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My current build in this GB, the AFV Club Churchill Mk.III, is proceeding far more quickly than I expected. Gideon is also telling me that the number of in-progress builds will shortly fall off a precipice. It currently stands at eight, which is the least number of concurrent projects that I have had for at least ten years. So what to do? Why... start another Churchill of course! So this is the venerable Tamiya Churchill Mk.VII in 1/35. This appeals to be as it is quite different to the Mk.III that I am building. The kit is nearly fifty years old! It doesn't look it... It was originally issued in 1977 as a Churchill Crocodile. This boxing is from 1996 with extra parts to build a normal gun tank and four new figures.

Hi, Hopefully you'll all see the picture that I just uploaded to my new Hobby Photo Host account. I have not been the best participant in the GB's lately. The model I actually worked on this week-end was my RAAF F-4E for the ANZAC GB. With the Imgur situation, I thought it was a good time to start this thread showing that I'm still around and testing how it goes on Hobby Photo Host. 1/3 of my subscription there goes to Britmodeller.com so let's hope more of us go there. With a lovely as this one, I should get it built in time. But that is something I said of other kits too... Cheers, Stefan.

Picked this up from Plaza Japan for about 1/3 the price of my local shop. It was a fun build, and typical Tamiya quality. I opted for the Vercingetorix scheme. I tried to mimic the camo so that it was the same as the Tamiya booklet, but a few happy accidents resulted in a bit of difference here and there. I used black vallejo primer followed by an ivory base coat. I hand painted the green and brown camo and used a AK real marker for the lines . All in all I am quite happy with how it turned out. I would have liked to add some mud to the lower half but I wasn't sure what was best for that effect, so I held off. Any suggestions would be appreciated. This was also my first attempt at paint one of the miniatures that came with the kit. Despite the resemblance to Freddy Kreuger, im pretty happy with how it turned out. Thanks for checking it out! Scott

Hi All, My next completion is Tamiya's mighty Stringbag, which I will say from the outset is a superb kit. I've completed it as LS276, which flew as part of 836 Sqn FAA from Merchant Aircraft Carrier (MAC) Amastra in 1943. Here's a photo of Amastra, which was a coverted oil carrier: I couldn't find any photos of LS276, but here's another aircraft from 836 Sqn: These aircraft were unusual in that the 'Royal Navy' above the a/c serial was overpainted with 'Merchant Navy', initially as a joke but eventually a source of some pride. As my grandfather served in the Merchant Navy throughout the war I feel a small personal connection - these aircraft could well have been flying as part of the many convoys he sailed across the Atlantic. Here's the WIP if anyone is interested: The kit was built OOB with the exception of the Tamiya rigging PE set, which was veeeerrry fiddly. This build nearly ended up on the Shelf of Doom due to decal disasters, so I'm glad I had a word with myself and pushed it over the line. Anyway, on with the photos: Despite a myriad of minor imperfections and errors I'm pretty pleased with the way she's turned out, and she certainly has shelf presence. I might move on to something a little simpler next time though! Thanks for looking, Roger

To tie in with Mary's dolls house project, I was casting around for a car of the same scale. She used to have a motorbike which would've been a lot more choice, but this came up at an 'affordable' price (that's what I said anyhow) Quite a few parts, though not as many as I was expecting... Monty the cocker spaniel gives an idea of size because a Humbrol paint pot would get lost in there! Very Tamiya, seats are moulded in a different 'black' to the engine components. Sure Miniart could have comfortably got through a thousand parts for the engine alone, but this seems surprisingly sparse; not that I intend to add anything. Instruction booklet and decals. The decals are cracked, hence the very reasonable price.

Hi comrades! This is my build of Tamiya Buffalo. Old kit, relatively simple. I will made my life more interesting by scratch detailing of the "empty" areas (wheels-motor compartment, cockpit, main u/c legs) and riveting. I'll use some aftermarket details and decals. The painting guide is for general idea only - my project is of different prototype (but the same unit/section). Also, to make the things even more interesting - in parallel I'll build the Classic Airframes counterpart - Brewster Type 239 of Finnish Air Force (will be in different thread) Thanks for looking!

