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Hello everyone! As I’m new here I thought I should actually show off something I’m working on. My FW-190 isn’t ready to show yet, so here goes with the big, long term, build I’ve been doing. The Panther has always been my favourite tank mostly for how it looks, and I jumped at the chance to grab one of the large scale ones when Trumpeter released it. I wanted to portray a Battle of the Bulge era Panther so the kit needed some modifications to make it into a late version. This kit is a bit of a bugger to build. Trumpeter use an unnecessary amount of parts for each piece, the detailing is way off (and sometimes completely fictional!), flash everywhere, and the tolerances between some parts don’t seem to account for you actually painting them! In the end though fettling away is what I’d fun about this hobby so I got stuck in. Most of the lower hull is done. I’m still painting the shells, and there are a lot of them! The engine was a beauty to build, but is sadly mostly hidden away now. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Wingnut's new Gotha UWD landed at my house today along with its (uglier...) land-based counterpart. For some reason this plane has always fascinated me, so everything else has been pushed aside to start this one. It's bloody gorgeous to see the plastic in person. Roughly the same length as the Gotha G.IV, with wingspan 2-3 inches shorter. The floats are massive, they are about as long as the span of the lower wing of an Albatros D.V! Day one: Cleanup of sprue stubs and mold separation seams, the floats and rear fuselage have been glued together and the three-piece lower wing has been joined. I'm hoping to make quick progress on this and bring the (completed?) build to the Nats somehow. Transport will be very difficult, but if I can figure out how to get it there, it'll be there.

my last built , enjoy ::

I now assembled the floor and added all the control cables A view with the seat, to show how it all comes together Now my next task will be to deal with the compass, the oxygen hose and the landing gear quadrant

Time flies. I cannot believe that I started this build in 2017. Anyways, the fuselage halves are finally complete. I have summarized below all the changes I made. One thing that took me a while to figure out was the correct position of the tail wheel. Built out of the box, it extends too far out of the fuselage. On 90%+ photos I have seen of wartime Fw 190 the tail wheel does not extend as much and therefore I have decided to reposition it. I finally decided to add a new pin-hole to have the required strength of the assembly. Also, on the Revell kit the fuselage near the tail wheel has a fictitious shape that I filled with CA and sanded smooth. But now everything is ready to add paint to the inside to then finally add the cockpit and close the fuselage halves.

Let's try to keep this one on the straight and narrow boys. Points can be made, and opinions stated, but let's leave the personal stuff elsewhere.

Hello! I’m Sophie and came across your forum while browsing and am amazed by the works you guys do on here! I started model building not so long ago and am having a blast. Having studied WWII archaeology for my masters (am currently a field archaeologist, but not digging WWII stuff atm sadly) I have quite the interest in the material of the period. My big project currently is superdetailling a Trumpeter 1/16 Panther G and trying to alter the kit to a late version. To take a break from that I started Revell’s 1/32 FW-190 F-8 and started to also go a bit mad with the detail (got almost every aftermarket kit I could!). I decided I wanted to do a nice panels open diorama with it. I’d never really done a plane before and thought it would be a nice change from large scale armour. This leads to my quick question; does anyone know how the gun camera was accessed on FW-190’s? I’d like to open up the hatch if possible. Thanks in advance and I look forward to seeing more of your wonderful builds (and adding a few planes of my own!). Sophie

Model Trumpeter P-40F Warhawk 1:32 scale, Made straight from the box, the model is very easy to build. In terms of the compatibility of this model with the P-40F, unfortunately, I can't comment because I have no knowledge about aircraft from IIWW times. The person who ordered this model would like it to be heavily exploited, I hope that the effect has been achieved.

Fingers crossed the Lanc and the 0/400 could be at the Nationals, I’ll be picking up one of each. As far as cost, don’t really care. I don’t smoke or drink, golf, have a car restoration going on, have a boat, or any other vices or hobbies. Money well spent to me. Ryan

more work done on this kit the raer suspension Now working on the spoiler at the end Thanks for stopping Mark

Available at the IPMS Nationals 2019 in Chattanooga Aug 6-10.

Thanks Gaz! Cheers mate! Ain't that the truth Chek! There was some rudimentary armour plates installed at various locations, but it wouldn't have done much against a zero's 20mm. Psychological at best! Thanks Terry, agreed about the cushion. I'll tidy that up a bit later on.... still got a while before that gets attached permanently! Always a pleasure Tom! I still don't know how you do what you do with the vacform kits, and where on earth are you going to put a Sunderland when you're done!? With all the discussion and research on the E/F correction, there's been very little time to lavish on my first love. She sits patiently on the bench waiting for me....... I did finally find the time to do some "contributary" work towards the project though! In order to begin "fitting out" the rear fuselage, I needed a lot of oxygen bottles and ammo cans, both big and small. You may recall that a while ago (probably two years) I made some masters of each and resin copies, but I was never really happy with them (air bubbles, warpage etc). Ever since I brought the photon, it had brought to light just how poor my CAD work was; I thought I'd made an amazing drawing, only to have half of it "disappear" when I brought it into the print setup page! Very disheartening I can tell you! Tim (Wunwinglow) had done his best to explain why my drawings sucked, but I still couldn't understand why they didn't work, which then kind of put me off trying to do detail parts for a while. Anyway, an enforced break is good for the mind so coming back into it, I was determined to get on top of this Rhino stuff. The light bulb moment came when in one line of a youtube tutorial the dude mentioned the command Select Open Surfaces or "SelOpenSrf." I'd seen all sorts of other tutorials about things like "manifold" and "non-manifold" edges, but for a simpleton like myself with no formal CAD training, none of this made any sense. Anyway I used the command and bang! Had it sorted in no time! Still got lots of little errors to work on, but I am getter better. Anyway, here's what you're all reading this for: Yeah it's not 100%, but at the size it is (4.5mm wide) even the photon will struggle with any crazy amount of surface detail, so I stuck to the basics. While I was at it, I also made the tall one for the radio room and bathtub guns (and these are good for the E/F too!) I then made some oxy bottles, and put them all on the bed ready to print. Just over 2 hours later..... I also compared these with the one I made a while ago (the new ones were made from factory drawings, as opposed to comparing pictures like I did last time) Probably just as well I redid them! As you can see, the oxy bottles aren't quite smooth, but at least they're round and aren't riddled with air bubbles! Given my recent success with understanding Rhino better and the results here, I'll continue to make the myriad of little fittings that need to go throughout the fuselage, especially the oxy panels and intercom boxes. I leave for a big trip to the US in a few days where I'll be visiting the MOF in Seattle, Desert Rat in Illinois and the cherry on top: A ride in EAA's Aluminium Overcast at Oshkosh!!!!! Cheers, Craig

thanks for your support in this one gentlemen! it loos like the most risky work has been done by now. in the mean time the cockpit is as good as ready. pilot and seat got a coat of flat varnish: and a set of resin wheels were delievered to my house. I noticed that the Revell wheels are much too square and have no thread on the tyres: Just finished the primer on the fuselage: surface detail is quite good, no seams visible anymore!

I bought this kit 2 years ago and have been picking away at it now and then. It's really picked up momentum in the last week going from probably never getting finished to, possibly finished in this lifetime to, possibly finished this year. I will add details (I've got a lot of walk around type pictures here) of the gear bays and (I hope) cast my own engines. I've got about 20 pictures but this is basically where the project sits now.

This is the tentative plan. We've found some interesting looking airplanes that haven't been done to death. We're fairly confident that somebody out there will do a -5N conversion, although given that literally the only changes are a pretty simple cylindrical radar pod and the relevant display on the instrument panel (most wartime -5Ns didn't have the 20mm cannons), it's not that hard to do yourself. The -5P is even simpler, and one of the ones we found off the Bunker Hill even lacks the camera mount (we're stumped on why or how that is too...). Regardless, we think these markings will really spruce up your Airfix gargantua. As noted elsewhere, only the very small stuff like airframe stencils (which are provided in the correct style of Grumman-specific lettering), BuNos, kill flags, etc will be silkscreen printed. All of the larger markings will be provided as vinyl masks. Not sure if we're going to be able to sneak this in in time for Chattanooga or not, but if not, look for them in the early autumn (Cartograf closes down for the month of August, like civilized people everywhere should do...). I need to play around with some masking material in the meantime. Again, if I could borrow someone's kit to make sure everything is going to fit right, I'd be most grateful. I'll pay your postage both ways and give you a set of the decals/masks for your trouble! Thanks! J

