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Short Stirling MkI Series 1, MG-D N3641, No 7 Squadron, RAF Oakington, Bomber Command, late 1940 According to my own rules about my 1940 collection, aircraft such as the Avro Manchester, Handley Page Halifax and Short Stirling shouldn’t be eligible for inclusion. All three aircraft mentioned, although in squadrons by the end of 1940, really didn’t begin proper operational flying until early 1941. I do feel, however, it is important to show how decisions made late in the 1930s led to the aircraft that would take the war back to Germany in the 1940s. Virtually from its foundation, and throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Royal Air Force followed the doctrine that to be an effective defence force meant having more and better bombers than any prospective enemy. The Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was built on this guiding principle from its earliest days. The strategic bombing force was the jewel in the RAF’s crown, with fighters coming very much second best. A country didn’t need silly little peashooters to prevent an enemy attacking it; it just need more bombers to deter the enemy in the first place. This principle, of being able to hit back just as hard, if not harder, remains to this day – only with nuclear warheads instead of aeroplanes. Until the 1930s, the notional “enemy” the bomber force was to counter was France. With the rise of Hitler in 1933, all that changed. The Air Ministry began desperately chasing an almost entirely fictitious figure, that of how many bombers Germany was able to build, and how quickly. The attempts to retain or even beat parity with Luftwaffe bomber numbers would obsess the Ministry for the rest of the decade, and require ever more precious money from the Treasury. Various schemes were put forward to boost front line bomber strength to match that of the Luftwaffe. From 1934, the stated aim was to reach a total of 41 bomber squadrons by the end of March 1939, but this set of goal posts continued to move until war eventually broke out. With a lack of new designs on the horizon, the various expansion schemes tended to fall back on quantity over quality. Many obsolete light bombers were ordered just to make up the numbers quickly. Eventually, sense began to prevail. Specifications, thrashed out by committee, began to be drawn up to encourage manufacturers to tender for new bomber designs. Aircraft, such as the Bristol Blenheim, Fairey Battle, Vickers Wellington, Handley Page Hampden, and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, were created and filled the squadrons of Bomber Command - but the Air Ministry’s eyes were always on the next level. In 1936, it was realised the RAF may well need even larger aircraft, capable of delivering more bombs further and faster than the current designs. Air Ministry specifications P.13/36 and B.12/36 were circulated in July 1936, inviting tenders from the main British aircraft and engine manufacturers. The former called for a twin-engined medium bomber for “worldwide” use, meaning it would be capable of operating in a wide variety of environments. It was also expected to be able to carry two torpedoes in its bomb bay. This flexibility in the design of the bay meant both the Halifax and Manchester-cum-Lancaster were much more adaptable to new ordnance designs. B.12/36, on the other hand, was the Ministry sort of hedging its bets in case the “heavy twins” concept didn’t bear fruit. The specification called for a four-engined heavy bomber, capable of cruising at 250mph over 1500 miles with at least a 4000lb bomb load. Tenders for designs were submitted by Bristol, de Havilland, Vickers-Armstrong, Armstrong Whitworth, Vickers Supermarine and Short Brothers. Only the last two were given orders, and work began on detail design and prototypes. The Supermarine Type 317 and 318 prototypes were under construction at the outbreak of war in 1939. Supermarine, however, was a small company, and found themselves virtually swamped with orders for their small fighter and the Walrus amphibian. The bomber prototypes were worked on in a piecemeal fashion at the company’s Woolston, Hampshire, factory, until late September 1940 when a Luftwaffe raid destroyed the aircraft and most of the drawings associated with them. The Air Ministry cancelled the order in November. The only B.12/36 design to see operations was the Stirling. The myth has always been the 100ft wing span limitation was to accommodate the new type in standard RAF hangars. The standard hangar of the time was larger than that, and the specification actually expected routine maintenance to be done in the open. It should be noted the reason for the limitation was more down to the Air Ministry wanting to limit the overall size of the aircraft. Worries were voiced that a very large aircraft simply wouldn’t be able to operate safely from typical bomber airfields, which were pretty much universally grass fields at the time. It was also expected that the new aircraft should be easily broken down into manageable pieces that could be transported by road to maintenance centres. The centre fuselage, for instance, was not to exceed 35ft long, 9ft 6in high and 8ft wide. These sorts of restrictions meant the designers had to be a bit creative about where the bomb load was to be carried. The Air Staff had discussed the types of bombs the new design was to carry. No bomb heavier than the 500lb general purpose was expected to be deployed in any future conflict, and such things as 4000lb, 8000lb and 12000lb bombs were beyond comprehension at the time. The designs submitted to B.12/36, therefore, were to carry a large load of 250lb and 500lb general purpose bombs, only just coming into service in 1936. A 2000lb bomb was also being introduced, but it was considered this weapon wouldn’t be used against land targets, designed as it was for use against heavily-armoured capital ships. The B.12/36 specification omitted the requirement for the new bomber to carry torpedoes. This oversight, perhaps intentional since the parallel P.13/36 specification did include torpedoes, would lead to limitations in the Stirling’s operational usefulness. The first prototype Stirling had its maiden flight from Short’s Rochester factory site, with Lankester Parker at the controls, on 14 May 1939. The big plane handled well, but a brake seized on the port main wheel on landing. The aircraft slewed and the undercarriage collapsed. The first prototype had to be written off, and the undercarriage had to be redesigned to make it stronger. The second prototype didn’t fly until December 1939. L7605 was eventually flown to the A&AEE at Boscombe Down in April 1940 for testing and acceptance trials. The RAF’s Scheme L expansion plan called for 3,500 heavy bombers to be delivered by April 1942, around 1,500 of which were to be the new Stirling. Such numbers meant Short began building aircraft at the Short & Harland factory in Belfast, plus Austin Motors at Longbridge providing a third production line, as well as various subcontracted firms for smaller components. The first production Stirling from Rochester flew in May 1940, but Belfast’s first aircraft flight wasn’t until October. On 9 August 1940, Short’s Rochester factory was attacked by the Luftwaffe, destroying six newly-completed aircraft, and another six destroyed by an attack on the Belfast factory a week later. Deliveries were also slowed as priority from May 1940 was given to other aircraft already in production. A total of 15 Stirlings had been delivered by the end of 1940. No 7 Squadron had been operating Hampdens at the start of the war. It had been disbanded in April 1940, but was reformed in August specifically for operating the big new bomber. Deliveries began in late August 1940, but the aircraft were found to be somewhat underpowered. Shorts were busy trying to improve the performance of the Bristol Hercules engines, but until the improved aircraft were ready the fifteen Stirlings at Oakington were designated as trainers, and used to familiarise the aircrews with the new planes. Upgrades and scratch building enhanced the rather basic flight deck in the venerable Airfix kit. Many thanks to @12jaguar John, part of the Stirling Project, who helped with detail research and information. I was attracted to the early camouflage layout for my model. The first MkIs in service had a retractable belly turret, and lacked the dorsal turret more familiar in later marks. There were other detail differences, and I thought it would make an unusual variant to the Stirlings usually modelled. I chose to do the conversion work on an old Airfix kit rather than invest in the now-scarce Italeri modern tooling. I didn’t realise the modern kit contained parts to make an early MkI. Some aftermarket parts, such as a photo-etch detail set and vacuum-formed transparencies, were acquired, and some old-fashioned kit-bashing and scratchbuilding took place. Sadly, the turrets defeated me. I had planned to use the Falcon vac-form parts and scratch interior details, with brass barrels to finish off. I simply couldn’t get the clear parts to fit nicely, and rather than leave the model as a shelf queen when it was so close to completion, I opted to modify the original kit parts and paint them black as temporary fittings. One day, I will either work out how to make decent turrets or end up buying an Italeri kit and doing a new version! Either way, I enjoyed the research and modelling that has given me a fairly decent rendition of a really early Short Stirling for my 1940 obsession. The WIP thread for the Stirling is part of a much longer thread dedicated to all of my 1940 Bomber Command builds. The Stirling part, full of pitfalls and errors, sort of begins here:

