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The first of 10 Academy Zulus is on the bench. This one will be shipped to the Commanding Officer of HMLA-267 when it's finished. Nothing fancy, just a straight build with a nice clean paint job.

I would like to present you the model that I prepared for the model exhibition. I chose a fairly difficult to build model, Su-25 Frogfoot A Trumpeter 1:32 Model I made straight from the box + Pitot from Master. I decided to make this model very heavily exploited. This plane is a work horse in the Russian Air Force, so this look is the norm. I add a lot of photos on a light and dark background, I hope they will please you.

Hi, i just finished this kit by MRC which i bought 20 years ago. had some major issues, as the decals have deteriorated and somehow the canopy had warped and a slight crack. other than than, it was an interesting learning experience building this kit without a conventional build guide. the mrc kit's instruction were more of an instruction with words rather than the normal pictorial guide. after some reading, there is a black and white photograph of how the part should look like after assembly. sure was interesting to me. I used the 2 bobs decals "whiskey in the mix" and Eduards BIG ED pho

Color study before i decide the final paint job.

hello again folks Hi Craig - I only do this when using annealed litho, or the soft ali I use for compound curves - a good example of this comes in a minute when doing the stabiliser fillets - it's a really good way of getting a virtually invisible seam rather than trying to butt two complex edges together.. So, fillets.... they are all curved as you woulkd expect, some in multiple directions - I was hoping the dorsal fin was the last panel as the very tip of it overlaps the fuselage skin I can't add until the cockpit is in.. but no, it's th

Thanks for asking, Olivier! My little resin printer sadly cannot handle the sponsons properly, the parts are always slightly deformed - probably because they are too big. Tim aka Wunwinglow is so kind to print them for me on his Form 2, so (near) perfect parts will be available soon. In the meantime, I have made a little test with failed parts to see how it looks. Pretty massive, I'd say... The part is very dusty and the defects are obvious, but you get an idea of the surface detail. I am currently printing the engines; these are simple low r

Amusing Hobby's Rheintochter - fun kit and surprisingly good And some figure from a figure painting couse this weekend

Thanks Squizzy!!! A little update for today. I worked on the forward bulkhead of the wing box. I happy with the result obtained in a 0,13 mm steerene sheet even if it is not well centered on the fuselage. Anyway, we will not see the default once the wing in place. Eric

Almost finished

Some more... Finish looks very flat when photographed in the light tent - but does have a sheen - here she is on the kitchen table with ambient light: Need to sort the lights, paint radio aerial, weather the exhaust stubs a little and a few other bits and bobs. And, yes, cowl panels are removable - just a bit of a faff. Will include when I do final RFI shots. A HUGE thank you to everyone that's chipped in along the way and kept the encouragement going. Takin

Thanks guys - wine was good! Not delivering next weekend now - so gives me a little extra time for some details! Here's where we're at - please be gentle! Back with a few more in a mo... Iain

After reading a handful of complaints from a few modelers regarding the decals in the Academy AH-1Z, I decided to do a quick test. First, not only is one of the colors called for incorrect (36320), one of the paints they recommend are Vallejo. I would strongly suggest you DON'T use Vallejo's air colors as they are way off. The correct colors for the AH-1Z are 36375 for the bottom and 35237 for the top. In this test, the paints used are Ammo acrylics 36375 and 36320. This was used to check for color contrast as the decals "should" be printed to match 35237 as that is the

I have had a real mixed bag of luck with transparencies since migrating from 1:48th to larger scale models. This canopy seemed to be cracked on both flat windscreens. Fortunately the rear one was a scratch that I could polish out, but the front one was cracked and I resorted to drilling it out and replacing with a piece of clear PETG. Needless to say I nearly destroyed the now flimsy forward frame and decided to glue the front "hatch" closed to increase the strength of the canopy as a whole unit. Here you can see the added framework inside the opening part, as well as a locking handle and a pi

thank you chaps - I do really appreciate your kind words after a day of looking at the fasteners - I have to accept they are over scale... I could not find a drawing that had the fastener size, just the hole size, but then I saw the hatches below the stabilister have the same size fasteners and I have that drawing, and it has that dimension.. basically they should scale to 0.85mm and the smallest puch I have is 1mm, it doesn't sound much, and maybe it's not the diameter that is troubling me so much as the thickness - they look like big bolts and they should be shallow

"notable changes include the removal of the dorsal speed brake". http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Su-35S-Flanker.html

It’s to bad you can’t use this beautiful Photoetch on the older Revell kits! It sure would dress them up immensely!

