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1/72 scale Victor K Mk2 XL163 RAF Marham History, Construction number HP80/66 Awaiting collection 15/05/1961, delivery date 07/02/1962, to Handley-Page Ltd 14/01/1969 then Hawker Siddeley 20/05/1970 for conversion to K2 standard, l/f? 01/07/1986 to St Athan store, to St Athan 29/09/1986 for Battle Damage Repair Training as 8916M, scrapped during 12/1991 by Hanningfield Metals, Stock, Essex "An order was also sent out to the remaining Vulcan Squadron to go on to a War Footing and in a show of force 4 Vulcans were deployed to Wide-awake Airfield at Ascension Island and from there the then longest bombing missions took place. Code named Black Buck, their mission was to deny the Argentinians the use of Port Stanley Airport to their Mirage Fighter jets with 21.000LB's of bombs. One sole Vulcan XM607 Piloted by Sqn Leader Martin withers which was the standby aircraft for the first mission after its sister aircraft XM598 piloted by John Reeve suffered a ruptured windscreen seal in flight and couldn't pressurize. The first raid was successful and placed a bomb right in the centre of the runway. The missions themselves would not have happened if it wasn't for the Victors of 55 and 57 sqn refueling the Vulcan on its route as well as refueling the Victors its self, one specific Victor XL189 piloted by Bob Tuxford gave most of his fuel to XM607 and left with the bare minimum fuel to get back with." The Vulcan was over its normal maximum take-off weighteach carried, as well as extra equipment like the DASH 10 and a chemical toilet, a highly experienced Air to Air Refuelling Instructor (AARI) from the Victor tanker force who would fly the Vulcan during refuellingand fuel usage was higher than expected. As a result of the fuel demand and problems in flight with refuelling, two of the Victors had to fly further south than planned, eating into their own reserves, and one of these, the last Victor to refuel the Vulcan, was past the last refuelling bracket before turning home. Tankers had to be sent south to refuel these Victors so they could reach Ascension. A total of 11 Victors were used to support Black Buck One: XH669, XH672, XL162, XL163, XL188, XL189, XL192, XL232, XL511, XL513 and XM717 XL163, 57 Sqdn, with two wing roundels (copyright prevents posting) ( http://www.57-630sqnassoc.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8353 ) On ascension (copyright prevents posting) ( http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1402175/ ) This kit was a "pig" all bent and distorted, raised panel lines etc. etc. I can't scribe but I can sand and boy did this kit need sanding AND filling, the wing needed steaming, it needed heavy duty clamps (carpenters type clamp, that's what I used them for originally! ) to pull the fuselage halves together, everything went up a few notches for tooling to build this thing. I learnt loads while building this, I am used to 1/72 fighters this thing would dwarf most 1/48th kits and even some in 1/32, the wing span is close to a 1/24 spitfire. All techniques I know for assembly went out of the window on this! I used tamiya green/grey and humbrol acrylic white as the tamiya pot looked a bit empty for this job! First go with humbrol acrylic, I must say this, I painted the white before I steamed the wing, the paint held up. The only things I added were a couple of vanes/fins on the fuselage, the centreline one just aft of the cockpit was replaced as it was severely damaged during sanding, otherwise it's out of the box. It's a simple finish but it wasn't without a great deal of effort. Decals, standard format onto gloss with 50:50 Matt/Satin humbrol topcoat, revell decal soft. Box option. This is the first of my V bomber fleet, hopefully I will be able to achieve the remaining aircraft to complete the line up. This type truly has a remarkable history.

Hi folks The Classic Airframes Gannet as the carrier on board delivery option from the Xtradecal sheet.Painted with an old tin of Compucolour paint[remember them]which captures the colour of RAF blue grey quite well. Ian

Hello, it seems that some Ukrainians modelers came here in these latter days. Think i should join them ) Let me show you my recent project - 1/48 Hasegawa P-40E.

Hello all, This is my last build, a very special build by the way. The kit of the A-4C from Hobbycraft in 1/48 scale has a gift for a great friend of mine, Mr. Julio Gauthier and the model is one prefered of Julio. So, I have the challenge to do a good work on this nice detailed kit. The Kit: The Hobbycraft Skyhawks are good but a bit less detailed than Hasegawa’s scooters. On the box we find the decals that show a nice appereance and quality when applied and a nose section to be add on the kit. Just the cockpit need some work and im my case I use a resin seat from Black Box. Paint work: The paint wok has all made using the Mig Jimenez and Gunze Paints. Weathering with Ammo by Mig Jimenez. We have to take care with the off-white grey color on the upper surfaces, this cannot appears like a pure grey, but yes like a light cream color. I do it using a mix of Light Gull Grey and sand, and it looks good to me. The Aircraft: I represent on my build the aircraft A-4C From IV Brigada Aerea from Argetine Air Force that on 05-30-1982 take part on the attack to the HMS Invencible. The Aircraft do the attack using a single 750lbs bomb, from MK117 type. Would like to thank Ruben Rosero, Daniel Zamarbide Suarez, Julio Julio Cezar Gauthier de Souza that help me with inspirative references and words. Hope you Enjoy. Wip Pics here: http://kitmaniac.com/site/?p=3310 Vini Pompeo

