New S-3 Viking announced
Trumpeter has announces an S-3 Viking in 1/72nd and 1/32nd scale. Well, we can’t help to be excited about that!
Hurricane decals 1/32
How about a free decal set?
With the launch of our third book in the Classic series, we wanted to do something special. This is why we researched 3 special liveries for the Hurricane and worked with ArtScale to make a decal set for them. The first 50 people that order a Hurricane book from this website get one of these 1/32 scale decal sets for free. Not into 1/32? We have a few in 1/72 too. Only interested in the decal set? We can do that!
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DEF Models female pilot
3D Printed accessory.
I recently discovered DEF Models, a one-man modelling company from South Korea. I was surfing around for more information on the black solo display A-10C when I came across a decal set in 1/48 for it, by this company called DEF Models. Looking around the website, I found that there are a lot of interesting sets for aircraft modellers available, like engine exhausts for the F-15E, wing sets for the Super Hornet and different updates for Academy’s new 1/48 scale A-10C: instrument panel, pilot, wheels, engine intakes, …
Building mostly in 1/32, My eye fell on this female pilot in a nice natural pose.
Kopecki update sets
For who loves Strike Eagles
You can build your models out of the box, but for those who want to give their model a little extra, there are quite a few sources available. When building a Strike Eagle in 1/32 or 1/48, one brand that you really should have on your radar is Kopecky Scale Models. There a ton of 3D printed update sets for the jet, ranging from the cockpit (with every button printed separately), wheels, a truly fantastic speed brake, tail antennas and even external fuel tanks!
kopeckyscalemodels.com
Partnering with Reskit from Ukraine
Reskit from Ukraine has become a reference when it comes to upgrading your models. Just have a look at the F-14 landing gear set in 1/32 and you’ll be blown away by the quality of it. I recently got in contact with them for – that one again – the Strike Eagle I’m building in 1/32, to get one of their engine exhaust sets. It is absolutely stunning, even though it will take all my modelling skills to get it built. This set is a kit on itself and because of the finesse of the parts, quite a bit of a challenge. I then started to have a closer look at the website and when I got in contact with them, they started to ask for information on the details of some aircraft, like the F-16, F-4 and F-5. Turns out that we share the same passion for scale modelling and aircraft. So, while we became a source for photographic material for them, Reskit will propose our books as reference material for their sets. A good combination: highly detailed sets and reference books showing what the real deal looks like and in what colours you should paint them.
reskit-models.com
Airfix Sea Fury
Great kit out of the box.
As we said on the homepage, we’re not telling what books we are working on … So we can’t confirm any plans to do something on the Sea Fury. However, François, the shopowner of Tracks and Wings – see below – recently built a 1/48 scale Sea Fury from Airfix and found it to be great. Everything went hunky-dory during construction and painting it was a hoot. Here are some photos of it.
Luc Janssen’s A-7
Master at work.
You should see the cabinet case at Luc Janssen’s home, the president of IPMS Antwerp. It is filled with 1/32 scale kits, price winners all. It isn’t just the perfect painting that make these builds stand out, but maybe most of all the extremely well executed detailing and conversions of some of the kits. Like this stunning A-7E Corsair II from Trumpeter. Notice the interesting weapons lay-out, details and remove before flight tags!
Tracks and Wings
Model shop in Brussels.
Can you imagine that the European capital, a city with over 1.2 million people, doesn’t have a model shop? Well, for more than 5 years that was the case. Until december 2022, when François Laloux, a very talented modeller, started a small shop in what used to be his garage. TWhile it is open only on Wednesday afternoon and Friday and Saturday, today it has become the meeting place for modellers that want to have a chat, a coffee and buy some kits, paints or modelling products
tracksandwings.be
The ultimate in paint masks
For some modellers, placing decals can be a challenge; silvering can mess up your model completely and leave you with a bad feeling for all the work you have done. Most modellers try to recreate an aircraft or a helicopter as realistic as possible. An alternative to decals is the use of masks. True, it takes more time and can be teadious, but with the right product, the result can be truly spectacular. The Belgian company 1ManArmy develops masking sets that are easy to use, extremely detailed and well researched. These sets, mostly for kits in 1/32 and 1/24, not only include the national markings and individual codes, but also the stencils! The photo below shows a close-up of Airfix’s excellent Mk.IX Spitfire in 1/24. Not a single decal has been used on the model, everything was done with masks, even the walkway markings and victory symbols.
Mirage III 1/32
French jet in different colours.
When Italeri announced a few years ago their 1/32 scale Mirage III, we got all excited. And when it arrived, we started building some immediately. As it turned out, it wasn’t as easy as we thought, but even so, they turned out really nice. This was before we made our book on the Mirage III and we might build another one of these Mirages in the future, but this time by adding the details we’ve photographed.
Be Izzy Riveting tools
Making riveting easy
Modelling is about using good tools. A simple way to add a lot of details to an aircraft model, is adding rivets to it. The question is, however: where do you find good riveting tools and in the right scale? Look no further! The Be Izzy tools, made in the Czech Republic, are accurate, stable and available in all mainstream scales: from 1/24 to 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72. And what is more, you can have single wheels, but also double or even triple wheels.
1/48 scale Tomcats
Clash of the Tomcats
Thinking of building an F-14 Tomcat in 1/48 scale? Great idea! But which one should you pick? Tomcats galore in this scale, from the 30+ year old Hasegawa kit, which is still pretty impressive, to Tamiya’s, which fits great but isn’t the cheapest around or the often underestimated Hobby Boss kit and AMK’s complex but highly detailed kit. And how about GWH? Any good for the price they are asking for it? We did some research and will come back to you soon on it!
1/32 scale Alpha Jet !!
Every now and then, there is a point in scale modelling that you notice a shift. I remember when François Verlinden made the first books on detailing kits and introduced the first resin updates. Another one was when the first photo-etched parts were presented. These allowed the modellers to add details much more refined than ever before. Today, we are in the middle of a revolution in scale modelling. More and more companies are developping 3D printed accessories, details, conversion sets, figures and even complete kits. There are some advantages on developping sets and kits with 3D technology, especially when it is combined with all-around scanning of details, people or even complete aircraft. The life-like details are truly incredible. If you have a look at the R2800 engine by Printscale or the figures by DEF Models, you see what I mean. And then there are the kits that won’t be tackled by the big injection moulded companies. Take the Alpha Jet in 1/32 for instance, created by LB Dynamics. Intended to be released at very small numbers for the true aficionados, but extremely impressive…
Sea King by François
Airfix taking on a new level.
Airfix may be one of the oldest model companies around, but they sure continue to bring exciting new kits, even after all those years. While some brands are being quite conservative when it comes to newly developped kits, Airfix surprises with impressive kits like the 1/24 scale Spitfire Mk.IX, 1/72 scale Me-410 or 1/48 scale Gannet. Another one is the 1/48 scale Westland Sea King, like this one built by François from Tracks and Wings.
Syhart Decals
Accuracy in decals.
When a product is born out of passion, you get amasing quality. This is the case for the decals designed by Sylvain Hautier, who created Syhart Decals. I remember visiting him in the early days of his decal range: his room was filled with decals, a huge amount of Phantom kits – one of his favourite aircraft – and some pet rats. Today, many years later, you can find him with his decals on model shows around Europe or at airshows, making a ton of photos of even the slightest marking.And now, Syhart also provides 3D printed parts!