Jump to content

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'Special Hobby'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Calendars

  • Community Calendar
  • Group Builds
  • Model Show Calendar

Forums

  • Forum Functionality & Forum Software Help and Support
    • FAQs
    • Help & Support for Forum Issues
    • New Members
  • Aircraft Modelling
    • Military Aircraft Modelling Discussion by Era
    • Civil Aircraft Modelling Discussion by Era
    • Work in Progress - Aircraft
    • Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
    • Aircraft Related Subjects
  • AFV Modelling (armour, military vehicles & artillery)
    • Armour Discussion by Era
    • Work in Progress - Armour
    • Ready for Inspection - Armour
    • Armour Related Subjects
    • large Scale AFVs (1:16 and above)
  • Maritime Modelling (Ships and subs)
    • Maritime Discussion by era
    • Work in Progress - Maritime
    • Ready for Inspection - Maritime
  • Vehicle Modelling (non-military)
    • Vehicle Discussion
    • Work In Progress - Vehicles
    • Ready For Inspection - Vehicles
  • Science Fiction & RealSpace
    • Science Fiction Discussion
    • RealSpace Discussion
    • Work In Progress - SF & RealSpace
    • Ready for Inspection - SF & RealSpace
  • Figure Modelling
    • Figure Discussion
    • Figure Work In Progress
    • Figure Ready for Inspection
  • Dioramas, Vignettes & Scenery
    • Diorama Chat
    • Work In Progress - Dioramas
    • Ready For Inspection - Dioramas
  • Reviews, News & Walkarounds
    • Reviews
    • Current News
    • Build Articles
    • Tips & Tricks
    • Walkarounds
  • Modelling using 3D Printing
    • 3D Printing Basics
    • 3D Printing Chat
    • 3D Makerspace
  • Modelling
    • Group Builds
    • The Rumourmonger
    • Manufacturer News
    • Other Modelling Genres
    • Britmodeller Yearbooks
    • Tools & Tips
  • General Discussion
    • Chat
    • Shows
    • Photography
    • Members' Wishlists
  • Shops, manufacturers & vendors
    • Aerocraft Models
    • Air-craft.net
    • Amarket Model
    • A.M.U.R. Reaver
    • Atlantic Models
    • Beacon Models
    • BlackMike Models
    • Bring-It!
    • Copper State Models
    • Freightdog Models
    • Hannants
    • fantasy Printshop
    • Fonthill Media
    • HMH Publications
    • Hobby Paint'n'Stuff
    • Hypersonic Models
    • Iliad Design
    • Hobby Colours & Accessories
    • KLP Publishing
    • L'Arsenal 2.0
    • Kingkit
    • MikroMir
    • Model Designs
    • Modellingtools.co.uk
    • Maketar Paint Masks
    • Marmaduke Press Decals
    • Parkes682Decals
    • Paulus Victor Decals
    • Red Roo Models
    • RES/KIT
    • Sovereign Hobbies
    • Special Hobby
    • Test Valley Models
    • Tiger Hobbies
    • Ultimate Modelling Products
    • Videoaviation Italy
    • Wingleader Publications
  • Archive
    • 2007 Group Builds
    • 2008 Group Builds
    • 2009 Group Builds
    • 2010 Group Builds
    • 2011 Group Builds
    • 2012 Group Builds
    • 2013 Group Builds

