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My entry for the GB will be the Tamiya 1/72 De Havilland Mosquito PR Mk.IV I usually build 1/35 AFV's, but have dabbled in a couple of aircraft over the last 6 months. This will only be my 4th aircraft build since my return to the hobby, so i will be keeping it simple. Never built a Tamiya aircraft so hoping it will be as good as their AFV's. The PRU blue will certainly brighten up my somewhat (olive) drab display cabinet George

Here is my Tamiya M51 built as a tank from the Six Day War (June 1967). Ariel Sharon, who would go on to become PM of Israel from 2001 to 2006, commanded an armored division from the turret of this tank, during the Battle of Abu Ageila in the Sainai. The Tamiya kit is very good, but has a few shortcomings. My main issue swith recent Tamiya Shermans are the seam line along the edge of the rubber track, the grab handles molded as tabs of plastic, and the the manufacturer's insistence that a sherman could be driven on instruments. They give you commander figures yelling orders into a radio, but then all vision periscopes, including the driver's, are closed. Modeling an open periscope requires only minor surgery, so I did that. But if you want open hatches with periscopes in them, you'll need to hit up your spares or the aftermarket. I also added some resin boxes from Value Gear, to the rear rack. The securing cable is this very fine rubber tubing I got lord knows when where or how. I had this tank sitting in the almost finished pile for well over a year. I didn't really know how I wanted to weather it. After painting (Tamiya mixed colors), I applied some dark brown and dark greenish brown washes in something of a hybrid between a pinwash and a general wash. Perhaps a very sloppy pin wash. As the washes began to dry, I moved them around, dragging, streaking, and redepositing with brushed dipped in mineral spirits. This was followed with a very subtle drybrushing with Vallejo buff and deck tan. I then applied a slurry of light earthen colored pigments suspended in a solution of water and white glue, to the undercarriage, and once dry, scrubbed most of it off with an old toothbrush. A few scratches were added with taps and quick swishes of a piece of stretched sprue dipped in thin black/brown paint. That's it. Not my best armor model, but pretty good, considering I went from paint to finished in three nights. I was going to just paint the tyres as a break from my Hayate build. But then I just built up momentum, and here we are! The tarp is tissue painted with Vallejo thinned in water mixed with white glue. Same with the camouflage netting, but that began as medical gauze I probably could have scraped off a bit more of my pigment paste closeup of one of my simple periscopes. Just a wedge of plastic covered by a little flat square to represent the lid. A tiny bit of stretched sprue in back, simulates the hinge. Not thrilled with my mantlet canvas cover painting. I'm still working on fabric effects

I probably won't get into this fully until next year as I think I'll struggle to get it fully painted before winter hits. But hopefully I can make some good progress with the paint so I'll be about ready to build when the time comes rather than having to wait until I can spray the paint on. This one is Tamiya's Monte Carlo Alpine A110 kits which seems to get released in small numbers every few years. It's one of those kits which on first glance doesn't appear to have much to it, but looking at the instructions (and some other builds on here) I'm pretty certain it will be quite a detailed car once done. I've not decided whether to do the #22 or #28 car yet, still got a bit of time to decide on that. But to start with, here's the contents: As I said, it doesn't look much with just the two sprues, plus clear, chrome and bodyshell. But in true Tamiya style those sprues have made good use of the real estate available with quite a few parts on them. First job has been to get primer on the wheels and bumpers as they will be sprayed silver - if I go with the Silver Leaf that has quite a long curing time so I want that to have as much time as possible before the weather turns. No photo as it's only the pieces in primer. I've also removed the rear grilles from the chrome sprue. The instructions would have you paint the body colour in the grooves between the chrome grille bars (yeah, right!, like that's going to happen with a rattle can) so I've stripped the chrome. These will be painted body colour then when the time comes I plan to go over the grille bars with BMF - I'm hoping this will be much the easier method. And then it was onto the body, Last weekend I gave it a quick blow over with primer just so that any mould lines would show up better. There are faint lines which run along the top of the front and rear wings, then as is typical much stronger lines in the hard to reach places such as at the back of the windows and around the front of the body which were a particular pain to sand without losing any detail. This is the end result after sanding the lines back: Today it got put into primer. No mould lines reappearing apart from a very faint bit which should be behind the bumper, and no new lines appeared either so at this stage I'm quite happy with how it turned out. That's it for now, I'd love to make some more progress but next weekend I'm likely to be focussing more on the 300SL I think as that one NEEDS to be painted before winter. Thanks for looking.

