neilfergylee

Fair point about the jacks and does your foot follow me around?

For what it's worth, here is my shot of the Belfast at Cosford last year:

I have just been reading Bruce Halfpenny's book 'English Electric Canberra: The History and Development of a Classic Jet' published by Pen and Sword. It contains this useful piece of information: Binbrook, being the first operational Canberra base and also one of the largest wings, introduced a lightning flash on the nose with a different colour for each of its resident squadrons. RAF Binbrook nose flash colours were: No. 9 Squadron – red nose flash; No. 12 Squadron – gold nose flash; No. 101 Squadron – black and white nose flash; No. 617 Squadron – dark blue nose flash. I hope this might be of use.

I'm calling it finished! It's been a month but life and work got in the way but - finally - window of opportunity presented itself this weekend. @Corsairfoxfouruncle, I finally managed to obtain some white decal paper and the results were good but not perfect. the resulting decal is good and white, but it is a little thick and, as you can see, there is a white outline. However, I am reasonably satisfied, while the clear decals for the serials have been a delight. as you can see, I made best use of the sheet by producing some fin flashes and roundels for the spares box. One subject that had taxed me was the colour of the radome. The example I was modelling, WM239, appeared to have a two-tone radome but I wasn't keen on having a green top-half as shown in the following drawing: However, by pure chance, I found a picture of the very aircraft on the Air Historical branch's Twitter feed: Now, I know that aircraft change over their lifecycles and radomes are the sort of component that might get swapped between airframes. Not only that, but the absence of squadron markings implies that this photo was taken early in WM239's life but the top half of the radome looks black, not green, to me and note also the tonal difference of the lower half. This suited me as it gave me the opportunity to a little paint mixing and come-up with a rather nice semi-gloss lower-half. Finally I added the undercarriage and aerials and aluminium tubing tailpipes. So, after four months, I'm calling this model finished. It's a touch like me really, looks reasonable from a distance but don't look too closely! It wouldn't stand a chance in any competition but I'm very pleased with the result as I have learned and re-learned many techniques from my past and I'm looking forward to my next project: 1/72 PR10 or 1/48 F8?! Finally, a big THANK YOU to all of you who commented, liked and generally gave me advice and encouragement. In the past, modelling was a lonely affair, but these days one can feel part of a mutually-supportive community. Thank you. Neil Ferguson-Lee PS: I have kept a log of the build here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/26690797@N02/albums/72157664737952408/with/41274251222/

My first job was for a company called Normalair Garrett Limited, 50% owned by Westland and based in Yeovil. I discovered early-on that the Westland Technical Library contained very copy of 'The Aeroplane' and 'Flight' from Issue Number One. I soon made friends with Yvonne, the librarian and evenings in my digs were a wonderland of history. Happy days! Neil

Thank you gentlemen: it's going to be a lightning or possibly a Vulcan as I was born to the sound of them being tested at Woodford!

I see 1961 is taken - are duplicates allowed?

Peter, MSG lasted longer than you might think! My NF11 still used MSG and I believe the change to DSG uppers took place somewhere around the mid-1950s. I shall try and find out something more definitive. Great paint job by the way and your MSG looks excellent and close to mine too! Cheers, Neil

Actually, why didn't I apply the decals twice to increase their opacity? Doh! Fortunately, I'm onto Plan B and have ordered some white decal paper. Watch this space...

Ooh this is getting so frustrating! So near, yet so far... I acquired from Amazon some clear laser printer-friendly decal paper and it is wonderful. This is what I bought: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PKS5HZK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They allowed me to create a perfect set of serials and the 96 Squadron markings I needed: The serials went on PERFECTLY, but whilst I knew laser printers can't print white, although they can print yellow, you realise that the decals really need a white background: And I had no white paint... So, necessity being the mother of all invention, I tried to create a white background using some cannibalised pieces of decal: Unfortunately, when trying to add a fresh set of squadron markings, the white decals started slipping all over the place and so I had to abandon that approach. So, slightly back to Square One but I'm regrouping...!

That is coming on so nicely - keen to finish my NF.11 and get on with a single seater!

Really interesting and I'm glad to see such interest in Meteors! Once I've finished my NF11, I'm going to have a crack at the Xtrakit PR11, so I'm watching your excellent post very closely! Keep it up! Cheers, Neil

@Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies, I'm absolutely with you and I think this sums-up the argument best!

This weekend was spent applying the majority of decals although I have decided to take the plunge and make my own decals for a 96 squadron machine including markings and serials. A package containing blank transfer paper for laser printers is awaited from Amazon... The good news is that I have found a TrueType font on the Internet for RAF serials that I have downloaded and tested. It is a little awkward to use but as you can see, a test bodes well: There was one thing that was irritating me and that was the canopy. Although I was quite pleased with how I had managed to mask it, it was by no means perfect and the inner surface has become rather hazy. Furthermore, reading other builds, I realised that it would have been better to paint he canopy black, both to reduce the opacity of the framing and to give a more realistic interior colour. Therefore, I decided to use the canopy off my second Matchbox kit, working on the basis that it was almost certainly destined to be an NF-14 and the first one could be reused if I really needed-to. So, I started again and here was the result. Old one at the front, new at the back. And the proof of the pudding etc... I feel this is quite an improvement on the earlier version, enhanced both with the addition of decals and fitting the etched harnesses to the seats: So, I'm going into radio silence for a few days but there is just a chance that I shall be approaching the finish line next weekend! Thanks for watching. Neil

A quick experiment. Before 96 Squadron adopted its definitive markings, they experimented with a star pattern - thank you Scale Aircraft Modelling. I had a go at reproducing the markings in PowerPoint, printed them onto plain paper and attached them using Copydex for a very rough trial fit. Thank you @theplasticsurgeon for the hint - it stuck beautifully but then peeled leaving no damage or mess. If I go ahead, then it's hello laser-printed decals - I'm thinking of taking the same approach for the serials, having found a lovingly-produced font for RAF lettering. I might have to repaint the radome (groan) but it would be a pretty unique scheme: