P-38F Lightning - Academy 1/48 scale - Aires cockpit, Eduard etched set plus many mods. and some scratchbuilding

F6F-3 Hellcat - Eduard 1/48 scale - Aires cockpit

FM-2 Wildcat - Hobbyboss 1/48 scale - Modified with Vector resin, Ultracast, Eduard Etched and vacformed canopy

Messerschmitt Me 410B-1 - Monogram 1/48 scale - CMK resin cockpit, engine and control surfaces

Dornier Do 217E-5 - Revell 1/48 scale - CMK resin engines, scratchbuilt flaps and exhaust stacks

Piper PA-18 Super Cub -Revell 1/32 scale - etched seat belts otherwise straight from box

Churchill Tank Mk1 - 1/76 Scale by Hasegawa. Built straight from the box for the annual sixth month challenge.

Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4. Eduard 1/48 scale with added etch parts, extra detailing and corrections. Master brass radar antennae with scratch built brass Strutz supports. Gunze Sangyo acrylic paint.

P-40E Warhawk of the 343FG Aleutian Tigers. Academy 1/72nd scale kit with etched cockpit details and replacement resin prop/spinner and gun barrels.

Focke Wulf 190A-8 Eduard 1/48th kit built sraight from box using decals (Captured Butcherbirds) from Karaya. This aircraft was captured at St Trond airfield on 1st January 1945.

Focke Wulf 190A-5 Eduard 1/48th kit built straight from box using decals (Captured Butcherbirds) from Karaya. This aircraft was captured by the 325th FG in Italy, 1944.

P61A-II "Midnite Madness" - 1/48th scale. Great Wall Hobby kit plus resin corrections. An aircraft of the 548NFS, Iwo Jima 1945.

MiG-15 UTI, Czech Air Force - 1/72 scale. KP kit. Entry in the club's 2013 Six Month Challenge

Lockheed S-3A Viking, VS-31 "Topcats" - Italeri boxing of the older AMT/ESCI kit, 1/48th scale. Kit plus resin engines, cockpit and wheels. The S-3 Viking was the American Marines replacement for the S-2 Tracker anti-submarine ship born aircraft.
The main correction that I felt was needed to an otherwise good kit was to replace the front half of the engines. The intake and fan assemblies were replaced with resin ones from Hotel Sierra Models. These had to be mated with the main engine casings and involved a lot of sanding and fitting to get a good join. The cockpit is a resin replacement from Wolfpack Designs with Eduard etched details. Wheels are from Royale Resin (excellent castings) with the Eduard undercarriage detail set. Brass rod was inserted into all of the main undercarriage legs and struts at the anchor points to strengthen them (it is a big and heavy model). Decals are from CAM Decals but there are big problems with the fin decal. It just does not fit at the leading edge and I had to match in with several colours of paint. Upper paint surfaces are Xtracrylics Light Gull Grey and lower surfaces are Humbrol Gloss White from a aerosol. Satin varnish was used over the whole model.

Wingnut Wings 1/32nd scale Sopwith Pup, A7327 "1", Standard built, Capt SH Pratt, 46 Sqn RFC, June-July 1917.
Paints were from the Xtracolour range, Alclad Aluminium for the cowling, artist's acrylics (Raw and Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber) for the propeller.
Model built OOB for the Kingston Aviation Heritage Trust (Kingston being the home of Sopwith Aviation). No rigging is supplied with the kit and I decided to make the rigging from nickel silver wire (0.2mm from Albion Alloys) as well as metal turnbuckles (GasPatch Models) for extra realism. This proved to be a very difficult task as I fixed the turnbuckles to the model first and then had to cut the wire to the correct length. In hindsight it would probably been easier to attach the turnbuckles to the wire and then attach these to the model using pre-drilled holes. Most modellers use elastic thread ( EZ line) or nylon fishing line.
The Wingnut wings kits are excellent models and the only hitch I had with the construction was the well documented problem with the fit of the lower wing to the fuselage. The cockpit floor projects too far down and needs to be sanded down considerably.

Grumman S-2E Tracker, Kinetic 1/48th scale S-2E/G kit.

