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I've long wanted to convert Heller's classic 1:72nd DC-6 to a DC-7 so I recently took the plunge and ordered the Aircraft in Miniature conversion set from Hannants. A box soon arrived crammed full of nicely molded grey resin along with a comprehensive set of instructions. The conversion kit gives you fuselage plugs to extend the DC-6 fuse to the longer DC-7, a new wing centre section, a new taller and squarer fin, saddle tanks for the engines, new cowlings and cooling gills (open or closed) as well as white-metal 4-bladed props. All in all a very comprehensive set. Looking at the work ahead I have decided to tackle the wings and engines first as these look to be the most demanding parts of the conversion. My first job was to remove the DC-6 engine nacelle extensions that sit over the wing - the new saddle tanks will replace these in due course: Next I prepared the upper wings for mating to the new, extended wing centre-section by removing the inner section of the wing to fuselage fairing: I then added a false roof to the main gear bays as the surgery required to add the saddle tanks will undoubtedly be ugly, and then I offered the lower wings to the new wingbox. The original DC-6 centre-section gives a useful comparison: I've encountered a small issue in the fact the chord of the new resin wingbox is greater than that of the DC-6 wing, but a file should soon take care of that... More updates to follow as this project progresses - stay tuned! All the best, Tom

North American T6 DG Texan is a US built single-engined aircraft, that was widely used in the WWII by the USAAF and the RAF to train fighter pilots. Texans were globally very popular and in addition to the main users these planes were also employed as trainers in sixty other nations. Nowadays you can still see Texans in air shows around the world. The French Air Force were one of the operators of Texans and in addition to pilot training these planes were also used in combat duties during the French-Algerian colonial war in 1954-62. I built the model some ten years ago from an old Heller 1/48 kit. It depicts the FAF Texan fighter that operated in the Algerian conflict from the Alger AFB. The kit was unfortunately a far cry from the excellent tamigawa products. There were all imaginable issues, the biggest being the lousy fit. At some point I was about to throw in the towel but at last won the long battle. If my memory serves me right I painted the model with Xtracolor trainer yellow X011 The decals that I used were from Aero Master.

My second entry will be this 1/72 Heller SAAB Tunnan: Sprues: Some aftermarket goodies: The Aries wheels and paint masks set came sans paint masks . Print Scale decals, I will be doing the second one, with the black tail. Incidentally, and some of you will know this, the J-29 had no official name, “Tunnan” Swedish for barrel, was a nick name bestowed on the aircraft due to its, shall we say portly, appearance. Seems that SAAB were not impressed and all their subsequent fighters were given suitable names to avoid any repeats. Hopefully I can make a start on this tomorrow. AW

My latest completion the Heller SA316 Alouette III Gendarmerie boxing finished as a Marine Nationale SA319B using some of the Brengun etched brass set and the Berna Decals Sheet BD 72-94 and a bit of scratch on the engine and for various aerials and other lumps and bumps, would have been finished a couple of months ago but when I removed the masking from the cockpit I found that I had manged to stick a bit on the inside so the all the glazing had to be removed which saw it on the shelf of doom for a while before I could get up the enthusiasm to rectify. anyway here it is. Aerospatiale SA319 Alouette III by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr Aerospatiale SA319 Alouette III by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr Aerospatiale SA319 Alouette III by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr Aerospatiale SA319 Alouette III by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr Enjoy, C and C Welcome Willy

The second of my builds in the Nordic II Group Build, Heller’s old 1/72 Tunnan with Maestro PE, Aires resin main wheels, Master turned brass pitots. Finished with a Vallejo Metalcolour acrylics, Print Scale decals: and with its predecessor, the piston engined pusher J-21: Thanks for looking. AW

Hi all, here are the final pictures for the H1. It is not a shake and bake kit and far from perfect but it will be sitting on the shelf next to its bigger brother the H2 750. Thanks for looking in on this 70's "snap crackle and pop" classic bike.

Morning. My first entry for this GB is the somewhat basic, but still beautiful, Heller 1/48 Rafale A demonstrator: The decals look ok. The cockpit detail is somewhat basic, so this will have the canopy closed. I probably would have opted for this anyway to try and preserve the sleek beauty of this aircraft, in its striking scheme, so no issue there. The ordinance that comes with the kit looks very suspect - will need to find some photo references to see what this carried when on public display. Thanks for looking, Icarus

Fancied another one, and since there's a couple of Heller thingies in the stash, what better than the first French-designed operational jet - the Dassault Ouragan! Designed in 1947 and first flight in 1948, and ordered for the AdA in 1950 this plane became the starting point for the restoration of the French independent aircraft industry. The kit itself is part of the 100 years Dassault set; basically a reboxing of the Super Etendard, Mirage III, 2000 and this one - impractically large box with four bags of kits loosely in there. Still, the bits are OK and there's a nice set of decals supplied. I might stick my finger out and go for the Indian Air Force one. All metal, and relatively clean though it may be it has it's own interest as one of the first export customers. The intake splitter and nosewheel bay already stuck together and done. Cockpit based on dry-fit will not show very much, so I'll keep to the base colours.

