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Apologies if this is in the wrong section. I'm afraid I know very little about trains but my mate's son loves them and we wanted to get him a train book for his 11th birthday. Any suggestions!? He's pretty knowledgeable so nothing too childish, but plenty of nice photos, line drawings/profiles etc like you can get for aircraft. Any books with the diesels and electric ones in rather than history or steam engines, maybe like 80s, 90s onward? Thanks!

All in all a nice, easy build. There are a few amateur tell tale signs (like that big paint smudge on the fin insignia) I need to neaten up. But by my standards this is pretty good, and overall i'm very happy with this Chris x

Good afternoon, I got this kit in early January at RNAS Yeovilton (along with the new Airfix sea king) and decided to build it as XR728- a lightning which I had seen fast-taxi during my first visit to Bruntingthorpe last year. The kit itself is Airfix's superb 1:72 Lightning F.6 which has a high level of detail and from what I gather- accuracy, except for the box-front which was missing both tailplanes... (I won't expand on this evaluation of the kit because there are plenty of reviews out there already) As metioned above, I did the Lightning as XR728, it just so happens that on closer examination the kit decals were for XR728 so I didn't have to purchas any aftermarket decals. It was painted with the Vallejo "Air" paints, I mixed a variety of greys to use as the colour for the top of the wings and fuselage, I used "USAF Light Grey" for the underside and "Medium Olive" for the shock cone. For the appropriately named Red Top missiles, a range of reds, camouflage greens and a light grey was used to paint them. -Modifications to the kit include, opening up one or two of the panel lines on the wings to allow an AK Interactive wash to flow through them after painting, the air vents/intakes (?) on the side of the fuselage just behind the cockpit were cut open as per reference pictures. And alas, apart from a few bits and pieces of plasticard in the cockpit, that was it. Profile view, note the opened air intakes/vents (?) behind the cockpit The cockpit, very little was added here- only one or two pieces of plasticard to highlight some more prominent items A close-up of the nose, also note the belly cannons just below the rear of the missile's tail A close-up of the shock cone (I tried to create a slight weathering effect on it) The underside of the Lightning An AK Interactive- "Engine and Turbines" wash was applied into the main gear bays A closer view of the rear of the aircraft, showing the tailhook and some crisp decals from Airfix The afterburner cans, try and ignore the slight defect that was created by myself (upper nozzle) And finally, a wider view from the rear of the aircraft So that's it for this build, overall a pleasant kit from Airfix, the decals were a nightmare to put on (white line decals along the upper surfaces of the wing) but I think it was worth it in the end. Thanks for having a look, Sam

English Electric Lightning F.2A Starter Set Airfix 1:72 The Cold War era created some iconic aircraft that have remained in the hearts of aviation enthusiasts ever since. None more so than the functional but beautiful looking Lightning which was designed with the ability to get to its intercept point as fast as possible. It's design does little to hide this purpose, with two powerful Avon turbojets in an unconventional stacked arrangement at the rear and a highly swept thin wing configuration leaving little room for the array of additional equipment, cockpit, landing gear and fuel. The aircraft developed a charismatic lump underneath to address the lack of internal fuel, but it was never to become an aircraft famed for its endurance capability. Despite a career spanning nearly 30 years, the Lightning was only ever operated by three nations, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and of course Britain, but if you want to see one flying now, a trip to Capetown to see Thunder City's T.5 will be necessary although there is plans to restore a T.5 to airworthy condition in the USA in the near future. The F.2A kit was reviewed in May of this year by Paul HERE, so I won't do a review of the kit to avoid replication. That kit had decals for XN793 in the high visibility scheme as it wore in '72, however whilst this starter kit also includes decals for the same aircraft, they are the low visibility colours that it wore in 1974. Paint scheme for this aircraft was dark green over natural metal. Conclusion Whilst there has been some quality issues with the canopies provided in some of the Lightning kits, it has excellent detail and has been well received in the community with great results coming off fellow Britmodeller production lines. Whilst this set is obviously aimed at novice builders by providing the basic paints, glue and brushes to build it, it also provides a choice for more experienced builders if you want this decal option. Review sample courtesy of

I am envious of the dentists array of gadgets. Especially their polishing gizmo. I bought GMC DEC003AC 135 Multi Function Rotary Tool and thought that with the extension it should work a treat. Just the soft polishing disk acted like a grinder. I need something small and lightweight for drilling 1/48 and especially for polishing out scribing mistakes.I have looked at the Dremel but is seems like an expensive version of what I have.