The detailing supplied with this kit is fairly basic and the instructions are awful. Detailing includes adding the searchlight, a wing landing light, aerial array and modified cockpit to represent an "E" version. The wingfold is from Wolfpack, wheels from Royale Resin, engines and intakes from Quickboost as well as lots of Eduard etched sets. Decals are from Fightertown Decals to repressent a VS-30 "Diamondbacks" aircraft in 1970.

Entry in the 2014 6 Month Challenge - ZIS-5V with 37mm AA gun

North American A-36 Apache, Accurate Miniatures 1/48th kit. Markings of an aircraft from the 27th Fighter Group, 522 Sqn, Italy, Spring 1944.

Modifications to the kit included removing the flaps and replacing them with Verlinden resin ones. The resin flaps had to be modified to fit this kit and the wing root fillets rebuilt. The radiator/oil cooler outlet was opened, landing lights added and the propeller, wheels, exhausts and guns replaced with more accurate resin parts. Paint was Xtracrylix Faded Olive Drab and Neutral Grey. Decals are from kit.

Grumman F3F-1, VF-4 Section 3 Leader, USS Ranger, 1936. Accurate Miniatures 1/48th scale.

OOB + some photo etch parts. Xtracolor enamels and Alclad.

Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat. "Red Rippers" of VF-11, USS Tarawa 1949. Kit is Hobby Boss 1/48th scale F8F-1.

OOB it is a reasonably easy kit to build but it is inaccurate in many areas and lacks detail in others. The main areas that need attention are the cowling shape, the wing thickness, the very poor wing inlets and the overdone ribbing on the flaps. Apart from the wing thickness, all these issues have been fixed. The lack of detail in the wheel wells, engine accessory area,engine and exhausts have been addressed using resin (Aires) sets. Eduard interior and exterior etched sets replace cockpit and undercarriage kit parts. The wing fold is from Wolfpack. Decals are from Starfighter Decals and the paint is Mr Hobby Cellulose Gloss Sea Blue.

Hasegawa 1:72 scale U.S. Jeep Willys M.B./Cargo/37mm Gun.

Built out of the box with Little Cars lenses added for the headlights and some Microscope decals (I didn’t get any decals in my box). Entered in the 2015 6 Month Challenge.

Grumman F7F-3N Tigercat, Italeri, 1/48th scale.
The model represents Z65 of the Marine Night Fighter Squadron VMF(N)-534 aboard the USS Shangri La, February 1946. This unit was assigned to carrier qualifications. However, it was soon apparent that the airframe strength was not sufficient to withstand carrier landings and structural failures of the wing-fuselage area consigned this version to land based operations.
I started this build about 6-7 years with the idea of scratch building the wing fold. Fortunately, Wolfpack released a wing fold set and my enthusiasm was revived. The model has probably been the most difficult one I have built, especially where kit parts have been replaced with resin. The model has been extensively modified from the original kit as follows:- Corrected nose - D-Mold Resin, Wing Fold and outer wings - Wolfpack Resin, Props - Ultracast Resin, Wing Intakes - Lone Star Models, Wheels - Royale Resin, Engines - Quickboost, Guns - Quickboost and Cockpit details - Eduard. Added detailing - Posable flying surfaces, nose wheel details, nose wheel rear doors, aerials, landing and navigation lights. Paint was Xtracrylix Gloss Sea Blue, with lots of work with various grades of polishing pads.

Grumman AF-2S Guardian. NAS South Weymouth 124796 May 1956. Special Hobby, 1/48th scale.

Built mostly out of box but all flying surfaces were made posable. I added extra detail to the searchlight and replaced the kit wheels with resin ones. The decals are from Caracal Models. Overall a nice kit to build, but being a limited run kit there are some fit issues especially with the smaller parts.

