The Banshee has long been a favourite aircraft. In 2021 I set out to build the old Airfix tooling which had been in my unbuilt stash for 40 years. To build the 2P version I had to cut off the short nose and attach the longer alternative version supplied in the kit. After 40 years in the box, the kit decals were yellowed and fragile and needed careful treatment as there were no aftermarket alternatives available to replace them.

One of my areas of interest is early military jets of the 1940s - early 1960s. I built this model from MPM’s short-run injection kit which was tooled in 1991. It is quite basic, has butt-jointed wings, a vacform canopy and was missing one exhaust nozzle. Nonetheless, it seems reasonably sound in shape and proportion and was an enjoyable build.

Early jets are one of my favourite modelling genres. The Tu-14 has only ever been kitted in vacform and the short-run injection offering by Red Hurricane of Russia. The latter formed the basis of this model and must rank as the worst 1/72 aircraft kit I have ever seen. Acres of flash, dodgy discoloured plastic and clear parts which rival coke bottles for thickness. I naturally wanted to build it just to see if it was possible. The finished model is acceptable at a distance but does not stand up to close scrutiny, as the photos reveal.

The first and only vacform kit I have built. One of my favourite classes of aircraft are 1950s - 60s jets and the Supermarine Scimitar is up near the top of the group. The only kit at 1/144 scale available in 2014 was the vacform by Welsh Models. As I was keen to try my hand at a vacform, I decided to give this one a go. It was not easy but I am satisfied with the outcome.

This was one of my more foolish project choices. I wanted to add a Halifax to my collection of 1/144 scale aircraft models. There were no plastic kits available and so instead I bought a finished diecast model on Ebay. When I received it, I was disappointed in the standard and I decided to rebuild. It was not designed to be disassembled and I did a lot of damage in the process. The only diecast part was the upper wing -everything else was a form of ABS plastic which was difficult to work with. Replacement decals were also problem but in the end I prevailed.

I was not satisfied with the Viscount 800 model I had built earlier in 2014, so I decided to build a 700 series from F-Rsin. Unfortunately, the short-run injection moulds had become very worn and the kit, though of good shape and detail, required a huge amount of cleanup and repair. However, as I wanted to finish the model in early BEA livery from the 1950s, I still had to source suitable decals. Nick Webb of Classic Airlines.com made a set of early BEA decals for me which allowed the project to go ahead. Unfortunately, they stretched easily and did not fit the moulded door detail very well. I also still had to make my own wingtip BEA lettering.

I was not satisfied with the 1/144 scale Mustang I had built in 2006 (Model 117) and so I decided to build another one. This kit was made by Platz of Japan and is a beauty. I built it without modification except for adding an instrument panel, which you can’t see anyway.

The Handley-Page Victor is my No.1 favourite aircraft of all time. I built the old 1/96 scale FROG Victor B.1 in the 1970s to mid 1980s and made a real mess of it (Model 56). In 2014, a new Victor in 1/144 scale was an essential part of my aircraft nostalgia programme. At the time, the only decent kit in that scale was a resin one by Anigrand. It was not as decent as I thought and in fact was a very difficult build with some major shape and asymmetry issues. I had to undertake serious surgery on the kit to correct the problems. Fortunately, I had excellent reference material to guide me.

I built this model from a 1973 Revell tooling. It is a serious dog with no redeeming feature. Many major shapes are quite wrong, the spinner is too large and the decals are very poor. If I had known how bad it was in advance I would not have started. I tried to fix some of the problems but the wingtips and spinner are still wrong. I replaced the kit decals and the model at least now has reasonably authentic markings and colours. It looks something like a Tempest V but overall I can’t say I am pleased with the end result.

I built a 1/72 scale F-86E in the early 1970s (Model 43). It was from the original 1955 FROG tooling. It is now long gone but in 2014 I decided to build a replacement for it in 1/144 scale. The little Trumpeter kit is nice and required very little extra effort. The yellow decals were somewhat transparent and so I painted over them with yellow paint for greater depth of colour.

I wanted to build a model of the Yak-9D as part of the programme to build new models of all the aircraft subjects I built in the 1960s and 1970s. Unfortunately there was no kit in existence of any Yak-9 in 1/144th scale. As a last resort I bought a Wing Club ‘gashapon’ pre-painted and partly assembled model by Bandai. The model itself is effectively a snap-together plastic kit, pre-painted and with some markings sprayed on. I was able to disassemble it easily and build it like a normal kit. It is very finely detailed and looks accurate.

