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Last completed build of 2012. Kit picked up at Telford and decals from TwoSix Decals. Cambrian DC-3s bring back fond memories of the early 60s at Lulsgate Airport (now Bristol International). The decals are aimed at the Minicraft kit and needed some adaptation and use of paint, particularly around the nose. First build of a resin and white metal kit. DC-3 C by jonbru0903, on Flickr DC-3 D by jonbru0903, on Flickr DC-3 B by jonbru0903, on Flickr DC-3 F by jonbru0903, on Flickr DC-3 G by jonbru0903, on Flickr Thoroughly enjoyed the build. Forgot to sand down the cargo door hinges, never mind.

FG Models Resin Scania Wheel sets Scania is biased in Sweden and started building trucks and buses in 1891. They have now become one of the main Truck manufactures in Europe becoming a firm favourite in fleets and with owner drivers. The latest Scania R series trucks are covered in 1:24 scale by both Revell and Italeri. FG Models have released 3 sets of wheels to enhance the front axle of both the Italeri and Revell kit. All of the sets come cast in a light Grey resin, and the detail on the parts is very good with no flaws in the casting, nor any air bubbles in the surface. Firstly I will look at set FG-7026 'Super Single' and is designed to fit the Italeri super single rubber tyres. Some operators fit their trucks with bigger wider tyres on the steering axle and this conversion will allow you to do the same in 1:24. The wheels are very well detailed, and the set contains 6 parts, 2 wheels, 2 hubs, and a pair of centre caps. There is a very high level of detail on the wheels with the 2 rings of nuts being very well cast. It would be a shame to fit the centre trim caps and hide the detail. The next set, FG-7025, is also Super Single style, but has a different style rim. The set has the same number of parts, and the same high level of detail on the parts. Again it is designed to fit the Italeri rubber tyre. The final set for the Scania is another resin wheel set for the front axle, this time the wheel will take a standard size Italeri rubber tyre. The detail on the kit is very high, and it is the correct style wheel for the Scania, as the plastic in the kit is generic type wheel. Again there are 6 parts in the set with the 2 wheels, hubs, and cosmetic centre caps. The Italeri rubber wheel is a very nice fit on the rim, as can be seen above. Conclusion These are very nice sets form FG models, with very well cast parts with high level of detail. Recommended parts! FG models have asked me to point you towards there E-bay site but asked me to mention their parts can be brought through other avenues such as Hobbyeasy.com, hlj.com, Mediamixhobby.com.sg Please mention Britmodeller when buying through FG models E-bay shop Review sample from Some detailed walkaround photos of Scania trucks can be seen here

Routemaster Resin Wheel conversion The Revell kit of the London Routemaster bus has been a very popular kit, but to my mind there aren't enough aftermarket parts and decals for this kit, bar some etched detail sets. Now FG Models have come to the aid of modellers who want to do a later refurbished and modernised Routemaster model. The Routemaster went through various up-grades and modernisation programs during its service life. Revell have supplied the kit with parts to build an early or later bus with the different engines and other parts. Part of the later modernisation program saw some buses having the original split rim wheels replaced with more modern wheels. The Revell kit is cast so the bus can only be done with the early split rims, with the centre kick rims in place. This set from FG Models contains 6 parts cast in a pale grey resin and is enough to do the front axle on one bus. The level of detail on the parts is very good. The inner wheel and hub look similar to the Revell part, and all the detail is on the outer wheel. The vent holes around the rim are all open and the wheel nuts look like you could crack them off with a scale wheel brace! Conclusion A great set from FG Models to allow you to do a Routemaster later in its service life, or one that has lost its cosmetic centre cap. Recommended! FG models have asked me to point you towards there E-bay site but asked me to mention their parts can be brought through other avenues such as Hobbyeasy.com, hlj.com, Mediamixhobby.com.sg please mention Britmodeller when buying through FG models E-bay shop Review sample from