I finished setting up the wing to fuselage attachment today. Here you can see how I configured the magnets and the tab that keeps the wing from shifting forward. The magnets are neodyneum with a 0.3lb pull strength. It worked with 2 but I could shake it and get the wing to pop off so to be safe (I don't expect it to get shaken but you know how that goes...) I doubled the magnets up. In the back I've made a tab that slips up inside the fuselage. This holds the left/right alignment and presses the two parts together to minimize the joint. Overall this will allow me to make

Today update!

It seems like the longest time since I've been able to work on a model, and this is my attempt to claw my way back to bench and at least try to get something built. Having lost my mojo due to the extended break, none of my started projects have much appeal to me at the moment, and having promised Espen I'd build this one after reviewing it, I decided it would be a great project to get back in to the swing of things. So, what's the project, then? I'll be using Hasegawa's Bf 109G-6 kit, and combining it with the Attitude Aviation As Hispano HA-1112-M1L (Buchcon) conversion, to build

Coming sometime in the future to a magazine (hence only one photo - sorry, no more or I'll be in trouble with the Editor), here's my rendition of the Italeri two-seat Starfighter. The subject was an aircraft of 31 (Tiger) Sqn, Belgian AF, 1983. The tip tanks were used for the 1983 NATO Tiger meet, just before Belgium finally retired the F-104. Decals by DACO, intake covers & chocks by Video Aviation, pitot by Master, and RBF tags by HGW. Thanks for looking.

Just a few odds and ends to re-orient myself with the build. The access panel on the bottom of the fuselage is molded too softly so I am going to fill it with CA glue and re-scribe it. Added some bits of plastic and brass to make a bracket for the drop tank strap. The horizontal stabilizers have been given a coat of Mr Surfacer 1200 and marked with a pencil for riveting. And I've received the MDC cockpit decals from Vincent K! Thanks so much for your generous contribution to this build! Can you tell me where the blue SAUERSSTOFF decal (7) and

I taped up the stripes for the floor last night (it took me an hour) and when I went to turn on my CO2 tank, it was empty. What a wasted night!!! So I just went to bed! Tim

Hi Chrish, thanks for your support. Speaking of support I put the aircraft on a temporary stand to see what it looks like, what I have in mind. that is what I am looking for! still need to do more work on the nos wheels as they are standing too far apart. Also the main landing wheels are too square in profile. All in all the landing gear is not bad, but a bit too skinny. You wonder if Revell had the nerve to deliver the parts for the gear in plastic, they might want to have made the parts at least as thick as in real life. I am not so worried for this one,

Not really any good at keeping up the updates, am I ? The 190 is pretty far along now, been painting markings on it. Starboard fuselage cross still have the mask on because I need to correct it

Thanks Thomas I am always a little mortified when folks say they are discouraged by what I post - I understand the emotion if you see something you think is better than you could do, but ultimately I think it's like a ladder - i was on a rung somewhere at the bottom when I started, and after lots of trial and error I ascend a step at a time - now maybe somewhere in the upper middle... before you say anything, I too see builds that take my breath away, or make me feel inadequate for a moment, and then I realise that they are actually my inspiration -I wanty to be as good at every d

Hi all, The basic undercarriage assembly is done now. I still have the undercarriage struts to make and attach before I can fit the assembly to the fuselage frames, Mike

I'm going to get a very large box soon with a Lancaster, B-17E/F, Do 335B, and a Ju 87G. Funny thing was that I was going to get the first 2 earlier last week but something told me to wait and see what the weekend deal was going to be. I think it cost me more in the long run but lots more fun I reckon. I hate Paypal credit!!!!

Cheers everybody, it's bee a while since I finished my big Prowler - buying a new background for my photo booth was a good opportunity to finally take some photos of the finished model. For those who haven't followed the build, here's the link to the WIP thread: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/57040-how-to-destroy-an-expensive-kit-with-just-a-few-cuts-or-prowler33/ Photo quality is not ideal, I've been playing around with the photo settings but I am obviously not a good photographer... Anyway, comments, questions and critique are welcome

Today update.

finished:

Hi Craig, Thank you for appreciation. At the moment I used only a light pass with steel wool "00 00" to get the details highlited. For weathering with this technique(MWP) I usually use the procedure that I show you below only for illustrative purposes: B-25 J Kit HK 1/32 scale model "Lady Lil" and weathering + stress effect: Nakajima Ki 44 Type II "Tojo" Hasegawa kit 1/48 scale model George

I promised an update with modelling content within 24 hours, and here I am 22 hours later with exactly that! I have to confess that I haven't really achieve all that much, however, but it is at least something. The major element of this conversion is of course the new nose, which requires removing the corresponding sections from the kit fuselage halves. Below is a photo of the terrific one-piece resin replacement nose, which I borrowed from the review: My first task was to remove the substantial casting block, and happily the cut locations are quite well de

Here you go

Here is one in action giving a look at the inside: Jari

Hi guys, Here are the pictures of the completed model. I had a great time building this and it was something different that also allowed me to try some different techniques. I thoroughly recommend this kit to anyone wanting a change of pace with a relatively easy and quick build that will stand out in the cabinet. Total build time was 1.5 months, with most of that time spent polishing! As always, I added and modified some things as I just can't seem to handle Out of the Box.... Modifications and additions to the kit: RB Productions seatbelts Airscale decals. Scr

Amazing work Marcel. I am planning on doing the splinter scheme. Hope mine looks half as good as yours. Dan

aeroscale.kitmaker.net - Hellcat Global Release

Bravo, Ben, bravo!!! D.B.

Thanks for the clarification Peter! I know you've done this process a few times on various projects now, but your fillets and compound curve work just blow me away. The Dzus fasteners really set the effect off too. Brilliant stuff. Craig

Excellent result! Kev

you do realize after you are done we all going to hang up our modeling tools and quit! Hacker

The cockpit assembled and painted. I eventually decided not to use the MDC instrument panel, as I will show later. I thought the Eduard IP was more realistic in appearance. These were the colored PE panels where each gauge ring was etched and colored separately - the panel alone took hours to assemble.

I've been 'hunting' for some fitting figures for the 1920's theme for quite a while now. To me It's important to get the right figures for my builds, almost as important as the kit itself. I've decided to use some of Copper State Models very nice RFC pilot's for the flying crew. The standing pilot is OOB, but I've done some modifications to the sitting pilot. I think they correspond OK with these guy's... But the passengers, were a tough one. There's a lot of WW2 civilian figures around, in 1/35 scale. I probably w

Looks stunning John. Re chipping I’ve had the same issues with MRP - acrylic but with a lacquer twist. Guy

Yep, this is one of those threads that can give hope as to what is possible, yet give despair to us mere modelling mortals that we will likely never achieve anything like it.

Thanks for the discussion guys! It's great to have such detailed information on this build thread... very useful, not only for my build but for others as well. I also have a copy of the Model Art book and drawings and agree that they are a good reference but with all references, not assumed to be 100% correct. I will probably use the scale drawings for a riveting guide. The corners of the K-4 canopy are rounded off with a coarse sanding stick. The buggy camera refused to focus on this part so I had to put a black mark on it. Although I've rounded off the corne

Funnily she just sent me a message saying that they shouldn’t have gone on sale until June so it’s odd. Mine was the only one that they sold.

Nice find. 'He didn't use very strong glue so it was relatively easy to manhandle apart.' You can also put it in the freezer for a while before popping the parts from each other. Sincerely, Mark

I found this stuff that is amazing for finishing polish for clear parts. My usual routine is to sand the canopy with 3200 grit progressing to 12000 grit, polish them with 3 Tamiya compounds and then dip them in future. I had a mini disaster in my last build where the tape fused itself to the canopy even though I allowed the future to dry for months. I was able to remove the tape and re-polish the canopy but I wasn't totally happy with it. I've had this Mr polymer coating forever but I've never used it because the directions aren't in english, plus I've been happy with my results. I figure

Some more progress: