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Here is the Mark 1 Models HS-748 finished as G-BPDA of Scottish European Airways in 1989. Scottish European was a short-lived scheduled airline which operated flights from Glasgow Airport. It was initially founded as Scottish Executive Airways in 1984. In 1988 it acquired the operating authority of failed Chieftain Airlines and also took over two ex-Chieftain HS-748s, appropriately registered G-GLAS and G-EDIN. Re-branded as Scottish European it began services from Glasgow to Brussels and Frankfurt the following year. In early 1990 Scottish European received a substantial injection of capital from several investors including Air UK. The intention was to start services from Edinburgh and Newcastle using a pair of ex-Braniff BAC 1-11s but the plans were absurdly over-ambitious and Scottish European failed a few months later. G-BPDA was formerly G-GLAS although history doesn’t record why she was re-registered. After the failure of Scottish European she joined Emerald Airways as G-ORAL and remained with them until 2006 when they also collapsed. Retirement followed and her cockpit section is now preserved at the Avro Heritage Museum. Mark 1 Models have done a decent job with the kit. Fit is reasonable if not outstanding. Attaching the engines is a bit of a fiddle and it’s easy to distort the sides of the wheel wells if you aren’t careful. Detaching the props from the sprue and cleaning them up without breaking anything or accidentally severing a blade was an interesting challenge but otherwise the build was straightforward. There was a noticeable sink mark on the left side of the fin which needed filling and I replaced most of the small details which are a bit crude, not least the solid engine exhausts. A decent p/e set would be nice - Extra Tech are you listening? Painting couldn’t have been easier - overall Halfords Appliance Gloss White with Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminium engines. Livery decals are from the kit with Authentic Airliners windows. The kit decals are well printed and a good fit on the model but they are so fragile that they border on unusable. Despite a coat of Liquid Decal Film they gave me so much bother that I ended up having to buy a second kit just to get another set of decals. (A Dan Air 748 using 26 Decals - thank goodness - should be along in due course). Overall this was a fun little project which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism is always welcome. Dave G

Being a long time fan of the Hawker Sea Fury, I couldn't resist one of Mark I Models more recent kits. Two Sea Furies in one box! And for me, it had to be Korea where they distinguished themselves on interdiction operations from Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy carriers. Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 VX764 / 134-K of No.805 NAS flown by Lt Cdr (P) W.P. Bowles (OC 805 NAS), HMAS Sydney, Korea. Autumn 1951 Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, WJ223/106-O No.802 NAS flown by Sub Lt. Brian 'Schmoo' Ellis (who shot down the MiG-15) HMS Ocean, Korea. Summer 1952 A few modelling details; Paint - Xtracolor X5 EDSG, X7 Sky and X814 Deep Bronze Green for the bombs, Humbrol 74 Linen for the Hawker primer yellow. Final coat of Winsor & Newton Artists' Acrylic Matt UV Varnish. Decals - Mark 1 and home produced. Scratched - Canopies and RAN rocket rails. Nice kits, built mostly OOB and not without the odd challenge. Took a bit longer than I'd planned. For those who might want more details of the builds, here's a link to the WIP; Thanks for looking.

This was the second Mark 1 boxing of the Starfighter discovered in my stash search and contains single and two seat variants. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr

As a 16 year old apprentice I used to walk through the 748 Wing and Fuselage Major Assembly bays on my way into the Chadderton site training school. Having this in the kit pile and with an option for RAAF marked version, I thought that it would be a good opportunity to add a 748 to the collection and rekindle memories of some of the characters that I served my time with. Here are the usual box and contents shots. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr

A return to 1/144 scale for this group build with this Mark 1 kit of the Westland Wessex. The decal choices are for three RN HAS.3's, including 'Humphrey' from HMS Antrim during the Falklands War, and a RAN HAS.31B. I am not too sure which one I will select yet. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr

Hello everyone! Here is the second of my two latest kits finished last week, also a Mark I Model's 1:144 Dornier Do 17Z-2. This one represents F1+AL, Stab II./KG76, Luftwaffe, France, 1940. All the comments on the other build apply here except that this kit has a loop aerial above the cockpit instead of the blister the other kit had. I had to thin the part as much as I could. As with the other one, the kit was fully painted and varnished with brush. Thanks for looking Miguel

When the UK lockdown came into force I was told I had to shield for at least 12 weeks, and fellow Britmodeller and good modelling buddy @Hockeyboy76 sent me a Mark 1 boxing of a pair 1/144 FW 190's. With my shielding period almost at an end (1st August), the models have made a nice fill in project between other builds, and I completed them earlier today. I decided to build one more or less out of the box and the other I made a couple of changes to, hopefully for the better. Both were brush painted with Polly Scale Acrylic and Xtracrylix RLM colours, and the wing armament was replaced with brass tubing. This is how things turned out. Focke-Wulf FW 190 A-8 IV./JG54, Luftwaffe Berlin area, Germany. May 1945 by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Focke-Wulf FW 190 A-8 Hans Dortenmann, 2./JG54, Luftwaffe Vélizy-Villacoublay AB, France by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr I would just like to say thank you to @Hockeyboy76 for sending the kits, and for the phone calls and keeping in touch during my enforced isolation. Cheers matey, it helped a lot.

I have picked up this 1/144th Mark1 boxing of the twin seat Starfighter. The box contains two kits and has decals for a Danish CF-104D, and a Norwegian TF-104G which will be my second subject choice for the Group Build. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr

de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito B.IV (Srs.II) DZ548, GB-D, 'Knave of Diamonds' 105 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Marham, June 1943 1/144 Mark 1 Models This was my entry for the Bank Holiday weekend Blitzbuild, which didn't make Mondays midnight deadline. I have continued working on it over the last few days and completed it earlier today. It has been brush painted with Revell and Humbrol acrylics, the tail mounted pitot was made from Albion Alloys tube and rod, and the aerial was added with Uschi's Superfine rigging thread. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Here is the link to my Blitzbuild progress

This Hawker Hunter T.8 will be my first entry to the Group Build and, depending on how things are progressing in the other GB's that I have signed up for, I may try and squeeze a second build in. Here are the box and content shots, it is basically the Revell kit moulds with Mark 1's replacement T.8 fuselage and cockpit. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr I have not decided on a final scheme yet but I do like the look of the Admirals Barge T.8C.