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Thanks guys!! Here are some quick phone pics of the latest progress... likely the last update before she is done. Wings are on, phew! That was a lot easier than I expected. Seats are getting there, dry-fitted for now: Under huge magnification: Cheers, Marcel

I made quite a few models when I was in junior high school, but lost the habit once I got into girls, cars, alcohol, etc. Now, 40+ years later I got the idea to try one again...just as a one-off. So I ordered the 1/32 Revell Spitfire Mk. II off of Amazon, and headed off to Hobby Lobby for supplies. I took it nice and slow and spent significantly more time researching techniques and watching tutorial videos than I did hands-on modeling. I put a lot of time into the cockpit, as the first thing I tackled, and it's now all but completely hidden under the glued canopy. But that effort gave me a chance to get my act together with basic painting, gluing and weathering techniques. I used Testors Enamels, mixed my own camo colors out of basic green, blue, white and sand brown. Used some acrylic canvas paint I already had, mixed with dish soap and water for washes, Crushed pencil lead for exhaust and gun staining. Some more watered acrylic for oil stains. Testors Dullcote for the finish. I was pretty slack on historical accuracy (e.g. the missing antenna). My priority all along was to have something I could display in a prominent place in my house and something that I would enjoy looking at. My focus was mostly on color and aesthetics. The Spitfire itself provided the beautiful form. It was a home decor project more than an attempt at historical realism. I've got nothing to teach the people here on modeling techniques. But I thought some of you might be interested in my mounting idea. It's a 1/8" steel rod (from the hardware store) stuck into some oak that I had around. I epoxied a piece of pine inside the fuselage with a drilled hole to accept the rod securely. I wanted something as invisible and simple as possible. I like this mount a lot better than the manufactured ones I see which, in my opinion, are too obtrusive and detract from the model. There are holes drilled in three different places in the oak for flexibility in display. The third picture shows the primary display spot, flying out over my library in a spot I pass by multiple times in a day. I love my Spitfire. Consider this post as my acknowledgment and thanks to a representative group of the experienced modelers, who helped me a ton over the internet with techniques, tutorials and advice in this effort. I hope none of you are too horrified by the ahistorical liberties I took.

Thanks for the wonderful pics Dave and great to catch up with you & everyone again I put my Fury in the comp & have to tell you when I walked in the competition area to place it there, I knew any hopes I had of repeating my best in show win of 2017 were misplaced. I saw the Warhorse model and knew I was looking at the national champion - it was simply breathtaking, such a unique and incredible piece. I was very pleased however to collect some trinkets I won Gold in the scratchbuilt class, the Jan Maes Trophy, the Ron Rowley Memorial trophy, the Scale Aircraft Modelling trophy and the Albion Alloys trophy. I missed out on best aircraft to a superb Avro York (by one point apparently..) as seen below In terms of the show, it was understated, and felt interim before it kicks back to normal hopefully next year - bear in mind there were none of the usual manufacturers so new stuff and announcements were extremely muted - in fact I think I only recall the Grand Slam lanc on the pocketbond stand - but there was no Airfix, Revell, SWS, HPH, HK Models, even our good friends & stand neighbours Copperstate models were absent so it felt largely like a model show, not a trade show.. from a traders perspective, footfall was lighter - Saturday morning was quite busy, but the customer base was largely the hardcore - either there braving the regulations & risks, or club members supporting their chapters - we did about half the revenues of previous years, with the same stand costs, and higher charges for hotels, fuel, food and insurance. None of this matters to me personally as I would be there whether we make or lose money - for me it's all about the networking, being inspired by the incredible models, buying some bits and meeting up with, or making friends Those are some worrying statements about brexit on foreign traders that I hadn't appreciated and I hope we don't see a permanent shift in the attendance Overall, we had a great time and I think we will see things bounce back next year - IPMS are to be congratulated & thanked for putting on a superb event under exceptional circumstances with a vastly reduced budget I also got a solid kick up the backside from my son in law about not doing some of the things we are repeatedly asked for on the stand and growing the airscale range, so I have a backlog of new products from the experience, so another great positive from the show for us TTFN Peter

hi all, sorry for start this topic just now, but I didn't discovered this section til now. also I fear I won't end the building in time for the assigned deadline, but maybe this will be the right boost to complete a kit that I have on stash since I guess 2003. it's a 1998 Revell reboxing of a 1978 Matchbox kit, wich I already did in my early teens when the latter was issued. in the years I piled up quite some references, but the book you must read if you are interested in this subject, is this one: the box in question spitted out a pile of pieces with which I have beaten myself several times over the years trying, and postponing each time, to give a little dignity to this plane, whose rendering as a model is correct in the general forms, but really crude as details. every time I opened the box I got discouraged and closed it again, after thinking a bit about what to do. so now I don't know if I can complete it this time, but I would like to put its direct competitor close to the Fi 156. let's start with the things I've already done, I don't even remember when: the wing. unlike the Storch, which had them fixed, this thing had movable slats, divided into three sections per side. the two outer sections automatically extended when the speed ran out, lowering the stall speed, while the inner section not only did the same thing (at a lower speed) but was mechanically linked to the flaps, making landing operations at low speed very simpler from the point of view of surface management (we will talk later about tailplane trimming). pity that the model provides the wing with the slats nailed closed (which is quite rare, on the ground) the flaps retracted and only the separate ailerons. the mc-answer was to cut flaps and slats, and reconstruct the rounded profile of the former, while the latter I remade from scratch in sheet brass. this, I see now, is far from acceptable at my present standards. I think I have to revise the scribing lines (part of these are simply badly mistaken by the kit) add rib tape to flaps and ailerons at least, add some hatches and so on. the other thing I did, who knows when, is the exaust ring. the kit rendition lacks totally the inner part with the collectors housing from the cylinders. I did a master with clay and did a resin cast of it. this is also a crude work, especially taking into account the fact that nowadays we may find very good rendition of this engine, being the same used in the Gloster Gladiator and PZL 11, rispectively made by ICM and IBG. there is to do ... everything else, and it's a titanic job. the cockpit, very visible due to the large windows, is unwatchable. the engine yuck. the tail planes mh-mh. the landing gear bah. in short, I foresee a tragedy. I hope that the already "done" parts are less than specified by the group rules. honestly it seems to me that everything in this kit has to be redone by roots, and whichever will be the effort, it never will reach a decent level. if you can encourage me, I will need it! cheers, Paolo

After a lot of Googling and page turning, here's the "near-final" trial fit using Cardstock. I'm being judicious with rivets, but folks with a Silhouette cutter, if they choose, will be able skip cutting them since I drew them in a different color. I'll post the Silhouette file here, and also include an SVG for those who have other cutting machines ... or who want to print and cut by hand. I think .010 plastic will fit the bill -- the Silhouette can engrave the details like rivets, and then cut the pieces out. Gene K Edit: Note that the outer curved tabs are there for reference placement - they will be cut off in the final file.

Don't see many of these about. So there you go a few highlights

Provided the rear part of the model with plumage.

I've finally sat down in front of the puter after a REALLY busy weekend. So nice to chat to Juraj and Radu amongst many others. the show had a feel of almost starting up again and as has already been highlighted, had a more relaxed vibe with plenty of time to admire the views. Personally, I felt that during this awful pandemic, folks have made the most of it and been busy producing some new stuff for display. I genuinely got the feeling that despite the reduction in numbers the hobby is alive and well and has in fact increased in popularity. Peter from Airscale in particular has been busy "throwing together" a Hawker Fury which was entered into the competition and although it wasn't crowned champion, It had to be extracted from underneath a pile of paperwork after the judging. The LSP stand had a lot of interest with Mikes digital Flankers attracting a lot of attention, as well as his formation liberator. Roll on 2022. Here's a few of the Large scale highlights that caught my eye. Oh and Kevin was there too In spirit at least. Lovely Costal Command Liberator with 3d printed add ons! Continued

By most accounts after chatting to a few traders this year it seemed that they were mostly very happy with their returns at this years Telford. One trader was VERY happy with his sales and even said it far exceeded his expectations. Sunday was quieter but still active albeit in 'waves' on the day. Generally I think the feeling was more positive than negative and yes we did really miss our European friends but I'm confident as things settle down we will see more people attending from there. The show will be back to full size next year and as I understand it more than 40 traders who did not attend the 2021 show have confirmed their commitment to attend for 2022. Three non U.K clubs attended this year and said that the journey and entry was relatively trouble free. Let's hope that continues into the future. Incidentally, lovely to see so many friends again after two years of isolation. Keep the models coming, the tables were loaded down with some fantastic projects and they just blew me away. Happy days.

I have to say, I disagree a little with Chance's view of what Telford was. There was of course less of everything, certainly from the International participants, traders and manufacturers, point of view simply because of the hoops they have to Jump through to get here (Covid not Brexit.) Given the circumstances I think what we got was the best event possible and IMPS UK need to be applauded. One situation I was made aware of and that I had not considered is that if a manufacturer brings products into the UK they may have to pay import duty and VAT, something that they do not get back if kits remain unsold so this may cause companies like HPH or Eduard for example, to consider their position which straight away reduces the number of stands. I'm not saying that this will absolutely be the case but it may have an effect. Kotare had a virtual Q and A event where a QR code is scanned which put you in direct contact with staff members who were up at Midnight NZ time having a bbq on the beach and chatting to Telford attendees. Builders have been busy during Lockdown with and extremely high quality if not smaller, competition area, in fact I felt modellers had been busy across the board. Telford had the distinct flavour of starting up again and to compare this years event with any of the previous years would, in my opinion, be foolish in the circumstances. One significant development is around display tables. In an effort to recoup some costs, the organisers have avoided putting ticket prices up, or in fact increasing the charges for traders stands instead choosing to apply a charge to table space. Each club or sig will be given a 6ft x 4 ft space for free with each subsequent 6 ft table costing an additional £5.00. so for our usual 18Ft it will cost us £20.00 not an issue because I feel its worth it. Finally and above anything else, I got the sense that folks are just happy that something took place even though it was a small step towards "Normality"

Here is my latest project, namely ICM's lovely Fiat CR-42 model. Overall, this is a lovely model to build as is the usual case with ICM kits these days although there were a couple of things I thought could have been done a bit better. This is a model I have wanted for a long time and I'd dearly love to see more injection molded LSP Regia Aeronautica subjects tackled as Italy built some great planes in WW2. This particular plane is the fighter variant and was operated by the 75th Squadron, 23rd Gruppo Autonomo, based in Sicily in June of 1941. The decals are from the kit, but I have added some photo etch courtesy of Eduard. I've also enhanced the engine detail with some copper wire spark plug leads as well as some extra plumbing which I think is oil related. Here's a shot of the completed engine. This is the completed cockpit, to which has been added some Eduard etch as well as rudder cables made from wire. Work In Progress build here: Fiat CR-42 Falco, by ICM Cheers, Michael

Got the aft canopy glued down, and slowly plugging along in the front cockpit. Here's the pilot, complete with aviator shades. Those were a PITA. The macro lens is brutal, but helpful too, as I've already gone back and done some touchup to this guy. Still need to paint all the attachment points silver and get him situated to the GRUEA-7. That being said, as I learned with the aft cockpit, not a lot of the details will be visible once the canopy is on. Trumpeter's control stick is pretty accurate out of the box. I only added 1 sytrene rod along the base, even though it'll likely not be visible. As I was painting it up, I was chuckling at some memories: 1) Taxiing on the flight deck was always a test of the pilots skill, as the nose wheel steering required mashing the button with his right pinky. On newer airplanes, it can be a paddle switch, or it 'just' engages as the pilot uses the brakes. But always funny to watch the pilot sweating bullets as we taxied up to the bow and he's working the brakes and trying to engage the NWS to turn in a really tight space. To cap it off, if you got into too tight of a turn, the nose gear would come out of toggle and then it was essentially a free-wheeling/castering nose gear (which only added to the stress). Nothing like doing the bow dance and wondering if you would loose steering... 2) Had a pretty miserable mission in Afghanistan once. We were about the only a/c airborne as it was winter in the Hindu Kush. We'd taken off before the snow hit and were headed to support a TIC (troops in contact) up around Abbottabad. The weather was so bad that no other aviation assets were available, but we could still provide support. Checked off station to get some fuel. As we sat in the 'pre-contact' position (stabilized just behind the basket, before you're cleared to engage it), a bolt of lightning hit the Tanker. It hit up on the tail, traveled through the boom, out the basket to our refueling probe and out the tail of our plane. You could have heard a F...ing pin drop. No chatter from us or the tanker. I just looked at CKnot (the pilot) and told him to get fuel as the guys on the ground needed our help. We got our gas and went back on station. Did it a couple more times and ended up logging nearly 7 hours. When we landed (at minimums, in a driving snowstorm), we proceeded to maintenance control to fill out the post flight paperwork, Cknot told the Maintenance Chief he was going to write a gripe on the control stick. The poor chief looked stricken (any maintenance on that would essentially require airframers to re-rig the flight controls and then a post maintenance check-flight). Cknot then told him they'd need to paint the handle black again, as he'd squeezed all the black out of the stick during the lighting strike... I guess you had to be there, but it was pretty funny all things considered. (It's not often you'll hear a steely eyed aviator admit to any fear...) Anyway, as I was painting the stick, that memory came flooding back and I had to share. Hoping to finish up the front cockpit and get it all sealed up in the next week or so. Thanks for following along and putting up with my rambling! -Peter

Next Up Peters Lovely Fury! Its NOT an LSP but as if anyone needed inspiration...... Back to the 1/32 Continued

Painted wing parts of wheel bays.

I painted the wheel bays and air brakes bays.

I glued the wheel bays into the fuselage. I tried on the wings. Another fitting

From what I've read, Iranian pilots really liked the Phantom. It's speed, weapons and durability were put to good use against Iraq especially, conducting bombing, fighter sweep and reconnaissance duties, However when equipped with the Maverick air to ground missile, the Phantom found a new and deadly role; tank killing. Nearly 50 machines are still in service with the IRIAF today. The 1/72 Hasegawa Phantoms are pretty decent kits, although do watch out for the fit of the forward fuselage to the body and the fit of the air intakes, it can be tricky to get right and the better you get the fit the less sanding you will have to do. The instructions give you three machines, but I was not happy with the colour call outs, so I went with matching colours to the box top that I believe look better. I did use their suggested Gunze 44 flesh for the sand colour, but picked RLM 71 over their suggested Gunze 303 for green which I think was too light and I went with Revell SM381 brown. Gunze 311 grey was used for the under surface and RLM 70 for the drop tanks as the green here looks darker than the air frame colour. You will have to source weapons as only three drop tanks are included, but Hasegawa has put the inner pylons along with sidewinder launch rails in the kit. The Mavericks and launch rails come from the Hasegawa weapons set.

Almost 9 months to the day, we're done! Build log is here: If you remember this picture--it is the scene I wanted to recreate, but from the Kitty Hawk's 66-67 Tonkin Gulf cruise. Think it came out pretty well. Here's a couple more (actually tough to photograph) Thanks to everyone for following along and your encouragement. Hopefully I showed how easy it is to make a B out of the J kit. She's by no means perfect, and definitely won't win any awards, but I'm happy to have recreated the scene I had in my head. Now back to the Prowler build! -Peter

Hi Mongoose Thanks for the compliment. I was not aware of Aeromask so I will definitely look into what they have to offer. I initially thought I could upscale some of the decal profiles but soon realized the folly of my ways. Not one of the aircraft with the three grays had the same pattern. Some are similar but not identical , so I went with 54 which is the one I could find the most photos of, and then the hard slog of drawing the pattern on plans and cutting it. It is a great idea to use the Sillouette to cut or at least draw the masks. Aha, the question of touch ups. I managed to get a photos of the subject just after it was painted and then one at the end of its service, as well as in between. Both the factory finish and the extreme weathering are a bit extreme, so I will try and do one in between. One of the last things to do before the model is complete, is to replace the overscale static dischargers. I used 0.4mm plastic rod. (I think 0.3 mm would have been better but I could not source any in time) Sorry for the poor phone picture. The riveting should also have been a bit deeper but something to learn for the next build. Cheers Nick

A hearty thank you to Juraj, Dennis and Dave for the time and effort they put in to share the event with us, Thanks guys.

Having been lucky enough to attend Telford on the Saturday I felt it was an enjoyable show. Smaller than in the past for sure but that somehow gave it a friendlier, more cosy atmosphere. The continental contributors were missed as their stands are always chock full of beautiful models but most of the home grown clubs and SIGs had pulled out all of the stops. With fewer visitors it was easier to see everything and chat to folk. The more compact footprint made getting around all of the exhibitors possible, something than can be quite a challenge over one day and four+ halls. The event had a relaxed and happy atmosphere as far as I could tell and I'm glad I could attend. Cheers IPMS. dmp

Brexit had alas a MAJOR impact. There was a local modelling exhibition in Belgium occuring at the same dates. It was the first time I saw there the owner of an afv model company essentially specialized in Brit topics. He used to go before to Telford each year as obviously he sold a lot. This is not anymore possible because of the weight of the red tape process and VAT issue. In the opposite direction most of the book resellers attending our Belgian modelling exhibitions were Brit. I'm writing that in the past form as this is now impossible for them to come for the same reasons. And not very far from where I live you have twice a year the largest militaria event of the European continent. Guess what? There was not anymore a single British reseller out of the 600 ones who where there! This has nothing to do with Covid. This is just the consequence of that mess.

Thanks all for your encouragement. Always appreciated. Yes, Matt, it is a complicated way of bracing the wings, but very effective and I believe both stronger and no more draggy than cable bracing. It probably needed to be stronger than previous biplanes. I daresay that the inspiration for this may have some roots in the later German WW1 biplanes such as the Junkers J class and possible the Fokker D.VII. Also, of similar wing bracing to the CR-42 was the Handley Page H.P.42 around the same time as the CR-30. The CR-42 was the final development of a formula by Celestino Rosatelli (hence the CR designation) of a line of biplanes built by Fiat starting with the CR-1 in the early twenties, which was a fairly conventional canvas, wood and wire biplane and a 320hp Issotta-Fraschini liquid cooled V8. This was replaced by the CR-20 by the late twenties which was the first in the series to feature this type of wing bracing. It was otherwise similar to the CR-1 but powered by a Fiat A.20 V12 of 444hp. By the mid thirties, the CR-30 had replaced the CR-20 and was a major redesign, now looking much more like the CR-42, but still powered by a Fiat V12, this time of 600hp. By the time of the Spanish Civil War, it had evolved into the CR-32 which featured an Fiat V12 A.30 engine of the same power as the CR-30, but a more streamlined and smaller fuselage and later examples finally had a lift in firepower with the fitment of 12.7mm guns in place of the previous pair of 7.7mm guns. The plane was very capable by the standards of the late thirties and two thirds of Regia Aeronautica fighters were still CR-32's around the time of the start of WW2. While newer monoplanes such as the Fiat G.50 and Macchi C.200 were in development at this time, Italy believed it would need 3,000 new fighters for the coming war, and in 1938 Fiat proposed a more powerful version of the CR-32 to help the numbers, to be powered by their supercharged Fiat A.74R fourteen cylinder radial engine of up to 970hp to become the CR-42. Where the CR-32 could make about 220mph, the CR-42 could now get to over 270mph which was a considerable leap. RA pilots still loved their biplanes and the CR-42 was well received. The Regia Aeronautica now had a plane capable of matching the Gloster Gladiator which became it's principle opponent in Greece and North Africa in the early stages of WW2, though some CR-32's soldiered on into 1941 on the front line. Italy also earned itself some foreign currency from both the CR-32 and '42, with exports to China, Austria, Hungary, Venezuela, Spain, Sweden and Belgium. Of course, as soon as it came up against newer monoplanes, the days of the CR-42 in frontline service were numbered, but amazingly, some were still flying in Luftwaffe service based in Croatia a late as February 1945, at which time one scored it's final, though unconfirmed, air to air kill against a P-38 in an action in which two P-38's did not return. Typically, CR-42's role switched to ground attack and night fighter operations. The CR-42 was also the most numerous Italian fighter of WW2, with over 1800 produced. Why the preamble?? Because it's done. Finished. Completed, even. Praise be.!!! Once the wings were on, all that was left was the undercarriage and engine, followed by the lights and venturi, then lastly a little weathering. Undercarriage first; and here another beef about the design of this model. All that you have to locate the undercarriage legs is some very shallow indentations, mostly less than half a millimetre in depth. After scraping out the paint in each depression, as well as the paint in the central brace rod locations, extreme care is needed to avoid messing up your nicely painted and varnished model, especially as any pressure exerted on the legs will result in the rear support leg slipping and messing up your aforementioned nicely and varnished model. A pin at the back of both undercarriage fairing and rear support leg would have been very useful. Undercarriage beef #2. The lateral braces, parts D45 and 46 go into a hole with no backing of that hole on the undercarriage legs, making a knock knee'd model quite likely unless you check alignment very carefully and let the whole lot set well before going any further. Check the camber of the undercarriage legs matches. I let mine set for two days before setting it on it's own feet. You'll notice above that I've also flatted off the tires so they now look weighted. Next, and I'm very glad I did this last as it made wing and undercarriage assembly easier, I attached the engine. The diamond shaped engine mount needed a little enlargement with a file as the engine wouldn't sit flush with the belly fairing, and I used tape to hold it in place top and bottom. Also check left and right alignment as the mounting face is not flat. Lastly the lights, guns and venturi were added, along with some small amount of weathering. Before painting the guns, I drilled out the barrels a little. I also painted the leather facing on the top edges of the cockpit. I went looking for some pictures of CR-42's in service and the results showed very little apparent visible wear. So I've contented myself with some oil staining, sand discolouration around the wheels and wear on the back of the prop blades, courtesy of some dry brushing with a fan brush, plus a few scratches around the pilot's step and cowling front. My research showed nothing in the way of exhaust staining, probably because of the way the exhaust protrude so much into the airstream. So that's it for this build. An Italian WW2 fighter is something I've long wanted and I'm very glad that ICM have chosen to release one. More please, starting with a Macchi!!! It's a huge gap in the LSP range of kits. Overall, this kit is very well done as with all ICM kits and if you've built other biplanes, this one is no more difficult than any other. I'm NOT familiar with biplane kits, hence my trepidation with the top wing attachment, but I wanted to do this since it was released, though I decided to wait for the pure fighter variant. I'm very pleased with the result and will almost certainly build another, most likely a nightfighter. One thing I would do differently next time is to paint the white cross on the rudder. I thought the decal looked alright when I put the vertical stripe on, with no camo colours showing through. But then I put the horizontal stripe, after I'd put the crest of the House of Savoy on the top of the vertical... I'd also like to say I'm a little disappointed with the lack of aftermarket decals available, especially given the widespread use of the CR-42 and all the paint variations that such numbers produced. Very happy that someone (Eduard in this case) has done an etch set to enhance the build. My thanks also to those who have joined in this WIP. Comments appreciated and suggestions always helpful. I will be doing an RFI article with some other pictures, but that's tomorrow as it's 1.00am here. You may also see an update to this WIP as I'm seriously considering my first ever diorama. Pics to be posted here. NEXT!!!! Cheers, Michael Edit; 16/11/21. Link to RFI: ICM's Fiat CR-42 Falco

The rear windows are separated along the line where the clear section meets the frame.This is the same way that every other manufacturer, such as Trumpeter, Bronco, Airfix, created theirs. It is nigh on impossible to glue the clear part without glue marks. The ideal way to engineer the rear clear parts would be to include the frame with the clear part. You can see how the outer frame extends a lot beyond the clear part at the back and the edges. See the kit part: This does not make it "unbuildable", but it surely makes it a bit more difficult than it needs to be. HTH Radu Later Edit: I see that Petrov27 explained it too as I was writing.

Today’s a happy day, I finally got notification that my kit has been despatched.

I wonder if they'll stick to WWII subjects for a while. If they do, I hope they take a look at the twins as well. Bristol Blenheim, BP Defiant etc. If not, a lot of fifties jets are still not out there, I'd like a Meteor F8 amongst many others and I'd guess they'd be quite popular too. Oh to be a fly on the wall eh. Good luck to them anyway.

more 'proof of existence' than a proper update... with the job settled but some other stuff happening (like wife and one kid tested positive with covid, myself and the other kid negative....) I've slowly picked up the Intruder again. Some sanding, filling and scribing happening; the white bits are Evergreen I stuffed in there to close most of the gappery, it actually looks worse than it is. Some seams were also filled with CA, which is there, but invisible. I had to drill the center pylon holes deeper as it would not sit flush otherwise. I've also used some Vallejo plastic putty to fill some gaps in the main gear bays, again, stuffed some Evergreen sheet where it fits to add some strength. Unfortunately my compressor (which isn't really that old!) seems to have died so I had intended to show a shot of a nicely primered Intruder, but, alas, this is it. As I await judgement on the compressor I'm silently working on the landing gear and wing fold parts; just not much to show Finally, despite all the passed months, I still haven't decided on a scheme yet! I know it's my model, but any favourites? The choice is between NL401 in camouflage which I think makes a nice contrast with the orange seat cushions and red speed brake insides, NL413 with the characteristic black nose I like, or perhaps AA511 with the neat stylized AA tail code? (I'd need to add green noses to my completed MERs for that one, though) Jeroen

It would be a dream if ICM were to release a kit of the Lysander in 1/32...

Hey dmp ,

Agreed, it is borderline incredible that they managed to cram all that stuff in there PLUS 500 rounds per gun in that tiny, tiny space. Here's some imagery to help illustrate what an awesome feat of engineering the ball turret really was. I guess the hardest thing to squeeze in were the big, brassy huevos the gunners must have had to get into one of these things. I mean, look at it! Here's an excerpt from the ball turret manual explaining how to load the ammo boxes. And a link for further reading, if you're so inclined. Keep up the good work on your Fort! - Thomaz

I'm happy you are so magnanimous about it weirdos? In modelling forums? Naaaaah, only plasticly inclined overly interested styrenophiles

There are some real beauties there - thanks for sharing. One question though: what the hell has happened to that Liberator?! It resembles the Space Shuttle after it’s return through the Earth’s atmosphere!!

Hi everybody. Steve Larsen of Model Monkey here. Although this thread is a couple of years old, I received a message from a customer today that has given me some more food for thought about 3D-printed cockpit fit. Although I can't be certain as to what happened in your very different experiences, I have some ideas. First, a bit of background. The cockpit was designed to fit my Revell 1970s California-made black plastic kit perfectly and does so (see photo below). But I am beginning to think that the 3D-printed cockpit may fit Beaufighter kits made later by Revell in California in tan plastic, and then later still by Revell-Lodela in Mexico in white plastic, differently. Generally, customers report that they are able to fit the cockpit into the fuselage halves best after the fuselage parts have been joined together, using the upper loops, which represent two double-width fuselage ribs of the real aircraft above the wing spars, as an aid to positioning the cockpit. (On the real aircraft, the fuselage was attached to the wings by bolting these heavy ribs to the spars. Those bolts are captured in the 3D cockpit's design.) Although most customers report that they had no trouble with assembly or installing the cockpit into their Beaufighter's fuselage, I have been aware of the discussion here of two other customers who did experience fit issues 2 years ago. In the two cases described above, I understand the issues they experienced were the exact opposite. This tends to indicate that somehow, for reasons I cannot explain, the Revell kits' fuselage parts made in two different factories in different locations, were made (or became) slightly differently sized, or warped over time, adversely affecting cockpit fit. I can rule out resin shrinkage or variations in the 3D-printed model as a likely cause. The resin I use has a shrinkage rate so small as to be effectively nonexistent, even over time. The 3D-printers I use produce identically-sized models with no variation. So let's look at the three customer reports and compare them: DBellis reported that he has two tan plastic Beaufighter kits, probably made by Revell in California. He said his two tan plastic fuselage halves were a bit too wide for his 3D-printed cockpit. The 3D-printed cockpit is a bit loose in his California-made tan plastic Beau fuselage halves. Andy (monthebiff), who has a Beau kit made in white plastic by Revell-Lodela in Mexico, described just the opposite fit issue, that his fuselage halves were too narrow for his new 3D printed cockpit. The report I received today, matches Andy's experience. Today's report is of a kit also made by Lodela in Mexico, just like monthebiff's Beau. Keep in mind that the Beaufighter kit I used to design the cockpit was made by Revell in California in the 1970s in black plastic and the 3D-cockpit fits that model perfectly. This suggests that somehow, there are variations in the shape and size of Revell (California) black and tan kits and Revell-Lodella (Mexico) white kits. So what seems to be the case: black plastic Beau by Revell - good 3D-printed cockpit fit tan plastic Beau by Revell - loose 3D-printed cockpit white plastic Beau by Lodela - slightly too wide 3D-printed cockpit If variations in plastic kit size or shape are true, I am not able to solve that problem. But posts by modelers on this thread describe how two of those modelers worked to find a solution for the different fit issues each experienced with their kits made in different factories. Hope this helps. Revell 1/32 Beaufighter, made in black polystyrene plastic in the late 1970s by Revell in California, with Model Monkey cockpit.

Had a fine day yesterday, managed to get there by 8:20, got into a very empty Centre car park, no queue to get in the building, at the building door the centre staff checked our Covid vacination records and stamped our hands, once in our IPMS cards where checked and wristbands affixed. We were then shown into hall 1 which this year was just full of chairs with the food areas so only Halls 2 and 3 were used for the show, there was a small queue waiting to get in at 09:00. Had some breakfast and then in we marched. Really relaxing no crowds, no getting bashed by swinging rucksacks, we could actually get near the tables to gaze in wonder at the items on display, picked up my pre order of paints and masks from the Hannants stand, popped to the LSP stand to say hello and bought some bits and pieces. Sadly could not find a kit to buy, I will have to wait for Special Hobby and Kotare to fetch something out for me. Here's a few of my photos, just things that took my fancy. Covid stamp and wrist band The national champion, from the stage play Warhorse And bits other things that attracted me Forgot this one, if only I had a bigger house and more money. Cheers Dennis

Anything that will bond to two materials will bond those two materials together. Future is an excellent adhesive if evaporated down to a syrupy consistency, and any dried excess can be cleaned away with airbrush cleaner, Windex or ammonia. Straight from the bottle lacks the solids to fill voids and as such is a lousy adhesive.

A slight diversion from large scale: Valiant B(K)PR1 of 543 Sqn based at RAF Wyton. The kit is the recent Airfix reissue, with markings mostly from home-cut masks, Eduard canopy masks and Master pitots. Decals were used for the fuselage roundels and the few stencils I bothered with. Hopefully coming soon to a Phoenix Scale Publications mag soon. "Who?" I hear you ask. The answer is a new publications company which launched at Telford. https://www.phoenixscalepublications.co.uk/

I've been wanting to build this one for some time now but when I saw Model Monkey had been working on 3-D printed cockpit and tail plane update sets I decided it was time take the plunge and dust this kit down. When my update parts arrived I have to say I was super happy with the quality of these 3-D printed parts far far better than any I had seen before. I have always wanted to build a RCAF coastal command machine with a full complement of rockets so I also ordered the Aviaeology "Canadians in Coastal Command # 1 "decal set as well. Very impressed with the packaging from Model Monkey, everything carefully bubble wrapped and in perfect condition on reaching me. So first things first I will carefully remove the cockpit tub from its printing blocks and check the fit between the fuselage halves. As you can see, the quality and detail of the 3-D printed part is pretty flawless but needs some careful work to remove the tree from the main part. So with a quite day at home planned I'm looking foward to start breathing some new life in to this old kit! Regards. Andy

Hi, Hope you all had a nice day In addition to the Tomcat pilots of the 81 à 89s time frame, here are the versions for the next years : 89 to 98 approximatively, new HGU-55 helmet, which is still equiped with the old style cast bayonet receiver 98 to 2004 approximatively, the HGU-55 has now the lightweight bayonet receiver Yes, it is not a big difference... cheers Norbert

I like the sound of "doing what they love" - must be a good start to get a great kit, doing what you like the most?

There is no problem to find room in the nose as the full front fuselage is empty. Regarding the amount, this is quite difficult as this depends on what you add on the kit (resin, wing loads, etc.). So, unless you built it OOB I guess there is not two identical configurations regarding the equilibrium point! You can also add weigth in the nose and not add the wing tip tanks before having closed the kit. That way you still have the opportunity to add weigth in the tip of each tank.

Times like this I usually tape the kit together with all of it's main parts and sitting on the LG. I add weight as needed, then just a bit more to add for the paint and glue and any other small parts behind the center of gravity I might add during the build. This brings back memories of when I was a kid building models. I would go swipe lead sinkers out of our tackle box and then attempt to use a generous portion of Testors tube glue to secure the weights into the nose of the kit. And of course I would come back the next morning to find the nose of my model melted off.

On mine, I blocked the clear square rod in w/very thin styrene sheet, and had that glued to the clear part first (clear UV gel), making sure the clear parts remained clear before gluing them to the wing.

I hadn't noticed until I read your post, it's great they're taking a fresh approach, I think it's going to be a kit to treasure.

You were missed!

Ok where do I start.... So the WH belly insert didnt seem quite right and the Sparrow/Skyflash wells and sit of the missiles didnt look quite right either. Whilst studying and looking at cross sections I noticed the bulges for the 2 engines were slightly different in shape and in uneven positions. Note on the photo below the red line showing where the correct position should be and how far off it was. This photo is from way back when I spliced the WH resin into the Tamiya kit lower wing section We should have something that looks like this So I get to work scratching out the shape and sanding to reprofile them to match. Still working on shapes and symmetry As you can also see I have been working on the angle and correct position of the Skyflash/Sparrow wells. The Brit Phantom has a very characteristic lower back end and is part of the character of the airframe. See here how the missiles sit at the back and compare in orientation to the front ones. I believe this is really important to highlight the planes character. The shape down the side of the fuse is also unusual to accommodate this So Getting there but the Sparrow is still not quite at the correct angle and the well is now very deep and the missile dosent sit right/at an odd angle in the vertical Aaaah now I figured it out...look at how shallow those rear wells are. Well compared to what I had that was a big difference Notice also the square edge to the inner well, this was another area that I couldnt understand as I had a huge gap along the inside edge of the sparrow and fuse. If you look at my first image you can see how rounded these are in the conversion piece. So, out with the JB Weld and CA and fill the sparrow well and sand to a more appropriate shape and square the inner edges off. Now the Sparrow sits right. I also started boxing in the rear fin cavity, but I wont box the front ones as I will have Skyflash 'Drill' rounds fitted. But anyway I am pretty happy with how they sit. Still working on the other side but I think once I get my first coat of Mr Surfacer on it I will really see the differences. I need to order some Eduard Brassin Sparrows this week Phew! Glad I am only posting this build on 2 websites, this has taken me ages. There goes tonights modelling session LOL Thanks as always for tuning in Cheers Anthony

Frying the Bacon! I´t Sunday and time to have fun with the exhaust!!! First some of this SNJ aluminium powder....really good stuff! Used a dry brush and well...drybrushed it on edges and rivets and anything protruding Next a round with AK black pigment! I used a medium round brush to make streaks in the tunnel and get it into crevasses and around details. I used lots and it´s easy to wipe off where you put too much. Next to get some colour I used mig City Dark Dust ( a little favourite of mine) and a lighter earth tone pigments. I applied it with a little more thought than the black to get nice streaks and really hot metal feel. (you see now why I based the exhaust in such a shiny metal colour a I did) Then I glued the nether paddles into place..... And the AB-ring found its spot. And the contraption was then glued to the exhaust tunnel. And that was then glued into the tailcone.....upside down as it turned out, it does matter apparently Looking good! On with the droopy paddle.... A little cleaning was needed.... so i BROUGHT FOURTH THE DREMEL! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!! This is where I discovered that the tunnel was glued in upside down and....well I needed to fix that. And with that the fit was ok, there is still a big step all way round since the tail cone is smaller than the fuselage...and the seam is atroscious. Well that´s for another day! Todays progress. Cheers!

I arrived today and set up our stand - most of the trade stuff is undercovers and even Kotare who I was looking forward to see what they were showing is just a stand with flyers on it, so no trade pics yet.. I do have a few of the comp models though and as this thread is gratuitous will throw them in here.. ..this skycrane is not in the comp, but I liked it ..sorry for the crappy phone pics, and I only got these before it died, so hope you enjoy them - I also have the pleasure of awarding the first airscale trophy tomorrow & competition is tough - there are superb models entered TTFN Peter

Things have not turned out perfectly, but I am pleased none the less. The TBE is now attached and weathered, a full flat coat is now on, the chin turret is painted and weathered and the XM-158 rocket pods are painted, weathered and now complete as well. The XM-159s I had planned to add OOB were just plain BAD. Very hard to clean up, didnt look very good and would have detracted from the overall look I believe. So an offer from one of our own was just what the Dr. ordered! Mikkel (aka our own "Mebo" on LSP) has given me permission to display his work here, which is great news as they are really looking special. Mikkel offered to make some XM-159s for me, and so far they are looking amazing! Here are some 3D print previews. Really astounding work, with a variety of possible war-heads: Here are some first prints. Later the tubes will be represented with thin walled SS tubing: The 2.75" rockets are also really turning out to be a things of beauty! Loads and loads (no pun intended) of possibilities here for rockets: M151/M156/M230/M274 (10 pounder): M229 (17 pounder): M257/M278 (Illumination Light/IR): M255/M259/M261/M264/M267 (Flechette, Smoke,Submunitions,Training) M247 High Explosive: A first test print run of the rockets indicates just how small these things will be............but still amazing looking! Again thanks to Mikkel for all his hard work on these! They will indeed look spectacular when completed and on the model. More in a min!

Thanks for the compliments Alain. I am doing an Aggressor from the NSAWC at NAS Fallon. Not very colorful as it is all in different greys but the one I like the most. I think I bit off a bit more than I can chew. After making the decision I realized that decals and information are almost impossible to obtain. I initially thought is will be relatively easy but then found almost all the aircraft had many subtle changes in the cammo patterns. To add to this many repaints and touch ups complicate things, not to mention the extreme weathering in the desert. This is the aircraft I could find the most reference of, No 900945. Some guesswork on the bottom will be called for but at least I have reference of the top from both sides. After a couple of hours behind the computer enlarging some prints and cutting masks I completed the underside of the wings. Eventually the bottom wings done. This is the first time I am using MR HOBBY lacquers and I must say I am impressed with them. A small amount of white was added for scale effect. The topside will need some more attention as the pattern is a little different but that is next week's problem. Cheers Nick

Odd that your cockpit didn't fit the Lodella fuselage you're working with. Both of my cockpits (early and late) fit the Revell tan-plastic boxings without any problems. As can be seen, there is more than enough room vertically. And, while not pictured, it fits perfectly horizontally between the wing root flanges, too. So much room that it actually wobbles around in there a little bit, which allows adjusting the position without it being 'too loose'. If it helps, this it what I did to flesh out that area with my first one: Scraps of sheet plastic to cover the root hole and strips to fill in the sidewalls. Great work so far! Looking forward to more updates! D