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Presenting my entry to this group build: This is the recently re-issued kit from Tamiya that comes with a Motocompo folding scooter and middle aged man pretending to be a student. The sprue for the scooter isn't very well thought out and would involve seams and way too much masking for my liking (the car already requires a load for black trim), so I got the resin version from ZoomOn that is much more logically thought out. Also, I have the Aoshima Honda City Turbo II kit, so will use the spare Motocompo for that, when the time comes. The sprue shots... The car kit is quite basic, possibly originating from a motorised version looking at the rear axle area, and it has no hub or brake components at either end. 🤔 Now to the plan...! Obviously, I'm going to lower it and swap the wheels! I feel like this car need slamming on the floor with some aggressive camber and fat wheels/stretched tyres... BUT! Because this is the 80s, and that sort of nonsense doesn't exist yet, I'm going to refrain (and save that for the Turbo II ) and give it tasteful 35mm lowering springs with -1º of camber and a set of 1 inch wider, 15 inch (1in larger diameter) Work Equip 40s that were available at the time. In the process of creating the lowering/camber system, I'm planning to model the missing hubs and brakes and get rid of the metal axle and screws that hold the front wheels in favour of the current Tamiya wheel fastening system. Finally the colour scheme... and this is entirely inspired by @Toftdale's builds of a few months back. Specifically some shots of the paint in progress where the car looks pink. I thought the colour suited it so well, I'm going to paint this one, and the Motocompo, in Porsche Frozen Berry over pink primer from ProScale Paints. As you can see, the pink primer really 'pinks' it up a bit Anyway, that's it for now. I need to go and finish my Trabant for the 'Give Peace a Chance' GB. Thanks for looking! Martin

Hello chaps, Waiting my dental scanner to work again soon and help me so to get convincing wipers that will add the final touch to my Ford Mustang Indy 500 Convertible at 1/16 scale... ... I begin here a new thread dedicated to my next build, the Porsche 934 Vaillant Tamiya at 1/12, a big scale! For this build, I decided to buy the expensive Scale Lab detail set, hoping this set will allow me to get a very nice result, even if I am sure you can get a fine one just with the Tamiya kit. Will this set worth it? I will give you my opinion independently. This set was bought on Spotmodel, it is about 300€, much more expensive than the Tamiya kit itself so (about 140€). Below are some pics of both boxes and their contents: The first impression with the Tamiya kit is very good despite its quite old age, 1976, it has been reissued more recently with a PE detail set and a Cartograf decal sheet (both very nice!). The Scale Lab detail set is impressive with 9 PE plates, resin parts and a sheet of masks for the windows frame painting job. It will require a careful study before use because the instructions sheet above seems to me somewhat succinct... Well, I hope I'm wrong on that point, we shall see. A word about the choice of the Porsche 934 Vaillant: as usual, the choice for a model is for me first aesthetic. From this point of view, I could have chosen the Jägermeister version, orange (I love this color) but I ever have the huge 1/8 Pocher Lamborghini Aventador in nearly the same color. This Light Cobalt Green (lighter than what the Tamiya box-art suggests imho) is though also quite to my taste, in addition to be more original. It is also very possible that the name "Vaillant", even if it is here just a sponsor (Vaillant was and is still today a heating systems manufacturer), resonated in me and more or less consciously recalled the adventures of Michel Vaillant, famous racing driver in the comic books albums of Jean Graton (the French and Belgian members of this forum will understand me very well). Looking in the Net, I found a pic of this Vaillant version showed at Autoworld Brussels. Pity, when visiting this nice car museum last year, the car was missing... The documentation will be consequently quite poor, a priori... For the paint, I decided to use mainly Gravity products, but most likely Tamiya and Vallejo ones too. Well, let's go to the bench now, hoping this build will arouse interest from the Brit community. Cheers, O

This will be my kit for this GB. I picked it up recently and after a bit of research realised that New Zealand's army bought a fair few of these tanks, mainly Mk2, Mk3 and Mk5 variants. Because the kit is a Mk2 this'll most likely be one that was used for training in New Zealand, (I'm waiting for some decals to turn up so I will be a bit more precise soon.) I also bought a couple of books to help me on my way.👍 I am currently finishing off another project so once that is done I can get on with this. All the best.

