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Morning all Next on my desk is Tamiya's lovely little Sd Kfz 124 Wespe. All fits beautifully, clean moulding, the usual boring stuff. I may do a little improving in the wiring department, but that's about all it needs (assuming you don't want to go utterly bonkers). But one thing has me puzzled. Under the gun cradle there's a travel lock. In the fighting compartment, there seems to be another. It pokes up at an angle between the shell lockers - a long bar with a clamp at the top (parts D32 and A22 if you're familiar with the kit). This does seem to be the right height to catch the back of the cradle and hold it steady, but I can't be sure. And if it is a travel lock, I can't imagine it would remain up when the gun was in use. Would it be stowed out of the way somewhere?

IJN Heavy Cruiser Chikuma Eduard 1:350 The Tamiya 1:350 Chikuma kit has been out for a little while now, but there have been very few, if any, aftermarket detail sets for it. This may mean that Tamiya got it perfect out of the box or that the aftermarket companies have missed it for some reason. Well this has now been rectified with the welcome release of these two sets by Eduard. The first set consists of sheets of etched brass containing around 121 different items, and that’s not including multiples of the same items, of which there are quite a few. The quite larger sheet provides everything from the ships crane, crane hook, bollard tops, gratings, intake grilles, masts, funnel caps, funnel wind deflector, inclined ladders, to the intake grilles on the funnels and superstructure. The kit searchlight towers, their mounts and turntables are completely replaced with new etched items. There are also numerous small details for the rangefinders, masts yards and bridge structure as well as the inclined and vertical ladders throughout the ship. There are many smaller items such as new doors and deck hatches, small deckhouses, and cable drum supports. The smallest and what look like the most awkward fittings are the hull ladder rungs. Templates are provided to get the holes drilled in-line ready for the rungs themselves. This is going to be an incredibly fiddly job, but worthwhile exercise as the moulded styrene ones are a little bit clunky. All the ships boats have additional detail such as rudders, handrails, screens and stern rails. The second, smaller sheet provides all new catapults, their turntables and other fittings. The main barbettes are fitted with new base rings and supports. There are several wind deflectors for the secondary armament which are made up by folding the large etched segments on each other creating a suitably scale thickness. There is also a complete replacement for the aircraft transport ramp which will need some careful folding to keep it straight. The downfalls for the ships boat davits are also included. The second set, supplied separately, provides all the railings in pre-cut lengths for the whole ship, plus a range of platforms with pierced gratings. Two accommodation ladders are also provided, in addition to their deck edge covered platforms. Unfortunately the awning supports and accommodation ladders found in previous Japanese ship sets are not included in this one. Conclusion It’s good to see these sets being released as, while the 1:350 Chikuma is a fabulous kit, it still needs something to give it a lift. The quality of the etched brass is up to the usual standard we’ve come to expect from Eduard. Unfortunately, the instructions are still a little vague in part placement and particularly how parts are folded. If you have the Tamiya kit, then you need these sets. Review sample courtesy of

This is my alternative project so that I don't get too bogged down in rivet counting on my Hurricane build.

Dear Fellow Modellers I used a profile from Richard Caruna to do an early war camouflage for this 2-seat Il-2. Model was done up with Quickboost barrels and exhausts. You'd hardly know it has an Eduard PE for the cockpit. Maybe you can spot a flying helmet draped over the rear seat fuselage? Hope you like it? Andrew

Started this last weekend as a change of pace from the complex kit's i'd been doing recently - so built this OOB. Great fun to build, though the decals were thick and a bit stubborn Painted with Tamiya Acrylics Total time taken about 16 hours over 3 days. Hope you like it - I really enjoyed just blasting through it Peter

Does anyone have any idea what the above rattle can colour is the same as in the acrylic paints? I'm in the middle of a Lockheed T-33a and have ran out - unfortunately, I am unable to get any more of this locally (was bought from MZ before their demise and no other local shops stock Tamiya sprays!). However, I do have the majority of the Revell & Tamiya acrylic paint ranges and need to do the undercarriage doors - it ran it in the middle of doing these!!!!!!!! Many, many, many thanks for your wonderful assistance in advance.

