Took some work,but an enjoyable kit managed to find two of these kits at Telford on the Friday after we had set up the stand! In fact I must add some pics from Telford when I get chance & pics from Newark Model show!

Recent builds, the two Hawk MK100's are Italeri kits the Hawk MK200 is the old Matchbox kit from years ago! all Decals came from the spares box.

Cosford Model Show more pictures can me found on my new photo site simply click on the above photo for a direct link

I’ve been looking into a better format to display pictures on the blog particularly pictures from model shows So have set up a flickr photo album, please click on the link to the left of this page to view these albums


Thanks

It may take a few days for me to up-load all my recent pictures

Cosford Model Show Sunday 5th April 09

Doesn’t seem two minutes since Huddersfield model show before were off to our second model event of the year, longer journey this time down to Shropshire but its twenty years since I have been to the air museum where the event is been held, so a visit is long overdue and with the prospect of seeing all the excellent displays both in scale model & full size form, the new Cold War hanger not to mention all the stalls to spend one’s well earned cash its not surprising I’m full of anticipation as we head south on Sunday morning.
Arriving at just before ten its already looking like the event will be well attended as there are plenty of people on site already, not surprising really these events are popular, it’s a nice day weather wise & entry to the air museum/model show is free, not very often you get anything for free these days! I’m sure this encouraged several families that were in attendance too visit
All four public hangers are been used for the show and its all very well laid out, stalls and model club displays had been placed in and around the full size aircraft which worked well I thought and also helped to distribute people rather than everyone having to fight there way threw, my partner clearly liked the layout too, having felt a little cramped at times at Huddersfield show. To be honest I didn’t know where to start! We just didn’t know where to look first, one thing was immediately apparent, the very high standard of models on display and it wasn’t just aircraft oh no cars, boats, armour, figures were all represented,
By time we had finished in the first two hangers my partner headed to the café for a break leaving my mate and myself to explore I’d already made some purchases and my rucksack reflected this, handy to take to these events as long as there not to large of course my digital camera was working overtime too.
Three of us reunited so we headed into the impressive coldwar hanger which opened a few years ago, wasn’t just the outside of building that was impressive, inside several planes hung from ceiling like the airfix kits we used to hang from our bedroom ceilings back in days when it didn’t matter what the finished kit looked like as long as we had fun building it! and where else in the world can you see Vulcan, Victor and Valiant all under one roof? nowhere! Again more model club stands to explore and the museum shop on way out of the hanger had some reasonably priced books for sale.
After enjoyed our lunch sat in sunshine we ventured into the last hanger, which housed a few Luftwaffe types that were of particular interest to me.
Five hours after arriving (Even my partner admitted time had flown) I was happy I hadn’t missed anything the rucksack was full and I had acquired several bags of goodies on the way so it was time to head home. All in all a very enjoyable day out, well organised, well laid out &
Defiantly an event worth travelling too, Well done also to the organisers who deserved the very good attendance on the day and all the clubs present for making the event so worthwhile!

HobbyBoss He162 Salamander Kit Review

Hobbyboss sure keep turning out the kits, must be working overtime at their factory! I know some of their more basic kits aimed at younger end of market have been given some stick, I don't wish to get into that here, lets just say I wanted a quick build He162 in my collection and the Hobbyboss kit was available at the very reasonable price of £3.99, well come on we are in a recession!
23 parts make up the kit (Two clear) main front fuselage is all one part, so is the rear fuselage which is also molded into the upper wings so basically once these two parts are together all that needs to be added is tailplanes and engine small amount of filling was required on the two engine halves. I must add the cockpit detail is some what lacking and a little poor overall a very suspect looking seat molded into the cockpit floor doesn’t help matters, looking back I should have attempted to remove the seat molding and add one of my own. But I added straps made from masking tape and with a little dry brushing and side detail added I was happy enough. At this stage the model was undercoated with Halfords Grey and then painted in Humbrol enamels, two colour schemes are provided by the way one a 1/JG1 machine of the Luftwaffe from May 1945 Light blue undersides, Light Green or Brown Violet upperparts. Mr color paint references are used throught.the other a captured Soviet machine from 1946 in an overall Light Gull Grey scheme.
Once painting was complete the whole airframe was left to dry for a few days then model was given a coat of Klear, decals went on with no trouble with no silvering. Only a few basic decals are given with no stenciling and of course the Swastikas came from an aftermarket decal sheet.
Next stage was to add the undercarriage and doors the front undercarriage is all one part, as for the one-piece canopy (Other clear piece in kit is the gun sight) this can be fitted tightly into place without the need for gluing via locating lugs molded into the part itself.
Short service life of these aircraft meant that weathering was kept to a minimum I added the odd paint chip with a silver artists pencil and panel lines were given a wash with citadel black ink.
Unfortunately the model was a tail sitter as I hadn’t put enough weight in the aircraft’s nose so an old coaster was given a blast of Halfords primer and dry brushed with a darker grey to which the model was glued.
So to sum up a nice quick build kit at a very good price, I think the completed model captures the look of the real thing very well, I’m certainly happy with it and can recommend it!