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PLC1966

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About PLC1966

  • Birthday 08/22/1966

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    Lincolnshire
  • Interests
    RAF Aircraft WW2

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  1. Back at the end of last year, flushed with the success of actually completing a couple of builds in the Airfix Group Build and started to look for the next GB to enter. The Heller GB caught my eye. Having never knowingly built a Heller kit, and only made a single model of an aircraft in French Markings, a Matchbox Mirage III back in the 70's, you can guess I have never been a big fan of the Country just across the English Channel whether it be Models, Football, Chips, Rugby or Letters, however, I was liking the looks of some the Heller WWII French AF aircraft complete with the three colour upper colour scheme so I thought I would have some of that. I put my name down for the Heller GB. So far, so easy... Started poking around on a certain well known On-Line Auction site in December, and then had a lightbulb moment and realised that if I brought a couple of French WWII kits I would then need to spend a few pounds on the Hataka French WWII paint set. I had spent a fair few bob on my models that month and thought, aha, buy a Vampire, I already have the SS for an RAF model, jobs a good'un, so back to the website I picked up the following for just a few quid... It was a lift off lid on the box, and to be fair the bottom half of the box was really good quality rather than thin cardboard I have usually seen Nice and solid. Having opened the box a quick look at the sprues looked quite promising Ouch, that is a poor picture......still, onwards and upwards, panels lines are quite delicately raised So overall I am quite happy at that. Anyway, I noticed at this point, no decals...@?@?@"£$ No problems I thought I have a few bits and bobs so I can put something together. However, on the top of the Vampire wing there are some prominent no-step markings that are really obvious and I thought I am not going to try and recreate them unless I really have to. Off to the Big H website and I managed to find Which contains the all important No Step markings.... But after a while looking at the Modeldecal set I worked out that the decal set themselves are quite boring, so another look at Big H and I end up with this set as well... Of course now I have got to the state where I have a large number of Vampire decals and only one FB5 model, eerr, I guess you can see where this is going can't you, back to the well known on line auction site and I picked up a Vampire T11, a Sea Venom (both of which will appear in GB's later this year) and a Vampire FB5. Yep, it is a Revell boxing, but the little Heller kit appeared under Revell, Airfix and Heller labels. And as if by magic this kit also came with no decals...double %?@$?£@%?$@, but that is it, I am buying no more !!!! If anybody has a set of the 'No Step' decals going spare maybe something can be sorted, if not, I am back to having to do something at the back end of the build involving cutting up bits of red sprayed decal paper which is how it was before I started buying aftermarket decals in the first place..... But these things are never that simple. Reading up on building the little Vampire it seems it is a nice kit, but the canopy is best left open due to poor fit. Open canopy and you will be left with a very bare cockpit, okay, something I had noted on the Big H sit was relatively a cheap PE set. Originally made for the SH/Xtrakit Vampire. That will do was my immediate thought, so as you do I did and contacted Mr Big H. I will be honest here and say I really do not enjoy messing about with PE, but if I am leaving the canopy open I cannot just leave it bereft of detail, and just before I pressed the send button I decided to save potential future postage and picked up some resin wheel hubs and tyres actually made for the kit Now that is in line with most of my kits, Resin wheels and Resin seats are probably the two things I do do on a lot of my models. And there we go, by hook or by crook I am in for two Vampires, and all these machinations are down to the fact I didn't want to fork out for another Hataka paint set at the start....and now I really fancy some of the WWII French aircraft after all. Life is a bit odd isn't it. . . .
  2. Are you filling in the panel lines?
  3. Think they are fine 🤞 To be fair, I had not really noted Air Graphics before. But I will pick some of these when I get to my Bucc in the near future. I have a feeling @Fritag did some 3D printed samples that looked beautiful for his Hawk builds. But these Air Graphics versions look decent.
  4. I am sure there was a case where a Bucc down low was being chased by an F-15, the Bucc popped up over a sand berm and the Eagle driver didn't?
  5. CLBS-100 Practice Bomb Dispenser. Air Graphics do Resin versions, probably other people as well.
  6. Very nice, and different, decals. That has tweaked my interest somewhat.
  7. Though at times there were a SENGO, JENGO and BENGO on the same Sqn at the same time. 19(F) it seemed a pretty permanent thing, and I remember one of the BENGO's getting tied to a tree and getting Fire Hosed at the troops block Summer BBQ, they might even have stripped him off first...PhonePhixer might remember it as well.
