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Trumpeter 1/32 Harrier GR7

/ Bruces Scale Models / 2 Comments
  • Purchased: 2014
  • Completed; 2025
  • Enhancements;
  • Cockpit. Aires
  • Seat; resin cast by Piero on Britmodeller. No longer available
  • Jet nozzles. Aires
  • GR7 pylons: Wolfpack
  • GR7 Nose: eBay seller Sonconat
  • Tanks; Reskit
  • CRV; 3D printed from modeller on eBay. Sonconat
  • Bombs; Reskit
  • DJRP; 3dP from ebay. Sonconat
  • TIALD pod; Brassin
  • BOL Rails. ; Jet Passion

Introduction

Trumpeter’s supposed GR7 Harrier followed on from their release of the US variants, these being the AV-8B and Night attack variant. I say supposed, because despite saying GR7 on the box, Trumpeter failed to include any specific GR7 parts, the nose being the most glaring inaccuracy, despite getting expert assistance from a UK Harrier model group

Trumpeter’s RAF Harrier is nothing more than their US Harrier boxed with some British markings, and even these are wrong. There are no specific RAF weapons either, the kit coming with the standard US weapon sprues. The national Markings look to be the wrong colour and size as well.

The kit has several incorrect shaped access panels for a GR7. I decided to leave these as they came in the kit, but if you want to correct your kit, pretty much all the access panels and rivet lines on the wingtips need changing .The kit wings have a weird bulge midway along the wing leading edge when looked at front on. I suspect this is Trumpeter’s method of dealing with the wing “kink” but it just looks wrong. Mould lines will also have to be removed from each upper wingtip. Raised panels on either side of the nose should be sanded flat and the foremost panel just behind the nose on the port side removed as I cannot see this panel on any GR7s I looked at. A deliberate decision was made to not go down the rabbit hole of changing every detail on the kit to accurately portray a GR7 or 9, as one could spend 6 months doing this. Consequently, whilst my model better represents a GR7 than an OOB build, it’s still not an accurate to the last detail GR7. And Im quite happy with this compromise in the name of a quick build.

Construction Notes

Aires’s cockpit actually wasn’t a bad fit . Although not quite a drop fit, it didn’t take too much sanding to fit between the nose halves, even locating to the kit cockpit location tabs. Ah, if only all Aires sets fitted like this.

Trumpeter would also have you glue all the auxiliary intake doors in the open position, rather than just the top 3 on each side that flopped open through gravity. Look at photos of parked Harriers to see what I mean.

In a similar vein, Trumpeter would have you glue the main undercarriage doors in the open position, again not prototypical for the real jet. all photos I looked at showing the main doors closed. Achieving this took a bit of work, as the doors are not the best fit in the closed position, requiring lots of filling and rescribing.

The kit pylons are the US pattern, so the Flying Leathernecks supposedly RAF corrected pylons were used, although comparison to photos, showed they are still not correct for RAF pylons. In fact the Flying Leathernecks pylons were a bit of a disappointment, also being a very poor fit to the wings. At least the rear of them was contoured to fit over the flap actuators, unlike the kit pylons. Speaking of the flap (and aileron) actuators, they will need to be extended with scraps of thick plastic card as they are too short, and uncorrected, leave large gaps as they don’t meet the control surface actuators.

I only used the 2 halves of the engine and the mounting bulkheads, enough to mount the aires jet nozzles to. The rest of the kit engine parts were confined to the bin, as they will never be seen on the completed kit. Similarly thrown out were the kit blast plates and nozzles, these parts being replaced with the Aires items.

Parts D24 and D25 were not added as I could not see them on photos of real GR7As. All moulded vents on the rear fuselage and wing top were cut out and replaced with suitably sized PE mesh .

Part E55 was added but all the detail was filled and then faired into the fuselage contours. A new RAF type Flare unit was then shaped from laminated sheets of thick plastic card and added just behind the rear wheel bay. Details were represenrted with decals. The square GPS antenna was shaved off the wing centre section, and replaced with a round one as per photos.

The new 3D printed nose fit reasonably well, just requiring fairing in on one side after the kit nose was cut away, it being completely wrong for a British Harrier.

Painting and Decalling

The first thing to do here was throw out Trumpeter’s painting guide. Instead, I borrowed from the painting guide for Airfix’s 72 scale kit, which calls out the correct Herrick scheme of Dark Sea Grey and Dark Camouflage Grey. The Camouflage Grey proved a problem until I found AK Real Colours offered it.

MRP furnished the Dark Sea Grey. Photos of this particular jet were quite hard to come by and I am indebted to Nick Greenall from the UK IPMS Harrier SIG for sending me some through as well as details of the correct Operation Herrick load out.

The colours were faded just slightly. Whilst photos show a lot of staining and fluid spills, there is not an awful lot of paint wear evident. A replacement grey panel was depicted on the tail despite this not being evident whilst the jet wore the nose art. Artistic Licence! The jet is pictured at a later date with light grey replacement panels in evidence, but by this stage “Michelle” had been painted out. She wasn’t getting painted out on this jet, let me tell you!! The tanks also had different greys applied to the separate sections as images of real harriers showed this was a thing.

Michelle, the mission tally and the tail number all came from Zotz decals. Not my favourite manufacturer. I find their decals quite thick, and generally non conforming to detail. Here they were coated with several layers of gloss varnish and then gently sanded to blend the carrier film into the surrounding clear coats, which, to my surprise. worked very well. A new technique to me. National markings came from an Airframe decal sheet as both Trumpeter and Zotz had the size and colours wrong, likewise all the stencilling and serial numbers. No underside stencilling was applied as it looks like it was not reapplied after the undersides were repainted with the camouflage grey on the real jet. There was some evidence of general grubbiness around the engine bay doors, so I used Starship Filth to add this. Wrong colour!! I should have just used black as it looks like there’s been an engine bay fire. Nethertheless, I was quite happy with my blending efforts, these being better than some previous attempts at the technique.

Final Assembly

In what was becoming a recurring thing with this kit, the Trumpeter pylons and weapons were thrown in the bin. ( I used to keep all this stuff, but it was becoming unmanageable, and it turned out a lot of it wasn’t getting used, so now it just gets thrown out {I imagine Jon Bryon is grimacing with horror if he’s reading this!})

I have already given my thoughts on the Flying Leathernecks pylons, but at least they are better than nothing and I’m happy that Flying Leathernecks saw fit to release them. Kit fuel tanks were replaced with the fantastic, but expensive Reskit items. Bombs are also by Reskit. These are 1000lbers, as I could not find any 540lbers, which I think are the correct bombs for this particular loadout. The pilot will soon find the jet feels a bit sluggish!!

BOL rails came from Jet passion, the CRV pods and DJRP came from a fellow on eBay who 3d prints corrections for the GR7. Originally I was going to use a cast nose that I got years ago from a bloke off Britmodeller, but the 3DP nose had a lot more fidelity, it just needs the print lines sanding off, as do the rocket pods and the fuel tanks. And finally the TIALD pod came from Brassin, it being drilled and pinned to the adaptor pylon that comes with the Wolfpack Sniper pod, with brass rod , as were all the stores.

Conclusion

Not the most enjoyable build. OOB, the Trumpeter GR7 needs A LOT of modifications if you want to accurately portray a GR7 or 9. Aside from this, the model is not some of Trumpeters finest tooling, the plastic being textured with some panel lines that fade away. However, like all Trumpeter kits, the model looks complex, but is not that complicated to assemble. The gaps between the flap actuators, misnumbered parts in the instructions and poor engineering that required the nose leg to be fitted at an early stage all combined to make the model frustrating to construct in some respects. I doubt, I’d do another.

To finish off, I thought I’d list the Aftermarket used and how important it was to the build. Please note, these are my opinions only.

Aires Cockpit. Definitely adds to finished build with minimal effort needed to fit to kit. You will need a MB Mk12 seat though and not the American Stencil one.

Aires Jet Nozzles – Essential. Much better than kit nozzles. Again minimal effort needed to integrate into build

Resin wheels. I didn’t use any, but looking at my completed model, Im going to suggest they are essential as the kit rubber tyres are rubbish. At some stage mine will get replaced with resin ones too.

Soconat 3DP nose and DJRP – Essential if you want to accurately portray a GR7/9

Flying Leatherneck correct GR7/9 pylons. – Again essential if you want to do a RAF jet, for the only reason they more closely resemble RAF pylons than the Trumpeter pylons. And that’s not saying much!

Reskit Drop tanks – Very nice to have , as the kit tanks are inaccurate. Not essential though.

Weapons – Essential as kit weapons are US pattern weapons only.

This was my first completed build of 2025. There was a stage where it was looking like it would be my only 2025 build, So Im glad its done.

BAe Systems Harrier GR7A 1 SQN Royal Air Force. Kandahar Afghanistan 2007

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WingNut Wings Rumpler CIV Early

/ Bruces Scale Models / 3 Comments
  • Purchased; 2012
  • Completed; 2024
  • Enhancements;
  • Gaspatch turnbuckles type A
  • Decals; kit

Construction

Im going to let the photos do the talking for this one, as it was pretty much a trouble free build, thanks to WNW quality engineering and production.

As with all my builds, construction started with removing all parts that WNW mark as “not needed”. This minimises the chance of using the wrong parts for your version.
The cockpit and engine components were all prepainted prior to being assembled. the wood areas were base coated with MRP Middle stone, then the wood colour added with Burnt Sienna oil paint. Like all aircraft models, once the interior was completed, the airframe build up fairly quickly, more so when doing a WNW kit as all the wings are one piece. The ailerons were reinforced with bits of brass wire so as to provide more strength rather than relying on the very small glue area.

Painting and Decalling

Painting was achieved on this occasion using Tamiya paints using the colours called out in the instructions. the exposed engine being first wrapped in GladWrap to ensure no overspray marred its finish

This would be a clean build, so no weathering was undertaken, however some shading to emphasise the ribs was done with some highly diluted black/brown airbrushed over the masked wing ribs. A tedious job, but I liked the effect.

Although masks had been cut on my silhouette machine for the markings, only the stripes were airbrushed on, the decals for the national insignia being used on this occasion. Micro sol and soft ensuring they all hunkered down over the surface details. And just like that, we were ready for the GULP…….Rigging!

Rigging and Final Assembly

Although WNW don’t advise using turnbuckles in their hints and tips section – due to them looking overscale – my thought was they would at least make the rigging easier.

Plus, there were about 4 packs of Gaspatch turnbuckles in my aftermarket tub. Care needs to be taken when fitting these into your pre drilled holes that they will lie roughly in line with the rigging line. In the case of the Rumpler, turnbuckles were only fitted to the lower wing end points of the rigging wires. Model Kasten line was used rather than my usual EZ Line. It seemed to take to the CA glue a lot better than the EZ line, which in my experience just curls away when introduced to the glue. The Model Kasten line is also round in section, so you don’t get the twists that you do with EZ line. The downside however, is its a lot more expensive than the EZ line.

Using the turnbuckles allowed the rigging to proceed far more quickly and trouble free than any of the others methods Ive used to rig my biplanes this year. I did manage to cut the actual rigging line when trying to trim the line on a few occasions, but this was easily repaired.

Also in my AM tub were brass barrels for the Spandau and Parrabellum guns, but the kit PE jackets were rolled using a rolling set and looked convincing enough. They were finished using Humbrol Gunmetal which can then be gently buffed using a cotton bud to impart a nice metallic sheen.

With the addition of the propeller and REXX exhausts – which should really have been added at the time of building the engine- she was done.

Conclusion

This was without doubt the most enjoyment Ive had from a model over the last couple of years. The parts fit is exemplary, as is the moulded detail and Wingnut’s instructions. Once you have the various interior components painted, the model builds up very quickly, and precisely.

If you are sitting on some WNW kits, so yourself a favour and build one≥. They are simply too much fun to build to have them sitting unbuilt in the collection, unless that is actually your thing.

Rumpler C.IV MFA Varsenaere. Flanders 2017

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HpH 1/32 Supermarine Walrus

/ Bruces Scale Models / 5 Comments
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  • Purchased: 2013
  • Completed: 2024
  • Enhancements: Completely out of box
  • Decals: Custom cut masks

Introduction

When this kit was first announced by HpH, I was immediately on board as the Walrus is a favourite of mine. The only kits in my preferred scale of 48 were the awful SMER and slightly less awful Classic Airframes kits, the superb Airfix kit still being 3 years away. A 32 scale Walrus sounded very epic. It was also very expensive!

I was somewhat dismayed upon arrival of the kit to see the small resin parts had been cast attached to a sheet of resin. Separating the parts was going to require quite a bit of sanding!

Aside from that, the main airframe parts looked to have been cast very cleanly and with excellent detail, the fuselage being fully riveted and the flying surfaces being cast in solid pieces with rib detail that mimicked the sturdy construction of the real thing. The bow section had been marred by the rough removal of the casting block at the factory leaving a ragged gap when both fuselage halves were dry fitted together. Instructions were on a CD which I printed out, so as to make them more accessible on the bench. It is handy though to keep the CD handy as you can zoom in on the parts to help identification. Whilst the parts are numbered in the instructions, the actual parts aren’t. Numbers on casting blocks would have helped greatly in assembly. This would have to be one of the most complete kits on the market, with decals , photo etch, masks and even HGW fabric seatbelts all included in the box.

Construction

The first order of business was to straighten the two fuselage halves. Although I had taped them together many years ago to preserve their shape, they had still developed a few warps. These were straightened by the simple expedient of dunking the fuselage halves into boiling water until they naturally returned to their original state.

Construction was able to be commenced straight away, thanks to me having removed most of the resin parts from their backing a few years ago during downtime at work

Much sanding was involved, the parts either being hand held or taped to a small piece of aluminium angle whilst sanded against a sheet of wet and dry taped to a flat surface. My recollection at the time was a few parts got damaged but looking at my work now, far less than I remembered. Yay for me!

The interior is VERY complete, with a full cockpit, radio operators and navigators station included. The only thing missing was the run of control lines along the fuselage, which of course could be added by the modeller. The bell cranks leading off the control column and rudder bar are provided though, ready for you to connect the lines to.

Id suggest adding the side windows first whilst you still have good access . If the resin flash from the window openings is carefully removed, the resin windows should be a push fit once the window opening corners are squared off

To keep the build momentum going an early decision was made to only build the visible items. So into the spares box went the radios, the operators seat, and a few other bits and bobs that would never be seen. The roof trellis was replaced by a piece of plastic card that formed a tab to help align both fuselage halves.

There are side windows which you can see flashes of the navigator’s table through, but that’s about it.  Given this, adding the radio sets, and all the other mid fuselage fittings seemed pointless as they would be invisible on the finished model.

