Jo NZ

I used to visit BAe Woodford in the 80's, when they were converting the Navy Buccs to RAF versions - the hanger was full of them. Curiously there was a catch net at the end of the (pretty long) runway. It was for the Buccaneers - as carrier aircraft the brakes are only there to stop it falling off the flight deck, and no use at all on landing. I guess Woodford could have fitted arrestor wires on the runway....

If you can't find a suitable bomb load, how about a large "Fly Navy" sign in the open bomb bay, as they used to do for air displays?

I've reposted the pictures in finished vehicles. More has happened since then - it's nearly ready for painting.

OK here's a short primer on louvres.... I started making the louvres for the Pocher Alfa bonnet panels. I wanted to use ally because they are unpainted on the inside, and the best way to replicate unpainted ally is with..... You're way ahead of me! 0.4 mm sheet, available from K&S, scales up to 3.2mm in 1/8 scale, so it's around scale thickness. I've used the same sheet in 1/12 scale as well. To start with you'll need a hand press. I had a secondhand one, so used that, but a pillar drill will do just as well - as long as you can stop the rotation. Here's the basic setup The male and female tools are made from a scrap piece of steel. The female can just be a slot, the same width as the outside of the finished louvre. The male tool forms the inside profile of the louvre so needs to be sized accordingly. It's important to leave enough room for the material between the parts of the tool... Here's the male part Notice that the edge that cuts the slot (it does the cutting and forming in one operation) is dead flat on the cutting side. It needs to be a close fit to the edge of the slot to shear the metal. I must have formed about 150 louvres while experimenting on the Alfa, and it did eventually blunt. The advantage of a cutting face on the edge of the tool is that it's easy to re-sharpen it on an oilstone and get the edge back again. The other side is profiled to suit the inside of the shape. A file on the corners and a cleanup with emery is all it needs. The most important part is to get the alignment of the tool correct. A tight sliding fit, with the cutter parallel to the edge of the slot is what's needed. Trial cuts will show if it's not right, the metal doesn't cut cleanly, and the top surface of the louvre won't be parallel to the sheet. Here it is cutting louvres Note that I'd made a complex inset for the female tool. It isn't necessary, nowadays I tend to make a longer slot than necessary and I can use it for multiple widths of the male tool. In order to align the louvres, I clamped a fence to the press at the back of the sheet. The gap between the louvres is set by the width from the edge of the slot to the edge of the tool - the previous louvre sits against the edge, and that aligns the next one. It does mean that you need different slot edge distances for different pitches though. I have seen tooling where the slot is filed into the edge of a block, and a plate clamped to the end to make the other edge - a good alternative if you don't have a mill. A section of louvres from the outside, with a mist of primer (and dust!) on them And the finished parts Which reminds me - the louvres are cut into un-annealed plate, cut to the right shape for the panel. If the panel needs to be curved, it will be easier (much!) if it's annealed - after pressing. Annealing is very quick to do. Get some household soap (I use Knight's Castile, it's what was lurking in the bottom of the bathroom cupboard) and rub it over the sheet so that you can actually see a deposit. Use a flame (e.g. butane torch) to gently heat the metal. As soon as the soap turns brown/black remove the heat and drop the sheet into water. It will now be pliable enough to form, either over a former, or with your fingers. It's imperative not to overheat the ally - there's a fine line between anneal and slump.... The tooling can also be brass, but will wear quicker. Mine was made from scraps of what was lying around. I've tried the tooling on 0.9mm ally and it works fine. The louvres shown above are about 13mm long and 1.5 mm wide. HTH

I'll put some pictures together. It took me a year to work up the courage, and only about 5 sheets of 0.4mm ally to get it right!. More soon.

I remember MH434 from the 60's, when it was based at Elstree as G-ASJV. It was pale blue with a royal blue stripe, from memory. There was a 2 seater there too, G-AVAV (grey?). Used to walk there from school and have a good roam around the hangers. Great days in S Herts. The Elstree airshow included the Red Arrows, a solo Lightning doing a tail stand over the runway etc... </nostalgia>

Thanks! It went through Bonhams in 2014 and fetched about £5M. I think it went to a private collection in the US.

Scratchbuilt front crossmember and giant carburettors and manifold (63mm SU)

Thanks all. Yes, the wheels will go, but probably after the body is finished. The main attraction of the kit wheels is that they do, in fact, keep it off the ground.

I'm occasionally struck by madness. I think that this was one instance... I decided that the Airfix Bentley could be turned into Tim Birkin's Brooklands car. So far I've: Lengthened the chassis Built a complete new body - from plastic strip over formers Made a new bonnet from aluminium Here's where it is so far. You may recognize a few Airfix parts...

When I worked on the AEW Nimrod radar fit we were naturally trying to squeeze as much as possible into the aircraft. Discovered at the time that the Comet fuselage length (from tolerance buildup) can vary by +/- 6 inches.

This is probably only going to confuse, but.... Scale Models magazine May 1981 had an article on Zakspeed Fords. It shows drawing and pictures for the Tamiya Capri, and then goes on to discuss the new Esci kit of the 1979 Gr2 ETC Escort. It mentions that it's based on the EATON rally Escort, and for the GTC car the front suspension is too high, and the front and rear track too narrow. The article goes on to say the the holes for the filler caps need to be drilled out of the bootlid, and there are markers for these holes inside the bodyshell. So it had bootlid fillers in 1979, you just need to find out if the regs changed by 1981.... BTW, the price of the Escort kit in 1981 was £3.50!

Really nice build - especially given the base kit!

The major problem with the early Stag engines was wire circlips on the gudgeon pins. They popped out and scored the bores. I know because I spent my student "workshop experience" re-boring and sleeving heaps of them, all replaced under warranty...

Nice build! Before you put in the cabinet, I'd suggest making a couple of blocks to support the model. The white metal is a little soft, and after a couple of years the suspension will sag.