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Inspired by Artur's miniature I decided to build my own Su-22. I used Eduard's kit (in fact KP with some etched parts and resin cockpit interior). OOB, without any modifications,except decals for polish aircraft ..and a few pics from the building:

Russian Udaloy Class Destroyer The Vice-Admiral Kulakov, pics thanks to Panzer Vor.

Desert Snake Hi mates, here are some pictures of my last year finished Airacobra from Eduard. I`ve used the old but great Profipack with photoetched parts, Express Masks and no less than 6 different variants of paint shemes. Additional I used both CMK accessories for engine compartment and front armarment. The model you see represents an aircraft of 346. FS, 12.AF, Noth Africa.The 346. was the last USAF unit using the P-39 in Europe. Only used as an attack aircraft, as this type didn`t rocks as dogfighter against german fighter ! The built was pure fun and gone straight forward! Only minor mods are necessary to convert this model to a L-1-BE type. A wonderful source with all necessary informations is Book No. 6129 of MMP`s Yellow Serie. [/url]

Oookay, finally calling it done. (Though now I look at my photos, it truly does needs the nav lights at the wingtips.....one final doddle. But no more pics - it's safely in the cat-proof Detolf now!) Lee, thanks a million for the great idea!!

Operation Harmattan Libya 2011 Revell 1/48th kit [/url]

Hello Folks, I`ve always wanted to build a model of the earliest Wessex `Junglie' version which were specially stripped out HAS.1 anti sub versions that were painted overall Light Stone and rushed out to Borneo to replace the Whirlwind Mk.7 `Junglie`s' which were operating from primitive jungle heli pads. My original intention was to use the Revell Wessex HAS.3 kit but when Italeri announced that they were doing the same version I held out for one of these instead and here is the result, backdated to HAS.1 status and depicting XP142/J `Mr. Jinks' of 845 NAS, which was later converted to HAS.3 status and went on to become the famous `Humprey' of Falklands fame and now resides in the Fleet Air Arm Museum! Here is the build thread; http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234942543-48th-scale-wessex-has1-junglie/ The `Mr Jink`s' artwork inside the red circle on the nose is hand painted, as is the 845 NAS insignia although a very kind Britmodeller (Dave!) has done me some decal replacements which are on their way from the USA,...what a kind bloke! Two of the emergency escape windows have been opened up to let a bit of cool air in and a `Gimpy' GPMG from the Airfix Lynx kit has been mounted in one of them. Anyway enough blurb,...here is the model; And here is it again with my next Junglie lurking behind, the Italeri Wessex HU.5! Hope you like it, All the best Tony O

Just finished the build this week. I used the canopy and gear legs from the Heritage Aviation kit, Quickboost wheels and exauhsts, Aeroscale decals for the markings and custom decals for the prop:

Built from the box with the exception of a Wolfpack MB Mk4 ejection seat. I think this is Kinetic's best so far although the instructions are still lacking in places. I can't wait for a C.1 especially as Furball Aero have a sheet for USN/USMC F-21's coming out. Stephen

OK , this is a prime example of what I did a rant about earlier in the year. Why some people feel it is so necessary to boost their own ego's by pointing out a inadequacy on someones build that isn't even the fault of the builder is beyond me. Why would it be necessary to anybody's benefit to say the tail wheel is 5 degrees off ? Only the most anal of builders would even know or even come close to caring. All this type of so called accuracy information does is detract from an otherwise AWESOME build. It behooves no one to point out these flaws in open forum on someone else's build. If you want to point out inaccuries then build it yourself and review your own build to point out the flaws. Great build Dave! It certainly doesn't need to be detracted from by anal-ytical B.S.

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Hi all, Esci 1/48 Saab Viggen. Back end of the 80's I paid £1.98 at Poundstretcher for the kit and its been stashed for almost 26 years so decided to build it. A tin of paint today cost me £1.60 and the ejector seat £6. Brian.

