Search the Community

Hi all, Here's my latest 3D printed kit update, this time for the Kinetic 1/48 Sea Harrier FRS1 and FA2 (they may also fit the Harrier Gr1/3 and T-Harriers). The update consists of two parts, including the prominent fan and then a representation of the compressor. As can be seen, there is an enormous improvement with these parts, when compared with the original kit part! Kinetic intake fan, selling for £6 plus £2.50 postage. See also, upgrade for the Hasegawa kit (will also fit kits that use the Hasegawa plastic - Revell & Hobby 2000). 3D printed upgrade featuring a two-piece fan. Hasegawa intake fan, now selling for £8 plus £2.50 postage. Cheers! Ben

It's been a while since I last posted something so I'm now about to make up for that. This has been my main "summer 2023 build" & unfortunately I just couldn't get into taking progress pics. It was mainly a matter of getting the chance to build as and when. Small bits here & there amongst whittling other kits. So here it is; General Dynamics F-111F Aardvark 70-2390 Miss Liberty II Lakenheath 01-1991 1/72 Hobby2000 Hasegawa kit. Armory wheels Master brass pitot Reskit exhausts Reskit AN/ALQ-131 Reskit 3D printed ladders Eduard cockpit set Eduard Brassin GBU-24 X2 Hasegawa GBU-15 X2 Hataka Vietnam War redline acrylics. All the decals were from the kit & were very good quality only the colour scheme in the kit isn't quite accurate to the actual airframe with the general three colour pattern. Hobby2000 have you put colours where they shouldn't go, then I even fluffed up on the forward starboard placing of the green which should have completely gone underneath the four squadron badges. There are photos of 2390 with munitions on while taxying out of a HAS, so I had to research what I was supposed to hang from the pylons. Should have asked here I know! I hope I've got it right. GBU-24's outboard from Eduard, I slapped the supplied yellow rings around them, but have been informed they should have two? The GBU-15's were from one of the Hasegawa weapons sets. I also sourced a decent AN/ALQ-131 from Reskit fixed to its rear station. Other than that, the kit goes together really nicely. I did have to scribe the details in for the wing gloves in the fuselage sides oh & for some reason I managed to fog the bottom of the windscreen, but it doesn't look too bad. I used my usuall Ammo Mig panel line washes. I started using a ground equipment set for my Tiger Meet Starfighter, so the rest of the box was used on this build & painted in the later NATO dark green, with a lonely pilot waiting for the rest of the ground crew to finish their breakfast! Thanks for looking. Martin

As part of my growing collection of "Pearl Harbor Attackers and Defenders", the SBD Dauntless has an important spot. On the morning of December 7, 1941, 18 SBD Dauntless departed from the USS Enterprise to Ford Island, among them VS-6 6-S-4 piloted by LT Clarence Earle Dickinson Jr., radioman/gunner’s seat RM1 William Cicero Miller. Completely unaware of the Japanese attack, they were bounced by Zeros upon reaching Oahu, Miller, the gunner of 6-S-4, managed to return fire and probably shot down one of the Zeros before expending all ammo and getting wounded. This was probably the first US naval aerial victory of the war. Dickinson continued flying until his Dauntless was crippled and parachuted to safety. Miller, hit by the Zeros, was killed in the crash. Therefore, as 6-S-4 was fired upon and returned fire on flight, it matches the criteria for joining my "attackers and defenders" of Pearl Harbor collection. I started looking for an 1/72 kit a while ago, quite frustrated to find only vintage, low quality options. Luckily, Hobby 2000 came up with a re-box of the discontinued Hasegawa SBD-2/3 Dauntless, and that is the one I got for this project (Flyhawk new release was not available back then). The kit is still good, negative scribing, quite accurate I would say, no rivets (grateful for that, don´t like those in this scale), nice engine as a base to add some detail, external ordnance (which I´ll not use). On the minus side, there is only basic detail in the cockpit (seats, control columns, pedals plus a decal for the instrument panel), and something that annoys me is that only a version of the canopy with the enclosed gunner´s position is provided (and haven´t found an aftermarket vacuum-formed option). Dive brakes can´t be positioned open, either. Instructions are easy to follow, with color codes for interiors as well. I bought Eduard´s PE that includes parts for cockpit/engine/landing gear, and another set for the dive breaks. These will take care of most of the omissions of the kit. And I got pilot and gunner from Legend Productions and 0.30" MGs from GasPatch models. Markings for 6-S-4 will come from Starfighter Decals "Pearl Harbor Defenders". Cockpit needed a complete update, for which Eduard´s PE is quite appropriate. Only key item missing is the gunner´s seat, they´ll leave you to somehow work the awful plastic one provided in the kit. Removing ejection pin marks is one of the most annoying things in scale modeling... The kit provides a very basic representation of the buttocks for the 0.50" machineguns on the sides of the instrument panel but does not mention any color for them. I added the buffer tube and painted them gunmetal (Wow, the pilot will have issues holding that thick control stick!!!) Marco

Joining with this kit. Bought at IPMS Avon show in 2022. Offering these options. Austrian is similar to the one I posted in Inspiration Gallery. I'm fully anticipating that this build will take the top place on my Draken Totem-pole, knocking each of the others down a notch. Planning to complete a Finnish Air Force.

Greetings Friends! Here is my latest build just finished, an excellent Hobby2000 kit which used Hasegawa Plastic, great decals, masks and color drawings. I did use a stew of decals including decal scheme from an old Eagle Strike Ar234 Sheet, and added Peddinghaus decal stencils and used kit Insignia decals. The adds to this kit were the excellent Eduard 'Look' Instrument panel and resin wheel kit. I also used a Hasegawa German Pilot from their WW2 Weapons and figures kit! This pilot assembled and fit wonderfully in the AR234! Minor trimming of bombsite and he looks great in the cockpit! The Paint is Gunsie Mr Color RLM 81/82/76. The Clear is Tamiya Semi Gloss. I had to paint the canopy rivets with a toothpick sharpened to a point. They look good to the bare eye, but zooming in with camera phone shows the painting challenge. I may still just overpaint the canopy frames black. Or someday get custom rivet decals made. What do you guys think of the canopy or other tips you can give? The decal rivets I had handy did not match the framing rivets in spacing so I tried toothpick! Let me know what you think...