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Hi, You probably know this, you don't complete anything for months then two in two days. I finally finished the second aircraft in 1/48 for my Korean War collection a Grumman F9F-2 of VF111 Sundowners, operating from the USS Valley Forge in 1952. My first was a Corsair F4U-4 flown by Thomas Hudner who won the Congressional Medal of Honour whilst flying with VF32 from USS Leyte. Great simple kit to build, enhanced only by Eduard's PE set. The wing fold mechanism is represented well in this set, however I chose not use it. The decals were from Victory Productions' F9F-2 Panthers sheet (VPD48008) which offers markings for 12 aircraft. As I stated on my F-100C post yesterday, the next kit in line is a F7F N3 in 1/48 by Italeri in Korean War markings. See the pattern that is developing here?

Hello All, The latest completions - Nashorn, Panther G and a kitbashed Jagdpanzer IV L/70 all 1/144 scale from DML's armour series. Finished in Gunze Acrylics and MiG acrylics. Weathering in oils, inks, pigments and Tamiyas weathering compacts. Thanks for looking. Thanks for looking, Ian

Quick question with maybe a complicated answer? Last week I rescued some boxes of kits from my Mum's attic. Mostly they had been there since the mid seventies when I left to join up. Amongst the Spitfires etc was a large Panther tank. Painted in Humbrol matt white it has a motor inside, suspension and is about 28 x 14cm. I'm sure I acquired it built and as is. I have learnt that it may be 1/25th scale, new to me. I was going to use it for parts for Sci fi scratchbuilds but wonder if it's actually worth anything to someone? One exhaust is missing and it needs a good refurbishment but looks fairly good (to me). I will be grateful for your thoughts. Cheers Pete

Hi, I'd like to share my Tamiya Panther G, (and the old Chieftain), my second (and first, but can't find most of the pics i took) finished afv builds for many many years. It's been a different and fun experience compared to my more usual aircraft builds, got a bit bored of the latter (temporarily) a while ago so found some cheap second hand deals on 1/35 stuff. Been enjoyable experimenting and learning with different paint techniques and weathering especially. Now a small stash has grown up - nor rivaling the pane stash yet, but you never know. The base, as you can see unfinished, for the Panther is from Miniart. Look forward to all constructive feedback, Take care, Matt

Firstly, excuse the poor background of these photos, I will try and get better tomorrow weather permitting. This is a dragon kit, reboxed by italerie. it was painted in tamiya and Mr hobby acrylics (which are rather nice I must admit) I had some problems with the individual tracks links so unfortunately had to resort to rubber band tracks. after a coat of mud they look ok to me. it was a very nice kit, with lots of etch and no fit issues. This was also my first winter camo attempt and I'm really happy with it. feedback welcome (just not on the photos!Lol)

I hope this time the poll works with the photo below... So you know what to vote what you see. Tiger I = was made in the last century 1995 Tiger II = also .....but in 2012 repaint it! Panther & Vk4502 both i made in 2014!

Hi Folks. It's been a while since I did a WIP post and a little while since I got stuck into a well detailed project, so, with the trigger finger itching so to speak I've delved into German armour in the form of Tamiya's excellent Panther G-early. As is always the case when one suffers from that most terrible of afflictions, the dreaded AMS, I have plumped for several aftermarket items to help pop the kit out into something a touch more special. Items can be seen in the photo below and they are: RB models turned aluminium main barrel. RB models aerial mast and base. Attak resin zimm. Eureka models tow cables. eduard exterior detailing and Schurzen. Bronco working tracks. I've got the absolutely incredible Culver & Feists Panther in detail book as reference and I really cant stress how good this book is. There are no plans on a dio for her at the mo I'm just going to see how the project rolls along, same goes for crew. I'm skeptical about the Bronco tracks too and may end up with Friuls, again we'll see how we go. Any way I'm itching to get started so more progress to come. As always, advice, comments and criticism welcome and thanks for following along. Wagons roll! Ben.

