iModeler Aviation

Building, painting and finishing scale aircraft models.

The First Time

How many remember their first time? No, not that first time, but the first time you sat down with a model kit. Well here is my first time. I was about the age of my avatar when my mother purchased this Aurora kit for me. It was the late [...]

Year of the Cat Group Build: BF 109 E4/7 Trop, Tamiya 1/48, ‘Yellow 6’ – Hans Joachim Marseille – in ‘Leopard Camo’

The mentality of those whose families fought and suffered on the ‘right side of history’ is often, understandably, to automatically consign those fighting on the other side, to a pigeon hole that does not allow for admiration. During [...]

Video: Mini Spray Guns for Scale Modeling

This video presents three different types of miniature spray guns that are useful in painting scale models. Mini spray guns can be an airbrush, conventional spray gun, or HVLP type. This video explains the differences and uses of each. [...]

SAAF Saab JAS 39 Gripen C -- 48th scale kit by Kitty Hawk (kit no. KH80117)

This was the third of my South African Air Force jet builds. The kit gave me virtually no issues, apart from the dive brakes not fitting too well in the closed position. Finish is good and the surface detail is fine. Paints used were Mr [...]

Year of the Cat Group Build. 1/48 scale Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat

When Louis announced this group project I had already been eyeballing my trusty old Tamiya kit that had been sitting on shelf for some time. This was just the excuse I needed to get it going. I choose to go with the classic pre-war/early [...]

Year of the Cat Group Build. Monogram 1/48 F9F Panther from The Bridges at Toko-Ri

I've been wanting to do a Panther for a while. I had a stillborn attempt back when I was in high school when the kit first came out. I was impressed at how well it went together and have always wanted to try again. I had a few troubles [...]

Video: Creating Scribed Detail

This video explains three different methods for creating scribed detail for scale model construction. Details about the different Swiss Pattern Files can be found here: (link) Contact Information: (link)

Year of the Cat: 1/48 Testors/Hawk F8F-2 Bearcat

I want to thank Louis Gardner for starting this group build and inviting me to come along with my cat entry. Since I was a little late to the party I picked a kit that I thought would be simple and fast. So presented for your view today is [...]

1/32 MT FUJI EAGLE JASDF

I had wanted to do this project for such a LOOOOONG time! Searched for the kit/decals for over a decade and finally resigned myself to the fact that it was permanently out of print. Then a 1/72 scale, sealed Hasegawa kit popped up on eBay [...]

Video: Working with Scale Drawings

Properly sized plans are extremely useful when building scale models. This video describes a convenient method for working with scale drawings.