stever219

Bedford's branch had some Revell, Tamiya and Italeri when I last went in a month ago, but Airfix/Humbrol was very thin on the ground. All of the kits on the shelves have been there for some time and I can't remember the last time I saw any new Airfix at all: only the Revell seems to be restocked, but only n small quantities.

That's looking rather good. I'm glad I'm not the only one who' s had a problem with Humbrol 165 lately, but the problem seems to have affected my pre-Hornby stock too. I hope you don't mind me pinching some of your ideas for the pair of T. Mk. III conversions that are looming in my pipeline.

.....which you'll have long before the red line brigade on Sniperscale have eviscerated this kit. Vulcanicity's got a good point though: Coastal Command Mk. XIII on the cards and probably a Transport Command version sans turrets but a Warwick is probably too much to hope for; extended inner wings and centre fuselage might be a cut n shut too far for the tooling designers. We can but hope though.

That cheesy-grinning, bottle-blonde, post-millennial-generation (WTH is "post-millennial" anyway) blogger (see previous question) podcaster (ditto) advertising some form of gadget. Appears to do nothing productive, and is amazed that she can draw on a computer screen, and probably has a well-paid accountant who advises her how to avoid paying tax but still enjoy the benefits of, for example, the NHS (amongst others). Also that wretched Antipodean female from Trivago (wherever that is, near Barbados?) who tells us that we can pay less for the exact same room instead of paying less for exactly the same room. Grammer? Wossat, innit? rant off.

Brilliant:: I'm glad you've got some rails. They're weapon-specific rather than airframe specific so it probably is different kit designers' interpretation of the rails that has resulted in the differences. I'm working on a 1/48th Javelin at present, but it's getting the 2 tanks, 2 Firestreaks and probe fit. One day I'll learn how to post images (I know there is on-screen guidance, but I can't make any sense of it). I've another in the stash that may well get the four tanks and probe fit: it even looks aggressive without missiles.

You could try robbing a 1/72nd Lightning (if you have access to one) of a missile rail: the new Airfix F. 2A has rails for both Firestreak and Red Top so you could finish that either as a four-gun F. 2A or an F. 6. Just an idea.....

Ouch! I think I have 2 Airfix Vulcan sheets that I won't be using, so if I can find them please pm me an address that I can get them to you at and they are yours. They're a bit old (original boxing) but should still be serviceable. Some of the stencils have been used but the national markings are, so far, intact.

I'm sure there's another thread on the site covering this crash but, to expand a little on Jure's post, the accident investigators were never able to establish who had selected droops "UP". Normal practice on the BEA Trident fleet appears to have been to get the flaps up as soon as possible after take off, an action which was taken on the accident flight. This left the droops lever unguarded (with flaps selected down the droops lever could not be moved to the "UP" position. Jeremy Keighley in the co-pilot's seat could have selected droops "UP", but he was busy setting engine power to noise abatement levels, a fact recorded in his log, which apparently wasn't an easy task in the turbulent weather that day: he also tended to be slower than some other trainee pilots in performing certain tasks on the flight deck. With the droops retracting well below target speed of 225 knots the stall warning and stall prevention systems both functioned correctly, despite a critical valve in the stick push system being out of position. Key, probably in considerable pain, may have associated the low speed with flap drag and, thinking that the flaps were still lowered, moved the only lever apparent to him, the droops lever, to "UP". The stall warning (stick shaker) and stall prevention (stick pusher) both produced a number of audible and visual warnings on the flight deck, including red and amber "Alert" lights in front of both pilots, "Droops out of position", "Controls", "Autopilot disconnect", "Stick push operate" and, possibly "Stick push fail". The autopilot disconnect also produc d a loud "clang, clang, clang" in the crew's earphones which continued until impact (this alarm could be cancelled by pressing a button on either control column, the fact that neither pilot did so suggests an inability to do so through collapse (Key) or dramatically increased workload and rapidly changing priorities (Keighley). Simon Ticehurst (P3) was far from ideally placed to do anything about if and, along with a BEA Vanguard captain (Captain Collins) who was riding in the jump seat, could well have been fully occupied with attempting to minister to the ailing Key, or at least extract him from his seat in order to assist Keighley in flying the aeroplane. (Captain Collins was an experienced Trident pilot who had transferred to the Vanguard fleet on promotion and was flying to Brussels to collect a Vanguard to fly back to Heathrow.) Those who flew this flight afterwards in the simulator have described it as a very stressful experience, even for someone not suffering from a chronic and very painful heart condition (Key) or a lack of experience (Kieghley and Ticehurst). Key was PF and held the nose up against the stick pusher, aware that the aeroplane was still close to the ground which he couldn't see due to being in cloud ('PI's highest recorded altitude on the accident flight was 1,774 feet) and that there had been some spurious "stick push" incidents. At some point the stick push was selected to "Override" dumping the air for the ram overboard: did Key instruct one of his crew to do this? Again there's no clear evidence to suggest who did so or a definitive reason for so doing. Because of this accident flying became safer, it is a crying shame that 119 people had to die that day to bring all of us other air travellers that benefit. I'll try to fill in some more later but, for now, my boss is expecting me at work.