Hi Please see attached some photos of my recent spitfire, built from the excellent Eduard weekend kit, with some spare photo etch added. The decals are from Vingtor, representing an aircraft from 332 squadron, 1943, being flown by several Norwegian pilots. Not much to say about the kit, it goes together like a dream.

1/32 Hasegawa Nakajima Ki-84 type 4 fighter Hayate. The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was Army Type 4 Fighter. After the war, the Hayte was brought back to the sates for study and testing, and evaluation, where it was found to be the best Japanese fighter aircraft of the war. This kit from Hasegawa was a dream to build, some very good detail to rival Tamiya, all painted with Mr colour solvent paints.

Dear fellow Britmodellers, this is my 1/72 Spitfire Mk.VIII built from the "Profi-Pack" including etched parts and masks for the transparencies. I chose the "high altitude scheme" of RAF 32. Squadron in Foggia, Italy, 1944. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. There's not much to say about the Eduard kit, as it has been covered extensively on this site, except that it's the very best Spitfire kit in 72 scale. The "Profi-Pack" contains all that delicate pre-painted photo-etch details that add so much interest to the open cockpít. The model was painted with Mr.Hobby acrylics (H335 Medium Sea Grey for the upper sides, H42 Blue-Grey for the undersides). To accentuate the panel lines I used Winsor & Newton artist oils. Thank you for your interest!

Another KUTA build, this is a kit I reviewed several years ago (HERE), although I don't know what's happened to the photo's @Mike, have the pics been moved? I started this a few years ago and it's been picked up and put down several times, but finally got it over the line. It's a quirky number that comes with etch and resin parts. I know very little about it in Hungarian service so welcome any information, but a city break to Budapest late last year was the inspiration to get it done! I chose this scheme because it was easy to paint compared to the camo option! MRP Medium Sea Grey. There are some fiddly parts to sort, so patience was the order of the day, although it doesn't really need 3 years to build like I took! And, next to another quirky number! Thanks for looking, Neil

Finally got round to taking a few pictures of this one after finishing it back in April! Modern jets and RAF are not my normal thing but this was an itch that needed to be scratched. I also wanted to build a machine from either 43 or 111 Squadrons, these being the ones I remember being wowed by at so many Leuchars' airshows. The kit is Revell's boxing of the 1/48 scale Hasegawa moulding which, despite its age, is still a good build. The model was built straight from the box, the only addition being a set of Sidewinders. Just for a change I also decided to add the two crew figures to give a little "life". XV416 did not have a long service life, being lost in May 1975 shortly before the Squadron moved to Leuchers. Fortunately the crew ejected safely. Despite this there are quite a few photo's of the aircraft available on the internet and I was able to use these to help with the painting and weathering, especially the underside which was particularly stained. Enough waffle here are the pictures and I hope you like. As I said, this is not my normal subject so any tips and hints are welcome and thanks for looking!

Now look at you all. Yep, it’s basically all your fault Alan… I was thinking RTV mould and resin casting. I might never have to learn how to draw a prop in fusion Serkan! You terrify me! Your Oxcart family designs are absolute masterpieces; the stress involved in trying to em justice would finish me orf! Yes! Exactly Don’t forget sketch/sketch/loft Bit more done despite a busy week at work and a quick trip to Essex to see my Dad (Typical drive down; roadworks on the A1 causing a tailback, crash on the M11 meaning a re-route down the A1 to the M25, and then a crash on the M25 causing another tailback.) Managed to tread on the kit tailwheel after I’d painted it… And lose half the bits. P’raps no real loss; it weren’t a pretty bit of moulding. Had a solution: Painted the prop. Little bit of chipping on the spinner, and oil work on the blades and spinner (trying to capture the patchy look that props can have: My effort: Assembled and painted the undercarriage and main wheels. Undercarriage doors still to do. Relieved to see you can see the flag storage racks through the underside hatch. Painted the printed exhausts: Oh - and I’ve unmasked the two cockpits and the wing lights (obvs.). So this is where she is now: Were off to the Shetlands (again) for a week at the end of next week; so there’ll be a short pause….

Fiat G-91R/3 LeKG 43, West German Air Force As seen at St. Mawgan Air Day, August 1977 Revell 1/72 kit with Xtradecal, Superscale and kit decals Xtracolour enamel paints with Xtracrylic varnish The Revell kit from 1999 was the only game in town for many years other than the Airfix offering from the early 60s. It has decent detail for it's age but suffers from a few shape issues around the nose. I brought this one down from the attic to build just before doing what should be the ultimate G-91 in 1/72 from Meng, which I'm working on next. The Meng kit will be finished as the Itallian G-91R/1 version. The German decals on this one were mainly a mixture of Superscale (code numbers) and Xtradecal (national insignia and badges). The kit decals provide a good set of stencils, though they are quite thick and needed a lot of Klear treatment.

