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Earlier I started this Arma Hobby kit, and gathered some extras for it. Since I am now in the middle of the boulding now I can say I have mixed feelings about the kit. In fact I can say two main negatives one is the lack of the nose whell well and the other is the rough surface of the kit. However the kit is much-much better than the other Polish kit of course. What I realy like is the fitting and the way that the parts fits at the panel lines. I had to fill up som fitting lines especially at the tail but it wasnt a big deal. Some Surfacer did the work. So back to the beginnings. I started to scratch that missing wheel well. I schoose to make it out of a sheet of aluminium with the strenghten ribs sprayes over with Surfacer. To be honest I copied what I could see on the other PE set wich is inculded in the delux edition because it discontued and I couldnt by it. Have a look at these surface! Just look at it! Gash! Anyway if I had a campany and my first kit were like this I'd be happy with it. Untill I have had to polish it. The cockpit lokks nice and fits well, but needs some extra masking if you paint it with airbrush. But it worth it I say. I used the PE sheet in the kit but with a closed canopy the moulded details are okay to imo. I was pleased that my scratch wheelwell fit too. This was my first model to use extra thin modeling glue. It was intersting after the good olsd CA and Revell Contacta, but it didnt make me any sinks so i say it was a succes it spared me a lot ot filling, sandint, scribing.

Hello, I have finished my Iskra, as my first Arma Hobby kit. The decals are from a Master Craft boxing of their own edition. In short I'd like to list my impressions on the Arma Hobby: con: lack of nose wheel well, simplified nose wheel, rough surface pros: best TS-11 in 1/72, nice fitting, nice details Speaking of the other set, I was buying it only for the decals, because the plastic imo is rather a toy. I had not so much joy in the thick and still easy to tear decals. Anyway, I wasnt expecting more from this kit to have a nice trainer jet in an uncommon markings and painting and I got this. As my goal wasnt to surpass myself I used Humbrol 27001, polished. I swear this aluminium color looks better irl but my cellphone can not cope wit it. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Hi all, After a false start a week or two ago I have re-started this build. My initial attempt was using the more recent KP kit but, being honest, I made a few mistakes and had a thin cement accident that trashed so much detail that I stopped it. So, with renewed vigour I have given her another go. This time I am using the remains of the early KP with some replacement parts from a RV MiG-23MF "What If" kit. I'm no fan of What Ifs so I had no other use for it. To its credit, though, the plastic is more robust but it does suffer from some of the RV extras like PE (my nemesis ). I had already gathered together some aftermarket, some of which went west when I trashed the first attempt. Here is the KP box and the extras: You can see that I have now opted to use a Res-Im cockpit rather than the Pavla, which was more poorly detailed. However, the Pavla was probably more representative of the aircraft. The Res-Im detail, though, is superb, especially on the area forward of the coaming. The aircraft I am planning on representing is "SK427", a MiG-23MF that was operated by 224 squadron of the Indian Air Force. The Indians operated these aircraft from Jamnagar as a stop-gap pending the arrival of the MiG-27 and MiG-29. Two squadrons were operated - 223 and 224. The non-What If RV MiG-23MF kit has this machine as part of its decal offering. However, my research with the help of Giorgio @Giorgio N has shown that in every respect it is inaccurate :(. So, it was off to the PC for me to draw what I need and to ask Mika at Arctic Decals to print them for me. Here is SK427 while at rest at Pune AFS: Credit: Simon Watson I also fancy building this to accompany her: Credit: Simon Watson That will have to wait awhile! I have already started work on her and will post a few images soon. Martin

With the MiG now 2/3 complete I need to start the Sukhoi. I am starting this thread to keep the latter separate from the MiG. You can see the Su-7 progress, such as it was, up to the posts on 17th September 2020 here: From this point on I will keep the two independent. I will probably restart the Sukhoi next week. Martin @billn53 @Terry1954 @Gondor44 @Wez @Courageous @Giorgio N