Hello again, this time it's my Airfix Gladiator. This is a very nice kit indeed, but in some ways I feel the new Airfix kits are designed by people who are a whiz on the Computer Aided Design, but not really modellers. Otherwise their kits wouldn't have so many tiny parts... not that I'm complaining as this makes up into a model where it's hard to tell what scale it is from the photos! Only problem I found was the part with the inner struts had been slightly squashed in packing, so I had to very carefully bend them into the correct angles before the wing would fit. Also the wheels would not fit onto the pegs on the landing gear without trimming the pegs, and the engine cowling was awfully fiddly - just a two piece moulding would have done! See comment above... the guns either side of the fuselage fit from inside, which means when you paint the fuselage, they get painted too, and it's tricky to paint them by hand... so I cut the barrels off and stuck them in after the main paint was finished. My "silver dope" (that stuff again) is a mixture of the old Humbrol 11 and matt white. The markings are what I think is the archetypal Gladiator, as flown by those doughty chaps at Hendon Air Pageant a few years before the whole world went mad for five years. The only bad thing about this is my own fault - I thought I could rig a biplane, but as you can probably see, my attempts using stretched sprue fixed with the thick Deluxe Materials cyano (in the tube) do not look good. Blobs of glue looking like silver, well, muck. I got all the wires in though, some of them are a bit bendy looking... the myriad tiny stencils were a major job, I just took it in stages. I did have trouble with the larger decals however, when coating them with Klear some of them bubbled, even though they were completely dry. Not encountered that before. As I say, a very nice kit but one that needs a lot of patience! PL

Good afternoon I would like to present you my last finished model P 38 Academy California Cuttie flown by Lt Loehnert of 55Fighter Squadron 20 Fighter Group in june 1944 I used Superscale decals , some parts of a Eduard set for detailling the cockpit and Humbrol paints ... Patrice

Hi Well like London buses, you wait for ages then 2 turn up at once,This is my Airfix Javelin Mk9 converted to a Mk5. Like fellow britmodeller fu_manchu I picked up the Alley Cat Conversion y on the first day of SMW last year. I still need to add a windscreen wiper, but I really enjoyed researching then building this Mark of Javelin, T3 next. Chris Photo's - Chris Bradley http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l26/chrismac60/DSCF5183_zps334ddac4.jpg

You just know that fate's got it in for you when the only time you get your sums to add up correctly it's used against you................ I've still got the letter somewhere telling me that I was being offered entry to the RAF as GD P (General Duties - Pilot). For some reason it was typed on a tiny sheet of really thin, almost transparent, paper and came in a tiny little envelope (same for you Keith?). Seems somewhat inappropriate that such important news (the fragile hopes of the young fritag rested on it after all) came in such a tiny envelope. Ah yes. The whims of the powers that be. My BFTS course was first of all told that it was make the grade for group 1 (fast jets) or get the chop as we've got enough group 2 (transport) and group 3 (helicopter) pilots for the moment thank you very much - so several chaps who no doubt would otherwise have had long and satisfying flying careers got canned. And then almost at the last moment they changed their minds and selected a couple of chaps to do a helicopter lead in. One later failed the helicopter conversion course and the other went to fly Wessex in Hong Kong. Of course the RAF's self imposed hierarchical approach (which I think went group 1 - group 3 - group 2) was probably flawed and probably pandered to self replicating bias that group 1 required the 'best' studes. As far as I can see (i) flying a helicopter generally requires more basic piloting talent that flying a jet and (ii) operating a military helicopter probably takes at least as much (if not more) capacity and airmanship and often in a far more demanding environment. I have to say that some of Ex-FAAWAFU's stories simply reinforce me in that view (not to mention the stories that come back from recent conflicts). You saying I'm slow?...................................fair cop guv Funnily enough that's also what the wife said when she was trying to re-teach me basic maths. Went for a TDF inspired cycle last night (might have stopped off at the pub as well) so didn't get much done. But to semi-legitimise this post I'm gonna post a couple of photos anyway. I decided it was best to mask off the JP5 before attaching the PE actuators etc. so as to minimise the chance of knocking the PE off in the masking process. Started with the tricky bits such as the nose glazing and wing tip lights. Would have tried Chesiretaurus's parafilm technique - but I don't have any parafilm ( ) so for me it was thin strips of Tamiya tape with a blob or two of micro mask to hold the strips together a bit better: Steve

hi everybody. Well it was about time someone got the topic started on the newly released AIRFIX 1/24th Typhhon ...I am building this alongside my father (we both have the kit) and photos will be mixed below in various stages....I am going to full length to add detail where i think needed and open up an extra panels I see fit please enjoy the build updates will be regular.http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b606/3dricky/typhoon/DSC_0131_zpsfd3eab01.jpg

