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A build from 8 years ago: Khee-Kha Art Products rendition of the Fairchild F.71 is up to the usual high standards of its releases. Good and comprehensive instructions with building tips, plans and livery options, resin accessories again superb and completing the package we find a vacuformed windshield and a clear plastic strip for the side windows. The molds are crisp and detailed. This was the first kit offered by Khee-Kha on its expanding range of bush plane kits. You will need decals for your personal choice of subject, but Khee-Kha offers a PIA decal set as an after-market product for this kit, or you can buy the package (kit+decals). Although the struts are molded in the backing sheet it will be advisable to replace them with airfoiled stock material, like “Strutz” or “Contrail” of the appropriate width. I used both to replace all struts, even the landing gear ones. The construction has a couple of unusual solutions, like the fuselage sides that come in two parts and the cabin roof area that requires a specific approach. Read the instructions thoroughly and carefully before even thinking of cutting the parts out of the backing sheet, that will save you of a potential headache. You must study your references and be sure to include the particularities of the specific machine you are modeling. In this case I wanted to build this for my son who builds Argentinean machines, so a plane that was used there as a photographic platform was selected. It had a different tail wheel, prop and tundra/balloon wheels. The engine also had a Townend ring and the exhausts were arranged in a particular way. For that ring I used a left over part from another Khee-Kha kit, the Bellanca Pacemaker. The wheels were cast in resin using a patterned packaging tray that fitted the bill. The kit’s prop blades were cut out and inserted into a previously scratched part made of metal tubes and plastic discs for counterweights. Instead of using the clear strip provided for the side windows I made individual panes from a CD case. As you can see in the accompanying images I made the panes first for the kit windows as they are, but realized shortly after (fortunately) that the photo mapping version had a different arrangement so two additional panes were prepared to make for the different parts. The exhausts in this particular machine as said varied from standard, and had a central element at the bottom running parallel to them that was probably an oil cooler. Therefore the resin parts were clipped at their ends and supplement accordingly, and the other element mentioned scratched. As you proceed with the building pay attention to the manufacturer’s recommended adjustments and warnings. Anchoring points for rigging and struts are subtly marked on the molds of stab and wing. Early in the process I decided to depart from some of the manufacturer’s recommendations and adapt the kit to my own evil ways. I reduced the parts for the front fuselage section to its minimum expression and utilized the full length of the fuselage sides as provided. For the spar another solution was used, although the kit’s is absolutely fine. A camera was scratched and added to the interior, plus control column and rudder pedals. The manufacturer already supplies the seat and instrument panel. Some exterior details were scratched and added like nav lights, handles, small tail skid, fuel tank caps, rudder control horn and the like. Painting in three tones of metal was followed by the application of the home-made decals and the exterior details.

A build from 10 years ago, another cropduster: (you may see: This modeling endeavor is the result of a gift: the 1/72 Ae. M.B.2 vac kit was very kindly sent to me by fellow modeler Luis Santos, that produced the parts time ago as a “divertimento”. The kit, as it arrived to my door, had few parts, and appeared very simple, with no surface detail. No interior or exterior details were provided either, nor transparencies or decals. The styrene was of adequate thickness, the simplicity of the molds is the small price we have to pay to be able to build esoteric aircrafts. No doubt the arcane subject made my eyebrows raise, being a plane designed and built in Argentina in the pre-second WW2 years. The prototype was designed as a light bomber, but eventually found some other, more peaceful uses as a transport and even as a crop-duster, which is the subject of this article. The lines of the plane were simple and probably the most remarkable features of the design were the high-aspect ratio of the wing and its generous size. A limited number of machines that explored some variations on the theme were produced, with minor changes in the landing gear, window arrangement, rudder shape, wing-to-fuselage fairings, fuselage covering and the fuselage top. The lines and proportions were, as said, simple but somehow pleasant. The design didn’t live long, but surely provided with some experience to designers, builders and pilots. After separating the parts I dealt with the areas that needed either filling or sanding. After searching for references I added surface detail and refined here and there. It took a little time, but it wasn’t overwhelming. A master was made for the canopy and a clear vac molded on and a cockpit was scratch-built with a fair deal of components. Once the fuselage was closed the dorsal area of the fuselage was modified (it was chopped-down as per the military version in the vac provided). Building proceeded to a point where I really needed to have a look at the photos of the crop-dusting version I was aiming for. In spite of the help of a few friends the images didn’t surface, so I half-guessed, based on comments, that area. I glued the involved parts sparingly, so if at certain point I can actually see some photos, I’ll be able to address the possible changes. Some external details were scratched, like a wind-driven generator on the left wing, the carburetor intake, engine exhausts, Pitot –under the left wing-, Venturi –left side of the cockpit, oil cooler and navigation and landing lights. The latter equipped with MV lenses. Aeroclub parts were used for the engine and the wheels. I painted the model as per its production companions, light grey, but no markings were added, again, waiting for photos to appear. One of the references states that three machines were adapted for cropdusting with two drums containing the product inside the fuselage. The research, corrections, fabrication of the missing bits and the building itself took a time; nevertheless I have now the clunky but rather charming shape of this model boasting its old refrigerator-like lines on the desk.