  8. I fancy the Shuttle and the Saturn V, did the Shuttle when it first came out as a nipper. Possibly in for the Puma. But re-releasing the 1970 Jag model the same day as announcing a brand new 1/48th...really? Talk about rubbing salt into the wound.
  9. I have the airfix boxing of this coming to the head of the queue in the next few months. Hopefully it is not as bad as your early experience suggest. Good Luck.
  10. I detect the ghost of Bomber Harris coming through the thread....
  11. You do realise that in the early days of steam trains Bristol worked off a different time zone than London for Rail timetable purposes? The clock above the Market in the Centre of Bristol still shows the Bristol time rather than that there London.
  12. Pete, are you talking the sheds around the Petrol Station at Bracebridge? Apparently they were part of the Civilian Servicing organisations, used to fix and service two and four engine aircraft I believe. Apparently they would if possible fly them into Waddo, tow them off the airfield up the public road to the workshops, and service them etc and after work tow them back down the public road to Waddo and fly them out for return to wherever directed. At one point I did read and see pictures of the aircraft being towed back to Waddington. Possibly at the Newark Air Museum, maybe at the Waddo Museum, dunno, getting old. Have a feeling those sheds may have been linked to the early days of Handley Page. I think they used to build Vimy's in Lincoln up near Wragby Road area, fly them down to the fields by the old deserted sports stand on the west of Lincoln, kit them up for war, and fly them off to the front from there (and yes, I do realise Vimy's are Vickers....well they were when Airfix did them, maybe it was 0/400's)...
  13. For those with nerd tendencies 1941-1945, US Kit to Russia included 400,000 jeeps & trucks 14,000 airplanes 8,000 tractors 13,000 tanks 1.5 million blankets 15 million pairs of army boots 107,000 tons of cotton 2.7 million tons of petrol products 4.5 million tons of food 34 million uniforms The following is taken from Hansards around UK and Commonwealth support. More in depth and really interesting: MILITARY SUPPLIES. Tanks: 5,218, of which 1,388 were supplied by Canada. All tanks were shipped with ammunition. Vehicles(includes lorries and ambulances): 4,020. Machinery Lorries:323. Bren Carriers and Carriers Starting and Charging: 1,212 to which should be added 1,348 from Canada. Motor Cycles:1,721. Tank and Bren Carrier Spares and Maintenance Equipment:20,145 tons. Other vehicle spares and Maintenance Equipment:4,090 tons. Weapons 1,000 P.I.A.T. 103 Thompson sub-machine guns. 636 2-pdr. anti-tank guns. 96 6-pdr. anti-tank guns. 3,200 Boys anti-tank rifles. 2,487 Bren guns. 5 81 7.92 mm. Besa guns. Ammunition: 100,000 rounds P.I.A.T. 20,786,000 rounds 45-in. sub-machine gun. 2,807,000 rounds 2-pdr. anti-tank gun. 776,000 rounds 6-pdr. anti-tank gun. 1,761,000 rounds 55 in. Boys anti-tank rifle. 89,332,000 rounds 303-in. rifle. 53,411,000 rounds 7.92 mm. Besa. 1,163,000 2-in. Mortar (H.E. and smoke). 162,000 3-in. Mortar (H.E. and smoke). 303,000 Smoke Generators. 2,204,000 Signal Cartridges 159,000 Clams. Electronic Equipment. Radar sets: 1,474. Radio sets (including suitcase sets):4,338. Valves: 42,850. Radio test equipment about 850 items. Charging and Generating Sets: 160. Telephone Equipment: Telephone Cable: 30,227 miles. Telephones: 2,000. Switchboards, 10 line: 400. Switchboards, 40 line: 60. Miscellaneous: Exploder Cable: 1,070 miles. Camouflage netting: 3,013,000 metres. Camouflage face veils: 1,199,500. Surveying and Meteorological equipment: 925 Items. Specialised pistons: 159,000. Tyres: 72,000. Admiralty Supplies Ships 1Battleship. 9 Destroyers. 4 Submarines. 5 Motor mine-sweepers. 9 Mine-sweeping trawlers. Asdics:293 sets. Radar:329 sets. Submarine batteries complete:41. Guns 56 130 mm guns complete 2 6" guns complete. 