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Thanks Guys! Thanks Mike, it's great to see you follow along again. Sorry to hear about your friend. That's brutal. Thankfully after lots of CT Scans and the like, I don't have anything sinister going on, but without going into too much detail, I do have lots of scar tissue due to multiple stomach surgeries after an ordinary appendix removal 3 years ago. Just bad luck I guess, so we'll see what the future holds for more trips. I liked your "work smarter, not harder" comment, which I used again at the end of this update. March 21/24 First a little housekeeping. I showed above that there are 3 blue hydraulic lines that stick out a bit at the front of the main landing gear, so I tried to create something that was close. It turns out I have a pic of them, so here they are below. Duane (chaos07) pointed out above some slight depressions near the canopy hinge, so here’s a pic of the one on the left. It has since been filled, along with the one on the right. Thanks Duane! The kit parts share many with the Block 50 kit, so some of them need to be modified. Although the blister removal on the wing roots is in the instructions, here they are again, since they are easily missed. Here’s a tip that helped me a lot. The instructions have you join the upper fuselage Part B28 to the rear upper fuselage Part A1 in Step 19 first, then glue the entire upper assembly to the lower fuselage in Step 20. While this kit is generally excellent, gluing such large mating surfaces all at once is asking for trouble in my mind. Instead, I glued the rear Part A1 to the lower fuselage first, got things sorted out, allowing the glue to dry and cleaned up, then glued the front Part B-28 to the rest later. This procedure allowed me to glue all the complicated fitments in a reasonable amount of time without being rushed. Gluing one big upper assembly to the lower assembly as instructed, would have been very hard to do cleanly. I find masking off cockpits and landing gear to be a real PITA, partly because its hard to do cleanly, but also because it must be done right if you want a successful outcome. There are no real shortcuts, but I have developed a procedure that I’m sure a lot of you guys use as well. Note that this model is now sitting on the same cardboard box I’ve used for at least 6 different models, using pipe insulation as a soft platform. The yellow paint is from my Harvard/Texan build 4 years ago, followed by my Special Hobby Tempest Mk V, Italeri CF-104 and my last build of the big 1/24 Airfix F6F-5 Hellcat, which all sat on this same box for much of their assembly and painting. More on that in a bit. I used a small block of foam to fill the cockpit cavity, then ordinary masking tape for the rest, followed by a liberal coat of liquid mask. The mask holds everything together strongly and covers small edges that tape won’t adhere to. When the liquid mask has dried, I apply a few pieces of masking tape, since the liquid mask is tacky and you don’t want it to stick to anything and come off. The landing gear bays were a lot harder to do, but I did have the advantage of having a central beam to attach masking materials to, since Part C27 will not be installed until the end of the build, right after the landing gear is installed. Again, the voids were filled with custom cut little pieces of foam, followed by masking tape. Everything was then toughened up with liquid mask, in this case “Mr Masking Sol neo”, made by Mr. Hobby in Japan. This is the very best liquid mask I have found, because it’s easy to apply but more importantly, easy to remove as well. You can’t say that about Micro Mask, which can be almost impossible to remove from small cavities after it dries. Again, cover tape to keep the gear bays from sticking to stuff, like my fingers, arms and elbows as I handle the model. As much as my cardboard modeling box has served me well for a long time, it was time to “upgrade to a new model”. This was created with a small acrylic storage container that was 6 ½” X 12”, cut down to 2 ½” high, then foam pipe insulation was added to the top, for a total cost of about $3. While I see that many of you use all sorts of contraptions to hold your models, I like this simple box a lot better. There are no pressure points to rub paint, I don’t have to adjust anything and I can carry my model around safely to and from my paint booth without fear of it falling off something. I just cover the box with a microfiber towel and paint away. You can flip the model around from top to bottom with ease, because there’s always a position somewhere that fits. One thing I’ve noticed in my pics above is that the leading edge flaps are usually up a bit when parked. According to Jake’s book, this is normal for parked Vipers, which are up about 2 degrees, so I will be gluing the flaps accordingly. Right now they are just dry fit. The other thing I found in Jake’s book and pointed out by Pete Fleischmann earlier, is that Block 25/30/32 jets have only 2 “fingers” that connect the flaps to the wing at the most inboard position. This kit has 3 fingers, just like the Block 50 kit, so it’s obviously a holdover not easily cut off like the blisters. If I filled the outboard finger it would be more accurate, but I’m not sure if this is “working smarter or harder”, since I kind of like the look of it, even if it’s wrong. I’ll think about it. Any thoughts? One thing that I did add was the so-called “ECS Exhaust”, which was basically missing from this kit. What prompted me to look for it, was because there was a small depression at this location, that I thought might be a flaw of the plastic. Checking my Block 50 kit, it’s much more pronounced, although quite small. There’s a great picture of it on Page 65 of Jake’s book with a half shroud forward from the hole in the fuselage, so I fashioned something similar out of styrene. So that’s about it for now. I still have lots to do and then there’s that super complicated paint job! I sure hope it turns out OK. Cheers, Chuck

