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Well, found more old parerga and paralipomena, a few builds of "normal kits", no frills: Will try to post some today. Here is this Nieuport 28 from two years ago, a simple exercise in not worrying at all between other major projects. The kit was gifted by Sönke Schulz of Marzipanland, and the decals were commissioned from Mika Jernfors at Arctic Decals. This is a simple, straightforward, fun conversion of an inexpensive kit that renders a cute and different model, if with the limitations of the original kit. Another colorful civil addition to the Heavens. Note: just a few photos of the original plane exist, mainly in the Flikr photostream of the SDASM. The cowl has the wrong shape, needs to be rounded: Cut outs are done in the proper places: This area needs removal as marked (it's already removed in the image): Filling the struts "bridge" receptacles: New aftermarket seat: Some other P.E. details: Metal horns for the control surfaces: Hand carved real wood prop: Modified landing gear: The decals as commissioned:

Kabine conversion, anyone? I am always on the lookout for mainstream or arcane models that can be converted to civil variants. The combination of historical significance and aesthetics provides already a field: the post WWI conversions of machines by demilitarization and some simple adjustments or addenda for the new role, sometimes in the guise of "put on" passenger cabins. Considering what I sometimes embark on, this kit is a true delight: It is not a matter of slapping a cabin on, you have to do your homework to pick up other details that usually change, and then work on the alternate decoration. To me, there is a lot of satisfaction involved in changing a machine to more civilized roles, like passenger transport and such. The new KP kit looks certainly good, like the recently built Avia B.H.11. The detail is good, the instructions are good, the molding is clean and the subject has potential for many civil post-war conversions. Plus the price is fair. No photo-etched pars are included but some alternate parts are included (for the spares bin 😉 Dear friend, modeler and patterner extraordinaire Matías Hagen from Argentina, made this resin Benz IV, which is a beautiful, accurate and clean cast. The kit's engine is quite OK, but this is certainly better in my eyes, and what I will be using: The other side: The kit's engine, again, pretty fair, and Matias': The other side:

Some times the modeling stars align and you get a very nice kit that you can convert into one of your dream projects without struggling, and, furthermore, completely enjoying the build. I added as you know a Matías Hagen resin engine and commissioned decals, masks and "metal" window frames from Arctic Decals. The WiP is here: The output of attractive, significant, colorful and uplifting civil kits from many manufacturers has fortunately increased lately, however I am always searching for potential conversions of military kits into much more civilized, smart and appealing civil counterparts. That's how I discovered the KP LVG C.VI kit, acquired for a very reasonable price (two more since then, by the way, I liked it so much). The quality of this little kit is superb in any regard and again, how pleasurable to build, a welcome change of scenery from my usual Frankenkit endeavors. Still, there is the matter of the kit's Achilles' heel: the cabanne struts have no locating devices or marks where they meet the fuselage, making gluing and aligning (in the 3 axis) at the same time the upper wing an event to remember, and you will, believe me. You can easily convert one of these kits to a civil post-war variant without even the need of adding a canopy or modifying the rudder as I did, by only removing the armament, filling the machine gun depression (pun intended) on the fuselage right side with Milliput or similar, and getting new decals. Many C.VIs flew carrying mail and/or passenger in the aft position with only the addition of a proper seat: "Express II", "Meteor I" (D-181), D-473 (for Baumer Aero), the ones that flew for DLR, (D-70, D-76), etc., are just some examples of C.VI in civilized use. But if you like "limousine" canopies, as I do, you have at least three more planes that had them, all with different canopies and finishes (one was D-1216, the drawing at the beginning of the construction post). The machine presented here had at some point the outline edges of the wings painted, as well as "L.V.G." under each lower wing, a scheme I may build in the future since I now have the decals too, plus the master to mold the canopy, problem is: (And I will repost here what I post on the WIP): I RUN OUT OF CLEAR MATERIAL TO VACFORM CANOPIES!! I have plenty of colored sheets for the Mattel vacuform machine, but no clear plastic sheets. I already tried those two or three types offered on the Net, with unpleasant results, and nothing compares to the original ones that came long ago with the Mattel machine, and I just run out of my supply from Mike Damen, who used to produce good substitutes (he does not fabricate them anymore). Sigh...

The fifth of 2019 and a swansong to my Airfix Therapy Build thread: Their F-4F-4 done as an early F-4F-3 . Some liberties were taken as usual and the WIP is here: Paints are Alclad and Mr Color lacquer and the chevrons, cowl and fuselage bands were painted so as to match the new spinner Also a test run of my Amazon freebie review flashheads, which seem much better behaved than my el cheapo ebay continuous lights. Thank ye, one and all fer tuning in, have a fab weekend and eat more fruit! Anil

VIRGIN ATLANTIC 1/144 Airbus a340-600 Braz Conversion G-VRED 'Scarlet Lady' Kit: Revell a340-300 Conversion set: Braz Decals: 1. Pas Decals (787-9) - Virgin titles, nose logo (Scarlet Lady) and tail logo. 2. 26 Decals (A340-300/A330-300) Winglet logos, AOA probes, Static Ports and various registrations 3. Draw Decal (A340-600 OLD LIVERY) Landing lights, 'Scarlet Lady' titles and wing reg. 4. Authentic Airliners (A340-600) 3D cockpit windows, passenger windows and doors. Colours: 1. Fuselage - 75% Revell gloss white + 25% Revell 371 satin light grey. AND Xtracolor MICA 2. Tail and Engines - decanted Tamiya TS18 Metallic Red 3 Wings - Revell 371 satin light grey. Coroguard is 95% Revell 371 satin light grey + 5% humbrol matt black work in progress thread Thanks for looking! Phil

