Just finished hitting the model with the first steel coat for the armoured nose ring. AFAIK, MP499 was repainted from its German camouflage to RAF ones with a yellow belly, denoting its use as a test aircraft. The grey on the nose is Medium Sea Grey, representing the cover up of JG 2's emblem. The lighter green on the rear side of the fuselage covers the German crosses.

A couple of months ago I happened to pick up a pair of First To Fight kits at a model convention, and I was rather taken by the brand's relative simplicity, range of subjects, and surprisingly low price for the amount of detail (compared to some brands).

So when I found out that a local model store had the brand in stock (it's relatively rare to find over here), I decided on a little "raid".

Depending on the age of the kit (the range started in 2013), earlier kits tend to be a bit to the simplified side, while some of the most recent kits have rather mind-blowing detail for the size and price. For instance their 2014 Wz. 34 armored car is fairly simple in concept, having no interior detail; their 2024 Panzer 38(t) by contrast has a number of photo-etched parts, while their 2021 Hotchkiss H35 even includes a turret interior.

With September 1st marking the anniversary (87th this year) of the German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War, I guess these will be some interesting models for me to build - and a welcome change from the umpteenth Tiger or Sherman build.

Never attempted this level of pre shading before. I was a bit nervous doing it on an £80 kit.

Nice model, but awful tracks. Supposed to assemble click by click, but they fell apart with any movement, so I glued them together.

Finally getting around to posting my recently completed Ukrainian Abrams. Painted in NATO tri-color camo with Tamiya paints. The ERA blocks are a resin kit. The drone armor is cut up soda can for the frame and plastic mesh that is left over in the kit from the turret storage basket.

Where can 1:25 scale truckers caps be sourced?

Not having a lot of success. I'd like to include it on the dash of a ute / pickup model concept I'm working on.

My friend started an Apocalypse World game last year and his descriptions really got me inspired to build something.

Here's what he wrote:

My friends, the world you know is drowned. Generations ago, the machines of the old world smothered the land in dense, sulfurous, acutely toxic clouds. These rusty yellow clouds came to be colloquially known as the sulfur sea. Humanity was forced to seek safety above the sea. Generations later, descendants of the wealthy survivors of the smothering assumed all walks of life, and the name of the Earth was lost. The Earth is dead, gentlemen. Long live the Ochrelands.

Some inhabitants of today's brutal Ochrelands found solace above the sea on stilted drinkrigs, like the old world's oil rigs, that stand high above the clouds and support large, unmoving populations. Many of them also pump water up from below the sulfur sea, hence their name and their relative security.

I just finished my second ever model and im really proud of it, even tho the are some mistakes! unfortunately i didnt succeded in getting a cloth texture but i still like it! I hope you like it as well!

Very excited to start building my first 1/24 scale model. It’s a Honda Civic Ferio (Hasegawa kit). Goal is to build an exact replica of my own car (2nd photo).Any tips/tricks or advice regarding airbrushing and painting? What kind of preparation I should do? I’ve never done it before and really don’t want to rush and mess it up. I want to take my time and do it properly. I’m thinking to airbrush the body + rims and then paint the rest with a brush. Thanks guys :)

Hi

All was going well until my final coat of clear lacquer, I was painting in quite a dim room and now that I shone a bright light on my work I can see quite a few bits of fluff under my lacquer, is there anything I can do about this ?

Thanks

Any tips on making the rust more realistic? Also how do I make the front lights look better

I kinda went overboard with the rust, my brush was too wet when stippling. The mud on the front of the tank too.

Originally I was going for a more urban warfare look but ended up in the eastern front. The scratches were me trying to remove the mud but decided it looked good as is.

Was immensely lucky to score this ultra rare model in a charity shop for £20, beyond thrilled with it, but I just want to fix it. To my knowledge there are six breaks, the only one which significantly concerns me is the lack of an eye at the top. I've never attempted any form of model restoration before, so I was hoping you might have some advice on how to fix it. I'm not looking to protect its resale value, just to make it look even nicer than it already does. Photos 8 and 9 are of a random mint copy i found on ebay. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone !

Been workin on this spitfire from Border for 4 weeks and finnally done with the fuselage, I heard a lot of things about this brand, that most of them kinda agree its not quite beginner friendly kit, and well, Im trying to up my game since Ive done a couple plane before this (tamiya mostly), and HOLY MACARONI there are lots of small parts in this kit. But all paid off by how gorgeous it is, the Merlin engine looks stunning, and Im not trying to be a rivet counter here, but they look awesome (some are positive rivets !)

Few note on this work, Its always a good thing to do a fit check multiple times, especially on the cockpit section, and compared to armor models, the aircraft is far more delicate and cant risk breaking those small parts

Also, since I can only get AK real color marker for RAF cockpit, I dont think painting with a marker on the interior is a good idea, or maybe its just skill issue on my part, its just very difficult to reach the small corner and edges on them

Anyway, sorry its way too long for a WIP post already, cant write them all here

Please, any tips and feedback are welcome !

Have a nice day everyone !

This is now on the bench and in a state of construction. What can I say, the worst set of plans I have ever come across. There are two levels of build within them, Expert and Simple, in a nutshell experts is all moving parts and simple is glue and fix. The suspension and steering is quite complicated for expert. The instructions don't give any indication which parts require gluing or not. I spent hours doing the suspension as working and moving to find once the drive shafts and leaf springs are fitted its rigid. The whole steering is working and moving. Internally it is sparce of detail. Simple has non moving suspension and steering. I have added some mesh to the rear vents, you would see straight into the engine bay if not. Still WIP and plenty to do.

The trend toward modular noglue snap-together room kits is everywhere now lol but I still wonder about structural rigiditty long term. With traditional plastic cement or wood glue you can get seamless joints and permanent bonding, while friction tabs always risk loosening or visible seam gaps after a few season temperature changes.

Are modern precision-cut snap kits tight enough to hold their own? or does traditional adhesive still beat them hands down for clean display quality?

Pretty upset a crack is revealed in the windshield of my Tamiia 1/48 Phantom….
Any ways to save or improve this?

EDIT: thank you all for the suggestions!
It looks like I will be buying that 1/48 goose to create a story around it LOL

Does anyone know what may be going on with Evan Designs? They are no longer taking phone calls, and when I used both email and the website contact form about custom orders I did not receive any response.

They have always done right by me, and I hope they haven't gone under.

so when building the tamiya 1/48 p47d "bubbletop" i cant get the decals to set properly, its a bit wrinkly (on the small scale), it doesent look painted on and i cant do anything because common markings sit on top on hte underside and i cant see the panel lines properly, i have tried to squeeze air out with a qtip and i dont even know if thats the issue

T-28/95: proof that one tank can have an unreasonable number of wheels…

Hi everyone, I’m creating a Normandy diorama. I’m including an M21 mortar half-track, a Jeep, an M4 and an M5, a beach bunker, Normandy-style houses, and infantry. I’m starting by building the half-track, and I need to buy paint for it and the other vehicles. I previously used Tamiya Olive Drab on an "Easy Eight" tank, but I found the result too dark. Does anyone know of a paint I could get—perhaps even pre-thinned, if possible?

Finally finished one of my shelf of doom projects. I’m satisfied enough with it to put it on the shelf.