Just in from Laminar Flow Design: The contents look amazing! I'll be doing an in-box review soon. Kev

It polished out nicely on the bottom! I should be able to get the same, if not a better result for the top half. It's hard to photo in the sun as its so shiny but you get the gist

While it might not look like it, quite a lot of work has gone into this one since the last update. Mostly filling, sanding, and priming! The cabin windows are mostly sorted now: I've also finished with the wing box on the underside: And that leaves just the awful forward section of the wing roots to take care of: Here's a reminder of what the real thing looks like: I don't plan to replicate this on the model, as it's just too much work, and perhaps not even really possible. Instead, I just plan to bulk out the area with some Milliput, such that it will take with wing root light and not look silly. The engines on this livery are blue, like so: So I used the kit engines as a testbed, and sprayed some Tamiya X-4 blue enamel to see what it looks like: Close, and perhaps good enough, but certainly not an exact match. The real colour seems slightly lighter, and perhaps a touch more towards purple - but I don't really have much of an eye for these things. I've got plenty of time to experiment, however! That's all for now. Thanks as always for checking in! Kev

Done after 3 months. While taking photos yesterday, I noticed that the undercarriage extension indicators were missing. My next project will be Curtiss P-40N Milkyway Wagon/Please Daddy.

Not really sure where to put this as I've never reviewed a product before but the new book from Crecy on the Macchi 200, 202 and 205 fighters arrived yesterday and simply blew me out of my socks.I was deeply into building Italian aircraft in 1/72 scale back in the 70's and 80's when I could see that well and lately my interest in trying again in a larger scale has been growing so I went ahead and bought this book. We had nothing even remotely this good to go from and the Italian publications of the day suffered from poor photo reproduction and paper. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of detailed information, drawings and best of all clear period photos that really show the design and construction of these beautiful 'planes .One thing I note in particular is that none of the paint applications are the same from 'plane to 'plane, even in the same scheme the motions of the human arm and hand are visible in the random application of the markings.A feast for the smoke ring aficionado.I am already searching for a better airbrush! Since losing a fifty year accumulation of books a few years ago I have been extremely picky about what I have replaced.This is certainly a book worth the modest price and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about these gorgeous aircraft. Best, Paul

Appear to be on a bit of a Mojo roll with a number of projects just now - including the Andover. Final priming/sanding of fuselage interior pretty well done now - and progressing on to the paint colours - white, light blue and grey. And tail: Blue skies, Iain

Some progress:

before joining the halves i made some intake trunking in bolth halves to prevent a see-through fuselage granted, the mirage intakes are very small, but still a modification i wanted to do

Including spaces, but not the quotes, "Silver Wings Fokker D.XXI" contains 25 characters. Kev

Interior mostly painted and weathered. I kept weathering to a minimum. That was hard. … Kelik 3D printed instruments are a joy to use and fit perfectly. Andreas

This is the fourth one they have built. What an accomplishment. Love the sound and looks of the Mossie in flight.

Another two mossies on the way- one for Peter Monk at Biggin Hill and another for The People's Mosquito. Great times ahead.