Having seen D8096 not long ago I'd suggest that the cowling are somewhere near Humbrol 27 or 164 with a small quantity of 164 (Dark Sea Grey lightened slightly with Medium Sea Grey). It's always difficult to assess colours from photographs, even colour ones, because film types, filters, lighting and God-alone-knows-what-else will affect the finished image. My perception of colour will differ from yours, even if we stand alongside each other in the hangar with tongues hanging out admiring this flying work of art, so what's spot on for me will be a gnat's gnadger out for you. Even the colour of the background will affect the perceived colour of the subject, as will reflection from other objects nearby and the ground. Your mages all look to have been taken in bright sunlight with you between the Sun and the aeroplane so you might want to pick one and work from that or try sampling further images to see if you can pick an "average" to work towards. I have the Eduard boxing of this kit and an example of the Roden offering (different tooling) in the same scale: I like the look of what you've achieved so far but the thought of all that rigging is putting me off at present. At least I already have a 0.1mm drill bit, I just have to remember not to lose or break it.

On the only patch of open ground for hundreds of yards, near the Crooked Billet roundabout and the reservoirs. I was looking at a set of P3's instrument panels at Cockpitfest yesterday which brought the accident back to me. RIP 'PI's 119 souls.

There was an article in Aeroplane Monthly many moons ago written by a Royal Air Force or Institute of Aviation Medicine doctor who did fly the jet from the front. Apparently the controls "creaked with static friction" and were not particularly easy to operate. However the difference in g-tolerance between the prone pilot and the safety pilot in the normal cockpit was very noticeable, with the latter getting very uncomfortable compared to the former. The aeroplane was never flown solo from the front as several of the vital controls couldn't be installed there (including, IIRC, the engine relight switches).

If you don't want it you could always donate it to my collection of unloved plastic.

I wouldn't choose Tamiya over another manufacturer's rendition of the same subject unless it was demonstrably more accurate or the only game in town: given the choice I'd rather build Airfix's now-aged 1/48th scale Mosquito FB. Mk. VI than its Japanese competitor. I know the Airfix kit lacks bomb bay and undercarriage bay detail and doesn't have engraved panel lines but it has a better outline and it is more fun to build (and do the research to add the missing detail). I've noticed that, in certain quarters, Revell get pilloried for their bizarre paint mixing propensities but, in the same quarters, Tamiya are not similarly ill-treated for theirs. I've spent more than enough time already trying to work out the colours for the insides of a 1/48th P-47D which Airfix would probably have told me should be Humbrol 81, 150, 158, 195, 224 or whatever (if anyone has reasonably accurate colour details for P-47 innards I'd be very pleased to hear from you).

IIRC the doors could be opened on the ground for maintenance, but would normally be seen closed: good excuse for you to find some 1/144th BEA "Erks".

Gahhhhh! Modern tech: so unreliable. You can't beat proper measuring stuff and sharp-bladed implements. If you want ruts in the grass you could try using a thin skim of filler on your base, drag some suitably-sized wheels through it before it sets (you might need to make some sort of rig rather than drag your model around) and then apply PVA adhesive and model railway scatter grass.

I know that fabric was in short supply but that deck chair looks like it could do with a tad more sag (runs away bravely and dives bravelier for cover). Seriously though that vignette inside the billet is beautifully done; I really like the posters and dart board.

Good start. I hope your gas man was a bit more prompt than our washing-machine man this morning. In case you haven't found out already you will probably need to remove the tab at the bottom of the firewall as it can interfere with the front spar and prevent fuselage and wings from mating properly. On my next one I'll follow your example and build the cockpit up in situ on the lower wing rather than by "the book". Were your spars warped by any chance?

I found with mine that you can pour your little lead balls and some PVA into the nose through the hole where the ventral panel and nosewheel bay fit and you don't need a huge amount to keep the nose down. Your under wing joints look a lot neater than mine: I should have bought shares in a filler manufacturer the amount I used.

The fabric patches were generally stuck over the gun ports using red dope. From a quick scan of available photos just now the practice does not appear to have been universal: it's also possible that either a different-coloured dope was used if more readily available to hard-pressed ground crews or the Red doesn't show up so well in some black n white period photos as in others. "Old" patches would be removed and replaced to prevent degradation of the leading-edge profile so it's possible that some photos were taken while old patches were off and new ones waiting to be applied. As Bader was a bit of a perfectionist I'd expect his ground crew to be kept busy keeping the Hurricane on top line so patches changed frequently and regularly.

