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I rarely build Axis vehicles, preferring to celebrate the Allies who defeated Nazism, but I have always had a soft spot for the Tamiya Krupp Protze, which I built as a kid not long after it was released. Today, as part of my demo at Scale Scotland, I started work on a recent re-release of this venerable soft skin kit. KP by jongwinnett, on Flickr First job was to scratchbuild some pedals, as the Tamiya mould ignores these: Scale Scotland by jongwinnett, on Flickr The accelerator was fashioned from a piece of plastic coffee stirrer donated by a colleague - the rib allowing the part to stand proud of the foot well. Clutch and brake pedals were discs of 2.5mm plastic rod: Scale Scotland by jongwinnett, on Flickr And here we see the state of play when the show closed. Not much progress, but I’m enjoying it: Scale Scotland by jongwinnett, on Flickr

Tamiya's even quicker setting extra thin cement is now in stock! This stuff is ridiculously potent! https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/tamiya-extra-thin-cement-quick-setting-40ml/

Club group build on the theme of soft-skinned vehicles any scale, any era. I decided on this... And have made a start with the chassis. Glug down the last of my (cold) tea and off to bed

This is the new AMX-13 French Light Tank from Tamiya released earlier this year. The model is in 1/35th scale moulded in tan coloured plastic with full-length flexible vinyl tracks. Detail includes, one etched part, tools, jerry can and a commander torso figure with markings for 2 French Army Units. The box art. A sheet naming parts of the tank. Sprue A (X2), hull & turret. Sprue B, the hull top & torso figure. Sprue C, details including, hatches and canvas turret cover. Decals, full-length flexible vinyl tracks & the etched part. Apart from using wire to simulate the sag in the top run of the tracks, I intend to build the kit straight out of the box. I've not tried the wire technique before, but I think the tracks will benefit with a sag along the top run whilst still using the tracks provided in the kit. Thanks for looking, Joe.

So some may be aware that I've embarked on a large, multi-diorama project (gulp) revolving around a fictional conflict in Japan. The planned dioramas include a M1151 Humvee, M2A3 BUSK Bradley, M1A2 TUSK Abrams and a Type 90. The Type 90 is the oldest kit of the group; the others were all bought within the last six months, while the Type 90 is several years old. It was sitting on a shelf in about a 90% completed state, with some parts unpainted or not attached. This particular set also came with the ammo loading crew and accessories, which I never used. So given the overarching theme it seemed like a good opportunity to use all the components together. After mapping out my plan, I embarked on the risky task of masking off the decals already on the kit (they were the most interesting and I didn't want to lose them if I could help it). The only ones lost to the paint were the serial numbers front and back, since they would've been next to impossible to mask effectively (happy accident with masking tape on the stripes; it pulled some of the decals off, but gave them a weather look). I then resprayed the model in black, and for the first time added some white for shade modulation. I then applied the camo (Dark Green (JGSDF) is hard to find ) and clear coated it. From this point on I was in an experimental, uncharted stage. I hadn't done extensive weathering before, nor had I panel lined, not on a tank at least. Using an AK Interactive dark wash I picked up for NATO camo, I gave it a go with this scheme. The result was better than expected. I then applied some AK rain marks, which again turned out better than expected, although the matt coat dulled them a little more than desired (probably because I had them quite faded anyway) and some were lost, but I think it still works. After that it was some mixed up Mig Pigments on the treads, wheels and skirts and lower hull. The diorama base itself posed more issues. The air clay I used to create the terrain had the unfortunate effect of pulling up the centre of my plywood board as it dried, bowing it. The clay then fractured and separated. Not a good start. Luckily, I had some old balsa pieces which I superglued to the bottom to brace it. I then wetted the wood and set about 20kg of weights on top. Success! It worked I then reattached the clay with glue (surprisingly, the clay was completely flat despite having been sitting on the bow). With my base set up I slapped on some Tamiya diorama texture paint and lost some of the imprint detail in the clay because of its thickness. I have something of a plan to rectify this. The texture paint, as it dries, enters a stage where its more or less touch dry but has a bit of malleability in it still. So I may apply some to the area around the tracks and the ammo boxes and then lightly press them into it. Hopefully this will do the trick. I've toyed with adding the paste directly to the treads, but I'm not confident enough in my ability to make it look right, and worry that I could cock it up. I gave the base a spray with some different brown tones and then put down some PVA and scatter grass. The field grass I got doesn't work well with PVA, not for posing at least. The glue doesn't have enough tackiness to hold it upright properly, so I've got some scenic glue on order to do the job. Overall I'm pleased with how the tank came out. The diorama base is starting to look a bit better, but I'll wait and see the final result. I think it needs a surround of some kind, especially if I keep the balsa pieces on. I also bought some 'Green Stuff' to try and make some extra stowage with. Fiddly stuff, and while I made up some tarps, I'm not sure I'll be able to make much more with it (they're currently curing, and I'm waiting to see if they'll end up sticking to the plastic I set them on, or come away nicely to be used. Fingers crossed). So yeah, another text wall from me On to the pics, with some befores and afters (loading crew is done, I just didn't put them on the after test because the PVA was still damp). Gaz

