What if...

...after the 2nd WW, everyone had  signed up to genuine real and Lasting peace on earth? Not a cessation of hostilities for a short period while each and every side vied for new angles on causing friction in order to fill up the arms order books but a genuine   realisation we have the same Basic wants, needs, loves and fears and  work towards a bright future for humankind and the planet.
As part of this permanent peace, there would be no need for weapons, no tanks, no guns and  no need for war planes.
The swords would have to be made into ploughshares..or in this case, Spitfires into racing cars.

Wheels -  from a bashed up Siku post lorry
Axles - bits of  sprue from the original Airfix Spitfire kit
Suspension -  Florist wire wrapped around Pins
Headlights - two Pins with the bead type head, 1/3rd sliced off.
I left the wingstubs on as they make nice runningboards

The Inspiration for the  idea Comes from a Toy racing car from my collection..a Mercedes-Benz Racing Car (Dinky Toys 23c)  ....which is celebrating its 66th  birthday this year. It could be slightly older as They (Meccano LTD-Dinky) started making them in 1946, so just after  WWII  ;-)

Sopwith Camel (Esci)

Was it an esci kit first.............

............or an Academy one?

I don´t know. Mine came in the Esci box..with no instructions but it was cheap. Whilst looking on the web for  the instructions I came across a set for the Academy ones. They look a lot more complicated..more parts etc and apparently Academy use Edward kits..so it may just be that the artwork from Esci was used.

Curses!!! i´ve just noticed the one of the rigging lines is lsack...a bit of heat treatment is called for.

Both the Esci /Academy version and the Revell version together. The Revell version came with an extensive range of Decals and is a good 1/2 a cm taller than the esci version. The Revell one was built a while back..I was still experimenting with stretched sprue for the rigging.

A bit of an how to build stringbags HERE

Hello to Freaky Fre from Freakyfesminiatures blog. Some really good stuff..the 28mm Gladiator and the Warhammer slave giant is cracking!! Fre, It looks like your google friends connection isn´t on and you have no followers thingy?

Spad XIII C-1 (Revell)

Next one off the conveyor belt..the Revell version of the Spad XIII. In some ways it´s better than the Academy one in others..it´s not.
It´s bigger, more chunky . The fit is better but..there are still gaps in the couling cover and the tailplane section. Not as good as the academy one, the fusealage / Wing details aren´t as defined.
The decals (there is a choice of two designs) are better than the shiny plastic ones from Academy.

I´m finally getting the hang of making the props look like they are made from wood.

The rigging between the wing struts was a pain!

The nice thing about this Revell kit, the wingflaps are pre-scored so a small slice into each and they can be hung as if in a resting position.

Both variants together. Note how much bigger the Revell version is compared to the Academy one.

The top wing sits higher above the fusealage on the Revell version than the Academy one.

Wider, longer wings, much bigger fusealge.

Now which one to do next? Another KP Avia B.21 but in racing colours this time? A Roden Fokker D.VII(OAW)mid-war version? An Esci Sopwith Camel? A Toko Pfalz DXII ? or an Airfix Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 ? Or just pick one of the other kits randomly from the stash?

SPAD XIII (Academy)

It was cheap and it showed. The fit was pretty bloody awefull, the fuselage halves didn´t line up properly, the engine cowling had a gap and the wing struts are different lengths..the ones on the fuselage are too long.
Oh, and the decals are made from some sort of odd plastic. Not only do they look very shiny after application but they fold over on themselves when being removed from the decal sheet which meant two of them being ruined. Grrrrr!
Still.... lessons learnt and hopefully the Revell version will be a lot better.

There´s no flash anywhere but....there are 2 mold guidance marks on the bottom of each wing, front and tail!!!

Due to the bad fit and cheapness of the kit, I thought it would be no real loss if it messed up so I experimented with a bit of weathering. Note the dreadfull gap between the tail plane and the fusealge..it could have been filled but I sort of gave up.  

The two top roundels ended up sticking to themselves...they were binned and I had to paint them myself..not a very pleasing experience or result.

The actual detail isn´t too bad but due to the bad fit I couldn´t really get into doing a full rig.

