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HI all, not really a WIP, just some shots of a half built model. After a long break from modelling I fancied the newly released Alfa from Italeri. It's OK. Fit is very good, sink marks not so good. Detail is pretty good too overall. Anyway, here's where I'm up to:- So far I've:- Drilled out all of the kit 'bolts' indistinct plastic blobs, and replaced them with proper resin items Drilled out the core plugs, built up the outers and fitted brass core plugs turned 4 ali filler caps for the rocker covers and 2 for the engine block replaced the ignition leads with braided cord scratch built clips for the distributor cap scratch built air filter from PE mesh scratch build braided lines and banjo connector for the oil pump. added braided cable from the rocker covers to the bulkhead - rev counter I assume, although not sure why there would be two? Lots of alcad and hopefully subtle washes, I'm going for old but not dirty which is tricky to pull off. More to follow no doubt. Eventually I think I will turn some proper wire wheels, and replace the kit leaf springs and dampers with something better - but go with the kit items for now. Thanks for looking, Nick

Good Morning All! I seem to be having a good output lately and this was one of my latest, built as part of the 'In the Navy' group build elsewhere in BM. As that GB is now well and truly over (thanks mods!) I thought I would share my efforts here as well for those that don't frequent the GB section so much. This is my Grumman Avenger MKII, JZ525 of 849 NAS onboard HMS Illustrious as part of the British Pacific Fleet. Kit is the 1:48 Italeri version, which is a repop of the Accurate Miniatures kit. I used an Eduard internal etch, mainly for the seat harnesses and instrument panel. I totally remodelled the centre cockpit based on all available information and a bit of good old imagination. The decals are from an old Aeromaster decal set, they weren't in a very good condition but I managed to adapt and overcome with a bit of imaginative repairing. The internal paints were from the Mig Ammo range and externals were from the ModelMaster Acryl range. Not sure about the weapon load or Yagi aerials being correct but hey ho I chucked them in any way. I deliberately left her unweathered as I didn't want to screw up the paint work I had been eyeing this up in my stash for what seemed like ages, must be over 15 years now. It felt good to finally get it done! Onto the phots! Internal detail is quite hard to see so here are a few in progress shots And if you want to follow the trials and tribulations here is the build thread. Cheers now Bob

Hi all, I just joined the forum after finding lots of useful info on Coastal Forces here. I bought the Italeri Vosper MTB kit mostly on a whim, fancying building a kit and assuming a larger scale would be easier to pick up, though I now appreciate that the smallest part in any kit will be similarly sized to the smallest part in any other kit. Anyway, I have picked up some tools and glues and have made a start on parts which I’m fairly sure I can carry on with without firmly committing yet to which boat I will actually portray. The only thing I am certain of is that it will not quite be OOB. On the strength of the many recommendations throughout coastal forces builds on here I picked up a copy of Coastal Craft History Volume 1, and I plan to choose a specific boat from the many diagrams based on whichever colour scheme and weapons configuration most sparks my interest. I also ordered the horse drawn Breda, just for options, but it will probably end up fitted (minus the horse) I remain tempted by the Griffin detail kits, mostly for the additional weapons offered, but as I have never worked with photo etch before I think it may be beyond my skill level at this stage. Once I have figured out a photo host I’ll post some pics of my meagre progress. Lewis

Picked this kit up about three years ago in a New year sale at my local (only) toy & hobby shop. This is the Italeri 1:48 Arado 196 as re-boxed by Tamiya, it's not a bad kit - surprisingly big tho' - similar in size to a Stuka or a P-47. I built it with no extras, just straight from the box and really enjoyed it. Details in the (very visible) cockpit are a little light and some details are a little 'chunky' but IMHO that's a small price to pay for having something just that little bit different in your cabinet. Paints are all acrylic, I didn't have any RLM 72 & 73 for the camo, so went and looked at what others have done for the Fw200's etc and mixed-up a couple of tones that looked OK'ish. The purists out there (but probably not here on Britmodeller) may disapprove, but I can live with it . Please feel free to make any comment or criticism or suggestion. Next will be a return to a stalled (jet) project - have a great week all. Best from New Zealand. Ian.

