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Here's my attempt at the 1/72 special livery Italeri "Big Cat" kit. Also used for some photographic practise, hence the variety of shot styles (sadly a memory card failed, so I've lost a chunk of the 'plain' model shots, and haven't the patience to go back and redo them all!). Mostly built OOB but an aftermarket seat, Eduard etch airbrakes/brake pipes/nose probes/nosegear door, and the ladder is from Flightpath. I scratchbuilt the removable intake FOD covers and the fuselage beacon, and also modified the main gear quite a bit to better represent the complicated cylinder arrangement. I also cut and re-set the flaps/ailerons/slats to try to better represent the usual 'droop' when the aircraft systems are shut down. Hataka acrylic grey paint, then those rather tricky decals over half the airframe. Loads of setting solution required! Italeri Jag kits don't have the best rep but I'm fairly pleased with this one. Thanks for looking! Here's a quick look at the evolution of the main undercarriage legs, in case anyone's interested: I've been frustrated that no kits (or 1/72 aftermarket parts) seem to have the correct look for the really complex multiple cylinders and rods on the real thing. The first view is the kit leg with the Eduard etch brake lines attached, at which point I decided to try improving a bit...the incorrect thin cylinder/pipe was removed, then various bits of plastic tube, filler and copper wire were added before painting and oil weathering (plus a couple of tiny bits of decal for the placards). Hard to make out much detail at that scale (each leg is only about 1" or less).

This is the Italeri kit from 2002 according to Scalemates. It’s OOB save for Print Scale smoke ring decals and Uschi aerial wire. Straightforward, simple. No filling needed. Seatbelts are moulded onto the seat (They’re inaccurate and not at all convincing). Some may want to rescribe the wings. I didn’t. Paint was Humbrol. Italian Sand, I4, equivalent to Hu.118 apparently. My tin is now 50 years old and still going strong. I’d mislaid my Italian grey so improvised. I saw recommended Hu.140 but it looked too dark to me after I’d put on the first coat so used Hu.127 instead. Decals, aside from the smoke rings, are from the kit and they went on fine save some silvering on the upper wing which I couldn’t get rid of. When touching up I found that the Green that was closest to the smoke ring green was Hu.91. Finally, I put on a Promodeller Wash of sand on the underneath only and tried to pencil the aileron, rudder and flap lines Problems. The spinner spiral. No decal provided. No generic decal sheet for spirals that I could find. Masking didn’t go well on such a small area (even with cutting the tape into small pieces) so went with pencil and Sharpie pen. An undercarriage strut pinged off and disappeared. A simple plastic rod was its replacement. The tail wheel snapped off. I inserted a pin beside it and glued accordingly. (I am in awe of those who can apparently insert a pin through an undercarriage leg lengthways in this scale. I certainly can’t and I’ve tried many, many times)

Hi All, My latest completion is Italeri's Stirling Mk.I. Much has been written about this kit, not all of it complimentary. I actually started the kit over 4 years ago, but quickly got the fear, and it has since lurked in the stash shaming me. I therefore girded my loins in January and got on with the build. The boxing I had included decals for BF372 of 149 Sqn, based at RAF Mildenhall in 1942. This aircraft was flown by an Australian pilot, RAAF Flt Sgt (later P/O) Rawden 'Ron' Middleton VC. On 28th November 1942 his aircraft was badly damaged on a raid to the Fiat aircraft works at Turin. Despite suffering multiple grievous injuries, including the loss of his right eye, Middleton managed to complete a 4 hour flight to bring the stricken aircraft back to the English coast. Five of his seven crew then baled out (the front gunner and flight engineer remained aboard to try and persuade Middleton to carry out a forced landing). Following his refusal to do so, the remaining crew baled out but did not survive the night in the English Channel. Middleton stayed with the aircraft, which ditched into the Channel, his body not washing ashore until February 1943. Middleton was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and promoted to Pilot Officer. Here's a picture of Middleton during his flying training: I cannot find any period photos of BF372, but there are several photos of other 149 Sqn aircraft: Here's a link to the WIP if anyone is interested. The build was mostly OOB, although the decals proved somewhat troublesome. I therefore had to spray some of the squadron and aircraft codes. Here's a couple of shots from during the build just to show some of the interior detail: Although much has been written about the deep panel lines on this kit, I was happy with the result after a couple of coats of primer and a light sanding. Anyways, enough waffle and on with the photos: Finally, here's a couple of shots with some other Bristol-powered loveliness: I'm glad to have finally got this one over the line after such a long period lying dormant. I must thank several people who have helped along the way - @12jaguar @dogsbody @elger @Heather Kay @Dave Swindell have all contributed knowledge which has improved the build immensely. Thanks also to all of those who have provided encouragement and kind words along the way - it has been much appreciated as always! Thanks for looking, Roger

