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Yes, another one for this GB, but with a twist. I’ll be building this one as if it actually made it into service in the Pacific, in FAA dark slate grey & extra dark sea grey over sky camouflage (I ran it past Col to check it was ok to enter it in the GB). I’ll leave it up to you all to decide for yourselves if this is because Saunders-Roe got through the development quicker than they did in reality, or if the war dragged on a bit longer. I’m starting with the “what if” boxing of the kit, though I’ll actually be using some decals for a FAA Hellcat in 1945: I’ll not post sprue shots as those have already been covered, plus it can’t have been started before the GB as it wasn’t released yet I’ll be referring to @Jb65rams and @Sabrejet threads for build tips as I go. As they both point out, there’s some hefty ejector pin marks in some odd places. That includes these two that pretty much obliterate part of the alignment features for the intake: They were pretty easily dealt with though, with some semblance of the alignment features restored: I don’t want to bash this kit too hard, as it is the best option out there for the SR.A/1 (unless you really fancy wrestling the Planet Models resin kit). What I will say is you’ll have to deal with plenty of those ejector marks in some very oddly chosen locations, far more flash than you’d expect on a brand new tooling, and very few location features. Having said that, I’m enjoying this one and I suspect there may be more in my future. Moving on, a selection of interior parts got painted: Some detailing has happened, as well as the 3d printed decals applied: They’re not bad, but I think I’d be inclined to paint the IP and use instrument decals if I tackle this kit again. Canopy sections have had a nice dip in Aqua Gloss: The stick has been painted, with a red dot added for a firing button: The engine intakes have been added to the bulkhead. The bulkhead is painted in Alclad duraluminium and is in reality significantly darker than the intakes, which are painted in their aluminium and have had a wash of black to highlight the blades: The seat is in progress. I’ve attached the 3d printed pads and belts. The main lap belts didn’t want to stay stuck to the seat base, so I’ve left them stuck to the outsides while the glue dried and will get them to stick to the base next session: I’ve started assembling the undercarriage bays. Note for anyone else building this kit, don’t do what I did and just spray the inside of the wing panels because you have leftover paint in the airbrush, assemble the bays first as you’ll end up having to repaint them otherwise: As moulded, the nose panel has the gun ports blanked over. I’ve made a start on drilling these out, with a little more tidying to come: The float parts have been removed from the sprues and the panels for the legs to attach to glued in: They look far rougher there than I realised! I’m currently debating replacing the kit legs with brass tube, partly as I think it’ll look better generally, but also because it would give me an opportunity to mount the legs to the floats after painting, which isn’t an option with the kit legs. I’ve cleaned up the ejector pin marks inside the exhausts. I’ve not bothered making them perfect as the rear piece of the engines will sit between them and the end of the exhaust rendering them invisible, I just needed enough off to get that part in: Not a lot left on the sprue now! I’m not intending to use the beaching gear. I’ve got plans to make a water base for this in the future, just not within the time frame of this GB. I’ll probably just make a stand of some kind for it, as Jb65rams did with his build. James

Hello to all, While the Mirage 2000 awaits its paintings, I attacked another kit, the TBF-1C Avenger from Hobby boss. It is a rather original subject which does not exist very little at 1/48 in the end apart from Accurate Miniatures. The kit is complete, beautiful, as much as the AM, I can not judge, I never had it in hand, I leave it to the experts. However, the kit has its shortcomings, such as many injection pads placed everywhere and especially in places that are difficult to access such as in the arming bay for example where this area is dotted with injection pads. Finally there is a little "flush" to eliminate on some parts too, and finally we would have liked more details on the side of the fuselage where we have the door of the aircraft. We will see how this kit is fitting, with its satisfactory level of detail. T he kit will be built out of the box with wings extended and flaps and door open. In terms of loadout, it will be those present on the boxart, tanks, rockets and bombs of 250 kg, that seems a bit much to me, I still leave it to the experts on this side. Finally I would like to add that HB is not very efficient when it comes to indicating the colors for painting the different parts of the kit, I had to go online to find how to paint the details of the cockpit to the extent that nothing is indicated. Now some pictures:

