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Hi All, This my first thread on Britmodeller so go easy on me!! Im James, ive had a passion for aviation since an early age and started model making in around 2009ish. I started with Airfix/Tamiya and have since slowly built up my skills since, I'm a CAD Designer by trade and have got into 3d printing I've got a Anycubic photo mono SE more on that in a minute... anyways this is my Gladiator build which started when I went on holiday to Malta late last year did all the spots and thought it would be interesting to have a pop at a Gladiator I like 32nd because I'm a bit of a sucker for super detailing and using evergreen styrene and 3d printing where I can to speed things along and add way more detail than by hand!! I'm using -icm 1:32 gladiator -eduard big ed for sea gladiator -xtradecal X32069 -various evergreen stock -resin 3d printer So this was my view in November This is what I got as a Christmas present from my parents unfortunately not a sea gladiator but I can fix that! this is what ill be aiming for the "iconic" photo of N5520 "faith" And so it begun around a month ago, I managed to find a decent side on view of the rear tube structure... I think you'll be able to tell where this is going. this enabled me to crate the base of the structure in evergreen 1.2mm rod which was great but I think this could be a bit better. Fusion is your friend knocked this up quickly .25mm thick A small production run of a couple of different angles the end result looked quite neat I did both sides just like the real thing the craziest thing is up to this point it only took 1 day the seat was next mounts and seat lever mountings modelled off reference images next I took a deep breath and took a dremmel to the right fuselage side to reveal the structure beneath over the next few weeks I slowly added little details as I found more reference images and items like air tanks and fuel tank were printed the oil cooler is a stand out feature on a gladiator with the panels off to I modelled one in fusion to fill the gap and here it is right up to date almost ready for some paint, you can't see here but I did do bracing wires from stretched sprue look forward to seeing everyones feedback another update soon.. James

I hope this isn't too low-effort for the car forums I made this today as I didn't feel like working on any of my aircraft projects. Chassis is a tamiya 1:72 corsair drop tank Wheels are from revell 1:144 A320, sanded to proper shape Exhausts are cut from some revell 1:72 lanc' exhausts. And some other random bits and pieces for the very simple interior and suspension. Overall, I spent a day on it (with some breaks) so a very short build time. Anyways, here are some photos of the very simple build: Trying to select parts... Initially I was thinking of using some hurricane wheels as the rear wheels, this was changed as I saw most belly tank racers have 4 very similar wheels (if not identical) Construction begins! And here's the finished thing: It's really simple but I think that's what makes it fun. It's tiny! A very simple weekend build but I wanted to share it because I enjoyed making it

God I do love the FE2. It's in my very top five of favourite British aircraft. It's more contrapted than constructed, and seems to have more in common with the age of sail than with aviation. It meets the challenge of practical aerodynamics like a drunken hooligan, charging a hedgerow. Head-on, arms outstretched. And it's ugly... It's so ugly. I love it. I've always wanted one. I absolutely ache to have an FE2b in my collection, but I'm cursed to follow the cult of 1/144. So what's a fella to do? I could order some lumpen bogey from Shapeways perhaps. Maybe buy a gigantic 1/32 kit from Wingnut Wings, only to fondle the sprues and never actually build the thing. Or I could try and scratchbuild one... Nah! That would be bonkers I told myself. It cant be done. It can't. I leaned back in my rickety chair and took another sip of my favourite Islay single malt. I imagined the empty space in my tiny display cabinet, filled with a trophy-sized replica of the Royal Aircraft Factory's finest... Not a chance! It's too damn small in 1/144. I grabbed my trusty Windsock Datafile and measured off the size of the nacelle and transferred it to a bit of styrene. "See" I said to myself. "It's not even 30mm long. It's impossible!" I looked at the little piece of styrene, sitting forlorn on my cutting mat. I grabbed my scalpel: Just round the front off a bit... ***************************************************************************************************************** That was back in January of this year. I'm committed now, or probably should be. Here's some shots of how things have gone so far. I'll try and get things up to speed as quick as possible. First up was the main body of the fuselage nacelle. This was the fateful bit of styrene that started me off. I marked out the plan view onto a piece of 1mm Evergreen strip and trimmed it to size. Sidewalls were added from .25mm styrene and laminated pieces of 3mm were prepared for the upper works and forward nacelle. Some trimming may have occurred... And some more. But eventually I got here... Once the main components were made I used dental burs to hollow out the insides. It took several sessions of this until I got them suitably thinned. After that I cut some strips of 1mm acrylic sheet and scraped the under-camber into them with the sharpened end of a steel ruler, then sanded the upper surfaces to get the finished aerofoil sections. Couldn't resist a bit of RFC product placement I also made the main wheels, as there was nothing remotely similar available in the spares box. Steaming some styrene rod around a drill bit proved to be the best method. Much better than metal, as I wouldn't have a problem with pain adhesion later on. The bally Hun provided the period coinage for the next shot: And I made a seat from sterling silver That will do for now. It's getting late here, so I'll add more of the build soon. Cheers!