Modifications and additions: Jet pipe and exhaust turbine face scratch built. Seat cushions and belts scratch built Height of tail increased by approx 2mm Rocket rails scratch built Rivet detail added to circumference of belly tank Added brake lines and actuator rods to undercarriage All antenna replaced with wire Cockpit access step scratch built Scratch built Pitot tube Scratch built Nav lights. Airscale decals used for cockpit instruments. Markings and finish: MRP Extra dark Sea Grey and Sky. Kit stencil data decals Small squadron crest decal custom made All other markings masked and sprayed

I am busy with a 1/32 Tempest and at the painting stage. The only reliable local paint brand we have is Tamiya. I wanted to try their new lacquer paints for the project. Their colors are a bit of a mystery to me . Light grey is a good match for RLM 76 and Ocean Grey can pass for PRU Blue, so I had to mix the colors to approximate the RAF DFS colors. I had to test it on a model , so the 1/48 Hasegawa Spitfire was used. A very nice kit appart from the incorrect proportions of the fuselage. I used the measurements of the 1/32 Tamiya Spit, scaled it down and then added 3 mm to the rear fuselage and 1.5 mm to the nose with plastic card. Markings from Xtradecal for the serial number. The Squadron codes and roundels cut with Silhouette cutter. Subject 1 Sqn SAAF in Italy 1944. Enjoy Nick

I can. In fact, I can afford to get two of them if I wanted. Not sure what it proves. In any case, the Lanc will be a bargain compared to MFH's 1/12 scale car kits. Their Ferrari 250 TR sells for about £800 a pop.

I’m not in a majority? I can’t say and won’t fathom a guess what folks spend of their “disposable income” on the hobby. When I bought my first kit over $100.00 (Canadian) it took a couple of months of saving to get it but with two little girls, a poorly paid job, car loan, mortgage, and wife in university I probably shouldn’t even have been buying models at all! Now, I’m nearing 60, great paying job, wife equal to my pay, girls off with their own families, 4 cars all paid for (none purchase new)...still got a mortgage...but a $400.00 to $500.00 kit is (to me) a fairly substantial expense but if it’s something I want it will be purchased. A friend of mine spends that on a weekend golfing and enjoys every minute and that’s only a weekend....the 4-500.00 I spend will give me enjoyment for 4-5 months....and then I can show it (or not) at shows and contests. So as far as hobby/ disposable income money spent (in my opinion) it’s not a bad price. I’m not a wealthy man, I’m an automotive mechanic doing ground support equipment maintenance for a charter air carrier.

I'd take that bet. I suspect - with no evidence whatsoever - that the majority of LSP members would not spend $400 on a single model. It's just not a sane thing to do. It's not "normal". $400 can get you 4-5 Tamiya kits, numerous Revell kits, shedloads of AM, etc. Spending that much on a single kit is just so, so far out of the ordinary. The only other kit I can think of that was comparable in price was HpH's Catalina. I know it was resin & fiberglass, but even so, it cost far more than any other kit. And that sold in small batches, made to order - very small numbers indeed. I think that the hardcore modellers who tend to post here perhaps gives us an inaccurate picture of the wider LSP modelling scene? I honestly don't know. I'm guessing.

Moving faffing around in t'shed. With all that wood wherever you look, it's really easy to just stick stuff wherever you want, with screws, nails, hook & pins. I've managed to reduce 4 large plastic containers of mainly AM down to 1, by basically sticking stuff to handy surfaces with drawing pins. I'm hoping to free up enough space to move my bookcase in. Using some never used clamps to store Eduard Brassin machine guns: Filled up the containers above the windows: Big Ed's stay in the plastic bin, until I can shove each one into its respective kit box; I've got a lot of these large scale plans - Whilst I work out a way to get them on show, I've decided to rotate them by hanging them up:

Thank you for the warm welcome! Glad to be aboard. Thank you, I figured it might be. Since I have attached the photo etch part over that area, and it’s mostly invisible I might just leave it now. I appreciate you looking for me

Brick sent me a pic of him after celebrating 5000 hours total time. I finished all of the parts for the buggy and assembled my first ‘test shot’ for fit and to se how it was all going to work. I think the main undercarriage is a little too close to the fuselage so has reworked the master parts of the wings to move them further out and will re-cast these. As I wanted to do Sean’s buggy, I cut out some panels from Thin aluminium sheet and glued them onto the fuselage. Painted, just have to change the wings. Still a lot to do. I will build the trailer and also the tug and am working on designing a small decal sheet.

They do look cool with the flaps down but I want to be historically accurate if I can. If flaps up is correct that's the way I'll go. I will try to follow reference photos of a particular plane for weathering and everything.

You have obviously been exposed to the sickness that afflicts all of the rest of us. There is no cure, not that anyone would need a cure. The good news is you'll have twice as many models in your display case as you would have before! And if you're doing one with the wings folded, PLEASE build it with the flaps up... Actually for that matter, whether you're building it with the wings folded or not, built it with the flaps up. About 98% of F4U pics show them parked with the flaps retracted (per the pilot's manual). Yes, it looks cool with the flaps hanging out, but having drawn serious blood from my scalp on more than one airplane, I can tell you that any crew chief or armorer would want those monsters as out of the way as possible. Have fun with it! I've got a -1D here and I'm trying to decide what markings to put on it... J

No one does that on a HK model Lanc thread on this site...

The gun camera was accessed from behind it through the wheel well. There would be no external 'hatch' for it. I do/did have an image (diagram?) showing this, but couldn't find it with a quick look through my files. HTH, D

Yes these old kits are a little crude but they are still fun. I just started a Fujimi Ferrari 250 GTO last night myself. Looks great to me.

Well...we managed to finish one. That's something. Will post some better pics of both to RFI when the XIVe is finished. have enjoyed this a lot.Hope you like. Regards,Bill.

All parts dryfitted :

So, here we have the first "building block" of the cockpit. Instruments are a mix of my own design (MDC) and Airscale. Once applied over a gloss surface, they are brushed with Microsol and color details corrected, such as the colored instrument rims. It's not perfect but i think it will be OK. Once dry, each instrument is sealed with a drop of Tamiya clear mixed with Smoke and Yellow to give the correct hue for the white (instrument decals are always too white for the scale) I've assembled the rudder pedals and next job is to tackle the compass, then add the rudder cables and glue that asembly to the bulkhead assembly. Slowly getting there The pedals are offset since the rudder will be angled Et petit coucou aux masteriens adeptes de la pensee unique

during recent evenings I have been busy with paint! taking a step away from my usual 1:72 projects, I must say that the ejection seat and the pilot are already a project of their own. Here is some pictures. The pre-coloured PE worked quite well even though it was meant for the Trumpeter kit: time for a layer of matt varnish for everything and some gloss for the visor and I can think about closing up the cockpit!

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, being up in the air. with some final touches on the cockpit, it's almost time to start painting!

Here is my first build here on the site. Let me know what you think before I put the 2 halves together! HDW Seat Belts and Baracudacals placards

This time model from WW II times, I generally avoid model aircraft with a propeller. I definitely prefer modern aviation. However, from time to time I make a model for someone to order. I present to you such a model F4U-1A Corsair model from the Tamiya skal scale 1:32 This is one of the best models I've built, all the elements fit together without a problem. Model made straight from the box with one addition from yahoo. I invite you to watch, I hope that the model looks good.

I wouldn't mind doing one of the front engine dragster kits, something to park beside the Hawaiian. Don

I agree! Much more fun to just build the model than worry about every little nut bolt or rivet.

Thought I read somewhere that it was coming with 4 complete engines. Could be wrong. Personally, as a cost reduction effort, I'd really prefer if WN were only to provide one full engine and offer others separately for those who just have to show each one exposed. Actually, since engines aren't "my thing", reduce costs even further by not including any engines and allow the individual modeler to purchase 1-4 Merlins separately, per their own whims. With regard to cost, per WN's website, they are trying to have the kit come in between $349 - $399. I'm confused by comments like yours about the mortgage needed to finance the kit. Maybe I'm an exception but I don't think $399 is a deal-breaker for an model like this (to me, the only real concern is the size of the damned thing). I see certain modelers bang out 4-5 (sometimes more) LSP kits a year, all of which probably cost ~ $100/ea (without including any aftermarket). And yet $399 for a kit that would probably keep a modeler (at one like me) busy for a year is somehow extreme? I just don't get comments like that. I understand that some folks on this site are on fixed budgets and this cost is beyond them but I'd be willing to bet that for the majority of the folks here, this cost isn't anything insurmountable. Not aimed at you specifically, just a general observation...

