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Alright, my first time building a jet in like forever! Or at least, not one that was not sci fi...🤔 Anyway, this is a build for a coworker's uncle, due for Christmas. I was looking for the Revell F-model super bug, but those were either prohibitively expensive or not available. Another option was the Hasegawa kit, but that lacks cockpit detail, made up for with decals, and very short intake trunking. The Academy kit falls between the two in my estimation, and from the pics I've seen turns into a very fine looking model of the subject. Here are some obligatory box art and pics. The box art is really attractive! Sprue shots, I like the wings and body already being together. One less long join to worry about. As for external detail, I'm no expert, but this looks mice and refined. I'm going to have to light on the paint! It should look good with a light wash too. Here's the cockpit with its nice detailing. There are some decals for it, but mostly it'll be up to some careful painting to pick things out. Here's one of the seats. I have some PE coming for it, including belts to dress it up some. Don't know how well they can be seen. but there is some nice rivet detail along the rim of the canopy. It does have a seam down the middle to be sanded away, but that shouldn't take too long. I'm going to keep it wrapped until it's needed, at which point it will be secured in the down and locked position. Bottoms of the wings here and the elevators. The elevators will need a little work, seeing as they are intended to sit neutral, and I'm going to want to droop them at the back. Then we have the belly and the gear bays. The bays themselves look nice. They could use a little more wire and piping detail, but otherwise nice. Except for the mounting holes for the gear doors. Those are ugly. I'll see what I can do about them. Then we come to the multi-colored parts. There are two sets of fins, a pair in gray for a common squadron mount and ones in black for the more colorful of the livery. I'll be using the black, more because the detail is a little sharper on them than on the gray ones. Also the intake trunking and gear and main gear bays. Next is the ordnance, which could be better. If I was building for myself I'd probably source from another kit, especially with those blocky pegs. I may cut those off and fill the mounting holes and just pin the lot. Last up are the decals. Not the stickers. Won't be using no stinking stickers! As to the much preferred decals, they look nice! I can't wait to get those on! Well, that's all the parts. Depending on how this one goes, I may buy another one for myself... All that's left is to start, and despite where the instructions say to, I'm beginning with the flaps! Those and the slats are going to be cut away and dropped, and I figure it is easier to get the major surgery out of the way first before tossing it all back together again. And that's it for now. I'll continue cutting away the plastic tomorrow and probably in the evening, and hopefully get those separated in short order. Until then, model on! Thom https://imgur.com/a/yxeDAfC

I saw Lichtenstenstien's Whaam! (note the double a) on a school trip to the Tate and was completely taken by it, even standing on the infamous stacked bricks to get a better view until an attendant politely pointed out my mistake (it was a long time ago). It's now moved into the Tate Modern https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-whaam-t00897 For the Thunderbolt GB, I'm doing the left hand panel. Casting around for scary things for this GB I realised that I will need both panels interpreted and don't have the slightest idea how to go about it. Generally us modellers make a 3D representation of a 3D item, painters make 2D representations of 3D items but who in their right mind makes a 3D interpretation of a 2D item? fortunately I'm rarely in my right mind so I have an advantage for this build. The original art work was a painting inspired by a comic book printing, which I now what to reinterpret in injection plastic. To take care of the panels, I'm planning on using box frames, but I don't even know if they're available in the right size (and no I don't know what the right size is), It'll get even further beyond the limit of comfort zone if I end up making my own box frames, Normally I try to make realistic models, wheres the point here is that the planes involved are very stylised (a word I can't even spell). The planes involved are not real planes so it's a case of trying to find something to start from And that's where it get's easier (honest), the left hand panel is 'very' Thunderbolt, the right hand panel could be anything, it would seem to make sense for it to be a MIG15 or 17, for a Korean inspiration (Lichtenstein had been a draftsman and artist for USAAF in WW2), but it sees more of a Sabre origin to me. Fortunately, Academy do a double boxing of Thunderbolt and Sabre https://www.scalemates.com/kits/academy-12530-p-47d-and-f-86e-gabreski--977296 It's like they knew that someone would kick right out of the comfort zone and embark on a journey into pop art. Wish me luck! In fact, good luck fellow desperados

With the Jagdtiger finished i wanted to build something small. I found this Jagdpanzer 38T in the stash. I picked it up last year in a sale. It's nothing fancy buildwise so i want to go all out with the paint. Haven't decided on a scheme yet. There aren't many sprues and the first impression is that the parts are quite clean, little flash here and there but the overall look seems ok. The plastic is a bit soft so i have to be carefull when i'm cleaning parts. The kit comes with link'n length tracks. And the assembly went without any major problems. I made the entire running gear as a subassembly. 1 down, 1 to go.

