Subscribers’ Gallery – Aircraft ‘I-L’

With Tamiya kits, I find the fit is so good that I am able to paint the wings and fuselage separately before assembling the model. This allows me to get a smooth paint finish at the wing root.
I first did this when I built a Tamiya 1/48th scale Douglas A-1H Skyraider.
Since then I have used this technique on almost every model I’ve made.
This also includes camouflaged aircraft such as the Shturmovik.
The components can also be weathered & have decals applied before assembly.
With the Shturmovik,I also attached the undercarriage & weapons load.
I left off any small parts that could be damaged,& also leaving off the transparencies.
I painted the entire model using Tamiya acrylics.
I used a thin sheet of engineering wax to make patterns of the camouflage shapes to use as masking templates.
I’ve never tried it before,but thought I would give it a go as it is easy to cut, conforms to the shape of the wing & fuselage,
& also holds itself in place.
After enlarging the kit plans on a photocopier,I made paper copies which I cut out to use as paint templates.
I stuck these on top of the sheet of engineering wax,then I cut the wax sheet to shape,which gave me templates
for the brown & green sections.
I sprayed the upper surfaces brown first,I then positioned the relevant mask on top to cover the brown
camouflage pattern areas.
I did the same with the green,leaving the Dark grey to be applied last.
I polished the whole model with micro-mesh in preparation for the application of the decals.
Lastly,I weathered the model using black artist gouache & different shades of Tamiya weathering master
for highlighting.
I sprayed the entire model with matt varnish.
The wings were glued to the fuselage,the transparencies were stuck on.
To finish the model I used knitting elastane for the radio aerial.

This is the 1:72 Revell Jaguar. I used a Pavla seat, Eduard cockpit set; I also used the venerable PP Aeroparts weapons and ladder set. The decals are from Xtradecal and I use Lifecolor paint.
So here she is… Regards, Gerry
Wherever you go there you are

This is a blast from the past! From what I can remember it is the Airfix 1:48th kit, Paragon flaps and slats, Paragon wheels, PJ Productions pilot, Eduard PE, a resin seat (can’t remember by who) and the decals where by Xtradecal.
Cheers, Dave C.

I managed to finish this one over Christmas it’s the Heritage resin JP3 kit made as a XR679 JP4 of 79 Sqn RAF Brawdy. Canopy is poor in the kit so it was replaced with a much clearer Aeroclub one. This aircraft went to Cosford as an instructional airframe but is now in Canada. Apart from the canopy a very enjoyable build. Photos by IPMS Farnborough’s best photographer – Chris Bradley
Regards Chris M.

Some pics of latest aircraft model hot off the production floor, it’s a Revell/Hasegawa 1:48th scale Junkers ju87B-1 of 2/St.G 77 Caen France August 1940, aircraft was shot down by aircraft from 602 Sqdn on 18th August.
It’s had Aires and Eduard bits inserted into it and a little plumbing by myself on the engine, other than that, pretty much from the box.
Ian R.

This model started as a Ju 88 A-1 in scale 32 from Revell.
As it’s forbidden by law here in Germany to build correct aircraft from the Luftwaffe (swastika), I tend to build them from foreign users.

To my knowledge there was no foreign user of the A-1. So I bought a conversion set from L´Arsenal Aero and 6 months later Revell issued the A-4! But that helped me later on. When Dutch decal released their Set PT-decal 3201 I had my choice, a Ju 88 in French colours with invasion stripes! I added Ju 88 Bomb racks from MDC, Montex masks and HGW seat belts.

Everything went smoothly, nice instructions from L´Arsenal with resin parts of a good fit. Until I did a first test-fit of the massive resin engines. They must have shrunk, as they are about 4 mm too small in diameter to the Revell parts. Nothing one can correct with some putty – a killer to my project. I thought.

To my help and also dismay then came the release of the A-4 from Revell. I sent an e-mail to “Abteilung X” from Revell and asked for the engine sprue of the A-4. And I got the sprues at an amazing price of 7 EURO! With that I could continue the project.

