You’ll find informative, technique-driven articles covering a variety of aviation models including airliners and combat aircraft. Get how-to tips on painting, assembling, detailing, and finishing from some of FineScale Modeler’s best aircraft builders including Frank Cuden, Paul Boyer, Massimo Santarossa, and Floyd Werner.

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Building and Detailing Aircraft

Build a big BATTLE OF BRITAIN He 111 • Convert Revell’s 1/32 scale P-1 to an H-3 with aftermarket parts

Painting NOSE ART • A step-by-step process nets unique results

Mottling a mid-war MESSERSCHMITT • A step-by-step guide to finishing a German fighter

3 techniques for masking canopies • Let me make one thing perfectly clear…

BARE-METAL beauty • Perfecting an iconic livery on Roden’s Boeing 720

Warp a warrior • Oilcanning and weathering Hasegawa’s 1/72 scale Tony

Build and paint Airfix’s P-51D Mustang • Get a good-looking Glamorous Glen III right out of the box

Landing a slick Huey • Details and weathering for Kitty Hawk’s UH-1

Dropping flaps on a jet fighter • Reposition control surfaces to put a Super Hornet at ease

Aircraft COLOR GUIDE • Finding matches across multiple paint brands

Hand-paint markings on a Val • Skip the decals to finish a Japanese dive-bomber

Detail a C-123B PROVIDER • Remove a door, add to the interior, doctor the wheels, ad lib decals

Decking out a Nimitz-class carrier • Cut up and correct Italeri’s carrier-deck section

Setting the scene for a Corsair • Groundwork, weathering, and a palm tree put this plane in the South Pacific

CIVILIZING A STRANNY • Add new engines, props, and accurate decals to replicate an airliner flying boat

MOTORIZE your model • A spinning prop adds pep to a Polikarpov fighter

Painting Monogram’s 1/72 scale BUFF • A big model means a big paint job