Newark Air Museum

  We are in Nottinghamshire for the weekend to attend Partizan, so visits to various museums in the area is always on the cards. First up was Newark Air Museum, what a great space and some excellent predominately modern aircraft display. The shop was also well stocked with kits at a very reasonable prices. 

Cheers 

Matt

WIP Wednesday - Saab Viggen

 Saab Viggen WIP

Another aircraft for my Swedish army, a Saab Viggen from Airfix again straight out of the box. A simple build with very few fitting problems (body and wings needed clamping) we shall see how the decals hold up when I paint it in late April. 

Cheers 

Matt 

Duxford IWM visit

 Duxford IWM visit

Day two of our holidays in the UK we visited the Duxford IWM airfield and hangers. What a fabulous museum and both of us really enjoyed it! It is great when your wife is also a ww2 aircraft nut! We payed for the private Lancaster talk and visit, walked around under and actually entered the Canadian built Lancaster, (the AWM canberra could learn a thing or two from this exhibition). We also visited the airborne museum in the main hanger (next post), the 1940 hanger, the privately owned aircraft hanger, the 1940 BoB ops room and the American aircraft hanger, but run out of time to visit the East Anglian regiment museum, and the armour museum, next visit perhaps!. 

I would of liked to have seen the aircraft in more of a order, ww1, mid war, ww2 and modern….but that is my need for order coming out. A few pics of my favorites! 

We had two highlights the Lancaster talk and visit into the aircraft interior and seeing the spitfire two seater take off and fly past. Lots of inspiration for my aircraft builds, I only picked up two kits (both ww1) and no books…..the wife purchased five though, which I will read also. 

More fun to come this week with several castles and two battlefield walks! 

Cheers

Matt

Airfix Henschel HS129 build part 1

Airfix Henschel HS129

In September we have a Nostalgia build for kits or figures designed pre 2000 and no longer in production. I have elected to build a Airfix Henschel HS129 kit. I actually already have two kits built for this aircraft, one 20mm cannon and one 75mm canon. This model will become a photo reconnaissance aircraft that was shot down east of Laval in August 1944.


Looking forward to the build if you want to join us here

Cheers
Matt

JU86 D1 project part 1

 

Junkers JU86 D1 build

Well a cold wet day kept me from doing external chores so I elected to pull out some kits from the stock and decided upon the Italeri Junkers JU86D1 and four others to assemble over the coming week of predicted wet weather.

 Originally I purchased this for SCW aerial dogfights, but as it is a little large I have decided to add it to my Luftwaffe for the invasion of Poland where I believe the JU86D1 flew its only combat missions of ww2 with Kampfgeschwader 1 /III, (I do quite like the 5th Staffel KG254 1937 colours below).

I will paint in the early war pattern I think, and as a wargaming flying model, as very little information exists for the JU86D1 service. 

JU 86 colour ideas

JU86 colour ideas

cockpit Interior 

looking at the forward bombardier/gunners position

The  dorsal gunners position; and within a retractable ventral position

Interior commenced RLM 02 brush painted

cheers

Matt

Terrain Tuesday Aircraft Flight Stands

 Terrain Tuesday Flight Stands

This week I decided while building the Dassault Mirage III model that I would make another two flight stands for jets, one for Arid and desert games and one more for more green looking european games.

They are mounted on some MDF octagon shaped 10mm deep pieces that I picked up once in a paint shop clearance about 8 years ago. I left with about ten pieces and then had a Hotz mat made to match them for my WW1 Canvas Eagles 1/72 scale aircraft games and I also use them for ww2 larger aircraft like bombers, and DC3-JU52 para landings. Happy with them, although I may add some more bushes to the arid one I thik.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™ 

From Caesar to World War Two

cheers

matt

Argentinian Dassault Mirage IIIEA 1/72 finished

  Argentinian Dassault Mirage IIIeA 

Completed, really happy with the build, went together ok, did need some putty, but sadly my squadron putty had dried out and I tried to resurrect it, sort of successfully. I added a wire through the centreline to attach to my flight stands for jet aircraft. If I was building a display piece I may of spent more time on it, but this model is a poor example of the dassault Mirage III, requiring major changes (wheel hub location, rear tail alignment, panel scribe detail and tail deflectors etc. The paint went on well and happy with my camo work, added the extra fins to the missiles to make them look more like the magic 550 missile. I did fek up with the clear varnish and forgot to mask the canopy for the matt finish.....oh well still serviceable. Decals were the biggest problem but saved by and a big thanks to my mate Robin for saving me, as Hannants are not delivering to France at the moment. 

Built as a Mirage from Grupo 8 de caza I-1003 with the yellow tail marking for the falklands war

I will get around to a Harrier soon, but onto some ww2 stuff for the next three weeks!

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™ 

From Caesar to World War Two

cheers

Matt

Argentine Dassault Mirage IIIe/a Build part 3

 

 Argentine Dassault Mirage IIIe/a Part three 

Out of the paint shop, I painted it with Vallejo colours using a camouflage guide from the net that a Argentine modeller had put on his 1/48th kit, plus some guess work looking as some paint guides on the net crossmatching Hakata to Vallejo, quite happy with my result.

Paints used

• Base surface primer Vallejo Israeli sand grey 70.614
• under belly Vallejo Air Pale Blue Grey 70.046
• base khaki Vallejo Air Khaki Brown 71.024
• dark green Vallejo Air Russian Green 71.017
• light green Vallejo Air Olive grey 71.015
• Black nose Vallejo Glossy Black 70.861

Gloss varnish done and black lining complete. When you paint things you do see bits you have missed and if it was going to be a display model I may of went back and fixed them particularly joints ... as the I have run out of Tamiya putty so had to resurrect some squadron putty that was not quite good enough....need a replacement putty. 

Next was my problem with Decals........Hannants are no longer shipping to Europe and with no European supplier with any decals in 1/72 I though I may of missed the build deadline for the Brexit Modellers build. My mate Robin saved me with a set of micro scale decals that he had is his stash, we swapped for a set of Mirage 2000 drop tanks.......

 I now need add the guide wire for a flying model, though the chassis, then touch up paint bits, add the squadron markings, add the pilot, missiles, drop tanks, antennas and canopy, then complete!

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™ 

From Caesar to World War Two

Cheers

Matt