Antares 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109 TL

www.bowemodels.com

Here I am delving into the world of specialist resin kits once again in order to reproduce a very obscure subject. No, it is NOT an Me 262, although it looks very like one, but it was a backup project to the 262 that never actually resulted in any aircraft. It is basically a Bf109 with a new nose, undercarriage and jet engines.

Building these types of kit is always a strange combination of frustration and reward. A simple enough construction in theory, but removing the casting blocks and cleaning up took nearly as long as putting the model together. As is usual with these types of kit, the fit and moulding is far from perfect and much filling and fettling is required. Also I had to add a number of strengthening elements and pins and, in common with everyone else who has built this, it seems, I managed to snap the one piece moulded fuselage in half around the cockpit where the walls are super thin. This took some repairing as well.

The canopy is vac form and is shockingly badly made, all uneven and bubbly. I'm not a fan of vac canopies at the best of times but this one really underlined my prejudices. The metal landing gear is actually pretty good but that is the only stand out item in the whole box. The decals are atrocious, thick and glossy and would not conform (and only consist of the crosses and swastikas, despite what is shown on the box), so I threw them away and raided the spares drawer. Fortunately, since this aircraft was never actually built in the real world, I can get away with anything for the markings and nobody can question it....so there.

Anyway, after all the grief, I'm actually rather pleased with the end result, but in no hurry to build another one. A nice crisply moulded injection plastic kit is now needed to take the taste away.

Fonderie Miniature 1/48 Breguet 693

www.bowemodels.com

Fonderie Miniature do not have the greatest reputation for producing buildable kits. Unfortunately I have to report that it is not improved with this one. This is possibly one of the toughest builds I have subjected myself to in a long while. A mix of (very soft) plastic, resin and etched parts normally indicates some attention to detail, but when none of it fits together in a recognisable way you know you have a problem.

But I like a challenge, and this is certainly one of those. It fought me every step of the way, but I managed to finally emerge victorious albeit battered and bruised. However there is something satisfying about finishing with a reasonable model after such a journey. The glass is half full.

You can see photos of the build process here.

Roden 1/72 Fairchild C-123B Provider

www.bowemodels.com

Something a little outside of the middle of the road from Roden, purveyors of surprisingly good kits. If you are not familiar with this aircraft, you've probably seen it many times in the movies, where they seem to like it because it looks a bit like a Hercules but is a lot cheaper to crash... Think "Con Air", "Air America" et al... In "Die Hard 2" they actually stuck extra dummy engines on one to complete the effect.

Anyhow, the kit. Let's get the bad points out of the way briefly - overly heavy panel lines, terrible fitting fuselage transparencies and the internal floor makes the fuselage impossible to fit together properly. However, it is otherwise an excellent kit. The fit is (other than the above) exemplary and the details fine and accurate. I did add the NH Detail cockpit set which is a nice touch but otherwise this is out of the box, other than decals from Caracal Models to create the particular machine my customer was looking for.

You can see the build progress photos here.

Trumpeter 1/48 Douglas C-47 Skytrain

www.bowemodels.com

I've finally got around to building one of my all time favourite aircraft, and this excellent offering from Trumpeter in 1/48 builds into an impressive and imposing model.

As a kit, it is beautifully moulded with fine details and only suffers from three significant flaws. Firstly it is peppered with overstated sunken rivet holes. This is not strictly accurate, the C-47 had raised rivets and so I've chosen not to apply my usual dark wash to the model to keep them toned down. Secondly the engine cowlings are completely the wrong shape, and I have replaced these with corrected ones from Quickboost. Finally, the C-47 rudder is fabric covered and the kit depicts it covered in rivets. Quickboost again have come to the rescue with a more accurate replacement rudder.

Otherwise, this kit is actually great fun to build, and I particularly enjoyed putting together the interior details, even though much of this cannot be seen in the final model. Enjoy!

You can see the build progress photos via the FaceBook page here.