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Howdy, y'all! I know it's been some time since my last post here (at least a year I think) but with college wrapping up and figuring out what's next for me, I hadn't had time to sit down and actually get far with any build. I think that at least the last couple of builds I've attempted have ended on the Shelf of Doom, mainly with issues with the kits but also on my part. Therefore, I wanted something relatively simple but very interesting that wouldn't take too long and wouldn't lose my interest along the way. I bought this kit a couple of years ago wanting to do a Vichy machine using the SBS decal sheet, however, it seems that the sheet is quite difficult to obtain at a good price or in a timely manner. Thankfully, since this is one of the latest boxings of the kit, the Armee de l'Air decals are in really good condition, but still not sure if I'll build that scheme. From what I've heard and read, this kit is really good for its age, and apart from the weirdly split canopy, it's a relatively hassle-free build. Therefore, I plan to scratch-build a fair amount within the cockpit, even though it is fairly good OOB. So if any of y'all have any diagrams or references about this tiny passenger craft I would really appreciate them since I know that there's a couple of books about the Simoun, but they're now either far too expensive for my blood or simply out of print. Looking forward to sharing this build process with y'all! - Javier

Hello, I want to present the French light tank R35 Tamiya 1:35, "Le Buffle" 21st Combat Tank Battalion, June 1940. this is my first attempt with painting camo. I used Vallejo Model Colors with brush. The black lines are made with a Edding marker. I don't use any pigments. But maybe I should...

As my LeO was progressing, I had a look around the stash to see what else would fit the French Fancy GB. I thought I had built most of the French aircraft during the Heller GB but as the summer holidays took hold, I "accidentally" found myself in a few model shops on holiday and came away with a few kits - 3 of which were French subjects. I've got a Potez 630 from Azur, another Azur Loire et Nieuport LN 411 and this weekend, a Heller Musee Block MB210 from Clifton Curios. As I had mixed up the internal blue, for the LeO, I thought I'd make a start on this one and see how it goes. The resin parts are really small and quite tricky to get off the base. So far so good though.,... No breakages, Some good looking decals. I'll be doing the French scheme. I started with the cockpit as I had the blue ready to spray in the airbrush from touching up the LeO internals. I then left this in its box and occasionally did something to it while the LeO was drying. All of this work was during the LeO build a little while back. The current status is this : The cockpit went together no problem and the fuselage fitted together well. I've got 2 wings too. The area on the front of the engines isn't great but I don't know how the resin engines will fit and if it matters! I should be able to concentrate on this one more now the LeO is done and the Liberator (in the High Wing GB) is mostly assembled.

Morning all, I thought you might enjoy this WIP. I saw someone post one of these on twitter and couldn't really resist. The first job is the 2 and a half million wheels (well, 74 I think). Individually these are pretty easy to put together and clean up, I found it best to actually build them and then clean up any sprue that was left. Being Meng there was no flash to worry about, if you're doing this kit I'd suggest you cut the parts for each wheel type and put them in separate tubs, then sit and watch a film with a file and a scalpel blade to hand. The wheels are held in place by rails that sit over the top (well, bottom when the kit is built but you get the point). I found the easiest thing to do here was to put a drop of extra-thin quick setting at the end of each bar. Obviously some of this seeped through so a few of the wheels don't spin, whenever I find myself in this situation I agonise about whether that's ok and then remember that it's not like I'm going to be driving this around on my bench going 'brum brum' (well not much anyway) so who cares if the wheels work. There are lots of details to attach to the hull and sponsons, these are mostly simple and fit well although throughout this kit I find the grab handles to be a bit fragile. I think I snapped most of them and, whilst they were easy enough to repair it was still irritating. I think if you wanted to you could cut the brackets for them out of styrene sheet, drill holes and put wire through for the bars, I don't think that would save any effort but it might be less irritating. When you assemble the hull the top section holds the drive wheels in place, then the bottom slots in. At this point I had a little bit of a fight to get it into place and to get the fittings at the ends to line up, nothing to worry about but I did manage to knock off one of the PE grilles, next time I think I'd leave the PE off until the end. I also found when I added the towing eyes some of them fit over the seam and are pretty good at pulling the two hull parts together and closing any gaps that remain. Char 2C The eagle eyed amongst you may notice I've left off the MGs, there is no need to fit them until right at the end of the build so I didn't to avoid breaking them. Char 2C I am really taken with the size of this beast, the 1/35 figure is for scale, it's so bit I struggled to get a photo on my bench. I've got a vague idea about setting up some sort of simple 'diorama' with some figures on the roof of the tank, maybe you'll get to see that later. Char 2C Finally the sub assemblies, the turrets are lovely and simple to build (although I draw your attention to the Stroboscopic Cupolas which are a wonderful concept - http://www.landships.info/landships/tank_articles/stroboscopic_cupolas.html). The gun barrel is in 2 parts and doesn't have any visible rifling which is a shame given the size but clean-up wasn't an issue. The top of the engine was a great sub assembly, almost a kit in its own right. It has numerous tiny pipes which, I must admit, I approached with some trepidation. In the end they required minimal clean-up and though fiddley they slotted into place fine. These are the only parts that would make me hesitate before recommending this kit to a real beginner, although I think if you did break one it would be easy to replace it with bent wire (I'm sure some folks are already doing this as standard anyway). As you can see, I managed to mess up the PE here as the grille came away from the rim when I tried to take it off the fret which was a bit frustrating, it was my mistake and hopefully with a little fenageling it should look ok. Char 2C by Stefan Bridle, on Flickr That's where I'm at for now, I think I'll probably prime the hull etc over the next couple of days and worry about the tracks later. I'm thinking of using one of the monotone paint jobs from the box (probably Normandie) using Tamiya XF-58 as the base colour. The instructions suggest Vallejo 'olive-brown' but their illustrations are dark green. I want to build this as it might have been in 1939 before war broke out, I think that means it should be in 'vert-olive' although I can't find any colour references for the precise shade so I might use a bit of imagination. One last thing to add is that these vehicles were mostly used for propaganda and moral building films. One of the cool things about this build is that you don't often get to build an individual vehicle that we have this amount of reference photography and footage of. This video is worth a watch: Thanks all and hope you enjoy the thread.

