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Completed build of ICM's Panhard armoured car, as used by France during WWII. (build review can be seen here - Armorama build )

Hi Everyone, Whilst I`ve been `painting my self into corners` with my current builds, I`ve revisited some older ones that I wasn`t quite happy with and gave them a once over Firstly Mosquito MK VI that you`ve not seen before Finished in the markings of 45 Squadron, Kumbhirgram, India, 1945 Mostly from the box, except the decals which are from: Eagle Strike Productions... ...Mosquito Best Sellers Part 2. Secondly Beaufighter TFX that I`ve posted before but with..... ...revamped camouflage and weathering The markings were from the stash and represent no particular Airframe or Squadron. Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking Cheers Russ

Hi Everyone, `Popped` my Classic Airframes cherry at last with my attempt at their 1/48 Fiat BR-20 kit. Finished to represent an aircraft used by the Japanese Air Force during the war against China just proir to WW II Built pretty much from the box contents, I added some radio gear in the fuselage but you can`t see it Other additions included some structure in the nose, that you can barely see and some imagineered walls in the wheel wells Stuff you can see includes wiring harness and push rods on the engine cylinder, some dodgy seat belts and the usual antenna wires Quite a bit of filling and sanding and reinforced the fuselage join with tabs of card like you would with a `vacform` kit Overall not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking Cheers Russ

This was just posted on a Facebook group I belong to - it is a Royal Navy MTB based at Hvar, Croatia, in 1943. There is a small number '97' on the wind break, but does that mean it is MTB 97, or is it a squadron number? Can anyone identify the boat and what colour scheme it might be wearing, please?

The Messerschmitt Bf 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft that was the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War (1939) and was still in service at the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II (1945). It was one of the most advanced fighters of the era, including such features as all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted-V12 aero engine. From the end of 1941, the Bf 109 was steadily being supplemented by the superior Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It was commonly called the Me 109 most often by Allied aircrew and even amongst the German aces themselves, even though this was not the official German designation. The "Bf 109" designation was issued by the German ministry of aviation and represents the developing company Bayerische Flugzeugwerke and is a rather arbitrary figure. It was designed by Willy Messerschmitt (hence Me 109) and Robert Lusser, who worked at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, during the early to mid-1930s. Originally conceived as an interceptor, later models were developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter-bomber, day-, night-, all-weather fighter, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft. It was supplied to and operated by several states during World War II, and served with several countries for many years after the war. The Bf 109 was the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 up to April 1945. The G series, or "Gustav", was introduced in mid-1942. Its initial variants (G-1 through G-4) differed only in minor details from the Bf 109F, most notably in the more powerful 1475 PS (1,455 HP) DB 605 engine. Odd numbered variants were built as high-altitude fighters with a pressurized cockpit and GM-1 boost, while even numbered variants were non-pressurized, air superiority fighters and fighter-bombers. Long-range photo-reconnaissance variants also existed. The later G series (G-5 through G-14) was produced in a multitude of variants, with uprated armament and provision for kits of pre-packaged, generally factory- installed parts known as Umrüst-Bausätze (usually contracted to Umbau) and adding a "/U" suffix to the aircraft designation when installed. Field kits known as Rüstsätze were also available for the G-series but those did not change the aircraft designation. By early 1944 tactical requirements resulted in the addition of MW-50 water injection boost and high-performance superchargers, boosting engine output to 1,800–2,000 PS (1,775-1,973 HP) See Process

