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Question of the Day: What's the most interesting small town you've visited in South Africa?
Scale modelling
- Thread starter Claymore
- Start date
My 2025 model builds:
Tamago World Harrier Cab Eggplane
BAe Hawk T.1 (1/72)
Westland Whirlwind Mk1 (1/72)
Armored Knight Kaiser Maximilian II (1/12)
XFY-1 VTO "Pogo" (1/48)
Sea Harrier FA.2 (1/48)
Bloch MB.152 (1/72)
Yakovlev Yak-15 (1/72)
Focke-Wulf Fw-189 Uhu in winter whitewash (1/72)
The legendary Czech "Pink Tank": Soviet Heavy Tank IS-2 (1/72)
Special Services MH-60K Black Hawk (1/48)
"A Way Home": alien family finds a way home, with Avro VZ-9 Avrocar (1/72)
Arado Ar-234 C-2 kit with included V-1 (1/72)
CMC Leopard twin-jet 4-seater passenger aircraft (1/72)
Tamago World Harrier Cab Eggplane
BAe Hawk T.1 (1/72)
Westland Whirlwind Mk1 (1/72)
Armored Knight Kaiser Maximilian II (1/12)
XFY-1 VTO "Pogo" (1/48)
Sea Harrier FA.2 (1/48)
Bloch MB.152 (1/72)
Yakovlev Yak-15 (1/72)
Focke-Wulf Fw-189 Uhu in winter whitewash (1/72)
The legendary Czech "Pink Tank": Soviet Heavy Tank IS-2 (1/72)
Special Services MH-60K Black Hawk (1/48)
"A Way Home": alien family finds a way home, with Avro VZ-9 Avrocar (1/72)
Arado Ar-234 C-2 kit with included V-1 (1/72)
CMC Leopard twin-jet 4-seater passenger aircraft (1/72)
Last week I finished the ancient Frog 1/72 model kit of the De Havilland DH.103 Hornet. Like most De Havilland products (even Olivia de Havilland), it was beautiful, and apparently a joy to fly. This depicts PX293, flown from RAF Church Fenton in Yorkshire in 1950, in unusual medium sea grey and PRU blue colours. Not my best work, but it looks nice and clean. I did build an entire cockpit interior for it.
Finished, my first proper tank model in decades. This is the 1/35 Zvesda kit of the Russian T-80UD tank from 1991. The UD was for "Ukrainian Diesel", a fairly rare variant fitted with a diesel engine instead of a turbine, giving it better range and fuel consumption at the expense of speed. This one is only lightly weathered; I don’t think they were used in combat. I could be somewhat casual with airbrushing since the Russian factories were too. The Zvesda kit is not bad at all, except for terrible fit between the hull and top of the tank; I had to grind down the top of the tracks to get it to fit. The base is a cobblestone street 3D print from Fallout Models, with hand-painted cobbles, and a bit of water and dirt.
Finished, the Airfix 1/48 kit of the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S.2B. This one is Longmorn, one of the Buccaneers sent by the RAF to the Gulf War in 1991, painted with a sandy camouflage called "desert pink". They typically carried a slipper fuel tank, laser designator pod to designate targets for Tornados, an ECM pod, and a Sidewinder for self-defence. The paint wore off fast, so there was quite a bit of weathering on the aircraft, and the colour ranged from pinkish to yellowish. I used pink mottling under Mr Color’s "Flesh" paint, and I think it’s a pretty decent match; I used an entire bottle of paint. The kit itself had some poor fit issues (especially the air brake!), but detail is not too bad.
Thank you, getting there!
satanboy
Psychonaut seven
I want.
That looks so intricate! And the tentacles....
satanboy
Psychonaut seven
RedViking
Nord of the South
Actually much bigger than I would have expected.
Jan van Riebeeckstad
Executive Member
That was not glue
satanboy
Psychonaut seven
I built a really ancient ('70s vintage?) Airfix 1/72 Curtiss Helldiver kit. Initially I was going to chuck the kit, because when I checked it, it seemed there'd been a moulding issue: the top half of the inner starboard wing was just a tiny piece of plastic. However, I turned it into a bit of an experiment: "Weather...or Not?".
I built and painted it with the port half clean and neat, with folded wing, and the starboard half heavily weathered, with paint chipping down to metal or primer, different faded shades of paint, exhaust stains, oil leaks, dirt, the works, right down to half of the prop, half of the bomb, half of the cockpit. I used He-177 bomb bay doors and some plastic to fabricate a wing surface structure, then made a tarpaulin to cover it. Cockpits front and rear were detailed a bit.
Along with the Helldiver, I found and painted up a set of old soft plastic American ground crew. Quite a fun little experiment.
I built and painted it with the port half clean and neat, with folded wing, and the starboard half heavily weathered, with paint chipping down to metal or primer, different faded shades of paint, exhaust stains, oil leaks, dirt, the works, right down to half of the prop, half of the bomb, half of the cockpit. I used He-177 bomb bay doors and some plastic to fabricate a wing surface structure, then made a tarpaulin to cover it. Cockpits front and rear were detailed a bit.
Along with the Helldiver, I found and painted up a set of old soft plastic American ground crew. Quite a fun little experiment.
Completed, the Swedish Heinkel He-115 seaplane. In WW2, Sweden's seaplane squadron operated 12 of these planes they'd bought from Germany. I did extensive research (I spent much more time on research than actually building the model), and based on what spare decals I had, chose number 8. The 12 varied in minor details, but 8 had yellow float undersurfaces, red on the float tips, white "8" on tail and nose, and the "2" for the squadron marking was black. The kit was a 1/72 Matchbox kit, which fitted pretty well, though the old plastic was a little brittle. It was so smooth I had to sand it down with 3000 grit sandpaper so that the primer would stick. I did a bit of cockpit detail too, though not much is visible through the huge paned canopy.