I don't recall seeing too many of these on here before, I thought I'd do it before starting Airfix's Mk. IX to see how they compare as build experiences: Shame about the bottom cowling coming adrift on this one: And to finish, one with the Tamiya Mk. XIII and Revell's Mk. IX: Thanks for looking J.A.

It does feel as though we've had a load of very nicely built and modified Mercedes 300SLs on here, especially from Crazy Crank. So time for me to redress the balance with a not-so-well built and barely modified version of Tamiya's kit. First impressions of the kit are that there is a lot in here compared to your standard 1/24 car. I've not done a sprue shot before, but here's what you get: Nice to see plenty of bracing for the body, but it did mean quite a bit of cutting and filing to get all of it off. Once that's all cut off the bodyshell doesn't feel anything like as stiff as it did so definitely a good move on Tamiya's part putting that in. I gave it a guide coat a few weeks ago just to show the mould lines (there is a prominent one on the top of each wing running front to back plus some smaller, but more annoying ones, front and rear. It looks as though I've got them all sanded off now, so it sits here awaiting the start of the proper painting process. The bonnet has also had a start made to it. First job is to remove the ejector marks on the underside. There's quite a few, including some in the middle part. For these, I chose to sand them out rather than fill them as I've heard that clearance under the bonnet is minimal at best, so I figured it was worth grabbing myself a little bit more space, even if it is just a fraction of a millimetre. I've also sanded the inside of the bonnet bulges as far as I dare for the same reason, and I'm going to give the underside of the bonnet minimal coats - it doesn't matter if this part of the car looks very slightly different to the rest. And the other bit which I've started painting is the interior tub. Lots of masking here, some such as for the interior you can see, and some such as inside the wheel arches is less visible. Again, quite a lot of ejector pin marks and these were also sanded flat. Unfortunately, because this part is moulded in the silvery plastic, the ejector pin mark stays visible long after it's sanded flat, so you just have to hope you have them when primer is applied. And in case anyone is wondering, the barbecue skewer is just there to hold it up for painting. So that's a start. The hope is that I can get this painted well before winter as I'd like to get another bodyshell done too before the weather turns. Thanks for looking.

My 3rd tank model and I seem to have ordered a 4th - Tamiya Challenger 2. My stash of aircraft kits is gathering dust on top of the cupboard. I think I may need an intervention.... I'm still not confident on weathering and have settled for a very light oil wash. See what you think ..... Cheers Trevor

Hot off my workbench is this 1/48 Tamiya Viper done as a Block 52 of the Republic of Singapore Air Force's 143 Squadron "Phoenix". I used the Thunderbird boxing as the basis for this build. Mainly built out-of-the-box with Fine Molds seatbelts and ScaleNutz decals as the only aftermarket used. To represent a RSAF bird, some details had to be scratch-built including the plate-mounted AIFF antennae, HMCS sensor on the canopy and GPS receiver on the spine. The model was painted primarily with Mr Color lacquers. Weathering was done with a mix of AK Interactive, Ammo by Mig and oil paints. I also played around with some new techniques to give it a more weathered appearance. Loadout depicted is typical for a peacetime intercept mission consisting of 2 AIM-120C AMRAAMs, 2 AIM-9M Sidewinders, 2 370 gallon wing tanks and a AN/AAQ-33 Sniper XR pod on the right cheek station. Hope you enjoy the photos! Mark

In my ongoing Senna car builds, this Tamiya Lotus Honda 99t in the distinctive Camel logo fits this GB quite nicely. It was first released in 1987 by Tamiya and is Honda powered. Ive got the camel yellow paint in stock and a Studio 27 PE set in the post as we speak Looking forward to making a start once I've finished the Honda RA272 that's nearing completion on the bench. It should add a nice splash of colour to the GB to brighten the long winter nights if nothing else

This is the second one of my RFI's that I'm digging out and adding the photos to that Village Photos hid. So once again, apologies to those who've seen this before, and thanks for your patience. There was a WIP, but again, the photos have been "hidden" by VP. If anyone wants any info on the build, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for looking and for any comments. John.

