'Nick' the Dragon Killer

I couldn't keep my hands off it any longer. One minute I'm just looking at the parts, the next I'm snipping the parts off the spure. Since then, it's just been a blur!

The fuselage interior is nothing short of wonderful. Forget your Aires and Eduard. Sharp detail and lots of it. Decals are provided for the instrument panel, radio and some smaller panels; never mind them, use your paint brush. The parts respond really well to fine painting and subtle dry brushing. It's more enjoyable anyway. Have a look at the pictures and see what fun I had. The best fun you can have with your clothes on.

Further Down MiG Alley - Hobby Boss's MiG 17F

I have always had an interest in Russian post-war jets - unlike their wartime designs, which always looked as though they made them up as they went along.

Early MiGs from the Korean War usually pressed the 'aesthetically pleasing' button. I couldn't resist Hobby Boss's new MiG 17F. Areas of detail include the cockpit of course, radio equipment in the nose, landing gear and compartment, and a full engine. There are the inevitable fuselage fit problems with displaying the engine, so I made the most of everything else instead. I built their Fury Fighter, and can see that this one is much improved - sharper surface detail, better fit of the parts and better interior detail. Underwing pylons are included to accommodate either a pair of rocket pods or the fragmentation bombs included with the kit. When building, you have to look out for the location holes which are obviously intended for the later PFM version. And yes. I'll be having one of those, too.

It's not quite up to Tamiya standard of course, but then it's not Tamiya prices. It is the best '17 currently available, however.

MiG Alley

Do you think that today some manufacturers produce their new releases with the 'update' firmly in mind? To produce a kit with a bland cockpit or engine compartment is very cost effective. The keen modeller is bound to reject these unimaginative parts for the superior after market bits from Aires or Eduard.

A good example of this is the Academy MiG21 Fishbed in 1/48. Its shape is pretty good, nice panel lines and rivet detail and so on. However, the cockpit, the engine and decals are all so lacklustre that to do a satisfying job you have no choice but to replace them. The MiG you see here has been completed by an Eduard colour etch set. The set replaces the entire cockpit, most of the engine and provides some additions to the airframe. Most of the decals I replaced to avoid silvering. Frankly, this set transforms a mediocre kit in to a real head turner. Academy can't lose; they've saved money on the expensive tooling and enthusiastic modellers can be counted on to turn out a decent finished aircraft.

Don't get me wrong, it's been a hell of a build and the client gets a real collector's piece, so no-one loses. But it's a good game, right?

Research - No Problem

The internet is my wife's champion - she can find whatever she is looking for and print it out in a moment, but if you are like me, then a computer can be just a pain. When you need to know something it has to come from a tangible source. For me there's no substitute for a good reference book, or even a magazine.

I buy around three mags a month. Every month offers something useful - a conversion, the latest news on decals or resin parts. There is always a monograph on a selected aircraft or a build on a new kit. Here's a shot of my choice of mag - and I have a large selection which I guard jealously.


That's every one for the last five years; for around £4 a copy it's a comparatively cheap source of information. Not bad. And sometimes, I just like a good read. Do magazines do it for you?

Resurrection - Busted

My previous listing referred to a build on the Dragon P-51 in 1/32 scale. I was concerned that my impetus on this project would dry up, and I was indeed right. Problems with the landing gear have sent it back onto the shelf.
When I have the time and the inclination it'll be out for another visit. Here's a photo of it before it made its ignominious return to shelfland.



As well as enduring the disappointing Mustang debacle, I have been tinkering this Huey-Cobra together. It came to me missing its instructions and a number of parts. Being suitably irritated with the P-51 made me all the more determined that the Huey be a success. It is the Revell AH-1G Gunship again, in the heretic 1/32 scale. This completed model has done wonders to restore my flagging interest in an almost dis-owned scale. What do you think? Is it worth the thirty nine hours I put into it?

Forgotten Kits - The Resurrection

It recently occurred to me that the heretic 1/32 scale has remained unexplored by me for, well, months, actually. I decided to check my usual sources for a modestly priced kit to lead me back into temptation, only to discover the currently soaring costs of even a tatty old seventies Revell kit. I was prepared to settle for a much travelled P-51 I saw in a neglected corner of eBay when I remember that I had the very self-same thing stashed on a bookcase in a difficult corner of my workroom.

Last year I purchased the new Dragon P-51D in a moment of foolish enthusiasm. I worked on it for a few days, and then the dreaded disenchantment set in. It went back on the shelf. And there it stayed until my moment of epiphany. From reviled error to family heirloom in a moment!

So work is back on with it. Here is its progress in a couple of pictures. Most of the interior was completed during my first burst of activity, the restduring my second. Let's hope there's a third.