nimrod54

Thanks for all of your comments and support guys. I have tried to stay as positive as I can over the last 18 months, pushed on by the the arrival of our first grandchild in January last year. As Dave says it is important to keep your family and friends close at times like this, they can quite often give you lift when you most need it, by reminding you of just how far you have come. My wife has been a rock during the time, and the people here on Britmodeller are great when you need to vent, with one fellow modeller in particular having kept in touch on a regular basis through what I admit is a worry at times. I consider my self lucky to be surrounded by some great people. Time now to start my next project. Kind Regards John

B.Ae. 146-200 (Manuf. Set E2038) Ansett Airlines VH-JJQ Revell 1/144 and Authentic Airliner Decals by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Regards. John

I painted the line around the nose earlier today and took a few photos tonight to wrap this one up. I'll pop a few more over in the gallery shortly. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Thanks to all those who have dropped in to watch progress and those of you who have taken the time to pass comment. I would also like to thank Dennis @Corsairfoxfouruncle and Pat @JOCKNEY for hosting the GB and for allowing my late entry. Having had a cancer diagnosis at the back end of 2023 things haven't been easy over the last 18 months and whilst my last scan results were favourable, it is still a concern, I have an appointment to discuss my latest scan results next week. That is why I haven't committed to taking part in any group builds, but if I feel up to it I may ask if I can join in as a late entrant. Cheers. John

Cheers Dennis. The aerial wires came as a surprise to me too, but they can be seen in the photo linked below, and further searches of VH-JJQ show that they are still in place on a later Ansett Scheme. Development of the 146 started in the early 1970's but was placed on a back-burner due to the oil crisis, British Aerospace relaunched the project in 1978. This airframe, Manuf. Set E2038, was quite an early production build so maybe some of the later modifications were not fitted at the time of delivery to the customer. British Aerospace BAe-146-200A - Ansett WA VH-JJQ Regards John Thanks very much Ray. I am pleased with the way this scheme has turned out. Cheers John.

I have been plugging away at this over the past couple of days and after adding the last few stencils before fitting the engines, I fixed the aerial wires in position as a final job to wrap things up, or so I thought. When I checked the reference photos for VH-JJQ I could see that I had missed a black line which runs around the nose, so here are a couple of photos of the almost completed model, I'll sort out the black line tomorrow and post the final shots when I'm done. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Back with more soon. John

Absolutely stunning collection of models Jorgen, I love the 1955 Cooper. Great job. John.

Thanks for the link to your build, I 'm sure that I will find some useful tips in there. Regards John

I did it on a 1/144 Hawker Hunter a few years ago too, Martin. I put the correct registration on the underside and then the wrong one on the fuselage. Thanks a lot Julien. I saw a lovely photograph of a 748 in this scheme surrounded by snow and mountains in the background. That was enough inspiration for me to build this and apart from my faux pas and the absence of snowy peaks, it's turned out well. John

I got started on the decals today, beginning with the cockpit decals, and following that by adding the window decals to the Port side. Next job was to add the registration code and the correct Ansett title for my chosen code VH-JJQ. Previously I said that I would have a look at the metallic details and make a decision about whether to use them or not, in the end I thought I would see how they went on and put those for the port side of the fin on using a little heat from Mrs N's hairdryer to settle them down, in the end I was impresssed with the result so added the Southern Cross decal to finish the port side. Then it was a case of repeating the whole process for the Starboard side, and I also added a few of the kit stencil decals to finish things off. I will leave everything overnight, then open the holes that are presently covered over with decal. This is how things look at present. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Next job for this will be to press on with assembly of the engines and then get those fixed to the wings. I will also complete the undercarriage doors and wheels, along with the other small details that I can add to the fuselage before fixing the wings in place. Cheers for now. John

That looks like a nice kit Kev, it will look great once completed. I am sure that you have plenty on the go at present, but good luck with your build when you get around to this one. Regards John

Here is my entry for the GB, which I bought when I returned to the hobby in the 80's-90's. You may well ask why - I have asked myself the same question, but hey, we all have an urge to splurge sometimes. Manufacturer - Merit Reference code - 4745 Scale - 1/48 Subject - Avro 504K First released - 1958 by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr One of the options with this kit is that you can paint the markings on if you don't want to use decals, though due to the rough texture I am not sure how good a result would be achieved in either case. by John L, on Flickr This leaflet of other models in the range is also in the box and you can see there is a short list of Merit's planned releases for the 1st January 1958. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr And finally the glue that was included. I can remember these being included in some of the models that I bought before tube cement was in vogue. by John L, on Flickr Regards. John

You're not responsible MJ, I bought this at one of the first model shows that I went to when I got back into the hobby in the late eighties/ early nineties. It looks to be complete but some of the parts are off the main sprues, it even has the glue in the box - though having gone hard in the rubberised tube I suspect it will be past the use by date. I'll start a thread with photos of the box contents. Thanks. John

