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Halifax B Mk. I/II/GRII - Revell 1/72


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40 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

I guess you didn't see much of Boxing Day then....!! Does sound a  very  tasty tipple!

No actually, I was on Jack Daniels and Coke Boxing Day with a Hobgoblin chaser .:drink:

 

Simon.

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Thanks Simon and Keith - I'll give it a try before Christmas :) 

Thanks Martian - although the biggest issue, the nacelles, is yet to come (da da daaaaaah!) :) 

Thanks John - for once the Bernas didn't work - as Simon said they made the join gappy as the wings are thick and the plastic thin. Plus it gave me an excuse to get rid of some more of the nasty tape :) 

 

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Good progress Ced. I like the approach you've taken in masking the side windows before the wings go on :).

 

Good use of the horrid tape on those cavernous wings.

 

IMG_9784.jpg

 

Best regards :winkgrin:

TonyT

 

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I've just been reading how the Hollyfax was not exactly popular with many aircrew, but the little guys you have in yours seem a stoical enough bunch.

 

Nice work on the settling and fettling of those wings Ced- with such profligate use of tape it's almost as if you have a large supply of the stuff! :D(Still grateful for that Washi tip BTW...)

 

I hope yon digit is of a lighter hue this morning and occasioning less pain.

 

Tony

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18 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

I've just been reading how the Hollyfax was not exactly popular with many aircrew, but the little guys you have in yours seem a stoical enough bunch.

 

Nice work on the settling and fettling of those wings Ced- with such profligate use of tape it's almost as if you have a large supply of the stuff! :D(Still grateful for that Washi tip BTW...)

 

I hope yon digit is of a lighter hue this morning and occasioning less pain.

 

Tony

 

 

Tony,

 

 

As far as I have been able to ascertain in my research, the Halifax enjoyed the same levels of loyalty - however irrational - of its crews as did the Stirling and the Lancaster by its respective crews.

 

I suspect this masks a more general albeit unacknowledged view among all aircrew in Bomber Command that the higher and faster one flew, the safer it was.

 

I recall Martin Middlebrook in one of his works assessing the survival rates of aircrew who had to evacuate a stricken bomber. The Stirling, with its numerous and relatively capacious exits, came first, closely followed by the Halifax.

 

The Lancaster had the lowest survival rate in such situations.

 

Michael

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3 minutes ago, Michael Enright said:

 

 

Tony,

 

 

As far as I have been able to ascertain in my research, the Halifax enjoyed the same levels of loyalty - however irrational - of its crews as did the Stirling and the Lancaster by its respective crews.

 

I suspect this masks a more general albeit unacknowledged view among all aircrew in Bomber Command that the higher and faster one flew, the safer it was.

 

I recall Martin Middlebrook in one of his works assessing the survival rates of aircrew who had to evacuate a stricken bomber. The Stirling, with its numerous and relatively capacious exits, came first, closely followed by the Halifax.

 

The Lancaster had the lowest survival rate in such situations.

 

Michael

That's interesting Michael.:thumbsup2:

 

I'm reading Richard Overy's The Bombing War at present and his footnotes list multiple published sources for the unpopularity of the Halifax with aircrews, though not the reasons why. 

 

He also points out that:

'Unlike the Halifax, the Lancaster had a more modest loss rate (3.92 per cent compared with 5.75 per cent)'

 

As you rightly say however, being able to actually survive getting out of such stricken aircraft is another matter entirely.

 

Tony

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My late father in law, a flight engineer, was a survivor of a Halifax, shot down in Northern France after D day. Most of the rest of the crew died, but he landed with two broken arms and was kept hidden by French civilians till the army arrived. 

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42 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

That's interesting Michael.:thumbsup2:

 

I'm reading Richard Overy's The Bombing War at present and his footnotes list multiple published sources for the unpopularity of the Halifax with aircrews, though not the reasons why. 

 

He also points out that:

'Unlike the Halifax, the Lancaster had a more modest loss rate (3.92 per cent compared with 5.75 per cent)'

 

As you rightly say however, being able to actually survive getting out of such stricken aircraft is another matter entirely.

 

Tony

 

Tony,

 

I too am reading Overy's work and am about half way through. 

 

How are you finding it?