FG Models Peterbilt resin conversion parts Peterbilt trucks are an American company that was founded in 1936. Peterbilt is biased in Texas and builds heavy trucks mainly for the US market. The Peterbilt range is well covered in 1:24 scale by Italeri and Revell but like many real Petes modellers want to build custom and individual trucks. FG models are based in Korea and produce a range of resin and etched parts for models. I will cover some of their resin parts for the Peterbilt range of kits here. All of the resin parts are superbly cast, to a point I thought they may be Injection Plastic. Over the whole box of parts I can't find a flaw in any of the resin parts, no bubbles, nor is casting flaws and the detail on the parts very nice and fine. Ultra Roof Parts. The Peterbilt bonneted truck has the option of a raised roof section, to give the driver more space in the cab on both day cabs, and cabs with the classic sleeper pod behind. FG models have 2 Ultra Roofs in there range. The casting of the parts is first class. The dimples in the outer skin of the roof are copied from the real parts. The casting is attached to a substantial pour block and some care will be needed in removing it but the pour gates do thin where the meet the roof moulding to assist you. There are 4 parts in this conversion, they are the roof, internal header/ locker and 2 locker doors. The inside of the roof carries a high level of detail with the Patten of the roof liner being present, along with the internal lights and some very nicely done sun visors. There is a separate part to the header inside, along with separate locker doors. This roof has a cut-out at the back so be sure you order the right part (there is a matching day-cab conversion panel by FG) for your kit. This is basically the same part but this hasn’t got the cut-out at the rear as can be seen below. The part has the same number of parts and carries the same high level of detail and quality Peterbilt Day cab panels. Peterbilt offer day cab tractor units and there are also companies that convert sleepers to day cabs in the US. FG models now offer us the same conversion, in 1:24 scale. The first panel on the review bench is designed to fit the Italeri kit, and will convert the plastic sleeper to a day-cab configuration. As with the roof sections the casting is top quality with no flaws in the parts. The surface of the parts has a nice rivet detail and to my eye looks to scale, and not over done. The part is attached to a pour block by 5 gates, and as before they are thinner by the part to assist in there removal. This conversion is designed for use with the Ultra roof from FG shown above (7005) and carries the same detail as shown above. Wheels FG models have sent 2 sets of wheels for US trucks, the first is a specific Peterbilt style, and the second is a more generic US truck wheel. The first wheel set under the camera is the Peterbilt wheels. This is a resin set comprising of 2 wheels for a front steer axle, and it also includes 2 centre caps and a pair of hub-caps for the centre of the wheels. The parts are cast in the normal grey resin FG uses and the quality is as high as previously. The detail on the wheels is very fine with all the vent holes being open, and the wheel nuts being very nicely detailed. These will give your Petes front axle some correct wheels! This set of wheels is copies of the popular Alcoa truck wheels for the front steer axle. These again have the high level of detail, and quality as the previous parts. Conclusion These are very nice resin parts from FG models, a recommended purchase. FG models have asked me to point you towards there E-bay site but asked me to mention their parts can be brought through other avenues such as Hobbyeasy.com, hlj.com, Mediamixhobby.com.sg please mention Britmodeller when buying through FG models E-bay shop Review sample from Some detailed walkaround pictures of Peterbilt trucks can be found here, and here

Finally finished the build review on this elegant fighter. CMR have continued the variants of the Vampire / Venom range and make full use of the technology available to achieve a highly detail result. The build review can be found HERE. On the whole, the kit goes together very well. Some care and fettling was required along the fuselage seem and front wheel bay as well as applying the vast amount of tiny parts, but most of my set backs were own goals being the plonka I sometimes am !!!! Whilst generally speaking, the CMR kits are more pricey than your mainstream kits, you do get everything needed; beautifully detailed resin, colured etch, vac formed canopies (in this case two of each type), paint masks and a good selection of decal options. Unfortunately, I've misplaced the wing fence etch so they're not on at the moment, but I hope you like her...

Now that the bench is clear, I'll be cracking on with this with the view to putting a build review together at the end. Having made the Mistral a few months ago, I'm rather excited with it. CMR kits usually offer lots of juicy cockpit detail and this one is no exception, but with the added benefit that it's bigger than the Mistral due to being a 2 seater so there's more opportunity to see all the hard work on display ! The box... The pack that includes a full resin kit, two types of canopy and two of each incase you make a boo boo, paint masks, coloured etch and two sheets of decals, one of which is packed with stencils I'm aiming to make a start this week, so should get some more pics as the week progresses. Cheers, Neil

Russian craft company NeOmega is to release very soon a 1/48th Yakovlev Yak-18 "Max" resin kit (ref.4913). This post WWII Soviet tandem two-seat military primary trainer aircraft greatest claim to fame is definitely its use as a night bomber by the North Korean Air Force during the Korean War. Sources: http://scalemodels.r...-48-jak-18.html http://inscale.org/p...hp?topic=2672.0 V.P.