I started off this vintage Airfix kit without a particular example in mind. I was hoping for a service example with Night undersides and the late windscreen (and there are some), but I couldn't resist this odd duck: A lingering Mk.I, with blister cowling and turret still, in service late enough for India White roundels, and in aluminum dope like the originals in the late thirties. In the Warpaint number on the type, the picture is captioned as belonging to 1331 Communications Unit, at Digri. I like to find something out about an aeroplane I make a model of, and Britmodeller is a great place to ask. I posted a query, and the boffins have spoken. We may perhaps add to 'don't trust a profile without a photograph' injunction not to trust the photograph's caption. A good many guys, Graham Boak, Tonyot, Geoffrey Sinclair, Sgifford among them, straightened the matter out for me in short order. There was no 1331 Communications Flight. There was a Check and Communication Flight from late 1943, at Mauripur, which became 1331 Conversion Unit a year later, after which it became a Heavy Transport Conversion Unit, at Risalpur. This was disbanded early in 1946. EG645 was delivered around Christmas, 1942, and shipped to India in 1943, arriving in May. It was struck off charge in spring of 1946. Aluminum dope finish was instituted for Ansons in the SEAC during 1945, so this photograph was definitely taken late in the machine's service. In light of all this, I suspect that in fact the photograph shows the machine in the early stages of its being put out to pasture. It does not seem to have radio or direction-finding equipment. That's one helluva boxtop, that I remember well from youth. I expect that being an early pressing helped with fit. I blanked off the wing-roots inside, and the gun trough outside, otherwise this is just as it came in the box, with ribs sanded flat. Finish is Tamiya rattle-can Bright Silver, with some upper surface matte coats. The 'India White' is a home mix, painted over centers that were, in the homemade roundels, too pale, and in the old Altmark flashes too, too turquoise.

After what has felt like a decade of stalled building that has primarily been the result of my lax attention to the details, I am very happy to finally roll out my Fitter-A. It is my second build of the Modelsvit kit which, without doubt, is the best Su-7 kit out there in this scale. I built her as a partner to my earlier MiG-21FL TACDE build, intending originally to run the two side-by-side in the WIP section. That didn’t happen for many reasons. She is built and depicted as ‘B896’ when she was used by the TACDE for tactics training as well as for operational missions during the Indo-Pakistan skirmishes during that latter part of the 20th Century. She was painted in the earlier two greys, green and brown colours rather than the later overall Medium Sea Grey with green and brown areas. I had a number of threads going about colours and eventually, with the help of @Linescriber and @Stilwell I settled on this configuration. Credit: @Stilwell During their service these aircraft performed numerous low-level missions with MiG-21FL top cover, utilising a variety of weapons configurations. While many used small bombs and rocket pods I opted for bombs. In this case they are Russian FAB-250-M54 and FAB-500-M62. In all cases they had tanks too to mitigate fuel starvation on long sorties. To me they are the Thud of the Indian Air Force although they were “affectionately” known as “The Whale”. In Indian service these were “dirty girls” and seemed to attract all manner of oil stains, scratches, scars and dirt. The wing root cannons also made their mark as can be seen in this photo of the last few in service at Hindon AFS, to the East of Delhi. I have therefore used my full weather armoury on this model 😉 Credit: @Stilwell The build thread is here: So, what did I do/use (beyond OOB)?: 1. Kit – Modelsvit Su-7BMK “Fitter-A” 1/72 (72002) 2. A Pavla resin cockpit (72113), seat, intake (QB 73403) and nosewheel housing 3. Pitots and cannons from Master (AM-72-103) 4. Bombs from Res-Kit FAB-250M-54 (RS72-0094) and FAB-500-M62 (RS72-0134). I had to change the outer wing pylon as the kit one is not correct in shape. 5. Wing tanks from Scale Resin (7203) 6. Wheels from Armoury (ARAW72008) 7. Resin scoops from Quickboost (QB72423) 8. Drilled out other scoops 9. Removed the canopy mirror/periscope. 10. Left off the IFF aerials 11. Added the small sensor to the port side of the canopy. Made from Plastruct rod. 12. Decals – unit badge and serial drawn superbly by Giorgio @Giorgio N and printed by Arctic Decals. The roundels and flags are from my drawings that were also printed by Arctic Decals. The stencils etc are from a spare MiG-21 sheet as the Modelsvit ones took an aversion to water! Even those that stayed in one piece persistently silvered. The cannon flash plates are cut from Xtradecal silver decal sheet. 13. The canopy was cut and set open. It was modified by adding the flange from plastic card along each side that fits in to the corresponding slots, which I also cut out. I also set the tailplanes on brass rod pivots. 14. Paints – primarily Colourcoats Dark Sea Grey (ACRN03), Medium Sea Grey (ACRN04), Dark Green (ACRN09), Terre D’ombre Nat. (ACF03) and Vert (ACF02). The cockpit etc was painted with Humbrol 64. She had a final varnish with Humbrol SatinCote. All enamels. Paint mask from Eduard (CX543). However, note the mask and corresponding moulding is not accurate. The side frames should be deeper. I used two sets of masks to deepen these. 15. Weathering – Flory Dark Dirt wash, Tamiya Weathering Powders, Prismacolor silver pencil Martin