So, only the parts around the gunners openings were added, such as spare drum magazines, ribs and floor sections.

Constant dry fits of the fuselage halves ensure they would mate without any of the ribs fouling.  There was a bit of filing required, and snipping of various ribs needed throughout this process.  All in all, though, everything went fairly well, with the various components locating nicely, apart from the floor which required new slots cut for the ribs to fit into. Tedious but easily achieved by holding the floor up to the ribs, the new positions for slots marked and then cut in.

To help matters, ensure you add the side windows early before any of the other parts and that you glue all the bulkheads to the same side.  I didn’t do either of these things and it complicated assembly a little bit. Ensure you get the snuggest fit you can with the main bulkhead against the interior wall.  Mine also needed sanding a fair bit to reduce its width.

Once this was in place, 2mm holes were drilled through the depressions HpH had thoughtfully added.  K&S stainless steel rod was used. Lines were marked out on the wings to ensure the holes were drilled perpendicular to the fuselage. With as much of the interior as I wanted installed and painted , the fuselage halves were now joined. It was not the best join, with several steps in the keel and one behind the canopy. These were fixed by cracking the join and reglueing the area, one area at a time.  This worked quite well with all of the steps being eradicated.

The entire seam required filling with super glue and repeated rounds of sanding and priming to remove all trace of the seam.  The main area being the top of the fuselage between the rear gunners area and the cockpit. The area immediately behind the cockpit required its raised detail reinstating with plastic strip as my judicious sanding had eliminated it. The aforementioned tab of thick plastic card under the roof join ensuring that seam didn’t crack open with all the required sanding.

A spot primer coat of Mr Surfacer was then applied and the rivets reinstated with a Rosie Riveter riveting tool.

Although the holes for the wing spar were drilled where HPH indicated. Looking at the model in plan view revealed the wire was not exactly at 90 degrees to the fuselage centre line. Redrilling it would have caused a loss of the structural integrity I was hoping for, so it was left as is, my thinking being the matching hole in the wing could be drilled at an angle to compensate.

Next on the list was the fitting of the engine nacelle.  HpH providing a helpful jig to aid in its alignment

HpH provide dimples for where the strut location holes need to be drilled, however no advice as to what angles the holes should be drilled at. It is left up to the modeller to determine by studying  the walkaround photos included in the instructions.

To me, this is one of the areas where HpH could really improve the modellers experience in building their kits.  Yes, I know HpH  market to the advanced modeller, but  this does not absolve HpH from providing detailed instructions to assist in making their kits an enjoyable build.  This is a key part of the build. The nacelle provides the base to which the top wing centre section is attached.  Getting the struts at the correct angle here is imperative to getting the geometry of the aeroplane correct.  Given you are joining a centre section which needs to be square to an offset nacelle, strut placement and angle is critical.  No assistance in the form of diagrams, pre drilled holes is offered by HpH though, the photos in the instructions being less than helpful.

Its these kinds of things that don’t make building the kit as enjoyable experience as say for example, a Fisher Models kit.  Anyway, the nacelle was fitted. 4 of the 8 struts needed fairing in to the nacelle with Milliput as they were a little short.  I was concerned my nacelle was not forward enough, a point that was reinforced later when fitting the propeller as it fouled the wing trailing edge. Oh well!

The next step was to fit the rather large tail unit.  The tail fin is a separate part and when test fitted, had quite a large step on one side requiring building up the side of the fin with milliput.  Rivets and panel lines were then reinstated .  On top of the vertical fin sits the tailplane.  In the kit they come as right and left halves, one of mine had a casting flaw that left a mark which would have been incredibly hard to sand away without destroying the rib detail.  All the tailplane parts need to be pinned to each other to ensure maximum strength.  There was no real difficulty in this stage, just ensure everything is square.  Mine looked square, that is until I got the wings on!

There are two bracing struts each side.  Dimples for drilling are there on the fuselage, but not the stabilisers.  Consequentially, my struts were fitted to the tailplane  one rib too close Of course they had been soundly glued and faired in before this was realised.  I didn’t pick this up until comparing the model yo photographs of the actual aircraft.So they were painstakingly unglued, holes redrilled and the struts relocated one rib further out.  I was starting to not enjoy the Walrus.

Wings were added next, again not as neat a fit as the dry fits suggested.  This was purely down to my imprecise drilling, rather than the kit, as dry fits had shown a step and gap free join several times.  The upper wing is quite a heavy sizeable assembly when the outer wings are glued to the centre section. 2 part epoxy was chosen for its added strength.  Adding the upper wings to the struts took several goes to ensure everything was straight.  My top wing has got a slight twist in it due to the top nacelle struts being out of line, thus causing the wing centre section to not be square to the longitudinal axis.

Rather than continue with a blow by blow account detailing all my errors, below is my suggested assembly sequence for anyone else attempting this model.

  1. Ensure all contents of kit match the photo of kit parts
  2. Drill holes for spars in wings and fuselage. Test fit often.  Ensure all holes line up and are perpendicular to fuselage centre line. Do not add upper wings to centre section yet.
  3. Add the main bulkhead which will have the wire spar pass through it and drill this.
  4. Assemble fuselage adding as much of the interior as you desire, bearing in mind much of it will be invisible.  Ensure canopy will fit.
  5. Pass wire spars through before closing fuselage.  It’s a lot easier than afterwards!
  6. Build and add tail unit ensuring everything is square.
  7. Build up engine nacelle as complete unit with lower struts, ensuring by repeated dry fit it will be able to be added later.  Use supplied jig to ensure it will be sitting in correct place with struts angled accordingly. Drill holes for the nacelle rigging.
  8. Ensure lower wings are a good fit.  Do not attach them yet.
  9. Use the lower wings as a jig to assemble the outer floats but do not attach them at this time.  Drill all holes for rigging.
  10. Add the upper nacelle struts to the upper wing centre section, ensuring all your struts are at the correct angle to ensure the centre section remains square to the fuselage centre line.  This is vital in ensuring your model will have correct geometry.  It will also take lots of trial and error , remember that nacelle is offset, but the centre section needs to remain square.  The instructions don’t really illustrate the position of the struts at all well, You want the angled bits of wire plugging into the upper wing.  Glue the struts to the nacelle, but not the centre section at this stage
  11. Disassemble the model into subassemblies of fuselage, nacelle and centre section
  12. Add canopy.  You will be annoyed to find the supplied masks are all undersized!
  13. You can now paint the fuselage and nacelle and wings and I would go as far as even  decaling.
  14. Glue nacelle to fuselage and add rigging.
  15. Add floats to wings, rig the floats then add wings to fuselage.
  16. Add outer wings to centre section, glue struts in place and into wings.
  17. The tailwheel/sea rudder should be added last to save breakage, mine must have snapped about 3 times despite having a steel wire core.

Ah, the benefits of hindsight.  I’m sure my build would have gone a lot easier if it had been tackled this way.

By the stage of adding the upper wings I was completely over the model, in fact a couple of times I simply just did not want to  sit at the bench.

The decision was made to finish the kit to the bare minimum standard. My initial vision was a battered weatherbeaten aircraft, but at this stage, simply did not have the strength to invest any more time than was needed to get a basic paintjob on the model.  For the above reason my model’s weathering is limited to some chipping along the hull using the hairspray technique.  It was left at that.  The weathering may get revisited at some stage, but probably not.

