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The first is F-4 Phantom II full set intakes including either internal and all external parts. They are designed as close as possible to original, using factory scetches, but adapted to fit perfectly Tamiya's kit. We're also planning to make the same for Revell/Academy kit. The set is 3D printed of creamy white resin, so there unnecessarily to paint air trunks beyond external scoops.There are some renders and phone photos. I'll add some pics with the model soon.

Hi everyone! Well, here it is. Finally completed! Hasegawa's 1/32 kit of the P-47D Thunderbolt, depicting Captain Neil Stanley's Daddy RABBIT. The majority of the details were scratch built with the only aftermarket additions being a resin seat from Avionix and wheels from Eduard. This was my first attempt at a natural metal finish and for this I applied a variation of the black basing technique where the black was substituted with silver and the mottling was done with grey instead of the camouflage colours. Weathering was quite extensive was done mostly with oils while inks were used for the exhaust stains. Quite happy with the final result and I can now feel more confident in tackling another natural metal finish!

Greetings all Just started on the Kotare Bf109K-4. Although I have a couple of other kits from Kotare, this is my first build of the brand. Having seen the test kits built up and other builds, I was expecting good things, but wow, this takes it all to a new level at the moment. The detail is astounding, and the bit of assembly and dry-fitting I've done so far is just phenomenal. I don't want to count my words yet, but if this is a kit that needs any filler or serious remedy at all, it's going to be down to my "operator error". What really astounds me is the quality of the actual plastic. It's like the story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears....not too hard, not too soft, but just right! I can't think of any kit I've built so far that I've drooled over the quality of the actual plastic...no, not even Tamiya - and that itself is a joy to work with. I'm not going to be using the kit markings, but will be using the AML markings for a K-4 "White 5" from 1./NJG11 found at Holzkirchen, in May 1945 - night fighter of course! I haven't decided yet whether to use the decals - which look like they have a wonderfully thin carrier film, or use them as a template for home-cut masks. We shall see... I've made a start on some of the sub-assemblies just to get my head back into the game after a few months hiatus after moving houses The only thing I've reworked so far is the compressor intake - redoing the weld seam using stretched sprue, and scribing the intake ring onto it. I'm still very undecided whether to rivet the airframe. As the main colour is RLM 76 with a bit of mottling, it'll probably provide some nice contrast with the rivet lines, but the Germans also tended to fill rivets and smooth panel joints as well, so might be wasted bench time. Time will tell! Cheers Iain

Guys, This will be my first start to finish build in the WIP forum. Following immediately on the heels of the XF5U I’ve started the Halberd SC-1 Seahawk and have progressed enough to share some pics. I hope I can build it to the wonderful standard Red Baron achieved on his. The kit comes in Halberd’s traditional light green resin; the fuselage is hollow cast, the floats and each of the wings are molded as solid resin. Dry fitting revealed the Halberd’s usual near flawless fit. Halberd is easily one of my favorite manufacturers in terms of subjects, detail and quality and ease of build. I followed the kit instructions and started with the engine; the Wright R1820 engine built up very quickly. I painted all the major components prior to assembly, with all the parts first primed in Mr Surfacer Black. The kit firewall was then painted MRP Night, the crankcase and prop governor started with MRP Mig-19 Cockpit blue, which I’ve had success with in the past, but this time it turned out too light so MRP RAF Blue Grey was misted over the base coat until it looked dark enough. Washes from Mi:, Blue-Grey and Black-Blue were used to bring out details. The cylinders were painted in MRP White Aluminum at the top, and dark aluminum at the bottom, with MRP Anodized Aluminum mottled over the entire cylinder. True Earth Dark Metallic acrylic wash was used to make the cooling fins pop. The ignition harness was sprayed SMS Aluminum, a new fave, and the push rods are Tamiya SemiGloss black lacquer. The nine separate cylinders click right into place. The prop governor and ignition harness were then added, with the insignia white splitter plate filling the bottom of the engine. The push rods were cut from .035” (.9mm) rod. The predrilled holes in the crankcase and cylinders had to be opened with a twist or two of a .035” drill bit to allow them to ease into their locations. Once the push rods were cured, I added the 2 piece ignition harness in preparation for my least favorite modeling task - making radial engine ignition wires. These were added from .4mm Anyz braided wire and fit into predrilled holed in the ignition harness and spark plugs. A couple of decals were added to the crankcase to spice things up The engine intakes were dry brushed to add a little pop, and some thinned Abtieiung Sepia and Starship Filth oils were speckled and streaked onto the splitter plate, interior cowling and engine to make it all look operational The propeller was painted and built, The kit decals for the data block are printed in white, but these should be yellow, so I over-sprayed the cuffs with clear yellow to tint the text. The fit to the hub was perfect; blades are just press fit for now. This build is progressing very quickly and is really only limited to the amount of time you want to spend painting and adding additional details, although they aren’t really needed. Up next cockpit painting and assembly… Thanks for dropping by John