Revell hunter F Mk.6/Freightdog practice rounds. 1/72 Kit built before I discovered milliput, I was used to squadron type putty which attacks the plastic, I didn't want to risk damaging the detail on this kit, which I think is excellent, shame because I can't find another one to build, so I have the wing root join which is not so good. Decals were good except the white portion of the roundel/flash is slightly transparent. Freightdog bits. I'm a first time user of this firm, I thought these were so good (excited by ordnance) I bought 2 sets on the first day I saw them. One set may end up on a harrier as both early and later bomb types come with the set. Good enough firm, I'll probably get some more things in the future. The details are good enough for me. Kit took ages to paint as I used humbrol for each colour. First I painted white and yellow then masked this off, second the top colours were painted, I can't remember which went on first, finally the silver was painted. After removing masks the black was applied along with the nav lights etc. Maybe the bombs should be blue? Not sure when they started painted dummies blue. I figure that at some time this may have been a viable load out. Maybe the gun flash reducers are bright orange? Standard practice for decals, gloss first and a satin finish, humbrol paints were used. Decal soft from revell. Airframe XG204, (From uk serials) First flight 25/09/1956, awaiting collection 22/10/1956, delivery date 25/10/1956, write off 15/08/1969 after flying into the ground at Rhosneigr after take off from Valley, Anglesey. The Lebanese pilot was killed. (From 8Sqn history 1963 @ www.radfanhunters.co.uk) On the second relocation to Sharjah, a simulated Kuwaiti-style operation was executed immediately on arrival. The opportunity was also taken for live-firing practice on the range, 50 miles north up the coast at Jeb-a-Jib. Throughout this second attachment to Sharjah, the squadron was accompanied by a team from the Day Fighter Combat School (DFCS) at West Raynham, together with two of the units F.6s (XG204 and XG209) and a pair of T.7s (XL591 and XL595). The team flew as members on most sorties and a programme was run that included low level, cross-country interceptions, operational R/P and cannon air-to-ground firing, and high-level battle formations and tactics were practiced and assessed. (Edited, three sets bought, two sets fitted to kit, one set spare, one set is two carriers and four of each bomb type)

Here is a rather odd Lancaster! Sweden bought one ex-RAF Lanc in 1951 as a testbed for Swedish jet engines planned for Saab Lansen and Draken. This aircraft was designated Tp 80 and flew a great number of test flights 1951-56. However, the engine project was abandoned and instead, it was used for test of afterburners. Sadly, it was lost in a crash in 1956. I used Revell's model (Airfix' was not released when this project started) and a conversion set from Top Gun. I also added some details to the Merlin engine. The Top Gun set was far from good. Poor fitting and lots of small holes in the plastic. I used Tamiya Colours and Vallejo aluminium. Decals came from my own archive. Another oddity is the twin tail wheel, which also is placed behind the location of the original one. The underside of the original had to be strengthened because of the jet engine. The rest is OOB, apart from some invisible extra detailing in the wheel bays... I kept the weathering to a minimum, since this aircraft seemed to have been rather well maintained. A few years after the delivery, it was stripped from colour - but this scheme was more interesting than a simple bare metal finish. A last picture. I hope you like this rare-seen Lanc!

This is #17 for the year. I had built the same kit in different livery by Academy a couple years ago, so I knew what to expect. In fact 99% of the decals are left over from that kit. It represents a bird from VF-11 off of the USS Coral Sea circa 1956. Hope you like it.

- - As promise after the single seater I presented you some weeks ago this is the two seater. a mix between the FLOGGER single seater from Trumpeter and the Neomega transkit.As usual in quater inch

This is the 1/48 Airfix Hawk T Mk1 kit with the Xtradecal set for the 2009 RAF Benevolent Fund display aircraft XX245 from 208 ® Squadron. Went together pretty easily. Decals were fantastic except I had a slight problem with the gorgeous heart roundel which went on fine, but then the gloss coat finish seemed to burn some tiny holes through it which I had to paint in after. [/url]">http:// [/url]">http:// [/url]">http://

With the Hunter Killer finished I am getting back to this build. The instrument panel is nicely moulded but would be very tricky (for me) to paint well: So I looked for a PE aftermarket alternative and have now ordered this set by CMK. As that includes some resin parts for the cockpit, including a new seat, I have suspended work on the cockpit. Instead I got on with assembling these parts using the kit supplied PE: This PE is quite thick and I think it is stainless steel rather than brass, making it very hard to cut. I used a combination of strong scissors and snapping the parts off the fret. It also seems rather brittle and I get the feeling it would not bend much further than 90 degrees. I got the front skid well assembled I then had to cut the front off the actuator thing as it sat way too high and lower it quite a bit. In the end I got quite a good fit: With the skid in place this will hardly be visible anyway. I think I will now get on with the wings.

As so often, Bill, in your rush to make me look foolish, you have things back-to-front; my piece was about how the factories were ordered to do things. What happened after they left the storage M.U., or factory, was nothing to do with them, and commanding officers were known for "doing their own thing." Of course, we know your view of 40-year-old memories, but in 1975 one ex-erk told me how a newly-arrived C.O. ordered everything to be painted, including the insides of the fuel tanks of their Oxfords. In one day, they lost several aircraft (the one he was in had both engines stop as they landed,) and the C.O. was never seen again. My research involves more than just reading many "pieces of paper," it includes talking to ex-servicemen, and putting it all together in order to try to make sense of it all; I do not rely on just a single source. From reading Ted's work, it's obvious that he had access to Supermarine records, and you hold this up as a shining example of research (which it is.) When I do the same, though, I get sarcasm and sneering comments (thankfully only from some quarters.) The supreme irony is that I knew Ted well, and he was always willing to pass on what he'd found out; I decided that, like him, I would try to discover things, so that I could also pass them on to modellers, and, as long as I get more thanks than brickbats, that will continue.

