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This is one of two entries for this GB. I built this kit twice back in the early 1980s from the original ESCI boxings, one as a Flammpanzer III, the other as the M. At he time, I never got the kit of the M/N with the side and turret "skirts". The Italeri kit is the M/N version, including the extra sprue with the armour skirts and mounts, as well as the 75mm L/24 barrel, mantlet and other details. It also has the "hard" tracks introduced in the ESCI/ERTL era. The tracks are for the Panzer IV, and have to be cut to size for the Panzer III.

With I’d gone for the Revell like my son did, shape looks better and crisper mouldings than these Italeri methinks. I’m not great with 1/72 so just a bit of fun with an unrealistically close pairs landing. Made & painted 6m apart hence different paints used & different shades. Eduard ASRAAMs on each, and put I pilot in each... PJ Productions I think? Thanks for looking.

Well in between painting sessions on the BPBC and things being a bit fragile to transport I took this into the Model club on thursday night to start and I nearly had it done in a couple of hours while chatting and building with good friends only a few bits to add before painting and it comes with a couple of funny looking crew figures Hmm one looks familiar with that mask beefy

During a discussion on here the other week about this kit, I promised to post up some pics of mine. Turned out that I had taken some pics of this and a couple of other older builds back in the summer which I haven't posted yet, so fortunately have some decent images of it since I am unable to take any at the moment due to the weather. This is originally an Italeri kit, but this one is a Revell AG rebox from about 15 years ago. I bought it at the time and probably started it about five years later. However I messed up the bonnet as when gluing it to the hinges, the polystyrene cement created sink marks on the other side in the top surface of the bonnet so it got thrown back in the box for a while before I got around to looking at it again. I think I eventually completed it only a couple of years ago, as I'd lost momentum on it due to the damage. This is also why the bonnet is loose, rather than hinged... In terms of the kit itself, it was relatively easy to build - from memory, I think I had to tweak the engine position in order to get it to sit low enough for the bonnet to fit, but otherwise I don't recall any issues that weren't my own fault! Anyhow, here's the pics.

Here is my 1/72 Italeri Lockheed Hercules C5, ZH883 of 47 Sqn, RAF Brize Norton from 2016. Built OOB using the Xtracolor decals set for the '50 Years' of Hercules operations. The only whitling that was done was moving the position of the prop blades to the feathered position as they would be normally on the ground, from the fined in flight position for flight as they are in the kit. Painted with Xtracolor enamels, mainly NATO Green with some white and blacks added to try and get the change in shades that are evident on the real aircraft. Maybe not an exact match but I don't think it's come out too bad. It's a large model so doesn't fit into the cabinet 🙄, didn't realise that the wing span was so large. Photo's not great as were taken on my iPhone.

Dear fellow Britmodellers, here's my 1/72 Italeri M8 Greyhound, built with the addition of Brengun photo etch. Painted with Gunze/Mr. Hobby acrylics, weathered with artist oils and Tamiya pigments. The model represents a vehicle operating in France, 1944. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. The Italeri kit was originally released in 2004 and is still the only 72 scale injection-moulded model on the market. I upgraded the plastic parts with the Hauler/Brengun set (HLH72098), which contains both photo-etch and resin pieces. The kit decals seem to be slightly oversized, so I replaced the US star on the front with an aftermarket item from Peddinghaus. The antennas are from stretched sprue, the stowage items were included in the kit. Thank you for your interest.

