New name and a new YouTube Channel !

The old plastic surgery blogg has gotten a slight facelift and a new name, "Sprue & Glue" I also started a YouTube channel and a Facebook page with the same name. In the future all builds will be on the YouTube channel with additional posts and updates on my Facebook page. This blogg and it's content will remain but the main focus will be on Facebook and YouTube.

I hope you will like the new channel and please like and subscribe if you find it interesting.

The YouTube channel is here

The Facebook page is here

Welcome.

Luftwaffe 1/72 kitlist

• Arado Ar 196 - Heller (Raised panel lines)
• Arado Ar 234 - Dragon
• Blohm & Voss BV 138 - Italeri (Revell rebox) (Raised panel lines)
• Dornier Do 17 - Airfix, ICM
• Dornier Do 24 - Italeri, (Revell rebox) (Raised panel lines)
• Dornier Do 217 - Italeri (Raised panel lines)
• Fieseler Fi 156 - Academy
• Focke-Wulf Fw 189 - Condor/MPM (Revell rebox)
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 - Coming soon.
• Focke-Wulf Fw 200 - Revell
• Heinkel He 111 - Airfix, Hasegawa (Revell rebox)
• Heinkel He 219 - Dragon
• Heinkel He 177 - Revell
• Henschel Hs 123 - Avis/Amodel
• Henschel Hs 129 - Italeri (Revell, Tamya rebox)
• Heinkel He 162 - Dragon, Hobby Boss
• Junkers Ju 52 - Italeri, Heller (Raised panel lines)
• Junkers Ju 87 - Coming soon.
• Junkers Ju 88 - Hasegawa, Revell
• Junkers Ju 188 - Hasegawa
• Messerschmitt Bf 109 - coming soon.
• Messerschmitt Bf 110 - Airfix, Eduard
• Messerschmitt Me 163 - Academy, Hobby Boss
• Messerschmitt Me 262 - Academy, Hasegawa, Revell
• Messerschmitt Me 410 - Fine Moulds (Eduard rebox), Italeri

Ak -Interactive Modulation Set Review

Lately I have been experimenting with color modulation and came across these sets from AK-Interactive. They contain ready mixed base, shadow and highlight color manufactured by Vallejo. The colors are pre-thinned for airbrush and behaves just like any other Vallejo acrylics. 

The set at the top is the "German Green & Brown Modulation Set" and contains, as the name suggest, the Green and Brown camouflage colors. The set at the bottom is the "German Dunkelgelb Modulation Set" and contains six colors plus primer and satin matt varnish. 

The instructions on how to use the set are very basic and in my opinion useless. I followed the tiny step by step pictures on the back of the sets as best I could but my result was not very impressive. I have no doubt that with better instruction and knowledge an excellent result can be achieved with these sets.

I purchased my sets directly from AK-Interactive webstore and I think the sets are excellent value for the money BUT they need to make better instruction to go with these sets! 

I will continue to tinker with these sets and make a build review of the Bengal Tiger in the near future. 

RAF WW 2 Kit List of Significant Aircrafts In 1/72 Scale

Updated 2015-12-13

This is not a complete listing of kits and aircraft! I am only focusing on fighting aircraft that was produced in significant numbers. I am also only listing modern kits but be aware that Airfix and Revell also may market old and obsolete kits of the same subject. I have not considered the accuracy of the kits so you should google kit reviews before you buy.

• Armstrong Withworth Whitley - Airfix
• Avro Lancaster - Airfix, Revell, Hasegawa
• Boulton Paul Defiant - Airfix
• Bristol Blenheim - Airfix
• Bristol Beaufort - Special Hobby
• Bristol Beaufighter - Airfix, Hasegawa
• de Havilland Mosquito - Tamiya, Hasegawa
• Fairey Swordfish - Airfix
• Fairey Battle - MPM
• Fairey Fulmar - Special Hobby, Vista (Revell, Airfix rebox of Vista)
• Fairey Barracuda - MPM
• Fairey Firefly - Special Hobby
• Gloster Gladiator - Airfix, Hobbyboss
• Gloster Meteor - Cyber Hobby, MPM (Airfix, Xtrakit rebox of MPM)
• Handley Page Hampden - Valom
• Handley Page Halifax - Revell 
• Hawker Hart* - AZ-Models
• Hawker Hurricane - Airfix, Revell, Hasegawa, (just to name a few.)
• Hawker Tempest - Academy
• Hawker Typhoon - Airfix, Academy, Hobbyboss
• Hawker Sea Fury - Special Hobby, Pioneer (Airfix rebox of Pioneer)
• Short Sunderland - Italeri
• Short Stirling - Italeri
• Supermarine Walrus* - Valom
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk I / II - Airfix, Tamiya
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk V - Tamiya, Italeri, Revell
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII - Hasegawa
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX - Airfix
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI - AZ-Models
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV - Fujimi, Academy
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVIII - AZ-Models
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk 22 - Airfix
• Supermarine Seafire - Special Hobby, Sword
• Vickers Wellington - Trumpeter, MPM (Italeri, Revell rebox of MPM)
• Westland Lysander* - Pavla, Special Hobby 

* The Lysander is included just because I think its a cool aircraft and the Walrus did see some limited action. A few Swedish Hawker Hart fought in Finland 1939-40. Just ignore them if you disagree :-D

Revell 1/72 Junkers Ju 88 A4 review.

