Newsfeed

Cuajete
Nice start. Following.

Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress.

servalpe
Thanks guys for your nice comments 😉

Oliver Zwiener
Following the giant voice ...

Guy Rump
looking good 👍

Skyhiker
My favorite plane.

Michael Kohl
Count me in.

Andy Ball
Class!

servalpe
Decals yellowing removed with sun-light and restored with Microscale Liquid Decal Film.

Bas Tonn
Are you building it with flaps and slats down? Great feature of this kit.
Enjoy !!

servalpe
@Bas, the kit assembly without modifications is with the flaps and slats down (landing phase). You can check it here in the instructions. When the slats are fully extended there are 2 parts on the fuselage that rotate and 2 doors opened on the lower fuselage.

Arthur Kirkland
I am looking forward to it!

Clement
I hope the decals won't fail you. I'd be a bit concerned using 30+ years old Hasegawa decals (even with liquid film and UV treatment).
At least you have options for aftermarket marking if the kit decals let you down!

servalpe
@Clement, so much patience to put the decals. Some of them have cracked, and some ones have been repaired during the decaling process. No bad, but not as good as new ones 😉 like the super decals for GBU-12 bombs extracted from an Academy F-18A+ kit.

Clement
I'm glad this went well, I'm looking torward to see this one completed!

servalpe
Another gloss coat to seal decals and next phase: weathering with some PLW.

servalpe
More pics coming soon. I need to change the colors (black-red) of a wing-bay doors and paint again the fuel tanks. I have had problems with AK Ultra Matte as the product was stucking my airbrush with artifacts. Does anyone know why the vanish was solid on the bottle ?

Oliver Zwiener
I am lookimg forward to see more pics of this beautiful aircraft !!!

Guy Rump
Great build, congrats. 👍

Marius
Great one! Waiting for the proper photo-session 😉

Clement
Your paint job trully looks great, it's too bad that this old sheet left you with this much silvering 🙁

Villiers de Vos
Very nice work.

Michael Kohl
There is some cool progress to be seen.

Neuling
Wonderful colors and paintwork! 👍

Alexander Witte
Great! Just great.

Bernd Grün
Awesome build, mate. Congratulation! 👌

Łukasz Gliński
Outstanding job 👍

Cuajete
Looks great!

Guy Rump
Beautiful job. 👍

S M
Superb build! Shows nicely how complex machine F-111 was 👌

Andy Ball
Super finals! Inspiration for me to tackle one in the future.

Alexander
Beautiful, great paintjob with the camo! 👍

Jay Mountain Goat
Only discovered it today, Very nice build!

Rui S
Beautifully done 👍

Tibor Szilvai
👍

Gary
wunderbar

Shar Dipree
Nice F-111. 👍
could it be that the QRC 80-01 ECM pod is attached to the center pylon the wrong way around?

Lorraine Lin
Wow, tamiya cockpit detail looking great. following.

Petar Žorić
Yes, tamiya cockpit is really nice for the scale, in general, a real joy to build!

Robert Podkoński
Beautiful Deesse!

J4Juliet
Thank you, I think this is my favourite build so far. The base Ebbro kit is fantastic and the small customisations required for the Monte-Carlo Rally version we very satisfying.

Robert Podkoński
👍

Major oak notti
The only car I would ever buy you have done an amazing job well done

Cuajete
Following.

Bernard
Good job! I'm getting back into modeling after a long absence. I've not built tanks before, or a Takom. How was the kit, did you like it? The detail is very nice. Also, while doing some reading, I got the sense that some don't like using stock tracks but like to get aftermarket ones. Are these the ones that came with the kit? I think they look great.