A build from 8 years ago, related to the thread of my model of the Tupolev ANT-25. Classic planes from the Golden Age of aviation have a charm that increases with time, as it should be with classics. After finishing the Clark GA-43, it seemed natural that the Vultee V-1 would follow, as they share some characteristics, not being the least important their remarkable aesthetics. They had the same weight, were single-engine cantilever low wing monoplanes and featured modern metal monocoque fuselages. The Clark could carry ten passengers and the Vultee 8. Although aware of the Special Hobby release, I choose to exhume from my stash the Execuform vac. As described in the Clark GA-43 article, these are simple molds that should be regarded as a white canvas to express yourself. Once the research stage started, one machine immediately caught my attention: the V-1AS variant that Russian pilot Levanevsky and navigator Levchenko flew to Moscow from California -where I live- via Alaska and Siberia in 1939 (CCCP-H208 in Cyrillic). For this version a new vertical stabilizer, front cowl and floats were needed. Fortunately adequate vac floats were found in the spare parts’ bank from the same manufacturer’s Clark GA-43. The kit I had was purchased some time ago from an online vendor specialized in rare kits, since at the time I wasn’t aware that Execuform kits are now available from the manufacturer. Nevertheless, mine included an epoxy engine and prop that used to come with the kit before. Since the plane I was modeling had a “winter” front cowl, which almost completely blocked the view of the engine, I included the one that came with the kit. The prop after some refinement was deemed usable, but I replaced it anyway for a metal one. In some photos the plane sports a chubby spinner. Plenty of images of the V-1AS can be found on the Net, and some color clues that in some cases are not entirely accurate. After some study the choice was a blue general color with red flying surfaces and trim, plus black rubber boots on all leading edges. Many attractive liveries can be chosen for the Vultee V-1, I counted at least twelve when browsing the Net. The American Airlines and the iconic Lady Peace come to mind. All these versions require some tweaking because they diverged in minor details. Strangely enough, the markings used for the plane modeled here are the western version of the original Russian Cyrillic CCCP (actually SSSR in western language); but the code H208 wasn’t translated as N208 as it should have been, being “H” Cyrillic for “N”. Construction started by marking, scoring and separating the parts from the backing sheet, then sanding and adjusting carefully. Locating and opening windows followed, and then the interior structure was scratched from leftovers of the same kit, all of that depicted on the customary in-process photos. It is worth of note that in the Russian Vultee, although it flew 10,000 miles, the supplementary fuel tanks were in the wings, not in the fuselage as in Lady Peace. N-208 had the full eight cabin seats compliment. The bathroom was also scratched and even provided with a toilet roll for the long trip. All the cockpit and cabin detail, as it happens frequently, would be almost hidden once the fuselage halves are glued together. A vertical stabilizer was as said fabricated, considering that modifying the kit’s one would have taken more time than making a new one. Departing from the Execuform arrangement I separated the stab parts in order to be able to deal first with the aft cone of the fuselage and then add the stab halves via a spar inserted through the fuselage. The wing halves were glued, and here Execuform devised a way to “embrace” the fuselage by gluing the wing halves and later cut the upper central section in order to lodge the fuselage. The joint will need attention. Styrene “Contrail” and brass “Struz” airfoiled struts were used to prepare the attaching structure for the floats; the later were trued and detailed as per photos. Bear in mind that although wearing floats this machine had the landing gear retracted, not deleted, since after reaching Russia it left the floats and reverted to wheels. After arriving to Moscow (where Nikita Khrushchev was present!) the plane was carefully examined by the Russian aviation industry, finding it remarkably modern and intelligently built and suggested that many of its features should be incorporated in Russian design and production. Once the interior was finished windows were inserted before closing the fuselage as described in the accompanying images. One by one they were cut and adjusted, because unlike men they were not created equal. You could super-glue very thin rubber pads to your broad tweezers in order to hold the window panes as you sand their edges to make them fit. I didn’t, and scratches were the result. Sometimes in these articles what it looks like a straight line from zero to model is actually a winding, meandering, puzzling scribble that involves a good number of boo-boos and their correction (or not). I had to do a few parts more than twice, blotched, marred, patched and so forth a number of times, so if it happens to you too, don’t feel alone. While the fuselage was drying, it was time for engraving the flying surfaces’ panel lines. I had a lot of fun filling and sanding the results of the over-exuberance of my scriber. A few exterior details were fabricated like the DF loop, carb air intake, “winter” front panel for the cowl, hatches, Pitot, Venturis, exhausts, nav lights and so forth. Especially tricky were the cockpit transparencies, due to the strange angles of the panes at the front and the lack of positive locking points. Four individual panes and some tweaking did the trick. The floats were primed with their struts and inspection covers already in place; the rudders, rudder posts, horns and “pulleys” were glued and then the floats were set aside. Same for the engine, cowl, prop and associated bits. The wing was fitted to the fuselage, then the stab halves, and then the vertical surfaces were removed and replaced by the scratched, bigger ones. Then it was the somewhat dull job of puttying, sanding, re-scribing, but all in good mood listening to the music of Fito Paez, Charlie Garcia and Spinetta. After a rather complicated masking/painting session to do the stripes and separate the colors the horizon looked better. A few minor decals were applied at this time on the prop and the vertical stabilizer. All the bits started to come together and flat black-sprayed decals were used for the de-icing boots. The floats’ rigging was done and tiny cleats that came with one of Khee-Kha’s sets of EDO floats were added (I ordered those detailed and impeccably cast floats for the next model, the Wiley Post’s Orion/Explorer hybrid –more on that matter later, stay tuned). A well-hearted fellow modeler and friend, Christos Psarras, sent me the white registrations decals. Thanks to him the model could be finally finished. Now the Vultee with its conspicuous shape is part of the ever-growing collection of hidden beauties of the Golden Age. (The model as said is 8 years old, the photos are not the best, I see that I dodged building a beaching trolley as I do now for such models, and I photographed the model on grass. Hope all these sins are forgiven)

Another model from 8 years ago, to further illustrate vac construction. I never built a model with so many names and such complicated history. Suffice to say that it is known as Faichild 150, General Aviation GA-43, Clark GA-43, and North American GA-43. The “Clark” there is the same one as in the Clark “Y” airfoil fame, for you aerodynamicists. The plane also has some Fokker strings attached. To explain here all the mergers, acquisitions, take-overs and other financial mysteries would take too much space, so let just say that it was an all-metal ten-passenger plane with –after the prototype was converted- retractable landing gear. It was used by Swissair (two machines), SCADTA in Colombia, Western Air Express in the USA, one ended up in Japan as J-BAEP and yet another somehow managed to fly in Spain on the (fortunately) anti-Franco side. A pretty good story for only five machines built in total. There is a very good article on the subject on Skyways magazine issue of January 1998. I opted to represent the prototype, since its spats and short one-seat canopy had a chubbier look that was very appealing to me. Parts were separated from the backing sheet using the well-known tachyon pulse method, and flat-sanded cautiously while testing. References were consulted in order to establish which parts were needed so they could be made with the replicator. Some goodies were beamed-up from an obscure British manufacturer with Klingon ties. Do not get rid of the leftovers of the backing sheet, many extra parts (like bulkheads, spars, seats) can be cut from them. The next thing to do was to establish the position of the windows, door and luggage hatch on the fuselage and cut them open. Five bulkheads and the cabin floor were cut from the leftovers (see, I told you!). At this point I decided, after much pondering, to diverge from the Execuform path and separate the stabilizer halves, work out the tail cone integrity, and add the stab halves later. Execuform planned the parts to provide some sort of easy keying for alignment, but I rather sand the fuselage smooth and add the stab than meander between the parts later with the sanding stick and the putty. The ten passengers chairs came next, each one made of six parts (back, seat, head cushion, two armrests and magazine pouch in the back). As per photos a few metal parts were found in my spares box too. The cavity showing the wing root from inside was closed using sheet styrene. The wing roots in the model are slightly asymmetrical, being one a bit higher than the other. Be careful to compensate for that. The wing halves were glued and their panel lines engraved. Beware that the prototype had longer span ailerons and no flaps. Also some anti-stall small sections were located at the leading edge. Those were replicated carving the styrene and adding a few small ribs. No landing lights were present at the leading edge at the time that this first machine was flown. No nav lights can be seen on the wingtips either, but two were present on the fin and on the tip of the tail cone. The whole interior, as a single unit –see images- was detailed and prepped for its later insertion between the fuselage halves. A roof was glued to one side and some detail added on those halves too. All these may sound boring or difficult, but it wasn’t at all. Is like solving a puzzle for which you create the pieces as you go. Very Zen. Once the fuselage was closed the stab halves were refined and a few parts created to better engineer its addition to the fuselage. To the wheel pants a strip was added and blended to represent the shock absorbing mechanism arrangement. Once all the painting was done and set, home-made decals and a few external details were added, and the gleaming retro beauty of the GA-43 shone away in all its glamor. And as Master Po used to say, a Shaolin monk is not ready until he builds his scratchbuilt, resin and vacuformed models.