I rattled this together in between the paint passes on my Fokker D.XXI. I painted it in the variant that the old tool Zero was supplied in as I had those decals spare from an old Techmod sheet. However, these decals were so fragile that they started breaking apart just if I looked at them the wrong way, so I had to resort to painting the Hinomarus (no big deal - a red circle) as well as the blue stripes. The fuselage sash was the tricky one and it ain't perfect by a long shot, but it'll do. It'll have to! My only gripe with this kit is the canopy framing. Not only is the framing too thick, but it has large radius curves in the corners making it impossible to mask properly unless you have a pre-cut mask, like Eduard's - which I did. Other than that, a great little fun kit!

My best wishes to all the staff, hope they all find employment soon, it must have been a difficult few weeks for them all.

Hello all, after a bit of umming and arring I have decided to do a WIP for this kit.It has taken a long while to get to this point so far, the kit was quite seriously marred by warping of the two decks, both hull halves and the two long interior hangar walls. That meant my newly purchased clamps came in for some serious use when I was putting together the side stations that are visible through the hull openings (to get the walls attached to the deck and the rooves to the walls). I have the White Ensign etch set for this and there are plenty of bits to add I must say. The first parts were for the Atlantic/Pacific boats (called both in the WEM instructions) and this was not as complex as the etch for the RHIB's on the Type 45 were. It still added some good detail though. I also removed the moulded ventilation grilles from the hull sides, chain-drilling small holes then using an etched saw from Airwaves (I think) to join the dots and remove the plastic. WEM suggested fitting some plastic sheet behind the resulting gaps and paint them white, but I felt that even 5thou card might have been a bit thick, so I used some inkjet copy paper cut just oversize and then super-glued that to the hull interior instead, followed by a bead of thinned white glue to give it a bit more 'stickability'. None of the glue soaked into the paper too much and did not discolour the paper when seen from the outside of the hull. The hangar deck had a pronounced droop forward when I tried to fit it to the ledges on the interior, and the hull sides also needed coaxing, and finally I needed about another three hands to keep it all in place while to glue set so I had to think of another tack (sorry!). I taped both hull halves and the hangar deck together and ran a thick bead of medium CA along a short section of deck/hull join followed by some accelerator and that seemed to do the trick. I finished one side (after gluing my nail to the hull - I did not think when I was holding the part tightly to ensure alignment!) and left it for a day to harden (having released myself of course), then the following day I got the other half sorted. I was worried the hull might have 'corkscrewed' due to all the pressure and tensions put on it when I was taping up the joints, but when I managed to find a large flat surface, it sat true - thank goodness for that! The stern transom then took three evenings to get right. I am not sure if the above shot shows up the issues with warping, but to my eye the hull sides are not true, certainly the hangar wall is wobbly and I cannot imagine that she was built with that kink in the sides. I have dry fitted the flight deck, and this next shot may give an idea of what I have to deal with next. It will not be insurmountable really and in some ways I may have made a big deal out of it. Even though the deck is balanced on a sanding pad, there is a pronounced non-straightness. When the deck is in place on the ship, it still goes up and down, and there are large gaps along the sides. So I will be gluing this in stages, which is something I have never even considered doing before in my goodness knows how many years of modelling. I will need plenty of tape and cocktail sticks to ensure the deck does not get damaged by the glue (another thing learnt from the magazines). I would like to do this one full hull, and the lower hull does seem to join reasonably well except in one area near the bow, but if I feel I cannot get the joint good enough I will have to do another seascape. But where would I put it! I have never had issues with warps on kits before and was taken aback a bit, but I was not surprised as I had read on BM from a few others that they had the same issue. I have overcome worse problems with models though, especially a short shot part: I managed to sort that so: I was given Illustrious by a couple I had done a favour for, and I really want to do it justice. I know I have had issues with the warping, but now that is virtually out of the way I think all should be okay now, just needing to remember to add the etchwork in the right places. I spent a very enjoyable evening cross referencing the Airfix and WEM instructions to figure that out. This is going to be a long build I think, so any thoughts and recommendations will be appreciated. Thanks for reading this, all the best everyone. Kind regards, Ray

Just a couple of pictures of an SAR HU MK5 to go with the HC MK4 I recently completed.

After a long time, here is the finished Heron. I only added the antenna wire since the last post. I hope you enjoy. Cheers, Marcos.

