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AFV Club F-5F modified with fin fillet, blade aerial and shark nose sourced from their F-5E Tiger version. Various paints used from a variety of manufacturers. Aztec decals used for the markings (although I opted to paint the tiger stripes by making stencils based on the decals) Enjoyed the build more than the painting, but that's par for the course 🙂 Thanks for looking. Mike

Mexicans At War Mexican Military Aviation in WWII 1941 - 1945 - Latin America @ War No.9 ISBN : 9781912390069 Helion & Company via Casemate UK It might surprise some people that Mexico was an ally in the Second World War. Using photos, documents and archive material the authors have managed to piece together their contribution. The Mexican Republic first had to defend both of its coasts from attack with mainly a submarine threat. This was accomplished in the start with old obsolete aircraft and even armed T-6 Texans. The US would then supply more, and more modern aircraft under Lend/Lease. A modernisation process which is still felt today. As it secured its boarders more personnel were sent for training in the US and Mexico would then commit these troops to the fight in the Pacific. Mexican fighters would take part in the liberation of the Philippines. These missions are detailed in the text. By the end of WWII Mexican Military Aviation had come further than it had since it was established in 1915. Conclusion This book will give the reader a good look at Mexico's contribution to WWII. The book is A4 softbound and an impressive 216 pages long. There are plenty of black and white photos throughout. In addition there are 6 pages of colour aircraft profiles and two pages of colour pictures of preserved aircraft, five pages of colour photos of units insignia, and 3 pages of colour maps. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Now that I've got your attention I'll explain what I intend to be building for this GB. I am going to attempt my first double build having seen it done on a few other GB's as it seems to make a lot of sense, they are both the same aircraft (more or less) with the same interior colours and the same overall colour scheme (probably). I lay most of the blame for this at David's (MirageIV's) feet for his continued prolific high quality builds of pairs (or more) of aircraft in the time it takes me to build one, so hopefully I can burn through the stash more quickly. Anyway onto the kits.... Any of you who have seen any of my builds in the past will know that I have an aversion to building aircraft in the usual colour schemes, so nothing American here! My P-47N will be built as an aircraft that was supplied to the Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan after they had fled there following losing the Chinese Civil War. here is a closer picture of the kit and extras.... I found a resin cockpit by HiTech in the box (amazing the things you forget you've got) which I may or may not use and the decals are by a Taiwanese company called Bestfong whose decals I have never used before so I will be interested to see how they perform. The aircraft I have chosen to build is shown below, but to be fair they all looked alike other than for unit markings. The second aircraft will be from the Hasegawa boxing which comes with all the bits to do any version of the bubbletop D variant and builds up very nicely (I did one a couple of years ago). This will be a Latin American one but I am not sure which country yet, I am torn between either Mexico or Cuba. Here is a picture of the bundle.... The picture below shows the Mexican aircraft I might build (probably the favourite at the moment) which is from a sheet by Aztec whose decals I have used before and whose research is very good. My other option is for a Cuban aircraft and I even have a choice to make as to which scheme I use as I can build one in either natural metal or one in a locally applied olive green colour. These decals are by Aeromaster whose decals we all know so they will work fine, their research however can be a little sketchy but they have this one done well. Here is a picture of their sheet. Anyway that's the plan. All comments and criticisms will be gratefully received, and any preference as to which scheme to use for my D will be helpful. Thanks for looking in. Craig.

Well here is my build for the new year for this GB. I was originally going to do the P-47 that you see on the War Thunder loading screen. However I am still waiting for the decals for that. So here I am, with this set. Pictures to follow. What do you think of my bed sheets?! I have decided to build the F-5E and F at the same time, however only the F will be part of the GB. Saves me messing around with the paints at a later date for a second time. I think this is a really attractive scheme for the popular F-5, can't let the MiG's have it all their own way eh?! The lovely kit I will be using, I did have the decals for this... God knows where they have gone to. Just as well I am not going to use them huh? Not too sure if I am going to bomb it up or not, need to find some proper pictures of this wee beastie before I make that decesion. Not expecting the build of this model to take too long at all... it must have about 20 parts total... Gotta love those classic Dragon "Melted Robots"... I believe in protecting them for future generations to laugh... I mean wonder at. For this reason I will be ordering a Retrowings cockpit resin replacement for this kit. Not sure if I want the cockpit to be piloted or empty. I will make that decision when it comes to painting and depending how lazy I am at the time Well thats build number 1 written up, hope you all enjoy my cockups that will happen aplenty. I welcome any advise or comments. Kind Regards, Dazz