Hi Guys, I will make a conversion of the Tamiya 1/48 Gloster meteor F3 into a F4 with the Heritage aviation conversion set. It will get decals from Dutch decals for a Dutch Meteor from 323 squadron that was based at Leeuwarden afb in 1952/53. Here are some pictures. the box the content the conversion some extras I might be using?! And the scheme I use for it. That is it for now. Cheers,

Morning All, Since returning to the hobby a couple of years ago I now find it hard not to have a Spitifre of some kind on the go. Following on from my Seafire 47 which I enjoyed immensely, I've decided to do another Spitfire variant which hitherto has eluded me due to lack of talent and time - the Mark 21. It's an interesting variant, being the last with the original style fuselage and the first with the new wing, and so it was something of an interim model of which only 120 were built. It was also a tricky model to get to fly straight, with all sorts of longitudinal stability problems which took time to iron out. But, as test pilot Jeffrey Quill writes, they got it right in the end, and the high-performance Mark 21 had a relatively long career, starting in the final weeks of World War 2 and continuing in the Auxiliary squadrons, with a 1950s swansong doing anti-aircraft co-operation work outsourced to the private sector. I think the 21 is pretty, and as a boy remember seeing LA226 displayed in the atrium of Vickers' HQ at Millbank, central London, in the 1970s. With a number of production 21s having contra-rotating propellers and even bigger rudders than normal, there's also a good deal of variation available to choose from for a subject. For the base kit I'm using the Airfix Spitfire 22 (because I like it), with the spine and tail of the Airfix XIX. My XIX fuselage was spare as I built a Mark XI by combining the XIX wing with the IX fuselage, modified appropriately. I had planned to use the Freightdog XI conversion set on the XIX fuselage but in the end decided against it, because whilst the Freightdog set is very nice and accurate, the XIX fuselage that it should be bolted onto is not, and the combination looked all wrong to me. So I've still got the Freightdog set and the XIX fuselage minus its nose. The other awkwardness is that the XIX tail is now in two pieces, with a horizontal separation just above the elevators, which I made to accommodate the Freightdog XI fin. What this amounts to is that the fuselage halves below are made up of four pieces each, all stitched back together and with a first application of filler: I'm also going to push ahead with my Spitfire I, which is a refugee from the Battle of Britain Group build. Unfortunately my plans to make R6915 as it currently appears in the the Imperial war Museum (in a late-war paint scheme) render the model ineligible for the Group Build. No problem: I'll push on with it here. Here's the original: R6915 is a real Battle of Britain veteran, with a number of victories to its name. Later on it went to the OTUs and received some modifications: over-wing strengthening ribs, fishtail exhausts, and later-style canopy all added. I'll try to model all these if poss. So here is how far I've got: I've added the wing strengthening ribs and also the vents for the gun heating at the wingtips. After doing the latter, I went over to IWM Lambeth to have a look at the original, and found I'd been too clever: the vents had been removed from the wing undersides, so my plasticard representations will also have to come off. The ejector slots for the empty .303 cases were also doped over on R6915, so I'll have to fill and sand these too. Justin

A build from 5 years ago: This is the 3rd conversion posted of the S.79 (and the three postings today are entirely Martian Hale's fault!), and actually this is the first one that I did, before doing the other two racers already posted today. It has some issues, but I like it anyway, in spite that surely I would do a couple things differently today. Civilian aircraft are not particularly well catered for by mainstream manufacturers. Once in a while we see some refried beans that have re-incarnated several times and that used to be mostly it, but lately a few companies are stepping in and offering an alternative for modelers looking for a fresh approach to the world of aviation. Although conversions are sometimes available and cottage industry does produce some nice examples on the field, there are times when you have to fabricate your own bits. And that’s not that difficult after all. Here the 1/72 Italeri S.M. 79 Sparviero minus some bits plus some other bits. Retrospectively, the method I used to produce the canopy –a vacuformed “roof” and front flat panels- is something that could be better done as one whole vacuformed piece in order to facilitate matters. As references were being consulted (thanks Fabrizio D’Isanto and Fabio Beato) it was evident that a number of details had to be erased from the original kit, most noticeably the “hunch”, the lower fuselage gondola and some of the windows. Props had to be re-worked, a suitable interior scratch-built, and a few details added. The main concern were actually the decals, but, after an attempt on my part that rendered so-so results, fellow modeler Mika Jernfors came to the rescue with superb graphics. By that time I had already placed some of the so-so decals that refused to be removed, so I could use only partially his excellent images, so any less than nice things are my fault entirely. If you feel curious about the history of this S.M.79 version and the airline that operated it, you could Google their names and surely something will come up. For the base color I used Humbrol 41 Ivory, which seems a good match for the color used originally. The blue is a custom mix. It is so secret that I hid the recipe even from myself and now and can’t remember the ingredients, but it involved mixing potions under the full moon and being helped by Smurfs. Hey, why not drop for a while the camouflaged jacket and wear a nice, cool, smart suit? This plane realized transatlantic flights to Brazil, and had fuel tanks between the cockpit and the four-seat cabin. See you on the sky.