Well I've been racking my tiny little brain for quite some time as to which kit to build for this GB as there were quite a few that came to mind that I used to build a lot of such as the Airfix Dornier Do-217 or Heinkel He-111, or pretty much the entire Matchbox catalogue. But then I had a thought (yes I know that's a rare occurrence before any of you comment) the age limit on this goes up to 18 and the kit needs to be a memorable one, now like a lot of you I left school at 16 (I know it would have been earlier for some of you old buggers) and started work and with my first weeks wage packet I indulged my hobby. At the time I was fascinated by the Vietnam War and the aircraft that took part in it and had worked my way through the kits available from Airfix such as the Phantom, Skyhawk, AC-47 and E.E. Canberra and wanted some of the other types not covered by their range. It was at that point that the local CO-OP started to stock Italeri kits which had some of the aircraft in their range that I had been reading about. Now my Dad had decided that I was too old for models after the age of 13 so my kits had had to come as presents from relatives or bought with cash for birthdays or Christmas but when I got my first wages I could buy what I wanted, so I did! I came away from the CO-OP with three Italeri Vietnam era classics; the AC-119, B-66 and the B-57, and no my Dad was NOT happy, never mind eh! I have all of these in the stash today (not the same ones I bought in 1987) and have decided to build the B-57 as it was the first of the kits I built from my new stash. Obviously back then I built it in the Vietnam camouflaged markings that came with the kit but this time around I am going to do it as something different, as either a B-57B or B-57E used for testing at Edwards AFB, the decision is yet to be made. Here are the usual box top and contents shots and also a couple of additions that I might use during the build; The new boxings excellent decal sheet; And the extras that I might use; Thats the introduction over so as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig.

This is where I'm up to with my current build, a Westland Wessex commando carrier. I've just been doing some faffy window masking. The instructions said to paint the passenger seats olive drab same as the pilot seas, but I've seen two photos of similar choppers of the same era where the seats are dark blue, and indeed this is how they are on the splendid Fly Models 1/32 kit, so I went with blue. This is my first helicopter, I'm enjoying it so far. I realise those circle things on the starboard fuselage should really come out, but they won't be seen once it's assembled. I've filled the three corresponding craters on the other side...

I was very impressed with the Italeri kit, nice detail and apart from the radome it fitted together really well. Colours all from Tamiya rattle cans; AS-7, AS-26 and AS-27. I made the Sidewinder training rounds simply by cutting off the fins and sanding the stumps down. It's definitely made me want to make more F-16s!

I only started taking the photos after making a start on this, but it's a familiar type and kit so nothing new really. No aftermarket parts needed, I'm actually really impressed with this old Italeri kit, it seems a good shape and it's a nice fit with minimum filler required. So here's where I'm at now, main airframe sprayed. Colours are Tamiya AS-7, AS-26 and AS-27. I'm really pleased how this demarcation turned out! Speaking of F-16s, does anyone know if the Italeri F-16C is good for a Bentwaters 527th AS Block 32 F-16? I got the decals but no kit for one yet!

I've had this kit in the stash for about 20 years and never really gave it much attention. Recently though I had a second look at it and despite a few parts suffering some sink marks, it didn't look too bad. Construction is actually pretty good, I used little in the way of filler, the turret required the most clean up but it is not beyond the most basic modelling skills. The driving lights suffered badly with sink marks, thus I pinched one from my spares box and re positioned it from the front armour to the top of the hull. I also left off the top bar securing the spare track links to the front of the hull, I guess crews left this off as it's 6 less bolts to remove when you need to change some track out quickly. I did like the separate track links in the kit as they supplied the flat straight pieces for top and bottom as a single bit, making building the track easier. One issue I did encounter is Italeri have left out the bottom pieces of the spare track mounts around the turret, thus I just left the top mounts on without any track mounted. Decals came from the spares box along with the two figures and the flag. Camouflage represents a generic Tiger sometime around Operation Zitadelle.

