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  1. Hello everyone ... Im posting this for now, as I am still planning on joining in. That will be delayed to some degree due to a temporary loss of modeling space. Im hoping to be back at it in 3-4 weeks. This kit was a gift from a fellow member who had seen a post by myself about wanting to build one. He decided due to the complexity of Special Hobby kits, it would be best to give it to an established modeler. Rather than a new builder who may be frustrated and turned away from the hobby. I give you the interesting and quirky looking B-18 Bolo. Im still of two minds as to markings I would like to do this in. Originally I was planning on an early war Submarine hunter like this one. The plane in the center of the formation ⬇️ is the same as this ⬆️ Plane. another example of an early war Bolo. However doing research for this i found a few in Neutrality patrol markings, such as in this photo. That is now starting to pique my interest. Here are the remainder of sprue shots. Not a duplicate photo just a duplicate sprue. The kit is the RCAF Digby version thus the British markings. I could still opt to do that as a markings option as well ? The kit has a small fret of etch and resin as well. This is all the decals collected to do any of the versions i am undecided on. My plan is to move and rebuild my office asap, then get back to building. Dennis
  2. The Royal Australian Navy operated Wirraway trainers from HMAS Albatross, Nowra from 1948 through the 1950's. This is the Special Hobby "First Blood over Rabaul" kit with the "Boring Old Silver" decal set from Red Roo Models. It's basically out of the box apart from scratch-built undercarriage doors (the originals being rather thick). This is my first completed model in well over a year.
  3. I’ve not built a kit or posted to the forum for quite a while now, having been pre-occupied by work, study and associated activities. I decided to make amends over Christmas holidays and made a start on the latest of my Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm collection. This time it’s a post-war Wirraway, most likely A20-168 (972) from HMAS Albatross as depicted in these Red Roo decals. There’s only a few photos I can find of RAN Wirraways online and markings and paint schemes are all different and ambiguous as to whether yellow training stripes on the rear fuselage and top wings were carried over from RAAF service, or over-painted with aluminium paint. I’m using the Special Hobby 1/72 First Blood over Rabaul kit. It’s been going together quite well, albeit with the usual checking and fettling in order to get the parts to fit nicely. I noted conflicting references about the cockpit interior colour and decided to go with a metal finish, rather than interior green. All pictures I see of Wirraways on the ground show the elevators slightly dropped so I cut these in order to give depict this in the build. Otherwise, it’s pretty much out of the box. The wing roots needed a fair bit of filling with plastic strip and putty and a moderate degree of fettling to sit properly around the wheel wells, and there was a bit of work tidying up the landing light recesses, but it’s looking very much like a Wirraway. One issue I’m yet to resolve is mounting the engine cowling as it appears to have nothing to physically connect it to the fuselage. Perhaps the trick is to mount it first to the engine and then mount the engine onto the fuselage. No pressure yet as that and the engine will go on after I’ve painted the fuselage and wings.
