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So we are four month's into 2024 and this is my first finish of the year. This one is the Academy PBY 5 Catalina Black Cat boxing I received for Xmas, so I pick up some FCM decals for south American operators (Brazil and Argentina). Built OOB using Tamiya and Mr Colour acrylics, if anyone uses the Mr Colour day glow red and yellow just be aware that the yellow need a solid white base and the red is best applied over yellow. As usual all comments are welcome.

Hello Everyone, Here is my ready for inspection thread for my Academy models, 1:288 scale Space Shuttle Orbiter, Solid Rocket Boosters and External Fuel Tank which I have built as the Space Shuttle Enterprise. In reality, the Enteprise never actually launched into space but at one time I believed was setup in a launch stack. I picked the Enterprise out of the 5 decal schemes available because of the link to Star Trek but also the Dale Brown book Silver Tower is one of my favourite books. It features a refitted space shuttle Enterprise which NASA and the US military have been launching into space following the Challenger disaster in 1986. This build has been one of multiple firsts for me : 1st Academy model build, 1st use of MiG paint for the external fuel tank and 1st model in 1:288 scale. I'm really happy with the quality of this kit based on the low price of it (£9). Anyway here are the finished build photos. I hope you like this build as much I enjoyed building it especially as this is my 1st finished build in almost 10 years. All the best, Rick

I picked this up real cheap from my local retro computer games store as he bough it in a lot of diecast models. Fortunately this is better than their 1/48 offering which I attempted to build a few years ago. Detail is ok, the same with the fit of the parts, nothing the average modeller couldn't contend with. The one fault with the kit is the decals, mine were badly out of register so I painted on the yellow ID stripe and sourced spare IAF insignia from the decal stash. AK Interactives RC229 'Army Helo Drab' (FS34031) was used for the base colour and it looks spot on. Weathering was achieved with MiG pigments and washes along with Tamiya pastel kits. i also chose to mount some inert blue Hellfires for a little colour. Thanks for looking.

Its been a while since I last posted anything here, but have just finished Academy's lovely new-tool 1/48 A-10C Thunderbolt, and thought I'd share some photo's. Kit: Academy 1/48 A-10C Thunderbolt "75th FS Flying Tigers" - Kit no.12348 Additions: Phase Hangar Resin corrected inlet/fan, some Tamiya tape seatbelts and a JDAM pinched from a Tamiya F-14D kit Paints: Mr Hobby, Tamiya and Vallejo Decals: TwoBob's "Hoosier Hogs" sheet for main markings and kit decals (which are excellent!) Weathering: Flory Models Grime wash, Windsor and Newton oils, and Daler Rowney pastels, graphite pencil Will I build another one? Absolutely, I loved this kit, went together incredibly well and the detail is superb. Personally I think this is an absolute steal for the retail price. All comments, good and bad, more than welcome. Enjoy, Eng

Well, here's my Cunning Plan! I already gave a sneak preview in the STGB chat,: which have since then been joined by a couple of saucy Special Hobby Streaks. I plan to build four Koninklijke Luchtmacht models (yay, ambition!): - Fighter bomber F-84E (Academy) - Recce F-84G (Academy with ModelArt resin) - Strike F-84F (Special Hobby) - RF-84F (Sword) EDIT: now with added Heller 1/72nd F-84G! Game on, sirs and madams. Game on. Cheers, Andre

Evening everyone, I came home from work tonight to find that my wife has surprised me with a very small present of something that I have wanted for a while. She knew I wanted a space shuttle in launch configuration, but that I didn't have room for a much larger kit. She found an Academy kit in 1:288 scale in our local Hobbycraft shop and went to get it for me. It's a very basic kit but does have decal options for all of the space shuttle orbiters (Enterprise, Columbia, Atlantis, Challenger, Discovery and Endeavour. I always wished that after the Challenger accident, NASA had refitted the Enterprise into a spaceworthy shuttle as they did in Dale Brown's amazing novel Silver Tower (which is one of my favourite books). I am therefore considering building this one as the Enterprise, but will be doing it with an orange external fuel tank rather than the white that it specifies the tank should be painted in the instructions. I just wish it was easy to find out what shade of orange to paint it. The painting instructions from Revell's instructions call for the tank to be painted in a Wood brown colour mixed with 10% white. Here are photos of the box art and sprues. I will be making a start on this one at the weekend and will probably have it finished quite quickly as I'm off work for a week after tomorrow. Look for updates as I start the building and painting process, All the best, Rick

#8/2024 Suggesting my dad most of the time more rarely seen or exotic schemes. So here´s his latest effort. Academy Special Edition kit version, decals form the kit and Siam Scale, added Eduard seatbelts, rocket mounts and bomb racks. Painted with AK Xtreme Metal Aluminium. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235137187-siam-spit148-supermarine-spitfre-frxive-royal-thai-airforce/ In 1950, the RTAF bought 30 Spitfire XIV (F and FR) from the RAF. Only 24 were airworthy, the rest was used for spareparts. Because the overall condition of the planes wasn´t that good, the Spitfires were in Thai service only until 1955. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0023 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0024 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0025 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Gonna add a companion for the chakra roundeled Tempest. Seems there is no foto evidence, that RIAF Mk XIVs wore chakras, but it´s possible. DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr according to the info provided by a fellow Indian modeler and book author here on Britmodeller, almost all RIAF XIVs had clipped wings, so did cut away the wing tips DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Academy 2023 thread - link Waiting the new catalogue expected in February 2024. Newsletter Q1 - 2024 Source: https://academy.co.kr/article/공지사항/1/1480/ The aircraft kits: - ref. 12636 - Tupolev Tu-22M3 "Backfire-C" - (ex-Minicraft Model Kits) - ref. 12637 - Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star - USAF - (ex-Minicraft Model Kits) And the targets V.P.

Hi everyone, This is a kit I was not supposed to enter. In fact I was not even supposed to join this GB... And then I realized that it may be a very long time before I can build a good-fitting kit with panel lines already scribed. So here I am, hoping to find this kit ridiculously easy and rewarding. First, a few photos: This is the box art: And now the plastic: And last, the decal sheet: I will not be using this sheet, but a Xtradecal decal sheet. More later on that one. Have fun, all of you. JR

So I'm in another city and away from my Ventura for a bit and decided I needed a simple little project to keep me out of trouble. I reviewed my stash on scalemates.com and decided a little $5 Academy Airacobra kit I picked up at the London, ON show in October might be suitable. I did a little searching and discovered Canada had one of these planes for evaluation in 1941 and crashed it in the Gatineau Hills across from Ottawa, where I grew up. Here's the plane flying.... ... and here's the plane after the pilot failed to switch from an empty gas tank to a full one. A write off. So I could model AH621 in its glory but at least a couple other people on the planet have already done that. Someone even made and sold decals for it. So it seemed I should do the crashed version instead. I've modelled a crashed Hurricane and Ventura, so why not? I seem to pick the underdog planes and do them in a crash. Based on crash photos I marked up a diagram for cuts. Here's the kit I am working with. Turns out the previous owner had assembled the cockpit and fuselage... without paint but with a huge chunk of putty in the nose because this is a tricycle landing gear plane. Seems he also included decals for the Mongolian air force. Here you can see what was assembled... including one landing gear door closed. This triggered a deep desire to disassemble all of this. Not sure if that was the right way to go. Unlike the Ventura restoration, I didn't want to go slow and soak in IPA. Acetone had worked wonders in the late stages of Ventura disassembly so I used it here, rubbing it along seams with a q-tip. As of last night when I had started (after drinking a stout and assembling the dough for a kugelhopf sweet bread) I was doing well separating the fuselage but then caused some nasty damage where plastic ripped along the nose and tail where the bonds were stronger. So the fuselage was still fused at nose and tail where both were damaged, and the middle was nicely separated. Cue regret and annoyance until I returned to it this evening. I decided to accept the ugly butchery and focus on making cuts according to my diagram. Perhaps the cuts would help me get the putty out and separate the plane pieces. It worked. Here you can see the rudder, second cockpit door, and nose cowling cut off. You can also see the cut along the tail around the radio access panel, and the chunks of putty I was able to remove. So mood is lifting. The crash photos show the tail was bent quite sharply. In order to facilitate the bend and overlapping panels in the photo, I cut the tail on both sides around the radio access panel, and I cut around the top panel as well. However the plastic is too thick to allow for a realistic fitting of these cut pieces together into a "crunched tail". So, out comes a file and I ground away on the edges on the two pieces of fuselage to bevel them thin. Then I assembled the pieces for a dry fit mockup to approximate the crash photo. Not a bad rough start! I need - a stronger tail bend - build a forward doorframe that gets ripped away from the fuselage (in the photo the door is ripped off and on the ground like my mockup above) - remove access panel in nose - thin out and damage nose cowling pieces - open nose piece and add a mulched up reduction gear mechanism showing I'll also work on the majorly deflected elevators and the sheared wing and aileron. Looks like my relaxing little quickie is moving along 🙃

My Hurricane is entering a painting and decalling phase and I want to take my time letting each step cure because I am using Vallejo acrylics. So I'm considering my next project... inspired by @Brigbeale's restorations, and @rob Lyttle's Lockheed Ventura/Lodestar masterpieces. Gentlemen, any tips, tricks, and input most welcome. I will also be reviewing builds from @Ed Russell and some articles. Tony O'T was the king of the venturas. I now have four 1/72 minicraft Venturas that I have picked up second hand. This one is a partly-built 1/72 minicraft Ventura I got at a show for $5. The vendor tried to sell me on the fact that a "museum-quality" modeller had done most of the work for me but I told him I was going to take it apart anyway. The paint and seams look good but I want a 1942-era Ventura, freshly built, wearing TLS cammo, and turretless and gunless, snatched away from RAF delivery for the purpose of RCAF training at 34 OTU Pennfield. So this fellow needs to come apart and come clean! I want to make this one into the Ventura coded FY-F AE728 crash that my great uncle experienced while training (described elsewhere on BM). I'll remove the turret and cover the turret and astrodome holes, collapse starboard landing gear, open the escape hatch in the cockpit roof, and open the passenger door on the port side. . In the pic below some more issues... two identical pilot seats? Each with an ejector pin seat cushion? And a giant full bulkhead with a space-age circle in the middle? Nope nope nope. My Ventura needs less than half a bulkhead behind the pilot only, and only one seat. And a better seat. And seatbelts! Behind that would be the radio op position. I'll add that too. I've read crash reports and it's interesting to read the radio op witness statements. They sometimes have no clue about what's going on because they are tied up in the wireless training exercises. I'll need to do something about the nose. I need the windowed version. For some bizarre reason all four of my minicrafts are the USA version of the plane. Same with other ones I've seen in stores. All the RAF versions are being sold cheap down in America where shipping would cost me as much as all four kits together. Drives me crazy but there it is. I may try sawing off the noses and vacuforming new ones in clear. Unless there is a source of noses somewhere? Ah but shipping! I dunno. Does minicraft sell replacement noses I wonder? (for their alternative RAF / B34 Lexington versions) I sent Academy an email. We'll see what happens! Bomb bay is buttoned up. That's fine but it'll come apart anyway probably. In the background you see the tailplane pieces. I would like to cut out the rudders and elevators. I probably need to check on @rob Lyttle's work. Finally, what's this? Some creepy psychopath modeller trophy? No, it's phase 1. Soaking the pieces in water. Then I'll drain them and freeze them for a few days. If CA was used to glue them, supposedly this should help expand and break the bonds. Phase 2 will be handing the pieces over to my wife. She soaks 3d prints in IPA at work and she's due to replace the liquid soon. She'll toss the pieces into the stuff for a week maybe before sending the liquid on to be properly disposed of. I'll clean the stuff off at that point and see what's what. So why start with this one instead of the pristine ones? Something to learn on and just try everything without worrying about it. When my wife bought me the Revell Ventura last xmas (first kit in 40 years) I got so tensed up with perfectionism it really surprised me. Having extra copies helps! This one will proceed slowly as I need to see how well I can break apart and clean his thing first.

This Phantom was originally built for the US Navy as 153795 and served in Vietnam with VF-154 ‘Pukin Dogs’ on USS Constellation before later serving with the Marines. Following the UK’s decision to purchase 15 Phantoms for the RAF to fill the gap left by 23 Sqn deploying to the Falklands, the aircraft entered service with the RAF’s reformed 74 Sqn at Wattisham, Suffolk in October 1984 as ZE354. Along with its squadron mates, this Phantom was soon adorned with the unit’s famous black fin and served until mid-1991 when the Tigers took on surplus Phantom FGR2s until disbanding in 1992. This is the 1/48 Academy kit, and it was not without its issues, particularly the fit of the intake sections to the side of the fuselage. The nose section also required filler underneath, but although due to age it compares unfavourably to new-tool Airfix (understandably!), with some care it’s a reasonable build. I particularly like the breakdown of the tail section as it makes painting much simpler. WIP here: I used the Eduard cockpit detail set to enhance the instrument panels, and made my own canopy mirrors. Markings are from the Xtradecal ‘History of 74 Sqn’ set, plus a few stencils, etc from the spares box. I’m still looking for the crew names for the canopy rails. Paint is all rattle cans, with Mr Color 11 for the fuselage and outer wings, Tamiya AS-16 for the underside and TS-81 for the inner upper wing surfaces, plus Halfords satin black for the fin. All comments and discussion welcome! …

Academy is to release a 1/72nd KAI KF-21 Boramae kit - ref. 12585 Sources: https://mmzone.co.kr/mms_tool/mt_view.php?mms_db_name=mmz_info&no=378735 https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid05vADP7ySDLhkBhzp6ypqkzwhwTJmtdVAXHdGZfZvtgnH9fpDXTDZmk2vk9ay1v6zl&id=100012407280698 V.P.

Here is my third potential build for this STGB I am still trying to pull together references but it will essentially be this: Martin

Hello all 🥳 After a long absence, 2 hospitalisations and 4 stents later, I'm back on track. Today I am pleased to present to you a perhaps old acquaintance of mine in a new look. I used the time of healing to rework the M12 vignette, i.e. figures, weathering, snow effects etc. were edited or added. What started here as a GB developed into one of my longest projects. I hope you like it - comments are always welcome! MD See you!

The Hellcat seems to be my "go to" subject for when my modelling is a bit distracted. I'm deep in a BPK P-8A at the moment (fuselage complete, wings built about to be painted, engines being built), but progress is fairly slow, so I'm doing other things in the sidelines. This is the 1/72 Academy kit, using Freightdog decals for an aircraft of 808 Sqn immediately after WW2, at Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). 808 were part of the British East Indies Fleet, operating from escort carriers HMS KHEDIVE and HMS EMPEROR. The chequered cowling is a bit out of the ordinary for an RN aircraft, which adds a bit of interest for me ! FredT

Some time ago, I can't remember if it was spring of 2021 or earlier, I started a 'quick' project involving a few T-6 builds: I like this subject a lot and already have a few built to which I wanted to add more. Unfortunately, as it often happens, this transformed in a lenghty/stalled/frozen project, mainly due to building kits of three different makes which had different issues to solve. In the end I had to face this as three separate builds to make some progress and here I am hoping to complete the whole project. The first iteration is an Heller T-6 in the last 'Red Chequers' livery, it is actually complete but for some reason I stopped before applying the final satin coat. Will have to remember the (surely good) reasons for that before doing anything and finding later why it was a mistake! While waiting for my brain cells to work on that, I present the second build, which is an Academy T-6 with the earlier 'Red Chequers' livery in silver/dayglo red and fern leaf roundels, also courtesy of a Ventura decal sheet. The third one for the moment I won't tell, just say it will be based on the Hobbyboss easykit. Cheers Fabio

