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I am officially excited, this is looking yummy. Not worried at not seeing any stressed skin effect, I just have to look at my face in the mirror to get plenty of that...

I dunno if I am in the minority here, but I think it looks absolutely fantastic. It's super refined, and very clean (at least from what I can tell in these photos): 42140306_1811653382275126_49931331278209024_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr 42226363_1811653375608460_5427803480536383488_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr 42186198_1811653468941784_270212395639504896_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr 42164602_1811653362275128_3468637273539477504_o by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr 42315403_1811653482275116_3901691180953370624_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr - Dennis S. Thornton, CO USA

mistake mɪˈsteɪk/ noun noun: mistake; plural noun: mistakes 1. an act or judgement that is misguided or wrong. "putting those bulkheads there was a mistake" synonyms: error, fault, inaccuracy, omission, slip, blunder, miscalculation, misunderstanding, flaw, oversight, misinterpretation, fallacy, gaffe, faux pas, solecism, misapprehension, misconception, misreading... ..evening ladies thought I would start with how ballsing something up is what makes you stronger... so, I was working on the frame the radios sit on and the scale drawing showed me that the position of the bulkheads behind the 'A' frame was out. I knew this because I decided to move one slightly forward as the jig I built for the cockpit pod was just a bit short, and the one first behind the seat didn't seem to line up with the measurements I had marked out on the longerons but I chose to ignore that and mount them according to that dimension anyway... ..both these events were as defined above... I realised how one mistake compounds another and no matter how hard it is to wind back, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. If I had left it, I would have had a nice bulkhead running through the curved rear windows at the rear of the cockpit... ..this would have been quite hard to hide had I got that far... imagine... ..as it was, I had to get the slitting disc out and chop off both bulkheads and reposition them (to exactly where they were marked to be on the PE floor - what was I thinking!). This means there are some rather unscale massive blocks of plastic as bracing but they can't be seen with the tank in.. so, lesson learned: pay attention and don't compromise anyways, on with the build.. this is a very useful pic showing the area behind the seat - note the fuel gauge and all the horizontal framework (covered in blue protective tape) the radios that go here sit on.. (..and that there is no bulkhead running through the window...) I thought I would have a stab at the gauge first.. this was a section of tube, a section of rod and a pinhead - I added the decal & glazed it.. ..and painted & mounted on it's extension pole thing.. ..it goes here on the tank (which also needed chopping about to fit now the bulkheads had moved..) ..next the frame the radios sit on was scaled from the plan and details taken from the superb CAD drawings dropped in the thread a few pages back.. parts made up from brass sesction & folded ali.. ..and the part finished - the cross braces gave the clue to the bulkheads true position.. ....now I have to think about painting as I can't thread this part and the fuel tank in here very easily, and certainly not with the tank details in place.. ..so I painted it.. the green mix took some time and I hope it is near enough.. ..I made some other tank bits - the fabric part is an electrical box that mounts on the 'A' frame covered in a canvas push stud cover.. ..also painted the sub-structure - you can see the bracing for the bulkheads here.. ..added some details to the front of the ;A; frame.. ..and this is what it will all look like.. ..so there you go - a disaster narrowly averted - I am sooooo glad I found it and corrected it now and not way down the line... TTFN Peter

Hi Guys, As per usual, Windows threw me out of LSP as I was 90% thru the next reveal so its start again time. The model is part of Aviattic's LuftKrieg 1919 scenario where the Soviets expanded rapidly and joined up with China in 1919. This aircraft depicts a Japanese aircraft flown by a woman pilot in Europe in that fictitious war. I used Maketar rice paper masks to conform to the corrugated surfaces and the my own masks cut on the Silhouette for the fuselage markings which are a stylised Japanese arrow motif. I used GSi Creos/Gunze Japanes Hinomaru Red from the set for the N1K2, had to import it as it isn't sold in the UK. It's transparent so has to be built up in layers and it shows the metal shading slightly when you see it for real. Underneath Markings after removing the masks Tyres in natural rubber, no added carbon. Guns on, engine panelled, exhaust fitted. The Exhaust is painted with Mission Models Burnt Iron 1 which has a very fine fleck in it and I think it looks far better than the usual orange/pink rust that modellers tend to use nowadays. RG seatbelts thrown back over the fuselage for rapid pilot entry Junk1 by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Well, that's all there is. Didn't take any really good final photos as I really was pushed for time on this one! Regards, Bruce Crosby

