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My build for this GB is going to be the Tamiya 1/48 FB.VI, as no doubt will many other builds be! The box: I’m hoping to do this as HR399 of 45 Sqn RAF, based in India in 1945. I have got a set of Xtradecal markings for this, but I’ve since found out that the Dark Earth & Dark Green over Azure scheme is a load of . I’ve built a couple of SEAC RAF fighters, which are Dark Earth & Dark Green over Medium Sea Grey, which sounds more plausible, however, I’ve also found Montex offer a set of marks to paint another 45 Sqn aircraft, HR402, coded OBoC: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MXK48174 This set shows that aircraft (albeit slightly earlier in 1945 than the Xtradecal set) in RAAF Dark Earth and Foliage Green over Medium Sea Grey. Anyone able to shed any more light on the likeliness of either scheme? I realise I've opened the James

I'm not going to get into a lot of build details because there's a WIP for this build here I will mention that right after the last WIP installment I had a disaster. With everything done but the dangly bits I back flushed my airbrush to clean it and spattered silver lacquer all over the horizontal stabilizers and the fuselage spine up to the first invasion stripe. Not only did I get the plane three feet away I also got the plastic container with all the subassemblies too. You can see the line of silver spatter running the full length of the container. Livid and more concerned with fixing the damage I didn't take pictures of the plane's damage. Today I took this picture of the container to show the spatter. Needless to say I was very upset with myself. I was hoping I had enough clear coats protecting the underlying paint to wet sand the silver off. Unfortunately the silver lacquer ate past the clear coats. I had to wet sand and touch up paint the stabs, fuselage spine, two tires and a prop assembly. So I almost botched this plane completely in the final home stretch. Typical Ron move. The build itself was inspired by a Rikyu Watanabe illustration. I've wanted to build this plane for decades as per the illustration. Although I love the illustration it lacks a supporting photograph so I built it a slightly more plausible scheme. Mainly leaving the black undersides off. That was difficult for me because I really like the way the black undersides look. Always the modelers dilemma, accuracy vs aesthetics. The kit is the 1/48 Tamiya MkXIII/XVII built nearly OOB. The only additional work and pieces was Brass wing dipoles for durability and the Monica (?) lens and relieved fairing. The kit was the best fitting and engineered model I've ever built. A big thanks goes out to all the helpful gentlemen that provided the references I needed to build this plane. That's it. My first build completed in 2025. I started it December 1st so it's also one of my fastest build in years. I don't know what I'm building next, but I can tell you it will be a Tamiya kit. I'm thinking something like this with folded wings. Or their Ki-61 kit. Hmmm? Decisions, decisions. Be well and a belated Happy New Year. Ron

I finished this some time ago but only got around to shooting some glamour shots over the holidays. The story of the build in is the WIP. TL;DR - my attempt at replicating the elusive blue haze finish applied to early PR Lightnings. In the process I discovered a true gem of a kit, perhaps the best I’ve ever come across. I was happy with the result and based on everything I was able to find about the paint and how it weathered, I think my rendition isn’t bad. The pics. Cheers.

Well now.Since there is a bit of an extension. I'll throw one more build into the ring. Since I don't have any representations of France on the shelf I think it's high time to correct that omission So without further ado may I present Tamiyas 1/48 Dewointine D.520.The original decals are toast so I'm scavenging from an aftermarket set I had in the stash. So Onward! or as the French would say.... Continuez le spectacle! Vive la France!

I have been trying to get this subject built for quite a while in various GBs. So Now before anything else crops up Here is Tamiya's 1/48 Aichi M6A! Seiran. Developed to be launched from the deck of the I-400 Submarine. Here's what we got. Let the good times roll!

I've had Tamiya's P-38 in my stash for a long time and found plenty of reasons not to build it. Fundamentally, I think it intimidates me a bit, the kit has such a stellar reputation that I'm sure I'll be the one to mess it up 🙂. Another reason for delaying its start is the scheme I've always had in mind for it, the so-called Haze Scheme. Unlike the later version known as Synthetic Haze which weathered practically not at all, the original Haze weathered seemingly in minutes to a blown-out dusty looking, multi-hued dark blue over light blue to white-ish mess of a scheme. Tricky to replicate, a scheme I've always wondered if I could pull off to my own satisfaction. So, fear of failure in that respect keeping the P-38 on the shelf, too. What's that you say? "Put your big boy pants on and just build the damn thing" Ok. My subject is one of the three P-38 Lightning F-4-1-LO used by the RAAF's 75 Squadron between August 1943 and May 1944, specifically s/n 41-2156 "Limping Lizzie" (also known as "Leaping Lizzie" for its ability to get airborne off a beach). Lizzie wore an original Haze Scheme, and was quite battered to boot. There's quite a few images of it and almost all show a very worn airframe indeed. The cockpit is where we begin. To my surprise I found a 3D cockpit decal set in the box, I must have bought it prior to 24 February 2022. The first task therefore was to remove the moulded surface detail the 3D decals would replace. After that, I followed the usual approach of a black base, a base coat of Interior Green followed by some detail painting and a varied dry brushing. The result of a couple of hours at the bench this afternoon: I shall be using the CMK conversion set to build the PR version and will be cribbing into @Dunny's build from a while ago to try not to mess things up. The only parts of the conversion kit used so far are the control steering wheel thing and the centre console between the pilot's legs, neither of which were substantially different to the kit parts. Interestingly, the next steps take me into airframe assembly so it'll start to look aeroplane-like sooner rather than later. Cheers.

Hello and welcome to the RFI of my latest Aeroplane build. The Hyakushiki shitei lll Recon. 1/48 by Tamiya. This is my first Japanese aeroplane and also my first attempt at painting decals. Overall the build went well. The kit was really good but it did have some flaws that I wouldn’t really expect from Tamiya. (Gaps and holes in wheel wells etc) it kept me on my toes and was all the more fun for it. Paints used were mainly Tamiya acrylics with Vallejo for the metallic elements and chipping fluids. Tamiya weathering powder, Flory washes and Tamiya rattle can top coats. As it was sunny today I decided to get some shots done. I hope you enjoy the pics and if you followed along for the build thanks too. I hope you had fun. The link to the WIP is here if you’re interested. All comments welcomed. Off we go! And that’s yer lot. I hope you like the pics and they do justice to this lovely little aeroplane. Thanks for popping in and having a look. All the best and as always Happy modelling. Johnny. ❤️

Late start, have been busy with some work stuff. This will be mostly OOB build, I will just use the Quickboost seat and aftermarket decals (Wolf Heritage Decals). If you are wondering why the sprues are so cut up, practical reasons, more kits can fit in one box. Have not yet firmly decided which plane I will build, but leaning towards a camouflaged one, ser,nr. 10550. (photo taken from Paluba.info) I have my own photo standing in front of this plane, which I cant find right now. This is the only I have seen so far wearing a squadron badge and number on the nose at the same time.

Since I've already done the Short lived Republic F-105 Thunderbird, It's high time to go to the waaay back machine and do the Thunderbirds first iteration with Tamiya's 1/48 F-84G. In real life Chrome no less! Not sure how that will work out. I haven't built a chrome plated kit since sine I did a Hawk P-51 back when Johnson was President. Lyndon, not Andrew. SO lets see what the kits offers us shall we? Lots'O Chrome thats for sure This should prove interesting. to say the least. But forward as they say... Into the Fog!

Less famous than the Kearby's 348FG, the 58th entered combat in Feb of 44 equipped with D-5 and D-11 Thunderbolts. They received the white leading edge and tails but, often the tail was overpainted in OD to make them less suspicious. Cowls were painted in the squadron color, White for the 69th FS, Yellow for the310th and Blue for the 311th. This is the great Tamiya model with Brassin wheels, a left over quick boost seat with harness, and, a first for me, the use of HGW wet decals. They work beautifully but I will never built the 19th decorations proposed!Anyway, here is "Sleepy time girl" from the 69th FG, before the 58th began to receive D-16 and D-21. Best regards. D8000AA6-465D-458F-999F-6B91FD47221F_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 9E542ECE-D650-478D-9529-1ADA72F9C40E_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 45A3AD0E-895F-4937-A570-AC40C469F86C_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr E2A5F38E-D18D-4E40-B6B8-503D84FDFB2D_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr E2A5F38E-D18D-4E40-B6B8-503D84FDFB2D_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr D191CFFE-5AC4-40E0-BB8C-CF831D7F635F_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr FCAE38A7-EAD4-4EDC-99AE-5CADD3CE903F_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 236C5CAE-380C-4A84-94A3-724084902332_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr

Hi everyone This was my entry to the deHavilland GB earlier this year which I’ve only recently finished. It’s Tamiya’s NFxiii/xix kit with Pangolin Models two stage resin Merlin engines and the correct exhaust shrouds pinched from an old Airfix kit. I did a bit of scratch building in the cockpit to get the correct AI set. The sharp eyed among you will notice that there’s no bulge on radar operators side window. I tried to replicate this a few different ways using various vac form options as there’s no direct replacement available anymore but it just looked rubbish. So I decided to just live with the kit canopy as is. Anyway, we have Mosquito NF36 RL147 of 85 squadron based at West Malling circa 1951. Decals are from Freightdog, paints are Colourcoats, weathering with Flory wash and oils. The weathering looks heavier in the photos than to the naked eye. 0940DEDC-05B0-408D-AD5A-F880244B02C2 by James Halls, on Flickr 3B68DC54-5E82-4A53-A58D-03D52CD9C8F9 by James Halls, on Flickr CEF6F596-314E-4B4D-952A-E53E033B4AC6 by James Halls, on Flickr 8512E014-46FE-4BCE-ABCD-0155C2FFC358 by James Halls, on Flickr 3BA7EA9F-B17B-4EE3-B713-D558382BA884 by James Halls, on Flickr D499CE04-D74D-4CE1-8CF4-324E0E9A37A1 by James Halls, on Flickr Thanks for looking. Questions and comments welcome as always. James

Hello! I think it's time I try to get back into some scale modelling. I've not built anything in years (certainly not finished anything) but I'm beginning to get that itch again. I do like a Thunderbolt (who doesn't?) so why not try getting the modelling bug back with one of Tamiya's finest! I'm going to attempt a NMF (a first for me) with full invasion stripes and checker nose Jug, from the 83rd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group based in Duxford. The only photo I have: The kit I will ruin will be this one: I have an Eduard set to improve the cockpit and add seatbelts too. Looking forward to the start ☺️ Si

The next instalment of my Luftwaffe camouflage exploration is this He-219 exhibited at Farnborough in late 1945. The attraction is the challenge of the RLM76 squiggle camouflage. Painted over a base of RLM75 this scheme is sometimes represented as dark mottling on a lighter base. This is incorrect however (unfortunately, as it would be a lot easier that way!). I’ve found an excellent source of 219 camouflage info which I’ll link later when we get to painting. I have had the Tamiya 1/48 scale kit in the stash for a while so that will be the canvas for this one. The kit has a good reputation and I’m expecting a relatively trouble-free assembly. There’s a few builds of this kit on BM of which an excellent example is @reini‘s and who’s WIP from 2020 will suffice to show the contents of the box and general kit info for anyone interested in a preview. That’ll do for now, treat this as a placeholder until there’s something specific to show. I hope that will be a Sunday update showing some form of progress on the cockpit. Cheers.

My other overdue RFI is my more recently finished Tamiya 1/48 He-219 Uhu. This one I really enjoyed but ran into all kinds of trouble with the paint and subsequent clear coats. For whatever reason, the Future/Klear would not cure on the Hataka paints and remained tacky. After trying everything, I was able to remove the Future with Windex without damaging the paint. Even though subsequent clear coats were an improvement, the finish still didn't properly cure leading to a great deal of trouble handling the still-slightly-tacky model to completion. It's going to be a dust magnet... The whole story is in the WIP. I painted almost all of the markings, the only decals I used were the "IV" designation at the cockpit. I was quite happy with the paint job; the squiggle isn't as tight as on the real thing, but it's not bad and by the end I was quite comfortable with its application. I think I can do better next time though. The kit itself is Tamiya through and through, well engineered, well produced, a joy to work with. The photos. Cheers.

Coincidence is a thing, is it not? After months of absent modelling mojo two things happened within the space of a few hours; I put away the Vought A-7 Corsair that had been sitting on my bench untouched for months, and I received a message from @Dunny wondering if all was well. Aside from the inherent kindness in the query, his message included an implied if not explicit gentle nudge towards the bench. Coincidently, we were both looking at the fugly Brewster Buffalo as a potential subject and an informal two-man group build was born. Dunny's thread has the kit pics and requisite preliminary info so I'll plow directly into my version lest my mojo wane. My topic for this two-man GB is a Buffalo belonging to 453 Squadron, RAAF based in Singapore during late December 1941 or early January 1942. I have not yet decided which one. I am using the Tamiya 1/48 scale kit, same as Dunny. As a mojo rebuilding project I did not intend to spend much time on anything really, just get on with it and make a decent, if not good model. The cockpit was first and after an hour or so I had this. The cockpit glass won't be open - the kit does not offer that option - so this will be more than adequate for my purposes. Next I glued the major parts together; some seam cleanup required... The key is momentum so I didn't care too much and just let the glue cure, clean up will come later. There was a faux pas that did require some extra work on the engine cowling. Overzealous sanding in an attempt to make the cowling join better made it much worse... A bit more work to do there but nothing serious. That's it for now. Next I will clean up the seams, complete the major assembly and prep for paint. Cheers.

Here is the second of three P-47 Thunderbolts that I am building as a project -- Robert S. Johnson's "Lucky", in which he made most of his kills. Whereas I used the old Monogram "Jug" for Francis Gabreski's plane, here I've gone with the excellent Tamiya Razorback kit. To make it even more interesting, I "electrified" it using a motor and sound kit from Magic Scale Modeling, and added LED/fiber-optic lighting for the wingtip and tail position lights. Let's get straight to the photos! First, Robert Johnson's "Jug": plus, a short newsreel video: And, my representation: I used HGW resin rivet decals on my Monogram build, but they were lost under the camo paint. For this build, I applied the rivets after the main color coat was on, and followed a highly-thinned final color to "blend" them in to the surface. I'm very happy with the result! Rivets going on: and after blending-in: Position, Identification, and Landing lights: The three position lights are illuminated by LEDs, which attach to fiber-optic cables that run to the wingtips and tail: The Magic Scale Modeling kit includes a circuit board, motor for the prop, and speaker for engine sounds. The circuit board is programmed to go through an engine startup, runup, and shutdown sequence. Power is provided by external batteries and is run through spring-loaded contacts inserted into the main landing gear: Here's a short video of the engine startup sequence (click to play video, and turn up your sound): That about wraps it up for Jug #2. For more details, check out my WIP here: More photos of my build for Francis Gabreski's P-47 can be found here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235119866-francis-gabreskis-p-47-thunderbolt/

