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We reviewed this puppy mid February, and as I'm a sucker for a late war jet, I dug in straight away to see what I could do with it. As I said in my review, it's not a shake-and-bake kit, so you'll definitely have to apply some of those fabled modelling skills to building it. If you're the type to get all uppity because some flying surfaces are too corrugated, walk away This isn't a Luft'46 subject in some ways, because a partially constructed example was captured at the end of the war, and there are pictures of it languishing outside some buildings, covered with US soldiers and staff posing in front of it. The Americans liked it so much that they took it back to the US and finished it, calling it the X-5. It's the grandfather of the swing-wing generation of fighters and bombers, so it has a place in history. This boxing is the Night Fighter option, and RS sent me the one I was most likely to be tempted by, and they were right. I was. I started off with the cockpit, which was nice, and fitted the fuselage nicely. I added some HGW seatbelts, and detailed the IP with Airscale instrument decals, basing my dabblings on a cut-down sub-set of the Me.262's panel, with the following result: Those HGW seatbelts really are the donkey's whiskers, aren't they? Absolutely worth the faff and fiddle of putting them together. I curse and I swear, but keep going back for another set, and will continue to do so The exhaust was pretty simple, although the outer tube had a big mould seam around it that needed removing. It's a tight fit too, and as I wanted to pop it in later, I replaced the styrene tube with a length of brass tubing of the correct diameter that I had lying about, reusing the centre dooh-dad, and repainting it in the same burnt metal shades. The intake is a simple tube, and again I had to do some fettling later in the build, so all that metal shading was lost under a load of Black 4.0 paint yesterday. This is modelling There's just a blank at the back end of the intake, so no detail was lost, and even with a bright light, I can't really see anything inside. It also works because the airframe is black. Happiness The wheels are moulded in halves, and they looked familiar, so rather than having to carefully sand the seams whilst trying to avoid the raised circumferential treads, I looked up late WWII German aircraft wheels, as I expected them to be reused from another design to save development costs. My first guess was Me.262, but they're way too fat and large. It turns out that they're scarily close to the wheels of a late war Bf.109, so that's what I went with, picking up an Eduard resin set. You can see just how close they are below: Very nice, although the kit wheels are decent, I just couldn't be bothered sanding the seams because I'm lazy The wings were pretty simple, consisting of two parts that glued together as you'd expect. I decided to cut out some wingtip lights and cut out areas that I thought would be the likely site, and glued in some clear acetate after drilling a depression in it that I painted red and green, hoping I'd get the right wing matched with its light The white line is a piece of styrene strip that I used to tidy up the edges so they'd fit better. They got covered up with liquid mask pretty much straight away, and haven't been seen since. Once I'd got the cockpit, intake, and gear bays in the fuselage, I joined the two halves, and set to work on the seams. They took some hiding TBH, partly because the styrene is quite soft, but I was also using soft sanding sticks. Once I'd stopped doing that, the seams disappeared, and I could put the parts together for a test-fit. After seam filling, I had some panel lines to reinstate, which turned into a complete rescribe, so all the panel lines looked the same. Then it got silly, and on a whim, I decided to rivet the entire airframe, which I've never done before. I used the Galaxy Model riveting tools that I've had lurking about for almost 4 years, and have barely used. I've certainly used them now! Over the course of an evening and the next morning, probably 4 hours in total, I marked out the rivets as I reckoned they might appear, again, using the Me.262 as my guide, as the wings were intended to be the outer wing panels off that aircraft at one point. It's probably not the best or most accurate riveting that a model has had in the world, but I'm quite pleased with it, and it has added some extra visual interest, as well as distracting from any mistakes I've made along the way. The top pic is just after I'd finished with some of the pencil still visible, the second shot is later on after a bit of tidying up, and re-filling a few lengths of the seam that had eased or cracked during handling. There was a much fettling and filling of the various mistakes too, tidying up lines that weren't quite square, and making good, plus drilling out four tiny holes in the nose cowling to help me locate the radar antennae later on. once I was done, I glued all the major parts together, and it turns out the tail fin tab was slightly wide, and it split the rear of the fuselage, which I had to make good. The whole thing received a unifying coat of primer and a good buffing to remove any rough patches, then I put it aside for a few days while I was busy with other stuff. I dipped the canopy in Klear and left it to dry, masking it up with narrow lines of tape, which I in-filled with scrap pieces once I'd finished. I glued it on after putting the gunsight on the coaming, which I'd also covered with a sheet of 0.25mm styrene to ensure the seam stayed hidden, replacing the moulded-in glass with two squares of acetate, making sure they didn't interfere with the sharply raked windscreen. The canopy got glued on with GS-Hypo cement, and was taped down and left to cure overnight. Last night I did some choosing of shade, having decided to depict the scariest decal option that's based on an all-over black airframe with little wiggly clouds of grey all over it. I might as well, as I like to make things difficult for myself Here's the base coat, which isn't black, it's a dark grey called Gunze Tire Black H77, which is very dark, almost black, but not quite. I'm going to lighten it with further coats, then noodle the camo grey over the top. That's the plan, at least I noticed in that pic that the paint is a bit thin on the fuselage centre section, so it's just as well I have the paint still in the 'brush. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some modulation on it this evening, and will post up some pics when I do. I'm determined to finish this one, as I have too many sitting close to the finish line that I'm thoroughly ashamed of. Wish me luck!