  4. This little F3F will be my entry for the Group Build but I still have to make a decision on which version to build, hence the ambiguity in the topic title. I think that the main external differences between the -2 and -3 are to do with the cowling shape, so once I have chosen the version I will amend the title and include the unit details. I haven't built a Special Hobby kit before but it looks to be a nice kit and includes resin and etch parts for some of the details. Without further ado here are the obligatory box and content shots consisting of a small etch fret, a bag of resin parts, canopy, decal sheet and the plastic parts on a single sprue. All of that should make it a fun build. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr
  5. This Special Hobby boxing of the F3F-2 was the first of my weekend completions. It was built straight from the box with a couple of scratch details such as the aerial tensioning spring, though looking at that detail now it is probably a tad over scale, I must use a smaller shank drill to wrap the wire around next time. Grumman F3F-2 Bu.No 0976 2-MF-7 USMC, VMF-2 by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr
  6. WWII RAF Mechanic in India & Elephant with Mahout(F48345) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby The mighty elephant is used as heavy plant even today in India, and it has been a beast of burden there for probably thousands of years. During WWII, they were used extensively in the war effort, which is why we have this set here. As usual with Special Hobby's larger resin sets, they arrive in the familiar long clamshell box, with the resin parts safely cocooned inside along with a few pachy-peanuts to keep it still, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves, doubling as the header card. The set contains three figures, one of which is large and grey – in fact, they're all grey at this stage, and all a bit wrinkly too, but I digress. The elephant is moulded as a single large casting, with the remnants of the casting block left along its spine, which will need a little tidying up with a sander. There are a couple of bubbles on the high points of the head, but as these are usually pretty humpy, a little rod super glued into the hole and sanded back will solve that and it's a simple tusk, so they're Irrelephant. The rider, known as a Mahout or handler is sat astride the back of the beast, with separate arms and a narrow stick for guiding the elephant's movements. The British Mechanic looks a little like king George VI, and is standing with his hands in his pocket (a common pose for a mechanic), and a thin sheet of flash between his spindly, shorts clad legs. The two human figures also have a line of flash running from their chins, which can be quickly scraped off so isn't a mammoth job, and is there to prevent bubbles lodging in the lower halves of the faces, thereby ruining them. As usual with resin, take the precaution of wearing a mask when cutting or sanding resin, as the tiny particles are harmful to your health if breathed in. Washing ivory one of the parts in warm water will also improve the adhesion of paint, as there may still be some moulding release agent on the parts when you receive them. Don't be a dumbo – take precautions! Conclusion A 1:48 elephant isn't something you see every day, and will make an interesting addition to any diorama, so get thinking and join the herd. You could even use it humorously to trumpet your feelings about any military procurement, simply by painting it white and posing it next to the object of your ire. Makes a change from those boring grey….J... Err…. Pachyderms. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  7. Hawker Tempest Mk.VI (SH32055) 1:32 Special Hobby The Tempest was a development of the Typhoon. Originally called the Typhoon II, it was intended to solve any and all of the issues that bothered its designer Sidney Camm. The main difference was a much thinner wing which reduced drag and improved aerodynamics of the laminar airflow. The wings could accommodate 20mm Hispano cannons that packed an enormous punch, and lent itself to the low-level attack role that it was designed for. The engines envisioned to power the aircraft were the Centaurus, Griffon and Sabre IV, and initially the RR Vulture, which was terminated early in the design phase, leaving the three options going forward and necessitating substantially different cowlings to accommodate their differing shapes. The Mark VI was the last development of the series, with a Mk.V acting as the basis from which the first prototype was constructed. It sported the more powerful Sabre V engine, which due to its need for more cooling meant that it had additional intakes in the wing roots for the carburettor, and the oil cooler was fitted behind the radiator, with most already carrying tropical