POMPEO - That's a great model and I love the subject. I actually have the Has 1/48 A4C kit which, along with a resin conversion set and some 'Aztec' decals, I am using to build this very same aircraft. It's 'on hold' at the moment as I concentrate on getting my Me 262 finished first. Incidentally, I say this as someone who was actually there in 1982 and saw at first hand the amazing skill of the A4 and Dagger pilots as they made their attack runs. So, forget the politics and any negative comments and let's just concentrate on the main issue; i.e. your superb model. Well done mate! Gary

In my era, at least, the FAA didn't have the same system as the RAF's Group 1 / 2 / 3 thing; if you joined the FAA to fly anything other than rotary wing, you were an idiot, and the occasional person was fished out of the wobble-heads' gene pool and sent off to hover in a jet. There was much more competition after the Gazelle / wings stage, to see who got Junglie, Lynx, Wasp or Sea King - again no choice in my case, because there were no post-Falkland Junglie spots for about 2 years; all 8 of us went Pinging. I suspect back in the 60s/70s day the RN had exactly the same pecking order (F4 / Brick at the top, then Gannet, with Wessex seen as some sort of third rate) thing as the Crabs did. I never really understood it. Whenever I landed at Lossie or wherever (especially in a Lynx), I'd get the occasional first tourist in his speed jeans and his clanking leg restraints looking down his nose at me - though it has to be said that the vast majority of RAF aircrew are big kids just like the rest of us, and gave us plenty of respect. [Actually, the most arrogant "I hate Chopper Pukes!" fast jet tosser I ever encountered was a navy bloke on 899, the Shar OCU. I subsequently discovered he had 2 tours on Sea Kings in his log book; there's none so pure as the converted!] My course (and the one after mine, so 28 & 29 RN Pilots Course) were very unusual in that at Topcliffe / Linton we were a joint RAF/RN course. I started my flying training shortly after the Falklands, and the FAA had cracked open the flying training pipeline as wide as it would go in 82, so wanted to throttle back a tad in 83. So we had 10 RN & 6 Crabs, of whom all the RAF and 8 RN went on to the next stage. The Beefers (instructors in RN-speak) at RNEFTS were mixed even then; the Boss was Jock Gunning, an ex-Vixen and F4 driver, and we had people who'd flown Junglie Sea Kings, Shackletons, Lightnings, RN Buccaneers, Wasps and even Beverleys to teach us. The inter-Service rivalry melted away (as it always does when people work together) - indeed, I spent the rest of my career with one RN button and one RAF on my Mess Kit; presumably, so did 6 RAF pilots, including Andy Offer, who ended up leading the Dead Sparrows. At this point the RAF need was obviously for Tornado crews, so whenever asked in public what they'd like to fly, all the RAF boys would religiously say "Ooh, Tornados, please, Sir!". We knew better; one of our RAF brethren was only interested in one thing, namely flying the Chinook; not remotely interested in anything else, and never had been... but he had to be very careful who he said it to. So when on some crappy weather day when the Beefers had run out of Pilots' Notes Quizzes, and the instructors and studes were all sitting around drinking coffee and telling "and then the other wing fell off..." stories, the old question came out and this Chinook bloke was asked "What do you want to fly, Andy?", he said "Ooh, Tornados!"... and the RN contingent all blew a giant raspberry. The cat was now out of the bag, so at the end of the course Jock went into bat on Andy's behalf; "I send around 60 student aircrew a year from this Squadron straight to the Gazelle at Culdrose, and you are telling me that just because he is wearing light blue this young man has to go down the fixed-wing pipeline, be Chopped from Group 1, then again from Group 2, and only then be ready to fly what he wanted to all along? You're mad!" Jock (as he usually did) eventually got his way; Andy Lovell went straight to Shawbury and saved the taxpayer about a year of training costs - and ended up with about 4,000 hours as an SF Chinook pilot of considerable skill. He brought a cab down to Culdrose Air Day about 10 years later and flew a display that made even the most cynical RN wobble-heads gasp - you can do things in a Chinook (like do a backwards running take-off) that most helicopters would not take kindly to. In the end, it's all flying; they are just different skills. When, years later, I was Flight Commander of Broadsword on yet another Falklands patrol (I did 5, including the war!), the Boss of the Phantom detachment was an ex-RN Sub/Lt who'd transferred when the FAA lost the F4 15 years before. We used to have this weekly brief to act as a standing safety brief for fighter affil, so if we were ever airborne at the same time the F4s would try to bounce us and we'd try to evade; fantastic fun, and much more realistic training than set piece fighter evasion stuff in Wales. Eventually some of the Toom crews came flying with us to see the problem from the other side, and I got my F4 back seat ride. I expected the jet crews to find the Lynx somewhat sedate, but they got every bit as excited about 130 knots at 10 feet, or deck landings on a pitching frigate, as I did about wazzing about (it's a technical term) in 30 tons of McDonnell Douglas's finest. [The lessons were useful; a helicopter that sees the jet coming will always evade if properly handled (which is counter-intutive; most people think the helo would have no chance) - and few jets would waste an AIM9 on a helo.] The skills are similar, but different. I ended up with over 1,500 deck landings in my log book, and it came to be routine; yet to anyone who has never done one, they are testing, dangerous stuff, especially at night. I, on the other hand, reckon that Steve racking a single-seat jet about at zero feet over the sea in poor visibility makes my thing sound like a walk in the park - just because I have never done it, I guess. The Group 1 / 2 / 3 thing occasionally begat this mental pecking order - "I went Group 1, so I've never been chopped, so I am a better pilot than you are". Eventually people grew up, though, and realised what a load of twaddle that is!