I've been grappling with a 1970s Airfix Bentley for a very long time now, so needed some light relief. I fancied an OOTB build and thought I would try Airfix's new 1/24th Spitfire. After all the Airfix bashing I've been dishing out with the Bentley, this kit is a triumph. It's the nicest Spitfire kit I've encountered and I've thoroughly enjoyed building this and added practically nothing to it because the kit was so good, which is pretty much unheard of for me. I haven't built this particularly well, but that's my fault, I just wanted a quick build to get my mojo back and it's certainly done that. Hat's off to Airfix, this is the best kit of theirs I've built and easily as good as Tamiya, can't fault it in any way. Nick

Skylab Hi Karman line team. As promised on the chat I'm switching my Skylab project, currently on the Science Fiction and Realspace forum, into this groupbuild. I'm well below the 25% threshold at least in terms of time to finish this project and @bianfuxia (who I understand is the boss around here) seems to think it's OK for me to pop across here for a bit, so here I am. This is my first group-build BTW so it's all very exciting! Anyhow, here's a link to the story so far... I have not achieved a huge amount just yet but that's mostly because my spare time was being sunk into finishing my PzH 2000 so hopefully being in this group might cause me to focus on Skylab a bit more. Here's something like what I want to make...(mine won’t have the big rocket-bit sticking out the back of the workshop because it was not there on the final deployed version). and here's where I'm up to. Doesn't look like much yet but hopefully it's on the right track. I'm very much looking forward to being a space groupie! Hopefully I'll make some progress over the next few months. See you all soon, Bandsaw Steve

This is my third destroyer, model by Atlantic Models in 1/350. Paint by Sovereign Hobbies. Name plate by Nameit. As usual I replaced the white metal guns etc with Black Cat 3D printed ones, and the masts with brass rod.

Howdy all, Celebrated the nice weather by taking some pic`s of the latest addition to my Vietnam collection My attempt at Kinetic`s 1/48 Prowler kit Finished as an aircraft aboard the USS Enterprise that covered the evacuation of Saigon in `75 As usual mostly OOB though I did prise the wallet open and invest in an Eduard etched set for the seats In addition I added a few embellishments including: brake pipes from bits of wire and some rear view mirrors from foil, also some details for the internal canopy frames from plastic sheet and wire , a lot of filler, swearing and gnashing of teeth ( especially whilst doing the canopies ) Had a go at tinting the canopies with Future/Klear and orange food colouring Decals came from a Superscale set, the kit and the stash Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking Cheers Russ

Some views of the display screens. Still some remaining work to do.

Hi all I have been working on this one, do not adjust your screens , some eye adjustment may be necessary 🤪 This is a model of A79 - 876 a museum exhibit at the RAAF Museum in Point Cook, Victoria, Australia. It is actually a FB.30 that was involved in a couple of accidents and repaired and converted for TT duties. The aircraft was transferred to Point Cook in in 1977 and has parts of other airframes in it . I wanted to build one of these for a few years now whilst looking for info for a couple of other Vampire builds and saw a pic online and just knew I had to build one. This was out on hold until I had all needed such as the release of the wonderful Airfix F3 kit for the correct wingtips for this aircraft, also FB31 conversion parts and Ben, @wellsprop came to the rescue with his lovely FB.31 conversion parts which are fantastic, check out his 3D printed products in the 3D printing section of BM. Thanks Ben. Another kindly BMer also came to the rescue with images and Info and this was absolutely invaluable for the modelling of this machine, step forward Ed @Ed Russell Thank you so much Ed, you have enabled a project I have long wanted to do and hope you are pleased with the results. The kit goes together very well and the only issue I had was the fuselage join either side of the cockpit, not sure if my error though and easily overcome with sprue goo filler. The conversion parts fitted beautifully after clean up although I didn't use the cockpit floor and bang seat as I had an aftermarket seat I wanted to use, so I adapted the kit cockpit firewall. The extra intakes under the fuselage are beautifully designed and are lovely and thin and the nose blister is perfect. The aircraft is modelled as displayed with flaps down and airbrakes deployed which adds interest. I added the undercarriage and discovered it sat too high so cut off the main legs and cut 2.5mm out of them and pinned and glued them back on which gives it a much better stance. The model has been brush painted with Humbrol enamels and the decals are some kit and some cobbled together from my decal spares, there are not enough decals as I simply could not find anymore suitable yellow or red stencils, ho hum I think the paint distracts the eye away from that🤞 I would like to thank all those who have offered support and encouragement to me during the build, thank you so much, your comments are always appreciated. Enough waffle from me, here's some pics True Details MB Mk2 resin Ejector seat Home made Bomb slip for towing duties, the Target could be released with a Bowden cable I have just noticed I have not added the red painted fuel caps so will need to add those and also tidy the blue stripe on the kitbashed tail fin markings. Thanks very much for looking in Chris

Dear fellow Britmodellers, this is my 1/72 IBG Centaur Mk.IV built (almost) from the box. I added Dan Taylor Modelworks' antenna socket and figure from White Stork Miniatures. Photos by Wolfgang Rabel. The model represents a vehicle of 1st Battery, Royal Marine Armored Support Regiment, in June 1944. The decals for the angle scales around the turret top were challenging, because there are lots of bolts that prevent smooth application. I ended up with some wrinkles, unfortunately! Thanks for your interest!

Hello, Some pictures of my recently completed Tamiya kit. What a wonderful kit to build ! Paint is Alclad with Silhouette codes and UpRise decals. Antoine

Following advice from @Keeff and @Muchmirth I have decided on this kit from Tamiya for the group build. It looks a pretty straightforward build and should be a fun one. I'd like to do one a bit different to the one of the box but there aren't many different decal options out there so I will rummage around and see what I can come up with.

It was the local model expo last week, and I managed some interesting kits at the swap’n’sell. Varying degrees of complexity. None of them a quick build! I also picked this up for a paltry A$5. This very definitely has potential for a quick build, mostly to practice my painting and weathering. I’m going to complete it straight out of the box as a carrier from 1 Armoured Division in North Africa. Started work on Friday. It comes moulded in very dark green hard plastic, but other than some injector marks is pretty clean if flash. Not bad for a kit first released in the mid-70s. I realise early on that it was going to be easier to paint as I go. I used Tamiya acrylic NATO Brown as a primer, and used Vallejo Model Air British Light Stone as the main colour. I was moving along quickly without thinking to take photos, so here is where I am this evening. A quick dry fit: And that’s it for now.

I’ve got myself a little over-committed on GB’s at the moment, but still wanted to get something built for this one. So a 3D printed TARDIS seems to fit the bill nicely. I handily found a set of free files for one online and put my printer to work. A rough layout of the parts, fresh from the printer: A couple of bits will need some filling & sanding to get rid of some printing marks, but I’m happy with how they’ve come out. The top ring is only printed in clear resin as I wasn’t happy with how the first one had come out, and this saved time as I could then print it with the windows. This should be a pretty quick build, most of the time will be taken up with painting. I’m also planning to have the windows illuminate and add a flashing blue LED to the lamp on the top. James

Dear fellow Britmodellers, here's my 1/72 Zebrano AEC Mk.III, painted with Mr.Hobby acrylics. Photos by Wolfgang Rabel. The Zebrano kit is a multi-media affair, containing resin and photo-etch parts. It's an expensive kit, so I expected a good quality casting. In fact, the surfaces are rough in some places, and the gun barrel was banana-shaped. I replaced it with a plastic part stolen from Revell's 1/72 Cromwell. I added decals and photo-etch antenna socket from Dan Taylor Modelworks. There's also a couple of accurracy issues, most notably the fenders, which are way too flat on the front side. The towing hooks are in the wrong position, and the characteristic turret bin is missing. The only other option for an 1/72 AEC Mk.III comes from Hauler/Brengun, and this kit may be the better option in terms of shape and detail. This kit was a birthday present from my friend @Dieter . Best greetings from Austria!

My entry for this GB will be the mighty Saturn V produced by Airfix in 1/144 scale. According to Scalemates, Airfix first released their Saturn V in 1970 and it has been re-released several times since. As you see from the sticker on the front, this boxing dates from the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. I understand that this boxing had new parts for some of the upper components to correct dimensional issues with the original. A review of the 2019 re-issue on this site covers the box contents better than can but I'll show them anyway as I'd already taken them and show that nothing has been started! Over the years since I bought the kit, I picked up a few bits on eBay that I thought sounded good at the time... Despite its importance and iconic status, I've found it difficult to find good references useful to the modeller. The best I have is the Haynes tome: Having seen the full size Saturn Vs displayed in Florida, Houston and Huntsville, I'm going to display it horizontally to show the different stages. This will mean detailing the visible internal areas and removing the assembly features between the stages. Happy times ahead, I hope! Mike

Hi all. My entry will be "Old Faithful", the Humber Super Snipe staff car used by Field Marshal Montgomery during the Western Desert campaign (and then subsequently in Sicily and Italy). The car, number M239459, currently resides in the Imperial War Museum London, resplendent in desert camo paintwork. I'll be using the well known 1/32 scale Airfix kit. The kit actually represents Monty's second Humber, number M239485, which he used during the final stages of the war in Europe. The differences between the two Humbers are small and luckily I was able to visit 'Old Faithful' earlier this year to take some useful close-up photos. So, I've got no excuses! It will be well into September before I start, but that's not so far away . Cheers

Being a long time fan of the Hawker Sea Fury, I couldn't resist one of Mark I Models more recent kits. Two Sea Furies in one box! And for me, it had to be Korea where they distinguished themselves on interdiction operations from Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy carriers. Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 VX764 / 134-K of No.805 NAS flown by Lt Cdr (P) W.P. Bowles (OC 805 NAS), HMAS Sydney, Korea. Autumn 1951 Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, WJ223/106-O No.802 NAS flown by Sub Lt. Brian 'Schmoo' Ellis (who shot down the MiG-15) HMS Ocean, Korea. Summer 1952 A few modelling details; Paint - Xtracolor X5 EDSG, X7 Sky and X814 Deep Bronze Green for the bombs, Humbrol 74 Linen for the Hawker primer yellow. Final coat of Winsor & Newton Artists' Acrylic Matt UV Varnish. Decals - Mark 1 and home produced. Scratched - Canopies and RAN rocket rails. Nice kits, built mostly OOB and not without the odd challenge. Took a bit longer than I'd planned. For those who might want more details of the builds, here's a link to the WIP; Thanks for looking.

Hi, Please find my latest completion, Monogram’s B-26 Marauder. It is scribed and riveted. The engines and cowlings are 3D printed by Resin2detail. The post is picture heavy. At the bottom I will leave the link to the entire build of the model. That’s all, thanks for watching. Comments, critique and feedback are welcome. Rgds, Rob

Two more articles with absentee photos, courtesy of Village Photos. A little over five years ago, I built two versions of the same tank, namely “Champagne”, an M4A3 (76mm) of the 3rd Company, 12th RCA (Regiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique), 2nd Armoured Division, commanded by General Phillipe Le Clerc, whom France's current main battle tank is named after. The first version was as it appeared during the battle for Paris, when it was credited with knocking out a Panther. The second is as it is now, a war memorial. Champagne is sited in the French town of Ville sur Illon in eastern France. It was knocked out during the battle for Dompaire, and appears to have caught fire, hence the road wheels and the tracks devoid of any rubber. So the basis for the first one was the Tamiya M4A3. The turret came from Asuka, and the main gun is partly Formations with the threaded protector removed and a piece of tube glued into it's place. This really was a Heinz 57 with parts coming from many sources. It was painted with Tamiya acrylics and the decals came from Bison. The second model is like I said, as it is today. The tank was placed on some gravel, and the only thing done to it was to give it a fresh coat of paint and add some markings. The basis for this build was Dragon's M4 (105) as the hull in this is used in several different kits and it has the correct style of ventilator between the forward hatches. The up swept VVSS units are also Dragon, but the road wheels are items from Verlinden with the tyres burnt off. The tracks likewise are after market items. I got these from Panda Plastics as they do a set of skeletal burnt tracks. The turret and engine deck are items ordered separately from Asuka. Champagne's 76mm main gun was the M1A1 unthreaded version and for this build, I decided to use the one from Asuka. Paint and decals are as per the first build with a few differences which can be seen in the photos. Champagne was struck by two 75mm shells. The first hit the forward left hand VVSS unit......... …..and the second, the rear part of the left hand upper hull. The second one probably entered the engine compartment, and struck the rear hull plate, causing the bowing in the plate and the twisting upwards of the corner of the engine deck. Thanks for looking, and once again, apologies to those who have already seen these. John. PS. Check out the real thing; https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrLA5A359hkok8nLwEM34lQ;_ylu=Y29sbwNpcjIEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?p=m4a3+champagne%2C+ville-sur-illon&fr=mcafee&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly91ay5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tL3NlYXJjaD9mcj1tY2FmZWUmdHlwZT1FMjEwR0I5MTA4MkcwJnA9bTRhMytjaGFtcGFnbmUlMkMrdmlsbGUtc3VyLWlsbG9u&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMlMkpwRoNUPr5IAXl4D5LQMORP82FTSIfysD-yr6EXG5tTdsQlKlfNpNZ6-8drQt2bfb7Mu3YKDlvyD9YGHV84v3-G7S7HfSr8YjunmSQ7vVYHW6muI9f41oDBju-lKZCjlqy4oYcfbpVwPdq7MAX6pnx6gqxV7xZR1LTK2nl6l

Presented here is my Tamiya 1/48 Mosquito, representing HX914, SB-O of 464 squadron RAAF in December 1943. HX914 undertook numerous intruder operations over Europe. 464 Squadron was an article XV squadron of the Empire Air Training Scheme. Although technically an RAAF squadron, the squadron’s personnel were drawn from numerous countries, with Australians comprising up to about 50%. The squadron flew mosquitos from June 1943 to September 1945. My vignette includes two crew figures. One is represented in RAF uniform blue, the other in the deep navy RAAF uniform blue. RAAF aircrew wore RAAF uniforms while serving in Europe. Black and white photos clearly show the difference in tonality between RAF and RAAF uniforms. Crew figures are from Djiti’s Productions and Barracuda. I have presented the model without external aerials. Most photos of 464 squadron show the mosquitoes like this. The model has minimal weathering, again as per photos of 464 squadron. Decals are from the DK Decals DH.89 Mosquito used by Australian pilots in the RAAF and RAF set. I incorrectly aligned the squadron codes with the top of the fuselage, and by the time I realised my mistake, they had stuck fast! The base is a piece of marine plywood, as befits an aircraft made from plywood and balsa wood. It’s my first attempt at static grass. Possibly put too much on. Model Cobber

Hello, A very enjoyable kit. Parts require some cleaning but the fit is brilliant.

