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Hi Guys, I'm about to start the new Airfix 1/48 P-51D Mustang, and looking at Eduard there appears to be two different sheets ( EX689 and EX650 ). They do appear to be almost identical, but I want to make sure I get the correct sheet. The kit is numbered A05131A , which has markings for the 55th. FG and 357th. FG. Any help would be much appreciated.

Eduard 1/32 "Weekend Edition" Messerschmitt BF109E-3 "Final Reveal" (8.17.15) Hello Chaps, So, she's finally completed and here are my "Final Reveal" photos of her. I hope you like?! If you've followed my build updates for this kit, you'll be aware of the fit issues that were present when trying to assemble the engine, bulkhead and firewall into the space provided, having to file around 2.0mm away on the width and length of the engine assembly and fuselage internal walls combined, along with filing down the length of the internal assembly and its location points within the fuselage to get it to fit. I also had to jack up the engine with spacers to ensure the exhausts stacks lined up with the apertures that they go through, as well as file the exhaust aperture to make them wider and longer due to the exhausts being larger and not going through. Regarding whether I think this is a VFM kit - "Value For Money" kit, the answer would be an unequivocal and resounding "No"! I base this on the cost of the kit compared to the newly tooled Revell Germany 1/32 BF109G-10 that I modelled. Although the Revell kit doesn't come with a Daimler-Benz DB601A engine, it does have nice cockpit and external details and goes together extremely well without the need for filler. The Eduard kit is 50% more expensive than the Revell Germany kit and one has to ask oneself..."Do I want to pay 50% more just to include an engine that is problematic to fit?". Also, if you chose not to display the engine with the Eduard kit, then I would say that you'd be wasting your money paying the extra for a kit that includes an engine, for it not to be used...you definitely should choose the Revell kit if you take that option and save yourself $12.00. The Revell Germany 1/32 BF109G-10 was $23.95 and the Eduard 1/32 BF109E-3 was $35.95. Regarding providing my scores for the overall quality of engineering, quality of molded product, quality of details included, quality of the instruction manual and the decals and packaging, I score as follows: Quality of Engineering Fits: 4/10 based on how badly engineered the internal assemblies were when fitting inside the fuselage halves. Filler was required in a few places. The worst gap was at the underside front end of the two fuselage halves. The gap was around 2.0mm, which led me to file down the sides of the oil cooler, the front exhaust stacks and the inside faces of the fuselage halves where they mated. Without destroying the exhaust stacks, there was still a gap of around 0.75mm that I filled. There were also gaps of about 1.0 to 1.5mm all around the rear area of the wing assembly where it joins the fuselage on the belly of the plane. I had to fill these areas, too. Quality of molded product: 9/10- the product is very nicely molded, parts are crisp and clean with just a few spots of flash. No warp was present on any of the parts and ejector pin witness marks were away from visual areas. I didn't have any sink marks to contend with and the canopy parts were nice and clear with minimal distortion when looking through. There are finely recessed panel lines and rivet details, although some of the rivet details are too fine for them to show when the plane is given a dirt wash during the finishing stage. A good rivet forming tool would cure that, should you have one and want to attempt improving them. Quality of details included: 8/10- The included engine, bulkhead and firewall have nice details that look good at the end of the build, but they require a lot of patience to get them to fit. The undercarriage is nicely detailed too and includes brake lines and treaded tyres. The cockpit is very nicely detailed and would be enhanced more with after-market seatbelts and foot pedals, but as always, I build "Out of Box" to establish a fair assessment of what you're getting for your money compared to similar kits. Quality of the instruction manual: 9/10- I thought it was very easy to follow, but, it would be nice if the painting instructions were in color. They are if you chose to buy the "Profi-Pak" version instead of this "Weekend Edition" version. Quality of Decals: 8/10- There is only one option for color and markings. The main decals are very good and go down well onto a gloss clear coat in combination with a good decal setting solution, adhering to recesses and surface features. However, some of the smaller stencils had a tendency to "Silver" which I hid with weathering and painting ove the silver areas. Quality of packaging: 9/10- the box is a two part base and lid construction with the base being very sturdy cardboard. I prefer the base and lid style rather than the open end version provided by Revell. Sprues are packaged in clear polythene bags. Further notes: I wouldn't recommend this kit to a beginner because of the fit issues, it's definitely a kit for the more experienced modeler who has patience to overcome the fit issues. Did I enjoy the build?- I did up until the fit issues arose, then it was a "Debbie downer" until those were overcome. Then after that, the rest of the build was smooth sailing. Would I buy this kit again? NO! I'd hope that Revell Germany would Introduce the engine details into their kits for an extra $5.00 which I'd pay willingly, as long as there were no issues. Or, I'd recommend the Trumpeter 1/32 BF109E models that come complete with engine details, a fret of PE and rubber tyres. If you'd like to see my "Final Reveal" video for this update, here is the link to that: https://youtu.be/ej54LH-n8iY Thanks for following along with this build and for your comments, much appreciated! Time to get back onto the Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk.II when the replacements for the missing and damaged parts arrive next week! Happy modeling and have fun! Cheers Martin

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

Revell 1/32 Messerschmitt BF109G-10 "Erla" "Final Reveal" There are two options available with this model and I chose to do the version as flown by Ace of Aces Luftwaffe Pilot Erich "Bubi" Hartmann who was credited with the highest number of aerial victories ever recorded- 352! This is another great newly tooled 1/32 scale kit from Revell of Germany (GmbH); very nice crisp clean moldings with great details including recessed panel lines, rivets, a great cockpit, undercarriage, movable flaps, elevators, ailerons and rudder! The decals are cartograf and go down very nicely indeed. My only issues with this kit are: 1) For this size kit, I was expecting it to come with a detailed Daimler Benz DB605 engine, but it doesn't. That would have been another nice addition to this kit to be able to have the engine cowlings hinged open to show off the engine, which then allows further options for after-market maintenance men, or "black-men" as they were known due to wearing all black overalls, to be posed working on the engine. 2) The main undercarriage have a sloppy fit between the axle lugs and their locations within the wheel-wells. This could be improved with simple modification in the mold tooling to increase the geometry of the lugs so they are a nice slide fit/tighter fit within their location points. I had to super-glue mine in position one at a time and hold their position until the fast acting super-glue had set solid. Super-glue is highly recommended for ensuring that the main undercarriage is fixed solidly. 3) The assembly instructions have some incorrectly numbered parts ie the part numbers in the instructions do not match the part numbers on the sprues. 4) The kit has some alternative parts, such as three versions of rudder and two styles of vertical stabilizer, but, they're are no references indicating which one of the optional versions to use with the two different options of aircraft that can be modeled. So, again, this forces you to do research to find out from available images which versions look correct for the particular plane you build. 5) The painting instructions have color call-outs that are mixed around on the orthographic views; which could confuse a younger modeler that doesn't bother to research and check where the grey/green and grey violet camo colors go. ie, you could easily end up having the green camo airbrushed/painted where it should be grauviolet and vice-versa. 6) The two upper camo color call outs are for RLM 74 Graugrun and RLM 83 Lichtgrun over RLM 76 Lichtblau, In my opinion and following research, the RLM 83 Lichtgrau is incorrect and should be replaced with RLM 75 Grauviolet, which is what I did. 7) As with the part numbering and color call out references, some decals are incorrectly referenced, too. My conclusion is this kits instruction/assembly booklet missed the quality control checks during manufacture/production and hence the issues pointed out above. But, that said, I still believe it to be a great value for money kit that is engineered very well with some great details. I paid $22.50 for this kit and it is available on line from Hobbylinc.com and Scalehobbyist.com for $23.95, that's about 16.00 quid for our British friends. Anyway, with that out of the way, let's move onto the "Final Reveal" photos, and forgive me, there are 37 of them?!! I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed this build! Well, there she is! My conclusion to this build is that this is a great value for money kit that is well engineered, goes together great and offers some great details and options. I paid $22.50 for this kit, and it is available from Hobbylinc.com and Scalehobbyist.com for $23.95; that's about 16.00 quid for our British friends. If you've been thinking about buying/building this kit, you won't be disappointed, I really enjoyed building her. I'd give this kit 4.5 stars out of 5 or 9 out of 10, based on my points mentioned above. Thanks to everyone that has followed this build both on here and on my YouTube channel, and, for leaving encouraging comments, greatly appreciated! In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my "YouTube "Final Reveal" video for this build, then here is the link to that: https://youtu.be/_q-AcPsBLTU If you didn't catch my "Build Update" thread on here, for this build, here is the link to that thread, too: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234984450-revell-132-messerschmitt-bf109g-10-erla-as-flown-by-erich-bubi-hartmann-build-update-4/ Until the next build, happy modeling and have fun! Cheers! Martin

Hello Guys, This will be my second Revell 1/32 Scale model that I have built and will go alongside my first one- the Revell 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 Seaplane in a diorama that I have planned. This kit retails in my Local Hobby Store for $27.50, but I had a $5.00 coupon to use making it only $22.50 (about 15.00 quid in the UK), which at first hand appears to be great value for money! Erich "Bubi" Hartmann was the Ace of Aces with the highest number of air victories that totaled 352, which earned him the "Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds". Introduction to the kit: The Box Art: The Box Contents: Inside the box are 4 clear bags of grey sprues, 12 in total and 1 clear bag containing 2 clear sprues. There's a 16 page black and white assembly/instruction/painting and decaling booklet and a sheet of cartograf decals. The Sprues: Sprues A and B: Sprue C: Sprues D, G and H: Sprue K: Sprue M: Sprue N: Clear Sprues O and P: The 16 page black and white Instruction/Assembly/Painting and Decalling Booklet: And finally, the decals: Initial Observations: The molded parts are very crisp and clean with zero flash apart from a couple of little areas. the parts have nice fine recessed panel lines and some rivet details. The clear molded parts are very clear and not thick with zero aberrations. The decals are excellent looking with zero carrier film beyond the decal edges. The black and white instruction booklet appears to be clear and concise, but the two paint and decal options would be better in color. There are three blank pages at the end of the booklet. The color call outs are in Revell colors only. I will make a final report when the build is complete indicating any issues that I come across. In the meantime, thanks for taking a look and I hope you enjoy following along with my build, which I started already, but haven't had the time until now to start this post thread due to family from Florida staying with us for the last 10 days. Anyway, if you'd like to see my "in-Box-Review" video for this kit, here is the link: https://youtu.be/PNScSYj4E6c My Build Update #1 report will follow shortly! Cheers, Martin