Seamus

Cheers Seb, yes I used the Traffic Grey. It does look a little light to my eye too, not least because I lightened it further for shading, but it's close enough for me. There are a couple of exhaust options, I went with the instructions as I couldn't see any obvious differences and wouldn't know any better anyway!

Morning all, My third completion of the year, Trumpeter's MiG-31. I finished this model back in March shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and thought it prudent to hold it back given the timing and sensitivities around the war. Hopefully I've not jumped the gun even now in that respect... The kit itself is pretty nice, although it became a bit of a slog, with lots of mistakes along the way, including snapping one of the fins off during decalling.... The decals themselves were largely useless, so I ended up purchasing a Begemot sheet to use in their place, otherwise what you see is

Morning all, Latest off the bench is this Growler. Originally intended for an F/A-18 group build elsewhere, I ran out of steam long before the deadline, but am happy to finally get it over the line. It's the Hasegawa kit with a load of extras thrown at it: Eduard zoom set in the cockpit, Pavla seats, Wolfpack wings for the drooped flaps and Twobobs decals for the VAQ-209 markings. I had hoped to go with the Darth Vader CAG jet, but annoyingly the decals were out of register for that scheme, so I opted for a low viz line jet instead. At least Vader is still present on the fins... Painted u

Morning all, My modelling mojo has taken a bit of a hit over the last couple of months for various reasons, but I wanted to get back on the horse with something nice and simple, and it doesn't get much more simple than Special Hobby's lovely little Heinkel He162. A tidy little kit with good fit and details throughout. Finished OOB with the exception of some replacements Swastikas on the fins simply to avoid using the two part decals provided, painted using Hataka Orange Line lacquers , Alclad for the metal areas and the odd bit of Tamiya for details. A great little mojo restorer

Evening all, Latest off the bench is this P-38J courtesy of Academy. A nice little kit that went together well enough, I sourced decals from a Kits World sheet having been dubious of the quality of Academy's own, otherwise it's OOB. Finished using a combination of Hataka Orange Line, Mr Color and Alclad paints- I used this model to experiment with one or two new weathering techniques, most notably hair spray chipping. In retrospect it's probably the wrong approach to replicate the worn down wing roots, and as such the effect looks overdone, but a lesson learned I suppose. There are one or

Afternoon all, Getting off to a quick start in 2022 with my first completion of the year, Tamiya's lovely little Mustang. Not much to say that hasn't already been said, though I did add some Eduard belts and used Eagle Cal decals in place of the kit ones. Finished using Alclad and Tamiya paints, with Hataka Orange Line used on the details. I liked the clean look so much I decided to leave it as is, so no weathering. Tamiya 1/72 North American P-51D Mustang by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Tamiya 1/72 North American P-51D Mustang by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

Evening all, Rounding off a couple of busy days celebrating Christmas with what is (probably) my final completion of the year, the lovely little Airfix Spitfre Vc. Built completely OOB, except for the addition of some Eduard belts, with no issues whatsoever. Finished using Mr Color for Azure Blue and Mid Stone (I wasn't convinced by the rendition of my usual choice of Hataka's Orange Line for those two colours) with Hataka used elsewhere. Not much else to say other than it was a stress free build to round the year off with, maybe... Airfix 1/72 Supermarine Spitfire Vc by Shaun

Thanks all

Evening all, My build rate has slowed up considerably in recent weeks, but projects have been ticking over in the background, with this MiG-29SMT from Zvezda crossing the finish line this evening. A lovely kit with largely great fit and good details, as well as a ridiculous amount of weapons to choose from. Built completely OOB, the main camouflage colours are by MRP (not sure about the accuracy of the darkest green...) while the details and metallics are courtesy of Hataka Orange Line and Alclad respectively. Zvezda 1/72 MiG-29SMT Fulcrum by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Zv

Thanks very much guys, much appreciated

Morning all, My modelling time has slowed a bit after a busy month getting out and about photographing real aircraft, but I've been slowly tinkering away in the background and have finished my latest build this morning, ICM's awesome 1/72 MiG-25. Despite the fairly complex assembly, the model comes together beautifully with relatively little filling and sanding required. Built completely OOB, I used MRP Traffic Grey for the main colour, while the details and metallic areas were painted using my more usual Hataka Orange Line and Alclad lacquers respectively. Overall, a fabulous kit of this

Evening all, My latest completion is the superb little 1/72 Razorback Jug by Tamiya. I added some Eduard belts while the decals for the 78 FG came courtesy of Barrcudacals; I always wanted to model 'Snafu' after her short stay with TFC, but have never been able to find the decals for her, but this is close enough. Painted with my usual combination of Hataka and Alclad lacquers, plus a bit of Tamiya here and there. I made a few schoolboy errors along the way which take the shine off the finished model, but it's nice to have it in the display case nonetheless. Tamiya 1/72 Republic P-47

Good stuff, I can rest easy in that case!