Today was time to work on the seats. To my mind they are one of the less good parts of the kit; they're not bad (and they are way, way better than the Hasegawa seats, not least because Westland seats are not the same as Sikorsky/Mitsubishi seats), but I think they can be improved fairly simply. Hat tip to Geoff of Scale Modelling Now, who is also building one of these, and who gave me the idea for the seat covers... Read on). A reminder of what we're trying to reproduce here; from above (in an HU5 with an NVG cockpit, which is why everything is black instead of grey): Note the infamous faux-sheepskin cover turned the wrong way up, and the visible notch cut out of the front of it - this is where the harness came up between your legs. This cover was not exclusively for the comfort of the aircrew (though the seat-pack liferaft, made from hard plastic / GRP material, was rock hard and mighty uncomfortable after 4+ hours of wobbling around them there skies) - it contained survival aids that would not fit inside the seat pack. It was SOP to turn these the wrong way up when the aircraft wasn't flying, to avoid contamination from oily & dirty Grubber boots; seeing Geoff do this on his model was what gave me the idea that follows. Now seen from below and the front (this time XZ574, the FAA Museum's HAS5) - the sheepskin job is the right way up here): Note two things in particular; the prominent lip at the front of the lift-raft pack (which is the yellow thing), and the fact that there is also a cut-out in the seat pack. [The green cushion thing between sheepskin cover and liferaft pack contained yet more survival aids and was added during my career, so I am assuming that the HAS1 wouldn't have had it.] This is the basic seat Airfix provide, before fitting the cushion - thus far very good (this is the spare 5th seat for the HAS5 which I won't need - hence the rather bodged hasty assembly that I did simply to show you what it looks like). And here with the cushion in place (apologies for the paint smudges - some paint mule action in its recent past!): Airfix want you to paint the whole cushion orange, which is what it would look like without the seat life-raft pack, but that is where I think we can do better. To do this I have added two simple things; a) a thin slice of styrene sheet cut and filed to the appropriate shape and painted to represent an upside down seat cushion, one for each seat: ...and b) the notch filed into the front face of the Airfix cushion part, then the underside of the front edge filed flat to give an approximation of the prominent lip I mentioned above, and then a short rod of 2 x 1mm glued underneath; the resultant cushion part looks like this after paint: When fitted, in merciless Macro, it looks like this (with the original Airfix version for comparison) And from above, like this: The LH seat (which is the only one fitted yet) thus looks like this (ignore the fact that I have snapped the collective for the second time; I have the stray bit and it’s staying off until I have finished fitting belts!): ...vs the real thing: Now for the seat belts, which will be tomorrow's game. More then Crisp

Hi Bob, I'm going fully OOB with this one, so you'll all get to see how the kit decals perform. I'm sure this won't be the last Arma Hurricane I build, so I'll try different things on a future one Since the instrument panel decal worked so well in settling in to the relief of the kit part, I'm cautiously optimistic that the exterio decals will mould to the rivet detail with enough Microsol. Since last night I've lightly and roughly airbrushed Day Fighter Scheme colours on, focussed on the wing leading edges and wing roots where boots will go. I'm not sure if this will yield any benefit yet but it doesn't hurt. It has highlighted issues I need to fix before proceeding though. Better now than later. There's some sloppiness on my part where the windscreen is fitted which needs tidied up. Also, the seam along the top of the fuselage and cowling isn't up to standard and needs rework.

Hi Guys. Well yesterdays paint was a mixed bag. The dusty white is OK, as a base for more work. But the Orange (Model Color German Orange) as seen on left, was nothing like what I was looking for. Luckily, a local shop sells Citadel Colour paints, so after a quick visit, I managed to get something more to my liking. So the right panel shows the Trollslayer Orange (wargamers and their strange names), which is alot brighter. So over painted the required panels, and as I type, heres the present look. I'll be carrying on today, so see you soon Paul

Up reasonably early in the morning, with the goal of spraying both silver and black today. First I sanded the green edges, the same way as yesterday, not that they were dominant at all, but still. Then masking, this time not very time consuming. Silver sprayed. It covered very nicely on the white with only a few thin coats. Unmasked with care but without drama. My confidence in this is starting to grow. As usual the colours are off in the photo...

I needed to call into a local model and kit shop to pick up a couple of paints for an ongoing (forever pausing) build and during my wander around the store i came across this boxed set from Italeri. The store owner said he was selling them on for a customer that simply wasn’t going to build it and for a measly £3 they were mine. I don’t need another kit to build, I’ve more than enough either in my stash or being built to keep me going but for the bargain price of £3 (labelled as £25 from the same store!) I thought it would make for a good side project and diorama. I’ve not built anything like this before and so for I’m liking the scale and detail. Let’s see if I can do it justice!

Here is my 6th finished Harrier model - this time 1:72 AV-8B Plus Harrier II of Spanish Navy. Aircraft VA.1B-37, side no. 01-925 in a special livery for Royal International Air Tattoo 2019. Hasegawa kit D24, Eduard PE set, Brengun nozzles, Series Espanolas decals and some scratch. Thanks for watching!

Engines done! Its the first time I've used Hasegawa mirror finish, I think on any thing but a flat surface it would be nigh on impossible to apply. However it really does give a mirror finish as advertised. Thanks for looking Andy

