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All, Some pictures of my completed 1/72 Matchbox Armstrong Whitworth Siskin between the wars fighter. Built mostly OOB with some very minor detail work creating basic cockpit, separating the control surfaces and reducing landing gear struts to make it appear more weighted down when on the ground. Rigged with very fine sewing mending thread (monofilament) and brush painted as always. Constructive comments welcome Regards Dave

Hi everybody, The goal was to finish in early November and for 30 min and the bonding of the antenna is good. Here is the Stirling Italeri in its version of para / glider tug. I just have to find him a place in the house now because it does not fit in my showcase Hope you like Joel

Nowadays with the upcomming AZ-Model, we will have an easy way to build a Bf 109 G-6/AS. But a while ago there was no AS Version available and so I did a kitbash, using the fuselage of Revells G-10 and the wings of Academys G-6 togehter with PE cooler-flaps from Eduard. Additionally I repositioned the landing flaps and the elevator. Revells G-10 was partialy rescribed, it got a new propeller from quickboost, and I reworked the oilcooler, the MG openings, the supercharger inlet and gave her a CMK Resin Cockpit The 109 is painted with Gunze Acrylics in RLM 75/83/73. Weathering was done with several airbrushed shadings and oil colors. It shows a JG 4 plane from the 4. Gruppe/ 13. Staffel flown by Uffz Friedrich Zenk.

Hi everybody, as said my first RFI and first time using a few new techniques (varnishes for decals, washes) so be gentle! I am also well aware of a MAJOR gaffe I made on the tail.... Have done many RAF planes but I was so focused on positioning I put them on the wrong way round . Aside from that I'm very pleased with myself and the finish, my best ever I think. I opted for the RAF Valley based squadron as I was on annual camp there twice with the ATC. Also painted the wings in Hu 166 as I have seen pictures of them like this, and it is a sexy grey... Though I haven't a clue if this is accurate. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. Also apologies for the poor quality smartphone pictures and lack decent setting, the bathroom just happens to have nice bright lights!

Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant. Here is the link to the WIP Thank you for looking. Joe.

Well, I made it back from the windswept shores of Lake Erie and what's more.. I passed my exam!!! Now I'm back I have another 10 weeks of weekly assessments then straight into exam number 2! Oh goody... NOT! Life kinda got in my way upon my return but I have finally managed to snag a few moments dans la basement. I am desperately trying to get to the point where I can get the last coat of semi-gloss on but I keep finding things that need done first. As I left my last post I had managed to make one o' them thar sticky-outy sharp thingies. That is now fixed in place, painted, and pointing backwards as per my reference photo's. As a slight diversion I decided to tackle the winch hook. Italeri have molded it as a sold disc, and just for a change, *cough* I didn't like it. After some mulling over the issue I decided the best option was to carve out the existing disc to make three spars - that allowed me to make a small brass ring that was the ca'd in place around aforementioned spars. Then when it's all painted up and glued into the winch I think it looks a bit over-scale but I'm drawing a line at this one. Since the trans deck door will be down, very little of it will be seen, so in this instance I think it will suffice. Moving along, it was time for more aerials, this time the towel rail hanging off the port side. I don't believe there's anything supplied in the kit for this one (though I may have cut it up for something else) so I had to roll my own (again). As you can see here, I had loads of fun making aerials then deciding it wasn't good enough - I'm going with the one at the bottom. The top one was made from some solid brass and some wire - took me ages to file down the pins - then I decided it was way too big. That led me onto version number two - this time I used some small diameter brass tube squeezed in the vise - and then I couldn't figure out how to attach it securely... which brought me to version number three - this time I didn't squeeze the brass tube quite so hard, which left a small gap between the walls (see below). I then clamped some brass wire in the vise to flatten the end down - then the flattened end of the wire slid nicely into the almost flat tube, and a touch of solder was flung on to keep everything in place. Then followed a quick run over with the file to clean things up and I added some styrene at the bottom end to create the bracket mounting. In the photo above you can see that I made two plates to mount the aerial on - I spent ages looking at photo's before I spotted the "plates" then took ages to make them, get them in the right place and drill the mounting holes..... wait for it.... Then I realized that the "plates" were not in fact plates at all, merely a small lip above and below the aerial - thankfully this was spotted before I slapped any glue on the beast. Today I must have spent at least an hour and a half trying to finish the aerial off - the 1:1 is chrome with aluminum (I think) mounting brackets. I tried using BMF but when I finally got the darn stuff on (took forever!) I thought it looked to chintzy. The I tried painting it, then I painted it again, then I stripped the paint off and then I painted it again... which is where I am at now. The brackets will get a smattering of some kind of aluminum paint and that should be it ready to fit. And didn't I mention somewhere that the rotor head was now finished ???? Yeah, I was wrong again... I forgot that I still had to make the droop stops. I had made one a as test a while back, just to see if I could do it - now i had to make the remaining three, well four actually - when I test fitted the old oner I discovered it was too long so I had the make the new ones a good deal shorter.. this is about the limits of my skill shown here. Yup, there's brass rod top and bottom, with three uprights - and yes I was stupid enough to fit a "spring" around the center post. All four are now painted and should be fitted to the rotor head tomorrow. ... and I still haven't got the darn thing sprayed with the semi-gloss yet!