filters from the factory for service in the Middle East, but probably also with an eye on the assumed end of the war in Europe and the ongoing fighting in the Pacific. It also had improvements to its flying surfaces that made it more agile, and an adapted, strengthened rear spar to better stand up to combat stresses. Because of the introduction of the Meteor and other jet-powered designs, the Tempest was the last new piston-engined aircraft to see service with the RAF, although the Sea Fury, a close relative, saw action in the Navy until jet engines could be trusted to spool-up fast enough for a go-around on an aborted carrier landing. The Kit The original 1:32 Tempest moulds from Special Hobby in 2016 caused a stir and made a lot of people very happy, starting with the Mk.V, the Mk.II and now the Mk.VI completing the production variants, and leaving only a few prototypes unkitted. Only 142 of the Mk.VI were built, but if a job is worth doing, it's worth doing it well so here it is. The sprues you'll find inside the box are mostly identical to the original Mk.V that we reviewed back in 2016, which is why you'll notice the old logo on some of the photos. There's no point in retaking those, especially as the server is a bit full at the moment. My sample also had received a little bit of chaffing damage to the surfaces of the fuselage during transit, which although it will easily buff out, looks a little ugly in photos, so enjoy these pics of an undamaged article instead This is the standard issue of the kit, so doesn't have the additional parts of the Hi-Tech boxing, which may please some folks that aren't keen on resin or Photo-Etch. The new sprue contains new parts for the cowling and radiator housing, as you'd expect for a variant with a different engine and cooling layout. It also includes a complete new prop, wing leading edge inserts for the aforementioned intakes, and a new rear-deck for the cockpit area, which has a few different details to the original. As a welcome addition, you receive another sprue that contains a full set of rockets and rails that weren't originally supplied with the first boxing, and have been available separately as an accessory set from Special Hobby for a while now. Construction is very similar to earlier boxings until you get to the building of the engine cowling, which uses the new parts that are backed with a pair of separate troughs that support the exhaust stubs later on. An insert is fitted to the top inner lip, and then backed with the radiator part, with pseudo-translucent diagrams showing where these parts fit within the cowling. The exit ramps at the rear of the tunnel are new parts too, and are joined by the cowling flap that is posed open or closed by the use of a long or short actuator rod that attaches to the roof of the air way. The wingroot intakes are assembled with their internal structure, and in the case of the larger starboard one, a radiator face is added inside, after which they're both inserted into the wing leading edges before the fuselage and the new nose are all brought together and the rest of the build continues as per previous editions. This aircraft lends itself so well to a modular approach to tooling due to its many engines, and even if Special Hobby don't tool the prototypes (which might not sell all that well anyway), someone could always produce an aftermarket set to fulfil any need out there. The exhaust stubs are from the common sprues too, and are made up from top and bottom halves that result in a deep hollow exhaust, which as it has weld-seams in real life, shouldn't take too much cleaning up. The new cockpit rear deck has mounts for a pair of bottles that are stored behind the pilot, and these are found on the common sprues. Under the centre wing, there is the bulged fairing, with its front hatch moulded closed. The new prop is made up on the back-plate, with pointed and angled tipped blades on the sprue, of which you're to use the pointed ones, although the drawing makes at least two of them seem to have angled tips, that's just an unfortunate by-product of the angle at which they are drawn. Use parts G17 and all will be well. The prop spinner fits over the top, and the short axle on the rear of the back-plate fits into the socket in the cowling. The rockets by this time had become a weapon of preference for the Tempest, so their inclusion is good news. Each one is built up with the body to which the four rear fins and half of the warhead are added, the fins having wedge-shaped based to fit neatly into the slots in the rear. The rails are each a single part, so once you've made up all eight, all you need to do is add some short command wires from your own stock, and they're ready to go. The decal sheet includes all the stencils for them, and at the end of the instruction step a painting and markings diagram