Hasegawa kit with Zoom photo-etched parts from Eduard, decals from Eagle Strike Range; except of them, i built my Sabre straight OOB and i had lot of fun. Paint with Gunze's acrylic H330, H331 and H56 for the blu (i know it's not the right PRU blu, but for me looks right!). Hope you like it And now... a couple of Sabres! thanks for looking ciao Ale

Kit: 1/72 Eduard "Profi Pack" White 07, 566th SHAP, Leningard 1944 Paints: Gunze/Mr.Hobby Decals: Kits own Thanks for your interest! Cheers from Vienna, Austria Roman Schilhart

Good afternoon colleagues. I want to show work строилось все здесь http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic_t_46055.html

Hi everybody, I've just finished H.B.'s F9F2-P Panther, 1/72 nd scale. A very pleasant kit to put together, almost no sanding paper nor putty were used . H.B. proposes 2 gloss sea blue painted Panthers from VC-61, the unit that operated thes planes during the Korean conflict, in 1951 I chose to represent my model with folded wings and lowered stabilators : I added weight in the nose, the seat belts to the seat and the FODs : My gloss sea blue was toned down by using semi-gloss acrylic varnish . The decals were "sensitive" and concentration was needed to put them to the right places without deteriorating them . Personnaly, I think the windshield and the canopy sit too high compared to the pictures of the real planes, but tht's all right, I had a lot of pleasure to put it together an I hope more NAVY planes from that period of time will be released by H.B. Critics and comments always welcome, Cheers, Pierre

This was roughly the equivalent of the F86D Sabre as both were radar equipped single seaters flown in 1949. Although about the same size physically it was much lighter and had less power, having the Russian equivalent of the Nene. Performance was quite good but it was let down by handling problems at high speed, landing problems in a crosswind and by the radar. Two prototypes were flown, this represents the second, but no production orders were placed. The kit went together quite well, not quite as easily as the other Prop & Jet kits, with some fiddly bits associated with the landing gear. One retraction strut for the main u/c could only be fitted (by me!) by tacking it to a toothpick and inserting it into the depths of the wheel well. Once glued the toothpick had to be broken off and the rough bits attacked with various implements. The outrigger wheels look very fragile and easy to break off. The kit is no longer available from Prop & Jet but Linden Hill still lists it (as of Sept 2013). A-model have produced a plastic version. It would be interesting to compare the two John