Grumman Goose JRF-5.
Model represents Bu4792 of the US Coast Guard (late 1940’s).
Kit is the 1/48th Signifier version. The kit contains lots of lovely resin fuselage interior parts, most of which will never be seen!
The injection part of the kit however is not good and requires an awful lot of work to make anything fit. Definitely the most challenging kit I have ever made. There is a lot of ‘surgery’ and scratch building as well as endless re-scribing. The undercarriage is the most modified area, mostly made from aluminium tube. Other areas that required significant work were the windows and the engine nacelles.
It is a shame that the manufacturer have got the shape of the rear fuselage to the front of the fin incorrect. Decals are from Draw Decals and the spares box. Rigging on the wing floats is nickel silver rod. Paint is Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver and the yellow Mr Hobby Aqueous colour H329. All references were from Steve Ginter’s book Naval Fighters No 63.

Grumman J2F-5 Duck.
Kit is the Merit 1/48th scale and represents the Fleet Air Photographic Unit Atlantic aircraft No. 3 1942.
The following were modifications made to the kit offering:- The resin engine was from Ultracast and the exhausts were scratch built from polystyrene tubing as the kit ones were found to be too short for the resin engine. The Eduard etch set was used, mainly for the the interior.
The kit has no details on the rigging, so I purchased the excellent Steve Ginters Naval Fighters Number 84 book. This book describes and illustrates every detail of the Duck that a modeller would need. The rigging wires are from RB Production’s range of 1/32nd British Streamline Wires 9/32 BSF. This was the closest I could get in width and thickness. Although they are 1/32nd scale they are probably still under scale. Paints are Mr Color 367 Blue Grey [FS35189] and Mr Hobby Aqueous H315 Light Gull Grey. Decals are from the kit.

Focke -Wulf Fw189A-2 Uhu, W. Nr. 2317, 5D + CK, 2(H)/ Aufkl. Gr.31 Luftwaffe. Operating on the Russian Front in the winter of 1942-1943. Kit is the Great Wall Hobby 1/48th Fw189-A2.
Addition to the kit contents were :- Replacement resin wheels and some of the internal parts from North Star Models, resin propellers and spinners from Quickboost, and MG81Z guns from Eduard Brassin and Eduard interior etched set for the fuselage interior. I also used Eduard’s masks since the vinyl masks supplied with the kit are pretty awful. This was a complex and fiddly build with a lot of detailing work inside the fuselage. Particularly difficult was the lining up of the guns with their ammunition feed belts as well as the cartridge ejection shutes. I scratch built the external shutes. There is considerable work in masking up the glazed areas. The truck is Tamiya’s 1/48th Krupp Protze with the canvas cover scratch built with wire and tissue paper soaked in 50/50 PVA glue and water to stiffen it. The figures are ICM ’S German Luftwaffe Pilots and Ground Personnel 1939-1945 and ICM German Luftwaffe Pilots and Ground Personnel in Winter Uniform. The fuel drums and Jerrycans are from Bronco Models and the bomb loading trolley is from Aerobonus (Aires).

Beechcraft GB-2 Staggerwing (Traveller Mk11). Aircraft depicted is FT461, Royal Navy, Aeroplane Armament Experimental Establishment (RAAEE), Boscombe Down, March 1944.
These American built aircraft came to Britain’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease agreement and were used mainly for a fast courier service of important mail as well as carrying military staff. The British, traditionally gave the plane their own name of Traveller.
The kit is the Roden's 1/48th. Being a 'short run ‘ moulding it did prove tricky in many areas, mainly with the poor quality and fit of the transparencies.
The main modifications to the kit were the replacing of the R-985 engine with a resin one from Neomega Resin. The interior was detailed using 0.3mm real leather on the seats and cockpit sides. Seat belts were also added. The undercarriage support struts were made from Albion Alloys slide fit aluminium tubing.