Andrew Gledhill
Hi Bernard. I wouldn't describe this as a beginner kit. If you have never built a tank before and like the look of a Merkava. Then I recommend to get the older Tamiya Merkava Mk1 kit. Yes, it dates back to the 1980's. But its a half decent kit and it can be bought for less than £25. That kit will have the old vinyl type tracks, which are much easier to work with. This Takom kit has link & length tracks. You get 2 long lengths for the top and bottom, 2 short lengths for the slop up to the drive sprocket and idler wheel. Then you get some individual links to go around the drive sprocket and idler wheel. With these type of tracks, you have to get the placement of the first length just right. If you get that wrong, then you can find the tracks don't fit right. The tracks on this kit were built around a jig that you can see in the photos. They were not easy to do.
The other thing about Takom kits, is that they don't give you any colour call outs of individual parts, like what Tamiya do. All they give you is the scheme sheets at the back of the instructions, and that just shows you the outside views. EG the fire extinguishers on each side of the turret are a Green colour. But that is only shown on the small pictures on the scheme sheet. It is easy to miss that and not detail paint them.
If you fancy doing a tank, then I would advise to look at what you fancy. Then look on Scalemates for the kit and download and study the instructions for that kit. Then you can judge on whether it will be too hard for you to do. I would also look for something that is all one colour, then that would be far easier to paint. Ask again if you want further advise. Good luck with whatever you build.

Oleg Bogolei
Interesting

Michael Kohl
Anxious what you make out of it. To quote a felliw mate here: ACE Models should be renamed Appropriate Models.

Qwertzel
There is no need to be anxious. I built one of these before and learned from my mistakes ; )

Mid Franconian
I will follow 🧑‍💻

Łukasz Gliński
Following 👍
No need to rename - Appropriately Complex Engineering they are 😄

Qwertzel
Well, in German the name makes sense. RTW stands for RettungsTransportWagen, i.e. rescue vehicle. KatS stands for KatastrophenSchutz, i.e. disaster protection. The name indicates a civil protection ambulance, which does not drive in the regular rescue service.

Thomas Haberl - TH SCALE MODELS
First components are done on the German F-84F. The gun bay is a 3D printed part included in the "HIGH END" kit. Seat cushions and belts are made from scratch.

Guido
Interesting project and nice start. 👍🏻
Taking a seat.

Robert Podkoński
Watching with interest too.

Thomas Haberl - TH SCALE MODELS
Welcome @Guido and @Robert! My first non- prop build in this scale. Let's see how it goes. From what I saw in the kit parts so far it could be a nice and enjoyable build

Rui S
Looking great 👍

Juergen Klinglhuber
👀 too

Thomas Kolb
Those details are amazing! Great photos too!

Thomas Haberl - TH SCALE MODELS
Many thanks guys and welcome - glad you have some interests in this build. Soon to be painted - very excited how the AK NMF turn out without gloss base, but I do this on purpose to make it a bit less shine. Should be more accurate - we will see

Guido
Rivetting looks great and should give an interesting result!

Rui S
Very well done 👍

Miguel Leandro
Thank you Rui! I'm not very happy with it, but i should improve my skills!

Rui S
Jet planes and this scale are not my core modelling, but If I could do one, I would be more than happy with this kind of result 😉

Jan Solo
Looks amazing !!! Love the detail and the model more and more the longer i look at it.

Cuajete
3 Transall?? I cant' miss it!
Very nice interiors 👍

Nicolas
I'm in.

DerMattes
I think it's two, but equally impressive. Watching 👍

DuperScale
Nice, interior looking good. Which crew are you using or are they included?

Jay Mountain Goat
Thank you all! @DerMattes - The third is closed up and has only minimal interior detail in the cargo bay. Not worth showing 😁. The closed-up one will be showing off its LACI Transall flaps set though. I expect the set in a couple of weeks.

DerMattes
Thanks for the clarification and sorry @Cuajete, your counting skills are obviously better than mine 😉

Jay Mountain Goat
@DuperScale - Thank you, I used crew from the Zvezda C-130.

Cuajete
@DerMattes, don't worry. I'm sure your counting skills are better than mine 😄. I only read it in the project description, although I also saw 2 Transalls in the pics.

Rui S
A Beauty 👍

Cristian A
Many thanks Rui, yes it was a splendid plane in real life as well 😊👍

Łukasz Gliński
While the kit is quite poor itself, your job is the exact opposite 👍 Great colours 👍

Cristian A
Many thanks Lukasz!! Yes the kit is super basic, I'm happy with the result despite that. I think the Sniper deserves another model in my collection from a better kit later 😊

Guy Rump
Great result! 👍

Bernd Grün
Very nice build and paint job. 👍🏻 Congratulation!

Cristian A
Thank you for the kind words Bernd!

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Great looking bird! I really enjoy the shading on it.

Spanjaard
great colours, i love it.