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


AIM


MSN


Website URL


ICQ


Yahoo


Jabber


Skype


Location


Interests

  1. Boston Mk.IV/V 'The Last Version in RAF and Free French Service' (72413) 1:72 Special Hobby The A-20/DB-7 Havoc, better known to those with an interest in the Royal Air Force as the Boston, was a light bomber developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company of Long Beach, California. Designed to a US Air Force specification issued in 1937, the aircraft’s first customer was actually the French Air Force, who had been impressed by its performance whilst visiting the USA as part of a pre-war purchasing commission. The aircraft not delivered to France by the time the armistice had been signed in 1940 were taken up by the RAF instead. The first squadron to be so equipped was 88 Squadron of Bomber Command. By the end of the war, no fewer than 24 squadrons had operated the Boston, either as a light bomber or night fighter such as the Havoc I Turbinlite, which was fitted with a powerful searchlight in the nose. The A-20 was also widely used by the USAAF and by the end of the war, almost 7,500 of the type had rolled off the production lines. The Boston has been a stalwart of Special Hobby's line up for quite some time, from which one must deduce that it has sold well consistently. Nestled inside Special Hobby's familiar top-opening box are four sprues of grey plastic and a single sprue of clear plastic. Together they hold a total of 118 parts, which is pretty respectable for a kit of this size. There is no flash present anywhere and as far as I can see, there are no flaws in the plastic. Surface details consist of fine, engraved panel lines and there is a convincing stretched fabric effect on the rudder and horizontal tail. The overall impression is somewhat favourable. The cockpit is well-appointed for this kind of model. It is made up of a floor, seat, rudder pedals, two-part control column, instrument panel, sidewalls and bulkheads. Moulded detail is good and the instruments are picked out with fine, raised detail. The bomb aimer/observer position is just as good and includes a very nice bomb sight. The crew positions are completed by the mid-upper turret, which is a little more basic than the other positions, but still good enough to pass muster. Once the fuselage halves have been joined together, the wings and horizontal stabilisers can be assembled and fixed to the fuselage. The parts have location tabs and slots to help ensure a positive fit. The prominent cowlings, under which hide the large Double-Cyclone engines, each have to be fitted with nine cooling vents. Fortunately Revell’s instructions are very clear in this regard, so you shouldn’t have any problems. The engines themselves are made up of three parts – two rows of seven cylinders and the reduction gearing. They are nicely detailed and should look good once assembled. The undercarriage looks well detailed but rather complex. Each of the main gear legs is made up of no fewer than six parts, plus the wheels themselves. I would recommend taking great care building the undercarriage, lest you end up with a wonky aeroplane when you come to rest it on its wheels. The main gear legs actually fit directly to the wings, and it is possible to fit the rear engine nacelles over these parts afterwards. This should make things a little less frustrating as you will be able to place the parts precisely rather than having to stuff them inside a cramped undercarriage bay. The remainder of the build is concerned with the addition of the transparent parts and the remaining fine details. These include the radio antenna and DF loop as well as the .303 Browning machine guns. The guns are very nicely recreated and the cooling sleeves in particular are convincingly detailed. The transparent parts are thin and clear and shouldn’t present any major problems A generous four options are provides for on the decal sheet. Boston Mk.IV BZ453 'OA-B', 342nd Squadron (Free-French Lorraine, RAF 137th Wing) B-50 Air Base, France, October 1944. Boston Mk.IV BZ507 'Y', flown by Pilot Sergeant John Samain, 18th Squadron, RAF, Italy, 1944-45; Boston Mk.V BZ611 'Z', 13th Squadron, RAF, Italy 1945; and Boston Mk.V BX604 'B', 18th Squadron, RAF, Italy 1945. Each aircraft is finished in Olive Drab over Neutral Gray. The decal sheet is nicely printed. Conclusion As this is the only modern tooling of the Boston in 1:72 scale, it’s fairly easy to recommend it to modellers interested in adding the type to their collection. It looks good on the sprue, although opinion seems to be divided on how easy it is to build. Some people have reported fit issues whilst others have stated that the kit is a breeze to build. Nevertheless, it is still the best Boston out there and can be firmly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  2. Hi This is my Gloster Meteor NF Mk12 It is a fine kit but the wing contrast with the fuselage. If they have no major problem for the fuselage, the wing requiert amount of test fit, sand and putty The 120 decals give to the model very goods details And some other pics in my album at the address below Album Meteor NF Mk12 1/72
  3. Here's my Special Hobby Fairey Fulmar nightfighter. A fairly straightforward kit but it did have a lot of etch which took a lot of time. The canopy masking of Fulmars is always a challenge but this time I picked up a Peewit masking set which helped no end. The kit is completely out of the box and has a lot of detail. Finished in the night fighter scheme of Medium Sea Grey and Dark Green from Xtracrylix matted down with Liquitex matt varnish. Although the transfers are from the kit, I was attracted by the fact that it was an RAF Drem based aircraft which is beside the former East Fortune hospital where I occasionally worked in the early 1980's. Work in progress can be found here. So here is Fairey Fulmar NFII BP791 of 784 NAS based at RAF Drem in 1944