As previously posted in the 'What have you bought recently' section of the best area on Britmodelller another Transit is on the bench and is undergoing surgery, indeed as usual most of it will not end up being used or not being cut into pieces The most important tools are on the box and have been weilded at the big bits already. I decided on the Police version for a change and thought there may be some items that could be used on other projects. I'll also be turning into a Mk.2 Phase 1 which requires mods to the grille, lights and indicators. If any Transit officianados know of any other diferences please chip in with reference photos. This will be another chassis-cab but this time an EWB version, offered by Ford's SVO division if the brochure blurb is to be believed. The extra length will be needed to accomodate a scratchbuilt bed, more of which later. But first here's where I'm up to with the cab and kit floorpan. The kit bulkhead [part B4] was installed as per instructions, yes I've had to read them contarary to usual practice 😉 to aid with cutting the bodyshell. I've added a strip of 2mm plastic to the rear of the inner cab roof ready for sanding to priofile and a small strip to the rear of the front vallance to capture the front edge of the cab floor. Top tip - it helped taping the doors shut, adding more stifness to the body when cutting. Cut through the chassis to the rear face of the crossmember behind the cab steps and clean out the centre web. A bit of masking tape helps in adding a guide line over the roof to align with the bulkhead. I cut the body a couple of mil aft of this then did a second cut to the cab wall and finally sanded flat. Guide line across the cab rear ready for contouring the rear of the roof. The image below shows the added plastic strip, this can be hidden by adding a roof lining later. And finally for the first installment, cab floor locating strip.

Finished at last. Here are my two little Pfalz scouts in 1/144. Little wasps... I'm normally more of an RFC type, but I'm really happy with how they came out. I hope you like them. Here is a link to the work in progress thread for some photos taken along the way:

I'd like to share an idea I had. Fast, simple throttle, gear and flap levers with a strand of copper wire. Hope you like ... With your #80 drill bit reversed in the chuck (using the shank end), wrap a thin copper wire 3/4 around the bit. Bend the tail end to center the disk, and snip off extra Flatten the loop with tweezers, and fill center with super glue (I add some talc for filler). Sand sides flat. Install into pre drilled #80 holes in quadrant. If you drill right through, you can cement with crazy glue from the bottom, avoiding any excess cement on the throttle quadrant. Hope you like this idea! Colin

Here for your enjoyment is another van that's going under the knife. I've applied some 10mm Tamiya tape to use a a cutting guide on the easy parts which equates to near enough a 9.5" chop The fun will be working out the screen and door cuts, although I may do without the quarter lights in the doors. Handles will disappear along with hinges etc for a clean look. I'm thinking of another Guinness scheme but using metallics for the black and cream. It will be lowered too with a suitable set of alloys added. What could possibly go wrong...?