Hi guys! I plan (if everything goes smoothly) on getting Tamiya's He 219A-7. Box schemes are fairly dull, black over light blue or the latter colour covering the entire aircraft. Since the He 219, for me, borders Luft 46, I would like to get some inspiration for a whiffer camouflage. I was thinking on RLM 02 on the lower surfaces, making the aircraft some sort of prototype, with the top sides painted in the regular splinter pattern of RLM 74 and 75 the Bf 110 have. Another idea was of a splinter of RLM 81 and 82 over 76. I also though on painting the wings in a combination of RLM 76 with 75 and, last but not list, a camou of RLM 77 and 81. However, if any of you have a website where I can input the airframe and colours so I can make my own mixes, I'd be very grateful. Thanks!

Messerschmitt Me.262 HG.III (48A003) 1:48 Amusing Hobby via Albion Alloys The Me.262 was a ground-breaking aircraft, as it was the world’s first fully operational jet-powered fighter that went into action too late to make any real difference to the outcome of WWII thanks to Hitler’s meddling (Nice one Adolf!), insisting that it was made capable of performing as a fighter-bomber, thus delaying its entry into service by around a year – a crucial period in wartime. It was an amazing leap forward in technology, able to outpace the best piston-engined fighters by around 100mph, although it wasn’t without its problems, mainly because of the engines. Due to their isolation from the metallurgical technology and supplies from the majority of the free world, the Nazis were unable to make the kind of metals that were needed to stand up to the rigors and heat of burning jet fuel for more than a short period, which meant that the engines were effectively ruined within a few hundred hours of use. The Junkers Jumo 004 engines were the more advanced axial-flow type, but they were slow to spool up and down, which made the aircraft vulnerable to attack during take-off or landing, which resulted in a lot of losses once the Allies caught on. Add to that the weakness of the nose gear to this early tricycle design, and it was far from perfect. As with all technology, the next version is underway before the original has even reached completion, and the 262 was no exception. A streamlined canopy option was mooted initially, and that became known as the Hochgeschwindigkeit I or HG.I. Another variant was to have a greater sweep to the wings at 35o and closer-set engine nacelles, with a V-tail that turned out to be an aerodynamic faux pas. A further design had a greater sweep still at 45o and two of the more advanced Heinkel HeS 011 engine in semi-conformal nacelles buried in the wing root, but the war ended before that got further than the drawing board. Some of the DNA of the HG.III may well be found in subsequent designs in early US, British or Soviet jet aviation. The Kit Anyone that knows me will also know that I have a bit of a thing for Me.262s, so when I saw this one in the Rumourmonger area of the site, I was very happy and you can probably see my excited comment there if you care to have a look – feel free to roll your eyes. Amusing Hobby specialise in models of unusual types, whether it’s armour or aircraft, and this is their third venture into aviation, which makes me very happy they have. The kit arrives in a slim top-opening box, and inside are two large sprues in sand-coloured styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and the glossy instruction booklet with colour profiles on the rear for the markings options. Two sprues may seem a little light for a 1:48 jet fighter, but because of the design of the HG.III, the blended forward fuselage, nacelles and wings take up only two parts, with another two for the aft section of the fuselage. This cuts down on the part-count substantially, as does some nice moulding of the cockpit and the nose gear bay. Construction begins with the lower fuselage for a change, into which you add the long nose gear bay, after deciding whether the deeply hidden ejector-pin mark in the very depths of the bay is worth hiding. Speaking personally, I will be putting a tiny shim of plastic over the complete roof of the bay to make sure it’s never seen again. A central spine is inserted onto three turrets running from the nose gear bay to the aft of the main gear bays, forming the centreline of the latter. From the outside the gear leg, its retraction jack and captive door are added to the front, and nearer the rear a side-opening door with its own retractor is fixed, with a scrap diagram showing the correct orientation of the jack. The nose wheel is a two-part assembly with radial tread and a separate inner hub, just like those in the standard 262. The tapering intakes are made from top and bottom halves, and these are slipped inside a bulkhead with half-circular cut-outs, then the assembly is dropped into the lower fuselage on a number of receiver turrets. At the rear of the engine trunking, the rear fan and bullet fairings are slotted into place