takes you through the process. Markings Late and post-war RAF aircraft were often uncamouflaged, as per the box top, but happily our friends at Special Hobby have been diligent and picked out some interesting options for this boxing. There are two silver options, one of which has some patchwork grey parts added, while the other two options are camouflaged for service in Iraq and Egypt. From the box you can build one of the following: NX201/JV-U "Poppet" No.6 Sqn, RAF Deversoir, Egypt 1949 NX135/V No.6 Sqn, RAF Deversoir, Egypt 1949 NX126/GN-A No.249 Sqn, RAF Habbaniya, Iraq, 1948 NX179/B No.6 Sqn, RAF Deversoir, Egypt 1949 The two main decal sheets are printed by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The stencils for the aircraft are printed by Eduard and are bagged separately with the stencils for the rockets, which are printed by AviPrint. These are both sharp and colour dense, and as most of the decals are single colours, there's no registration issues to discuss. Conclusion The last of the RAF's piston-engined fighters, and a good-looking aircraft into the bargain. A good, straight-forward edition to complement the Hi-Tech boxing that contains all the trimmings. If you're on a budget, would like to pick-and-choose your aftermarket, or just don't use it, then this is the one for you. Who would have thought that we'd have three injection moulded Tempests in 1:32 a few years ago? Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  8. A while ago I floated the idea of doing a Supermarine Seafire for this GB and with my entry in the 60s NATO Vs Warpac GB almost finished I got bored waiting for paint to dry and rather than touch any of the many stalled projects littering the peripheries of the workbench decided, aided in no small part by a pile of Seafire references lying close to hand and being glanced through as bedtime reading, to start something new NN460 H6-Z features as a profile in a couple of my books and they seem to agree for the most part with a couple of minor differences in the details. Looks nice doesn't it? Think I'll have a crack at building it with this; With only a month and a half remaining of the GB I'm unlikely to finish it given my slow speed of typical progress but sod it, here we are now, a new challenge
  9. Saab AJ-37 Viggen (SH48148) 1:48 Special Hobby The Viggen was Sweden's later Cold War fighter that took over from the equally unusual Saab Draken, as part of their long-standing preference for ploughing their own way through modernising their Flygvapnet, the Swedish Air Force. It began service in the early 1970s with the AJ variant, which was primarily a ground attack aircraft that could also perform the fighter role if necessary. It was slightly shorter than the later JA, with a slightly different cockpit arrangement and a less powerful engine. Over a hundred were built, with roughly half of them converted to AJS standard at the end of the 90s with improved avionics and software. The last of these upgraded AJs were taken out of service in 2005, with the similarly home-grown Gripen taking over its roles. The Kit We reviewed the original issue of this model in 2015 here, but Special Hobby haven't rested on their laurels and are back with an updated version for those that are still in the market. An additional sprue has been included, which is coincidentally to be found in the recent two-seater Electronic Warfare version we reviewed here, recently. The kit arrives in a similar box with the same painting on the front, but the words "Updated Edition" and "contains new sprue" added to quickly differentiate between boxings. The new sprue is numbered differently from the main run of sprues, which are simply sequentially numbered from beginning to end of the build on the instructions, and while the sprue is labelled M, this isn't carried through to the instructions, but when you see numbers that are vastly different from those around them you should be tipped-off to pull the parts from the new sprue. There are seven sprues in grey styrene, one in clear, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) nickel-plated brass, decal sheet and revised instruction booklet in the box, with the colour profiles and decal guides printed in colour on the inner back pages. New Sprue Construction is almost identical to the previous edition, with detailed cockpit, full-depth intakes and exhaust openings, and with additional small supports added to the intake parts on the underside of the fuselage, which were missing in the original edition. There is a choice of two new tail fins, re-designed canards with their control flaps, and behind the nose gear bay, a set of intakes or a single central intake that merges with the centreline pylon are added, depending on which decal option you are modelling. A new longer centreline pylon is used for two of the decal options