Paints used were MRP for the top surfaces and white Ensign enamel for the underside Sky Blue.  Enamels are not my paint of choice these days, but this sprayed beautifully, but boy did it pong!  

Anyone that says lacquers smell worse than enamels are kidding themselves.  HpH threw in one last annoyance with their provided canopy masks all being undersized, necessitating new masks being cut from Tamiya tape.  I was by now thoroughly over this model and just wanted it off the bench.

Masks for the markings were cut after scanning the decal sheet for the Airfix 1/48 scale kit.

Rigging was fishing line.  Holes were drilled right through the upper wing so that the line could be pulled taut, the holes then being filled.  It would have been better to drill right through the bottom wing, but this is the kind of model you simply just don’t turn upside down if you can avoid it.  It weighs a ton, turning it upside down would be just inviting disaster.

With the rigging done, all that awaited was the wheels being added.  This was accomplished without incident, and with that, the Walrus was done.

Conclusion

I have very mixed feelings about the finished model.  It is nowhere near my best work. In the haste to get it off the bench, several compromises were made, especially in regard to the finish.  Parts such as bomb racks and the machine guns were left off, although photos do show this machine with no gun armament.  Despite this, the finished model is a beast, it captures the nature of the Walrus like no other scale can, and looks very impressive in the cabinet.  I love it.  HpH have made an excellent kit, although some details like landing light and wingtip lights are missing.  The model certainly is not fun to build.

Strangely it has not lessened my desire to build the 2 other HpH kits in my stash, these being the Hornet and the Helldiver. What it was responsible for though, was me deciding to sell just about all of my bigger 32 scale kits. hese big, complex builds in my stash, so onto the For Sale pile they went, and I feel a lot better for it. Most of them have already been replaced with the same subjects in 48 scale. My cabinet thanks me.

Now for a lie-down and a Tamiya kit!

Supermarine Walrus MkI 5 Communications Flight. Royal Australian Air Force. New Guinea 1943

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ICM 1/32 Gloster Gladiator MkI

/ Bruces Scale Models / 1 Comment
  • Purchased; 2019
  • Built: 2024
  • Enhancements:
  • Instrument panel: Quinta
  • Seat Belts:Quinta
  • Gun barrels; Master Details
  • Cockpit Doors; Quickboost
  • Air Breather pipes; Quickboost
  • Compass Pedestal: Quickboost
  • Decals: Aero craft Models

Introduction

I enjoyed my other Gladiator so much, I decided to build the second one in the stash rather than selling it as was the original intention.

Even without considering the “foreign” air forces, such as Sweden or Finland one is spoilt for choice with Gladiator schemes, do you do a silver interwar one, or a camouflaged war RAF example? Then there are the Sea Gladiators as well. My previous model was finished in early war RAF camouflage, so this one would be a silver interwar RAF example.

Construction

To take a different path from the usual “starting with the cockpit”, the rudder, stabiliser and elevator halves were first glued together so that they would have time to properly set up and allow any glue shrinkage to show itself.

With this done, construction returned to following the steps outlined in ICMs instructions, starting with the cockpit.  ICM provides parts that when built up result in a reasonably busy looking cockpit.  

Of course, the builder can improve on this. In my case I included some simple additions and refinements starting off with wrapping thin copper wire around the spade grip of the very plain looking control column.  A brake lever, cam and the brake line were added from scrap plastic and solder.  

Map cases were built up out of plastic card, and the slots on the throttle quadrant deepened with a Trumpeter scriber before new throttle levers were added from slivers of plastic card topped with blobs of paint.  

Quinta 3D Decals were used to replace the instrument panels and seatbelts.  The kit compass pedestal was replaced with a better detailed Quickboost item.

There is an ejector pin in the seatback that needs to be filled and the gunsight requires the clear reticule adding.  A punched disc of clear plastic did the job here.  

Once the cockpit shelf is added, you really can’t see too much into the depths of the cockpit, even with the cockpit access doors opened.  Speaking of shelves, to better replicate the real item, the rear shelf behind the pilot (part C22) was cut down to leave just the central beam.  To my eye, this really adds to the open framework look of these 30’s era aircraft.

If you wanted to add detail to the now visible interior behind the pilots seat, frames and a radio could be built up from card and strip.  I didn’t bother as my canopy will be open and sitting over the top of the fixed canopy section, so hopefully, that empty space will not be too visible.  Finally, the machine gun barrels were cut off, as these would be replaced by brass Master Detail barrels once all painting had been completed.

With the cockpit painted and detailed to my satisfaction, the fuselage halves could now be closed.  This was achieved with Tamiya Extra Thin Glue which was liberally applied allowing the excess to ooze out to fill any gaps.

The two halves fit tightly.  The lower insert…..not so much.  That said the gaps here were minor and were eradicated with CA glue mixed with Mig Ammo Steel metallic pigment.  To me the pigment seems to make the CA slightly easier to sand and  also has the benefit of colouring the glue so you can see what you are sanding!

The fuselage was then mated to the lower wing assembly with some filler required to blend in the rear join.  A result of the soft ICM plastic the wings are alarmingly flexible but adding the struts and top wing will hopefully add some rigidity.

ICM would have you rely on a small diameter plastic peg, inserted into a hole in the fuselage to hold the horizontal stabilisers in place.  Given the soft plastic, this would likely end in tears so the pegs were cut off and a suitable diameter brass rod used to provide far more strength.  Even more fortuitous is that the real Gladiator has a small gap here between the fuselage and stabiliser.  While you have the brass rod out, the tailwheel strut can also be cut and replaced as this is another weak area of the model.

With this done, a complete airframe and top wing sat on my bench awaiting primer.  Prior to priming, a No. 77 drill was used to open up all the rigging points as I intended to use EZ line for the rigging.  Once all holes were drilled, the struts were cleaned up and attached in their respective positions.

Next up was the engine. Again, ICM have done an excellent job of portraying the Mercury engine.  When completed it looks quite busy with its cowling support braces and cooler intake tubes.  Quickboost do make one piece air cooler intake tubes that are slightly better detailed however I didn’t use them on my model as the kit ones looked fine to my eyes.  The instructions here were slightly confusing, but eventually I worked out you have the option of building the cowling closed or open.  If building the closed version, do not add the cylinder heads, parts D14 or exhaust pipe “plates parts D21 and D22.

In a perfect illustration of the pre planning that goes into all my models, it was now that I decided the model would look better rigged with the AIMS PE Bracing wire set rather than the EZ line.  The reasoning being that the PE would better represent the flat RAF wires that were used on the real aeroplane.  The set was promptly ordered from AIMS in Hungary.  Post from Hungary to Australia takes about three weeks.

Painting and Finishing

While waiting for the PE bracing to arrive the model was painted.  A primer coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 revealed a few seams, mainly around the lower fuselage insert. These were eventually dealt with, some which required multiple attempts!

The fixed tail surfaces and wheel hubs were then given several light coats of SMS red.  This was then masked off and the remaining airframe, tail control surfaces and cowling got the Tamiya LP11 treatment with the model being rubbed down with fine 8000 grit sanding pads between coats.

Once the AIMS rigging arrived a careful perusal of the instructions revealed that AIMS wants you to remove the moulded inspection hatches from the wings so that they can be replaced with PE items.  The idea being that the hatches are placed over half the hole drilled for the rigging to make a slot for the PE bracing wires.