Hello all, Here's my just finished 1/72 A-10A, done as an early 1980's one from Myrtle Beach AFB in South Carolina. I used the Revell rebox of the Italeri kit, which I got for my birthday last year from a friend. I added an Aires cockpit set, some Quickboost intakes and a pair of Brassin TER's. The camo was done freehand with MRP, and the markings came from a Wolfpak sheet and some kit stencils. The kit is not perfect by any means, but in the end it looks like an A-10. Thanks for looking! Pete

Hi I thought I'd start this one and try and get it finished by the time I next get to see this at Cosford in June. Am going to add some aftermarket wheels, but I think otherwise it'll be OOB. I had a go at dry brushing in the cockpit, it's still new for me, but seems to have added a bit of interest to the interior. Thanks for looking Steve

I have three boxes of various Italeri parts, part built turrets and hulls that I got from a mate for free! I am going to attempt to build a M4A1 (76mm) from the components I have and anything else out the spares box. I might even end up being a kitbash between the Italeri and old Tamiya kit as I have plenty of parts for those too! Regards Grahame

SR-71 Blackbird Jet Nozzles (MDR4859) 1:48 Metallic Details We were treated to a 1:48 SR-71 in 1982 thanks to Italeri, and it has been rereleased over the years in many boxes from a number of manufacturers, most notably Testors and Italeri, but also Tamiya as one of their cooperative ventures. Its age makes it ripe for detail upgrades, and there have been many, but this new jet exhaust set from Metallic Details is quite special, utilising the most modern mastering technology we have – 3D Printing. The set arrives in a card box, and inside are eight resin parts in separate bags, plus some clear foil to keep things safe during transit. Each exhaust is made up from four parts of exquisitely detailed resin parts that have such fine detail and tight tolerances that the two parts that arrive slotted together appear as one until you pull them apart. If you applied too much glue or paint, you may spoil the fit. The forwardmost part of the assembly depicts the rear of the engine face and the afterburner ring, which are deeply recessed and finely cast. That slides inside the exhaust trunk, which mates tightly with the next part, together making the inlets that partly surround the trunk, and it is these two parts that are handed due to the arrangement of the inlets. The final part is the exhaust nozzle, which is deeply ribbed inside and each petal is finely riveted, another masterpiece of design work. Each set of parts makes up one trunk, and care must be taken to ensure that the Left and Right marked parts are correctly positioned for accuracy’s sake. Careful painting in metallic shades will show off the detail, and let’s be honest – the detail is fabulous, as can be seen below in the detail shots. Conclusion Metallic Details continue to excel, and every time I open one of their sets to review, I’m astonished by the level of detail, finesse and fit that is included in the box. Mind-boggling stuff. Extremely highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Lamborghini Diablo (3685) 1:24 Italeri via Wonderland Models After the success of the Countach, Lamborghini developed its replacement in the mid-80s with a design brief that it should be capable of getting close to 200mph, which it later managed to surpass. A mid-project redesign took away some of the sharper lines that resulted in a sleek, streamlined design that was a huge improvement on the already gorgeous Countach, all in my humble opinion of course. It reached the market at the beginning of the 90s with a 5.7L fuel-injected V12 engine mounted in the centre of the chassis, driving the rear wheels, continuing the long tradition of Lamborghini cars that appear totally insane and want to kill you. Awesome! Later versions gained ABS, electric windows and other modern features that we now see as an absolute minimum standard for even the cheapest car. That cheap car may have better rear vision, but it doesn’t look or perform like a Diablo though. A roadster variant made its debut in ’92, and the later VT model introduced all-wheel drive, which has stayed as one of Lambo’s preferred features that makes their cars a lot less murderous of their drivers thanks to the extra grip. The car got a facelift at the end of the ‘90s, replacing the pop-up lights with fixed units, cosmetic additions and some of the more successful mechanical upgrades that had been tried out over the previous years. Various special editions and upgrades were unleashed during the rest of its time on the market, including a bored-out 6L engine and some special editions, some of which were designed with the racetrack in mind. Following a number of attempts to create its successor that finished in dead-ends, the Murciélago was developed as the Diablo’s eventual replacement, hitting the forecourts just after the turn of the millennium. The Kit This is a reboxing of the original 1990 tooling from Italeri in the de facto vehicle scale of 1:24. The kit arrives in a top-opening box with two sprues in black styrene, one sprue plus the bodyshell in red plastic, a chromed sprue containing the hubs and some small parts, four flexible black tyres in their own bag, a clear sprue, a small decal sheet and trifold A5 instruction booklet in black and white. While