 

I confess to being a bit surprised at the author's shift in view from his earlier works, moving as he does from a narrative account in Bomber Command, 1939-1945. Reaping the Whirlwind  around 1997 or earlier to a sense of reservation in Why the Allies Won (1995) to a  far more negative assessment in his current work, where from the preface onward, he takes an ethical stance arguing that the bombing war was as immoral as it was ineffective. His argument for the development of the B-17 at page 46 is a dance with fantasy and along with his captioning of a B-24 facing page 261 as 'Eighth Air Force' when it is Fifteenth, suggests he knows less about aeroplanes than how to produce really big books.

 

 

Michael

Edited by Michael Enright
it needed it
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On ‎14‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 11:36 PM, CedB said:

Thanks Alex - I'm not sure the Arnica is doing that much good but hey, never hurts to try old remedies eh? i hear some herbs can be, ahem, quite medicinal! :wicked:

 

Sorry to read about your mishap Ced, I hope that things are improving. Stick with the Arnica cream, I used it post-op after breaking my right femur and it did help to bring out the bruising. However, if you do like to mix herbs with alcohol then I recommend this tongue numbing brew, the only problem being that it does slip down too easily.

 

35809310882_b239511a03.jpg

 

 

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6 hours ago, Michael Enright said:

 

Tony,

 

I too am reading Overy's work and am about half way through. 

 

How are you finding it?

 

I confess to being a bit surprised at the author's shift in view from his earlier works, moving as he does from a narrative account in Bomber Command, 1939-1945. Reaping the Whirlwind  around 1997 or earlier to a sense of reservation in Why the Allies Won (1995) to a  far more negative assessment in his current work, where from the preface onward, he takes an ethical stance arguing that the bombing war was as immoral as it was ineffective. His argument for the development of the B-17 at page 46 is a dance with fantasy and along with his captioning of a B-24 facing page 261 as 'Eighth Air Force' when it is Fifteenth, suggests he knows less about aeroplanes than how to produce really big books.

 

 

Michael

:thumbsup2: PM sent Michael so as not to interrupt the Ced-thread any further with my extended prattlings...

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6 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I'm reading Richard Overy's The Bombing War at present and his footnotes list multiple published sources for the unpopularity of the Halifax with aircrews, though not the reasons why. 

 

I suspect in part because it was plagued with teething troubles, including problems with the Merlins, poorly designed vertical stabilizers (that were ultimately replaced), and some handling issues that took a very long time to fix.

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2 hours ago, nimrod54 said:

 

Sorry to read about your mishap Ced, I hope that things are improving. Stick with the Arnica cream, I used it post-op after breaking my right femur and it did help to bring out the bruising. However, if you do like to mix herbs with alcohol then I recommend this tongue numbing brew, the only problem being that it does slip down too easily.

 

35809310882_b239511a03.jpg

 

 

 

In a past life I worked as a barman in a very well stocked hotel; but have never seen a bottle of this.

 

Pray tell of what herbage is in this beautiful bottle?

 

Yours very interestedly

TonyT

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31 minutes ago, Procopius said:

 

I suspect in part because it was plagued with teething troubles, including problems with the Merlins, poorly designed vertical stabilizers (that were ultimately replaced), and some handling issues that took a very long time to fix.

My path to adulthood captured exactly PC.

 

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4 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

 

In a past life I worked as a barman in a very well stocked hotel; but have never seen a bottle of this.

 

Pray tell of what herbage is in this beautiful bottle?

 

Yours very interestedly

TonyT

 

Hi Tony,

 

I developed a taste for this 35% 'Herb Schnapps' when our son was working in Dresden. We had a few sessions when we visited him and his girlfriend at that time, one of which saw him having to help his mum up the stairs of the place we were staying at. It is a product of the Radeberg Brewery/Distillery where they also make a very nice beer, both are available here in the UK from Beers of Europe, which isn't a lot of help to you guys down under. :winkgrin:

 

 

My apologies for the thread drift Ced.

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Many years ago I went to Frankfurt as a ( drinking ) supporter of the London Airways football team for the annual European ATC football competition and became very unwell after drinking Schnapps with the Amsterdam supporters who were young ladies with EHAM printed on their tee shirts. I havn't touched it since, the Schnapps I mean.

 

John

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Thanks everyone for the best wishes - the toe is getting better, slowly, but is still a bit of a mojo killer :( 

If the Revell kit is anything to go by I can understand why the Halifax wasn't that popular - I picked up the nacelle bits today and tried fitting the cooling flap - it doesn't fit without some fettling. I may try again tomorrow but, having referred to the photo of JB910 I've realised the kit is, er, a bit inaccurate. As is we didn't know. I've contacted Colin at Freightdog models to see if he has any 'Z noses' left; if so I'll order the correction set too, otherwise it's going to be 'look how horrid it looks OOB'.