This is the Academy models Sherman Calliope. You can find the buildlog here: It's not my best work but i wanted to finish the model and the base so i made the best of it. Comments are always welcome. Thanks for taking the time to have a look. On to the next one!

Here is one of my latest builds from the Academy F-86F Sabre, the QF-86E drone aircraft. As one of the founding members of the IPMS Target facilities SIG, I thought I should set cracking and build some aircraft that were appropriate to this SIG. After all, we will have a table to fill at Telford going forward! Other BM members include @Martian, @corsaircorp, @Corsairfoxfouruncle and @general melchett. Others always welcome! Apart from the internet, one of the most useful reference sources for the build was the excellent book by Duncan Curtis , Naval Fighters No 58 on the QF-86E/F/H/Sabre. These aircraft were full scale aerial targets converted from numerous different marks and origins of Sabre. Thanks to @Sabrejet for an excellent reference publication. The Academy kit is an F with the later ‘6-3’ root chord extension wing which was also fitted to the RCAF Canadair Sabre 5, from which this conversion originally came, becoming the QF-86E. So this was a reasonable choice for this model. All QF-86E drones seem to have been acquired for US Army use, and the serial I chose 23215 was eventually to meet a gruesome end from a US Army Patriot missile, during 1979! The main driver for choosing this aircraft was that amongst my stash of Microscale decals, I had sheet 72-288 with markings for two F-86’s and a QF-86 23215. The Academy kit went together well and seems to be reasonably good on surface detail. I usually use Alclad for NMF finishes like this but I tried out the AK Extreme metallics for the first time, and they seem to be very good. After airbrushing their gloss black primer, a combination of various colour metallic shades were airbrushed onto various different panels to try and achieve a realistic pure metallic look. The orange tail and wing marking were applied using MRP’s excellent International Orange Lacquer, over a white undercoat. MRP’s gloss varnish was applied prior to decals, and after decals, followed by some very light oil washes. A final coat of MRP’s semi-gloss varnish sealed everything in. These MRP varnishes have become one of my favourite solutions for finishing coats. Some initial pictures during construction And onto the completed model I daresay there will be future builds of a US Naval QF-86F and a USAF QF-86H. Comments/questions welcome Thanks for looking. T

Thanks Stephen ! 👍 Rumour: there's a new tooling 1/48th Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II in the pipe line. Candidates: Wolfpack Design (too big kit for such a small producer IMO), Academy (dubious as not mentionned in the catalogue 2021, but in 2022 as the rumour source is M. Gustav Jung from Wolfpack Design who has close ties with Academy), Great Wall Hobby (is supposed working on a new tool 1/48th F-14 family, but considering the numerous new tool kits from the Tomcat... So why not a A-10), AFV-Club (after the 1/48th U-2...), Meng (after the 1/48th F/A-18E...), Kinetic (a surprise kit like the 1/48th (T)F-104, Wolfpack Design - so M. Jung - being the Kinetic distributor in Korea). All bets are off. Source: Reid Air Publications Facebook page. If you go to the link about the new A-10C decal sheet, there's a comment from Gustav Jung (aka Mr. Wolfpack Design - link) about a new tool 1/48th Thunderbolt II kit - see herebelow. https://www.facebook.com/177633712268219/posts/4024256017605950/ V.P.