After a long break of doing nothing, I started an ambitious task. Two 3D printed models from Alladin Models, namely an IAR-99 and an IAK-52. Both will be in Romanian colors. For this project, I will also use a tow bar and ladders( only for IAR-99), printed by a friend. I made the decal designs myself for both models, and had them printed at Mr.Decal, in Poland. I hope it won't be another project started and abandoned, like I've seen before. Florin IAR-99 IAK-52

Just started my next project. Bought this kit over the summer and have been looking forward to building it. It's my first ZM kit project. Besides the main kit, I purchased the upgrades for the cockpit detail, instrument panels, wheels, metal barrels, and metal landing gear struts. I'm planning on building White 3, the main winter camo subject of the box art. I just started on the engine today and will post an update shortly.

All finished, Hope you like it. Video at the bottom. That's a whole three Videos I have on YouTube. I'll be rivalling Nige @Nigels modelling bench in a hundred years LOL

This build is the Kotare 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4, completed as my interpretation of Option B from the kit instructions. Here's the build thread: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/104689-132-kotare-bf-109k-4-adolf-borchers/ The aircraft represents a late-war machine flown by Oblt. Adolf Borchers, of III./JG 52, operating from Czechoslovakia in the final weeks of the war in spring 1945. Kotare’s K-4 has already gained a strong reputation, and after completing this build I can say it is one of the finest-engineered aircraft kits I’ve worked with in this scale. Fit is precise throughout, parts breakdown is logical, and the surface detail is restrained and consistent. Construction was smooth and enjoyable from start to finish. Kotare’s engineering allows the major components to align positively with little need for correction, which made it easy to focus on careful assembly and surface preparation rather than problem-solving. The landing gear, in particular, is exceptionally well designed and installs securely with precise geometry. The clear parts deserve special mention — they are exceptionally thin, distortion-free, and among the best I’ve seen in 1/32 scale. All primary camouflage colors were sprayed using Mr. Color lacquers, while Vallejo and Tamiya acrylics were used for weathering, smaller details and touch-up work. The underside was treated as a mix of late-war finishes rather than a single uniform color. The underside of the fuselage was painted in the greenish-blue variant of RLM 76, while the wing undersides and associated panels incorporate subtle variation between bluer RLM 76 tones and bare metal panels. These variations were kept restrained and integrated to avoid drawing attention to individual panels while still suggesting different manufacturing and finishing stages. For the upper surfaces, I deviated from the kit’s instruction profile after closely analyzing the tonal relationships in period black-and-white photographs of the aircraft. While the kit profile depicts a green and brown interpretation (using a brownish RLM 81), photographic analysis suggested a RLM 82 / RLM 75 scheme, with RLM 82 reading as the darker green and RLM 75 as the lighter grey-violet. I chose to finish the aircraft accordingly. To reflect late-war manufacturing realities, major subassemblies — fuselage, wings, engine area, and tail — were painted with subtly different mixes to suggest variation between paint batches and subcontractors, per the instruction call-outs. All markings were done using the kit-supplied decals by Cartograf, which are outstanding. Carrier film is extremely minimal, and the decals respond beautifully to setting solutions. The upper-wing and fuselage crosses are particularly noteworthy: only the white portions are decals, supplied as four separate sections per cross. These require careful alignment, but once in place they look excellent and avoid the transparent center sections. Overall, the decals were a pleasure to use and contributed significantly to the final result. Weathering was approached with restraint and built up in layers. After a satin clear coat, panel lines were treated with Abteilung 502 oil pin washes to suggest accumulated grime rather than sharply outlined structure. Oil modulation was then used to integrate colors, subtly fade decals, and introduce asymmetry across the airframe. Localized grime buildup, panel streaking, and exhaust staining were applied using Tamiya acrylic black and brown mixes, sprayed very finely and built up gradually. Chipping was kept subtle and done using Prismacolor and AK weathering pencils, focusing on high-traffic areas such as wing roots, access panels, and fasteners. Minor fluid streaking and tonal blending were added last. The overall goal was to convey an aircraft that had seen operational use, but not prolonged front-line service. A final flat coat unified the finish and brought everything back into scale. This was a deeply satisfying build from start to finish. The Kotare Bf 109 K-4 is an exceptional kit — accurate, well engineered, and a genuine pleasure to work with. It rewards careful planning and subtle execution, especially when modeling the complex realities of late-war Luftwaffe production. I’m very pleased with how the camouflage interpretation, tonal variation, and restrained weathering came together, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this kit. I’ll definitely be building another Kotare 109.