too, which extends all the way back to the belly strake, which was in the original kit, but has an optional part now with a higher rear end for one decal option. Finally, the Ram Air Turbine that drops out of the lower fuselage whenever the Viggen is on the ground has been tooled, although here the part numbers have been swapped about. Part 17 should read 20, 20 should read 17, and 15 should be 17. All clear?!?! Overall, you'll be able to create a more accurate replica of the Viggen, with the smaller parts that make a model that's that bit closer to the real thing, and you'll also have some additional spares for other projects if many Viggens are on your horizon. Markings There are three decal options in this boxing, with the sheet being a straight-forward reprint of the original with no changes that I can discern. It is in good register, sharp, and as far as I can tell the yellow borders have been underprinted with white to retain their colour over dark paint. From the box you can build one of the following: 37062 "Gustav 62", F7 Wing, Satyenas, 1990s. Splinter scheme with red 62 on the tail. 37022 "Gustav 22", F7 Wing, Satenas 1973 – bare metal with squadron on fuselage and tail for an airshow in Germany. 37051 F15 Wing, Soderhamn 1978 – Splinter scheme with unpainted starboard intake in bare metal. Conclusion It's good to see Special Hobby continuing to work on their kits after initial release, and the end result is well worth the effort. They are listening, and long may it continue to be the case. The best Viggen in 1:48 available by miles. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  10. This is the 1:48 Special Hobby kit of one of my favourite aeroplanes, the Blackburn Skua. Compromised by the need to be both a dive bomber and a fighter, it was not particularly accomplished at either role, but never the less achieved a number of significant "firsts" - including (I think I'm right in saying) the first confirmed "kill" by a British aircraft in WW2 and the first aircraft to sink a major warship by dive bombing. I am indebted (again) to Tony O'Toole for one of his excellent magazine articles which really helped with the build. The kit isn't bad. The interior is relatively basic and could be improved if you felt the need (although references, especially for the rear cockpit, are not easy to find). My main criticism is that the wings come in a total of seven pieces (plus two resin wheel wells) as if designed to have a folded option, but without any internal detail or structure to allow you to do this. This makes it needlessly difficult to build the wings spread for flight - although I concede that it will make it easier if you want to use an aftermarket set to model the wings folded. I tackled the wings by trying to turn the kit back into a more conventional format - I joined the three parts that make up the full span lower wing and reinforced the joins with thin plasticard. I repeated this for the two pieces that make up each upper wing half and only then did I glue top and bottom surfaces together. I scratch built the bomb crutch from plastic rod as the kit version isn't very good, and I followed Tony's suggestion of replacing the prop blades with ones from a Tamiya Mosquito as the kit ones are too short. The silver paint is Tamiya TS 17, decanted from the spray can and sprayed through my trusty Paasche VL airbrush; the spinner (these were, it seems, always highly polished on the silver aircraft...) is Alclad Chrome; the exhaust stain (very distinctive on the Skua and I don't think I've got it quite right) is Tamiya Smoke. A coat of Xtracolour matt varnish helped to dull the finish and make it look more like an aircraft painted silver and serving at sea... The panel line wash seems to stand out rather more starkly in the photos than "in the flesh". The decals are from the kit and worked really well, with only the slightest of touch ups required for Ark Royal's blue-red-blue chevrons. The markings represent a machine from 803NAS in May 1939. Cheers, Nick.
  11. Fieseler Fi.103 (FZG76) V-1 "Flying Bomb" (SH32071) 1:32 Special Hobby Toward the end of WWII Hitler was scrambling around for technological ways to dig Nazi Germany out of the hole he had dug for them by attacking almost all of Europe, thereby turning most of the world against them. He relied heavily on nebulous "Wunderwaffe", or wonder-weapons that would save his bacon at the last minute, forgetting (or ignoring) the fact that continuous development of new weapons and technology saps manufacturing capacity and scientific knowledge away from existing projects that are already proving their worth. The Vergeltungswaffen-1 was one such weapon, known as the V-1, V-1 Flying Bomb, Doodlebug or Buzz-bomb due to the rasping note of the pulsejet that powered it. It was made using minimal strategic materials, mostly welded steel