Whilst the AIMS instructions provide clear photos of an actual Gladiator to assist you with placing the PE bracing wires, it would have been more useful to have been given precise measurements as to where to drill the holes to accept the wires.  Of course, this meant that some of my previously drilled holes were in the wrong spot so these were carefully filled and redrilled all the time dodging previously installed struts.

In the end it all looked a bit messy, so the decision was made to strip the model using Mr Thinner and repaint.  This took me back to where I was 3 weeks prior.  I would complete far more models each year if I didn’t have to do so much twice or three times to each model!

On the other Gladiator build I had used a 1 Man Army mask set for the stencils and these had really impressed me sot they were put to work again.  If you have not seen these sets, they are laser cut masks for not only the national markings, but also all the maintenance stencils.  As the surrounding area needs to be taped off to prevent overspray, all these markings were sprayed prior to applying the decals as I did not want to be applying Tamiya tape over decals.  SMS Super matt Black was used to spray all the stencils, and then the masks removed.

The decals are by Aerocraft Models.  These performed very well, laying down with the aid of Microset and Microsol.  However, (there’s always a however!) Aerocraft do not give you handed fuselage Sqn flashes.

Both flashes provided are for the port side fuselage.  To apply the flash correctly to the starboard side and have the serial read correctly, the modeller will need to cut the serial from the flash and apply it separately so it is correctly orientated.  If applied straight off the sheet without modification your serial on one side will be upside down and back to front.

The front of the stripe is also angled to follow the panel line there, and if not corrected, this will slope the wrong way also. Aerocraft helpfully supply some spare striping in both red and blue, and this was used to reverse the angle of the flash on that side.

A sealing coat of SMS flat varnish was then applied over the whole model.  Once dry, panel lines were given a wash using Tamiya dark grey panel line accent with the excess being wiped off using white spirits.  Removable panels were outlined with black wash.

I wanted something different from my usual weathered finishes so on this model I went with a cleaner finish.

The exhaust collector ring and exhaust pipes were painted in a mix of MRP Exhaust Colour and SMS Dark Bronze.  If using the kit exhaust pipes, they will need their ends drilled out.

The Master Details machine gun barrels were first sprayed with Mr Metal Primer, followed by a coat of Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black with a final coat of Humbrol Gunmetal.  This was then gently buffed for about 20 minutes which imparted a lovely metallic sheen.

Rigging

The rigging could now be attended to using the AIMS set. All started well with the crossed cabane wires and inboard wires working as advertised.  Turning to the tail, despite drilling the holes as called out in the instructions, I just could not get the AIMS wires to fit.  AIMS only provide measurements for the holes in the tailplanes.  I really wish they had supplied all measurements.

Of course, a better modeller than me would probably have measured the wires against their respective positions before drilling.  As a consequence, the interplane wires were far too short to span between the holes I had drilled so EZ line was used for the rigging.  EZ Line was also used for the tailplanes.  In all, only the cabane rigging was used from the AIMS set. Other people have used this set without drama, so the inability to get a good result using it was purely my doing.

Final Steps

On the final stretch the wheels were added.  Then the model was given another coat of SMS Flat varnish, which dulled the silver nicely, making it look more like doped silver.

The clear parts were then unmasked and the gun barrels added.

The aerial wire on these early machines extended from the tail fin post to a point just behind the canopy where it then split into two wires reaching out to each wing.  To portray this, first a length of EZ line was added stretching span wise across the wing.  Next, another length was glued to the fin post with its other end intersecting the wing line.  Tension was then taken up so that the wing line stretched into a V, meeting the fuselage wire at a point over the spine.  A couple of turns around the wing wire were added and then a drop of Superglue was added to the fuselage wire to keep it all in place.

Finally, a length of monofilament thread was run from behind the cockpit up to meet the junction of all these wires.  Small dabs of Vallejo matt varnish were brushed over the superglue to remove any shininess and the model was done.

Conclusion

I found the ICM Gladiator an enjoyable build, to the point this is the second one I have completed.

Only a minimum of aftermarket enhancements were added to enhance certain details.  In my opinion there is enough detail out of the box to satisfy most modellers, what is there providing an excellent base for further detailing and refining if that’s your thing.

For me, the machine gun barrels, seat belts and instrument panel were “must have” refinements.  To this I would add the Quickboost cockpit doors, exhaust pipes, and if doing a MKII, the carburettor intake as “seriously think about getting”.

The AIMS bracing wires did not work FOR ME, but I do think they would enhance the finished model nicely being the proper flat section wire.

Weak points (literally) of the model were the stabiliser and tailwheel mounting points due to the ICM soft plastic.

Gloster Gladiator Mk.I No.72 Sqn Royal Air Force Church Fenton. UK 1937

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ICM 1/32 Gloster Gladiator MkII

/ Bruces Scale Models / 3 Comments
  • Purchased; 2020
  • Built; 2024
  • Enhancements;
  • Seatbelts : HGW
  • Gun Barrels Quickboost
  • Instrument Panel; Yahu
  • Flaps; AIMS
  • Carburettor intake; Quickboost
  • Compass pedestal; Quickboost
  • Decals;1 man Army paint masks

ICM released two boxings of the Gladiator. An initial Mk.I boxing followed by the Mk.II boxing a year later.

The MKII boxing being the one to get as it also contains all the MkI parts.

The kit is well moulded and comprises surprisingly few parts. This is the second ICM kit I have built, and they’ve both been very enjoyable build experiences, aided by good fit.

I was very much looking forward to starting this one too.

Construction Notes

Construction on this model started with the engine. No additions were used, it being built straight from the box. The completed engine looking quite busy to my eye. But spark plug leads could be added if desired, for a proper prototypical look. The join between the front collector ring and manifold should be filled, although this would be tricky to clean up, unless using a water based putty.

The breakdown of the cockpit gave me the initial impression ICM had greatly simplified it -true of every kit cockpit. But again upon completion and fitted, it looked suitably busy, especially if you enhance the Instrument panel with one of the 3d printed sets on the market, like Quinta, or as I used Yahu.

The throttle quadrant had two slots cut into it to accept the throttle and pitch control levers, and the rear of it was backed with some scrap card. The compass pedestal was replaced with the better detailed Quickboost item with the -in my case- out of register Yahu compass rose added to the face. The machine guns all had their barrels cut off, to be later replaced with brass barrels from Master Detail. The gunsight, part D19 also needs the reflector added from scrap clear plastic, a strange omission by ICM. 

An example of how ICM have simplified the cockpit is Part C22, the rear shelf, which to be accurate should in fact, not be a shelf, but just the central beam. In the actual machine, you can see down into the fuselage either side. On the port side there is a TR9 radio , the face of which Yahu supplies in their set. Some photos show a rectangular box mounted to this frame that sits behind the pilots head. All this would be quite easy to replicate from scratch if the modeller so desired.

The very plain control stick really should be replaced with either a better detailed resin item, or detailed with sprue and scrap to better replicate the real thing. I just added a hand brake lever to mine, and left it at that 

SMS British interior green was used, with a wash added from Modellers World ”wash for cockpit green.” Photos were conflicting on whether the cockpit was all green or green just above the sill with everything below silver. Mine was all grey green with a silver floor and seat. Once the prominent ejector pin mark in the seatback had been filled, seatbelts from HGW were added

With the cockpit added, the airframe built up fairly quickly, even with the added complication of cutting the flaps out and building up the AIMS PE flaps, which was achieved with some thin super glue applied with a bit of brass wire. The plastic flaps were cut from the kit wings with a thin PE saw after deepening the scribed lines so as to act as a guide for the saw.