Greetings. It's been a while since I've posted, but I wanted to catch you up on my latest 1/32 project, Kotare's new 109K-4. I preordered a couple of them and am mostly complete on the first one. I'll provide some WIP photos shortly.

Hi everyone! Back with a new project! After the DH.9 disaster, I needed something to get my mojo back — still within the world of WW1 biplanes, of course. I eventually settled on Wingnut Wings’ 1/32 scale Sopwith Camel — one of the most iconic aircraft of the Great War. The kit in my stash is the Sopwith F.1 Camel USAS version, and for this build, I’ve chosen to depict HR Clay Jr.’s aircraft. A bit of history: HR Clay Jr. first served with 43 Sqn RAF to gain operational experience before transferring to the 148th Aero Squadron, where he achieved eight victories. He was later appointed commander of the 41st Aero Squadron, but the war ended before it became fully active. Tragically, he survived the war only to succumb to the Great Influenza pandemic in 1919, aged just 23. As usual, I started with the cockpit. My approach was similar to the DH.9 — wooden areas were base-painted with sand, then given a wood grain effect using red brown and my trusty photo-etched stencil. I used radome tan to create subtle wear and tonal variation, then unified everything with a layer of raw burnt umber oil paint, gently wiped off with a soft sponge. For the seat, I replaced the kit part with a 3D-printed one from GasPatch Models — beautifully detailed with realistic wicker texture and a leather cushion, making painting both easier and more satisfying. The wicker was painted in several shades of beige, enhanced with a dark brown wash to bring out the texture. For the leather cushion, I used a similar method to the wood: base coat of NATO black, scratches added with a lighter mix, and a final layer of burnt umber oil paint, partially removed to create realistic wear. Cockpit details like instrument dials, pumps, levers, and push rods were brush-painted in silver, grey, or brass, followed by a black wash to add depth, then sealed with a matte varnish. The internal fuel tank can be painted aluminum or grey according to the instructions. I went with grey so I could try out an armor modeling technique: applying random light grey chips with a sponge, then darkening the centers to create a layered chipping effect. It turned out surprisingly convincing! Finally, I tackled the internal rigging, using Bob’s Buckles and EZ Line’s fine stretch thread. It took a fair bit of patience (and a few deep breaths), but the end result was absolutely worth it — the rigging really brings the cockpit to life. Next step: armament and engine!

Not a lot of shark mouths here, eh? Endangered species maybe? So I will throw my hat, eh, jaws, into the ring, err, sea? Stay tuned! Something sharky with lots of wings. Am I am a Sharknado? A sea dragon? No, a Meerkatz! Meerkatz, this is. Regards - dutik

