rob Lyttle

I recall that the big flat roof was a bit of a challenge to tame, getting the central seam to disappear. I can see that you have some preparations in place to aid the joint. Here's the thing, though.... Once you get it nice and flat, do you have any information on what if anything should go on there, apart from an antenna or two? It's so hard to get some good references for the top of the fuselage. I'm sure there must be vents or inlets or some kind of details. It sometimes looks like there's stuff going on on the cockpit roof, but I can't find any clarity on the situation. Just wondering if you've got any insight. I'm thinking out loud here, there may be nothing but a big flat roof! 😎

OK.... A great read so far, Ray! Well done the cockpit mod, courageous work indeed. Having nailed that, I don't think you will have any trouble with the floats assembly. I think I may have been guilty of trying too hard with the Norseman. And the stretchy line caused strains in the structure that the thin plastic couldn't cope with. I would be prepared to try it again with a different approach and alternative rigging. This is going to be fine, and another great looking civil option. I will follow the action to completion now 👍 Stay cool, it'll be fine

Hi there @PeterB. This is a fascinating read through. Great to see see you in action with the Schools Class loco. You may recall offering some advice as I tackled my Dapol "Cheltenham" a while ago. I'm pleased to report that my running gear still runs 😀 I loaded the boiler and the tender with 3mm solder wire for weight and installed brass tube bearings and axles. It was the challenge of getting the mechanism to work that was the big draw for me - I know nothing about the subject. But I do see the industrial wasteland at Eastleigh quite often, where these were once built, adjacent to where Supermarine built their first tranche of Spitfires. (Don't mention the Ford Transit assembly plant.... 😦) At least there is a good model shop still in the town - big on railway stuff too 👍 Anyway, great to catch up with you and your Schools Class building. Nice to see how it should be done

And suddenly, the Norseman is finished! 😇I tried some Turtlewax over the paintwork - I got some to try and lift the finish on a couple of car bodies. Not so easy to buff up with a bunch of struts and rigging in the way but generally it's sealed the surfaces and shined up a bit. The only other addition is a piece of plastic tube for the exhaust stub. The kit part is looking a bit inadequate. In conclusion then, I'd have another go at the floats option if the chance arose, but I'd avoid using the stretchy line. 😜 I'd probably scratch a metal alternative for the float attachment legs. And I'd get in the right frame of mind to storm the procedure - wham bam😎 But it's a blessing to have the alternatives incl in the kit. A quality little Matchbox kit with all moving surfaces supplied separately - I like a bit of movement on the moving parts, it kind of animates the airframe and brings it to life a bit. I've got a couple of Arctic type figures and a husky dog team and sled somewhere, they are in a Monogram Ford Trimotor box, that would look quite good beside the Norseman.... 🤔 Well, it's been an adventure, thanks for encouragement and patience while I faffed about with this 'un! 😋 Galleries here I come

I thought this is a picture of us all watching your Tiger Moth build. We're all cheering as the exhaust pipe goes on.... YAYYYYY 👏👋... Oooooh😶

This is bad news to me, Tony was great company. I guess that once you have been put through the process, you don't want to come back. You find another platform and don't look back. The greatly missed Moa fell foul of the system and is long gone. I think that was the No Politics rule, and probably the same for Tony. There's a lot of members I'm sure are struggling with it at the moment.... 🇺🇦🌻 But imagine what it'd be like here without the rule... It'd be a morass of bickering and arguments . So it's important to salute Mike and the team for the good and difficult work keeping this place so good and comfortable to be on.. Happy Birthday Johnny,...... Blimey, that IS old...... 😅🎂😜

I'd better tag along for this ride, me old mate 😎 I picked up one of these for a bargain price - because the box had a bit of a crease! Who cares, unless you're a box-ophile, and that's just wierd! 😅 It does look like a great kit of parts and I quite fancy having a go at it sometime soon. See if I can handle one of the many civil options. So let's see what you can tell us about the process, Johnny 👍

This is more like it.... Progress 👍 The cowling is just dry fitted - this needs a coat of yellow. Some other dabs of paint required, but I wanted to get the assembly done and sorted. Hey look, it's an airframe.... 😎

So, there's no point worrying about what could have been, the floats are a gonner and no looking back....! It feels like a relief, to be honest. I can now get the little rascal done and get onto other stuff. I've got so much of a backlog sitting round here, I really need to crack on 😎 I've just been reading up on the Air operations of the RCMP in Canada, something of which I had no idea! They had a Norseman, and DH Dragonfly aircraft in the early days.Accompanying the article was a lovely picture of a Mountie on horseback beside a Lockheed L10 Electra 😍

Well, thanks for the encouragement Ray and Chris. I finally thought I had this box o' tricks under control but.... There's a major change of plan 😎 I know, I know, Float assembly started going awry with the combined effects of flimsy plastic, tension in the lines, and me pushing a bit too hard. I could have another go with some scratch build surgery, but I reckon I'm out of patience with the floats game now 🤔 It's coming off and I'm going for the ski option, for the time being at least. That way I can get to the finishing line with this, save some sanity and move on. Club meeting this evening so no real progress on the ski conversion, but I checked out all the parts, all still on the sprues, ready to go. Feeling better about the build already 😀