From 4 years ago, another vacuformed model for your entertainment: The best reference I have found for this Stinson A endeavor (and many other modeling adventures) is Skyways Magazine. You will find a four-part Stinson A article on these Skyways issues: #75, Jul 2005 #76, Oct 2005 #77, Jan 2006 and #78, Apr 2006 The Formaplane Stinson A vacuformed kit: To accuse a dinosaur of lack of elegance and subtlety is not really fair. Dinosaurs were The machines of their time, and you could say that they fitted their niche properly. In the same way, it is not really fair to criticize -based on today's standards- a kit made many decades ago. Or is it? well, the fact is that while some stand up pretty darn well, like a Rareplane vacuform from Gordon Stevens, others do not fare as well. Anyway, I am sure their makers spent a lot of time, money and love making them, and I am still to hear that any of those dedicated people became rich in the process. So, when I poke a little fun at this sort of less fortunate ugly ducklings, it its good-hearted. That said, I think that vacs come mainly in three categories: A) "Different than the usual injected kit, but Very Interesting, and a subject that nobody else will likely tackle, nice accessories, let's build this one" (The mentioned Rareplane, now O.O.P. and contemporary Khee Kha Art Products offers) B ) "Oh, I see, a little bit* of work will be needed here, but again a plane I want to build and no mainstream company is willing to kit" (Execuform, some similar offers with plain but basically correct shapes and not much in the accessories department) * well, may be more than a little bit 🙂 C) "Oh dear" And the winner for the third category is today's build: Formaplane/ MHW Stinson "A". You will see further down why so deservedly so. (Actually, to tell the truth, there is a forth category: "Oh C­­--p!", but we won't deal with it today) So, why vacs? You may have seen some of the many I have built. There are a number of reasons. I enjoy them a lot, it is a different approach, more involving, more creative. You learn a lot, and your modeling frontiers expand. They cover subjects that the mainstream manufacturers tend to ignore or dismiss. Many of the old and contemporary vacuformed kits are very well made, and not more difficult to build than a normal kit once you get used to their specific ways. After a lengthy but mostly enjoyable process the model was finally completed. It depicts the prototype (of which they were three configurations by the way) while still having round lower gondolas with landing gear doors. The full interior detail of course added some extra work, plus the many modifications, additions and adjustments the original kit had to go through in order to achieve a reasonably good model. Was all that work worth it? There is no right answer for that. I enjoyed -most of the time anyway- the challenge, and the model produced is far away from what a straightforward build would have rendered, I would say yes, it was worth it. Disclaimer: no carpet monsters were killed, harmed, maimed, minced, decapitated, hanged, painted in ridiculous colors, eaten, exported to Argentina, blasted to outer space, upset in any way or otherwise disturbed during the building of this model.