Cristian A
Thanks Robin, glad you like it. It's the second plane I use this specific procedure - gray Mr. Surfacer Primer, MRP black which seems to be stronger than other black paints for pre-shading and thin layers of last paint.

Thanks Spanjaard, I think it's similar to the real plane.

gorby
No doubt this will be an interesting build. 🙂

Robert Podkoński
Taking a first-row seat on this talent-show!

Zsolt Czegle
Welcome ont the aboard mates!

Villiers de Vos
Nice progress.

Bohrmann
👀 On board

Michael Kohl
Me too.

Zsolt Czegle
Hello Bohrmann and Michael!

Zsolt Czegle
A little progress again with the reels and coils...

Michael Kohl
Is it a conversion or a full kit? I had very good experiences with Snake Models. How is this kit? Does it come with instructions of where to put hoses and cables or did you have to research that yourself?

Villiers de Vos
A very unique project.

Zsolt Czegle
Michael: This is a full resin kit casted of a awesome resin. This is my second kit from Aleksei and I'm very statisfied with it.

There is a little scheme how and where to "attach" the hoses (photo nr.7). I couldn't find any photos in internet because this is an unique vehicle and only one prototype was produced but never ordered by the Soviet Army.

Thomas Haberl - TH SCALE MODELS
Watching your build progress always makes me thinking of also doing these kind of stuff ... one day I will do it - do you then try a plane model? 😂

Zsolt Czegle
Thank you Thomas ! I've also some planes in my stash! 😉

Thomas Haberl - TH SCALE MODELS
Ohhh - can't wait to see you doing a plane 😊

Finn
Will not miss this one, looking really good!

Rui S
I'm in 😎

Zsolt Czegle
I'm back to the bench!

Welcome Finn and Rui!

Let's start with the colors......

Zsolt Czegle
The crane tank is now resplendent in green, having received the enamel pinwash and the fading with oilpaints.

Zsolt Czegle
Added heavy paint chipping and worn effects and shaded with Ammo Shader

Michael Kohl
Ahhhh, chipping and weathering makes all the difference. Very nice.

Jakub Fiala
Beautiful 👍

Rui S
Yap, great paintjob 👍

Alec K
What a monster! Great job Zsolt 👍

Zsolt Czegle
Thank you mates! I really appreciate it!

Rui S
I'm in 😎 no pressure 😄

Piotr Puchowski
Hello regular guest 🙂

Rui S
Hey 🙂 Yap, always ready to learn and enjoy great builds 👍

Piotr Puchowski
Don't be so modest - I've seen your galleries... It's a shame you haven't posted anything for so long... ☹️

Rui S
Not modest but interested.
Well, I had some rough time for the last couple months and to work a lot, but recently I've done some model work, but its not posted yet. I've build the trailer for my 10 ton Afrika korps halftrack; a dog and a figure, but they all need more paint work, and yes everybody knows I'm a slow modeller, I don't hide it, but I expect to return to the bench soon.

Andrzej Rygiel
Nice collection of WTF box arts 🙂. To be fair, majority of them are from the ancient era (60's/70's/80's) of modelling, nobody focused that much on what's on the box back then (but there were also really nice looking artistic pieces from those times that I remember). I'll try to find some newer (90's and onward) box arts that I consider a "failed mission in marketing" - this one is a nice example from 2021 --> Saab TF-35 Draken (Skale Wings SS-72001, 1:72), and this one a bit older (2003), but also has a high WTF factor --> Messerschmitt Bf-109E 3/4 "H..tenkrad (Academy 2214, 1:72).

gorby
Oooohh! That Draken box art is dreadful.

Robert Podkoński
And the next one to your collection, gorby:
Saunders-Roe SR-53 (URSUS , 1:72)

Ben M
I built that thunderceptor (photo 32) when I was a kid. I got it at a 5 and dime store. I recall I painted it testors metallic gloss red.

