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Later starting than I'd hoped but the plan is to do this; I'll be using the old Matchbox Victor K2 as re-issued by Revell with the Flightpath B1 conversion, some scratchbuilding and lots of chopping up of perfectly good plastic kit parts. The list of things to alter includes; Shortening the forward fuselage Re-shape the tip of the nose Remove the under fuselage hose drum unit and fill the gap Make the fin taller - probably make a new one as it's likely to be easier than altering the kit parts Use the Flightpath B1 resin engine/intakes in place of the larger kit parts Remove the wing mounted pods and fill the resulting gaps in the wings Shorten the wingspan and fit the Flightpath B1 wingtips Re-shape the tailcone Re-shape the fin/tailplane fairing Change the shape of the main landing gear doors and bays Remove the wing vortex generators Remove the blisters on the top of the fuselage Re-shape the cockpit windows Draw and print the decals I'll probably have to add to this list.... ...not much more Remove strake behind cockpit on joint line Remove bumper under tail Reduce chord of wing leading edge Draw and cut masks for the red stripe Fill portholes & drill new ones further aft Vacform new cockpit windows A quick look at where to remove sections from the fuselage, I've never seen any mention of where the extra length was inserted for the production Victors but the prototype had nice curves on the upper and lower fuselage centreline rather than the straight lines you can see where I've marked the 'X's. The advantage of taking these sections out will be when the two parts are re-joined there should only be a small amount of blending to do. I will have to extend the forward wing root cut-outs up to just under the porthole windows -which looks about right from photos A trial fit of the Flightpath replacement engine/intake section which is a big lump of resin but fits well in the kit slot. The join to the fuselage and outer wing sections is likely to need some reinforcing. I think some brass rods through the fuselage and into each resin part and then some more into the wings The difference between the size of the intakes is really noticeable here, a big win is that I don't have to deal with the join on the intake vanes which is a difficult part of the Matchbox kit The wings need the big pods to be removed and the gap filled in, the vortex generators removing and the span shortening. Flightpath provide white metal replacement wingtips which butt-join to the wings but I'll drill into them and fit some more brass rod to make sure everything stays where it should The kit fin on top of a very old and not particularly accurate 3-view of the prototype showing the differences. I don't think the fin chord should really be that narrow but I need to look into that some more. Lots to do but I don't think any of it is too difficult. Steve

As I was digging through the stash for something else today I came across this, the Revell boxing of Matchbox's 17 Pounder A/T gun, it's tractor and a Jeep. Along with probably the finest piece of Matchbox's diorama bases. As it was cheap in the first place and reduced further then it's an ideal contribution to this GB. I think I got it either at Modelzone when closing or at an outlet store in Croydon which was flogging off a lot of Modelzone stock. There's three dark green sprues which are crisply moulded and relatively flash free containing a reasonably detailed anti tank gun, Morris truck and a little jeep with drivers but no gun crew. And a super piece of bombed out French streetscape. Umpteen pages of imstructions. I think Matchbox had everything on two sides but Revell have a lot more detail. Colour call outs for three sets of options in NW Europe post D Day all night with a fair amount of transfers. I think I'll finish the set as late North Africa where these guns were first deployed.

I've started to build some of my AFV stash lately, usually as part of a GB. So it seems a good idea to join in here. I went through the stash to see what's suitable and came across this. Its the Revell rebox of the Matchbox Priest and comes with a set of US paratroopers. I started a few weeks ago but progress is slow, due to a combination of being insanely busy at work, rugby commitments and a bit of a health problem. However here is the obligatory sprue shot. Classic instructions as well. I'll finish it as an early desert campaign version