A model from 6 years ago: As some of you may know, Charles Lindbergh wanted to purchase a Wright-Bellanca WB-2 for his epic Atlantic crossing flight. The plane had widely demonstrated its capabilities and potential several times, one of them with an endurance record in closed circuit that had miles to spare to cross the Atlantic. But Wright (company of engine fame) had sold to Bellanca and Levine the rights of the plane, now owned by their recently-formed company, “Columbia”. Levine tried to manipulate Lindbergh into a not very good deal, so Charles left and went to buy the soon-to-be universally famous Ryan NYP. Too bad for Levine. Nevertheless Levine was committed to demonstrate the plane’s worth, and since Lindbergh had accomplished the famous feat, he planed for a flight to beat Lindbergh’s record, that will reach Berlin. Chamberlin was its pilot, and Levine jumped in at the last second before departure. They actually flew to Germany, but had to unintentionally land twice in two little German towns before actually reaching Berlin. This plane, as many others, went through some minor modifications during its life. You may notice in photos a temporary annular exhaust ring between the engine and the front of the cockpit, a “pointed” spinner, or a visible propeller boss, many changes in the livery of the plane, too many to be described here, even a different propeller that was lend to the crew when they broke theirs in a nose over on route to Berlin. A sort of Townend ring can be seen in a few photos too. Bear especially in mind that the “replica” Columbia in an American museum is not at all a WB-2, but a Bellanca Skyrocket with some cosmetic treatment and it is as far removed from the real thing as a merry-go-around wood horse from the animal galloping on the prairies. Some times the Columbia is represented with yellow wings, that’s not accurate, since the wings were covered in clear-doped fabric, which has a yellowish tinge to it, but it is not at all like yellow paint. The lettering over the plane, once the record attempt started to be prepared, said “New York / Paris”; “Paris” was later changed to a hastily-written “Berlin”, then a more properly “Berlin” although in a different font than the rest, then other cities were added as the plane made its way around Europe. The base for this adaptation is the vacuformed 1/72 scale Bellanca CH-300 issued by Khee-Kha Art Products of Alaska. The Bellanca kit includes resin detail parts cast to a very high standard, vacuformed windshield and material to make the side windows. Some of these items could not be used given the differences between the CH-300 and the WB-2. A new Wright J-5 engine was located, together with adapted white metal prop and wheels from Aeroclub. The resin nose of the kit was modified to represent the WB-2 one, adjusting minimally its shape, erasing most of the louvers, and adding a couple of other details. A left-over spinner was modified to adapt it to this particular plane. First the wings have to be modified by erasing the “baleens” under the wing tanks and puttying, sanding and re-scribing the wing tanks and ailerons, which had a slightly different position. Then a new vertical stabilizer was built. I have built many vacuformed kits. The more I build them, the more I like them. List of changes (as a general guide, some areas of course involve further detail changes, like cockpit and cabin, etc) 1) Wing tanks 2) Ailerons 3) Engine / carburetor intake 4) Nose cowling 5) Prop/spinner 6) Vertical stabilizer 7) Wing struts (no “break” on the front strut geometry) 8 ) Landing gear 9) Windshield / side windows 10) Erase baleens under the wing tanks 11) Under fuselage fuel jettison fairing 12) Stitching visible on the fuselage sides 13) Stitching (some times taped-over-) over the cabin/aft fuselage joint 14) Interior 15) Deletion of right-side fuselage door 16) Deletion of aft access panel on left-side fuselage 17) Anemometer 18) Pitot

A model from 4 years ago, to further illustrate vacuform construction. Here is the PANAGRA Fairchild FC-2W2 that used to land in Buenos Aires. There is one not very good photo showing extensive modifications on the fuselage with added windows. The same photos shows tail and wing bands (visual aids). Bear in mind that this very plane suffered many transformations along its career and wore different schemes, and that the plane depicted had these special bands on the wing tips and ahead of the ailerons, as a visual/rescue aid. Before being crashed and modified with the additional windows, this plane appears painted in something that renders almost black in B&W photos, showing a more common window configuration. This kit is an example of a currently produced good vacuform kit from a manufacturer that cares about his customers and product. I made my own decals on this occasion.