Hello all. Well, as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, and since I can't think of any words, I'll start with pictures..... Base plan with makeshift road... Probably use some sort of putty to smooth out cardboard. Thinking of putting PVA glue with fine sand for bitumen. I dunno how accurate that would be, but eh... With panther and figures for a test fit. Ground work will be painted a different colour, it was just left over from a desert base, so I used it More info on the panther will be posted when it is finished 100%, will be up in AFV RFI. The plan is to have a dead hedge behind the panther, some ruined building or equipment near the figures. Stuff I was going to use for a dead hedge. Dead grass btw. Stuff I was going to use a grass. Once removed of... err... 'impurities' I will have to apply it somehow.... hmm All for now, and thanks for looking

Hello, this is my long-winded Panther with Pz IV turret (for those that don't know German!) This particular tank is from the s.Pz.Abt.653 in Russia, 1944. Kit built OOB, except for some wire replacing an attachment for the turret spaced armour, as the original part was lost to the carpet monster... And I'll have to resist turning the turret, as the turret was welded on, and used as a command vehicle on the real thing The kit is what you'd usually expect from Dragon, nice detail and small parts. It was Airbrushed with Tamiya XF-59 Desert yellow then I brush painted the camo. It's a bit messy, so I'll use the excuse that it was painted on by the crew (Even though it probably wasn't ) For any more info, just ask Bit cloudy today, so photos aren't great. http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu7/SJLR_1/P1390559_zpsn3ipxgef.jpg Ooh, what do we have here?? Turns out the Kit also supplies parts for a 'normal' panther, so why not make it?! I will be using this tank for my 'Somewhere in France' Diorama too

Here it is,the Zvezda's Panther D that I was building for the last two months.All in all its a great kit for the money,much like all other new releases from Zvezda.

Here's what I got for my birthday from my best mate (well I got more stuff non related to modelling): Q:"Don't you do only aircraft?" A: "No,I don't". However I will not start working on it till my AB arrives and till I finish the Phantom.And taking in consideration that school is starting in a few days that will take a while .

Morning folk's,I have been watching some of the superb armour builds and soaking up the methods you use and brought them to use on this project.I looked for a cheap fairly large subject to try out these methods on and for ease of construction and good quality I knew it had to be a Tamiya kit and at only twelve quid at my LMS this old and fairly basic kit fitted the bill,OOB build the only thing that let,s it down are the track's which don't rest on the top of the wheel's if not "tinkered" with,I dropped them in warm water and gently stretched link by link which gave me two link widths over the untouched track.Many thanks for looking in.

This project was made as part of the D-Day Group Build and I had originally put it in the Armour Vignettes and Dioramas section. A key feature, though, was the Typhoon so, when I saw this new section I thought I could post it here as well. This was my first ever diorama and it's made up with a lot of other firsts. First Typhoon, Panther and Tiger kits, first tank(s) for many, many years, first plane kit in flight, first use of a Prop Blur, first use of aftermarket decals (for the Typhoon) and first 1/72 figures. Nearly everyone who contributed to the WIP thread helped with ideas for the building of various elements of the project so a big thank you to them all - it wouldn't have been possible without the help of the BM team. Also it was seeing Kallisti's Typhoon base that got me thinking about doing a diorama - so thank you to Kallisti for the idea. Typhoon: Airfix 1/72 Mk.IB Typhoon (new tool version) - MN526/TP-V - No.198 Sqn., 123 Wing, 84 Group, 2 TAF B10/Plumetot, France - July 1944. Panther: Dragon 1/72 Ausf G with Zimmerit, no. 135 of 12 SS Pz, Tiger I: Dragon 1/72 Ausf E with Zimmerit, no. 131 of sSSPzAbt 101 German and British troops from Ceasar Miniatures Baseboard: Softwood, Sundela, MDF, filler and various leftover scenic materials from model railway projects made a long time ago. The WIP can be found here The RFI for the Typhoon can be found here The RFI for the two tanks can be found here Time: early evening, July 1944 - Location: somewhere northwest of Normandy This last photo shows the actual diorama and the background I used to give it depth. The background is actually the display shelf I made for my Spitfire builds but it seemed to work well as a backdrop - I thought it would look better than just a plain wall. Although this project is finished as far as the D-Day Group Build is concerned I've still got some ideas for developing this diorama further but I'm going to make a couple of Spitfires first! Thank you for looking. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