B-25 Mitchell Wheels (4418) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Kit wheels are generally in two halves, which means you have the resultant joins to deal with, possible mould-slip issues on single part wheels, and sometimes less than stellar detail due to the moulding limitations of styrene injection technology, especially in the tread department. That's where replacement resin wheels come in, with their lack of seamline and superior detail making a compelling argument. They are also usually available at a reasonable price, and can be an easy introduction to aftermarket and resin handling, as they are usually a drop-in replacement. This set from CMK is suitable for the Accurate Miniatures, Academy and Italeri kits in 1:48, all of which originate from the 1999 tooling by now defunct Accurate Miniatures, which is still the kit to have in this scale. Thinking of that, how about a new modern tooling soon, someone? The set arrives in the usual yellow-themed CMK blister pack, with the instructions sandwiched between the resin parts and the header card. Inside are ten resin parts on six casting blocks, consisting of three wheels and seven hub parts for optional smooth or spoked hubs on all three wheels. The wheels are all attached to their blocks on their contact patches, with additional wisps of resin supporting the wheel further and helping to reduce the likelihood of air bubbles within the moulds. These are easily removed with a razor saw and a swipe with a sanding stick that should leave all the diamond tread detail intact. The hubs are all cast flat against their blocks, so will need to be sawn or sanded off, taking the usual precautions when handling resin. When liberated from their blocks, you can choose which parts to use for your selected airframe. Conclusion Detail is excellent, with Goodyear branding on the main tyres, and crisp brake detail on the rear hubs, plus cut-outs between the spokes once they are removed from their casting blocks. The addition of a slight weighting sag at the bottom lends your model a little extra realism on top of that already provided. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello everybody, here's my latest off the bench, Italeri's 1/48 Stuka in the markings of 239a Squadriglia of the Regia Aeronautica. A quick summary: KIT: Italeri 1/48 Junkers Ju-87 B2-R2, No. 2769 AIRFRAME: Junkers JU-87 B2, M.M. 7085, Captain Giuseppe Cenni's mount PAINTS: the camouflage was airbrushed using Tamiya (my own mix) for the underside RLM65, again Tamiya XF27 Black Green for RLM70, Lifecolor Dark Green for RLM71. Two different versions of home brewed RLM02 for the interiors, one using Lifecolor paints (more of a grey hue, I used it to paint the cockpit and canopy frames) and one with Tamiya (green hue, used for the firewall, wheel spats interior and engine bearers). Decanted Tamiya Gloss Aluminium, Model Master Metallizers and Molotow Chrome pen for the metallics. Other assorted Lifecolor, Italeri and Tamiya acrylics for detail painting MARKINGS: I cut my own masks with my Silhouette Curio and airbrushed the underwings Fasci and the tail Savoia Cross; the fuselage white band was masked using regular masking tape. The Italian Stukas were all German former machines, so the German insignia were painted over with Italian paint patches (Verde Oliva Scuro for the upper wing crosses and the tail swastikas, Grigio Azzurro Chiaro for the underwing crosses); I airbrushed these over-painted areas using a mix of Oramask home made masks and blue tack masks. All the rest are the kit decals WEATHERING: assorted tempera and oil washes; very thinned Tamiya Flat Black for the exhaust fumes. Oil dotting in some selected areas. Lifecolor Sand Yellow for the wing walkways and wheel and spats dirtying up, applied with a sponge AFTERMARKETS: None. The kit actually sports a PE fret with parts for the IP and cockpit, plus the tail planes mass balances and the wing walkways. SCRATCH BUILDING/IMPROVEMENTS: quite a list, sorry....feel free to skip it and go straight to the pics.... - Pilot's seat, from scratch; the kit part is for later versions (D onward), so I put together a new one vacforming the main part and adding the structure from a paper clip, some Curio-cut stock card and various brass pipes - Gunner's seat structure: I replaced the square plastic chunk molded on the cockpit floor with a scratch built structure form styrene sheet and brass rods. Again, the plastic bits were cut with my Curio - Pilot's aiming window: Italeri didn't think of providing one, so I completely scratch built it from styrene sheet and acetate - A few more improvements in the cockpit area: the gunsight reflector was replaced with acetate. The rudder pedals supplied with the kit are, again, for later versions, so I replaced them with a scratch built version, using styrene sheet and brass sheet. The gunner seat adjustment pedal was also added. - Inside the windshield, I added the handle bars from brass pipe and the rear view mirror, made with brass sheet - Since I intended to build the kit with an exposed engine, I completely scratch built the firewall, discarding the kit part; the firewall itself was cut form 0.3mm styrene with My Curio; all the piping, cabling and valves were scratch built form brass pipes, sprue bits and copper wires. Brass sheet for the lower panel - The engine itself received quite some additions, in terms of pipe and cables (using various steel rods, copper wires and solder) and of structure: the cowlings frames were scratch built from styrene sheet, again cut with my Curio, adding various bits from brass pipes (such as the radiator flaps actuators) and sheet - I scratch built the two hatches right in front of the windshield, using 0.1mm brass sheet - Having the engine completely exposed, I had to scratch build the supercharger intake, using mostly milliput - The engine cowling were modified too, removing the parts that were molded only for kit assembly purposes, notably right aft of the spinner - There were a few shape issues with the kit that I had to fix (as much as possible): the propeller blade shapes (simply by filing/sanding them to the correct shape); the fin and rudder, reshaped adding plastic card strips and sanding them to shape; the tail planes cord, too narrow, again fixed adding plastic card strips. I also re-positioned all the elevators hinges, because they were moulded in an incorrect position. - Other improvements included: the main wheels spats, reshaped with wine bottle cap foil; drilling the exhaust stacks ends; canvas protection for the tail wheel strut, scratch built out of masking tape; main wheel tyres bulges sanded back, because they were oddly shaped; pitot pipe replaced with as syringe needle and brass pipe; rudder cable, scartch built form 0.6mm solder; elevators actuating arms, from brass pipe; antenna wire, using one of my daughter's hair - Finally, the wingtip light were completely missing, and I scratch built them from stretched clear sprue, sanded to shape and polished A huge thank you to everybody who followed the build and provided help, tips, reference documentation (in that regard, I recall @Giorgio N and John @Biggles87 right off the top of my head, but I'm sure I forgot someone else - apologies for that) and companionship On with the pics, now: Cockpit details A few more for the cockpit, from the WIP thread Last pic, here with what was Cenni's last mount (supposedly), the Reggiane RE2002 Ariete - please ignore the base, it's a lame attempt done many years ago, and on top of that, it was built for a 1/32 model All comments welcome Ciao