It's time for a new project. No commission build this time but a bit of a redemption project for myself. I struggled with the water section in the R35 diorama and i learned from it. Now i want to do a new diorama with water to see if i can do better. I recently bought this set from Tamiya. The panzerkampfwagen IV ausf. F. It comes with a crew and a motorcycle with driver. I want to do a new DAK project and this is the right kit to do it. Not shure yet what the layout will be but let's build this kit first. Beeing Tamiya it almost falls together by itself. Every part fits like a glove. And there is little to no flash or cleanup to do. I love it after a couple of complex builds. This is were i'm at right now. I think i'm going to enjoy this one. Feel free to tag along for the ride. Cheers! 👍👍👍

Hi, Here's my Tamiya P-38J. What a great kit... I know because I built a P-38H of theirs and I enjoyed it immensely. I'll build this as one of Robin Olds' aircraft in the 479th FG. It is part of my project to build at least one aircraft of each FG of the 8th AF. The project is off to a good start with a P-47M of the 56th FG completed in the P-47 GB of 2023, this year hopefully this P-38 and a P-51 in that STGB. That would see at least the 3 main types covered. Cheers, Stefan.

Who doesn't love a Beaufighter?! I do, and the RAAF sure did.. The Beaufighter was one of the RAAF's most effective combat aircraft in the South West Pacific Area during WW2, initially operating a mix of British built Mk VI and X aircraft (designated locally as the Mk IC), before from 1944 taking delivery of 364 Mk 21s built locally by the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP). One of those will be the subject of my build, A8-27 DU-A, 'Rockabye baby', operated by 22 Squadron. The basis for my build will be Tamiya's 1/48 Beaufighter kit, in my case the Mk VI night fighter boxing. Believe it or not this will be my first Tamiya build! All I have read online suggests it builds beautifully. You can pretty much build a Mk 21 Beau straight from the box. The Mk 21's most obvious external difference to British Beaus is the nose fairing for a Sperry autopilot (which from memory was never actually fitted to production aircraft), and is included in the sprues - despite Tamiya never offering a RAAF Mk 21 Beaufighter boxing. But I do have just a little aftermarket! CMK offers a Mk 21 conversion kit for Revell's Beaufighter kit, from which I am using the decals and the hedgehog exhausts. The Brassin set for the Mk X (which the Mk.21 was based on) yields masks, a preprinted instrument panel, and PE seatbelts. Buying the two sets worked out to be better value than buying the bits and bobs individually, even if I have a few left over bits for the spares box. As well those sets I also bought separately some rather lovely CMK resin wheels. One of the decal sheet options depicts A8-27 as it appeared with 22 Squadron on the island of Morotai (in modern day Indonesia's North Maluku province), where they were based from January 1945 until the end of hostilities. The nose art is pretty grim - it shows a Beaufighter about to strafe a caricatured Japanese solider, with the pilot hanging out the cockpit window grasping a club - but would have been perfectly acceptable at the time. 22 Squadron has an interesting and decorated combat history (including the RAAF's only Pacific theatre VC recipient). It had been the RAAF's only Douglas A-20 Boston unit until November 1944 when most of its A-20Gs were lost or damaged on the ground in a Japanese air raid on Morotai. As a result the surviving Bostons were handed back to the US and the squadron re-equipped with Beaufighters in January 1945, operating then alongside 30 and 31 Squadrons and their own Beaufighters as part of the RAAF's 77 Wing through to the end of the war, including supporting the Australian landings on Borneo. It's a tough, muscular looking aircraft, the Beaufighter - apparently the crews use say it was two big engines followed closely by a small aircraft! - and it looks just right in RAAF foliage green. Looking forward to building this! Gerard

Well final build of the year completed tried a new method for the wake waves using Clingfilm I think it looks ok maybe need a bit more practice. WIP; https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235124878-japan-torpedo-boat/ Stay Safe and Best Wishes to everyone. Keith

Over the years I have built quite a few Mosquitos - two of the original Airfix FB. VI first released in 1957, one Frog B.IV from 1968, all three versions of the second Airfix moulding released in 1972 - NF. II, FB. VI and FB. XVIII, and at least one of the 1976 Matchbox NF. 30/ B. IX, but I thought I would build a couple more in this GB starting with this one. I bought this 2000 reboxing of the Tamiya 1999 moulding to replace the old Frog version which had several minor inaccuracies and one major one - the wing was mounted too high on the fuselage (at least according to reviews I have read)! I have fancied the Tamiya Mossies ever since they first came out but they were a bit expensive, so when I saw this on offer for £9.99 10 or so years back I snapped it up. I am tempted by the PR version but I will build it as the B.IV and throw the old Frog kit out. Being a Tamiya kit it should make a nice change from the various short run kits I have just built in the "Not my Comfort Zone" GB! Pete

Hello! This is my most recent project. Nothing else to add, or praise, regarding this wonderful kit. It is a pleasure to build and everything works just fine, even the decals. Except for the roundels, that I've painted using masks, all others reacted really well to Gunze's Mr Softer. This particular kit represented a Spit in 1940, so perhaps I may have weathered it a little bit too much, for they should have been relatively new then. But, it's done! Hope you'll enjoy! Cheers!

