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A couple years ago I went to the Australian Armor and Artillery Museum in Cairns, AU. Here, I discovered that tanks look much more impressive from the ground level than they do if you're peering down on your little 1/35 creations from above. So, I resolved to change my style of photography to make them look bigger and more alive. Imagine you're waiting in your trench with no more than a bolt action rifle and your wits... any blur... is intentional. Maybe they don't see me. Or change your perspective: You're now accompanying infantry: I tried to use some incense sticks to make smoke, but they didn't amount to much. Of course, no pictorial is complete without those detail photos: Those grills... the originals were unimpressive looking plastic. so, I milled them out, and replaced the solid plastic screens with brass mesh which had a scale hole size of 12MM. A friend gave me a PE set for another KV, but the sizes were all slightly off. so, I could only use parts. Which was ok, because all tanks look better without skirts. \ This has been my heaviest and best directed effort at weathering so far. At least five courses of oils as well as two courses of enamels. Chipping. Focused Rust. And of course a little bit of bare metal. The tracks and road wheels all got a lot of 3d dirt made of PVA glue and pigments. But because of the darkness of the tracks it doesn't show up too well. ...and I didn't want to use light dirt, because this tank is supposed to be in Ukraine. The legend "Kutusovets" means "Like Kutusov" or "Of Kutusov". Kutusov was the Russian general who fought Napoleon to a standstill at Borodino, and then chased him out of Russia. Anyway... thanks for looking, I hope you liked it.

Finaly , the development and cad datas are done, RBF and PD Version have different nozzles.... soon, I wil start printing .. here the nozzles of the PD : and here the RBF Version: All the best Bekim

Making more progress: I've assembled, painted, and added the propellor as well as the gunsight and instrument shroud. For the propellors I faded the RLM 71 towards unpainted metal on the rear faces per period photos. Closing in on weathering! Cheers, Tom

Fuselage halves went together

A couple more hours today (15 total) Trying out Bondo as surface prep. I like it, but you get like 4 seconds to work with it before it hardens (kidding it’s like a 45 seconds) . it sands easily. I’m happy.

Second update for today Instrumental panel is ready for installing

Workshop Update – The Duck Is Back in Action! Progress has been steady, so it's time for another workshop update. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve focused all my attention on the cockpit. It took me a while to map out all the cockpit wiring. The Duck was quite well-equipped with radio gear and other onboard systems. The cockpit looks surprisingly modern for a 1930s airframe, though much of the cabling along the sidewalls remains visible. I really wanted to capture all that wiring accurately. To avoid the constant hassle of delicate wires breaking loose, I decided to drill all necessary attachment points in advance. I used micro drill bits ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 mm, depending on the wire thickness and placement. While working on the pilot and observer’s floor panel, I accidentally wore down much of the surface rivet detail—there’s a lot of it in that area. Since this part is quite prominent, I first tried to restore the rivets partially, but eventually decided to re-rivet the entire panel from scratch. A lot of work, but absolutely worth it in this scale. Once all components were ready, I laid them out for painting. Since the entire construction is resin and metal, I used a black primer with a 1500 grit finish for good adhesion. From there, I started building up the surface tones layer by layer—a time-consuming step, but one I really enjoy. Next up: detailing the cockpit gear and starting the first weathering passes. The Duck is slowly starting to come to life. Thanks for reading, more soon! Lukasz

Here we go First step is some works on the fuselage halves

Time to start dryfitting, yes early stage but its a must due this frame construction that all fit perfectly and avoid some nasty unnecessary surprises later on in the building. The Eduard manual is not that clear about position....as the highlighted blue square is alot smaller than the base of the trashbin Yep then have a look on reference photo makes it easier Yes something like this, close enough Yaih what the hell are theese to suppose look like, pedals???? Hell no theese will have to go, scratch new ones real good reference pic..

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-06/restored-bomber-plane-hell-n-pelican-returns-port-moresby/105375796

I trial fitted the tailwheel this morning Andy, unsurprisingly it fitted to perfection! Aren’t I lucky Dennis…..trouble is I now want at least two* of Peter’s Typhoons now (and that’s being greedy! Oh I always stay on the right side Denis, I know which side my bread is buttered (comme on dit en Anglais!) Cheers Alan, that’s very kind. Also, see above*, I’m already contemplating doing a bubble-top using Peter’s car-door, kind of backwards from this one! It will be more straightforward, mainly the MDC empennage and some work around the cockpit plus the Squadron canopy! Never satisfied me!

So I'm mostly done with the major paintwork. Took multiple hours and a boatload of Tamiya tape. I'll repeat for the record that I truly hate painting white aircraft. The good news is that my subject is beat to crap so at least I don't have to worry about an immaculate gloss white finish. I was also a victim of my urge to rush the painting process. I found that I didn't properly apply some of the masking and then had to go back. I then accidently grabbed the model with grubby hands and left some fingerprints on it and then had to go back. The capper was after painting the red portion, I had to go back (again) and do some white touch-ups. I started spraying and realized that I didn't do a good job of cleaning the airbrush / paint cup. The white had a very slight pink-ish tint to it. Major swearing followed by major breakdown and cleaning of the airbrush and (yet another) round of masking and touch-ups. All in all, I'm reasonably content with where things are at. I still have some additional touchups to do. The hardest part of the paintjob, aside from shooting the white was the black exhaust panel on each side of the fuselage. Very difficult to tape, especially the curved section at the rear. It's partially mitigated by the fact that this panel will mostly be covered with very heavy brownish grey exhaust stains. I'll also be hitting the red sections with a few small patches of standard flat red. Looking the pics of the real aircraft above, it appears that the red was touched up with whatever paint they could find. Speaking of red, the Caracal instructions state that this color is Fluorescent Red. I have a couple of bottles of this stuff from various manufacturers; it doesn't appear to look anything like the red in the color pictures of the real things. In those pictures that I've looked at (of actual Navy aircraft, not restored warbirds), the color ranges from nearly orange to a redish orange to a dull flat red. In the end, I went with a mix of Testors flat red with 30% Testors flat orange added. I'm good with the results and after weathering, I think it will look fine. Here are few pics of my progress. She's definitely bright but that will hopefully go away once the weathering is completed. Rudder is just press-fit in place to assist with decaling, so disregard the gap. That's it for now, thanks for checking in lads! John

yeah really hope we dont lose them - have done subjects no one else has touched in 1/32 my build of one of their kits

So the "Godfather" has delivered as promised, so with his blessing, here's what arrived in the post this morning, all courtesy of Peter @airscale: Weighted wheels and the correct 5-spoke centres, I was tempted to fit the centres but it's such a precise fit that I feared I wouldn't get them out again for painting. Three-bladed prop as featured on the earlier car-door Typhoons: Each blade has a "key" which fits snugly at the correct angle in the hub. I love the fact that the spinner is hollow and separate, it gives options with the diorama that I have in mind. Main wheel covers, two part and just beautifully made: Everything is commendably thin....sharp edges! And the tail wheel....ahhh: Light years ahead of anything that has been available before. And the main undercarriage legs and supporting arm. I have done a quick trial fit on the MDC Typhoon, a flat filed on the round top will give a snug fit thank you! So first impressions of what Peter is planning for his Typhoon are, not unexpectedly, very favourable. I'm very grateful to him for taking the time to print these for me, it's going to add a lot to my CMK+MDC+Revell car-door with Modelu+Hornet ground crew! I have just started the camouflage on the wing tops, maybe some pics of that tomorrow.

A few good hours. I think it’s going well but it’s not very pretty. Faith required! 13 hours in.

The riveted parts were washed with soapy water to remove as much of the pastel wash and sanding dust from the rivet holes and panel lines. I can now start to assemble the previously painted cockpit components and install them within the fuselage. Here is the Aires instrument panel sans gun sight glued onto the front bulkhead. The seat and rear bulkhead were glued in next. The sidewalls have been temporarily taped into place to serve as position guides for the front and rear bulkheads but I didn't want to glue them in yet as I am concerned that the top edges of the sidewalls may not sit flush against the fuselage interior. After placing the cockpit tub between the fuselage sides, I can see that there is no problem with the starboard sidewall so I can glue that one into place. However, the top edge of the port sidewall does protrude too far from the fuselage interior. This one is glued into place with less glue, hopefully giving it enough flexibility for me to push the sidewall onto the inside of the fuselage. The cockpit tub is then glued into the port fuselage side, with lots of CA glue on the sidewall so I can stick it into place. After that, I can glue the fuselage sides together, using Tamiya Extra Thin cement. As typical on these aircraft models, the view into the cockpit goes bye-bye.

