Robert A

You could also try Tony Barton's AB Figures, he some excellent sets of British/Commonwealth drivers, mainly Army but they are usable for RAF as well. Bob

Hi BMers, I have recently had major computer problems and lost a large amount of data I'd stupidly not backed up. I'm interested in aircraft that flew over/from my home county of Northumberland and am looking for Squadron code letter match ups for the following aircraft, Boulton Paul Defiant, 141 Squadron, N1796, flown by F/O R "Bingo" Day and gunner P/O Frank Lamming. Bristol Beaufighter 1f?, 141 Squadron, X7577, flown by F/O "Ben" Benson and Sgt Lewis Brandon. Not sure if this Beaufighter is a 1f or a VIf, so confirmation of this would be greatly appreciated as well. Many Thanks for any help, Bob

Crackin' mate

Absolutely crackin' as usual mate. Hope to get down and see this in the flesh, in the near future.

Hi Bill, You could probably get away with the cockpit set if you changed the control from a bomber style wheel to the fighter stick type and by putting a bulkhead set back slightly in the opening where the nav/bomber aimer would normally get through of the nose of the BIV. As others may point out I'm aware that there are many differences between the variant cockpits but as you say in 72nd scale and through the kit canopy, these probably won't be too noticeable. The plus side is that it save syou pennies. Bob

Hi Bill, For the FBVI, I think it would be okay to use the engine set, as in 1/72nd any differences would be negligible, the weapons/bombay could be useable if it has the cannons in the forward section and 2 bomb carriers in the rear section or you could use it and just have the rear bomb bay doors open. Unfortunately the cockpit isn't really useable as it stands, some work would need to be done as theya re quite diferent (apart from the obvious glass nose of the BIV), the control column and other major bits are different. Hope this is some help, Bob

Hi Peter, You're doing a crackin' job on this old kit. PM inbound. Bob

Hi guys, I was trawling evil bay the other night and found this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120801679555?ssP...984.m1423.l2649 and thought there may be someone on here who would be interested in it. The same seller has a few 1/48th Hasegawa Hurricanes and some other interesting bits for sale. Bob

Thanks DC and Nick, I was going to do it in flight but as there's no definitive answer on this I'll just do the a/c on the ground with no crew on board. One of the guys who goes to my local hobby shop also mentioned that he'd been led to believe that the navigator sat in the central well between the wing spars using the AI and the gunner manned his turret as normal. So it's all a bit confusing, which may be quite understandable as it was all quite new and maybe different squadrons tried numerous different ideas as they developed their tactics etc... Oh well, Many Thanks anyway, Bob

Thanks guys. Nick, does that mean the navigator was surplus to requirements?

Just a couple of quick questions on this subject. How many crew flew in the nightfighter Blenheims? and, who operated the AI? I seem to remember seeing a pic og the AI equipment in the rear fuselage just behind the turret, can't remember where, doh! so does this mean the Gunner also worked the AI and directed the pilot thereby making the navigator surplus to requirements? I'm thinking of doing my Frog Mk1 as a 406 Squadron a/c from RAF Acklington TIA, Bob

Mike, Humbrol do RAF Blue Grey in their acrylic range. Bob

As an aside to the main gist of this thread, I picked up my MkI/IIa today and noticed it had a rather nice MkV style oil cooler on the extra sprue, MkVa easily done from the box with only decals required Bob

Crackin' job on those as always Tony. Must get down to yours and see them in the flesh and drink all your All the Best, Bob

That's crackin' Tony