Hello, Here is my latest build. It deals with the twoseater Mirage IIIB seen at Istres air base (France) around 1996-200. Its serial is 234 and belongs to CIFAS 328 (Bombing instruction center of Cognac, Strategic Air Forces) In progress topic is here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234960473-148-mirage-iiib-cev-istres/ And the pictures! Thanks for watching! Romain

My 1st ship, Trumpeter kits with GMM pe. Wish you like it!

ok few more pics this time finished off the weathering and have added a few cockpit pieces as well as some detail painting..... the kit is very solid up till now and fits very well....just to be careful of a few small pieces are easily breakable pipework....model so far has been airbrushed, post shaded, weathered, dry brushed and chipped with lots to go enjoy

Looked OK to me and I didn't have any problems with the build... I'd recommend it!

This was sent to me today, great contrast between then and now............... http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/06/scenes-from-d-day-then-and-now/100752/?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email Smudge

No problem my friends, I'm sad that some people here think that I have any Politic interest.. Definitely is not the point... I just wish to show my build and hear about your impressions. As I said, I'm Brazilian and we have our own Rivality with Argentine, but its no a problem to me. I just build models as a hobby, no worries about historical or politic stuff about any model. If I think this way, I have to take all bf-109 planes from my stash...

Incorrect in the most horrible way! Blinkered to be kind to you sir. (I hope I've covered all I need to, please highlight anything you consider incorrect) These are the facts as I see them; In Spanish it is Islas Malvinas, in French it is Îles Malouines, I'm sure other countries will have a name for the place on there own maps which bears no correlation to viscount falkland after whom we named the islands. We fought a war NOT to dispute the naming of the island group but to "maintain" sovereignty, which was already being considered to change by both the United Kingdom and Argentine parliaments, the falklanders themselves while being British akin themselves closer to those of Chile and Paraguay, English with a twist. You know, Toast the queen and salute the Union Jack but. . . The Falklands English vernacular has a fair amount of borrowed Spanish words (often modified or corrupted); they are particularly numerous, indeed dominant in the local horse-related terminology. For instance, the Islanders use ‘alizan’, ‘colorao’, ‘negro’, ‘blanco’, ‘gotiao’, ‘picasso’, ‘sarco’, ‘rabincana’ etc. for certain horse colours and looks, or ‘bosal’, ‘cabresta’, ‘bastos’, ‘cinch’, ‘conjinilla’, ‘meletas’, ‘tientas’, ‘manares’ etc. for various items of horse gear. Unlike the older English, French and Spanish place names given by mariners, which refer mainly to islands, rocks, bays, coves, and capes (points) important for navigation, the post-1833 Spanish names usually identify inland geographical locations and features, reflecting the new practical necessity for orientation, land delimitation and management in the cattle and sheep farming. Among the typical such names or descriptive and generic parts of names are ‘Rincon Grande’, ‘Ceritos’, ‘Campito’, ‘Cantera’, ‘Terra Motas’, ‘Malo River’, ‘Brasse Mar’, ‘Dos Lomas’, ‘Torcida Point’, ‘Pioja Point’, ‘Estancia’, ‘Oroqueta’, ‘Piedra Sola’, ‘Laguna Seco’, ‘Manada’, etc. Evolution of Falkland Islander identity Hon. Lewis Clifton OBE. Speaker, Falklands Legislative Council. The Falkland Islanders are British by citizenship, and by either origins or naturalization. They are one of the nations and mini-nations of the United Kingdom and the British overseas territories, including also the English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Channel Islanders, Gibraltarians, Saint Helenians, Bermudians, Caymanians etc. Along with their common British identity, each of these has its own distinct identity shaped in the respective particular circumstances of political, economic, social and cultural evolution history. According to Lewis Clifton, Speaker of the Falklands Legislative Council, the Falkland Islanders are no exception: "British cultural, economic, social, political and educational values create a unique British-like, Falkland Islands. Yet Islanders feel distinctly different from their fellow citizens who reside in the United Kingdom. This might have something to do with geographical isolation or with living on a smaller island – perhaps akin to those British people not feeling European." Besides geographical isolation, the emerging of a distinct Falkland Islander national identity along with the originally undifferentiated British identity was possibly influenced by the devolution processes taking place among the United Kingdom nations: "The recent devolution aspirations of Wales and Scotland may be a factor. No sociological study has ever been commissioned to try to identify a plausible theory, and therefore it is difficult to elaborate on this emerging dichotomy, but significant sociological change has occurred." Since the 1960s, the political dimension of Falklander identity has evolved around the campaign for recognition of the Islanders' right to self-determination. Key to this was the formation of the Falkland Island Committee in 1968, Britain's recognition of the right to self-determination after the Islanders turned down the so-called "leaseback proposal" put forward by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1980, and the new Falklands Constitution enacted in 1985. The constitution vests political power in the elected Falklands Legislative Council rather than the old style colonial governors. Hon. Mike Summers OBE. Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly. A specific regional aspect of identity is the human relationship the Islanders traditionally maintain with Chile and Uruguay,and the well-known Islander rejection of the Argentine sovereignty claim: "In the Falkland Islands a national identity dynamic also exists: it is constructed upon the Islanders’ desire not to deal with Argentina." The Falklands War had tremendous security, economic and social implications for the Falkland Islanders. The War opened the prospects for long needed reforms, reversing the demographic, economic and social decline that the Falklands had suffered for several decades. The Islanders became self-confident masters of their natural resources, and managers of a vibrant economy that attracted a wide range of new technical and managerial personnel to immigrate. The Falkland Islanders consider themselves a nation, the ethnogenesis of which is no different from that of other immigrant nations typical of the Americas, Australia or New Zealand; indeed no different from the case of neighbouring South American nations, as pointed out by Councillor Mike Summers: "We are as much a people as those in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile and many other South American countries whose inhabitants are of principally European or African descent." TRANSFER OF FALKLANDS SOVEREIGNTY PROPOSED (leaseback proposal) By Michael Frenchman Britain is suggesting that the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands be transferred to Argentina, according to a report reaching London last night. The islands, which are in the South Atlantic some 450 miles off the coast of Argentina, have been the subject of a 100-year-old dispute between Argentina and Britain. This is said to be one of a number of options which are being put to the islanders by Mr Nicholas Ridley, Minister of State in the Foreign Office, responsible for Latin America, who is now in the Falklands. According to Air Commodore B. G. Frow, of the Falkland Island Office in London, Mr Ridley addressed a meeting of the islands Sheep owners Association and told them that Argentina was getting impatient at the lack of progress in the attempts to solve the problem. Mr Ridley suggested that it would be in the islanders best interest if they agreed to a transfer of sovereignty. The other options are a 25-year freeze over the sovereignty issue, and a lease of the islands similar to that in force for Hongkong. Air Commodore Frow said that the lease-back solution, which has been raised before, is the one which is preferred by Whitehall. A spokesman at the Foreign Office said last night that he could neither confirm nor deny the reports as they were awaiting a report themselves on the results of Mr Ridleys talks. He continued: There are no proposals as such. The Government has been considering since the April exploratory talks with the Argentine Republic how best to achieve a solution of this difficult problem which would be acceptable to all parties. Mr Ridley is now consulting the islanders to establish their views on a basis for further talks with the Argentines. When asked if Britain intended to cede the sovereignty of the islands to Argentina the spokesman said they were looking for a solution which everyone could live with. He added: The important thing is the wishes of the islanders. If they agree, we can explore the possible basis for a solution. However, no solution can be finally agreed without the endorsement of the islanders and Parliament. The islands Legislative Council is to meet to discuss the propositions. This is the first time that such a package of alternatives has been put to the islanders publicly. During his meeting with the Sheepowners, Mr Ridley said that another option would be to break off talks altogether but he felt that this might antagonize the Argentine Government. (1980) To Argentina's military junta, the British government was patently eager to dispose of the Falklands. Thus when Ridley's initiative was mauled in the Commons and talks stalled, the invitation to the Argentinian junta to imitate India's seizure of Goa in 1961 was irresistible. The invasion was named Operation Goa. Even with tension mounting, Thatcher turned a deaf ear to pleas from the Foreign Office to reinforce the islands and deploy ships to the area. It's a shame this post has been destroyed in such a way, after all those captured spitfires/p47/etc. etc. dressed up as Germans, nobody says a thing that war is over, much like the Falklands/Malvinas conflict, it is over. The chap who posted is Brazilian, I think the language is Spanish or a derivative thereof so for his use of the word Malvinas is completely acceptable because that is how he knows it, I stand by my original post, it was considerate of him to translate it for us. It seems that only two people fail to recognise this? The Spanish speakers of the world will always call it the Malvinas!

Brilliant post thanks Ex-FAAetc !! My son in law is a Wokka loadie (or wso or whatever they're called today) & absolutely loves the beast! Had the opportunity to apply for Commissioned & pilot training but didn't want to risk ending up on Tiffie or Tonka & having to leave the Chinook community, so politely declined...!! I do wonder what I'd have done...?!

