Wow! B-17 i 1:48 is a big mutha. I agree with Robert. Nice interior. Weird thing though that the models walll thickness is in 1:2 while the overall scale is 1:48. Thin skin on the B-17's

I got modelling weather here in Sweden this weekend, so between the stints in front of the Olympics I did my first tries on painting markings. Luckily the german crosses are rather simple.

I first made a rough square (fuselage) and put a cross in the middle (wings).


Next step was to cut small squares, just a little bit too big, so they overlapped the outer square.


I had to do this with a spray can, so everything had to be wrapped


Finally, after Usain Bolts 100 m dash, I stripped the tape and found rather decent "balkenkräuzer". The ones on the fuselage needs a bit of touching up, but i hope that it won't be too evident in the end.


Nest step are the red walkway stripes. Masking is fun...masking is fun...masking is fun...

Finishing is better, finishing is better, finishing is better.

I am seeing some great builds going on here. Love that B-17. It looks like we might have a "Mighty Eighth" Campaign starting in the spring of next year. Plenty of time to order those B-17s and B-24s, if you are so incined towards big bombers.

Looks good with the masked crosses, Tony. The bars on the wings seem a little on the thick side, but there were probably lots of different crosses at the end of the war.

Looks like it is going to be an excellent Karl.

Looking forward to see more.

Yes Jesper, I've seen myself thet they are a little thick. However I decided that the whole plane is supposed to look like a patch job, and there's risk is that I mess up if I change it, and then I might not dare try again

And frankly, masking IS rather fun. At least when it's done far from the spray booth, so the pressure to finish don't hit so hard.

Andrew, I went back and looked at your Emil real close. It is great. I cant wait to see that Eduard 1/32 hit the shelves.

Just a quick update, I've not had much workshop time recently but the little spit is progressing. Just got to dirty her up a bit and paint the gun ports and I'm done.



No decals for the underside is that correct? Any suggestions for weathering welcome. Muddy bottom for example.

Looking good JP
Those early Spits were known for chucking out plenty of oil on the underside
Mal (Holdfast) is the guy to seek more detailed info on Spits from
Nige

Hi all!

Time to kick off another Campaign-build!

This time I have choosen the Tamiya P-51D Mustang in 1/48th scale.

This is one of Tamiyas best kits and I love these!

Box art;



The kit contents;



Tamiya have had some thick decals in the past and they have got a fair bit of criticism for the decals.
Well, that´s history now!
Those new decals are thin and beautifully printed and fully up to the usual Tamiya standard!



This kit gives you the option to build an top-ace aircraft; two versions of Big Beautiful Doll (Landers), Glamorus Glen (Yeager) or Old Crow (Olds).
My choice is Big Beautiful Doll as she looked in the summer of -45.

As always the build starts in the cockpit;



I added seatbelts from a generic "USAF/Navy Belt-set" from Eduard.
I just can´t stand the sight of decal-belts (not even on a backing), they simply don´t have the right look!



As with all Tamiya kits, construction Is rapid and I have the wings, tanks, wheels and gears already painted and done!

More pics soon...

Cheers!

Stefan E

Gents,
Ahhhh yes, the fun of masking ! Since I hadn't posted anything to this build in a while, thought it was time to update a little. Although I bounced between several choices for this build, I settled on my original P-40M of the SAAF in Italy in 1944.

This is the Academy 1/72 kit. I really like the P-40E and P-40 M/N that they produce. A Great little kit at a reasonable price. Plus no one can complain about a lack of markings for this bird. We'll see how she comes out, plenty of work to go. Take it easy..............Bruce

Well my project will be a Spitfire MKV 72 scale. Operated out of Duxford England 1943 See Chief I can post on this thing.

Todd,
OK.....We're proud of you !!!! Now get back to building ! Semper Fi, Bro...................Bruce

Awesome work so far, Bruce.

But isn't this a little large for what you normally build?

"Awesome work so far, Bruce.