Any gaps were filled with my super glue/metallic pigment mix. The underside insert needing a couple of passes before it was completely eradicated . There is no way those skinny little tailplane locating pegs are going to survive a knock, especially given ICMs soft plastic, so they were pinned to the fuselage with an old broken drill shank. The real machine having a gap between the tailplanes and fuselage. Whilst we have the brass rod out, the tail wheel should also have its locating peg replaced with the brass. This is another part that is prone to breakage, especially as ICM would have you fit it early in the construction process. All struts were left off until the painting was completed. Their fit to the wing is both positive and secure, so no problem adding them later. Same with the undercarriage, in hindsight, I wished I had of added it later as it made handling the model during the rigging process trickier. Whatever stage you add them, ensure you check the fit of the wheels to the axles. Mine were a little tight with the consequence that I broke an axle, which was sort of inevitable, given the soft plastic. The silver lining to this was it was repaired with a bit of brass wire that greatly increased its strength and also removed the flex from the plastic.

Painting and decaling

It took a great deal of studying photographs to decide on a scheme. The decision was complicated by the fact I wanted chosen scheme to feature black and white undersides , underwing roundels, early war type roundels and the four colour counter shaded scheme. If you think this would be an easy ask, think again! Early war Gladiators featured a multitude of schemes, sometimes, even in the same SQN. The Munich crisis roundels really appealed to me, but these aircraft were mostly silver undersides with no roundels. Eventually the 615 Sqn machine was picked, and to my joy, upon opening the 1 man Army mask set, roundels and codes for this very machine were included, saving me some Silhouette design time.

Painting started with the white half of the undersides using MRP white. The areas between the ribs were then sprayed with SMS German Cream and MRP Insignia white for some tone differences. The black half was base coated with SMS Camouflage black (my favourite black incidentally) and then the areas between the ribs were sprayed Tamiya rubber black. This was then masked off and a 50:50 mix of Gunze dark earth and MRP middle stone to represent the light earth was then sprayed on the top surfaces of the wings and lower fuselage. Tamiya RAF Green type 2 was mixed with a “smidge” of SMS Yellow for the light green. For painting the flying surfaces, TopNotch masks were used for the pattern, however the masks for the fuselage did not match the camouflage pattern of this particular aircraft , so blu tac sausages were used to mask the camouflage pattern.

These machines had gone over to France camouflaged in the standard DE/DG camouflage in 1939, Whilst there, the newly developed counter shade scheme was applied, possibly around early 1940. I imagine it would not have been the neatest job, due the RAF having no large maintenance facilities in France. In any case Gladiators in France did not last too long, the SQN being re equipped with Hurricanes soon after.

The Dark Earth and Dark Green were Gunze colours subtly shaded with some lightened and darkened mixes.

There is no definitive proof what colours the wheel covers actually were. Both red and green being called out by various profiles and kit manufacturers. I went with green.. The white outline though is very clear from period photos.

MRP Medium sea grey was used for the codes, the roundel colours are tamiya Royal Blue and SMS red, the red at this stage of the war being the bright red.

Rigging

This was by far the most frustrating part of the build. Contrary to all those modelling articles stating how easy EZ line is to use. “Just add a drop of super glue into your pre drilled hole and the line pulls taut” my experience was anything but the simple, relaxing task all these articles and youtube videos make rigging out to be!.

First off, the CA, despite being a new bottle would not stick, not sure if it was the humidity, but you’d think that would help set it. This was after 10 interminable minutes first trying to get the EZ line to into my drilled hole! It seems if the EZ line even sniffs the presence of CA, it curls up, refusing to be poked into the hole. Poking the line into the unglued hole was easy enough, but then getting the CA glue onto your brass wire applicator and then apply it accurately into the hole. You need another two hands!

EZ line was used as I wanted to replicate the flat RAF wires, despite my best efforts, there are some twists in my rigging lines, and by this stage I’d lost all patience in going back and removing the twists. Anyway, for what its worth my method was to attach the various lengths of line into No.80 holes drilled into the top wing, which at this stage has not been attached to the model, ensuring that they would be aligned so as to give the flat effect of the real rigging.

The top wing was then attached and the lines cut to slightly shorter than the required length and fed into the pre drilled holes in the lower wing. This is where it all started to get pear shaped. Anyway, I persisted until all wires were added.

The eagle eyed most you will spot a gas patch white metal RAF terminal used on the lower wing to see how this looked. This was the only one used as I found it too hard trying to line up the others to the exact angle needed, the metal not being malleable at all. Finally it was all painted Vallejo steel. and the model just needed the canopies unmasking and she was done.

Well not quite done as I needed to add the antenna post as ICM don’t include one. Probably a blessing as any part supplied would probably not stand up to the pull of the EZ line that was used for the antenna wire. A mast was formed out of brass wire and glued to the starboard wing, not centrally as ICM show on their box art

CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed this build, so much so that I started the MkI that was still in the stash which was initially going to go on the for sale pile. ICM have done a lovely job on this model and delivered it in a scale which does the real aeroplane justice. There are some annoyances, the soft plastic being the main one as it really requires the modeller to replace the tailwheel and stabiliser mounts which otherwise are far too weak and prone to breakage. Other than that, I found the rigging very frustrating, but thats on me! Lots more practise needed before tackling all those Wingnut Wings kits in the stash, me thinks!

Gloster Gladiator MkII 615 SQN RAF St. Inglevert. France 1940

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Fly Models 1/32 Hawker Hurricane llD

/ Bruces Scale Models / 2 Comments
  • Built: 2022
  • Added to stash: 2017
  • Enhancements:
  • Instrument panel-Yahu
  • Seatbelts-HGW
  • Decals: all insignia painted on using kit scheme as templates. Stencils-1 man Army

“I can’t see any more Fly kits in my future”

My love for this particular mark of Hurricane dates back to the mid 70s when the owner of a Perth W.A hobby shop I frequented showed me his rendition of the ancient Monogram 48 scale kit.

It is still clear in my mind (yet I cant remember what I did last week!) as he had added the exhaust streaks and some scuffing around the wing roots. All the raised rivets had been dry brushed and there was not a seam or silvered decal anywhere. At the time I had no idea kits could be made to this standard, where did the seams go, and why were there no brush strokes!!!!

This stalwart of early British fighters, though has sadly been ignored by the main manufacturers when it comes to 32 scale.

There was a early kit released by Revell in the lates 60s, which remained the only game in town until Pacific Coast Models and then Fly released their non mainstream kits.

As a “lo-fi” kit, I think the Fly Models Hurricane rates above the Pacific Coast kit from what I can remember of my PCM kit before I sold it. Out of the box, the Fly kit boasts sublime surface detail on the wings in the form of raised rivets. The fabric effect on the fuselage is not overdone, there are recessed rivets on the leading edge which means it will be easy to reinstate these following sanding and filling sessions. All this complimented by some nice resin and photo etched details. Not mentioned in the instructions, there are also parts to make a MkIV out of the box, with the armoured radiator and (crude) rockets, rails, blast plates and drop tanks being included. These parts will find a new home in my spares box.

There are surprisingly few parts for a 32 scale model, but construction certainly was not simple. Not helping in this was the instruction booklet. There detail on illustrated parts in some cases not matching the detail on the actual parts in some cases. The seat adjustment handle, bulletproof glass, and armoured rear cockpit bulkhead being some examples.

