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Good morning, just to show some progress of the Academy Crusader. I will add the aires cockpit set (the first I ever used), and the quickboost flaps. As you may know, if the wind is raised, the flaps/slats will automatically come down. It's something which academy has forgotten. For the decals, I will use the excellent sheet from Xtradecal. I started with the white parts, which are built into the fuselage. It's all gunze flat white acrylic, then a brush cote of the german "clear" (Erdal Glänzer), and some oil wash. Wheels are done with revell anthrazite, brush painted, after a drop of highly diluted oil colour where the tire meets the rim. That give a sharp edge. Airbrake is shown without washing, to show the difference. A detail photo of the main gear bay. The lowered slats. Since the parts are already separate, I just needed to sand the edges down, and fill the gap with some sheet. On the underside, I filled the gap with some stretched sprue, glued with extra thin cement. right hand side already filled, left side to go. The cockpit. Nice details, however I prefer seats with moulded harness. A coat of primer, then DSG, some drybrushing, and detailling with revell acrylics. The dashboard looks also better than the kit part. HUD will be added later, just before the windscreen. Thanks for attention! Alex

On Hannant's 'Future Releases' list - http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72217 I'll be in for one of these, for sure Cheers, Stew

Was'on For my next project I'll be building the 1/48 Eduard P-47D 'Jugs over Europe' edition kit. It will be built OOB apart from a HGW Sutton harness and Xtradecals decals and it will be built as Thunderbolt II S/N KL328 '14' which was on strength with 73 OTU, Fayid Egypt 1945. So far I've completed the engine with the only additions being some wire to representing the ignition harness.. And I've also started on the engine cowling, painting it using Citadel paints with Boltgun as the base with the cowling flaps in Mithril silver.. Well that's it for now Yours aye Iain

I am currently working on one of the recent Mk.1 Hurricane's from Airfix (the 111 Squadron/Belgium box)and finishing it as SD-A, L2039 in the colours of 501 Squadron Featured on Xtradecal set 72193, from May 1939 as per this photo-> (http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hurricane/RAF-501Sqn-SD/pages/Hurricane-MkI-RAF-501Sqn-SD-A-L2039-Montagu-Clube-crash-landing-Tangmere-1st-May-1939.html)and was hoping for some guidence regarding some of the details, in particular, would the prop be the 2 blade or 3 blade type?(looking at the discarded hub I'm thinking 3), would the red doped patches on the wing l/e be in use around May 1939 or was that a later feature? would the engine exausts be the earlier or later type featured in the kit? & am I correct in thinking that the roundels on the upper wings would be 'B' type(after the Munich crisis September 1938)? Progress so far http://i.imgur.com/iSCqQ8V.jpg Any advice greatly appreciated Cheers Vincent

Ok so I am doing the Heller 1:48 Jaguar GR1A from 54 Squadron from 1991. It is XZ112 and has the blue fin with the yellow and blue chevrons on the drop tanks. Now the Heller kit gives you these decals but they are black not blue and also the are frankly awful! Xtradecal looks to have done a set in 1:72 and 1:48 but I can't seem to find any so I thought I would ask on here to see if anyone had any? Happy to purchase! Thanks Chris

Hi All, Well you know what they say, you can never have too many spitfires... Just finished build number 2 for the year, which going at my slow work rate would be something of an achievement if i hadn't got most of the actual construction complete before Christmas I started this in the vain hope/anticipation that a major manufacturer would bring out a more accurate mk.XIV from the box but well..theres always next year... As the title says, this is the Academy Mk XIVc kit with the Daco improvement set grafted on to it. The kit itself is lovely to build, with great fit and finely rendered surface detail but with various dimensional 'issues' that result in a bit of a fat overall appearance with a badly shaped nose, spinner, props, radiators and rear fuselage that result in a bit of a portly approximation of what is IMHO the most brutishly beautiful mark of spitfire. As i'm sure many of you know the Daco set goes some way to improving the overall look, i have to agree but you be the judge... Its my first resin conversion of sorts and was a nice kit to use, the detail on the replacement nose section were soft to non existent in places so that had a rescribe and an attempt at doing the DZUS fasteners with a bit of sharpened Revell contacta glue tube and a pin. I added some Eduard etch parts for the panel and seatbelts to dress the pit up a bit, though the detail out of the kit is pretty nice. Also added the underside ID light in what I understand to be the correct position for a mk.XIV and also the little boat antenna underneath and main antenna on the spine from fine fishing line. Finished with Tamiya XF81/82/83 for the main camo colours and Xtracrylics matt (well satiny) varnish. Also had a go at hairspray chipping for the wing roots and some access panels and AK effects oil streaking for the underside, which I think both came out OK for a first go, the chipping was quite good fun too Decals are from one of the two mk.XIV/XVIII sheets recently released by Xtradecals and went on really well. They are great sheets with some lovely options but only issue i had is that the fin flash as supplied has the red part chamfered to fit to the front of the fin but the profile that comes with the decals and any contemporary pics I could find of a mk.XIV show a rectangular fin flash aligned with the back of the fin. Managed to fix this by borrowing the correct flash from an airfix mk.22 that I have. Anyway, enough waffle as my fat little fingers are struggling to get this all typed up before the end of my official lunch break... On with some pics and any C&CC greatly appreciated as ever, cheers for looking, Stu