The Duck has always been one of my favorites, and, in despair of ever seeing one released in 1/32, I was seriously considering launching myself in the dauntring task of designing and 3d-printing it. Thank God, the prolific Lukasj of Lukgraph has come to the rescue and released a fully 3D-printed kit of the Duck. You can already see an incredible build log of the kit, by member Boch. I am not sure I will be able to match his skills in painting and weathering the kit, but his build is a great indicator of what can be done with this marveouis kit. There is however a slight twist to my build (as you could expect ) ... Lukgraph have chosen the J2F-5 version, which was characterised by a long-chord engine cowling, and wore mostly wartime camos. I like my kits not too war-like, and especially not too camoed. So my choice fell upon a J2F-3, BuNO 1539, used as the personal aircraft of Rear Admiral William Brown when he was commanding the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, in 1939. It's a typical "Blue Goose" aircraft, with an Admiral blue fuselage, and silver wings and empennage. However, some pics of the said aircraft lead me to believe the upper wing was chrome-yellow : when applied the yellow was overlapping a part of the underwing at the leading-edge. And one pic of this specific aircraft, taken from the front, shows a distinct darker area (vs silver) on the leading-edge of the upper wing, which I interpret as chrome-yellow. The J2F-3 was different from the -5 however. So, before committing to this version, I had to understand the differences. They focus mainly on the cowling, which was short-chord, and the front fuselage fairing, which had a different carburetor airscoop, a fairing for the oil-cooler scoop, and distinct louvres to evacuate the air from the accessories compartment. BuNo 1539 also sported a bomb-rack under the lower wing, which, unless I have missed it in the kit's extensive parts count, has not been represented by Lukgraph. So, these parts had to be designed and printed in 3D, before converting Lukgraph's kit the -3 version. In the design process, btw, I found out that the front fuselage fairing, above the float, as designed by Lukgraph is too "flat" and not rounded enough. The way the engine bearer is represented is also completely fanciful, and the front fuselage too short, but this is of little consequence for the -5 version with its long-chord cowling, which will hide the issues. I am happy to report that the design of the conversion parts is finished, barring some (probable) mods when I try to mate them to the kit. The new cowling, in two halves : The underwing bomb rack was a rather involved piece of design : And, finally, and most importantly, the front fuselage fairing, with the new carburetor scoop, the oil-cooler scoop, the revised profile and the louvres : You can see that the engine bearer ring has been designed as an integral part of the new fairing. I have also opened the metalsmith workshop. Lukgrpah's kits tend to be heavy, and the Duck will be no exception. When converting the Potez 25 to the TOE version, the weight of the solid wing was 186 grams, and I went to great lengths to have the landing gear reinforced with metal rods. On the Duck, the representation of the landing gear in printed resin is beautiful, and scale accurate, but I suspect it will not bear the weight of the finished kit. This suspicion is reinforced by a cryptic remark in the instructions (cryptic surely as a consequence of translating from Polish to English) that mentions adding additional supports to avoid the splaying of the landing gear. So I have undertaken to redo the whole landing gear in soldered brass. More on this in a later post. Hubert.

Greetings all Eventually done, here are the images of my finished 1/32 Revell Me262B-1a/U1 finished as "Red 8" W.Nr 110305 of NJG11. The original airframe is at the Johannesburg Military Museum, I've finished this as an ode to that, but not in the colours the museum repainted it in, as they are a bit off... I used the EagleCals colour profile as reference. Beast of a kit, but glad I persevered, as it turned out quite nicely... First time using MRP - man, what great paint!! Not very opaque though, so takes a lot of coats to build something up, but found it a beautiful medium overall, especially for the mottle. Build log is here Thanks for looking Iain

I was going to do a Stearman for this GB but then I thought... go big or go home! I won't actually start for a few more weeks until my P-51's get into painting, but the last of the aftermarket came in today so I couldn't resist starting the thread. I am leaning towards Jolly Rogers markings, but not 100% set on that yet. I went just a little overboard and got basically all the aftermarket goodies I could find for this kit. We have Aires ejection seats Eduard exterior PE set GT Resin 1-piece intakes Master Model AOA probes Quickboost ECS vents Quinta Studios interior set Reskit exhaust Reskit wheels Scale Aircraft Conversions metal gear legs - not sure these will be used, will depend on how sturdy the kit gear is Closeups of the lovely Quinta set - Aires seats - GT Resion intakes - Reskit exhausts - I also have a full load of Reskit ordnance. I really like the asymmetrical loads that Super Hornets often carry (example below) with a tank under one wing balanced by bombs on the other side. I'm planning on 2 tanks, a GBU-31, 4x GBU-12, 3x AIM-120, 2x AIM-9X, and the targeting pod from the kit. I haven't found any examples of Hornets actually carrying AIM-120s on stations 2/10 while also carrying bombs, but I'm going to go with it for a "beast mode" look. I can't get good pics while everything is still in the protective cages but I'm in awe of the detail of the Reskit 3d printing.