Robert Podkoński
Aaaaaand my favourite:
PZL P-23 a Karas (RUCH MK006, 1:72)
PZL P-23a (Coopexim , 1:72)
PZL-23A Karaś (RUCH , 1:72)
PZL P.23A Karaś (PZW , 1:72)
which one do you like most? 😄
Don't you dare look at the contents - what's most unbelievable: the same moulds are used now to produce "new" kits:
PZL P-23B Karas (BIGMODEL K72046, 1:72)

Robert Podkoński
Some more fun:
Boeing B-707 (ZTS Plastyk S-114, 1:144)

gorby
Thanks for your comments. Some excellent examples Robert, particularly the first three PZL P.23. 😄

Erik Off
There was still action on the covers. Cool stuff! 😄

gorby
Yes it bugs me when classic box-art is altered to remove any sign of unpleasantness. This is an ideal example.
Superfortress (Airfix 07001-4, 1:72)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Airfix A07001, 1:72)
One is full of action and the other is dull.

Robert Podkoński
Still, I love the Lindberg's rendering of MiG-19... and Soviet "Warhawk" - quite inspiring, isn't it 😉

gorby
The Warhawk is unbelievable! It looks nothing like the real aircraft. I'd love to see the model.

Ben M
P-40B Tomahawk (Zvezda 7201, 1:72)

You can find out for 15 euro, gorby

Mark Sherwood
That Airfix B-29 re-mastered cover art is an affront to the Royal Cross original.

Martin Oostrom
I love that the markings for the Corvair 880 are DIE 880

gorby
I've just Googled it Ben and it doesn't great, but not as bad as I thought it would. I think I'll save my 15 euro. 😉
I agree Mark (incidentally, the predictive text has change Roy to Royal).
I didn't notice that Martin. 😄

Mark Sherwood
Cheers Gorby, I didn't notice 😳 👍

Robert Podkoński
Convair on the picture apparently has no engines, but drop tanks instead 😄 😄 😄t
And here is the next piece of art from Trumpeter:
MiG-15 UTI mixed with Caproni-Stipa by Chinese:
PLA Air Force FT-5 Trainer (Trumpeter 02203, 1:32)
And a few more from Trumpeter:
Chinese Y-5 (Trumpeter 01602, 1:72)
and Airbus Beluga with all-moving tail 😄
A300-600ST Beluga (Trumpeter 00604, 1:144)
and finally, Iliushin Il-28:
Chinese Bomb-5 (Trumpeter 01603, 1:72)

Mark Sherwood
To my previous post, re the B29 box art. It is the inimitable Roy Cross. The reason I bought Airfix. 🤟🥸🤘

gorby
Trumpeter have a rich history of dreadful box-art, that Y-5 is particularly painful. 😄

Robert Podkoński
I like the title on Il-28: "Chinese Bomb - 5"... 😄

gorby
😄 😄 😄

Treehugger
Oh, wow, what a weird looking Voodoo F-101. Hm, I suppose it might be some prototype jet variant.

Ludvík Kružík
Very interesting collection of boxart. 👍

There is a reason for the shape of the boxarts made in the Soviet Union. The incompetence of the Soviet industry and the political situation influenced the creation not only of boxarts, but of entire kits produced in the former Soviet Union. Lousy boxarts were defended by claiming that the attractive color pictures on Western boxarts were just capitalist tinsel and bourgeois detailism. And a socialist doesn't need such things.
The model's box was made of poor quality cardboard with mostly two-color printing. From the modest Cyrillic inscription on the box one could read that the box contained a kit of model aircraft number xxxx, or at best, even more accurately, that it was, for example, a fighter aircraft. The instructions for building the model were printed on stiff paper, which could be successfully used as sheet metal. It contained only pictorial instructions for building the model. Any detailed information (colours, camouflage, what kind of machine it was and where it was used...) was missing. In most cases, decals were also missing. In some kits the decals were replaced by stickers. Most of these kits were pressed by the leading company Frog, which was acquired by the Soviets in the second half of the 1970s.
Curiously, the same models, but intended for the Western market, were produced under the NOVO brand. The quality and content of these kits were comparable to the original FROG kits.

gorby
Thanks Ludvik, that was interesting.

Ben M
This whole hobby is bourgeois detaillism.

gorby
😄 😄 😄

Robert Podkoński
Actually, Beaufighter is described here as "morskoj shturmovik" = "sea/navy assault plane"...

