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Hi folks This is one that I completed a couple of years ago but only just got around to posting. A really nice kit that goes together nicely.... but boy it's BIG when completed so has to hide away in the loft!! I used aftermarket decals from Hi Decal, paints from mig ammo 0249, Vallejo Model Air 71.335 & 337 and my usual mig ammo panel line washes to finish off. Hope you like! Comments much appreciated. PSX_20240406_210705 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr IMG_20240303_125431 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr PSX_20240406_210851 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr IMG_20240303_125415 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr PSX_20240406_210715 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr PSX_20240406_210751 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr PSX_20240406_210732 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr IMG_20240303_125349 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr IMG_20240303_125327 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr PSX_20240406_210525 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr PSX_20240406_210653 by Binbrook 87, on Flickr

Hello guys and gals, today I'd like to present the HobbyBoss MiG-31M Foxhound I recently managed to finish after having it in my stash of shame for years. Probably everybody knows the MiG-31B/BM but the MiG-31M is a rather obscure topic. The MiG-31, the replacement for the aging MiG-25 interceptor first flew in 1975 and this time the performance was achieved by sophisticated engineering, rather than brute force as it was with the MiG-25 and at the beginning of the 1980's the first MiG-31's were introduced into service with the Soviet Airforce. Although it was vastly superior to the MiG-25, the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau began working on a more advanced and modernized version shortly after and in 1985 the first prototype of the MiG-31M took off. 6 prototypes and one pre-series aircraft were made and apparently successfully tested, although the full extend of the evaluations and the true combat capabilities of the interceptor remain secret, the MiG-31M showed a huge improvement over the basic MiG-31. Some of the upgrades tested on the MiG-31M were later incorporated into the MiG-31B and BM versions, so the program was not for nothing. But avionics, electronic suits, radar and engines are one thing. The MiG-31M was also thoroughly reworked on the outside. For starters - it was way bigger. The MiG-31 had a gross weight of 41 tons - the MiG-31M was clocked at 50 tons. The wingtips housed ECM pods, the underbelly hardpoints were increased from 4 to 6, the standard framed windscreen was replaced by a one piece round windscreen, big LERX were added to the wings, an in-flight refueling probe was also added and the gun removed. The most prominent change was probably the bigger, wider dorsal spine. But the end of the Soviet Union also meant the end of this program. The MiG-31M Blue 057 was the last to be built and after a period of unsuccessful sale attempts, this pre-series jet was put into storage indefinitely at Zhukovsky Airport after the 1995 MAKS show, where it was displayed publicly for the last time. It remains at Zhukovsky till this day and it actually can be seen even on Google Maps but its condition has deteriorated severely over the years. The HobbyBoss kit depicts Blue 057 while it was tested. The kit itself is not bad. The details are quite fine, the fitment is alright and except for the join between the forward fuselage and the rear half the putty stayed mostly where it belonged. It also features metal landing gear legs, although these could have been cleverer because the metal parts are mixed with plastic parts and the fitment there is wonky at best but the metal landing gear is highly welcome. The M in the name stands for massive! The kit is very heavy and the extra weight in the nose doesn't make things easier. The rest of the build was very enjoyable, no major problems were encountered. The canopy of the WSO was a bit stubborn, I'm guessing because it was meant to be open. Even the instructions don't mention the closed position but it was nothing a little bit of enthusiastic filing couldn't fix. The kit also has some options to offer when it comes to armament. Most photos show the MiG-31M with 6 R-37 AAM under the fuselage and 4 R-77 AAM but I went for drop tanks and 4 R-60's, which is also a loadout possibility on the MiG-31B. Where it falls apart are the decals. These are awful in any and every way. Compared to those on the ICM MiG-25 the print is rather crude, their film is quite thick and they respond badly to decal softeners and are quite hard to work with. So I ended up omitting a lot of the little decals. Even the instructions got some of the positioning wrong when you look at the few reference pictures available on the internet. As usual Vallejo and Tamiya paints were used for the most part, weathering was done with oil paints and washes and the whole kit was sealed with Tamiya Varnish. So...here it goes. I hope you like it and thanks for watching!

