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The next model to arrive on my workbench is Italeri's Macchi C-202. I've been wanting a good LSP model of the C-202 for a long time as some here may recall, so this is one item I can happily cross off my list of desired models. We won't mention the other LSP C-202 from PCM, as by the time I started frequenting model forums, they'd gone bust before I even knew about it. The last Macchi I built was in the 90's, being the old Tauro Models C-205 in 1/48 scale. Italeri's effort looks pretty good, though from all reports, it has a few issues. Some of these I'll be able to correct thanks to some after market additions to this build. The C-202 was one of the lesser known frontline fighters of WW2, but it was a very good fighter though mostly hobbled by a lack of firepower. There are many similarities with the Spitfire as both resulted from lessons learned by two brilliant designers who's companies were both also well known for their seaplanes. Both designers applied the lessons learned in pushing speed barriers during the Schneider Trophy races and although it was R.J. Mitchell's S6B design that won the 1931 race and became etched in aviation lore, Mario Castoldi's Macchi seaplane could have done much better (and did go on to set records) had Italy been able to better harness resources to compete at the time. It was a closer run competition than many might think in the last years, when it came down to both only Italy and Britain as the leading contenders. Castoldi's final fighter, the C-205, was in many ways the equal of the later Merlin Spitfires, so here's hoping that one day soon Italeri provide us with that model too. I'll be buying their upcoming C-200 for sure. Back to this model. Mine arrived about August/September last year, and I decided to put it away and see what the aftermarket came up with. Here's what came in the mail. The box is not the most sturdy I've seen, but it came all the way from England safely. It's a little large for what's inside, and could be a little slimmer. Italeri have provided 3d decals, etch and flexible pipe to add to the detail of the model, so it should be possible to build a nice rendition right out of the box. But as they did pack it in such a big box, it allowed plenty of extra space to store all the addon's I've bought. Very thoughtful . From Eduard, we have etch seatbelts and interior detail, as well as some better wheels. The one's in the box just look squashed rather than load bearing. I was planning on getting a 3D decals set as well to supplement this but that, in the same package along with a Kotare Spitfire and AM for it, disappeared into thin air (or a train wreck ) somewhere between Sydney and Perth. I also went mad with the credit card twice at the Aircraft in Pixels site, placing two orders for their bits, which I put in one box. Here's what I bought. The first order comprised the spinner and backplate, sand filter and control surfaces. The second order contained main landing gear legs, DB601 cylinder banks with separate ignition harnesses, and engine detail pack and a better set of exhaust stacks. Some of these will hopefully enhance the model, the control surfaces and spinner set will correct issues in those areas of the kit, and the undercarriage set will make the model a bit easier in that I don't have to build the model with the kit undercarriage legs in the way, especially when painting. I did a quick test fit of the main parts, and it looks good with no difficult gaps to fill. I've also had a look at the surface detail on the fuselage as previous builds have mentioned the horizontal panel lines indented into the fuselage halves. I don't think they're that bad, but I may soften them a little with a bit of Mr Surfacer painted along them followed by some primer to see how they look then. But the line should be visible, as period pictures seem to indicate so I'm not trying to obliterate that detail. I've made a small start with the engine, which means I'm into the printed parts already. On the left is the kit cylinder head, complete with cast in ignition harness, and on the right is the printed parts. Hopefully I don't make a hash of getting the ignition harness off it's support casting and it does look better than the left hand job. That will be for a future update, after I've got the basic engine together. Cheers, Michael

So in keeping with the GB's theme I've going along with a duel build/s. First up is Revell's Spitfire IXc along with the normal am etc. I'm attempting to build it as a little dio as per these photo's I have a resin pilot thats pretty close to the first photo and should work well? Its also a chance to have the flaps down and displayed and I have a set in the stash! It also helps that I wont have to worry about the undercarriage, which is my least liked job of any build For my second build its Hasegawa's Fw 190A-8 again with a bundle of am. for this one it will be a scheme I found on an aeromaster sheet in 48th, and found reference (although no actual photos exist) in Luftwaffe's last hope book (along with the Spit). Again this was a downed plane so may well do another little dio. Yesterday I started on the pe for the flaps... 3 hours work but looking good? Aaron

finaly after years i have finnishd a model The tamiya birdcage what i have used the two sets from brassin seatbelts from HGW decals for the pit from barracuda it whas a great build and whas going fast only two months for this on enjoy the pics Thanks to you all how folowd the build and gave me advice Mark

Even though I'm pretty much a WW2 freak, I've always had a fascination with Migs. In particular, the cold war era jets. I've sworn to myself that I'm going to build at least one of all the main Mig jet designs at some point and probably multiples of several different types. I'm also really a large scale guy, but the buzz and feedback surrounding the Eduard 1/72 scale kit really got my attention. I had pretty much sworn off this tiny scale, years ago. However, in the last year or so, I've seen several builds of Eduard's series of kits and decided that I had to have one. The clincher was when John (Thunnus) posted his magnificent build of this kit, here on the Non-LSP forum. Coincidentally, I had been watching a Profipack kit of the 15bis on Ebay that also included the Brassin cockpit and speed brake sets, all for the price of the kit alone. I took it as a sign from above to go ahead and get it and it arrived this morning. Aside from just being a cool little kit, this build will also serve a couple of other purposes. I'm going to do it in a natural metal finish. I've been playing with a couple of test parts shot with Testors Metalizer buffable paint from the rattle can. I've used this paint before for NMFs and really do like it. However, it's a delicate affair and very easy to mess up. Being that I've also been learning to use oil paints for weathering over the last couple years, I wanted to see if I could pull this off without messing up the NMF too bad, especially on a more expensive kit. All of this testing is in preparation for an Eduard 1/48 scale Mirage IIICJ kit that I also plan on doing in NMF. I toyed around with the idea of doing that one in aluminum foil, but have come to the conclusion that a complete foil job may just have to wait for a while and will most likely be reserved for something in my preferred 1/32 scale (like another Mirage, or a Mig 21...or two...or five!). So, for now, it's baby steps with a "baby" of a kit. I forgot just how tiny 1/72 scale is (especially PE cockpit parts!) until I opened this box! The last purpose of this build will be sort of a kick-start to my mojo. I have a 1/32 scale F3F biplane build on the bench right now, but I'm just not feelin' it and I feel a bit rusty after not really completing much over the last year. So, the Mig has my attention and my passion flowing. I'm going to run with that while I'm in the mood. This is the scheme I will be doing. It's a North Korean bird that was put back into VVS service and markings, which were just painted over the previous users insignia/numbers. The NK decals are fully opaque and it's been recommended to mist silver paint over them or, as one other builder did in an article I found on the web, to carefully sand back some of the color on the decals before applying them, giving them a faded look. While I'm sure I could accomplish either (but would prefer the latter after seeing the other builder's excellent results), I'm really leaning towards the idea of just using the North Korean markings, as it would have appeared before being remarked with the Soviet stars/numbers. I want this to be more of an "anonymous" looking North Korean example, if you get what I mean. So, I'm hoping to dive into this over the weekend. I will probably even get started today. I wanted this to just be a quick, possibly even "weekend" build. However, the PE and resin parts are going to require a lot more attention and this kit really deserves it, in my opinion. It's really a gem. I've decided to pass on using the Brassin brakes, as it would require some surgery and I prefer the "cleaned up" look, anyway. I do have the Master barrel set on order and it should be here next week. Wish me luck. I'm goin' in! John