IPMS Portugal launched the challenge to its members: build a T-6 at 1:100 scale to be displayed in Telford next November.

Good day, jentlemen! This is my next model.

Hi Guys for the BC display at Telford this year we have the Stirling on show as it'll be 75th anniversary of their introduction into service. With this in mind I decided to build N3640 as it was the first one issued to a Sqd, in August 1940, for evaluation purposes. There were some notable differences which I had to get in so here goes. The mid upper turret needed deleting, there is some evidence that the early ones had the mid under turret but I couldn't see any evidence from the piccies I had so I went without, probably be proven wrong soon. The two masts under the nose needed to be deleted, fairly easy. I fertled about with the wing leading edge intakes. Having gained two spinners from a friends Wellington kit I had some job searching for another Wellington kit but at Newark I found one and finally had 4 spinners I could cut down for the props, as this a/c had them. I had to drill extra windows to both port and starboard sides but can't remember how many without having another kit to hand so I can compare. By the way, I used Humbrol clearfix to glaze them and they look great but how is it best to use this stuff, it strings like mad and leaves a residue on the paint job, wouldn't have been a prob but I had matted the paint down and it spoiled the finish a bit. I sanded down all the rivet detail and scribed some panels back on. All the exhausts on this a/c were outboard on the engines. I deleted the hedgehog bits and had to shorten two of them so I had a complete set. The blurb I read said they were high up on the cowlings but I think I went too high. Painting was done using Xtracrylics but I'm not happy with the yellow. Decals were from the spares box and the landing light cover, which has been fitted since I took the pictures, was fashioned from sellotape. The wheels were from Scale Resin bought from the big H, I thought the rear wheels would be a bit weak but they've stood up to my moving the kit around. For now at least. Regards Paul

Hi all, here are some pictures of my last completed build. It is the very nice Zvezda BF 109 kit (F4 version) finished as a plane from JG 77, flown by Heinrich Setz, in Crimea 1942. The decals are from an Authentic Decals sheet. Paints are Gunze acrylics. I hope you will like it, best, Christian.

HI all! Today the Russian whiz. A quite good kit, wich made a lot of fun. Also finally something else than our evergreens 109, Spit and all these things. Best regards Andy

First posting of a model on this forum (sorry, no WIP). Completed using Vallejo Acrylics, Panel washed using Windsor and Newton inks. First time doing pre-shading, but I'm very happy with how it came out. Dave

After registering and introducing myself in the "New member" section, http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234990577-hello-from-cologne-germany/ I would like to show some of my models. I hope it is ok to show some work that has been posted somewhere else before. I would like to start with this Junkers Ju 88. It was done mainly OOB. I painted the A-5 with Gunze Acrylics (my favorite brand), gave it a wash with oil colors and finaly weathered it with Tamiyas Weathering Sets. This plane flew with the KG 30 in Finnland 1941/42. The Kit-decals are rather simple (only crosses and and unit markings), so I added some stencils from the Revell kit. Comments and criticsm are welcome.

After placing yet another ill fitting jet on the shelf of doom, I thought I'd try a new direction and decided on WW2 single engined fighters. This is the Tamiya kit and what a great little kit! No hassles putting it together at all. I didn't pay too much attention to accuracy, I just went back to basics. A week to build instead of a two month jet slog has given my mojo a lovely little boost! I used Xtradecals and painted with a mix of Humbrol, Revell, Mr hobby and Tamiya paints. Anyway, the pics (not the best quality as I have to rely on the sun and it aint around.. Excuse the broken cannon which I snapped off during manoeuvres ) : Thanks for looking!