Douglas Devastator Floatplane TBD-1A, 1/48th kit by Great Wall Hobby .
The very first production TBD-1 Devastator was modified by adding two Edo Floats. It was originally conceived as a test - bed for the Dutch Navy but events in Europe in the late 1930’s precluded the order. This single aircraft was retained by the US Navy (NAS Quonset Point) to test different torpedoes, operating out of Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Newport, Rhode Island.
The model was mostly made OOB, the main modifications were omitting the armament, telescopic aiming device, antenna and aerials. I used Eduard’s interior set as well as Eduard masks. The wing fold is standard for the kit. The paints used were Tamiya Chrome Yellow TS-47 cellulose for the upper wings and Tamiya Bare Metal Silver AS-12 for the remainder of the airframe. The biggest task was to scratch build the beaching trolley. No kits exist for this, I could only find two photos (one from the front and a more distant rear view) of this aircraft on a beaching trolley. The trolley including the wheels and tow bars were built from Plasticard and Evergreen strip. The tug was a resin model of a Clark Tow Tug from VideoAviation.com.

North American T-28C Trojan 1/32 scale, kit by Kittyhawk.
The model is mostly built out of the box. I did however use the following aftermarket sets. 1) Eduard Seat Belts 2) Eduard masks 3) Quickboost (Aires) exhaust set. 4) Airscale instrument decals instead of the kit ones.
Kitty Hawk kits are known to be challenging to build and this model was no exception. Location of many parts is vague and the fit often poor. The undercarriage is a good example of this.
The model has a lovely detailed engine but I decided not to show it with opened cowlings because the model needs so much nose weight to stop it ‘tail sitting’ that I had to resort to putting weights in the engine compartment.
I used Steve Ginter’s book Naval Fighters No. 5 - invaluable! The yellow paint was Tamiya TS-47 Chrome Yellow decanted from the spray can into my airbrush. Particularly difficult to mask were the curved, black fuselage stripes that extend from the exhausts to the rear of the wing that were not supplied as decals in the kit. Overall a good kit that with care and patience builds into a fine looking model of the T-28.

Rockwell T-2C Buckeye.
This 1/48th scale model was made from an original boxing by Two Bobs in 2011. This was their only venture into aircraft kits. It has for some time been boxed by Special Hobby in 1/48th and 1/32nd scales. The kit was originally a limited run production and contained an excellent resin cockpit and decals (Two Bobs) but unfortunately a poorly fitting, one piece vac formed canopy.
The model was finished in the colours of VT-9 Tigers, NAS Meridian, 2003.
A difficult build but I was pleased with the final result.

Hawker Tempest Mk V Series 2. Kit is the Eduard 1/48th scale.
Several resin parts were used instead of the kit parts. These were Barracuda Studios resin wheels, exhausts, corrected spinner and corrected intake set and pilot’s seat. The model was finished in Tamiya AS-12 silver with a small amount of light grey to tone the silver down.
Markings are NV708 flown by W/Cdr John Chester Button of No. 123 Wing, RAF Station Wunstorf, Germany, 1946/7.
This kit was a very enjoyable build with very good fit throughout.

T-45C Goshawk by Kinetic, 1/48th scale. Markings of a VT-21 “Redhawks” aircraft.

E-2C Hawkeye 2000 VAW-115 Liberty Bells “ Sayonara Atsugi “ 1/48 scale model by Kinetic.
I made several modifications to the kit. The fairing at the front of the wing/fuselage joint is the resin conversion from DMold Modelworks, the engine air intakes from Quickboost, the wheels from Royale Resin, the cockpit interior from Kinetic and exterior detail and paint masks from Eduard. There is approximately 120 of weight behind the cockpit to prevent it from being a tail sitter. Paints are mostly Mr Color lacquers.
This was a complex build and I used numerous references to improve the overall accuracy. The main criticism I have with the kit is the oversized panel lines particularly on the fuselage. On the real aircraft they are barely noticeable. I therefore filled most of in and rescribed them where necessary.

Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender. 1/48th scale by Modelsvit
Three prototypes were built and this model represents the second built 278846. It currently resides in the AirZoo Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
This model was built straight from the box with the exception of the wheels which come from Barracuda Resin ( P-51D wheels).
A nice kit with few problems in the build.

O-2A Skymaster in US Navy Service. 1/48 by ICM
The main modification to the kit was the main undercarriage leg which was discarded in favour of a brass replacement from Aerocraft. (Previous advice from other builders who found the kit plastic leg inadequate to support the model).
A nice kit with only the fitting of the clear parts giving me hassle.