Here we go again folks! GP bringing you another tandem Pedestal build (its nice building these in pairs). This time with the two F-Class destroyers HMS Fury, who managed to complete the Operation safely, and here sister HMS Foresight which was hit by an Italian aerial torpedo; blowing off her stern and killing four men- the result being a later scuttling at the hands of HMS Tartar. For this build I will be using two Tamiya E-Class Destroyers along with a associated 3d upgrade sets from Starling Models, (a detail improvement but also allows me to use the HACS on the P-class models) For colours... I have seen on the armoured carriers website a graphic of various ships from Pedestal (I am not sure of the actual origin of these images) showing Forsight in a Mountbatten Pink (along with the Manchester) which I would really like to go for, it will make the fleet even more colourful and in the image of the Foresight prior to scuttling she is one uniform colour so it works for me. And for the Fury I'm walking along the lines of a WA scheme, the vast majority of pictures I have found of her show this on the Starboard side from around 1941 and then a more disruptive pattern in the same colours on the Port around the time of her beaching after D-Day. Cheers, GP

Whilst struggling with the canopy on my PR XVI I’ve been looking at other possibilities. And having seen so many builds on the go using them as a basis I had a question to answer. OK, so what is all this about the Tamiya Mosquito kits? (As mentioned before soemwhere, I've never built a Tamiya kit of any sort so probabaly rank as some sort of modelling eccentric! ) They are continually held up as examples of modelling kit excellence. I’m not usually swayed by majority opinion so feel I have to investigate for myself, although this is most definitely not a kit review. Evidence that I have taken the bait ….. Of course, this is going to provide a challenge for myself as the end date for this STGB is less than 30 days away. Just to add an extra frisson of excitement (for me if not for you, dear reader) is the need for a little scratch building that would seem to be almost within my grasp. This is because of the choice of finish. I said in @John’s wip here that I fancied the EDSG over Sky finish – so Banff it is!! The picture that came most easily to hand was the 143 sq NE – D / RS625 linked (here). What I hadn't realised was that when I opened the Tamiya box and looked at all that wrapped loveliness, the decals in the box have this aircraft as one of the 3 supplied. That save's a bit of decal printing. However, the need for the aforementioned scratching about is evident when you see a 100gal drop-tank with 2-tier missile mounting outboard on each wing. BM as usual is a good source of info, so I have drawings of the mounting system and the guard rails added to protect the rockets when the tank was jettisoned. I think I can carefully modify the kit rockets into 2-tier configuration. I’ll just have to have a go at the guard rails. The kit includes the smaller (50 gal?) drop-tanks, so these will have to be replaced if possible as well. Whilst there is quite a lot of detail moulded-in on the kit, I rather like the Eduard 3-d decals I used in my PR XVI cockpit. Replacement of exhausts and wheels/tyres with resin examples is becoming fairly frequent on my builds. Then I remembered that Charlie @Johnson had pointed out to someone a combined Eduard set (with all these elements) was due for release about now. Success! E’en now it is hurtling this way courtesy of Royal Mail. Hence the kit list with extras looks like this: - Tamiya 1:72 Mosquito FB Mk. VI/ NF Mk. II - new Eduard set for this kit (Cockpit IP 3-d painted decal, canopy masks, exhausts, wheels) - Blackbird Models resin 100 gal Mosquito tanks – on order - Bits ‘n pieces of plastruct or brass wire for the guard rails. So off we go. I have downloaded the 143 sqn ORB entries for March, April and May 1945. A quick peruse of the March entries (it's all I've had time for so far) shows that aircraft “D” is in regular use. I’m assuming that the photo is of the right period and hence that the records are indeed about RS625. As time is short, I won’t dig too much further just now but if someone can confirm my assumption that the ORB and the photo are talking about the same aircraft, I would be grateful. Before finally committing to this scheme, I decided to try adapting the kit rockets into “double-deckers” and also have a go at the guard rails. The rockets have come out like this …. ..... Still some painting to finish off, but almost there. Black warheads and fins, dark green missile bodies, aluminium rails. The mounting straps need to be "picked out" in black or alu. I believe there's a white painted ring around the noses as well. IF I have time I might look at the wiring at the back of the rockets (it is just about visible) but seeing as I've compromised a bit on the guard rails the wires might be omitted to aid completion For the guard rail, I first tried bits of plastic strip and rod. Those of finer dimensions could barely support their own weight and sagged at the first opportunity. After deciding against the thicker bits, which were structurally ok, because they were far too clunky I decided to attempt using brass rod. After quickly establishing that I couldn’t use CA, I’ve attempted soldering for the first time. [I seem to set myself challenges ..... ] This is the result …. A lot better than the plastic versions but still a bit blobby where I couldn’t get the solder off!!! But I’m going with these as they are just about ok and will be sandwiched between the rockets and the 100 gal tanks and hence not so obvious. [Needle in pin-vice shown for scale.] So I have some slightly agricultural guard rails and some 2-tier rockets; all I need is the ordered resin 100 gal tanks to arrive. So I will go with this and the next instalment will start on the main build. Comments and advice always welcome. Thanks for looking Rob