in the exhaust trunking in preparation for the centre section that will be visible through the main gear bay openings. The centre section has a pair of oddly-shaped sort-of figure-of-eight bulkheads that are spaced apart by two sets of trunking, which comprise a series of stepped cylinders. A pair of jacks are set diagonally between the two bulkheads before it is inserted into the lower fuselage ready for closure. The cockpit finally gets some attention, based upon a familiar cylindrical part that bears a close resemblance to the original 262 cockpit, into which the seat, control column and rudder pedals are mounted, with a fuse box on the right side and the main instrument panel lowered into a slot in the sidewalls with a clear gunsight on a rod mount passing through a notch in the top of the panel. Given the relatively low part-count for the cockpit, detail is good, with excellent raised and etched dials on the panel and side consoles. If you wanted to add more detail however, it’s entirely probable that existing Me.262 aftermarket will fit due to the similarities between it and the standard cockpit. The completed assembly is inserted into the upper fuselage, then the two halves are joined together, with a chunk of weight added to the space in the nose, although you aren’t given a value to help you work it out. The D/F loop and pitot probe are glued into position at this point, but I’ll be leaving them off until after painting. The canopy is sadly a single part, and fits into the recess over the cockpit, with a portion of the fuselage moulded into the front of the windscreen for ease of merging it with the rest of the fuselage. My example had a few small scratches on the surface, but they will probably disappear after a coat of Klear, and incidentally it’s the streamlined canopy, not the standard comparatively upright version. Underneath, the main gear legs are inserted into a pair of sockets moulded into the upper fuselage, and both have a two-part wheels with diamond tread fixed to the axles, and a half-circular bay door with jack, and a triangular rear bay door, with an antenna just behind the bays. A scrap diagram shows the correct angles from the front to assist you in placing them. The aft fuselage is split vertically, and has the elevators fixed to slots in the tail, then the completed assembly is mated with a stepped lip at the rear of the forward fuselage. I would leave the elevators off until after the fuselage is joined to ensure that they are set perfectly square with the wings, but that’s just me being cautious. I couldn’t resist nipping a few of the major parts off the sprues and taping them together after completing the review. Fit is excellent without glue, and the canopy slots into place perfectly, so probably won’t need any remedial work if you’re careful with the glue. The join between the front and aft fuselage is cleverly stepped for strength, and the elevators have one or two tabs to ensure the correct one is installed. It’s surprisingly large! Markings The HG.III was a paper project so it’s unlikely that anyone got as far as designing a camouflage scheme specifically for it, so the world is your lobster when it comes to markings. In sensible mode, extrapolating existing late war schemes would be a sensible move, but no-one can argue even if you painted it sky blue pink with purple spots, although they may question your sanity in private. There are two decal options included on the sheet, with profiles provided by AMMO, and using their colour codes to identify the shades. From the box you can build one of the following: Decals have never been the strongest part of Amusing Hobby’s offerings, but this sheet seems well-printed apart from a slight smudge on one of the E3 decals, with a matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The supplied Swastikas are in dog-leg halves, and they seem a little large to my untrained eye. The white ones with black outlines will need a little of the black outline cutting away if used, but the black with white outline markings correctly have a gap in the white outline where they will overlap. I’ll be using some of my Xtradecal Swastikas when I build mine for my own ease. Conclusion Hopefully, all those that would pooh-pooh this release because it “never existed” have given up reading by now, and I sometimes wonder how they cope when they’re watching fictional movies, Sci-Fi or other non-existent things. It’s an injection moulded Me.262 HG.III, which I thought we’d never see in my lifetime, so there’s a lot to be happy about. The detail that is provided is good, but if you’re a detail fiend you might hold off your build until someone has created detail sets for the landing gear bays, which could be seen as a little simplified to some, although little will be seen once it’s in the cabinet. External detail is excellent however, with rivets and raised details over the entire surface. Highly recommended. Available in the UK in all good model shops. Review sample courtesy of