this isn’t a brand-new tooling, it does have some solid detail in the engine bay and the suspension area, with the interior compartment represented by a large number of parts that should result in a good replica. Construction begins with the front suspension wishbones and steering components, which are covered by an insert with more structure to hold the hubs in place. The brake discs are added to the keyed stub-axles, and the discs have a concentric ring pattern moulded-in, which seems at variance with most disc brakes I’ve seen. There are also ejector-pin marks on one side, so it would probably be best to remove all the surface detail before fitting unless I’m totally wrong about the veracity of the grooves. The same task is carried out at the rear, adding the underside of the transmission block, then the chassis tray is put to one side while the interior is made up. The Diablo is a two-seater, and the cab is commensurately short to which the two seats, door cards, the dashboard with separate instrument binnacle that has decals for the instruments are added. The steering wheel is left-hand drive, and comes with a separate column that has the stalks moulded-in, a central gear-shift, handbrake on the left side for you to snag on when you exit the vehicle, and a grab-handle on the right side of the dash so that the co-pilot doesn’t end up in the driver’s lap during spirited cornering. Paint call-outs are included for everything in black circles, including the switch-gear on the door cards, and the tiny rear window is fixed to the back of the interior once internal painting is complete. The cab assembly is dropped into the lower bodyshell along with the floor of the engine compartment, which is detailed further by adding the top of the cylinder blocks and their respective air intakes, and what looks like the fuel injection rail in the recess between the blocks, again with more paint call-outs. The four wheels and their push-on tyres are added to the stub-axles using two small parts to complete the axles per wheel, then the assembly is put to the side to focus upon the topside. The bodyshell leaves the box with many of the panels moulded together as one part, but some sections are separate parts through necessity to achieve the complex shapes around the body. The prominent intakes behind the side glazing are one such insert, and at the rear there is a sink-mark on each one that should be filled before it is installed to make the task easier. The rear is also separate and made from three parts including splitters, which has the clear light parts and number plates added, with the same task completed for the front air dam. The glazing for the cab is one part that includes both the windscreen and side windows and is fitted with a rear-view mirror at the front, although anyone looking for the headlining will see through the hole in the glazing to the roof above. The exhaust tips under the rear valance are chromed for your ease, and each of the four parts attach to paired styrene pipes that disappear into the engine bay. Wing mirrors with chromed glazing are fixed to the doors, a single large windscreen wiper with separate blade are added to the windscreen/scuttle area, then the cover for the engine bay is made up of the main louvred section with a “wing” at the front, plus two small hinges that should allow you to pose it open if you wish. Markings You can paint your Diablo any colour you like, although the red on the box top looks appealing to my eyes. You get a choice of three styles of number plate decal, the afore mentioned instrument dials for the interior, some angry bull motifs for the hubs, and some badges for the sides, front and rear of the vehicle. The final decal is a D overseas badge for Germany that doesn’t appear on the line-drawn decal instructions. Decals are by Zanchetti (which I’ve just found out I’ve been misspelling for years), which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The Diablo is a fine example of 90s excess, and this kit captures the lines well, has a decent amount of detail, pre-chromed parts and a reasonable price tag that recommends it further. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi Pals, I think I can finish this upgrade / "face wash" of this model. It has not been, let's say, very aggressive, because there is no metal element on it, of each and every one that can be added, only empty shells on top, although they are not attached. The fear to ruin the kit, has been able this time more, because the plastic is not too good (if to that we add the time that I have since it was built in the factory). Still, the products used to add, more than to simulate as before, the weathering, I think they have fulfilled their function. I would like to put it on a base, and add some figure, but for now, I can not, for lack of technique and space, maybe later ... Thanks for the comments about how to improve the finish. IHMO, I think it has deserved the effort, more than anything to see if at this time, I improved my technique somewhat, maybe, although I still have to continue persevering ... Thanks as usual for watch and comment, cheers mates Black background... With some picture effects...aka old pcitures or news images of the time Until next model....

Opening a new thread for this sea-surface striker. Bought at some model show Options, I'm planning the French camo version 14F. Parts.

