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Having grown up in Fareham, HMS Daedalus in Lee-on-Solent was close enough for me to be have become quite familiar with the sight of the Royal Navy SAR Wessex’s doing their thing in the Solent. Building this for the Salty Sea Dog helped recall some fond memories. The WIP can be found here; The Coles Notes version is that I built this mostly out of the box with the Eduard PE set for the exterior. I used most, but not all of the PE. The markings are all painted except for the stencils. The paint itself is artist acrylic mixed as required and sprayed, thinned with Windex. The main rotor was simply placed on its shaft and consequently moved a little during the photo shoot - in some of the pics it appears tilted very much forward. This is the second of these I’ve built and it was as enjoyable as the first. It’s quite possible I’ll build a camo version one day to go with this, the and the overall green one I built for the Falklands Anniversary last year. The finish pics... Thanks for looking. Cheers.

Growing up in Fareham, Hampshire I spent most of my summers at Lee or Hill Head. Occasionally we’d venture further east to the slightly posher Stokes Bay. The late 70s into the first half of the 80s are filled with memories of bicycle rides to the beach; initially with mates hanging out for a the kind of dumb good times teenage boys can create at will. Later, we were more focused on impressing girls, sometimes even conjuring up the courage to talk to them. Hindsight and experience tells me they were as nervous as we were. In later summers the bicycles were replaced with motorcycles, mopeds to start with (my mates on Fizzies, me on an AP50) and then real motorcycles. Side note - I contest to this day that the greatest internal combustion engine ever conceived is the two-stroke twin, and the Yamaha RD250LC the highest evolution of the species, especially when ported, K&N filtered, Boysen Reed Valved and of course, Micron Expansion Piped. But I digress…. Those days at the beach were often enhanced by the sight, hopefully near enough to shore to really get a good view, of a Lee-on-Solent based HMS Daedalus Royal Navy Wessex in its striking red and blue paint rushing out to rescue some hapless yachtsman or women. Teenage shenanigans would pause to watch them fly overhead, and in later times even awkward attempts at chatting up girls would [usually, gratefully, while we used the time to think of something to say] pause while a Wessex thumped it’s way out to sea. When we were at Lee we often saw them come low over the esplanade as they sped out over the usually calm waters of the Solent. It’s an indelible memory of teenage years. In memory of those summers my contribution to this GB is a Lee-on-Solent SAR Wessex. I’m using the Italeri 1/48 kit with the Eduard exterior detail set. I built one of these last year for the Falklands anniversary GB and at the time I decided I’d do another in the iconic red and blue. This GB gives me the perfect reason to do it now. The kit is likely familiar to some, I'm using the most recent boxing. Last time I put some effort into the interior which this time I won't as the door will be closed. What I will do this time though is some of the corrections and detailing I wasn't aware of or didn't bother with last time, for example the winch access hatch needs to be moved. There are some other things to do too, I'll cover those as I go. I'd love to show you some progress on this project but here is the current state of my bench... My bench is currently serving as an airfield for several of my completed builds awaiting a replacement display cabinet for the one which was outgrown. The replacement will be delivered this weekend, though hopefully progress doesn't need to wait that long as there's certainly some basic assembly I can begin while sitting at the kitchen bench. Incidentally, my first Wessex is visible at the back of that lot, here's a better shot. As I was pleased with how that one turned out, I'm hoping I get lucky enough to do it as well this time. Glad to be in on this one. If I make good progress I have a couple more builds I'd like to try and get in as well. We'll see how that goes. Cheers.