Hello Everyone, I have just joined the forum and this is my first contribution to Britmodeller. I hope you enjoy this build thread? History: The Arado Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance low-wing monoplane aircraft built by the German firm of Arado starting in 1936. The next year it was selected as the winner of a design contest and became the standard aircraft of the Kriegsmarine (German navy) throughout World War II. Design and development In 1933, the Kriegsmarine looked for a standardized shipboard reconnaissance aircraft. After a brief selection period, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry, RLM) decided on the Heinkel He 60 biplane. This was one of a line of developments of a basic biplane airframe that appeared as a number of floatplanes, trainers, and fighters. Deliveries started in a matter of months. By 1935, it was found that the He 60's performance was lacking and the RLM asked Heinkel to design its replacement. The result was the He 114. The first prototype was powered by the Daimler-Benz DB 600 inline engine, but it was clear that supplies of this engine would be limited and the production versions turned to the BMW 132 radial engine instead. The plane proved to have only slightly better performance than the He 60, and its sea-handling was poor. Rushed modifications resulted in a series of nine prototypes in an attempt to solve some of the problems, but they didn't help much. The Navy gave up, and the planes were eventually sold off to Romania, Spain and Sweden. In October 1936, the RLM asked for a He 114 replacement. The only stipulations were that it would use the BMW 132, and they wanted prototypes in both twin-float and single-float configurations. Designs were received from Dornier, Gotha, Arado and Focke-Wulf. Heinkel declined to tender, contending that the He 114 could still be made to work. With the exception of the Arado low-wing monoplane design, all were conventional biplanes. That gave the Arado better performance than any of the others and the RLM ordered four prototypes. The RLM was also rather conservative by nature, so they also ordered two of the Focke-Wulf Fw 62 design as a backup. It quickly became clear that the Arado would work effectively, and only four prototypes of the Fw 62 were built. The Ar 196 prototypes were all delivered in summer 1937, V1 (which flew in May) and V2 with twin floats as A models, and V3 and V4 on a single float as B models. Both versions demonstrated excellent water handling and there seemed to be little to decide one over the other. Since there was a possibility of the smaller outrigger floats on the B models "digging in", the twin-float A model was ordered into production. A single additional prototype, V5, was produced in November 1938 to test final changes. 10 A-0s were delivered in November and December 1938, with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun in the rear seat for defense. Five similarly equipped B-0s were also delivered to land-based squadrons. This was followed by 20 A-1 production models starting in June 1939, enough to equip the surface fleet. Starting in November, production switched to the heavier land-based A-2 model. It added shackles for two 50 kg (110 lb) bombs, two 20 mm MG FF cannons in the wings, and a 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun in the cowling. The A-4 replaced it in December 1940, strengthening the airframe, adding another radio, and switching props to a VDM model. The apparently mis-numbered A-3, which had additional strengthening of the airframe, replaced the A-4. The final production version was the A-5 from 1943, which changed radios and cockpit instruments, and switched the rear gun to the much-improved MG 81Z. Overall, 541 Ar 196s (15 prototypes and 526 production models) were built before production ended in August 1944, about 100 of these from SNCA and Fokker plants. The Ar 196C was a proposed aerodynamically-refined version. The Ar 196C project was cancelled in 1941. Operational history An Ar 196 on board the German cruiser Admiral Hipper The plane was loved by its pilots, who found it handled well both in the air and on the water. With the loss of the German surface fleet, the A-1s were added to coastal squadrons and continued to fly reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944. Two notable operations were the capture of HMS Seal, and the repeated interception of RAF Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers. Although it was no match for a fighter, it was considerably better than its Allied counterparts, and generally considered the best of its class. Owing to its good handling on water, the Finnish Air Force utilized Ar 196s just for transporting and supplying special forces patrols behind enemy lines, landing on small lakes in remote areas. Several fully equipped soldiers were carried in the fuselage. Arado in Allied hands Arado AR196 naval reconnaissance floatplane in the collection of the Bulgarian Air Force Museum at the airport in Plovdiv. The aircraft is the pride of the director, who is seen in the foreground. Previously, this seaplane was at the Marinemuseum in Varna, but was returned to the Air Force Museum for lack of space The first Arado Ar 196 to fall into allied hands was an example belonging to the German cruiser Admiral Hipper, which was captured in Lyngstad, Eide, by a Norwegian Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 seaplane of the Trøndelag naval district on 8 April 1940, at the dawn of the Norwegian Campaign. After being towed to Kristiansund by the torpedo boat HNoMS Sild, it was used against its former owners, flying with Norwegian markings. At 03:30 on 18 April, the Arado was evacuated to the UK by a Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service pilot. The plane was shortly thereafter crashed by a British pilot while on transit to the Helensburgh naval air base for testing. At the end of the war, at least one Arado Ar 196 was left at a Norwegian airfield and kept in use as a liaison aircraft by the Royal Norwegian Air Force for a year on the West coast. Former military operators Bulgaria- Bulgarian Air Force Finland- Finnish Air Force Germany- Kriegsmarine Luftwaffe Norway - (captured)Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, Royal Norwegian Air Force Soviet Union- Soviet Air Force, Soviet Naval Aviation Aircraft on display Ar 196 A-3An aircraft operated by the Bulgarian Air Force is displayed at the Museum of Aviation and the Air Force, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.Ar 196 A-5, Werknummer of 623 167An aircraft that formerly equipped the German cruiser Prinz Eugen is in storage at the Paul Garber Facility of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, and awaiting restoration. Ar 196 A-5, Werknummer of 623 183Another aircraft from the Prinz Eugen was displayed from 1949 to 1995 at the Naval Air Station Willow Grove, Pennsylvania and subsequently transferred to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. The upper fuselage and canopy were damaged during transit, and it remained in storage awaiting restoration. In December 2012, it was packed into containers and shipped to Nordholz, Germany. Restoration began in August 2013, in time for that city's celebration for 100 years of German naval aviation. The plane, on long term loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum, will eventually be displayed at the Naval Air Wing 3 (Marinefliegergeschwader 3) headquarters at Nordholz Naval Airbase. The Aircraft Historical Museum, Sola, Norway, has on display an Ar 196 A-2 fuselage frame raised from the wreck of the German cruiser Blücher in Oslofjord. Another aircraft is known to lie in the Jonsvatnet, a lake near Trondheim in Norway. A number of wartime German aircraft have been recovered from the lake, but the Ar 196 remains undisturbed as its crew were killed when it crashed there in 1940 and it has the status of a War Grave. A wrecked Arado Ar 196 A-3, believed to be D1 + EH, was snagged by a fishing trawler off the island of Irakleia in 1982 at a depth of 91 meters. It was towed out of the fishing lanes to shallower waters (about 11 meters). The upside down plane, with fuselage and wings mostly intact, has become a popular spot for Scuba diving. Specifications (Ar 196 A-2) General characteristics Crew: Two (pilot and observer) Length: 11.0 m (36 ft 1 in) Wingspan: 12.4 m (40 ft 0 in) Height: 4.45 m (14 ft 7 in) Wing area: 28.4 m² (306 ft²) Empty weight: 2,990 kg (6,592 lb) Max. takeoff weight: 3,720 kg (8,200 lb) Powerplant: 1 × BMW 132K 9-cylinder radial engine, 960 PS (706 kW, 947 hp) Performance: Maximum speed: 311 km/h (193 mph) Range: 1,080 km (670 mi) Service ceiling: 7,010 m (23,000 ft) Rate of climb: 300 m/min (980 ft/min) Wing loading: 98.2 kg/m² (20.1 lb/ft²) Power/mass: 167 W/kg (0.101 hp/lb) Armament: Guns: 1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 15 machine gun 1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 17 machine gun 2 × 20 mm MG FF cannons Bombs: 2 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs The Box and Artwork: A side panel of the box showing some of the many details included in this kit: Contained within the box are 13 grey sprues, one clear sprue, a 16 page black and white assembly, paint and decal instruction booklet and a sheet of cartograf decals. The grey sprues are divided into 5 clear polythene bags that are sealed with a strip of cellotape, and, the clear sprue is in a bag of its own. The decals are covered with a soft opaque paper sheet and inserted into the center pages of the instruction booklet. The box is one fabrication with access to the contents enabled by pulling open one of the end flaps. I much prefer the two piece box constructions with a base and a lid: Pages 2 + 3: Pages 4 + 5: Pages 6 + 7: Pages 8 + 9: Pages 10 + 11: Pages 12 + 13: Pages 14 + 15: Pages 1 + 16- the front and back pages: The 13 grey Sprues: A close up of some detail on one of the sprues: The clear sprue: And, finally, the Decal sheet: Overall, at first sight, these parts look very well engineered with zero flash, and if any, it's hardly noticeable. The details are nice and crisp, the molded parts are clean, free of warp and ejector pin marks in visible surfaces. The clear parts are thin, free of blemishes, gate blushing and/or splaying, air traps, knit and weld lines and no optical aberrations to disturb visual transparency and clarity. There's a ton of styrene for the price, the decals are very nice (cartograf), but the instructions look a little confusing in places...we'll see when we get to the build. That's my introduction done with, now onto the build! Thanks in advance for taking a look guys and commenting. Cheers, Martin

