Colin W

Thanks for the comments chaps. I have ascertained the moulds date from 1967 which makes them 50 years old and predates the helicopters entry to RAF service by 4 years. Amazing. I did a bit of interior work this weekend while waiting for the Fury's glue to dry. I used the old profile gauge to get the shape of the ceiling plate, transferred it to paper to give a template. Haven't used this for years as modern kits tend to give you these parts. Then I glused some angle onto the fuselage sides to support the ceiling. The new part is below the fuselage with the paper stuck on. The partition between the cockpit and the hold is thin whereas it appears to be reasonably thick. Also the door way is too wide. I used it as a template to make 2 new bulkheads and will space these about 5mm apart and install. The 2 bulkheads now cut out and angle added to secure the sides. Also the exhausts cut out from the sides and the ceiling now ready for installation. Focusing on the Fury really so this is filling the gaps. Colin

Link to first picture now repaired. I had a go at rigging with the elastic thread but not a success. It is too soft to feed into the locating holes, spins itself together very quickly and is almost impossible to see. I decided to go back to good old fishing hook tie. The tail is now done and most of the main plane wires are in so I'll pop the top on tonight. Colin

When I lived in the UK I discovered Halfords Matt white primer in a spray can. This is a really great dense coat of white and sprays from the can. I used it a lot and once you have a good finish a light sand with 1000 grit and a spray with gloss white from the airbrush gave a beautiful finish. I tried the appliance white and Ford white but the gloss is too thick a coat so would not recommend. My choice every time. Colin

Well after 2 coats of white and 6 coats of yellow we are starting to look like the final scheme . I bought this very snazzy professional looking rigging line at a model shop in Singapore. Its 0.083mm diameter. I only usually work to the nearest 5mm so suspect this will be a challenge. Its a bit thin! And very stretchy! Depending how it goes there might be another Fury post or a Puma one next! Colin

Cracking on there Steve You are putting us all to shame!

Well having almost completed my Hawker Fury I'm going for something a bit more symbolic of the RAF 100 years with a Puma. This low profile always there but never seen Helicopter has now been in service for 47 years having joined up in 1971. Destined to remain in service until 2025, only the Hercules and Canberra will have served longer. Although based on the age of individual air frames the Puma may have the edge. So despite 47 years of sterling service we still don't have a 1/48 scale kit. Another F16 anyone? To fill the void in the RAF 100 line up I shall therefore be building the venerable and hard to find Heller 1/50th scale kit. According to Scalemates the moulds date from 1967 and this is the 1986 boxing. That said and the detail is basic by todays standards but was probably OK for 1967! Lets give it a go. What you get Who remembers when the instructions were one sheet of paper, printed in French? Some massive sink holes in the tail and those exhausts look ermm....... On the plus side the cockpit glazing is very clear despite being 3mm thick! A quick raid on the parts bin yields a pair of seats, some Flightpath PE and a decent instrument panel spare from Belcher Bits Lynx. Also the doors are moulded in clear so only the windows to mask, what a great idea! I think I'll go for an early scheme as the kit has no air filters and the HC2 has too many lumps and bumps to knock off. I figure there might be enough work already but lets see. May battle commence. Colin

Yes Heller 1/50 Puma it is. Colin

Hi I have a plan so cunning you can pin a tail on it and call it a weasel. (Other animals available). The plan is to flatten out some brass tube and insert into the ports. This looked easier than sorting out the kit parts. I put a liner inside the engine bay to blank off the exhaust holes and have something to glue to. Let's see how it works. Colin

While its surprising that there are so many Defiants on the list above, the real surprise is the we have only 1 vehicle and 1 Helicopter. Surly the RAF has had lots of each. My plan was to build Brian Carbury's 603 Squadron Spitfire next and keep the NZ link going but we have 9 Spits already. So having failed to build a unique Hawker Fury first I took a step back to think what to build next. Ignoring the BBMF and its associated support aircraft, the longest serving aircraft in the RAF has been the Canberra which managed 55 years. We are lucky to have 1 represented in the GB as nimrod54 is building a PR9. I reckon there are a few coming close with the Herk at about 51 years and still going. The VC10 and Chipmunk managed about 47 years service each. I have a 1/48 Herk, PR9 and Chipmunk in the Cabinet already and you can have too many 1/48 Herks, never mind a VC10! So I have decided to make a second entry to this GB by building not only another Helicopter but one with 47 years service and at least another 8 on the horizon, potentially giving 55 years service to equal the Canberra. Any guess's? It will also be a new manufacturer and a new scale (but I'll pretend its not). Colin

Thanks for the comments, always welcome. Progress today sees the undercarriage on and the card used to build up the tail. Probably the best solution would have been to assemble the fin and tail plane first then add to the fuselage. I missed this as the flash was so thick I didn't realise there was a hole through the tail plane! I modified the kit parts for the Undercarriage braces as per the picture below. On top is the toy like kit part. The one below is modified to fit to the axle. As above but with fin and tail skid. Front view. You can spot a vintage Airfix kit as its got more Bog on it than the last 4 models added together. I see the top cowl doesn't fit either side and lots of flash still evident! Colin

That's a lot of goodies to fit into one brick. Ive done 2 of these with 3 more in the stash. This certainly has the makings of a good model. I too will be watching. Colin

Well I've gone a long way this weekend but not taken many pictures. Once the cockpit was in I joined the fuselage and popped the lower wing on then the carbane struts and the top of the nose. I dremmelled out the moulded machine guns but could have left them as one of the better parts of the kit. I needed quite a bit of bog on the joins and ejector pin marks so this was done yesterday and sanded up today. I also sanded back the fabric effect on the wings and fuselage as it was well over done. Ive added a bit of card to the top of the tail as there is a step under the fin. The small holes for the rigging are also drilled as are the scoops either side of the nose. Next step is the undercarriage and then I'll have to pick a scheme. I'm toying with a Munich Crisis Green and Brown over black and white just to be different? Colin

Why not back date it to an F2? Just a trendy paint job and your there. That would be unique. Colin

Looking good. Interesting you have omitted the cabane struts. I elected to get them on to assist with wing alignment. I also noted the gap between fuselage and spinner so omitted the rear engine accessories to push it further back. You can easily trim the front of the engine or prop to eliminate the gap. Colin

Well I managed to paint up the cockpit interior. The main structure here is the Classic Airframe Hurricane interior with additional details based on a cutaway found on the net. Instrument panel is plasticard and the dials etc home made as a decal and stuck to the panel. Machine gun butts either side of the panel are glued to the fuselage sides. The seat is dressed with a set of seat belts found in the the parts bin. I spent ages cleaning off the flash but the silver paint shows there's heaps left. Most of this cant be seen so time to move on... Colin