All Below are some pics of the first batch of German AFVs I've built since returning to the hobby. As with my British submission these are all quick build kits. As you'll see they're not up to much compared to a lot of what's on here, my German camo needs more work and the weathering was is a bit hit and miss but I've got to start somewhere!! Any observations, comments and constructive criticism will be gratefully received. Andrew PS in addition to the models below I got 2 Armourfast leFH 28s and a Zvedza 88 that need finishing off at some point. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Plastic Soldier Company Sdkfz251 - 4 variants This was the second kit I bought when starting up again and for me it was a great buy. I'm never going to be building vast quantities so the opportunity to build several different versions was appealing. The kit comes with 4 models and you can build 4 x 251/D halftracks or one each of 251/8 Mortar Carrier, 251/9 Stummel, 251 /16 Flamm and 251/7 Pioneer - or a combination thereof. It also comes with 37 crew and a huge amount of spare equipment and stowage - which with having absolutely none to start with a big bonus and some of it generic enough to work on Allied vehicles I ended up mounting the mortar and crew on a very impromptu plastic base rather than mount on one of the vehicles. I also now realise that their uniform tops/smock are should probably be the camo variety but being naive I was following the box art. Needless to say I will be revisiting the base....but it was my first attempt. Amourfast Pz IV G Below is a pic of one of two I have built but the weathering didn't quite work as I was hoping. This one has some stowage from S and S Models on it. Armourfast Stug III This is one of the two I have. For some reason I didn't put any stowage on, so they look a bit bare.... Armourfast Panthers x2 These were actually built by my young daughter. She also did the tarpaulin on the back made from tissue paper covering sprue off-cuts. You'll also notice the lack of weathering and additional stowage. They are sort of her's and she didn't want them looking all cluttered and dirty!! She is a girl after all!! The figures are taken from PSC's German figure and stowage pack - if there are any newbies out there like me with a lack of stowage and crew, then the kit isn't a bad buy. The cupola mounted MGs were spares from Armourfast German MG Team pack. The brackets to mount them were made two of my plastic aerials glued together to make them stronger, sanded down to make them smooth, cut to length and bent slightly.

Hello, Here's my newest kitty - Panther Ausf.D. Dragon - 1/35 - Premium Edition. Few words about the kit. It was a bit of a disappointment for me to be honest. Not the quality of the moulds, premium addons, but the fit itself. Traditionaly, Dragon's instructions were not good, missing parts, etc. Usually I really enjoyed Dragon kits, but this one was a bit different. Anyways, it was fun to paint it and weather. Decided to go for a non-muded vehicle, just some dust. I hope you like it. Now some motorbike on the workbench See you, Bart.

This project was made as part of the D-Day Group Build. This is my first ever diorama and it's made up with a lot of other firsts. First Typhoon, Panther and Tiger kits, first tank(s) for many, many years, first plane kit in flight, first use of a Prop Blur, first use of aftermarket decals (for the Typhoon) and first 1/72 figures. Nearly everyone who contributed to the WIP thread helped with ideas for the building of various elements of the project so a big thank you to them all - it wouldn't have been possible without the help of the BM team. Also it was seeing Kallisti's Typhoon base that got me thinking about doing a diorama - so thank you to Kallisti for the idea. Typhoon: Airfix 1/72 Mk.IB Typhoon (new tool version) - MN526/TP-V - No.198 Sqn., 123 Wing, 84 Group, 2 TAF B10/Plumetot, France - July 1944. Panther: Dragon 1/72 Ausf G with Zimmerit, no. 135 of 12 SS Pz, Tiger I: Dragon 1/72 Ausf E with Zimmerit, no. 131 of sSSPzAbt 101 German and British troops from Ceasar Miniatures Baseboard: Softwood, Sundela, MDF, filler and various leftover scenic materials from model railway projects made a long time ago. The WIP can be found here The RFI for the Typhoon can be found here The RFI for the two tanks can be found here Time: early evening, July 1944 - Location: somewhere northwest of Normandy This last photo shows the actual diorama and the background I used to give it depth. The background is actually the display shelf I made for my Spitfire builds but it seemed to work well as a backdrop - I thought it would look better than just a plain wall. Although this project is finished as far as the D-Day Group Build is concerned I've still got some ideas for developing this diorama further but I'm going to make a couple of Spitfires first! Thank you for looking. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

