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  1. Piaggio P.108B Quadrimotore (SH72406) 1:72 Special Hobby The P.108B as you might have gleaned from the Italian name was a four-engined bomber that saw service with the Italian Air Force during WWII, and it had a similar performance envelope to its Allied equivalents, despite looking perhaps a little odd, especially around the nose. It first flew just before the end of 1939, entering service at around the same time as the British Lancaster in 1941, and showed much promise despite being about twice the cost of the existing bombers in service with the Italian Air Force at the time. When all factors were added up however, the bomb load and lower crew numbers made it a much more palatable proposition, and it won the competition for manufacture. There were other variants of the type considered, but the B was the only one that saw any substantial active service in North Africa and over Gibraltar, although their achievements were far from legendary, with high attrition due to accidents as well as through enemy action. After the Armistice with the Allies, support for the remaining aircraft fell away, and some were sabotaged to stop them from falling into German hands, although if they had, they may well have tied-up many German engineers trying to keep them in service, as was usually their wont. The 108T transport variant carried on to the end of the war in German hands, while the intended replacement for the 108B, the P.133 was never completed. The Kit This is a reboxing with additional parts of a 2004 tooling from Special Hobby after its last outing a few years ago. It arrives in a modest-sized top-opening box that is jammed full with sprues. There are five sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a bag of resin parts, a decal sheet and instruction booklet with colour profiles on the rear pages. The detail is typical of the period of Special Hobby’s output, but time has been very kind to the moulds that still seem to be as crisp as the day they were first created. The clear parts are nicely crafted too, and the resin is the icing on the cake. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with two seats for the pilots, which have tubular arms at the sides and pencil-rolled back cushions. The seats are placed on raised boxes and are fixed to the floor along with a central console on top of which the instrument panel sits, along with its decal to detail it. The 108B had twin controls, so two columns with yokes are glued in front of the seats, then the completed assembly is inserted into the starboard fuselage half once it has been painted internally and has clear windows and spar added, with a bulkhead and window blanking cover inserted further back, plus another on the port side. The fuselage is closed up once the port side has its windows added, then the elevator fins are made up from top and bottom halves and butt-jointed to the fuselage. Pinning the butt-joints would be a wise move to strengthen the joint here, and don’t forget to install the tail wheel and its strut before closing up the fuselage halves. The 108B has large wings with two engine nacelles per wing. The nacelles are made up first, with the larger inner one consisting of two halves, while the outer nacelle is a single part. The remotely-operated resin turrets are fitted into holes in the top of the outer nacelles along with their twin machine guns, another of the 108B’s oddities. The engines were designed to out-perform those of the opposition’s B-17, and in the kit they are each supplied as a single detailed part on a backplate, which fixes to a ledge in the two-part cowling. The engine mounting fairings are made from a cylindrical section with scallops around the edge, and a tapered section that receives the engine and its cowling. The inner nacelle has an insert slipped in from the front before it is added, for later use with the landing gear parts. The two wings slide over the short spar and are glued in position, allowing plenty of time for the glue to set up, taking care to align them correctly while the glue dries. The front of the fuselage is open at this stage, and once the floor for the bombardier has been inserted, the nose glazing can be glued in, choosing the turreted section or the glazed over parts depending on which decal option you have selected. The canopy is a single part that covers over the cockpit, as the crew enter and leave elsewhere. If you have selected one of the decal options with the nose turret, an additional piece of glazing and a resin gun are added above the main nose section, then an antenna and D/F fairing are positioned behind the cockpit, with two resin and clear styrene domes fitted into holes on the aft section of the cockpit hump above the trailing edge of the wings. This boxing has four resin prop bosses, which receive three styrene blades each, and each one needs a 1mm hole drilled in the rear so they can be fixed to the front of the engines later. More resin is used for the exhausts, with two pipes used per nacelle, giving the modeller a choice of two long hedgehog-style exhausts or shorter curved exhausts depending on the decal option. The outer nacelles have their exhausts on the underside of the cowling due to the presence of the gun turrets on the topside. Under the inner nacelles are the main gear bays, which receive Lancaster-like H-shaped twin struts with angled retraction jacks, plus a pair of bay doors, one on each side. The tyres are each two styrene parts and have a shallow flat-spot to indicate weight of the all-metal airframe compressing the air within. Another clear dome is fitted beneath the fuselage, a small resin intake glues under each engine cowling, then a few antennae are added to the nose while the props are fixed into position on the engines. Markings There are four decal options included on the sheet, with a broad range of colour schemes and even operators to choose from, especially considering there were only 24 made. From the box you can build one of the following: MM22004, Red 1, 274a Sqn. BGR, Regia Aeronautica, Guidonia, Spring 1942 MM22004, Red 1, Sqn. BGR, 2th July 1942 MM24325 of 274a Sqn. BGR, handed to the USAAF, Sept 1943 MM22005, Red 8, 274a Sqn. BGR, Regia Aeronautica, Decimomannu, Sardinia, July 1942 The decals are printed by Eduard and are in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. You may or may not know that as of 2021, the carrier film from Eduard decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier-free, making the decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view. Conclusion A welcome re-release of an odd four-engined Italian aircraft that many people may not have heard of before. Now where can I get one in 1:48? Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  2. Hi all. After a while I will do a new wip thread. I started the Modelcollect B-52H a few weeks ago. That´s where it should go... 60-0058 B-52H 410th Bomb Wing, K.I.Sawyer AFB, RAF Marham 5-6-79 by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, auf Flickr Started with the most typical detail of the BUFF, the stressed skin on large areas of its fuselage. I used a milling cutter from my Dremel and scribbed it by hand. The kit looks quite nice but lacks details in many areas. On the rear for sample some panels and the ECM-antennas are missing. Some other parts need to be changed for the early H-modell. That´s it for the beginning, hope you like it so far. Daniel
