whitestar12chris

Hi Martin, basically its a one man design, you lye prone (face down), feet on the rear foot pedals which you move up and down for propulsion, the red leather pad is were your chest rests. In front of you are a pair of handles to control the dive planes, a pair of handles on a pivot with rope attached to control the rudder. (see first pic of last update post). There was supposed to be a breathing tube from the airbags (yet to be fitted), also another tube to control the buoyancy bladders coupled with the airbags. Thats the basics, but as per the Turtle it would have been hard work, theres no mention as to if he ever built it. All the best Chris

Very interesting, seems very much like the allies operation deadlight which disposed of the German U-boats after the war. Chris

Thanks Tony, he definitely was a visionary. Marc it wont be long with just the airbags and flippers to go. All the best Chris

Seen loads of ebay listings with zero feedback sellers from china, Amati VIIB u-boat £21, lots of subs, sci-fi, armour, etc etc, some have been pulled. if it was a UK seller i take a chance but, the quantity of chinese sellers that have appeared definitely smells of a scam. Chris

Another update, the steering rope is fitted and working along with the dive plane handles. Too the rear is a simple working gear box with pedals that moves the rear paddles (to be added). Measuring from the pedals to the chest rest, it works out approximately 1/16 scale, looking for a suitable figure has drawn a blank, mostly modern or pre 15th century and not Italian. rear paddles unpainted So this leaves the two airbags and the top frame to complete. All the best Chris

Saddened, sickened, appalled by a cowardly act eminating from a heirarchy of drug dealers and criminals, falsely in the name of religion. My heart goes out to the victims and their families, we wish them all the best we can, words are not enough, but we must try, for united we must stand as one land, one people. Chris

Just to add my five penny worth, The word Nigger was based on the latin Niger, meaning shining black, this was as my grandparents understood it, who coincidently also had a black labrador named Rex. Its been perverted and used as a racial slur with the origin of the name lost in translation, as so do so many things from the past tend to be by ignorance. Latin Etymology Uncertain origin[1], but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”). Pronunciation (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈni.ɡer/, [ˈnɪ.ɡɛr] Adjective niger m (feminine nigra, neuter nigrum); first/second declension shining black (as opposed to ater, dull black) Chris

So moving on an update of the build. Central frame with leather chest pad for prone operator and the dive planes in foreground The completed two tone wooden paint job, which although supposed to be wood didnt quite sit right with me Finished central frame, looking like new Central frame fitted A little black wash added for a more used look A better looking finish a gentle black wash applied and wiped with kitchen roll, note dive planes fitted. Had to be careful as the wash and wipe did try to lift some of the paint job. Forward dive planes shown in place All the best Chris

Will follow with great interest, will be great to see the AE2 brought to life. All the best Chris

Good weekend, picked up Mikromir's 1/35 Hecht mini submarine and their WW! UB1 U-boat in 1/144, also revell's 1/144 Eidesche LSM for £19.99 inc. postage today. So two more subs and a ship result. All the best Chris

General heres some photos of X-24 at Gosport, the best descriptive text book is Underwater Warriors by Paul Kemp There where variations in each batch of X-craft, the Merit Kit is ok for the first two batches X-5 to X-10 & X-20 to X-25, then theres different lengths and widths along with a faired in front top section. A rear shot of the later HMS Stickleback, note this is the incorrectly restored dive planes and rudder assembly which is out by 90 degrees (covered in another thread), note the correct one in the foreground and no one questioned it at the IWM. Heres my thread on building the Merit X-craft http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234995125-royal-navy-x-craft-x-5-to-x-10-operation-source-sink-the-tirpitz-finished/ All the best Chris

First of an ongoing project mainly in 1/2500, Firstly the AMT K-7 station. This is an old mould and requires a lot of aligning sanding and filling, i found to be a bit of a soul destroyer, once the white went on it highlighted areas that needed more attention, which some got and some didnt. Hand painted in humbrol enamels, the decals are quite fragile so some careful handling required even after application. Shes 16 inches in diameter, the markings are my interpretation as reference material on the original is scarce, even watching the original episode threw up a number of discrepancies. Of note the orientation of the main centre module is not as per the instructions. The other fly in the ointment was that for the DS9 episode were Sisko goes back in time to the K-7 space station and meets Kirk ther was a full set of new models, K-7, Klingon and Enterprise. ( The last two being Revells offerings, currently available with more surface detail than the originals). Then we added the TOS cadet series models re released from round2 with a far superior set of decals to the AMT original, all three ships in 1/2500, these were great fun to buld. Heres some photos, bit of a tricky one to photograph, so sorry for quality of pics but you get the guist. The line down the right appeared after cropping the photo (good old microsoft), lifes too short to mess. Romulan Warbird Klingon D-7 USS Enterprise More K7 with tin for size comparison All the best Chris

Count me in, plenty of submarines in books, Nautilus, Skate etc. All the best Chris

Hi Rich, just to throw a curve ball in there, what about aircraft carrying submarines? like the I-19, I-400, RN M2, french Surcouf etc. if these can be included im in. All the best Chris

Its about 11 inches (280mm) long by 3 1/2 inches (90mm) wide excluding front dive planes. Chris