Progress has stalled on the stuff I've been working on. I stare with trepidation at masking tape and the last thing I want to do these days is spend hours sawing through resin parts. So I haven't gotten anything done at all! That's what this build is for. It will be built out of the box. No aftermarket parts. No PE. No resin. No vacform canopy. No obscure decals from South African or European sellers on eBay. It's time make some actual progress and finish a kit. This is so I can prove to myself I can do it. Plenty of time to agonize over paint shades, which PE set is best, and all the rest of the AMM issues that I really shouldn't have yet because I'm a beginning modeller. So I cracked this baby open today - And a shot of the sprues. Decals haven't yellowed a bit, but this kit was on someone's shelf for a long time. Marking choices are USN VF153, USMC Korea 1952, and USN Blue Angels Pensacola 1949. I have chosen the Blue Angels scheme for a couple reasons - I'm a Floridian (although I saw the Blue Angels as a kid when they flew F/A-18s), and it's the easiest scheme. No camo, single color aircraft besides the silver wing leading edge panels, nice clean canopy with minimal framing. Everything about this kit says fast. In fact, the only thing I will be buying for this kit that I don't currently have is the paint color - "gloss sea blue" according to Hasegawa's 1970s Japanglish instruction manual. I'm not going to spend three days research exact shades. I'm not even going to solicit opinions on which is the best and most accurate (although they are most welcome!). I've ordered a pot of Vallejo Model Color "Dark Sea Blue". Simple as that! If Tamiya does a clearly superior Sea Blue, please mention it. I can always swing by Hobbytown and pick up a pot of that after work. I'm just trying to keep all my ducks in a row because I want this build finished, including all paintwork, before the end of the week! I will probably put the pilot in on this one. I spent the time with my new UMM bow sander to clean him up (did that ever work a treat!), and I also received some 0.4mm and 0.2mm lead wire, a UMM "20th Anniversary" saw kit, and a few other things. It should all come in fairly useful on this build. I'm not going to try any sort of "super detailing" but I may try my hand at running brake lines with the lead wire here. The wheels and tires are exceptionally simple on this kit and I would probably replace those if I was going for a more accurate build. Fit and finish has been startlingly good so far. The wings did require clamping and didn't want to stay together at first, but the wingtip tanks had much less of a gap than I ever expected and once I got part of each wing section "tacked" with Tamiya Extra Thin I was able to put more glue in the middle where it needed it and get the wings to settle down as they should with no gaps to fill. Primer may reveal me to be over-optimistic but so far it honestly does not appear that I have any gaps to fill on the wings yet. We'll see when the fuselage is fitted. I've left the wings clamped and drying for about 90 minutes while I wrote up this post, ordered paint, etc. So I think I'll get back to work on it and hopefully make two posts on this thread, with photos and actual progress, this Sunday!