Silver bits are now done! I'll need to mask them off ready for the next colours, so I'll let the paint cure at least overnight before laying any tape on it. Kev

Paddling a KW 7 kayak on the River Dee above Chester, England, one evening in Spring 1969, I was startled when a Mosquito flew low over the river. I didn't capsize, but it was close! That beautiful aircraft was an unforgettable sight, sound and surprise. Years later I learned my pal, Keith 'Kipper' Davies, was aboard the Mosquito that evening. Kipper was an instrument technician based at Hawarden. He had volunteered his services for the Mosquito in return for some flights. Wonderful to see another Mosquito take to the air.

The only potentially flyable one I'm aware of Paul is the restoration to flying condition being undertaken by The Fighter Collection at Duxford - that's been a very long-term project having watched it slowly progress over the years. I'm not sure what the latest news is on it... EDIT: There was a fairly recent update on their Facebook page - Dec '23 - of them working on her still - so still promising. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=742211257943473&set=a.547708264060441&locale=en_GB Iain

Thanks for looking and for your messages. I'm thinking of trying on a mule for this BB'ing of the rather unusual wings. I preferred to take care of the green and red formation lights before continuing with the camouflage. The transparent parts are really too big. So I drilled them out on the inside with a 0.5mm drill bit, then applied a little translucent green and red paint. Then I glued these 2 pieces together with 5mn bi-component epoxy glue to ensure a very solid bond for the sanding to come. I let the glue dry overnight and then shaped and polished these formation lights with Micro Mesch 2500 => 12000. As it wasn't perfect yet, I had to apply a little putty to get the light/wing junction just right.

Hello guys, before answering one by one, sorry for the delay, some personal things have required my attention and I have not been able to make much progress, as for the radar cone, the tape simply played tricks on me but it is now repaired As for the exterior panels, they are from the same kit, I simply taped it with mask and painted it with Alclad II Steel, as for the support, the one I have is for 1:48 scale but it works for 1:32 perfectly, I personally recommend that I buy The one I have is a little flimsy and bad, it cost me 25 euros, there are much better plastic ones and it is not necessary to assemble it like mine, it is made of poor quality "wood", if you buy a support buy for scale 1: 32 that will serve you for the 1:32 and 1:48 scales I recommend this one https://ak-interactive.com/es/producto/aircraft-holder-large-msj03/ Thank you for your kind words, I do what I can with what I have, now you will see that the anti-slip decals are a little broken, right? They are placed on purpose so that they will serve as templates for the mig jimenez anti-slip, to simulate the lateral anti-slip In my case, my military life... I served 6 years, of that 6 years I had 3 detachments in Afghanistan, 2 for 6 months, 1 for 4, 6 years of my life I never set foot in my house, neither on Christmas nor on new year, nothing, you understand me. As for my friend, he is from the new batch, that is... he graduated from the general air academy and went directly to Eurofighter (officer school and obtained the cut-off mark for the combat pilot specialty, that is, in Spain goes by specialty) That is to say, the first 5 in promotion are those who have gotten the best grade and decide whether to be a fighter pilot, helicopter pilot, etc. The specialties would be: Fighter pilot Transport pilot (propeller) Helicopter pilot and those who do not choose to be pilots go as officers to the units they want, special forces, infantry, etc. Other pilots who flew the C15 (in this case our F18 are CASA 15 (C.15 Single Seat and CE.15 Two Seater) have never spoken badly about the F18 and even more so with the EADS improvements, but many took the transition course to the Eurofighter, I think they are going to Germany to do the training and they say that it is a delightful machine, really all combat fighters are a damn marvel haha and you know it very well, as for the eurofighter the differences are in the interface of the instruments, Obviously the Eurofighter is more modern and is in progress, the difference is that production is divided into three models or phases with a gradual increase in capacity in each of them. What happens in Spain is that we have few planes and many fighter pilots, they rotate among them The F18 that we have are destined for the Canary Islands are ex-USNavy, as a curious fact, the others were purchased at the time from the former McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing

then i cut a wedge from both fuselage halves behind the cockpit to make the italeri bulkhead fit

While I actually have the old kit in the stash, along with a ton of legacy aftermarket for it, with plans to do what I can with it, for people more sane than I am, I'd recommend grabbing a Dragon kit (or the Revell rebox), and sourcing one of the AIMS conversion sets. This will give you a better result with arguably less effort, but at probably significantly more cost. Kev

Hi Brian, Will do, I REALLY should master the pic posting anyway. oh yes, 63, if anyone was wondering.

