telepatu

Hi! I won the huge An-225 in the Christmas raffle of 2023. Huge thanks to @Clunkmeister ! I kinda promised to do a WIP, so here goes... Initially I was going to go for an out of the box build, but somehow I ended up with few aftermarket bits. - Wheels set from ResKit - Engines and exterior details from Metallic Details - Kabuki masks sets from New Ware; engines set and basic set, hopefully they will speed up the masking process at least a bit We have a local modelling club exhibition coming up in November with a theme of loosely translated as "what the heck is that". The Mriya fits that category perfectly. So I have a deadline, which is both good and bad. 🤷‍♂️ The box is huge and the model is big even in 1:144 scale. Length is 61,2cm / 24,1in and wingspan is 58,7cm / 23,1in. Aftermarket bits gathered together for a group photo This is the real thing, the one and only. Sadly bombed to bits in 2022. While I'd like to do the "open mouth" version it opens up the whole can of worms of painting and doing the inside cargo bay as well. Which takes a lot more time, but we'll see how it goes. It also breaks up the majestic lines of the aircraft. Maybe I can make it movable, it doesn't seem to be an option from the instructions 🤔 Br, Jani

Thanks! The graduation is at Stirling uni, but it is still a few days away, 27th of June. We'll travel earlier so we can enjoy family time before and after. Travelling is not cheap so we try to maximise the fun whenever we can go

I had a long planning session or many actually on how to attack the masking in several layers. In the end I decided to go from lightest to darkest colours. I painted the bottom and top colors with the best alternatives I found from my stash to the ones provided in the Foxbot mask set. Next step is to mask the areas that remain with the lightest colour and get ready for the second grey. The Foxbot masks were quite thick and they didn't want to conform to tight edges and corners. Tamiya masking tape provided some additional help. There are places where the edge is not as sharp as I'd like. Some touching up is expected once the masks are removed. This picture shows the second grey layer painted. I have two more layers of darker shades of grey to go. However, this is as far as I can go during the group build time frame. I'll finish it later, time and life permitting. I'm going to our daughter's graduation seremony in Scotland so I'll be away from the bench for a while. I really don't mind, builds come and go, but there are only a few occasions for university graduations 🤗 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Have a nice Midsummer! Br, Jani

Long overdue update to this build. I have done some painting during the last few weeks, but I haven't had time to upload progress reports. Here is the main fuselage and all bits connected to it, ready for priming. Here is the primed plane with the decals and the Foxbot masks that I will use. Sadly the decal set does not contain the intake warning triagle thingie, which is quite visible. I don't think I've seen a digital Su-25 without it. Well, the decal set is a generic Ukraine decal set by DAN models. If I can't source it from any other kit I'll have to do without. 🤷‍♂️

I just read your updates, sorry to hear this. Good wishes and speedy recovery!

Time for a long overdue update. This build has been going on quite slowly, the kit is fighting me all the way. It looked good in the beginning, wings assembled and some primer sprayed on the cockpit parts. There are only a few locating pins, the cockpit was tricky to get correct so I glued the walls to the fuselage first to have some control how it goes. Looking at the landing gear gave me chillies so I decided to switch for a in flight mode. Surely the closed up landing gear doors would be easier? Well... the doors were in one piece. That would have to be broken into three doors for gears down option. The fit was not so great. While struggling with the cockpit and landing gear doors I managed to lose the ejection seat. Luckily I had a Verlindedn K-36 resin seat set sitting in the stash. Test fitting it to the partly assembled cockpit, not so great result Since this will be a in flight model, I need to source a pilot somewhere. I guess the seat will be mostly hidden so the resin seat goes to "waste". I raided an Academy MiG-29 box for a seat. It should be close enough. Here's the comparison between the Academy seat and Verlinden seat. Can you guess which one is which? I decided to close up the fuselage and deal with the seat later. It looks quite possible to drop it in later. Not all panel lines lined up nicely. Either the front ones lined up and the ones on the back did not or vise versa. I made the best of it and filled the landing gear door gaps with putty. Next problematic bit seem to be the tail fin. We'll see how it goes. Br, Jani

Really nice! I've always wondered why do they bother with camouflage on the spaceships in the TV shows and movies? Looks nice and menacing, sure. But for what is purpose? I assume visual sighting is not the top method of detecting ships in space many, many, many kilometers away with very very fast ships. But on the other hand, it looks cool so yeah! Bring it on.

This is so cool! I remember watching the movie as a kid. I had read the book earlier and I still managed to enjoy the movie

Thanks. It'll be interesting to see how the masks work. I ordered similar masks for MiG-29 as well. If they work nicely, then I'll get some more. Somehow the Ukrainian digital camo looks really nice to my eyes. Too many brown+green spitfires, maybe?

