cdplayer

Thanks everyone for taking the time to watch the video. I have to agree that Nicks design is a very worthy winner. Its a great design and will certainly be a fitting monument. There are several questions that the BBC didnt include in the program for time reasons. And of course you are totally correct that they reserved the right to change the terms and conditions at any stage. In that respect Nicks design is a fair winner. I dont really care if his monument is 1.5 times or 10 times the size of a spitfire. The point is the way the competition and organisation were run. Now that wouldnt be a problem they could do what ever they wanted if it was being funded by private money. But it isnt (yet). So far they have spent £72000 of tax payers money on a failed feasibility study of the design by renowned sculptor Ken Potts and are about to spend another £70000 on this one. Oh yes and who allocates the funds for these projects. Cllr John Hannides in his roll as cabinet member for culture and heritage. Who is his right hand man on the board. Oh yes is Cllr Roysten Smith leader of SCC. Does that sound like a conflict of interest. Well it does to Hannides and Smith who officially logged their position on the board to SCC in october 2010 over three years after spitfire tribute foundation was set up (by Hannides) ands just days before the result was announced. I wouldnt have cared if the shortlist had 1 6 or 100 finalists, however I do not understand why after they had added Nicks design they didnt think to tell anyone. In several emails and conversations a council member and Spitfire tribute board member only ever referred to 6 finalists. Surely they must have known they were not being truthful and therefore highly unprofessional. A couple of days after the result was published and after several attempts at contacting Hannides for an explanation we did receive an extremely dismissive and superficial email (sent by his PA and our names were all wrong). In it he explains that for total clarity he held a board meeting to explain the situation. (there are no records or minutes for that meeting) Yet he didnt think of just sending us a quick email to explain the situation instead instructed his colleague on the board to continue with the reference to 6 in all documents. When we were told the bad news that we hadnt won, we all inquired whose design had won. The board member became very evasive and said that it wasnt possible to say as they may not accept the prize. The real reason is that we would have known that it wasn't one of the published finalists and that would have caused very awkward questions. This board member who is also on the council has in my opinion been put in a position that they were uncomfortable with and one that they know is extremely unprofessional. Why did it take three attempts before a freedom of information request was granted. (only after we went through the internal complaints procedure of SCC) By the way the minutes are extremely superficial and in no way match the verble explanation from a board member. I was told off the record by a board member that "they have no idea what they are doing and just make it up as they go along". It begs the question what were they afraid of ?? Why didnt they just tell us and the press (the editor of the daily echo is a board member). It calls into question the validity of Nicks design. Now I have spoken to Nick and have found him to be wholly professional (and a pretty decent chap who by the way was equally concerned as to the handling of the comp) Not in the scale of his spitfire but did it arrive before the deadline, and if so why didnt such a great design make it onto the initial published shortlist. Although Im 99% sure it was there the Spitfire tribute will not present any records of it arriving before the original deadline. All the entries were numbered with red felt tip and logged. Mine was 208 for example and you can see clearly in the video that all the entrants have this log. However when we were sent a scanned copy of Nicks design it doesnt have a number. Also at the board meeting were Nicks design was put on the shortlist the member discussed whether they should open up the comp to engineering students at southampton uni. That was over a month after the deadline that 315 people from all over the world had met. It is clear that the deadline didnt actually mean a real deadline. The six published designs were pinned up in the entrance of the Solent Sky museum. Nicks Design wasnt. After our designs were published the Board decided to create a new stage. We were asked to put together a detailed design package to help explain our concepts and to form the basis of a structural review. We now find out from the BBC report and confirmation from the board that the structural review was carried out before we delivered our documents. We all wasted a huge amount of time and emotion on a weeks frantic work. Nicks document (or design brochure) was put up on the Daily echo website on the day of the results being announced but was later removed after it was noted that he had included £200,000 of professional fees in his budget despite the comp stipulating that there would be no financial reward to the winner. In the brief it stated that the winning design would be developed by a team of engineers and designers. The only prize was a flight in a spitfire. Nick has been asked to discuss how he would intend to take the project forward with his team. In the minutes it was noted that as a council project they must follow European rules of procurement. It was asked if they could investigate how they could get out of that. The Spitfire tribute foundation told the BBC researchers that they were not a charity. But you only have to look at their website and you can clearly see that they have a charity registration number ?? I understand that the previous designer Ken Potts is in a legal dispute with the Spitfire Tribute Foundation, which is why he didnt take part in the program. The board has totally dismissed these basic questions and stated that in the terms and conditions of the comp they that will not enter into any discussion. This whole thing could easily be cleared up with a clear explanation of events and acknowledgement that it could have been handled better. Instead Hannides passed it off as a simple admin error in an attempt to brush the farce aside. In his BBC interview he also said that myself and the other finalists are bad losers, have caused severe damage to Nick Hancocks reputation and undermined the fund raising campaign. In an off the record discussion with a board member I was told Hannides is devastated that this has happened and regrets not telling us of Nicks entry. The board member went on to say that hannides sheer arrogance was the issue. The mess has been caused by their actions and Im deeply insulted by his notion that we are the problem At the heart is the fact that this mess centers around an iconic piece of British design. A design design that represents Best of British to so many people and that has been undermined by the way this comp has been run in my opinion. In the original brief they stated that they were a group of spitfire enthusiasts with a shared passion. That really inspired me to enter. Personally I would have expected them to conduct themselves with honour and integrity. Sadly they appear not to have either. I am just sad that it has turned out like this and left a very sour taste in many peoples mouths. The real tragedy is that as a result the fund raising effort has been dealt a real blow that could potentially leave Southampton without a memorial that it deserves. chris