For a bit of light relief I thought I'd have a go at the 1/12 Airfix A35 Van from the Wallace & Gromit animation series. The base is the Anti-Pesto Van but it will be converted to an expedition vehicle for Wallace & Gromit to compete in the Camembert Trophy from Wensleydale to The Sahara the source of Camel's milk from which Camelbert cheese is made. The basis for the theme a LR Disco suitably equipped. The Austin A35 van will feature similar accoutrements but given the W&G treatment. A start has been made on the rear suspension to add granny's bedspring coil-over shocks made by SPANX to 'control the wobble'. The body shell has been lightly rubbed down ready for a primer coat, and the three characters in the kit have been partly assembled with joints filled as required. The prone figure is the Crash Test Bunny, used in the R&D test phase of building various contraptions.

Another white van goes under the knife. Starting with Italeri's 1:24 SWB van this will be converted to a LWB Van infamous for its many uses. Much knife and saw wielding has seen the top lopped off and the sides cut in two. The roof cut is just under the rain gutter using this as a guide, the sides are cut down the rear shut line of the mid doors. I'll be adding twin rear doors later along with windows to the mid doors and a host of extra detail parts, more surgery to follow...

(Caveat: this is not a new build, it is actually ten years old, a time when my scratching was quite less developed. I am posting here this as an illustrative aside on a conversation we are having on another thread I posted, in order not to clutter things there, and hoping that perhaps somebody may have a glimpse and smile) Original text as it was published ten years ago -somewhere else- follows: The quest for Speed has originated a plethora of beautiful shapes, dazzling prototypes, unique machines with the single purpose of combining lots of power with a polished, streamlined, efficient, lean airframe. The object of this article was just a study, a proposal on the subject by W.G. Carter published in the “Aircraft Engineer” supplement of Flight Magazine of September 1930. This racer was supposed to use two Napier Lions in a tandem configuration, thus canceling the dreaded torque effects that made these super-powered machines hard to control especially during take-off runs. Of course the tremendous heat delivered by the power plants needed a huge radiating surface – these were water-cooled engines – that had to be spread over almost every surface. The oil radiators were placed on the model in the lower surfaces of the engine gondola, while the water radiators were represented by colored decals in several areas, depicting the aluminum “skin” type radiator also used, for example, in the Supermarine S.6. Construction The model is based on the 3–view given in the second page of the above-mentioned article. With extremely attractive lines this proposed machine was conceived to embody the state of the art of the trade for the time. Since this design was just a study, there is no really detail to talk about, so for example radiators surfaces location, cockpit interior and colors are speculative. A trolley was also devised to help exhibit the model. The tiny canopy was vacuformed in my psychedelic Mattel contraption. In-progress images will tell the story of the building development, while shots of the finished model will give an idea of the refined concept and gleaming beauty of this 1930 study on marrying horsepower with elegance and efficiency. Ingredients: One float – modified – from the Aeroclub generic floats vacformed sheet. One seat from a long ago forgotten kit, reversed and modified. A Napier Lion metal casting also from Aeroclub. Several aluminum tubes, wires and liberal use of styrene sheet and rod. Home made decals. Completing the ingredients list are Argentinian Yerba Mate, putty, a modicum of predisposition towards sanding, and a couple of Fellini’s DVDs for the breaks.

Hi all, found this simple and quick way to make copies of parts etc very good video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVZLXLaidjQ

Hello everyone. I would like to share my new project with you. It's my sixth 1/8 scale truck that is currently under construction. Just like the previous models I have built, it's not a self-chosen project, but an ordered model of an existing 1/1 model. The model is a Volvo Viking L485 from 1960 with a Danish-built cab. It is completely scratch built in metal. I started it in November 2017, being halfway through the project and expecting to deliver it around May this year. ( My new German colleague, Hr Holzmann. Does his work (Metal Cutting / cutting, rolling and bending.) Very well. ) Klaus

Here is the inspiration for my build along with some reference shots of the Superleggera which features some upgrades I may incorporate. Also I'm thinking of an underseat exhaust, maybe the Zard one? Kit build photos to follow.

For the conversion from D-model to C-model, I had to modify the cockpit structure. While I was at it, I remade the bulkheads to look more accurate. Look closely at the pictures and you can see the flanges. Check out the multiple methods I tried to make these parts and the one that ultimately succeeded at http://www.highflyingmodels.com