  4. I got this a couple of weeks ago and rashly dived straight in. I do like Fulmar's and have quite a few done and more than a few in the stash. Although criticised as being a bit slow and not terribly aerobatic, it was a very effective fleet defence fighter. Remember, it was never designed to dog fight against fighters but defend the fleet against long range bombers and reconnaissance aircraft as well as acting as a spotter for gunnery. It did had a long range and could stay in the air for a long time, as well as being a stable and effective gun platform. Fulmars shot down more enemy aircraft than any other FAA fighter so it wasn't a failure and certainly was a major factor in the success of the Malta convoys. A nice set of well moulded sprues, although there is a little flash. Good cockpit and wheel well detail. There is a bit of paint on them already. I did say that I had dived straight in. Nice nice instructions but in traditional SH manner some locations are a bit vague. Clear sprue, a little bit of resin and some etch. Good transfer sheet from Cartograf for four versions I am going to do this version as it's a bit different. Happy modelling to come hopefully. I have also got a masking set. I recall the time it took to mask my previous attempts.
  5. Special Hobby's 1/48th scale Seafire from the box. A good kit needing some fitting and a bit of filler around the usual 'Spitfire' wing roots. My only real concern about the kit is that I think the U/C legs look a bit long. Paint is Humbrol uppers shaded lighter on the top-most surfaces, and Tamiya XF-21 under-surface. Decals represent 13-9/T (serial number unknown) of 806 squadron, Fleet Air Arm based at Trincomalee in 1945, If you're interested, more Seafires here: Late Mk XV of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1947 with wings folded. (Kit bash of Airfix Spitfire Mk XII and wings from their Seafire Mk XVII) SX358 Mk XVII of No 800 NAS, Fleet Air Arm on HMS Triumph and at Hal Far, Malta in 1947.
  6. Having recently done a conversion of the Airfix 1/72 kit to an A I thought I'd go again for the group build only in 1/48. Sounds extremely exotic but basically the German government sold two JU87 A-1s to the Japanese for evaluation. I'm building the Special Hobby (I think ) kit which will be more or less oob in three colour splinter camoflauge but with hinamarus (which I ordered from ebay today) the kit, has a nice resin interior and a vac formed canopy. Not too shabby. My main reference.
  7. Hurrah - the scandi gb is finally nearly here! Here’s a placeholder for maybe the prettiest fighter ever IMHO I’ll be starting from Special Hobby’s 1:48 AJ 37 ‘attack version’ Viggen boxing But I will build it as this grey JA aircraft s/n 37442 below with the decals from revell’s kit (and a few JA 37 bits and bobs from the revell also) For three reasons: 1 The splinter camo scheme is way too hard for me to do 🙄 2 my last three GBs all had BMF finishes 🥱 3 the gray with the dayglo red looks totally awesome 😎 I have a few bits of AM on its way... Resin posable canards metal pitot / aoa tubes And i can see that i’ll need to upgrade the wheels, the kits look rubbish 😕 The special hobby kit has PE included and I will perhaps use the stencil data from the special hobby decals. And thanks to the kindest gentleman @trickyrich I have a JA belly canon and fuselage extension for the JA variant winging its way across the world Thanks to @Christer A for sharing his valued expertise in getting this far. I’ve read its a tricky kit to build so I hope I can manage it. There doesn’t seem to be so much detail but the transparent pieces are totally distortion-free. And its surprisingly big! Here’s some inspiration for my own benefit 🤗 and an example of how i see the weathering. And finally the obligatory sprue shots...
  8. PT-109 Fast Patrol Boat Upgrades (for Revell) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Revell’s old PT boat moulds are a bit long in the tooth now, and could do with a lift in terms of detail. That’s what these sets from CMK are all about. They arrive in a small blister pack with card back that also holds the instructions and the resin parts within. Mk.6 Depth Charges x2 (N72035) Consisting of two depth charges and two racks, they simply require some short lengths of wire to tie them down, as shown in the diagrams. Boat Deck Set (N72036) Another simple set that includes a smoke generator with its lashings to hold it on deck, and a set of five deck funnels that are made up of the open intake hoods that mate to the long tubular stand-offs along a convenient seamline. Conclusion Some nicely detailed resin parts that will drop into position in place of the more agricultural kit parts, doing good work to bring the model into the modern era. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  9. The end of my F-15 ring the start of a new project. This time I exit of my stach a new Special Hobby production : the Saab JA-37 Viggen This plane is an icone of the sweedish air force. Special Hobby has this model at the 1/48 and 1/72 scale. I was product in cooperation with Tarangu. But the Special Hobby is more easy to acquire than Tarangu product and it is more cheaper ! The artbox show a plane in a grey scheme But for a Viggen, THE decoration cannot be otherwise with the 4 tones (greens, black, brown) scheme. The box permit a plane with this. I started a test fit with principal parts. The plane is heavily cut. The fuselage is in 4 parts. The test fit show some attention point. The main point is certainly the air intake. I think this parts needs a large amount of putty? The over point who need somes atttention is the junction of the two demi fuselage. But I haven't find other problem.
  10. Source: http://modelweb.modelforum.cz/2013/10/19/novinky-od-mpm-production-na-rijen-2013/?lang=CS MPM is working on 1/72nd Potez-Air-Fouga CM.170R Magister (& Tzukit) and CM.175 Zéphyr kits. Bad news for the Valom similar project: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946157-172nd-potez-air-fouga-cm170r-magister-by-valom/?hl=magister V.P.