here in isometric view... and from below..... next Step is to add the Rivets on the noses Bekim

Here are the finished model of the Wingnut Wings DH.9a Ninak. I went with the boxart version. This would have me change a few things I haven't tried before - like moving the stitching and using the PE version + making the cutout for the observer. This was also the first 2 seat biplane I have built. Apart from a few mistakes, Im very happy with it 😄 Thank you all for the motivation along the way!

Keeping my eyes on the prize

So after much clean up and filling and sanding etc I have the propeller/ spinner complete So with the prop assembly sorted and ready for paintits finally time to decide on a colour scheme as I am keen to get this painted and decals on. I'm really not sure if I go for a 3 tone scheme heavily beaten up and weathered or a late war bird in glossy sea blue with an APS under one wing and a 75 gallon drop tanks under the other. I'm very undecided but keep edging towards the latter but also fancy a beaten up warlord with lots of wear and tear on the inner wings? Regards. Andy

Yes....therapy when its best, no rush here.... Some sort of antenna, that bow? Looked ar reference photo from one of my books that i got for this build... hmmm its twisted like a rope. Okidoki....snap its gone and new ones in place, copper wire from s cord is perfect, suits me just fine. Aaaaan remove em details on them boxes....jihaaa and they are gone, will be replaced with Quinta Studios fronts.... Geez i love this therapy work, small steps, and im not in a rush

Thank you Kev! Some FODs for Skyhawks available.... 32059 A-4E/F Skyhawk FODs type A 32060 A-4E/F Skyhawk FODs type B 32061 A-4E/F Skyhawk FODs type C 32062 A-4E/F Skyhawk FODs type D 48030 A-4E/F Skyhawk FODs type A 48031 A-4E/F Skyhawk FODs type B 48032 A-4E/F Skyhawk FODs type C

Thanks Mal, Jean-Marc, TankBuster, hurribomber, Michael, Jeff, Troy, Borsos, and John for your messages. The decals are by far the biggest letdown of the BM kit. They’re the wrong size, lots of stuff missing, and worst of all—as you guys already know—there’s barely any aftermarket stuff available in 1/35. And the AM decals that do exist? Total garbage quality... I did what I could with the Cameo, but for all the tiny technical stencils and markings, it’s just impossible... As for the yellow '1', yeah, that was a tricky and very precise job. The black outlines are like 0.1 or 0.2 mm thick, I think... I had to do a bunch of tests to figure out the width of the black outline. In some spots, the black edge was almost invisible. So I used some Tamiya tape masks to get that fine line in place, added a bit of paint, and it turned out okay in the end. Gluing the two landing gears was a pain—the alignment pins are way too small. I ended up using 5-minute Araldite epoxy and some CA glue to reinforce the bond. During the build, of course, I snapped the tail wheel—right at the thinnest, most fragile point. Managed to glue it back on solidly. At least I hope it’s solid! All three tires were painted MRP Tyre Black, and the rims were a 50/50 mix of black and Tyre Black. Bit of weathering on the wheels, then finished off with a mix of matte and semi-matte varnish. So yeah, my 109 is finally on its wheels! Still gotta do the spinner, prop blades, antenna mast, glue the canopy, and a bunch of other little bits that give this bird its character!

My humble contribution! The modeling world will be poorer without them! And in very slow progress!

This is always time-consuming... But the results are worth it. After cleaning up the PLW I shot a coat of clear flat with a little bit of white in it to help fade the bright blue. I then made up a little palette of pastels to add some more fade and tonal variation. Going for the dusty, worn-out look here. Below is the result. If I'm careful, this is all the masking off I should need to shoot the topsides. I started with overall Middle Stone, shooting a mist of white over the top again to fade the color. I decided to approach the camo in stages, so I did not have to wrestle with holding onto a model completely covered in putty snakes. Step 1. I worked out a convenient way to mask around the snakes. Placing a piece of semi-translucent wide tape on top of the snake, it's easy to trace the line of contact with a sharpie. Then remove the tape, cut along the line, and reapply. This was the result of step 1. Step 2 was the starboard wing and the cowling. And then the rest. Next up I need to cut my masks out and paint the roundels and codes.

