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Straight from the box but quite fiddly to get all the struts aligned and not helped by the vague instructions, but one that I've wanted to model for a long time. Steve

I've had this kit for a long time, it's one of the original Huma kits that used to come in a bag rather than the later boxed ones. I believe Huma as a manufacturer is no more which is a shame as they made some unique models. This early one is very poorly pressed as the flash whilst difficult to photograph is extensive and will take a lot of time to get presentable, let alone foe the parts to fit together. It also looks a tail sitter so I'll need to work out where to add some weight. Photos below Good luck everyone Cheers Pat

Wow - hadnt looked at forthcoming GB so when I saw the Nordic GB yesterday I wondered how I could join with one of my many kits from the stash! Well if I can, I am jumping in with a Huma Klemm 35, to be finished as a Swedish AF example in a very striking green and orange scheme. The kit actually incl;udes decals for 6 options including one with spats and the Swedish version with skis. I have a slight fondness for the Klemm, having seen a few flying at the Hahnweide show and having visited the former Klemm factory airfield at Boblingen, near stuttgart - I have 3 in the stash, all identical. Here is the kit - in 1/72 so not many parts. Decals look OK but black outlines around the white codes - not sure if that is right but not really done any research so far. Instructions (quaint) and decals sheet 'Achtung' - a warning! Not sure what it means as my school german cant translate, but thats why we have google ..... Hoping this will be a quick build - minimal cockpit, which suits my model making methods, but I guess I will need to investigate colours and what could be seen once the 2 pilots are installed. Seats are the usual square L shaped approximation and IP's clunky - no worries the orange colours will distract the casual inspector at my local model club! Looking forward to being part of this GB. Who knows, the other Nordic nations may also be represeneted by builds if I get my finger out!

Huma's very nice 1/72 Arado Ar 80. Great fit of parts and sharp trailing edges, it just needed a bit of extra detail in the cockpit.

The Junkers Ju287 first flew in August 1944. It was built as a ‘Technology demonstrator’ to test the swept forward wing. In order to get a working prototype into the air as quickly as possible the new wing was fitted to the fuselage of a Heinkel 177, the tailplane and rudder came from a Ju188 and 388 and the fixed undercarriage was taken from a captured B24! The basic model went together quite well, aided by Huma’s technique of moulding tongues on to the wing roots which join together to ensure that the dihedral is correct. Problems start when adding the ancillary bits. The fuselage mounted engines have two problems. The a/c engines are ‘toed in’ slightly, presumably to keep the exhaust away from the fuselage side but the model’s engines are not and need correction. There is also a fairing between the engine and fuselage which needs adding to the model. The u/c legs supplied with the model are simple struts but need fitting with fairings. A hole needs to made in the rear end of the fuselage to represent the housing for the tail parachute. About 15gm of nose weight is needed. I added this after assembly by putting it through the access door on the underside followed by a dollop of Milliput to keep it quiet. The legs for the nose gear are very weak. I managed to break them off where they exit the ‘trouser’ fairing and had to rebuild using brass tube. A strut connecting the rear of the fairings needs to be added. This confers some extra stiffness to the assembly. I could not get the RATO units to fit using the parts supplied, nor could I work out just what the supporting structure looked like so something was cooked up using brass tubes. Having fitted the units I then discovered that it was impossible to paint the supporting structure! There is a strange pattern on the side of the a/c which, apparently, uses sensitive paint to detect the temperature increase due to the engine exhaust impinging on the fuselage. I have not been able to determine whether this appeared on both sides, or just one. I went for just one and made a decal to represent it, the colour of which is totally spurious as nobody knows what the real thing looked like. When applying the fuselage decals I decided to try using ‘Kleer’ to hide the carrier film and failed miserably. Any ideas on why it went wrong? One last point. A book on the Ju287 published by Ian Allan contains some very nice looking coloured drawings purporting to represent the a/c at the time of its first flight. Unfortunately the colour scheme is not consistent from view to view and does not seem to match the photos. I discovered that one of the authors runs the ‘Luftwaffe Experten’ website so I attempted to discuss the matter with him via a PM but he refused to answer and ended the conversation. Hmmm! Ju287V1_2014_05_06_28 by johnrieley, on Flickr Ju287V1_2014_05_06_36 by johnrieley, on Flickr Ju287V1_2014_05_06_34 by johnrieley, on Flickr Late addition This what the RATO unit and its support should look like - picture taken at Cosford RATO unit by johnrieley, on Flickr Photo is courtesy of Richard Griffiths at Griffiths Models and Books. His site is worth a look as there are lots of photos https://www.facebook...fithModelsBooks Here are a couple of other pictures that I had forgotten about (on my wife's camera) This shows the adjustment to the engines to get the correct thrustline Engine toe in by johnrieley, on Flickr The second shows the cockpit interior - most of which is invisible when the front section is added. I had thought with all that transparency much more would be visible. Ju287 cockpit by johnrieley, on Flickr John