Spitfire14
I live your comments and the selection (also fron the commentors contributing! Can't wait for the extension of the collection...definitely made my day.

gorby
Glad you enjoyed it Spitfire. 🙂

Denis Dogadov
If you are really interested in the topic of amazing boxarts, here is a website created by enthusiasts about models in the USSR Where you will find many more pictures-
retromodels.org

[img1]
[img2]

Jan Peters
This is really hilarious 😂

gorby
Jan - it was your excellent 'All sorts' album which gave me the idea of posting them on Scalemates, so thanks. 👍

Air no
Sympa. J'ai eu le Wellington Camojet en provenance directe d'Urss. Merci pour ta visite Gorbie.

Zbynek Honzik
Taking a seat and I keep my fingers crossed that the building will be joyful and successful, Michael!

Mr D
Really like the subject 😁👍👍 Good stuff, l built one as a boy in the 1990's

Łukasz Gliński
Can't miss an IF project 👍
That windshield is terrible - what's your plan for it?
And most importantly - are you going to build Lady Agnes? 🙂

Michael Kohl
Hi mates. Nice to have your interest and you on board. Thanks Zbynek. So far it took much more effort than I expected. Lets see how it continues.
@Mr D: childhood memories. I suppose you build it in scale 1:100? VEB Plasticard?
Lukasz, I bent and glued it und sanded it flush afterwards. As I will use the Authentic Airliner decals for the cockpit windows, they do not need to be transparent.

Mr D
Hi Michael 👋,
Yes it was the Veb version, very basic....but l was enjoying building it as fast as l could.... Glue finger prints n all 🤣
Can you sort the cockpit glass ?? Surprised.... Zvezda usually very good.
Thanks for your upload..... I'm big Soviet era fan.

Łukasz Gliński
Good choice Sir, the AA window decals are super cool.
Unfortunately some of their livery decals have some errors.

Michael Kohl
Yeah, I was surprised by the fit issue too. On the upside are definitely very fine and consistent engravings which I hope to preserve.
And - by the way - it won't be Lady Agnes¹. I like to represent the plane I flew to Moscow with. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of this particular aircraft and am thus not sure about it's actual registration. The history of some a/c is available to me, so I can rule out some. And I photographed two parked IL-62M too while taxiing which I can rule out too.
With these informations I ruled out registration: SEW, SEC, SEF, SEG, SEY and SEK. So right now I will go for registration DDR-SET.

¹ a word for those not familiar with Lady Agnes. She is obviously an IL-62M too and was flown to Stölln. After being stripped of everything unnecessary she landed on a 900m grasstrip (how on earth did they manage to get a permission for that?!) and is used now as a Cafe there in it's original Interflug livery.
You've never heard of Stölln? It is located in the federal state of Brandenburg, about 40km west of Berlin and is the oldest aviation site on earth and in the history of mankind. No other that Otto Lilienthal tested some of his gliders there.

Robert Podkoński
Watchimg with pleasure! Of course, I remember VEB Plasticard kit very well 😉 And thanks for the interesting story!

bughunter
Oh, a very personal project - watching! Sorry, I digged so deep into my build that I missed yours.
So I'm now in and good luck!
Regarding putty: I'm now a fan of Tamiya light curing putty which hardens quickly with UV light.
If wee meet again I like to hear more background about this trip and can provide other insights 😉

Michael Kohl
Hi Frank. No reason for apologies. You are welcome anytime.
Looking forward to our next meeting.

Spanjaard
a bit late, but I am in. nice detail added in this intakes

Ben M
💺

Mr D
Looking good, really nice shaped Airliner 👍
Do you use the black to find imperfections?? Or is it a pre-shading??
I'm in process of building the Veb Be-6 Soviet flying boat, and may help me to do similar.
Thanks for your uploads... Like anything from Soviet era n russian.

Michael Kohl
Welcome mate. Always nice to have you around.
Yes, Mr D, I use the black primer to identify imperfections as the grey one is too close to the plastic color and with the white one, flaws are not that visible. The downside is that it takes a lot of color to cover the black. So next time I will most likely go for a lighter primer color.

Shar Dipree
Following!

Mr D
Thanks 👍👍 for letting me know, l built the Yak-3 made by Zvezda, lit was quite nice to build, some of the fine parts were really accurate, but then it was bit gapy around the wing, but otherwise pretty good.

Michael Kohl
Welcome Shar.
Construction and first paint stages of the engines done.