This is my third build for the Heller 60th Anniversary Group Build on HyperScale's 1/72 GB Forum, and conveniently serves to mark the plane's 50th anniversary as well. I finished mine as Royal Thai Navy machine. The main modifications were to scratch-build closed cowling gills as the kit's were terrible, add push-rods to the engines, scratch-build the nose radome and wing fences, plus plunge-mold the bulged observation windows. The Siam Decals were a gift from good pommie-kiwi mate, Colin Milliput (AKA Whitehouse) who lives in Thailand. The hardest part of the build by far was assembling the undercarriage. Build Log: http://www.network54.com/Forum/644810/thread/1509340676/last-1509678989/(View+All+Messages+in+this+Thread) http://www.network54.com/Forum/644810/thread/1509243251/last-1509301138/(View+All+Messages+in+this+Thread) http://www.network54.com/Forum/644810/thread/1504349593/last-1504428684/(View+All+Messages+in+this+Thread) http://www.network54.com/Forum/644810/thread/1504433118/last-1504470561/(View+All+Messages+in+this+Thread)

I completed this kit around this time in 2020 for the Heller Group Build & never got round to completing what I had in mind for it. So I purchased the Ace 1/72 kit of the Traction Avant 11CV with the idea of posing Antoine with one of his crew before his apparent suicide reconnaissance mission to Arras, which he obviously survived to tell the tale. There may have been two other crew members, gunner & camera operator, but with this I am just using artistic licence. They're still waiting for the other crew member to arrive by bicycle. This is actually my first if not rather basic airfield diorama scene. I still haven't got round to reading the book, so I will have to try & track it down. Figures are adapted from the Airfix RAF Personnel set. Thanks for looking! Martin

Just a placeholder for now. Grand unboxing later.

Hi All, I hope the Hosts won't mind me throwing another chapeau into the ring while I've already got one build in progress in this GB? I'm not sure whether this one will make across the line, but we'll see how it goes. What, you may ask, is a Nieuport-Delage NiD 42S? To be honest, until a couple of days ago I had no idea either! Two were built to compete in air races with one, flown by Joseph Sadi-Lecointe, winning the 1924 Coupe Beaumont. Nieuport's designer, Gustave Delage, drew heavily on the company's concurrent fighter designs - they were very much "developers" rather than "innovators" - for the NiD 42S, and thus the fuselage is virtually identical to the NiD 42C.1 parasol-wing fighter (hence also the NiD 622 - see where I'm going here?), but with the wings mounted at shoulder height. The engine used was a variant of the fighter's unit, a Hispano-Suiza 12Hb developing 600hp. The radiators were incorporated into the upper surfaces of the wings. Nieuport-Delage also incorporated an aerofoil on the undercarriage axle, and referred to the aircraft as a "sesquiplan"! The NiD 42S' cockpit was positioned slightly further aft than that of the 42C.1, which was possible due to the method of manufacture where a hollow plywood fuselage was built in two halves around formers, joined, and an 'ole for the driver's head was cut out. The completed fuselage was then covered in doped fabric et Robert est le frère de ta mère. There are a few leads on t'interweb, but finding a drawing has been quite difficult. A couple turn up in other articles, and are in any case relatively small. However, they can be enlarged and printed, and their scale determined using known dimensions. Here are some links in case anyone is interested: Wikipedia AviaFrance Les Ailes 19 Juin 1924 The Last Racer Produced by Nieuport There is also a similar build here on Modelling Madness, which in part inspired the one I'm planning, although the builder does confuse the designations a bit and what he actually built is a 1921 Coupe Deutch de Meurthe racer, not a NiD 42S. There seem to be very few photographs which show the upper surfaces of the wings, so some guesswork and cross-pollination from other similarly-equipped aircraft will probably be needed. Interior? Who knows; probably very sparse! Colour scheme? I would imagine a rather fetching shade of Bleu Français and aluminium dope/polished aluminium. For the basis of this kitbash, I'm using Heller's venerable Nieuport-Delage NiD 622. Obligatory box and sprue shots: http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// There we are, then. Should be an interesting little project without being too taxing Cheers for now, Mark