  3. De Havilland Mosquito B.XVI (A04023) 1:72 Airfix The Mosquito was one of the ground-breaking private projects of WWII, and it contributed a significant effort toward victory against Nazi Germany from its introduction in 1941 to the end of the war and beyond. Initially conceived by Geoffrey de Havilland as a fast bomber, it was not intended to carry armament, simply relying on speed to take it out of harm's way. Numerous versions were considered, but a twin-engine design with a wooden monocoque fuselage was eventually used, with space for four 20mm cannons in the forward section of the bomb bay. It was initially met with a very lukewarm reception from the Air Ministry, as they still clung to their obsession of turreted aircraft, the designs for which became heavy and complex, reducing speed both in the air and through the production line. After some shenanigans that included a mock-up of a turret behind the main canopy, DH were issued with a requirement for a 400mph capable light bomber/reconnaissance aircraft, which solidified as DH.98, and was named Mosquito. Despite having been ordered to stop development work after Dunkirk, DH carried on due to the vagueness of the request, and the prototype flew at the end of 1940. After lengthening the engine nacelles and splitting the flaps to cure poor handling at certain speeds, she flew for the ministry and managed to outpace a Spitfire, pulling away with a speed advantage of 20mph. Later developments of the Merlin engines that powered the Mossie included two-stage superchargers that gave the engine a substantial boost, with a commensurate increase in performance. A number of 7X series Merlin variants were fitted to the Mossie, which included the B.XVI that also had a pressurised cabin for the crew’s comfort at higher altitude, and it could comfortably cruise at 350mph at 30,000 feet. Without the gun pack in the belly, the XVI was capable of carrying the 4,000lb Cookie bomb, allowing it to punch well above its weight in terms of ordnance carriage as well. The Mosquito lines were split between bomber/recon variants with glass noses and fighter variants with the four cannons in the belly and four .303 machine guns in the nose. It really was the master of all things, as it showed when it became a night-fighter, torpedo bomber, and even in its dotage it was well-used as a target tug until the early 60s. The Mossie was even converted to carry two bouncing bombs called Highballs, and always gave a good account of itself, striking fear into the hearts of the opposition. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, which was evidenced by the German Focke-Wulf Ta.154 Moskito, which attempted to recreate the success of the wooden Mossie, but failed due largely to inferior construction and use of an acidic glue, causing delamination of the wings in the air. The Mosquito was mainly constructed by woodworkers that might otherwise have been left idle during the austerity of the war, and it was their skill and ingenuity that contributed to the success of the aircraft, and made it very economical to build using little in the way of strategic materials. Time is unkind to wood however, and very few Mosquitos have survived in airworthy condition, the last one in Britain was lost in 1998 in a fatal crash. Some day we may get to see one in the skies of the UK again, and there are already a few in the air elsewhere in the world. Not jealous. The Kit This is a brand-new tooling of a two-stage Mosquito by Airfix, and there are a lot of 1:72 modeller that have been looking forward to it for some time now. There has been a lot of back and forth on the forum about it over the months leading up to this moment, with some people happy, others complaining bitterly about this, that and the other. Some folks even accused it of being under scale due to a typo along the way. Of course there are going to be some issues, as kits – even modern 3D rendered ones – are created by fallible humans with limited resources, so all we can hope for is that the designers at Airfix have done their very best, having based their work on a LIDAR scan of an original at the RAF Museum, with additional help from Ian Thirsk, both of whom get a thank you at the front of the instruction booklet. The kit arrives in a red-themed top-opening box, and inside are six sprues in grey styrene, a sprue of clear parts, a decal sheet and the instruction booklet. A perusal of the sprues shows that detail is good, especially in the exterior, although there’s limited panel lines etc. thanks to the Mossie’s wooden construction. The interior is also well-detailed, although to my 1:48 modeller’s eyes, some of the cockpit instrumentation seems a little soft, but that could just be my scale bias. There is a high part-count at 161, and there has clearly been some forward planning going on judging by the layout of the sprues, but we’ll see more of that when other variants start popping out down the line. Construction begins with the interior, and just like the bigger Tamiya kits it is built up on the bomb bay roof, which also has a pair of spars moulded-in, onto which the front and rear bulkheads are mounted along with the cockpit floor that tapers to a rounded tip in the nose. The aft cockpit bulkhead, radio box and Gee box at an angle, together with tubing across the front of the spar and the two seats are added, the pilot getting a much more salubrious seat, while the navigator gets shoe-horned into the rear on a more basic two-part seat. The instrument panel has its rear portion fitted from behind with a representation