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I actually don't like D Day stripes. They ruin the appearance of a nice model. But I have three of Pierre Clostermann's aircraft in my stash and since one of them has these stripes, this seems like a good time to get on with it. I read The Big Show when I was about 15 or 16, and a few more times since. My father was in the Royal Engineers during WW2 and he had previously told me of his days camped outside Caen with the Army trying to dislodge the German forces. He said it was mostly boring, but occassionally not. In his off duty moments, he and some mates would go on the scrounge for something to bolster the rations and they came across this field with and apparently unattended cow. So they milked it daily as fresh milk was rare, only to find one day it had already been milked. Next day, they got up earlier to beat their rivals who, it turned out, was the RAF. It became a race to see who could get to the cow first until Dad and his mates decided this was ridiculous so they took the cow with them. It eventually got left with one of the poorer farmers close to the town in Belgium where he seemed to stay for a while. Clostermann relates exactly the same story in The Big Show. Same place and time, so it's possible I have a slight and distant familial link to this man and subject of this GB. So on to this model. I'm building the Airfix Spitfire Mk.IX for this group build, with a few extras. I have the Xtradecal 1/24 set for this plane, Airscale's PE set for the cockpit, Eduard Brassin fishtail exhausts and a choice of Eduard steel seat belts or HGW cloth jobs. I'm not sure which of these two I'll use and I don't get on with HGW's stuff, but this being the size it is, I'll give them one last go. I made a small start on it today, but it may be slow going as it's very hot right now and it's hard to work on these things when your glasses are sliding down your face. The very first thing I did was to glue in the tail wheel area onto the fuselage. The parts fit quite well, but each has a small gap in different areas. The left half (upside down one in this pic) fits very well on the vertical join against the fuselage but has a gap that will need a dose of Mr Surfacer 500 beneath the tail plane fillet, whereas the right half fits well against the fillet but has a visible gap against the fuselage. But it's easily dealt with, again with some Mr Surfacer. From what I've seen, that about sums up this model. Next I added some parts to the cockpit floor so that I can paint this before too much longer. I'm also drilling out the lightening holes in the fuselage frames. You have to with this size model or it will really stand out. Next, I started assembling the pilot's seat and adding the first of the Airscale enhancements. The kit detail was removed before adding the PE parts., and the whole thing needs a little tidy up before paint. Lastly, I sprayed some Tamiya AS12 over the insides of the fuselage and cockpit sides and floor. If it looks a bit strange, that's because it probably dried to fast in the heat. I hope it will look better once I get the cockpit green sprayed, otherwise it will get done again if we get a cooler day soon. So that's five steps crossed off the instruction book. Only two hundred and thirty nine to go . Cheers, Michael

Here is my first RFI on the site, proof that I actually have built some models more to come at later stages as I get pics taken. This aircraft is a Bf109G-14/AS from 4./NJG11 (or 5./NJG11 depending on sources). SAM Publications Modellers Datafile "The Messerschmitt Bf109 Part 2 'F' to 'K' variants has an image of the aircraft found in a hangar at the end of the war on page 55 of that book as well as a colour side-view on page 93. Some would have this as possibly a G-6/AS variant, but in my research the presence of the larger Fo987 oil cooler which is quite evident on the image puts this as a G-14/AS, as the G-6's used the smaller Fo870 oil cooler. But hey, I might be totally off the mark! I used the AIMS Decals "Late war 109's" decal sheets as a basis to cut my masks for all the insignia. Parts List: Revell Bf109G-6 "Late and early version" A.M.U.R Reaver Resin cowling and spinner/prop blades Barracuda Studios resin wing inserts, large oil cooler, tall tail wheel, MLG wheels AIMS Late war 109 decals (basis for masks), exhaust stacks, hatches and latches(to modify the filler cap locations for this a/c) HGW Rivet/control surfaces set (for Hasegawa, bit of fettling to make it work on the Revell kit), seatbelts and Bf109 stencil set OWL Fug217 antenna and exhaust stack covers (all now sadly OOP). Some Fug 217 were SB to replace broken parts Master Brass barrels Eduard Instrument panel and Brassin U/C legs Quickboost Revi C/D gunsight MDC Drop tank and centreline mount/braces Noy's Miniatures Luftwaffe Hangar for the photo's All paint/markings/spirals - Gunze Laquers. RLM76 overall Might be a bit more small things I've forgotten about, but hope you all enjoy Thanks for looking Iain

Hi everyone, It's been a while since I did a quick and easy built.... had that one on the back burner, like many other models I have somewhere in my dark cave ... .. Always liked those colors on a Phantom, very different, the third one in particular... And going to use Techmod decal for it. My load should be some Cutting Edge CBU-10.... I'll put some up to date picture this week-end. Thanks for watching, Dan.

Greetings all! Been doing prep work for my 'what if' F-104C build. Recently I received Eduard's MB7 resin seat, the MB7 being the choice if I did own a real -C, but it's got the usual etched seat harness bits, which I've never, ever, had any luck with. Is there an alternative out there for that seat? I'm not keen on scratching one up.