I can absolutely relate to almost *every* word of that Denzil! Apart from the Global stash bit - my two stashes are only 50 miles apart... Iain

Well said by all, and I think we're all bitten by the same bug. In an effort to attempt to hold back from simply buying everything that looked cool, (and in attempt to fit things in the cabinets) I've restrained myself to buying only specific topics in specific scales, and difficult to find/rare kits. Which hasn't worked at all to quash ridiculous amounts of buying, if anything now that purchases are subjects close to my heart, it makes them harder to part with every time a purge is considered. And, as can be attested on this very sight, my Build/Buy ration is somewhere in the realm of 1/100. So to build what I already have will take approximately the same time as the latent heat death of the sun, let alone what I'm yet to buy. And let's not mention the stash on the OTHER side of the planet... AND this isn't even taking into account the other time consuming hobbies. Totally a first-world problem, no doubt, but we're in in good company. And at least it keeps us off the streets! Denzil

Hi all, This the pilot figure from 'Aviattic. I replaced the head from my 'spares', as the original seemed too small. Painted with 'Tamiya', 'AK Interactive' and Citadel paints. Weathered with 'Flory Models' clay wash (Dark Dirt) and 'Tamiya' Weathering Master (Set D -Oil Stain) and (Set A - Mud). Mike

"I, I just took a ride in a silver machine And I'm still feeling mean Do you want to ride See yourself going by The other side of the sky I've got a silver machine It flies Sideways through time It's an electric line To your zodiac sign I've got a silver machine I've got a silver machine I've got a silver machine" Hawkwind - 1971 To celebrate 25 years of LSP I will be building this iconic aircraft from the Cold War which has a myriad of nicknames, some of them defining the sheer speed and others the lethality to the enemy, or pilot flying the aircraft: zipper; missile with a man in it; witwenmacher "widow maker" (Bundesluftwaffe nickname); flying coffin; Ground Nail; Bullet & Blades; Badmash "wicked one" (Pakistani nickname for F-104As); Eiko "Glory" (Japanese nickname for F-104Js); spaghetti Starfighter (Italian nickname for F-104S-ASAs.) The kit The AM I hope to start this as soon as I get the fuselage of the AIrfix Spitfire together, but then again I may start tomorrow as I'm rather looking forward to building one of my favourite aircraft. Thanks for looking and happy modelling! Jeremy

Here I am showing my Williams Bros Gee Bee R-1 which I have just finished after several years on the shelf of delay. It depicts the 1932 Thompson Trophy winner and was flown by Jimmy Doolittle. It's made OOB except for the propeller hub, which I remade from aluminum. I did not include the thin black pinstripes separating the red and white colors as I could not think of a way to produce them in scale. The pilot figure is from Immense Miniatures.

More photos for Jaro....

The image doesn't display, but anyway, if it's not a photo of the real plane... It's the lack of a photo of the late version D-9 that made me not buy this kit. By the way, it makes you wonder where the color profile designers got their information from. You'd think they were copying each other.

I stopped by my LHS yesterday during a quick break at work. They had a few kits set aside for me so I was happy to pick them up. The YF-22 is for a project I'm working on, I need the burner cans/nozzles from it. I'm hoping they'll save me a some scratch building. The Fisher kits came in from a large collection of mostly 1/32 kits. They knew I was interested in them so they generously held them for me and gave me first crack once they had a price. Nendless to say it's most I've spent in my LHS in a long time. It's also one of the things that makes me glad to have a great LHS. Carl

Managed to complete the cockpit assembly today, first up was adding the HGW seatbelts and then fit the Barracudacast plastic seat and armoured backrest to the Kotare frame and then the Barracudacast late control column to the footboards as well as adding straps to the pedals And the rest of the sub assemblies prior to assembly And the cockpit tub together Time to get the fuselage together now and then concentrate on finishing the wing conversion. Regards. Andy

Trumpeter 1/32 model, Kagero decals, Reskin wheels set, Phoenix cockpit, All colors MRP

Great news, but that paint scheme? Weren’t there any authentic markings they liked? Alain