It took more than three months to finally complete the desert-painted A-6E belonging to the VA-65 team. The aircraft was deployed on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and wore a special desert two-tone livery during Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War. The concept of camouflage painting was proposed in the Red Flag military exercise in 1990. Different from ordinary light gray low-visibility painting, desert painting is considered to be easier to integrate into the desert environment and reduce the possibility of being locked by optical tracking. (Please correct me if I am wrong.) However, in the later tests, it was found that the camouflage paint would prevent the deck landing commander from accurately and clearly guiding the aircraft to land. In addition, most of the missions of the A-6E were night operations, so camouflage painting was not widely used. It is worth mentioning that this A-6E was hit by an anti-aircraft missile during a ground attack mission two days after the desert paint was removed. Fortunately, the missile did not explode but penetrated the entire right wing. Because the impact was near the edge of the wing, far from the folded hinge part of the wing, no serious damage was caused. The crew finally managed to ditch the plane to the base in Bahrain. This A-6E was later repaired and continued to serve. In terms of model making, the overall kit combination is not bad, only the front landing gear, the guard plate of the engine nozzle and the connecting part of the wing-body use some filling to fill the gap. In the initial production, a lot of time was spent remaking the panel lines in order to preserve the details as much as possible. Now it seems that I have indeed added a lot of unnecessary burdens to myself... It is excellent to only deepen the line without being obsessed with textual research. The ammunition part uses reskit's 3D printing pylon and resin mk82 ammunition. I have to say that the details of the 3D-printed parts are amazing, and I am looking forward to the printed landing gear of the GWH Su family as well as the Tamiya F-14. The ultra-high-detailed ammunition and pylons can be said to be one of the highlights of this work, so a lot of effort has been spent to highlight this part. Another highlight of this work and the most difficult part should be the camouflage painting. Since the decals are also two-color stitching, there are very high requirements on the size and border of the camouflage paint blocks. It is necessary to repeat many times to adjust the boundary during the spraying process. So this time I did not use pre-shading but tried to use post-highlight, salt erosion mask, and filter to de-aging. Although I tried my best to do the aging well, but due to insufficient technology, I still couldn't faithfully express the heaviness of the real machine. I can only make persistent efforts in the future. It has been almost 20 years since I first came into contact with model making. I was accidentally brought into this miniature world and was deeply attracted by it. The development of the model industry is also accompanied by the development of modern industry, and more and more fine products are brought to the market. More and more model authors are involved in product development. Products are becoming more and more refined, but the difficulty of making them has rarely increased. 3D printing technology is an even more dimension-reducing blow to model making, which was unimaginable 10 years ago. Before this year, I have never systematically examined my technical reserves and found that I still have a lot of techniques and techniques to learn. I hope that I can continue to bring more satisfactory work from this year onwards. Thanks for watching!

My proposed build is Hobbyboss Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat in the markings of Carrier Air Group 19 off USS Boxer (CV21) in June 1947 flown by CDR H.E Cook according to the Cutting Edge Decals I have. I also have some Barracudacast resin wheels and Eduard mask and fabric seatbelts to add to the project. My record on completing kit projects is atrocious so we will see how this one goes. Always been a fan of carrier aviation so this is a good group build for me. Some pics prior to the start date Thanks for looking. Grahame

Hi all. This is my last work. Due to the pandemic and lot of problems at work , my production is at its lowest level....anyway...i enjoyed this kit. hope you like it. add ons are a Sparkit ejection seat, some PE from EDUARD, and the Reskit nozzle ( a pure wonder ). i did a light riveting. Time to see the pics : one real Mirage : My model :

Back with another one (coming thick and fast, hah). I've had this kit for at least two or three years. I initially built it all up, painted interior, and ran out of a specific paint colour for a single part in the cockpit. Ended up forgetting to do that for probably a year, leaving it with a loose, masked off canopy in place. It wasn't until I got an He-162 kit in the same scale and started pondering a combined 'what if' diorama that I restarted work on it. Unfortunately, that plan didn't come to fruition due to space concerns, and after I painted up, decaled and weathered the kit, I placed it in a shoebox for safety. Now that I've freed shelf space, I finally pushed to complete it on a new, smaller idea, still within that 'what if' concept and using my own scheme and markings set up (some of which were from the He-162 kit spares). This is the second completed on hold kit/diorama after my Corsair one, found here: And that's a wrap. Thanks for looking as always Gaz