Two Stirlng pilots won the VC, both posthumously. Flight Sergeant Rawdon Middleton, RAAF, of 149 Squadron and Flight Sergeant Arthur Aaron of 218 Squadron. Both were involved in attacks on Turin flying Stirling Mk. IIIs and both pilots were severely wounded, Aaron on the run-in through the Alps and Middleton by flak over the target. It has been suggested that Aaron's injuries were inflicted by the gunner of another bomber who had mistaken the Stirling for an attacking night-fighter. Despite his injuries Middleton remained in his seat and flew his crippled bomber back through the Alps and across France whilst sitting in the howling gale blasting through the hole where his windscreen had been. With fuel almost gone the bomber crossed the English coast, Middleton turned it to run parallel and ordered his crew to jump. Five of them did so and survived, the two remaining stayed with the aircraft too long in an attempt to get Middleton out of his seat and then the escape hatch. All three perished. Aaron's crew managed to get him to the rest bunk, no mean feat in itself, to treat his wounds and set course for Bone in North Africa. As they neared the airfield Aaron insisted on returning to his seat to make the landing. He made two approaches but abandoned both as unsatisfactory. He was about to do the same on the third when his co-pilot, more aware than his badly-injured captain of their par loudly low fuel state, reached across and forcibly separated Aaron from the controls, going on to land the aeroplane off that approach. Aaron died of his injuries within 48 hours; had he remained on the bunk he could well have survived, as his crew did. There are probably many more Stirling crew members who should have won the VC but no-one survived from their crews to tell their stories.

I think you're going to have problems matching colours to colour photographs for the usual reasons, exposure, lighting, processing, printing, fading, staining, scanning, monitor colour balance and God-alone-knows-what-else. Having spoken to a man in the automotive paint trade a year or so ago, courtesy of the former day job, I was told that there is a 10% tolerance in BS381C so, unless you can obtain a can of paint from the same batch as that used on your subject the likelihood of an exact match is slight. If it says "Dark Sea Grey" on the tin it should be close enough I hope.

Hope your interview produces a good result flor you. The Airfix GR. 1 in all its forms, is not their finest hour, but it is better than the F. 3 (at least the rear cockpit's the right length) and the fin root heat exchanger is better-shaped than Italeri's. It can be mad to look Tornado shaped but you will need to use quite a lot of filler on the front fuselage joint at least and intake blanks of one form or another are compulsorily mandatory to hide the unbelievable lack of detail inside.i

I think V7467 would have been nearly new when allocated to 242 Squadron so pant deterioration would have been minimal. Your demarcation between upper surface and undersurface camouflage on the port engine cowling panel looks a bit high, there's a picture of S/L Bader with two other 242 Squadron pilots in front of the aeroplane on page 98 of Osprey's "Hurricane Aces1939-40" showing this panel. It may be the lighting conditions but your photos make the green look a bit brighter and yellower than typical RAF Dark Green of the era; Humbrol 116 isn't too bad a match. Don't look for an exact FS595 match, it didn't exist😉. Hurricane navigation light covers weren't coloured but clear, only the bulbs being coloured (the photo of the upended L1963 on page 48 of the Osprey book shows this). The handle on the outside of the canopy is a nice touch: how did you do it please? It's visible in many photos of Hurricanes but seldom modelled and I'd like to copy it on the small batch of Airfix Mk Is I've got in progress. I've had trouble getting the wing centre section/lower cowling joint aligned properly, to the extent that I've had to remove the tab from the bottom of the firewall to get the wings on properly: did you have to do this? Yours looks a damn sight neater than my first go!👍😶

I spotted an "H"-plate Vitesse outside our local Halfords (other motorists' centres are available) this Sunday past. Sorry I can't post pictures but it looked pretty good for its age, just a bit of scuffing on the front bumper offside and slightly tired looking paint (which might have been a function of the poor lighting conditions that day). Slightly off-white with red cheat line, black interior and walnut(?) dash: lovely!

The Airfix/Alley Cat route involves a lot of work, most of it dealing with the inadequacies and inaccuracies of the Airfix kit. I don"t have the Alley Cat T.17 conversion but others that I do have (T.4, T.11, PR.3) involve minimal butchery of the Airfix parts, much of which falls on the kit's too prominent) panel lines. The CA kit may well produce a more visually pleasing result straight from the box, but I believe that there are some inaccuracies of its own (cue intervention from Canberra Kid with full "how to correct" and detail variations low-down). Before the Airfix and CA Canberras the only other serious 1/48th Canberra that I can think of is John Adams' beautiful multi-media Aeroclub offering which, sadly, is long out of production and everything's ng that the Airfield x offering should have been.