There's the ID Models/Tigger vacform that those who are unhappy with the HK version can build. I wonder what they'd have to say about the 'surface detail' on that kit? It's time to thank our lucky stars, I say...

It's frankly unbelievable that we're lucky enough to have a 1/32 Lanc shortly and yet a minority are bitching about the lack of a stressed skin effect! And they've not even seen it in the flesh yet. Strewth!

landing gear assembled and set onto the fuselage, a quicky dry fit with wings to cheks that everything is level ! ( i picked a grey background to have a better rendition of tyres aspect !) sorry for the pic quality, my phone camera doesnt ike my photo booth light bulbs, but you've got the idea of the attitude with the shortened main landing gear. ( i had to adjust the front wheels spacing too, as they were to far from the center line ) thank you for all your kind words ! Fanch

Today I had one of those vibes that was telling me to leave the kit itself alone. So taking heed of that feeling that if I touched today I’d balls something up but not wanting to waste a day off work before progress will slow to a crawl next week when I start night shifts again I formulated a plan. I had purchased a Montex mask set for the canopies with this in mind. I find the material they use to not really like sticking to curved surfaces and they start to peel after a day or so and me, well I can have those masks on for weeks as progress ebbs and flows. So to the Bat Cave and my flatbed scanner and Silhouette Portrait plotter. Montex set was weeded out and scanned into the Mac, imported in to Silhouette and after triple checking I had my measurements right (of course before all this I tried one of the Montex pieces on each of the canopy sections to check they fit). The masks were then cut on to a piece of Tamiya masking paper as shown below. Only one piece failed to fit but was an easy fix with some thin strips of Tamiya tape. I can’t recall if the photos shown before had the horizontal stabs and rudder added to the fuselage. Well they’re on now, I failed to notice some ejection port marks on the counterbalance for the horizontal stabs, they’re on the inside faces and will be dealt with when I’m tidying up the various seam lines and one or seven glue thumb prints here and there. The stabs fit nicely. I need to check the fit of the prop that goes under them to the fuselage as I had planned to leave it off to ease painting, if they’re a snug fit I’ll stick to that plan, if not, I’ll have to glue them in place before paint. Before masking the canopies I put them all in place to see how much of the cockpit would be seen if I left them all closed up on the final model and I’m happy that being a veritable greenhouse, most of my cockpit work will show, so closed they shall be. The pilots sliding canopy isn’t really designed to be open methinks and I don’t want to force it and snap it down the middle.

70 year old aircraft only get to look like 70 year old aircraft after 70 years,,,,, Tim

Some more photographs of the highly anticipated Lanc seem to have broken cover on the HK modellers Facebook page. The detail is exquisite although as can be seen from the thread, it is still not quite able to please 100% of modellers due to lack of "oilcanning" which was apparently requested. From my own point of view, from the images i can see congratulations to neil and the team are in order, Im sure this release will sell out almost instantly.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I have a different photo setup and I have also painted most of the AM parts now - just need to finish the ejector seat. The lighting is still not quite right but I am working on it - this was with 5 LED lamps. Although you cannot really see on this shot I have attempted to paint all the correct colours for the myriad buttons/switches on the control stick. I am actually close to the point of actual glueing some plastic parts on this monster kit of the beast!