North American B-25C/D Mitchell, 1/48 by Accurate Miniatures built to represent “Red Wrath” of the 345th BG, 498 BS “Air Apaches” operating in New Guinea Feb 1944. This was a nice kit from the early 2000’s but by modern standards lacks detail and accuracy in noticeable areas.
I decided to go the “whole hog” on detailing this aircraft using the following:- 1. Corrected resin cowls from Cutting Edge (no longer in business), 2. Resin wheels from Reskit. 3. Landing lights, seats and gunsights from Quickboost. 4. Brass .50 cal guns from Master Models.
5. Tail gun, waist guns and ammo belts from Gaspatch Models. 6. Masks from Eduard and Montex. 7. Decals from Eagle Strike. 8. Cockpit details from Eduard. 9. Other detailing in upper turret, rear gun and waist positions all scratch built. 10. Mission Models paint for olive drab, Mr Color paint for grey and white.

Messerschmitt Me 262 B-1/ U-1 Nightfighter, 1/32 by Revell.
Main additions to the kit were the Fug 218 Neptun radar array from Master-Model, resin wheels from Barracuda Studios and cockpit detailing from Eduard. The diorama figures are from Ultracast and the base was scratch built. The fuselage camouflage pattern was painted freehand. An enjoyable build that kept me sane during lockdown.

Vickers Viking Mk1A in BEA markings 1/72 scale kit by Valom

C-54D Skymaster, 1/72 sclae by Revell
The markings are for SC-54D 42-72702 of the USAF Military Air Transport Service. Model was built OOB, using only Caracal decals CD72045.
Quite a difficult build and very much over engineered. Definitely not worth building all the interior behind the cockpit unless you are building it with all the doors opened. Paints used were Alclad Polished Aluminium dulled slightly with Alclad White Aluminium, Xtracolor International Orange, Tamiya TS-47 Chrome Yellow and Mr Color White.

Hobbyboss 1/48th Bell-Boeing MV-22B Osprey. Aircraft carries the markings of VMM-163 “Ridge Runners” or “Evil Eyes” squadron, Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California. The aircraft features on one tail fin a Grim Reaper with an “ Evil Eyes “ patch
and the other side a Grim Reaper with the “Ridge Runners “ patch.
Most of the build was out of the box with the addition of Red Fox 3D cockpit decals. The main deviation from the kit is the lowering of the flaps. I think Hobbyboss should have supplied this as an option as almost all Ospreys have lowered flaps on the ground. Also I decided not to depict the model with the engines in the tilt position as there is no detailing provided in the kit and that area contains a lot of complex mechanism and hydraulics. Decals are from Print Scale.

Rockwell OV-10A/C Bronco, 1/32 scale by Kittyhawk.
Kittyhawk (now no longer in business) did not have the best reputation for ease of building with the exception of some of their later kits. I followed the building sequence according to Nigel’s Modelling Bench on YouTube and I am glad I did.
This is a very heavy model when enough lead is added to the front fuselage to avoid a “tail sitter” and due to to the design of the Bronco’s undercarriage a brass set of undercarriage struts is essential.
Aftermarket sets used were:- 1. Quinta Studios 3D cockpit decals. 2. Master Model brass pitot tube. 3. Reskit resin wheels. 4. Aerocraft brass u/c set. Mr Color lacquer paints were used.

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning 11, 1/48 scale by Tamiya.
This model was an absolute joy to build. The engineering and fit of of the parts is pretty much faultless. Some modellers might say if you do not want to display the model with the weapons bay open there is a lot of beautiful detail lost but that is a matter of individual choice. Expensive for a 1/48th kit but if you like the F-35 well worth the building experience. The only negative thing I would say is using Tamiya decals for the RAM detail would be very tricky to do and I chose to use Eduard masks and paint them instead. Aftermarket sets used :- 1. Eduard Space 3D cockpit decals. 2. Eduard Brassin wheels. 3. Eduard Brassin Exhaust Nozzle. 4. Eduard F-35A RAM Detail Masks. 5. Eduard T Face Canopy masks. 6. Caracal CD48225 Decals.