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czechnavy

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Everything posted by czechnavy

  1. Can anyone help with a clear diagram of the starboard side camouflage for the Ju87R especially the nose area. Many thanks
  2. There is a good article about the DUKW, its part in Operation Sandstone and copies of the only two known photos of it in use in the IPMS(UK) Magazine issue 2 of 2008. Well worth the read of how it was modelled.
  3. And don't forget that some Australian Vampires had the 'elephant's ears' air intakes!
  4. Have found the article by Fred Turner in the October 1980 issue of Scale Models - hints for superdetailing plus a set of plans - can scan them if you need them - PM on the way as well. I seem to remember some discussion on here about the accuracy of these plans re the wing gap and struts - I think John Adams of AeroClub had a post on here including his findings from measuring a real Tiger Moth - not a vast difference if I remember but worth including whilst you are at it.
  5. This aircraft was converted by the ground crew of 35 Squadron, Royal South African Airforce, at their base at Congella Dockyard, Durban. It was used for waterbourne taxi training for new pilots before they were let loose on the water with a Sunderland - taxying up to a bouy was a skill that needed developing especially with the factor of side winds involved! It was never intended to fly and lacked the power to do so. Alan W Hall photographed the floatplane Anson whilst he was serving in the RAF on a visit to Durban in the 1950s - the port wing, engine and tip of the port float appear in one of his photos of a 35 Sqd Sunderland in Scale Aircraft Modelling, issue 12, volume 8 of September 1986. When I mentioned it to him at the 1986 Nationals he not only confirmed it was an Anson but was very helpful and forwarded to me copies of the two photos that appear in the reply above - a real gentleman who was only too happy to share his resources with another modeller!
  6. There are a couple of references to the Sea Fox in Scale Aircraft Modelling as well: Issue 4/10 (July 1982) has a review (very favourable) of the then newly released kit by Alan Hall Issue 1/16 (November 1993) has an article by Ian Huntley entitled 'The Fairey Sea Fox and the Graf Spee' - as well as profiles showing the official colour schemes and a discussion about the aircraft involved in the Graf Spee incident it also has a cutaway drawing Fairey issued as part of their publicity material. If you need a scan of either of these just message me. Mike
  7. A couple of mousetraps! They are ideal for clamping together wings, etc once you have removed the bait holder on the wooden base ...... and before anyone asks the answer is - NO - I have never trapped a finger whilst using them!! Also some dissecting scissors from my wife's scientific kit - razor sharp and with very fine points.
  8. Martin - many thanks for the info on the Xtradecal Dak sheet - I have ordered it from Hannants to collect at the Cosford Show this Sunday.
  9. Danny Thanks for that listing - I had just started on the Spitfires so your list will be a good starting point for the Lanc. Looks like a couple more Lanc kits will need to be purchased - as if an excuse is really needed!
  10. Not sure if this is in the correct Era but ...... I am thinking about building some of the 'loft insulating' to represent the aircraft of the Battle of Britain Flight over the years in 1/72nd scale. Having just started to browse through various photos it is becoming very obvious that a multitude of schemes have been worn over the years - hence an Excel database has just been started to try and organise my thoughts! Before getting to far into that task - does anyone know if such a database/listing already exists - have done a quick search on here and on Google but with no luck so far.
  11. The Elephant's Ears Intakes needed for the Australian Vampires (Mk30, etc) are available from Platypus Publications, Australia via the internet. I have a set and they are very well moulded - included in my bag of resin bits were new resin wing tips, the bulge for the autopilot, a resin ejector seat and underwing tanks as well as photocopies of a couple of articles taken from old Aussie modelling magazines giving plans, a brief history of the type and several colour schemes. The RAAF conversion would need the Mistral pod as the larger engine used by the RAAF needed the extra diameter but the Vampire intakes - the extra intakes were the RAAF solution to the problem of needing extra air - why they did not adopt the Mistral intakes is an unanswered question! The position of the Elephant's Ears Intakes varies - on the first few airframes they were on the top of the fuselage but this caused handling problems so they migrated to the underside on the vast majority of RAAF Vampires. I have a series of photos of the RAAF Vampire at RAAF Williamtown if anyone needs them.
