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I built this British Airways Concorde in the elegant "Union Jack / Chatham dockyard" scheme some time ago. For me as an enthusiast of vintage airliners having a model of the Concorde on my shelf was a must. The last flight of the Concorde took place in October 2003, so almost 20 years ago. So, IMHO we can call her a vintage airliner. The terrible crash after the take-off at Paris CDG airport was, of course, one of the reasons for the termination of Concorde's era but the consumption of fuel according to present standards was also astronomical, about 10 times the amount per passenger than in today's airliners. This is a Revell 1/144 scale kit with aftermarket parts from Draw decals and Metal detail's photoetches. The kit was quite ok, the only problem being the cockpit windows. As usual in Revell's airliner kits the cockpit and cabin windows are clear parts. Since the cockpit window frames of the Concorde are very thin I simply wasn't able to paint them accurately enough to the somewhat thick clear plastic part of the kit. Thus, I decided instead to order a Concorde details decal set with cockpit windows from Draw Decals. It really beats me that the excellent decal sheet of the kit doesn't include a decal for the cockpit windows.

In December of 1985, the U.S. Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, leased two F-27-400M Friendship aircraft from the Dutch aeronautical firm, Fokker. The two planes were to replace the team’s aging fleet of YC-7A Caribou, which had served the Knights’ airlift needs for more than 10 years. A short time later the Army purchased the two aircraft from Fokker and redesignated them as the C-31A “Troopship.” The two planes are primarily used to provide the Golden Knights with safe and economical travel to more than 300 different demonstration sites annually. While at these sites, the C-31A serves as the team’s jump platform, carrying the men and women of the Golden Knights to altitudes as high as 2 1/2 miles above the show site where they begin performing the precision freefall maneuvers and formations that have become trademarks of the team. During many of the Golden Knight’s shows, once the jumpers have exited the C-31A, it will descend and perform a low altitude, high speed fly-by demonstrating the maneuverability and versatility of the aircraft. The model is from Esci scale 1/72. The paint used is from Xtra Color. The decals are from Draw Decals. Regards, Orion / The Netherlands. In Preparation: F27 Fuerza Aerea Argentina T-41

So while I was away on a little break I managed to start another build for the GB Using the Revell kit and Draw decals for the C-40 I made some progress this morning on it, lots a great step by step photos taken of the build so far. And then my photo editing software decided to delete 9 of the 10 images I had when I was renaming them So I am left with these... and More progress later, if the images aren't deleted again!

Boeing 777, Draw decals 'Etihad' livery. Zvezda 1:144 This was an eagerly awaited kit of the Boeing 777-300ER, which made it to the shops just at the end of last year. I bought one immediately, and set to work on building it straight away. I already had Draw Decals 'Etihad' decals in stock, ready for the moment the kit was released. It is well up to the standard of previous Zvezda airliners, that is to say it is a real beauty, with excellent fit and surface detail. I did have trouble fitting the 2 small heat exchanger units in the underbelly, but aside from that it went together faultlessly. The jet engine fans are real works of art, and actually rotate in the nacelles if you blow on them! The Draw Decal sheet is the new 'Digital Silk' type on continuous carrier film, once you cut each item from the sheet they go on beautifully, and match the quality of the kit itself. Be sure to read the instructions, and press them down with a hot cloth after application, and the carrier film will all but disappear. Unusually this model was painted with ladies nail varnish! As suggested in Draw decals instructions, I used 2 bottles of NYC 'Mulberry street' thinned with laquer (obtained on ebay in the uk), and airbrushed on for the main colour.It gives just the right pearlescent finish needed. A tip is to spray an undercoat of a very pale sand first, (I mixed a shade from Tamiya Acrylics), as when I did it over white, it needed a lot of spraying. On with the photos. It is big and difficult to photograph! And 'With something else'. A smaller brother, the Boeing 737-300 with Draw Decals 'Jet 2' livery. ~(It shows what a monster size the 777 model is!) Both these aircraft are frequently seen at Manchester Airport; And a final 'something else'. I spent 2 weeks out of every 6 in Thailand with my day job in 2015, necessitating a lot of flying to and fro from Manchester via Abu Dhabi on Etihad, hence the inspiration for this build. Mostly it was on 777's (and more often than not A6-ETC seemed to be doing the Manchester-Abu Dhabi sector), but sometimes A300-200's were used. I snapped a few shots on my phone over the course of the year, a few of which follow; Taxying in at Manchester; It's one of those! 6 AM disembarking at Abu Dhabi. No terminal gate, so out by bus to the transfer lounge to wait for the next flight. Shame about the bus window reflection. It was TC again. Taking off from Abu Dhabi headed for Bangkok Ahh, Thailand! And who could forget the restaurant opening on the the beach, with the warm breeze and setting sun. Maybe I will do an A330 next. Cheers John

Airbus A319 - Frontier 'Mickey The Moose' Revell 1:144 with Draw Decals Another Revell A319 finished in the attractive Frontier scheme. Each of their fleet features a different animal on the tail fin and is named after it. These are another set of the superd Draw Decals and my fourth in Frontier. This one is slightly different as it features the modified 'Fly Frontier.com' billboard. And with something else, else, and else! A319's 'Perry the Puffin' and 'Chloe the Fawn' and converted A318 'Stu the Rabbit' Thanks for looking, John

TWA Delivery Colors DC-9-15 1:144 Fly Models with Draw Decals First build of 2015, but really it was mostly done in 2014 and just finished today. This is the Fly Models kit of the series 10, in the Itavia boxing. It comes with 2 complete fuselages for a series 10 and a series 30 DC-9, and a litlle resin set of smaller wingtips to shorten the 10's wing, and the little fences that the 10 also had. It was a straightforward build, the only slight thing I disliked was the solid cockpit windows, prefering to have them clear if possible. I wasn't that taken with the Itavia livery, but fortunately Draw Decals produce a lovely set for TWA's delivery scheme from the 1960's reviewed here.I can't resist a classic 60's scheme with a cheatline, especially on the DC-9, so these 2 made the perfect match. Here she is looking very much the elegant lady that she was back in the day; And for the traditional 'With something else, how about a Pan Am 727-100 Airfix with TwoSix decals) I couldn't resist a second 'with something else', this livery is so evocative of the original Airfix 1960's boxing of the 727 in the TWA scheme. I still have one in my stash, but the decals have yellowed. I'll build it one day if Greg at Draw Decals ever produces it! Thanks for looking, John

1:144 Revel Airbus A319. Frontier Airlines 'Perry' Puffin by Draw Decals Another addition to my Frontier fleet! This is 'Perry' the Puffin recently released by Draw Decals, and reviewed Here As soon as i saw it I knew I had to have this sheet. The A319 kit is the Revell 'British Airways' edition, and makes up fairly easily into a nice littte model. The only changes I made were to cut out from plasticard a pair of slightly larger winglets, as those in the kit are slightly undersized. I also made a 'DirecTV' receiver from plasticard. It's that lump on top of the fuselage above the 'T'. You could still make an accurate model without it, as Perry was delivered without it fitted. The decals are 'Digital Silk' printed on continuous film, so you need to cut out each design and apply it. I cut the big 'FRONTIER' billboards into two, so I had 'FRONT' and 'IER' and applied them seperately, but at the same time just to ease handling a big decal. Not strictly necessary, but it gave me a little less to concentrate on as they were applied in turn. It is good advice to read Draw's application instructions, and use hot water and a cloth to press the decals down, as the heat helps soften the inks. Perry himself is beautifully printed, very colourful and looks like a photo on the tail. I have a liking for Frontiers livery, and can't stop building them! Each aircraft features a different wildlife subject and has a unique name. So far I have (left to right) A318 'Stu' the rabbit, A319 'Perry' the puffin, and A319 'Chloe' the fawn. Frontier also operate Airbus A320's, but I haven't got one of those............so as soon as Draw Decals release one..... .....I can see it being added to the line up! Thanks for looking John