of the rudder pedals, and cylindrical blocks at the rear of the panel to depict the backs of the dials, while the dials are covered with an instrument decal and plenty of setting solution to help it settle down. A simplified control column slots in front of the pilot, with clear bombsight in the nose for the navigator in his alternate role. Fitting the fuselage internal fuel tanks involves flipping the assembly over to insert the twin bags in over a central spine, then the assembly is flipped back and the spars slid into place on the port fuselage half. Here there are painting instructions for the moulded-in details, which are pretty good for the scale, and the interior green also makes an appearance in the tail wheel bay along with a small bulkhead to hang the tail-wheel off later. The other fuselage half is painted while you have the interior green out, then the fuselage halves are joined up, with an insert that accommodates the bomber hatchway and circular window, which is clear, as you’d expect. Behind the bomb bay is a small insert and another clear round part, and behind the dinghy bay on the top spine is another circular insert, this time in grey. The rudder fin is moulded into the fuselage, but the rudder itself is a separate part, so you’re able to deflect it as you see fit, while the elevator fins are two parts each, but unable to be deflected unless you get the razor saw out. Detail on the flying surfaces is excellent however, and there is a slight sink-mark at the root of one elevator, so check your example and smear a little filler on before you get too far. The complex landing gear of the Mossie is made up using the lower wings as a template or jig, but without gluing them initially, which is made abundantly clear in the diagrams along with the use of lilac to colour the parts. Each leg is made from two halves, with the cross-braces joining them together, and the mudguard resting on two points plus the oil tank high up on the legs. Here there are some of the door-bumper frames missing from the moulding, but as it’s missing on some of the larger scaled kits too, it seems churlish to complain, but some have and will. The over-thick mudguard would be an excellent candidate for thinning or replacing with a PE part due to the limitations of injection moulding, and a little wire can be used to replicate those delicate bumper parts if you’re so minded. This is done twice, one for each nacelle, and includes the two wheels, which have a flat-spot moulded-in and separate hubs. They also have block tread, which is quite well done, although some have complained about the blocky-ness of them. I quite like them personally, and they’ll look great under paint. With the landing gear temporarily removed, the wings are made up with their landing lights under the wing, and a couple of holes drilled if you’re fitting the drop-tanks, then the topside is glued on, with a completely clear tip so that the wingtip lights blend in well. I had a little smile when I saw those on the sprues, and another when I saw the P and S engraved on their tabs. If you’re a bone-head like me, I remember that Port is Left because it has the same number of letters. Keep It Simple Silly (KISS). Another bit of clever engineering takes place with the six exhaust stacks, which have three pipes per part and interleave to create the correct number for each side, with a handed box behind them that also have arrows pointing up and forward engraved on the rear so you don’t get them confused. They slot into the lower nacelle cowlings, with the upper section standing proud until the rest of the cowling is put in place. The nacelle halves are painted interior green where the moulded-in ribbing is, and there are front and rear bulkheads for the bay, and an axle for the prop at the front, then they’re closed up, have the chin scoop insert and a pair of small exhaust outlets added into recesses, plus the larger intake made from two parts slotting into a hole in the bottom. If you’re planning on leaving the bay doors closed, chop off the door hinges before fitting the single bay door. The bays can then be glued into the underside of the wing, with more green paint in the roof. Now for some more fun engineering! There are two “spare” parts in the sprues that have the work MASK in raised lettering on them, and guess what? They’re masking parts. You can tape, Blutak or tack-glue them in place around the hinges (they have cut-outs), and paint with gay abandon and no concern about your hard work in the gear bays getting ruined. Cool, eh? Before the wings are slid onto the spars, you should paint and install the radiator cores, which are again covered with arrows to ensure you put them in the correct way. How thoughtful. The landing gear, their bay doors and the props are installed on the nacelles now, with the prop made from front and back spinner plus a single part comprising all three paddle-bladed props, which is glued carefully onto the axle, with yellow printing showing where best to put the glue to leave you with a spinning prop. All this is doubled up of course, and if you’re not paying attention you could get confused between the wings like I did briefly whilst flicking back and forth in the instructions. There is a choice of open or closed bomb bay doors, with the simplest being closed, which requires just one part depicting the two bay doors. For the open option, there are door operating rams front and back, two bomb racks running perpendicular to the bay, with different-shaped pins ensuring you put them in the right place. The longitudinal bomb carriers lay over the ladder-racks, with another scrap diagram showing the correct angle of the rear pair, which are in the nose-down position to fit the bombs into the cramped bay. The bombs are simple two-part bodies with a stabilising ring added at the rear and some stencil decals included, which always improves the look. The open bay doors are fitted with a curved part in the rear, then glued in place on their hinge points upon the actuators. An optional pair of medium-sized slipped tanks are on the sprues for you to use if you want and have remembered to drill out the flashed over holes earlier. There is a pilot in this boxing, although he’s a little soft and is doing the usual “hands on lap” pose, as he’s only a single part. There’s no nav/bomb aimer though, which is a shame. With him in place (or not) the canopy is made from the main section with bulged side panels as separate parts, so take care in choosing the correct glue for these