  11. I thought it might be better to post this as a new topic, rather than take the two existing F-86H threads further afield. I had some time this morning to pull my Special Hobby H, Hasegawa D and a reference I had forgotten about: Modeler's Guide to the Sabre/Fury, by Jay Sherlock, plus Warpaint 1/72 scale drawings of the A through L variants. Up front, let me say that the Warpaint drawings do NOT match the F-86H dimensions published by NAA and the factory drawings that Sabrejet posted. The Sherlock modelers guide does have what looks like a good scale profile drawing of the H, but it is not to 1/72 scale. When I get a chance, I will get it enlarged to 1/72 scale and post my findings, if any of you are still interested. What I am going to comment on is based on a fairly quick examination and measurement of the kits mentioned, as well as a rough comparison to the Warpaint F-86H scale drawing, which is NOT to scale; I only used it as a general guide. I hope this will help @RidgeRunner @Sabrejet and @Courageous in particular, and that you three scholars will check this for accuracy, as I do not want to spread misinformation- there's enough of that going around already! In the Sherlock guide, he states in a kit review of the 1/72 Special Hobby F-86H kit that the nose is 3/32" too short in front of the cockpit and the cockpit opening is 1/16" too far back; the lower nose is a little too shallow, due to excessive taper from the nose cap to the fuselage; in addition the vertical stabilizer is a little too narrow in chord. ( This is paraphrased from the original wording for brevity.) Here's what I observed: The cockpit openings of the Hasegawa D and the SH kit are identical in length from the front edge of the windscreen to the end of the canopy fairing, with the exception of the length of the fairing in front of the windscreen, so a Hasegawa D windscreen should fit the SH kit. As is already known, the SH kit canopy has the fixed rear fairing attached to the canopy and the Hasegawa D has the fairing as a part of the fuselage, which is correct for both the D and the H. If you place a fuselage half from the SH kit against the Warpaint profile drawing, and line it up so that the wing LE and TE of the kit part match the drawing, the rear fuselage matches up very well in length, but the chord and taper of the fin is shallow along its entire length, but less at the fin cap- a pretty easy fix, if this is indeed correct. The chord of the wing root matches between the kit fuselage half and the drawing. The nose is 1 scale foot short between the LE at the wing root and the rear edge of the nose cap, with the lower fuselage contour being too shallow by about 3" at the nose cap. I think the metal fairing in front of the windscreen on the SH kit is too long, comparing it to actual photos and the Hasegawa D. It appears to me that you could make a vertical cut at the rear edge of the canopy opening of the H kit, then a horizontal cut along the panel line that runs above the wing root, then another vertical cut at the panel line behind the nose wheel bay to separate the fuselage into a front and rear section. A one scale foot extension could be inserted at both of the vertical cut lines and the two sections re-attached. (This would be much the same technique as has been published to show how the length of the F9F-2 and F9F-5 Panthers was increased and how modelers could make a dash 5 out of a dash 2 kit. See the Tailhook Topic on the subject for drawings and text.) Once the sections are re-attached, the gun gas vent locations will need to be changed as well as the location of the angled vertical panel lines under the canopy. This is all subjective, pending my finding some decent scale drawings which can be trusted. I hope this makes sense- I have got to learn how to post photos and drawings, but I hope my verbal description is clear enough to make sense. What do you all think? I have attached a link to Joe Baugher's webpage which has a detailed (accurate?) description of the changes made between the F-86F and the F-86H. I thought it might be useful to those of you wanting to correct the SH F-86H kit. Mike http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/p86_16.html Now, if Meng really wants to add to their USAF Golden Age jet collection.... BTW, according to a photo and caption in the Sherlock guide, that color photo posted of a QF-84H was originally a YF-84H-5, from the PMTC at NAS Point Mugu, taken in 1977, so it WAS technically a USN scheme!
  12. Hi, Here's another of my recent completions: the SH BV155B in-service whiff boxing. I have to admit, I like the design, despite the ludicrous wing radiators. Apparently Dr Vogt also thought the design was no good and redesigned it with fuse mounted radiators instead as the BV155C. I have to say the standard of SH kits - on the basis of this one - is now really rather good, with good fit and a trouble-free build resulting. The kit is oob and is finished in the box top scheme. White areas were primed with Halford's white primer, smoothed with micro mesh and over coated with several thin coats of Revell aqua white acrylic as described in another thread re invasion stripe decals, which got into a discussion on how to paint white areas. The main colours were brush painted with Airfix acrylics, and the mottled was done using artist 's pastels applied dry with a cut down brush. This was my first try of this technique, which was discussed on yet another thread in BM. The scheme was quite a dense mottled and was done in sections over a few evenings. I will now be using what I've learnt on Lufty nightfighter mottle. The scheme itself makes no sense from the perspective of a high altitude fighter (as rather sheepishly acknowledged in the backstory: "pilots disliked the scheme . . .") but I suspect it was included coz it looks cool and has a sharkmouth! Hope you like it. Regards Martin
  13. CV707 Vesikko WWII Finish Submarine (SN72004) 1:72 Special Hobby The CV707 (Manufactures code name) was on paper a submarine prototype ordered by a Dutch Company to be built in a Finnish Shipyard. However the Dutch Company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (IvS) was in fact a German font company as the Germans had been banned from building and operating Submarines under the Versailles Peace Treaty. In order to design a new submarine the Germans has two porotypes built the CV707 in Finland and the E1 in Spain. The CV707 was for the time one of the most advanced Submarines in the world, the use of Arc Welding allowed a maximum diving depth twice that of earlier German Submarines. The Vesikko was a prototype for the German Type II submarines. Accoding to the agreement between the shipyard and the Finnish Government Finland had the primary option to purchase the submarine once built, and they took over the boat and she joined the Finnish Navy under the name Vesikko. She would go onto serve in the Winter War and Continuation War and was credited with the sinking of a Soviet merchant vessel. After WWII Under the Paris Treaty Finland were banned from having submarines and she was laid up. Other submarines were sold but not the Vesikko as they hoped they would once again be able to use her. However by 1959 Finland had been unable to obtain permission for this and a sale was looked at. However thanks to a former offices and the Institute of Military History she was converted to a Military Museum Ship at the Suomenlinna fortress. The Kit This is a unusual but welcome kit from Special Hobby under the Special Navy brand. The kit is re-boxing of their 2008 German Type IIA kit (the parts are in this boxing if you want to do a German Boat BTW) . The kit features plastic parts with resin, photo-etch and metal parts. Construction begins with the main hull. This is split into four parts and while slightly more difficult to align you will end up with no warpage you might get with larger casting. The parts are well moulded with the free flood holes in the casing all open which is great. Various holes do need to be drilled to accommodate other parts. Once the hull is together the main deck needs to be added which is in three sections. Various parts of deck equipment are then added. At the stern The propeller shafts, rudder and stern planes are added along with the resin propellers. At the bow the bow planes are added along with their protective guards. We then move to the conning tower. This is quite detailed and features all parts you would expect to see in there or the running of the boat as well as the masts and other equipment. Once made up this can be fitted to the hull. At the bow the anchor is fitted along with the bow cable cutter. Additional guards are fitted at the stern depending on which marking option is being used. Railings in front of the conning tower are then fitted. Deck railings are fitted depending on again which marking option is being used. Full radio aerial can be fitted with the isolaters generally seen on Subs being supplied as resin parts. Actual aerial fit again varies by marking option. Finally a very nice pair of turned aluminium periscopes are added. Markings There are 4 marking options supplied for the kit, A. CV707 1933-39 Early marking with a light grey tower and topsides with a red hull section. B. CV707 1939-40 Here the upper hull and tower are now Black for wartime operations. C. CV707 1943 Here the upper sides are now in a winter white/grey splinter scheme with a German type yellow ID band on the bow & tower (also now the museum scheme) D. CV707 1944 Here the boat has been striped back to the black upper scheme CV707 As a museum (photo credit Wikipedia) Conclusion It is great to see more Submarines being moulded in 1/72, his kit gives you the lesser known option of the boat used by Finland. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  14. Spitfire Mk.XIV Bubble Canopy Cockpit (4397 for Airfix) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby This newly tooled Griffon engined Spit from Airfix is fresh off the blocks and here’s a super-detailed resin cockpit from CMK that will give it a lift in that department. Arriving in their standard bubble-pack with card rear, the set contains 21 resin parts, a small sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, and a slip of printed clear acetate. The instruction sheet is folded up inside and a small rectangle of clear plastic helps to protect the parts from damage. It's a complete drop-in replacement for the kit tub and builds up in a similar manner, but with the benefits of using resin instead of styrene, with its ability to capture more detail. It begins with the cockpit floor, which removes the seam that’s present in the kit version and adds more detail. To that the rudder pedals and their actuators are installed, then three fuselage frames with the rear side walls having grooves to accept them. The front frame has the seat attachment frame added, plus the head armour with more armour sandwiched between the seat and frame in the next step. The kit’s control column is topped with a new grip, and a full set of detailed seatbelts are included on the PE fret, which you’ll have to paint yourself. The seat is quite exposed at this stage, which is rectified by building up the instrument panel and frame complete with film instruments that should be painted white on the rear, the PE panel, and another double layer for the centre panel that stands slightly proud. The compass is installed in the footwell, and then the completed panel is sited on the floor and held in the correct place by the forward side walls, which also have grooves to assist with location. The access door is separate, and a gunsight is glued to the top of the panel, with a front bulkhead closing off the footwell. Providing you have painted it all, you should now be able to slot it into the model with minimal effort, but it’s always worth test fitting these things anyway. Conclusion Highly detailed resin usually beats styrene, and this set is no exception. With the door open you should be able to see your handiwork, making it all worthwhile. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  15. MD-3 Ground Power Unit (8058) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Powered by a 180-hp six-cylinder engine, this unit generated 28-volt DC 1500 amp, 115/220-volt AC power (I had to look this up!), it was used to power US aircraft on the ground in the 60s and 70s. This set from CMK arrives in a small card box and includes twelve resin parts on seven casting blocks, a small decal sheet, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, plus the instruction sheet in colour. Casting is finely detailed and without bubbles, with sensibly placed attachment points to minimise work in removing them. Construction begins with the large monobloc bodyshell, under which the suspension parts and short steering axle mechanism are added. The single-part wheels and tyres are fixed to the rear axle, and either side of the front steering axle, in the recess that allows them to turn under impulse from the towing bar. A gaggle of small PE brackets and vents are added, with three large grilles on the side and two more on the rear, plus more little PE parts along the way. The towing hook and arm are added to the front axle with two damper springs, and at either end of the starboard side (if you were sat on top facing the front) a PE hook is installed, ready for the cabling to attach to the aircraft, which you must supply yourself from 0.5mm wire in 60mm lengths. Markings The instructions show the unit painted in yellow, with a red warning around the exhaust grilles and the towing hook. Around the edges are pale grey markers, and various stencils cover portions of the sides and top. Some were painted green later, so check your references. Conclusion This shouldn’t take long to build, and will look great next to a suitable aircraft once you’ve beaten it up a little and weathered it suitably as befits its role and lack of care from its operators. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  16. AJ/SK/SH-37 Viggen Control Surfaces (Q72355 for Tarangus) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby If you’ve got a Tarangus or Special Hobby Viggen in 1:72 and want to mobilise the flying surfaces to add a bit of visual interest, here’s the easy way to do it. This set contains all four flying surfaces for the delta wings, which you’ll need to remove from the kit wings before replacing them with the resin parts. Handily the starboard wings are marked with a double bar on the casting block, although that’s going to be thrown away before fitting, but common sense should carry you through along with the knowledge that the actuator fairings face down. A simple set that will give your model a more candid look with minimal effort. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  17. Viggen Ground Crew (F48360) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby There must still be a fair few of the ESCI Viggens in 1:48 knocking about, but the newly tooled Tarangus and Special Hobby kits are the intended subject to have this small figure set clambering around under. Arriving in a small blister box with the instructions hidden behind the header card, you get two figures made from five parts of grey resin. The standing figure just needs an arm added to his left side, while the crouching figure needs an arm and head adding to make the most of the detail. The standing figure is wearing ear-defenders and is waving the pilot on, while the crouching figure wears a patrol cap and has a bag slung over his shoulder, with one hand reaching out as if he was under a wing checking something. Conclusion Casting a sculpting are both good, and the arms have keyed lugs to make for a secure attachment. Your Viggen diorama will be improved by adding these guys to give a human scale to the model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  18. Hi Guys The latest set is up and available for ordering right now. https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/openable-detailed-canopy-for-special-hobby-meteor-nf-mk-12 cheers Ali
  19. Hi there! I already had a plan for this GB - but I think I will deviate from my original plan right away. I had a long & hard look on the scandinavian planes on my stash - and the Gnat got my attention. Firstly - it's one of those types that are overshadowed by other types. Such as the Hawker Hunter, which for example RAF chose instead of the Gnat. Secondly - it was purchased at a difficult time and it had a difficult career in the Finnish Air Force, but still managed to serve from 1958 until 1972, despite the purchase of MiG-21's in the early '60's. And thirdly - most importantly - it was one of the first kits I bought when I came back to the hobby last year. I was visiting Finnish Air Force Museum at Tikkakoski and saw the plane there and bought the kit! So I thought it's time for a Gnat to shine too! Here's a Gnat at Finnish Air Force Museum (ilmavoimamuseo.fi/). Livery is 'Kreivi von Rosen' which means 'Count von Rosen'. Count Eric von Rosen was an important person for Finnish Air Force - as he donated the first plane to our air force and as such helped to create it in the first place. This is also the origin of the Finnish Swastika. Count von Rosen's lucky symbol - a blue swastika - was painted on the wings of the Thulin Type D he donated. And here is the kit. Like I mentioned earlier - UK never acquired the fighter version of this type - and Gnat F.1 was actually only used by the Finns, Yugoslavians and the Indians. Finland had total of 11 planes (not including 2 recce variants), Yugoslavia 2 and India 40. India used the type quite a lot and went to license produce it as HAL Ajeet. Back of the box and colour scheme options. What's in the box. Sharp looking decals, very good looking sprues and full colour instruction sheets. Special Hobby kit's I've encountered so far (Gnat & Vampire) look splendid! Main bits. The name Gnat is fitting - the plane is TINY! It looks like a miniature of itself. Couple of nose options, for the recce & trainer variants I believe. Some of the weapon options. That we are not using - just the fuel tanks. Clear parts. Gnat had a particularly strange canopy - the windshield stayed in place and the canopy sealed around it, rather than have separate front part of the canopy as normal. Maybe to improve visibility to have less framing? Not sure. In any case there is both options included in the kit - to display the canopy either closed or open. Closer look at the fuselage, it really looks really nice this kit. And this is the colour scheme we will be doing, 'Kreivi von Rosen'. Colours were basic RAF colours at the time, olive green & grey upper surfaces and high speed silver undersurfaces. Questions, comments? Feel free to join the fun
  20. Tempest Fuselage Fuel & Oil Tanks (4394) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby We reviewed the resin upper engine set from CMK here, and at the time I hadn't noticed that I also had this set to review too, so aren't I silly? This set arrives in a yellow-themed shallow blister pack with header card and instructions within, and 12 resin parts on six casting blocks within. The kit’s fuselage halves will need to be cut to expose the area, which is covered in diagrammatic form in step one, and while you’re cutting you might as well expose the engine, eh? The oil tank is first to be made up with a small part added to the flat underside, and then two supports are fixed to the sides of the larger fuel tank with its filler caps on the top. These are integrated into the aircraft either side of the cockpit’s front firewall, with the smaller tank resting on the kit’s cockpit sidewalls behind the instrument panel. Forward of the firewall the fuel tank is added, and it is completed by threading the resin hoses through from one side to the other, linking the two area. The fuselage panels you cut out are discarded and replaced with the new resin part that is well detailed and at a more scale thickness than the styrene you remove. On its own or coupled with the engine set it will look superb once installed and painted, giving plenty of scope for a maintenance/repair diorama. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  21. Tempest Napier Sabre Engine (4393 for Eduard) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Eduard’s new Tempest is hardly light on detail, but the cowling is moulded closed with no engine within. The Sabre is a huge lump with a H-shaped block and sleeve-valves in order to produce up to 2,000hp, it was shoe-horned into the Tempest’s fuselage with little room to spare. This set from CMK is a resin upgrade to the kit with 54 detailed parts on 15 casting blocks in grey resin, and arrives in a yellow-themed blister pack with header card and instructions within. The kit will need to be adjusted with your finest razor saw to remove the cowling from the exhaust stacks upwards, and back to the firewall joint, as shown in the instructions. The main part of the upper engine is supplied in one large piece of resin to which the ancillary parts are added, then the firewall, supports and some more ancillaries are glued in place, including some delicate hoses, tiny catches/levers (with spares supplied) and just a little extra 0.3mm and 0.5mm wire from your own supplies needed, which is pointed out in blue. The exhausts are fitted individually on each side, and the thick cowling panels you removed earlier are replaced with highly detailed and more scale accurate new parts to be placed around the airframe on the wings or ground. You should note that the underside of the engine isn’t depicted, just from the exhausts up for light maintenance. There is another set that includes the tanks between the firewall and instrument panel if you feel like removing more panels. No colour call-outs are given during construction, but if you google “Napier Sabre Engine” you’ll be able to find plenty of images to help you out, with a choice of green or shades of grey to black for the block seeming to be your main choices. Conclusion The detail in this set is phenomenal, and with sympathetic painting it should look superb on your finished model. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  22. Hawker Hunter F.6 Wheels (4392 for Airfix) 1:48 CMK from Special Hobby With Airfix’s new kit now on the market and readily available, CMK have created a set of highly detailed wheels for this much-loved aircraft to improve on what’s in the kit box. Arriving in a yellow-themed blister pack held together with a single staple, it contains three wheels including nose wheel and two main wheels, each on their own individual casting block that is attached to the wheel by the slightly flattened contact patch that gives the model the impression of weight, without looking like the erks haven’t put enough air in the tyres. The main wheels have detailed bolts on the front hub and a flatter rear with hole for the axle, which will need a little deepening to attach to the kit. The nose wheel has six spokes on each side, and all three have circumferential tread on their rolling surface, with the supporting webs carefully located so as not to disrupt or damage the tread pattern, which is great planning. The main attachment point will be under the wheel, so it just needs cutting off and sanding smooth so that the wheel stands up squarely without any gaps underneath. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  23. Hello Friends, My follow up project to the Great Wall Hobby F-15I Ra`am was the Special Hobby SMB2 Super Mystere. Here are the notable features and my thoughts on the kit......... 1. Built mostly straight from the box. Used 0.6mm brass tubes to replace front pitot tubes under the intake. 2. Used Model Master, Mission Models, and some old ( but still useful ) Polly Scale acrylic paints. 3. Weathered with Flory & Vallejo washes, pencils, paint, and chalk pastels. 4. Depicted from No. 105 Squadron based at Hatzor, Israel. 5. Plumbers putty and small lead fishing sinkers were used to have the Mystere sit properly. 6. The kit supplied decals were excellent and responded well to setting solution. I found the kit to be mostly delightful with a few “fiddly” sections. For some odd reason, I had a couple of issues completely eliminating some of the seams. The kit is very well detailed and with little need for aftermarket accessories. I hope you enjoy this version of the French designed fighter-bomber. Thank you in advance for all of your comments and criticisms. With much respect, Mike