Finish no2 for 2022 is Italeri's new tool F35B in 1/72, I went for this one over the Hasegawa kit as this one has the internal weapon bays the Hasegawa kit does not. Built OOB in landing trim, so the inner weapon bay doors are 3/4 open but the outer doors stay closed, I presume this acts as the strakes/gun pods did on the harrier controlling the jet vortex under the aircraft . The kit goes together well but needs some care when fitting the large intake/lift fan assembly between the fuselage halves. Painted with Mr Hobby Colour H305 Dark Gunship Grey, H308 Light Gunship Grey and then lightly over sprayed with Hakata Orange line Have Glass Grey to give the metallic sheen seen on the F35's. No weathering as these are new airframes and the ground crew will be looking after them. The decals include some RAM tape panels which I initially fitted but after checking pictures of RAF F35 I removed as they seemed to be applied to the earlier F35's that went to other countries. As usual all comment welcome and hopefully the pictures show up as I'm still on Village Photo.

Joining you with this kit. Which will be very similar to my previous A-10 from 2018. And I'm probably going for one option on each side again.

Hello All! Let me present to you my version of the famous "Really George", Col Laven F-104C, one of the most striking (and expensive!!!) scheme worn by century fighter! I wanted to build the Zipper with this livery and I did a lot of research to find some photos of the real bird. Surprisingly, I found only few pix, but sufficient to start the work. Finding for inspiration from other modelers, I found that many "Really Georges" builds, whatever the scale and displayed in the Web sported wrong interpretations of this decoration. So my challenge was to do a "Really George" as accurate as possible. I chose the Italeri Starfighter, very basic and plenty of flaws but having the great advantage to be accurate in dimensions. However, a lot of work is needed to improve the kit, especially for the nose section which is too thin, in the cockpit, L/G area, external tanks and, not but not least the canopy which is too flat. This is, as a summary, what I did: - Riveting and panels corrections (e.g. NACA air scoop engraved on the front fuselage right electronic bay, Italeri did an F-104G air scoop, ventral air louvres...); - Nose / cone section: a 1mm evergreen card inserted to correct the shape; -Dropped leading edge; - Cockpit AIRES + ejection seat, "tweaked" to be the first version installed on early F-104C; - Arrester hook suppressed and ventral fin elongated; - All Wheel wells re-done with wiring and tubing, doors modified because too thick; -L/G with wiring and tubing, wheels from aftermarket; the front L/G has been redone from scratch, original too simple; - Vacuform canopy, to include the inner framing; - External tanks: I used the ones provided in the Revell F-104C kit, but elongated by 3mm. Fins are changed (for the early F-104C, all fins have the same dimensions) and made from aluminium soda can, as well as the two little finlets on the top of the tanks; Painting the kit took a little bit of time, using different shade of Alcald II, trying to reach the correct shiny look. Wing Extrados is white, but the intrados are left unpainted (NM). The most important: Decals: I bought the "Albatross ALC-72006" decal sheet to figure out that most of the decals were wrong in color and shape, especially the stripes which are not in color sequence and inverted. Rats! so I bought as replacement the Micro-scale 72358 sheet, the Rocketeer Decals one who seems to be the best was unavailable. What a deception! the Microscale decals were also inaccurate and, when correct, melted in little pieces in the water.😫. So finally I decided to do the decoration by myself, using yellow, red, dark blue and green decals sheets cut accordingly. It was long, painful, especially for the twist in front of the tanks, but I am not too disappointed by the result. As a conclusion, what was sought to be an easy build was a long journey but I hope the work is worth the result. Here are the photos: The real thing: My "Really George': ...And, as usual, a little Dio: the tow bar and access ladder are home-made, the little Ford F1 pickup transformed a s "follow me" comes from F4 Models, a nightmare to build! Enjoy and rendez vous soon for another F-104C build!

Hi all and this is my latest (and longest) finish, Italeri's 1/72 Spitfire Mk. Vb. Started about 3 years ago, finally finished this week for the KUTA group build. Shortish build thread is here. The kit was a struggle for me and that's shown in the final finish - the wingtip parts fit was very iffy, as was the nose. The prop blades are far too skinny and the raised detail for the wing .303s is way too heavy. The aftermarket wing roundels are too big (or the wing is too narrow) as they shouldn't overlap the ailerons. My efforts at oil fading were very iffy. I could go on but it's a hobby after all! 😆 Aftermarket decals (which were lovely) are for Wing Cdr Brendan 'Paddy' FInucane of 154 Squadron, July 1942 just before he was KIA following a fighter sweep. Thanks for looking and happy modelling. Dermot Italeri_1_72_Spitfire_Mk5b_Finished (1) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri_1_72_Spitfire_Mk5b_Finished (8) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri_1_72_Spitfire_Mk5b_Finished (2) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri_1_72_Spitfire_Mk5b_Finished (3) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri_1_72_Spitfire_Mk5b_Finished (4) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri_1_72_Spitfire_Mk5b_Finished (6) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