US Mk 23 MTVR Cargo Truck Trumpeter 1:35 History The Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) is a family of all-terrain cargo trucks manufactured by Oshkosh for the US Navy and US Marine Corps. The MTVR was initially ordered to replace the existing medium truck fleet under the US Marine Corps programme. The vehicles were extensively deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Oshkosh vehicle can transport troops, fuel, water, food and supplies. The vehicle will also be used to tow the M777 lightweight 155mm howitzer. More than 11,000 MTVRs have been delivered to the Marines and the Navy Seabees to date. The MTVR is available in nine variants including MK23, (the subject of this kit) and MK25 Standard Cargo Truck, MK27 and MK28 Extended Cargo Truck, MK29 and MK30 Dump Truck, MK31 Tractor, MK36 Wrecker, MK37 HIMARS Resupply Vehicle, 4x4 Short Bed Cargo, 9-Ton Load Handling System 6x6, and 16.5-Ton Load Handling System 8x8. The vehicles feature a welded all-aluminium cab mounted on a torsionally rigid channel section chassis frame. The conventional layout houses the engine at the front, crew cab in the middle and troop/cargo section in the rear. The crew cab accommodates three marines. The standard MTVR cargo variant has a length of 8.02m, width of 2.4m and a height of 3.5m. The curb weight of the basic cargo variant (MK23) is 12.6t. The trucks can be integrated with Oshkosh TerraMax UGV technology for conducting unmanned operations. The crew cab and cargo compartment are equipped with an MTVR Armour System (MAS) to protect the crew from 7.62mm M80 ball rounds and 7.62mm Armour Piercing (AP) rounds. The mine protection kit can protect the occupants from mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The bottom of the vehicle is provided with aluminium armour and rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) to withstand the impact of grenades and mortar rounds used as mines. Powered by a Caterpillar C-13 six-cylinder diesel engine coupled to an Allison seven-speed automatic transmission and torque converter, and an Oshkosh single-speed transfer box. It provides a power output of 440hp. Each variant is equipped with Oshkosh TAK-4 independent coil-spring suspension, which provides superior mobility and allows each wheel to move independently on the uneven surfaces. The vehicle features anti-lock brakes with automatic traction control. The Central Tire Inflation System (CTIS) allows the driver to select tire inflation pressures according to vehicle payload and terrain type. The vehicle has a maximum speed of 105km/h and on-road cruising range of 483km. It can traverse a 60% gradient and 30% side slope with its maximum cross-country load and can ford waters up to 1.5m deep. It can be internally transported by C-5, C-17 and C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The MK23 cargo variant is airlifted under-slung by CH-53 helicopter. The Model The kit comes in the now standard, and in my view, very attractive, and sturdy box with an artists representation of the MTRV Mk23 on the front towing an M-177 155mm howitzer. On opening the box is full to the brim with nine sprues of light grey styrene, three separate parts for the cab and bonnet, one clear sprue, six rubber tyres, one fret of etched brass, a small decal sheet and a length of copper wire. Each sprue and the separate parts are contained in separate poly bags ensuring that all the parts are well protected. All the parts are really well moulded, with no sign of flash, although there are quite a few moulding pips, which are slightly annoying, but a necessity due to the moulding process. Naturally for a truck the construction begins with the building up of the chassis. The two chassis rails are joined together by several cross beams, a representation of the engine sump and gearbox/torque converter and an intermediate gearbox with associated drive shafts and universal joints. Over the drive shaft another cross beam is fitted along with one over the gearbox and a U beam across the rear brackets of the main rails. Turning the chassis right side up another cross beam/cover is added above the drive shaft, whilst to the front the bumper is attached. The build then progresses to the suspension and wheel brake units. Each of the three sub-assemblies that go toward building the suspension units are very complex. Each suspension frame, (of which there are two per axle), is constructed out of a main part and two side frames. This is then fitted with the two piece spring, (which may take a bit of tidying up and would have been better moulded as a single unit), is attached between the upper and lower wishbones, the lower wishbone then has the shock absorber fitted between it and the upper framework. A short drive shaft is fitted with the ball joint and slid into the frame assembly and for the front axle, fitted with a lower steering bracket and upper steering arm. Once each of the six suspension assemblies have been built a transverse gearbox and two support rods are sandwiched between two of the assemblies per axle and cross frame attached to the bottom of each frame covering the gearboxes. The wheel hubs, brake units are then assembled and fitted to each ball joint. Each axle is then fitted to their associated position on the chassis and drive shafts are attached between the front axle gearbox to the intermediate gearbox, intermediate gearbox to the forward rear axle gearbox and between the forward and rear axle gearboxes. Auxiliary components are assembled, these include the fuel tank, which is a two piece