In 2013 I managed to finish a fire truck and an astronaut. This year seems to have been the year of the Spitfire with a few 1/72 tanks and a Mk.1B Typhoon thrown in! The year started with the idea of working on my model making skills in order to do justice to the Eduard Mk.IX Spitfire that I planned to make at some point during the year. My practicing began with some 1/72 Spitfires from Airfix and Italeri. Airfix 1/72 Mk.Ia Spitfire (new tool) There are more photos of this Mk.Ia available in the RFI section which can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234955941-172-airfix-mkia-spitfire-new-tool-photo-heavy/ Airfix 1/72 Mk.IIa Spitfire (new tool) Italeri 1/72 Mk.IX Spitfire There are more photos of both of these two Spitfires above in the RFI section here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959818-two-172-spitfires-airfix-mkiia-and-italeri-mkix/ The latter two Spitfires were built as part of the 'Less Than a Tenner' GB where I also made the Revell 1/144 Mk.Ia Spitfire: This is my current avatar picture. I then thought I ought to practice on a 1/48 Spitfire but a much cheaper one! - Revell's Mk.XVI: There are more photos of the Revell Mk.XVI here in the RFI section: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234969553-another-148-revell-icm-mkxvi-spitfire-diorama-b-w-photos-added/ When I actually got around to building the 1/48 Eduard Mk.IXc Spitfire (late), as part of the D-Day GB, it ended up looking like this: More photos of the Mk.IX Spitfire can be found in the RFI section here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234967960-eduard-spitfire-lfmkixc-ml135-yod-no401-squadron-as-flown-by-jerry-billing-on-7th-june-1944-b-w-photos-added/ Also as part of the D-Day GB I made a couple of German tanks and a Mk.IB Typhoon. Airfix 1/72 Mk.IB Typhoon (new tool): The RFI for the Typhoon can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968242-airfix-172-mkib-typhoon-new-tool-version-mn526tp-v-france-july-1944-b-w-photos-added-including-one-from-the-sarge/ 1/72 Dragon Panther Ausf G: 1/72 Dragon Tiger 1 Ausf E: The RFI for the two tanks can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968244-two-german-big-cats-in-172-dragons-panther-ausf-g-and-tiger-i-ausf-e-both-with-zimmerit-b-w-photos-added/ Once complete I put the three above into a bit of a diorama: The RFI for the diorama can be found here where there are a lot more photos!: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968243-somewhere-in-france-july-1944-typhoon-panther-and-tiger-in-172-b-w-photos-added/ My final completion for the year is Airfix's old (and I mean old!) 1/76 Tiger 1. I bought it thinking it would be lot better than it turned out to be in the box but I ended up upgrading it a bit and I was rather pleased with the completed model. There's a few spares included from my D-Day tank builds and some scratch built parts as well: I haven't done an RFI post for this Tiger yet as I intend to make a base for it soon but the WIP can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971585-airfix-176-tiger-i-yeah-that-old-one-upgraded-a-bit-update-291214/ My current project is to build two 1/48 Mk.Vb Spitfires so they should be my first completions in 2015. I'd also like to thank everyone who stopped by my build threads this past year and supported my builds either with advice, encouragement or, on a couple of occasions, spare parts! None of my builds would have turned out like they did without this Britmodeller community - so THANK YOU! Kind regards, Stix

Panther: 135 of 12 SS Pz, Tiger: 131 of sSSPzAbt 101 These are the first tanks I've built since who knows when. I'm pretty certain I must have built one or more when I was young (but I can't remember) and there's been none since. If I did make any they wouldn't have been made or painted properly. Both these German tanks were made as part of a diorama for the D-Day Group build. I need to say a big thank you to Sgt.Squarehead, Shermaniac and Brews for their assistance with choosing suitable tanks. Both tanks have some additions to what's provided in the box - the Panther has a spare wheel (mounted on the turret) plus an improved shovel and the Tiger has track links (mounted on the turret) both kindly sent me by Sgt.Squarehead. The Tiger also has the longer towing cable mounted on the side of the hull, which I fabricated from bits of left over cable from both Dragon kits and ends from the Panther kit. Both kits were really enjoyable to make and everything is brush painted with Humbrol and Revell acrylics applied with hairy sticks. The WIP can be found here Photos of the diorama they form part of can be found here Panther: Tiger: A few photos of them together: And a few from the diorama: The RFI of the Typhoon in the diorama can be found here. Thank you for looking. My RFI for another D-Day build, of Jerry Billing's Mk.IX Spitfire, can be found here. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