parts so you don’t fog them up. It should fit snugly in the cockpit aperture thanks to lugs front and rear, then you can add the observation windows at the side of the bomb aimer’s nook, and finally put his main window in place on the nose. Then it’s a choice of raised or lowered tail-wheel and a probe in the rudder fin, and that’s it. It’s worthy of note that a lot of Mossies had a grooved anti-shimmy tail-wheel, so check your references and see what you can do if it bothers you. Markings As usual with Airfix 1:72 kits of this size, there are two decal options, both wearing the same upper camouflage, while one has a night black lower with high demarcation for operations in darkness. The daylight schemed Mossie also has a few replacement panels on the upper wing that haven’t yet been matched to the paintwork, so remember to mask those off while you’re painting. Mosquito B.XVI No.571 Sqn., No.8 (Pathfinder) Group, RAF Oakington, Cambs., England. Sept 1944 Mosquito B.XVI No.109 Sqn., RAF Wyton, Cambs., England. 1944 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The inclusion of instrument decals and plenty of stencils is good to see at this scale, as I believe that these details add lots of visual interest to a model. Conclusion A new Two-Stage Mossie in 1:72 will make a lot of modellers happy, and while it’s not perfect (what kit is?), it’s a good-looking, well-detailed model of a beautiful aircraft, and the dramatic box art will draw in a lot of impulse purchases. It’s also nice to be reviewing a Mossie again, even if it’s not in my own preferred scale. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  4. Hallo again Here is my Fe2b. From WNW in 1/32. I did all after I did the Dh2 in 32 and 48. Therefore, I was a little more experienced. Well, WW1 a/c are a challenge and I like it sometimes more as a jet. Depends on my mood. Fun to build. Nice to grasp the rigging. Happy modelling
  5. ADP MASTER modell 1/72 Iljuschin IL-4 W.I.P. by Andrii Dzhuran. Dedicate to Benedikt (thank you for an interesting idea and good recommendation) Hi folks! The display stand for the RA-5C VIGGI is dries after painting now and I have a bit spare time for the start of new one "work in progress". So. Ilyushin IL-4 Bomber As early as beginning of the thirties, a group of desiners of the Central Desigh Office, headed by S.W. Ilyushin, started developing a twin - engine long - range bomber. Finally, the prototype of ZKB-26 was built as a mixes construction and equipped with the M-85 engines. This bomber started on its maiden flight already in 1935. Only a few month later, the modified version of type ZKB-30 was completed as all-metal construction. The IL-4 flew in the formations of the soviet airforce as long - range bomber, torpedo bomber and as long-range reconnaissance plane and towing airplane for transport gliders untill 1946. Although four prototypes had been constructed no serial production was started. Thus, the IL-4 remained the last bomber Ilyushin had developed with piston engines.
  6. Hi guys, been a while since I posted any work here, so it thought I would post up a recently finished kit. Here we have the old and very vintage Airfix Short Stirling bomber in 1:72. If any of you have built this kit (judging by its age there may well be a fair few of you out there) it is in the kindest possible term, a DOG. If it were a car, it would be a Mini Metro with bead mat seat covers and beige interior. I could list all the problems and jobs done to just get the kit to fit properly never mind gain more accuracy but it would be a three page epic so if anybody really wants to know, PM me and I can eventually email a full write up on what I did. Kit was painted with Vallejo Air Dark Earth, Dark Green, Mat Black and Humbrol Interior Green, three coats of Pledge gloss and the mat coat was Winsor and Newton. Weathering used Humbrol 11, oil pastels and some small amount of charcoal in places.
  7. Hallo again Here is my Gotha Vb in 1/72 from Roden. It was a challenge for me this huge bomber and the first time the decaling the wings and fuselage. Some years ago for our special exhibition at the Austrian Army museum. Today my AEG from WNW is in the pipeline. Fun to build. Nice the task of the rigging. Happy modelling
  8. Hallo This model is from Monogram 1/48 B-24. Old versatile kit. Interior mostly self-made. This model was a shared occupation with my wife Ruth; she is also very active on the forum with her F-16 yet. Anyway, the challenge was the second time use of Alclat. Happy modelling
  9. Hi all, Having revisited my first-ever WIP thread on this forum this evening, with a view to replacing the many Photobucket ransom demands with appropriate pics from my Flickr album, it occurred to me that I never actually got round to completing a proper RFI thread for the finished model. I think at the time the lack of any facility for taking a decent photo, coupled with the feeling that the resulting quality (compared to the many masterpieces shown here) didn't really warrant it, meant that I just quietly forgot about it. The WIP was posted way back in February 2016, and can be found here in case you are interested. I recently took some RFI pics for my Alam Halfa diorama, and once they were done I took the opportunity to take some of the Ki-30. I feel now that I can share these, on the basis that I owe it to myself to heed whatever observations and criticisms are coming to me. This subject marked a return to modelling for me after a gap of some 30+ years, so not surprisingly the results are a little bit 'ragged'. So with that in mind, and a deep breath, I offer this set of photos: So there you go - better late than never, and all that! All criticisms gladly accepted
  10. Have just obtained the lovely Williams Bros B-10 kit, and looking forward to using it as my first In Progress build log here on the Forums. That said, I want to do a fair bit of extra detailing for the interior. The kit provides a decent basis for the interior, but leaves the inside of the forward turret quite entirely empty. Does anyone have any nice references for the inside of the B-10? And does anyone know of any detail issues with the kit? So far, I am assuming that the pictures on Military Factory of the B-10 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force are correct - But I question the combination of interior elements in both aluminum and green zinc chromate. It is my understanding that aircraft had one or the other, but that may not be true. Many thanks for your time, Tweener.
