was told by the seller that these are an old set of Victrix,I have spent more time cleaning up the seams and mould lines,I'm just over half way with all the figures,(60 in all)not sure that I will build everyone,but once cleaned up they look OK to me(I'm no expert) .Cheers.

Hi Chaps, Well I have never managed 2 in a GB before but here I am going for number 3. I'm not sure if I'll finish as I'm on holiday for the start of July and I'm away for work 1 week as well so only really 2 weeks to get this done. Its been to the top of the pile a few times and gone under again but with 3 weeks left its about the only 1 I'm likely to get done before the deadline. This has been in my stash for many years as I thought it was the twin engined one when I bought it and was probably a bit disapointed when it arrived. The other ARBA kit I has was the Gloster Whittle which I built back in 2006 and was a great kit for its time. Special Hobby brought the Whittle out soon after so this will prompt some mainstream guys to produce it. The box, also seen with a picture on the lid. I built the Airfix Bedford MWD last week while deciding whether to start this or a Meteor. Fills the box or would do if it was a smaller box! 6 pieces of resin, 11 bits of pewter and 2 canopies. How hard can it be................! Will make a start this week end. Colin W

Hi Guys, As I mentioned before, Old Thumper has made me yearn for the building the Matchbox kits of my youth, so I am in with this beastie. I am not sure whether to build it literally straight from the box in homage to my childhood, or improve it slightly (i.e. jet pipes). Anyway, I am looking forward to getting started. Dave

Hi Chaps Sorry this is a bit of a late start but I have been busy finishing a flying boat thats been on the go for a while. Half my stash will fit into this group build so I may try and do a few. Here is my starter model. I built the Attacker many years ago from Magna resin kit then when the CA kit came out I bought a few to do the various sub models of Attacker. My first was the Supermarine 521 better known as the HP88 which I did in 2007. This model had an interesting life but was eventually sold to Ian of Herritage Aviation and used as a master for his resin kit. I have one of these so might do it as part of the GB if I progress well enough. Here is the 510 in the Chobam Hall at Yeovilton in 2012 My plan is to use a standard Attacker for the main parts but I have found a vacform tail off a Contrial Tu95 in the spares bin which I will use for the wing. Wing sweep etc is about right so its a shame not to use it. I have made a start cutting out the wings and a printed the decals in advance when I made the serials for my last model. Here goes Colin

Morning Chaps & Chapette's Its been a while since I've done a Bike WIP, and seeing as its nearly Christmas I thought, whyyyyyy not. Here is today's victim subject... Tamiya's GSX1100S Custom Tuned Katana. I absolutely luuuuuuuuuurv Katana's. They really are the sexiest beasts on the road. The kit is a re-pop of Tamiya's previous Katana, except this time round it gets a new sprue, with a 4 into 1 exhaust, new rear shocks and new disc brakes. Also in the box is a new decal sheet to adorn the natty new red and silver paint job. This kit first came out in 1994, and this is one of those editions because I purchased it when it was released, so basically its been sitting in my cupboard for 22 years! Onwards... I'm going to try and slightly modify this one... Just for a more visual prettiness. I've been going through my stash of bikes looking for an alternate set of wheels and finally found a set that might just fit, from a Yamaha YZR 500 old GP bike (obvious choice), and i'll be trying to graft a front mudguard from a Hayabusa onto the front end as well. Ok then, right into construction with the engine. The usual Tamiya quality is evident and 8 bits that make up the engine just fell together as usual. Engine has been painted TS 29 Semi Gloss Black (note the extremely expensive and very posh engine stand) I absolutely loath,(with a capital loa) chrome bits on bikes, and usually dull them down with Flat Clear, but on this one I might just go a bit 'out there' with the side covers on the engine and do them in Red. Frames have been cleaned up and basecoated.... Righto then, straight into the first bit of surgery... I'm removing the rear part of the mudguard at the back, for no other reason than it looks cool when its finished... Have to be careful when removing the back bit, because we still need to keep the slot for the light to fit into, and the two U shaped thingies that the rear indicator lights will fit into. (see second photo) I've done this mod before on a Katana and mistakenly cut off the slot for the rear light... Believe me, you don't need the stress in your life of trying to get the light to fit to another bit of the frame. I shall be off now, painting the bits of the engine and shall see you all later... Mad Steve