Hello, here's my rendition of Kovozávody Prostejov's Piper L-4, dressed as General Patton's personal aircraft in France, 1944. Having recently built their new Mustang and Lavochkin La-5, I was suprised by the rough nature of this kit. It's a typical short-run affair with heavy sprue gates that extend onto the kit's parts, some oversized parts and poor fit, especially around the glasshouse and nose section. The wheels are a joke. They should be round - well, you know what wheels should look like. The items in the KoPro kit suffer from offset moulding and look horrible. Because of their relatively small size no replacements were found in my wheel spares, so I took the task of sanding them to shape as good as I could. The decals aren't the best either, they are relatively thick and have a strong carrier film that remained visible even after I've coated with Alclad Gloss. Plus, the Blue of the US Stars is too bright. Because of the small size on the fuselage, no replacements could be sourced from the decal spares box. To bring this kit up to modern standards you will need to invest a lot of time, effort and patience. I added the boarding steps from scratch. The model was painted with Mr.Hobby acrylics. I'm not very happy how this little model turned out, but on the other hand I'm grateful to KoPro for releasing a kit of this important military and civilian airplane. With best wishes from Vienna, have a good day! All pictures taken by Mr. Wolfgang Rabel of IGM Cars & Bikes.

Hello and thanks for your interest, here's another Lavochkin La-5FN from Kovozavody Prostejov. "Yellow 8" was flown by pilot P. Rakov in summer 1944 (according to kit instructions). I used photoetch parts (for dashboard, seatbelts and landing gear covers) from an old Extratech set. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel.

It looks like Christmas has come early! The new Airfix A19003 1/24 'Car Door' Hawker Typhoon 1B is on its way to us and will be in stock within 24 hours. It is available to order now at our usual discounted price. The kits comes with 4 decal options 1. R7752/PR-G of 609 Squadron flown by Squadron Leader R.P Beamont. 2. R8781/SA-H of 181 Squadron flown by Squadron Leader Denis Crowley-Milling. 3. EK270/EL-X of 468(New Zealand) Squadron. 4. JP671/XP-R of 174(Mauritius) Squadron. Among the options offered by this new version are the new ‘car door’ style canopy structure Earlier ‘car door’ pilots seat Alternative main undercarriage wheel Pneumatic tail wheel Alternate cannon fairings for the guns Different internal frame structure 500Ib ‘Long Tail’ bombs

Good Evening one and all, Just thought I'd share a few pics of this build hot off the bench this afternoon. Airfix new 1/72 Defiant built straight out of the box, my only deviation being a set of Eduard Masks for that pesky greenhouse turret and canopy (there was no way I was doing that myself!). This was an on/off build for me but could easily be done in a couple of days. I chose the night fighter scheme as I like black aircraft and the shark mouth was a bonus. Painted Tamiya NATO black and certain panels picked out in slightly different shades to break up the plain finish. Panel wash was a mix of light and dark grey Flory washes, panel edges and chips done with a graphite pencil, and some pastels for exhaust streaksand underside dirt/grime. Anyway I hope you like her, need to get back to some jets next, enjoy the pic's and feel free to comment/critique as you wish. Thanks for looking, Eng

STEEL Seatbelt Sets German WWI, British Late, IJN and Soviet 1:32 Eduard Eduard are continuing their build up of the steel seatbelt range with the release of these four sets. As we have found with the previously released sets, these are also pre-painted and appear to be remarkably flexible, and even with quite rough handling the paint adheres to the metal really well. They are still made from 0.1mm sheet with the resulting etch is thin at around 0.06mm and have the same details printed on them, such as the webbing, stitching, and shadowing. Unlike some sets, all the buckles and clasps are etched as part of the strapping, so there is no fiddly work required to assemble each belt. [32874 – IJN Fighters] – There are six complete sets of belts in total on the single sheet. There are two for Mitsubishi late war, two for Nakajima and two for Kawanishi aircraft. All the lap straps are included but it appears that only the Mitsubishi and Kawanishi aircraft that used a shoulder strap arrangement. [32875 – Soviet WWII Fighters] – There are four complete belts included on the single sheet. Two of the belts are for Yakovlev aircraft and two are for Lavochkin aircraft. The Yakovlev shoulder straps are joined at the top, whilst the Lavochkin are separate, The instructions are nie and clear which set to use. [32878 - Late RAF WWII] – This sheet contains three complete seatbelts, all in a beige colour and with separate lap straps. All three shoulder harnesses are of the same type, naturally, and I believe they are meant to attach to the armoured bulkhead. [32879 – German WWI ] – The single sheet in this set contains enough belts to fit out at least six aircraft, if I have counted them correctly. There are just two variations with shoulder straps, the rest being just lap straps. With these you can detail your Fokkers, Albatros CIII, Hanover CI.II and other multi seat types. Conclusion Whilst many modellers are able to make their own seatbelts if they are not happy with the kit items, even if they are included, there are those who like the ease of using these style belts. The pre-painted look is, perhaps a little clinical, although there is some shading around the straps and clasps, but they can be weathered to your own personal taste. Review sample courtesy of