I also completely scratchbuilt beaching gear for the plane, using Ar-234 engines, He-177 wheels, and bits of plastic, based on pics of the real thing. I had a ground tractor 3D-printed, and painted and decaled appropriately. It was a lot of fun taking this ancient Matchbox kit and doing something different with it.
I also completely scratchbuilt beaching gear for the plane, using Ar-234 engines, He-177 wheels, and bits of plastic, based on pics of the real thing. I had a ground tractor 3D-printed, and painted and decaled appropriately. It was a lot of fun taking this ancient Matchbox kit and doing something different with it.
satanboy
Psychonaut seven
1/6 1966 Batmobile Collectible Vehicle for Batman and Robin TV-Series – Ultimate DX version
$1,499.00 Ex. VAT
Jazzinc Dioramas
Finally, it’s a sixth scale replica of the grooviest Batmobile ever. This fully detailed replica of the Caped Crusader’s vehicle comes in two versions: the Standard Version and the Ultimate DX.
jazzincdioramas.com
Jazzinc Dioramas
Finally, it’s a sixth scale replica of the grooviest Batmobile ever. This fully detailed replica of the Caped Crusader’s vehicle comes in two versions: the Standard Version and the Ultimate DX.
jazzincdioramas.com
satanboy
Psychonaut seven
Finished, the Italeri 1/72 Dornier Do-24 flying boat model kit. The kit comes with Luftwaffe markings, but I depicted it as the Swedish Tp 24, number "90". This particular aircraft was stolen by a German mechanic in 1944, and he and his Estonian girlfriend defected to Sweden. The aircraft was then formally purchased, and used in the F 2 Wing near Stockholm for air-sea rescue. It was repainted in a very dark green. It was in service with Sweden until being scrapped in 1952. The Do-24 was a superb flying boat, legendary for its ability to handle rough water (better even than the Catalina).
The mechanic, Wolfgang Gerhart (later Gerts) became a Swedish citizen and worked in the aviation industry. He and Agnes did not remain together, though she too stayed in Sweden.
The kit itself was really good. Nice detail, engraved panel lines, and it fitted well. The tricky bit was attaching the fuselage to the huge wing with all of the struts, which I did only after fully painting everything; thankfully, the fit was excellent. I used RLM70 black-green paint, and I scrounged Swedish markings and the yellow number decals from various places. Fortunately there were a number of contemporary photos of the plane for reference.
The mechanic, Wolfgang Gerhart (later Gerts) became a Swedish citizen and worked in the aviation industry. He and Agnes did not remain together, though she too stayed in Sweden.
The kit itself was really good. Nice detail, engraved panel lines, and it fitted well. The tricky bit was attaching the fuselage to the huge wing with all of the struts, which I did only after fully painting everything; thankfully, the fit was excellent. I used RLM70 black-green paint, and I scrounged Swedish markings and the yellow number decals from various places. Fortunately there were a number of contemporary photos of the plane for reference.
Finished, the Airfix 1/72 OS2U Kingfisher observation floatplane. The Kingfisher was a widely used floatplane used off merchant ships, warships, and from land bases, by the US, Royal Navy, Soviet Navy, and RAAF. It most famous use was the rescue of Eddie Rickenbacker. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was the top US ace of WW1, a racing driver, airline owner, and aircraft builder, and in WW2 was conducting a tour and delivery of a secret message in the Pacific in a B-17. The B-17 went badly off course and ditched, and Rickenbacker, his writer friend Hans Christian Adamson (no relation), and several surviving crew members driften in rafts for 24 days. Three were rescued by a Kingfisher, and unable to take off, the Kingfished taxied on the water for 64km to the nearest base.
In another incident, a pilot rescued 9 downed airmen at Truk Lagoon, and taxied for several hours with the men clinging to wings until they could be transferred to the submarine USS Tang.
The kit itself was a very old kit, and fit was so-so, with poor detail. I depicted it as a Fleet Air Arm plane, with British markings with the red removed. Unfortunatelly, the kit decals disintegrated, so I scrounged the "Royal Navy" and numbers, and masked and airbrushed the rest of the markings.
In another incident, a pilot rescued 9 downed airmen at Truk Lagoon, and taxied for several hours with the men clinging to wings until they could be transferred to the submarine USS Tang.
The kit itself was a very old kit, and fit was so-so, with poor detail. I depicted it as a Fleet Air Arm plane, with British markings with the red removed. Unfortunatelly, the kit decals disintegrated, so I scrounged the "Royal Navy" and numbers, and masked and airbrushed the rest of the markings.
Finished, the Condor 1/48 Heinkel He-178. The He-178 was the first jet aircraft to fly, and was actually rather unimpressive, considering. The condor kit is quite awful. There are a few nice bits: there was a lovely three-later instrument panel, photoetch seatbelts and pedals (which were too big and didn't fit), and side consoles (which weren't even mentioned or shown in the instructions. All the plastic parts fitted terribly, and I had to do lots and lots of sanding and filling. The colours were partly bare metal and partly RLM02 green-grey, with lots of careful masking. It came out OK, considering. I cut the canopy open so the cockpit is visible.
I painted and put together a bunch of 1/72 3D-printed bits: two Hanomag SS-100 tractors for use on Luftwaffe airfields, and a bunch of fuel drums, jerrycans, and oil cans. These are all going to be used in a future Luftwaffe airbase diorama.