Frontier 'Perry' Puffin 1:144 Draw Decal Frontier Airlines operate a large fleet of 35 Airbus A319's and 19 A320's on routes around the USA, Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Each aircraft has a name and features a large photographic image of an animal on its tail, a whole range being used As noted on the instructions, 'Perry the Puffin' had a fairly short tour at Frontier, arriving in May 2006 and departing in March 2009. Among the latest releases from Draw Decals is this very attractive scheme for one of Frontiers 'Logojets', featuring Perry the Puffin. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to build it. Puffins are comical looking birds, stocky with short stubby wings and brightly coloured feet and beaks. They are great divers and can 'fly' underwater down to about 200 ft to catch fish and sand eels. Tough and hardy little birds, I like their 'attitude' and have tried several times to spot them along various parts of the coast of the UK, but so far been unlucky. Printed by Draw's 'Digital Silk' process, the decals are neatly presented on a sheet of continuous film. The first thing that you notice is the beautifully printed Puffin. It is like a perfect photograph, with pin sharp focus and registration and the colours are spot on. The large Frontier logos are printed with the door outlines already on them, which is a great aid to getting them lined up correctly on the model. Cabin windows are supplied in strips so you have the choice to fill the kit windows and use them, or leave the kit windows open and fill them with kristal kleer or similar. Similarly the cockpit glazing is supplied if you prefer this method. Various smaller details for static ports, overwing emergency exits, and engine cowlings complete the set. I have used Draw Decals on several of my projects, and advise that you read and follow their application instructions for a first class result. This means cutting closely around each decal, and soaking it in very hot water. Once applied to the model the really key thing is to apply heat to it with a cloth dipped in hot water. I use a folded wad of kitchen paper and dip it in very hot water, and then press down on the decal sitting on the model. Do it in such a way that any hot water that squeezes out of the paper runs down and away from your fingers. This way the decals will conform to any curvature and 'weld' themselves onto the underlying paint work. Most impressive of all is the way that the carrier film just vanishes. Such was my enthusiasm for these decals that I started preparing a Revell A319 whilst awaiting their arrival. It is a very simple scheme of a white fuselage, 2 tone grey wings, and green engine cowlings, so makes a good choice for a beginner or intermediate modeller. This should be appearing in the 'Ready for Inspection' section fairly soon. [EDIT] Now in Ready For Inspection [/EDIT] Draw Decals do several other Frontier animals, as well as a large range of other airlines and aircraft types. Their website is well worth taking a look at. Finally I would say that Draw Decals are one of the 'Gold standard' decal suppliers. We sometimes hear horror stories concerning overseas decal companies. Have no fear, Draw's service is top quality, so you can order with confidence. And they even come over to visit us every year at Telford! Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Having a slight theme going on of aircraft seen at Manchester, my local airport, I bought this decal sheet from Draw Decals a couple of Telfords ago. Then Daco/Skyline 737's suddenly disappeared from model shops, and I became hesitant about using up my last 737-300 kit. Happily Danny Coremans anounced late last year that all three of his 737 kits (300, 400, & 500) were being re-issued, so out of the stash came my last 300 to give the result seen here. I sawed off the solid cockpit area and replaced it with the clear moulded part. Silver is Citadel 'Mithril silver' thinned with warm water and airbrushed on in light coats. Red is Tamiya acrylic, also airbrushed. The deacl sheet is printed by Draws 'Digital Silk' process and covers many of the individual aircraft in Jet2's fleet, with multiple registrations and names offered. I figured that G-CELY 'Manchester' was a good choice! Using Draws recommended method of a hot towel to press down the decals works very well, and the carrier film seems to disappear. Regularly seeing Jet2's aircraft at MAN, they always seem to be clean and tidy and very well kept so weathering is fairly light on the model. Thanks for looking, John

