Dukie99

Just in case some of you are in London, the spit is in stock at Hamleys of all places. Just bought one there this afternoon, early and unexpected Christmas pressent to myself.

I will donate two kits this year: Mig-3 with a boatload of AM and a SBD-3 (without any AM unfortunately) Please enter me also as a potential recipient. Cheers and Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays) to all in advance. Cheers, David

This is a work of art! Well done. Cheers, David

Progressing slowly, it is now the stage where the hundreds of stencils dress up the bird. It gets tedious quickly, so I do it in 30 minutes stretches. I don't think I will manage to finish before end of November, but this is close to the finish line. Cheers, David

OK something to show tonight. I finished the main camo painting. I used the grey-green colors made for the SMT by Mr. Paint and I like the way they came out. I still have some touch-up and a number of panels which needs to be masked and painted but the main effort has been done. I hope you like it. Cheers, David

Thank you for the kind words. Just like Brian, I would love to have a Su-57 in 1/32 (and a F-22 too) and hopefully one day we will get one. In the meantime I have another 1/48 copy in the stash. There are other attractive schemes for the Su-57 and Reskit has come with very impressive resin cans in the parked position. Hopefully Reskit will also come up with Resin wheels in the near future. Cheers, David

Hi Guys, I finished this morning my Su-57. Not perfect but I actually really like the result. I should have done a better job at preping the plastic on the top (the plastic is a little bit grainy and I don't know if it is intended or not). That being said it is hardly noticeable IRL. The fit of the kit was great, low part count but still decent details and so it builds quickly. I used paint masks for the digital scheme and they worked great. The decals supplied are very good (I suspect they are made by Begemot but not sure) and work very well with the microsol-set solutions. The pit is Quinta and is a must for this kit. On to the pictures: And with its nemesis: Cheers, David

I am back at this one with the hope of finishing before the end of November. All my modelling mojo has been sucked up by SH-60 that I started for the Navy GB. The kit itself is great with tons of details, but the instructions are so confusing or non-existant (even after downloading the correction) that it kills the fun. Anyway back to the Mig. Today I put the last touch to the cockpit. The PE which Trumpeter provides for the HUD and the glare shield is very good and complement nicely the Quinta set which is great. I cannot judge for the accuracy of the kit but it looks like a SMT and build well, you still need a bit of filler here and there but otherwise I think it is a solid effort for Trumpeter. I got myself some Aires cans, which were designed for the Mig-29K or M. They fit but leave a nasty gap on the bottom where the cans join the fuselage. I bought some Reskit cans instead and they seem to fit better, but I need to finish them first before posting pictures. Here are pics of the finished cockpit More progress soon. Cheers, David

Any news on the AV-8B pylons? Will you scale up the wingtip launchers for the Trumpy F/A-18 E/F? I would be interested in a set of these too. I have purchased several times from you and have always been impressed by the quality of your products. Cheers, David

Brilliant work. Very inspirational. The Reedoak stuff is top notch and it will truly add to the build. Do you plan any fancy "domeart" for these helmets? Cheers, David

Hi Brad, this is exactly what the book said about the Gs acquired by Switzerland: poor manufacturing and serviceability. I guess this is what you get for making a deal with the devil... On the build, I have installed the hgW belts and closed the fuselage. The fit of this kit is so far very good and I am enjoying this build. Cheers, David

Hi Stefan, sorry about this I had no idea that this was the scheme you had chosen, I would have picked another scheme. This being said, I am not a Bf109 afficionado, I have only built almost 10 years ago, Trumpeter E in Swiss markings and I always wanted to do the G and maybe one day the D, in order to have a complete collection of Swiss Bf-109. The G in Switzerland has an interesting story, they were acquired in late 44 following a bf-110G night fighter equipped with Germany's most modern radar landing in Dübendorf, Switzerland. The Germans did not want the Bf-110 to fall in allied hands, and requested that Switzerland return the aircraft, which Switzerland refused to do on ground of neutrality. The Germans threatened to bomb Dübendorf airport or send commando but eventually Switzerland agreed to let the Germans military to blow up the plane at the airport in exchange for 12 brand new G-6. I have this book as reference and it is very comprehensive. One day I will buy the HPH 1/18 Bf-109 to produce a proper Swiss E (but I need to retire first...). On to the Revell kit, parts of the cockpit have been painted and assembled, not going crazy here, I am for a relaxing build to be done within the assigned timeframe... Now I need to build and install the HGW seatbelts and then I can think of closing the fuselage. Cheers, David