Saludos My last work

Hi all and here's a tribute to those great days of 1980s TV. Built for the Helicopters/Vertical Lift/Autogyro GB here on the forum. The short build thread is here but to recap: Kit: Italeri 017 AH-6 Night Fox built as a civilian MD-500 Build: OOB with seat belts from Tamiya tape and rear seat bench from plasticard. Paints: Halfords grey primer, Tamiya Pink primer, Revell Acrylics with an airbrush. Klear and a small wash Extras: 3g weight in the floor, part of the tail boom replaced with sprue after glue damage. Main rotor blades pinned with wire for a stronger fit. Was a fun build and makes a change from grey or camo schemes. But wow, is a tiny kit! Italeri AH-6 T.Cs Chopper_(3) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri AH-6 T.Cs Chopper_(4) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri AH-6 T.Cs Chopper_(6) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri AH-6 T.Cs Chopper_ (7) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri AH-6 T.Cs Chopper_(16) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri AH-6 T.Cs Chopper_(19) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Italeri AH-6 T.Cs Chopper_(18) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Cue the theme music! Thanks for looking. Dermot

I've made a start on a new model which will be something I never really do - a diorama of sorts but really it's two model aircraft. I've had to depart from my preferred 1/48 scale for this for various reasons but let's simplify it down to kit availability. The ultimate aim is to try to recreate a scene like this: I expect the readership is well familiar with the USAF's Combat Search And Rescue (CSAR) efforts which really came to maturity during the Vietnam war. The Sikorsky S-61R model in USAF service as the CH-3 was modified with long range tanks, refuelling probe, pilots' seat arm, winch and some defensive guns and became the HH-3E, nicknamed the Jolly Green Giant. They didn't and couldn't work alone though. They were still relative sitting ducks to ground fire, expected to fly into a hover in an area where a fast jet had been shot down. They flew in pairs, a high ship providing cover and a low ship which went in to pick up the downed airman/airmen. They usually had an escort of around 4 Douglas Skyraiders which flew under the nickname of "Sandy" which would provide heavy suppressive fire support for the helicopters. The whole operation was initiated, supported and coordinated by the crew of the Combat King however - the HC-130P would patrol and listen on the US military's radio frequencies monitoring ongoing air operations. As soon as they heard communications that suggested a friendly aircraft was in trouble the CSAR machine was warmed up. The Combat King crew would direct the rescue aircraft to the scene but also provided refuelling services to the fairly short-ranged Jolly Green Giants. The models then - I'm using a Whirlybird kit of the HH-3E which is almost entirely resin with a fret of photoetched brass. Unlike their earlier S-61N conversion which used a Revell donor kit, the HH-3E is a complete kit. Good then. The HC-130P is going to be provided by Italeri, with HC-130P conversion parts from David J Parkins' Flightpath, with photo etched details (mainly to get the flaps which, as can be seen above, were normally extended to allow the big Herc to fly slow enough for the helicopter to keep pace and take on fuel) and the correct Alison T56-A-15 engine nacelles from same. I still need the air to air refuelling pods from Flightpath and they're not available right now but David, if you're reading, I'll be keeping an eye on your website for them coming back into stock. It'll be a while before they hold up proceedings though. Never one to be content however, I have decided to attempt to make this much more difficult. I've never been impressed by clear plastic discs with blurry blades and the like, so to try to get a good impression of movement, I've decided to electrify this little ensemble. That's going to be easier said than done... Apart from any thing else, when you've actually seen things like the helicopter (or at least are familiar with its family members) things like relative RPMs begin to matter, within fairly broad reason. When photographed, the relative blur achieved by an camera will be more telling than just looking and since most people will see this through the results of a camera, I wanted to make a reasonable effort during the parts procurement process to try to get it close-ish. I've known 3 Hercules pilots, and have no way of contacting any of them so I've had to guess at what is probably a sensible propeller RPM for a C-130 flying straight and level with flaps down - and my guess is that 1200 RPM isn't going to look out of place. I ordered 4 of these for the Herc: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC3V-1200RPM-Micro-Mini-6mm-Planetary-Gear-Reducer-Motor-Precision-DIY-Robot-car/254151008187?