I don't want to see the Duxford Beaufighter fly. It was a difficult aircraft to fly well and at this stage in history they should be preserved. But, yes, why not fit some Pratt & Whitney engines so that it might taxi around the perimeter at airshows as one of Duxford's special attractions? Or just start-up and run a pair of Bristol Hercules at low revs? I hope I'm around and mentis compos when a new 1:32 version emerges. Will be a treat to have one. There's just too much wrong with the Revell, not least of which are the hopeless toylike wheel wells, utterly noddy cockpits and horrible clear parts. I'm aware of the Model Monkey detail sets, but am waiting to see what Aerocraft do — if that's still viable. Tony

Maybe offer a prize to the most tenuous connection at the end of the build.

Just now catching up with all this...... Having a Lodela BF and having invested in the MM Beau interior parts I'm still a bit befuttled with the potential release of a new tool Beau, but I would 100% buy one from HK.

All military service is worthy of respect - we all know just how much we sacrificed to live that life. I say 'live the life' because it is a life, not just a job anyone does, and all roles are important. I must say there are many military jobs I wouldn't want to do, and I consider myself privileged to have done what I did. I'm curious - has your Eurofighter pilot friend also flown Hornets? What does he think of the comparison between the two? I'm loving your attention to detail on the exterior. This is a fantastic kit, and a good modeller can really do it justice (like you). The weathering in the gear bays is looking quite realistic, as are the screens. I suspect they are simply the ones moulded on the kit, but nicely painted. I did a cockpit with colour PE on the same kit. I think yours looks better. ALF

Gorgeous work.

The most challenging part of the build are the nacelles….take your time over trial fits and get everything well prepared before gluing.

So yeah, there she is, so beautifully rich in colour: Then I saw, what I thought, was a drop of water on the paint just as I was about to start spraying the clear, so being careful, I dabbed it away with a cotton bud and this nice present was left behind Seriously WTF!? You ever get one of those builds where the worst possible thing will happen at the absolute worst time? This is it in all its photographic glory. Urgh, why did I have to do a WIP? Now, I just have to fix it. I can't sand it back for a full panel respray as I don't have enough paint to do that. So, the next best thing to do is take a leaf out of the car world and stick a decal over it. As it is, I found some closely scalled water slide SW insignia decals on ebay and am now waiting for them to arrive. When ever that is. I did a mock up with all the remaining parts. The final fitment is going to be a challenge at best. There is a lot of empty space between the engine and the cowling. You could add more stuff and it would be visible, but I won't be. I know I can be a bit mad at times but I'm also not a sadist

Neil could have pointed his scanner at anything just to throw everyone off the scent? Even if he set it up in the gift shop the inevitable wishlist would appear.

The Sunglass Cover, Support Arms and Support assembly is going to be tricky. These parts have zero mount pins/tabs/joints. Make a jig using Legos. Secure Cover and Support Arms. Ready for glue. \ Using 2 part 15 minute epoxy I use a syringe with 14 gauge 1.5" industrial tip and draw a bead along entire inside of the join on both sides of the Support Arms and Cover. The long cure time allows minor adjustments before the glue sets. A nice solid join. All parts washed and ready to glue, prime & paint. After primer applied the outside seams of the Sunglass Cover are wonky. I break out the 3M Glazing and mix with Mr Leveling Thinner to a creamy paste and spread with a piece of plastic card. The Sunglass Support is painted Tamiya German Grey. Four mount pins are created with 1/8" plastic rod. A minimum of 4mm extend for each rod when assembles with the Sunglass holder. This is an exercise of careful and precise measuring. A dab of epoxy is applied to outside end of each pin to achieve a rounded effect. After full cure the pins are painted Alclad 102 Duraluminum. The Sunglass Holder is painted a mix of 1 part Gunze 3 Red and 9 parts Gunze 2 Black. 3:9 Using putty to secure the Sunglass Support I carefully apply 15 minute epoxy to corresponding hole on the Sunglass Support with micro tip applicator then insert the pins. The body is painted Gunze 116 RLM 66. The data plate is Gunze 2 Black. I drilled out the corresponding mounts screws and will add real screws after I whitewash the letters on the data plate. The reflector lens mount is painted Gunze 116 RLM grey then details picked out with Gunze 2 Black. The top ring will also get some Gunze 2 Black love. The whitewash application on the data plate failed and has been repainted black. This process is to bring out the engraved letters. So far it ain't working for me. The alignment ticks whitewash showed up quite nicely. This is a test fit and I'm really stoked on the look. This is far from complete. You can see I hollowed out the body with a 1/4" drill to reduce weight. I reduced body weight by over 3 ounces. The Crash Pad will cover the hole. The Sunglass Cover assembly is secured to the Sunglass Fixing Plate with one sheet metal screw on each side. This will allow final positioning before I glue all components to a "static" position.