Hi Guys Im interested in getting your opinions about this. To cut a long story short I was one of the six shortlisted finalists of this design competition held last year. The whole thing ended in farce when a secret entry won. Not exactly the spirit of the spitfire !! if you get a second check out the BBC investigation that aired on Inside out south on Feb 14th. The actual events are far more complex and involves us being lied to and mislead by the Spitfire Tribute Foundation in several correspondents. You can get a pretty good idea from this BBC program though. here is a link to youtube where it has been uploaded. thanks for looking chris draper

Hi There Ive been thinking of starting mine over the last couple of days, so Im going to watch this with interest !!! great start chris

Hi the Flagon is pretty good but the zero is beautiful !!! How long have you been building ? chris

Hi Nick Well I think I would be very touched if my wife did a drawing for me !!!! Its a lovely present and in many ways its the thought that counts. saying that I just want to make a couple of observations. I think the progression from the gladiator to the lightning is vast. So the next drawing will be even better. Very soon she will be drawing aircraft like a pro. Its interesting that you say she is an interior designer. personally Im an architect but over the years have specialized in architectural illustration and consider myself quite experienced with years of practice. Last Summer I thought I would do some aviation subjects and boy what a shock !!! having reached a relatively high standard with my illustration work I was shocked at how difficult the transition from straight line architectural stuff to curvy aircraft was. All the techniques and methods for my usual work just didn't apply so I felt like I was at the bottom of the learning curve. (and to be honest it was a blow to my confidence) However that development from the first drawing to the lightning is exactly what I started to see in my work. KEEP at it !!! Secondly. do what I do and CHEAT CHEAT CHEAT. anything to make life easier especially with the perspective. What I do is find the picture I want to use then scan it into the PC then print it out to the correct size. then rub graphite onto the back and with a Biro transfer it onto the my sheet of paper. That way you will avoid perspective issues. Do it lightly and only the bare essentials. Then start drawing as normal confident that all the bits are in the right place SIMPLE !!!! That way you can concentrate on the fun part of rendering the light and shade. I think the line work is very good on the lightning and really describes the curves nicely. As far as selling is concerned. Don't bother selling stuff for £20 on ebay. I think that cheapens the effort and the sentiment. Maybe get some giclee prints made and sell those for a few quid instead. But I would frame the originals and keep them somewhere that you can admire them. Cheers Nick, I hope you don't mind my thoughts on the subject. Please post the next drawing that your girlfriend does, as I'm very interested to see how she improves. chris

Hi James I agree, 1 and three look pretty good. I have just downloaded photomatix so am going to have a go at HDR as well. chris

Thanks for the comments. I do comissions, but only for architectural stuff. These are really only to hang on my study wall. Although I did a bit of nose art for a friend in the Navy. A decal sheet may be on your shelves soon !!!! chris

Hi Guys Ive been wanting to do this painting for a long time, and after watching some clips of "sailor" on the Youtube I just couldnt resist. So I cranked up a bit of "shine on you crazy diamond" did a quick google search for RN phantoms and here is the result. It started off as a quick sketch but I was loving it so much that it turned into something a little more complete. It is basically a watercolour base with gouache to bring out the detail and give it some umph. Its 35cm x 27.5cm on watercolour board. of course many of you will recognize the painting I drew inspiration from by the great Robert Taylor. If not and you are going to Yeovilton in a couple of weeks time you will see it in the competition room in all its glory. This is a photo I took of it last year thanks for looking chris

great start !!!! chris

Hay Jen That looks fantastic !! Ans its really nice to see the pilot in there at the controls !!!! Are you planning on taking it to Yeovilton nest month ?? chris

Oh hi Dean I remember it now !! I think it may have been that build that planted the seed in my mind. !! Thanks for the link chris

Thanks for all the compliments !!!! I really appreciate them. To answer a couple of questions The colours were all made with a base of Tamiya dark sea grey. Then I could either go darker or lighter with some accuracy simply by adding a proportion of either white or black. The only exception is the paint used for the figure and dog. For those I opted for Humbrol acrylic mixed with plenty of winsor newton acrylic flow enhancer as they brush very well (unlike tamiya acrylic). All the markings such as roundels were made Black and White by using montex paint masks. They are time consuming especially the fuselage markings that required 4 shades. The Kit is a dream to build with only a tad of filler on the right wing, so its easy to get a nice finish. I used Mr surfacer 1000 primer from a sprey can then polished it with micro mesh. after the camo was applied I polished it with a kitchen towel (sainsbuys cheapo stuff) rather than micro mesh as its a bit more pliable and I could get into all the corners. Then sprayed thew whole thing with Vallejo gloss ready for decals. IAll the panel lines were carefully applied with thinned (with flow enhancer) humbrol acrylic. To finish I gave it a coat of matt Vallejo then a light polished again the kitchen towel to give it a gentle luster. Is there a link to the BW Hurricane Mish mentioned ?? It was really a fun build, Im glad you like it chris

Hi Everyone. After a year of modelling abstention I finally got round to doing a project thats been in my mind for ages. A monochrome spitfire. I'm so used to seeing Black and white photos of the Battle of Britain that I wanted to paint a model with those images in mind. I chose the Tamiya Mk1 as you cant beat it and finally bought a set of montex masks and Eduard PE set at SMW last year. The whole project only took a couple of days to complete and was totally enjoyable. No worries about accurate colours just mixing variations of dark sea grey with either white or black (simple) The masks were a challenge as I havnt used them before but really worth the effort. Here are the pics Thanks for looking

Hi Zipper You did a great job with those couple of schemes !! Very striking and suit the aircraft very well. How did you get your artwork choosen ? I take it you are in the RAF ?? and did you have a background in graphics etc. chris

Thanks 32 sig I have to say this kit really flatters modeling skills. It goes together like a dream, decals are beautiful and the colour scheme as a whole just looks great !! chris