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The Mil Mi-1 was first flown in 1948 and became the first Soviet helicopter in series production. It was exported to a large number of countries, with some 2600 eventually built. The Finnish Air Force operated four Polish-built WSK PZL-Świdnik SM-1s 1961–1966.  HK-1, preserved at the Finnish Aviation Museum in Vantaa, […]

Mil Mi-1 Walkaround

1:72 Saab J21 is Another Old Gem From Heller  by Mark Davies   The Saab J21 first flew in July 1943. It was powered initially by a German-sourced and later Swedish-built version of the Daimler-Benz DB605B, and used a laminar flow wing. It had an ejector seat, being one of […]

Saab’s First Fighter

Converting Heller Saab J 32A to J 32B All-Weather Interceptor by Mark Davies   I have a huge admiration for the achievements Swedish aviation industry and the products of Saab. I also think many of their aircraft make very appealing modeling subjects. The Lansen is a fine example of just […]

The Handsome Lansen

by Tomasz Gronczewski  This month Tomasz Gronczewski provides an in-depth colour analysis of two applications of the RLM 74/75/76 camouflage on early Focke-Wulf Fw 190s – one from the Channel front, another from the Tunisian campaign (Ed.) Fw 190A-4 Flown by Siegfried Schnell Both Siegfried Schnell and his Fw 190A-4 […]

Early Focke-Wulf Fw 190s

by Bob Laskodi   C’mon people, rigging a WWI airplane is not rocket science, and takes no more modelling skill than filling a seam! You can do this! Rigging Truthfully, rigging an airplane is not difficult. It is time consuming and tedious. First… First you need a plan. You should […]

Rigging a World War I Aircraft

Text and photos by Kai-Mikael Jää-Aro, with additional historical background by Martin Waligorski There is a sad lack of civilian models on our modelling tables, in particular considering that there actually are quite a few kits available out there. One of my favourites is the Airfix model of the Piper […]

Piper Cherokee Arrow in Detail

by Doru Sicoe artwork by Bogdan Patrascu The artwork and photographs contained in this article were first published in the book ”Romanian Aeronautics in the Second World War 1941-1945” by Cristian Craciunoiu and Jean-Louis Roba, Modelism, 2004. Used here by kind permission of the publisher (Ed.)   Photo courtesy of […]

Fighters of the Romanian Air Force

text by Kai-Mikael Jää-Aro photos by Martin Waligorski Juan de la Cierva was instrumental in the development of the autogyro. The autogyro differs from a helicopter in that the rotor spins freely (autorotates) to give lift, while a propeller stands for the motive power. de la Cierva constructed a series […]

Avro Rota in Detail

artwork by Rick Kent text by Martin Waligorski One of the lesser known episodes in the operational history of the Spitfire is its use as a night fighter. During the winter 1941/1942 it was feared that the night Blitz of the year before might be repeated in 1942. During 1941, the Hurricane […]

Night-fighting Spitfires

Camouflage & Markings Part 3: Appendices by Bouko de Groot This the third and final part of our series covering finishes and colours used throughout the history of Dutch military aviation. Please refer to Colours of the Dutch Air Force – Part 1: Aircraft of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu) – […]

Colours of the Dutch Air Force ( Part 3 )

Camouflage & Markings Part 2: Aviation of the Dutch Navy and the Colonies by Bouko de Groot   This article is a continuation of the three-part feature covering finishes and colours used throughout the history of Dutch military aviation. Please refer to Colours of the Dutch Air Force – Part […]

Colours of the Dutch Air Force ( Part 2 )

Camouflage & Markings Part 1: Aircraft of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu) – Royal Air Force by Bouko de Groot This is the first part of the three-part feature covering the finishes and colours used throughout the history of Dutch military aviation. This part covers early and air force aircraft used […]

Colours of the Dutch Air Force (Part 1)

With Focus on the Swedish Air Force Service text by Henrik Bergman and Magnus Fridsell photos by Henrik Bergman, Andreas Stöckl, Anders Edbäck and Åke Söderberg The Hercules has turned 50! On August 23 1954, test pilot Stan Beltz pushed the four throttles forward and YC-130 53-3397 took to the […]

Lockheed C-130 Hercules in Detail

Tech Tips by Michael Gleffe English translation by Martin Waligorski   Without a doubt, the least interesting and sometimes bothersome aspect of airbrushing is cleaning the equipment. Neglecting to clean a brush properly is the most certain way of assuring yourself of never-ending frustration while painting. Often, thorough cleaning alone […]

Keeping Your Airbrush Shiny and Clean

Camouflage & Markings  by Doru Sicoe artwork by Bogdan Patrascu     IAR 80 no. 42. of Grupul 8 flown by lt. av. Ion Micu in Summer 1941. Micu was the top-scoring IAR 80 pilot during this early stage of the war. Romania has a strong aeronautic tradition reaching back […]

IAR 80/81 – Romania’s Best Fighter