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I have been modelling since 'Before Plastic' when balsa was the popular material. Thank heavens for modern technology!
My interest is aircraft; preferably 1/48 & 1/32 scale & mostly WWII ,1950's & '60's. I like a challenge & while a perfect kit is always welcome, some are just plain scary with all the intricately engineered parts' provided. It's a relief to get hold of something that requires some ingenuity but is cheap enough so that a mistake is unlikely to cause a financial disaster.
This is the later version of the several night fighter variants with the thimble nose. The model represents an aircraft from 604 Squadron, RAF, based at Church Fenton in 1943. Built straight out of the box except for a little scratch [...]
My Meteor represents the first of this type to fly in Australia. Serial was originally EE427 but changed to A77-1 by the RAAF Intended for familiarisation & trials, it survived from June 1946 to February 1947 when it was somewhat [...]
The Hornet is wearing a special commemorative set of markings for 77 Sqn when based near Darwin in late 1942 where the C.O, Flt Lt R.C.Cresswell recorded the squadron's first victory. The nose marking is a set of four flags; RAAF, [...]
Built back in 2004 or thereabouts, this was 'state of the art' then & remains a superlative kit in 2015. I recall a trouble-free build for the most part & my Hornisse has been on display ever since. I needed a break from my current [...]
The aerial defence of Malta is a saga by itself; no less is the story of the many & varied camouflage schemes applied during the conflict. Having already built the Vb, I wanted to do a Vc. This Vc represents BR246 which was delivered [...]
My inspiration for this model came from Brian Cauchi's book "Malta Spitfrie Vs - 1942: Their Colours & Markings" which I found of enormous help & in addition a real potential problem as the temptation is undoubtedly to [...]
Supplied from U.S.Navy stocks, these Bearcats saw combat service with the Armee de l'Air in what used to be French Indo-China from 1951. This model is the Academy kit, which came out around 2004, which is when I built it. This is [...]
As soon as I saw the advance notice I put in my order for this magnificent & much neglected model. It seems that most kit manufactures have forgotten about the 1950's & '60's so a Cougar was great news!
It arrived (of course) [...]
Representing Lt Cdr John T Blackburn's F4U-1A "Big Hog" as flown from Ondonga in November 1943 with VF-17.
The kit goes together beautifully, straight out of the box, as you'd expect from Tamiya.
I've built three so far with [...]
I've built quite a few Mustangs in my time (hasn't everybody?) but this remains one of my favourites. The only alterations I made were to the nose/spinner profile to ensure a smooth upper curve, which called for a little sanding of the [...]
