P 47D Thunderbolt "Bubble Top"

P 47D 25 RE - 509th FS/405th FG
This is the Academy P47 D in 1/72 scale. The kit is a very good one, nice surface detail, engraved panel lines and very good fit. It comes with all the accesories to represent a strafing fighter bomber P 47D. Construction was easy. Paints are Model Master Metalizers in diferent shades. Decals are from the kit. Highly recomended kit.

WW2 colour video about the P 47
Amazing, real pilots, real kills.Based on the strafing Allied campaign in France 1944.

Hawker Typhoon Mk Ib

175 Sqn - 1944
This is the Academy Hawker typhoon Mk Ib in 1/72 scale.
The kit is an easy build, no problems at all, good fit, engraved panel lines and crispy fine detail.
No filler was used, just smooth sanding over the glued unions. Paints are Model Master enemels and the decals are from the kit. The decals are a problem as with all the old Academy kits, they produce silvering. To avoid that I applied Future coats until I obtained a glass looking surface. Humbrol Mate cote was used and the weathering was made with chalk pastels. Highly recomended kit.

This war time RAF film shows the Typhoon in action

 

 

 

Hawker Typhoon documentary





First Light:
Scenes from the BBC film First Light.
It´sbased on the book by Geoffrey Wellum "First Light".... who in 1940 was at age 18 the youngest RAF battle of Britain Spitfire pilot. He would survivef the Battleof Britain and recieve the DFC and later he fought over the isle of Malta.

 

 

The German:
The German is a short film written and directed by Nick Ryan, Starring Toby Kebbell and Christian Brassington. It premiered at the 2008 Cork Film Festival and has subsequently been screened at Palm Springs Film Festival, LA Shorts Festival and San Paulo Film Festival in Brazil.
Two airmen, two gentelmen !

 

Winston Churchill: Finest Hour

Inspirational words of the greatest leader of the free world in WW2.
 
The This was their finest hour speech was delivered by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 18 June 1940. It was given just over a month after he took over as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the head of an all-party Coalition government.
It was the third of three speeches which he gave during (roughly) the period of the Battle of Britain.

1. the "Blood, toil, tears & sweat " speech of 13 May, given 3 days after the start of the German offensive in the West; his first speech to Parliament as Prime Minister, reporting the formation of an all-party coalition government implacably resolved to fight on to ultimate victory
2. the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech of 4 June, reporting the success of the Germans in overrunning Holland, Belgium and France north of the Somme, and the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk, and preparing the British to fight on alone, if necessary.
3. This speech, made to the House of Commons after France had sought an armistice on the evening of 16 June

Blood, toil, tears and sweat

We shall fight on the beaches

Finest hour speech

The Fighting "Red Tails"

The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of Afro American pilots who fought in WW2. Formally, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 447th bombardment Group of the United States Army Corps (USAAF after 20 June 1941).
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws The American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army. Despite these adversities, they trained and flew with distinction. All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Tuskegee, including five Haitians.
Although the 477th Bombardment Group "worked up" on North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, they never served in combat; the Tuskegee 332nd Fighter Group was the only operational unit, first sent overseas as part of Operation Torch, then seeing action in Sicily and Italy, before being deployed as bomber escorts in Europe, where they were very successful.
When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s and later, P-51s, red, the nickname "Red Tails" was coined. Bomber crews applied a more effusive "Red-Tail Angels" sobriquet.

PROFILE: Mustang P 51C - 10NT - Lt. Lee Archer - 302nd FS/332nd FG

 

Red Tails Movie Trailer 2011 George Lucas 

Amazing sequences of the film.

P 51D 10NA Mustang (on the workbench)
"Old Crow" Capt. Clarence Anderson - 357 th FG Late 1944

This fantastic kit is the P 51D Tamiya in 1/72 scale. What to say about the kit: It´s a pleasure to build, it´s perfect. No troubles at all. Fit is excellent and the gral shape looks like a P 51D.
The decals are from the kit anf the paints are enamels, Humbrol: Olive drab and Model Master: Neutral grey. The spinner was painted with Humbrol: Insignia red and Yellow. For the invasion stripes I used Humbrol: Matt Black and Matt White.
First I painted the stripes, then the undersides and finally the upper fuselage. As usual a gral. coat of Future and then the decals.
For masking the canopy I´ll use Tamiya masking tape.

PROFILE:



More pics when finished...

ROBERT TAYLOR PAINTINGS:
Wonderful paintings of this great artist. This time about the Mighty Eight.

Return to Duxford

Bringing the Peacemaker Home

ROBERT TAYLOR´S Battle of Britain:
Enjoy these wonderful paintings of this great artist. These one´s are from his commemorative collection of the Battle of Britain edited in 2010.

Return of The Few:

 

Glorious Summer:

Fight for the Sky:

P 47 D Bubletop - 56th FG

This is a Thunderbolt P 47D from the famous 56th Fighter group "Wolfpack". The kit is Academy brand, scale is 1/48. The build is completely OOB. I only added the seatbelts made of lead foil and the machine guns made of metal tubing. Paints are Model Master Enamels. I used Mr. Surfacer 1200 for priming. I gave a couple of "Future" coats prior to the decaling proces. Decals are from Aeromaster.
For weathering first I gave the chipped paint effect and then a good oil wash all over the fuselage. After the mate coat was applied I enhaced the panel lines with chalk powder applied with a very thin brush.

Here are some step by step pics and the finished model:

 

Spitfire Mk Ia - 1/48 - Tamiya

This is a Spitfire Mk Ia in 1/48 scale from Tamiya. I built this project for the Duel in the Sky campaign in Aeroscale web site in December 2006.

It´s a typical Tamiya OOB. All pieces fall toghether with ease. Very little putty was needed only in the upper cowling joins.

The figures are from ICM, they´re excellent, with very fine detail.

The cammo is the one used from Nov. 1940 on.

For painting the AC I used Model Master Enamels, for the figures I used Vallejo Acrylics (hand painted). Decals are from the kit.

I higly recomend this kit to everyone !

The aircraft is from 92 Sqn. - Biggin Hill - November 1940

Mosquito NF XIX - 1/72 - Airfix

This is the 1/72 scale Airfix - Mosquito NF Mk XIX. Building is typical Airfix Mosquito in 1/72 scale. In this case a little surgery was needed to use the special nose (included in the kit). For cutting the one who comes with the fuselage halves I used a fresh nº 11 Xacto blade. When the fuselge was assembled I dry fit several times the radom nose in place before applying glue, this for ensure a right alignemet. Some putty and sanding was needed to achieve a smooth finsh.

In this kit after all the assembly was done, I applied a gral. coat of Mr. Surfacer 1200 to give an overall smooth surface and fill little gaps. It worked fantastic ! For painting I used Model Master Enamels. The invasion stripes are painted. Decals are from the kit.

This is an aircraft of 157 Sqn wearing D Day Invasion Stripes- 1944