Hello, the postie dropped this off this morning: the 2012 PAS Models Boeing 757-200 resin kit. Hopefully I'm not treading on anyone's toes by posting some pictures of the kit. I have no first-hand experience of the Minicraft or Authentic Airliners kits, so I can't really compare directly, however, this looks like a finely detailed kit and I think it will build into a nice model. The moulding seems generally good, with only a few small bubbles. The trailing edges are paper thin, unfortunately one of the horizontal stabilisers has lost a corner because of this. Thanks for looking. Sorry the lighting isn't fantastic. Larger versions are available on my Flickr page. PAS Models 752_Box by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Contents by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Decals by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Instructions by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Parts Overview by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Fuselage 1 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Fuselage 2 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Fuselage 3 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Fuselage 4 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Wings 1 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Wings 2 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Engines 1 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Engines 2 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Engines 3 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Engines 4 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Engines 5 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Winglets 1 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Winglets 2 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Landing Gear 1 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Landing Gear 2 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Landing Gear 3 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Landing Gear 4 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Landing Gear 5 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr PAS Models 752_Landing Gear 6 by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr Cheers, Andrew

Heritage Aviation is working on a new 1/48th Westland Wessex full kit (so not only on a correction or upgrade set for the soon reissued Revell kit). A glimpse at this project: http://www.heritagea...st-news-2-w.asp V.P.

F-14 Tomcat Wheel Bay (for HobbyBoss) 1:48 Aires This is one of those sets that has you exhaling in a "pffffff!" kind of way when you first see it. Why? Because of the crisp detail that seems to be tucked into every look and cranny. The Hobby Boss kit has been quite well received, and looks to be nicely detailed out of the box for the most part, but you can always do better with resin aftermarket. The set arrives in Aires' card backed blister pack, protected by a piece of foam, and inside are 24 resin parts on ten casting blocks, and one tiny fret of Photo-Etch (PE) metal. It includes both the main landing gear bays, and the narrow nose bay, and it is this latter part that first draws your attention. It is deep and festooned with detail in the shape of hoses, cables, ribbing, panels and a large bottle, which really does beg the question "how to they get that out of the mould without ripping it?". The detail is so deep and there are massive undercuts, which will really give a fabulous impression of the real thing once painted. The main gear bays also have deep undercuts that extend inboard toward the fuselage, as per the real bay. Again, the detail is stunning, and has to be seen to be appreciated. You use the kit landing gear parts, which are augmented by a few small resin extras, plus a full set of replacement gear bay doors, which are again fully detailed, and have fine retraction jacks included that can be cut to length to fit your installation. The same is true of the nose gear bay, with the addition of some rather neat PE grilles that nestle within a pair of cu-outs on the main nose gear doors. Conclusion I'm running out of superlatives for this set, because it is so nicely done. The only part that I can foresee causing some people some issue is that the upper fuselage will need thinning to accommodate the increased depth of the main wheel bays. Whilst this isn't a problem for the Dremel users amongst us, there will be some serious scraping with the edge of a curved blade if you don't have that particular tool in your arsenal. The resulting improvement in detail is well worth the effort however! Very highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of Distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

F6F Hellcat Wing Mounted Radome for the Eduard Kit (QB 72 373) 1:72 Quickboost The Eduard Hellcat is without doubt one of the best F6F kits on the market, but there are still improvements that can be achieved when someone looks closely enough and that's what Aires have done. On the whole, the kit has beautifully detailed parts and finely recessed panel lines, but for some reason the radome included has raised panel lines. It's also manufactured in two parts which means there will be a seam to blend in, so this single part replacement from Quickboost is a great product that will improve the look of the kit and ensure that you aren't left with a seam. The panel lines are finely recessed meaning that it will blend in beautifully with the rest of the kit. That said, care should be taken to remove the radome from the block that it comes on to minimise the work in removing the join marks. It's a direct replacement part that slots onto the leading edge of the wing. Conclusion A simple but great improvement to the F6F kit if you're wishing to do one of the radar equipped versions. Fitment is easy although there will be a bit of sanding to remove the marks after cutting it from the block. The recessed panel lines are a great improvement over the kit supplied part. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