A build from 4 years ago of the classic Airfix Brick: Spurred by the magnificent job being done by Martian Hale on his S.79, I felt prompted to provide another view of this strangely beautiful tri-motor, in its civil guise. I have built three conversions of the S.79, so let's start with this one which is, as was the original, just an out of the factory line machine, demilitarized, re-equipped and repainted. Here is the conversion of the venerable Airfix S.79 to the I-ROTR racer that participated in the Istres-Damascus-Paris competition. This "adaptation" (since it does not really qualify as conversion) is meant to be a much simpler build to see if more modelers can be encouraged to venture beyond the traditional constraining borders. My main reference is Paolo Miana's "Lost Archives - Pictorial history of SIAI - Chapter I - the Sorci Verdi". I may say that although the book covers magnificently the greatly modified Corsa version, not much material was found by Mr. Miana in the archives he researched about this specific "gobbo" machine which was merely a production line unit, gobba and all, hastily adapted to fill a gap. Therefore we can only see the exterior, and from there deduct a few things. This machine was pressured into the race as other Italian entries were not ready in time. The "conversion" then did not actually modify the plane as deeply as it was the case with the Corsa version (that I built from the Italeri kit), and consisted only of the removal of armament (or was it secretly kept to shut-down competitors?), deletion of the ventral position and addition of extra fuel tanks. Therefore this is an easy one that most modelers can accomplish with minimum effort and just a few modifications, since the hunch (gobba) of the fuselage does not have to be removed. Why am I using the Airfix kit instead of the immensely superior Italeri one? Well, my good friend and Evil Genius Sönke Schulz sent this model to me as a gift. Why, you may ask, again, yourself? well, since he is marzipanly malign (he lives in Lübeck), he carefully glues some parts that shouldn't be glued until a later stage. In this case the wing halves, that failed to trap the ailerons and the parts for the landing gear. He also glued the stabilizer halves, again failing to trap the elevators. On top of that he also lost many transparencies, but fortunately not the windshield. He therefore sent the kit and now seats down whilst petting Helga (don't ask) and laughs (you know the drill "mwehehehe, mwahahahahah..") whilst I struggle to deal with those issues. In a more serious note, I repeat that you can do this with the Italeri kit too, but if you happen to have an Arfix S.79, this may be your chance to play a little without the pressure of marring a good kit, and in the process learn a couple things and achieve a colorful model that will be attractive, in civil use, and unusual. Start by throwing away anything military in the kit. Then discard the "open" dorsal position that is an alternate part. Later on you will have to fill the hole underneath the fuselage by the absence of the ventral position, by the simple expedient of tracing a shape in plasticard, cut the part, glue it in place, apply putty and sand a bit. Easy enough. Finally here is one of the several Savoia Marchetti S.79 Corsa that participated in the Istres-Damascus-Paris race, I-ROTR, the only one with the hunchback, since it was mainly a production machine pressed into the race with some adaptations, whilst the other S.79 entries were purposely-modified machines. Decals and masks are home-made, and no little amount of time and effort has been spent on this one. If you have the old Airfix brick, you may like to have a go, if not, just get the Italeri kit, that even with its terrible starving appearance is far better than this oldie. My thanks to Soenke Schulz, who generously sent the kit and the Sorci Verdi (green mice) decals.

A build from 4 years ago: The S.79 Corsa I-13 (radio call I-FILU) was flown by the team Fiori-Lucchini in the Istres-Damascus-Paris race to a second place. You may acquire Paolo Maina's book, "Lost Archives: A Pictorial History of SIAI - Chapter 1: Sorci Verdi", if you are interested in an accurate conversion and a juicy history and technical aspects, coupled with great illustrations and photos. -The Italeri kit is a pleasure to work with, the type of plastic used is among the best I ever dealt with, but the kit suffers of starvation, and the effect of the stringers and tail ribs is out of proportion. Putty and sanding will help, something you have to do anyway to hide the windows and door. Re-skinning is what I would do if I build another, much simpler and time effective. -Neither the Italian Wings nor the Pavla sets are totally accurate. They help, but unfortunately contain errors that you will have to correct (and redundancies in the case of the Pavla parts). - I chose the front/aft fuselage sub-assemblies approach to re-join the separated parts, because the more traditional approach of re-joining a whole left and right sides to be later glued together may have introduced minute differences in length that would have translated in a fore or aft mismatch, or even a banana fuselage. Aligning is critical, and much measuring and dry-fitting should be done to ensure a true fuselage. Having used the wing itself to "true" the fuselage front long "tails" (karmans) I was sure that I had a good chance of getting it right. The aft fuselage left and right halves lock themselves properly by kit's engineering default. -Whatever machine you are planning to model, study photos. Drawings, profiles, "artistic" renditions are all ok, but only an interpretation of reality. Photos instead depict a reality (although beware of wrong captions on the Internet, so abundant unfortunately). -Work carefully, patiently, joyfully. -And lastly...if you do not feel up to the challenge this time or you perceive it as too daunting...good news: you can still have your racer. There was another racer (S.79K) that participated in the Istres-Damascus-Paris raid that was a slightly modified production machine, with hunch and all (armament deleted). It requires minimum modifications, although of course still needs the proper livery. This machine was I-ROTR, flown by Rovis and Trimboli, race number I-12.

