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Finally getting around to making a start on this game be. It’s not the best kit in the world but it’s more or less F16 shaped and it was only €8 so it’ll do nicely. Boxart Sprues And it came with a surprisingly nice decal sheet. Now I was considering this scheme but having seen the decals I’m starting to lean towards the Thunderbirds one. Why? Well I’ve been building F16 kits since the seventies and as I’ve only converted to airbrushing in the last few years and have only just done justice to camo builds in the last STGB. I’ve built the roll out scheme more than once and never attempted the Thunderbirds because I discovered that it’s surprisingly difficult to brush paint an overall gloss white finish, so here’s a chance at closure 😃 Some assembly started. Might wait till I get a coat of primer and the white before making a final decision.

I’ve always wanted to build one of these an to be it epitomises quirky French engineering and the range of off beat subjects Heller have produced over the years. I know I have at least one other Heller kit in the stash but I’m pretty sure there are more, I seem to recall a mirage of some type, so time to scour the stash…

I have two kits (so far😀) both 1/72 and Italeiri and an boxless unknown… I’m going to use this the December 1981 edition of Scale aircraft Modelling which cost the princely sum of 80p as my reference. So next step root the two kits out of the stash and choose my marques and schemes….

I received my new 1/72 Airfix Vulcan yesterday and despite having an overflowing workbench, I just couldn’t resist having a look! As is traditional, I’ll start with a shot of the box. It’s big - note the 12” ruler along the side: To be honest, the box could probably have been smaller as the largest sections are the wings, which are half the size of the box… I guess Airfix were aiming for as large a presence as possible when stacked on a shelf! The scheme options are all white, or white undersides with camouflage on top. I will go with the latter: I already have the old kit in a similar scheme: I would have liked to do the new model in wraparound camouflage, but it was not an option and I’m planning to make this one OOB, to see what can be achieved with the basic Airfix offering. Time to look inside! Every sprue is wrapped in plastic, presumably to protect the plastic from scratching. The first sprue has the tail fin, control surfaces and engine plates: Once the bags are opened, some very crisp plastic is inside. Here’s the nose, cockpit and bomb load: And a close up of some of the pieces: The construction is completely different from the old kit. You build the nose and tail sections and then attach them to the central wing section. There are no large pieces in the kit, hence my comments about the size of the box. Here are the wing top sides: Note the housing for the air brakes. The wing top side in more detail: I’ve never noticed those protrusions on the wing before. The panel lines look a little large, so I will probably end up filling these. Here’s the underside: You can see the nose gear bay is moulded asymmetrically. The detail is again very crisp: This is the largest sprue: And again some more detail: All very nicely detailed, which bodes well for OOB! The last major sprue shows the spars - this should be strong: Some lovely detail for the bomb bay and undercarriage bays too. 👍 The intakes look far better than the old kit, which is a relief! 😁 Finally the transparencies: This looks to be a great kit and I am looking forward to seeing this one come together.

£2.99 on Kingkit but….missing the fuselage sides. However not impossible to fix, the plan is to CAD and prints a replacement otherwise the kit will be pretty much oob. Solidworks time….

A classic Sprues somewhat chunky but not bad. Can you say rudimentary, mind it’s probably going to stay that way 😀 Some assembly

Well past time to start my F16 build. I’ve now at least decided on the scheme I want to do. This is the 2024 version and it’s quite complex my fall back the previous two tone version if all those stripes get the better of me. A little hedge trimming then it’s time to start cutting plastic..

I probably shouldn't do this until I clear the bench a bit more, but I felt the need to build a kit! For the record, almost everything else on my bench is already built and awaiting paints/decals/general finishing/etc. - I wanted something that simply requires construction, especially over the winter months when painting outside becomes more of an issue... I chose this kit as it gets a large box out of my stash (making room for potential new additions!) and should be relatively straightforward to build. I have a vac form 1/72 747-300 on the go too, for the days when I feel like more of a challenge! This is the kit: I intend to build the version shown on the box, as I quite like the idea of a silver finish. Work on the cockpit will commence soon!

Sprues Interior detail painting. A very nice resin cockpit and engine are included in the kit. The interior mostly assembled. Fuselage zipped up and undercarriage added, probably the most fiddly thing I’ve assembled in a very long time. Also a coat or extra dark sea grey applied, looks much lighter irl.

Hi all, this will be my entry for the 2024 Xmas Blitzenbuild GB, the venerable Heller 1/72 Hurricane Mk.IIc. Obligatory shots. This original 1977 release is now looking, shall we say, a little foxed: Although, in the words of the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett, it may well have been badgered, wolved and quite possibly beared as well. The contents were still sealed! 🦭 Let's have a look inside the plastic bag: Standard Heller instructions, a sheet of surprisingly healthy-looking decals, a nice transparency sprue with separate windscreen and canopy, and a shrivelled glue capsule with the kind of health warning I thought we only had in more recent years. Perhaps idiocy isn't such new thing after all..... Typically lovely Heller mouldings on four sprues: Raised panel lines, of course, but look at just how fine they are! The exhausts, however, are quite horrible This will be a completely OOB wheels-up build. I'm not even going to replace the exhausts because then I'll be tempted to "improve" other aspects like the cockpit, that's not the purpose of this build. I'm not interested in the dimensional accuracy of the kit. This will be a nostalgia build, a model like it would have been in my yoof (although I never built this kit "way back then"), just hopefully a bit tidier! The subject will be the all-black 253 Sqn scheme, Z3971/SW*S - I'm not heading down the markings rabbit hole, either! My airbrush is off-limits until my new hobby room is fixed up, so I'll be off to my LMS on Saturday for a selection of rattle cans to paint the thing once it's assembled! Cheers, Mark

And so the madness commences. A pretty simple kit and a bit crude too. Meanwhile in the garden shed the body gets some rattle can primer followed by a nice deep cream coat. Some black paint on the wheels A visit to my local Asia market ( don’t ask….) ready for final assembly And complete along with some detail painting in chrome silver.

The Kit. The bits. Started at last. I’ve detached, cleaned up and partially assembled the roadwheels, sprockets and idlers I’ll need to paint the wheels and tyres before I can proceed with assembly, so some olive drab next. Actually next step is to find a more interesting colour scheme, then silver, hairspray, brick red hairspray and then olive drab…

My first build, will be oob in the scheme with the shamrock. If anyone’s interested I appear to have bought two of these so the second one is now listed on eBay 😀 The engine assembly. Chasis next need to break out the tweezers for some of the parts….

A placeholder for my F35 afair an Italeiri 1/72 kit which will be in Irish Air Corp (er) colours..

Bought off eBay several years ago and perfect for this GB. The sprues and moldings and I’ve just realised the glazing is missing. Not too much of an issue for the cabin windows as I was planning on using Kristal Klear after painting, but I will have to replace lace the cockpit glazing which will necessitate done woodwork and molding.

While paint is drying on the CB 90 I will make a start on this an old one from the stash just a bit of fun and colour straight out the box. I was not to happy with the bow thruster moulding so have drilled it out and will replace with some plastic tube it was supposed to be OOB sort of. Stay Safe beefy

this will be my second build. I’ll be sticking to oob, but it’s a very nice kit and even has a PE fret for the fine details. I’ll post some sprue shots over the weekend.

Hi all and latest finish for me, Academy's P-51B in the markings of "Impatient Virgin" flown by Capt. Victor E. Bocquin, 376th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group, Built for the P-51 STGB here on the forum. From what I've found here she was restored following a non-fatal crash during the war and is the only current airworthy B-model in the US. The restoration gave her a Malcolm Hood and all-round D-day stripes. I know mine shouldn't have the tail fillet but I realised that too late - oh well! Build was OOB with aftermarket decals by Kits World. Paints by Tamiya and Mr Hobby. Thanks for looking and happy modelling! All the best, Dermot Academy_1_72_P51_C_Finished_1 (9) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_P51_C_Finished_1 (4) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_P51_C_Finished_1 (8) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_P51_C_Finished_1 (5) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_P51_C_Finished_1 (10) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Academy_1_72_P51_C_Finished_1 (7) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

One of my (many) New Year’s resolutions is one build per GB ( the only exception will be the Tiger GB) so this will be my sole ( crossing my fingers while I type) contribution to this GB still have to decide on the scheme but I am very tempted to build a Spanish civil war B model we shall see….. Or cheat and build it as a Casa 2

Found while searching my stash for Tigers, I had completely forgotten buying this. Haven’t decided on a scheme yet but (if applicable) I fancy something in camo not another NMF.

So I’ve thought long and hard, well I’ve thought about it and I’m going to build three 1/144 migs for the blitzbuild. I have a Mig23, 25 and 29 ( hmm I may also have a 27) all in 1/144 and all in fairly monochrome schemes. The 29 will have little red stars but it’s an aerobatic scheme not a combat aircraft and I’ll try and avoid them for the other two(three?) More to follow…

Master Box 1/72 Mark I Male “Special Gaza Modification”, built out of the box. The kit was actually a pretty easy and enjoyable build, but is sadly let down by the awful rubber band tracks that simply refused to hold paint, nor respond to traditional adhesives. Thanks for looking.