Mr D
Nice to see the update on this one 😀.
The PE parts give a more crisp realistic effect.
Good stuff 👍👍

DuperScale
Awesome, i'll follow

Michael Kohl
Welcome. Another set of blemishes is fixed and the primer coat repaired. A light sanding with grid 1200 ensured a good base for the polishing steps which will be next. No pics as all looks more or less the same.

Landlubber Mike
Hey Michael - really beautiful subject you are modeling here and it's looking fantastic! I thought the fit issues on my JRS-1 made for a complicated build - this kit makes my JRS-1 look like it's a Tamiya kit! You did a really great job getting around that canopy issue and the PE engine fans are a really nice upgrade. Well done!

Alexander Grivonev
Oh man, two steps forward one step back. What, a grind, keep it up!

Ben M
I just finished this book, might be interesting to you: a.co/d/c2WPeYB

Mr D
Good work take's time, it's coming along nicely, good subject.... worth getting how you want it.
Like it 👍👍👍

Michael Kohl
Welcome mates and thanks for your encouragement and tips. Hope to continue in about a week.

Michael Kohl
One round of polishing didn't result yet in the desired effect. So, in for another one.

Michael Kohl
Started the paint job with the leading edges of wings, vertical and horizontal stabilizer. Started with Alclad stainless steel after another two rounds of sanding and polishing the wings. Unfortunately even a very thin mist of this color ate at the primer, dissolving it partly. Second attempt was done with Mr. Metalcolor 213 steel. This worked but gave a much less nice finish. As you can polish this color range I did that and got close to the Alclad finish by this. But with polishing I partly lost coverage at the trailing edges. These defects could be restored with the application of UvdR pigments Steel. Next will be the grey lower parts

Zbynek Honzik
I'm glad to see, Michael, that you're making good progress with the project.
What primer did you use? I've had very good experiences with Alclad, so I'm surprised that Alclad has eaten into the primer.
Fingers crossed!

Michael Kohl
Not all the Alclads do it the same way. I found stainless steel and airframe aluminum to be particularly aggressive. Primer was Mr. Surfacer 1500.

Zbynek Honzik
Oh, that's some stuff! 🧐
Admittedly, I've never sprayed Alclad stainless steel and airframe aluminum on surfacer, but always on polished Mr.Color C. And I've never had a similar experience. I usually paint the metallic leading edges and air inlets last before decalling. But I wouldn't say at all that these paints will behave that way.
I've used Alclad on a polished Mr.Surfacer before, it was fine, but I haven't used these Alclads.
So I learned something important again. Thank you, Michael!
Well, I hope things are going well for you now without any tricky surprises. 👍

Łukasz Gliński
I think there might also be a difference between these old Alclads and the 2nd generation (not mentioning the MiG rebottlings). I have a sample of each and the older it is the more agressive it seems.

Michael Kohl
In my case the two shades mentioned were aquired last.
I was pondering to do the metallic parts first or last. I think masking is easier this way. Let's see how it further progresses. I actually was highly motivated to go for the grey but had then to realise that a bit of detail stuff is required first.
Thanks guys for your input.

Jennifer Franklin
Progress!! That is a nice paint job so far, it is very clean looking.

Shar Dipree
Great job so far.

Alexander
Great work so far, looking forward to the rest of the project. 👍

Michael Kohl
Thanks mates. First layers of white applied. I am excited how the MRP paint sprayed right from the bottle. The black base is of course hard to cover and I will need another round, but the paint is so fine that all details that I didn't ruin before are preserved.
Was a happy surprise to find out that I have the necessary grey paint from MRP too.

bughunter
Is this your first use of Mr Paint?
I LOVE them ❤️️ Wonderful paint to work with and beautiful color shades 👍
The paint is just not available in many shops, but can be ordered directly from the manufacturer: mrpaint.sk

Michael Kohl
Yes, I actually tried it after your recommendation. Now I am pondering whether it is smarter to apply the decals first and seal them and paint the underside grey after that or to finish the paint job first. I think I will go for option 1 as I think masking will be easier that way.

bughunter
Masking on decal is always a bit risky ... I would try to avoid masking tape on them. May be you can cover the decaled areas with paper (Tempo tissue) and use only small tapes.

