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I'll jump in with a Yak-28. Only minimal building has started, I'm going go shoehorn a modified MiG-21UM cockpit and engines into it. More to come shortly-

Evening everyone, I've not posted a build on here, but did post a couple of Skyraiders I built a few years ago in Ready for Inspection, so this is my first Large Scale Planes build. I've got a Wokka on the go on Britmodeller, which is one of the longest builds in history, and I guess like lots of Heli modellers, I've been waiting patiently for someone to release a Gazelle, a Sea King and a Scout (preferably in 1/35th for the Gazelle and Scout), and I've concluded its not going to happen..... so time to have a crack at one. My main modelling forum is on the Army Rumour Service (only for the bold and brave) where I'm one of the lads that got the modelling forum away to support current and former services personnel who turn to modelling to help manage their issues and challenges. The forum has been a great success, and we have a small core of regular posters. Anyway. The Gazelle. I had a natter with the lad that does the Tigger vacuform moulds and decided to take the plunge. I've not seen one anywhere that's been built yet on the web, so I'm left wondering if this is one of the first 'public' builds. He recommended I pick up a Monogram 'Blue Thunder' for those of us old enough to remember the film and use it as a donor kit. For those of you that haven't been lucky enough to see it! Here is the beast, all the way from the States. It was produced in the '80s, so is long out of production. I'm not going to comment on the kit, apart from to say its erm 'interesting'. The glazed screen is from an Apache, and the production company (as you can see from the box art 'engineered' the Blue Thunder from a Gazelle. It was so heavy, it was unsafe to fly and many of the scenes in the film are shot with a Radio Controlled model. The mould duly arrived to Tigger and I opened the box to find this Erm there's not a lot to it! Quick look at the mould and the donor airframe so you can see the challenge and just so its out there The Wokka. On the scale front, I'm not convinced the Monogram kit is 1/32nd, but I have no real way of checking. It looks more 1/35th to me, and I thought it would sit nicely with the Wokka and a couple of Apaches at some point, hence the post. Right. That's the build start posted. More updates to follow. Wish me luck!

Next project is a Tigger vacuform F11F Tiger built as a Blue Angels airplane. For this WIP I'll start with some basic vacuform techniques. Later I'll get into the 3D printed parts, then finally the painting. OK, first the obligatory "start of project" shot: All I've done so far is cut out the wheel wells. I made a template based on the drawings and photo references, then traced around the template with pencil and extra-fine tip marker. I cut out the wells using a Trumpeter scribing tool and lengths of Dymo labeling tape. This preserves the door and gives me the option of using that part later if I decide I don't want to print one instead. Later I'll have to cut out the openings for the cockpit, intakes, cannons and exhaust. I might cut out the NACA scoops as well, as I did with the Honey Badger project. Before I get too far here's my setup for removing the parts from their sheets. I've clamped a piece of MDF board (a thick one so it's nice and flat) to my bench. I duct-taped a sheet of 220 grit sand paper to the board. First step is to draw around the parts with a black marker. I use a Sharpie fine point marker. Second step is to cut around each part. I use a box cutter with a sharp new blade. Be careful here! Leave about a 1/4 inch brim around each part. For most parts it helps to make a handle out of duct tape. For the fuselage I made two handles since it's a long part. This just helps prevent sanding off the ends of your fingers. A close-up of the part ready to be sanded: NOTE: The part has to be extricated in this tedious way. DO NOT try to cut the part out instead. If you do it'll be the wrong size and won't fit right. Sand the part down. Circular motions are best. After a while you'll start seeing the black ink showing through the UNDERSIDE of the brim. Use this as a gauge to ensure you're sanding the part down evenly. Periodically check the underside of the brim, and if you see some of it is whiter than the rest then that means you need to press harder there. Eventually the brim will get very thin and will either fall off or can be easily peeled off. Thick objects, like fuselages, come out pretty straight, right-sized, and ready for action. Some thin parts, like fighter jet wings and tails, can be too thick for scale. In that case you'll either need to shape it with more sanding or 3D print a replacement. In this case the vertical tail looks usable (I'll 3D print a new rudder for it), but the horizontal tails will be easier to 3D print. This airplane has very thin wings, and I have't decided yet if I'll be using the vac parts or printing my own. One thing to consider here is that the parts printed on a resin printer will be heavier than the plastic parts. The weight will add up and eventually you'll have to worry about the strength of the landing gear which will also be printed. -- Dave

