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As usual, progress is slow. I have to finish a 35th scale AH-1Z for a magazine... Of course I was not able to simply build it but had to play around with my 3D printer which resulted in more work than initially planned. Anyway, a bit of drilling and cutting was required to add the remaining APU exhausts. Looks a bit rough, but noting to worry about: A friend of mine has already CNC milled the raised frames which will be added around them later on. Sadly, I have to cut and re-align the fuselage behind the wings again as it is not perfectly straight. That's the next thing to do. I'll keep you posted! Here's what's holding me back at the moment... not super happy about it, but I have to finish it!

evening boys & girls well Chuck, there isn't much to show - I only have a standard dremel with a flexi-drive and a small axminster C2/300 mini-lathe - I wish I had a pillar drill, a milling machine and a proper mans lathe, but alas not Thanks Chek - I haven't plans for a book, and I am not sure Kev would put himself through that again - poor guy had to go through 10k raw images to find the ones I had used in my build thread and do A LOT of editing! the time finally arrived to add paint... I am not a fan of the process and find it difficult (which is why I like NMF birds..), but I can't get away with it anymore so after getting the custom masks from Radu I thought I would try the MRP paint range (I used enamels on the Spit). I did some test runs to see how the paint adapts to going on unprimed aluminium and the results with the black for the tail was positive - it goes on really smooth and taked wire wooling without a problem so a start was made.. ..not too many in progress pics, but here is one of the insignia on the wings... ..I put a different black on the lower tail as there are painted over serials here that can still be made out, the idea being I put one black down, then mask the numbers and then the main black for the tail so there is a subtle difference in colour - also set out the rear stripe by setting down equal bits of tape to follow the line with more flexible tamiya white tape.. ..the MRP 'super matt black' is a wonderful colour and I am really happy with how it turned out - bit of a problem where some paintv lifted when lifting the serial masks, but I think I might leave it.. ..wire wooling the surface gives a really realistic sheen and naturally fills panel lines & rivets with lighter dust which makes for a nice weathered effect.. ..the rest are just glamour shots - the fuselage insignia had to be stripped off as the white lifted when I removed the masks, so Radu is doing me another set and I will do these with enamels - I also scaled the nose art name incorrectly so that is being done again too stuff like the prop, the gear and the 'sit' are not right as it's just jerry rigged for the photo's, but the finish line is edging closer... TTFN Peter

My good friend Juraj wa so nice to bring me one from Telford and in past days I have started to play with it I plan to build it in simple configuration with everything closed, and will focus on visible areas only. Would like to build it in the desert camo as included in the kit Againg great instructions included I have started with engines. While the fit is superb I'm not following color references from instructions mixture of MRP Copper and Gold MRP Back and Alclad Aluminium Alclad Aluminium and Dark aluminium MRP Black and RLM 02 details added and panted MIG Dark and Neutral wash applied Drybrushed with light grey gluing it together Thanks for looking jan

Hello a long time I did not show something, worked on our first jet pilot sitting on his desk US Navy, 2000 / 2015 era, roughly the challenge was to get it inside so, expect some adjustment depending the model you use. cheers Norbert

my last built : voila voila !

Well, the fuselage is put to gather, also install the front clear parts and rear stabs : The landing gears are also done: Cheers guys

Even without the required kit parts, it shouldn't be rocket science to build a 2000P from the kit. In a nutshell: Step 1: Sand down those friggin' diverter strips - RDM/RDI radar equipped aircraft don't have them. The diverter strips are a unique feature of the RDY equipped -5/-9 variants. Step 2: The characteristic IFF antennae can be easily replicated from strip styrene. Step 3: Peruvian Ps feature a slightly longer rearward RWR fairing. Again, strip styrene to the rescue in order to extend the kit part. Some sanding required... Step 4: Rear hemisphere jammer housing/antenna - sand down any raised structures. Step 5: Omit the original lower fuselage radar altimeter antenna. Ich würde mal sagen, nix Wildes... HTH Ivan

Thank you for the comments! I've replaced the hatch behind the pilot's head with a piece of brass. I've placed the kit part in front of the new hatch to show the differences in the hatch shape based on the photo references I have of the K-4. For those of you that are not familiar with the utility of Milliput, here is an example of the type of fine filling you do, taking advantage of the water-solubility of this putty. And remember... this is the initial application, no sanding whatsoever. The wingtip lights have been glued into place. The bulb areas were already recessed into the kit part so all I had to do was put a dab of clear red and clear blue paints into the holes. These will be masked off with liquid MicroMask. The resin prop blades have been glued onto the ends of cocktail sticks to provide a handle for painting. While applying the base silver coat onto the props, I noticed a little flaw... one tiny air bubble near the edge of the blade. This will have to fill after the silver paint dries. After a few minor touch-ups, the spinner was given a gloss coat and pastel wash to accent the rivets. A flat coat was applied to seal the wash. I still have to glue the spinner to the backplate and then paint/weather the backplate to match. Wishing everyone a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

A small update. I am adding bulkheads to the middle of the fuselage. Basically I am adding strength and defining the wheelwells. Cutout for the rear well. Tailplane. Overall look at major components taped together. This is an important stage for me as it gets me excited to see what it will look like. Dan

Here's hoping, as long as I stay on task hey? OK so I know the shape of the an/alq pods is off and if anyone makes a correction I may revisit and get some for this kit. But I found no pictures or reference to the type of pod Trumpeter wants installed on the center fuselage point, so I copied an existing part and will put that in the location. Mine is the yellow resin one, on a side note, if I'd known I was going to try this earlier I wouldn't have bothered adding weight to the nose cone!

https://topnotch-success.net/search/?wpcosearchterm=gladiator+ Used MASK20 for discounts direct from TopNotch

One more pic so you can see how they are sticking out from wings and measure how long they are, To me they are a bit shorter than FW 190. Hope this can help your K-4 modeling Regards, Matsu

Available.

A new WIP, a rare subject and an even rarer kit. I have always had a thing for this jet. Its unique look has always intrigued me. I built the Collectaire kit in 1/48th scale about 15 years ago and it turned out ok. But hopefully I can do a better job this time around. I bought this 2 years ago off of Ebay. I didn't even know that this kit existed until I saw it online. This is a homemade Vacform made by an LSP member. I wonder how many he made, just how rare this is. Did he made 20, or only 5?? No, I don't know where I will display it when I am done. I am hoping to have this ready for the 2021 IPMS Nationals in Las Vegas. Anyway.... After my recent move I have set up a new workbench and have started cutting plastic. The kit arrived in a loose plastic bag jammed into a box. All of the main pieces had been cut from the carrier sheet. The overall shapes look really good. The plastic is a little on the thin side and I will need to reinforce the wings and fuselage as I get into main construction. Here are some overall shots as I begin construction. New workbench. Still a little cluttered, I have not totally settled in yet. Forward fuselage and 1:32 scale plans. The whole enchilada taped together. I have already cut out the wheel wells. Length of fuselage is 32 inches. Rear fuselage. Thanks for looking. Dan

I am sadly stuck with my MH-53E at the moment - I haven't found a source selling litho plate for a reasonable price over here in Europe (buying it in the US would mean very high shipping cost), so I have to build something else. The choice fell upon the project which lost out to the MH-53E when I had to decide what to built earlier this year: an ERA-3B Skywarrior. I have a soft spot for electronic warfare aircraft and esoteric subjects, so the ERA-3B is just perfect as only 8 of them were built (converted from RA-3B). Two of them had the late CLE wing (BuNo 146446 and 146447); the idea is to build one of these 2 in the early configuration with the long canoe under the fuselage. I have printed the main components last year already. It's quite a big beast. It's basically an A-3B, so several changes are necessary to convert it into an ERA-3B. The A-3B is a "bomber" whilst the ERA-3B is based on the RA-3B, which is a so-called "version". There are several differences such as thicker canopy framing, different main wheels, no bomb bay, different APU exhausts and the entry hatch being located closer to the front landing gear bay on the versions. Here you can see the re-located opening for the entry hatch. The nose profile was modified as the nose of the CAD file was too pointed. One of the APU exhausts was already installed as well. The cockpit has to be built from scratch. I have made a cut to insert the bulkhead between the cockpit and the ECM operator compartment which is located in the former camera bay. The typical tail extension was drawn in CAD and 3D printed. There were at least three differently shaped tails, this one being the "early" version. It contained a chaff dispenser. The ERA-3B carried ALQ-76 pods which were also used by the EA-6A Intruder. Whilst externally similar to the ALQ-99 carried by the EA-6B, it is completely different in shape and overall dimensions. Luckily, Angelo Romano's excallent book on the Electronic Aggressor Squadrons provided the dimensions to enable me to draw the pod in CAD. More details will be added before it'll be printed; I'll probably use Eduard's PE parts for the heat sink radiators, just like Rich did in his excellent EA-6A conversion thread. The canoe was drawn and printed as well; it initially was too short but has been lengthened in the meantime. That's where I am at the moment; I hope this one continue to run smoothly - I'd love to finish this one until end of 2020 which would mean a new record for me. We'll see!

This time in my opinion ofcourse, one of the most beautiful combat aircraft in the world. I mean only aesthetic values especially during the flight. MiG-29A with the side number 111 of the Polish Air Force. Model is Trumpeter 1:32 scale made straight from the box. I must admit that the Trumpeter model is quite well made and doesn't cause problems. Decals are made to order ModelMaker, I add that the position and aplikation of the wheel requires a lot of patience. I hope you enjoy watching this model.

Hello all Back to usual stuff...Messerschmits !!! Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 flown by Hpt. Hans von Hahn Kommandeur of I./JG3 in July 1941. Well known Hasegawa model was a pleasure to build. Used Model Master Authentic RLM 70/74/75/76 colors with Eagle Cals decals. Varnish as usual was Valejo. Thx to LSP Mike for help with decals

Hello all, I have been rather busy working of late but I have found time between working with real aircraft to finish my F-4D. Im sure many are aware that the Tamiya kit is a dream to build and goes together very well, I used Mr Colour paint which I believe are the best on the market at the moment, the colours I used were 303 (FS34102), 310 ((FS 30219) and 320 (Dark Green)……….and black for the bottom :-) Sadly the decals were in a poor state and fragmented as soon as they hit the water, so I purchased the Warbirds Decals set (32009) which were superb and set well on the aircraft and into any details very well and recommended. I didn't like the fit of the intakes to the ducting, so I thought it a far better idea to use the Quickboost (QB 32089) set of intake covers. The seats are aftermarket, but I cant tell you who made them as they came free with the kit (from a certain auction site) All the weapon pylons are removable, this is done using small earth magnets in the wings and pylon locations. I hope you like it, it is certainly my best build so far. All comments are welcome, thanks for looking

announced on HB website not sure if it was mentioned here already http://hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=150 jan

The interior is done with the exception of the windows which are still to go in. I’ve only really painted what will be seen and even then I think that is wishful thinking in the nose and waist Gun position! Fuselage join next and then onto the wings. cheers matt

wow, this is going to be an adventure! I too had to google the aircraft - what an amazing bird - and massive in 1/32 I love your way of doing things Dan - quite fearless and carving your own path (literally...) Peter

Very impressive, as ever.

Wow! It makes me want to get a modern navy jet just to have a reason to buy one. Excellent work.

"Working" from home to-day , so some pice, and yes I live and indeed model is something resembling a bomb site , the scots have a phrase, "Clarty but Cosy", translated it approximates to , yes its a mess but its my mess,,, Ok enough with the self justification , General view of the fuselage halves taped together and the airbrake area removed to be replaces with the Resin pieces At this moment the File is my goto tool! A general view of the cockpit bits The Tub in detail As I said , a little rough , but workable! Also in the pic is the pilots IP , prepped for my Airscaling efforts later to-day , Poor Thing!

Hello everybody So things continue WIngs were assembled with two mains works - Correct the main default of the Hasegawa kit : the landing gear bay. I use the Quikboost set. It's a hard work to install it and i think it must have been simple to scratch on hasegawa parts... They were first airbrushed with RLM 02, and brush painted with Prince August. Weathering with oils, Prince August for scratches. - Riveting was made with a jewellery punch and a MDC guide. It's long but the result is amazing : very light and soft. Try not do do this in a one shot... little sessions of 10 minutes is my recipe... Thanks for your comments ;-) Matt

A friend at work used to work on Tomcats with VF-101 and approached me to build him a model to display on his desk at work. Not being a jet guy, but helicopters, I reluctantly agreed. He pretty much said that it doesn't have to be contest quality (though I'll still try). This is my progress so far. That's all for now. Comments and critiques welcome!

Yes but I was surprised to see them plumbed up as fuel tanks as well. Given the overwhelming amount of supplies the US had in hand, I’m surprised they would have resorted to using German tanks. Would make for a cool model.

There sems to be an aeroplane somewhere in all those threads Richard

There are no rules stating that all posts in a thread have to relate directly to the topic in the title, Karim responded to requests to post photos of his model - incidentally HpH have been producing 1/32 kits for much longer than Kitty Hawk, and unsurprising have a larger catalogue. To suggest that the mention of the 1/18 kit is an attempt at thread hijacking is beyond comprehension. If in future you find any posts offensive please use the report function so the staff can deal with it, and no thread drift occurs, thanks.

Great model . Perhaps the bomb went straight onto the aircraft after delivery, without spending time in the bomb dump.

