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Hi all, hope you're all well and staying safe and sound. This is one I finished a few years ago for Airfix Model World magazine, shortly after the ICM kit was released. The Foxbat, particularly the reece version, has always been of great interest to me so I was more than happy to hear that ICM were going to release kits in both 1/72nd and, my preferred scale, 1/48th. They didn't disappoint either, although there are a few issues to deal with. Firstly, I decided to use Cold War Studio's corrected RBT nose as I wasn't completely happy with ICM version, along with their replacement for the missing parachute actuator and fin. Next, looking at other builds of this kit the one thing that struck me was the incorrect stance of the main undercarriage which, as built, is too high, giving the model a strange tip-toe appearance. In reality the aircraft sits low at the rear, especially when the huge 1,161 gal (5,280 ltr) ventral tank is carried. I corrected mine by simply cutting the gear into four parts, drilling each section out and inserting 2mm steel rod, reducing the length of the oleo struts, replacing the styrene items with suitable brass rod, re-angling the scissor jacks and repositioning the angle of the main leg. This puts a lot of strain on the U/C due to the acute angle of the repositioned parts but the steel rods certainly add a lot of strength...they haven't shifted so far. Hydraulic lines were fitted to the undercarriage bays, legs and brakes and the engine intake tunnels redesigned, using extensions made from plastic card and wider styrene tube (the kit tunnels are too narrow and placed too far forward). Various static rods and IFF rods were added from stretched runner material. Review samples of Eduard's pre-painted PE interior and exterior sets were just becoming available at the time and duly used here. These enhanced what was already a great kit even further and are highly recommended. (Quinta Studios now provide superb 3D printed cockpit sets for the kit, making life even easier). As a side note I have another 1/48th reece Foxbat on the go, this time a camouflaged RBF using just about every piece of aftermarket available which I'll post as a build thread next year, for anyone interested. Painted using AKAN acrylics, (wonderfully accurate paints but sadly, hard to come by now) and weathered with a mixture of AK Interactive and AMMO MIG washes/pigments plus a selection of Abtielung 502 oil paints. Various Alclad metallics were used on the ventral tank, inner intake tunnels and outer surfaces of the jetpipes with MRP lacquers and AKAN, on the inners. The kit decals weren't used here, instead the sheet from the Revell reissue was chosen as I particularly wanted to model RF-90269 'Red 45' of the 47th GvORAP Guards unit at Shatalovo AFB. Unfortunately several stencils were missing from the kit decals so instead I opted for Begemot's excellent dedicated stencil sheet to correct this. With a view to building a Cold War period vignette, a MiG-25 ladder was sourced from DANmodels along with a pair of wheel chocks from Hadmodels. To compliment these I have a Noy miniatures PAG-14 dispersal base enhanced with static grass and vegetation along with several period aircrew/groundcrew figures from Aires, which have yet to be painted and suitably weathered. A scratchbuilt towbar is also on the list. Hope you approve and thanks for looking. Melchie And just for fun, a couple of atmospheric 'height of the Cold War' black and white images.