Next on the bench. Something to take the edge off. After building the Wittmann Tiger i need a straight foreward, simple build. first look in the box and the sprues and other parts look descent. They added new figures that look a whole lot better then the old Tamiya figures. Still, i ordered some Alpine figures. If i decide to use the Tamiya ones i can use the Alpine ones on my future Valentine build. This will be nothing fancy. No aftermarket stuff, no photo reference. Just an oob to relax and enjoy myself. Feel free to tag along. Cheers!!! 👍👍👍

Hi, Here's my P-38H. I believe that the most unique P-38H parts are the small sprue "J" that I've placed on top of the other sprues and the clear parts. I placed the clear parts on the box-top, but not much is visible in the photo. The really special part is rear part of the canopy, it does not have the small internal reinforcements that are present in the P-38F/G. Such an awesome kit, I hope to do it some justice. Cheers, Stefan.

Hello fellows, Let me show some pics of my last model, the Tamiya King Tiger (Porsche Turret). I've tried to reproduce the camo scheme that is shown in the Tankmuseum... Here the real thing: All the build was easy, as is usual in Tamiya, and the only problem I had were with the zimmerit. But that was my fault...🤫 Apart from this, I'm pretty glad with the whole result, I hope you like it! I left out the right front fender. As you can see, I put and extra chain in the left side of the turret. And one slight layer of mud in wheels ans fenders. Your comments will be welcomed. And thanks for watching!! Josep

Hello fellows, Let me show some pics of my last model, the Tamiya King Tiger (Porsche Turret). I've tried to reproduce the camo scheme that is shown in the Tankmuseum... Here, the real thing: All the build was easy, as is usual in Tamiya, and the only problem I had were with the zimmerit. Applying it was a mess...; but, honestly, it was my fault...🤫 Apart from this, I'm pretty glad with the whole result, I hope you like it! I left out the right front fender. As you can see, I put and extra chain in the left side of the turret. ...and one slight layer of mud in wheels ans fenders. Your comments will be welcomed. And thanks for watching!! Josep

Hello fellows, Let me show some pics of my last model, the Tamiya King Tiger (Porsche Turret). I've tried to reproduce the camo scheme that is shown in the Tankmuseum... Here, the real thing: All the build was easy, as is usual in Tamiya, and the only problem I had were with the zimmerit. Applying it was a mess...but, honestly, it was my fault...🤫 Apart from this, I'm pretty glad with the whole result, I hope you like it! I left out the right front fender. As you can see, I put and extra chain in the left side of the turret. ...and one slight layer of mud in wheels ans fenders. Your comments will be welcomed. And thanks for watching!! Josep

Hi! I'm not really into jets, but I'm a naval aviation lover and always had a soft spot for the Tomcat (who hasn't?)...So when the Tamiya box reached the shops...well, you know. The kit has been sitting in my stash for five years, and I really haven't the skills for this kind of project, but this GB motivated me to have a try! I would have loved a colorful VF111 aircraft on my shelf, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed, can't find those decals. Oh well. Here is the well known box: Bye 🙂

Hey, I have been working on the F-51 mustang from Tamiya for a few years off and on now, and made a serious botch when gluing the canopy on, by getting a huge glue finger print on the middle of the canopy, and have been unable to clean it up... I have tried several methods, i.e. sanding it, polishing it, tape, etc. It is so bad it wrecks the entire model, so if you have any other ideas on how to rectify this situation, or a source for a replacement canopy, that'd be greatly appreciated! I look forward to all the responses! https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-61044-north-american-f-51d-mustang-korean-war--122762