Hi everyone, This is another model I am ashamed to still see on the shelf of so-called doom. Like the Etendard IV M of my other KUTA thread, it is very close to completion. A few photos to prove I sometimes tell the truth: Funny enough, and at the risk of repeating myself, I must be the only modeler in the known universe who did not find this kit a shake'n bake. Thanks for watching. JR

It's some time that I joined a GB, but there is a kit in my stash that meets all the requirements to enter. Just to say it also meets my, self imposed, rule of only building models with a North Essex / South Suffolk theme. Picture, background and new title to follow. This will be a slow build.

Hi mates. This one was meant to be a "quick" project...but my mojo went awol, and here it is: I hope I can finish it, and this nice GB can give me the right push!

1/35 of Tamiya JS-2. It was produced recently and we proceeded with the kit as it is. It has weathering effects with basic painting and oil painting. The figure painting was the most difficult task, but fortunately, the work was completed with Tamiya weathered stick and oil painting. The elderly passing by are masterbox products, and the power transmission tower is made by extracting them from mini-art products. Thank you for reading it. Have a good day ~

#7/2023 My dad hasn´t done a British aircraft, at least with British markings, for a while. Now it was about time. Great Tamiya kit, also used Tamiya´s PE set for the rigging. Not a bad idea, worth a try and didn´t turn out too bad. But for the next bipe, my dad will stick to elastic thread again. Painted with Tamiya XF-2 White, AK Real Color Extra Dark Sea Grey and a selfmixed Dark Slate Grey. EZ Line for the antenna wires and the tailplane control wires. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235121011-deadly-stringbag148-fairey-swordfish-mkii-836-nas-royal-navy-fleet-air-arm/ Model shows an aircraft that served with 836 NAS aboard the merchant aircraft carrier (MAC-ship) "Amastra" 1943/44. DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0023 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0024 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0025 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0026 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0027 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0028 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0029 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

So I'll be joining the GB with this oldie from Tamiya... Unfortunately I paid slightly more than the original purchase price from Beatties on a popular online auction site (that's inflation for you). I've no idea when this particular plastic was minted but given Beatties shut up shop in 2001 I think, so I guess before then. The moulds go back to 1979 but this is the more 'recent' 1980 version (motorised). I won't be including the motor, batteries or wheel guide as I have no intention of trashing my paintwork against the nearest skirting board! The decals seem to have had a hard time of it, though I've got a replacement set, but I'm not sure it includes all of them, or parts need painting with it? In terms of plastic, there's nothing that looks too taxing (other than the paint work}... Hopefully it'll build up well, it's an interesting looking Le Mans car!

Hi folks, I finished this yesterday having started it just after Telford last year. I wanted to build a model of the F-4J that the RAF got back in the 80’s as it’s a conversation subject all day long. I’ve done more research than is probably healthy and picked up a kit at last years show knowing full well what it was going to be. I managed to bag a set of decals from the States and at last years Salisbury show I picked up the F-4J(UK) Aeroguide book, which for an old publication has been invaluable. Anyway the kit has had much written about it, so I won’t duplicate what’s known but it’s a first for me ;the Tamiya kit that is. Prior to building whilst researching I knew I wanted the centre line tank with a ballast sparrow and aquisition round. I wanted to be different from the other blue builds so I found a 3D parachute on the internet, so ordered one. Again research showed that the crew could and some did put the pins in the seats on the taxi back to the line. So I wanted to depict a cab taxiing back with everything cleaned up and the rear crewman putting his pins in. Refuelling probe extended for checks after shut down. It ties in quite nicely that I found back in the day that 74 Sqn did indeed mount a challenge to fly 74 sorties in one day, trying to out do 56 Sqns efforts some time earlier. They did succeed. So this is my take on a cab going back to the line for a quick turn around to be available to go again. Reading Tug Wilson’s book they did the same at Akrotiri with parachute still attached for the same reason. Any comments or if you see I’ve blatantly missed something speak up. Thanks for looking. Steve.