Hello everyone... I know I really do tend to ask a lot of questions, sometimes in bursts sometimes randomly. I’m just trying to find as many schemes possible now that I have 3 kits of the P-40K/Kittyhawk III to build. I was just curious if there is any photographic evidence of the P-40K/KittyHawk III in the late war VVS Colors of AMT 7/11/12. I have found this photo of a modified “E” with a 2nd seat and “K” style tail fillet. https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/lendlease/p-40/tapani/p-40k-m-n/34twoseater.htm Honestly Id be happy to see any photo’s of them in the earlier green black colors of AMT 4 & 6. I know they were delivered in lend-lease colors and schemes. But they must’ve gone through repairs/re-paints at some point ? Maybe @Massimo Tessitori or @Learstang might have more info ? I know this is an off shoot of the main question ? But did any KittyHawk III’s the short tailed version with the tail fillet, make it to Australia or New Zealand in the Pacific, I haven't seen any yet ? Maybe Alan @LDSModeller might know ? Ive seen RAAF & RNZAF KH III use in North Africa and maybe possibly Italy ? Any help or info is gratefully received and acknowledged in advance ? Dennis

Hello Guys, Below are the images of my "Final Reveal" for the two Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros (Zekes) that I built side by side, with one finished in the IJN Green Upper and Grey lower and one finished in the all over IJN Grey/Green. This build had a few firsts for me: 1) First time building Japanese Aircraft 2) First time using Johnson's Pledge/Klear Acrylic floor shine to see how I personally feel about it compared to the Model Masters clear coats that I have always used without issue since starting modeling in January 2014. 3) First time attempting heavy chipping using the "Hairspray Technique" on the IJN Green version only. After the images, I will include some notes regarding this build; my opinions of the kit in terms of quality, cost, value for money etc and any points to look out for if you decide to buy and build this kit. I hope you like the following views! Plane #1: 261st Air Group (Tiger Corps), Kagoshima Base, February 1944 Plane #2 Petty Officer 1st Class Saburo Sakai, Tainan Air Group, Denpasar Base, Bali Island, February 1942 And, some photos of both versions side by side for contrast and comparison: These are Tamiya's kit # 61016 that is the 2007 Type 21 version release. This kit was re-tooled in 2008 and updated a couple of times since then with new parts and decals. This kit is available from Scalehobbyist.com for only $10.84, about 7.00 quid in the UK, here is the link to their page: https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Model_Aircraft/a6m2-type-21-zero/TAM00061016/product.php?s=0&t=0&u=0&micr=148&pg=1&ppp=48&sb=stocknumber&so=a&era=0,6&man=TAM The kit comes with a reasonably detailed cockpit, that has a decal for the instrument panel and a decently detailed radial engine. There are options to have the undercarriage up or down, the canopy closed or open and decals for 5 different markings; I modeled one with the canopy closed and one with the canopy open. The undercarriage is sturdy and nicely detailed, too. A 8 page black and white assembly/instruction booklet is included that is clearly detailed with part numbers, decal numbers and Tamiya paint numbers. The decals are typical Tamiya which I expected to have some breaking issues with, as I have with other Tamiya kits, but fortunately, these decals went down excellently adhering to recessed and raised details nicely. The parts are very crisp and cleanly molded with no ejector pin witness marks on visible areas, no warp, no flash and no aberrations on the clear molded parts. The exterior surfaces of the plane come with recessed panel lines. Scores out of 10: Packaging: The kit comes in a sturdy two part box- lower and lid format, the grey sprues are packaged in one polythene bag and the clear parts are packaged in a separate clear polythene bag that is within the larger bag. The lid has nice artwork on the front and the two longer sides show two of the five different markings available, one in the IJN Green and one in the IJN grey/Green. Score: 9/10 Quality of Molded Product: 10/10 Quality of Molded Details: 9/10 Engineering Fits: I had no issues with this