Italeri 1/48 SR-71 Blackbird build review
A Cold War Reconnaissance group build? What could be a better fit than a big SR-71? Admittedly I didn’t realise how big this kit was going to be, nor how frustrating.
Aoshima 1/350 Kongo: A lesson in hubris
Sometimes, you know a kit will be so much work that you just can’t summon the motivation to get started unless something gives you a prod. In my case, that kit was Aoshima’s 1/350 Kongo, and the prod a pair of group builds: the “whole year build” at Rivet Counters, and the “1944” build at Warts and All. These overlapped nicely: one encouraging modellers to get really stuck in and pull out all the stops, and the other being the year the kit relates to.
Meng 1/35 King Tiger build review
It had been a while since I built a tank kit, so when The Group Build Group (it’s a thing, honest) on Facebook ran “WWII” as their next subject, I took the opportunity to dust off Meng’s King Tiger.
Eduard 1/48 P-51D build
Eduard’s 1/48 P-51D has had a lot of hype. It’s a good kit: but it’s “Eduard good,” not “Tamiya good.” Here’s why that matters.
Poor History, Visibility and Elan: a response to Doogs’ Models
Why do people build so many WWII German subjects? Many possibilities have been raised, and here are three reasons I think we are missing: poor history, subject visibility, and perceived elan.
Eduard 1/48 Mirage IIICJ “Shahak” build review
This was a very problematic build, though the finished model looks nice. I screwed mine up, so you don’t have to. It’s a public service I provide.
Eduard 1/48 P-51D in-box review
Trumpeter 1/32 MiG-3 build review
Sometimes you like a subject enough to put up with a frustrating kit. That’s what I expected from this one, but it turned out to be quite a delightful build.
Tamiya 1/32 Mosquito build review
I built Tamiya’s big Mosquito. It’s the latest tooling in Tamiya’s 1/32 aircraft series, and it is nothing short of fantastic. I’ve built their Corsair and that is also superb. One of these two must be the best model kit ever produced to date.
MiG-17: great success!
To my great delight, my Trumpeter 1/32 MiG-17 was judged the winner of the Cold War Model Making & Photos Early Cold War Group Build.
This was a very tough build during which I learned a lot about techniques, paints, how to get certain effects, and the importance of properly masked markings. It was a major factor in my decision to get a Silhouette Portrait 2 mask cutter, which has already proved itself invaluable in my Mosquito build.
My in-box review of the kit is here
And my full build review is here.