I've been fascinated by tanks since I was just a little boy. Big, loud and menacing beasts...the exact sort of things that appeal to little boys. When I was elementary school-age, circa the late 1950s, early '60s, our hometown had a National Guard unit with a tank. It was parked beside their building and I loved seeing it as we drove past. I imagine it might've been an M47 or perhaps M48, heck maybe even an old M26. Whatever it was, it was a marvel to me back then! I started building scale models as an adult around 1986 or '87. And since then, I've only built two tank scale models. I enjoyed building both, and actually did enter them in an Austin,Texas model contest (still a "one time" experience for me), luckily placing both tanks in third place in their respective categories. Beginner's luck I call it. My two tanks I hate masking aircraft canopies. It's the part of the process I dread the most; the mere fact that there are no canopies to mask on a tank...well, that is a huge plus in the armor column for me! Lately, I have become somewhat stalled on a Bf-109E build (yeah. I came to the masking stage...) and thought I would take "the road less traveled" for a change. And, now I'm having a ball going down that path! I started Tamiya's ancient M41 Walker Bulldog in 1/35, of course. I've only spent a handful of hours, spread out over a couple weeks, thus far, but I believe I'm getting close to laying on some final paint. I've done a bit of scratch-building, adding some features that Tamiya chose to leave off. I would like to show my progress here however, and thereby gain access to all the great info here at BM. Well, the road wheels are painted and sealed, awaiting some weathering. I also painted the rubber portion of the return rollers. The odd bits and pieces have been added to the front and rear hulls: Most M41 Bulldogs featured a canvas mantlet cover that is bolted to the turret top and sides. I've attempted to replicate this with tissue soaked in CVA. I've seen photos of these covers that show some variation and of course, a lot of wear and tear. I futzed around this for quite a while, making several attempts, finally calling it done (and good enuf!). I tried to replicate the attachment parts with plastic rod and thin strips of aluminum. After they are glued to the tank, I'd like to place a Grandt Line bolt-head on each "tab". Heh, heh, that may be a bridge too far for my meager skills but I'm game to give it a try! I've still got some small details to add around the cut-out for the gunner's sight, and of course some touch-up once the final paint goes on. Here's how the attachment parts look, and a pic with some practice paint on: Tamiya left off the two lifting rings found on the glacis plate. I've routed out a slot for some rings made from flattened copper wire. I hope to set the rings in the slot with some thick CA. The real rings were attached with six huge weld beads so I hope I can get close to that appearance. M41s have two storage boxes mounted on the sponsons but Tamiya failed to add the stiffening ribs stamped into the sides of the boxes. I've tried to replicate that effect by gluing small strips if stretched-sprue to the sides. The vertical ribs on the front boxes were oddly arrayed and that was difficult for me to recreate. I believe they will look okay when finally "tweaked" though. Port side before paint: Starboard too: With some "practice paint": Also seen in the above pic is the auxiliary muffler for the tank generator. Originally, these were mounted over the right-side rear main muffler but excessive heat in that location led to refitting the aux. muffler to the right front fender. I'm building my Bulldog as a tank issued to the Army of Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). ARVN forces were the ones who used the M41 most in combat, seeing some success against soviet PT-76 and T54 tanks of the NVA. I've seen ARVN Bulldogs with aux. mufflers in both locations; there are great diagrams of both mountings in the Squadron Walk Around book on the M41 and I chose the rear, original location to scratch build. I found an old, model car exhaust collector that worked well in replicating the muffler. Some aluminum tubing provided the tail-pipe and plastic stock made the mounts, with furnace tape straps and clamps on the flexible pipe connecting it to the engine deck. Here are some pics of the process: And here's the muffler with some "practice paint": I've been looking at several photos of ARVN Bulldogs for ideas and inspiration. Here are a couple: In the above pic, I see a great idea for speeding up the build...just wrap the M2 in canvas! And a couple pics with the three main pieces assembled for a trial viewing thus far: Hey everyone, thanks for staying with me so far! I hope to have more progress to post soon, and I'm always happy to receive constructive criticism and advice. I am pretty much still a novice armor builder and on my third try. So, with that, adieu for now! Links of interest: https://mikesresearch.com/2019/03/24/m41-walker-bulldog/ https://www.historynet.com/m-41-walker-bulldog-tank/ https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/land/m41.htm