Hello Guys, Because I have to wait 8 weeks now for the missing part and damaged part to arrive from Revell Germany for my Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk.IIa, I'm now going to start a new kit that will be my 2nd entry into "Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary GB" both on here and on YouTube- hosted by Ukscalemodeller and CharlesScaleModelling. This is Eduard's "Weekend Edition" of this model. You can buy what is called a "Profi-Pak" version that is more glitzier, that includes a full color booklet, photo-etch and more color/marking options. This kit was kindly given to me by a modeling buddy and so the sprues had already been taken out of their bags and some parts had been removed from their sprues. The Box is made from a two-ply card base and a single-ply lid making it very sturdy, which I prefer moreso than the single ply Revell boxes that open at one end. The box contains a 8 page black and white instruction/assembly/painting and decaling booklet. Only one option of color/markings is offered, that of Major Otto Bertram's aircraft who was a Luftwaffe ace fighter pilot with 22 kills credited to him that earned him the "Knights Cross of the Iron Cross".... The instructions look straight-forward and the color call outs are for Mr. Color and Hobby Color only, so conversions to your preferred paint will be necessary. Front Page 1 and Back Page 8 Pages 2 and 3 Pages 4 and 5 Pages 6 and 7 There are two sheets of decals/stencils that are very thin, nicely registered, almost zero carrier film around the edges and they are a nice satin/matt finish. Decal Sheet Stencil Sheet The kit comes with 6 olive colored sprues and one clear sprue, but as mentioned earlier, because this kit was given to me, the sprues had been taken apart. But, here are photos of all the parts on their sprues or removed with some close ups too, to show the nice fine panel line and rivet details and also how nicely molded these parts are. There is zero flash on the majority of these parts, with the tiniest amount in a few places. The parts are crisp and clean with zero warping/distortion and ejector pin marks are absent from seen surfaces. One thing that I'm excited about is that this kit includes a Daimler-Benz DB601N engine and removable cowlings to display it if you wish to do so, unlike the Revell 1/32 BF109G-10 build I did recently that didn't include one... The Clear Sprue is very clear with thin molded parts that include riveted frame details. They are free of any aberrations and very little distortion of image when looking through them... At first sight, this kit looks like a really nice kit, well engineered and excellently molded, although it would have been nice to have one or two more options of color/markings. This kit is available from on-line USA distributors for $35.85, which is about 24.00 quid in the UK, which is $12.00 (8.00 quid) more than I paid for the Revell 1/32 BF109G-10, although the Revell kit didn't have an engine and open cowling options. At the end of this build, I'll let you know my thoughts on how well it goes together and compare it to the Revell kit I built to establish my personal opinion on whether it is good value for money. Okay, with that out of the way, I can now go and wash the parts in readiness to make a start on her next Monday! I have the grandson coming soon and he's here until Sunday evening! In the meantime, if you'd like to see my YouTube "In-Box-Review" video for this kit, here is the link: https://youtu.be/H23GCnQS9os Happy modelling and have fun! Cheers Martin : )

After a year of inactivity I'm going to resume my modelling with the Eduard, in fact Roden, Gloster Gladiator in 1/48 scale. It's a great kit that allows to build all the versions ncludng the sea gladiator. I'd like to build a pre war version with the aluminium finishing that I'll complete with the Pheon Transfers sheet. The Eduard instructions sheet suggests the interior green for the cockpit side and the base with other details in aluminium as well as the seat. My doubt is wether the pre war version has the same green. I remember that many years ago I read about a red oxide colour (maybe a primer?) used in the 20's and 30's. Probably the Gladiator entered service when the interior green was already in use anyway if some member could confirm me.... Thank you in advance and happy modelling! Ezio

Hello, here's Eduard's brand new 1/72 Spitfire IXc. This ain't no 'shake-and-bake' kit as I discovered. Just like with their 1/72 Fw-190, tolerances are about zero. I had hard times getting the cockpit to fit (it seems as if I've placed it about one milimeter too far forward) and even more trouble with adding the wings. This was, of course, all due to my own. The next one will turn out smoother I hope .... So here is MH712, flown by W/O Henryk Dygala, No. 302 Squadron, Summer / Autumn 1944. It's one of the few Spitfire kits that has bombs under the wings. Just had to add them. The model was painted with Mr.Hobby acrylics. Decals out of the box. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel of IGM Cars & Bikes. Thanks for your interest. Best wishes from Vienna, Austria Roman