affair, upper and lower, to which the two support mounts are fitted along with a four piece step assembly. The storage box is also of upper and lower construction which has the two support mounts and two catches before the air and hydraulic accumulators are attached. Both the fuel tank and storage box are attached to the left hand chassis rail. Two step frames and associated foot plates are then assembled and fitted one on each side as are the two cab supports. The final parts fitted to the chassis before the build moves onto the cab and cargo bed are the air intake stack, intake frame and support, engine intake pipe, which is threaded through the right hand footstep frame and fitted to the stack, rear cab shock absorbers and the cross chassis footplate. The cab assembly starts with adding a couple of minor parts to the underside of the cab floor, then flipping over to fit the accelerator and brake pedals. The instrument binnacle is made up of three parts, the lower console, upper air vent strip and the instrument panel, the instruments of which are on a decal. The use of decal softening and setting solutions may work here as the details are raised, or it may be better to paint the main details and cut out the placards from the decal and add them to their relevant positions. The completed binnacle is then fitted to the forward floor part along with the steering column and its associated support bracket. The drivers seat is made up of the squab and back rest which sits on a concertina effect part, then fitted to the cab floor. The two seater passenger seat is made up of a single box structure onto which the back rest is fitted, attached to two square sectioned supports, and attached to the cab floor. The outer cab structure is a single piece moulding, onto which the circular gunners hatch, clear front and rear screens, two hand rails and the four supports for the machine gun mount are fitted. The machine gun mount itself is made up of the crossways support structure, two spent casing troughs, ring mount, with the gun support attached. The completed assembly is then fitted to the four cab supports with individual brackets on each corner. The inner cab is then slid into the outer, and having dry fitted these parts I can say that it is a very good and positive fitting. The doors are then fitted with their associated clear parts and attached to the cab. The exhaust stack is made up of two parts with a PE mesh wrapped around the bottom section and attached to the right hand side of the cab with the exhaust pipe attached to the bottom of the stack and cab into what would be the engine bay. The rear mud flaps, wing mirrors, with PE brackets, wipers, PE foot plates and exhaust stack outlet flapper complete the cab build. The cab assembly is then fitted to the chassis and the front end completed with the fitting of the bonnet, made up of a single piece moulding onto which a PE mesh and back plate are fitted to the inside of the radiator grille, the headlights, sidelights and the oil reservoir at the back of the cab. Moving onto the cargo bed, the bed itself, with moulded tie down rings is fitted with the front fixed, rear lower fixed and what look like removable sides, presume, depending on role. The rear drop down flap is then attached, whilst on the underside, the support and strengthening beams are fitted, as are the strapping points, plus the front and rear mudguards. Turning the bed right side up more strapping points are added to the lower sides along with twenty more mid way up the sides, front and rear. These are made up using the provided jigs and the copper wire, which whilst looking quite a labourious job will make the model very convincing. The completed cargo bed is then attached to the rear chassis. The build is completed with the assembly of the six wheels, each made up of an inner and outer hub and an out hub plate. The rubber tyres are then pushed onto the hubs from the rear. The tyres are very well moulded, with no seam lines other than what you’d see on the real things, and the words are legible, showing that the manufacturers name is correctly spelt. They maybe not to everyones tastes and will probably be replaced with aftermarket resin ones if they are released, but they do look good. Etch Most of the etched parts have been mentioned in the above text showing where the parts are used. The etch sheet itself is quite thick, but not overly so, which means it shouldn’t be too hard to bend. It would still be best to anneal the parts beforehand though, especially the exhaust grille, which needs to be wrapped around the plastic part. The perforated parts are really well done, to the point they look stamped and will greatly aid the realistic look of the completed model. Decals The small decal sheet contains not only the instrument panel mentioned above, but the vehicle reg numbers for each of the two colour schemes provided, but also placards and identification numbers placed around the truck. The decals are very clear, slightly glossy and of good opacity, whilst the backing film looks nice a thin. Conclusion This is a super kit, with lots of parts and detail. If used in conjunction with an M198 155mm howitzer, (at least until an M777 is released), it will make a good basis for a diorama or vignette. My only real concerns are the complete lack of tilt and tilt bars with which, from research, these vehicles are usually fitted. But I guess these can always be scratch built. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Before: After drybrush and wash(dry fitted in upper fuselage) :