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648 These are approximately 17mm long and 6mm in diameter. The solid resin engine nacelles are, I believe, a benefit here since I can drill the nacelles in my pillar drill and get all the motors and thus all 4 propellers on the same axis. It would look dreadful if they all had different up/down/side thrust. Everything needs to be straight and aligned properly. On to the helicopter for now though. I needed to measure up what I had to work with, and that meant cleaning up the fuselage halves: The fit is pretty good, but there is a mismatch on the top of the fuselage to deal with later - but it doesn't affect what I need to know now: I have a bit of space to work with for the main rotor, but still the smaller the better - I don't really want a huge silver monstrosity gleaming through the cabin windows: The tailrotor however is a real issue: I have better data here (I think) about what speeds I want, but in truth that probably makes me less satisfied with whatever I get in the end! I have my father available who was licensed on the Sikorsky S-61N and has all of his Sikorsky course notes. I'd love to show some of the amazing reference material inside, but Sikorsky never miss an opportunity to sue people and the course notes have prohibitions on unauthorised disclosure all over them, so you'll have to take my word for the rest. Not knowing any S-61R drivers, but believing the powertrain to be very similar to the S-61N, my dad's course notes state that 100% on the mainrotor is 203 RPM. The same drawing shows that the power take-off for the tail rotor runs at 3030 RPM at 100% and that the 45deg gearbox at the bottom of the pylon is a 1:1 gear ratio. The final drive gearbox to the tail rotor itself has a ratio of 2.4375:1, making the tailrotor run at 1243 RPM at 100%. The best I could find that would fit in the fuselage for the mainrotor was this 242 RPM geared motor, measuring 16.5mm long by 6mm diameter: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253771137237 That's at 3v so I've also ordered some little potentiometers to, hopefully, tweak that down a touch. Compromise is the key here. I considered asking someone to design and 3D print me tiny bevel gears and sit a motor in the pylon coaxial with where the transmission shaft would be on the real thing, but then I found these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC3V-3-7V-4-2V-Ultra-mini-Coreless-Motor-3-2mm-12-2mm-Vibration-Vibrating-Motor/283101330780?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=583506556671&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 They are tiny little things 3.2mm x 12.2mm overall including the shaft which has a vibrating counterweight attached, so I've ordered 2 of them incase I ruin one. This should just fit in there. I expect it spins far too fast for what I want, but I will mock it up first with a potentiometer and see how low I can get it - but really I think I'll just need to take what I get as this really seems to be the absolute bottom end of what's readily available on the market just now. Since I had the stuff out, I made a move on the sponsons. Whirlybird provides sponsons with separate end plates; one with floats for the HH-3F "Pelican" used by the Coast Guard, one plain as used on some of the CH-3C utility versions and one with the pylon for extended range fuel tanks. The fit isn't great unfortunately. I spent a while trying to make sure the pylons were aligned and looked like they would be at the same angle of incidence as each other - I don't want one fairly long, spindly fuel tank pointing up and one down! I've had this stuff for a while but have never used it, so thought I'd give it a go It's like Milliput but seems a bit softer and easier to knead/mix than my packets of Milliput. That said, my Milliput has always been quite old whenever I've used it - mixing epoxy putties always seems a real faff so I'll use solvent types normally. For resin here though this is probably more suitable. Thanks for looking in. This won't be fast paced - and indeed I need to wait for motors to arrive, but I will work away at it along with my other projects. I'm not always in the mood for shaping / painting / photo etch / sanding / scribing so I like having different models at different stages of build and pick up whichever I'm in the mood for. I'm not a linear person.

