I felt compelled to make this model in Czech rather than Soviet markings! This one belonged to the 30th Strike Regiment of the Czechoslovakian Air Force, Pardubice airbase, 1989. A very unusual and colourful scheme.
“Despite the fact that the RAF entered the Second World War with 26 squadrons equipped with Avro Ansons, they were basically obsolete as a fighting machine and were quickly withdrawn to secondary training roles, a task for which the ‘Faithful Annie was particularly well suited”.
The S.M.79 Sparviero was created and manufactured in the 1930s by Italian company SIAI-Marchetti initially as a civilian aircraft, which went on to achieve world speed records. It has a wood, canvas and metal frame and 3-engine low wing configuration. It was widely used in WW2 by the Italian Regia Aeronautica, particularly as a bomber in the Mediterranean theatre and then as a torpedo bomber. Recognizable by the “hump” behind the cockpit.
REGIA AERONAUTICA, 258TH SQUADRIGLIA, 109TH GRUPPO, 36TH STORMO B.T. BOLOGNA 1940.
RAF training unit, Bilbais, Egypt, 1944
This is a little jewel of a kit and although I am not a great fan of modern jets, especially if they are all grey(!), I was quite taken by its stunning quality and felt I had to build it almost for it’s own sake.
This is the USMC B version and is slightly smaller than the Naval C version, but comes with extended undercarriage for take off from carrier decks. It is a 5th generation stealth fighter and comes in three variants, A (USAF), B (Marines) and C (US Navy).
The question is do the Americans have a “Kill Switch” for the F-35!? If you are reading this Donald Trump, please let us know!
One of the most complex models I have ever built! However, it was not as bad as it looked and due to fine Tamiya engineering and instructions, the build was relatively straightforward. The most challenging aspect was building and painting all the sea float planes but again a little patience and perseverance saved the day!
I think the ship has beautiful lines!
I added the photo-etch railing on the lower deck. I was going to add it all around the top deck but it was too fiddly and time consuming so I just added it to the forward section. The de-gaussing cable which runs around the hull of the ship was a feature of Japanese ships of the period and this was added from a separate photo-etch Tamiya set.
The Japanese sailors in their white summer uniforms were added from a resin set. They were very hard to fix but they do show off the size of the ship.
The photo-etch de-gaussing cable.
Torpedo tubes on lower deck.
The railings kept coming off and were hard to conform to the shape of the ship. Next time, I will cut them into shorter sections. We live and learn!
The de-gaussing (anti-magnetic mine) cable on the starboard side.
My version is the XW547/R “Guinness Girl/Pauline”, Op. Grandby/Desert Storm, Muharraq Airport, Bahrain, 1991.