Finally time to post my RFI of my Blackbird build completed and in its Barn. I toyed with Sled Shed and Habu Hut but settled on Blackbird Barn! it’s the old Italeri kit that I picked up before the Revell one came out. Not as detailed but I added lights and wanted the diorama more than the stand alone jet. Thanks to many, including @Alan P, @Serkan Sen, @billn53 and many others who have supported along the way. The shed and start cart, step and other bits are scratch built She is finished as 64-17974 in the late black and red scheme of the mid 80s at Det 4. Ichi Ban herself, as displayed at the Mildenhall Airfete in 84, when I was there watching. Decals are from the Caracal set. Even got a pilots autograph! So all done now - thanks for looking The build can be found at And the Shed build

Hi folk's,the Huey family of helicopters have always been a favourite of mine when I saw Jadlam doing a rebox at a good price and free postage l thought it time for a build.I love Italian markings on an aircraft so win win. As I went through their ebay shop and a bit further down the page I spotted another kit at £9.99 with a few hours to go,took a punt and was the only bidder so very happy to now have this boxing in my mits.

My first kit completed this year - AV-8S (VA-1) Matador, 1:72 Italeri (ex-ESCI). My 5th Harrier so far! Built out of the box (except for Pitot tube from Master, resin ejection seat from Pavla and some scratch). Italeri's kit is old and needs some work, but I'm quite happy with a result. Thanks for watching!

One of the two Sea Harrier models I managed to finish this week - 1/72 Italeri (ex-ESCI) BAe Sea Harrier FRS.1 ZA177 "77" of 800. Naval Air Squadron, HMS Hermes Air Group, Falkland Islands, June 1982. Old ESCI kit is simple and needs some work, but it's quite accurate. I`ve used Eduard PE set (poor), Pavla resin air intakes (awful) and exhaust nozzles (awful), Pavla resin gunpods (even more awful and innaccurate), Pavla resin MB.10H ejection seat (poor), Airfix AIM-9Ls (good after some work), Master Pitot tube (nice) and DP Casper/Xtradecal/Airfix decals. Painted with Gunze Mr.Color (335 Medium Sea Grey and 334 Barley Grey, brightened). A couple of photos taken in daylight: And now a few photos taken under artificial light: Thanks for watching!

I had a decal sheet from Aerocalcas that I had bought in 2020, hoping I'd be able to use them on the new tool Airfix Dakota Mk.IV. However, I kept postponing the purchase of that kit, and it went out of stock. Fast forward to December 2021, I'd found that Hobbies Morón had the Italeri Dakota Mk.III and, after thinking I wouldn't be able to travel abroad to places such as Hannants or Mirax Hobbies (Chile), I decided to buy it. The Italeri kit is actually an ESCI mold, I don't know what that means, but I thought it'd be useful to state it. The kit has deep recessed panel lines, and the plastic is on the hard side. The parts have detail, but they're on the unimpressive side (though nothing can be seen through the cabin/cockpit windows). Fit for the most part was pretty good, however, the wings had some visible gaps that even to me were too much, so I filled them with CA. The fuselage join was filled (or I attempted to fill) by pressing the fuselage halves and making the melted plastic ooze from the area. I then scrapped away the hardened glue with my knife. Decals from Aerocalcas were very thin. I had one moment where the air on the bench turned purple, and that was when trying to add a decal that refused to leave off my finger. The decas didn't need any Microsol to set onto the panel lines, but I brushed some just to be sure. Once they were dry, I applied two coats of Revell's matt varnish and added the remaining parts. Paints used were all from the Revell Aqua range.

Due to the unavailability of the Airfix new tool C-47, I bought the Italeri/ESCI Dakota Mk.III in 1:72. I plan on using Aerocalcas decals to make it as CTA-15 from the Comando Aeronaval Antártico. Some of you may have seen my topic regarding the fit of the kit in the WW2 aviation section. I was warned about the fuselage and wings having poor fit, so I eagerly cut the fuselage and wings from their sprues to make some test fit. Turns out the fuselage has a ver goof fit, but the wings are a different story, having a sizable gap on the root. I'll see if I can add a spreader bar below the fuselage in order to widen the area.