for the fuselage and plywood for the wings, with an Argus pulsejet engine, a glorified blowlamp, mounted high on the rear of the tail, short straight wings and elevators, the controls for which were made by compressed air that also pressurised the fuel tank. They were launched from a ramp because the pulsejet won't work properly until it has substantial airflow, which was achieved using a rocket-propelled trolley that was jettisoned at the end of the ramp. They could also be air-launched by specially adapted He.111s, and their range was adjusted by adding or subtracting fuel and pointing it in the direction of London. Their downfall was the size of the gantries, which were static and easily spotted for destruction, plus the relatively small explosive payload. Once the Allies pushed into France they were no longer able to be launched from ramps due to their range, so air-launch was the only option, and that slowed down their influx to a relative crawl. The newly completed Tempests were perfectly suited to shooting them down, and there are stories of them being tipped off course and shot down, as well as downed by Anti-Aircraft fire. The Kit This is a new tool kit that has doubtless been produced due to the Tempest that Special Hobby also have in this scale, so they go together well. It arrives in a small (think 1:72 fighter) box with a painting of a V-1 crossing the channel on the front and a jet-powered Meteor climbing to intercept it. Under the lid are three sprues of mid-grey styrene, a small decal sheet, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass and a short instruction booklet. The Doodlebug has none of the niceties such as cockpit, landing gear etc., so it should be a quick build that is made to stand out by its paint finish and weathering. Construction begins with the combined fuselage and pulsejet housing halves, with a rusty colour used inside the combustion tube. The intake and baffles are added to the front before closure, and that's the fuselage almost finished. The nose cone can take one of three forms. A bucket-shaped protective cover, the most usually seen pointed nose-cone with spinner tip, or a yellow semi-recessed globe, the purpose of which I'm not sure of. A test cone, or the bare warhead? Answers on a postcard. A length of conduit connects the nose to the engine, and the tail planes are added to the slots in the rear under the pulsejet, with PE actuators for the rudder that is built into the rear jet support. The wings are kept level by the use of a styrene spar part that should make installing them simple, as well as strengthening the join. The spar has two marks that must show one on each side before they are glued in place. After that has set, you can slide the wings on, which are both made from top and bottom halves, plus a small bulkhead at the root, which will be useful if you are showing your model with the wings stowed. That's the bomb built, but there's a trolley that goes with it, making displaying your model an easier task. This has four twin castor wheels, a rectangular base frame, pull handle and trestle to hold the fuselage in place. If you are stowing the wings, there are two additional trestles with PE retention straps that have grooves in for the wings, which store tilted against the fuselage. A nice addition that will save you from having to build a launch ramp in the garden! Markings The decal sheet is small, and consists of stencils only apart from a later B-2 variant that has a pair of interlinking red crosses on the forward fuselage to tell it from its externally identical brethren that were loaded with less powerful explosives. From the box you can build one of the following: Fi.103A-1 W.Nr. 768658 Fi.103A-1 W.Nr. 707219, France 1944 Fi.103B-2 France, summer 1944 Decals are crisp and clear, and you'll be masking and painting your red crosses for option C yourself, so prepare that area with white primer, spray it red and then mask it with narrow tape before you paint the main colours, unless you have some red decal strip on hand. Conclusion I've always found the V-1s fascinating, and having a nice new tooling of one in a scale where the painting can be done in detail is tempting. It's also tempting to stand one next to a Typhoon or one of HK's Meteors as well. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  12. Hi all Been working on this on and off for a while, this is actually a very nice kit. The Canopy was a bit of a so and so and did not want to conform so cut it into three sections to fit and the periscope legs are too short so used plastic rod. Thanks for looking All the best Chris
  13. Based on the old AZUR Loire 130M kit (ref.A051), Special Hobby is to release in September 2018 a 1/48th Loire 130CI "Colonial" kit - ref. SH48182 Source: http://www.specialhobby.net/2017/11/sh48182-loire-130-cl-148.html Box art V.P.