Various bits progressed. First off a report on my experiments with the various techniques suggested for wing ribs. As a base I had at hand an old discarded scratchbuilt wing - a bit rough around the edges but OK for testing. I'll run through the 5 x techniques and observations below - and with reference to the photo. Primer/Surfacer. Mask off the wing leaving the area of the ribs exposed. Apply 2-3 coats of primer/surfacer. Remove masking, a lightly sand. As suggested by @davidl and @Malc2 above. The result is actually very good - would have been better if I took a bit more care with the masking. And playing with the heaviness of the primer coats is in your control. Twin scribed lines. 0.7mm apart to create the illusion of the ribs. As suggested by @Old Man. Actually remarkably effective, probably more so with a bit of selective shading weathering with pastels etc. I sense this'd work best in 1/72 (vs my 1/48) and probably a little subtle vs what I'm after. Embossed 0.1mm styrene sheet. Use an old ball point pen to emboss the rib impression on the reverse side of cut-to-size styrene sheet. Once done - flip the sheet over and glue to the model with liquid cement. Probably the most effective technique of all of these and if I'd planned for it would be my preference. The issue is that 0.1mm in 1/48 is about 6mm in 1:1 and that added thickness on top and bottom surfaces is an issue. Also there's the need to blend in all the 0.1mm sheets with the rest of the wing - all gets a bit hard... 0.1 styrene strips. Glue the strips on with Liquid cement. Apply a couple of coats of primer/surfacer to blend in. Lightly sand to tone down sharp edges. This ended up my least favourite method. Despite the primer/sanding it really looks too pronounced.. Tamiya tape. Cut the Tamiya tape in even strips (I'd probably use the Silhouette cutter to cut these out of a large sheet). Apply a couple of coats of primer. Actually a better result than I was expecting, although as warned by a few - it's all too easy for the sandpaper to disrupt the tape strips. And really hard to keep the strips straight and parallel... With all of these - I did a bit of wet sanding of the trailing edge with a curved sanding pad - to suggest the scalloping between the ribs. Doesn't need much sanding at all to create this effect.... So my conclusion for this project, is to go with the 1. primer/surfacer route (with a note to self re using the embossed styrene on a future project)... So below is the tailplane masked up ready for the primer surfacer. A somewhat tedious process which got me thinking about a more precise way for the main wings. And that's where the Silhouette Cameo comes to the rescue again. Below is my 'design' ready to send for cutting. I'm basically cutting out a 0.7mm wide rectangle for each of the ribs. And the leading edge riblets also 0.7mm wide but with a rounded end I did need to adjust the Grainger plans to make sure the ribs were perpendicular to the wing spare/leading edge (vs parallel with fuse centreline as drawn). Easy enough. Top of wing vs bottom of wing are slightly different. Then had to duplicate for the upper vs lower wing - then mirror all of this for the port vs starboard wing! So that's eight sets of masks Sounds like alot of work, but this'll be so much easier & precise vs replicating what I did for the tail. So switching back to the bucks for the canopy and engines, below is where I've got to. I've used 2 pack 'car bog' for filling the bucks - ie same as used by panel beaters for fixing up cars, and available from all the auto spares store. Takes a few coats to build up to what you see below. The brown filler is a one pack skim coat filler just to finish off a few blemishes. This is pretty much ready for vacforming now. (if you want more detail on the bucks - click on the link below for my DHA-3 Drover build) And for a bit more variety - I've put a bit of time into building up the Lego jig I'll be using for putting this all together. What you see below is all dry fitted (other than I've now glued on the empennage). There's a reasonable amount of time put into prepping the jig - making sure I have everything square/symmetrical, and building in the necessary wing dihedral, and wing sweepback, and incidence etc etc. Noted the bottom wing has nil dihedral for the inner span, and 3 degrees for outer span (still to be done). And upper wing has 2 degree dihedral! Oh, and the the Lego helpers have been rostered on... Next steps Get the wing rib masking cut and applied - and apply the primer/surfacer. Vacform the engines and get them glued up and fitted to wings (expect I'll do this before gluing to the fuse. Vacform the canopy and resolve it's fit with the clear fuse sides...

Hi. Apologies for the hiatus in updates. Busy week doing not much at all and not able to spend more than a few minutes at a time at the bench. But progress aaginst the "To Do" list has been made. The new mule is almost there. Just a pitot and aerial wire to go ..... I'm actually quite pleased with the finish. The aim had been to do a quick build using just acrylics for a simple comparison with the Hurricane which is finished using enamels - both airbrushed. I'm actually pleased with how the paint has gone on, despite the reservations about the kit details and the colours not being quite how I expected. I used the 40 yr old kit decals to see how they would work (I have several models of similar vintage and was keen to find this out). They actually went on fine although the roundels are a bit brightly coloured. I did a light oil wash and added some exhaust staining for practice purposes befor sealing it with Tamiya TS-80 matt clear. In terms of main colour application this is better than I was achieving with a traditional brush, so the airbrush is here to stay. However I will still be using the trad brush for details. And to be kind to the mule, it gets a temporary reprieve into the "collection" until it gets superseded. It has all it's wheels too! Now, to the Hurricane ....... The sliding part of the glazing and the prop/spinner are just dry fitted to see how it looks - which explains why they look a bit wonky. I still have a few bits to add. But it's on its wheels. I was getting quite pleased with this, decals, oil wash, exhaust stains etc THEN I messed up the windscreen trying to apply the wretched PE rear-view mirror!! And I've just noticed in the photo that I failed to mask the wing lights when I applied the matt varnish Silly mistake! Just too eager ........ In most other respects I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out given the earlier paint and varnish issues. I'd like to think I've sorted that part now thanks to help and advice received from BMers. I like the Colourcoats enamels and how the camouflage looks. I just wish I'd not tried to glue that mirror in place. I hadn'trealised that I'd glooped on too much CA, but given I was having real problems manipulating this extremely small piece into position it's hardly surprising - dicing with the Carpet Monster after pinging out of my over-large tweezers but lucky to retrieve it. Then I gave it up as lost entirely. Just disappeared. No idea how or why. Only to reappear an hour later when I turned the model over and it fell out of the cockpit. I will definitely be more selective in future over which PE parts I use, but this was one of the things I aimed to find out when I started this model having never used PE parts before.. So I shouldn't be too cross. Except it's on such a visible bit (worst in the second view). So overall, I'm almost there and have learnt a lot. Until the mirror issue, I was thinking it was my best yet. Any ideas on recovering the windscreen? Thanks for looking Rob

UPDATE 04: Hi Pals, New advance with the model... I continue with the main turret, I already used the putty, and I left it ready to spray with green. Once dry (now much sooner than normal, the heat makes everything dry/evaporate quite quickly). Time for the decals, the chosen ones are very beautiful, and with good quality, easy to apply and very good adhesion. As with the "lighthouse/kettle", I already finished the main turret, with the weathering process. Now, the hull, which is really big for what I'm used to (except for the Soviet T35 that has a similar size), a lot of black to spray, I have to load the AB bowl several times, when I normally have paint left over... Also, partly due to the heat, the AB is frequently clogged... Once completely primed (except for parts that were hidden), I continue with a spray of "ivory" color all over the hull, also, a lot of paint, many obstructions in the AB.... It is taking shape, I think it will be a beautiful and interesting model, although I think that the part that will be more complicated for me will be the masking, since it has quite strange shapes and a considerable size. Fortunately, the putty is quite versatile, and that now with the high temperature, it quickly becomes very light. That will be the task for the next advance. Many thanks for watch and comments as always. Cheers Francis👍

Don't know if there's any interest in old farm machinery on the forum , but today I've been helping on my mates farm . Too wet to harvest so these were being readied for a post harvest heritage session This Claas Matador combine harvester from 1968 was just like my dad used on his farm when I was a kid . Amazing to see one in full working order . Modern combines are basically just the same as this under their bodywork , all pulleys and belts . No air conditioned cab back then ! My dad used a cool helmet , rather like a spaceman , when it was dusty . Hope some of you mighty find these of interest Gary .