A build from two years ago: (The WiP is here: Here is one of the two Westland planes that flew over Mount Everest* for the Houston Everest Expedition, G-ACAZ (The other was G-ACBR). The model is based on the very old and a bit clunky kit by Air Lines / Frog of the Westland Wallace. Some of the editions of these kits had the (poorly researched) "Everest" decals, but the fact is that that the kit needs some modifications to accurately represent one of the machines, and very involving modifications to represent the other. I built both, here is one, the other will be posted today later on. *Mount Everest, by the way, it's a name coined by the then British colonists. The mountain is locally known by two names: Sagarmāthā (forehead or head in the sky) and Chomolungma (mother of the world). My thanks to Mika Jernfors, of Arctic Decals, who designed and provided the high-quality decals I am so spoiled with. Here are some of the necessary mods for G-ACAZ: -Different landing gear -No elevator or rudder trim tabs -Fin/rudder with paint outline -No wingtip skids -Different wing tip and inset ailerons arrangement -Different dihedral -Different strut locations -An additional diagonal strut between the inner wing struts -Absence of little cutout inside the large wing cutout above the pilot's head -The lower wing cutout meets diagonally the fuselage, instead of meeting a straight short section as in G-ACBR -There were no visible "zippers" on the fuselage sides of G-ACAZ. -A small rectangular opening or window is seen low on the fuselage side aft of the lower wing -G-ACAZ has only one aileron control horn (two on the other plane) -The exit holes for the tail control surfaces are slightly different -The oil radiator is in a different position, aft and a bit lower than the one in G-ACBR -There were three diagonal louvers on the nose on each side there are other details. Look at photos of the original. Find out, don't be lazy.

Hi all thought I would post my 1/48 fw 190 s-8, It was built in 2006 and is based on the tamya 1/48 fw 190 f-8, the cockpit & rear fusalarge is scratch build using 5 thou plastic card, super glue & bicarb. The vac formed conopie is by falcon with truedetails wheels. Streched sprue aerials Paints used are xtracolor rlm 74,75,76. Sprayed using a Badger 200 g Thank's for looking. comments are welcomed. Nick

This is a build from 2 years ago: I just posted the RFI, here is the WiP so modelers that are intrested can follow the necessary modifications to the kit: The main modification needed are: G-ACAZ: -Different landing gear -No elevator or rudder trim tabs -Fin/rudder with paint outline -No wingtip skids -Different wing tip and ailerons arrangement -Completely different dihedral and wing sections -Different strut locations -An additional diagonal strut between the inner wing struts -Absence of little cutout inside the large wing cutout above the pilot's head -The lower wing cutout meets diagonally the fuselage, instead of meeting a straight short section as in G-ACBR -There were no "zippers" on the fuselage sides of G-ACAZ. -A small rectangular opening or window is seen on the fuselage side aft of the lower wing -G-ACBR and G-ACAZ have different small "gizmos" on the center section of the top wing there are many other small details. Look at photos. This second kit is an "Air Lines" very old release. If you look at the box illustration, it's totally misleading, a hybrid of the military version with civil regs. Novo releases also featured a similar misleading cover. No pants, of course are to be seen on the molds : The side of the box shows the correct airplane, though. Go figure: This outfit seems to have been associated with Testor: The mold is exactly the same as Frog, Novo, Maquette, etc, but this "Air Lines" release has a much harder plastic, very brittle, and plagued with sink holes. See the difference between the Novo (white) and Air Lines (silver). Nothing you can't deal with, but my advise is that you steer if you can towards the Novo/Maquette releases. I got a couple of these Air Lines kits for a lower than usual price, but will have to work a little more. I purchased two Air Lines kits, the silver has extremely brittle plastic, to the point of really hindering work, the blue is just a little harder than the Novo/Maquette relaeases: The wings are scored on the top surface and carefully "cracked" down to eliminate the dihedral. You may use a thin saw if that works better for you, but keeping straight and clean (on hindsight -and from experience- do all the surface work -sinkholes, new strut locations, wingtips, et.- BEFORE re-doing the dihedral, because the sanding work will stress those dihedral joints): Once the new strut location holes have been drilled, the wings are scored underneath the inner struts' station and again "cracked", this time upwards to obtain the necessary dihedral at the prescribed places (inner struts). The old struts holes need to be filled on both wings. The new holes on the lower wing should go through, as they will also support the new undercarriage legs: I was sanding the prop when it snapped, even unprovoked: The culprit: an air bubble: The tabs have been removed from the elevators and rudder. Other parts were cleaned-up: The fuselage sides are masked and their sinkholes puttied: The wingtip skids are discarded and so are the landing gear parts, since G-ACAZ had a different arrangement: The wings tips are now cut off: The areas on the trailing edges of the wings that need filling are dealt with, the fuselage sides sinkholes that were puttied are now sanded: A donor kit (sorry Diego, I had to sacrifice one kit so another could live -Diego thinks this a sacrilege punished by having to endure a Puget Sound Irregulars Meeting-) provides the wingtips which were cut from the midsections using a plan template. The ailerons are also cut to size: The wingtips are glued: All bits in place, now for the filling, priming and sanding (the ailerons are not glued). By the way, it's better to start this way to modify the wings, adding the wingtips and filling bits and tidying-up, and then crack the wings for the dihedral, since this wingtip operation may cause some stresses that may snap the modified dihedral:

