views so far!

Firstly, we've now reached 5,000 hits!  Thanks to all who check out the site on a regular basis...

Next, we have some more decal sheets which are quite interesting.  First up is Astra Decals who have released a new sheet (ASD-7214) covering F-16C/D's from the 22nd FS and 23rd FS at Spangdahlem.  Next is a really interesting sheet from AeroMaster (AN72228) which provides USAF and U.S. Air Force markings in Insignia Blue - this will be really useful as a lot of kit sheets don't use the right blue.  Finally, we have a sheet from Techmod covering US "Stars 'n' Bars" as used by most services from 1943 until the current day (72410).

Updates are somewhat slow at the moment as I've been working away from home.  However, below are the latest batch - reviews of decal sheets by Afterburner (AD48-034), Eagle Strike (72025), Model Alliance (MA-72161), Superscale (72-369), Two Bobs (72-072) and WolfPak (72-002).  I've changed the format for these reviews and all the pictures are now in gallery format rather than clickable thumbnails.

I've also continued to update pictures of the F-4D and F-16C I'm working on - these can be found in the galleries under "Builds in progress".

Another "mini update" - my "Flipper" F-4D, again in the "Resources" section under "Builds in progress".

A "mini update" today - Haydn suggested we post our "work in progress" galleries for stuff we're building, which seems like a good idea!  I'll kick this off with my F-16C in the Advanced Flanker color scheme (NB these are in the "Resources" section under "Builds in progress".

Yesterday saw the SIG out and about at the East Midlands Model show in Hinckley.  We had our usual 12'x4' display (4 tables) but went for a more open look with fewer aircraft.  This seemed to go down really well and we will be looking to do this again in the future.  The article can be found here, with photos provided by SIG Leader Haydn.

I have been experimenting with various white base coats to find a good one - my article and conclusions can be found here.  Please let me know if you've tried any other white bases - I don't think I've found the "best" way to do this yet.

At Hinckley we found copies of the new Hobby Boss F-15C, F-15E and N/AW A-10 in 1/72nd scale.  All are "quick builds", with minimal numbers of parts and the fuselage, wings and horizontal tails moulded in only 2 pieces. First impressions are quite positive - although Hobby Boss does seem to suffer from textured plastic, the detail is quite subtle and the kits look like they will go together quite easily.  There are some shortcomings however - none of the kits has a very well detailed cockpit or undercarriage bay, the F-15E does not have the conformal tank pylons and the rear of the wheel nacelles on the A-10 is not depicted correctly.  There are no weapons included, but this is not really a problem - however the kits retail for £9.99 (Eagles) and £11.99 (A-10) which is very close to Hasegawa prices...  Hopefully someone will post full reviews soon!

The 1/72nd Platz MQ-1B Predator is now out and in stock at Hobby Link Japan.  I have a couple on order as I'm impatient - it will apparently be reboxed by both Accurate Minatures and Italeri (I assume for the US and European markets respectively) but I'm not sure when these boxings will be available.

Anigrand Craftswork have just announced a T-46A Egret in 1/72nd scale - this really annoys me as I've literally only just finished my Maintrack resin kit!

Finally, Anigrand are also announcing C-141A and C-141B kits in 1/72nd scale - check here for the C-141A and  here for the C-141B.  They're also doing an XB-35 which seems a little strange given that Italeri are about to re-release the AMT ERTL kit.

Finally, I've uploaded another old SIG newsletter - this time 1990-6.

Apologies for the delay in updates - I've been having some work done on my house and have been without a study for the past week or so... Normal service will be resumed soon!

More decal sheets - WolfPak sheet 72-001 (as usual, click on the photo to get to the review).

I've also reviewed the latest batch of Two Bobs sheets, with some very interesting subjects. Sheets 72-070, 72-071 and 48-157 are covered.

Finally, Ted Bayliss has documented his latest Phantom - an F-4D of the 497th TFS, 8th TFW.

First of the bumper updates is here!  To start, I've reviewed the 6 new Cutting Edge B-52 sheets:-

Next up is a review of the Cutting Edge SR-71A/B & YF-12A sheet:-

Last of the decal sheet reviews this time around is the new Eagle Strike sheet for the B-52H:-

Finally, here is the (much delayed) review of my Pilatus U-28A - this article will also be on ARC in the future:-

The SIG also did rather well.... The IPMS UK Committee presented us with a Certificate of Achievement for the SMW 2007 USAF 60th Anniversary display - so well done to all who contributed!

I've now uploaded the show report and photos which can be found here. Apologies for the quality of some of these - I used my Canon A60 instead of the 300D and the quality was not as good as I had hoped.

I see that we've now had 2,500 hits - nice to see that people keep coming back to the website.  I can only apologise for the lack of content - some arm twisting is going to take place I think...

The SIG plan for SMW 2008 is to support the F-4 SIG with their "500 Phantoms" display - see here for more information.

I will be posting a list of planned events as soon as these are decided.

In the meantime, I've added the final 3 F-5E's I completed recently.  TG-10C and U-28A articles to follow...