P-40M/N Wheels & Paint Masks - Recommended kit: Academy Aires 1:72 The Academy kit comes with two types of wheels, the covered type and uncovered type with the spokes on display to which this set is designed to replace. These are far better than the quite anemic looking kit parts with good depth to the spokes and better overall proportions between the hubs and tyres. The tyres have fine grooves and the rear of the wheels is equally well moulded. Whilst they're designed for the Academy kit, they should be easy to adapt for any other kit too that doesn't use the covered type. The tyres aren't flattened unlike many these days, although due to the size, this doesn't negate the look of them in any way. The paint masks are a great addition to take some of the pain out of the painting stage and should be quite easy to apply due to the flat profile of the wheel hubs Conclusion A great upgrade for a prominent feature of the P-40. The quality is excellent and the wheels are a simple direct replacement. Some might prefer flattened tyres as oppose to these, but as you can see from the picture, they look good as they are and a rub down on the bottom should quite easily achieve the desired effect. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

Cyber Hobby Sea Vixen FAW.1 Resin Upgrades 1:72 Quickboost Airfix undoubtably have the 1/48 market sewn up with their stunning Sea Vixen kit, but the 1/72 market is a little more open with competition, the two 'best' options coming from Dragon / Cyber Hobby and the other from Xtrakit / MPM although each has it's issues with accuracy. These little gems are aimed at improving the Cyber Hobby kit. QB 72 379 Sea Vixen FAW.1 Correct Nose One of the Sea Vixens prominent features is its distinctly pointed nose, yet the Cyber Hobby kit looks much too rounded and loses some of the character of this classic aircraft. This correction piece is a direct replacement that restores the correct look of the nose. The shape look very good when compared to photographs and I suepct that for any Sea Vixen fans who model in 1/72 scale this will be an essential purchase. One point to be aware of is that with the nose being solid resin, there is no room to add a nose weight so adding weight to another part of the forward fuselage may be necessary. QB 72 377 Sea Vixen FAW.1 Landing Lights The kit landing light part located just in front of the nose wheel is moulded in grey plastic rather than clear. Whilst the lights are very small, this addition will give the opportunity to add a touch of realism. Pre-colouring the lights then applying a tiny dot of masking solution whilst the airframe colour is applied should get a good result. Conclusion The Cyber Hobby kit whilst being one of the best kits available in 1/72 is known for its accuracy issues, some being easier to fix than others. As such, seeing the developing range of Quickboost accessories to improve it is most welcome. As you'd expect, the quality of these parts is excellent and the replacement nose cone is almost a given if you intend to build the kit unless you modify the nose yourself. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

P-40B/C Resin Upgrades 1:72 Quickboost by Aires for the Airfix Kit The new Airfix P40 Hawk has quickly established itself as a great kit, building on the reputation that Airfix are developing for their newer kits. If you're looking to take it further, then there is a whole range of aftermarket accessories becoming available. The P40 served in many different theatres and this makes it such an interesting aircraft to model due to the wide range of schemes that you can choose from as the decal range becomes available. QB 72 364 Propeller with Alignment Tool The first set here is a replacement propeller. Whilst the kit propeller certainly isn't bad, the limitations of injection moulding are not a problem here due to the resin manufacturing process. The propeller blades are individually cast and very thin giving a more accurate scale representation. The hub is also nicely moulded. This will need the sprue sanding off the rear face before fitting to the kit. A great feature is the prop assembly tool to make lining the blades up consistent as you attach them. QB 72 361 P-40B Exhaust The exhausts are beautifully hollowed out which really improve the appearance of any kit. They are supplied as direct replacements for the kit parts, so other than cutting them off the sprue, no additional work is required. QB 72 374 P-40B/C Exhaust & Damper Cooler Another option if you're looking to upgrade the exhausts is this set. Again, beautifully crafted exhausts with hollowed ends although these vary slightly in being marginally more swept back at the tips compared to the previous set. The radiator gills are very thin and will give an alternative option to using photo etch to get scale accuracy under the engine cowling. QB 72 375 P-40B/C Gun Barrels These are a very fine set of barrel upgrades. Getting this level of finesse from injection moulding just isn't possible, so these are most welcome. As the kit parts are moulded into the wing, removing them and drilling location holes will be necessary so a fine drill bit of approximately 1mm will be necessary QB 72 376 P-40B/C Undercarriage Covers Main and tail wheel doors are catered for in this set. The kit parts are somewhat chunky so these will give the undercarriage area a real sharpen up. The parts are very delicate so care should be taken removing them from the sprues. Further more, unlike the kit parts, there are no tabs to locate them, so delicate fitment is necessary, but well worth it. Conclusion These fine sets offer the already good Airfix kit a significant enhancement. If like me, you enjoy modelling on this scale, getting that extra bit of accuracy and detail is important to make it look less toy like and more like a scale replica. The precision in the sets just can't be achieved by plastic injection moulding technology so I'll certainly be using these when I build mine. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

Russian company Prop and Jet has just released two new 1/72nd resin kits from Soviet's jet fighter prototypes Source: http://www.lindenhil.../propandjet.htm V.P.