Hi there Here is my model of Puff the Magic Dragon in its original colour scheme of white over natural metal. The decals came from from an old Microscale sheet for Vietnam Gunships. The NMF was Alclad. Regards Toby

Hi there A few years ago I built the B-36 FIghter CONveyer using a Monogram B-36 and an Italeri Thunderflash. An interesting concept for lomg range reconnaissence that required the B-36 to transport the Thunderflash part of the way to the target, release it and then allow the Thuderflash to dock onto a trapeze sytem and be recovered. This was done afew times back in the 1950`s. When fully loaded there was 6’’ of ground clearance to the Thunderflash fuel tanks. The other clearance problem was resolved after take off by lowering the Thunderflash on its trapeze so the B-36 undercarriage could be retracted. The B-36 needed the bomb bay opening up in size and supports making. Various antenna were scratch built. The Thunderflash was bult out of the box with the stabilisers on the tails drooped to fit the bomb bay. A lot of Alclad was used for painting this. The B-36 was put on an office chair and rotated for painting because of its size. Warbird decals were used for the B-36. Here are the pictures. Regards Toby

Pledging to pitch in with this bad boy. Bought on Amazon for £19.99 earlier this year. Italeri chosen soley because it offers British markings. You can blame my boss for this kit arriving in my stash - I did . . . . . . for pointing out that Top Gear race - epic stuff.

I had been looking around for a while for a C-130H kit in 1/48, and before Christmas I finally got a result on eBay. Going for the H as I wanted to build an RAF grey / green Hercules that I remember from the early 80s. I had an Airfix Herc hanging from my bedroom ceiling as a kid, which was upgraded with an in- flight refuelling probe after the Falklands, and I wanted to build the big brother with either the grey / green with light grey underside or wrap around camo. So here it is. It’s going to be big.... And with a couple of 1/48 kits for size comparison Then fellow forumite @Kirk started suggesting ‘improvements’ - I had thought maybe port & starboard lights, anti collision, etc. Next thing I know I am looking at internal lights, taxi lights, exterior lights, four powered props and a working rear ramp. All controlled by an external programmable Arduino unit. Complete with light up & start up engine sequence. Now that may not all happen - the ramp operation looks a bit flimsy & likely to break - but it is definitely not going to be a standard build. Other build plans include separating the rudder & horizontal rear stabilisers - surprisingly all moulded in place & not separate items. Also fancy opening the flaps & scratch building the inside. Budget won’t stretch to resin bits. Also need to stretch the engines that are too short & modelled on the early AC-130 kit ones. Again nice resin parts available but would cost more than the kit did. There is enough here to go wrong without buying tons of after market resin. Anyway some work has started & will keep things updated.

One of my bigger lockdown builds. This turned out to be more of a problematic build than I had expected. The starboard hull was short shot on the lower bow which was fun to fill and shape. Used Eduards etch set for it and also the Eduard German ensign. The length of the hull made it a real problem when sanding and painting. Otherwise a surprisingly fun build once the hull was sorted.