Very, very late I know, but I have (many) reasons. I had originally intended to build this kit, but then mislaid the windscreen. It eventually turned up in mid-December, and when I checked, this Group Build had been extended. So in a rush of new-found enthusiasm, I decided I'd take it with me during my Christmas holidays (visiting family), and build it there. Note the extra sprue with the LGBs (just the two) and FLIR pod.

As well as this kit, I also had the much newer Revell kit of the Gripen C in the stash. But I'm a glutton for punishment. I bought this kit at an air show in Galway about 20 years ago.

Hello guys, Just bought the Italeri Dakota Mk.III, and I need your help regarding details about the fit of the kit. I've read some build reviews in here, stating the kit had poor fit in some areas. I'll be picking mine next Wednesday, and I'd like to see the kit unpainted, showing the troublesome areas. P.D: The Airfix new tool kit was unavailable. Thank you all!

Dear fellow Britmodellers, here's my 1/72 Italeri IS-2 Stalin, with tracks from OKB Grigorov, towing cable from Eureka, figures from CMK and stowage from Blackdog. Decals are from Colibri. Painted with Mr.Hobby acrylics, weathered with graphite pen, artist oils and real mud from the garden, mixed with white glue and pigments. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. The Italeri kit was released in 2006 and has been sleeping in my stash for many years. The recently released Blackdog stowage set inspired me to complete this build. It's designed for the 1/72 Zvezda kit, and not all parts fit the Italeri model, there seem to be some differences. I used OKB Grigorov resin tracks to replicate the characteristic 'sagging'. Thank you for your interest, best greetings from Vienna! Roman

I spent some time in Roskilde, Denmark last summer, and as well as discovering that all Danish women are supermodels, I was lucky enough to have the RDAF flying their Merlins overhead 2-3 times a day, all week. Obviously, I fell in love (with the helicopters... I swear!) and vowed that I would try to model one when I return. Well, it took some time, but here it is! My humble attempt at a Danish SAR Merlin Mk.512. It started life as the Skyfall boxing of Italeri's 1/72 Merlin (HC.3?) The kit itself isn't too bad. As much detail in a kit as you would expect from a 1/72 helo. There were a few fit issues that i found. The sides of the fuselage that come separate weren't great, as was the main canopy/windscreen. The tail was a nightmare. I don't know if it was a moulding error, but there were no tabs to insert to add stability to the join. I knocked it off about 3 times before I ended up fabricating supports internally for it myself. Other than that, the kit seems pretty well designed. I used the Eduard PE set for cockpit detail & seatbelts, and was very happy with the outcome. To turn it into a Mk. 512, I used Heritage's Danish Merlin conversion set. Being both my first experience with resin and with converting a model, I can't really compare it to anything... I was pleased with the conversion set... the moulding seemed decent and it had everything I needed (I think...) For decals, the only option I really had was the Model Alliance World Air Power set 1. The decals themselves were great. They went on perfectly, and were really crisp in detail. The problem with the set, however, was the actual decal set. I had heard before that they weren't great, but didn't really think they would be as disappointing as they were. As well as being very incomprehensive, there were also some pretty epic mess-ups. The danger stencil for the rear rotor, for example, read 'Fare - Avle Lys.' Now, my Danish isn't great (Kamelålså?) but I'm sure any Dane will tell you that that is a load of rubbish. I managed to find the correct 'Fare - Pas På' stencil from the HobbyBoss Danish Lynx, but unless you are desperate, I wouldn't recommend the Model Alliance set to anyone thinking of using it. Other than that, any extra detail was scratchbuilt. Well, attempted, anyway. My scratchbuilding skill leaves a lot to be desired. I used Revell & Tamiya Acrylics, and was my first attempt using my new Testors Aztek airbrush. Although I'm very far from mastering it, it makes a huge difference over my dodgy £15 Humbrol Airbrush. The end result is far from perfect - Maskol buggered up my clear parts in a few places, and I think I was a bit hasty to get it finished, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. It's difficult to do such a pretty piece of kit justice, but hopefully I've not done too bad! I'm operating a don't ask, don't tell policy on all the mistakes and inaccuracies, but I'm sure some of you can pick them out. Maybe it's one I don't know about, so comments and criticism is more than welcomed. Sorry about the pic quality too. Maybe now I have a new airbrush, I can save for a new camera! Anyway, that's my essay done. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for looking! Daryl.