Etiennedup

Thanks for the positive replies chaps......... as you all know we always say to ourselves ....... 'the next one will look better'😉 Feedback; Jonners; (a) The decals are from two local outfits; Levoss and Mavdecals (b) The VIP is none other than 'Monty' of Alamein on his visit to SA in 1962. flyingpiggy ; Yes those curtains are pieces of paper stuck to the inside of the windows.

During the early sixties, the South African Air Force employed three C-47 B's as VIP transports of which No 6852 "Fleur" is the subject of my model. At that stage the SAAF, like most Western air forces, introduced Day-Glo orange/red finishes on some of their aircraft. This resulted in some of the most colourful Dak's that graced the South African skies. In spite of its age (1975) the Monogram/ Revell kit is still a very good representation of the real thing. The relatively small amount of parts made the building process a breeze and my usual bare metal finish of kitchen foil went on seamlessly..............but, the only hiccup was the MR COLOR Fluorescent Red I used, that lifted on some places of the foil covered areas. Clear decal sprayed with the paint was applied on the problem areas, which solved the problem. All in all, things worked out fine in the end with my 'Christmas Tree Dak ' Cheers.

This photo has been sitting in the Getty Images collection since 2008...............long before colourisation came into fashion. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/world-war-two-may-1944-two-pilots-of-the-australian-news-photo/79029084?adppopup=true

Yesterday I came across this (new to me) image in the IWM photo archive with the following caption; "P-51 Mustangs (VF-4) of the 4th Fighter Group, (CV-Q) of the 359th Fighter Group, (LC-D) of the 20th Fighter Group, (LH-V) of the 353rd Fighter group and (C5-Q) of the 357th Fighter Group, with a P-38 Lightning at Debden. Handwritten on slide:" Line of P51s E. Richie " Wanting to know more, I did a Google search that yielded this on Reddit; JCFalkenberglll OP•7mo ago P-51 Mustangs (VF-4) [42-106894] of the 4th Fighter Group, (CV-Q) of the 359th Fighter Group, (LC-D) of the 20th Fighter Group, (LH-V) of the 353rd Fighter group and (C5-Q) of the 357th Fighter Group, with a F-5E (P-38 Lightning) at Debden. Taken on 23 March 1945 by Edward Richie. Information from Mark Richie: "The 65th Fighter Wing had a meeting of all Group COs at Debden about the up coming Rhine River crossing operations. Pretty neat shots. Roger [Freeman] and I puzzled over the NMF C model with the Malcolm hood. D models were in all groups by then so finding a "new" C model with and Malcolm hood is kind of odd. No serial numbers show in rear view. Possible it is a photo recon kite. Tower logs for the day do not inventory individual a/c that attended. Pretty day . . ." And "FRE 5305 also shows another two seat P-51 converted by the shops. Back seat has a Malcolm Hood. The P-38 at the end is actually an F-5E of the 7th Photo Recon Group. It would be the mount of group CO at the time. Note the red stripe on the side of the engine - identifier for the 7th PRG." Handwritten on slide:" Line of P51s E. Richie" Does anybody have any further info to add to this very unique Mustang..................that would make an eye catching model in any one's collection 😲 Note, I tweaked the brightness of the image a bit. ( FRE 5305) Cheers.

This hilarious comment was stretching it a bit but I agree, in this case the landing gear could be better engineered.😠 Whenever I strike a huge problem I put it to one side and carry on with another part of the work. When you return after a day or two the problem mostly seems smaller and a solution comes easier.......... Anyway,..... A big thank you to everyone for all their positive comments, it's highly appreciated! Cheers.

This beautiful 1:72 Revell kit with very nice detail is light years removed from the old Heller one I built about thirty years ago. Construction went well with only the main landing gear posing a bit of a problem (getting eight wheels to sit level)😬 The (1970) metal finish of Kitchen and Bare Metal foils plus white sprayed topside and blue cheat line needed some patience in applying, but turned out well in the end. Locally produced decals by Le Voss as well as some from the kit were used whereafter the whole lot was sealed with a good coat of Future. Waiting for a windless, sunny day to do the 'photo shoot' completed this enjoyable build. Cheers. Etienne.

Great build and finish....................as well as excellent photography. Good lighting and crisp close up shots. Well done all round Nanond.

Here is Robert Taylor's take on the raid, painted in 1995. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/consolidated-b-24-liberator-the-loyal-lumbering-lib/

Well chaps, all I can say , is.........a heartfelt THANK YOU. It feels good to be part of this knowledgeable fraternity. Two notes; [ They Jammed Kenny!] Popped out number four prop....Well spotted......I only noticed it after the photo shoot and tried camouflaging it in P/shop but it obviously did not solve the problem..........oh well, nothing can be perfect. [ Spitfire 21] I feel flattered, but the last pic is not a diorama but a pic of the real thing.😉 Cheers, Etienne.

Here is my Connie model depicting a South African Airways example in use during the fifties. For a kit dating from 1985 it went together quite easily partly due small amount of parts, unlike today's models that is sometimes 'over engineered'. The finished product nevertheless represents a good example of a real Connie. Various shades of kitchen and Bare Metal foil as well as locally produced decal by "Le Voss " finished this most enjoyable build that took longer than normal because of the foiling process. Cheers, Etienne.

Here is my Zvezda 72nd. model depicting a SAAF 28 Sqn. C 130 during the mid sixties. I am most impressed with this very detailed Russian kit that made the building process a breeze. The metal finish was done with three hues of kitchen / Bare -Metal foil plus Tamiya X-2 white. Decals are from Levos Decals, a locally based concern. Because of the foiling process it took longer than normal to complete ..but, is that not what a hobby is, enjoying your spare time? Cheers, Etienne.

As Troy said, I am a stickler for WW II original period colour.................. but I must admit it is getting more dicey by the day with all the new apps and tools making their appearance. All the photos in my collection are posted as is plus cleaning, brightening focusing or enlarging where necessary. After more than 800 images totalling 50 million views over fifteen years , it confirms that this is a popular subject ................with the support of the Britmodeller members (and Troy) forming a large part it..............thank you. However, locating new images is becoming a problem these days as there does not seem to be any more new RAF images seeing the light of day. Any new pointers or contributions would be much appreciated. Cheers, Etienne.

I came across this https://archiv-akh.de/filme?utf-8=✓&q=Farbe#314 site containing hundreds of period films, many with partial Agfa colour sections in between the B/W films. Cheers.

Graham, as a matter of interest; Apart from the twenty nine SA Airways Lodestars (P&W twin wasp powered) taken over by the SAAF there were two separate Hornet powered ambulance aircraft donated to the SA Government by the SA Red Cross with serials 1371 and 1378. For more details and photos look here; http://magazine.ipmsnsw.com/pdf/19-3.pdf [ ]

Rob; Yes, the 1200 HP P&W twin wasp of the Dakota was also used in our Lodestars. ( I can see a lot of 'surgery' coming! ) ilj ; Those superb photos are just what the doctor ordered. They are exactly what I needed. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. So, things are looking up..........I might just tackle the project after all. I'll have one on you tonight! Cheers, Etienne.