Back in the more innocent days of the 1980s, when East and West had thousands of nuclear missiles they’d thankfully never use pointing at each other, the USAF had no less than six squadrons of the brilliant A-10 based in East Anglia. These were a regular sight as pairs or fours of Warthogs flew low over the countryside, brightening up many a family holiday in those halcyon days for a young aircraft enthusiast. A-10A 80-0206 was assigned to the 81st TFW’s 92nd TFS, and based at Bentwaters, not far from Snape Maltings and Rendlesham Forest. It is almost certainly one I would have photographed from the end of the runway in the mid-80s while my parents patiently waited for me to get my Warthog fix! This is the Italeri kit, built mostly oob except for the Quickboost fan blades and Caracal decals. I actually finished it months ago but for the decals which finally arrived today! Please feel free to comment on anything Hog related, it’s one of my favourite aircraft of all time. I wish they were still in Suffolk now. It was strange going back this summer and seeing RAF Woodbridge so empty. I hope my Hog does justice to those heady days ... WIP here:

Hi everybody, back to a propeller build and in 1/48, after a few jets in 1/72. At the beginning of WWII, the Regia Aeronautica acquired a number of JU 87 B-2 to equip its dive bomber wings; these were nicknamed "picchiatelli" (plural, the singular is "picchiatello") by the Italian pilots, referring to its role (dive bomber in Italian translates into "bombardiere in picchiata") but also to the fact that "picchiatello" means "slightly mad", 'cause you had to be like that for the job ... . I'll provide more info as I go, meanwhile here's the boxart the doc a (relatively) clean workspace and a brand new Optivisor This replaced the cheapo version I used till now; since I'd been using it more and more, and it had no ability to raise the whole magnifier overhead, I decided it was time to invest in something a bit more professional. Here are some sprue shots Clear parts PE fret and decals ... although I planned to paint most of the markings. Instructions and the AC I'm going to reproduce This was Capt. Giuseppe Cenni's mount; the first WIP I posted on BM, back in 2014, was of then Major Cenni's RE2002 - he was shot down in that airplane a few days before the armistice was signed, during a useless sortie. Such is war. Anyway, if anyone is interested, here's the link to that old build: and to the RFI I'm not particularly proud of that build, so I'm hoping to make up for that with this one, and honor Maj Cenni's memory in a better way. I haven't really started it, except for a quick dry fit/tape together of the main parts: here are the fuselage halves, nicely detailed and crisply molded Same for the wings, with just a little flash on the flaps and the wing tips The join at the leading edge is pretty good wing roots will need some TLC, but it's just a matter of correct positioning underside not bad at all Some (typical ... ) panel lines misalignment along the bottom joint And that's all I did so far. Works will resume with the cockpit. I haven't decided as of yet if I'll represent this model with the engine in plain sight, removing the cowling (one of the kit options). No aftermarket foreseen, probably some scratch building along the way. Please feel free to chime in, comment, suggest and propose. Ciao

Having almost completed the M51, and having a load of work to do on the new modelling room, I was looking for something to build that would fire my enthusiasm. After going through my stash, it came down to two contenders; An AFV Club M5A1 (Early) Stuart (Stuart Mk.V), or a Canadian Kangaroo ISV. From the title, you can see which one I have chosen, although, I might make a start on the Stuart to run in parallel. We’ll see. So, first, a bit of waffle. The “fatherly beginnings” is an indication of these vehicle’s history. They were converted from Priest 105mm SPGs. 72 of them had their 105mm gun removed, along with the storage for the ammunition, as well as having the infrastructure reinforced and improving the interior armour, the work being carried out in the Advanced Workshop Depot of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division under the codename “Kangaroo”. Later, Churchills and Shermans were used, as well as obsolete Ram tanks, 500 of the latter being converted. Prior to the Priests being used, M3/M5 Stuarts became Kangaroos, but these weren’t so successful, due to their light armour. And so to the build. I’ve had the Italeri Kangaroo for some years now, having picked it up for a song at Telford. I believe that the kit goes back to 1999 in it’s present form, but like the original, it was based on the Priest kit, which goes back even further, 1979 according to Scalemates. As is to be expected, detail isn’t great. There are no bolt heads around the base plates for the VVSS units, and no bolt heads where the final drive attaches to the lower hull. The rest of the kit isn’t too bad and serves as a good basis for the build. I decided that I wouldn’t use the kit’s lower hull nor the running gear, but instead, I would use parts from the Dragon Sherman 1c Hybrid. Surprisingly, the internals for the Italeri Kangaroo drop into the Dragon hull with only the minimum of alteration. So, that's got the ball rolling, and I'll post some progress as soon as I get something done, hopefully over the weekend. John.

New lockdown, new model: life does bring its consolations. After a couple of Hunters and a Vampire last year, I've warmed further to the 50s jets theme. In so doing I became interested in the RAF's brief but successful relationship with the F-86/CL-13 Sabre, just four short years from 1952 to 56. This is the Fujimi kit, rebadged recently as Italeri, and I had a lot of fun with it. Using references here on BM and elsewhere I made a number of changes to turn the F-86F into a Canadair Mark 4. I missed a couple of details but hopefully the errors aren't too visible. I also moved the wing pylons inboard, lengthened and reshaped them a touch, and repositioned the fuel tanks on the pylons slightly to get them looking closer to the look of the real thing. I tinkered a bit with the windscreen to make the central panel longer than the side windows. I used some of the Pavla cockpit set, some Reskit wheels and an etched instrument panel. Altogether it went together well, though the fuselage-wing join needed a bit of work. Paints are mostly Xtracrylix. Decals came from Xtradecal (roundels), Modeldecal (4 Squadron markings), Freightdog (serials) and Superscale and the kit (all those stencils). Hope you like. Here's a nice photo of a sister-ship, taken in summer 1955. Credit to the Jever Steam Laundry website which has plenty more like this. Justin

Finally finished. Italeri van converted to Mk.2 Phase One Extra Long Chassis Cab with Beavertail Bed. Finished to represent a restoration in progress with the cab awaiting a paint job having had some body panels replaced and the previously applied vinyl stripes and paint rubbed down. Work in progress here I've not decided if a vehicle will be strapped to the bed as yet but the Mini gives an idea of fit. Thanks for dropping by for a look see.