This little rascal is by no means forgotten, in fact it sits there looking at me most days while I faff around with other stuff. But I'm inching forward - often it's one step forward and two backwards - Leaving out all the failed attempts which I won't bore you with, the floats are on. Hmmmmm, that doesn't sound like much...... 😶 The inter-float diagonals got a little tension on the stretchy lines, being pulled right through to the outside of the floats. Four stretchy lines are fixed under the fuselage leg pieces - sponsons?? - and the floats are drilled with a view to using the same procedure to tension these lines down to the floats. I've got one done, but it's fiddly work under there.. Ladder runners are installed from the float to the door on the port side, and probably more important is the central support from the fuselage down to the rear spreader bar which is a length of brass wire. This remained adjustable until I was happy with the alignment of the fuselage to the floats as viewed from the side. The plane seems to be mounted slightly nose up relative to the floats. Then the extra legs behind the inverted V legs were added and then the ladder legs. This was all done on a "little and often" basis, though not nearly often enough 😊 and the structure is improving with each addition. Each part is quite flimsy but as they all work together, things improve. Surely I can press on from here..... 😎

😯😮😲😶👋👏👏 PS, I know it's not the issue right now, but the side windows opened is a total win!! They look great. And 👌on the bonnet fit

An elegant solution.... 😎

That's a lovely little survivor from back in the day. I think pristine toys like Dinky cars still in their boxes and unmarked are a bit spooky, or sad. So much playtime gone to waste! Never fulfilled their destiny 😎 That little guy has really lived life to the full, hasn't he?

🐣🐥🐤

I picked up an album of Players cigarette cards in an album a couple of weeks ago for peanuts, and it's an interesting thing to look through. There's no date on the album, "price one penny", but the era becomes apparent looking through the content. The Lufthansa entries feature the "nasty logo" on the red band, plenty of flying boats, DH86s, and some great French items. I don't suppose the information contained is reliable reference material, although it's all contemporary, but there is inspiration to be had just looking through. 🤔😊💡 Anybody else got interesting artefacts related to the Golden Age?

This sounds like a reasonable backup plan. I know you search for perfection in every case, but it's worth having a plan B, especially if you avoid wrecking the thing you're trying to sort. ☘️ The 2 triangle pieces can be treacherous too, and they help to establish the angle sit of the radiator, and that means the fit of the front of the bonnet. 🤞

Brilliant upgrade on the side windows, CC. That's a massive improvement. I know, I know, you looked at that cover film when you peeled it off your new phone and thought, "Hmmm, I'll hang on to this - could be handy for something one day...." 😅 Some people can only see garbage when they do this! I know the kit transparencies are very thick - I remember doing the slide type windows on the Heller E-type Jag Cunningham race car, and used something similar for the slider panes because the cut transparencies looked so unbelievably thick. Your interior looks fantastic 👍

I've had a go at the Airfix Vintage Classics repops of the HS125 and the HP Jetstream. The HP is the infamous USAF version that never was but good practice on scratching the engines. The 125 needs cutting and hacking under the fuselage..... Good (cheap) fun though. Heller Connie's, DC3s everywhere, Williams C46, Lockheed Lodestar, and L14 Super Electra from a Hudson. Oooh, and the old Matchbox Norseman! I was hoping that Airfix would redo the BN Islander but no sign so far 😕 Well, we can live in hope..... And make do with what we can find

I just clicked on this one out of curiosity as I perused the car making forum, Kevin. Many years ago I built an Artisana boat, a Virginia Pilot (something).... So the name caught my eye. Brilliant run through the history and nature of the type to begin the thread. Thanks for that. Living in UK, or any European country I guess, gives absolutely NO IDEA of the size, the distances, the,, sheer emptyness of the untamed USA, or Canada or Australia. Unbelievable really that it was done as a commercial venture for the paying public, as a horse-drawn mode of transport. And delivering one from New England to California by sea via Cape Horn just sounds like madness to us now! 😲 I know most trading and transportation was done by sea, but THAT just sounds like a mad adventure, a challenge, like rowing across the Pacific or something. You got to admire and wonder at the tenacity of people back then, even the dogged determination a farepaying passenger in a stagecoach. So thanks again for the potted history of the era. I suppose it has some kind of similarities with the canal systems in the UK and elsewhere. Major investment in engineering and infrastructure, did the job, built a nation, and got totally wiped out almost instantly by the next technology. Lovely bit of wood work, by the way 😎

That is indeed an exquisite thing you are working on! I've never witnessed a MFH car build "from the ground up" so this is an interesting build thread for me. Brilliant little extras too👍 Love the wheel build sequence by the way

Very nice job! I remember a slot racing mate of mine doing one of these for the track while I did the Sunbeam Rapier slot conversion. This is "back in the day".... I'm talking about late 60s here. They didn't last that long, but then none of the cars and homebuilt racers lasted the way we all drove them. Yours is looking good. Excellent result with an old stager!

Well, I'll tell you CC... I ended up replacing the chrome detail on the top centre of the grill piece with a little bit of Ali tube, so that my central wire could be inserted through the front and eventually reach the other little piece of Ali tube in the bulkhead just under the vent flap. But I doubt if that solution would meet with your stringent scale requirements! 😏

Yes! Love the articulated bonnet assembly 😍The whole thing Looks really stylish.

Nice! I'm (still) trying to get away from the warmongering apparatus in general, but the A10 has an irresistible draw all of its own . The gun reloading procedure is indeed something to behold. It involves a specialised piece of equipment referred to as "the Dragon" and I think there's an aftermarket product, but probably hard to get hold of.. Good luck with this one, you're going well 👍