Hello guys, Here are the photos of my most recently completed model, the Me P.1099 from Revell Germany in 1:72.

After finishing my Spitfire, I decided to build this little kit that I found at Hobbies Moròn for a good price. Only three sprues inside the medium sized box, two in dark green and one clear sprue. Instructions are of the pre-2017 Revell style, I.E a photocopy with very clear construction steps. Decals were printed in 1996, making this kit as old as I am. I tested a small decal on my paint mule, and it didn't break, so I'm relieved I won't be having to look for 1:72 German insignia (I mainly build 1:48 akd 32). Boxart: Sprues: Decals and instructions: My main attack plan will be to paint all the small parts while they're on the sprues, and then assemble them.

Hi all and sorry for not posting here sooner! Recently finished for a 'What If' GB - the full build thread is here but to recap: Kit: 1/72 PM Models Ta-183 Build: Mostly OOB Extras: Tape for belts and some plasticard in the u/c bays. Cut the one-part canopy open Paints: Revell Acrylics by airbrush, mottle effect with some kitchen sponge. Panel line wash. Decals: Some from the kit, others from the spares for JG7, 1945 PM Focke Wulf Ta-183_done3 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr PM Focke Wulf Ta-183_done5 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr PM Focke Wulf Ta-183_done8 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Alongside a real-world JG300 FW-190 PM Focke Wulf Ta-183_done11 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr PM Focke Wulf Ta-183_done14 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Thanks for looking and any queries, happy to help! Enjoy your modelling and stay safe, wherever in the world you're reading this. Cheers, Dermot in Dublin

During the recent Blitzenbuild over the Christmas period, given that you only have 24 hours in which to start and finish it, but spread over 3 days, I chose to do the PM Ta183. The build thread is below If you haven't taken part in a Group Build before, I throughly recommend it, picture of completed build below: Let me know what you think. Cheers Pat

I saw a new member (I think?) showing off his finished example the other day, and you know what a sucker for silly and unusual things I am. I picked one in 1:48 up from Brengun off eBay for as cheap as Cheapo McChips, and treated it to a PE set from the same brand because that cockpit with be SO visible won't it? Anyway - I thought I could use some of the paints from my Triebflugel build here to speed the process along, and as it's tiny weeny, it shouldn't take long to get done (famous last words!). I've put the cockpit together with its PE frippery, and scribed a set of lines in the cannon feed to give it a bit more detail. I've also lopped off the rocket exhaust pipe, as it was a bit soft, so I hollowed it out and fitted a length of aluminium tubing to replace it. I've added a backstop inside from strips of styrene, and will perfect the shape of the aft fuselage once it's together. I've also got a Master barrels Mk.108 barrel on the way too, as the kit barrel is a bit... stick-like. here's a quick shot of the parts laid out ready for primer on the cockpit and fuselage interior. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning the Spinny-thing just yet