I got two coats of matt varnish on this yesterday and added the final details this morning so I am calling the aircraft part of this build done. I still need to do some work to organise displaying it, but because the 109 is now going to feature alongside it I need to crack on with that build. Hopefully going to make it. I would just like to add my thanks to those of you who have stayed with this build and for all the help and support given.

Hello modellers, just finished my first seaplane. Mostly OOB with just few additions in the cockpit and cut of tail control surfaces. The hasegawa kit is not the newest but definitively great quality and really enjoyable. just the decals were a bit out of register but nothing dramatic to adjust. Painting has been done with airbrush using Tamiya Acrylics and Tamiya spray for finishing. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for looking. Cheers Andy

On another note, any Father who reads Kipling to his offspring is an absolute hero in my book.

Hello to all. My latest finished model. AV-8A from Airfix in 1/72, completely out of the box, just added harnesses to the ejection seat and a few buttons to the side consoles. Great kit, great fit, just a little issue with the intakes (inside) but everything went fine at the end.

On a model railway forum I visit (don't tell anyone I said that...!!) they have a number of these 'buttons'. When first introduced, replacing the single like button, everyone poo-poohed the idea saying they'd never use them, what a wastte of time, etc etc. Now I think everyone thinks they're a great idea! You have the usual like, together with agree, thanks, funny, clever/craftsmanship, informative useful, & friendly/supportive.... Keith

Cheers fella nice of you to say so Got the masks on and was somewhat unsure about them at first, mainly due to the various sections not meeting perfectly across the fuselage halves or between fuselage and wing, although a little extra work with scissors and some masking fluid sorted that issue out. Really should have taken a photo at that point but... I got carried away With all the masking off I'm really pleased with the results. Only the wavy wing leading edge will need more work;

Thank you very much, Gentlemen. I appreciate your interest and kind words. Thanks particularly to Sergey for an very interesting and useful photograph. I had some false starts on this over the past couple of weeks, as I had no choice but to guess regarding the manner in which the motor was mounted. I had seen two methods on Farmans, one a sort of four-point star, and one a truncated pyramid. I tried both, and in doing so realized I had botched the motor, which to engage any mounting would need more crankcase behind the cylinder bank. Then I got lucky. I had put up an inquiry on a small forum dedicated to the South African Air Force, and a fellow there came up trumps, providing pictures which not only showed the manner in which the machines operating in German Southwest Africa were marked, but showing the motor clearly from the port quarter, up pretty close. Wife put the old picture through Photoshop, cleaning it up to show even more detail in the shadows, and so I was finally able to make the mounting work, and o so with some confidence I was being at least reasonably accurate. It was necessary to reconfigure the rear of the nacelle a bit, but nothing too major; a couple of cross-pieces had to come out, and a few other bits and bibs. And while ll of this was going on I got the interior painted, partially rigged, and made the nose 'cap'. At any rate, here are some pictures of the new engine in its early stages, fit into its mounting on the partially re-configured nacelle rear,,,, The nose 'cap' is just resting in place. This was made from a block of two rectangles of 2mm sheet laminated together, after which everything no the desired part was cut and sanded away. A bit of extension was added in the rear on each side, but these may be cut off, as they do not seem to be evident in the S.A. pictures. Wife has previously remarked on seeing items like this that they resemble the 'stick on' nails girls use nowadays, buyable by the pack in the beauty section, and she may have a good point.... Here is a look at the nacelle rear in final form, ready for the motor to be attached.... Here is the new engine, painted, about mid-way through, front and back... Copper tone is a wash of brown over sprayed silver, topped with clear orange (washable marker picked up with Future). Finally, here is the motor attached to its mountings at the rear of the nacelle. I can now proceed to the relatively straightforward business of furnishing the 'office' for the crew, after which I will do the fuel tank, finish the exhaust arrangements and fuel feeds, PAINT the thing, and then do the radiators and water-feeds. I feel reasonably sure I can get that done over the coming weekend....

With my latest build very close to completion it's on to the next build, Kopro's boxing of the Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot to be built as Ukrainian machine in the latest camo scheme. And the extras............................... I'm planning on using some of the panels from the MIG-21 set on the same shaped/sized panels on this kit, mostly consisting of the round ones on the engine pods. And finally, what I hope will be a cracking set of decals.........