My second Italeri build and to be honest not been overly impressed with Italeri so far. Problems being parts not fitting well, details missing from instructions for colours and decals too big for the location specified eg. Warning decal is too big to fit on the air brake. Despite the issues it is a good looking model with a nice range of squadron options. Those of you who have made more Italeri builds, do they get better or have I just been unlucky with the F100 and Viggen? And the current century series

My recent entry in the ANZAC group build. Built OOB. WIP thread is here, not much to say except the tracks were very annoying.

As previously posted in the 'What have you bought recently' section of the best area on Britmodelller another Transit is on the bench and is undergoing surgery, indeed as usual most of it will not end up being used or not being cut into pieces The most important tools are on the box and have been weilded at the big bits already. I decided on the Police version for a change and thought there may be some items that could be used on other projects. I'll also be turning into a Mk.2 Phase 1 which requires mods to the grille, lights and indicators. If any Transit officianados know of any other diferences please chip in with reference photos. This will be another chassis-cab but this time an EWB version, offered by Ford's SVO division if the brochure blurb is to be believed. The extra length will be needed to accomodate a scratchbuilt bed, more of which later. But first here's where I'm up to with the cab and kit floorpan. The kit bulkhead [part B4] was installed as per instructions, yes I've had to read them contarary to usual practice 😉 to aid with cutting the bodyshell. I've added a strip of 2mm plastic to the rear of the inner cab roof ready for sanding to priofile and a small strip to the rear of the front vallance to capture the front edge of the cab floor. Top tip - it helped taping the doors shut, adding more stifness to the body when cutting. Cut through the chassis to the rear face of the crossmember behind the cab steps and clean out the centre web. A bit of masking tape helps in adding a guide line over the roof to align with the bulkhead. I cut the body a couple of mil aft of this then did a second cut to the cab wall and finally sanded flat. Guide line across the cab rear ready for contouring the rear of the roof. The image below shows the added plastic strip, this can be hidden by adding a roof lining later. And finally for the first installment, cab floor locating strip.

I hope so - because in contrary to what I said earlier - it seems that I still have to do a Phantom in addition to a MiG for this GB Oh boy, why I always do this... Italeri F-4 Phantom is the subject, Esci moulding from 1982. World has seen better Phantoms since for sure (not that I have done much research on them but I'm guessing) - but I've always had a soft spot for Italeri/Esci kits. Let's see what this kit includes: Some instructions and nice big decal sheet by Cartograph. Clear parts. Look pretty clear to me. Two set of sprues... ... which look like they've been around for a while now. Luckily flash is quite easy to clean. Detail itself is pretty nice. Weapons. To be honest, these look quite simplistic, lacking pretty much all detail. I might look to alternatives on my bits box or from the Hasegawa weapons set. Or just use these, I can't affort to be too picky now, I'm quite short on time. Wish me luck! I'm gonna need it...

It may be strange, but in my "Falklands War model collection" Sea Harrier is still missing! That's why I decided to make two at once. To make it more interesting, they will be models from two different manufacturers - Airfix and Italeri. They are most popular kits of SHAR in 1/72 scale on the market (so far) and are well known, but I`ll try to compare them on this occasion. Airfix kit is from 2011, meanwhile, the Italeri is a rebox of the old ESCI kit, which comes from 1983! It would be logical if Airfix was better, but as you know - it is not. So let`s see both kits. As you can see - my Italeri`s SHAR is from anniversary combo box (with Wessex HU.5), but it`s the same as in standard box, except for decals. AIRFIX SPRUES: ITALERI SPRUES: Airfix has more parts and seems to be better detailed. Let`s take a closer look... AIRFIX PANEL LINES: ITALERI PANEL LINES: COMPARISION (ITALERI OVER AIRFIX): As you can see the old Italeri/ESCI kit is MUCH MUCH better in this regard. I will have to work on Airfix` lines... AIRFIX ENGINE EXHAUSTS: ITALERI ENGINE EXHAUSTS: Both are craps - Airfix exhausts will be very difficult to process (sanding required in the middle) and Italeri are too shallow. I will replace them in both kits with Pavla`s resins. AIRFIX SIDEWINDERS: ITALERI SIDEWINDERS: 1 point for Airfix here, but I think I will look for substitutes for both kits. CLEAR PARTS COMPARISION (ITALERI ON LEFT): Italeri is much better in shape and details. AIRFIX DECALS: ITALERI DECALS: Another point for Airfix. I have spare SHAR decals from DP Casper, Xtradecal and Condor Decals, so main decals are not a problem for me, but I have to use stencils from kits. To make "the match" even I will use almost the same additions for both kits: - Eduard`s PE sets (73384 for Airfix and 73457 for Italeri), - Pavla`s resin air intakes and exhausts (72-118 for Airfix and 72-082 for Italeri), - Pavla`s resin MB Mk.10H ejection seats (72-060 for both kits), - Pavla`s resin gun pods (72-117 for both kits), - Master`s Pitot tubes and angle of attack probes (AM-72-052 for both kits). ADDITIONS FOR AIRFIX KIT: ADDITIONS FOR ITALERI KIT: I know that there are some shape issues in Airfix kit and I will try to do something with that. I hope it will be fun. 🤪

F-4D Phantom II, Capt. Steve Ritchie, 555th, Udorn RTAFB, Thailand 1972. Kit: Italeri 1/72 F-4 C/D/J Phantom II Aces (#1373) Scale: 1/72 Paints: Vallejo Model Air, Vallejo Metal Colour Aftermarket: Hasegawa Sidewinders Weathering: Flory Models Wash, Oil paints The old ESCI kit was a positive surprise, rather nice to put together and ended up looking like a Phantom, more or less. Built for Vietnam GB - but missed the deadline. Partial WIP thread can be found here:

#7/2021 Here´s my dad´s fourth and last seaplane for a while. Italeri kit oob, fit is mostly only mediocre. The gunsight is molded onto the instrument board but was in the way of the windshield. So my dad cut it off and replaced it with a part from the sparesbox. The additinal thin struts in the float area were done with plastic rods. Painted with AK Real Color RLM 72/73/65. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235087469-disguised-aquatic-eyes-in-the-sky148-arado-ar196a-handelsstörkreuzer-3-widder/ The model shows a seaplane that was stationed on board of the German auxiliary cruiser "Widder", Handelsstörkreuzer HSK-3. This was a civil ship that was converted for military use as a disguised raider. Therefore the seaplane received fake French markings to fool the enemy. Here´s the history of the ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_auxiliary_cruiser_Widder There are decals from Printscale for the same scheme, suggesting probably the auxiliary cruiser "Komet", HSK-7, which was sunk in 1942. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_auxiliary_cruiser_Komet DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0026 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

And my dad started the next seaplane. Don´t know which scheme yet. DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr cockpit in progress, RLM02 applied DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

I was thinking to make some rally quattros in my collection. As far as I am aware of there are some variations in these cars. quattro Gr 4/Gr B car This was original car for 1981-82. And was used in full season and for my understanding this car have normal fenders. During season -81 team scored three wins in world championship level. This car was also moved to Gr.B and was used basically in same specification in season -82. Engine was 2145cc and produced around 300 hp, depends from who you ask. quattro A1 This was first update based on group B rules. This car was with aluminum engine still same size as original engine. Engine was something like 20 kg lighter than original one. This car had wider fenders than original. Cars main problem was that it went just to over 3000 cc class and minimum weight was 1100kg. A2 That leads us to this version. This version have new engine get it 2500-2999 class. Lot of kevlar was used for panels etc Rear arch was widened and there were new type of air cooling for rear breaks. In this car also oil cooler was moved to rear spoiler. Sport quattro Idea of this version was make lighter car and basically this was done shortening car 320mm, Drivers were not fully happy about car's handling. Car was now producing something like 450 hp. There was later quattro S1/E2 was the final rally version with huge wings. Now to my question. So what is best kit different versions? I have heard that Italeri is close to Gr.4 car, but I have never seen this kit myself. I built Tamiya many moons ago. That have a oil cooler in rear wing, but I have a feeling that it's don't have a wider body kit. Is only way to do correct A2 using Renaissance trans-kit? And how about A1. For Sport quattro I think answer is this: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10693603 And for E2 Beemax kit. What are your opinions?