First time trying Armour, really enjoyed my time with this, lots and lots of hard learning curves ! hours of you tube videos esp on the tracks (single links)

Hello All, This was a bit of an experiment and I usually do the occasional 72 scale armour kit. This is the third attempt at a larger scale. I would describe the build pretty good but the paint and weathering was a lot of blundering around in the dark. The scheme is from the Kagero mini top colours volume on the 'Panther in attack and defence'. Happy Modelling all Ian

I'll probably find some 12th SS markings for this one. It will be OOB except for the necessary additions to plug up switch holes and other gappages e.g. sponson bottoms, and to remove axle tunnels under the hull. Will I add underside detail? Probably not. Will I add foliage? Probably. And I will add the criss-cross pattern of Zimmerit which was typically applied to Ausf As. Hopefully, this will remove a box from my stash, and not add another kit to the unbuilt pile. This is not a classy kit. I want to work quickly on it, and I'm not going to labour over details. Just to be clear

I am trying to learn how to use an airbrush. So, to further the experience, I selected this old AMT 1/48 F9F Panther. The kit is quite inexpensive, not very detailed, easy to build, and if I totally screw it up, I won’t regret it too much. The cabin is quite barren of detail. There is basically a seat, control stick, a crappy instrument panel and that’s it. The model comes with a pilot figure so I thought I would use it to hide the lack of detail in the cockpit. Problem is my experience and skill with figure painting rivals that of using an airbrush. The contest in this kit will be see which is more rubbish, the figure painting or the airbrushing. Here is the pilot figure painted up. I know it is pathetic and deplorable. The good news, the canopy is quite thick and even with a coating of clear, lets you view the detail if you were looking through the bottom of an old coke bottle. Here is my sad, little pilot; have pity. The lesson with this kit is a can I make a glossy finish. My first attempt revealed how little effort I had made in making sure the surfaces of the kit were sanded and smoothed down. So, after the first coat revealed rough sanding marks, seams, etc., re-sanded places that needed it and polished the surface with 1500 grit sandpaper to get it smooth. The second coat pebbled. Back to sanding it back down, polishing the surface with 1800 grit sandpaper now and recoating; this time a bit more thinner was added. I was using Model Master Dark Sea Blue. Again pebbling. Sand, recoat, pebbling and bubbles. This is getting frustrating. So, decided to do a test. Is it me or is it the paint? Same set up, same amount of thinner used, same pressure, only Model Master Blue Angel Blue. Glossy coat, no pebbling, smooth as a baby’s behind. The only other thing I can think of that differed between spraying the Dark Sea Blue and Blue Angel Blue was that it was just a tad warmer outside on the day I sprayed Blue Angel Blue. However, the paints had both been inside prior to spraying at the same temperature. I was only outside for about 4 minutes to spray each coat. So either it was the difference in temperature (about 10 degrees F) or the actual paint itself. Here is the finished product. Luckily my frankenpilot is not visible and only a hint of him can be seen through the canopy. The decals for this kit were not the best. Do not know if it was their age or they never were good. I have no idea if this is an accurate kit. Seems a bit toy like. However, it helped with my airbrush learning curve. Will tackle a couple of more inexpensive kits before my first real test, either the 1/24 Airfix Mosquito or the 1/32 ZM Raiden. Comments welcome.

Hi here are a few photo's of my tanks if any one is interested. A Tiger, Walker Bulldog and Panther G. The Panther is still being painted. Any comments welcome. I know I have gone a bit mad on the chipping but I find it relaxing and it reminds me of my first car, a "T" reg Fiat! Cheers

Hi there, I have two questions where I am looking for advice and guidance: Q1. The Panther in this picture has extended front mudguards. Would anyone know where I could get hold of them or suggest how to scratch them? Q2, The Tiger in this picture is S33, according to the text the picture is taken in December 43. Would anyone have a suggestion to the color/camouflage pattern it should be wearing? My understanding is that this is probably one of the most frequently built Tigers - still there seems to be a lot of question marks around it. Thanks in advance! Johan Pictures posted for discussion purpose only.