I hope as a newcomer I've posted this in the most appropriate place. It was posted by Al Bowie on HyperScale, but I thought some may enjoy it here too if it has not been posted before: This Fantasy Kit site with really well done mock-ups of box-art. Mainly Airfix, but a large number of Matchbox and others. https://www.facebook.com/fantasykitworld

Airfix new models, a 1/48 model I didnt like it too much. Some problems at construction and the body doesnt fit so good Never mind, try the quality of plastic and details. An English Land Rover in Bosnia, just in the middle of a Serb protest and got some damage All made by brush and vallejo acylics, oils and pigments.

I can only applaud Martin's grown-up attitude to the situation, and would advise anyone to assume that the person they are discussing is able to read this (it is an open forum as far as reading goes), so not to use derogatory wording about a company's business decision, just because it doesn't meet with your approval. More power to your elbow Martin & Sio

Here’s my rendition of the Arii (originally produced by Otaki?) 1:48 scale F4U-1A Corsair. Even though it was first issued in 1972, the Arii kit builds into a nice Corsair. The good points are very accurate outline and shapes, finely recessed panel lines, and great parts fit. Drawbacks are a simple and inacurate cockpit and wheels, and an engine that doesen’t remotely resemble any engine used in any aircraft. Here’s how I upgraded the kit: I replaced the cartoonish engine with with a resin R-2800, updated the cockpit with Eduard photoetched insturment panel, seat and sidewall details, and used seatbelts and wheels from True Details. I replaced ther kit tail wheel with a more accurate-looking one from the spares box, and attached it at an angle for a more candid appearance. I also cut away the flaps and dropped them, added exhaust stacks made from drilled-out styrene rod, and added a small whip antenna to the fuselage spine. I couldn’t determine if this plane had the tail hook removed or not, so I left it on. VF-17’s Corsairs didn’t have the usual antenna mast, and some had unusual field-modified antennas. Based on photos, I built an antenna that runs fron the top if the vertical fin down to the tip of the right horizontal stabilizer. From there, it runs into the usual antenna lead-in on the right side of the fuselage, behind the cockpit. I don’t know for certain if it’s accurate, but that’s how I interpreted the antenna arrangment in photos. I used a Pasche VL airbrush to apply the three-toned camouflage scheme, though most photos of the actual aircraft indicate it was very weathered, with almost no distiction between the non-specular sea blue upper surfaces and the intermidiate blue sides. For markings, I used an old SuperScale sheet to portray “White 29”, the plane flown by Lt. Ira Kepford of VF-17 while based at Ondonga, New Georgia, in the Solomon Islands in late 1943. I made a mistake in not placing the kill markings at the correct angle to the tape covering the seams of the forward fuselage cell. VF-17 was the first navy squadron to be equipped with the Corsair. Assigned briefly to USS Bunker Hill, the squadron was soon transferred to the Solomon Islands to serve as a land-based squadron. In its two tours of duty in the Solomons, VF-17 was credited 156 aerial victories and produced 12 aces, the most of any squadron in the Navy. Kepford was the U.S. Navy’s 6th highest ranking ace with 16 victories and 8 probables.

Hobbyboss kit with resin Aires ejection seats, main wheel bay and weapons from Eduard Brassin series ( AIM-9, GBU-10 and Mk.82 bombs on MER's ). I used Xtradecal sheet for the markings.

I'm happy today.... seven years after my previous finished work (Sh60B 1/72) I can call another one a finished one.... Very happy indeed... There are things that could be improved, of course, but i'm very happy with the results... Mostly having in count that is my first civil vehicle and my first 1/32 model... This model is dedicated to all of you that posted in my WIP thread. Thanks a lot

Hi folks, Here are some glamour shots of my completed Beaufighter. Apart from tape seat belts, it's completely oob. I wanted to get the 'vibe' of the kit, before building the others (4) in my stash more seriously. Scheme is brush painted with Xtracrylix. I am seriously impressed by the kit. The vast majority of the build sequence is sensible, parts fit where they should and overall assembly is pretty simple. Two things I will mention though: 1) Engine cowlings: Suggest you glue the cowling pieces together to form the complete cowling, let dry, then add the engine, rather than assemble the cowling around the engine as the instructions suggest; 2) Undercarriage leg supports. Ensure these are trimmed to fit neatly in the slots provided. The fit is tight and it's a somewhat awkward squeeze to install them. Anyway, here are the shots: RFI thread here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234989610-airfix-172-beaufighter/ regards, Martin

You know Martin, I'm looking forward to saying hello in person one day. Your attitude and approach is first class.

Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant Finished. Thank you all for looking and your post during my WIP. I've put some photos in the Gallery Joe

Thanks Beard Big day today... Masked by Ced Bufton, on Flickr DG on by Ced Bufton, on Flickr Make sure you move other parts out of the spray booth - rats. Had to do these again: Oops by Ced Bufton, on Flickr Mask off by Ced Bufton, on Flickr Out to dinner tonight and Yeovilton show tomorrow so probably doing a bear impression (big paws) Thanks for looking!

I have been shamed by my lack of industry. Somewhere Lord Tebbit frowns disapprovingly and knows not why. (I always wondered if anyone ever made decals for his Vampire from his RAF days -- one could do a dogfight double with it and whatever Tony Benn flew.)

Keeping us all in suspense until Telford when they announce their new Victor, Blue Steel version. Well, I can hope, can't I?

here are pics of my Ventura Spit 'XIV. I built it many years ago around the 80s or earlier not sure now. Any how, they illustrate the look of the kit and I have also included a couple shots of the Fujimi 'bubble top' XIV for comparison. In the original issue as this one was, the cannon,prop blades, exhaust stubs, u/c legs, control column were in white metal and a piece of fine gauze was also included to fit in the underwing rads. Later issues by Ventura did not have these metal parts so much due to 'elf n' safety' regs or something like that. I know the tailwheel is AWOl on the silver one and am looking in my Spitfire spares to see if I have one there. I'll do pics of my unbuilt Ventura kit next so you can see what the is like for those that don't know it.

Tail Fix started, the pictures say it all I think...

I really shouldn't drop these into a thread about Stirlings, and that kit DOES look fun but... I sold a few of these over the years, it looked after me better than the Hurricane book has! A few from years ago. This lot is comfortably into 7 and possibly 8 figures now when added up and , perhaps, the reason I have been looking back today was (and you read it here first) today I ceased to be the owner of this lady. A hard and upsetting day

Thanks CedB, sometimes we have to make it easy for ourselves... I saw the 'hole' on the sheet and thought... recycle! @ArmouredSprue: thank you very much for following this thread! 221. The lower wings are fixed, glued with Gator Glue (which, as I've explained before, is totally different from Gator's Grip glue, often wrongly referred to as Gator Glue). 222. After 45 minutes of drying time I started sanding the fuselage. 223. The gaps near the wing roots and the wing parts are filled with thick CA + accelerator, thereafter filed. 224. CA glue in this spot may look risky... 225. ... but is smooth within short time. The clue is to first use the file, then sanding paper coarse, then sanding paper medium. 226. Layer of silver, after which deficiencies still appear present. Those get CA again (see picture hereunder). File and sand again, CA again, then it's flat. 227. Quite a bit of work, but the result is satisfactory. Port side (picture: right area) is finished. Compare left with right. 228. Don't forget to sand off the silver afterwards... Total spent time: 85 hours.

Its getting there. Main camo pattern done. Needs some touch ups and the underneath to get another coat of light grey. Then to make it all very shiney for the decals.

Hello, Please excuse my tardiness. I believe I put my name down for this GB, so it's about time I got started on something. I have had this kit for a little while now, and of course Roden have since issued their version which is no doubt the bees knees. Some may think that I should eschew this Mach2 and get a nice Roden, but I'll have none of that talk here. So here we go. Parts. They look harmless enough. If all goes well, it should end up looking a bit like this: Ok, so joking aside. It may not be state of the art, and probably lacking some of the finer details found on other manufacturers kits, but if I can get it to go together reasonably well it will make a good subject for some airbrush practice, and will certainly stand out on the shelf. Problem identified so far is the rather dubious looking cockpit transparency, which has been commented on by others elsewhere. A replacement is available in one of those Falcon canopy sets, but I'm not sure if I'll splash out on one or not. We'll see how things pan out. Cheers.