Hello all, Only joined BM a couple of weeks ago - found the site whilst researching tips for the big Mossie Mrs Card got me for Christmas. It's very close to completion now, so I thought I'd post a couple of pics of where I am and what I've learnt on my return to the habit after a long break. Here's the beast as is (astute observers will spot the bit I've left to do - more later): I really wanted the AEAF stripes, and spotted the Xtradecal scheme at Hannants, so I've followed that. I'll post some build pics later on. Lessons learned: 1) The cost of the kit is about 1/3rd of what I spent in total (starting from scratch, you understand). I now have paints galore, an airbrush, brushes by the dozen, files, masking tape etc etc. 2) The internet is the second best thing you can use for a build. This site, amongst others, has provided a mine of hints, tips and tricks. 3) Cocktail sticks are the best thing. From fiddly repositioning to decal placement to getting paint out of that hole to cleaning transparencies to chewing vigourously when my patience is running thin - they're my new best friends. 4) Don't just test positions before gluing for the step you're on. Mispositioning can throw out steps a long way further on (I'm talking about the MG adjusters in particular here). 5) Probably most frustrating - Humbrol Decalfix works beautifully on the Airfix decals. Got the 'Keep Off' decal to hug all the rivets which amazed me. Using it on Xtradecal decals made them disintegrate. Hence the missing 'W' and shiny patch on the port side - gold star if you spotted it. New set ordered and will be applied at the weekend. 6) Xtracrylic paints do not like Isopropyl alcohol. I now have a tub of blue & yellow cake mix where I tried to thin their 'Sky' colour for the underside. Lots of other things that I'm sure all the vets here have all been through. I am now looking for an old shop display stand to put the thing in (dimensions: 75cm x 60cm x 15cm at least to hold the thing). I'll post on Ready for Inspection when complete. Enjoy Si M...

Well, it's been a while since I last logged in and posted an update on my modelling. To be honest, I lost interest in modelling for the best part of a year and it's only since Christmas that I've been doing anything - slowly getting back into the swing of it. At the moment it's mostly finishing off stuff I couldn't face, back when the modelling urge left me and a number of fairly undemanding OOBs. The first to report is that TSR2 that I was working on (and had a hissy fit over...). Here she is in her glory,. Nothing like as classy as some of the other Britmodeller's TSR2's. I know, I know. I bodged the canopy something rotten, and the undercarriage doors shouldn't be open. I'm just happy to have finished it. The decals are Xtradecal of course...

Hi Here is my Airfix 1/72 Hawk TMk2 bought in the recent Jadlam sale for £7. I built it from the box with the only additions being masking tape seat belts, a cut-down dress-maker's pin for the pitot and the very nice Xtradecal RAF Anniversary Update 2011/2012 I sprayed the model with Tamiya X-1, and following the decal application, I brushed on a coat of Klear (removing some of the minuscule stencil decals in the process!) I didn't use all the Airfix stencils, as I felt that they might ruin the look of the model. I'm sorry about the picture quality, but the winter overcast is not conducive to good photographs.

New 1/48th Westland Wessex Xtradecal sheet ref. X48111. Due Late August 2012. - HC.2 XS674/H 78 Sqn RAF Khormaksar, Aden 1966; - HC.2 XV726/J 'Jennifer' 72 Sqn RAF Odiham 2002; - HAR.2 XT680 84 Sqn RAF Akrotiri 2002; - HAR.2 XT601 SAR Flight RAF Muhurraq, Bahrein 1979; - HAR.2 XR504 B Flight 22 Sqn RAF Leuchars 1990; - HU.5 XT479/W-X/VL 707 NAS RNAS Yeovilton 1977; - HU.5 XT770 VIP aircraft 781 NAS 1979 'Green Parrot'; - HU.5 XS241 RAE Farnborough 1986 Raspberry Ripple. Source: http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X48111 V.P.