When the Minicraft 1/72 Lockheed PV-1 Ventura was released back at the end of the 1980s it was rated as a very good kit and by modern day standards it is still reasonable but fairly basic. I must have bought this kit fairly soon after it was released and also bought some vinyl masks for the clear parts. By the time I got around to making this the masks had dried and started to lift even while I was painting, so I had to start again with some more modern masks. The decals for this kit came from Red Roo Models to depict a PV-1 soon after they appeared in RAAF service with Australian markings painted over the Stars and Bars. Later more traditional RAAF markings were applied but the PV-1 kept the standard US Navy three tone colour scheme. This was a simple kit but not a real pleasure to assemble.
Looking for a modern day kit of the Lockheed P-38F in 1/72 leads almost inevitably to the RS Models range of P-38s. The F version kit comes with a number of decal options but only for operations in the Pacific where the P-38 was very successful. Therre are many fine little touches with this kit and the end result looks quite attractive, but getting there is a hard slog.
This little 1/144 Anigrand kit of the Lippisch DM-1 is simplicity itself to put together. If it were not for the fact that this little glider holds such an interesting place in aviation history it would hardly be worth making at all. There are no decals for this model, I don’t think that it ever took to the air but it does demonstrate the state of the aviation industry in Germany late in the war and the effect that that had on later developments in aviation.
FROM THE TIME VAULT
I made this Airfix 1.72 Blohm und Voss Bv141in 1987 when I was under the influence of a bad attack of Advanced Modellers Syndrome so there is a fully detailed cockpit, something which Airfix failed to include, and other stuff including panel rescribing and weathering.
I made this 1/72 model of the North American F-82G from the Idea kit which was a direct copy of the old Monogram kit. Although I completed the model in the 1980s the decal sheet was abysmal so I did not complete the model until the late 1980s when I bought a cheap Monogram kit and used the decals from it to complete the model.
Heller were making some of the best aeroplane kits in the 1980s and this 1/72 North American F-86F Saber was one of them. I completed this one using Microscale decals to model John Glenn’s ‘Mig Mad Marine’ F-86.