  11. Hi all, I'm back again. This time, after a unanimous vote (from Christian, whom we all know is exiled to Africa!), my next attempt at self-flagellation will be the notorious Mach 2 B-45 Tornado jet bomber in 1/72. By and large, the Mach 2 offerings have gotten a pretty bad rap -- in most cases not deserved. This is one of those kits. While not exactly a snap-together, and certainly not up to the modern pour-from-the-box-self-assembling model standard, it really isn't THAT bad. (Perhaps because my kit was bought so long ago that it was maybe a first run from the molds and now qualifies for Social Security?) In any event, we'll begin by showing the worst it has to offer. I'll not do a sprue review per se, as that has been done by others. Not many have actually assembled the kit, however. It looks like this: We now come to the first of the problem areas, the mold release pins, which are in some cases, humongous. These are marked "A" in the following picture. The items marked "B" are the sink holes on the other side of said pins, and the sink marks are in direct proportion to the size of the pins! Moving along, we encounter a few areas of excess plastic, known to us modelers as "flash". There really isn't much flash on my kit, so no worries. However, the next photo shows the real PITA as far as I am concerned -- the red arrows point to the "short shots" or missing plastic, which happens to occur on BOTH of the left-hand pieces of the pilot AND the co-pilot's seats. However, Mach 2 was kind enough to give us excess plastic in the cockpit itself, where the entire left-hand side (shown with "X's") should not even exist. The cockpit should look more like an American B-47, with a walkway from the nose entry door, and requiring a short climb up to the aforementioned seating. Please forgive the out-of-focus picture, but in-focus, it's REALLY ugly! Next, we have some classic "sink" marks, where not enough plastic filled the mold completely, leaving small "divots" -- as opposed to the short-shots, where plastic is missing entirely. Here "A" denotes the sink mark filled with CA glue, as this will be the left engine intake fairing and it will have a landing light fabricated later on. The "B" marks denote the sink marks of the right side engine intake (which does NOT have a landing light) as well as both exhaust fairing, which are simply filled with red primer putty, as they will require no reworking other than sanding. Next we have the clear parts, which are somewhat thick and not real clear. It remains to be seen whether they can be cleaned and used, or must be replaced. That accounts for most of the issues; a couple others will be addressed down the road. For now, the drill will be fill, sand, fill, sand, polish, etc. I will try hard to use little filler other than CA, because this will be a mostly NMF finish. In the areas where I must use filler, I will probably give those areas a light smear of CA glue also, to harden them up for polishing. Since every seam on this build will require sanding and polishing and re-scribing of lines, this part will not go quickly. This will not be a two-week build! Without further ado, I will show the tools that will help to tame this part of the beastly build: First, some of the sanding devices, mostly available through beauty supply outlets. You could pilfer these from your significant other, but I would suggest this only to those extremely young or those desiring only restful sleep! My favorites in this photo are the 4-grit version at the top -- as you progress through each of the four stages, you can virtually arrive at a polished canopy type finish. I also love the standing twigs, which are simply the larger items cut into 3mm widths. You can buy these at hobbyist supply, or roll your own in you have really sharp blades and a steady hand. I like them because you can get into tight spots, do minimal surrounding damage, and as they wear, simply snip off the ends with your sprue snippers and keep on keepin' on. For really tough chores (like thinning wings and vacuform models) I like the black one, which is #80 grit on one side and #100 grit on the other. For this build, I probably won't need that much muscle. Next, we have the means for restoring all those nicely scribed kit panel lines (which while building this kit, many will be destroyed), the scribing tools: At the top, and going clockwise, we have a few of the perhaps 2 dozen scribing templates, available from many suppliers. While not really necessary, I find they save a lot of time restoring vents, small panel and the like. Next we have the Dymo tape, which used to be used as a medium for old-school labeling. They have been largely replaced by newer technology, but remain invaluable for this use. You peel the protective film from the back, leaving a sticky, thickish plastic tape, which when applied to the model, gives you a nice, fairly hard edge to run the scribing device against, particularly on vertical lines on a fuselage. Each piece of tape is good for only a few "stick-ons" however, before it becomes roughed up on the edge or the sticky gets too stuck up with sanding or scribing dust. In any event, get some if you want to do any scribing, because sooner-or-later, you'll need it. I found mine on Amazon for a pretty low price, which was good, because few office supply stores in my area still carry any. Next, the scribing devices themselves. First up, a plain old embroidery needle stuck in a pin vise -- my oldest, and surely the cheapest devise. Next another scribing tip, stuck in another pin vise. This hardened tip from Mission Models, may no longer be available. (Mission Models also made the best scribing device that I ever used, a little two-sided little hatchet-shaped deal, about .005" wide, that cut a perfect square-edged slot into the plastic, that required virtually no sanding