This is my recent project. A very nice kit, without any issues, except for the clear parts for the Maverick missiles; they just don’t fit into their places. Used Eduard canopy masks and PE for the cockpit, and metal pitot tube. Only thing I’d change would be the rubber tires. I mean, they’re ok, but if they had resin, for instance, those would take a better weathering. Decals were also good. Hope you enjoy. Cheers! George

Hi.....From the box plus a resin engine, Yahu, vacu canopy, some PE and scratch. Painting from Montex mask VMF-221 Jim Sweet A pleasant, relaxing model. I invite you.

I recently completed my first 1:48 scale Tamiya ' Bubbletop ' P47-D I rather liked this kit so i decide i'd perhaps buy another one. However, i saw a Hobbyboss kit online and thought i'd have a go at this instead. It was a lot cheaper than the Tamiya offering ( whichit'self is superb!). I thought i'd start a new build with this HobbyBoss offering. Here's the kit out of the box as a starting point It looks to be quite a nice kit for the money. Crisp mouldings. NO flash. small pieces are very good. The plastic is nice quality. The engravings are light but appear to be recessed. It's limited in comparison with the Tamiya offering.. No options to add rockets / pylons / bombs or the under-wing drop tanks. (This isn't a problem of course as the 2 examples to build to are probably Escort fighter configurations.) A lot of scope for cockpit improvement here! The seat lacks the upright supports.. but have a pair of these from the a Tamiya kit in spares. No details to speak of for the cockpit side controls and gear.. No pilot figure. A one piece canopy - would have to cut the canopy to do this as an open canopy model. The canopy moulding is actually very nice with very well cast ,slightly lipped dividing lines between Perspex and metal. Looking forward to starting the build .. will decide what options i'll add myself..

Hello guys, With the lock-off, I was able to complete the Hobby Boss 1/48 F-105D Thunderchief, in the markings of polish Glider. Used some aftermarket, Aires cockpit and wheels, Quickboost pitot, tail fin and fuselage scoops and aerials. painted using AK Real Colors acryls. hope you'll like her and as usual, comments and crits most welcome. Stay safe, Stef (#6) And a few more pics ....

The IAR 80/81 was a small-series Romanian-built WW2 fighter plane. Only some 450 airframes were completed until the production was terminated, in September 1944. Built with very limited resources and under many unfortunate circumstances, the plane had to fight much more powerful air forces like VVS, USAF, and in the end against Luftwaffe, obtaining 315 confirmed air victories, for 75 of their own shot down by enemy fighters. The IAR 80 behaved pretty well during its operational life, especially considering that starting with 1942 its modest high-altitude fighting capabilities were falling behind those of enemy types. This problem had become critical during spring-summer 1944, when the IAR 80’s had to face the American bombing campaign over the Ploiesti oil refineries, and were forced to fight at very high altitudes, heavily outnumbered and outperformed. Despite this, over 80 heavies were shot down during 1943-1944 by IAR 80’s/81’s while defending the Ploiesti-Bucharest area and when deployed skillfully, on the rare occasions when the attacking forces were coming at low altitudes, it was still capable to deliver quite a punch, even against much more advanced fighters like the P38 Lightning. Of course, this came at a very high price – only during late spring/summer 1944, at least 32 Romanian pilots were KIA while fighting with IAR80’s/81’s against the American attacking forces coming from Italy. The machine depicted here is a very early IAR 80 from the first batch (1-20) – this is actually the second airframe assembled. Starting with August 1940 it was used as a test plane by Escadrila de experiente Pipera (the Test Squadron based at Pipera airfield) and flown by various pilots in order to improve the type/subsequent airframes. Then in spring 1941 it was allocated to a fighter unit (60th Fighter Squadron), completing many operational missions on the Eastern front, against Soviet Airforce . Later on, it was relegated to fighter training duties. This machine had served with distinction throughout the war and survived many accidents, only to be scrapped sometime in 1948, thus sharing the sad fate of the entire IAR 80/81 series. Not a single one was preserved in a museum. I used the 1/48 IAR 80 Hobbyboss kit as a base for the model, improving it the best I could. The Hobbyboss kit is a decent offering which comes together very well, although there are some issues most probably generated by sloppy documentation work. I described some of these issues in my build log here – however they can be surpassed with only a little bit of extra work and the most important thing is that even if built strictly OOB, this one will certainly look like an IAR 80. I also used the Yahu instrument panel for the early IAR 80, the Quickboost machine-gun barrels for IAR 80, and the decals from Radu Brinzan – all of them very good products which will greatly enhance the HB plastic kit. So, that’s it. It was an enjoyable build of an aircraft which is very dear to me. I hope you’ll like it. Thanks for looking and cheers,