Hi All, This has been my parallel build whilst I've been working on the Whirlwind. Being a Tamiya kit, it's a world apart from the Classic Airframes build, and a good thing to have in reserve when the 'real modelling' gets a bit much. The machine represents a Fw190A-2/3 of 7./JG2 in 1941/42. Sources variously attribute either Jacob Augustin or Kurt Goltzsch as the pilot. Aftermarket additions are a set of Master barrels, resin wheels and third party decals. Upper surface 74/75 is my own mix of Tamiya colours, and the undersurface is lightened Xtracylix (pain!). The profile of this aircraft in Jagdwaffe volume 4/1 shows this aircraft without a yellow undercowl or rudder. This is perhaps debatable, but it suited the look that I wanted, so I went with it! The outlined black panel behind the exhaust is painted, which I think gives a better effect than a big decal. regards, Jason

After the SUFA wanted something simple, so dug this out of the stash - nice and simple. Started with the cockpit - nice details Closed the fuselage up Made up the engine Added the cowling, and underwing cannons and sprayed the wheel wells silver Masked off the canopy with Parafilm, and sprayed with cockpit colour Then sprayed a coat of Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 over the top as primer ( which is lovely ) Not a bad day's work, Peter

This is another in my series of builds "Aircraft my Father Fixed". Up to now I've built mostly the aircraft my Father worked on while in Burma in the latter half of WWII while attached to 5 Squadron. Before that he was with 81 Squadron from their entry into Operation Torch at Gibraltar Oct '42 up until Sicily had been pacified in Oct-Nov1943 whereupon he was transferred to Cairo en-route to India and 5 Squadron. Funnily enough, 81 Squadron followed his his wake a couple of weeks later and ended up based 5 miles down the road in India, re-equipping with Spitfire VIII, hence why we have a Christmas dinner menu from 81 Sqn in 1943 in my father's effects. Anyway, back to Tunisia in the spring/summer of 1943. Up to that point, the squadron had been equipped with Spitfire Vb Trop and Vc Trop (hence my earlier abortive attempt to convert the Hobbyboss Vb Trop to a Vc Trop), however these were beginnign to be outmatched by the German aircraft. The Tropical filters used on the V series had an unfortunate side-effect of reducing overall performance of the engine. So in May '43 81 Sqn started receiving Spitfire IXs. At this point they were based in Tunisia at Souk-el-Khemis airfield and subsequently moved to other airfields in the general vicinity. From reading Alan Peart's book "From North Africa to the Arakan" you get to see that conditions on these airfields were basic to say the least. So I want to try to capture a snapshot of the activity of the groundcrew in these conditions in my diorama. Build thread viewable here So here are the photos of the finished build: Made it in time for the Farnborough club meet tomorrow! Phew!

Evening Britmodellers Today I have made a start on my RAF Mustang Mk III, as with my Spitfire it will be 95% OOB. I have used bits of Eduard photo etch for the cockpit and HGW seat belts. Thanks for looking and as ever critique is always welcome. Yours aye Iain

Morning All, After a lapse of nearly 15 years, I have started to build Tamiya’s Challenger 1 mk3 tank – Kids (reason I stopped modelling plus a few other things) gave it to me for Christmas (Cannot believe how expensive kits have got in that time £45+ for a dragon kit !), Anyway onto my question; what colour are those dam optics in the cupola and forward sights. Have been searching the net to find close up shots of a real challenger cupola and not found much, found loads of shots of models and the majority seem to be gloss black, a few green, a few red, a few blue and a few mixed of red and blue. Some painted some suing foil. A got hold of modelling the challenger 1 and 2 book by osprey and even in their there are differences (but between MK1 and MK2 tanks). Currently have them painted clear red over clear blue of silver. I may have got myself ‘hung up’ up on this, so please can someone restore my sanity and sleep J P.S what a fantastic site this is.

Hi guys I have a question that I hope someone out there is smarter than me to answer I need to know how well humbrol gloss black goes over tamiya grey primer I have read somewhere that you cant put enamels over acrylic but would like to get some reassurances Cheers

Hello everybody! i am back again with a 100% completed StugIV. i just finished painting it a few days ago, and finished my very first Diorama a couple minutes ago. I'm quite happy with it myself, and hope you will be too! enjoy! Here it is! Again, sorry for the bad quality of the pictures but you can see it atleast. You can also see my homemade woodstack i made cutting up a couple of sticks from a bush outside, and then gluing them together. it looks nice. Please share your opinions!!

Hello! I have just finished my very first model kit - The german Sturmgeschütz IV from Tamiya. I enjoyed this set very much and it was a fun build. i spent two nights building it, without any problems. the pieces fit well, and the only thing missing is the painting. i will get to painting when i get the money to buy some. Anyways, here are the pictures: Sorry for the bad quality of my camera. Instead of installing the sideplates, i added logs (sticks from a bush) to the right side of the tank. i'm going to make a diorama for this later on, which i want to be in a forrest area. Hope you liked the model kit, as it is the first one i've built. i'm happy with it myself and i hope you are too!

