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So I got the French flag and looked in the stash for what would suit and found this kit and these decals; both give me an option of a camouflaged Hun from Djibouti; which fits the GB, but I would rather do one from Metropolitan France if I can fiddle the decals. I am not keen on NMF and the French NMF look doesn't appeal. Chris

Here is my choice for the GB. Don't build many jets but acquired this a few years ago after going to Axalp, Switzerland which was cancelled...gutted. All I need is a pilot figure. Stuart

My entry for this GB, the Italeri / Testors 1/48th scale RF-4C/E "Photo Phantom II" kit #810 which was first issued in 1981, a mere 40 years ago! I like building old kits and, with airbrushing, modern acrylic paints and after-market decals, it is satisfying to make something that is far better than I could have done all those years ago. I have almost finished an F-4S from the same stable and I hope I can learn from that build and apply it here. On to the kit:- 20210819_174510 by Ghostbase, on Flickr The traditional sprues shot:- 20210819_175052 by Ghostbase, on Flickr Decals and instructions:- 20210819_175246 by Ghostbase, on Flickr At the moment I am minded to complete her as a USAFE RF-4C operated by the 38th TRS out of Zweibrucken AB in the mid 80's, with wrap-around SEA camouflage, using decals from the AirDOC 'USAF Phantoms in Germany Late F-4E / Gs and RF-4Cs Markings' sheet. However I have plenty of time to change my mind 😉 20210819_175620 by Ghostbase, on Flickr This is a very basic kit, especially compared to the modern Academy and Tamiya offerings, and it has a long list of faults. I am hoping that I can overcome some of these faults, more about that in a later post. Anyway, good to be here 🙂 Michael

This will be my first of a number of entries hopefully. The Martin B-57 is not one of the best known planes, but it did managed to earn its place in history during the Vietnam war. As those of you who have seen any of my previous GB entries will know, I like to include a rant lecture bit of background material, which a few of you have said you like – to the rest my apologies as the development of this plane is a bit obscure to many so it will be longer than usual, and whilst we are waiting to commence bashing plastic I may as well start the narrative. All info from Osprey Combat Aircraft and Crowood books on the B-57. You will note that Italeri call it “Night Hawk” but I have not seen this mentioned anywhere else, and the reference to “Enter the Dragon” in the header is from the title of the chapter on the B-57G in the Osprey book – but more on that (much) later The story starts back in 1949 when the first English Electric Canberra lifted off the runway at Warton on May 13th. In some respects it was a jet follow-on to the Mosquito, relying on speed rather than armament, and was in some ways rather old fashioned. Powered by 2 Rolls Royce Avon jets it had a straight wing of generous area, which not only made it capable of a ceiling of 49000ft, but also made it extremely manoeuvrable, though no doubt at the expense of speed. The internal bomb load was on the light side at 6000lb but it had a respectable range of around 2660 miles and was capable of 518mph at sea level rising to 570mph at 40000ft. Just over a year after its first flight the Korean War started, and the Americans soon discovered the need for aircraft to “interdict” enemy supply lines, preferably at night. As their current jets were not really designed for that purpose they fell back on the WWII B-26 Invader, which served with distinction, but was somewhat obsolete, so a committee was set up immediately to find a replacement jet “light” bomber suitable for the role, stressing the need for one which could be available rapidly. The most obvious candidates were the North American B-45 Tornado which had entered service in 1945, and the new Martin XB-51, a big futuristic looking machine with two podded engines mounted with one on each side of the forward fuselage, and a third on top of the rear fuselage in front of the vertical tail. Neither of these fairly large machines were exactly light bombers with loads of 22000lb and 16000lb respectively and neither were they very manoeuvrable, which it would need to be in the intended intruder role. However, as luck would have it, American observers at the 1949 Farnborough Air Show had seen the Canberra and were sufficiently impressed by this and a later demonstration arranged in August 1950 that, against some opposition, EE were invited to send a plane to the fly-off on February 26th 1951. According to the Crowood book on the subject, the Americans had arranged a flying test routine expected to take 10 minutes, and when the Canberra pilot Beamont asked if variations were allowed he was told no, and anyway he would not have time! Taking off last after the XB-51, Beamont used the Canberra's superior turning capability to remain inside the airfield throughout the test, unlike the XB-51 which could only make shallow turns, and he finished the “official” sequence in just 5 minutes and then proceeded to give a “proper” demonstration. This left no doubt which was the most suitable aircraft, even though he managed to burst all his tyres on landing – nobody having told him the runway had been sanded due to the risk of ice! There was of course considerable opposition to this “foreign” aircraft being bought by the USAF, but this was overcome by saying that it would only be an interim order pending the availability of a suitable “home grown” machine, and it was also decided that they would all be built by Martin under licence. The B-57 was born! More next time. Cheers Pete

I built tis model a few years ago after having the kit sit in my stash for a few more yeas prior to that. The kit was labelled as being Italeri, but in reality, it was originally released under the Zvezda brand. Because of it's ancestry, the detail wasn't as crisp as say, an offering from Miniart, but with a bit of work and a sheet of Eduard etched brass, a reasonable could be produced. The load in the back is from a set by Miniart, and consists of some 85mm ammunition boxes along with an oil drum from Tamiya. The markings on the boxes are decals which are included in the kit. Russian trucks were painted in a colour known as ZK, which is a lighter shade of green than the armour colour 4BO. I used Tamiya NATO Green. The decals weren't much use so most of the markings were hand painted with oils, the exceptions being the circle on the tail gate and the red stars on the doors. The beam on the lower rear was painted white to help drivers keep station whilst in convoy at night. The figure came with the kit and I adapted him to appear that he was working on the engine. Miniart Russian truck kits are sharper moulded, but this is still a worthwhile kit to build. John.