afterward. If you have one you'd like to be rid of -- I'm your man!). Lastly, a regular carbon steel tool scriber, useful if you encounter really hard plastic (which is why I no longer have the MM one described above). I also have another type, from Squadron Shop, (not pictured here) with two curvy end that are triangular in section. It is great for longer, straight lines, not so much so on curves. Also, there is a new series of scribing chisels out of Japan, but at $30 US to $60 US, I'm not certain that I'm that sincere. Next we have just simple brass shim stock, whose main advantage is that it can be trimmed to get into tight spots (also great for making cowl fins on P2V-3 Neptune models!), as is the regular old credit card, which plastic gets cut up from time to time for the cause. And lastly a plain old 6-inch steel ruler, which usually I either tape into place, or glue a piece of fine sandpaper to the back with rubber cement, so that it doesn't slide around so much. Well, enough for now. Next tie, we'll get into actually molesting plastic... Later, Ed
  12. My white 1/144 whale is ready to go public. GWH kit with my pe fret and refueling probe and pitots from Master. This is XL164 B.2, Blue Steel aircraft. Modelled without Blue Steel. With no evidence to the contrary I assumed that when no missile was carried, the bomb bay doors had been replaced. This is an important factor/excuse, as I tried to be reasonably accurate, but still be able to finish the model within a decade. The base is supposed to represent Cottesmore taxiway after storm, drying quickly in scorching tropical sun of England. Why the aircraft itself is dry? - you may ask. Well it has just landed after good weather flight. Post-flight ministerial inspection is about to begin. The Conways were known for their power output and reliability rather than cleanliness: It took some effort to photograph the subtle effect created by polishing panel centers and leaving panel lines matt. As mentioned - it is very subtle, and easier to spot when moving around the model. Shaprer lighting helps to bring out sheen variations (a little)
  13. Pe-2 Dive bomber in 1:48 scale. 34th Guards Red Banner Regiment, 276 Bomb Group, 1945 Built from Zvezda new tool kit. painted by Tamiya and vallejo paints. sealed by mat varinish. more pics
  14. Good evening everyone, I picked up a Trumpeter 1:72 Tu16k-10 (Badger C) recently and I was wondering if anyone had any pictures of the badger's bomb bay or cockpit. Preferably, I would like to know about colours- what colours should I use for the cockpit interior and the bomb bay interior? I'm planning on fitting it with the AS6 Kingfish missiles on the wing mounting points, with a variety of bombs inside the bomb bay- was this a typical loadout or was the aircraft purely fitted with anti-shipping missiles? Many thanks, Sam
  15. Hi all, well here goes: my first 'WIP' thread on this forum. In truth the plane is all but complete (in my eyes anyway) but I have amassed a collection of progress pics along the way which I have now managed to upload to Photobucket. I won't post them all at once, instead I will drip-feed the pics here - mainly because I'd like to gain maximum benefit from people's suggestions, hints, tips, ideas etc along the way. For a bit of background, this is my first WW2 build in about 20 years, and although I know already of some mistakes I've made, I can at least say that it's a significant improvement on the one I made 20 years ago. I hope that by posting my progress here I will learn more about how to make even better models, from those who have obviously been there and done it all. So, having spent a considerable while building a stash of models of various scales, subjects, manufacturers etc, I sat down one weekend in January this year with one box, which looked interesting. Also, from online searches it appears not many discussions were being had regarding the making of it, so if nothing else at least I was trying something unusual. The down side of that was, no real experience to learn from. Ah well, here goes. To start with (and to prove to myself I have this 'embedding images' lark sorted) I offer the box-art: I will be honest and confess my ignorance here, I had no prior experience of manufacturers other than the 'big' names e.g. Airfix, Revell, Tamaiya etc. It further confused me to see on the instructions, the name 'AZ Model', which I had only vaguely heard of. Foolishly I neglected to take a picture of the sprues prior to commencing the build, but I can at least report that the moulding detail is fairly good, with little in the way of flash. The main annoyances were: 1. The instructions only give an diagrammatic indication of the part numbers at the start - no part numbers on the actual sprue itself. More than once I found myself looking at the diagram of what I was supposed to be building, then look at the sprue diagram to see where that part number was located, then to look at the actual sprue to try and find it. 2. There are no locating lugs anywhere for wings or tailplane, fuselage halves. So lining the parts up and keeping them there presented challenges a-plenty. 3. The undercarriage leg positions were 'helpfully' marked on the underside of the wings, however according to the paint diagram on the back of the box (which I neglected to notice until too late) said undercarriage should have been about 5mm further forward, such that one should be able to see the front of the wheels when viewing the aircraft from above. In my case, one definitely does not! Other than that, though, it was an interesting kit to build - although as I mentioned, I haven't quite finished it yet. OK, before I go any further I am going to post this to see if I've got the hang of this. If I have, then I will endeavour to post my pics at suitable intervals to allow for comments, questions etc!
