Malc’s Model World

First steps on the Superbug! 🐝🇺🇸🌊✈️ I recently decided to have a go at building my 1/48 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet from Meng Models, in which I started by building the ejection seats for the pilot and weapons systems operator, landing gear any airframe related components. The cockpit area was painted in a light grey all around as the kit came with decals for the instrument panels, but they needed to be applied in a very delicate manner due to how small they were. The aircraft will be built in launch position in which the Hornet will have its landing gear extended with the catapult arm down, canopy closed with a crew on board, wing control surfaces extended and arrestor hook retracted. Although the craft is still in the early stages of the build, I might also consider using the catapult area on a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier as a base for my Hornet with a team of flight deck handlers from ResKit. The finished F/A-18 will represent a VFA-103 Jolly Roger from the USS Harry S. Truman, which is a CAG (Commander, Air Group) bird that wears a high-visibility colour scheme over a grey camouflage. The next steps are to paint the landing gear-related components in white and paint the ejection seats before dealing with the crew and completing the airframe assembly sequence.

Time to build another Wildcat! 😼🇺🇸🌊✈️ I spent most of March and April building my Eduard 1/48 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, which came packed with an F4F-4 as part of the Midway limited edition twin-pack. The assembly sequence started with the cockpit and wheel wells as usual, in which interior green and gull grey were used along with some photo-etched parts being installed such as that for the instrument panel. Perhaps the best part was building the airframe and engine, but some superglue was needed to help strengthen the fit. The aircraft was then painted as a US Navy pre-war machine from VF-72, which sported yellow wings and a black tail with most of the airframe in silver and some red stripes on the wing and engine cowling. All painting was done with my Harder & Steinbeck Evolution airbrush with an 0.4 mm needle, and the decals had their carrier film removed with a douse of white spirit. Once the decals were added, I then installed the landing gear to put the Wildcat up on its wheels. The next step is to weather the aircraft, install the finishing touches, apply a coat of clear varnish and take some high-quality photos of the craft in my Photo Booth. #f4fwildcat #grumman #airplane #ww2 #malcsmodels

Painting the Slow But Deadly Dauntless! 🐌🌊✈️🇺🇸💣 Between November and December 2025, I painted my Academy 1/48 SBD-1 Dauntless in US Marine Corps pre-war colour scheme. To do this, I used my trusty Harder & Steenbeck Evolution airbrush with the 0.4 mm needle installed. I first sprayed a white base before any of the bright colours could be applied, particularly because the wings were painted in yellow with a coloured diagonal stripe on top. After I sprayed the white base, I then proceeded to apply the red and the blue on the rudder so long as I left a white space since this is a USMC Dauntless, followed by the green stripes. The green stripes were applied on the wings, fuselage and engine cover but were then masked off before the wings were painted in yellow on top while the rest of the airframe was left in bare metal. After painting, I built and brush painted the Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engine using my Alclad gunmetal colour for the cylinders and the US Navy intermediate blue for the gearbox housing. The ignition wires were painted in sand colour, and then the landing gear was installed. Because the yellow and green on the wings were not painted particularly well, I had to spray those two colours again in that same area. I reapplied the white base first, which was then followed by the yellow. To repaint the green diagonal stripes, I used some thin masking tape to obtain the thickness of the stripe and then painted the green diagonal stripes on either wings. Once the wings were repainted, I then achieved the right finish needed for a pre-war USMC Dauntless. The next step is to apply the markings, weather the SBD and finish her off by applying a coat of matte varnish. #sbddauntless #airplane #divebomber #yellowwings #malcsmodels

The Firehawk helicopter goes to the paint shop! 🙌🏼🇺🇸🚁🦅🔥 I recently finished my February by making some major progress on the S-70 Firehawk, in which I masked off the glass areas, filled in any gaps and adjusted any defects that may have been visible when the final colour scheme is applied. After all this was carried out, I then proceeded to apply the tricolour red-white-and-blue colour scheme of Brainerd Helicopters. I designed the masks for the markings using Adobe Illustrator and then scaled them according to size on Microsoft Excel, in which I later used peel-off vinyl to cut the masks. Since this UH-60 is a civilian helicopter being converted from an MH-60K, I chose to replicate the S-70C that bore the registration number N2FH. A white base was painted first all round the chopper before the masks were applied in the appropriate positions, and the white was then followed by the red stripe and nose section plus the blue tail. The red and white stripes were also applied on the tail rotors, while the main rotor blades were painted in white and yellow on top with black on the bottom. The next steps are to paint the main rotor hubs and exhaust pipes, but eventually apply the stencils before I proceed with any weathering, finishing touches and protective clear coats of varnish. #blackhawkhelicopter #choppers #blackhawkdown #usa🇺🇸 #malcsmodels

