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This is the excellent Eduard Bf109K-4 virtually OOB with the addition of Brassin 3D print cockpit, exhausts, guns & Quickboost 109G spinner (more accurate than kit supplied). All the minor 'errors' were corrected hand/foot hold, under fuselage shell ejector, louvres and holes for rear fuselage support. My only criticism is the cockpit floor in the Brassin 3D print, it actually curves upward towards the front bulkhead and requires a bit of surgery to get it to fit properly! This isn't an isolated problem as the other Brassin cockpit I have has the same curved floor!! The problematic Eduard decals went on without any problems including the removal of the carrier film. I found a profile in the MMP Bf109 Late Versions, which took my eye, of a machine found after the wars end. I also had an old KommanDeur decal sheet with the same machine. The two references disagreed with each other so I decide to go with the MMP details, only using the Wk. Nr. from the KommanDeur sheet. This Bf109K-4 was found at Monachium-Riem May 1945. This machine appears to have part of the rear fuselage replaced with sections from a Bf109G-14/AS Wk. Nr. 785800. The 109K-4's Wk. No. is unknown, the replaced sections were in a greenish/yellow primer with some traces of red putty. The rest of the airframe was finished in RLM81/82, yellowish variation of 76. Cowling RLM76 with 74 upper surface and 82 mottle. Under surfaces left natural metal. Sorry didn't focus it very well!!! Cheers Andy

I bought the ICM, 1/48 Dornier Do217N when first released and of course it went into the stash. Then Aims released their Do 217N-2 conversion which went into the stash. Over the next I don't remember what time I collected the following add-ons:- Aires Do217 Wheels Eduard Big Ed Set Quickboost Prop/Spinner set; Intakes: Exhausts AML FuG 202 Aerial Set Aims Decal Sheet Aber Mg17 Barrel Tips When I realised I'd got all I required I actually built it!!! The ICM kit went together without too much trouble, I did modify the ailerons as there was a pronounced gap between them and the wing. Other than that no problems. The Aim's conversion consisting of the streamlined fairing for the bomb bay. a longer tail fairing (contained a parachute). Also rear fairing for canopy, the N-2 version I built had no turret. Conversion work went pretty easily, with the use of filler and wet and dry paper !! My biggest problem was the AML FuG202 Aerial Set it consists of resin and photo etch with a jig to help with alignment, problem was the jig was a waste of time. I don't really think it was meant for this particular set, so alignment was an absolute nightmare. This is the one thing I'm not happy about with the finished build. The machine represented was operated by NNJ/Lw.Kdo.Ost. Nachtjager Eastern Front 1943. The version I built had an 'Allied style astrodome' this with some luck I found in my spares boxes, saving the trouble of making one 00 Cheers Andy.

Eduard's 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf109E's are once again being re-released to coincide with the 80th Anniversary of the B.O.B. not that that's the reason I decided to pull these two kits out of my stash!! I've had these kits since they were first released the E-3 in 2012 and the E-7 in 2013, I tried various methods to reduce the incorrect length of the fuselages, not being happy with any of them they went back into the stash until now, why now, who knows!!!!! The first kit was the Bf (or Me)109E-3 this one is a complete 'cadge up'(mess!). I tried to shorten the fuselage by removing 2mm (approx.) from behind the cockpit, what the hell was I thinking!!!!! After re-joining the fuselage halves, of course all the panel lines were in the wrong places. I did think of filling all the panel lines and re-scribing but lost interest in doing that so they are all incorrect!!! The forward fuselage had broken off forward of the wings and I had problems getting these glued back on properly. I decided to have the cowling closed and had problems fitting this to the re-attached fuselage so all in all the fuselage was a mess!!! I cut down the wing slats which are too wide using the off cut from them to fill the cut out in the wing, this was actually quite successful. Having got this far I decided to finish the kit instead of junking it! The machine represented is from 6./JG26 France, January 1940 decals came from an Aeromaster decal sheet. Painting was using AK True colours RLM02(1938)/ 71/65(1938). Behold the finished article :- The Bf109E-7 I built at the same time as the E-3 did not cause the same problems ( I learned from my mistakes 😣). I removed the offending 2mm from in front of the vertical tail surface, this left all the panel lines in the correct places and was much easier way than my stupid method on the E-3. Again I modified the slats, added a bit more detail to the interior, again I decided to have the cowlings closed. I have waiting in my stash the Eduard Bf109E-4 with Brassin engine, radio compartment and cockpit, so to my mind too many aircraft with engines exposed is unnecessary (my opinion). This was the easier build of the two 109E's - thankfully!! Machine was finished as Bf109E-7 of 111./ZG1, Eastern Front, 1942. Markings came, again, from an Aeromaster decal sheet. I did change the markings slightly, showing red F as per a profile on FalkeEins blog. I have always liked the look of ZG1's 109s, paint was again RLM02/71/65 as these machines were usually older ones passed on to this unit without being completely re-painted. So two 109's that nearly ended up on the 'shelf of doom' finished 😁!!! The Eduard 109E's have come in for some 'stick' for being inaccurate and difficult to build with which I agree with to some extent, but it is not impossible to produce a reasonably accurate model from them (better than the two above!!). Eduard have spoilt us by re-tooling their Bf109G's and Fw190's so why not the Bf109E's, probably too much to hope for 🤞!! Cheers Andy

I have had the Trumpeter 1/48 Focke Wulf Fw200 'Condor' in my stash since it was released in 2005. After purchasing this kit I was somewhat disappointed to find a kit that was going to need a fair amount of work to get a reasonably accurate rendition of the Condor and it ended up on the top shelf of my stash. In the intervening 17 years it has been taken off the top shelf looked at then put back. Finding myself (sadly) with time on my hands and a need to keep my mind occupied, I took the Fw200 off the dusty top shelf and threw myself into its building. I wont list all the inaccuracies with this kit, but I feel Trumpeter could have served us better by cutting down on the interior detail put into it and improved on the accuracy of the kit. All the interior detail is lost once the fuselage is joined!! I used a set of A.L. Bentley's plans published in a magazine some years ago, they were 1/144 scale so I upped them to 1/48 to give me something accurate to work from. I decided to 'convert' the model to a C-3 variant by replacing the incorrect HDL turret with a home made MG131 turret. The machine represented is an Fw200C-3 Wrk. No 0034 of IV./KG40 & KGzbV 200 Gumrak, Russia, Jan.1943. This machine was captured by the Soviets whilst it was being used to help in the supply of materials to Stalingrad. The end result was as follows :- The following changes were made:- Some interior detail was added i.e. ribs, stringers (waste of time can't be seen!). Cockpit detailed with Eduard P/E set. Vertical tail surfaces, rudder reshaped. Horizontal tail surfaces moved back to match plans. Tail wheel replaced with one of correct size and extended to correct length. Bay added for tailwheel. All engines replaced with Vector resin ones. Cowling front opening reduced. Spinners replaced with resin ones, prop blades reshaped. Wheel wells detailed, wheels replaced with Brassin Ju88 items. Front turret replaced with home made item. Rear ventral gun turret replaced with ICM He111, correct size Undercarriage detailed, airframe re-scribed, rivets removed from fabric areas of wing. All oversized detail removed from control surfaces. Nautilus set of wooden spars used. Below are some pics of work done:- Thanks for looking, cheers, Andy

I have had the Eduard 1/48 Messerschmitt Me110G-2 in my stash since its initial release, I have been intending to build the R2 version since then, I purchased over the years, the Eduard photoetch set, the Brassin wheels and the Master metal BK37mm Kanone barrel, even then I didn't get around to building this kit. Then AIMs released a resin 'conversion' kit which renewed my interest in building this kit. The AIMs set provides a more accurate gun pod, the Nitrous Oxide tank (carried in the rear of the cockpit) transparent cowling covers, the ammunition plus holders, transparent wing lights, a brass gun barrel and upper nose cover. Nearly forgot 2x W.Gr.21 rockets. Build was fairly straightforward plenty has been written about Eduard's 1/48 Me110s, especially the cowling fit! I did find the wing to fuselage joint rather poor requiring plastic card fillers to fill the gaps. I was a little concerned about using the AIMS resin cowling replacements but they were a very good fit. I cut out the leading edge slats to show them in the extended position. The canopy required the rear gun opening being filled in with a piece of transparent plastic and also the centre piece of the canopy was replaced with a spare from another 110 kit. This was necessary as this part of the canopy in the G-2 kit has a bulged fairing on it, which this version does not luckily I had several spares from other kits. I chose this particular version of the G-2 not just for the Kanone but also because of the tank for the Nitrous Oxide system, which was something out of the ordinary. It shows the desperate measures the Luftwaffe were driven to combat the B-17s and B-24s of the US Air Force. I painted the 110 using a combination of Vallejo & AK Real colour 74/75/76, the W.Gr.21s were painted a different shade of 76 to make them appear newer than the airframe they were attached to. When it came to the markings I really wanted to find a different machine to M8+KM which appears in most photos of this version, I was going to go for the machine shown flying in formation with KM which was SM, but could I find the correct style white S in my decal bank, of course not!!!! These machines were not photographed very often, however in a Classic Publication of the Me110 I found a photo of a line up of ZG.76 G-2s all of which appeared to be the R2 version. One of these machines was coded M8+F? so correctly or not chose to mark my kit M8+FM!! Decals used were all from Eduard Me 110 decal sheets. This machine represents one of 4./ ZG.76 in Czechoslovakia 1944 :- Cheers Andy

This is a recent two part build of Eduard's Fw190A 1/48 family. Part One is the Profipack boxing of the Fw190A-2, as anyone who has built one of these kits, before, will know what a straight forward build they are. This was an OOB with a few details added and even the scheme chosen was one of the options given (most unusual for me!!). I used AK Real Colours 74/75/76 paints and Mig matt Lucky Varnish for the finish. The machine shown is an Fw190A-2 W. Nr.0122125 of 5./JG 1, Katwijk, the Netherlands, Summer 1942 flown by the CO Oblt. Max Buchholz. Please have a look at Part Two of 'Not Another Fw190' Cheers Andy

Part Two of my Eduard 1/48 Fw190A build. The candidate this time is the Fw190A-3 from the Royal Boxing and just to add some spice I used the Eduard Brassin Fw190A-3 Engine Set. Unfortunately this was not such an easy build, I decide to ignore the Brassin instructions to add the engine before joining the fuselage halves together and paid the consequences!! I thought building the fuselage then adding the engine assembly afterwards was the way to go -WRONG!! I struggled to get the engine to fit properly and spent ages getting a decent fit - lesson learnt for next time! The remainder of the build was straightforward, thankfully. Again against my usual action, I chose a colourful scheme from Eduard's selection on the instruction sheet. This particular aircraft was raised from the seabed in Norway after 63 years and is now on display in a museum (Unrestored). From my understanding this machine was actually an A-2 bought up to A-3 standard with the fitting of the uprated BMW-801D-2 engine used in the A-3 version. I decided not to have the inner u/c doors fitted, a personal choice rightly or wrongly! Finish was again AK Real Colours/ Mig Lucky Varnish. Fw190A-2/3? W. Nr. 125425, 12./JG 5, Herdla, Norway, December 1943 flown by Fw. K. Kundrus. Please excuse the backgrounds on these photos, I obviously need to replace them as cracks are showing 😱 ! Thanks for looking. Cheers Andy