A build from 6 years ago: Did you notice that after playing a popular character or role, for some actors and actresses it becomes very difficult to be cast in another type of role? Same for the airplanes. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found a photo of the Nieuport 28 as a post-WW1 sport machine parked (and possibly repaired/reconditioned) by the Rogers Aircraft Inc. aviation company. This is a very simple, effortless conversion for a fun an quick weekender, without pretensions. The plane had a simple paint scheme which somehow delineates well the design shape. The Revell kit was used but there are others around. The kit is nice, has certain detail -a bit exaggerated-, but not a good interior, so to the lonely kit’s seat some bits were added. Some rigging –the kit’s instructions in that regard are kind of vague- is required but nothing that can not be endured with the help of a cup or glass of your beverage of choice. I cut out some openings in the front and side of the cowl as per the real machine and modified the mount of the rotary engine to allow for room for the detail inside the cockpit. The windshield was discarded and the stab struts were replaced by suitable brass Strutz. Control horns and cables were added to the rudder, all other control surfaces were torque rod-operated. The canvas-covered kit’s wheels were replaced with photoetched spoke wheels as per the real plane I was modeling, and wire snippets had to be inserted in the trimmed axle to locate them. The kit’s prop (with a sorta chunky hub) was also replaced by an Aeroclub white metal item. Home-made decals were printed. In my research I also found a number of French machines with civil registrations that looked enticing. A relatively simple kit that has potential for alternate liveries, so the research is now up to you. Hint: Compagnie Generale Transaerienne.

A build from 6 years ago: Yet another Morane Saulnier plane used by Michel Detroyat, this time the M.S.225, modified for its use as a racer and aerobatic machine. It was painted in an attractive red/black/silver scheme, and demonstrated its capabilities –and of course those of its pilot- to a great extent. Again an old good Heller kit provides the canvas for this project, the parts being a tad chunkier than the M.S.230 just posted. Some accurizing is needed too but the basics are there. My sample was provided by the ever-smiling, spanakopita-rider, Mr Psarras of Florida. Thanks again, Xtmosch! Look at photos; listen to what others have to say...wait, I correct myself, look at what others have done with success, not at what they may think YOU should do, and then turn to your model, and with reasonable expectations, modify what you may in order to achieve a better replica, an entertaining building, and not less importantly, a comlleted model, not an aggregate of plastic pieces that has a shoe box for sarcophagus until the eons turn it again back into fossil fuel. As you can see in the photos, a new cowl was made, the ribbing and rivets were toned-down, the cockpit was refined and some internal structure added. The engine will need an oil radiator and a new prop, the armament needs deletion, the ailerons need to be completed –as with Heller’s M.S.230 the intrados of the wing has no aileron separation lines- and other details will have to be taken care of. As I always say, look at your reference photos. Heller kits of course are not perfect. But they do have a very logical and practical part breakdown. If you consider when were they designed -many decades ago-, your admiration may increase even more. The outer upper wing panels follow a real separation on the plane, but you will have to engrave that separation on the intrados yourself. The stabs were dynamically balanced in the original plane, the kit has them wrong.

A build from 6 years ago: One of the many version of this particular machine, which was heavily campaigned in the airshow circuits. Study your photos if you are thinking of building one, many details varied from season to season, and there are other equally attractive livery options. Call me Francophile. I have a soft spot for Heller kits, which were a big part of my modeling endeavors during my childhood and beyond in Argentina. Subtler than the contemporary Airfix*, more refined and not has heavily handed. I have built a good number of them, and still find them charming. Their fit is far superior than many contemporary kits of the short-run type of course and some of the normal injected type. To add to that, I feel a mischievous pleasure in transforming a war machine to a civil one, so I got this kit from my usual supplier, who we’ll call Xtmos from Florida in order not to reveal his true modeling Super-Hero identity. For those interested there is Smer re-pop that even has (here sounds of trumpets...) a different civil livery! so you do not have to modify anything. As soon as I opened the vintage box I noticed a strange, although somehow familiar deformed object with a green hue....yes! that mini-bottle of glue! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! By now, the substance had mutated into some glow-in-the-dark, kryptonite-like scary thing! I called my Hazmat team, which is composed of the minute Preiser figures that were sent to me by the Evil Genius Sönke Schulz, who lives inside his Volkano lair. Once the Preiser figures, under the stern command of Helga, cleared the kit box of any hazards, I started to study the parts for the conversion. As you will see in the photos, the ailerons follow the French secret technology of “now you see’em, now you don’t”, so you have to engrave their separation line on the underside of the bottom half of the wing. The wing's central area has to be "filled-up", since the aerobatic machine did not have the same cut-out as the series plane. The stab has a different outline at the tips and the control surfaces are dynamically balanced. There is a headrest and a different windshield, plus two windows where the fore position used to be, and no instruments’ protuberances -as depicted in the kit- on the upper deck. I found an article advising to correct the rudder profile (which may be too small in the kit) and will have to provide, in order to replicate my subject, a new cowl, LG legs, modified upper fuselage deck, home-made decals and some other minor details; among them the removal of a sort of tab/footrest on the mid left fuselage side. My intended subject is the aerobatic Michel Detroyat MS-230 in its flashy red/white/black livery. There are many potential civil subjects for the Heller M.S.-230 kit, but most would imply designing and printing white decals which I can’t, since I do not posses and ALPS printer. F-AJTP, my subject, appears in photos -depending on the time they were taken- in slightly different schemes. I counted five so far. Check your photos carefully. The wheels have pants on most of them, but not all. Heller’s instructions on my vintage kit have some spots where the “Instruction stupidity" syndrome clearly shows. The most glaring area is the depiction of the cabane struts’ positions. Why, my dear fellow modeler, manufacturers represent small areas with even smaller drawings? Why the exact location of the parts is as mysterious as the location of the Holy Grail? *Oh, my, would I be now expelled from Britmodeller?

Hi Folks I managed to pick p the Tamiya Perkasa at Telford, thinking being it would make a good comparison with the WWII boats I've built. Many of you will know the Perkasa along with three others was built for the Malaysian Navy. This was a spin off from the Brave Borderer/ Swordsman which got me wondering . . . . . Is it possible to convert the Perkasa to Borderer? Modifying above deck would seem ok but there seems to be conflicting info about the hull dimensions. I have found that there is a difference in the depth of the transom platform Borderer 2' 10" Perkasa 4' 4.5". Your thoughts and info would be appreciated Kev

A very old build, from 2006, 13 years ago. You should always have a scratchbuilder friend, since it seems to be fate that whatever we convert or scratch it's eventually released as a kit. This TB-3 model has recently been re-released in the guise it took me a lot of work to create many years ago. I have no idea up to which point there is a mold commonality, it seems to be quite a lot, but not having the new kit I can't really tell. Good for them, more civil models! Old review and build text starts: Oh boy. What a massive modeling project. As many of you, I saw this beast advertised time ago. As some reviewers were getting hold of the model and started to comment about their impressions, it was obvious that this was not an easy one. The sheer number of parts, the minute size of some of those components and the complexity of the building system -closer to a flying model than to a plastic static model- just makes for a long-breath, attention-demanding, non-forgiving enterprise. ICM is now well known among most modelers. They usually have an excellent surface treatment, detail-oriented engineering and, apparently, very tiny injection equipment. This could be the reason for the excessive count of parts, especially in the wing area of this particular model. What can be seen here is a almost unbelievable level of craftsmanship in the making of the master molds, unfortunately coupled with some production problems. Among the many glitches encountered were the variable thickness of the supposedly matting edges -making difficult the use of plastic card tabs to help alignment-, the insufficient and less than perfect notches and locating devices in building the wing structure, and the interlocking system of parts plagued with minor inaccuracies that unfortunately translated later into major misalignments, very, very difficult to solve. I have seen on the Internet some awesome TB-3 models, product without doubt of unimaginable dedication and skill. Being myself a much modestly gifted modeler of more peaceful orientation, I decided to go on with a demilitarized, ski-equipped version with enclosed cockpit of which I just had a side view from the Internet. I confess that some educated guessing was done here and there, coupled with some extrapolation of data from other variants of this plane. The level of detail I found in this kit was beyond my expectations. I was delighted with every bit. Some little flash was present and some parts were very delicate and difficult to remove from the sprues without braking them. The propellers have -even with very tiny rivets- the metal guard on their leading edges. The engines are well detailed as are the cowlings, but the spinner doesn't fit at all on the propeller, so you will have to work on both to achieve a decent fit, and the same goes for some parts of the engine compartment assembly. Many sink holes were found, and, as some of them are on parts were the corrugated surface is represented, they are difficult to correct. The engines, being solid casts, had also magnificent samples of sink holes too. As I was making progress in the first stages of building the model. I experienced a sense of satisfaction, being able to tackle most of the challenges, until I arrived to the point were you have to deal with the wings. Oh dear. The above-mentioned interlocking airplane-like system of ribs and spars looks good but doesn't perform that well. The skin of the wing is composed of many (too many, I may say) panels, The thickness of the spar-rib (airfoil) combo seems to be too much, and the skin plates fall short in some places. The four parts that make for the central area of the leading edge don't match with their counterparts. Neither do the parts that make for the fixed part of the trailing edges. Since all of these parts have micro-corrugated detail, you can not just simply fill, sand, of scratch with a blade, without leaving a mess that would be very difficult to deal with afterwards. So, a careful adjustment of the parts is mandatory and that will take a loooot of time. I must say that the only sector of the plane were I felt really frustrated was the wing. Fuselage, tail unit, interior details, although demanding and requiring adjustments, were a very pleasant building experience. In some images you can also see the covers for the machine gun positions in the fuselage and under the wings. To fill these holes and to create the new enclosed canopy I used plastic and aluminum corrugated sheets from a model train store. A new glazed cover was made for the "bow" of the fuselage also. I used both, acrylic and enamel paints, and some oils for the weathering/washes/stains on a Future layer. That I am aware of, there are two photo-etched detail sets for this kit, from Extratech and Eduard, but I decided to go on without them, realizing that surely I had enough to worry about with the kit itself. Wing aside, this project wasn't as terrible as I thought, but it is definitely not for the ones that are not willing to do some serious modeling-. I hope that ICM gets in the future a huge machine to produce really large parts, and keep doing these wonderful kits with a more reasonable break-down of the parts, and, if possible, consistent thickness. Anyway, the TB-3 surely looks the part if you are into the subject, with its pterodactyl-like stance and all the unmistakable flavor of the 30's .

All right then, time to get started! My project for this group build is the Grumman/General Dynamics F-111B. I suspect that everyone knows the story of this aircraft and its development, but if not I'll direct you to the mother-lode of F-111B information later on in this post. My initial idea is to model one of the Phoenix missile test aircraft, and BuNo 151972 seems a good candidate. This, of course, will be a conversion and my base kit will be the Hasegawa 1:72 RAAF F-111C/G. This is a great kit, and contains all necessary parts to build either the C or G model. The G is essentially the same as the FB-111 as you know. Let's see what we get (and it's so much that it's difficult to close the box without squeezing the contents). First, the specific kit I'm using: Inside we find a lot of styrene! This next photo may look like two copies of the same sprue, but they are different - one is sprue C and the other sprue D. The difference is primarily with respect to the intakes as the F-111C and G had variations in this area (Triple Plow I vs. Triple Plow II). Since 151972 did not have either of these intakes, I will be modifying the Triple Plow I. And the rest: And finally two of these babies: I've acquired several bits of aftermarket goodies to help with this conversion, starting with the set from Pete's Hangar which unfortunately is no longer available. My understanding is that this set has a few problems, but they don't look to be insurmountable. Apparently, the shape of the nose, and its demarcation with the fuselage, is not quite right, but that's why they call it modelling. Some additional decal sheets that may be of help - the sheet from Pete's Hangar is also pictured here, but the other two sheets are from Microscale and are quite old. 72-132 includes the markings for 151972, and 72-452 includes stenciling for the early models of the F-111. Also shown here is the sheet from the kit, not sure if any of this will be used. The Phoenix testing logo is different between the Microscale and Pete's sheets, and based on photographs it looks like Microscale is better (for instance, Pete's omits the fire that the Phoenix bird is emerging from, the USMC globe and USN anchor). I hope those old Microscale sheets are still good! Some additional aftermarket that may be used. Obviously, not all of the photoetch for the F-111D/F is appropriate, but some of it may be useful. We'll see. The masks are fine, but what's this with the ejection seats for a B-57 Canberra? The F-111 had a ejection capsule! Well, yes it did, after a fashion. However, the first three F-111B prototypes, including 151972, did not have the capsule, and were instead fitted with Douglas Escapac ejection seats. According to the Ejection Site, they were model 1C. The resin seats from Pavla are models 1C-6, and have the right basic shape. But I suspect they will need some alteration or enhancement before the end of the day. Finally, the old Revell kit from 1966 will also be used, as it contains a lot of parts that will help, like the knife edge boat tail, aft fuselage bullet fairings (speed bumps as they were called), etc. I picked this up at a model show, and although it's been started (the B/C/FB long wing tips have been glued to the wings) that won't be a problem as I won't be using them. This is one of the few kits produced which claimed to be a B model. Like a lot of kits from the 60s, this one came out while the aircraft was still being developed, and contains several issues. But I think it will come in handy nonetheless. The loose parts, rolling around in the box: And the ones still clinging to the runners: Also in the box were these four pylons, which I suspect are from an F/A-18. But they have a shape resemblance (kind of) to the pylons used by 151972 for the Phoenix missiles. I will be checking if they are close to being the right size, and might work for the model. Again, we'll see. Perhaps they can be modified, maybe not. But it was nice of the chap who sold this to me to include them! The Phoenix missiles will probably be sourced from a Hasegawa F-14A kit, but will need some mods to represent the missiles used in the F-111B test program. Now, about that mother-lode. If you're going to build an F-111B, you simply have to have this monograph: Tommy is the F-111B subject matter expert, and he contributes regularly to Britmodeller. I expect he will show up here to keep me on the straight and moral path. If you follow this link, you'll go to Tommy's blog where he has posted several links to articles that concern the F-111B. There are also instructions for how to obtain the amendments and errata for the F-111B monograph. All of this material taken together remains the prime reference for this much-maligned bird. Cheers, Bill

My latest model tank, the Chinese/Taiwanese Type 64. The model kit is Tamiya's 1/35 scale M41 Walker Bulldog, which was originally released in 1975 as a remote control toy & has been in production ever since. It can be bought really cheap & is recommended to any beginners because of its simple & easy construction. Because of how common this kit is I decided to do something a bit different & convert it into the rather obscure Type 64. Which was an upgraded version of the M41 developed in Taiwan in 1964, it featured a new engine, extra armour bolted onto the turret sides & new side-skirts. Only two prototypes were built, one was destroyed on a firing range & the other is currently displayed in a museum. The extra turret armour was made with plastic card that was warmed up & bent into shape, the side-skirts are made from aluminium cut from a drinks can & the ROC insignia I printed myself. As this kit was originally a motorised toy it is full of holes for the electronics which I filled in & sanded smooth. I also scratch-built several extra parts that aren't included in this kit, such as the third exhaust, support bars over the fenders & all of the vision ports were drilled out & replaced with new clear parts. When I started this build I thought it would be quick & simple but it turned into a bit of a chore & I felt rather drained after. So much so that it's taken me two months to get around to taking pictures of it. Note: There are actually two different tanks called Type 64, the other (& better known) Type 64 was a hybrid of an M42 Duster hull & a M18 Hellcat turret. This "hybrid" Type 64 was build as a stop-gap design after development of this Type 64 was cancelled.