Finally the pictures of the finished Ju 288 from the WIP thread that I started. It was a quick build altogether. I am relatively happy with the finish. The HUMA decals from the kit were pretty good with no silvering problems. I used different crosses for the upper wings though as the HUMA ones were just as big as the underwing ones (which looked wrong in my opinion). So I used the white only version (from a Revell kit) which matches the crosses on the fuselage. Check it out.

Hi all, decided to start my first WIP thread so please be gentle. I chose a less common topic, as I thought it might foster some interesting discussion. So after showing which kit it is about (omitting the usual sprue shots - you can find them online easily) and and impression of my messy workspace you can look at how far I got by now. Interior, gun turrets and main gear assembly in the current state. I added some interior detail in the rear whe Some conjured up detail for the blank bulkhead at the cockpit. I had only few drawings and little pictures of that area. Thcrew of my Bv 141 took their seats - we'll only fly with pilot and rear gunner for a quick test of the gun turrets . Ju 288 had actually a crew of four in the "Kampfkopf". Some little tip: the gun turrets don't need glue. You may just slide them in place in the fuselage halves. This reduces the danger of getting them stuck with glue. That's all for tonight. I hope I can get you some more of it tomorrow!

Hi, i lost instructions for the HUMA Modell Arado Ar 396 kit. Is Huma company still active? I can´t find their website or email address.

Formed in 1926, the Klemm Leichtflugzeugbau Gmbh produced a varied range of light aeroplanes, of which one of the principal types was the tandem two-seat Kl 35. It was a sporting and training aeroplane developed as a successor to the Kl 25. It shared the same single-engine, cantilever low-wing configuration as the earlier machine, the major difference being the introduction of an inverted gull wing. This was probably Klemm's most important type, the fully aerobatic aeroplane was shown for the first time publicly in October 1935 at the international Air Show in Milan and soon found many private buyers. Powered initially by an 80 hp (60 kW) Hirth HM60R inline it had fixed undercarriage, mixed wood and fabric covering, and the choice of open or closed cockpit. The Kl 35B was exported to Czecholslovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania and Sweden. The lower powered Kl 35D was fitted with strengthened landing gear suitable for floats and ski gear. It was produced primarily as the Luftwaffe trainer, but also used as a communications aircraft throughout World War II. Thirty were also supplied to the Slovakian Air Force.

Hi again - this is my second post today. A German airplane. Bucker B.181 Bestmann. This was a trainer, however during late phase of Reich defense in 1945 it was converted to a tank buster by adding 4 Panzerfaus (bazooka?) - anti tank weapon used normally by troops. A bit similar to mounting 2 machine guns on top of wings of Yakovlev UT-1, which I post here a couple weeks ago. This particular machine was flown by Hauptmann Hubertus Jennes a leader (Kommandofuhrer) of Nachtschlachtkommando 9 in Perleberg, North Germany, April 1945. I made it from Huma kit in 2006 (my record year - I made 24 models in that year), scratch modifications and with small reshaping of Huma tail, as I remeber.. Now there is RS kit of with exactly the same I think markings... Here it is: Regards Jerzy-Wojtek