Good to see one finished in the grey scheme, Great build! RG

I would never dream of bashing Revell. They are a fantastic brand and the quality of their decals is the best of any kitmaker IMHO. It's just, precisely because of that that I wish they had "standard" options more frequently with their reboxed kits.

ALF, Not a problem if you do contradict me .... Which is why I will always deffer to your answer. Just got back from some intense learning for a week in Maryland..... and I woke up a muscle I haven't really used in about 24 years........ Yeah I had a headache. Very interesting to see '769 in multiple configurations.... Here is my rendering from a while back... http://www.arcair.com/Gal4/3601-3700/gal3651_CF-18_Varosi/00.shtm Actually nice to see 188769 still flying, was in the Libyan operation. Emil

Got a bit more done before it got too hot in the shed - got the decals on Peter

The critiquing is limited to the build itself, not the accuracy of the kit or the subject matter. From the rules of the forum, so make of it what you will. I personally think you have done a superb job and I myself would love to have the skill to replicate this. If there is a flaw in the kit then there is really no need to point it out and detract from what is a fine bit of modelling. Marc

A very nice model. Now how about this for a plan. If you want to talk about how accurate the kit is, do that in the relevant discussion forum, and in a RFI look at how the builder has done on the build. That way everyone can play nice.

To add my 10 pence worth I think we should be glad that there is an imminent new tool kit of the Harrier being released, rather than slating Airfix for any sliding release dates! You can please some of the people.....

Looking good. That's not a problem.. it's a challenge:-)

Very nice and comparing the propeller to a picture of a real one it does look close enough and the angle of the landing gear is very minor.

Latest of the bench and, yes another Spitfire..... (I like them OK....is that a problem........do I need to get help??.......[52 made so far and rising]) Saw this scheme in Combat Colours No. 8. So out came the Hasegawa kit, a few decals from the spares box and this is the end result. Hope you like it. Comments are welcome as always Thanks for looking.

The Viggen is a plane that has never really been on my radar - that was until I saw the display at Waddington -" sublime" is very apt, looked so smooth, stable and buckets of power! Really think you have produced a great looking model and am now definitely motivated to add one to the collection. Sadly it would appear Viggen kits can no longer be had for £1.98! Kevin

Got to love the following comment on in the first note at the top of the page. "The box containing the lithium-ion battery cells is secured inside a reinforced stainless steel enclosure capable of containing a lithium-ion battery event." So just to clarify in English a lithium-ion battery event is a fire?

Cheers Bri, don't blame you for leaving early...I tend to go the other way and stay until virtually everyone else has left and the MP's need to coerce me into getting out !!!, (sadly rank doesn't hold sway with these Johnnies !!), but then again I only live four miles away, though it can still take an age to get home during the mass exodus. The Viggen was sublime...like the Vulcan though, and for good reason, they can't throw the beast around like they used to, (seeing the JA come in for an amazingly short stop using full reverse, stopping, then reversing up the runway a ways, swinging around and then blasting off in full reheat they way it had just come was always great to watch !!). It's good to see a Viggen in bare metal for a change, shows the brutal shape off perfectly.

Great way to avoid doing the splinter camouflage. It definitely looks very nice.

That's a great start! I keep seeing the RB6 on the shelf at the local hobby shop and asking myself 'Shall I? Shan't I?' and if this thread continues like it has begun, I'll be back there next week with some cash!

i see its 6 weeks to close all the stores,i popped into the bromley shop today and got some tamiya paint at 50percent off,got to [also ] say great staff in the bromley and croydon stores,i hope i can keep in touch with them great modellers and very knowledgable on various subjects,and to be quite honest i enjoyed my stints at bluewater and croydon,shame the firm lost its direction and let their staff down.

Having been told the news yesterday and working for Model Zone at the Bromley store in London, for anyone on here who has been in there and possibly who i may have met over the last few years, would like to say thanks for the support and contributions, its been good, enjoyable experience and i've learnt alot.

However Airfix itself has, wisely, never published specific availability dates to the general public - it's only Wonderland which does this. In doing so I imagine that it rather annoys Airfix. It introduces a spurious level of apparent precision into a complex multi-player long-distance distrubuted production and delivery cycle. If I were Airfix I would strongly discourage any retailer, no matter how influential, from publishing hard dates until after Airfix has all the production elements - sprues , decals, boxes, instructions - actually through customs in the UK. Only at that point does Airfix actually control the eventual timing of retail availability itself, rather than having to second-guess what the ship and the suppliers will do.

Good luck to the staff. Regardless of how good we perceive them to be or not to be - losing your job is crap. Lets hope the locations arent bought up by Costalotta Bucks coffee or some other "do we really need another brand seling exactly the same as the others" chain. Jonners

Hello basic painting of the bottom of the fuselage finished: comments welcome.

I've heard from a little birdy that OrangeHobby are releasing a 1:350 Batch 3 Type 22 in the near future.

Here's an idea for Revell... provide decals for the special scheme, but also provide decals for the same aircraft as a bog-standard line jet either before or after it wore the special scheme. Everybody's happy! Just for the record, I'd always go for the bog-standard scheme.

Moebius models have original series Mk I viper 1/32, Cylon raider 1/32 and classic Galactica 1/4105 coming soon. It's for the 35th Anniversary of the original series!