1/72 scale Plastic Soldier Company Lloyd Carriers for Crew and Ammo plus 6 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun Scale Pics...... ATB Sean

evening folks & thank you so after the little accident, work continues.. ..this is what is needed - the structures inside the U/C bay - I have reversed the picture as that is the way up I work on it.. ..the bulkheads are all unique and many are handed with different details or hole spacing on one side vs the other side (in the same nacelle) - plenty there to catch me out.. this is why restoration shots are so valuable - you can actually see what is going on without all the clutter of a fully operational aircraft... other things of note is the one long lateral stringer that runs the length of each side below the main gear opening and how the bulkheads go around it (just to complicate things...)... there is also a big black ball thing at the far end - I have no idea what this is and have not seen it in other pics so will likely leave it out unless anyone can chime in with what it is.. ..the last pic before my workbench imploded shows some detail being added into the very tip of the nacelle structure - I am glad its over as it actually gave me headaches working in such a confined area.. ..and the first of the main bulkheads - I stuck tape on it so I can draw on it and mark out.. ..did them in pairs and punched out the holes - they look random but are actually correct spacing as best as I could tell.. ..these first two have mounting brackets for the U/C doors so were strengthened with brass and detailed.. ..made up the next in line and panted them so I could get in all the nooks and crannies... I will paint it all again once it is all assembled.. ..and taped into place... ..unfortunately there are 16 or so to go so will be here some time... thats all for now.. TTFN Peter

£45 is good, afterall, you get a lot of plastic...... thick plastic

My heavily modified Aria FA 71 that I like to call Big Blondie.

The Sea Cat missile launcher that comes in the kit needs a fair bit of work doing to it. I removed the 4 upright bits of plastic and then cut 4 cutouts, one on each side. 4 launcher PE rails were then glued on, 2 each side. I fitted the launcher to the Hanger roof and then painted the launcher. The Sea Cat missiles are made from 3 parts, a fin needs to be fitted one either side. This was done using PVA and once dried painted white. I fitted the 3 remaining parts to the Foremast, I had great fun (not) trying to get the Top Pole Dish to stay in the correct place, but it eventually stayed in place. The Top Pole was then painted white which has helped to stick everything in place. I am pleased with the way the Foremast has turned out, it's not perfect, but it looks ok from a distance. The Hanger roof was fitted and then after folding up the railings, the Aft Director platform was fitted. The Mainmast access platforms have to be folded to shape and then fitted just below the side access hatches. The Yardarms need the support legs folding down under the Yardarms and these were then glued in place. The Mainmast Gaff and GPI unit Gaff were added to the rear of the Mainmast and then the Sword and Shield Antenna. Andy

The ammo bins below the guns looked a bit empty so.......... Filled in the void and added some PE ammo Feed chutes added and guns Proved that the gun flash eliminator can be produced in paper, just need to increase the angle Thanks for stopping by Kev

so, all decals applied, lights are on, and I'm giving the landing gear a try . she has a coat of Vallejo flat but km planning on giving it a tamiya clear so I can actually do weathering, since I have that chipping solution underneath , it's really hard to do anything that is wet :/ . can anyone tell me if tamiya clear is ok to use over the decals? anyways here's a picture of progress , I need exhaust /air break fuel tanks bombs landing gear doors. enjoy

I thought I was ready to start painting but then I realised I was forgetting something, the load ! The Trumpeter kit supplies 2 MERs with Mk.82 bombs to be installed under the inner wing pylons and 2 Bullpup missiles for the outer pylons. Alternatively the inner wing pylons can carry one tank each. The ventral pylon is not supplied as the only load proposed for this position is a fuel tank that comes with an integral pylon. Thuds carried many loads over Vietnam however the most common was 6 M117 on a MER attached to the ventral pylon. This is the configuration I'd like to build, hence the need to find or scratchbuild a pylon. As the pylon then obviously need to be glued under the fuselage I decided that this was better done before painting. The pylon was scratchbuilt from plasticard. To add some strength to the contact points, I've drilled holes on both sides to accept steel pins, a standard technique for me when I fear that glue may not be enough. The MER comes from the Academy F-8 (a great kit of another Vietnam War icon). I also have a set of Hasegawa bombs that includes MERs, however I've preferred to raid the spares box this time, Really the quality of the Academy part is on par with the Hasegawa ones anyway, the only difference is that the pins meant to be used with the kit bombs need removing. Here are the pylons and MER The Pylon was then glued to the fuselage Finally a view of the MER on the pylon. The MER has not been glued yet, I noticed that there's a bit too much clearance between the bottom of the pylon and the top of the rack, there should be a gap but not this wide. Not a problem though, I still have time to sort this.