Hello Everyone I was trawling the web and came across this 1/144 resin MD-11. http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Rev3/2301-2400/rev2383-Airliner-Vieira/00.shtm Has anyone else built this before? What does everyone think of it? Thanks Bradley

AIM-7M Sparrow Missiles 1:48 Eduard Brassin (648069) The AIM-7 Sparrow has been around for as long as there have been fast jets, and the cry "fox one" has been made by pilots on a fair few occasions. Introduced in the late 50, it spent around 40 years as the Allies' primary Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air (A2A) missile, thereby proving that the BVR kill has been around a lot longer than the F-22. Although it is being phased out in favour of the AIM-120 AMRAAM around the world, it has served well, and the M variant was an update to the third generation of the missile to add some additional functionality to the seeker head to prolong its life, and improve knock-down rates, just in time for the first Gulf War. The set arrives in Eduard's clamshell box, and inside are four resin missile bodies with the rear-most fins moulded in, plus eight pairs of forward steering vanes, and a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) metal that is also pre-painted where applicable. The missiles are each attached to a cruciform casting plug, with the delicate rear fins supported by wafer thin resin. The forward vanes in their pairs are similarly attached, with a small locating peg part-buried in the attachment web. Care will need to be taken when removing these, to ensure you don't remove the peg too! There are matching holes in the side of the missile body, and super-glue will be needed to affix them in place, taking care to align them with the rear fins as a guide. The rear of the missile just needs to be flattened off, and a small PE exhaust nozzle is glued in place, and another pre-painted part is affixed to the body just aft of the steering vanes. Once completed, each missile will simply require painting and weathering before attachment to your pylon of choice. Conclusion The detail moulded into the missile bodies is excellent, and the scale thickness of the fins will add a great deal of realism to the loadout of your chosen model. The addition of PE parts is just the icing on the cake, rounding out the package nicely. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Not my scale nor my favorite period but Silver Wings is to release very soon a 1/32nd Fiat CR-42 Falco resin kit. Sources: http://www.silverwin...oming-soon.html http://www2.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234923648#entry1093928 V.P.

Russian resin craft company NeOmega is working since 2011 (or worked?) on a 1/48th Yakovlev Yak-130 kit Release date unknown Source: http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic_t_29889.html V.P.

The future HpH 1/48th LET L-410 Turbolet resin kit is slowly but surely taking shape. Considering the various civilian as well as military operators ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_L-410_Turbolet ) of this twin-engined short-range transport aircraft, this kit could be a winner. Source: http://amg.cdc.cz/kat79.html Source: http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/up...-5/28/47712.jpg V.P.

Seen on Aeroscale http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/modules.php?...e&sid=10831 Grey Matter homepage: http://www.goldengecko.co.uk/shops/gmf/index.php?p=0 V.P.

A 1/48th Grumman XF-10F Jaguar (wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_XF10F_Jaguar) resin kit will be soon proposed by Planet Models. Source and pictures: http://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=3...mp;hilit=Jaguar Source: http://www.cmkkits.com/en/news/cmk-newsletter-02-12/ V.P. V.P

HPH is preparing a 1/32nd Westland Whirlwind resin kit Source: http://amg.cdc.cz/kat125.html V.P.

1/32nd Bell P-63 Kingcobra resin kit by HpH http://amg.cdc.cz/kat69.html Price: 3.100,- CZK = +/- £ 110,00 http://amg.cdc.cz/ V.P

HpH has just released its last gem a 1/48th Let L-200 Morava resin kit. The Morava is a two-engine touring and light passenger aircraft of the 1960s, designed and produced in Let Kunovice in Czechoslovakia. HpH EShop: http://www.hphshop.cz/product_info.php?cPa...amp;language=EN Source: http://amg.cdc.cz/kat108.html V.P.