Thanks Ron. Must have. I would like to do a simple -3 conversion Doesn't seem to difficult. Hope the AM guys are reading this. Name's Pat

We've been discussing decals. The problem with massive kits like this is that decal sheets with multiple subjects (which is *OVERWHELMINGLY* what people have told us they want) are, by definition, pretty expensive with this much surface area to cover. OTOH, one or two-subject sheets are much cheaper to print (and thus, to sell), but overwhelmingly NOT what people tell us they want. I may break out my Silhouette and offer some combo sheets with small items like BuNos and other small markings silkscreen printed, and vinyl masks for the big stuff. No clue what the price would need to be. What do y'all think? J

i think you can get much better instruction and more accurate information here for free...

RWS is finished, like everything else needs dull coat I'm now happy with my camo backpacks..... eventually, they look dark in the photos

Cockpit continued : Just a sideline observation on the Quilted side-wall of the cockpit... You will notice by the photo - reference below , that the stitching on the quilted fabric isn't as even or uniform as you would expect... ( the stitching - diamond shapes) So in keeping with detail and observation and also a dedication to those rivet-counters here - I have followed the same practice here with my master internal parts.

I have been in touch with Kevin Bricknell and Noel Furber, both ex Mirage pilots that have been involved with previous projects of mine. They both have had a ride in the buggy and sent me pictures of the event. First up is a small video of Brick in the buggy. To me, this stuff is absolute gold and preserves the memory. click on the pic below to view. I moulded the first parts of the buggy today. This is my first draft of the resin parts so that I can check how they all fit together and see if it is going to work as a kit or not. First up was the boxing up of each part using lego like pieces. I constructed the casting blocks that the parts sit on using modelling clay. I vacuum degas my silicone to ensure that it is bubble free. Whilst it is quite possible to pour the silicone moulds without degassing, if you are going to pressure cure the resin using these moulds then you will need to degas to ensure the highest possible quality. Parts demoulded! the second best part. Examining fresh resin (the best part if it goes according to plan). Very pleased with the outcome. A test fit of the parts. These are the products that I have used. I have added a grey pigment to the resin as it looks alot better than its natural cream colour.

The drop tanks would be a great idea, and maybe some 108 gallon paper tanks. Other replacement items that would make a big difference would be the landing gear covers, and the inner clamshell doors, a Schick-Johnson seat, SCR-695 set, corrected cockpit floor and rudder pedals, K-14 gunsight. The Airscale instrument panel is brilliant so that is taken care of, but the rest of the cockpit could use some help, although that could get complicated deciding on which block number/time period to do. All that being said, you are already covering the most important and difficult areas of concern with the kit; the nose contour and the wheel well and wing spar. You've also done the exhaust and shroud which will be a great improvement. The gear legs are the other major problem, but that would have to be in metal of some sort. From the long list of items above I think the gear doors and clamshell doors, Schick-Johnson seat and maybe the gunsight might be good items to consider. The rest could be taken care of with some modelling and scratch building. Thank you so much for paying some attention to this kit! It really is miles ahead of the Trumpeter version even though the molds are approaching 50 years old. I've been slowly struggling with one, but your parts will make the next one so much easier and faster. And there will be another one started because of that. Richard

With the wedding approaching fast, I will have to take a pass on this years NATs. Texas next year, is nearly as far (both roughly 900 miles for me) as Tennessee is and will likely have to miss that one too, as we are planning a major vacation next year.

Thanks so much for following along guys..I'm back for a few days and am working on finishing at least one of them.Off to the coast in 10 days. Worked up a RCAF pilot last eve.by Mike Good..He is my favorite figure artist,have attempted a few myself in the past and cant even get close. Hope to post more shortly. Warm regards.Bill

Craig, Quoting you from Post #1, 12/22/14 --- "turn it into something resembling a D." The aft fuselage is the most defining characteristic of the C/D and your "taped together, in the rough" photos bear out that you have gone beyond simply "resembling!" I certainly hope your arm was long enough to reach back and give yourself a pat on the back! Good thing you've taken photos from the beginning. Once you've skinned her into a gleaming B-17C, no one will believe the meld of different materials you brought together to achieve the end result. You've plainly mastered utilizing acrylic to fabricate parts as well as vacuforming it. Compared to the frailty of other vacuform mediums, acrylic does offer substantial solidity and workability. I can only imagine the nightmare of attempting to join the tailcone halves pulled from the usual materials. Judging from how nicely the tailcone is polishing out, the tail lights will certainly not be "lost" in distortion. Keep astounding us --- MAESTRO! Terry

Wow Craig! This is such an amazing build and impressive scratch building of the highest order. Best of all, when she's done, you'll have something that no one else will have with a "C" model. Damn that is unbelievable cool. Cheers, Wolf