Eighty-two years ago the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm attacked the Italian Fleet at anchor in Taranto. They scored a remarkable success for very little loss. Some months ago I started a Tamiya Swordfish and as usual posted may progress in the WIP section of BM. It seemed to light a spark of enthusiasm for this remarkable aircraft and several others were started what became an unofficial GB. Down here in Australia it's already the anniversary of the raid, so this is one of the first of two or three Taranto Swordfish that may be posted today (I lost count, and not sure who finished, but some of the participants were @Dunny, @bigbadbadge, @AliGauld, @iang). My Stringbag was built as “L4A” belonging to 815NAS and flown by Lieutenant Commander K. Williamson with Observer Lieutenant N. J. ‘Blood’ Scarlett. 4A was one of two lost in the attack, both crew members surviving their crash into the harbour and taken as POW. The other loss was 813NAS "E4H" in the second wave flown by Lt. G. Gayley and Lt. H. Slaughter. Sadly, both were killed. After the raid 4A's airframe was recovered by the Italian Navy and the photos of it are in fact the only known photos taken of the Taranto Swordfish on or close to the date of the raid. The Tamiya kit is rightly lauded as superb, and it gave me no problems at all, save those I created for myself. I built it out of the box using the Tamiya PE set for the rigging. I made the auxiliary fuel tank from the kit's main fuel tank and installed it in the cockpit as it was for all of the Torpedo bombers on the raid. All of the markings were painted, it required no stencil decals because the black distemper covered them. I am especially indebted to @iang for help with the s/n, while it's not known for sure what 4A's s/n was but I'm confident Ian's suggestion cannot be bettered. Here's the WIP; ...and here are the glamour shots... This is, of course, also the 104th anniversary of the end of the First World War. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

Edit; Instead of Gray, I’m going to do Gerald Anderson’s Corsair. Anderson was the last Canadian killed in WW2, he lost his life crash landing his damaged Corsair on Formidable’s round down returning from the same action. I reckon I can squeeze this in before the end of the GB, and it appears no-one has chosen this topic yet. I shall be learning into this thread for the choice of marking; at this point I know I won't be marking it 115... Another useful thread (among lots of others, it should be noted) is this one... I dug around the stash and found this - obviously I won't be using the decal sheet but there's a mask set and 3D decals for the cockpit (purchased before I cared where it came from). As there's no time to waste, I made a start last night. I followed my usual process of black base allowed by main colour and then clear gloss in preparation for the following treatments. The engine is simply dry brushed with metallic paint. I'm unlikely to do much more with that, not much can be seen anyway. Next in the cockpit will be a highlight dry brush, a dark wash and the 3D decals. Then I have to begin to think about the level of weathering; KD658 was less than 3 weeks old on 9 August 1945 so I'm guessing not a lot of weathering. Cheers.

Hi all, back with another long term, finally completed project Completed the Corsair and fuel tanker, both Tamiya, at the start of the year. But working on the base got delayed due to lack of shelf space (never enough ><). Now that I have some freed, I could finally finish it off. Feel the scene is lacking a little something, and in hindsight would've liked some 1/48 Marsten mats. But, tis what it is. Bonus cockpit shot at the end. Thanks for looking Gaz

Made for a Mosquito GB at UAMF, this is the Tamiya 1/48 DeHavilland Mosquito NF.XIII kit, completed as an NF.XIX of 89 Sqn, Baigachi, India, 1945: In this case, I wanted something different to the run-of-the-mill grey/green UK-based night fighters. A little research showed that a small number of Mk.XIXs were shipped to the Far East to act at night intruders. These were mainly operated by 89 and 176 Sqns from Baigachi airbase just east of Calcutta in India during the last few months of WWII. There's a full-colour profile of one such machine in the Paul Lucas book, de Havilland Mosquito Day and Night Fighters in RAF Service 1941-1945 (SAM Combat Colours №6). This is TA230, letter N, of 176 Sqn - see also this photo of TA230 from the long out-of-print James Halley book, The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force: Due to The Pandemic, the British Public Records Office is allowing free downloads of materials, so I was able to get the Operations Record Book for 176 to try to find out more. What I found was that it has two lists of serials of the Mosquitos it used, but TA230 was not one of them, nor apparently did the squadron code any of their machines 'N.' So I downloaded the records for 89, as the squadrons were co-located for a short period. While that squadron doesn't have any serial lists, it does have some references to individual code letters, and N is one of them. So I feel that this is a case of misidentification of the squadron. Of course, it's Tamiya, so good fit, simple build and the only aftermarket were the crew harnesses and the resin wheels. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