I was a few days away from my 16th birthday on 8th June 1982, and was mightily upset that I was missing the Falklands Conflict (at the time I was working hard on my O Levels with plans of joining the Royal Navy as an Artificer). I remember well the collective national pride at the time, the "British pride", the "awakened lion" jingoism, I felt it too. A few weeks before in early April I'd cycled the 10 miles or so from Fareham to Gosport which sits on the west side of Portsmouth Harbour to see the task force off, along with thousands of others. I followed intently the updates delivered daily by Ian McDonald, the M.O.D. spokesman who became a minor celebrity in his own right. Some weeks later now, by the 8th of June the conflict was virtually over, and it was clear - it was always clear really - the British would retake the Islands within days. And then this... The RFA Sir Galahad had been left languishing too long in Bluff Cove and the [incredibly brave and skilled] Argentine Air Force found her, and successfully bombed her. Units of the Scots and Welsh Guards were still on board; fifty of them were killed, many more were burned. It was the single biggest disaster to befall the Task Force during the conflict, and only six days later the conflict was over. Two images from that day have stayed with me, vividly; the first was the news footage showing an R.N. Sea King using its main rotor downwash to push life rafts filled with survivors away from the burning ship. The other was this one; In honour of those men, and all that served, I'll be building the Italeri 1/48 kit enhanced with the Eduard PE exterior detail set. I plan to finish it on 08.06.22. This one begins in the cabin. I intend to make this mostly OOB but with one or two enhancements where appropriate. The cabin is the fist candidate as there are some prominent features not included by Italeri. The first is the cable loom running along the port side above the windows. This will be seen through the open doorway so it had to be added. I used an assortment of stretched sprue, wire and brass. Looks quite rough at first. \ Next, I needed to add the sound dampening on the cabin roof and also along the top of the cabin walls. I used some chocolate wrapping foil to make this. Also looks quite rough to start with. I have to sacrifice the ceiling lights somewhat as they are sort of in the way. They aren't visible from the doorway in any case. Next, I offered it all up to check fit and general outlay. As it looked pretty good at this stage, I put some paint in the airbrush and started splashing it around. And then a final dry-fit check to see what it all looked like together. So far so good. Next I need to paint the sound dampening the pale green colour its supposed to be and the base colours will be complete. By the time I detail paint and weather the base finishes I think they'll look convincing enough. Cheers.

Hello all; I actually started this one well before the Spitfire I just put up, but I had to hold it while materials arrived through the Christmas break (which is when I built the Spitfire...). I had to learn a few scratch building skills on this one, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out, though there's some bits and pieces I'd do differently next time. Here's the RFI which is quite detailed - and wordy, you have been warned 🙂 The aircraft modelled is an RAAF Huey, callsign "Bushranger 72". The RAAF converted their own Hueys to gunships after finding the American version unsuitable for RAAF operations. This airframe still exists, now housed in the Australian War Memorial. It was involved in several critical actions between 1969 and 1971. The son of one of SAS troops extracted in one of these actions, with the aid of the Bushrangers contacted me through my website and asked if I "built Hueys". He went on to explain that he wanted one to give to his dad. This model was built for that purpose. I'll put together the who story for the site, but in the mean time here's the photos. Cheers; Mark.

Now for something different A grimy Viking in TPS. I threw in some eduard PE and a wolfpack cockpit....not that much shows, and Steel Beach FOD covers. In hindsight I should have used a different color on the FODs...the build is so grey that it almost looks like a monochrome picture some RBF- tags would have liven it up a bit too. Anyway, I'm happy with it and the editing of the pics was successful Get ready for a picture avalanche:P Cheers!

Hi Folk's,a Mojo restorer build and first Aircraft build of the year,I love Skyraider's,FAA scheme's and anything to do with Ark Royal,I saw this kit being sold by fellow member Jaw for a great price and had to have it.Now it's an old Esci original with raised line's a basic cockpit etc but Italeri give you it in gray rather than blue plastic and a great decal sheet.I was happily pottering on with the build when a couple of the guy's dropped the bombshell that the fuselage was based on the original ground attack version and the armoured plating around the cockpit needed to go. I sanded and scraped away and think I might just have got away with it! The rest was a breeze,after glossing and decalling I preffered a satin coat rather than leave it glossy,these aircraft alway's seem to appear immaculate in service so a dry brush of light gray over the raised lines and exhaust flow was all I felt was needed,WIP over on the Nato/Warpack GB,thank's fo looking in.

Hi Chaps I'm starting a bit late on this as I was ready to go 2 weeks ago then got side tracked with an Airfix Catalina so here we go. This will be an almost from the box build but I have got a set of 3d printed blade folds I bought from Telford in 2013. These will be a new medium for me but I think the challenge will be not loosing them to the carpet monster rather than any modelling aspect. My plan is to do it relativly clean but Im toying with the idea of drilling the bullet holes and red circles as she is today. I will have to build the interior as well which will be from the parts bin. Many years ago I collected the 3 Revell kits (HAS3, HAS 5 and UH34) and some of 72 scale decal sheets to reproduce in 48 but the kit was so awful I never built anything and sold them all when these were released by Italeri. I built the HAS 5 when these kits were first released and it was a great model so this should be good too. Anyway on with the action, Im sure Photobucket gets slower every time I use it! All WIP photos have been added to the last post on page 4. Old links dead due to Photobucket. Sorry for the inconvenience Colin W