  16. Hello! This is the first 'proper' build i've done for a few years, I'm rusty but back with vengeance. Far from perfect re: paint job, but it's a notorious kit to build. I've neatened up the cockpit and airbrake since I took these pics too. Can't wait to get my hands on the new tool Airfix kit! Up next: 1/200 Vulcan in anti flash. If anyone can tell me what image extensions i can use here, i'd be grateful. They all reject for me! In the meantime, pics here: http://postimg.cc/gallery/2lgjzw3xg/31c2f0a1/ Chris
  17. Hi, I'm not new to modeling, but I'm new to modelling websites. It's so cool to see other modelers in the community. I've seen many group builds and I wanted to start my own. It is with The 8th Air Force and the planes that were in it. The planes that you can make is: 1. P-38 Lightning 2. P-47 Thunderbolt 3. P-51 Mustang 4. B-17 Flying Fortress 5. B-24 Liberator 6. A-20 Havoc If You want any other planes in the build just ask me. The due date is March 5th. I'm doing the Revell P-51 in Ms. Marilyn II colors. All brands are accepted, just it has to be 1/48 scale. Thanks, and have fun! -Oliver P.S. Yes that is a Gabe Newell Quote
  18. Here's my current WIP project, the famous "wooden wonder": the De Havilland Mosquito. This is actually my first British WW2 project since I started doing 3D some fifteen years ago! About time too, as I lived in the UK for the better part of a decade! I've started with the most common version, the FB Mk VI. The Mosquito served in no less than two dozen countries and about 60(!) pilots made ace on the Mosquito, so it's a nice and versatile subject! Some more images of its current state: Still some modelling left to do, but it's starting to look like a Mosquito! As per usual there were no "perfect" drawings available, so it's a combination of known dimensional data, scale plans, engineering drawings, manual drawings, DH fuselage lofting data generously supplied by Mark Gauntlett (many thanks Mark!), AAEE reports, NACA reports and hundreds of photographs. I.e. plenty of research! Mark's drawings are the most accurate around, by the way, and form the basis of this model, though especially on the tail, wing and engine nacelles I've deviated from them were necessary. My goal is to make this an absolutely accurate 3D Mosquito. The Mosquito will go well with the Junkers Ju 88 I made last year. These two aircraft are perfect adversaries and during the course of WW2 they fought eachother around the clock, over sea and over land, in all bomber, fighter and recce roles. Interestingly the battle between the Ju 88 and the Mosquito started even before the prototype was finished! On 3 October 1940 a well-aimed attack by a single Ju 88 flying at just 60 ft destroyed most of the jigs and killed 21 De Havilland staff, while injuring another 70. The prototype escaped major harm luckily, and as a sign of things to come, the Ju 88 was shot down by small arms fire... I should be rounding this up this month, so stay tuned!
  19. Vickers Wellesley, one of those forgotten types from the unfashionable side of modelling. Here's the very first boxing that I will be using for the build: Typical Matchbox kit, basic but accurate to the eye. I'll add a few details but won't be going rivet crazy - actually theres very few rivets in the design as it is a smaller brother to it's more famous stablemate the Wellington and shares it's fabric covered geodesic structure. As befits the simple kit it's appears a simple build: Schemes are two similar green/brown birds differentiated by their engines. Option 1 is a standard short cowl Mk1, but option 2 is more interesting as it is a form generally associated with just 3 aircraft of the Long Range Development Unit that flew from England-Egypt-Australia with the longest leg being 7300miles (in 1938!). But to confuse matters the kit decals arent for one of these 3...but more on that later
  20. Hi everybody, just some random thoughts I had on my mind for some time and maybe anybody can comment on this or has some information or opinions on this subject. It strikes me that the USA, Great Britain and the Soviet Union took very different approaches to defensive armament on their bomber (and transport) aircraft in the cold war era. In the RAF, every bomber after the Lincoln and the Washington relied on high speed, high altitude (low flying later) and ECM for self protection. I am not sure if guns/cannons were provided for in the Short Sperrin but the Canberra and the V-Bombers had none. (The cannons on maritime patrol Shackleton were intended for strafing surface targets, I guess). The Soviets took a completely different approach: Even the relatively small Il-28 had a gunner’s position in the tail. The Tu-16, Tu-95 and M-4 virtually continued the B-29/Tu-4 layout with gun turrets in dorsal, ventral and rear positions. A remote controlled tail turret is still installed in the supersonic Tu-22 and Tu-22M/-26 while defensive guns/cannon are missing only on the Tu-160s. As far as I can see, tail turrets are still present on Tu-22Ms and Tu-95s used by the Russian Air Force today. In contrast to all Western designs even transport aircraft like the An-12 and Il-76 were designed with a tail turret. The US somehow chose a middle way between these two approaches: Dorsal and ventral turrets last appeared on the B-36, but the B-47, B-52 and (early) A3D/B-66 still had tail turrets as well as the supersonic B-58. I am not sure when the tail guns were removed from the B-52s. Maybe they were still carried during Desert Storm. AFAIK, over Vietnam at least one BUFF even scored a kill with its tail gun(s). Now I wonder what are the reasons for these different approaches? One might think that Soviet planes were somehow lacking in terms of ceiling, speed and ECM, but even the US clung to guns/cannons. Does anyone know if guns were meant to shoot down air-to-air missiles? It sounds unlikely given the size and speed of the target, however, modern warships use fast firing 20-30mm cannons as a last-ditch defense against ant-ship missiles. So what was/is the rationale behind the defensive armament on cold-war (and some of Russia’s today’s) bombers? Regards, Ole