When you build a Japanese flying cigar and name it Betty! 🚬🇯🇵✈️💣 Recently, I decided to tackle another WW2 subject. This time, it’s the Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi G4M1 ‘Betty’ bomber. The parts of the build that I decided to focus on as usual were the interior and the airframe, in which all interior components were sprayed in the Mitsubishi interior green and the details being painted by hand. Before adding the parts that would complete the interior, I used the AK Interactive black panel line wash for brown and green camouflage. After building the interior, I then moved on with assembling the airframe. The first step in building the airframe was to join up the two fuselage halves, although the defensive machine guns needed to be installed first from inside the fuselage halves. When the fuselage was fully closed up, I needed to use some superglue to strengthen the bond and further secure the fit. Following the fuselage assembly, I then assembled other components ranging from the wings and tail to the engines and propellers. The engine and landing gear assemblies are still not glued in place yet because I have to paint these parts in the appropriate colours prior to installation. The next step of the build is to install any other bits and pieces ranging from the wheel wells and landing gear to the engines, so then I can apply the Imperial Japanese Navy camouflage and markings before dirtying Betty up and finishing her off for display. #mitsubishibetty #bomber #japan🇯🇵 #148scale #malcsmodels

And she’s ready!!! 🙌🏼🇺🇸🇮🇹🌩️✈️ Here is the teaser trailer for the photographic slideshow and the high-quality photos of my recently-completed Kinetic 1/48 Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, dressed up as one the Italian Air Force’s Getti Tonanti. The full video will be available soon to watch on YouTube. High-quality photos to follow #f84fthunderstreak #gettitonanti #148scale #fighter #malcsmodels

Passing 1000 feet and climbing!!! 🎉🥳🙌🏼 I would like to celebrate 1000 followers on Malc’s Model World on Instagram with a special video showcasing models built by myself and by other great modellers in the scale modelling community! Thank you everyone! #malcsmodels #1000followers #letscelebrate🎉 #scalemodelling #148scale

Meet Charity, one of the three Gladiator biplanes that fought over Malta’ 🇲🇹🇬🇧🤙🏼✈️🤺 The model is an ICM kit in 1/32 with wing bracing wires from AIMS Model Accessories. The real aircraft is being rebuilt to fly again under the Malta Sea Gladiator Project #glostergladiator #132scale #fighter #biplane #malcsmodels

Some big news! 🙌🏼🇬🇧💣✈️🥉 I am very pleased to announce that my HK Models 1/48 Avro Lancaster Mk.I, painted as Admiral Prune, has been awarded a bronze medal at Minjatura 2026! I would like to thank everybody at the Society for Scale Modellers for all the help, support and feedback they provided during the build process of this iconic aircraft! #avrolancaster #bronzemedal #nightbomber #148scale #malcsmodels

It’s 1935 and you sail across the Atlantic aboard la belle Normandie! 😍🇫🇷🇺🇸🌊🚢 This amazing 1/600 scale scratch built waterline model was built by my Uncle Patrick Camilleri #ssnormandie🇲🇫 #oceanliner #modelships #1600scale #malcsmodels

My HKM 1/48 Avro Lancaster bomber, one of the Royal Air Force’s greatest fighting machines of WW2! 🙌🏼🇬🇧💣✈️ #malcsmodels #avrolancaster #148scale #nightraider #minjatura2026

Surprise chopper alert! 🚨🚁🇺🇸🦅🖤 Earlier this week, I decided to take on a different project from my usual warplanes. This time, I chose to build Italeri’s 1/48 Sikorsky MH-60K Black Hawk helicopter and convert it to a civilian S-70C Firehawk forest firefighter. I must point out that this is the first time that I am building a 1/48 helicopter as the last time I built a rotary-wing aircraft was when I had built the Airfix 1/72 Sea King HC.4 troop carrier (which I built in a very crude way but have a second one in the stash) and then the HAR.3 search-and-rescue platform. The build began as usual with the interior, which was sprayed with AK Interactive colours using my Harder & Steinbeck airbrush with the detail stuff being brush painted. When I proceeded to build the airframe and install the transparent parts, I had realised that the kit had quite a problematic fit. This resulted in some major sanding and filling operations to help obtain the right result, in which white putty was used to fill up the gaps and seams on the model. The next step is to make some final adjustments and then start the sequence needed to paint my Firehawk helicopter. #blackhawkhelicopter #choppers #blackhawkdown #usa🇺🇸 #malcsmodels