Hello to all! I want to present on Your review information about the LSP products of the Metallic Details. Perhaps some of You will be interested in this. https://metallicdetails.com/ Detailing set for aircraft model F-35A (Italeri, 1/32) Jet nozzle for aircraft model F-35A (Italeri, 1/32) F-35A. Ejection seat (1/32) F-35. Seat belts (1/32) AH-64 Apache. Longbow radar (Academy, 1/35) Mi-24/Mi-35. Wheels set (1/35) B-24. Wheel bays (HobbyBoss, 1/32) B-24. Exterior (HobbyBoss, 1/32) B-24. Turbochargers (HobbyBoss, 1/32) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 (HobbyBoss, 1/32) Control handles. Part 2 for German aircraft models (1/32) FuG 218 Radar (1/32) Revi 16B Gunsight (1/32) Static dischargers (1/32) Tail support for Bf 109E (1/32) Tail support for Bf 109F, G (1/32) M18 gun pod with M134 Minigun (1/32) M65 rocket launcher (1/32) XM157 2.75 inch rocket launcher (1/32) XM158 2.75 inch rocket launcher (1/32) XM159 2.75 inch rocket launcher (1/32) Emerson Electric TAT-102 Turret for AH-1G Cobra (ICM, 1/32) Emerson Electric M28 Turret for AH-1G Cobra (ICM, 1/32) USAF seat belts part 1 (1/32) Bell AH-1G Cobra. Masks (ICM, 1/32) Bell AH-1G Cobra. Interior (ICM, 1/32) Bell AH-1G Cobra. Exterior (ICM, 1/32) M197 Gatling gun (ICM, 1/32) Yak-9. Landing gears (ICM, 1/32) Yak-9. Exhausts (ICM, 1/32) Gloster Gladiator. Cowling and engine (ICM, 1/32) Gloster Gladiator. Wheels (ICM, 1/32) Fiat CR.42 Falco Cowling and engine (ICM, 1/32) Fiat CR.42 Falco Propeller set (ICM, 1/32) Fiat A.74 (1/32) Arado Ar 196 Cowling and engine (1/32) Arado Ar 196 Propeller set (1/32) Pratt and Whitney R-2800 (1/32) Gnome-Rhone 14M (1/32) Gnome-Rhone 14K (1/32) Gnome-Rhone 14N (1/32) Bristol Taurus (1/32) Pratt & Whitney R-2800 late (1/32) Bristol Mercury (1/32) Ejection seat KK-1 (1/32) Ejection seat KK-2 (1/32) ASP-3N sight for MiG-15, MiG-17, La-15 (1/32) Ejection seat KM-1M (1/32) Ejection seat F16F Rafale (1/32) Spitfire Seat (1/32) Hurricane Seat (1/32) A-26 Invader Seats (1/32) B-26 Marauder Seats (1/32) Harrier GR.3, GR.7, GR.9 Ejection seat (1/32) Spitfire Mk.I-Mk.IX seat belts (1/32) RAF Hurricane seat belts (1/32) Mk.7 Ejection seat seat belts (1/32) USAF seat belts WWII (1/32) Japan seat belts WWII type 1 (1/32) Japan seat belts WWII type 2 (1/32) Japan seat belts WWII type 3 (1/32) Japan seat belts WWII type 4 (1/32) USSR seat belts WWII (1/32) MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25 seat belts (1/32) MiG-15/MiG-17. Seat belts (1/32) Mi-24 Seat belts (1/32) Martin-Baker Mk.10 Seat belts (1/32) Blackburn Buccaneer. Seat belts (1/32) Italian Seat belts WWII (1/32) Harrier GR.3, GR.7, GR.9 Seat belts (1/32) Thank You for Your attention!