This is my initial build of 2021 and also my first build of an A & A kit, these appear to be short run kits by Modelsvit ( although I stand to be corrected!!!). I believe this is the first kit of a Messerschmitt Me109T (not an adaption of an E version) the kit actually represents the later T-2 version with the two fuselage covers which show the machine was fitted with GM-1. Not all the schemes supplied with the kit are correct for this particular variant, the two oval fuselage panels would need to be filled and a single round panel re-scribed to back date the kit to the T-1 version. I stuck with a T-2 version, as with all short run kits some extra work is required in cleaning up the parts but other than that the kit goes together well. the only exception I found was using the closed canopy, the fit leaving something to be desired. The model was built O.O.B. I chose to represent a T-2 from Jasta Heligoland 1942/43. Kit was finished in the usual RLM74/75/76 scheme using AK Real Colours, decals were used from the kit and went on really well, except the green/white 3 from my spares:- A comparison of an E and T's wingspans, the E-7 is an Eduard kit. Cheers Andy

This is my final build of this abysmal year of 2020!!!! Having built the ICM 1/48 Do215 & Do17Z-10 with hopefully reasonable results I decided to venture forward with ICM's Heinkel He111H-3. So armed with the Eduard etched sets for the undercarriage bays and cockpit, the Brassin wheels, an older Aeromaster decal sheet for the He111 and references the build commenced. I decided at an early stage to build a He111 from KG,100 partly because I like the badge and I also wanted a 'blackwashed' under-surface machine. I decided not to purchase the etched sets available for the bomb bay or radio compartment as these areas are not that visible when the fuselage halves are joined. So references and a little scratch detailing were sufficient for me. The build was pretty straight forward although by not ( as is usual for me) following the instruction sequence I did cause myself some problems which thankfully were overcome. The glazing does require great care in assembly to avoid clouding them when gluing and to avoid unsightly seams. I added the scratch made aerials carried by these aircraft and also replaced the under fuselage aerial. I used AK Real Colours paints over Vallejo black primer, in order to show the overpainted markings the upper surfaces were sprayed first, then gloss varnished. I applied the decals, an assortment of the kit and Aeromaster decals. The uppersurfaces were matt varnished, I then masked off the and sprayed the undersurfaces and Balkankreuze plus codes with AK Real Colours NATO Black allowing the markings to show through. I gave the black a coat of Mig Lucky Ultra Matt varnish as the original paint was reported as being an extremely matt finish. Panel washes were added and some weathering, which I tend to keep to a minimum were added. The machine I chose to model was from 2./KG.100 coded 6N+EK, Vannes, France, Sept. 1940 :- A couple of errors I noticed 1. I forgot to add the aerial mast under the fuselage next to the gondola. 2. The starboard undercarriage is not vertical but slightly canted to one side, something I will need to fix!!!! Apologies for photo quality not some of my best 😣. Well I'm calling this my final build of this awful year of 2020. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hopefully a much better New Year!! 🎄 Cheers Andy

Dornier Do17P, 3rd Staffel, I Gruppe, Fernaufklärungsgruppe 22, April and May 1940 We are, perhaps, more familiar with the Do17Z series aircraft, with the characteristic large greenhouse canopy over the cockpit area, but the Luftwaffe continued to use earlier variants of the type well into the Second World War. While effectively relegated from frontline duties after the invasion of Poland and the outbreak of war in 1939, the older planes saw service in reconnaissance, meteorological flights and training duties. The subject of this model, the Do17P, represents the long range photo reconnaissance type, and as such finds a place in my 1940 obsession collection. There are kits of the Do17P and M series aircraft available from RS Models. Being from the awkward squad, and having acquired a second-hand boxing of Airfix's venerable Do17E/F a while back and still having the remains of a Revell Do17Z kit stashed away, my mind wondered how hard it would be to combine the two and get what I really wanted. The Revell kit would donate the wings and engines - and subsequently the tailplane as well - while Airfix's none-too-shabby fuselage would give the characteristic Flying Pencil outline. After some head scratching, comparison with drawings and photos, and a bit of a think, the challenge was accepted. I reckon it could be made to work, and the WIP thread is linked to below. Enjoy the false starts, errors, and final triumph in all its glory! So, to the pictures. The Airfix kit's transparencies had been short shot, so I had to source the Falcon vacuum-formed set. I got a pair of resin wheels meant for the Do17Z, so a little larger than they ought to be, from Kora, and a PE upgrade set for the Airfix kit from Extra Tech. The latter chiefly gave me the cockpit details, plus loop and "towel rail" antennae. Painting began with Humbrol acrylics, but ended with Hannants' Xtracrylix. Transfers were a hodgepodge from the original Revell boxing, spares in my files, Xtradecal swastikas, and a neat bodge using RAF interwar code letters to give the unit markings. As ever, my finishing let me down. I couldn't get the Falcon transparencies under the nose to sit neatly at all. On the whole, though, I am pleased my cross-kit adventure worked out fairly well. It looks like a Flying Pencil, and will sit in my Luftwaffe section happily as an unusual type that isn't often seen. I might eventually source a "proper" Do17M or P kit, but we'll see. The rather lengthy WIP thread is here:

I had in my stash a Revell/Monogram Me410B but then along came Meng's Me410s of which I acquired two, so R/M kit was pushed to back of stash! However whilst trawling the net I came across, on the FSM site, a question about converting R/M's 410 into a 210, I followed this and came across an article in, the now defunct Quarter Scale Magazine, by Ian Day with this conversion in. I managed to print off a very poor copy of this article retrieved my R/M Me410 from the stash and set about adding the Me210A-1 to my Luftwaffe collection. It looked a relatively simple conversion shorten fuselage alter outer wing incidence and shorten engine cowlings REALLY!!!!!! To begin with I had intended to convert the R/M kit to a Me410B-2/U4 with the Bordkanone to this end I had acquired the Schatton model conversion set with resin fairing and metal BK5 cannon (long before Master came along!!) to which end for some reason now long forgotten I had removed the rear of the nose fairing supplied with the kit which I needed to model a 210!! I then discovered the canopy windscreen was broken and I only had windscreens for the 410 with bulges for the later models so had to repair the broken one as best as I could!! Anyway to cut a long story short after much cutting,filling with Milliput and DeLuxe plastic putty, plastic card and an awful lot of cursing, my probably, not terribly accurate 1/48 210 emerged! I should add I used the Aires resin cockpit and Eduard mask for the canopy. The canopy unfortunately did not come out too well being a bitch to stick together and didn't get the usual coat of Kleer! The aircraft is a Me210A-1 of 3./SKG210 possibly 1942. I had difficulty finding decals for the codes which are probably too large and also ended up painting the yellow band too wide 🤬 . The following photos show the modifications and amount of filler required. I have also added photos showing the different dimensions between the Me410 ( the Meng kit) and the Me210. The model was finished using AK Real Colours and washes, decals from my library and that's it 🙄. Oh well back to some easy builds where did I put those Eduard 109/190s ??????????/ Cheers Andy

Started from gun bay...

Here is my build of the old Italeri kit - pretty accurate overall, with just some of the flying surface furniture, the internal primary structure, and some other details needing to be added. The Starthilfe packs were robbed from the Frog/Revell Ar234.

This was something of a themed build, begun in 2014 in acknowledgement of the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings. One of their early kits, representing the half-fabulous initial high-altitude variant. A few were issued to FAG.123 at Guyancourt, with the thankless task of providing adequate photoreconnaissance cover of the Normandy area in the weeks following the invasion. Significantly increasing an aircraft's wingspan and area (and this was little more than two plugs inserted between the existing G-5 wings and fuselage) rarely works well, and this was no exception. The aircraft was only present for a brief time, being ostentatiously left outdoors in the hope that the Allies would take care of it. 'Oh Heinrich, you make me shudder' one Luftwaffe airman is said to have remarked. I am unsure about the historicity of some of the details, but the camera setup of the G-5, with a tall fin of the final variants, and a longer tailwheel (not needing so much AoA on takeoff), along with the removal of all guns bar the engine cannon seemed consistent enough, along with the overall RLM76 scheme. I hope you like it. http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http://

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.