No they aren't doing the Beaufighter, they are just scanning the engines so they can come out with a Lancaster MK. II. Jari

After a winter of bad weather, work has started again on the Lightning. Multiple paint corrections are in the process of being carried out. One problem that occurred after stripping the pitot probe of paint was that it broke in half through fatigue cracking - Trumpeter plastic seems to react in strange ways to glued and thinners. The upshot was that it was unrepairable due to its thin cross-section (I tried, and it failed again). I had no option but to make a new one. This I did by cutting a length of 1.6 mm diameter aluminum rod and filing and sanding it to shape (The length of the pilot probe in 1/32 scale is 70.3 mm). Derek

I also recently put in an Ikea Milsbo cabinet. I also put in the Ikea Skydrag linear, dimmable LED strip light which works quite well for me. Sadly my recently completed 1/32 Stuka won't fit in the cabinet.

Ouch! That sounds really painful! thanks, David! I just followed the color photos in my Detail & Scale book. The bandages get thinner and I made a little progress on the engine: it‘s not easy to place a micro engine behind a plastic replica of an actual engine. One needs to lengthen the engine‘s shaft and as soon as the engine is glued in place you can be sure that the shaft tilts. I work with brass tubes of different diameters and with micro engines that have a shaft running through the whole body. That makes a bedding from both sides possible. At last I locked the engine between firewall and „dishpan“, but didn’t glue it there. It remains moveable and thus prevents it from tilting. That’s the result of some evenings trial and error…

After some minor additions here is the finish line. Of course it could be much better, but that's all I could do This G2 will appear at RFI soon, with better pictures Hope you like it

With the wings getting there it was time to try out the new Dart nacelles for the HS780 designed and printed for us by Ladislav Hančar: HS780 on the left, HS748 on the right - quite a difference! HS780 nacelle prints - port side upper and lower removed from supports - starboard side as supplied. If you're not used to working with 3D Printed resin parts then all I can advise is take your time, use really sharp/fine side cutters, work methodically from one support to the next - and, whatever you do, don't drop them on a hard surface as they will probably shatter! Clean off any residual 'nubs' with a fresh scalpel blade and then true the surface with a good quality file. Ladislav tweaked the fit of the original HS748 components to fit the One Man Model printed parts from photographs I took - and has got the fit incredibly close! In these images the parts are just approximately placed in position on the wings - very pleased! Some fettling will be needed, but nowhere near as much as I'd been expecting. Onwards and forwards... Iain

Time for a long overdue update - I have been tinkering in the background - quite a bit of work, but not a lot of noticeable progress - such are the ways of a build like this. Wings - surface sanded with coarse wet and try on my sanding bar - followed by a couple of coats of automotive grey primer - followed by a few coats of my favourite yellow filler primer: Marks are where some slightly uncured resin (old stock - and may not have been mixed thoroughly enough) has bled through the paint. These areas have been scraped back to solid material using a small, round edged, scalpel blade. These areas will then be filled with superglue and, once that's dried, smoothed off with a little filler. This will be mostly hidden by the nacelles - but it's well worth stabilising the area to prevent issues in the future. Other than that, they are coming along nicely and won't take much now to get perfectly smooth, ready for surface detailing. Iain

Hello, my Fulcrum is back in full Czech's camouflage colors! This machine will be the Czech's 5918. Not even two Czech's Fulcrum had the same camouflage pattern... why???? This time I hope to be a little more lucky with the Tally Oh!'s decals... CIAO! Piero