Hi everyone, Okay, I haven't built armor for a very loooong time. I was 12 years old when I built the Tamiya 1/35 Flakpanzer Gepard and I'm 41 now....so, things have changed tremendously, to say least, since then. There was lot of firsts for me on this build: 1) First 1/48 armor build 2) First use of Flory washes 3) First use of Vallejo washes 4) First figures - ever - watched lots of YouTube video's to get an idea of what to do. 5) First use of resin - Blackdog bags and accessories set for Sd.Kfz 250/3 In the end, all that counts is that I had tremendous fun building this little gem of a kit and doing all the research for one of Rommel's favorite vehicles, so much so that I bought the Tamiya 1/48 Tiger 1 "Early Production" kit half way through this build. I tried to weather the areas around the sides differently because it was clear in the "Bundesarchiv" pictures that this was the area that received the most "traffic"....I guess the soldiers would jump up on the sides to get into it and never use the door! I used a mixture of paint brands - Tamiya, Vallejo and Model Master. The matte coat is MM. Please criticize away, I still need to learn a lot.

After thoroughly enjoying the Crusader build and with a few hours to kill.. oh who am I kidding? I went and did it again, looking through the stash and found this blast from the past recently purchased along with a nice set of AFV Club workable tracks. After a few hours Saturday night and Sunday evening (after I got back from the Coventry and Warks show) we have this. Lower hull painted base coat of Olive Green (Tamiya XF-58), wheels and suspension assembled and painted (not necessarily in that order) Running Gear all in place (sans tracks at the moment) Wheels all turn (except drive sprockets which Tamiya decided should be glued for some reason ) Fixed a little see through issue Upper hull mostly together and resting on chassis to show how it looks Sorry for the delay in posting and the lack of process pictures but I sometimes get rather absorbed in the task and before I know it I've completed several assembly steps and there's no pictures of how I got there. Anyhoo thanks for looking all Comments and suggestions always welcome. Cheers Phil

This was a project I was doing over at ARC for a Group Build (Far East), but I haven't finished it yet. I've been reading up on South Vietnam's F-5 operations and was inspired enough to want to build one. The kit I am using is Kinetic's F-5A, which does the job nicely. Work naturally started with the cockpit: The panels and side consoles are nice, but I wish Kinetic would have done a set of cockpit instrument decals since the panel detailing is okay, yet lacks dials on the instrument faces. So out came my collected instrument decals to do the job. Eduard does color etch, but I was a little cash strapped when I started. One minor issue I will point out is if you are doing an F-5 that ISN'T a Canadian bird, the kit provides a Marconi HUD box rather than the more rudimentary NORAIR gunsight that most F-5A/B models have. The Marconi HUDs are something seen more with air forces that have updated fleets. It took me a few minutes with a file to make the HUD/gunsight mount look a bit more featureless, although if I had to do it again I would have cut the box completely out of the panel and stuck in something a little smaller. But it looks okay. With cockpit work done, I assembled the intakes, fuselage and wings. Everything more or less went together okay. One thing I recommend when building this kit is to not finish the nose and rear fuselage separately and glue them together as the instructions recommend. Instead you will have MUCH cleaner seams up top if you glue each nose half to each rear fuselage half before gluing them together. Fit was good and the resulting seam was a lot easier to handle. It did not need filler. Now there is a little bit of a gap between the intakes and rear fuselage, plus a similar gap between the bottom nose/fuselage plate ahead of the wing and the wing itself. I was able to fill the gap perfectly with some .010" styrene sheet (plasticard) and it blended in nicely. You can position the control surfaces on this kit. The rear wing flaps are traditionally up when the plane is parked. Leading edge flaps sometimes have a slight droop when parked (or more depending on the operator). One thing that all early F-5 and T-38 jets seem to have though are drooped ailerons when parked as they seem to sit about five degrees down on both sides when the hydraulic system is not pressurized. Thankfully it is pretty easy to represent that with this kit. One unique feature of VNAF F-5s were the 90 lbs. of lead armor plate they had mounted under the nose and parts of the tail. The plating was introduced during the USAF's "Skoshi Tiger" evaluation and South Vietnam continued the practice when they got the original F-5C jets and some additional F-5A and B models. Again I used some plasticard to represent the armor plates based on available photos found in my reference books and online. Another thing I'll mention is the outer wing pylons. If you wish to droop the leading edge flaps, a notch will need to be added to the outer pylons. On the real jets, this notch is covered by a spring loaded flipper door/fairing that goes up when the flap does. Kinetic didn't scribe in the fairing area in so I am going to represent that with pencil lines. I did sand in a slight notch into both pylons to help make space for my slightly drooped flaps. So that is where I am. I've got the model in primer with some paintwork done to the bottom. I'll shoot another round of photos when I start laying on the SEA camo on top. I'm using a little different pattern than Northrop's factory camo. Based on pictures I've seen, it looks like the oldest F-5s in the VNAF fleet likely went through depot level maintenance in 1969-70 and when they got repainted, the camo pattern seemed to be based on the desert/Asia Minor scheme, but with SEA colors. Hopefully I can pull this off properly.