A couple of days ago I finished my latest build, the Finnish army's StuG. Ausf. G III .These assault guns played a very important role in halting the red army's massive attack in the Karelian isthmus near Leningrad during June-July, 1944. The fate of Finland was at stake. If the Russians had been able to break through they would have marched directly to Helsinki and conquered the whole country. It would have been the end of Finland as a nation. But the advance of the red army was halted in fierce fights. One important element were the 59 German assault guns that were bought just in time to strengthen up the Finnish defence. These StuG III's destroyed in total 87 Russian tanks while own losses were 8 StuGs. My model is a kitbashing build of the Dragon 1/35 scale StuG III kit and the Tamiya Finnish StuG III special edition. I vandalized the Tamiya kit of its Finnish modifications, for instance the large tool box in the rear, the spare wheel racks on the sides of the StuG,, the modified shield for the machine gun and the DT assault rifle as well as the C-shaped hooks. The tracks are white metal ones of Master Club. The problem I noticed too late was the size of the tracks.They didn't exactly fit the teeth of the drive sprocket. I will have to fix that problem going forward. For the markings and the Finnish swastika (nothing to do with the nazi one, though) I bought the very good decal set of Echelon. Building the model was straightforward and maybe the hardest part was painting the complex green, brown and beige camouflage. I used Vallejo color's paints for the job. I finished the build by weathering the model with several AK's pigments. Many of the StuGs had a wife's or girl friend's name written above the visor of the driver. My model was named "Liisa" and it was one of the highest scoring assault guns with nine tanks destroyed.

Latest one off the bench, Tamiya's classic P-51B Mustang with a good bit of work thrown at it. 1/48 Tamiya P-51B Mustang Capt William J Shackleford 375 FS / 361 FG Bottisham, England August 1944 - Aires cockpit - BarracudaCals cockpit placards - Ultracast spinner, prop, exhaust, flaps, and wheels - Squadron vac canopy - Gun barrels replaced with Albion Alloys tubing - Fuselage riveted - Wing panel lines filled - Custom paint masks for all major markings - AMDG decals for "Queen Jean" script and playing cards Anyways, on to the pics!

Hello, My next thread will be StuG III Ausf.B. I have chosen Tamiya kit for this one and since I have few leftovers from Dragon's Panzer III family kits I've built before, I use them wherever I can. I have few Aber upgrade sets also to use and aftermarket decals, as I'm going to one of the StuG Abt. 185 vehicles. I'm not very happy with the Tamiya kit, but there are not many options when building Ausf.B. Bolts are rounded and need to be replaced, weld seams are often missing and need to be reproduced, fit is loose and need a lot of filler. But main problem with this kit is that upper hull, when removing the molded fenders, appears to be 1mm wider than lower hull. I really don't know what to do with that yet. Here is the front driver's plate compared to hull: But Aber's etched sets seems to be awesome and offers a lot of fun. Here's the assembled ammo storage cabinet. And yep, the lid is movable: Tracks are from MasterClub this time and oh are they awesome. Compared to Friuls, these need very little cleaning and go together with little resin pins. Til' next time, Kristjan

Finished! I enjoyed every moment of this build. Will get my hands on Tamiya's Phantom soon. If you want to see the different stages of painting, you can find it here: All but one of the pix are close ups, since the model i huge even in 1/48. I made one huge mistake, let's see if anyone spots it. And it's ready for pickup, Axel! Stay safe, take your shots and keep glueing plastic! /Torbjörn

I don't normally like making more than 1 model at a time, because for me its a recipe to not complete anything. However the Alpine is suitably near completion (as long as I do not screw up reducing the paint run) that I know it will be completed and with 2 more weeks until the clear is suitable cured to be sanded I have started on a 7. I have not done much, just enough to show the direction I am going. I have often wondered how I could manage to make one with an aluminium body and painted wings. It would be nigh on impossible to mask. It is very easy to remove the wings, but the trick is getting them back on. But I have com up with a cunning plan 🤫. On the model the vertical surface of the front wings touch the body are so thin that they disappear when the wings are cut off. Therefore I have glued some thin strips of plastic below, then used stretched sprue between this strip and the wing to reinforce the joint. Then a small amount of filler. Next Drilled two holes on this new strip straight through into the body before cutting of the wing. Now I can use pins to locate the wing back in place after either painting the body or using Bare Metal foil, still not decided.

Dear All, Tamiya's interpretation of F-16 is an outstanding kit with pretty fine details and easy build. Added only resin ejection seat and PE from Eduard, painted with Mr. Color. The plane stationed in Japan, a few years ago I had the opportunity to see it and walk around at Yokota Air Base (friendship festival). (Some of the static dischargers were broken off, need to replace them.)