Hi all, Finally got his one finished, pleased with how it's come out. Great kit to make, can thoroughly recommend it.

Hello, There is my latest finished build. Quite easy and had no problems with the build. Decided not to do the factory paint job as I didn't like the maroon. Instead, I've painted it in Alclad2 Cobalt Blue. Enjoy:)

My favourite model for the past year, a very easy construction, and my first propeller!

G'Day Britmodellers, I just joined a couple of weeks ago and this is my first thread. Aviation has been a very important part of my life, and a source of motivation not for this beautiful hobby but for other daily activities as well. I love WWII warbirds, post war jets, and every flying machine out there captures my attention in a very special way. I love visiting museums as well, and soon in October I’ll be visiting the USAF National Museum in Dayton Ohio. This museum has been a dream since I was a kid, when I knew of its existence when my father bought a subscription of the National Geographic Magazine. I’ll spend 3 days visiting so I can capture as much details as I can, I expect to share this visit with you. When I was a kid I probably built a dozen of 1/72 Matchbox F4U Corsair and Zero fighters, those that came with a clear stand with a flexible joint so the kit could be displayed in different flight attitudes. I built them without putting much care into details, with too much glue, fingerprints everywhere, landing gear misaligned, missing decals, etc. I just wanted to have them built as fast as I could, maybe in an hour or so and play with them. After some nostalgic memories of the good old days, today I’ll share with you a 1/48 Tamiya bent wing F4U-1 Corsair Birdcage Item 61046. I just got the brand new 1/32nd and I expect to upload the building process soon, I can’t wait to start digging in that big box, built it and start doing what I like the most, painting, weathering and finishing. I couldn’t close my jaws for a while after opening the box. The level of detail of the aerodynamic surfaces is just amazing, and I can foresee endless possibilities when painting, weathering and finishing. Going back to the 1/48th Birdcage, source of information, is the well known series of books Aircraft of the Aces - 8 “Corsair Aces of the World War 2” by Mark Styling from Osprey Publishing. This is an excellent source of information. Although with black & white pictures, they give a very good source for painting and weathering, providing several pictures with maintenance crew working on the ship while on the flight line. The built is OOB with the exception of the Eduard photo etched interior set EU4103 and the True Details resin wheels. The subject is the F4U-1 white 20 of the 1st Lt Foy R ”Poncho” Garison VMF-213 in Guadalcanal July 1943. Referenced in page 17 of the Osprey book. He shot down 2 zeros on 30 June 1943. The book isn’t showing a picture of the port fuselage then there is no proof of those marks assigning both victories to this ship. So trusting on my best guess I’ll put those two Japanese flags underneath the windscreen. I wanted to try Xtracrilix paints for the first time. I used FS15164 intermediate blue, FS17875 White for the upper surfaces. As a personal choice, the Tamiya XF-12 JN Grey for the lower surfaces. I missed the details of the cockpit construction, next one willbe fully detailed. Hope you will enjoy it: Pre-shading: First layer FS15164 Intermediate blue. Lower surfaces masked with blue tack. Some post-shading and faded panels to provide contrastand depth. Oil wash panel lines Now some pastels for the exhaust stains, more streaking different tones and shades, with my airbrush, before glossy sealing with Pledge floor wax. Stay tunned. Cheers!

So in order to ensure that I make some progress on this build I am starting a thread, all encouragement and criticisms warmly received. The plan is based on this picture that I came across, the aim is to use the feel of the scene and not the exact event. The kit is a HobbyBoss 1/48 T34/85 with flattened turret. There is a full interior of which I will add photos later and the upper shell is held by magnets to the tub. There is a gloss coat on currently and the weathering is due to begin this weekend. The troops are the Tamiya 1/48 Russian Tank Infantry. These are fantastic models with around 10 pieces to each figure. A little filling is required on the odd joint before the painting begins. I shall update more as progress occurs and would be grateful for any thoughts or insights as I go. Thanks Pete

This is my first go at armour , done a fair bit in terms of aircraft but thought I'd give a tank a go

Hello! I am about to order some paints for my Tamiya 1/35 Stug IV. I have found a nice site i want to order paints from, and i see alot of humbrol paints. I am going to make it with the original gray paint that was used on the panzers when they were out of the factory, but i don't know what the name of the paints i need are named. Could anyone help me out with which i need? I looked at the paint pattern in the instructions, but i don't want it dark yellow. And i'm going to use a normal paintbrush. Thanks in advance - Robin