If you want a good laugh,(I ended up having to stop after 10 sides due to stomach ache from laughing..there are 80 sides, 484 comments so far and increasing) then read THESE customer reviews about a Mens hair removal cream at Amazon..Warning..some of the reviews use some strong language :-D

Revell Fokker Dr 1 (Nr 2)

It´s been a while since I got stuck into one of these but another pause from bod painting was called for.
This one is Revell´s 1984 tooling  of the little Fokker which I´ve built OOB...well I would have, but it came in a plastic tagbag..so it´s OOPTB

The colours I made up from a couple of designs I Found on the web, one of the best recources is Will´s Blog WWI Aviation Illustration

Being a kit from 1984 the transfers have yellowed with age!!!

The differences between this kit and the new tooling ? The wingskids are molded onto the wings, the engine couling has virtually no detail, the  step into the cockpit is missing as is the cockpit control panel. The main difference is the wingstrutts. On the new tooling they are in one piece..you shove the a bar through the middle wing and then add the top and bottom wings. With the 1984 tooling  they are in 4 pieces..which makes putting the wings on a bit like balancing jelly on a greased football.

During the "letting glue dry" breaks a bit more progress was made to the Pirate Cutter. 

Great stuff breakfast cereal cardboard :-D

Revell Albatross D.III (Lt B. Loerzer 1917)

I´ve already built one of these, painted up in the colours of Ltn . Werner Voss, Jasta 2 Boelcke, June 1917.  but I really like the look of Albys so I couldn´t resist doing another.
This one is in the colours of Lt Bruno Loerzer, Jasta 26, westen front, summer 1917.

 Stringbags!!!! I love em!! :-D

Hello to Chasseur...from For Honour´s Sake blog. Long time member of the Bennos forum he´s now gone over to the "dark side"...the bigger than 20mm stuff!!!!!!!! :-D
The idea of making a drill into a mini lathe is a great one...I´m going to pinch that one mate.

Avia B -21 (KP Model) 1/72nd

I bought this kit at a trade fair...it said there was three kits inside...which there was..but no instructions and no Decals. A bit outside of my usual WWI period but a fun little kit to build. The Czechoslovakian company that made it (KP Model) has ceased to trade but the models seem to be available all over the place.

Hello to Irqan...thanks for following :-D

I´d like to mention a fellow blogger here, Sergeant Lesch from I LIKE the things I LIKE! Blog. An ACW based blog with ...well, he puts it better than I could;
Occasional postings of things I like that folks may like as well. History,Toy Soldiers,some politics, beautiful ladies past and present.

Toko Siemens Schuckert DIII

A bit of a pig of a kit....the fit was pretty bad. The decals were rotten...they came to pieces. The plastic is pretty odd stuff, more like resin and didn´t take paint to well. Still it´s finished and I´m considering wether to make the other Toko stringbag I have in the stash.

Hello to Mish from Big Bird´s Modelling World. and a member of the fun mad house that´s called Britmodeller Lots of nice builds...mainly planes on his just started up Blog.

Revell Fokker D. VII

This one got badly shot down in a duel at Bennos.....by Rich´s Revell  Royal Aircraft Factory SE5A.
Still, he had to win a duel a some point :-D

Hello Remco....Thanks for following. You took your time mate :-D 
I like the dollshouse Blog you are following,  Lotjesdollshouse, incredible detail and some good modelling ideas.

Revell Fokker Dr. 1

I chose not to do the "Bloody Red Baron" colour scheme on this one, I did start but got the brakefluid out and washed it down. The colour scheme is the one used by Leutnant Lothar von Richthofen, Jasta 11, anyway that´s what it says on the box :-D

Curved Air (Stampe SV4C from heller)

I got it into my head to make the plane on this this album  At first I thought it was a Gypsy Moth on the cover,  but after asking about on a couple of forums,  I was told it was a Stampe SV4C. Then I asked where I could get one and one really nice guy said he had one but it was a bit broken and I could have it for free if I wanted. I would like to say yet again what a generous act that was and I am endebted to him for helping me to realise my project.

 And this is what she looked like when I received her :-D Fuselage snapped, both wings broken in two, a lovely restoration!!!

Welcome Steve from  Paintsplats. A great painter and sculptor of some very original subjects

Banana Plane

Another go at the Revell Fokker E.III...this time in gaudy yellow...about as historically correct as a Machine gun at the battle of Zama but I like the look of it. (and I  finally got my entry in for " Plane month" :-D )