Now that the wind has abated for all of five minutes, I have managed to get outside to prime the model. Halford's Red Primer was used to prime the entire tank, then once dry the barrel was gently slid out from position and coated in Humbrol Tank Grey aerosol to replicate the factory heat resistant primer used on the real vehicles. A coat of hairspray will ffollow then I will apply the camo via airbrush.

And the almost finished lading gear (just need to touch up those tires a bit) that's all for now Thanks again for stopping in MH

The late Triassic was enormous fun though! Of course there were some brilliant modellers even in those days but for many of us the dawning realisation fostered by people like Alan Hall (aircraft), Chris Ellis (AFVs) and Peter Hodges (ships) that you didn't have to finish the kit in the markings it came in and could even convert it into somethng that looked entirely different was very exciting and unleashed tides of enthusiastic bodging. (I even recall building a Deacon SP gun on a Matador chassis out of postcard because plastic card was unknown in my neck of the woods.) Almark have a very honourable part in that history. And, because there wasn't the wealth of brilliant research material there is nowadays, there were fewer rivet-counters out there to inhibit us!

"Early in the morning of January 4th 1967, Bluebird K7 skimmed across Coniston Water on its second run of the day through the measured mile. At the controls was Donald Campbell, (later Sir Donald) and as the end of the run approached, it was clear that the craft was travelling faster than it ever had before. To the immense relief of all, the craft shot past the end marker at 315.27mph, setting a new World Water Speed Record in the process. Subsequent examination of K7 showed that its fuel feed system was faulty, and could have caused the engine to flame out at any time. If this had happened at speed, the thrust necessary to keep the craft nose down in planing trim would have been lost, and could have resulted in disaster. When this was pointed out to Donald, his stoic response was typical: "Well, it didn't." Donald’s fortunes were resurgent. Backers, so long absent from his record attempts, were buoyed up with the swell of national pride, and floods of offers of sponsorship arrived to regain the Land Speed Record. A vehicle was designed by the Norris brothers to achieve this, named, naturally, Bluebird CN8. The vehicle was not wheel driven, as the LSR was now held by the Americans at 594mph, and as the record was now held by rocket propelled craft, it was considered to be beyond the reach of driven wheel technology. First, a rocket propelled vehicle was designed and even mocked up, then a jet propelled vehicle was proposed, subsequently revised to twin jet, to be powered by Rolls Royce turbojet engines. RR as a British company, were fully committed to the Campbell project, and donated six engines to the group, along with the necessary corporate backup and technicians to service them. Construction of the 42ft, eight ton vehicle began at Motor Panels Ltd in Coventry in July 1968, and the first test runs were carried out in December the same year. Although the design deliberately used the twin jets close together along the vehicle’s axis to combat asymmetric thrust problems, longitudinal stability difficulties were still encountered. A single fin was added to the design as it had been with Bluebird K7, this one sourced from a scrap Lightning jet fighter. The vehicle was annotated as Bluebird CN8A. Also, in line with Donald’s wishes, an ejection seat was fitted to the vehicle to enable rapid egress in case of an emergency. Donald, having already survived a high speed roll in one of the earlier Bluebirds, was not keen to end his life in similar circumstances. This led to problems with siting the steering wheel in a position where it would not obstruct an ejection, and in the end it was decided that the vehicle would be steered by pedals operating both the rudder on the fin and the front wheels, affording 4 degrees of lock. The cockpit was fitted with a grab handle on the right hand side, to stabilise the occupant whose left hand would be gripping the twin throttles. In February 1969 a series of test runs determined that although stability was now greatly improved, the wheels were incapable of biting into the salt flat surface which would be its track, and tended to allow the vehicle to crab. The wheels were subsequently redesigned with the distinctive “locomotive lip” to aid traction, and it is in this final configuration that Bluebird entered the record books on 30th March 1970, with a new World Land Speed Record of 616.23mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA. This record stood until Gary Gabelich’s Blue Flame reclaimed it for America in October of the same year. Although successful, Donald declared the driving experience “horrible”, and the vehicle was never run under its own power again. It was on permanent loan to the Beaulieu Motor Collection until Sir Donald’s death in 1987, whereupon it was transferred to the Coventry Museum of Road Transport where it currently resides alongside its British LSR successors, Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC." Here it is awaiting it's chance: Cheers, Dean