Love the Nightstalker patch. Is that metal and enamel? Would go nicely next to my MH-47G. Is that on sale somewhere or do you need to be one of legitimate sons of Ares to land one? Most impressive base for sure Cheers, David

I am like John1, I am very tempted but I have already the AH-1W and AH-1Z in the display cabinet so I was thinking of waiting for the 1/35 release so they can be posed next to each other. I hope the 1/35 gets release before Christmas. Cheers, David

I will join the GB a 109G-6 in Swiss air force markings. I had ditched the flimsy box shortly after purchase but it is still unstarted. The content of the box and the aftermarket I have for it, with some more on the way. I will make a start this week-end but I am trying to finish the MH-60S I had started for the Navy GB, which stalled due to a combination of Summer holidays, extremely poor instructions and lack of knowledge on the subject matter. I finally got to the painting stage and cannot wait to be done with it. Cheers, David

Hi Damian, Best wishes from Switzerland to you and your wife for a full and prompt recovery. your Bf-109 G6 legs are about to be put to good use in the Revell GB. Cheers, David

I like that idea a lot. I would be tempted by a Venezuelan Su-30, a Peruvian Su-25, Argentinian Mirage or Columbian Blackhawk, indeed lots of choices. Cheers, David

Very impressive! The water looks wet;) Very inspirational. Cheers, David

I like Martin’s idea of “oldest in your stash”. I would not mind a repeat of the Phantom fever or strictly OOB GB. i think it could be also interesting if we were all building the same kit. It would have to be something easy to find and relatively cheap like the Revell 109, 190 or P-51 for this to work. Middle East GB Duelist GB: you build two kits (over 12 months) of aircrafts that fought each other (P-51 vs 109, hellcat vs zero, Sabre vs Mig-15, Tomcat vs Flogger) Wheels up GB: any aircraft in flight Cheers, David

I made some good progress today, working on the cockpit. I had used Quinta set for a Su-57 Felon build in 1/48 and had been impressed by the quality of the product, but the Mig-29SMT set in 1/32 is even better. The fit is perfect, the resin is flexible enough to conform well to the plastic. I used Mig Ultra glue and it works really well. See for yourself: Looking at it straight on the panel is flat, at an angle the screens and dials have a glassy look which is great and now the rest of the pit and seat I highly recommend this set and looking at reference pictures in the Yefim Gordon book, it is also a very accurate representation of the real thing. More progress soon. Cheers, David

Thank you this is very kind of you, but I think I should be good on that front. Cheers, David

I will join this GB with Trumpeter Mig-29 SMT. I will try for a simple build with limited amount of AM: Quinta studio cockpit details, Aires burner cans and Reskit wheels. I did not find any aftermarket decals for this kit but I have enough spare bort numbers and russian stars from Linden Hill decals that I should not have to rely on the kit's decals. I may also use the begemot Mig-29 stencils but we'll see because I am not sure whether they are appropriate for a SMT. Box shot: The top part is an impressive piece of molding, the airvents are separate parts but the fit is very good: Quinta studio set Resin AM has been given a bath of diluted bleach and resin plugs have been cut, need to prep the parts for primer. The Aires can are not meant for the SMT, so I am not sure how they fit the kit but I will give it a try. I wish there would be more resin ordnances for modern russian jets. Reskit has started come up with a nice range but mostly smaller dumb bombs and rocket pods. I will probably go with some of the kit's ordnance. Cheers, David

Thanks Alex. I actually did build the 1/48 Tamiya kit at the same time (I still need to finish it, it is at the decaling stage) to use as a reference for the conversion (and to pose it next to my 1/48 Betty) and this is an incredibly good kit, the engineering and fit is simply the best I have seen. If Tamiya would ever produce a 1/32 P-38 kit, I think they would sell very well. Cheers, David

Woody, Thank you for taking the time for posting. I had no idea about the Dzus fasteners, so I learned something new which is really cool and I will know for next time. Cheers, David

I call this one done. It is by no means perfect and it is more an approximation of a P-38G than an exact replica but I think it looks the part and given that GMF conversion is no walk in the parc, I am really happy with the end result. I hope you enjoy. This is a beautiful airframe and if Tamiya had the good idea of doing a P-38 in 1/32 scale, I would certainly buy one or two copy. Cheers, David