Here is my Revell 1:72 Messerschmitt P.1100 I built back in 2009. It represents Messerschmitt P.1100 "Red 2", Wk Nr 700831, of KG54, Luftwaffe, in 1945 (fictitious). Revell released this as a P.1099 but that is incorrect since the P.1099 had the engines moved back due to the centre of gravity whereas the P.1100 was the same but using the wings of the Me 262. This option of the kit (there was another release) comes as a one-seater whereas both projects were two-seaters but, since this plane was never built, you can get away with it as there could well have been a one-seater variant! The kit was built OOB. I only opened up the shell ejection chutes and blanked them inside. The kit was fully painted by airbrush. The main decals came from the kit with the KG54 emblem and swastikas coming from other sheets. Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome as always Miguel

Ladies and Gents Having had an interest in Luft46 aircraft with the amazing concepts what better opportunity to bring them all together in one place with a dedicated Group Build. So what I hear you say is Panzer46 ? This is the AFV equivalent something that until brought to my attention by our very own @Enzo Matrix I was completely unaware of. Also Hikoki46 which is the japanese equivalent of Luft46, yes everydays a school day ! So spread the word and let's try for a slot in 2021 cheers Pat List of participants are : 1. @JOCKNEY 2. @Mig Eater 3. @Corsairfoxfouruncle 4. @Mike 5. @Mottlemaster 6. @Plasto 7. @German Armour ex Panther II 8. @Sturmovik 9. @Arniec 10. @Angus Tura 11. @Hockeyboy76 12. @trickyrich 13. @TonyTiger66 14. @Silenoz 15. @Robert 16. @Adam Poultney 17. @LostCosmonauts 18. @Dermo245 19. @SafetyDad 20. @Walter 21. @Kushan_Farsight 22. @Erwin 23. @nimrod54 24. @stevehnz 25. 26.

A fun project from beginning to end, only watered down because the weights in the nose got lose. It was brush painted in RLM 79/70/65. I still have to come up with an interesting Luft 46 story.

This is my entry to the recent Blitzbuild Group Build. The kit is nice a simple, ideal when you only have 24 hours to complete the entire build ! The work in progress is below As the decals that come with the kit and the proposed colour scheme wasn't very inspiring I decided to try something a bit different. So having found some ancient FROG decals and with no respect for actual history at all, the Ho-229 was pressed into service with the Italian airforce, I hope you like it cheers Pat

This kit was built during the "Blitzbuild Group Build" here on BM recently, for those unfamiliar this is where an attempt is made to start and finish a kit over the bank holiday weekend either in two 12 hour sessions or in one mammoth 24 hour session. With photos with time and date proof to show you are playing fairly. I chose to try to build the Unicraft Messerschmitt "Schwalbe" Luft 46 Resin Kit, which being the first resin kit I have ever built, was perhaps not the wisest idea I've ever had. However due to all the support and encouragement from other Modellers here on BM, it was completed within the allowed time. Started 27th August 2017 @ 17:11 Finished 28th August 2017 @ 23:12 Work in progress below This Group Build was brilliant with a really diverse range of models completed within the allowed time, normal Group Build times are months ! If you haven't taken part in a Group Build before I would encourage you to give it a go, it's a great chance to interact with other builders and often build something so deep down in the stash you had forgotten buying it Finished photos below, I still have much to learn with resin, so will not make the same mistakes with the next one, and of course take a lot more time ! Thanks once again for all the encouragement and humour during the build, it was greatly appreciated cheers Pat

This is my new Luft 46 attempt. The kit from AZmodel is a typical modern short run one. Built OOB except for some elements in the cockpit, which are almost not visible. I've also added a twin underbelly 30-mm cannon and triple BR21 launchers under each wing from my spare parts box. This big heavy fighter must be heavily armed, as to my mind. The model represents the Gotha P.60D-1 flown by Oberst Felix-Maria Brandis, Tempelhof airfield, April 1947. P.60 size compared to Me-262 Thanks for looking!

Scratchaeronautics is to release a 1/72nd Junkers unnamed ground attack project (Luft 46) resin kit Source: https://www.facebook.com/Scratchaeronautics/posts/1472262192806833 Preorder: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JUNKERS-GROUND-ATTACK-PROJECT-RESIN-1-72ND-SCALE-/252798865471?hash=item3adbfc903f:g:JJsAAOSwdGFYu-XE V.P.