I would advise washing the sprues in soapy water before assembly. Usually I would not do this but found on this particular model, my Tamiya extra thin just did not grab like it does on other plastic. I can only assume this was due to some contaminenat on the plastic, although they did not feel greasy.

The cockpit “cage” was frustrating to clean up and get square, again not aided by vague instructions. I used the compass face included in the Yahu set. Fly would have you glue the seat adjustment lever to the wrong side of the seat, they also have you incorrectly have the seat harness attaching to the rear of the seat. It should in fact run through a slot in the armour plate. Despite the diagram showing an armour plate detailed with bolt heads the PE item in the kit is featureless. I added punched plastic card discs, although mine are overscale. The control column likewise is not the detailed item shown in the instructions but a rather featureless plastic part. I wrapped fine wire around the spade grip. The super detailers amounts you could also add the chain running from the pulley mounted on the column .

The fuselage went together without too much drama, well apart from a seam on the cowling that just would not disappear despite numerous sanding sessions. In the end I scribed a trench along it then filled it with superglue and sanded it down. That did the trick.

If there is one trick to this kit, it is ensuring that you remove COMPLETELY, the casting block on the wheel well roof. My dremel got this job. When I had finished, in some areas the roof was that thin it was almost transparent!

Get this right, and assembly is reasonably straight forward, with the wing centre section fitting to the fuselage reasonably well. I chose to add plastic card tabs to the various wing sections to aid assembly. You want to avoid steps at all costs, sanding will destroy all that lovely raised detail.. To this end I chose to add the top halves of the wings to the wing roots as I wanted a clean join here. This meant, on my kit I had a step on the leading edges, but figured any detail destroyed here would be easier to re instate than the raised rivets around the wing root.

The landing light as a consequence also was not the best fit. Superglue came to the rescue. The tailplanes also required filler along their roots as did almost every trailing edge. No razor sharp trailing edges on this Hurricane!

Fly would have you add three recognition lights underneath. Wartime aircraft seem tp have only the centre one fitted based on photos I looked at, so the two outer lenses were glued in place then faired over with putty. Whilst we are on the bottom of the machine, of you are going to add the pulldown footstep, don’t forget it is linked to the handhold to the rear of the cockpit, so this should also be cut out and the inward folding cover added. I didn’t bother so I won’t add the step either.

The model required several sessions of priming, and then remedial sanding and filling to smooth over several areas. The underside could then be preshaded in SMS PRU Blue before the final colour using SMS Azure Blue. A marbled coat was then applied using lightened Azure Blue. Staying with the undersides, the wheelwells were painted silver and the underside roundels painted using Montex masks from their A type roundel set. Whilst masking the underside demarcation line, something was not looking right. My theory is Fly have engraved the bottom lines of the side cowlings too low. They should be higher up the fuselage sides which would make the bottom cowling also wider as it looks a bit too narrow. I have not compared this to any plans, just eyeballing photos. I probably should have filled and re engraved the lines, but I was on a roll now and not wanting to slow my progress.

Uppersurfaces were painted with SMS Mid Stone and SMS Dark Earth. The SMS rendition of Dark Earth looks a little too dark too me, but it does complement the mid stone nicely. Lightened mixes of each colour were applied in random streaks and mottles, with the fabric rear and control surfaces being painted in paler still shades of the basic colours to represent the different way these would have faded from the metal areas.

Masks for the codes and serials were cut by a mate. Thanks Calum. The roundels again are from Montex masks as was the fin flash. Artillery Models actually sell the decal sheets from each boxing as masks, but don’t waste your money. They are made from a very light tack transparent frisket, and just do not easily transfer from the sheet or even stick to the model.

What is worth the money (well maybe not, as they are very expensive, are the set of stencils from One Man Army out of Belgium. These are masks which you can spray all the stencils through, rather than using decals or dry transfers. Some of these stencils such as the No Step markings are tiny, but the masks are very sharply cut. I was most impressed and will be investing in more of their sets. they can be re used so my set will be re used on Revells forthcoming new tool Hurricane. TIP: buy from Hannants as even with postage to Australia, they are still cheaper than BNA have them for.

Chipping was added using Vallejo white grey and then the whole model sprayed with tamiya semi gloss varnish ready for washes and further weathering to be applied.

For this model, the oil dot filter process was used. Small dots of white, buff and yellow oil paint was applied to the top surfaces and scrubbed in with an old brush. This had the effect of bleaching the upper surfaces. Im not sure Im really happy with the effect although it does give a sun faced effect to the model.

The Artillery Models vac form canopy was cut out and fitted as the kit plastic canopy did not fit over the spine of the aircraft and sat high. Reskit wheels were purchased but they look to be significantly undersized. Looking at photo I think the kit supplied resin wheels are more correct, but their hubs are way too small.

I found the undercarriage difficult to fit as it does not locate positively within the wheelwell. The tailwheel was ri enforced with a bit of brass tubing as I did not trust the kit plastic.

Lastly the kit gun barrels were replaced with brass tubing although I think mine are fairly anaemic looking for 40mm weapons. I may revisit these later.

Conclusion

The Fly Hurricane kit is one Ive been wanting to make for a while, purely as I love the aeroplane, but it certainly tested me, to the point Ive sold the other Fly Hurricane kits I had in the stash. They are just not an enjoyable build experience.

Having this model on the shelf takes me many years back, to a young boy,, standing at the counter of that upstairs Hay St. Mall hobby shop gazing in awe at another hurricane in desert camouflage. And for that reason alone this rates as one of my favourite builds so far.

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IID. 6 SQN Royal Air Force.

Shandur. Egypt 1942

Zukei-Mura 1/32 N.A.A P-51K Mustang IV

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  • Purchased   2019
  •      Built             2019
  •  Enhancements:  Seatbelts:  HGW 
  •         Paint   MR Paint
  •         Decals   Kit scheme
Build Notes:
The inspiration for this model came from seeing a 48 scale kit completed in these markings on the Britmodeller.com forum. Instantly, I wanted to build it, however, in 32 scale, rather than 48 scale, as I feel these single engine fighters have more presence in this scale.

I knew Zoukei Mura had produced a boxing of their Mustang in these markings, so the kit was duly purchased, and promptly started, as BM were running a “shark mouth” theme Group build. Talk about the planets aligning
​We all start our impulse purchases right after buying them, Right!  Actually this would be one of the very few kits I have started straight after buying it, strangely all the previous one have been Airfix kits being the Walrus and Defiant
​ The build log can be viewed here although I did not finish the kit by the deadline.

 

​This was my first ZM kit, and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  They do not build up like your usual kit.  The design philosophy being the makers want you to build the model similar to how the real aircraft was assembled.  A very Japanese thing.
Many people dont seem to like the complexity of these kits, but like the trumpeter kits, a lot of the innards that will never be seen can be left out helping speed and uncomplicate the build.  Despite the complex breakdown of the kit, it went together remarkably well, most joins falling on panel lines and  being engineered to look like panel lines.  Interestingly the new Eduard Mustang looks like it may have borrowed some of its breakdown from this ZM kit, the wheelwell for one being engineered the same.