Hi all. Hadn’t signed up for this GB because I wasn’t sure I’d get time to take part. Still not sure, but any excuse to build a desert tank! I've chosen something relatively straightforward to make to, hopefully, give me enough time to finish it. If it goes well I might try to do a vignette for it too. Speaking of which, I have made the 1/48 version of this kit from Tamiya, as the same tank, for the MTO GB back in 2016: This is the kit I'm using for this GB: This is the desert scheme for this version, not the most spectacular!: Got this PE grill set for it, designed for the Stug III kit, but will hopefully fit okay: Plus I have some leftover tracks from a Dragon kit, on which I used individual track links: I still need to finish the Leopard 2 I’m currently building and then I should be able to make a start on this, once the GB starts. Kind regards, Stix

Here's my offering chaps. I mentioned it in the chat thread a while back. This oddity below: a field applied mottled desert sand camo on a p-38. the only one i've been able to find online and maybe the only photo of this aircraft in existence? so theres gonna be some artistic license on this which will be fun. Something shake and bake simple that's in the stash I need for the build: a quality tamiya 1/48 p-38 F/G should fit the bill nicely. Theres (whats the collective term for aftermarket? 🤔) a 'trickyrichery' of aftermarket parts to play with including a set of rivets which i've not tried before (gulp). theres plenty of reviews online so i wont subject you to all the sprues but it looks lovely, except the lack of rivets.

Hello again Yesterday saw the latest Flying Day under familiar unpredictable skies! There was one brief shower in the morning and then another (heavier) shower as the Electra started up and taxied out to start the flying display. Here is my record of the day. Thanks for looking.

Almost all Northern Ireland War Memorials have a British Army figure atop.. All the figures are different A number of years ago I found out that all these figures were sculpted in life by one sculptor. They were all sculpted during late 1920 to early 1922. Most of the War Memorials were completed in time for the 1921 Armistice Day Commemorations Further, I found out that the sculptor used real WW1 soldiers in their real kit as models. The soldiers chosen, and paid, were mostly unemployed Irish ex-British Army soldiers Thus, I think its reasonable to assume that the bigger than life-size bronze statues are wearing WW1 kit and can be used as some sort of reference Last Tuesday I finally had the opportunity to start on my 'project' of photographing these statues in a 'walk-around' type photo session This is the statue on the Comber, County Down, War Memorial These are just a few sample photos. I couldn't get a decent photo of his rear left because of a big tree close up and blocking the view. It might be better in winter

Here's a look at the raw materials that will be turned into a reasonable facsimile of a Manchester MkI. Here are the resin parts from Blackbird Models. If you know anything about Manchesters, you'll already note the kit will build a MkI aircraft with the original tail plane and small fins, and the production "shark fin". The wings are the production extended versions. There are parts for the mid-upper dorsal turret, and the all important Vulture nacelles. I want a plane that doesn't have the dorsal turret, so I hope to be able to fill the hole in the Airfix fuselage successfully. If that doesn't work, then I shall have to consider one of the many compromises likely in this build and build a later production plane. The recommended donor kit is the Airfix newish tool B.I/III kit. As you know, I had the clever idea of acquiring the B.II Hercules-powered variant (A08001, if you're wondering). I hope this won't come back to bite me, but the only problem I can foresee is fitting the Vultures into the inner nacelle locations. The Hercules nacelles may be slight different in size to the Merlin spaces. We shall see later, won't we. In any case, I don't suppose the problem will be insurmountable. The Airfix undercarriage will be required. The Lancaster kit includes both the original and bulged bomb bay doors. Some mods might be needed if I decide to model the bay open. This frame is mostly the Hercules parts - I stole the spinners for the Stirling. These parts will be safely stashed away to become donors for my Contrail Lerwick. One day. I hope. Lots of alternatives in the clear parts. Like the Lancaster, the Manchester had some variations in the canopy glazing. One thing I was worried about - and likely to have been yet another compromise if I didn't find a solution - was the classic domed bomb aimer's window in the nose of the aircraft. The Manchester had a slightly flatter version compared to the Lancaster. Well, colour me chuffed when I spotted exactly the right flatter blister on the clear frame. I went through the Airfix instructions to see which stages would not be applicable to the Manchester conversion. Apart from hacking the wings about, I will need to consider if any major changes are needed for the cockpit, how to delete the mid-upper turret, and check the fuselage glazing matches the Manchester. The nose turret is correct, and there are alternate parts provided by Blackbird to modify the tail turret. If I was building the revised production Manchester MkIa, I would use the Lancaster tail parts in their entirety. So, the only potential fly in the ointment is fitting the resin engine pods to the Lancaster MkII wings. Interestingly, the Wingleader book on the Manchester notes the aircraft's main wheels were slightly smaller than the Lancaster. I haven't found out what size the wheels should be, and the Caruana drawings in Warpaint 103 present them as identical to the Lancaster. If anyone knows the correct size, I might be able to reduce the Airfix wheels down a bit to match. Otherwise, another little compromise will be made. While it might seem a daunting prospect, merging large chunks of resin with an otherwise perfectly good kit, I am quietly confident things will end up alright. The Blackbird parts are nicely moulded, and look like they match the plastic kit parts quite well. Construction can begin fairly soon, I think. That reminds me, I should get a masking set for a Lancaster.