Revell 1/72 Junkers Ju 88 A4 review.

Let me start by saying that this really is an excellent kit. All the parts are beautifully cast and without any flash or ejector pin marks. The assembly starts with the cockpit and it is one of the most detailed 1/72 scale cockpits I come across. The only thing missing is the seatbelts. I followed the painting instructions but substituted Revell paints for Gunze acrylics. The seats had weak glue points and I reinforced with super glue to avoid having a lose seat spoiling the model once it were finished.

The fuselage and clear parts went together without any problem and the required only a small amount of filler. The wings however had separate wingtips and ailerons and I had some problem getting those parts to fit correctly. I never actually got these parts to look good on my model. The engine nacelles fitted ok but I used som super glue to secure them at a straight angle. The decal sheet is very nice but the instruction on were to put all the small decals are rudimentary to say the least! Most are just an arrow pointing att a general direction. After looking at some pictures of the real thing it was obvious that the instructions were useless. Lacking sufficient knowledge and reference material, I decided to skip all the small text and lines but not before I mange to get some decals at the wrong place.

I post shaded the panel lines with Tamiya Nato Black. This was a little stark for the Rlm 71 and a tad to weak for the Rlm 70. The yellow parts were shaded with a dark yellow brown. I finished the model with a coat of Citadel purity seal.

Not happy with the outcome, especially around other wing area and the decal placement, maybe I will give this kit another go in the future. I Just need to get some good reference first.


I highly recommend this kit, the fit problem with the wingtips and ailerons are easily overcome if you give it some time and care (witch I didn't). But get your reference material before you start.

Heller 1/72 Saab JA 37 Viggen

I bought a Viggen kit when visiting the aviation museum in Ängelholm this summer, excellent shop by the way, and now it´s time to put it together. The kit is the JA 37 Interceptor version with built in 30mm canon and Heller made an extra sprue with canon, pylons and Sidewinders for this kit. Unfortunately my kit was badly warped and required a lot of super glue to get strait. It also had a fair share of sink marks. I used superglue and accelerator to fix these too. I saved the ejection seat from my failed Viggen project and that was the only "extra" I put in to this kit so the cockpit looks a little bare on close examination. Well I will save my money for the Tarangus upcoming 1/48 scale kit. I´m using Gunze H335 and H332 for this model and these are fair matches for Fv colors 032M and 033M. I took some care not to erase too many panel lines when sanding and pre-shaded the lines before painting.

Update 2015-02-15

I finished the Viggen in October 2013. I was very pleased with the outcome. In the spring of 2014, I decided to scrap most of my models, partly to redecorate our home and partly to make room for new models. Unfortunately, I was a little too eager to clear out my models and threw out the Viggen along with a few other models I now regret that I scrapped. Well shit happens, but I can always build theme again. I did saved some pictures of the Viggen.

A trio of Gladiators

The Swedish air force bought 55 Gloster Gladiators in the 1930s and these were designated J8 (Bristol Mercury IX engine) and J8A (Mercury VIII engine) in the Swedish air force.

Up until now one the best 1/72 kit of the Gladiator was Heller one and it has been hard to find recent years. The other two is the old Airfix kit from the 1960s and Matchbox/Revell kit. But in the recent month’s two new kits has hit the hobby shop shelves, a new tool from Airfix and an “Easy Assembly” kit from HobbyBoss. I was a little curious to see how these kits would compare, and if the old Heller is still holding up.

Let´s start with the new Airfix Gladiator.

I´ve got the latest issue with skies and markings for the Swedish volunteer force in Finland (*).  At first glance the parts looks a bit crude but no worse than any other new offering from the firm and the kits usually turns out nice once painted. You get some different option like skies, weighted or non-weighted wheels and two or three bladed propellers. The parts match my scale drawings perfectly. The decal sheet is just fantastic with crisp stencils and perfect color. Apart from the Swedish markings you have the option of a RAF machine from 605 Squadron.

(*) Note the “Jolly Roger” markings were not worn in combat. On the return to Sweden the original Finnish blue swastikas had to be painted over but instead of just paint it over in black they added a cool skull and bone.

Next up is the HobbyBoss.

This kit has gotten some criticism on the forums but I don’t think it´s too bad actually. The parts are crispier than the Airfix but some of the parts look simplified. The parts matches my drawings with one exception, the front of the fuselage were it meets the engine cowling doesn’t look right. It´s minor flaw but it´s noticeable. The decal sheet is nice with two options but there are no stencils, just basic markings. As usual Hobby Boss makes a nice simple model but it doesn’t have any edge to make it worth buying over Airfix at the same price point. It will however be a perfect kit for first timers or a short weekend project.

The classic Heller kit.

This kit actually holds up rather well despite its age. The parts are finely molded with thin raised lines and the canvas covered parts are very well done, much better than both Airfix and HB in my opinion.  This kit also comes with optional skies and the same F19 marking as Airfix. The low mark of the kit is the wheels and propeller, the wheels are missing the hubs and the propellers are crudely molded.  The decal sheet gives you five options, all Swedish(*). Two planes from F8 with pre-war style crown markings (lacks the yellow ring), one from F19 with skull and bones, one from F10 with ghost marking, and finally one machine from F9. I’m actually itching to build this one and with some left over parts from the Airfix kit I’m sure it will turn out nicely.

(*)In the 1980s Heller re-boxed many of their kits for the Swedish market with Swedish decals and instructions.