I built a 1/100 scale F105D in 1969. In 1982 I bought an Otaki 1/144 kit to replace it but sold it unbuilt in the mid 1990s. In 2007, I bought a new copy of the 1/144 kit, this time the re-boxed Arii version. The model was quite a difficult build due to problems with fuselage asymmetry and unusable decals.

Eduard’s little Spitfire is a gorgeous and modern little kit which was a joy to build. It is tiny, having a wingspan of only 78 mm but looks pretty true to prototype. It replaces the first Spitfire I built, in 1970, a 1/72 scale Airfix Mk.IX (1955/60 tool) which I discarded in the early 90s.

The first X-15 I built (in 1/100 scale), in 1969 (Model 28), met an unfortunate end when it semi-melted in direct sunlight in 1970. I finished a second one in 1/72 scale in 2008 (Model 128) but you can never have too many X-15s, so I built this third one, this time in 1/144 scale. The Dragon kit is very nice and is a simple and quick build.

The best of my 1970s aircraft models was a 1/72 Canberra B2 (Model 49). I built it from the 1955 FROG kit. It turned yellowish from too much Glosscote in the 1980s and I eventually discarded it in 1999. In 2014 I decided to build a new Canberra in 1/144 scale. The Amodel kit looked OK in the box but was an ill-fitting beast of a thing to build. Anyway, now that it is done, another piece of my early modelling history has been reclaimed.

This subject was a trip back in time to 1962 - to the first plastic model I saw being built (by my father). This S&M 1/144 kit is a lot better than the ancient Lincoln 1/121 kit from back then. It is cleanly moulded, fits well and has nice decals. The only real weaknesses are the thickness of all trailing edges and the prop blades and I did not attempt to improve these. I also did not add enough lead weight to the nose to keep the model sitting correctly so I made a base, painted it black and inserted a brass rod dowel through it and into the nose wheel - problem solved !

The first aircraft model I ever built was a 1/100 scale ex-Marusan F-84F in 1969. In 2014 I decided to recreate my early collection of aircraft models, all in 1/144 scale. This was the first one I finished. At the time, this crude Aeroclub kit was the only available 1/144 Thunderstreak. It was a challenging build, typical of early, short-run injected kits. Unfortunately the kit decals only included the diagonal red and white striped markings for the tail. I had to make my own matching decals for the horizontal stabilizers.

I chose this ex-FROG Sea Vixen as my 2nd aircraft project after getting my aircraft modelling mojo back in 2006. I had been given the kit by an expert aircraft modeler, David Charles, in Brisbane in 1987. It comprised a plastic bag full of loose parts and sprues, a photocopied set of original FROG instructions and some original FROG decals. The kit had survived the great purge of my aircraft kit collection in the 1990s, and it seemed fitting that I should finally build it. It was a difficult project that severely tested my patience and skills and was the last of the projects in the aircraft-building binge to be finished.

This was the last aircraft project I started during my 2006 to 2008 period of aircraft modelling. The kit was one of a handful of survivors from the purge of my aircraft kit collection in the late 1990s. I intended the model to be a quick and easy build and it was, with only a few minor issues to deal with such as getting the pilot window to fit.

When I bought this Amodel kit in 2006, I have to admit, the striking box art had a lot to do with my decision. Another factor was that the first WW2 aircraft model I ever built was a 1/100 scale Yak-9P in 1969. In contrast with that earlier experience, the Amodel kit seemed to be quite detailed and accurate in shape. Other than a few minor fit problems with the wingtips, it went together well. I painted it with Colourcoats enamels.

Japanese WW2 twin-engined fighters and reconnaissance aircraft are some of the best-looking machines of the period in my view. I decided to build this MPM short-run injection kit because the Mitsubishi Ki-83 typifies such aircraft. I also wanted to take on the challenge of an MPM kit. It was certainly quite a tricky build as the fuselage halves were quite significantly warped and they did not align properly even after I had de-warped them. The wings and horizontal stabilisers were also butt-jointed. Nonetheless, with some extra effort it came together well and I am happy with the model.

Having lived in Australia for 9 years, I liked the idea of building a model of Australia’s home-grown WW2 single seater. Airfix’s 1965 kit is a good starting point though it has no cockpit interior at all. I made quite a few improvements to update the model and then went to extremes with the chipped paintwork - perhaps too far.

I was definitely drawn to the tiger-stripe camouflage of this Chinese version of the MiG-19. It was the first project I started after retiring in May 2007. The kit was made by a Polish firm, Plastyk, though, I believe the moulds were tooled by Eastern Express in the 90s. I made quite a few detail changes/additions to the kit. I made the mistake of using only Maskol to mask for the dark green camo pattern and some edges are a little furry.

In about 1960-61, I had a kids book on modern aircraft, modern at the time anyway. The Fairey Delta 2 was amongst the 1950s aircraft featured and ever since, it has fascinated me. The old 1957 FROG tooling has been re-issued by eastern European firms for years. I bought a copy of the Novo version in 1984 but sold it in 1997. I bought this version which had been slightly modified by Maquette, in 2006. It was an absolute dog but I wanted an FD-2 so I suffered the pain and fixed it as best I could.

The earliest naval jets are of great interest to me. As far as short-run kits go, in the box this one looked rough but buildable. That initial impression was inaccurate. The fuselage halves did not match - there was gross distortion of shape caused by worn out moulds. It took a huge amount of time and filler to correct the issues. Things only got worse when it came to painting. First off, the Xtracolour enamel took months to cure. It was inhibited by the Tamiya lacquer primer beneath it. After waiting patiently, I then sprayed Johnson’s Klear as a gloss finish for decaling. It soon developed a network of micro cracks. I found I could not remove the Klear so I applied the kit decals anyway and the setting solution reacted with the Klear. What a mess. The whole project was a huge disappointment and a waste of time but it was a part of my experience in the hobby and so I have included photos of the model on this site.

I made this model of the Polish jet trainer from a kit by Plastyk, a re-issue of the 1991 MasterCraft tool. It featured recessed panel lines and, on the basis of reference photos, was reasonably sound in shape. I made a few modifications to upgrade the kit, but my main focus was to make a good attempt at the three-colour camo scheme on upper surfaces.

The Hawker Hunter has long been a favourite aircraft. In my view, it has a very appealing shape. This kit by Plastyk of Poland has a few shortcomings but still captures the look of the aircraft.

This old Airfix kit was a gift from Modelcrafts and Hobbies, Wellingtons prime modelshop until their closure a few years ago after over 60 years in the business. I was told that the 1965 tooling was quite inaccurate but I decided to build the kit anyway. I converted it to flying mode and made some detail improvements. However, my main focus was to make a decent job of painting it as I had never previously finished a German WW2 aircraft model.

I am not sure why I started this terrible early Trumpeter kit. It was the 3rd aircraft model I started in 2006, after a 15 year layoff. Possibly, I wanted another model to practice on before I started a decent kit. I think I also wanted to see if I could make a silk purse from a sows ear. The verdict is a clear no, despite putting 47 hours work into the project.

Prior to this model, I had not done any aircraft modelling for 15 years. From 1987 to 2000, I sold off 180 kits from my stash of unbuilt aircraft and kept only 10. I effectively abandoned aircraft modelling. This little kit I had bought in 1980 was one of the survivors of the purge. When my interest in aircraft modelling returned in 2006, I thought it would be a good practice project to help get me started again. I decided to display it in flying mode as a departure from aircraft modelling convention.

This little LS kit looked good in the box with fine details but had no cockpit and also represented the pre-production, demonstrator version of the aircraft, which differed from the production machines. I was disappointed by that so I left it unfinished for 10 years before completing it quickly in 1991. I opened out the cockpit, added a seat but otherwise left it unmodified. I made a mess of the paint job by not taking the time to mask and spray the dark blue and gold panels.

During the 1980s, when my time to model was quite limited, I started a number of small projects in the belief that I could build them quickly. This Otaki Tomcat was one such project. Unfortunately, it did not get built quickly but instead joined a growing backlog of unfinished projects. I finally knocked it off in 1991. The kit was quite nice, considering it was tooled in 1974. I cut the cockpit open and added 2 seats and also opened out the intakes and exhausts. In 2014, I upgraded it by running pencil lead in the panel lines.

I started this old Matchbox Starfighter as a joint project with my son. We got distracted and put it aside and I came back to it a few years later during a drive to complete all my old backlog of partly-built models. I highlighted the panel lines and added the runway base in 2007.

This model was built from an Italeri kit which is a repop of a Hawk tooling from 1960. The kit was crude and inaccurate. I started it as joint project with my son but we got distracted and I finished it by myself a few years later. I had built a number of aircraft models before this, in various scales but none of them have survived and that is probably a good thing as they were very ordinary.