This qualifies for the GB on all counts, a Heller 1/43 Peugeot 206 WRC driven to victory in the 2000 Tour de Corse by French brothers Gilles and Herve Panizzi. Having built a couple of these in the past I'm not expecting any problems. DSCF2332 by timothy jones, on Flickr DSCF2333 by timothy jones, on Flickr

I built this in the current High Wing GB here on BM, WIP below This was inspired by a mate @jean who once flew in one. Despite being a vintage kit I'm really pleased with how it turned out, I hope you like it. Cheers Pat

Hello all, These vintage Heller kits date back to the mid '70s and are known for several shape issues of which I corrected (only) a few. The bulges on the tail fin and horizontal stabilizers were flattened. The cockpits were completely scratch-built as the kit is pretty much devoid of anything. Same for the nose gear wells. The ejection seat in the J-6 is homemade, with a Pavla resin MB seat being used in the F-6. The Heller kit builds into a long-nosed Mig-19PM, so I shortened both noses by some 2 mm and reshaped the intakes using Milliput and styrene strip to better resemble the overall Mig-19S / J-6 profile: not perfect, but close enough too my eyes. The distinctive guns are also absent in the kit: I added some Master gun barrels (the pitot tubes come from the same set). The parachute housing and AIM-9B sidewinder pylons on the PAF aircraft were scratch-built also. Final touches are Reskit resin wheels and the smaller scratch-built fins/actuators on the wings. I used Printscale decals for both aircraft. The PLAAF roundels are from the spares box though, as the Printscale ones are way too large. Paints are Gunze/Tamiya acrylics; weathering was done with oils. Thanks for viewing - comments always welcome! Patrick

Hi all, This is the Heller Mirage 2000N modified to get a D version. As usual with Heller, lot of work to get a decent model. Happy new year

So having been the victim of @jean cunning plan, verging on entrapment, please see below my other build for this GB ! This is another one of my modern kits from the 1960's, so the decals will be a battle, and those strutts look like a nightmare, but life's too short not to take these things head on. So let battle commence Cheers Pat

It was my intention to build my family of Saab jets in chronological order, but delays in getting paint and bits for the Lansen have meant that plan has gone out of the window, so I will shortly be starting this. In 1977 Heller released their kit of a Viggen. The box did not say which version it was but the 1978 reboxing said it covered the AJ attack, SF recce, and SK 2 seat trainer. My boxing dates back to 1998 when they added new parts and started selling it as the JA fighter/interceptor version, and that is the version currently on sale. It appears that the parts for the 3 other versions are still included but Heller only provide one paint scheme and markings for a “Jaktviggen” as the AJ37 is known. They also have limited the armament options to the fixed cannon pod on the belly and 4 AIM 9 Sidewinders, which is a pity as the real thing could also carry Skyflash and later AIM 120 longer ranged missiles - I have a supply of missiles but would need to work out how the pylons and rails looked if I wanted to use them. The colour scheme is for one of the later grey machines. It looks as if I could probably still build any one of the previous versions, as it includes 2 different tails, two cockpit tubs and seats, both a short and long upper fuselage insert and transparencies for both single and 2 seater and parts for both normal and recce nose though it might be missing pylons and weapons for the attack version. I would love one in the splinter camo, but frankly I have neither the patience or time, so I will build this OOB if I can - perhaps I will buy one of the earlier boxings some time when I have some spare cash. Assuming I have all the bits and it fits reasonably well this does not look like a very complicated kit or colour scheme so I might get it finished before the "In the Navy" GB starts in the middle of February - I might even get the Gripen done as well, but first I have to finish the Lansen. So before very long I will be building yet another Viggen to join the countless ones already in progress - might even out the surfeit of Drakens a little. Cheers Pete

Joining you with this recent acquisition from IPMS Avon show. Cost £7. To build this 2 seat option, which happens to be Danish. Post-dated photo of parts, earlier this morning. Raised panel detail, little interior - I suspect this Draken kit has been overtaken in quality. Originally released in 1977, and last seen in 2000.

This one was a little more difficult than I anticipated, and has effectively been on the bench since June. The kit itself is OK, but that large expanse of yellow and matching the red paint to the red decals has taken a lot longer than I would have wished. The current "famine" of Humbrol enamels didnt help either. However, it's finished now and I'm pleased with the result. This is the Heller issue of this kit, insipire dby a visit I made to Marseille airport 4 years ago, where the entire French CL-415 fleet was sitting on the apron! FredT

Well as I'm away from work on holiday for a week I thought it's about time I throw my hat in the ring for this group build before the hosts start sending threatening emails 😮 I always loved the rally cars from my youth and added this to the stash a few years ago. I've also got the Tamiya version, but this one has only got 41 pieces, so shouldn't be an issue time wise. I've never built a Heller kit before, so what's the worse that can happen 🤔 It's going to be OOB and I might even try the Tamiya laquer paint I've got to see if it's as good as everyone says Couple of pics before I cut stuff off the sprues and start priming Ian

Hi everyone, this is indeed my very first car build, and although a simple kit, I was seriously intimidated, believe it or not. Just finished this build as part of the French Fancy GB, and the build thread, for the ones interested is: Here are a couple of photos and I feel a bit self conscious as you guys and girls build car kits for a living, or so it seems looking at the smashing quality of your builds. So feel free to give me some feedback and pointers, as this small 2 CV may not be the last car I build. Thanks for taking the time to look at this post. JR

Hello all. While waiting on the paint to dry on my side-tracked P-26 Peashooter build, I have decided to get started on the next project, a 1/72 scale conversion of the Heller F-94B kit to a Lockheed YF-94D, which I have never seen modeled. As usual, after waiting for someone else to give me a conversion set, I decided that no one would, so I'll just get on with it! Below are the major component parts I'll use. The Keller kit, the True Details F-94C cockpit set, and a side view of the subject aircraft: The side view, with the actual length to scale needed, shown below: Note the actual length is for the actual aircraft, NOT the paper size. This is a picture in 200 dpi, so it seems a little large. Actually, it needs to be scaled larger to be actual 1/72 scale. I didn't print it larger here, because it would have been more than 1660 pixels wide, and not a very happy match for some folks' computer screens, and thus, not very useful. So, you'll have to scale it yourselves, if you need it! The particular aircraft I'm building is this one: Originally to be designed as a new ground attach version of the F-94, it was converted from an F-94B, and only the nose was modified. It was to have originally tested a variety of guns, such as 20mm, as well as a retractable nose refueling probe. I don't know if if ever did, but it was in fact used for aerial testing of the M61 Gatling gun, later used on many other fighters, to this day. I believe I read somewhere that when testing the M61, the aircraft would come to an almost stop in the air, as the Gatling gun had such a kick. But, perhaps it happened to another test aircraft. A lot of things slip away with the onset of old age... This is just to whet your appetites, because, as stated over on my P-26 thread, I'll be away for a few days. So, it'll be a while before we can find out whether I've bit off more than I can chew. See you then, Ed

Afternoon folks, well it's been a couple of weeks I think since this particular model was completed, so 'better late than never' I guess. This is the first completed model from my attempt at a PZL-themed 'tri-andem build' which in fact turned out to be nothing more than the sequential build of 3 models all documented in the same thread. At the time of posting the WIP thread (here, for the sufficiently curious) is still active, awaiting me to gather the required courage to take on the last model in the sequence. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, despite many trials and tribulations with PE, decals etc, and a serious collapse of mojo partway through last year and well into this year. No matter, hopefully that's all behind me now. So, no doubt by popular demand, I shall cut the blether and just get to posting the pics: Thanks to everyone who looked in on progress, or commented, or just hit the like button! Your interest was, and still is, much appreciated

Here is the Heller Airbus A300 kit in 1/125. Its the typical scale for Hellers airliner range and as such it doesnt fit in any other collections. As I have mostly all Heller airliners its not a problem. The kit is quite old and in some areas simple in design. The landing gear in particular is on most Heller kits very simplistic.The wheels have no detail at all. I replaced them with 747 wheels from a Revell kit. For my remaining 2 Heller A300s I might go with the "wheels up" option. The fit is decent and only the fuselage halves and engines needed a bit of filler. The little fences on the wing are also missing,I made them out of evergreen plastic. As my missus is from the Philippines,some PAL airliners are of course a must in my fleet😉. The decal set comes from f-dcal and had to be rescaled to fit the larger Heller Airbus. The quality is great but the reception of the f-decal orders is,at least for me and another fellow modeller,not always granted. It took several months and email requests to finally receive the set. Its a pitty that this guy is so unreliable,I would like to buy more from him but life is too short. My model depicts the first A300 delivered to the airline. For this occasion,Philippine Airlines decided to add the kissing mouth at the front and labeled it "LoveBus" Paints are Gunze white primer,gloss coated with Gunze Premium Clear,Revell grey 371 for the wings and my own mix of Revell grey 374 with a few drops of silver 90 for the coroguard panels. Leading edges are done with Bare Metal Foil. Engines are painted with Gunze metallics. Mabuhay (welcome) Alex