Well, I am in. Have Lemkits Il-10 WW2 version in my stash. Low parts count, nice dryfit, pour stubs removed by the manufacturer. Nice, nice, nice Also own a set of gone by the wind Drevo figures, showing two russian pilots in overalls helping each other to leave a crash site. Go, I shall cover! This calls out for a diorama! Overall idea is to depict the Il-10 partially resting in a creek, in a dramatic appearance, stopped by a willow, one wing drownd, with bullet holes, soot covered and spilling oil into the water I. e. I will cut off a large part of one wing. Should save some shelf space too. We shall see how far I come or if this will become vaporware as often with my projects... Regards - dutik

Hello everyone! It's been a veeeery long time since my last 1/32 project. But here I am, starting a new build—the Wingnut Wings 1/32 scale AMC DH.9. This will be my first WWI subject and will represent a Hellenic Naval Air Service aircraft that served during the Asia Minor Campaign. The specific aircraft, Spetsai—named after the Greek island of Spetses—was later specially painted for the victory celebration flyover of Constantinople. Work has begun with the cockpit, featuring the characteristic wooden structure typical of WWI designs. I airbrushed all components with a sand base coat, followed by a red brown layer applied through a wood grain stencil. The effect was unified using oil paints: applied, then gently wiped off with a soft sponge. I used raw umber for the frame and burnt umber for the sidewalls to replicate different wood types. The leather seat cushions were painted using a similar method. I first applied NATO black by brush, then added scratches using a mix of the base color lightened with sand. A final layer of burnt umber oil paint, partially removed, completed the leather effect. Smaller cockpit details such as instrument dials, pumps, levers, and push rods were brush painted with silver, grey, or brass. A black wash helped bring out depth and definition, and everything was sealed with a matt varnish. The engine firewall was painted in a white metal finish, with the upper section rendered in linen to simulate fabric. It was weathered with black oil paint to suggest oil streaks and splatter. The radiator and supplementary oil tank were painted light grey. For wear and chipping, I used a technique common in armor modeling: light grey chips applied randomly with a sponge, then painting the center with a darker grey to enhance contrast. Next step: cockpit assembly and engine installation. Thanks for following along!

This was part of a reddit group build for the 85th anniversary of the start of WW2 in Western Europe. This was my first build using a 3d cockpit (Quinta Studio), first time using MRP paints, and first time painting markings with 1ManArmy masks. Very happy with how all of the above turned out, and with the Kotare kit. Only one fit issue in the whole build, which I'm pretty sure was my fault. I do feel like the chipping and weathering are the weakest parts of this build, that is where I need the most practice. But overall a fun build and I'm pleased with the result. Brief WIP thread Google Photos album of the whole build

This build has been in progress since March, but stalled for a while. It's my first large scale build since returning to the hobby and I went all in on the aftermarket. Cockpit is Quinta Studios, with a few pieces of Eduard PE, and HGW belts. Added Eduard PE flaps. I've read that RAF pilots were trained to retract flaps as soon as they left the runway so you wouldn't normally see them extended on the ground. We'll just pretend they're getting maintenance or something like that. The build was smooth overall except for the wing to fuselage fit. I think this was my fault, but not sure what I screwed up. The fillets were just a bit too narrow to seat in place on the fuselage and I had to do a good bit of sanding and scraping on the right side to make them fit. After priming I realized that the right fillet had collapsed a bit - I guess I took too much material in working on the fit. I didn't take pics of the damage, but the fillet was sitting a good 2-3 mm lower than the side of the fuselage. I used green stuff putty to fill in most the sunken area and Tamiya putty to fill in the top layer. It took about 4 rounds of sanding and priming to get the edges even and the shape reasonably correct. Finally yesterday and today I have been painting. All MRP paints - I marbled the top camo with RAF light earth and light green, then finished with dark earth & dark green. The camo was done freehand with the airbrush. I'm not unhappy with the result, but if I had it to do over I think I'd mask it. The bottom was marbled with white, and then the white side got some additional marbling with earth yellow before a top coat of white, and the black side got additional marbling with haze grey before a top coat of "black night". Going to put a gloss coat on tomorrow so the paint has some protection, then this weekend I will be trying out those 1ManArmy stencils.