36 4" guns complete with 16 spare barrels. 22 12 pdr, guns complete with 12 spare barrels. 162 20 mm. guns complete with 54 spare barrels. 384/" Vickers complete with 52 spare barrels. 240/" Colt Browning complete with 120 spare barrels. 210 30" Martin. 36 sets 2" Rocket Projectors. 16 sets A.A.D. Type L Projectors and ammunition 530 Various Gun Mountings 2518 Underwater Weapons— 3,206 Mines. 318 Paravanes. 6,800 Depth Charges. 2,304 Hedgehog Projectiles. 361 Torpedoes. §Ammunition— 2,000 Rounds 15" 2,400 Rounds 6". 13,600 Rounds 4/', 4/", 4,3". 31,000 Rounds 12 pdr. 93,000 Rounds pdr. 882,000 Rounds 20 mm. 5,792,000 Rounds 5 Vickers. 1,399.500 Rounds.5 Colt Browning 26,00o Rounds 455" 359,500 Rounds 303" 889,000 Rounds 30". 4,000 Rounds 2" Rockets Pyrotechnics, etc. — 8,273 Flares, Grenades, Rockets, Signal and Identification Cartridges. 5 124 Generators and Smoke and Lachrymatory Candles. 67 Sets of Fire and Grenade Throwing Equipment complete. Air Ministry Supplies— Aircraft: 7,411, including 3,129 sent direct from the U.S.A. on British account. Aircraft Engines:976. M.T. Vehicles:L724. Aircraft Engine and M.T. Spares to the value of£1,15,981,000 including £8,806,000 sent direct from the U.S.A. on British account. Equipment for aircraft to the value of£1,734,000. Petrol, Oil and other Product,14,146 tons. Ammunition. 162,000 000 rounds 303-in., including 13,000,000 rounds from U.S.A. on British account. 66,450,000 rounds. 30-in., including 58,450,000 rounds from U.S.A. on British account. 24,000,000 rounds 50-in., including 17,000,000 rounds from U.S.A. on British account. 17,500,000 rounds 20 mm RAW MATERIALS, FOODSTUFFS, MACHINERY AND INDUSTRIAL PLANT GRAND TOTAL OF CIVIL STORES MADE AVAILABLE BY THE UNITED KINGDOM FROM ALL SOURCES: £111,626,000 Raw Material.,.—The greater part of these supplies have been bought from Empire sources. The following are the more important of the items we have sent: 30,000 tons of aluminium from Canada (£3,038,000) 2,000 tons of aluminium from United Kingdom (£720,000). 27,000 tons of copper from Canada (£1,431,000). 13,000 tons of copper from United Kingdom(£773,000). £1,424,000 worth of industrial diamonds, mainly from African production 100,435 tons of jute from India (£4,975,000). 114,359 tons of rubber from Ceylon and from the Far East (£15,574,000). 9,050 tons of sisal from British East Africa(£239,000). 3,300 tons of graphite from Ceylon (£160,000). 28,050 tons of tin from Malaya and United Kingdom (£ 7,774,000). 29,610 tons of wool from Australia and New Zealand (£5,521,000). TOTAL VALUE of these and other raw materials: £47,841,000. Foodstuffs.—These include tea from Ceylon and India, cocoa beans, palm oil and palm kernels from West Africa; groundnuts from India, cocoanut oil from Ceylon; pepper and spices from India, Ceylon and British West Indies. TOTAL VALUE of all foodstuffs supplied: £8,210,000. Machine Tools, Industrial Plant and Machinery.—These form the principal direct contribution to civil supplies for the U.S.S.R. from United Kingdom production The following are the major items which have been provided since 1st October, 1941: — Machine Tools: £13,081,000 Power Plant: £12,264.000. Electrical Equipment: £9,091,000. Various types of machinery: £4,691,000 (e g. telephone equipment, food processing plant, textile machinery, port and salvage equipment). Miscellaneous industrial equipment: £3,201,000. §OTAL VALUE including certain minor items: £43,616,000. Considering the Russians were batting 'for the other side' until Jun41, getting the first kit to them in Oct41 really was some going, and a leap of faith on the behalf of the Western Allies. Sorry, I know it is off topic, but I found it interesting.
  14. The Mirage IV, what a fantastic looking aircraft.
  15. Very nicely done. Great work on the painting. You are right, these are lovely little kits. I have done three with at least a couple more in the stash.
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