They are called the Falkland Islands. We fought a war to prove the point. Selwyn

I recently re-watched the DVD of the BBC Sailor Ark Royal 4 documentary from the late-70s - which was probably the single biggest influence in my wanting to become a Naval pilot. It was filmed very near the end of the FAA F4 / Brick life, so by that time quite a few of the crews were RAF. There's a classic scene when 809 are embarking off Start Point, and there's some poor sod trying to get stop the jet from floating at the last minute and missing the wire. He does eventually get it on, but only after doing 4 or 5 bolters and being threatened with diverting ashore if he misses this time. At the end they interview the pilot, who sounds all blasé ("never in doubt" etc. - exactly what I'd have said!) but his sweat-stained hair tells a different story! The thoughts of his long-suffering Looker were not recorded. And this guy was, it later transpires, a 3rd tour Buccaneer pilot, so no mug.I always had the utmost admiration for anyone who sat in the back / on my left (depending on aircraft type) for my deck landings / controlled crashes. No bang seat for them, and nothing to do except try not to crap themselves as I wobbled a Lynx around trying to get it onto Type 22 at night. Having talked to some of the Shar pilots from 801 during my first tour - many of them experienced Aussie A4 pilots, so no green-horns - about the workload involved in getting a single-seat jet back on deck at night with no diversion, I just know that I'd have exceeded my mental capacity somewhere downwind, before even starting the approach! Respect. It's bad enough being the guy waggling the sticks; sitting there waiting for the trained monkey up front to cock it up must take nerves of steel...

Nah, Banter and stories will continue around a pair of Hawks instead, Start getting worried in 2016 when the paint goes on the F16 Edit actually F16 going to be 2017 I reckon as the Hawks will be 2015, Jaguars 2016

Crab now painted - Equal amounts of Vallejo olive grey and russian uniform was the suggested mix for SCC15. Picked up a chain from Hobbycraft but it might not be fine enough. Balls on the ends of the flails? Need something small and spherical, mustard seeds should do the job.

thanks exdraken! The finished pics: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234964554-148-mirage-iiib-cev-istres/ Thanks again for passing by! Romain

ok have managed to get back to this build...gotta finish it before the year is up! No additional work to the aircraft as I ran out of paint!! My only jar of RLM02 has died so had to go online last nite to get some more (local shops are so sh#t they don’t stock it.....I mean I live in Sydney!!!!). Anyway have bought the paint ........along with a Plant Models 1/48 Westland Welkin NF Mk.2.....well it was ½ price! So decided to work on the weapons. Have almost finished painting everything as will as building the TV Guided Hs.295. Am so happy at how they came out am almost ready to start a production line! Have one other “whatif” weapon in the pipeline.....not sure if it will make it onto this one....for now. Hs-293 C-1, LT 950 T Glider Torpedo, GT 1200A Hs-293 A, Hs-293 C-1, Hs-293, Hs.295 Ruhrstahl X-4 Hs.293 D Hs.293 C-1 Hs.295 Just a little bit to go and she’s done, have to go away next week for work (back to WA), so will finish the story for it while I’m away. It will be interesting..........

Dio of Challenger 1 Mk3, with crewman getting a 'snap' taken for his album to show folks later on in life, hope you enjoy

This is going to be my next project while the Terminator Aerial HK is resting: It was a 50th birthday present from fellow Britmodeller Col. As a slight aside he is BM member 007 which I like. Thanks Col. It is beautifully moulded, here are the sprue shots: The clear parts are also lovely. The decal sheet is nice but, like Hasegawa often does, the white areas are rather yellow: The kit also includes some small PE frets: Nice. I also have these fabric seat belts and turned guns and pitot tube: As well as this resin rocket engine: I am not sure how to use that, possibly displayed on its own stand. I also have this colour reference guide which includes some decals: This is the scheme I am thinking of going for: Now to start building.

Having seen the beginings of an excellent Cutty Sark - here (vanity vanity) is a picture of a scratch built model of the above - WWII frigate - 6ft approx long and weighs about 45lbs - in order to sit correctly R?C on board - gun turret rotates - had smoke from funnel and one or two other gismos. It was invaluable as a project giving me practice at using a lathe (which I had bought) - turning gun barrells and vents etc - plus various rails - was a lot of fun. It ended up on dsiplay in a model shop in Sussex - as it was taking up a lot of space - been there a week and someone who served on a similar vessel made me an offer I could not refuse - had a glass case made especially apparently. Shop keeper was sad at his display vanishing so lent him a scale paddle tug - again scratch built with gear boxes - and other working bits. Not in the window long and some villain yanks out the shop window and is off with my Tug!!! Not really built anything else in that line since.

Trumpeter KV-1, Tamiya Acrylics, mineral spirit oil wash with no-name oil pigments. Turret #2 is a fictive designation, I wanted to see if I could avoid silvering under the decal using techniques explained here. So this is my first finished kit since 1976. It is a learning exercise, but so far I enjoy the ride My #1 lesson learnt is to get the build and finishing sequence right. Sub assemblies, rust, scratches, dry brushing color modulation, washes etc. My #2 - if your last step is an oil wash - buy good quality pigments! Still learning "!how to operate a camera" and a new lens - not meant as an excuse - just the way things are atm... Happy Modelling! Zack

What should a reader expect from a magazine kit rewiew? Here are a few issues that I personally think should be required: The reviewer should have basic knowledge about the aircraft type. The reviewer should be able to read the instructions. The reviewer should be able to discover obvious problems. The August 2014 issue of SAMI made me wonder, though... "… not one single problem was encountered during the build …" Nils

How about reversing the sequence. Camo first then mask off the camo leaving just the intakes exposed then spray the intakes. would be easier masking from the outer edge rather than from the inside edge.