  21. Deciding what to do for the future EB-66E build once I have cleared a space - its a big lump for a 72nd scale kit! Looks like a backate to a RB-66B is out due to lack of clear references to the camera positions and details, so OOB EB it is. Decided to go with the sharkmouth 54-438 simply because you don't see it often on such big birds. Nice picture of it p22 of the Aerofax monograph - but in 4 colour not 3 colour camo the kit instructions say. In itself not a problem except theres lack of an overall set of pix to complete the scheme. Can anyone help? .... It wasn't a one off panel or partial repaint as there are ages scattered shots of others with similar light+dark tan & greens but limited to partial side shots. If I could get a look from above then I could guesstimate the pattern using the standard 3 tone tan/field green/dark green. Note: appears to be JW coded birds only from what I've seen with the ref pic being 42nd TEWS/388TFW and maybe a Vietnam mod removed during a later stateside repaint (iaw with standard + kit scheme)
  22. Hi, This is my (almost) copleted Vickers Valiant. i say almost as not all of the decals are on it. i bought this kit from a particular internet auction site for about £40 inc P&P. i was a little irritated about the cost of the valiant kits as last autumn airfix were selling the valiant for £20 in their last chance to buy collection. this kit was a remarkably quick and easy build, as the only real interior detail is the bomb bay (which i left out) and the cockpit. the cockpit was a little basic, but the fit of parts was excellent. it needed a little filling on the fuselage halves and the bomb bay doors, but apart from that is was a relatively straight forward build. the model was painted with Humbrol Gloss White spray paint. i ended up spending £15 on the paint, as the cans are tiny! in future i think i will try to get better at airbrushing and airbrush instead. the decals had no silvering and were in good register. i had some issues with the paint seeing under the masking tape, in particular on the anti glair paint in front of the canopy. i made a few errors, such as the colour of the exhaust surrounds which will be fixed when i get the chance. Will
  23. Hi, this is my finished Tamiya Mosquito B MkIV (1/48 scale). technically this kit isn't finished as i haven't painted the cockpit frames yet as i have to wait for the masks to arrive, but i didn't think it was worth putting it in WIP just for that. this kit was a dream to build, as the only fit issue was a small one with the fuselage halves, which was solved by the removal of the rear firewall/bulkhead. the decals however were a big letdown. they had lots of silvering (i didn't apply gloss varnish as previously i have never really had any silvering on the cartography decals I've used) and even when micro sol was applied they had difficulties adhering to the details. also, i rather clumsily moved one of the decals that was covered in micro sol out of line, and when i try to move it back it split (my fault). before i built this kit i had little interest in the mosquito, but after building the kit and doing some research i am quito fond of it.
  24. Well She is finished. Big Bad Bonnie was the first B-25 i ever saw flying. Back in the early 80s at Stapleford in Essex. When Kitsworld produced the decals i new i had to build one. This one came up on ebay for a very good price so i snapped it up. The build went OK but it was one of those models where i had bad luck along the way. First of all i accidently poked the seats out after the model was already finished. This meant i had to get them back in through the turret opening , then the dog got hold of the nose glazing and cracked it. Luckily my friend had a spare one , then one of the scratchbuilt exhausts fell into the rear of the engine , which meant i had to pull the engine off to get it back out. The model Has been modified to represent the TB-25 , so i had to remove some exhaust stubs form the cowlings and make a new exhaust. The hardest part was scratchbuilding the new taller squarer carb intakes. It is fitted with SAC metal legs. I had seen and heard bad things about these but mine were perfect. The noseweight is the profimodeller one but i needed to add more to it so be aware! Wheels are the superb Brassin one. Prop blades are loon models and of coarse the decals from Kitsworld. Im very please its done , but im starting to wish i had gone for a 1/48 one. Its a bit large and i dont really know where to put it!
  25. Hi, everybody. After several months of lurking around here and finding myself in awe of the quality of the builds on here, I finally decided I'd sign up and post my own efforts. I picked up Tamiya's 1:48 Lancaster on eBay, the other day. I've always had a thing for Lancasters, and the kit was relatively cheap. I couldn't resist. I'm afraid though, it seems I've bitten off a bit more than I can chew - I wouldn't consider myself to be the most accomplished modeller, and the equipment I've got to work with is...well, rudimentary at best. I really want to do this kit justice, so I'd love some constructive criticism, advice, tips, tricks or anything else you might be willing to share Anyway, here's the early going (apologies for the iPhone camera quality) Got some of that Eduard PE too, to spruce up the interior a bit. Heard a lot about it, but never used it before. Utterly fantastic, and quite cheap too. Reckon I'll get some more for the bomb bay - although the kit bay comes with lots of studs on it that need to be removed. Anyone have any tricks for removing them, or am I in for a lot of sanding?
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