John (nimrod) I've not tried that particular brew but I bet it originated from some Monks. They seem to be good at producing intoxicating drinks from herbs. I've had a few types of Schnapps but my main memories (vague) are of Ferna Branca which an Italian waiter suggested I try after a night on the Grappa - no, I didn't drink the water our host gave me to take to bed and yes, it was similar to John (Biggles) experience in Frankfurt!

 

Other news: I've ordered a crowbar to assist in some planned stone wall work in the garden. I went for the 48" version for leverage, despite the reviews of the 36" version here. The review "One-man demolition machine" is a bit worrying... 

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Hello Ced as I said ( as others of course) You should rework this part of the kit. It will annoy you, if it hangs there under your ceiling as it comes out of the box.  Freightdog or Aeroclub is the question. Your choice.  And you have no camo for that like a FAA, which could disguise the too fat merlins. Cheers

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It's good to hear that the toe is getting better Ced, although slowly by the sound of it.

 

I really like the Halifax; once the problems were ironed out it would appear to have been a very useful tool for the purpose.

 

My paternal Grandfather was on Stirlings and extremely fond of them. He spoke a little about his experiences when he was very old. He said that on the bombing runs he went through cycles of feeling completely detached from what was going on below, to having to drink to quell the horror and guilt he sometimes felt in dropping bombs on civilians. He had a wife and two, then three very young children at the time. They were facing the same. It's clear he didn't like it (the concept of bombing civilians). He was relieved when put on Stirling transports. My impression is that crews did get attached to certain, individual, kites; he actually still had a little part of one of his :D.

 

He didn't speak badly of Halibags, Lancs, anything. No 'competition over which is best', just a love of his kites. The overriding impression is that whatever they were in, if they got home in mostly one piece, they were very thankful. He had been in an emergency landing, quite badly injured. Many scars/burn evidence on torso, only one lung left. They weren't shot down, just something went wrong on a transport landing. 

 

Apologies for the digression.He was a smiley old chap. Just had a few memories flood back there. 

 

Also still on a digression; thanks for the advice on the bitter schnapps chaps (poet and I don't know it; again!).

 

Is it to be consumed neat, if so, chilled? If it's mixed; soda? I like unusual drinks, especially herbal, alcoholic or not :). Aquavit is a personal favourite. Used to have it with fish in Denmark. Some of the sailors would have a glass for breakfast :o!

 

I hope Freightdog can help with the cowls Ced. I'm sure your mojo will return soon, especially if they have the parts. It really is quite disappointing when a manufacturer makes a model of a major type for mass production, but fundamentally gets something very wrong about a 'scale model'. 

 

Best regards

TonyT

 

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Thanks Benedikt - my current plan is to dry fit everything and see what it looks like, but those props are already making me shudder! Hopefully Freightdog will reply soon :) 

Thanks TT - I can only imagine what the crews thought as they took to the skies on another mission. Great background on your Grandfather :) 

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A 48" crowbar! You could do yourself some real damage with that.

Another little story for you. My first posting in ATC was at Liverpool ( Speke in those days ) airport where one of our runway controllers had been  a flight engineer on Stirlings and had some wonderful and frightening stories to tell. On one occasion they  went to northern Italy and one of their aircraft couldn't get enough power to climb over the Alps so flew between the peaks! He also told me they carried Sten guns and sometimes came home low and shot up anything with lights,He eventually went on to Lancasters which he preferred. I borrowed his flying helmet once and on the inside were marked the names of places he'd visited with ticks alongside, many of them had five or six.

Another of the runway controllers was the WT operator on the aircraft which brought Chamberlin home from Germany with the infamous piece of paper.

 

Cheers

 

John

Edited by Biggles87
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Great story John, as usual :) 

 

Had a fiddle with the radiator flaps this morning. Nice fit without the flap but it pushes out the sides when fitted:

 

35188209903_96e9e5a0eb_n.jpg 35957493366_1c6c009fa8_n.jpg

Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr

 

so I drilled out the locating holes and cleaned off the flash from the flaps until there was a better fit. Fiddly. Just those seams are glued and clamped now; at least I had an excuse to use my new crocodile tweezers:

 

35828268252_6596aef04f_z.jpg

 

I'm definitely behaving like the GoT characters at the moment... I know the Winter Walkers radiators and props are coming but I'm still fiddling...

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