Continuing my TopGun / Aggressor theme YAY ......... Finally building a Tamiya F-14 in 1/48 scale Pictures of sprues to follow .. still sorting AM goodies

Read the book, built the plane

Hi there! Hope that this one will get more comments than the Wulf. But whatever, here we go. Same target, KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid! It's been started a week or so ago, and I plan to make it a 2020 complete build.

This is the Tamiya 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4, finished in the markings of Oberleutnant Albrecht Drehs, of Stab III/Jagdgeschwader 54 in France, August 1940. Respecting my minimalist approach to modelling, I only performed the following minor enhancements to the kit. A note to fellow modellers in regard to the spinner colours. Hussar suggests a red and white spinner, and while quite attractive, is incorrect. The RAF Crash Report states the spinner is dark green and white. Fuselage - kit seat replaced with Ultracast seat - antenna wire made from stretched sprue - upper cowl intake opened - cowl gun barrels replaced with Master brass barrels - engine starter crank opening and lift points drilled out - kit propeller and spinner replaced with Ultracast resin parts - exhaust replaced with Ultracast resin exhaust Wings - wing gun barrels replaced with Master brass barrels - kit wheels replaced with Ultracast resin wheels - tail planes modified to eliminate the anhedral Paint and Decals - airframe painted with Xtracolor X202 Hellblau RLM 65, X201 RLM 02 Grau and X205 Dunklegrun RLM 71 - all markings are from Hussar 48D003 Messerschmitt Me 109E3A/E4 - model is weathered with chalk pastels References - Model Art No. 375 Messerschmitt Bf109B-E - Aero Detail No. 1 Messerschmitt Bf109E - Jagdwaffe Volume Two, Section 1, Battle of Britain Phase One July-August 1940 Special thank to Dave Wadman for providing info on this subject. Cheers

This is the Tamiya kit finished in the markings of Feldwebel Walter Scholz, 3/Jagdgeschwader 53 while in France, September 1940. I used Aero Master decals on this one and I feel that the yellow 13's area tad too small and the black outline is not bold enough. But, alas, I did not have any other numbers to chose from, so it is what it is. I have seen this scheme done by others and I am offering my interpretation based on how I see the photos of the real thing. I fell in love with scheme based on the presentation of the swastika and overall finishing of the vertical fin. Fuselage - kit seat replaced with Ultracast seat - antenna wire made from stretched sprue - upper cowl intake opened - cowl gun barrels replaced with Master brass barrels - engine starter crank opening and lift points drilled out - kit propeller and spinner replaced with Ultracast resin parts - exhaust replaced with Ultracast resin exhaust Wings - wing gun barrels replaced with Master brass barrels - kit wheels replaced with Ultracast resin wheels - tail planes modified to eliminate the anhedral Paint and Decals - airframe painted with Xtracolor X202 Hellblau RLM 65, X201 RLM 02 Grau, X204 Schwartzgrun RLM 70, X205 Dunklegrun RLM 71 and X213 Gelb RLM04 - all markings are from AeroMaster 48-014 Battle of Britain Bf 109Es Part 1 - model is weathered with chalk pastels References - Model Art No. 375 Messerschmitt Bf109B-E - Aero Detail No. 1 Messerschmitt Bf109E - Jagdwaffe Volume Two, Section 3, Battle of Britain Phase Three September-October 1940 Again, thanks to Dave Wadman for all his help. Cheers