This post is in response to a question posted on a related thread. I thought I had posted this model, but can't find it, I may have posted images of it in reference to vacuformed kits, though. I am very grateful there is even a kit of the Kangaroo but... Many moons ago Contrail released this now somewhat outdated vacuum-formed hefty kit. It is surely not state of the art, and has many inaccuracies, but it is nevertheless a starting point, if you are willing to spend time and effort. Many of its shortcomings, some subtle and some not, have to be corrected. No little time was spent on this one. Uncountable hours of research and building and no little grief has been endured in correcting the various kit's faults, let alone the complicated building and subject to start with. This rather basic kit was given a full interior and a very high number of details not present in the molds. Needless to say the almost inexhaustible jungle of struts and rigging was the happy occasion of many a well-deserved Martini. There are myriads of pieces of advise I could list regarding this kit. The kit has some obvious but fixable mistakes. Retrospectively there are two things you shouldn't do: do not follow the kit's pre-marked locations for any of the struts, they are misaligned and will cause frustration. Measure and drill your own strut locations, and try to be as accurate as you can. And do not use the white metal exhausts, radiators and props (I used the radiators and props). They are way too heavy and will give the engine gondola too much weight and mass, making it prone to detachment at the least provocation and almost surely during transport or handling, since its securing frame is too fragile. The radiators are easily scratchbuilt, the props may need plastic or resin substitutes. Able modelers may cast the kit's metal props into resin ones. The Arctic Decals set fortunately facilitated an accurate and pleasant decoration providing its usual well-researched, easy-to-handle, well printed graphics. There were many civil Kangaroos, each one with its own quirks. Fun is to be had by those wiling to take the bold step. The British did actually design very beautiful planes, but this one is more, er, sculptural one may say...looking for some redeeming adjective, and that's precisely why we love it so much.

Here is the completed model of the Barkley-Grow in its seaplane configuration. For the step-by-step building article please go to the WiP post: The kit presents only the basic shapes, you have to fabricate or provide everything else: cockpit, cabin, exterior details, decals, engines, etc. This one will surely help you develop those modeling skills! I used a set from Arctic Decals, which worked perfectly as usual. This is a nicely-shaped plane that has many possible finishing schemes, and can also be built on skis or wheels. It takes some time, but you can make a pleasant model from it. And you won't see this one around much, that's for sure!

I voted for "Made In Britain" GB with Contrail Mayo Composite in mind, but knowing my pace and determination I'm not sure that I could complete the whole stack in time so I decided to do one step at time and start with Mercury. Contrail's Mayo Composite kit was a joint effort between Contrail and Airframe each providing one aircraft. Airframe S.20 moulds look very basic but buildable, will require a lot of scratch building, scribing and detailing to look right.

Broplan from Poland has just announced a family of 1/72nd Vickers Valetta and Viking vacuform kits. ref. MS-178 - Vickers VC.1 Viking C.2 (RAF VL233,VL247) http://www.aviationmegastore.com/vickers-vc1-viking-c2--raf-vl233vl247-ms-178-broplan-ms-178-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LM5487ee1ddbc916443db3775547&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=126402 ref. MS-179 - Vickers VC.1 Viking B.1 (British European Airways) http://www.aviationmegastore.com/vickers-vc1-viking-b1--british-european-airways-ms-179-broplan-ms-179-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LM5487ee1ddbc916443db3775547&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=126403 ref. MS-180 - Vickers Valetta T.3 (RAF VX564,WJ461) http://www.aviationmegastore.com/vickers-valetta-t3--raf-vx564wj461-ms-180-broplan-ms-180-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LM5487ee1ddbc916443db3775547&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=126404 ref. MS-181 - Vickers Valetta T.4 (RAF WJ486) http://www.aviationmegastore.com/vickers-valetta-t4--raf-wj486-ms-181-broplan-ms-181-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LM5487ee1ddbc916443db3775547&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=126405 V.P.

Combat Models is to release in 2015 a 1/32nd Douglas C-47/DC-3 Skytrain/Dakota vacuform kit Source: http://combatmodels.us/ V.P.