My second build(of recent times) is a MH47E SOA chinook in 1/72 scale and made by Italeri. I got this from my folks for Christmas(beats socks any day of the week) and after completing the Merkava i immediately got straight onto this. Finally after 14 days of hands on work, i had the chinook completed! Its not been the most enjoyable build i have done due to parts not lining up and parts easily broken or lost, but worst of all was cutting out a whole bottom section to replace with another, when the manufacturer could have just had it in the first place! It nearly kind of broke me, but i am happy with seeing it through to the end. I hope my pictures are okay as i have noticed that some folks on here have absolute amazing backgrounds and stands to present theres.....and my pictures kinda look like they were taken with a potatoe! I was going for a more middle eastern look for this aircraft, and one that was in an old airfield setting, so I’ve went heavy with the weathering and sand. Experience whilst in the Army and also abroad showed me that these aircraft are work horses and are usually dirty and dust inside. [In this picture, you can see where i messed up with the rear window by cutting in to deep when removing the bottom section off, i tried to repair it the best i could but it still looks off.] [The inside is fully weathered and has that “dirty” look and the cockpit i really went to town with but, after closing it up i feel that i didn’t really need to bother.....you cant even see it!🙁] [The Decal on this side is a bit off, nearly lost it moving it into position! Learned from this learning experience to use Micro Sol and Micro set in future.] [Finished product, placed into a picture frame then poured in plaster of paris and weatherd the whole thing...] With my first aircraft now done, i have definitely learned a lot of things......by making a lot of mistakes! but i have really noticed an increase in my own personal skill in model building in such a short time that I'm really happy with. My hope is to keep the skills building along with more models!

Here is my first kit of the year, finally! It is Italeri's 1:72 Lockheed F-104A-20-LO Starfighter. It represents 4221 (s/n 56-0799 - ex-USAF), of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing/8th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Republic of China AF, Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan, 1961. This was the old Esci kit re-released by Italeri. It was a pretty basic kit which I decided to build very much OOB. All of the parts needed cleaning up due to some flash, ejection pins and sink marks. Fit wasn't bad but nearly all joins needed work and in some places there were steps to deal with. I only added ejection pull handles to the seat. The cockpit decals were way oversize (1:48?) so I more-or-less painted them on. I replaced the kit's missiles with those from a Hasegawa weapons set which looked better. The kit was fully painted and varnished by brush. For the metal surfaces I used Humbrol 27002 Polished Aluminium, dry-brushing Hum56 Aluminium in some panels and Vallejo Oily Steel in two areas of the rear fuselage. Most panels were given a final coat of Pollyscale Satin whilst others had Xtracrylix Flat Varnish brushed on to give different sheens. Decals went on well although some didn't correspond in size to those illustrated in the instructions! I had some problems with paint and varnish but just about managed to salvage things to an acceptable level. This and the fact that my attention was very divided by other things caused this one to be so delayed. Thanks for looking Miguel

Hello again My minisub compulsion strikes again! I have another itty bitty sub for your entertainment. The Italeri SLC 'Maiale'. A simple uncomplicated build that amused me for a couple of weeks. We'll start with Tony and Emilio showing off their diving suits. The figures are very well sculpted and the suits are just black rubber dry suits. I understand the the rebreathers were also used by the Royal Navy after a few examples had been captured. I am assured that Italians are not quite so orange in real life. There must be something in my flash that really makes orange colours stand out. They look a bit more human under my desk light. Weathering is kept to a minimum, just enough to pop out the details..