iModeler Aviation

Building, painting and finishing scale aircraft models.

RIP: Bernie Fisher

I noted that MAJ Bernard "Bernie" Fisher, the first USAF MoH honoree in Vietnam, died this past month. Going through my photos, I found these shots of my 1/48 A-1E built back in 1998. The kit is a mishmash of the Tamiya A-1H [...]

Review: Kinetic 1/48 Harrier FA2 review

Review: HobbyBoss 1/48 Super Tucano review

1/48 Fairey Firefly FR.I

Firefly mania continued unabated in my workshop all summer! This is the newish Special Hobby kit completed as an example from 1770NAS, HMS Indefatigable during the "Operation Lentil" strike on Japanese refineries in Malaya. [...]

Piasecki’s “Flying Banana”

The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse / Shawnee / Flying Banana was the US Army's first principal helicopter in Vietnam. Deployed to Vietnam as early as December 1961, the US Army's 8th. and 57th. Transportation Companies utilised the H-21 to haul [...]

1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vb trop

This was built several years ago. This is 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vb trop with Turkish Air Force (TuAF) markings. In 1944 39 Spitfire Mk.Vb were sent from RAF Mediterranean stocks. The cockpit is modified with: Eduard PE instrument [...]

The Last of the Gunfighters

The F-8 Crusader saw service in Vietnam with both the US Navy and Marines. Both fighter and recon birds served in Vietnam with equal distinction from the Gulf of Tonkin, when F-8's attacked marauding North Vietnamese PT boats, to the very [...]

Spitfire Mk.Vb, 185 Sqn. RAF, Malta, 1942 – by Tamiya in 1/48th. scale

The defence of Malta; what a stirring story. The only island to receive a George Cross & one of only two collective awards, in this case in April 1942, by King George VI which states: "To honour her brave people, I award the [...]

Heinkel He-219 Uhu

This is Tamiya's rendition in quarter scale of arguably the most elegant and equally deadly night fighter to emerge from World War II. Personally, I would be hard pressed to make a choice between the Uhu and the P-61 Black Widow. There [...]

1/72 Avia Ba.122

This is RS Models 1/72 Avia Ba.122, a 1930s Czechoslovakian aerobatic biplane, a few of which were pressed into military use at the beginning of WW2. The kit's typical short run; some nice detail, some rough parts, vague instructions, [...]