Hello all, This will be my second entry to this GB. The T-34 has dampened my appetite! Will be using Tamiya's 1/35 Tiger 1 'Early' and it will also be whitewashed like the T-34. Will be adding a few bits from the spares to make it a bit more 'busy.' Dave

Hello everyone, This jet is part of a diorama that is meant to have a minimalist/mysterious/sci-fi-ish/art-decoish feel to it, hence the lack of details. Hope you like! It's something different for a change...

Hello fellow modelers My last completed model. The draft is a machine that flew during a NATO operation over Kosovo and May 4, 1999 shot down a Mig-29 Serbian Air Force. Kit I added a cast from a nozzle Aires and the "cap" on the AIM-9 from Aerobonus The draft of my model

Onto my next build. I wanted something quick, easy with no real fit issues, so I've gone with a Tamiya kit. I'd heard good things about this kit so when I saw it for a reasonable price I grabbed it. OK it's another Japanese aircraft but it'll be the last for now. I want to do the beaten up aircraft on the box art. After about 90 mins work I'd got the major sub assemblies complete. So far fit seems pretty good and the detail is really nice straight from the box. Cockpit with the instrument panel sat in place. The next day I primed the cockpit parts with black, then applied the cockpit green. The seat belt is the decal from the kit Details were picked out with Vallejo acrylics and some oils.

I managed to finish my Tamiya RAF Mustang III over the weekend. I used an Eduard photoetch set for the P-51B, Montex masks (which I found hard to remove and which left quite a lot of residue), and aftermarket Aeromaster decals which were far nicer than the overly thick Tamiya ones. I also used a set of resin Brassin wheels.

This is the Tamiya 1/72nd scale Corsair with the wings clipped to represent a Fleet Air Arm machine. I used a Eduard etched zoom set for the cockpit. The paints are all Xtracylix, and the decals are by Techmod. Vought Corsair II. Set 72014. The Aircraft is from 1834 NAS HMS Victorious 1944. Thanks for looking, Joe

Hi everyone, So 2/3rd through my Fieseler Storch build I started work on my first Dora. The main thing I was experimenting with, was post shading in a multiple colour camouflage scheme as I had never done this before. Nothing added to this kit, out of box, only opened up the gun barrels on the nose and replaced the wing barrels with stainless steel rod. Paint used was Model Master enamels for the camo and Tamiya for the interior and wheels, Vallejo for the "Defence of the Reich" bands....oh and I forgot to put a wash on after I clear coated it! Doh!!! Things I learned: 1) Yellow paint takes a gazillion coats to cover.... 2) There is a reason why you have to wait for a Dora's wheels to dry after you stuck them on, otherwise they turn out all wonky like mine. Please criticize away, especially about the post shading.

Hi everyone, So 2/3rd through my Fieseler Storch build I started work on my first Dora. The main thing I was experimenting with, was post shading in a multiple colour camouflage scheme as I had never done this before. Nothing added to this kit, out of box, only opened up the gun barrels on the nose and replaced the wing barrels with stainless steel rod. Paint used was Model Master enamels for the camo and Tamiya for the interior and wheels, Vallejo for the "Defence of the Reich" bands....oh and I forgot to put a wash on after I clear coated it! Doh!!! Things I learned: 1) Yellow paint takes a gazillion coats to cover.... 2) There is a reason why you have to wait for a Dora's wheels to dry after you stuck them on, otherwise they turn out all wonky like mine. Please criticize away, especially about the post shading.

is this the first modern injection molded battle tank in 1/48? :) http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/32588/index.htm looking forward for more! (sorry if a repost!)

