Civil Aircraft

Aircraft: Sopwith Scooter

Kit: KP Models

Notes: Not quite sure whether to put this here or the WW1 gallery but it was mostly used postwar so here it can be. Parasol development of the Sopwith Camel, turned civil and used by Harry Hawker as a runabout. Built as a 24h blitz.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=471&t=23940

Aircraft: Fokker F.III, KLM

Kit: Classic Planes (vacform)

Notes: Being second generation Dutch, there was only one scheme I could do this kit in. It was also my first vacform model. While challenging, it wasn't that big a deal to put together. People get really hung up about vacforms. I used decals from Rob Hamann and was most impressed: http://www.hollandaircraft.nl/ 

Aircraft: Ford Trimotor

Kit: Airfix

Notes: Built for a Latin America group build, this is of Lloyd Aereo Boliviano serving Bolivia in the interwar period. A few minor upgrades to the kit and custom printed decals but mostly OOB.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=25399

Aircraft: GAL ST-25 Monospar

Kit: Azur

Notes: I was originally going to use this as the "twin engine tourer" for Biggles Flies South, before realising that should be a DH Dragonfly. I hunted around for an alternate scheme and discovered this Adelaide Airways monospar: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Adelaide_Airways_1935-Short_Scion%26Monospar.jpg

I am attracted to anything in block colours, especially orange or yellow. I was sold. Getting the vacform canopy to fit and then masking it kind of did make me lose the will to live...

I'd like to make the Scion in the picture one day, too.

Aircraft: Junkers F-13

Kit: Revell

Notes: Total OOB build using kit decals. No modifications whatsoever.

Racers

Aircraft: De Havilland DH.88 Comet racer

Kit: Airfix

Notes: "Grosvenor House"was the winner of the 1934 Macrobertson race from England to Australia. This is an incredibly elegant aircraft but the airfix is an absolute pig of a kit that really shows its age. I built this alongside the KP (below) and added detail based off the better KP kit.

Aircraft: De Havilland DH.88 Comet racer

Kit: KP Models

Notes: "Black Magic" is definitely my favourite colour scheme of the three Macrobertson Comets. Unfortunately it fell out of the race after landing in the wrong place, filling with regular fuel instead of aviation spirits, and burning the engines out.

Aircraft: De Havilland DH.88 Comet racer

Kit: Airfix

Notes: G-ACSR also competed in the Marobertson race. I built this in a 24h blitzbau. A _lot_ of filler was harmed in the making of....

Aircraft: Bristol M1.D

Kit: Avis

Notes: Early post-WW1 racer based on a WW1 fighter. I picked it up cheap at the model club  and had no specific plan for it. Ended up as a 24h blitz build. Went together without fuss. Double rigging in a blitz was a bit fraught though.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=471&t=23953

Aircraft: Short-Bristow Crusader

Kit: Dekno (resin)

Notes: One of the entries in the Schneider Trophy. Beautiful aircraft. Unfortunately written off before the race because some numpty connected up the controls back to front...

Type: Type B LBOC London Bus

Kit: Roden

Notes: I'm putting this here even though it's not an aircraft becaue it's displayed in my interwar aircraft cabinet. Somewhat fiddly kit and most challenging with the painting. Lots of masking.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=24972

Military

Aircraft: Sopwith F.1 Camel - Imperialist (Russian Civil War 1919)

Kit: Kiel Kraft (sort of)

Notes: The Kiel Kraft kit this started from was ultra basic. In the end, everything was replaced or scratch-built apart from the lower wing, tail assembly and the fuselage aft of the cockpit. Everything else is spares from Roden. I quite liked the White Russian scheme I had spare on a Roden decal sheet so I used that.

Aircraft: Fokker D.VII - Bolshevik (Russian Civil War 1919)

Kit: Revell

Notes: This was an old kit build about 30 years ago but since destroyed. I rebuilt it with scratchbuilt struts and other donated parts and put it in a semi-fictitious Bolshevik scheme. 