Well two Mirage IIIE and a VPA3 to be more accurate with the Agave nose of the latter in my opinion providing the ultimate in Mirage style. The models are based on two slightly different 1/48 Italeri (ex-ESCI) Dassault Mirage IIIE kits. No.2634 which was for a time the standard boxing with decals for four French examples along with one each from, Spain, Switzerland and Australia and No. 2674 a special release marking thirty years in French service with decals for nine options along with an additional sprue with parts for the Martel AS 37 ARM and RP30 1700 Litre drop tanks. Some parts such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder really show their age and others such as the very shallow jet exhausts need some work and spare parts/plastic tubing to deepen them. My aim was to model one in the early form of higher-visibility yellow edged markings and the other in the later toned-down form but to build both as near enough from the box as was possible with some slight changes to aerial fit and the extended jet pipes as mentioned. For the French examples the only after-market addition was the AN-52 Nuclear Weapon from Belcher Bits however for The Pakistani Mirage VPA3 with Agave Radar Nose built for a magazine article the build was a bit more complicated. Contrasting styles of French high and low visibility markings Mirage IIIE from Esc.03/003 'La Fayette' with an AN52 on the centreline was completed in the earlier higher-visibility form of the markings which required a little change to the kit decals to provide a suitable serial and sourcing a second PHIMAT. Mirage IIIE from ESC 02/003 'Champagne' with Martel ARM on the centreline was completed in the later lower visibility form of markings. Pakistan Air Force Mirage VPA3 from No.8 ‘Haider’ Squadron was converted by using an adapted form of Eagle Design’s resin set CK-19 for the Peruvian Mirage 5P4 providing a new nose, cockpit and jet pipe. The Exocet ASM came from the Airfix Super Etendard along with the carrying pylon which was extended and re-shaped to resemble that used on the Mirage and the AIM-9P were from an Esci F-4. National markings came from a Bright Star sheet while the unit tail badge was photo-shopped from an internet image of the squadron crest and home-printed.

This is my second proposed build. I have just noticed after opening the box that at some point i must have started it and put it away. It's not of a good standard and so parts are broken ( I suspect in one of the house moves). I think it's still under 25%, what do you think? The plan, if allowed, is to build this along side the Aggressor and compare along the way. Simon

With 24 days to go and my main build stalled due to lack of time and space, the obvious thing to do was to start a second build (don't mock, it worked in the GPW GB). I have a fondness for light armour and quirky designs so this build was inevitable at some point. An incredible deal at Hattons sealed it. Background The Autoblinda 41 (named after its first year of production, 1941) was a further development of the machine gun armed AB 40. Made with an all-riveted construction, the AB 41 had four-wheel drive and a four wheel steering system that proved troublesome. The spare wheels fitted to its sides were free to rotate, thus helping the vehicle over rough terrain and allowing it to drive over higher obstacles. It could also be fitted with wheels that would allow it to run on railway tracks. It was issued only to cavalry units (which formed the recce units of armoured formations), Italian Africa Police (PAI) and Bersaglieri units. The kit Italeri do this one in the more usual 1/35 but I have some Tamiya 1/48 armour in the stash, so hunted out this one to match the scale. Hattons had a couple at about 1/3rd of RRP which was too good to pass up, so here I am. The outlined part is the cast metal chassis which has some lovely detail. No idea how much of it will be seen when it is finished. OK, let's build this thing Andy Overextended

Hi My favourite airframe in the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden is the 1941 Hawker Sea Hurricane Ib. "Hurricane Z7015 was built by Canadian Car & Foundry at its Fort William, Ontario, plant during 1940 as a Mk I, after flight testing Z7015 was shipped to the UK. On June 27 1941 it was converted to Sea Hurricane Ib standard. Z7015 had a patchy wartime flying career, which ended in 1943, when it was delivered to Loughborough College as an instructional airframe. It remained there until it was transferred to the Shuttleworth Collection in 1961. Z7015 was used statically in the 'Battle of Britain' film, before restoration to flying condition began." Here are a few of my pictures that I used for reference during this quick, straight from the box build: I understand that this kit is a re-release, and I must say that I didn't find the construction to be particularly easy. She was painted with Humbrol enamels and finished with a coat of Klear to match the real aircraft. The only weathering was exhaust staining courtesy of Mig Pigments Black Smoke. There were six decal options in the box, but (surprisingly?) none of the options was for the Old Warden aircraft, so a lot of cutting of decals was required to create the codes and serial for this aircraft. Anyway, without further ado, here she is:

Ok here we go with another GB. Was a bit hard to choose what to build for this one, but after much thought I decided to go with a common theme that I like Nightfighters. And seeing that all my nightfighters so far are twin engine the Tigercat seemed the logical choice. So I’ll be building Italeri 1/48th F-7F 3N Tigercat, this will almost be straight out of the box but …………. will be adding Quick Boost Undercarriage Cover and Gun Barrels sets, and Scale Aircraft Conversions Landing Gear set. I have always liked the look of this aircraft but had just not gotten around to building one, so here we go, this should be fun….and hopefully a simple build. Not too sure what the colour scheme will be, have a bit of time to think about it. First post of the group!