I have the same habit of spending longer doing the research and reading about stuff than actually building the models but that is all part of the fun in my opinion. Duncan B

By happy chance I'd arranged a trip to the Mary Rose and RN Submarine museum yesterday so got to see the arrival: Along with these couple I took plenty of detail shots that I'll sort out for the Walkarounds section - I did the same for her starboardside down in Plymouth last year so have the full set now. (My avatar is Lusty's white ensign from last year) Andrew

Given the heatwave we seem to be "enjoying", your scribe much prefers the cold, it is somewhat apt that before heat stopped play today, I got a load done on the engine firewall. this consisted of replacing the undernourished strengthening ribs on the wall with more robust items made from plastic strip. I had been wondering whether to replace them almost from the start of the build and ultimately decided that I would never be happy with them as supplied. I don't know why it took so long for me to make up my mind as they are hardly the most difficult of parts to replace. I also finished drilling out various holes in the firewall and adding slivers of Albion Alloys aluminium tubing to them. At this point sweat dripping into my eyes convinced me that it was pointless to continue with operations until things had cooled down. With a bit of luck I might be able to get a bit done on the Tracker late this evening. Thanks for looking Martin the Melting

The armament on this thing is causing me more trouble than it did the Germans! Or so it seems... I managed to break off the end of one of the cannons, just where it emerges from the support structure. Took me ages to get it back in place and lined up properly: I'm still not completely satisfied so you won't be getting any more close-ups of that area. However that is now behind me as I have reached what I call the ignition point - the engines are on! The starboard one was attached yesterday and the port one followed his morning. I then attached the ailerons and the thing actually looks like a Mosquito now - one that has seen better days, I'll admit, but I didn't want something that looked fresh off the production line. Before anybody points it out, I realise that the starboard mainwheel isn't positioned correctly with the flattened part of the tyre at the bottom. That isn't a problem as the wheel does rotate; it's just the way I put the model down to take the photos.

Call it what you want, we still own it. Really nice,love your builds

Sorry about your woes both modeling and providing a taxi service. My favorite would rather I take her to her band dealings, no matter where they are. So I remember a wonderful Saturday where we were in Austin enjoying a music festival for the weekend, but she had to do a band competition in another town about 240 miles away. So most of Saturday while she was sleeping and watching videos I was driving back and forth across Texas. And I agree with you about Eduard. They do give the strangest pieces as extra, Also, I thought I was the only one that thought their instructions were at best vague. I always feel I am doing a dexterity test with them giving a callout for a part with the wonderful bend symbol and I am supposed to figure out how to bend the part to match what it is supposed to be. I also think they take advantage of us modelers that are content with "knowing it is there" but will never be visible again (well, maybe tied with Zukei-Mura) as a large part of their sets, once in place are either too tiny to be seen once the model is built or are in places that the sun never shines. Okay, sorry for ranting on your thread. Just wanted you to know you are not alone about Eduard. Go forth and carry on.

Please dont understand my build like a political comment or any defense of Argentine interests, I'm from Brazil and just build a model that take part in a war against british forces, soon I will build a Sea Harrier the same way.

Finally got the base paint on, I used Gunze acrylic mid stone and dark earth for the upper sides and Xtracrylic Azure blue for the lower. After a bit of tidying up, the next step will be a coat of Kleer before the decals. following that, there will be a wash for the panel lines and a light dusting of thinned white to 'bleach' the paintwork slightly before moving on to oils for a dirtying up. This is the fun part!

Ok I haven't had much time to work on this one. But in between other builds I have managed to progress a bit further. Cleaned up the fuselage and finished filling the hole left for the original top mounted engine. Have pretty much finished the new pod and have mounted it with the original one. The mounting is not 100% perfect and will need a bit of filler but looks good and is what I hoped it would look like. Refitted the nose cone, could make it entirely from lead and it still wouldn’t be enough to stop it from being a tail sitter, so gave up on that idea and will just add a clear bit of rod to sort that issue out. Unless I have some other brain wave! Once the new mounts are cleaned up it should be a simple process to finish....have really got the urge to finish this one....so should be done fairly quickly.

Yeah, must have been eaten, I can link it again if you need it The guy who made the battleship does indeed have a site documenting his progress here http://www.geocities.jp/dourakuoyadi/newpage500SBY-1.htm and his site in general http://www.geocities.jp/dourakuoyadi/ He's currently working on super detailing the new 1/500 Yamato, a master of his craft Plenty of other Yamato series ships in his gallery to browse and drool over most of them scratch builds or serious conversions. http://www.geocities.jp/dourakuoyadi/newpage-puramoderu.htm Love the Heavy Cruiser at the start of the movie, but very hard to find reference material on unfortunately.

Hi ! Some news of the Emil : Engine and cockpit modules are now stuck together : There was no decal provided for the instruments pannel, i had to use a tooth pick to paint some switch and needles on it (Work in progress) : The genuine throttle stick did not please me, so i scratched a couple of new levers (One for the Throttle, the other for the oil radiator). A card holder made from thin card board had also been added on the right of the cockpit : That's all for today. Have a nice day !