But isn't this a little large for what you normally build? ".........................................

............................................................................................................................................


Matt,
Well, that's true. Except it's good once in a while to build in this Gigantic 1/72 scale.(Where you can almost sit in it to build it up !!!! ) .................Take it easy, Bruce

I am seeing some real good progress. I will try to get another update done soon. Keep the pics coming.

Halifax started, this is not the worlds best kit, the transparencies are thick although they seem to fit ok so far. The fuselage sides are a poor fit and the bombbay doesn't fit at all well. The engine nacelles fit the wings well but the engine cowlings are a terrible fit. Lots of filler needed i think
To compound this the plastic is very soft and i managed to break two of the undercarriage stays. This is a Revell kit and a friend suggested is might be the old Matchbox moulds. The finished aircraft will be a B1 model without the dorsal turret. Currently away from home, will try to shoot pics at the weekend

Some more masking and touching up is done and the 109 K has got a first coat of varnish.



The "walk here" dashed lines got a bit wide, but I'm afraid that trying to fix that will ruin the rest. Let's call it "learning".



I have the underwing markings as decals, so I will use those. We'll see how different those will look compared to the painted.



Next step is decals and weathering, but that will have to wait a week or so. Tomorrow is airshow day, and the coming week is a lot of work. Daytime jobs suck sometimes, even if your'e a motorcycle engine designer.

Eduard FW-190 A5



First time with pre painted etch - a whole new vocab needed to be learnt!!
It's a great kit other than that.

All progress has been halted at the moment, my compressor has decided not to work any more.

Andy

Hi there

Well, definitely belatedly(!), this will be my entry:



Dragon's new 1/32 scale Bf 110 arrived today and looks a real stunner! I've just got the sprue-shots uploaded for the Review, so I'll get cracking this week, once I can clear a big enough space to build this beast in!

A 1/32 scale twin-engined job for a build with a deadline!? With my reputation? No chance!

We'll see... If I get anywhere close, I might try and beg an extension...

All the best

Rowan

Hello All, I was reading through this forum and saw the nice Mistel 5 that Jesper built. A couple had questions as to this ensemble's usage. I have the MISTEL book written by Robert Forsyth and looked up this combo(don't know how much of an expert Mr. Forsyth is). It stated that the MISTEL 5 had been reported to have been in its final stages in March of 1945 and that a low speed wind tunnel test had been performed at Junkers in Dessau in April 1945 but that no such mistel were ever produced. I wasn't sure if anyone else had found and posted the answer but if so excuse me for re-hashing the subject.

I haven't posted much because I'm at a standstill for the time being. I'm using the Propag Team decals to turn Eduard's La-7 into Dolgushin's aircraft. Unfortunately their decals are very translucent and I didn't know that until I started to apply them. So I'm waiting for another set so I can put them on top of the original set.

Modeling - we do this because it's fun. Right? RIGHT?

Heres my finished entry


Blimey, that base needs a bit of a polish!!
Nige

Rowan, Good luck on that one. I hope you can finish it.

Nige. Great looking Jug.

Matt. Decals can really get us upset. I was putting some meatballs on a "Kate" today. When I put the solvaset on them they wrinkled up. I had to use tape to pull them all off and paint them on. Dear kate almost flew a suicide mission. All the other decals worked great.

Nigel your 47 is great and intimadating. I hope that my entry will be only half as good. Great build, you should be proud!




ROBERT

Thanks Carl and Robert.
Robert, Ive never had one of my builds described as intimidating. I hope this isnt the case?
I certainly am proud of this build, and its going to be presented to my friend next week. I'll be writing a small feature describing the inspiration behind this project soon.
Naturally, with it only going to be in my possesion in its finished state for a few days, Ive taken plenty of photos.
Couldnt resist taking one of it alongside my recent P-47M build.

Nige

..another fabulous build Nige..!

with all these lovely Jugs on show a visit to Halesworth is fast becoming a must !