Today's update

Another rare one here. Let’s go swept wings . (And right, no one makes an injection molded kit in 1/32) Tigger made a vacuform kit and I think some effort to make a 3D print is out there somewhere, idk. Anyway, I’m feeling up for a challenge much in the spirit of the Vigilante. Probably no 3D. Possibly rob parts from a 1:32 Thunderjet . I’ll do a take on the plane’s history tomorrow . Isn’t she beautiful though? The plan is to surface model it with epoxy clay. To keep it reasonably light,I’m building a balsa subframe under the epoxy clay. And I’m pretty confident I can final surface it with aluminum tape. I don’t think this is going to be mind blowing in detail, but should still present pretty well much like my Fury.

New start: I hope I don't ruin it

Hello, everyone! Long time, no post. After completing the "panzer of the river" dio back in February, I've started a few things but struggled to get anything across the finish line. Happy (very) to report that this one is done. It fought me most of the way, but by the time I'd gotten really frustrated with it, I was too far along to pitch it. That said, I'm more or less happy with the result. The decals have me fits and you'll see quite a bit of silvering which is just super frustrating. I opted for decals as I wasn't confident that I would be able to get masks to lay down in the wing corrugations. Turns out the decals didn't feel like doing it either. Oh well. I was really geeked about the Devastator kit when it came out, but in my opinion, Trumpeter managed to put out an aggressively mediocre kit. In that regard, I guess Trumpeter managed to capture not only the form of the real airplane, but it's whole vibe too. So, kudos to them on that front, I guess. (?) Anyway, the fit was okay in general, but I had it in my head to really detail up the interior, only to find that it's really really spartan. The whole bomb aimer's area is just pure fantasy and doesn't line up with any of the reference photos in @Dana Bell's recent book. So, it made it a real challenge to want to try to do any extra detail work on the interior. I suppose in the end absolutely none of it would be seen anyway, especially with the wings folded, but I would have known. That said, I did use @airscale's PE and 3D printed products to add detail where I could. I can't recommend these highly enough and they're almost a requirement in my opinion. Off the top of my head, I used the interior set, the prop, wheels, gunsight, wing fold, and twin .30 mount. All fit pretty well without having to do much fiddling with adjacent parts and the added detail was/is lovely. Thanks @airscale! I ordered the ASK stencil set as the kit-provided stencils are ridiculous. However, I would also suggest that the ASK set is only slightly less ridiculous as they are rife with spelling errors and their instructions seemingly have you placing them randomly around the airplane. Weird. I used the Gold Medal decals for the aircraft markings and, fortunately, they came with stencils and much more plausible placement instructions. Any issues with them laying down on the model are mine, not theirs. Highly recommend the Gold Medal set. Also, if you don't have Dana's recent TBD reference book, just buy it. It's a fascinating walk through a really weird, esoteric, and utterly mid aircraft. I digress. This is my rendition of T-14, George Gay's aircraft from VT-8 on the day he became the sole survivor of his group's attack on the Japanese carrier fleet at Midway. If anyone's not familiar with it, here's a short primer on the whole thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VT-8 Enjoy!

Well done! I assume that is a Trumpeter kit? Their range of KV's are pretty darn good. Edit: Oh, you are supposed to read the title, too? Which kit is it? Looks like the late cast turret version.