I've done a 1:48 Stuka a while a go but I wanted to do one in my preferred scale which is 1:72. And I specifically wanted to do the 'cannon bird' with the big underwing mounted cannons. So let's get a kit (Academy in this case) and build it - and we're done. Easy, right? Simple 1:72 kit with couple of sprues. How hard can it be? Maybe get a mask set, that will make things even easier. So we get few extras to correct or spruce things up. Okay it might complicate things a bit... ...oh right so we start to hack'n'slash the fuselage in pieces and carve out the existing cockpit details and install a new one - which I guarantee will not fit - and build up new cannons from a random pile of super thin resin bits and throw in some metal barrels just in case. I'm not sure yet but this might be the hard part of the build. 😬 Oh and the best part, deadline is 24th of February, hoping to attend a modelling show with this build. Oh and I still have to get some decals, Wish me luck!

Hobby 2000 from Poland is to rebox the 1/48th Academy P-38 Lightning kit. - ref. 48027 - Lockheed P-38J Lightning - ETO 1944 Sources: https://www.mn-modelar.com/148-p-38j-lightning-eto-1944-129012 https://hobby2000.pl/index.php?id_product=98322&rewrite=p98322-hobby-2000-48027-p-38j-lightning-eto-1944&controller=product&id_lang=1 - ref. 48028 - Lockheed P-38L Lightning - 80th Fighter Squadron Sources: https://www.mn-modelar.com/148-p-38l-lightning-80th-fighter-squadron-129013 https://hobby2000.pl/index.php?id_product=98323&rewrite=p98323-hobby-2000-48028-p-38l-lightning-80th-fighter-squadron&controller=product&id_lang=1 V.P.

Good day, Here is my sixth submission for the year. This is the new(er) tooled Academy F-14B Tomcat. The highlights are as follows…………… 1. Colors / paints used : A. Engine - Tamiya Gun Metal X-10, Tamiya Metallic Gray XF-56, Polly Scale Burnt Aluminum dry brush highlights B. Airframe - Upper surface aft of cockpit : Mission Models Medium Gray (MMP-072) FS35237, Nose and undersides : Model Master Dark Ghost Gray FS36320, Wing Gloves : Model Master Euro 1 Gray C. Misc : Tamiya Flat Black XF-1, Gunze Flat White, Gunze Flat Yellow, Model Master Light Ghost Gray FS36375, Tamiya Khaki Drab XF-51, AK Buff #AK11031, Tamiya Titanium Silver X-32, Gunze Silver, Tamiya Filed Gray XF-65, Tamiya Clear Red & Blue, Tamiya Dark Iron XF-84, Gunze Burnt Iron D. Washes : Mig Stone Gray ( main panel lines on entire airframe ), Tamiya Brown, Tamiya Black, Vallejo Light Rust, Vallejo Light Gray 2. Kit decals 3. GBU-16`s from Hasegawa Weapons set #VI, AIM-7 & 9 from kit 4. Photo etched seat belts 5. Aluminum metal rod added for support of canopy 6. Master metal pitot and AOA tubes 7. Chalk pastels : black, mid gray, and light gray The fit between parts, details, and options are excellent. The included decals are very good. I often use aftermarket ejection seats but these included with the kit are superb. While there are a multitude of parts, I highly recommend this excellent kit. I enjoyed working on it very much and I`m certain you will too. Thank you in advance, Mike

After finishing the Vigilante and Tempest I've pulled out a kit I've wanted to build for a while, the Academy B17F. Now I know its not the most up to date or detailed kit of the B17 available which is ideal for the subject aircraft which is a formation ship from the 379th Bombardment Grp during 1942, also the wife found it in a charity shop with 2 other Airfix kits loose in the box. Turrets and all guns where removed and the crew was dropped to pilot/copilot, Flt Engr, Navigator, Rad Op and 1 observer. I not sure if any other equipment was removed such as the bomb aimer, oxygen bottles etc but I know that on the B24 formation ships they removed almost everything they could. Some sprue and decals shots. Academy's old style instruction sheet. HAD decals The Academy kits interior is billy basic but it won't be seen anyway so I've made a start on the front end.