The model that I'm going to present to you is a WESSEX HAS3, the ITALERI in 1:48 scale, of the Fleet Air Arm, No 737 Squadron NAS, HMS Antrim, in service during the Falklands War in 1982. The model was produced by a mold totally new, very negative in the end, and quite accurate in the joints, also complete with a small photo-etched, what it does very happy, and the possibility to realize various specimens, both in low visibility, such as that I've played, but also much more colorful exemplary. Wishing to make accomplish with the cargo door open, I wanted to reconstruct the whole inner part, and I must say that I really enjoyed everything you need to rebuild. After joining the two half fuselages, and having filled and sanded, I painted everything with Flat Extra Dark Sea Grey, and after applying the clear gloss, I applied the decals that I have to say I'm a bit thick .... .but with the softener Mr Mark Softer of the Gunze, I still managed to make them adhere very well. After another application of gloss paint, glazes and given clear matt varnish, I applied the wash with the temperagrigia dark, and made of weathering with Tamiya dust. I chose to make it with the propeller blades bent, mainly for reasons of space, but in the end it is still aggressive.

Hello friends, here you are the result of my latest effort... The 1/48 Italeri kit is apretty good one, plenty of details and photo etched parts. The model is basically OOB with just few scratch built details such as the radar antenna and some internal parts of cockpit and landing gear bays. For painting I used a mix of Tamiya and Italeri acrylic colours sprayed with a gravity airbrush using a 0.2 mm nozzle. Any comment and suggestion is more than welcome. Thanks for looking. Cheers Andy

Hi Guys, Here is my first helicopter for many years, Italeri's superb 1/48 Wessex. I managed to acquire all 3 of the Revell offerings but never built one as they really don't capture the look of the Wessex. This kit however does justice to the Wessex, the long serving workhorse of the Royal Navy. Construction was pretty much from the box. The PE provided a good touch but I did find the guide pins for mesh round the main rotor were too low when using the PE. I built them up with some thin strips of plasticard which worked well. I lined the interior cabin with tissue coated in dilute PVA to represent the waterproof bag used on the rescue machines and added a few red first aid rescue bags and some wiring in the cabin roof. A few other bits were added to the cockpit and cabin. I used the kit decals and found them good. Only 2 'RESCUE' signs are too small and a walkway for the tail is too big, otherwise they were OK and went on well. Aerial wires were done with Aeroclub elastic Eze-line. Overall it took less than 2 weeks and was a very satisfying build. Cheers Colin W

Hi All, This is my attempt at Major Karl Kennel's FW190 A-8 from May 1945. Italeri's kit was a mostly enjoyable build and many of the parts had some lovely detail and most of the fit was pretty good. Having said that, there was a fair bit of flash on many of the parts to clean off, the joints of wing to fuse and engine cowling to fuse created some hideous gaps and Italeri's funky sliding canopy mechanism was on the fiddly side. The kit does come with some nicely detailed PE - instrument panel, belts, headrests, antenna and a few other bits. My experience of some other Italeri kits has been that the decals are high quality and this kit was no exception - lovely thin decals that settle well on Klear with some setting solution. This is the first Luftwaffe aircraft I've built since I was a kid and in researching the colours found just what a minefield the whole RLM business is! Having been bitten by Italeri's dodgy paint instructions when building their 1/48 Hurricane I decided not to pay too much attention to them this time and used a combination of Tamiya, Revell and Vallejo Model Air to finish the model in RLM 76, with RLM 81 and 82 stripes and mottles. This is the first time I've attempted Luftwaffe mottling too and I was pretty pleased at the end result. Anyway, here are the pictures and I hope you like it. All comments and critique always welcome. Cheers all, Roger

Hi all, Italeries F-3 Tornado built straight from the box. The kit is built up in the markings of 5 Squadron which was their first release. Compared with the Hobbyboss F-3 I think its just as good, certainly where price is concerned! Brian.