Finally finished it! This is my first real effort making a diorama and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Idea for this diorama is a JGSDF Type-90 being rearmed outside of Tokyo in a fictitious future conflict, with a small liaison taking place between an American soldier and his Japanese counterparts. This is one of several diorama's planned for this theme. Enjoy Products used include: Tamiya 1/35 Type-90 w/ Ammo Loading Crew Tamiya 1/35 JGSDF Iraq Humanitarian Assistance Team (2 figures) Masterbox 1/35 Cordon and Search Team (1 figure) Bronco 1/35 PLA Fuel Drums (3) Tamiya Diorama Texture Paint: Dark Earth Soil Woodland Scenics: Field Grass Woodland Scenics: Fine Turf Garden Rock 'Green Stuff' Tarps Gaz

Hi Folks. It's been a while since I did a WIP post and a little while since I got stuck into a well detailed project, so, with the trigger finger itching so to speak I've delved into German armour in the form of Tamiya's excellent Panther G-early. As is always the case when one suffers from that most terrible of afflictions, the dreaded AMS, I have plumped for several aftermarket items to help pop the kit out into something a touch more special. Items can be seen in the photo below and they are: RB models turned aluminium main barrel. RB models aerial mast and base. Attak resin zimm. Eureka models tow cables. eduard exterior detailing and Schurzen. Bronco working tracks. I've got the absolutely incredible Culver & Feists Panther in detail book as reference and I really cant stress how good this book is. There are no plans on a dio for her at the mo I'm just going to see how the project rolls along, same goes for crew. I'm skeptical about the Bronco tracks too and may end up with Friuls, again we'll see how we go. Any way I'm itching to get started so more progress to come. As always, advice, comments and criticism welcome and thanks for following along. Wagons roll! Ben.

He have some shots of the upcoming Tamiya 1/48 F-14A Tomcat; showing the sprues and decal options. This kit is expected for release in early October, and is set to be extremely popular. https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/tamiya-148-us-f-14a-tomcat-model-kit/

Hello Guys, Below are the images of my "Final Reveal" for the two Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros (Zekes) that I built side by side, with one finished in the IJN Green Upper and Grey lower and one finished in the all over IJN Grey/Green. This build had a few firsts for me: 1) First time building Japanese Aircraft 2) First time using Johnson's Pledge/Klear Acrylic floor shine to see how I personally feel about it compared to the Model Masters clear coats that I have always used without issue since starting modeling in January 2014. 3) First time attempting heavy chipping using the "Hairspray Technique" on the IJN Green version only. After the images, I will include some notes regarding this build; my opinions of the kit in terms of quality, cost, value for money etc and any points to look out for if you decide to buy and build this kit. I hope you like the following views! Plane #1: 261st Air Group (Tiger Corps), Kagoshima Base, February 1944 Plane #2 Petty Officer 1st Class Saburo Sakai, Tainan Air Group, Denpasar Base, Bali Island, February 1942 And, some photos of both versions side by side for contrast and comparison: These are Tamiya's kit # 61016 that is the 2007 Type 21 version release. This kit was re-tooled in 2008 and updated a couple of times since then with new parts and decals. This kit is available from Scalehobbyist.com for only $10.84, about 7.00 quid in the UK, here is the link to their page: https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Model_Aircraft/a6m2-type-21-zero/TAM00061016/product.php?s=0&t=0&u=0&micr=148&pg=1&ppp=48&sb=stocknumber&so=a&era=0,6&man=TAM The kit comes with a reasonably detailed cockpit, that has a decal for the instrument panel and a decently detailed radial engine. There are options to have the undercarriage up or down, the canopy closed or open and decals for 5 different markings; I modeled one with the canopy closed and one with the canopy open. The undercarriage is sturdy and nicely detailed, too. A 8 page black and white assembly/instruction booklet is included that is clearly detailed with part numbers, decal numbers and Tamiya paint numbers. The decals are typical Tamiya which I expected to have some breaking issues with, as I have with other Tamiya kits, but fortunately, these decals went down excellently adhering to recessed and raised details nicely. The parts are very crisp and cleanly molded with no ejector pin witness marks on visible areas, no warp, no flash and no aberrations on the clear molded parts. The exterior surfaces of the plane come with recessed panel lines. Scores out of 10: Packaging: The kit comes in a sturdy two part box- lower and lid format, the grey sprues are packaged in one polythene bag and the clear parts are packaged in a separate clear polythene bag that is within the larger bag. The lid has nice artwork on the front and the two longer sides show two of the five different markings available, one in the IJN Green and one in the IJN grey/Green. Score: 9/10 Quality of Molded Product: 10/10 Quality of Molded Details: 9/10 Engineering Fits: I had no issues with this kit, everything went together well and no need for filler anywhere! Score: 10/10 Quality of Decals: - it's a bonus to have enough decals for 5 different markings! Score: 9/10 Quality of Instruction/Assembly Booklet: It would be much better if Tamiya included color pages for the painting and decaling sheets and provide other paint manufacturers conversion colors instead of just their own paints. Score: 8/10 Value For Money: 10/10 Enjoyment Value: 9/10 If you are just coming across this build for the first time, thanks for checking in, but if you'd like to see the build thread for this build, here is the link to it: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234982300-tamiya-148-mitsubishi-a6m2-zero-zeke-x2-build-update-1/ You can also see my "Build Update" videos on my YouTube channel; here are the links for the 3 "Build Update" videos: Build Update #1 Video: https://youtu.be/PBuSMyQB9bY Build Update #2 Video: https://youtu.be/t96YKuENSL8 Build Update #3 Video: https://youtu.be/3Ecg5wrLr0o And, to go with this "Final Reveal" thread, here is the link to my "Final Reveal" video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bGDtOdc3sVg Thanks to everyone who has followed this build thread both on here and on YouTube, and, for leaving kind and encouraging comments, it's greatly appreciated! Now, what should I build next? Hmmmmmmm..... Have a great weekend! Cheers! Martin

