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Hi, For a long-term diorama project I am working on I am researching French airfield buildings. Now if it were an RAF subject I would be spoiled with dimensions and other data that are easily available on the internet. But French subjects less so - at least to me, my command of French is very poor so it's more difficult to search French content - let alone posting on French forums. I wonder if anyone reading this can point me in the right direction. What I am looking for is: -the dimensions of the different types of hangars used by the Armée de l'Air, and specifically this type of hangar, seen here in Reims (photo url: http://bdd.deltareflex.com/cns_affiche.php?image=1123) - and the dimensions of the typical French hardened aircraft shelter, variously referred to as an Hangar Durci, Hangarette Durci, or Abri Bétonnée (I'm guesstimating 13m base width?): A big thank you in advance! Jay

From my life long interest in aircraft and aircraft modelling has spawned another interest......airfields. I have been fascinated with airfields since my dad took me to look around an abandoned Flying Fortress base at Debach when I was eight. I am particularly interested in the infrastructure concerning the operation of aircraft such as the hardstandings, aprons, hangars and control towers and also the associated vehicles and equipment. I always like to display my aircraft on a hardstanding or setting that the real aircraft would have operated from. As I have spent years researching and visiting airfields I have acquired much information on airfield layouts and dimensions. Here I am standing in the middle of an abandoned RAF Binbrook........no longer the roar of Lightnings.......just the sound of skylarks. In the early days I would photograph, sketch and pace out bomber or fighter dispersals and hardstandings whenever we were passing an airfield, much to my wife's curious suspicions usually with comments such as " did you know this airfield was here " or " I wondered why we were going down here "..... " it's a good job I brought a book with me then ". These field visits could sometimes be dangerous though......my wife still laughs about the day an Alsatian dog chased me back to the car from the control tower at Shepherds Grove and then tried to bite off one of our wing mirrors. That is my friend and fellow airfield enthusiast standing on the roof of the abandoned control tower at RAF Binbrook. I took this from the roof of a hangar. With Google Earth all this is changed now, I can zoom down from space on my computer on Lancaster dispersals, Beverley aprons at Abingdon, Shackleton dispersals at St Eval, V Bomber aprons and B52 Operational Readiness Platforms or anything, anywhere in the world. So here we go, a selection of my airfield and bases and models of course. There will also be some Full Scale inspiration included. I will also be pleased to include related dioramas by other modellers too . Adey

Sources: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4771394541 http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4761399568?pid=97150882936&cid=#97150882936 V.P.

exclusive reissue of the long sold out shelter: http://community.revell.de/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=2724 image: http://community.revell.de/download/file.php?id=5803&sid=c405ad9c8e33019100e3c100a7cf6b88 box: http://www.amazon.de/REVELL%C2%AE-04389-SHELTER-LIMITED-EDITION/dp/B008QNDSWA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417947637&sr=8-1&keywords=04389+revell instructions: http://www.revell.de/fileadmin/import/images/bau/04389_%23BAU_SHELTER_UND_GROUND_PLATE.PDF

Hi all, First things first. I am dreadful at doing a full WIP, this is the second time in a week that I've posted the tail end to a build (sorry) Very keen to show off my new Spitfire. Built to stand alone as well as be in a diorama of Kastrup airbase (Copenhagen) with the captured FW190 I just made! Belts are painted Tamiya tape with PE harness locking things glued on the end So far the vac form canopy has been cut open and painted in HU78 as a base layer and interior framing. Not yet glued on. Here are the adversaries that make unlikely acquaintances The Spit will be weathered with ink then pastel before getting a matt varnish. After that, the lid will be painted and glued on, then all I have to worry about is making a diorama, however I have a 1/72 hangar in the post... Ben.

American Indian Artwork & Emblems / P-47's over the Pacific: 19th FS on Saipan (Reference book) Landscape Publications No.1 If you're a fan of reference and profile books, then you may well be interested in this. The first of what I hope will be many more to follow, this book focuses on two themes. The first being aircraft that wore artwork and emblems featuring American Indians and the second looking at the P-47's of the 19th Fighter Squadron based on Saipan. Presented in an A4 soft back landscape format you get 64 pages containing a mixture of beautiful aircraft profiles, artwork images, photographs and text giving useful information about the paintwork and markings on the individual aircraft. The pages are printed on high quality semi-gloss paper. The book was written and illustrated by Thierry Dekker (Crazyflytox here on Britmodeller) with Neil Page who did the translation to English from Thierry's native language French. Let's look at little bit closer. American Indian Artwork and Emblems The first chapter features an eclectic collection of aircraft between WWI and WWII that feature artwork of American Indians. Stunning and accurately detailed profiles include those of the P-51D, FW190, Spad XIII, Curtiss H-75's, P-40's, Hurricanes, Typhoon, Hellcats, Spitfires and P-47's with expanded images of the Indian artwork. Particular text reference is made to the pilots that flew them and distinguishing features not only of the artwork and markings displayed on the machines, but also the weathering and in field repaint effects which are very useful for us modellers. The large profiles are supported by period photographs. P-47's Over the Pacific: The 19th FS on Saipan Great research into the specific detail of the paintwork and markings on the P-47's that flew from Saipan with the 19th Fighter Squadron has been carried out. From this, 21 individual aircraft side profiles (as well as a top down and bottom up profile) have been stunningly illustrated backed up by 34 photographs and enlarged illustrations of the artwork worn amongst other details. Taking the same format as the previous subject, reference to the paintwork, pilots and unique characteristics of the individual machines is written making this a very interesting read as well as a great modelling reference. In summary, what you get in this book is: 64 colour pages in A4 landscape format printed on semi-gloss high quality paper 64 photographs - 2 colour 55 high quality colour profiles of 10 aircraft types, many with additional artwork images Supporting text referring to paint variations, markings, emblem origins and specific details to the individual aircraft illustrated To add greater value to the series, Thierry is looking to partner with a decal manufacturer so that they can release decal sheets focussing on the subjects contained in his books. If anyone is interested in this venture, please contact him through his website linked in the logo at the bottom or PM him (crazyflytox) through Britmodeller. He's also looking for distributors for the USA, Australia and Japan. I can assure you that after reading the book, you will be inspired to build some of these aircraft, so I like the idea of a potential partnership ! Conclusion The specific detail in the book is not only useful, but an inspiration to build the aircraft illustrated. The stunning quality and accuracy of the artwork really adds value as a reference tool and the written information is an interesting read. I really like the unique subject theme for the American Indian artwork and the Jug fans will be left drooling ! Having now got this review sample in my collection, I'm certainly looking forwards to the series developing ! Review sample courtesy of