Here's an oddball for you- A French Potez XXV in Spanish Republican markings. The Potez XXV was actually built in pretty good numbers in the mid 30s and served with many foreign air forces. Broplan has kits of a couple different versions, this one depicts the A2 I believe. The kit looked great on the sheet and went together nicely. There were no white metal parts included so I scratchbuilt the Scarff ring and landing gear and used the kit moldings for the wheels and propeller. I also built a complete interior just for the fun of it because not much can be seen now! Thanks for looking! Dan

After the Valetta and classic Viking ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234972524-172-vickers-valetta-and-viking-vacuform-kit-by-broplan-released-new-boxing) Broplan from Poland is to release 1/72nd Vickers Type 618 Nene Viking vacuform kits with injection moulded small parts and Alps decals. - ref. MS-188 - Vickers Type 618 Nene Viking Source: http://www.aviationmegastore.com/vickers-type-618-nene-viking-ms-188-broplan-ms-188-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LH3559f65f0a21cbb5ab6aa20713&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=131080 - ref. MS-189 - Vickers Type 618 Nene Viking (RAF) Source: http://www.aviationmegastore.com/vickers-type-618-nene-viking-raf---ms-189-broplan-ms-189-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LH3559f65f0a21cbb5ab6aa20713&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=131081 V.P.

Broplan from Poland is to release a 1/72nd LWD Miś vacuform kit with injection moulded small parts and Alps decals. - ref. MS-186 - LWD Miś Source: http://www.aviationmegastore.com/lwd-mis---ms-186-broplan-ms-186-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LH3559f65f0a21cbb5ab6aa20713&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=131083 V.P.

Broplan from Poland is to release a 1/72nd Bombardier E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (Global 6000) vacuform kit with injection moulded small parts and Alps decals. - ref. MS-187 - Bombardier E-11A BACN (Global 6000) Source: http://www.aviationmegastore.com/bombardier-e-11a-bacn-global-6000-ms-187-broplan-ms-187-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LH3559f65f0a21cbb5ab6aa20713&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=131082 V.P.

Combat Models is to release (soon?) a 1/32nd Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird vacuform kit Source: http://combatmodels.us/home V.P.

I'm on a WW1 vac kit roll lately, I jumped right into this one after finishing the Joystick's Albatros C.1 last month. This kit was also from Joystick and went together really nicely. I scratched the entire interior as well as all the struts, landing gear and the gun ring. Lots of fun! Hope you like the old crate! -Dan

Sanger has announced limited run 1/48th Short Sunderland Mk.III and Mk.V multimedia kits due for release in December 2012 January 2013. Etc. Source: http://www.sangereng.fsnet.co.uk/ 1/48th SHORT SUNDERLAND Mk-III 1/48th SHORT SUNDERLAND Mk-V DECAL SHEETS AVAILABLE FOR: RAF SEAC RAAF RCAF RNZAF SAAF RNoAF French Escadrilles Special Markings to your requirements This remind me we are still waiting for the 1/48th V-Bombers announced over two years ago... And I don't speak about the B-52 in the same scale as she doesn't interest me at all. I've the Sanger Boeing B-47 Stratojet in the stash and she looks beautiful. One day... Anyway for deep pockets guys there's (was?) a 1/48th Sunderland resin kit by Alpha Flight: http://www.cybermode...lpha_4817.shtml V.P.

Combat Models has just released a 1/32nd Flettner Fl-265 vacuform kit. Source: http://combatmodels.us/ V.P.

Combat Models has just released a 1/32nd Savoia-Marchetti SM.55 vacuform kit. Source: http://combatmodels.us/ V.P.

Combat Models has just released a 1/32nd Martin B-57 Canberra vacuform kit. Source: http://combatmodels.us/ V.P.

Combat Models is to release in 2015 a 1/32nd Heinkel He-115 vacuform kit Source: http://combatmodels.us/ V.P.

Combat Models is to release in April 2015 a 1/32nd Lockheed U-2 vacuform kit Source: http://combatmodels.us/ V.P.

Combat Models is to release (soon?) a 1/32nd Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" vacuform kit Source: http://combatmodels.us/home V.P.