Hello mates, this is my "Hoosier Hotshot" from 2003 with scratch and painted decals, lenghtened tailpipe, airbrake changed from Heller model and some more updates .... Cheers, Tom

Hi Everyone This seemed the perfect kit for doing many conversions so I decided to go for the camper van look with my usual detailing of adding working lights. I converted the inside and created a kitchen feature with built-in cupboards, oven, drawers, sink with taps and a microwave. I also added a removable table top and double bed along with an extending awning on the roof and roof rack. As this kit was built on an older model I only added working side lights, headlights, brake lights and indicators. Lastly I added the roof rack with luggage over the front cab. Building this kit, everything went together perfectly and it was a big help being able to add the glazing from the outside after the body was assembled. There was no flashing on the sprues and included were plenty of chrome parts with a lot of detailing. As I said before, there is plenty of scope for creating more versions of this bus and now that there is a panel van also available the idea's are numerous. More pictures are available HERE including some Work in Progress pictures and a video of the lights working. I hope that you enjoy the following pictures and my adaptation of a very popular vehicle still being used today and look forward to your reviews. With side lights on Headlights Indicators Rear side lights Rear brake lights

A second Stagg conversion, from 5 years ago This second model I am presenting to you now, of the early Staggerwing machines produced by Beechcraft , denominated A17SF, was conceived to participate in the MacRobertson race as NR / NC12569. Several circumstances did not permit that to happen, and the plane was eventually sold to the Bureau of Air Commerce as NS68. But first, the differences with the model I previously made and posted –the first 17R, NC499N, that you can see here: and this version, the A17SF, whose characteristics are: -a much bigger cowl to house the Wright Cyclone -absence of ventilation gills on the fuselage front -the presence of landing flaps underneath the upper wing * * this in turn demanded a cut on the “tail” of the wing strut upper fairings. DO NOT follow Wylam plans regarding this –and other- details, they help, but get stuff wrong all the time; look at photos instead (or besides) -a non-divided rudder –a divided one was used as an airbrake in the former model- that also has a small compensator protruding ahead from the hinge line at the top -steerable tailwheel -different nav lights located on the lower wings (as in the series models) -some sort of intake tube on left wing root –but only on NS68, not on the racer- -two Venturis underneath the belly –only on racer- -carb intake on top of cowl -thin struts instead of wire rigging on tail feathers -presence of antenna wire -on NS68- -different Pitot tube -different landing wires rigging -elevators had also small compensators protruding from the hinge line -antenna loop on the cabin roof Now, to this particular model of the Stag, A17FS. This particular version had the most powerful engine and the stumpiest look of them all. The schemes differ slightly too between the two incarnations of A17FS: -of course different registrations -scalloped-painted pants in the racer -different propellers -the wing struts were red on NS68 and silver on NR/NC12569 -the regs on the tail are red on NS68 and silver on NC12569 (besides of course the obvious facts that the regs themselves were different) I will repeat here the warnings I posted on the other conversion: The two things that gave me a lot of headaches and produced a lot of frustration were the two-part windshield and the struts. The struts as molded have tiny locating protrusions which you are at risk to confuse with the leftovers of the gates, a couple millimeters apart. If you have managed to spot that with a “phew!”, you are not off the hook. The curve of the upper part of the strut will not match that of the upper wing which it supports, nor will the little pip align with the faint hole in the said wing.

A deep conversion from 5 years ago, backdating the kit to the first machine. A Staggering Endeavor The Prolific and unusual family of Beech Staggerwing aircraft evolved through several incarnations. Its elegant and unorthodox lines have the unmistakable appeal of the Golden Age of aviation. Less known, though, are the first pre-production machines, which differed from the production design and ulterior developments quite a lot. The Kit: Good news: we have a kit of the Staggerwing released in two boxings by two manufacturers, even with a floaty version. Not so good news: it is not the version I want to model. Even less good news: being a fairly decent kit with many pros, it is not the best technology around (short run, meaning some butt-joins, somewhat thick parts, you know already, you have built some of those). The two things that gave me a lot of headaches and produced a lot of frustration were the two-part windshield and the struts. The struts as molded have tiny locating protrusions which you are at risk to confuse with the leftovers of the gates, a couple millimeters apart. If you have managed to spot that with a “phew!”, you are not yet off the hook. The curve of the upper part of the strut will not match that of the upper wing which it supports, nor will the little pip align with the faint hole in the said wing. Good luck with that. I did not have any. The early Staggs –just to start with- had more span and less length, so you will have to slice and splice one set of wings. The upper –longer- wing panels in your kit number one will do now as lower wing panels for your prototype model. The lower wing panels of both kits will have to be hacked and re-hashed as the upper wings. Afraid of loosing detail? Don’t be, for two reasons: the upper wing in the early machines had no ailerons (fill the engraved aileron line and the seam where you attached the extension since you are at it) and the prototype used a slimmer airfoil, so some little sanding-down won’t hurt. Now your “new” lower wing (former upper wing of your kit) will need its aileron line continued to the edge (root) fill and scribe accordingly. Confused? And we are just getting started. Get the right engine from another kit or as an after market item; you need a Wright Whirlwind instead of the P&W R985 in your kits. To help you sorting out, here some pointers about the prototype 17R compared to your kit (which is a D-17): Had larger span Had two doors Bump underneath aileron hinge No upper wing ailerons Different engine The rudder split open and acted as an airbrake Had fixed LG (will have to glue all retractable gear parts closed, smooth out the area, scratchbuild the wheel pants) The fuselage was shorter and the aft shape concurrently varied The tail feathers were different (larger horizontal stab and differently-contoured vertical stab) The baggage door was on the other side (right) It had landing lights Tail wheel wasn’t retractable Had slightly more dihedral –even more on lower panel- Different nose and surface details AND of course some other details. Elated already? So am I. With another stagg in pants, soon to be posted as a separate RFI:

A build from 2 years ago of a very elegant plane. The WIP is here: And so I don't have to repeat here what is written somewhere else: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darmstadt_D-18