A few years ago I saw one of these built up on IModeler and was blown away by the amazing retro look and how colorful it was. I knew one day I HAD to build one. I purchased this kit off eBay and it is in okay condition. The decals were in rough shape which lead me to purchasing an aftermarket set. Which of course all of the nice aftermarket sets have also been discontinued 😅. I found a website in Canada that has a lot of rare/out of production decals in stock and was able to purchase a really unique Eagle Strike set. I’ll be doing the scheme with the yellow fuel tanks and blue lightning. It sorta reminds me of Vault-Tec from Fallout 🤟🏼 The only other aftermarket item I am after is masking which will hopefully arrive before too long. Really surprised how detailed the cockpit is for a 27 year old kit. Even the injection pin marks don’t seem as bad as some of the more modern Tamiya kits. Applied interior green and black to the panel Masked to paint more black accents per reference photos: Applied a black base coat and went over with dark grey to add depth I attempted to apply the instrument panel decals, but they disintegrated as soon as I slightly touched them. Since the decal was useless, I had to hand paint all of the gauges. Definitely not the most fun task 😵‍💫 I used photo etch seatbelts from Eduard meant for an F-104. Comparing reference images, they looked close enough to me. Another detail I added was wiring behind the instrument panel. Mostly won’t be seen, but I’ll know it’s there 😎. Cheers, Keith

While waiting for some information on my Valentine build I thought I'd do something quick, cheap and an easy vehicle to try out a few techniques. Having some Kubelwagens in the stash they became a prime target. I have one where I will try out some winter whitewash again but first I'll do the AK desert/balloon tyred one. Simple sprues. And a very quick, easy build.

Hi guys, it's been 8 months since I last finished my model which was the Chinese J-7B. Not very productive during these months, huh? Ok, here is my Tamiya's latest brand new 48th scale kit. What is special to talk about this kit is the details. Tamiya has done a very good job putting in more details while not compromising the ease of building in their later kits. Engineering and parts breakdown are excellent. Of course there are many aftermarket detail up parts released in the market lately but the detail level out of the box is pretty acceptable especially in the weapons bay. I scratch-built the seat belts as Tamiya provided only the decals. The only drawback of the kit is the decals. They are thick and need a lot of decal liquids to soften and set. Otherwise it would be a perfect kit. This is a commission build and my client wanted me to do the Italian Air Force so here it is. Hope you will like it. I willbe building more as I am settled at the new place and have set up the workbench. See you next time, thanks. #tzwf35

Bit busy at the moment with two other GB's on the go, but will hopefully get round to this one in the next few weeks. I've gone for the good old Tamiya classic, so should be a nice easy build! I've also got the Xtradecal 72209 1:72 Vought F4U-1 Corsairs decal set. Some great options, but i have gone for the below. A NZ Corsair made from two damaged aircraft, hence the "cut and shut". George