Just putting out a feeler for information about the specfics needed to get an Indian MiG-21M. My gut tells me it can come from the MF or M kits (Eduard). Am I right? As always, your input will be invaluable. Martin

Hi all, I'm in the middle of a build of the Modelsvit Su-7BMK in 1/72 and I plan for it to be in the later Indian "Hunter" style scheme. However, most if not all of the photos of these machine are unclear about the underside colours. I'm told that Lt grey is appropriate but some shots appear to simply show the grey of the upper camo extending underneath. Does anyone know the truth? Thanks a lot. Martin

Hello all, I am planning a project depicting Indian soldiers in the trenches of France in the First World War. However, the problem is that I haven't really been able to find anywhere that sells these figures and ships to India. Help please

Mig-21 is the mainstay of the Indian Air Force and for a while now, slowly being replaced by more modern jets. But it will always hold a special place in the hearts and minds of most airmen in the Indian Air Force and the nation at large. This Academy kit is boxed as a MF but is a BIS actually. The build went easy as the kit did not have any fit issues. The cockpit was not that detailed but I did a little bit of scratch to make it look busy. And a spare Eduard Bis kit ejection seat was added to the model. I decided to go with the scheme of Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment or TACDE. It is an Indian Air Force unit for training aerial combat to its top one percent fighter pilots. The institution evolves tactical procedures for various aircraft, implements standard operating procedures and trains pilots in operational doctrines. I had only a faded black and white picture as a reference. It would be fair to say the red shade was a bit of a guess. But I am sure it was red and white combination. The colors used to paint the model are mix and match, Life color paints were used, And the TACDE logo and serial numbers are self made decals. And roundels and fin flash are Bright spark decals. This build is part of a group build of 'Indian Scale modellers' group on facebook.

Revell, (MiG-21PF), built here is the FL 1:48 . This is a very old kit with raised panel lines, which I sanded down and scribed. Roundel and fin flash decals are from the kit, but the Sqn. Logo, 52 and serial numbers are self made decals. The shark mouth is hand painted. Also used hair spray technique for fading and chipping. Paints used are AK Extreme Metal. The FL was manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited till the end of 1973, this model depicts a aircraft from The Sharks, No 52 Squadron, Indian Air Force. The Sharks were used in MiG Operational Fighter Training. They were deactivated in June 2005.

Hi chaps, Me yet again but on a different subject this time. It is about the MiG-21FLs used on trial at the Tactics and Combat Development Establishment, India. I'm trying to pull enough information together to build a machine from this unit. Shots of sucvh machines are notoriously hard to track down so my hopes are not high. However, if anyone has a good steer I'd be very grateful. Thanks. Martin

Having started a WIP I'd like to model this machine but - and I really should know! - I cant recal the unit. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. Martin

I have ordered the 1/72 Italeri Su-32/34 - it includes markings for Russian Air Force Su-34s and an Su-32FN of the Indian Air Force Defence Research Wing in 2015. I am inclined to build the Indian Air Force example but can't really find any references to this aircraft. I can see from the internet that Sukhoi built the Su-32FN for the Chinese and Indian market and that India flirted with the idea of acuiring the Su-32/34 for a while but seemed to ultimately decide on obtaining more Su-30s instead. Does anyone know anything about an Su-32FN operated by the IAF Defence Research Wing? My assumption is that the IAF acquired a single example from Rusia for some testing of the type but that is just an educated guess. The 'anorak' in me wants to be sure that I am building a model of an aircraft which has some basis in fact (and Italeri have made mistakes in the past).