Yup, I have the same AM along with the Techmod decal set. I'm also going replace the Hasegawa r-2800 with this Quickboost version. Not a full engine, but a nice upgrade for $17. The distributor (or magneto?) is wrong, but I'll swap it out with my Trumpy P-47 (which is navy type) https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Detailing_and_Weathering/p-47d-thunderbolt-engine/QUB00032038/product.php?kw=p-47,1/32

As Matt has pointed out there have been previous attempts to do so by a number of reputable companies in the past and they have, to put it mildly, failed [arguably miserably] to get off the ground and beyond a tiny range of kits. Could that possibly be, despite all of the proverbial gnashing of teeth, wailing and the throwing of teddies out of the pram, that there was/is simply no market for it, as those who could support it by buying the kits, despite protestations to the contrary, didn't put their money where there mouths were and the manufacturers, recognising the lack of a market, simply stopped producing them? It is possible that 1/35 LSP might go the same way, who knows. But based on the current level and frequency of Borders kit releases I don't see that happening anytime soon and I for one am enjoying seeing what is coming. I am intrigued to see what would happen if Border announced the release of, what for some, constitutes a 'holy grail' kit and produced a state of the art 1/35 P-51 B/C for instance. Now wouldn't that make for some interesting copy, as my old journalistic friends would say! Greetings from the Kingdom of the Rheged, Gross.

I am quite certain that I will live to be 112. So SABLE is not a problem. Then again, I was certain that I was going to win the lottery 10 years ago. Hmmm.

Nice project Tolga but your cat looks extremely disappointed you have decided to start on your last Eduard P40 boxing! Regards. Andy

Not neglecting the Norton bikes. I printed dozens and loose about 3/4 if the print botching them during cleanup. The connectors and parts are just too dekicate. I only need 2 complete and intact prints! Almost there and then ready for primer.

I have 3 or 4 of the Trumpeter kits on hand, so yes, I have been checking fit, and I plan to vac-form the front canopy, too, just as Jerry/GMF did.

Max, don’t screw over the "Godfather"… you know the consequences...

Hi all, Here's the Wingnut Wings 1:32nd scale model of the Rumpler C.IV. The figures and refuelling cart are from 'Aviattic', but are no longer available. Rumpler C.IV, Serial No.8518/16 of Flieger-Abteilung (FA) 209 during 1917. The forum build log is here: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/102743-132nd-scale-rumpler-civ/ My PDF build log can be downloaded from the Build Logs page on my web site: https://mikesww1aircraftmodels.com/]https://mikesww1aircraftmodels.com/ Mike

Barrel and brake were primed and the Duplicolor went all sticky, so once that settled down I sprayed it with MRP primer which immediately ate the Duplicolor! After stripping I took the opportunity to play with some washes to see if I could find a look that I like. Muzzle brake still needs more refinement, but generally looks pretty decent.

Time for wings. This is really not that hard. Cut the shape and sand some airfoil. It’s admittedly a little thin but honestly I’m working on technique/tools/materials more than anything mind blowing. It’s an interesting progression in aviation models from wooden kit to plastic kit. It was so “space age” to embrace plastic. Wood was for grandpa, I don’t know. (And oddly enough that sparks a memory of my grandfather making me a wooden Helicopter.

I resemble that lable! Yet we keep buying more stuff, what a strange lot we are though,yeah?

For me it's SABLED: Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy Doubled.

Finished with decals on small parts. Moving on to the glider

I've been slowly working on all the little bits and weathering. Hoping to take it to VA in August.

You know, me too. This project, when finished, will be just over two years duration (my 1/18 Jolly Rogers Corsair was five years!!!). These projects become part of one's life, and when they end, life changes some. Cripes has been a different project in that it has been created basically out of thin air - no existing model in which to build and modify. So a different kind of challenge, and it has really been exciting. So yes, there will be a certain amount of sadness once it's done. It remains to be seen what I will do (or not do) next. I suppose it would be helpful to list what remains to fully complete Cripes A Mighty: Elevators Elevator tabs Rudder Rudder tab Tail gear doors Tail gear door drive links Attach aft fuselage to rest of model Final paint touch-up and flat coat Install main gear and tail gear wheels/tires (already fabricated) Install main landing gear strut fairings and links (already fabricated) Whip antenna and mounting bracket (mounting bracket already fabricated) Exterior mirror on windshield Gun aiming spike on engine cowl Install Malcolm Hood (already fabricated) Pitot mast lower wing Bomb shackles MAYBE 75 gallon tanks plus plumbing So this all will probably take the summer to finish - couple months.

Here we go; First step is cutting properly side fuselage window slots and installing not so nice looking transparent parts.

All blocked in, ready to sand. 10 hours in.

Started applying decals.