Good morning all, I know I have another topic on the cooker right now (the Travel Air Mystery Ship), but as for the time being I have definitely stopped working on LSM's kit, and my correction work is more virtual modelling than anything else - but that will not last -, my longing for actually fondling some plastic (or resin for that matter) was definitely too strong. Time to start another one then ! Back in 1965 (or was it 1966 ?) my father was an officer in a tank regiment based in Kaiserslautern in Germany. We used to travel to my birthplace (Saumur, house of the Ecole de Cavalerie, and of a beautiful tanks museum - I remember playing inside a T-34 or a Sherman, but this is another story - for Christmas. On the way back home, at night, I saw a beautiful glistening ball on the banks of the Loire river: this was the dome housing the Chinon nuclear plant, a graphite-gas plant. I was hooked from then on with anything scientific and engineering. For that specific Christmas, I got a wonderful present : a book on aviation. This one hooked me forever on aeronautics. It was full of incredible shapes, and among these science-fiction pictures, were two which I still remember vividly, and which have set my unconditional love for those two beautiful airframes : the B-58 Hustler, and the Chance-Vought F7-U3 Cutlass ! The Cutlass was certainly unique for its time. It was plagued by an incredible "lemon", its Westinghouse J-46 (interesting parallels to draw with the still-present attitude of the Pentagon purchasers to stick to some suppliers or projects, against all evidence), but it was not a bad flyer according to some of its pilots, incredibly rugged, and fairly agile. When Paul Fisher released this one some time ago, I was totally elated. One of my favorites aiframes, in my only scale ! And the execution is typical Fisher : beautiful ! From the start, I wanted to make it in NMF. This short period of time when the Navy had its aircrafts unpainted makes for certainly interesting-looking aircrafts, especially as the Cutlass had panels made of aluminium, magnesium, Metalite - a glistening compound made of balsa wood sandwiched between aluminium foils -, silver-painted fiberglass, stainless steel, etc. Fisher, on its instructions, provides a very clear facsimile of which metal went where. This definitely calls for foiling. But when I got the kit, I was not sure I was ready to commit to foiling such an expensive kit. But, 1) I have now done an experiment in foiling with my ST-M (another gem from the Fisher stables) 2) I badly wanted to do some resin-fondling 3) Scott's thread about "get those expensive kits out of the stash" was a trigger. So, I hope I will entertain you, with this one : a 1/32 F7-U3 M, in NMF, under the colors of VX-4 when this unit was testing the Sparrow. The finish will use paint when the panels were painted, and foil when the panels were left natural metal. Let's get started by following Fisher's instructions : assembling the wings, central wing-box and top and bottom main fuselage. The wings are one piece mouldings, with strong tabs to insert in a central carry-though box, itself sandwiched between the upper and lower main fuselages. This makes for a very strong assembly, that will withstand the weight of the beast without any problems. Sorry, I have not taken any pics of the wings-and-wingbox assembly. I added some shims of plastic to make sure the wings were firmly set in the box. Be careful to measure where these shims need to be added (above or below the wing tabs), to ensure the wings are level and set at the same height. Fisher then advises that some fit issues will likely occur between the upper and lower fuse when mating them with the wings. This is true, but nothing plastic shims, CA filler and plastic filler, plus some sandpaper and elbow grease won't be able to overcome. The big gaps are at the rounded end of the lower-to-upper rear fuselage joint. I inserted some thin plastic cards shims, plus filled the rest. Ditto for the wing roots: there are gaps above and below where they join the fuselage. Some two-part expoxy filler was used, complemented by ordinary car-body filler. Now for some pics : The assembled rear fuselage and wings : It is a big bugger, in case you wonder. A comparsion with its younger cousin , the ST-M : Now for the seams. The pics speak for themselves. The seams are still WIP, as they now need some fine-filling with Mister Surfacer, and more sanding and polishing to restore a smooth surface for the foiling process. The very fine panel lines will also be re-engraved Lower rear fuselage joint : Lower front fuselage joints, left and right : And upper wing to fuselage joints. I have removed two small exhausts from the fuselage, to make the sanding process easier. They will be reinstated later. Their mark can be seen as a lighter "shadow" on the fuselage side. Thanks for looking. Hubert

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!