Hi All, I'm trying to find some info on the 5 ex-NEIAF Mitchells that ended up at 3 PRU, 681/684 Sqn in India. I've managed to find a couple of b/w images of a Royal Blue one and a later PR Blue example but would like to know the camera and fuel tank fit on them... were they mounted in the bomb bay or fuselage, did the aircraft have a fuel tank in the bomb bay too, was the belly turret deleted and faired over? I hope you can help a bit Cheers Craig

Hi all, Is there an India expert out there who can confirm the colours on this machine? I suspect the colours have been distorted by the publishers of the original document and then the scanner that produced the JPEG. Any ideas? (credit: Bharat Rakshak) Thanks. All help appreciated as always! Martin

Hi, Introducing Asian air Arms SIG. Although focussed on post-1945 Asian military aviation there were so many WWII aircraft used in this region until the late 1950s that I though it might be of interest to WWIIers! It offers some wild colour schemes and bizarre partnerships. What about Pakistani Halifax, Communist Chinese Lavochkin La-11, Indonesian Mustang and Tupolev Tu-2, Taiwanese B-24, Thai Helldiver, Japanese Avenger, Filippino Mustang? And on, and on and on.....! Asian Air Arms SIG has been set up to enable modellers to access a huge resource of post-1945 military aircraft subjects from 26 Asian countries: Mongolia to the Maldives, and from Japan to Afghanistan. Huge website http://www.asianairarms.com offers thousands of photos, colour schemes, research, contemporary accounts, kit lists, decal info, photos of members' models and air arms' lists of serial numbers. We exhibit at many UK shows including North East, Midlands and South West. Members are encouraged to display under our banner. Next two shows: Boscombe Down 6th August, and IPMS Avon 13th August. We welcome all, particularly those with specialised knowledge to help add to, and improve the accuracy of, our resources. Costs nothing to join, just click "Join Here" on our website and you'll go straight on to our mailing list.

Hi, Want some wild colour schemes and bizarre partnerships? What about Bangladesh Canadair CL-13 Sabre, Sri Lankan Pioneer, Taiwanese U-2, Malaysian Albatross, Burmese Bristol Freighter, South Korean T-33, Communist Chinese MiG-9, Indian Ouragan? And on, and on and on.....! Asian Air Arms SIG has been set up to enable modellers to access a huge resource of post-1945 military aircraft subjects from 26 Asian countries: Mongolia to the Maldives, and from Japan to Afghanistan. Huge website http://www.asianairarms.com offers thousands of photos, colour schemes, research, contemporary accounts, kit lists, decal info, photos of members' models and air arms' lists of serial numbers. We exhibit at many UK shows including North East, Midlands and South West. Members are encouraged to display under our banner. Next two shows: Boscombe Down 6th August, and IPMS Avon 13th August. We welcome all, particularly those with specialised knowledge to help add to, and improve the accuracy of, our resources. Costs nothing to join, just click "Join Here" on our website and you'll go straight on to our mailing list.

Hi everyone! In addition to the Zvezda vs.RV topic that I posted I wonder what advice you can offer me on this subject too. I intend to build a set of Indian MIG-21s, with two twin-seaters underway already, and I want to build the variant that was most thought of in Indian service, the 'FL. There are very few options so I am planning to use the RV MIG-21PFM with a 'PF canopy and installing the wings without the blown flaps. Is this my best option? I know the Fujimi is next to useless in terms of accuracy. I have a two-aircraft Azzura box in the stash for the MIG-21PFV and wonder if there would be anything of use in that kit to help my project. Any thoughts??? Anything appreciated! Thanks. Martin

Hello, I am new to the forums and relatively new to model kit building. Just finished this and would appreciate any tips/criticisms you may have! Thanks TBM

Hi All, For those interested here are a couple of pictures of a a Spitfire PRXI as captured during December of 1944 in Calcutta. Shown below is an Aldermaston built Spitfire PRXI PL841 from 681 Squadron (Sqn) Royal Air Force (RAF). This aircraft as shown here was photographed at Alipore, India, 28 December 1944 with Warrant Officer (WO) 409459 ‘Bill’ William John Henry WELLS Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in the cockpit. Amongst many items of interest that can be seen there are cross hairs for camera sighting on the portside of the canopy blister. This aircraft is also fitted with Vickers Oleo Pneumatic Type 91986 (forward torque/torsion link) struts. Cheers, Daniel.