  14. Spitfire Mk.Vc "Overseas Jockeys" (48195) 1:48 Special Hobby The Spitfire Mk.Vc had a re-stressed and strengthened fuselage and a new windscreen. The C wing was known as the universal wing which housed a revised main undercarriage. The distinctive feature on the top of the wings were the bulges for the cannon armament. Under the starboard wing a deeper radiator was fitted, and under the port wing a larger oil cooler was fitted. Additional armour was also added to the cockpit and ammunition storage areas. Due to the development of the Mk. IX the Vc did not serve on the home front for too long and sent for service overseas. 2476 were built mainly at Castle Bromwich with others split between Westland's and Supermarine. Of these 300 in their Tropical guise The Kit This is a re-boxing with new decals from Special Hobby, the kit was originally released in 2008 and has been re-released many times since. The kit arrives on three main sprues, 5 smaller sprues, a clear sprue, a small PE fret and a small bag of resin parts. construction starts in the cockpit. The floor is built up with the rudder pedals, the forward bulkhead is added as is the instrument panel. Instruments are provided as decals. The pilots set is then made up and added to the rear bulkhead. Seatbelts are provided as PE. Head armour goes at the top of the seat. The inner fuselage sides are added into the fuselage, followed by the cockpit section and the instrument panel section. The fuselage is then closed up. We now move onto the wings. These are conventional with a one part lower and two part (left/right) upper. Different cannon bulges are added to the top side depending on which decal option is being modelled. The wheel wells are put in and then the wings can be joined. The wings can then be added to the fuselage, separate ailerons and wing tips are then added. At the front the lower engine cowling is added (again a different one depending on the decal option), and at the rear the rudder and tail planes. Now we flip to the underside. The radiator and oil cooler are added along with the tail wheel and an insert in the rear fuselage (used to cover the tail hook opening for Seafire models). The main gear can now be built up and added and for one of the decal options a ventral fuel tank. At the front resin exhausts are added (again two types are provided), one of two type of prop is added and the clear parts are added . Lastly the radio mast, pilot entry door and cannon barrels are added. Markings There are printed by AB174 / RF-Q 303 Polish Sqn RAF, RAF Kirton-In-Lindsey, Aug 1942. BS295 / CR-C No.1 Fighter Wing RAAF, Strauss, Australia 1943. Serial Not Known. 5FS, 52 FG, USAAFE, Corsica Autumn 1943. AR524 / White 5 GC 1/7 French Air Force, Tunisia Early 1944. MH592 / G 1st FS National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. Conclusion It is great to see this re-released with deal options you dont always see. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  15. FH-1 Phantom 'US Navy' (72332) 1:72 Special Hobby The FD later FH-1 Phantom from McDonnell has always suffered from the fact its older brother the F4H-1 (later F-4) Phantom II has stolen most of the limelight associated with the "Phantom" name. Originally designed and first flown during WWII the aircraft was straight winged. The Phantom was the first Jet to land on a US Aircraft Carrier, and the first jet to be used by the US Marine Corps. Only 62 were made but the design lead into the follow on aircraft from McDonnell the F2H Banshee. These aircraft would position McDonnell as an important supplier to eh US Military. McDonnell must have thought a lot of the Phantom to bring the name back for the F-4. The Kit This is a new toolkit from Special Hobby. The kit arrives on three sprues of grey plastic, a clear spure, a small PE fret and a sheet of decals. Construction starts in the cockpit. The seat and instrument panel are made up with the panel as decal. PE belts are included for the seat. The cockpit floor also form the top of the front wheel well. The well sides are added along with the front and rear cockpit bulkheads. The cockpit can then be placed in the fuselage, the instructions recommend putting 3 grams of weight in the nose. Next up the engines and there trunking are built up. There are fan fronts and exhausts are added. Construction then moves to the wings. The main wheel wells must be built up ad added into the lower wing along with the intake trunking. The upper wings can then be added. The leading edge parts of the intake are then added. This is a nice touch so you don't have to clean up a seam in the intake area. The front landing gear is built up and added to the front along with the gear doors. This is then followed by the main units and their doors. The belly tank is then fitted along with the arrestor hook. To finish off the tail planes are added along with the engine exhausts and finally the canopy. Markings There are printed by Cartograf so there will be no issues there. You get 3 marking options with any colour you want as long as its Gloss Sea Blue! the markings, including extensive stencils are mainly white. R 112 - Bu 111778 VF-17A, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CV-42, March 1949 R 122 - Bu 111785 VF-17A, USS Saipan, May 1948 R 101 - Bu 111799 VF-17A, USS Coral Sea, May 1948 Conclusion It is great to see this over looked early jet now being injection moulded in 1/72. Highly recommended. Wheels If you want a liitle something else for you Phantom then through their CMK Line there is a set of resin replacement wheels available. Review sample courtesy of
  16. Hello I'm here again with a couple of new finnished kits. This time these are Northrop Delta with double pilot positions. First here is the Delta 1D c/n 42 when in service whithin the Royal Australian Air Force around 1943 Next is the Delta 1D c/n 74 in U.S. Coast Guard service in 1936 : And now a picture of my Northrop Delta family so far, with both single pilot aircraft I built last year : Patrick
  17. Special Hobby has just re- released the Azur-FRROM (link & link) 1/72nd Vickers Type 267 Vildebeest Mk. III kit - ref. SH72400 Sources: https://www.specialhobby.eu/en/our-own-production/special-hobby/vickers-vildebeest-mk-iii-1-72.html http://www.specialhobby.info/2018/10/sh72400-vickers-type-267-vildebeest.html In box review: https://www.detailscaleview.com/2018/11/special-hobby-vickers-type267-sh72400-review.html V.P.