With my Vosper (almost) stalled until the forward gun and the crew arrive I began to look for my next project. My primary interest is WW2 coastal forces, and I would prefer to stick to a consistent scale (for now). I wanted to try an aftermarket detailing set for additional challenge and to build skills, and I wanted to spend more money on the model and less on reference materials this time around. This criteria leaves a pretty limited choice, so I was thinking of another Vosper with the Griffin etch set, depicting a later home waters MTB with single Oerlikon forward and twin Oerlikon aft, or perhaps a J S White subcontract built Vosper with the conversion challenge that might bring. While browsing eBay I stumbled upon a Italeri ELCO PT boat kit for a good price. Remembering mention of PT boats in The Battle of the Narrow Seas by Peter Scott I did a little digging. Four PT boat squadrons (RON 2, 30, 34 & 35) served in the English Channel performing various roles at or around the time of D-day, photos are plentiful, and at least two of these squadrons used the type of boat that Italeri offer. To round out my criteria my existing reference books cover the ELCO PT boats. All my wants satisfied I hit buy it now. The kit is the 1/35 Italeri PT596, a late war 80’ ELCO PT Boat. Also included in the sale was a kit and a half of crew There is two of the upper sprue Along with the Eduard etch set, and the Royal Model etch and resin set The Royal Model set looks comprehensive I will need the SO radar too so I also picked up the Italeri PT conversion set Lastly, I ordered the Echelon decal set and metal barrels for the four .50cals and the Oerlikon. The Italeri kit includes metal barrels for the 37mm and the Bofors. I’m still waiting for the decals and the .50 barrels There are a few parts to backdate from the later war configuration that Italeri depict, so there will be some modification and scratch building too, which will stretch my abilities I’m sure. Fortunately Arjan and Tom dK have paved the way building European theatre PT boats, and I have their threads both here and on the PT boat forum to use as a guide Arjan’s threads: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235048521-pt-515-ron-35/ http://www.ptboatforum.com/cgi-bin/MB2/netboardr.cgi?fid=102&cid=101&tid=4771&sc=20&pg=1&x=0 Tom dK: http://www.ptboatforum.com/cgi-bin/MB2/netboardr.cgi?fid=102&cid=101&tid=4774&st=0&nd=10&pg=2&sc=20 Not sure if you need to be a member of the PT boat forum to view the threads, but if you have even a passing interest in US coastal forces then it’s well worth signing up. PT520, along with 514, was one of the first boats of the squadron to join the invasion fleet on D-day+1. She patrolled the Mason line protecting the fleet, took survivors off the mined USS Rich on D-day+2, was shelled by shore batteries, and later joined British coastal forces in some the last of the fierce battles off Cap d'Antifor. Finally along with the rest of the Ron35 boats 520 was transferred to the USSR under the lend lease agreement by the end of 1944. PT520 seems to have been on the scene whenever Ron35 saw action. There are only a few photos of PT520, but there are lots of the other boats and the majority of features are common. Here’s a couple PT513 to give you an idea of the general arrangement The twelve boats of Ron35 changed weapons fits and colours throughout their short service in the channel. They arrived in theatre in Measure 13 camouflage (haze grey vertical surfaces, deck blue horizontals), having been repainted from their Pacific theatre greens whilst aboard transport ships from the states. Later they were repainted in a darker scheme. Measure 13: Showing blue deck and horizontal surfaces: Later darker scheme (Ron34 boat): As built the boats forward armament was a single Oerlikon, later many boats retrofitted a single 37mm autocannon whilst in service, some also remounted the Oerlikon, and later still some boats are seen with 2x 37mm. Single Oerlikon: 37mm and Oerlikon: 2x 37mm: While photos are numerous they are mostly undated, so I cannot say exactly what time period I intend to depict, but the colour scheme will be the earlier Measure 13, and the forward armament will be the 37mm and 20mm setup. I expect this to take me six months or more, and there is a bit of a steep learning curve with the many modifications needing to be scratch built, so progress will be slow Cheers Lewis

The VAL is done ! Scanning the stash for the next build is either a quick process - in case you have an idea in mind OR a long one - if you don't I did not - so picking this one took time and I'm not sure why I did or how it connects with the previous builds. The Covid-19 WFH period is nearing its end - so I hope I can still make progress with this build. It's a big one - I may need to re-order my shelves.

A-6E Intruder, VA-36 'Roadrunners', US Navy, USS Theodore Roosevelt, Operation DESERT STORM, Red Sea, January 1991 Kit: Italeri A-6E Intruder (#041) Scale: 1/72 Aftermarket: Hi-Decal decals, Airwaves belts Paints: Vallejo Model Color, Model Air & Metal Color, Lifecolor Weathering: Flory Models Wash, Mig weathering products All around good with with decent details. Came together nice despite the multi section fuselage. Built for the In The Navy GB, but did not meet the timeframe. Build thread:

Hi Pals, I finish working with this model. I have seen that it is a fairly simple kit, without major problems for assembly, with acceptable instructions. As a bonus, you can make several versions, just before the Paladin appears. Although this is an old kit, modestly I think that you could still get a good result, (I am reasonably happy with it), the only thing that gave me headaches were the main pieces of the turret and helmet, as they were crooked , I imagine that by the passage of time, and the worst, the tracks, which when they were already in place, split, where the hardest (in the curve), although I was able to rectify it quite well. I have chosen to make a version in Vietnam, because although the kit does not bring that option, I saw some photos (which I include) about this, I liked it a lot. Thanks to my box of spare parts, it was not a problem. I thank as always all fellows of the forum who have accompanied me in the assembly process and encouraged me with their comments to improve / continue. I include a link to the WIP section, in case someone is interested in seeing the post. I wish you all a Merry Christmas! (If possible ... lol) Some shots in detail.... And some pictures of real model in Vietman (ALL PHOTOS ARE ONLY FOR INFORMATIVE PURPOSES, AND ALL LEGAL RIGHTS BELONG TO YOUR LEGITIMATE OWNERS)