Hi Everyone, whilst waiting for paint and glue to dry on some other builds, I thought I`d give my old Hobbycraft Hurricane builds a bit of a refurb` First up is my attempt at making a IIB from the IIC/IID kit, based in Burma Added extra 4 guns and filled in the panel lines on the wings The second is a IIC based in India Which you saw a year or two ago which I`ve refined the weathering a bit Thirdly a Burma based IID, which I initially painted with Grey and Green Camo` Also added a few details I`d left off And finally, a Malaysian based IV Which has got a resin armoured radiator which was meant for the Hasegawa kit and rockets from a Tamiya Mossie or Beaufighter I know the Hobbycraft kit has a few faults but it`s easier to get hold of, cheaper and because they`re all the same.... none of them look out of place Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking Cheers Russ

Hi, Next archive but also current model from my shelves. Henschel Hs 126. The model is by Matchbox but with many modifications. The most important one was enlarging of the profile height - the original wing of Matchbox kit is really flat. I made it by glueing on top a 1 mm thick plastic card (10 mm wide) and the profile I constructed using Humbrol Body-putty (filler). What happend next - after years was a unpleasent surprise: the filler drying shrank (since it dries by evaporation) and the wings became not flat - one side was more straight another one was more of banana shape...Of course not very strong, but visble. Edit '2017: I have found photo of cross section of wing: One can see that I added about 1/3 of profile thickness from the top. (end of added in 2017) A year ago a decided to do a correction of this. Moreover - the splitter two-tones painting scheme which I made on this was considered a false one - maschines were delivered to Greece in three-tone camo and then in late 1940 were painted to RAF-like to tone (DkGreen /DkEarth - not exactly RAF colours). However I liked to left machine in splitter camo and learn more about whole story - so I started a thread in WW II section ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234982649-rhaf-hs-126-camo-question/?hl=%2Bhenschel+%2B126#entry2002010). Thank to replies I've got i made the camo presented today. Many, many thanks to all mates, who took part in that discussion. The machine is "sigma-45" - the photo of this Hs-126 in splitter camo taken after collaps of Greece was send by one of FM on the thread above mentioned. So I made this one. I added a bomb rack (my interpretation of possible look - based on the photos, unfortunately not a drawing) and additional MG on nose. The model (already in build in 1999) has many small improvments done following the drawings published in Polish monography on Hs 126 (Zbigniew Luranc, "Henschel 126" - Skrzydła w Miniaturze (in Polish). Gdańsk, Poland: Avia-Press, 1995) and changed to sigma -33 seen on some photo instead of sigma -37 in profile. Here it how she lookes now: https://www.flickr.com/photos/152188754@N05/36171983911/in/dateposted-public/ To made the wing back correct I cut one side and added a plastic spacer and on other side I had to cut it triple. Here is a photo showing this surgery I am quite satisfied with rescuing this model... Comments welcome Cheers Jerzy-Wojtek

Hi, The second today very old kit with plus fourty years from doing her - Yokosuka/Kugisho P1Y Ginga in Allies code "Frances". Kit by Revell (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/135250-revell-h-103-kugisho-p1y1-2-ginga). This is bomber version. I also made her in sometime between 1974 and '76. This is my last one Revell old Japan - after Ki 21, Ki 49 Donryu, Ki 45 Toryu, Nakajima Gekko and Nakajima Hayate - which I posted before. The decals had some shift between yellow and background white - I did not tried to correct it. Only upper wing decals are replaced since they became too dirty. I never added too much exploitation - just very few signs of it. Perhaps I was happy with uniiform matt Airfix 21 cover from top... Comments welcome and regards Jerzy-Wojtek

Hi Another model from shelvs - DH 98 Mosquito Mk XVIII in colours of 248 Squadron RAF, during summer of 1944. This variant of Mosquito was eguipped with 57 mm gun and was mainly used in CC duties. I made it in 1995. Model was made from Airfix kit, I do not remember any improvments besides home made individual markings. I posted a single photo of this model in my post on Tamiya Mk IV converted to Mosquito PR MK XVI http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234966442-de-havilland-mosquito-pr-xvi-tamiya-conv-pavla-reshaped/ on which he is together with PR Mk XVI), but I hope that I am not abusing rules posting photos of this model separately Comments welcome Cheers Jerzy-Wojtek