  18. Special Hobby newsletter 2018 n°2 - February 2018 - http://www.specialhobby.info/2018/01/news-from-special-hobby-22018.html n°3 - March 2018 - http://www.specialhobby.info/2018/02/news-from-special-hobby-32018.html n°4 - April 2018 - http://www.specialhobby.info/2018/03/newsletter-special-hobby-42018.html V.P.
  19. The wait for Eduards Tempest release is almost over so thought I would share one of last years builds to get everyone in the mood (its my no1 target at Telford in a couple of weeks!) The special hobby kit is superb and I didn't add any AM stuff apart frm some masks for the markings, its not quite Tamiya quality as some people have said however its a very impressive offering and has real presence on the shelf, the only real issue was getting the cowling to line up with the fuselage but superglue and a modicum of muscle solved that one, I also cut in and sanded back plastic tube to better represent the cannon ports. Everything else is just as Specialhobby intended and if their 1/32 Whirlwind thats due for relese next year is this good I will be a very happy chappy. Ohh and I think with all the extras included such as resin gun bays and fabric belts its pretty goof value for money too, may just have to pick up their mark V somewhere along the line too as the thought of that big sabre on display looks very appealing!
  20. I've been building some kits from th Stash recently as a change from my usual fare. I bought two Special Hobby Seafires about 6 years ago, I built the Mark III and it fought me all the way. So the Mk II languished in the stash moving slowly further down the build pile. I've recently sold a lot of kits that I'll never build but this one still appealed so I gave it a go. The build was not as bad as I remembered but still needed a lot of sanding and filling. I got the airframe complete, as a LIIC then found that the decals and scheme were at best dubious. The other schemes were more likely to be correct but I was committed to a clipped winged six stack machine.machine After drawing a blank for after market decals I found a thread from a few years ago that gave me a possible solution, but even so it is probably a What If rather than a model of a real machine. Anyway here she is. Thanks for looking
  21. Supermarine Seafire FR Mk.47 with RATOG, 800. Squadron Fleet Air Arm, HMS "Triumph", Korean War 1950. Made from Special Hobby SH72099 kit. It`s "out of the box" except exhausts (SBS) and some decals (self-printed).
  22. Recently finished these two after a bit of inspiration reading Valiant Wings North Africa campaign book. No issues with either build, all OOB and painted with Vallejo model air. Kittyhawk from Special Hobby was a joy to build, first Special Hobby kit and it was great.
  23. This was my second aircraft build in a long time and coming after the Airfix Spitfire was a considerable rude awakening. Challenging fit at times and very time consuming in overall build. Cockpits decals are from Airscale (How good are they!) and the wheels are further things of beauty from Barracuda Studios. Both wings needed "lifting" with inserts.... Paint was Mig Ammo Red and the deep cream was a 50 : 50 mix of Ammo Warm sand and AK RLM 04 Thanks for looking Rob
  24. After the F.MK.3/.5 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234944522-172-de-havilland-dh100-vampire-fmk35-by-special-hobby-released-new-fmk3-boxing/?hl=vampire) Special Hobby is to release a 1/72nd de Havilland DH.100 Vampire F.Mk.1 kit - ref.SH72339 Source: http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2016/Bilder_AT/Special_Hobby_09.htm V.P.
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