GULF WAR INTRUDER Nordic GB is closing down in under a week and builds are more or less done (still some final touches but getting close) - so I can concentrate bit more on the Navy GB! It's about time Vigilante is on it's way but I'm a serious serial builder so I need several kits to be on the go - so let's start a new one! Italeri Intruder. I have some of a soft spot for Italeri (and Esci) kits. Like this one, it's good enough details, looks decent. But still not overly complicated, all I need in two sets of sprues, with some weapons to boot. And the Italeri decals seem to be always good. Not that I am using them at this time but still. Well, two sets of spues and a clear part sprue. Kit decals. But I will be using this one. I found sand coloured Intruder quite interesting - usually it's in a grey scheme. I already made a start, cockpit stuff. First layers of paint. I almost finished the seats too - but then I started looking at some of the details. I think i need to change the pull handles on top, they look quite heavy and seem to be wrong shape. Also the pull handle between the legs is missing and I'll add some lap belts. But they are still not bad looking seats out of the box but we'll see if we can make them a little bit better.

I seem to have been trying to build most things that the RAF painted grey & green and there is a kit of in 1/48 scale (and one I scratch built). Now I thought the Canberra PR.9 was going to be the biggest until I saw that an old version of the Italeri Herc was an H / K version with RAF markings for XV200. Now the engines are wrong - too short. So these got moved forward with a plug section behind. Not the resin solution so not perfect, but good enough for me. And the kit is for a grey underside paint scheme. So of course I wanted wrap around camo & a refuelling probe. And the kit decals were pretty shot. So aftermarket replacements in the right colour. So not a big job really. Could it be harder? How about some lights? And 4 powered props? Why not. Anyway, here she is And props turning Lights - taxi lights, landing lights, wing tip & tail lights, top & bottom anti collision beacons, built in internal lights (current technical hitch with these) - yes Para seats, ladder & even a loo inside Well it’s been a big project. Thanks to all who have encouraged and helped along the way. No idea what I am going to do with her now, but she has recreated (in a bigger scale) the Airfix Herc from my bedroom ceiling as a kid.

Hi All, here's my take on the fictional Easy 8 Sherman 'Fury' as depicted in the 2013 film of the same name (Italeri 1/35). Loved the film despite the 'interesting' ending and have never done an armour subject before, so that decided the subject. I loved doing this build and I will be building more armour subjects as well as my usual aircraft and Sci-Fi. Thinking Tiger 1 next There were several issues with the kit itself, for example the extra tracks were clearly an afterthought and simply do not fit the model without breaking the upper wheels (as you can see from their wonky appearance). The instructions are pretty poor and I found the plastic brittle - things would just fall apart mid-build!! I added some extras, such as rope to tie down the payload on the back, some extra tarpaulin to hide the out-of-scale buckles on some of the moulded bits and an air recognition cover... or whatever it is as I just liked the contrast it provided. I also created a bull-whip antenna as per the film. Some firsts for me were the mud (homemade) and larger scale painting and weathering - thoroughly enjoyed all of that! Anyway, hope you like and comments well received... go easy (8) on me

Here is my Italeri Mil Mi-24P “Hind F”, Red 23 of the VVS (Soviet Air Force). I built this one back in 2002. This was a reboxed Dragon kit. It was built mostly OOB. I added some details like aerials, the tailboom anti-collision light, tail bumper and undercarriage struts. It was all painted with brush except for the matt varnish which was airbrushed. The scheme was based on various photos of real machines as the back-of-the-box paint guide was useless (no pattern)! Thanks for looking Miguel