Back to work on the O-2. The intake and ring at the front of the cowling needs some work. The way that Roden have designed it is quite see through and needs a bit of beefing up. This is best attempted whilst you have the cowls off. I had everything buttoned up and then decided that I didn't like the look of it so I had to mess around a bit to get it to work. You shouldn't be able to see from one side to the other here. The inside of the cowl is much more chunky and I reckon it will affect the look of the finished model if left. I found some suitable diameter styrene tube and cut it in half and adjusted it to fit inside the ring of the cowling, then filled and sanded it to make it smooth. Again, would have been much easier if the cowl was off, so be warned! Next up was the seatbelts. I rather like the RB Productions belts so decided to go with 3 sets of them. There are no belts depicted in the kit so it will need something. Once assembled and glued, I clear coated them and then used enamel wash to give them depth. They look quite convincing. Still a little tidying up to do but this is a WIP after all.I have the right seat pushed all the way back as I believe the pilot may have left it for easy access to the pilot seat. Also noticeable in this pic is the small flap that I have scribed into the side window with its associated hinge made from some PETG sheet (also on the left side). It was a detail that is not in the kit but my eye was drawn to it in reference pics.

Much like I'd done to my K-4, I've now added some hinges, using .030 half round strip. This looks a bit sloppy right now, but should look much better, once painted.

Well now, that was certainly quick. Apparently I'd already glued the assembly together, set it aside to dry, then completely forgot all about it. Strange how that works sometimes. Now firmly anchored to lower cowl section, awaiting cleanup.

This was a gift, so i thought it would be nice little fill in project. For the scale this eduard kit is packed with detail, the cockpit is very very good

Yes Dennis, they are one-piece wings.

Max, these are the ZM HE-219 crew figs. Well worth the cost I'd say, even though I got mine for free from a member here Pictures!! Windscreen going on: windscreen on! canopy sections drying after a future bath Filler time Seats In: crew test fit, love the poses Nacelle spreaders in place to address some small gaps

Started also on the wheel well/wing sub-assembly. Decided to paint the rear spar, and stringers Yellow Zinc Chromate, and the well roof aluminum. Untitled by Docdodj, on Flickr Untitled by Docdodj, on Flickr

Painting, by brush, is done.Decals placed and put on the stand. The underside is light blue with white wing tips and yellow below the engine. I placed some lead in the tail to compensate for the motor.Otherwise it would fall on it's nose.

So after lurking for so long, and with certain responsibilities being met, I decided to start a build. It's been a long time since I last built a kit (4 years ago?!?!). I got the new revell kit, and started cracking on it. I'm not sure for markings yet, but I'm leaning on Lt Donald Emerson's P-51D. So anyways, here's photos of the build. Untitled by Docdodj, on Flickr

Hi Guys, Yesterday I finished off a commission from Aviattic to build the WNW Junkers D.1 all metal monoplane fighter. My first Wing Nut, my first WWI fighter ever. AND a deadline to stick to, which saw going to be November but last week changed to last night! So the photos of the finished model are a bit dire, snapped on my iPhone as it sat near the spray booth. Parts clean up: The Mercedes engine in the kit was changed to a higher powered BMW engine. There was some hacking and chopping to get the engine to fit! A dry fit of the cockpit parts. Very tight! Regards, Bruce Crosby

Hi all, Thanks. I didn't like the solid molded engine exhaust pipes, so rather than drilling them out, I made them from 1.6 mm diameter micro-tube. Inside each is a 1.4 mm tube and inside that tube is a 1.0 mm rod, which is the location 'peg' that fits into a 1.0 mm diameter hole, drilled into the exhaust pipe recess in the cylinder head. The pipes have yet to be painted of course. Mike

I think I've probably done as much as I can on the starboard engine, I've added the "cut out" strips between each exhaust stub. There are different configurations for this panel and there is no definitive evidence of what it was on G9+EF, but the detail in the third picture suggests a strip immediately behind the first stub and if that's the case then it will be behind each one - and nobody's going to tell me that's not so unless they've got photographs of G9+EF that nobody else has seen!

Part 4 Wing assembly The model was to be finished in bare Dural and photos of the real D.1 show a sort of monochrome stripe pattern on alternate panels. So here's Aizu Micron masking tape being applied over Mission Models Dural. One of the first attempts at getting the contrasting metal shades. We soon agreed the contrast was way too stark and I had to find a way to reduce it. I ended up making a glaze, using Mission Models Dural, a drop of their Dark Alu, a drop of red, some Satin Varnish and a squirt of their Thinners. Some parts got one mist over, some got two. This left pale shades for the ribs and two darker shades for the panels. I rate MMP very highly and have had hours of fun with their colours and a couple of airbrushes playing around and learning what it can do, which is just about everthing! And now you're thinking, "Why is there a round mask on a German aircraft that has crosses?" See the next thrilling instalment! Regards, Bruce Crosby

Part 3 Test fit of the engine, engine mounts and bulkhead assembly. Masking the framework contact areas on the inside face of the fuselage. Even a slight layer of paint here would be enough to stop assembly further on. Paint! Some real assembly at last Regards, Bruce Crosby

omg are you done yet...

Possibly it was a typo and they meant 70kg...........

The right side of the wall, with extra placards from barracudacals. really nice! Untitled by Docdodj, on Flickr

Untitled by Docdodj, on Flickr

I've actually wandered around the house, looking for my keys, only to discover them in my hand, being twirled about my finger. For a while, I was drinking a 50/50 blend, but I ran out of unleaded, so I'll need to fetch some more.

A productive afternoon and a milestone reached with the starboard engine assembly: all exhaust stubs in place and reasonably well aligned, upper cowling fitted (in two stages) and OK apart from a little bit of a tidy up and, what a relief, the front profile of the cowlings matches Henri Daehne's wonderful spinner base exactly! Time for a little more tarting up of the engine bay on the port side, then I can move on to the fuselage:

Seemingly near impossible to get. For whatever reason, the SH stuff is near to impossible to order from the site or get in any way, unless you are standing in front of SH's stand at a show.

Here is a small progress update. I got the cameras finished. RF-8G Cameras by convairb58, on Flickr I was held up for awhile, on how to go about painting the cameras but Ben Schumacher came thru with some useful information. There is not much else holding me up from gluing the whole front end together. I need to tweak the location of some of the forward cameras that attach to the nose wheel well. The big cameras that go on the back end of the intake trunk need to be anchored in place cause the fit/ attachment is a bit loose and floppy. However, nothing i cannot handle. More progress soon... i hope. -d-

Its a huge program, and difficult to describe in a sentence or two, but very roughly, with a side view, you import the drawing into your 3D program (Rhino in this case) and assign it to the 'X' axis, then you can start marking reference points on it. The program will draw lines between assigned points and fill in areas between them. You can also draw lines between two points then 'drag' a curve by moving the mouse. You can also 'group' reference points and move them together or assign behaviours to them. To make a 3D object from the drawing, you need to have points on the 'X' and the 'Y' axis joined up. I dont know if that makes sense- like I say, its difficult to describe in a few sentences!

Aren't the decals their wet transfer system? So it's not a carrier film as much as a transfer film that you'll peel away after application Matt

Ah yes, the dreaded heat shields! Its been really hard to continue cutting, scraping and sanding on these, and all the work is X2, with 2 engines. Not fun, but necessary! Well, in further avoiding these parts I decided to finish the props.................... But to my dismay, the decal sheet HpH includes is very much like an airliner sheet, in that the WHOLE sheet is carrier, and you have to cut out the decals yourself! Crap. Well I moved on from those too, and took some time to lay in the arresting hook, and arresting hook covers (one large one that actuates with the hook, and two smaller ones on each side at the base of the hook that allow the hook to drop enough to catch the wire). Its at least something to share while I work out the prop decals and wingtip shapes. I thought I glued the main cover on straight, but had to line up the middle strake with the center line of the two halves of the fuse, but its a still a bit off, and the fit of the main part here was way WAY less than grand. I ended up cutting this OOB strake off, and will sand things smooth, re-scribe then add in a new strake from thin card stock, as the strake on the F7F continues up through the main fuse, but that part is a separate PE part that comes with the kit: I also did actually finish up the bulk of the shaping on the wingtips, but I want to get the majority of the re-scribing done first so I can shoot a thin coat of primer on them to see where I actually am before taking any pics. Thanks for dropping in on me!

hi all Work continues with the completion of the roof. I'll have the big X thingy standing up I think. I need to start detailing that part and then add it to the roof. The shield generators have been added since these pictures but I need to fix up a few things before I can show you. That's it for now. Thanks for looking Si

That is looking quite nice and clean. I think it will sell well. Its going to be a SUPER impressive model sitting anywhere.

I'm amazed that anyone would attempt a vac form kit, and much more amazed at your success. Bravo sir! Gaz

I think there's a tutorial on their website. It gets applied like a normal decal, and then after it dries for a couple of hours, the transfer film gets peeled off. So you get decals with no carrier film Matt

Kev you need to start drinking decaf coffee! Dan

Polish tiger. F-16D Tiger "4082" made from the AFV scale 1:32. Of course, the model straight from the box, however, the execution of the F-16D Block 52+ in the Polish version requires several modifications. Model AFV is Sufa Academy with fiew add and new decals, so I think that it doesn't require a description.

upon looking at scribing options it dawned to me that the intakes of the vac are not even close to the shape of the real thing, so i broke out the miliput and tried to reshape them first try 18 by karl holubar, auf Flickr 19 by karl holubar, auf Flickr not satisfiying, second try, we will see how i can sand this to shape: 20 by karl holubar, auf Flickr

Hi, I have been concentrating on my Mustang for a few weeks but at last I've had some time to dedicate to my Thunderbolt. The main painting is completed as are the painted marking, and it was nice to paint something other than NMF for a change after my last 2 builds! My main issue with this kit the first time around was that the OD paintwork was too dark, Ive addressed that this time around and am much happier. Next a bit of chipping then a gloss coat, decals and on to weathering. Cheers Matt

Fabulous work Peter ! ( now back to scrapen/gluen frig'in plastic)

Hey guys Thought I would show you where I am up to on this before I go on a well deserved holiday for a few weeks. I've only really just started but it's not a race. I probably won't take any more pics now until the bridge is finished Hopefully the cutting board will help some of you convey a sense of scale as well The first set of pics are the walls for the bays underneath which are present on the filming models. I thought that was a cool feature so I did the same, except I opened up another one that wasn't there. All for my own personal tastes Well, that's me done, but if you have any questions or comments or critique, I am always open to it As always, thanks for looking in Si

Working to get as good a fit as possible with the upper cowling over the engine; lots of careful sanding, testing, sanding etc., (it's not yet permanently fitted in this shot of course, just lightly placed!!) but I've also been pondering about the best way to fit the unit with the three dials on it. I installed the inboard engine bearer then tried to work out the optimum position for the gauge unit but decided that way unwise because the alignment would have to be very precise and it was a little too far away from the "window", so I simply attached it to the inside of the cowling: Then using Krystal Klear put the "glass" over it: Looks OK, a bit of clean up to do but I'm satisfied so far. I'll just cut a little mask for it when I the time comes for painting. Work with the exhaust stubs next to get them to fit at the right angle!

Thanks Andy. You are correct on a lot of level. Im not sure how Ill do the exhausts yet, but Im having trouble with the idea of letting them go open ended and not even reaching the engines and just gluing them in place........ I think I might try some equal sized wire, where I can bend each as needed to actually reach the cylinders. Its going to be some amount of work, but then again, this whole model is been "some amount of work".

kicking around ideas how to scribe the fuselage, i decided to join the halves before scribing. before i can do that i have to fabricate the intake trunking and engine faces. these are pretty much burried up way inside the fuselage and the intake has a noticeable bend upward so i found some plastic pipe of the right size and epoxied it in, being careful not to cover up the little auxiliary intake on the inner side 017 by karl holubar, auf Flickr

I have been gifted the whole series, all 125 issues. Must just go collect. Looks very intimidating.