Ok, this isn't "Armour" but since I've seen a Kübelwagen here, I suppose this is the right section to present my 1/72 Profiline Steyr 1500 Truck. I have a special interest in this vehicle as it was built in my country - in the town of Steyr in Upper Austria, to be exact (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steyr). Profiline seems to be a subsidiary of Special Hobby, and the same kit is also marketed under their 'Special Armour' range. It comes in various set-ups, as a cargo truck or ambulance vehicle. When CMK/Special Hobby attended IMPS Austria's Go Modelling in March 2016 they had some version of this kit reduced -50%. I got myself three. Here's the first one finished. As it is of short-run nature, some fiddling and fettling is neccessary to get everything lined-up. Cargo are resin items from CMK, my spares box and scratch built tarpaulin (from rubber gloves). Painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics, weathering with artist's oils and pastel chalks. Windshield wipers and rear view mirror are scratch built from photo etch scraps. Hope you like this tiny truck!

Hi Looking around in net for photos of Dornier Do 22 I've met something surprising to me. The escaped to Egipt after fall of Yugoslavia Dorniers were used in RAF structures but they were having very unusual national insignia. Look at this photo: The roundel below wings is not an English neither Yugoslavian one. If you compare to fin flash, which is suppoused to be Yugoslavian Blue/White/Red flag it looks like narrow red, then narrow white and huge blue circle inside. However, the Serbian company Lift Here reproduced decals as just outside red, inside blue (without white between): http://lifthereserbia.50webs.com/744-LH.htm This is second surprise (first was unusual insignie themselvs) - the Serbian company should be well informed on this topic, as I suppouse. Maybe better than Czech CMK specialists, who made typical British roundels B http://www.cmkkits.com/res/data/022/002286.jpg?seek=2 Next is painting scheme. On this photo The pattern is mach more "patchy" (and perhaps three colours) then on other photos (below), where it is definitly two-tone scheme, with large regular spots: I hope that among this forum some "RYAF in exile" experts appears - please clarify the details of paintings schemes (applied colours - was is Dark Slate Gray over original RYAF light gray?) and reveal some details about national insignia changes/mutations. I am considering build of Xotic Do -22 in this unusual pattern... Best regards Jerzy-Wojtek

Hello Chaps, It's been a long haul build- 8 weeks in total, but that is because my wife and I are actively involved with contractors working on our new home that we will be moving to in mid-April....sorting out kitchen design, wood flooring, carpeting, tiles for kitchen and bathrooms, shower designs, paint colors for every room, new faucets for all sinks, choosing granite countertops and sinks for kitchen and bathrooms, new light fixtures and door handles etc etc....I hope this is the last time we have to move now, moving is a stressful and tiring event! Anyway, enough of the waffle and lets get on with sharing photos of my completed build, which is built straight from the box, no after market additions, only using 1.010" fine black EZ-Line for the antenna cables. I hope you like.... Regarding what I think of this kit: It's a great kit that goes together well, has some nice features such as a highly detailed cockpit, pose-able ailerons, flaps, elevators, rudder and air-brakes, recessed panel lines and other surface detail. The parts were all molded very well, with minimal flash and/or parting line miss-match that required clean up before painting. It offers two sets of markings, I chose to do this version that was active in the "Battle of Britain", and the decals are excellent- they go down very well on a gloss clear coat with no silvering, and once the finishing matt clear coat was applied, they look painted on. I did come across two issues during the build: 1) When fitting the engine nacelles to the undersides of the wings, I had a considerable gap between the mating areas of the front and rear nacelles. This is discussed in my "Final Reveal" video and can be seen in my "WIP" thread....links below: 2) When fitting the wheels onto their axles, both axles sheared off very easily and remained inside the wheel mating holes. I drilled these out of the wheels and drilled corresponding holes into the wheel struts and fitted steel pins. I then took a black rubber Tamiya propeller bushing and cut it down the middle to create two thinner bushings. I slid these over the new steel axles and super glued them into place. These then provided some surface area for the wheel hubs to glue to. Again, I used CA glue to fit the wheels in place and it worked a treat, providing me with a very rigid and stronger undercarriage. WIP thread link: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234996419-revell-pro-modeler-132-junkers-ju-88a-1-bomber-build-update-5-31516/ My YouTube "Final Reveal" video link: This kit would be superb if it came with two completely detailed Jumo 211B-1 engines, external bomb pylons and bombs and an open bomb bay with internal bomb racks and bombs!! That would make it super eye candy and a fabulous kit to work on.....I can dream! Thanks in advance for taking a look at this RFI and for any comments left, they are greatly appreciated! In the meantime, and until the start of my next build which won't be until we have moved and settled into our new home-probably the end of April, happy modeling and have fun! Cheers Martin