Here she is, the little Jagdpanzer from academy models. It was a sort of a quick build. Fun to do. The buildlog is here: And here are the photo's. Comments are welcome as always. Tnx for looking 👍👍👍

Afternoon everyone. I’m not one for posting WIP’s or RFI’s on here as I don’t build very often (In fact it’s mainly July and August when I get time) with other things taking up any free time and there’s never a guarantee I’ll finish something or it be good enough to share. However my confidence got a slight boost when Airfix put my K2Y up on their social media pages so I figured what the hell. Let’s get one done on here for a change. I’ve had a little Academy A6M5c Zero in the cupboard for a few years and having just built the first of the Eduard “Tora Tora Tora” set, and having a bit of a Pacific War thing going on this summer, now is as good a time as any to do this. As you can see there’s not massive amount to do and as this will be strictly OOB It’s easily doable within the timeframe. The plan is to start one morning and just work through. I brush paint everything (The big scale stuff is F.U.N) so the plan is to use AK’s 3rd Generation IJN Paint set. I’m slowly swapping out all my old Tamiya acrylics with AK’s as they’re just beautiful to paint with

My entry will be one of the highest winged, and one of the shortest STOL, aircraft of the 1930's/1940's - the Fieseler Storch. I plan on doing this one in Spanish Civil War colours, as everyone else on the web seems to like to do it in the camo and markings of Rommel's plane in the Western Desert. 😀 I will be starting in a week or so, once I finish my entries in two other Group Builds on this forum. I have both the Academy and the Heller (also reboxed by Smer) examples in 1/72 in my stash. Anyone know which of these is the best kit to use? Thanks, Philip

Today I was delving into the stash to look for something and I came across a couple of Academy 1/72nd Texans. Upon opening the box I found the kit was reasonably advanced, I decided to take pity on it and rescue it from the stash. You can see, I'd got the big bits buttoned up, this definitely exceeds the 25% that would exclude it from being a GB entrant! It's a bit very hard to see, but I'd put some circular grips on the top of the control column, that and the extended exhaust tells me I was originally making this as a Harvard IIb but as I haven't made the fuselage alterations to the rear of the canopy my options are still open. I'd previously added some seatbelts, can't tell whether I scratched them or whether they're aftermarket, thinking about it they look too neat so they're probably aftermarket. Finally, I'd done some work on the propeller, the kit is based upon a T-6G so comes with a propeller boss typical of that version, the propeller beneath that is very plain, lacking any detail such as the pitch change counterbalance weights so hopefully, you can see I've added some detail. Again, this points to my original intention to make a Harvard but as I have spares my options are still open on that front, I could keep it and use it for a Harvard later if I decide to go down the route of a spinner equipped aircraft. Martin @RidgeRunner, the prop was altered in the method I'd described to you when you were asking about AT-6D, I'm actually quite pleased with this result. This will be a sloooow build, I've still got my studies to complete and that's after I've rebuilt my modelling desk which I had to clear the way for some electrical work to be done in the basement where the modelling lair is. I haven't decided whether I'm going down the Harvard IIb route (I have the CMR conversion), or whether to make a Texan, I've got plenty of options, the DC Caspar set for the Soccer War, a Blue Rider set for a Nicaraguan machine (thanks Martin), some other Latin American options on an Aztec sheet, the ArmyCast sheet for worldwide Texan/Harvard, Modeldecal and S&M decals for RAF options and finally, which probably come as no surprise to some, the Model Art and Berna decal options for French Texan's in North Africa... ...choices, choices, choices...

Hello, This my recent project, OOB. A really easy kit, nice fitting and engineering. The only, and big, complain are the decals. They’re virtually useless, way too thick. So, I put it on hold and waited for a new set from ebay. Hope you enjoy! Cheers!