Successful visit to Scale Scotland 2019 @ BT Murrayfield 👌🏼... worth a visit if you havent been. Only downside .. wishful thinking that I could do as well as this ... Superb 👏👏👏 So after a few weeks and the envy having subsided , I've started on the Hobbyboss Corsair II , the A-7k version. Really like this kit and looking forward to having it in the blue/grey scheme. First up, removed the canopy crease by sanding it and polishing, then it was dipped in Klear ( or latest Johnson product equivalent) Next up was the cockpit.. basic seats but raised detail on IP which should be ok with supplied instrument decals. Ejection seats painted up and little bits n bobs added from spares box and wire to add interest. Seatbelts made from tinfoil sandwiched between some Tamiya tape. Excuse the poor photo but you get the idea .. Cockpit decals added and micro sol used ... Seatbelts might not be perfect but I'm well happy for a first time effort .. Cockpit fairings are a snug fit.. no glue needed but some weathering required later before the canopy is fitted. Overall fit of parts is superb in my opinion. Just a couple of gaps filled and sanded, especially the join in the engine intake ( moulded in two halves). Two halves now glued together and the centre fuselage seam filled and sanded. Taking care not to destroy any of the recessed panel lines and detail on this kit. Wings on and various underside pods and ventral spine fitted. Filler required for the wing joints but to be honest, not that much. Looking at reference pictures, the small arial between the rear cockpit & extended spine should be removed. I think this would impede the intake for air to air refuelling. Going to leave the horizontal stabilisers off until paint applied, as they are molded in one piece and a great fit. On the real thing, there appears to be a swash plate or similar ?? on the fuselage at the front end of them. This will be much easier to paint with the stabilisers added after. That's it for now... enjoying this kit but starting back shifts tomorrow so build on hold until later in the week. Happy modelling 🤝👍

http://IMG_20200103_115357_544 Hi all! My latest model, even if my not best effort. Most of troubles have been self-inflicted to be honest, but here is the result, decals just applied! All the best!

Hello ,,, This is the progress of my current project, Fresco of Indonesian Air Force. I made a weathering just on my imagination. The challenge was how to make the extreme weathered plate on silver old aircraft. The real aircraft now monumentalized already. What do you think?

Good evening For this Gb i will build the Hobbyboss 1/48 Mirage IIICJ http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2375 Patrice

HI all! Today the Russian whiz. A quite good kit, wich made a lot of fun. Also finally something else than our evergreens 109, Spit and all these things. Best regards Andy

Hi, I've finally finished something This is the Hobbyboss copy of Revells Rafale. It's 99% from the box with the addition of some foil on the front landing gear strut and tape seatbelts. I wanted to build this particular aircraft in order to try out an overall black colour scheme. It's harder to pull off than I thought !! If you had a look at my WIP thread, you would have seen it took a few attempts until I settled. All said, it was a nice quick (by my standards) build after being bogged down by the Atlas Cheetah I'm putting together. The pics: Here's one of it with a Rafale M i put together a couple of years ago. Thanks for looking. Comments and crits welcome