Not being one of the original signatories for this GB, I wondered if I could be considered as a late entrant with what is the oldest kit in my stash - a 1/48 Avro 504K by Merit. If that is OK, I will start a build thread. by John L, on Flickr Regards John

It's easy to do Dennis, especially when you have the thing on its back and the port wing switches to the starboard side. You just merrily plod along and think what a grand job you've made of putting those on. 😃 John

Mount Cook Airlines HS 748 Srs. 2A/242 ZK-MCA 'Rangitoto' 1/144 Mark1 Models with Classic-Airlines Decals by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Regards. John

Having focused on the HS 748 this week has meant that not a lot of progress has been made on this build since the last update. I was able to mask off the silver areas of the wings and tailplanes and they were brush painted with Revell Aquacolor Silver. I have left the fin leading edge for now because there are metallic decals on the sheet. I will see how they look before I decide whether to use them, if not I will brush more Aquacolor Silver on there before adding the fin decals. by John L, on Flickr All being well, this should be near to completion over the next week or so. Thanks for looking in. John

Thanks for your generous comments chaps, I have made an effort to try and wrap this one up this week, so I apologise for not replying. I got the remaining decals on the underside, which in the words of Homer - no not that Greek bloke... Simpson - led to my DOH!! moment on this build. It was whilst adding the ancillary bits on the underside that I realised I had put the decals on the wrong side. A bit of a schoolboy error on my part and not helped by the fact that I had the excellent references provided by Ray @26Decals in front of me (sorry Ray). Anyway, the decals having been sealed in meant that it was too late at this stage to do anything about it so I will have to live with it. Yesterday, I added the last few aerials to the upper surfaces and then glued on the props to complete this one. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr I will post more photos in the gallery shortly. Cheers for now John

Not much progress to report on the 146 since the previous update. Another round of filling and sanding of the windows and the fuselage join was followed by glueing the tailplane on and fixing the cockpit window in place. Once I was satisfied with the result it was time for some primer and a couple of coats of gloss white. The next job for this one will be to paint up the silver areas on the wings and tailplane. The wings are not glued in place at present and I think that I am going to fix those in place later to make it easier to add the decals. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Thanks for checking in. John

Thanks for your comments chaps. After a rub down and polish along the cheatline with a nail buffer it was time to start on the decals. I have got most of those on now and I have also made a start on sorting out the detail items like U/C doors, props etc. On previous builds of this kit I drilled out the exhausts but I am hoping to use the tubing in the background for those parts this time. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Cheers. John

Hi Ray, That's brilliant and just what I was after. Thanks for taking the time to reply and post the links to the photos, they are much clearer than the ones that I had found. Cheers John

My current build over in the ANZAC II GB is of a 748 in Mount Cook Airlines colours using the Classic-Airliners decal set for ZK-MCA. I am trying to determine the correct position for the underside Mount Cook Airlines titles. The instructions on the decals say to fit them on the wings and fuselage, but photos that I can find of aircraft in the same scheme seem to show MOUNT COOK under the starboard wing with AIRLINES under the port, although with my ageing eyes, it's not that easy to determine if the COOK portion is on the Stbd. wing or not. Does anyone have info on the correct placement? Any help would be appreciated. Regards John.

After dodging the rain showers over the past week, I was able to get some paint on the 748. Here are the results of my efforts, the next job will be to get some clear on and then it will be time for my favourite part of a build... the decals. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Regards John

Over the past few days i glued the undercarriage bays in place, added some weight around the nose using Liquid Gravity and glued the fuselage halves together. The wings have also been assembled and I have made a start on cleaning the joins, there is more work to do in that area and a significant amount around the cabin windows, but I thought that I would have a dry fit of the main parts to see how things look. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Back with more soon John

I completed the rescribing work on the nacelles earlier this afternoon then wiped the model down with some IPA before spraying on a primer layer. I'll check things over and if it looks OK I can mask off the fuselage for the white. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr Regards. John

Thanks Dennis. The rear section of the 146 was produced at Chadderton (home of the Lancaster, Vulcan, HS748 to name a but a few) and the completed major assemblies were transported, initially to Hatfield and later on to Woodford, for final assembly before first flight and handover to customers. One of my roles when I worked at Chadderton was planning and scheduling of the main sub-assemblies (Rear Cabin, Vestibule Drum, Tail Fuselage and Airbrakes) which made up the rear section, so I have a fondness for this aircraft too. Regards John Update time. I made a start on the undercarriage this afternoon assembling and painting them ready for fixing in place. This will mean a tricky bit of masking later, but I can honestly say, that having built several of these kits and choosing to fit the undercarriage later in the build, this is the first time that I have not struggled to line up the legs correctly. by John L, on Flickr I have also blanked off the windows on the inside with strips of plastic card, these will be filled on the outside after the fuselage has been glued together. by John L, on Flickr Back with more soon. John