kit, everything went together well and no need for filler anywhere! Score: 10/10 Quality of Decals: - it's a bonus to have enough decals for 5 different markings! Score: 9/10 Quality of Instruction/Assembly Booklet: It would be much better if Tamiya included color pages for the painting and decaling sheets and provide other paint manufacturers conversion colors instead of just their own paints. Score: 8/10 Value For Money: 10/10 Enjoyment Value: 9/10 If you are just coming across this build for the first time, thanks for checking in, but if you'd like to see the build thread for this build, here is the link to it: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234982300-tamiya-148-mitsubishi-a6m2-zero-zeke-x2-build-update-1/ You can also see my "Build Update" videos on my YouTube channel; here are the links for the 3 "Build Update" videos: Build Update #1 Video: https://youtu.be/PBuSMyQB9bY Build Update #2 Video: https://youtu.be/t96YKuENSL8 Build Update #3 Video: https://youtu.be/3Ecg5wrLr0o And, to go with this "Final Reveal" thread, here is the link to my "Final Reveal" video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bGDtOdc3sVg Thanks to everyone who has followed this build thread both on here and on YouTube, and, for leaving kind and encouraging comments, it's greatly appreciated! Now, what should I build next? Hmmmmmmm..... Have a great weekend! Cheers! Martin

Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) (x2) "Build Update #1" Hello Guys, This is my latest build that I started a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had the time to jump on here and post my build progress, until now. So, here goes.... I've decided to build two A6M2's at the same time, so that I can model one in the Aircraft carrier based all over Japanese Navy Grey/Green color and one in the ground based Japanese Navy Green upper and the Japanese Navy Grey lower. The Grey/Green version will have little chipping, but the Green version will have heavy chipping. The chipping will be done by using the "hairspray" technique. These will be my 18th and 19th model builds since starting modeling in January 2014, and, they will be my first ever attempts at Japanese WWII aircraft, so, I've been looking forward to doing these. They are also my entries into a group build that I am hosting on YouTube called the "For the Love of Freddy" GB. He's a fellow modeler on YouTube that has surprised many modelers, including myself, with his altruistic nature, by sending them large parcels full of models. He sent me 4 parcels in the last two months containing a total of 43 model kits, mostly 1:48 scale and some 1:32 scale. And, therefore, because of his kindness and generosity to myself and other modelers, I thought that I would start this GB, which I did on May 1st and it will run until August 31st. These two "Zeros" were kits that Freddy sent to me, so, I thought it was a fitting tribute to Freddy by building them. Anyway, that's enough of the introduction, let's get on with the build..... As always, I start my builds by washing the sprues in warm soapy water... Next, I assembled both drop tanks, one for each plane... I then put all the small parts onto cocktail sticks in preparation for painting... All parts were then taken to the spray booth for airbrushing a black base coat onto.... When the black base coat was dry, I then airbrushed Cockpit Interior Green onto the fuselage interiors and onto the cockpit tub parts.... I then made a start on detailing the cockpit tub and added the instrument panel decals, then assembled the separate parts to form the tub.... I then started on the radial engine parts and cowlings, and assembled them when the paint was dry... It was now time to assemble the cockpit tubs into the starboard side fuselage halves and then assemble the portside fuselage halves onto the starboard side... It was now time to assemble the wings and horizontal stabilizers onto both planes... First, I assembled the bottom wing sections to the underside of the fuselage assemblies... Followed by assembling the starboard side upper wing sections, then the portside upper wing sections, taping the wings to set the dihedral and to hold them in place whilst the glue set. I then glued the horizontal stabilizers into position... When the glue had set, I removed the tape and checked both planes to see how they looked so far... Well, that's it for the first update. Next, I will prepare the planes for priming and applying paint. Thanks in advance for taking a look and commenting, much appreciated and in the meantime, if you'd like to watch my "Build Update #1" video on YouTube, here is the link for that: https://youtu.be/PBuSMyQB9bY Cheers, Martin