They also do Peter Caygill's excellent Javelin tome Keef, great but frightening stuff, (for Vixen and Scimitar, Tony Buttlers books make good reading)......... Excellent choice Edward, I've also got a 10 squadron B.1 on the go at the mo for our Bomber Command sig courtesy of FP ......60% Matchbox/40% resin, (new tailplane, ailerons, tail-cone and rudder courtesy of my old friend Terry Grey).......weighs a ton.. (Hope you don't mind me plonking a piccy of it on here),

Oh Crisp, you just had to mention Aircrew NBC kit and water! Thread drift alert. For those not in the know, the aircrew NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) kit was very different from that used by our groundborne colleagues - it was (apparently) designed to give you 100% protection from 'nasties' whereas the ground kit only conferred about 95-98% protection. Known as AR5 it consisted of an 'Above Kneck Assembly' and a 'Below Kneck Assembly'. The latter consisted of a romper suit lined with activated charcoal and a cute pair of booties of the same material. Under this you wore longjohns, socks and a longsleeved vest. Over the top you wore your flying suit and boots as well as a pair of black rubber 'Marigold' washing up gloves which were then taped around your wrists, over the top of which you wore your cape leather flying gloves. The black rubber gloves were exactly the same as the pink or yellow ones you can buy in the supermarket save for the colour. I'll bet the MOD could have made a fortune selling them to fetishists! All well and good; the 'Below Kneck Assembly' wasn't too bad to wear, if a tad hot and sweaty. But the 'Above Kneck Assembly'..... Dear gods... This consisted of a black rubber bag that you wore over your head and which extended into a chestplate and backplate. The bag had a built in faceplate (ie a combined visor/oxygen mask), the whole thing being reminiscent of a deep sea diver's helmet but made of rubber. The faceplate had 2 tubes attached to it for porting air/oxygen; one to the mask and one to blow air over the inside of the faceplate to stop it fogging up from the copious amounts of sweat that immediately exploded from every pore as soon as you put the bloody thing on. In the air these tubes were connected via a manifold worn on the chest into the aircraft's oxygen system. On the ground they were connected into a box known as the 'Whistling Handbag'. The handbag contained 3 standard NBC filters and a battery powered motor that would suck air in, pass it through said filters, and blow it into the rubber bag. It was wonderful (NOT!) and years ahead of its time long before Mister Dyson ever came up with the idea of a portable vacuum cleaner. Over the top of the rubber bag we would normally wear a cloth flying helmet (for comms purposes) or, for tactical night operations, a conventional 'bone dome' with NVGs (Night Vision Goggles) bolted on. The problem with the AR5 (aside from being hot, sweaty and horribly, horribly uncomfortable) was that if you ditched or ejected over water you would end up sucking water up into the rubber bag surrounding your head with the obvious and foregone conclusion. There was, therefore, an 'Anti-Drowning Valve' that you had to manipulate in order to survive. (Note, the later variants of AR5 had a tear off faceplate.) Of course, the RAF in its infinate wisdom, had decided that we would need practice in manipulating said anti-drowning valve. Rather than train by sitting in a nice warm classroom operating said valve, it had been decided that the training would be made 'realistic'. That is to say we would wear the rubber bag over our heads and be thrown head first into the swimming pool at the Aviation Medicine Training Centre at RAF North Luffenham. Now there's only a couple of things that scare me, drowning, and confined spaces. Oh and spiders. Ok so theres three, three things that are not good for my composure; spiders, confined spaces and drowning. Any one of the three is liable to give me the screaming hab-dabs. So, start combining them and, well, you get the picture... I mentioned earlier on that I'm in no way shape or form the equal to Rebeccca Adlington. In fact being a bit of a bean pole my natural buoyancy point lies about 18 inches beneath the surface of the water. Therefore I have to keep moving in order to keep my head above the water - if I stop moving I sink. I'm also somewhat claustrophobic. So, sticking my head in a rubber bag and throwing me into a swimming pool is not a good thing for me. Apparently I hit the water screaming and flailed my arms and legs around so fast that, apart from resembling a human version of the Great Panjandrum, I rocketed across the width of the pool virtually on the surface of the water and jumped out at the other side. Having removed the bag from my head I was told that I hadn't done the drill correctly and that I would have to try again. I informed the instructor that if he came a single step closer I would do unspeakable things to his man parts. Needless to say, I didn't go in the pool again.