A fun site, not really for experts but more for children, i think. Sorry for clogging this otherwise very accurate resources section! But i think it can be a nice read for a modeller who is stalling on a build for example. Here is: A beginner's WWII aircraft camouflage and markings guide. (there are a few mistakes however, sorry but i have no connection what-so-ever with the site so cannot change anything about it) http://www.fritzthefox.com/camo_guide.html Also, a funny speculative article about the F-35 versus the spitfire, the EE Lightning against the spitfire, and other dissimilar warfare ideas. http://www.fritzthefox.com/f35_vs_spitfire.html Or google "fritz the fox". Regards, Johnny.

Hi, A second vintage, a 40 years old model posted by me today. This is Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka. Model by Hasegawa, from set with G4M1 Betty (which I did almost 15 years later...) painting scheme for machine found in Okinawa in 1945 (that what I have in my notes about her). Only cleaned from dust after 40 years from constructing her. Regards and comments welcome Jerzy -Wojtek

Hi, This is mine number nine of this year - all were "odd and old Germans". Now it is Heinkel He 114. The model is made out of Mach -2 kit with some reshaping - some of the needed reshaping as well as confusion with drawings I discussed in WIP therad here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235000446-mach-2-heinkel-he-114-172/ As resume of what was corrected they were: the horizontal stabilizers were a bit swept into rear, the fin was cut and reshaped as well as the rudder was mounted a bit more vertical, the struts were shortered to lower the upper wing regarding fuselage, new canopy was done, some changes were also dane in interior of cockpit and the wing was cut outside the central part to make some dihedral of wing. In addition to what was said here (and there, ie. in WIP) I shortered also front of fuselage (behind the cowling) by ca. 2 mm and the small ploat rudders (? - this part in the end of float) were much slowered. I hope all this modification made the model more similar to the real thing, what can be perhaps noticed studying the photos in net. Initally I was thinking on doing this machine in Romanian markings, although I've read on use of He-114 on board of German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin in Indian Ocean during 1940. This is a fascinating and terrible story that really crude war was conducted also on Indian Ocean - more about the Pinguin one can read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_auxiliary_cruiser_Pinguin Since I found some contradictinary data on painting scheme of machine from Pinguin I asked BM memebers in this thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234999389-any-info-on-heinkel-he-114-with-fake-british-roundels-indian-ocean-1940/ for a help. Finally in the post #41 by Nick Millman there a testimony of a witness says: "The aircraft were painted with usual German sea camouflage, the lower surface of the wings being painted light blue, the upper surface green, blue and black. During its attack on "Filefjell" the aircraft used markings similar to those of South African Air Force, namely, black, white and orange roundels" Since both darker camouflage colour and outside of roundels are named here "black" I decided to do roundels in very deep blue and of course the camo (green/black in testimony) made as a standard Krigsmarine RLM72/73 (Humbrol 243/244 - the new colours). I made the roundels, especially those from bottom, as large as possible - guessing that this was their role - to be well visible. Below is my proposition of how the Pinguin's He-114 might have look like. I made some intense weathering since the machine was all the time exposed to weather - if not in air it was on deck. However - I am not sure if the paint cover was not maintancedall the time to keep soldiers busy... Comments welcome as always and best regards. Jerzy-Wojtek

Hi, Is anybody know something about the painting scheme of Heinkel He -114, which was used on German ship Pinguin on southern Indian Ocean in 1940? The machine was painted in false British markings. More about it here: http://pacificeagles.net/german-raiders-in-the-indian-ocean/ It was replaced then by Arado - 196. The profiles for this Arado (also with false British markings) exist, but for He-114 I never seen. I is a very temptating topic to make a model of He-114. The main alternative is Romanian one... Can anyone help? Best reghards Jerzy-Wojtek