Hi, I would like to start and share my new build of a De Havilland Mosquito 1:48 scale. The kit is the old, but still very nice Tamiya of the FB Mk VI. I believe that neither a presentation of this aircraft nor of the kit is necessary. Since long, I wanted to build a model of this aircraft because of its fame and because of its remarkable design. For me, this is the first mosquito build as a grown up modeller if I exclude the ancient Revell 1/32 kit that I built when I was a kid. To start my build, I followed to the letter the Tamiya instructions which called the engine nacelles as a first step: I just thickened the frames for added 3-D effect and added few interior details. The white panel shown on the inside of the walls is an artistic license of mine having used a piece of thin styrene to hide annoying ejection pin marks which I didn't want to fill and sand. In the following, the nacelles are shown completed: Finally, they are test fitted with the wings and the main undercarriage struts to check that no interferences with the new parts are present: That is all for this first instalment, I hope you will enjoy following it. Best regards, Dan

He is my second Mosquito build. I bought this in error for my Mosquito Racer build and some smarty-pants suggested that I build both, so that's what I'm going to do. This will be an OOB build of a FB Mk VI using the 1/72 Tamiya kit and will be built in flying mode with wheels up, fitted with a crew and will be destined for my ceiling. The box. The plastic. See you soon. Stuart

After WW2 ended, the Chinese Nationalists ended up with a few Ki-61s in their inventory. From what I can tell, it was at least four Tonys (Tonies?): three Ki-61-Ic's, and at least one Ki-61-Ib. This build is a mostly out-of-box build of Tamiya's excellent 1/72 Ki-61-Id. While I can't verify that the RoCAF ended up with any Ki-61-Id's after the end of the war, I also can't verify that they didn't, so this build is what could be considered a semi-historical "what if." The decals were from Mark I Models, and the only extra addition to the Tamiya plastic was a set of Eduard photoetch seatbelts. The paints were a mix of Tamiya "acrylics" and AK Real Colors. I'm not too happy with how the Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum turned out - I have a hard time spraying it in such a way that it doesn't appear grainy. The build thread is here.

Hi All. Here is my recently completed build of a DH Mosquito FB VI using the Tamiya 1/72 kit as part of the DH Mosquito STGB. From the start, I decided that this would be a wheels-up project destined for the mancave ceiling. Built OOB with the only additions being a couple of figures for the crew. No real problems but the undercarriage aren't designed to be shut and are bit small plasticard was used to fill the gap between the doors. A little filler was needed for the nacelle/top wing join and was easily sorted. Painted with AK Real Colors paint. Kit decals were typical Tamiya, don't like to conform and took numerous applications of Sol on the radiator decal. Build log here: Thanks for looking. Stuart

Gene Hunt's Audi Quattro from Ashes to Ashes Tamiya, 1/24 "A word in your shell like, pal." It's pretty self explanatory, I'm aiming to build the red Quattro as featured in the BBC's Ashes to Ashes, the 2008 time-travelling cop drama set in 1981-83 and sequel to Life on Mars*. I preferred Ashes over Mars because a) I'm an 80s child, b) Keeley Hawes, c) it had a bolder aesthetic, d) great soundtrack, e) Keeley Hawes and f) the Quattro. The Audi Quattro itself needs little introduction. Iconic gets overused, but in this case entirely justified. Launched in 1980, it was a game-changer and is the granddaddy of every rally car that followed in its tyre tracks. There's one small snag - I'm waiting for a kit. Tamiya are quite fortunately repopping their classic kit (which has got to be better than the Esci/Italeri offering) this year and it's meant to land in April. I've got one on pre-order with my local model shop, so until then I'll just sit tight and maybe occasionally post stuff in the nostalgia thread No doubt there will be Quattro related content and quotes from the Gene Genie and Bolly Knickers to follow. *There were jokes at the time that a 90s series would follow called Hallo Spaceboy. A third part in the trilogy called Lazarus was muted by the creators post-Covid, but it got shelved in 2023.

