general melchett

It'll be great to see these out in time for the show, another thing to add to the SMW list... a couple of Roden kits stand ready for the chop. That just leaves a Red Barrel aircraft...and all 18 CF229's !

Lovely stuff Neil, apols for not replying sooner. They're both coming along a treat, looking forward to seeing them in the flesh soon, we'd better clear a nice, big space, in fact, following our evening bash we may have to go on a night-raid and half-inch another table, especially if Richard decides to bring his 1/48th Vulcan along to the party...

Beautiful Rene, one of the best F-100's I've seen, you've nailed the burnt metal to perfection, excellent....

Ah Tim, I can see that I'm just going to have to sit this one out on the touchline with the half-time oranges and the fat wheezy boys with a note from matron, while you young bloods link arms and go together for the glorious final scrum down........a case of.belts off, trousers down, isn't life a scream!

Well RMP, I can only the hope the cheese helped with the gizzards and the extra beer with the head, both a good tonic for a catastrophic hangover... as for Scampton I caught some of the action from the man-cave window yesterday, admittedly with binos but got the gist of what was going on, between low overcast and high winds. Had the particularly noisy Oil Spill Response B727 screaming over the house in its relentless holding pattern which put the dog off chewing his gout bandage and rattled a few loose panes. As for the Tornado, well, I've had several enquiries about progress on the beast and can only apologise that it hasn't advanced as much as hoped for, (ie hardly at all) but I have started work on the undercarriage doobries and managed to gloss coat the thing ready for the plethora of decals so will post updates as soon as anything substantive happens. I will indeed get a summary written up soon which will hopefully save your eyes from any further damage...

OK guvnor I'll see what's what...I'll take my crow bar and big 'ammer just in case, pretty sure the system is the same as on the S2 and I've got plenty of shots of that, but I'll check... Here are some good images of the Newark S1 taken by Mark Maclean, Newark Bucc S1

Great stuff Billy McWilliam, haven't been here for a while so it's nice to see progress. If you need any more specifics I'll be off to Newark soon for a photo session with a large flat iron. Being out in the open the S1 is easy to get around and peer at all those pesky inner doodads and guff, plus the weapons bay is open if you're going in that direction.

Thanks guys, very kind of you, Pete, a complete change and that's why I like doing them plus the Mem and Lady Melchettess think they look so much more interesting than endless flying machines... I'll keep an eye out for the brew.... Killingholme, Must agree, the early battleship classes, Nagato, Fuso and Ise all had interesting lines, as you say incorporating many British Dreadnought design features mixed with the latest IJN tech features. The refits only made them look more impressive though they were still basically hybrids, however, when the all new mighty and powerful Yamato class arrived on the scene everything was taken up several notches...luckily they were never given a chance to show their true power. Thanks Geoff and Mick, I must admit that design wise these are my favourite battleships to model, whilst I admire the QE and Nelson classes particularly I just find these IJN designs more interesting even if, thank goodness they didn't turn out to be that effective in battle.

Thanks Rod, much appreciated.

Victor B2 and SR2 instrument panel was Satin Black and so in fact was the whole cockpit from the nose up to the rear of the roof escape hatches, the walls aft of that were a gloss sky colour and the rear crew instrument panel Satin Black also, they only went grey when undergoing conversion to K2's.

Great stuff Al, some really nice detail work going on there, should be a belter. A rather interesting and ungainly version of the old F-16 but then I'm fond of anything with odd lumps and bumps all over it, just ask the wife.....

Thanks Whofan, glad you enjoyed the article and like the photos, always nice to hear that folks appreciate the effort. You're right about the Nagato looking a mixture of both young and old, particularly when compared to a 'modern' designs like Yamato and Musashi. The ship was commissioned in 1920 but underwent heavy modernisation in 1934-36 with upgraded machinery, single funnel, pagoda mast tower, bigger guns and better sighting equipment being fitted, the casemate guns stayed put harking back to the Dreadnought origins of the design, (the same went for the Fuso class too). Later she was festooned in anti-aircraft guns altering her appearance further still but a stately looking battlewagon all the same.....

Thanks fellas, Tony, the water is really quite straightforward, (it's all very 'Blue Peter' if truth be told)...using a mixture of techniques from the great Jim Baumann and Chris Flodburgh with a few ideas of my own chucked in. The sub diorama will be ideal for this...look forward to seeing it. Hood should be next, while at the Huddersfield show rummaging under someone's table I managed to pick up a second hand Italeri 1/720 kit which turned out to have two complete kits in the box, all for the princely sum of £7 so I'll probably do both the early and later paint schemes. According to the Hood website, it's one of the better models of the old lady so should be fun.

Cheers chaps, Dave thanks, glad you enjoyed the article, hope it's of some use to you... there's plenty more to come Sounds like a plan Mike, I'd also like to get a Mutso at some point, (along with an Ise)....also, of course, looking forward to Aoshima's new 1/700th Yamato which should be heading this way as soon as it's released, should be able to chuck a lot of stuff at that! Thanks Colin, funnily enough I find these a lot 'easier' than the bigger stuff, 1/350th is one thing but 1/200th really pushes the boat out (excuse the pun), and the price through the roof once all the aftermarket is taken into consideration. I tried to talk the editor of AMW into getting hold of a 1/200th Rodney and all the extras but he wasn't having it...simply too big to photograph properly without distortion.....I haven't given up just yet though!

Thanks again guys, very kind of you, Neil, Ha, yes been a tad busy as you know, with several editorial deadlines looming fast and Telford just around the corner things don't look like easing off anytime soon. Really must get over to see you, plenty to gas about.... Rob and Kev, thanks, I appreciate that coming from you chaps.