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Modern Oil Drums 200L (49009) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd We’ve been addicted to fossil fuels since coal was first burned, sparking (Sorry for the pun) the industrial revolution, and now oil and fuel in the 20th and 21st centuries. Drums are an easy way to store and transport relatively small quantities without spilling them, and they certainly beat a wicker basket or colander any day of the week! Arriving in a figure-sized box, the set includes five sprues in grey styrene, plus a small decal sheet, and instructions with colour painting guide on the back of the box. This allows you to build up 20 barrels of two styles and 5 manual hand-pumps if you feel the urge to use them. There are two types of barrels with different style of ribbing, all having two ribs either side of the centre, while one type has numerous smaller ribs in the top and bottom portions. The ends of the barrels are mostly flat with filler cap and vent, while a few have a ring near the centre. The hand pumps have a long dipping stick, a handle to crank, and an applicator that will need you to supply some hose or wire to complete. If you plan on inserting one into a barrel, you will need to drill out the cap in order to get it in there. Markings The back of the box gives you brief instructions for construction, suggested paint schemes and decal locations for your guidance. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin satin carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A whole barrel of fun for your vehicle or diorama base! I’m sorry to reuse that yet again. They’re detailed, with decals to pretty them up, and a decent quantity that could last you a few models. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of

Here's the thing. There's a new programme on Yesterday channel, called Planes built by Britain that won the war. The first one was about the Sopwith Camel. During the programme the commentator said that the engine itself rotated with the propellor, and indeed, they showed a clip from the period of a Sopwith Camel with the engine rotating with the propellor. I immediately thought - if the negine is rotating, how does fuel get into the cylinders? Can anyone explain how?