Greetings all Here is my latest offering of a Ju87D-8(N) E8+HH that was operated by 1./NSGr.9 during the second quarter of 1944 near Florence, Italy. It was lost in action on 7th July 1944. The final camo pattern and colours are a bit of a departure from the kit call-outs, but the rationale behind the decisions because of actual photographic evidence can be found on the build article. 1/32 Hasegawa JU87D-8 kit Aires cockpit AIMS AB500 bomblet containers plus some flash hiders I poached from one of my AIMS Bf110 detail sets and an antenna isolator HGW seatbelts SB cannon barrels and pitot tube Quickboost Type A exhausts Quickboost Spinner and VDM blades Profimodeller detail set for airbrake hinges and underside bomb release Master Mg81Z barrels for the observer position Nice build overall, great having a big Stuka in the collection now!! Real bird is the 2nd aircraft of the image underneath...

Greetings all I've always enjoyed the Stuka since I was a kid, so had it in the back of my mind to build a night attack version using the Owl markings. Managed to get hold of a Hasegawa G-2 (with Mater barrels) that I was going to convert into in D-8, but then as luck would would have it, I found a D-8 on an auction that fit the bill perfectly. So.....I suppose I will eventually get to building the night G-2, but this D-8 comes first. So below is the version of the D-8 I was going to build, however, the kit markings and camo scheme are way more appealing to me. So there we go. I'll be building that specific version as on the box art. The G-2 version I'll do at a later stage with the Owl markings... As you can see from the above pics, I've the Aires interior set, Eduard masks and HGW belts for it. On the way is a Quickboost spinner and blade set, as well as a Yahu IP Cheers Iain

Zero 1/32 Border 1/35 it's not a airplane, but worth seeing 3D Tiger tank AT-GUN Japanes crafts, making a model train

It all started innocently enough, for a Cold War airframe. Built in Blackpool in the winter of 1955, when the beaches were empty, but the Hawker Aircraft Blackpool (Ltd) factory was full. She was delivered to the RAF on 10 Jan 1956 as XF 309. Based on the only photographs I can find of her as a pristine F Mk.4, she went to 112 Squadron. You don't have to be an aviation anorak to work this bit out. A typical scene at a Hawker Aircraft factory: churning out Hunters in the mid 1950's 112 Squadron RAF was famous for being the first allied unit to feature a 'sharks mouth'. Even Chennault's 'Flying Tigers' copied them. This is a famous photo of 112 Sqn Tomahawks published in October 1941. No prizes for guessing which squadron XF 309 belongs to... This beautiful airframe was already withdrawn from service by December 1962, and used for ground instruction at St Athan as 7771 M. But don't worry, that's not nearly the end of this tale. While detailing and building the classic Revell kit, we will discover an amazing history in the life of a Hunter, that sees her dressing-up in Yorkshire and being blown-up in Zimbabwe. Let's get down to some plastic first. The kit needs no introduction, so I won't. What is interesting however, is how many of the Hunter builds on the internet stall for some reason or other - it clearly has some issues around the intake and the undercarriage. We'll tackle those when we get there. Not possessing (an increasingly rare) True Details aftermarket cockpit, there is going to be some extra work to get the rather basic cockpit looking a bit more like the real thing. I know its a typical Cold War dark pit, but some extra stuff is always nice. The only cockpit aftermarket I could find was the Kits World 3-D decals for the instrument panel and side consoles. I was most excited to try these, as it is a first for me, and they seem to have revolutionised cockpit detailing. Unfortunately, they didn't enjoy the trip to South Africa. I figured they would look good in the bin, but then thought I'd at least save one or two instrument faces. Some advice - if this happens to you - don't cut, don't throw it away, just treat them like normal decals. I eventually popped them in water and used a bit of white glue to stick them onto thin styrene. Maybe I can still use them? I have copied some ideas from Rockie Yarwood's 'Out of Africa' build, so thanks for pioneering the sidewalls Rockie! Here you can see the rather rudimentary way of using the kit part as a template for cutting ribs. And here the ribs are in situ. It is actually very easy to position them, as the kit is finely marked where the different cockpit components go. Modified the side consoles a bit, however much of the kit detail is useable as is. The stick and rudders really do need some help, as well as the mounting system for the rudder pedals - which would otherwise be pretty much flat on the floor. The gyro gunsight, it would seem, got the most attention! Looking a bit more like the jumbled office a Hunter's cockpit should resemble. Let's see if this one makes it to completion. Cheers, Sean