From there the build was straightforward including the bomb racks from MDC. The masks from Montex were a great help in masking the greenhouse and the decals from Dutch-Decal are fine. A shame that they stopped the PT range with their exotic schemes. The seat belts from HGW are fantastic in their detail, but you need some patience to put them together. The result is worth the effort!

In the weathering I tried to do a compromise between heavy and moderate wear and tear, as the Ju´s were a bit refurbished and partially repainted before their use in the French Air Force.

This is my first try in scale 32 for many years – now I only have to find a safe place for this monster!
Jürgen J.

Here’s my 1:72 ‘Special Hobby’ Junkers Ju-w34 model project.
It’s painted using Revell Enamels with everything by hand and no accessories.
Vladimir K.

Hello fellow glue and paint sniffers!

I’d like to show you the first helicopter I have ever made. It’s Italeri’s Kamov Ka-50 Alligator in 1:48th scale.
The kit itself is quite the challenge and requires a lot of putty (in my case then 😉) and patience to get it seamless and right.
Extras I have used for this kit is an Eduard PE set (very nice stuff), an Aires resin replacement cannon, a resin detail set from Armycast and also a Neomega resin seat. Paints used are Gunze and dark wash from AK Interactive. Decals are from Begemot.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and have fun!

Here is my 1:48 scale model made from the Hasegawa kit. It’s not quite finished yet but nearly there after many hours of work! Hoe you like it?
Joaquin Garcia Gazquez
PS – I will post any new pictures that are available when JGGs model is completely finished. Geoff

This is the Wingman KFIR TC-2 with decals from Aztec.
The kit is based on the Kinetic Kfir C2/C7 kit with a resin fuselage in front of the intakes and a resin spine. So the first thing to do is cutting the kit fuselage into pieces. This in turn requires some filler and sanding later on.
Another specialty is the vacu canopy, which I strengthened with some plastic strips.
Otherwise a fantastic kit with good quality resin parts.
In the meantime the South American variations of this bird have also been released by Wingman.
Jürgen J.

After building a number of many fast modern jets I felt the need for
something a little older and perhaps with a propeller and my eye fell on the 1:48 Academy F4U-4B Corsair ‘Korean War Variant’. This is a pretty basic kit, but it had some nice detailing and engraved panel lines. Starting with the interior it was quite a simple affair, with a simple tub and very basic moulded dials and switches on the instrument panels. These were then painted with a mix of Tamiya Yellow Green with a few drops of Green added to give a little contrast to a very blank canvas. I also shaded to the side walls and main

Cockpit area using a slightly lighter mix of the base colour then a black green oil was used to bring out what detail there was. With the cockpit all completed it was time to button up the fuselage, and while that was set to one side, it was on with the engine. This was a one-piece affair and with some careful painting and an oil wash it came out quite well. This was glued inside the cowling and this was then
attached to the main body. Next came the wings, which were pretty straightforward. The canopy was then masked-off and the front section was glued in place, with the rear part tacked onto the upper fuselage to save masking up the interior. The wheel wells were then painted up the same interior colour as the cockpit then Maskol was used to seal up the bays.

The entire model was then given a primer coat of Black and this followed by and overall application of Tamiya XF-4 Blue, with a little post-shading added to lighten various areas and to give the paintwork a sun beaten look. To further accentuate the panel lines I choose to airbrush on some Tamiya Smoke, and once dry the aircraft was given a few light coats of Johnsons ‘Klear’ prior to an oils pin-wash thinned white spirits, and any excess was wiped away with a soft cloth. The decals were then applied without any problems.

The final details such as the wheels undercarriage lets, wheel bay door, propeller and payload were then added. The last thing to was to apply a matt coat to seal everything in. Despite being a basic kit I was very happy how it turned out, and you can see how it earned its nickname ‘Whistling Death’.

This is my model made from the Eduard La7 in 1:72 scale. Hope you like it!
Rafał Książek

This is a Lynx HAS mk.2 Yeovil 1976. It has an overall primer finish. This was an old Fujimi kit that I got off a friend that was selling some old kits off and I paid £2 for it! And what great fun it was too…I added some new panel lines and some seat belts out of lead foil; other than that it was straight from the box. Lifecolor paints were used. All in all an enjoyable project.