Here is my entry for this GB, a Mosquito Racer using the Tamiya FB Mk VI/ NF Mk II 1/72 kit and Thunderbird Models decal set. Don McVicar purchased KB377, a Mk 25 from the RCAF for $1500 with the intention to race her in the Bendix Race. Before the race started there were certification issues and a lack of major sponsorship, then the mechanical problems started enroute to the race start; a flat tyre, carburettor problem, an exhaust stack fire and the coup de grace, a conrod failure on the starboard engine. Firstly, the compulsories: The box. Bags of intact plastic. Decals. There will be a slow start as I need to get my Norseman in another GB nearer the finish line before I can put more effort into this. Stuart

Somewhat out my normal comfy chair with this, but may I present my recently finished Tamiya 75mm PAK 40. I've depicted this holding position on a well trodden road, and down to the last few rounds. The kit is Tamiya classic that cost all of £5.50, the base is pre-cast from Fields of Glory, vegetation came from a wood in Cornwall and the 'logs' are from my local park. Painted with Vallejo and Ammo acrylics, weathered with oils and pastels. Thanks for looking and comments are welcome. Keith ☺️

The last 5 months I've been busy starting a new project. And I think it's finally at a stage where I can share some progress. While building my Eurofighter model I noticed how much I enjoy the shape of a flying jet. However at the same time I love the detail of a nice wheel well. So the idea was born to display a jet during takeoff, with the wheels in the process of retracting. Additionally I wanted to do something nice with surfaces. And I just love the surfaces of the F-35 and how they have glossy and matt parts to the pattern. So I choose the Tamiya F-35A. For the interior and engine I went with Reskit. As well as the bombs. It will have magnetized bomb pylons, so I can display it in stealth and beast mode. For masks I got a bunch of Galaxy model spray masks. I hope this will save me some time when I do multiple clear coats to create the different surface textures. First off, as you all probably already know, the kit is amazing. This is the dry fit, I assume I will need almost no filler. All the parts fit 100% perfectly. Pure joy. The front wheel bay was easy enough. (usually the front wheel is retracted first, so it just sits there nicely in the folded position.) The back wheels are not nice and easy sadly. They will have to sit at a half retracted angle, with all the doors open. Sadly the Tamiya kit has those doors in the shut position, so I had to cut them open. Additionally I had to find that perfect angle where the wheel can actually properly retract into the fuselage. The way this works on the F-35 is apparently a cone tilt angle, so the wheel rotates just over 90° while folding forward. Finding that angle was... not pleasant. Wrapping my head around on how to construct it even less so. But ultimately I think I found an angle that looks half decent. I also tested it with wheels attached. It actually works! In the end the wheels will be glued in place at the half way position, but I wanted to make sure everything is in the right spot. For the stand my dad was so kind to help me bend a 3mm stainless steel rod into a nice circle. On the inside it is held in place by a piece of hard rubber with an about 2.8mm hole inside. As mentioned before, the weapons are attached by magnets inside the wings. Fast forward: I Painted the wheel wells and all other parts that need to be painted beforehand. Added holographic foil to the EOTS And now all the main parts are in the process of being assembled! (Shots are still the dry fitting. The glue is setting as I type.)

First in! My entry will be this Tamiya FB.VI/NF.II which I will be building as an NF.XII of 85 Sqd Using a Quickboost resin radar nose. I will be building this aircraft, flown by the Mosquito ace Branse Burbridge: The sprues: As with my AV-8A in the 80’s GB, as I will be away on holiday and miss the start and first couple of weeks of the build, I have jumped the start by priming some parts and shooting some interior green on the cockpit and aluminium on the undercarriage, but kept well below 25%. I’ll pick this up again around Easter and get on with build proper. Looking at the parts, I can’t wait! AW

This is a really excellent kit from Tamiya, the 1/35 M10 U.S. Tank Destroyer with additional stowage from Def Model and the a few extra's from Miniart like the 50 cal. My first time with the correct olive drab, well XF-62 which seemed too dark to my eyes but the weathering toned it down a little phew. Anyway thanks for looking. Regards Trace

Didn't feel like painting today, so decided to start a new project. This time I chose Cromwell MK. IV. It will be done out of the box with a side order of 3D printed tracks and it will have marks of 1st Polish Armoured Division. Here is the progress that I have made so far. Next stage will be to prime and paint the lower hull.