Hello all, Here is my entry for this GB - Tamiya's 1/48 F4U-1D Corsair, marked as a Corsair II, JT410 of 1836 Naval Air Squadron, flying off HMS Victorious in 1945. The pilot, Lt Don Sheppard, RCNVR became the only FAA Corsair ace during the Second World War and was also involved in the first attack on the Tirpitz in 1944. He was awarded a DSC in March 1945 and served in the Royal Canadian Navy through the 1950s and 60s before retiring after a stint at NATO HQ in 1974. He passed away in 2018. Kit: Extras: I'll be using Eduard etch and mask, MDC FAA Corsair conversion set along with Ultracast exhausts, seat (although there is one included in the MDC set) and Sky decals. Saying that, the decals show, I'm fairly certain, an incorrect paint scheme for this machine: 'Grey' and 'white' I'm fairly sure this machine was painted the DSG or EDSG, Dark Slate Grey and sky undersides? I also know there's some modifications to do for an FAA machine - clip the wingtips, fill a foot hold in the flaps. Anything else that those in the know could point out? Cheers and stay safe Dave

Hello guys, Here are the photos of my latest completed model, Tamiya's 1:48 P-47D Razorback. The model was painted as "Little Chief," flown by Frank Klibbe.

Hello everyone, I'm happy to show you my first ever P-47, the Tamiya Razorback in 1:48. I'll be making a start on it today. Scheme chosen will be "Little Chief," just because it has the bomber escort option with the three underside fuel tanks. It's also the more colourful option than "Spirit of Atlantic City."

It was always my intention to try and squeeze a cheeky little destroyer build into this GB if I was able to finish my first one, but the it occurred to me I'd stand a better chance of getting it finished if I were to start sooner! Since I'm already building HMS Hermes, it seemed fitting that the destroyer be HMAS Vampire, who while escorting the carrier during her final voyage, was also sunk. Vampire was a flotilla leader of the old V class, produced at the end of the first war, and while old, these ships were capable and contributed throughout WW2. Vampire herself had been transferred to the Royal Australian Navy between the wars and served in the Mediterranean initially. However, by mid 1941 her age was beginning to show and was released to Singapore for a full refit. I suspect that is when she was given this scheme: Vampire was present at the sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse, and continued to serve in the Indian Ocean until her final voyage alongside Hermes in April 1942. I'm fortunate that Tamiya make a relatively new kit of this very ship, and while I haven't got on top of how much her final configuration differs from that in the box (the camo scheme at least is for an earlier period), I don't anticipate a lot of modifications. This is a 'proper' Tamiya tool, rather than a repop like the o class. The kit looks really nice. The moulding is sharp and the masts are remarkably slender. I may even opt not to replace these. Tamiya have done that propellor thing they do, with the main armament locating into pliable sleeves to allow them to rotate. Flags (which look rather large) appear to be printed on tracing paper, which may look a little cartoony, but we'll see. There's something very satisfying to me about these simple little kits and their nice compact boxings. Limited start has been made, the bottom hull is trimmed and glued, I think I'll leave the deck dry fitted for now before I decide whether it will be easier to paint in isolation Ships are so satisfying to build, none of this misery of having to fuss around with cockpit painting right at the start. Andy

I've started to go through my old RFI's which both Photobucket and Village Photos have managed to mess up, one way or another. Instead of having to click on each one twice to see them (and risk going into VP which has no security certificate), I'm uploading them again. Apologies to those who've already seen them, and thanks for your understanding. Basically, what this is, is Tamiya's M1 Sherman upper hull and turret, Dragon's M4 Hybrid lower hull and running gear, T49 tracks from Panda Plastics, and Sabingamartin decals. The WIP is still there, but minus the photos. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I finished this a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't want to put it into RFI until I'd put it on a base and added a couple of crew members. Well, now that's done. I used the two figures that came with the Tamiya kit but I wasn't happy with the faces. Most of the figures supplied with kits are a little lacking when it comes to definition with regards to the facial features. For me, nothing beats the resin variety. So I changed the heads for ones from Hornet. Unfortunately, the only ones that I had were British, but I thought that there were many Europeans who emigrated to Israel after WW2, so they'd have to do. I made the base using a small picture frame bought from Wilkinsons, balsa wood for the sides and polyurethane foam sheet. I wanted to keep it fairly simple, so I mixed up some household filler, PVA glue and some yellow ochre acrylic paint with water, and spread the mix over the top of the foam. Before it went off, I gently pushed the tracks down into the mix. Once it had hardened, I added some clumps of grass. It would have been better if they had been a bit more parched, but once again, I used what I had. If you want to see the build log, it's here; Any questions, comments or criticisms, please feel free. Thanks for looking. John.