Eduard's well known P-38Q with again Eduard steel seatbelts. First the actual plane and profile drawan with a French artist. Here our box art; one of old boxings of Eduard. despite of its age;decals impressed me. The interrior;

Hi all, I felt like I needed a new project to help get through this period in which I'll be spending much time at home. The kit I've chosen to work on is Tamiya's brand new Renault R35 in 1/35th scale (pictured below). I'm pretty excited to get going on this one once it arrives in the mail. If there aren't too many delays due to the lockdown, I should be ready to go next week at the latest. This gives me enough time to do research and choose the particular vehicle I'm going to build. In the meantime here is how I've decided to breakdown my project. PHASE 1: CONSTRUCTION Part 1: References Here I'm mainly going to compile a selection of images taken from internet as well as a few "walkarounds" I know are available. Also, I expect to use a book called "French Tanks of WWII pt.1" from Osprey Publishing. Part 2: Removing parts from the sprue & part preparation It might not be the usual way of doing things but I'm planning on detaching and sanding all parts before actually gluing any of them together. This being a Tamiya kit, I really don't expect much trouble in the way of mould marks etc.. Part 3: Basic exterior assembly Here I assemble all the parts that will be painted in the base colour, in other words the core of the model excluding certain details that are easier to paint individually. I'm not sure how often I will post updates during this part but most likely every 3-4 "steps" in the instructions. Part 4: Textures This part is something I guess I'm going to experiment with. The R35 was made mainly of 3 large casted pieces bolted together. The Tamiya kit tries to replicate this cast texture but from what I've heard it isn't pronounced enough. If this ends up being the case I'll redo it myself as well as the various weld lines. Part 5: Battle Damage I haven't decided which particular R35 I'm going to represent but it is possible that I might add some light battle damage to the model depending on what the real one went through. Part 6: Exterior Detailing Finally, I'll end the build phase by constructing the metal tracks I'm going to purchase to go along with this kit. This is also where I'll add any extra details or accessories if I feel the need. Well, there's the plan. Now to execute! I'll post again once the research is completed. Cheers, Jack

And I am off...first I cleaned off the bench. I've not done that properly since my first GB back in...I don't know...I've forgotten... Greece can be a dusty place and my flat is no exception, hence the glass-doored cabinets I have for the built kits. This is kit PK-8, Gladiator Mk.1 and I will make it in French livery for a nice, silvery change. This is my second build for this GB and I am eagerly awaiting the outcome of the 2018 voting! Oh boy, am I excited! All I ask is a clean bench and a kit to steer her by... Except for the decals from the excellent Extradecal Gladiator set, this will be OOB as much as possible. And my second Gladiator from that decal collection. I built the Greek bird last year from the new Airfix kit. Why do I think this will be more fun? --John