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Boeing 707 D-ABOC “Berlin” was operated by Lufthansa from 1960 until 1976 and in 1974-75 it was used by charter subsidiary Condor. Since the classic Lufthansa blue stripe livery was already represented in my collection I thought D-ABOC in Condor colours would be an interesting addition. If it’s of any interest the aircraft which masqueraded as “D-ABOC” outside Berlin Tegel airport for many years was an impostor - an ex-El Al machine which never flew for a German airline. The real D-ABOC was broken up for spares at Tripoli in 1979. The Minicraft Boeing 707 has a few known accuracy issues, mainly the shape of the cockpit and the excessive nose-up sit of the engines on the 707-320B, but otherwise the kit isn’t too bad. If you want a totally accurate 707 you’re looking at Authentic Airliners or Welsh Models’ badly under-rated -336 but the engines on the Minicraft -420 don’t suffer from the sit problem so if you fix the cockpit and sort a few more minor things like the undersized ventral fin you end up with a decent, if not perfect, Conway-powered 707. The simplest way to deal with the cockpit is the Contrails Models insert, a straight replacement for the Minicraft clear section. However for this model I decided to try the complete replacement nose from Phase Hangar Resin Accessories which I think is a re-issue of the former Two Mikes part. It turned out to be beautifully cast and a good fit provided the fuselage is cut accurately. The weight of the resin also means you don’t have to worry about tail sitting. Apart from a replacement ventral fin the model is otherwise pretty much out of the box. Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Racking Grey with Tamiya yellow on the fin. Natural metal is mainly AK Interactive Xtreme Metal with some Rub ’n’ Buff. Decals are a mixture. Most came from a Two Six Lufthansa sheet with titles and logos of unknown origin found in the spares box and registrations from a sheet of RAF lettering (!) because the Two Six registrations were far too big. Detail decals including corrogard are from the excellent Flying Colors sheet and windows are by Authentic Airliners. If anyone has clear information whether Lufthansa/Condor 707s of this period had overwing exit markings please let me know. As far as I can see they weren’t carried so I’ve left them off but they can easily be added. It’s disgraceful that photographers in the mid-1970s failed to consider the needs of modellers 40-odd years later! It’s years since I last built the Minicraft 707 and I had forgotten how badly the engines fitted. When I attached the nicely AK’d nacelles to the pylons on the fully decalled model the result was, putting it politely, sub-optimal. That led to some interesting (and not entirely successful) filling and re-finishing in the course of which I managed to damage the natural metal on the left front fuselage (don’t ask) which led to some even more interesting re-finishing. The camera doesn’t lie but this time it has been persuaded not to look too closely! I still have a couple of Minicraft 707s in the stash and the next time I build one I will stick absolutely everything in place, including the engines, before painting. Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Dave G

Here's my just-completed 1/48 OA-4M - last one for 2019! I needed a mojo restorer and this fitted the bill very nicely - it's taken just over a week. Apologies to anyone who might have been following my all too brief WIP, I got carried away and stopped taking photos as I went! This is the Hasegawa 1/48 TA-4J converted to an OA-4M using a resin conversion set from Phase Hangar. The conversion set was very nice indeed, it included everything needed for the conversion (on the outside anyway), including a nice pair of seamless intakes, and everything was a pretty good fit. One thing to watch out for if you do the conversion - the instructions call for you to add the brake parachute - don't, it wasn't fitted to the OA-4M. Decals are from Furball Aero Design and worked very well. Perhaps not quite as much contrast between some of the decals and the dark ghost grey though. Just one thing missing which I'll always notice, and was missed in my haste as I got carried away. Can anyone spot it? On to the photos: thanks for looking and happy new year Julian