Hiya Folks, Having gone to town recently with a 72nd scale Ventura Mk.II using loads of aftermarket resin, (see link here); http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234969058-ventura-mki-464-sqn-raaf-2-group-172nd-scale-finished/ I`ve decided to build the Academy PV-1 kit as a Mediterranean based Ventura GR.V using no aftermarket parts whatsoever with just spares box parts,plastic card and other bits and bats to add to the kit. Of course the cockpit as provided in the kit is pure fantasy for a Ventura so this was altered using an old Airfix A-26 flightdeck along with plastic card bulkheads etc and the Wireless Ops desk was from the spares box too,..as were the radio`s. To save on photos the above view also shows the filler applied to cover the erroneous entrance door on the right hand fuselage half and also the amount of filler applied to the engine nacelles. Once the interior is finished and detail painted the fuselage halves can be joined and the wing and tail parts fitted. More filler is also needed on the tail fins to fill in moulding holes and sink marks can also be found in various parts of the fuselage too. More filler was applied to the fuselage join to smooth it out. The engine cooling gills details have been re scribed deeper and the section behind them has been filed down to make them more representative of the original. As with most of my Ventura models a set of sun screens were also added to the canopy using wire for the rails and tissue paper soaked in white glue for the white canvas cover. This is how the model looks so far after 2 days of modelling,... ,....Time to find a suitable colour scheme. Whichever one is chosen the engine intakes on top of the nacelle will need to be altered as they are wrong,......although they were delivered with standard intakes as per US Navy a/c most of those in the Med were converted. Many RAF operated Ventura`s in this theatre had Baltimore style Vokes air intakes and SAAF aircraft had their own particular intake style. Below is my representation of the Baltimore style Vokes filter on a previous model; And here is my represetantion of the SAAF style, again on a Ventura model which has since been finished; Cheers for now, Tony PS- I have photos of some really nice SAAF Ventura GR.V`s based on Gibraltar but the unit markings on the rear fuselage would require some fine detail hand painting,....so I`ll have to have a practice with these first before deciding!

Hello all. This will be my build thread for my GB entry. I've never taken part in something like this before, and as it stands, I've not built a model aircraft in nearly 20 years. But, after the relative success of my first forray back in to modelling with a vintage Acguy (Here) I'm ready to dive in to this build feet first! I'll be using the same Airfix Series 1 72nd scale P-51 D as so many others have. I always liked 1/72 scale kits when I was little and I still like them now. Also, it's £5.99 so if I mess it up, it's less than a packet of fags (not that I smoke anymore, got a baby on the way). From my limited understanding, by later in the war the USAAF had ditched painting most of the aircraft and left them mostly bare metal. Now, I am not a missive fan of miniature metallics nor of the bare metal look. As such I have decided on a somewhat esoteric scheme displayed below. A P-51D from the 2. Staffel of the Versuchsverband der Oberkommando der Luftwaffe. This aircraft was recaptured by American troops in May 1945. At least two P-51D Mustangs had their upper surfaces repainted dark green. The first of these machines was captured near Cambrai on D-Day. So, something a bit different. A nice bright yellow and green Mustang. A bit of history on Rosarius and his Flying Circus can be found here. In My next post I'll move on to the start of the build.

Hi Everyone, Here is my finished effort on the Dragon Iron Man Mark VII Armour from Avengers Assemble. This kit was given a complete undercoat of Tamiya Titanium Silver, then painted over with 2 coats of Tamiya Clear Red and 2 coats of Tamiya Gold Leaf on all Gold parts and then Revell Acrylic Silver on the few Silver parts that are on it. Overall this kit was a great project and I am looking to finding more kits like this and doing them as well. Maybe have a full collection of the Avengers. Comments welcome. Anyway onto the photo. Thanks for looking. Rick