  24. Aero C-3A Czechoslovakian Transport & Trainer Plane (SH48197) 1:48 Special Hobby The Aero C-3 was the Czech built Siebel Si 204, which was in turn based on the earlier Siebel Fh 104 Hallore. It was initially ordered by the Luftwaffe for the same role it performed in their service, having its canopy altered to the stepless type, possibly to mimic that of the He.111 that pilots might progress to. As a footnote to its German service a Siebel had the dubious honour of being the last aircraft to be shot down by the Allies in WWII. After WWII Czech company Aero produced almost 200 airframes in training (C-3A), bombardier training (C-3B), transport (D-44) and civilian (C-103) flavours, which carried on in service until the end of the 40s and beyond, while a few airframes soldiered on a little longer in Hungarian service. The Kit Released alongside the German original boxing, this is a new tool from Special Hobby, and although I’d never heard of it until the sample arrived, it has a stubby appeal with its strangely shaped fuselage and blunt glazed nose. It arrives in a standard blue/white themed Special Hobby box, and inside are a surprising nine grey sprues and one clear sprue in a ziplok bag, plus the decal sheet and instruction booklet. The wingspan hits you immediately, as it has surprisingly long wings, and the boxy fuselage isn’t exactly tiny either. The external surfaces are engraved with SH’s usual fine panel lines, and the part count for the detailed internals is also pretty high although some parts aren’t used, particularly on sprue I, which has literally only one part used. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is assembled on a wide floor part with side consoles, centre console, detailed seats on large framed bases, instrument panel and twin control columns, backed by a bulkhead with cloth-covered doorway into the rear of the aircraft. Unlike many aircraft models, the floor doesn’t end behind that bulkhead, but extends all the way to the rear, with a well-detailed radio rack, navigation table, three passenger seats and another bulkhead plus two upstands that make up a luggage bay at the rear. An additional two seats are fitted facing aft behind the cockpit, and the front of the cockpit floor is joined to the main part and finished at the front with the rudder pedal assembly in duplicate. Before this assembly can be hidden in the fuselage halves, you can elect to cut out either of the rear doors, with the missing plastic replaced by a new part later, and you should add the high stowage racks and other detail parts to the inside along with the windows and the wing root caps that prevent you from seeing the attachment points if you have a good view of the inside. With the two halves joined, the canopy can be applied to the stepped front, consisting of the domed nose part and a separate C-shaped canopy, the former having a few small details added inside before it is fixed in place. After this the top of the fuselage is decked out with a number of lumps and bulges that differs slightly depending on its camouflage option. This won’t leave much of the top seam for you to hide, which could well be a time-saving bonus if you plan accordingly. The C-3A has long wings, and these are mounted low on the fuselage, so are each made up from two parts that incorporates the nacelle bulges to which the cowling, exhausts and intake trunking are added, then each one is slotted into the appropriate wing root and is joined by the H-shaped tail, which fits on two smaller tabs at the rear. The landing gear can be left off until after painting, and consists of a sloped leg with integral brace to which two more are added on the sides. The oleo then attaches to this assembly and is bracketed by a pair of gear bay doors and a two-part wheel with smooth tread. There is one under each nacelle as you’d expect plus a small tail wheel with split yoke. Horn balances are fitted to the top and bottom of each elevator, an antenna at the rear of the cockpit with aerial leading to the starboard rudder, a pair of two-bladed props with spinner caps are made up from four parts each, then finally if you have opened up the hatches on the side, the replacement parts are fitted along with a ladder for the larger of the two. Markings There are four decal options included on the decal sheet with four-view drawings in colour at the rear of the instruction booklet, with option D the only deviation from the standard olive green over light blue. From the box you can build one of the following: No.388 US-53 Air School Regiment, Trĕncin July 1951 No.384 AK-4 Instructional Regiment – Air Force Officers College Hradec Králové, 1954 No.363 S-14 Air Force Signals School, Chrudim, 1948 No.unknown Aviation Research Centre, Letňany, 1951 The decals are printed in-house with good register, sharpness and colour density, and include a number of instrument decals for the interior. Conclusion This is a good kit of an unusual (from a British point of view) and interesting aircraft, with some excellent internal detail and some simple schemes that will speed your finishing. If you have a problem with completing kits like I do, one of the Olive Drab machines would make an ideal sanity build, although the camouflaged option is soft-edged and wouldn’t over-face you with masking. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  25. There's been several excellent Firefly builds on the forum over the past few years and I thought it high time that I dusted off my special hobby kit and gave it a go myself. I'll be using all the information gleaned from the previous builds, in particular that of Navy Bird who was brave enough to build two Special Hobby kits of these wonderful aircraft as once. Australian Fairey Firefly stickers are pretty hard to come but I did manage to secure what appears to be a more recent printing from Red Roo depicting VX388/207Q (AS5) from HMAS Vengeance and VX385/205K (Mk5) from HMAS Sydney in 1953 latter Korean War schemes. I'm very tempted by VX388 which just happens to now reside at the Camden Museum of Aviation and was the subject of Navy Bird's target tug version. Here she is in Stewart Wilson's excellent Sea Fury, Firefly and Sea Venom book. I also have a hankering to represent a Mk.4 from HMAS Sydney during the late 1940's with a Dark Slate Grey/EDSG/Sky scheme. I have the following airframe in mind which is here being flown by one of my late father's friends, and still with Royal Navy codes. I'd need to cobble together some stickers of course which may be the hardest part of that scheme but I'd also be unsure about cockpit colours, whether it was all black as in the latter marks, or had one or more cockpits in interior green. Still some time to decide. Progress to date has involved separating the resin cockpit components from the pour blocks wearing the requisite gloves, mask and eye protection, and tidying up the fuselage halves. A coat of primer can't be too far away. As this is my first resin cockpit, I might also ask what glue do people prefer with resin - superglue (cringe) or epoxy (messy)?
×
×
  • Create New...