Michael Kohl
I will definitely seal them with varnish before. But there is only a small strip of white below the red window band and I am afraid that I won't be able to mask it beforehand as precise as I would like to have it.

Łukasz Gliński
Masking decals is risky, maybe a white decal stripe could help? There are some decal stripes available here and there.

Spanjaard
or a white decal that you can cut in stripes like 95 x140 mm white (Interdecal CO01, No)

Spanjaard
actually any white decal paper (meant to print own decals) would do and you can have in A4 size

Michael Kohl
Actually I do have white decal stripes. I will consider that. Thanks for your input.

Landlubber Mike
Looking really good! Even at 1/144, this looks to be a very big model. Nice job!

Alexander
Decal application looks very nice and clean! 👍

Robert Podkoński
Looks impresive already!

Łukasz Gliński
These AA decals are grand indeed, I love them too, pity their marking sets are not that great.

Bernhard Schrock
Great build! Very remarkable decals for the windows!

Thomas Bischoff
this looks beautiful! Airliners need sometimes more attention than military models - lol

Mr D
Looking great, nice now the white is going down and decals, the windows turned out ok👍 good work 👍

bughunter
I press all my thumbs as strong as I could and hope that the masking for the grey paint will work ....

Zbynek Honzik
Michael, it's turning out great! Fingers crossed there won't be any complications with masking and further painting. 👍

DuperScale
Man thats going to be a beauty

Michael Kohl
Thanks mates for your nice and encouraging comments. Much appreciated.
Satin clear is on. Now I will hold my horses and let it cure properly.
First tests to find a colour mixture to match the red of the decals came close but not yet close enough. Will have to tweak that a tad more before I can finish the vertical stabilizer. Then the grey of the underside and wings will follow. So far I am quite happy.
Right now I am looking for stuff to accompany my plane on the apron. But soviet stuff of that aera seems to be pretty sparse in scale 1:144.
By the way: does anybody know which tugs were in use in the 80ies/90ies in the eastern countries. I found a few pictures with tugs that look similar to those used in the west, but have found only the BelAz 7421 of which no model or 3d file seems to exist. I´d appreciate any suggestion for alternatives matching the time frame.

Jennifer Franklin
Looking like a real gem Michael, it is all coming together beautifully.

Michael Kohl
Thanks Jennifer

Michael Kohl
Answering my own question concerning pushback tugs I found the following site (in German):
interflug-web.de/
Open the folder: "Interflug - Betrieb Flughäfen" and then the thread "Fahrzeuge auf den Flughäfen der Interflug".
Cheers

Michael Kohl
So bottomline you can use an BelAz 7421 or a Schopf 246, which are both not really available. A Schopf 210 comes close and can be bought from Rocast. At a german airport a Fortschritt Z300 or Z310 tractor is an option too, at a russian airport you might use as well a Kirovets K700. All not readily available in 1:144 but can be found as printable files.
I will go for the Schopf even if it is not 100 % correct.

Michael Kohl
Several tests have not lead to an exceptable result to resolve the issue with the vertical stabilizer. I wanted to blend in the decal with the areas that needed to be sprayed but that darkens the decal itself and makes it impossible to blend paint and decal. So two options remain: 1. redo the vertical stab in white, paint the red areas and apply a white Interflug logo. To do that I need the logo. Now I look for a copy or print shop that is able to print a white decal. Ordering another decal set with a white logo is another possibility, plotting masks seem to be an option too. 2. Look for another decal set which doesn´t have the issue of not matching decals.
Sorting things out...

Łukasz Gliński
Hm, sad news. Have you considered spraying a separate decal (e.g. white one) in red to match the same colour without overpainting the OOB stickers?

Michael Kohl
Jep, definitely another setback, but one that will be overcome one way or the other.
I haven´t considered your idea yet - thanks for the input - but I doubt that such a color match and precision at the edges can be achieved (by me) to make these borders visible only at second glance. In the meantime ordered another decal sheet from across the globe with white decals. So respraying and redecalling it will probably be.

bughunter
Hmm, tried to cut a mask assuming a size of 11.2mm between the tips, see pics 5 and 6 here:
Screenshots | Album by bughunter
Looks not really nice, as the knife removes parts already during the cut process. Bigger would be much easier.