  12. Graham - having started on conversions in about 1962 when balsa, talc and dope and odd bit of plastic packaging was all that was available I am never unkind about any suggestion - my only hope is that my skills have improved very slightly since then although the outcomes don't always prove that!! In fact I can still remember my first attempt at a conversion - the original Airfix S55 (which was in BEA colours) with floats as seen on TV landing at London Heliport by the Thames. The floats were roughly the same length, of vaguely similar diameters but of the same colour (Woolworth's metal-range silver sold for painting radiators if I remember correctly) - the struts were from plastic cocktail sticks!
  13. Again many thanks for this help and advice. I will have a look at Graham's idea of the S6B floats - I was lucky enough to pick up two of the old Airfix S6B kits at the Nationals bagged up in food bags at the SMW Kit Swop at £2 each so a cheaper option than the Amodel approach!
  14. If you need a scan of the Plastic Aircraft Modeller article just give me a PM - I managed to pick up that issue of PAM at Scale Model World - had been looking for it for years to fill the gap in the collection and there were two copies of the missing issue just sitting on the tables in the Kit Swop area - and who said it is only buses that appear in pairs when you least expect it!
  15. Build the Nord - I built one last autumn - not only was it a nice kit to build but it has been popular at any show I have taken it to. The only problem I had was that the very thin decal lines on the wings broke up but were easily replaced with so Xtradecal strips cut down in width. I had taken the precaution of reinforcing the main undercarriage legs with some brass rod inserted after drilling them through and the windows in the tail cone were filled with plastic card, sanded flush and then new windows drilled and filed out. Remember plenty of lead in the nose area - as always I chopped my lead into fine bits and then mixed it in with some pollyfilla which I then dampened with a 50/50 mix of water and PVA wood glue - sets like rock, never moves and is very dense!
  16. Thanks for that Patrik. A friend is now bringing those two books to our next IPMS Branch meeting so I will do some serious measuring and then post the results on here.
  17. Happy to join in - it will have to be a Canadair - now should it be the Spanish 415 that flies over our apartment regularly or the Yugoslav AF 215 seen on holidays years ago? - or can I manage both!
  18. The answer is here - follow this link to an excellent "how to" article!! http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234919782&hl=%2Bbarn+%2Bdoor
  19. Jonny The best book about the Insect class is "Armed with Stings" by A. Cecil Hampshire printed in 1958. It is typical of his books - a mix of official history with lots of personal stories woven into the text. There are no drawings or even photos of the ships but it does tell their story very well in 188 pages (in the edition I have). There are many facets to the story of this class - they were a rushed wartime build designed for use on the Danube which ended up serving in the Middle East, Northern Russia (in 1919-1920), on the Danube (where one of them took the deposed Emperor into exile), in China and Singapore and then though WW2 in the Med and the Persian Gulf. A couple of them took part in the invasion of Southern France and were then refitted ready for the invasion of Japan! I also have a file of drawings for this class culled from various magazines - if you are interested in a scratchbuild give me a private message and I will get them scanned and over to you - should not be a difficult job to build one as they were designed to be cheap and simple so mainly straight lines and flat decks!
  20. Thanks Graham Looking at a couple of other references they do appear very similar - and thanks for the mention of the AModel Osprey - that will be the route I will go down.
  21. I have been working away on a series of conversions from the Matchbox/Revell Fury kit and am now on to my first Nimrod. Whilst looking at Francis Mason's Putman book, The British Fighter since 1912, and have come across a photo on page 229 of Nimrod S1578 on floats at Felixstowe - could well become yet another conversion! Does anyone know which floats were fitted to this aircraft and if they were also used by any other FAA aircraft?
  22. The Seamew is excellent - is that the canopy which is supplied with the kit?
  23. For nose weights I have started to use chopped up tyre weights scrounged from the local tyre fitters and then held in place by a mixture of pollyfilla mixed with a 50/50 solution of water and PVA wood glue - sets like rock and never seems to come adrift within the fuselage. The mix takes about 24 hours to set solid but you never get any leakages of oil/whatever as you sometimes do with some modelling clays
  24. Great news, John!! Will there be an etched sheet for the struts and props or will they be cast in white metal as per the original kit?
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