Hello Chaps, This was the 7th model that I built since starting modeling in January 2014. I completed this on April 27th, 2014. This was my first Tamiya kit and I really loved the build, it went together so well and some great looking details included such as the bomb bay with fuel cells, the cockpit and the undercarriage. This was the kit that got me turned on to loving Tamiya kits and just happens to be my favorite British Fighter Bomber Aircraft. There are plenty of after-market enhancements available for this kit, but, this was built out of the box. If you haven't built this kit before and you're a lover of the "Mossie", I highly recommend this kit, it's a joy to build and looks great when completed. I used the kits decals for the instrument panel and seat belts, because at the time, I wasn't happy with my dry-brushing skills to attempt painting them. I also left the canopy unglued so that I could remove it to see inside the cockpit area, and, also the front machine guns access panel was left unglued. I just wanted to share this with you guys, as presently, I haven't touched styrene for two weeks due to being actively searching for a new home to buy with my wife. One that has a nice big spare room to accommodate my hobby with capacity to display at least 12 new models a year for the next....hmm.....however many more years I live and am capable of modeling! I hope you enjoy my build, and, I'm always open to constructive criticism, as complacency doesn't exist in my vocabulary. I'm never totally happy with my last build, I'm my own worst critic and try to push myself further with each new build...... If you'd like to see my "Final Reveal" YouTube video for this build, here is the link to that...it has a couple of good sound tracks to accompany the build! https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=3tpAeOSnKY8 Thanks in advance for taking a look and for any comments you make! Cheers, Martin

Hello fellow modelers. I would like to introduce my latest finished model. The model without the accessories, I only aircraft rivet. Perhaps you will like it More photos in the spoiler

I bought this about four years ago at Scalemodel World and got a Gasoline resin early full metal cab to go with it from Nigel at Parabellum and thats as far as I got. In the interim it is now a much easier job to do an early CCKW as you can simply swap the cabs between the truck and the recently issued refueller, but as I had the cab I pressed on. Somehow it kept slipping further and further long the shelf of doom, for no real reason as the resin is easy to work with and the base kit is fabulous. Anyway I finished her in the last few days and took some photos in the bright summer sun. And a shot of my Refueller. Thank you for looking.

#22/2016 And for in-between my dad finished another quarter-scale armour model. Tamiya´s new Humber kit. Sadly only decals for one marking supplied. The Tamiya instructions state Polish 1st Armoured Division in western Europe 1944. But as far as we found out, when the (single?) existing picture of this vehicle was taken, it was in 1943 on English soil where this Polish unit trained for combat. So my dad decided to paint the model in British SCC No.2 instead of SCC No.15. He used Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth and added a bit of red and olive.