Alexander Grivonev
That looks super clean and tidy, very much enjoying the project 👍

Michael Kohl
I was actually quite optimistic tjat three coats of varnish and low tack masking tape would not harm the decals but I experienced a dose of realism.
Ordered new decals. Will sand down the ones applied and redo the paint job. Square 1. Ok - not quite.
Thanks mates for your interest and company.

Łukasz Gliński
So sad, looking forward to seeing it restarted

Spanjaard
that certainly unfortunate.... but i am sure you will succeed this time

Air no
Au 72 ou 48ème je n'oserais pas faire un tel avion qui doit-être parfait en montage et en peinture, mais au 1/144ème ... C'est de la folie ... Alors bravo Michael !!

Michael Kohl
Looking at your models I don't believe you. 😉
But thanks for your nice words.

Alec K
Coming in late, just as this build is becoming a slog. Fingers crossed for successful recovery, it's on path to be a beautiful build 👍

Jiří Růžička
Update - wash, shadows, highlights

Major oak notti
Finally got my own room or should I say cupboard lol

Rui S
Looks great 👍
You can rotate your photos in the album > Manage > Advanced options 🙂

Major oak notti
Thanks for the advice I'm terrible with technology but will get the hang off it cheers

J4Juliet
That's a nice set up!

Martin Weinpold
Looks good!

DerMattes
Following 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Great cockpit 👍

Rui S
Looking Great 👍

J4Juliet
That is a gorgeous looking kit and you've done a great job so far.

Rui S
Great work 👍

Ricardo Reis
Beautiful!

Mr James
Lovely detail beautifully weathered. An excellent build

Snake Plissken
Love the dirt at the top of the ramp. In fact, there should be more there as the ramp goes up and down and up and down to embark and disembark troops and the Brad has fresh mud on it.

Bruce Huxtable
Superb!

Spanjaard
great job

Lebloge
wonderful work 🫡

Neuling
Top work. 👍👍

Finn
Well done

Rui S
I agree another great work 👍 SLAVA UKRAINE 👍

Lukas Muller
good job 👍

Alec K
Outstanding!

Matti Thomaes
Great Work

gorby
Fantastic work!

Rui S
Impec. 👍

Villiers de Vos
A nice start.

danish man
thanks 😄

Finn
Like it a lot

gorby
Very nice work!
I recommend changing the teaser photo to one of the completed model.

Neuling
Same as gorby!

Rui S
Great work 👍 SLAVA UKRAINE 👍

George Williams
Very cool.

Paul Shearer
Nice paint work

Lorraine Lin
wow, like the color! is it the car in the movie "Green Book"?

Neuling
A beauty !

Rui S
I agree, great work 👍

David H
Very nice, hope this is the start of a phantom addiction. Us addicts need more members

S B
@Simon: Die Phantom ist erstklassig gebaut!!! Ein echter Hingucker... 👍

@David H: Where can I apply for that Phantom Addiction Membership? I have the idea of building only F-4s in 2025. 🙈 Do I need help? 🤣

Simon
@S B Freut mich.
@David H thanks, well i already have more Phantoms in my mind.

David H
SB, you must get immediate help. It's very important you go "cold turkey " and remove the temptation. If you wish I can help you, but you must send ALL phantom kits in your stash to me immediately. 🤣

Guy Rump
Great build, congrats! 👍

Gerald
👍

Rui S
I like it 👍

Rui S
Beautiful Vignette 👍

Robert Podkoński
I agree - very beautiful!

Rui S
Looking good 👍 More photos 🤔

Rui S
Another great work 👍

gorby
Brilliant!

Rui S
Yap, as usual 👍

Hans-Jürgen Haag
Excelent👍

Dieter Bihlmaier
Thank you mates!

Spanjaard
love it.

Yngve N
There's no limit for what you can see in and then make from garbage, is it? 😮 kit makers would go bankrupt if the rest of us could do even half of what you do

Robert Podkoński
Awesome!

Dieter Bihlmaier
@Yngve N:
My intention was never to let model companies go bankrupt 😉 Thank's for the friendly comments!

Alec K
World needs more plastic recyclerers of your kind! Outstanding work 👍

Rui S
Very Nice dio 👍

Robert Podkoński
Great job!

Rui S
I like it too 👍