French Petrol Station 1930-40 (35616) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd With the proliferation of the internal combustion engine in the early 20th century, petroleum/petrol or gasoline/gas stations began popping up over most of the developed world to meet the demand of the newly mobile populous. France was one such nation, and the now familiar sight of a building with branded petrol pumps and equipment on the forecourt have become the standard indicator of a gas station. The Kit This set contains the likely accessories and equipment found on the forecourt of many European gas station in the 30-40s, and leaves you to source or create the buildings yourself. It is a reboxing of their recent German Gas Station kit, just adding different barrels and a new set of decals. The kit arrives in a shrink-wrapped small top-opening box (a little larger than a figure box), and inside are ten sprues in grey styrene, two in clear, a small fret of Photo-Etch brass, and a decal sheet. The package is completed with an instruction booklet, and all the sprues are closely packed in a heat-sealed bag, but the majority of the elastic bands had snapped in transit again, so perhaps MiniArt still need to source some more durable bands? Four sprues hold parts for two fuel barrels, with a hand-pump included and some small cans of varying shapes and sizes that you may have seen in other sets so far, plus a five-shelf storage unit to stash tools and the cans on. The major parts are used to create two pumps that stand on pillars, with the mechanicals hidden away in a cylindrical housing that can be posed open for business or closed, thanks to the two clamshell doors and PE clapping-plate that fits to the inside lip of one of them. Two clear halves of the brand sign are added either side of a circular frame and fitted to the top, and as these were often a semi-translucent white with a logo painted or etched on the front and back, there is an opportunity to put in lighting if you're adept with those types of thing. You'll need to provide a little wire to represent the hose from the body to the nozzle, so make sure you have some to hand. The remaining parts are used to create a stand-alone petrol or diesel compressor with a large receiver tanks underneath that has wheels at one end to allow repositioning wheel-barrow style. A set of handles and a spray gun are included, the latter needing more wire to act as the air hose of whatever length you choose. Markings The decals are printed by DecoGraph on a small sheet with good registration, colour density and sharpness, plus a part of the colour instruction sheet is devoted to printed replicas of typical signage, posters and so forth that would be found on the walls of stations at the time. No, the posters don't really look like that - I blurred them a little to make them unusable. Fair's fair. Conclusion Building a fuel station is a fair task, but not as difficult as making the hardware to go with it. This set takes all the hard parts out of the finishing touches, then it's up to you to hunt down a suitable building or build your own using your diorama skills if you have them. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Modern Oil Drums 200L (35615) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd We’ve been addicted to fossil fuels since coal was first burned, sparking (Sorry for the pun) the industrial revolution, and now oil and fuel in the 20th and 21st centuries. Drums are an easy way to store and transport relatively small quantities without spilling them, and they certainly beat a wicker basket any day of the week! Arriving in a shrink-wrapped figure-sized box, the set includes eighteen sprues in grey styrene of two sizes, plus a small decal sheet, and instructions with painting guide on the back of the box. There are only two different sprues included, but you get multiples that allow you to build up 12 barrels and 6 manual hand-pumps if you feel the urge to use them. There are two types of barrels with different types of ribbing, one having many ribs the other having only a few. The bottoms of the barrels are mostly reused lids from different sets that have their raised writing flipped to the inside, with two styles of tops with filler caps at the edge. The hand pumps have a long dipping stick, a handle to crank, and an applicator that will need you to supply some hose or substitute to complete. Markings The back of the box gives you brief instructions for construction and suggests paint schemes and decal locations for your delight. The decal sheet is by DecoGraph, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A whole barrel of fun for your vehicle or diorama base! I’m sorry to reuse that one again. They’re detailed, with decals to pretty them up, and a decent quantity that could last you a few models. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Since I'm waiting for decals to finish off my F-8s, I'm building a truck. I was commissioned by the KW saleman who sold the actual truck, part of a fleet to Morgan Fuels. Morgan hauls bulk fuel for Esso in southern and central Ontario and sometimes Manitoba. The model is a First Gear KW T880. I was lucky and found it on evibay. I say lucky because the truck originally had a lowboy trailer, the seller had two that he kept the trailers from. I also found an International Durastar with the near correct tank. Making one from the two. I hope to sell the IH and the leftover KW parts and get some money back. The pictures ahow the actual truck(will be #49)and the other shows what I am starting with. Had some fun with the lift axle before removing it, ever wonder what a KW would look like with hydraulics? Here's where it is right now. Lots more trimming than I expected. Lengthened the rear of the tank, this covers the hose reels. When I glue the top and bottom of the tank body, I missed seeing that it should have been a bit taller. No way to cut this up so I had to ad frame rails under the original tank frame. Added to the rear bulkhead, made a new end cap. I couldn't decide to move the under body cabinets back or just cut them off and make new ones, well I cut them off. Most of the worst parts done now. The bag of sand was inside the tank, I guess just to weigh it down for the die cast effect? Also shown is the test page for the decals.

Afternoon all, I was just checking twitter (I am not at any of the Vulcan's displays today) and it appears the Vulcan has returned to base at Doncaster with a possible fuel leak. I do hope they get it fixed so she can be ready for the planned "final tour" that the VTTS are thinking about. Thoughts? Sam

I'm not sure this qualifies as armour but this seems like the best place for this. This is the towed fuel pump to go with my GMC fuel tanker (RFI here) and Flying Banana (RFI here). Eventually I will make a diorama out of them all. Somehow I have to get the wires for the lights in my helicopter to the battery that will be under the base. This little pump will provide the means to do that, I hope. The details have still to be worked out. This is what I have: Obviously its a resin kit and the mouldings look pretty nice. The worst feature of this kit are the instructions which are terrible: The kit includes a little tanker which I won't be using so putting that to one side here are the fuel pump parts: The first job was to separate the parts from the flash and sort them out into parts I could identify on the instructions and those that were a holy mystery: I know those little things with two legs are for the fuel hose but I don't think I will be using them. I have no idea what the planks are for and there are three or four other parts I can't work out. I think it will be busy enough anyway. Starting with the easy stuff, this rod is meant to be the axle but is an obvious candidate for replacement with some brass rod: It measures at 1mm in diameter but I might use something smaller like 0.8mm. Anyway, there we are - now to start cleaning up the parts properly and get gluing. Bye for now, Nigel