Heads up for anyone living the "Revell zone". Sadly, Revell shop does not deliver to me. https://www.revell.de/en/products/sale/ 14 euros for 1:32 models Spitfire Mk.IIa #03986, Bf109 G-6 Late #04665 is not much. 1:32 Tiger Moth #03827 is for 21euros and Gladiator Mk.II #03846 for 28 euros would be too good to resist. Luckily, Revell does not deliver to me, I might order a few 😁

Looks like I suffer from a ”builder’s block”.. I mean too many interesting kits in the stash to choose from. 🫣 When the group build was announced the first thought I was to continue my stalled Revell 1:32 F-18E. Then I started looking what else do I have in the stash that would fit in the GB. Slippery road, that one. I found a 1:72 Tu-16 or Tu-22 that would be cool to do, maybe Egyptian scheme? Weirdornier Do-335 as a twoseater - ooh, real nice. How about a Ukrainian demo team MiG-29 1:48, or one of submarine hunter duo of SP-2 Neptune or S-2 Tracker in Agrentine colours or maybe a Argentinian Chinook? I even toyed with idea of doing a HMS Nelson, having two steam turbines powering to shafts, might qualify as a “twin”. 😃 Finally I settled on old OEZ Su-25 in 1:48 scale, mainly because I’d like to test the Foxbot masks that I have coming in for Ukrainian Su-25 in digital camouflage. The box is old enough to be a Czechoslovakian product. The kit was inside a plastic box, which had protected the sprues quite nicely during all these years. Decals look quite old, but those won’t be used anyway. Instructions are pretty compact, having only five steps for the constuction. The same plastic has been boxed by Eduard, so I’ll be checking the Eduard instructions for help if needed. Parts don’t have any locating pins, so careful construction is in order. Detail is somewhat soft, but we’ll see how it turns out. Something like this is the goal: So another silly project. Every now and then I like to build some older kits. At least this isn't from 70's, as far as I can see. -jani

Really nice work with the boat. Can't wait to see the dio.

Woohoo, it's on! I'm in, maybe this will provide enough motivation for the Revell's big bug to move forward. It should be less than 25% done.

Sounds cool! Participating in group builds has increased my ready / started builds ratio, so I might jump in here as well. Plenty of two engines in the stash..

Looks really nice! From what I recall reading from Otto Carius' Tiger in the Mud, captured T-34s were not popular with the German crews. Distinct shape of T-34 caused a lot friendly fire accidents.

Doing some smaller scale stuff for a change, Revell 1:72 King Tiger for a quick a between-the-bigger-builds build. Quite nice kit, the tracks were a bit of a chore but at least they lined up nicely once I got the hang of it.

Thank you all for an amazing raffle, especially Ernie for doing all the hard work. Merry Christmas and happy New year to you all!

I'd like to throw my hat in the ring if that's ok. Would this kit be acceptable as donation? The decals are a bit "different" than regular F-16s.. I can dig into the stash and find something more suitable. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-51972-f-16c-fighting-falcon--163514 Br, Jani

Really nice! But..but where's the stash? And spray booth? Where do you keep your models?😆

Really beautiful models, thanks for sharing.

While browsing through the HLJ's Fall sale I stumbled upon this: https://www.hlj.com/1-24-scale-jasdf-f-2-weekly-magazine-002-digwf2002 Interesting concept. It looks like the kit has die-cast metal body, including moving parts, lights and sound effects. Malaysian website provided some more information in English. https://f2.stkworkshop.my/en-my/ Deagostini's own webpage: https://deagostini.jp/f2t/ shows that so far issues 1-85 have been published, ordering them costs around 950 euros. Extrapolating from that the remaining 15 issues would add around 170 euros, bringing the total cost around 1120 euros at the currency rates of today. Mighty steep, but paying weekly issues from the start might not seem to expensive. I'd like to see one built. 😎

I kinda like the clunky lines of the 109..

Congratulations to all winners and participants! Awesome builds here, looking forward to the next GB.

Excellent tips in the thread. If I may add one that often rejuvenates some modelling interest. Works for me at least in some extent. Going to a museum or similar to see the real thing. I have a Concorde model in the stash just waiting to be started. Some how I haven't even bothered to start. 🤷‍♂️ Today we visited the National Museum of Flight near Edinburgh. I spent a long time ogling the Concorde G-BOAA there, reading the info points, watching the short movies, the works. I wondered why the wheel well parts were different colours, one being brownish and the other green? Looks like some research is needed. Plenty of pictures taken. Now I can't wait to get home and start banging the kits, might even do both British Airways and Air France versions. (1:144, 1:72) BR, Jani

Hi! I have had an "English Air Show" on my bucket list for a long time. It has been either Duxford Flying Legends or the Royal International Air Tattoo. This year Flying Legends were not confirmed when we were deciding the trip way back in 2022 and they were not at Duxford either. So RIAT it is this year, finally. Coincidentally Flying Legends are on the same weekend but quite far away from RIAT. Maybe Flying Legends will happen a later date, perhaps. We are heading for Scotland first and then to RIAT. Are there any experienced RIAT goers in this forum? Any tips for a first timer in a larger air show? We've been to a few air shows in Finland, so we have some experience. Ear and sun protection is a must. Raincoat probably. Since this my birthday trip, we decided to add some nice extras. Me and my wife will be hanging around in the Cotswold Club on Friday and on Flight Deck on Saturday. If anyone is in the show, feel free to say hi. I'll be the one with a blue "F-35 for Finland" cap on More identification details by PM Br, Jani