Hi fine folk of Britmodeller land, I'm gently battling toward the end of my latest build, the Tamiya 1/48th scale Spitfire. I'm calling this one a practice run for a possible 1/32nd scale version if ever one comes out. During the build I have experimented a little with some alternative techniques that one or two folk might find challenging. Nothing out of this world you understand but a few things that fly in the face of modern modelling techniques. I hope that by including them here I might give some food for thought. So, I'll begin conventionally enough with the interior. This is not totally OOTB but I deliberately chose to keep any additions or modifications to a minimum. I opted to include the pilot figure to reduce what could be seen in the cockpit tub. With "Ginger" at the controls very little sidewall detail is visible. The cockpit interior is sprayed with Citadel Miniatures colours with the details picked out using a fine brush. I sprayed a darker shade at an oblique angle from the bottom upward then a lighter shade from the top down. Finally I used the lightest shade for some moderate dry-brushing. The silver is Humbrol metalcote Aluminium with a dark wash for the recesses. As you can see, I added straps using Tamiya tape. This was continued through to the rear of the fuselage once the fuselage halves were buttoned up. In the image above one or two may have noticed my first deviation from the norm. I decided early on to fill many of the panel lines on the model. I don't want to give the wrong impression. The panel lines on this Tamiya model are beautifully restrained. However, after looking at plenty of on-line images I felt that they might look more accurate if they were even less apparent. I used the Valejo mica based tube filler which is easy to wet sand. It shrinks a little so the panel lines are still visible in the right lighting. Hopefully, under paint, they'll look ok. Finally for this initial post a quick look at the windscreen. Whilst browsing images on the net I was struck by how green the bullet proof portion of the screen looks from certain angles. This is not any kind of tint, purely the thickness of the glass. So, as an experiment, I used green ink to colour the edges of the glass just in case it added anything to the finished article. Chances are, this mod won't be visible but if that's the case then there's no harm done is there? More soon.

So here is the finished 1:25 scale model of the Centurion mk.III British main battle tank. It has been built out of the box with no extras, apart from the camouflage netting around the barrel which I made myself. The paints used were as follows: Primer was Vallejo grey polyurethane acrylic. This was also used for all of the interior surfaces. It gives a lovely smooth and resilient surface for the following paints. The main overall colour was Tamiya Dark Yellow Matt XF-60. This was mixed about 40% paint with 60% Tamiya X-20 thinner. Panel line preshading was done with Tamiya XF-1 Matt Black and overhead light simulation presahding was done with Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown. Some weathering effects and shadow areas were done with Tamiya XF-49 Khaki. The matt finish was thinned Vallejo matt varnish. Chipping was hand painted with MrMetalColor MC24 Dark Iron. Exhaust and metal tool parts were also airbrushed with this paint as were the tracks and tow cables. Weathering and rusting was done with a combination of Rust and Sand pigments. Various Tamiya weathering master sets for were used for streaking, rusting and staining effects. Lighter colours from these sets were used for edge highlighting. Once the track pieces were buffed where the wheels ran and also where the locating lugs rubbed between the wheels, the pieces received a dunking in first rust, then sand pigments, with a good brush scrubbing between the two. The exhaust parts were treated in the same way. Although this was an old kit that I picked up from ebay for £30ukp, it went together reasonably well. There were plenty of moulding lines that needed scraping off before painting and the instructions had a couple of anomalies. The old decals were very yellow, so the markings for my choice of variant were spayed using a template that I cut out with a laser cutter, from a CAD drawing that I made. I learnt a lot from trying various weathering methods on this build and thoroughly enjoyed myself. As usual, and observations or comments are welcome. Enjoy the images.

Hi guys, I'm currently working on a Tamiya model which requires MS-9 and MS-10 paints, which are fluorescent orange and yellow and cannot find them anywhere! I have seen these colours in the PS range of sprays they do, which are designed for the polycarbonate shells on their RC models. I'm wondering if they will be a suitable substitue? Thanks in advance and apologies if this is a rehash of an old thread!

After the fun of Euro Militaire the other weekend, here is a new project on workbench. It is Tamiya‘s 1/35 Renault UE tractor. The kit was released a few years ago and is an excellent little kit. I have reached this stage in just a couple of hours of relaxed modelling and there was not stress involved or problems with the instructions. I am building the box completely out the box as I want to focus on the painting and weathering. I then moved on to the tracked trailer. I am always amazed at the ease with which Tamiya kits go together. In places this trailer has just clipped together. None of the challenges you face with some other manufacturers kits. There is about 2 hours work in putting this together. There was some sanding required in order to get rid of pin marks. Better photos soon (these were taken on my phone for a quick upload to my blog). Ross