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23281

Aircraft: Polikarpov I-5

Kit: ICM

Notes: This was built in a 24 hour "blitz". Went together easily. The scheme is that of the personal aircraft of some Bolshevik high ranking officer.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=466&t=23350

Aircraft: Tupolev ANT-5/I-4

Kit: Zvezda

Notes: Yet another "blitz", since interwar aircraft are relatively simple to build. 3pm start, 10pm finish. Easy work.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=25121

Aircraft: Polikarpov I-1 / Il-400b

Kit: ICM

Notes: You guessed it: a "blitz". Went together like a dream with about 5 hours build time altogether. ICM can be hit and miss but this is definitely one of the better ones.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=480&t=24448

Aircraft: Avia BH.21

Kit: KP Models

Notes: Yet another "blitz" build. This is a Czechoslovakian mainstay fighter of the interwar period. I think this scheme was a military air display aircraft. The kit was nicely detailed for its age, though the fit wasn't amazing. It tried to destroy itself at the last second by throwing its top wing off but I emerged the victor.

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=480&t=24474

Aircraft: Supermarine Seagull III - RAAF

Kit: Karaya

Notes: These served Australia in the late 20s, earlyt 30s and probably would have flown over my house at some point. I built it for an ANZAC club theme. I's a full resin kit with a very finicky wing attachment and alignment, which certainly put my patience to the test. 

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=24311

Aircraft: Cams 37A - Portuguese Marine Air Force

Kit: Azur

Notes: A model purchased for a Biggles build but passed over in favour of something more relevant. Started by a friend, it then languished in a box for several years until I pulled it out and knocked it together within a week. A bit of a pig of a kit - Azur aren't the easiest of builds. 

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=24159

Aircraft: Potez 452

Kit: Azur

Notes: As above, purchased for a Biggles build but ultimately not used for that. Built out of the box for a flying boat group build. Also a difficult build, being Azur. Anyway, it looks alright with the striped Vichy French tail and engine cowl (although the masking still gives me nightmares...).

Aircraft: Hydroplane SPL

Kit: Amodel

Notes: This Russian aircraft was designed to fold up and go in a submarine, apparently. Too cool not to build. It has been damaged since these photos so no chance of getting better ones any time soon.

Aircraft: De Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth

Kit: Airfix (new tool)

Notes: This aircraft is owned and flown by a friend, who owns The Missions 1937 guest house and a fleet of interwar era aircraft (http://www.themissions1937.com.au/). I built this for his display.

Aircraft: Armstrong-Whitworth Siskin

Kit: Matchbox

Notes: I love old Matchbox kits. I grew up building them in the 80s. I had a Siskin that I built, hanging above my bed for many years. I built the red-nosed one as part of a Matchbox tribute group build, feeling all sentimental about the one I used to stare up at as a kid.  The yellow one I built for my brother. It's still hard to beat a Matchbox kit for build enjoyment.

Aircraft: Nieuport 28

Kit: Revell

Notes: Not being a fan of the camouflage stripes, I looked for an alternative scheme for this. It seems this was used for an attempt to cross the Andes in 1919 by Vicente Almandos Almonacid, though there is a bit of ambiguity and it may have been a pilot named Benjamin Matienzo instead. I still can't quite figure it out. Anyway....red plane.

Chinese Nationalist aircraft of the 

Sino-Japanese Conflict

Aircraft: Tupolev SB-2 Katiuska

Kit: ICM

Notes: This was not a great kit, I have to say. It certainly put up a fight and blemishes show up terrifyingly well with a silver finish. Anyway, got there in the end...

Aircraft: Dewoitine D.510

Kit: Heller.

Notes: Fairly straightforward build. Scratchbuilt cockpit detail, printed my own decals (and cut out my own mask for the registration number) and stabbed with a paintbrush to get stipple paint.

Aircraft: Curtiss Model 68 Hawk III

Kit: Special Hobby

Notes: Unusually for me, a completely out-of-the-box build. The decal options included this aircraft. No kitbashing, no printing. Too easy.

Aircraft: Polikarpov I-16 "Rata"

Kit: Frog

Notes: This was built in 24 hours in a "blitzbau", Came out alright, all things considered. Decals were printed. Everything else standard, apart from a little detailing.

Aircraft:Curtiss Hawk 81-A-2

Kit: Airfix

Notes: Strictly speaking, this belongs more in WW2 but I decided to put it with the rest of the CNAC aircraft. This is one of the "Flying Tigers" - a US mercenary air group in support of the Chinese against the Japanese. This was a straight OOB build. The new tool Airfix builds up very nicely.