A couple years ago I spotted this airplane at the Nellis AFB airshow. Obviously someone has to build one! It's an L-159 operated by Draken International. Draken calls it the Honey Badger. Tigger has a vacuform model of an L-39 in 1/32 scale, and that's close enough to a Honey Badger to be the basis for a conversion. This is my first vacuform build, so it's going to be a wild ride. The Tigger L-39 parts: Not shown here are the two copies of the canopy. The barrel looking bit at bottom right is both left and right engine inlets. The fuselage almost ready to glue together: I applied some bondo to the rudder to thicken that part up. When I sand the rudder down to give it a sharp trailing edge I want to have some material there to keep from making a hole. I'm not going to build inlet ducting, but I did add a thin inner wall that will simulate the ducting. I also (later) painted the inside of the fuselage black from there back to keep inquisitive eyes from seeing what's not there. I added a cradle to hold up the front end of the tailpipe which will be made from 3/4 inch thin plastic tube. Also added are tabs on both halves of the fuselage for gluing. I've already cut the nose off in preparation for measuring the section shape so I can 3D print a new nose. Fuselage halves joined today. I've printed up two fuel tanks, two pylons for the right wing, and an ejection seat. I plan on loading the airplane with two fuel tanks, an AIM-9M and a TCTS pod, so the outermost pylons won't be needed. I don't plan on making a centerline pylon either. There is still a lot of designing and printing to do: landing gear, nose, tip tanks, and cockpit bits. Fortunately the printed parts sit ahead of the CG, so the heavy resin parts will help keep the nose down. I already made one mistake today. I painted the seat beige as was shown in the one photo I've found of the whole seat. I think the Draken airplanes have grey seats. And speaking of the seat, does anyone know who makes the seat and whether there are any aftermarket seat belts that would fit it? Shown are the colors I'm planning to use, Vallejo 71.074 Beige, 71.125 USAF Brown, 71.056 Panzer Dk. Grey. The decals are going to be a challenge

First of all I'd like to wish all fellow LSPers are happy, healthy and prosperous 2019 This is my contribution to this fantastic group build: the ID Models (now Tigger) 1/32nd scale Short Sunderland MkI/II: IMG_0639 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr The plans above are laid on our kitchen table - along with an A3 cutting mat for a sense of scale - and as you can see she's a big old brute of a kit. As usual with kits of this type, only the outer shells are provided for the main components in vacuformed plastic, and the rest is going to be made from scratch. I plan on a fully detailed flightdeck, as well as opening up the bomb windows on the fuselage sides to add some visual interest. With no landing gear bays, undercarriage or bomb bays to have to scratch, I'm hoping that a year will allow me enough time to get this completed for the end of the GB. I do plan on doing the beaching gear, and I already have something up my sleeve for the engines. John (aka Tigger) has already done me a beautiful set of transparencies, so I'm all set. I'm currently cutting out and rubbing down the fuselage halves and opening up numerous portholes in the fuselage, so I'll give a decent pictorial update over the next day or two. Until then, good luck everyone with their builds! Tom

on reqeust some pics off the B-58 This is what you get im not going to discuss on how acurate this one is for me it looks like a B-58 so im happy and it will be a lot off fun I placed a few parts on the cutting mat and thats size A3 so you get a idee about the size still a lot off resaerch to do before i start this one buti have another vac to try first Mark

OK, I'll take the plunge (gulp)....a good excuse to start my CM Avro Anson vacuform. The chances of finding out which Anson(s) Brown flew are slim to zero so mine will probably be one of the ones that my father flew on a regular basis. I've built a couple of the Classic Airframes 1/48th Ansons and I also have an unbuilt one so I can use that as a reference and to scale up areas to our scale. It's a good job there's a long time frame on this GB! Max