The bench has been missing bombers. It hasn't been missing books about bombers. I've been slowly easing myself into the next build in this mega thread - the Avro 679 Manchester. Let's take a look at how the Manchester came to be. As ever, our adventure begins with an Air Ministry specification. P.13/36 called for a twin-engined medium bomber (occasionally referred to as “heavy” in official documents) capable of being used throughout the world and having the highest possible cruising speed to reduce time spent over enemy territory. Defence was to be at least nose and tail power-operated turrets. Cruising speed at two-thirds maximum power 275mph with normal loading. Also at normal loading, takeoff 500 yards, to carry 1,000lb of bombs for 1,000 miles minimum range at 15,000ft whilst cruising at maximum cruising revs. The airframe was to be stressed for catapult launching, the idea being that fully loaded with bombs and fuel the plane wouldn’t be able to take-off with engine power alone from a standard RAF runway of the time. It was assumed engines of around 2,000hp would be required for a large twin-engined design. At the time of the specification issue in summer 1936, at least three engines in that class were under development, from Rolls-Royce, Napier and Bristol. The aircraft had to carry up to 16 250lb or 500lb or four 2,000lb armour piercing bombs; provision also to carry two 18in torpedoes. Also included in the specification were the functions of general reconnaissance and general purpose, with the idea the aircraft could carry personnel and equipment if required. The Avro 679 was a step into the unknown by the company. It was one of the biggest and heaviest aircraft ever conceived by Avro, had the highest wing loading and incorporated a stressed-skin all-metal structure. The entire fuel load was carried in the wings, and the bomb bay was clear of obstructions and nearly two-thirds the length of the fuselage. Compare this with everything that went before: the Wellington had a long bay, but divided into four longitudinal strips, as did the Stirling; the Hampden had a clear bay, but it was short; the Whitley had several bays and wing cells; the Stirling also had wing cells. Reasonable bomb loads, yes, but limited in the size of the ordnance that could be loaded. Emphasis in the new design was placed on comfort and protection for the crew. The flight crew was housed together in a forward cabin enclosed by a glazed canopy, warmed by ducted air passing through a small coolant radiator housed within the wing. Both pilots were provided with armoured backplates, and a pivoted armour-plated bulkhead was located just ahead of the front spar. Hydraulics were used to retract the landing gear and operate flaps, radiator, air intake shutters and the bomb bay doors. Napier, Bristol and Rolls-Royce were considered as providers of engines for the new bomber. Napier had been working on an advanced design with the 24-cylinder block in an “H” configuration, but it was still at an early stage of development. Bristol had the Centaurus, an 18-cylinder radial sleeve valve design, again at an early stage of development. The only engine close to production status was the Rolls-Royce Vulture. The supercharged Rolls-Royce Kestrel and its derivative, the Rolls-Royce Peregrine, were fairly standard designs, with two cylinder banks arranged in a V-form and with a displacement of 21 litres. The Vulture was, in effect, two Peregrines joined by a new crankcase turning a new crankshaft, producing an X-engine configuration with a displacement of 42 litres. The Vulture used cylinders of the same bore and stroke as the Peregrine, but the cylinder spacing was increased to accommodate a longer crankshaft, necessary for extra main bearings and wider crankpins. There is said to be a maxim in aircraft design that it is unwise to marry a new engine to a new airframe. Early flight tests of the Manchester prototypes showed the high wing loading made the plane difficult to handle. The wingspan was increased by almost ten feet to improve the situation. There was some noticeable lateral instability, alleviated in the first place by fitting a central vertical fin. Later, the problem was cured by fitting a wider tailplane and taller fin plates and rudders. The ventral FN21A turret introduced drag, somewhat fixed by installing a Frazer Nash FN7 dorsal turret instead, though that was also not without problems. Once in full squadron service, issues such as hydraulic failure, defective propeller feathering controls and tail flutter began to plague the Manchester. The biggest problem, though, was those Vultures. While the Vulture engines promised much, they showed intractable problems. The engine suffered from an abbreviated development period because Rolls-Royce suspended Vulture development in 1940 during the Battle of Britain to concentrate on the Merlin. As a consequence the reliability of the Vulture when it entered service was very poor. Apart from delivering significantly less than the designed power, the Vulture suffered from frequent failures of the connecting rod big end bearings, which was found to be caused by a breakdown in lubrication, and also from heat dissipation problems. Rolls-Royce were initially confident that they could solve the problems, but the company's much smaller Merlin was already nearing the same power level as the Vulture's original specification, in part because of its accelerated development in 1940, and so production of the Vulture was discontinued after only 538 had been built. The Ministry felt it imperative to get as many new bombers into squadrons as soon as possible before any likely conflict broke out. An order for 200 Manchesters was placed before the prototypes had even been built. Two prototypes were sent for testing, and the first two production aircraft were also used for tests - including the catapult launch system. Numerous changes were recommended after the testing was done, which was applied to the production line aircraft, and retrospectively to the aircraft already beginning to enter squadron service. The first squadron to receive the Manchester was No 207 Squadron, which reformed at RAF Waddington on 1 November 1940. The first aircraft they received, on either 6 or 10 November depending on what you read, was L7279, code EM-B. The aircraft was given camouflage Scheme A. The intention was to paint alternate serial numbers in Scheme A or B, but it was decided to settle on Scheme B for future production. That's enough brief background. As the build progresses, I ought to fill in more historical detail, so if I forget you can remind me! I hope to build a representation of L7279. In the next post I'll review the kit and bits I have, and go through the process of making a Lancaster into a Manchester.

Nearing the end for the interior now, just the door cards to complete and the seat belts added... ...ready for fitting to the interior tub. Which is now complete (the dash fits onto the lower edge of the 'screen). Back to the bodyshell while I waited for paint and adhesives to dry. I first dealt with the sunken spots on the extremities before reshaping the rear wheelarches to try to recover the profile lost when enlarging them. Thanks to @Spiny and @Bengalensis for their advice on these points. ...not perfect but the best I can do and they look OK from a distance! Now almost ready to spray the bodyshell but currently waiting for a replacement airbrush compressor. Again...

My Chingford Model Aerodrome 1.48 Solid Scale PFALZ D-12 from 1943 is as done as I'm going to get it. My comfort zone dissapeared in my rear view mirror very early in the build. The build really highlighted for me how we are spoiled rotten by the current state of the art kits and materials now available. As a first proper attempt, I'm happy with the result. I suspect that should I carry on building the things, this one will raise a smile or two if I ever get to grips with the dark art that is solid modelling. Here's the model, in all its innacurate glory...

3rd completed this year - really slowing down in my old age 😁 Wingsy Kits A5M2 in 1/48 - very cool kit - fit is really good and details are awesome- masks and photo etch included tho I added some eduard pe and some scratched details. Painted with Alclad with oils for weathering. Figures were stolen from the Tamiya A6M5 boxing. Laser cut base from LMG in Ukraine (search eBay for model carrier base)

Yankee Scout and Tracker U.S. Civil War Series 1/35 Master Box I am often drawn towards the painted figure sections when I have attended model shows in the past, particularly larger scale Napoleonic era figures and especially those mounted on horseback. The painting skills on display are superb and something that I have often wished that I could emulate. One of the things I have struggled with when I model anything are the shadows/highlights and weathering aspects of the hobby, I am worried about spoiling something that in general I feel looks fine. This group of figures was supposed to be my chance to improve my skills in these areas. I still didn't fully achieve the initial objective, though I did eventually draw up the courage to add some simple highlights, which are just about visible, to the Tracker's pony. One fail for me this time are the eyes of the Yankee Scout which I have managed to give the novice figure painters 'hard stare' to, so more practice needed there - fortunately in this case they are hidden by the peak of his kepi. Anyway here are the final results. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr

Welcome to the fourth meeting of the Clairvoyants' Society. Item 1 on the agenda: the minutes of next month's meeting.