Tamiya is to release a new tool (?) 1/72nd Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II kit. Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=615777313890734&set=pb.100063754112187.-2207520000.&type=3 V.P.

Hi All. Here is my recently completed Mosquito Racer KB377 as part of the Mosquito STGB. The kit used was the Tamiya B IV kit in 1/72, Humbrol, AK and Vallejo paints were used with decals from Thunderbird Models. Typical Tamiya quality, the only filler required was the top wing to nacelle join. Tamiya's mounting system for the undercarriage doors makes the door openings to wide, doors should be much closer to undercarriage. I don't like colour matching to decals but I was lucky to find a near perfect match to the green by using Vallejo Deep green. Slight issue with the long fuselage decal as it broke at the narrowest point across the top wing. Build log here: Thanks for looking. Stuart

My first entry for this GB is the Tamiya 1/72 kit of the F-16C Block 50. Just look at all the Tamiya loveliness here! There are two of these sprues. The kit was marketed in two boxings, one with "full equipment" i.e. stores for the SEAD role. The other didn't have the stores. I find this rather bizarre as the stores seem to be moulded onto the same sprues as some major airframe components such as the tailplanes. I wonder if Tamiya moulded a seperate sprue with these parts for the second kit. If so, that seems a little counter-intuitive. Why not just mould on the stores together on one sprue and leave it out of the second kit altogether? It also seems as though Tamiya originally had the intention of producing a T-bird version and versions with the earlier smaller intake. I wonder why they didn't. I will be building this one in the current Have Glass V scheme, in the markings of 148 FW of the Minnesota ANG based at Duluth AFB. The Have Glass scheme will be far easier to replicate on an F-16 than an F-35 as there are no RAM tapes to laboriously mask. I think the model will have a lot of contrast and vsual interest as the nose come, pylons and stores are all in their original colours. The decals will be from FabScale, a company which is new to me.

In the general cemetery at Hoorn in the North Holland province of the Netherlands are headstones belonging to four RAF personnel of World War II. https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/2059219/hoorn-general-cemetery/ They are, in grave order, from left to right. Flight Lieutenant Victor George Brewis https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2620167/victor-george-brewis/ Sergeant Jack Ratcliffe https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2620168/jack-ratcliffe/ Sergeant David John Young https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2620170/david-john-young/ Flight Lieutenant Arthur Whitten-Brown https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2620169/arthur-whitten-brown/ Sergeants Ratcliffe and Young were killed on the night of 15 February 1944 when Lancaster LL689 of No. 115 Squadron was shot down by a Nightfighter flying from Leeuwarden airfield. Flight Lieutenants Brewis and Whitten-Brown were killed on 6 June 1944 when Mosquito VI NT122 of No. 605 Squadron was lost, crashing into the IJsselmeer at around 02:00, having left RAF Manston at 00:31 for a Night Intruder mission against Leeuwarden airfield. Some of you may recognise the name Arthur Whitten-Brown. This is because Sir Arthur Whitten-Brown was one half of Alcock and Brown, the first to make a non-stop transatlantic flight. Flight Lieutenant Arthur Whitten-Brown was his son and only child. This build will be of Mosquito VI NT122 and will be respectfully dedicated to the memory of Flight Lieutenants Victor George Brewis and Arthur Whitten-Brown. I'll put some more details on them up during the build. The Tamiya 1/48 Mosquito seems to be rather popular and I’m hoping will make this a relatively straightforward build. I think there’s some aftermarket hanging around for it somewhere in the stash but I’ve not found it yet… My main concern is probably going to be actually making a space on the bench space that’s big enough to work on this; there might be a slow start as I try to clear some other builds. Cheers, Richard.

This kit has been in the stash since 2013...Time to build it 🙂 This one will be a lovely and interesting GB, thank you!