#5/2023 After Tamiya´s little Möbelwagen, now my dad built another AA tank. Once again wonderful quarter scale Tamiya kit oob, painted with a selfmixed paint for the SCC15. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235120736-air-defence148-crusader-mkiii-aa-mkiii/ 1st Royal Tank Regiment, 22nd Armoured Brigade, 7th Armoured Division DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

This is a backdate of the Tamiya VIF Beaufighter to depict R2069, one of the very first Beaufighters taken on strength by a frontline squadron in early September 1940. The most useful reference for this build was the Wingleader Photo Archive as it contains very large and very clear photos of this airframe, and other early Beaufighters in squadron service. R2069 was photographed prior to the application of an individual plane in Squadron code letter and only carried the ‘ZK’ squadron codes. It seems to be traditional to depict this aircraft as ‘ZK-A’, but I couldn’t find confirmation of this from the references I could source, so I left it as depicted in the photos. It’s possible that this, and other early machines, had various bits and pieces added or subtracted as their service life progressed, but this is a case of modelling what was there ‘on the day’. Early production Beaus, probably the first fifty or so, had significant visual differences from later IF’s or IC’s. They were not equipped, at least initially, with the .303 guns in the wings, and had a distinctive and more heavily framed cockpit canopy. The engines had short, squared off air intakes, with small piggybacked ducts which were apparently part of an early heating system. Because of this the exhausts also lack the twin air intakes seen on slightly later aircraft. The wing leading edge oil cooler faces lacked the louvres and control rod seen on later aircraft. These were most probably added to later airframes to allow faster engine warm up with cold starts. Some early aircraft, R2069 being one, had a short mast directly ahead of the pilot’s canopy - I think this may be part of a fixed iron gunsight system. It shows on the early 25 Squadron airframes shown in the Wingleader Archive, and on some of the prototypes pictured in the book as well. R2069 was fitted, at the time of the photograph, with a VHF radio, with a mast underneath the nose. It lacks the usual dorsal mast associated with the earlier HF radio, and has no external aerial wires for either radio or IFF. The Wingleader photos do show that it had the wire aerial anchor fitting attached to the fixed rudder, so I also modelled a cover plate for the missing HF aerial mast. I am also pretty sure from the photos that these early Beaus had slightly protruding teardrop style fairings for the belly identification lights. I did model the early drum feed for the cannons, but honestly, you can’t see them once the plane is zipped up. Everything else is typical of the Beaufighter IF - smooth cowlings, flat tailplane, early tailwheel, early wheel hubs, twin formation lights on the rudder, Rotol style prop spinners. Beyond the changes needed for a IF the Tamiya kit assembled itself, a real credit to the firm’s engineering given it dates from 1997. The excellent vacuform canopy came from Falcon and the kit cockpit outline needed a little reshaping for it to fit, the resin tailplanes are from Red Roo, the wheels from CMK, and I modified Red Roo resin oil cooler faces to the early style. I stole two Rotol spinners from Eduard Spitfire kits - they aren’t right but look more the part than the late war/post war spinners in the Tamiya kit. If I were to do another I would spend more time detailing the cockpit as it remains quite visible behind all those extra frames. All paints are enamel Colourcoats, weathering was limited to a Flory grimewash to pick out the panels, some restrained chipping added by Silver pencil, and a bit of exhaust stain from Tamiya weathering pastel. Oh, and Humbrol gloss oil stain, because it’s British and it wouldn’t look right without oil leaks. It was a very new aircraft at the time of photographing so forget paint fading etc. National markings are a mixture of new Airfix decals, Fundekals, and rudder stripes modified from a bigger 1/32 fin flash. Squadron Codes were painted as I couldn’t find anything to match in the spares box. cheers Steve

Hello The product I'm going to introduce this time is... I made my favorite tank, the Soviet Heavy Tank JS-2. It was hard to get it, but luckily, a week after I bought it secondhand, I focused on completing it. ^^ After basic base painting, oil painting and matte finish, we did wetting. During the first painting, the desired color did not come out, so I re-painted it to get a slightly bright color. I didn't edit the picture separately, but there is a background flying function on my phone, so I try to upload it with that function. It's not perfect, but please enjoy it. ~ I hope you have a great day.^^