Hi Guys. Here's roughly where we were at: Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Now I wasn't happy with the ladder, it didn't look safe and it would be awkward to get off it into the cockpit, so I thought "we need a stand" I happened to have some Evergreen rod (actually tube), some plasticard and another hairbrained scheme. So here goes: This was my design sketch! Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr My starting point was the Special Hobby V-1 trolley - a chassis with some wheels and tow bars, that's half way there, surely? Here it is with some V-1 specific details removed and a start on the frame vertical rods. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Not much yet, is it? Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Starting the end frames. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Progress! Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Wobbly at this point. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr End frames, the underside of the top platform and some diagonal struts. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Adding the diagonal bracing: Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Bracing done and the access ladder in place. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Adding the safety rail. It's very basic, not up to modern safety standards. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr AS it stands right now, ready to paint. I'll give it a day to let the cement dry fully and check the whole thing hasn't twisted. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr An earlier test run against the fuselage to check access into the He-162. It's high enough to allow the pilot to step over the sill into the cockpit easily. Also enough room for a crewman to assist him. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr Hope you like it, I think it's better than the plain ladder, you may think otherwise. Regards, Bruce Crosby

Just talked to HKM, they will sell me a new frame for a very reasonable amount. Super customer service !!!! Way to go HKM. Only thing is that it wont be made 'till mid december. But as my friend said - finish with a glass piece fitted with white glue and replace once you get the replacement. Will do

Seams dealt with...mostly I hope. It's starting to look like a super bug. Landing gear being fitted here vertical empennage glued and seams filled, elevators just taped on right now. It's a really big model! Thanks for looking

sooo... since last time, I've been sorting seams on the fuselage - quite a task - and rescribing and riveting. I've painted the wings first time I've been working on the nose interior BUT... picking up the clear part frame, I notice this... a nasty crack in the top nose clear part - dont know when it happened. I guess that effectively ends the group build for me - at least I wont be able to make it within the deadline... Pretty devastated over it. Will try to fix and try to get a new one from HK (is that possible?)... I think I need a beer

All- Happy Thanksgiving to those that are celebrating tomorrow. I hope it is a great time of fellowship with your families, both blood and chosen! When I left you last, I was completing some upgrades/corrections to the cockpit. I have since completed some of those, and wanted to share the progress with you. The pilot's pedestal has been lowered, and the support framework has been added. The control wheel has been upgraded with the brake lever and the center cap, and I boxed in the column itself. I also added the control cables for the control wheel below the pedestal, as these will be visible from the nose to the keen eye that looks inside: 76978619_423979045215840_7982335116347179008_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr 77006274_2839194226114116_6833098152514420736_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr 76726111_473347983567332_3309174719911034880_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr The conversion of the pilot's seat has been completed as well. I extended the rear seat pad at the bottom to better represent a full cushion once the lower pad was removed from the kit part: 72985956_2823751524336486_3125124599499456512_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr And here it's blue-tac'd in place on the pedestal. Pretty pleased with the result: 76686426_1015083235501409_6044080808761753600_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr 76779594_2509705899127561_5003582568503705600_n by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr That's all for today. I will have more to post on the turrets next time, as work has continued on them. Hoping for some bench time tomorrow with the holiday! As always, comments and critiques are welcome. Thanks folks! - Dennis S. Thornton, CO USA

Colour is on! Between moving my stuff, work and other distractions there was a small window of oppurtunity to spray some paint. All masks were placed over the insignia and the edges were sealed with liquid mask. Painitng started with the underside - RLM78 from MRP. I let the pictures speak for themselves and I'll save my words for later. As you can see the lower cowl didn't recieve any RLM78. The reason is that I discovered something during painting. I was looking on some photos to determine the demarcaton between RLM78 and 79 and suddenly realized that there was another colour on the lower cowl. I guess it's the typical yellow. What do you guys think? And since I'm already at it: the spinner seems to be in two different colours. One is white and the other one could be red or anything else... I'm looking for pictures of other planes from 2.(H)/14 - maybe there's some information hidden. That's it so far Joachim

Hi Guys, It's not quite finished, there's nowhere to put a model that big in my little house. So I went to the BMSS model show at Bristol yesterday and bought some paint and this base. It needs sanding and sealing and painting and, well, everything really. The launch trolleys were meant to be used on hard runways so it will either be tarmac or concrete with a few painted lines and some skid marks. Might be a figure or two, might not. Untitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr So I'll be back with this one in a while. Regards, Bruce Crosby

Thank you for the kind comments and likes, everyone! Today I'll be matte coating the model prior to adding all of it's pointy bits. Guns, aerials, antenna, and pitot tube all are waiting to be done. I got Master Barrels MG 17 barrels to replace the kit parts. I had to drill the holes to accept the length of the guns. They'll be in a more staggered arrangement once finished. Inexplicably the MG 151 barrels are not included, only the flash suppressors. Interestingly, the AIMS conversion kit only supplies the suppressors, too. I'm not happy with my efforts, and hope to get them truly straight when I try to fit them to the plane. After looking at the Master Barrels catalogue I sent them a note asking if they were going to model them because my result is very fragile though I've mated the parts with copper wire and CA. I used my Silhouette Portrait to make the masks of the NJG shield. All of the paints are Tamiya and I cut the base from a piece of finished, knotless pine. I've always heard that the base shouldn't frame the model. So, the model sits at an angle over the shield. I haven't bolted the mainwheels to the base, yet. Thank you for looking! Gaz

Excellent work with that vac-form! Very interesting project! Alain

This is 1/32 Focke Wulf Fw-190A-4 with the markings of 1/JG54 Eastern Front in spring 1943. Base kit is Hasegawa’s A-5. I have used Montex A-4 conversion set for backdating. Seat and belts is from AML Exhaust stacks are from Quickboost Paints are Gunze and Tamiya acrylics. (RLM75/White/RLM76) All decals are from the kit and my spare box except for customized chevron figure decal on the fuselage Note the under fuselage mounted ETC 501 bomb rack Happy Modelling

I love the Whale. Landing something close to the size of a 737 on a carrier, with those old, slow to spool up engines, no fancy fly-by wire or HUDs, at night, in bad weather, with no ejection seats.... Those crewmembers had brass ones.... Looking forward to this build!

A little progress tonight. I gave myself a deadline of Christmas to get it done. Tim

Dang you guys! Couldn't resist a short nose Ki-45 for $112!

Progress: I closed the fuselage halves and began painting. I started with the underside of the fuselage, which has a speculative finish, according to the WNW instructions. Their interpretation is a series of transverse bands of the alternating five colors of the painted lozenge that is on the non-linen surfaces. Since this was not carved in stone, and without evidence to the contrary, I replicated the lozenge pattern for the underside painted surfaces. My first attempt was painting and masking with irregular lozenge shapes each of the five colors, which was suboptimal since I underestimated the size of each lozenge shape, and because it created a noticeable layering effect, resulting in the first colors appearing sunken. My second attempt used a lozenge pattern that I cut onto Tamiya masking tape, with each color labeled: I used Tamiya colors matched to the kit decals, and here the first color is ready to be applied. Eventually, and with significant touching up (meanwhile I was getting used to a new airbrush), I achieved this result: Photographs indicate that the fuselage sides and top were also painted with a lozenge pattern, then overcoated forward of the tailplane/rudder with Prussian blue. Because of this, I won't be replicating the entire pattern, but instead I plan to add the lozenge colors that are lighter and darker than the overcoat. To be continued! Cheers, Tom

Lovely job, Tolga!

Hi All! A tiny gap appeared on the topside of the right nacelle, I used some CASCO wooden glue as filler… ---but then I had This major gap on the bottom …. My favorite method how to handle larger gaps; first fill with pieces of plasticard and then lots of liquid glue… Not pretty… But after a few days I can shave/cut off the excessive plastic…. …and it looks already MUCH better…. Stefan

Wonderful stuff Peter! (Thx for the name check) So looking forward to the paint going on - Lopes is such a smart scheme Torben

Part 2: Hope you´ll like it :-) Bye, Bernd.

Hello everybody So here is the FANTASTIC Henri Daehn prop & spinner for my G-14 Work path was : - degrease - Alclad undercoat - The spinner received the Thunnus method : a coat of black, a light and unregular coat of white - I painted the spiral with a brush, try to reproduce the real effect (they were painted by brush it seems), i made a mask with my Silhouette printer and then sprayed a light coat of black (with a drop of sand to break it). - Blades received a light hairspray coat and then Gunze RLM 70 before scratchs Everything was weathering with oils and Aeromaster aluminium. Blades will later have a small coat of sand to simulate dust It is the first time I use the HD prop & spinner... There is no word to tell how fantastic job Henry made... Jewels !! Best regards Matt

The BUFF has had some more work done on the engines - I've sanded and shaped the home-made upper, over-wing parts of the pylons and all look good under some primer: DSC_0186 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0187 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0190 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Shaping the pylons on the underside was a lot more tricky as they are all molded identical, but of course the inner pylons have a very different shape due to the change in shape as you travel down the length of the wing: DSC_0201 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr I've also finished detailing the rear of the bypass sections: DSC_0195 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0199 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr It was a bit of a faff opening these up but worth the effort. And we now have something really taking on the form of the venerable BUFF: DSC_0205 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0192 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr As you can see, however, the tail feathers are conspicuous by their absence... better get sanding! Until next time, Tom