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Hello All, It's been a long time - Sweet's 1/144 P-51B/C modified to a RAF recon Mustang. Thanks for looking. Ian

This has been trundling along for a while, this build. But a burst of energy (oddly enough as I was off work sick) has seen it over the line. The FM-2 Wildcat needs no introduction, and if it does then there are plenty of better written potted histories than I could manage. Suffice to say it was the last of the Wildcat line, with a more powerful engine and a larger tail to compensate. The Sweet kit is also well known. The only edits I made to it were to put a spare seat in the cockpit (can't be seen); to widen the diameter of the cowling (as the Shelf Oddity instructions wisely advise); and to put the prop in my dremel to lathe down the somewhat exaggerated staggered hub into a spinner. I was very tempted to use the lovely Shelf Oddity etch set for this (https://shelfoddity.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=58 quite challenging-looking but I think I'd be up to it). In the end, though, I've decided to save that or another 'cat... I did use the superb (https://shelfoddity.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=25) Shelf Oddity decals. These were an absolute joy to use, even considering all the many many little stencils I had to put on. Not a whisper of silvering and all perfectly well behaved. There is a small etch fret as well, so you can put rocket stubs and other little details on. I plan to do the blue and natural metal ones the decals provide for, so will use the full detail set and the subject-specific etch on a future build. The Naval Air Modification Centre (NAMU) trained mechanics and had a number of bright yellow aircraft assigned to it (including a rather fetching Helldiver). Here's my Wildcat parked up in September 1946... As well as being used to test things like HVAR rocket, they were used as trainers and tugs... I sprayed the whole thing in Mr Hobby 329 which worked well, but required quite a few layers to get the right depth and shade. I used oils, pencils and pastels to weather (I refuse to believe that a bright yellow radial remains clean for long). I was particularly smug about my little pitot which I scratch built... The aerials at the back caused me some grief, but I got there in the end (kept reminding myself that it was better than trying to rig a Gladiator...) And that's that. With something totally unrelated but also on the bench... And now this goes to join its sibling Wildcats... Thanks very much for looking!

Just finished today. This is the 1/144 scale Hurricane Mk I by Sweet. Finished as YB-J of 17 Squadron during the summer of 1940. The cockpit was dressed up a fair bit and a new canopy was made. I also whittled down the propeller blades and moved the elevators. These aircraft by Sweet are great little kits and come two in a box. If you ever get the chance, I definitely urge you to have a go!

Here are some shots of my recent Hurricane conversion. The base kit was a clear-moulded 1/144 Mk I from Sweet with lengthened nose, and scratchbuilt prop, spinner, canopy, cannons and later style exhausts etc etc. Painting is with Mr Color lacquers and weathered with oils and Pergamino .5mm pale grey pencil. Hope you like it!

Hello All, Sweet Model Co 1/144 109F in its winter camouflage boxing. This aircraft depicts Hans Eckhardt-Bob's aircraft winter 41-42 in the Leningrad area. Finished with Gunze Acrylics, Oils and an Enamel wash. Ozmods Pilot, Propblur etch propeller blade. Apart from that it's OOB. It is for a group build over on kampfgruppe144. Drop by if you want to see some 1/144 stuff. Thanks for looking. Ian

Hello Everyone, I've decided to do these wee ones as a starter for this GB (I'm STILL waiting for my P-47's), these will be nothing fancy and straight out of the box builds. Not that there is much aftermarket stuff for Hurricanes in 1/144. These models where previously built by Speedman back in October last year for the BoB GB. Mine wont be as good as his, but I will give it a bloody good go! Onto the pictures... I have absolutely no idea what Yuki-kun is saying and the same goes for NASA-chan. Dont ask me to read what the box says either except for the obvious. Got to love the way that Japan always has to "cutify" everything... But it does work I guess... :/ This could be handy.... Couldn't resist, the box for the Wildcats says "Two Cats in a Box!" this one just has a funky picture of Yuki-kun... I dunno.. 4 of the 5 schemes that you can build out of the box (the last one is on the box). They all look pretty much the same except for option 2 and 5, which are the ones I am going to do. This is one of the two I am going to do, I love the blue on the wing leading edges and the bolt. I am going to assume that the squiggly lines are green. I will have to read up laters. The second picture, I really like this scheme as well for some reason. Sprue shots, I am not sure why there is a clear sprue (not being able to read Japanese) I guess I will never know. They are really clear tho... thats a good start I guess. I like how the wings go together, also the canopy that's normal plastic on the sandy sprue. That'll be useful when it comes to sorting out the framing, result! Got to love all of the decals that you get in a box from Sweet models. Quite a lot of choice here and maybe something I could use on other models. I also have another boxing, which I might decide to do depending how well these go. This is the same boxing that Speedman made. I got a few models from Sweet over the years, this isn't my full collection as I have a few more Zero's, Sea Kings and the Mustangs you can see on the shelf. If I do get time for the second batch it will be using this for some kind of diorama, it'll probably be crap tho... All of the lovely bits you get in the box. Yay! So hopefully I will get some time to start these soon. Kind Regards, Dazz

I'll be building the aircraft of PIt Off Leonard Walter Stevens and Plt Off Arthur Victor Clowes.

Hi Here is another pair of models to add to my USAAF Station 150 / RAF Boxted collection. They are both from the delightful "P-51B Pioneer Mustang" set by "Sweet". I bought this and the "P-51 B/C Prisoner of War Mustang" by the same manufacturer from HLJ last year at a ridiculously low price. The 354th Fighter Group was a new group formed at Hamilton Field, California on November 1942 and their initial equipment was the Bell P-39N Airacobra. Maj James H Howard, a former US Navy fighter pilot who had resigned his commission to join the AVG "Flying Tigers" in June 1941 assumed command of the 356th Fighter Squadron in May 1943. Howard had been credited with 2.333 aerial victories and four strafing kills whilst flying P-40C/Es over China and Burma. The men of the 354th FG set sail for the UK in October 1943 not knowing what they would be flying on their arrival. They were ecstatic to learn that they would be equipped with the brand-new Packard-Merlin powered P-51B Mustang, becoming the first unit in England to fly the type, thereby earning the "Pioneer Mustang" monicker. After a brief stop-over at RAF Greenham Common, the group arrived at Boxted in November 1943 and were joined by 24 combat-ready P-51Bs by the end of the month. Boxted had been built as a bomber base and was fully-equipped with runways, taxyways, hardstands and a hangar, along with other buildings and living accommodation in the form of Nissen huts. The Pioneer Mustang Group flew 55 missions from Boxted, losing 47 Mustangs against claims of 169 enemy kills, before they were moved to their rather basic new home of Lashenden in Kent in April 1944. After the relative comfort of Boxted, some men likened their new home to a Boy Scout camp with tents and fox holes, cold showers and outdoor latrines! The kits were a pleasure to build, with a little filler on the wing to fuselage joins required, but from that they fell together, although I'm not too happy with the fit of the canopies or spinners. These are built "ANA" (absolutely nothing added) and were painted with LifeColor Olive Drab over Neutral Gray after I had painted and masked the white recognition markings. I applied the decals over a Klear coat and sealed everything in with a brush-applied coat of W&N Galeria Matt Varnish, followed by a light, streaked wash of Raw Umber. "DingHao!" was flown by the now CO of the Group, Lt Col Jim Howard (the individual letter code "A" denoting that the machine was the CO's mount.) This was one of the first machines in the Group to be fitted with a "Malcolm" hood. "Ding Hao" is a Chinese expression of luck that Howard brought with him from his time with the AVG. "Killer" was flown by Capt Robert W Stephens, CO of the 355 Fighter squadron, who achieved 13 kills in the ETO. The instruction sheet: And on the reverse, the comprehensive decal options available in the box: The models and box with a penny for scale! And finally with a 1/72 HobbyBoss P-51B with home-made decals to represent "Ding Hao!":

Finished off these 4 little ones finally. I am a bit annoyed that I didn't get them finished for the Mustang GB (clicky-linky-herey), but least they are done now. Hope you all like them. I apologise for the bad camera quality, the pictures where taken on my mobile phone at 11pm. Comments always welcome, constructive comments even more so Kind Regards, Dazz

I've been itching to build these since I bought them 18 months ago The box contains two beautifully moulded kits, offering several build options and decals for six aircraft. For a tiny kit it packs a lot of detail... Like the perfectly formed main gear doors! And choice of normal or Malcolm hood. The two aircraft I'm doing are... Rosey T. And Chuck Yeager's Glamourus Glen. I used one of the Sweet decal options for a Revell Micro Wings Mustang I built last year so I could use the Revell decals for this build.

Built for the Mustang group build. Build thread.

Built for the Mustang group build. Build thread.

Build 15 OK, first surprise with this kit... It's NOT made by Sweet Anyone who's ever made a Sweet kit knows how good the mouldings are and how beautiful the surface details look. So imagine my confusion when I opened the bag the kit comes in and find "soft" surface details, flash, seam gaps and cloudy glazing! It turns out that the kit is actually the F-Toys "ready made" Sea King but in "snap-together" kit form. The only involvement from Sweet is an extra sprue to turn it into a rescue chopper and the beautiful decals. Despite this, the kit looks like it should turn out OK and I'll have a nice bright yellow helicopter to add to my collection. Price: £4.75 from HobbyLink Japan

Here are two 1/144 A6M2b Zeros from Sweet's Yokosuka Flying Group boxing: To be honest, I bought this of all the Sweet Zero kits (and, subsequently, Nick Millman's excellent guide on painting the early Zero) only because of the exotic colour schemes. On the painting instructions, Sweet do say that all the camouflage patterns are conjectural, allowing for some 'artist's impressions' by moi. The first of the two Zeros is Yo-107, painted in an experimental splinter camouflage dated December 1941: The kit was painted in overall J3 and dark green D1 on the upper surfaces and fuselage sides from mixtures of Humbrol enamels (for the J3) and Lifecolor acrylics (D1). The cowling is supposed to be blue-black, but my attempts to correct for scale haven't worked. The propeller stripe decals were extremely uncooperative and I painted them on two of the three propeller blades, and Humbrol Clear decided to eat into the LifeColor during the gloss coat, probably because I hadn't waited long enough for it to cure. I free-handed the splinter camouflage after going slightly mad trying to cut enough Tamiya tape to mask the parts and doing so in reverse. Several thinned coats of dark green were laid on an overall J3 finish for this effect. Next is aircraft Yo-151, painted in M1 over J3. When painting this one, I tried not to go for a colour that matched M1 according to Nick Millman's guide but instead tried to match the light green on the painting instructions; what I ended up with is a tad duller than that. The J3 I used for the undersides is paler and more yellow than for the model above. I left this plane in a gloss finish for fun (and also because I was too lazy to matt coat it). Thanks for looking! Comments are welcome.

Hello All, First post so hope I don't make a muck of it. Sweet model Co. Me 109F's for your consumption 1/144 scale. Here we go.... posting pics.... fingers and other bits crossed.... Thanks for looking