The A318 is the smallest of the Airbus family of airliners, although it has not sold as well as its bigger brothers and several have had comparitively short service lives. I guess that the operating costs are very similar to the A319 and A320, and yet the passenger carrying capacity is somewhat reduced, making it less profitable to run on a variety of routes. It is an attractive little aeroplane, and I wanted one in my collection to go with the A319's, A320's, and A321's that I already have. The options are to use an injection moulded kit from Eastern Express which has had unflattering reviews, or a Welsh Models mixed media kit, or a fuselage from Contrails to use with the Revell kit. A fourth option, and the one I chose, is to take a Revell A319 kit and a razor saw to do your own conversion, the main points of which are to shorten the fuselage fore and aft of the wing, and raise the height of the tail fin.Details here Draw Decals do a number of interesting options for Frontier airlines, who feature various examples of American wildlife on their tailfins, a set of which was obtained from Greg at Draw during last years Telford show. The decals go on very well, and reproduce this scheme to perfection. If you dont fancy chopping up a kit, Draw also do other Frontier schemes for the A319 'straight from the box'. It's quite good fun to do your own conversion and make something a little more unusual, I certainly had fun doing this and special thanks are due to Jonathan (member XV571) for helping out with information that I would otherwise have missed! Time for the photos; With an A319, also using Draw Decals 'Chloe' the fawn; The A318/9/20/21 family, all basically the same aircraft with longer and longer fuselages. All from Revell kits; A318 (Draw Decals) A319 (Draw Decals) A320 (Bangkok Air, Boa Decals) A321 (First Choice, Twosix Decals) Thanks for looking, John

Cayman Airways Cargo DC-6 1:144 Draw Decal Some of my favourite airliners are the piston engined propliners of the 1950's that really began to open up air travel. The 'big Dougs' and the supreme Lockheed Constellation were the ultimate developments of what could be done with reciprocating engines before the first generation of jets started started to enter service right at the end of the 50's and 1960's. As the jets took over a lot of perfectly serviceable and fairly new propliners were relegated to lesser roles as the travelling public all wanted to travel on jets. Many of them ended up as cargo haulers, and even today some are still in service. The 1970's and 80's were the heyday for these machines performing this sort of service, often in what were developing countries. Worked hard they performed valuable service and a couple of great pictorial books were produced by the late Stephen Piercy under the title of 'Skytruck'. Among my favourites in these books is the Cayman Airways Cargo DC-6, with its smart scheme featuring a cartoon character turtle, so when I found it on Draw Decals website I knew that I had to get one. At this years Telford show I first managed to track down a Minicraft DC-6 from a second hand kit dealer and then headed straight for Draw decals stand. One of the pleasures of Telford is getting to meet the folks behind some of the specialist companies who produce all the stuff we like so much. I met Greg Drawbaugh himself, who had made the journey all the way from Minnesota in the US with a good stock of his range of decals, and had an enjoyable chat. Their range is quite extensive and covers a great many subjects not available from anyone else, including not just airliners but some military subjects as well. The Reno racer P-51 Mustangs and Sea Furies are particularly appealing. Draw Decals are produced by their own process of 'Digital Silk' printing on a continuous carrier film. This means that you need to cut around each decal to remove it from the sheet. Application is as simple as any other type of decal, but setting solutions will only affect the carrier film and not the artwork of the decal itself. This is no problem but a useful tip explained on the instructions is to use a piece of towel or kitchen paper dipped in hot water and pressed onto the decal, useful if the decal has to go on to a compound curve. The Decals themselves are beautifully printed, being very sharp and clearly defined and the colours match perfectly with various photos on the net. Separate cockpit windows are provided, as are door outlines for the underfloor hold, and the little anti dazzle panel in front of the cockpit. The badges for the tail are lovely little works of art, and all parts should fit easily on to the model as there are no awkward curves to deal with. Having used Draw Decals before, I know that are durable when applying them, and that they will settle down easily, and when dry will stick like limpets to finished model. A coat of Future/kleer will seal them in and protect them to give a stunning little model. This sheet is also available in 1/72 for anyone with Hellers kit, in fact most of Draw decals range are available in 1:200, 1;144, 1;72, and some even in 1:48 and 1:32. Having ordered from the UK via Draws website several times myself, I have always found their service to be excellent. Dispatch is quick and you even get a tracking number and emails from them to let you know. Conclusion. Another lovely set from Draw, so much so that when I returned from Telford the DC-6 by-passed the stash and went straight onto the workbench pushing the ongoing projects out of the way. Work in Progress thread Here Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of Draw Decal