Hello, Just finished this one here. It’s the old Accurate Miniatures reboxed by Academy. I’ve been reading a lot of praising for this kit, the best Dauntless in this scale, a classic etc etc. Well, I have to say, not a bad kit, in general, but I’m not that enthusiastic about it. But, being fair, just could not be that good, given its age. The clear parts are terrible. When not cracked, with me 3 out of 5 were, they don’t fit well, either if you choose closed or open, stacked, canopy. For the rest, except for the flashing in almost all parts, it was ok. Oh yes, the manual too, not good. I was told to search on line for the original Accurate manual, which I did, and it turned out way better than the Academy one, even having some parts that don’t match the model. Hope you’ll enjoy. Cheers!

Hi All, Here is my recently finished Stratocruiser kit by Academy decals from Flying Colours (Hannants still have stock) a project I have wanted to do for a long time now done! Kit went together very well indeed with only tiny amounts of filler here and there. When I worked out how much noseweight would be required for it to sit on its wheels I attached a small metal rod underneath instead. Paints are Revell Aqua gloss white and Alclad Chrome which has been toned down with varnish which will also protect. Decals were very keen to crack up under movement so much care needed, if I did this one again I would mask and spray the tail at least. Anyway she is done and I for one am happy how she turned out, what do you think? MODeller

Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II 421st Fighter Squadron ‘Black Widows’, 388th Fighter Wing Hill AFB, Utah, present day ORIGINALLY POSTED THIS SOME MONTHS AGO BUT JUST MADE USE OF THE SPRING SUNSHINE AND GOT SOME BETTER PHOTOS (Doesn't make it a better looking aircraft though, and you still can't see the Have Glass glitter, but it's there - honest) Brown tone = new photo. Blue tone = old photo. Don't ask me why! Like many other people, I regarded the F-35 as being too ugly to model. But things change! I was tempted to buy a 1/72 Academy kit at a reasonable price (£20 I think it was) at Yeovilton Air Day this year, and it just went in the stash. Meanwhile out of interest I did a bit of research on what shade of grey to use, etc, and at the same time a friend of mine sent some photos of a 421st FS aircraft at an airshow in Greece. One of the major things that removed my barrier to building one of these was the fact that production aircraft no longer have those RAM panels painted in a lighter grey, so none of that awkward masking, though there are still some subtle shades of grey on various panels. I also then discovered Mr Paints acrylic lacquer airbrush paints, and found that they do FS 36170 ‘Camouflage Grey’ and ‘Have Glass’ special matt varnish to give that metallic sparkle, so the fire was lit and off I went to build one of these: A pleasurable wander through Wolfpack Decals resulted in me buying sheet 72-125 which includes a 421st F-35A (it also includes a VFA-147 F-35C which got me looking forward to a 1/72 F-35C kit which surely can’t be too far away). Building this model made me realise how different the F-35 is from any other modern jet (except perhaps the F-22) with those weapon bays, facetted construction, sensors everywhere, lack of HUD, strange paint, etc and it was a great pleasure in the end to build it.

Hello everyone... straight from the D-Day group build i present this. It is a Hawker Mk.V series I Tempest of 3 Squadron June 8th 1944. I modified by adding the extensions to the barrel's as the kit represents a Mk.V Series II Tempest. There is some debate about the 3 Squadron crest on the vertical tail. I know its supposed to be a post war only thing. I have a photo from my research that appears to have the crest painted out. However i believe some aircraft had them. They were either painted over at the time or airbrushed out by censors during the war. I've had a couple of discussions about it and I'm going to leave the crest on as i believe they were there. Please feel free to Question, comment, tell some good stories, or pass on your thoughts. Dennis

Hiya Folks, Another one off the production line, this is my first (but not last) Academy 1/72nd Tempest Mk.V wearing the immediate Post War markings of 56 Sqn which reapplied its famous Phoenix and red and white chequerboard markings to the fin; I hope that you like it, All the best Tony O ps- This model has an incorrect propeller and spinner, which seems to have been included in the second hand kit from a Hobbyboss Typhoon kit, hence the large cut outs in the spinner. Here s an updated photo using a better prop and spinner taken from a Bren Gun Typhoon kit;

I've heard a rumour (not the Fleetwood Mac one) that the u/c is incorrect. Anyone got any thoughts and or suggestions about this? W