Thanks all, much appreciated I'm sticking to jets that were based at Lakenheath, which I don't believe is the case with those two? Thanks Duncan, very humbled by that. I always try and strike a balance between realism and artistic license when modulating my paintwork, usually leaning towards the latter for added interest, but am very pleased with the effect here. In fact I actually find it easier on grey, monochromatic schemes where the effects can be more noticeable

Evening all, Fresh off the bench and wrapping up my 48FW Theme build is the stunning GWH 1/72 F-15C Eagle. Perhaps even nicer then their F-15E I started this project with, the fit and detail is incredible, with just a touch of filling and sanding required here and there. Decals were mostly courtesy of Caracal with a few of the kit decals used here and there. I also added Eduard Brassin AIM-120Cs, omitting the fins for training rounds, and a 3D printed ACMI pod by Transport Wings, to replicate a typical training loadout as carried by this jet when I visited Lakenheath last Autumn. Painted

Afternoon all, Rounding off my Russian warbirds for the year is the excellent Zvezda Pe-2 in 1/72. My first Zvezda kit and I was hugely impressed, with superb details and fit, both of which bode well for the modern Russian fighters I have on the to-do list for later this year. Built completely OOB and finished using Hataka Orange Line as usual. Please ignore the wonky wheel, I didn't notice when photographing, but it has since been corrected... Zvezda 1/72 Petlyakov Pe-2 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Zvezda 1/72 Petlyakov Pe-2 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Zvezda 1/72 Petly

Evening all, It's four down, one to go for my 48FW theme build, following the completion of this Trumpeter 1/72 F-100D. My second Super Sabre of the year, it was just as largely trouble free as the first with no real pitfalls as far as fit is concerned. I added an Aires exhaust I found in the stash whilst the decals are from an Xtradecal sheet- I believe the gate guard at RAF Lakenheath wears the same markings. Finished using Alclads mostly- I used dull aluminium to represent the silver paint used on the bulk of the airframe, with the centre panels of the wings and tailplane sprayed in a

Great stuff, those images are fantastic, and the sage I've used looks much closer to the green on '721 in that thread, so I can rest easy now! 😁 I made my first trip to LN last year and loved the place, need to return to make the most of the F-15Cs before they go....

Thanks all Looking back at the pics I think I over adjusted the white balance so the colours are a bit warm. If you look at the fin you can see the contrast between the sage and the patch of tan. In reality it's a bit greener to the eye, although still not as green as in the pic you've posted. Without knowing exactly what colour it is I simply went with Xtradecal's suggestion of FS number and used Hataka's corresponding match. Cheers, Shaun

Evening all, Hot on the heels of the F-111, and continuing with the 48FW theme is the old but gold Hasegawa 1/72 F-4D. I added an Eduard zoom set to jazz up the cockpit whilst the main markings came from an Xtradecal sheet. I bought a Print Scale sheet for the stencils but ended up using the kit decals for those mostly, they performed pretty well apart from the odd one silvering.... Hataka lacquers used as usual, note the sage green in place of the tan except for a patch on the fin- from reading it seems they used a bad batch of tan paint. Certainly makes for a slightly unusual looking Ph

Thanks all, much appreciated

Evening all, It's been a while since I finished a model, so time to put that right with the latest off the bench, the Hobby 2000 boxing of the superb Hasegawa F-111F. Not a trouble free build- I had some issues getting all the internals to remain in place when joining the fuselage halves together- but overall a very pleasing kit to build. It certainly looks the part with the flaps and slats drooped. The decals are by Cartograf and performed flawlessly- I opted for the boss bird option to provide a colourful addition to my RAF Lakenheath theme I'm currently working through. I added

Morning all, Latest off the bench is the stunning little MiG-21 from Eduard. One of the best kits I've built in this scale with amazing fit and details, just a joy to put together. Finished completely from the Profipack boxing using Hataka and Alclad lacquers as per usual. Eduard 1/72 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21MF Fishbed by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Eduard 1/72 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21MF Fishbed by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Eduard 1/72 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21MF Fishbed by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Eduard 1/72 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21MF Fishbed by Shaun Schofield, on Flic

Morning all, Latest off the bench, and the first in my next mini-theme- the 48th FW at Lakenheath- is the stunning GWH Strike Eagle. An absolute joy to put together with little or no fit issues and superb details throughout. The only real negative with this kit are the decals, which are a little thick, however I had already purchased the Two Bobs Maximum Effort Eagles sheet, which I used to finish this model as the 494th Boss Jet with the 'Chief' nose art applied during the squadron's deployment to Syria in 2018. The kit is loaded with weaponry, however none of the bombs are suitable for

Afternoon all, My latest off the bench, as my Russian theme moves into the jet age, is the lovely 1/72 MiG-15 from Eduard. This is the Profipack edition finished completely OOB; fit was a bit tight in areas so a bit of filler here and there, but generally it was a problem free build. Finished using Hataka Orange Line and Aclad lacquers- I've always been a bit scared of the unforgiving nature of natural metal finishes, so thought it was about time I gave it another go. My inability to achieve a flawless surface finish is highlighted more than usual, but generally I'm pretty pleased with th