I puttied the wings, a task made easier by ZM only having the panel lines present, saving you having to fill hundreds of rivets like you would have if using  the tamiya kit
Assembly proceeded quickly as I had made the decision to have the cowlings closed in order to show off the shark mouth.  Therefore I only assembled the bare bones of the engine, really just the block in actual fact.
the only fit problems encountered were  a bit of a step on one side between the cowling and the fuselage and a gap around the carburettor scoop.  Im guessing this was down to me.  You really do need to ensure all parts are aligned, otherwise it will have a knock on effect, and I think this is where my step on the cowling crept in.  On my next one (Yes, I intend to make another) I think I would save glueing the rear fuselage bulkhead until I added the empennage to further aid correct alignment
Aside from this, I managed to forget to add the landing light.  Never think you can build one of these kits without always consulting the instruction sheet at each stage.  Speaking of the instructions, I reckon they rival Wingnut Wings sheets for clarity and well thought out construction steps and build tips.

My only disappointment with the kit was, the flaps.  Like a lot of other mustang kit, the  flaps had the scalloped cutout to enable them to fit flush against the wing when added in the up position.  Given the attention to detail ZM have shown in other areas of the kit, I thought they could have given you alternative flaps for the down position like tamiya did with their kit.  Did I say only disappointment?  Irritatingly, some of the decal designs had a registration problem, the sharkmouth, serials and walkway red  L stripe all having a thin white drop shadow.  I painted this out with a thin black sharpie on the mouth, but decided to live with the serials on one side after a bit of a failed attempt at correcting the other side.  Subject to say, I can’t see the R.A.F calling me anytime soon for a job painting serial numbers on their aircraft!  The provided wheels are not weighted, and come in halves necessitating the tread to be reinstalled after eradicating the seam.  ZM do offer AM wheels, as do barracuda.  ZM also offer quite a few figures and photo etch sets to complement the model, so their website is worth looking at.  I will be purchasing their PE gun bay set so as to build the gun bay covers with the locking handles extended.  I did purchase some 500lb bombs, so may well arm her up in future as well

Z.M call out U.S colours for the camouflage, which many RAF mustangs were indeed painted in during manufacture, however, this particular machine was painted at an RAF Maintenance Unit.  I surmised that they would have painted her in RAF colours rather than US colours, so went for the standard RAF day fighter colours instead.  If you look at the build log, you can see in one of the posts a very helpful modeller posts the service history of this machine which shows it came from the factory in NMF and was camouflaged in Italy
​I went for a lightly weathered model, adding some light exhaust staining, oil leaks and grubbiness from foot traffic on the wings using oil paint.  Vallejo silver was used for the chipping with mud splatters underneath from pigments.  Testors Dullcote was used to finish off before the aerial line was added with EZ line.  Talk about a frustrating hour trying to thread it through the canopy.  It doesn’t bode well for that WNW Felixstowe in the stash patiently waiting its turn to be built.
​Im happy with my ZM mustang. I have another in the stash to build, on which I will use all the parts, and I also have a tamiya mustang to build.  It will be interesting to compare the two.

North American Mustang IVA  KH774  112 SQN Royal Air Force. Italy. 1945

Cyber-Wings 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf-109E3

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  • Date Completed:  January 2018
  • Aftermarket Used
  • Gun barrels: Master Model
  • Paint: Mr Paint, Mr Color, Tamiya, Creos GSI
  • Decals: Stencils from kit, National markings painted on using Montex masks.

Ive always liked the lithe looks of the E model 109, and have always wanted to build one in “classic” Battle of France/Britain colours.  I have several 109s in the stash but picked out the Dragon one to do.  I also decided this would be a good kit to practise riveting on.  I used some plans I found in the Aero detail volume on the 109E firstly marking all rivet lines with a pencil and then using a Rosie The Riveter tool to emboss them on the kit parts.  It went quicker than I thought.  Otherwise the kit is OOB.  My copy had two left hand wheel well liners in it.  All attempts to get a replacement one from the so called support service “Dragon care” went unanswered.  Thanks for your useless after sales care Dragon!
The only difficulty I encountered with the kit was the well known problem of getting the engine cowl to sit over the guns.  I ended up just using the barrels glued to a bulkhead I fitted into the interior of the cowl.  Still not happy with the fit.  I thinned the rear edge as the real cowl is not a seamless fit with the gun cowl, certainly not as pronounced as the gap on my model though.  The kit PE was used for the seatbelts.  The kit PE hinges were fiddly to construct but look and function well when done.
Montex masks were used to portray Lt Walter Schneider’s machine from May 1940, not the most photographed aircraft but I managed to find a pic which tallied with the Montex masks.

Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3 Luftwaffe. France 1940

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Kittyhawk 1/32 P-39 Bell Airacobra Mk1

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Year Purchased: 2016
Date Completed: 2017
​Aftermarket used
Eduard  Cockpit interior set, and exterior set ,exhausts
HGW Seatbelts RAF eraly style Sutton Harness
Mastercaster early style wheels and fishtail exhausts for Mk1
Master Model  .50in and .303 gun barrels with no flash hider
Maketar Masks  RAF and RAAF airacobra for Special Hobby kit

I have always loved the Airacobra in Royal Air Force markings, so when Kittyhawk announced their kit, thoughts turned to modifying it to represent a Mk 1 Airacobra as briefly used by 601 SQN
Research revealed there weren’t too many visible differences between the kit version and the one I wanted to model.  Fishtail exhausts, wheels, armament and a smaller diameter propeller being the main ones.  Mastercaster did wheels and exhausts for a Mk1.  Although made to fit the Special Hobby kit, they were easily adaptable to the KH kit.  Master of Poland supplied the gun barrels for wings and fuselage, the nose cannon being made from brass tubing.  I had planned to have the nose gun bay open, and had even gone as far as to replace the kit 37mm cannon with a 20mm hispano robbed from a HobbyBoss Spitfire, but in the end was not happy that I had portrayed the interior correctly, so reluctantly glued the panels shut.  The aerial mast was scratchbuilt from plastic strip, and the pitot tube came from a Trumpeter P-47
Overall I found the kit a reasonable build, although there were a couple of areas where fit was less than stellar, the wingroots being the main culprit.  This was due to the recess for the inner walls of the wheelbays not being deep enough.  The problem was solved by fitting the wings to the fuselage minus the wheelwell inner walls.  These were fitted after the wings were glued on.  To enable this, you need to cut the tabs off the wheelwell front and rear walls that the inner walls locate onto.  Do this and you will be rewarded with a join that just needs a smear of filler to hide.  It remains one of my favourite builds.

Bell P-39 Airacobra Mk1 601 SQN. Royal Air Force. Duxford 1941

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Special Hobby 1/32 Brewster Buffalo Mk1

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  • Built: 2016
  • Aftermarket Used: Nil
  • Decals: Montex masks

This one had a period on The Shelf of Doom due to me damaging the windscreen.  Special Hobby kindly came to the rescue and supplied me a new one free of charge.  Exceedingly generous of them seeing as I was the one who cocked it up.  I added a few additions to the cockpit such as a British reflector gunsight and armoured glass screen to reflect the British modifications. All markings are sprayed using Montex masks.  I have since discovered a few colour inaccuracies, the fuselage band should be sky blue and there should be no yellow ring on the underside roundel.  I still like it though.  Its actually a kit that I would like to revisit as I do i have a soft spot for the tubby Buffalo.  This being the third one I have built, well fourth, as I remember building the old tamiya kit as well. 

Brewster Buffalo Mk 1 67 SQN. R.A.F Burma 1941