This is my next project: The kit consists of two grey sprues: Although it says Revell on the sprues, this was originally released by Dragon in 1993. Some of the gates are quite thick but it does feature very nice engraved panel lines: There's also a single clear part and typically good Revell decals: With my pending new job work on this will be quite sporadic and drawn out. Bye for now, Nigel

I finished this yesterday so here is the promised RFI. Here is the build thread. I thought this was going to be an almost out of the box build but in the end I added or modified the following: Modified the front undercarriage strut and made it so it could be added later on in the build. Added PE seat belts. Added some detailing in the front undercarriage bay. Replaced all the gun barrels with 0.8mm brass tube. Modified the turret guns so they could be painted separately and added later. Used instrument decals from Mike Grant. Added weighted effect to the wheels using heat. Extended the pitot tube with brass tube. Replaced the aerial mast with one from another kit. Added scratch build DF loop. Used Extradecal Swastika decals. Added navigation lights from clear sprue. Added wire brake lines. So nearly OOB then... Here you go: Its a very nice kit and a lot of fun to build, I hope you like it.

Here's another recent build, the Revell Ho229 (not Go229 as mislabelled on the packaging). More or less straight from the box, but with the inaccurate side panels removed from the cockpit bathtub, the voids underneath the exhausts filled and the Airwaves and Eduard photo etch sets employed to add detail. The guns weren't really visible after assembly, whereas the engines most certainly are. Curious how Revell decided to represent parts that were not apparent, but not those that were. Hope you like it.

Ok it looks like I'm starting... well finishing a project/build I started about 15 years ago. Thanks to Nigel’s inspiration I’ve finally decided to drag this old beast out....was planning the build the Skyshark, but this’ll now have to wait a bit. As said this was started many years ago, but stalled because one of the engines went missing....either the cat eat it or SWMBO Mk. I threw it out! So it went to the rather large box of doom sort of forgotten. So after seeing Nigel’s wonderful build I just had to dig it out and try to finish it. A quick check of the parts showed that there was more than an engine missing, luckily these are all undercarriage doors. So after a bit of thought and half an hour of gluing my fingers together here’s what I’ve got, not much but a good base to proceed, a slap of filler and presto the second engine........well almost. As mentioned in the header this one will be modified, a modified WhatIf.....not sure what you call that! Anyway I will be mounting the engines on the top of the wings, roughly halfway between the centreline the indentation in the trailing edge. Engine layouts like the Horten 229, though not as flush as, a much more sensible layout than having one underneath acting as a giant Hoover! This well be a sort of longer term project, in between other builds, there’s not too much to done so hopefully won’t take too long to complete!

Hello everyone, This is my first "Luft46" model, not a bad little model. Had some trouble with the nose fitting, but over all I am happy with it. Towards the end of the build I was rushing it to get it done. All painted using the hairystick. Hope you like it! Let me know what you think, first time that I think I have done a half decent wash on a model... Kind Regards, Dazz

Hi all, The Bachem's finally ready. Build thread is here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234937749-brengun-172-bachem-ba-349a-natter/ Colours are as follows: RLM 76 - Revell 49 + 05 (4:1) RLM 75 - Revell 74 + 05 (4:1) RLM 74 - Revell 39 + 79 (2:1) RLM 66 - Revell 77 RLM 02 - Revell 45 Others are Humbrol and Revell TTFN Ashley.

Hi, all I have noticed a lack of this model on forums so I thought I'd give it a go whilst I decal some Spifires. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the parts aren't numbered on the sprew, this lead me to having to keep referring to the instructions for any multiple parts to make sure the weren't number specific. And the funny looking T thing near the top right of the sprew shot is actually two peices, the control stick and the foot rest (pedals supposedly). On the location diagram in the instructions they are shown seperately. So you have to carefully seperate them. So far I have Pledged the canopy and managed to paint and assemble the cockpit, rocket exhaust and the fuselage halves. Next up I'll give the cockpit a wash and seal up the fuselage halves. Ashley.