RMP2

Well, the Harrier buy fell through, I spoke to soon. Not to worry, Im exploring other avenues. I found two photos showing a pair of Matras on the outboard pylons, could both be of the same aircraft, heres one, https://www.flickr.com/photos/davids_world_2011/5931459242/ Although it was different photos that I found of it on Flickr last night... anyway, there it is albeit a Navy FGR.1 not a RAF 2. Looks a bit dangerous to me. Yes, youre absolutely right re the launchers, thanks for scanning my desk! I managed to gently pry them off last night with little collateral which was nice. So thanks for that, appreciated. Edit - another: https://www.flickr.com/photos/davids_world_2011/5931478606/in/photostream/ Some really interesting photos in that folder, worth a look through.

Tidy job indeed. Are the front brake discs big enough...?

Wow, thats lovely. Very well done. Back in the day I worked on the local docks off-loading ships and every month or so one or two of these would come in. They rarely started, but when one did it was a fight (literally) to get to drive it. Thankfully I got to drive two of them - rubbish cars, but sounded amazing. Could do with a Lotus badge on the bonnet.

Loving the Jet Bike! I built quite a few Tamiya 1/12 bikes as a teenager, theyre really nice kits. I too had issues with the NSR decals, but scraped by. Good stuff, I must resist getting back into the bikes!

A lovely looking pair, very well done. The CGI image is just that, its from DeviantArt which is a site that specialises in modified images, good ones at that. But who cares? They both look brilliant.

Well done! I do like that - reminds me that I have one here waiting...

Many thanks. The pods are from a GR3 and I was under the impression Phantoms only carried them inboard, you comment suggests they could carry them outboard too. I will have a look for some more photos. The US MER will do for me then, brilliant stuff. Cheers!

Ok, Ive found some rocket pods from an Airfix Harrier, maybe theyre not quite the right ones, but theyll do me I think. That just leaves the MERs for them so I can pair them up. I guess Im looking at the Hasegawa weapons sets for these? The "US Guided Bombs and Rocket Launchers" set?

Deleted - not the wanted area.

No love for the little Honda? Here it is with the rest of the households current mini-me's. A proper display case of some sort will follow at some point.

Im really liking this. Well done, please keep the photos coming.

And then there were two. Thats taken me ages to do and my eyes dont thank me for it. Still a couple of adjustments and fixes to do along with the dry brush, but thats enough for me for one day. Also sanded one of the inlets and got the best fit I could, got the other side to do, glue em both on and then its filler time for the plane itself I think. Woo.

Rocket pods and bombs have been found, but not cheap, so will ponder the payload while Im slowly nailing the rest of it together. Done a little bit - My first ever PE adorned ejection seat! A few wobbles, a couple of tiny omissions - figured the risk of a mess wasnt worth it - and elected to keep the kit overhead grab handles as the PE ones look flat and a little small to me. Hopefully a light dry brushing on the frame with some silver will pretty much finish it. Right... theres two seats in a Phantom... Next!

Cheers guys. Does anyone know where I can get some rocket pods for this? Matra 155 I think would be suitable...? Also multiple rails for them? Bit disappointed they aren't in either the Hawk or Jaguar kits I have here. Failing that some BL55 bombs and multiple racks for those? I have an Airfix Tornado that I could borrow the twin bomb mounts from, rightly or wrongly...

Yea, the wheels do look a bit big, yes theyre the Fujimi kit wheels. Maybe pretend its sporting the Honda engine conversion that I wished Id done? Or perhaps have a rummage for some smaller ones, see if they were produced. Both the 1:! and the model are painted Rover Nightfire red, lovely colour in the sun or under street lights with the Minis curves showing the subtle pearl. Biased perhaps... Nice looking Clubman you have there. Funny things those square fronts, sometimes they look good, often I don't like it, but yours works for me. And don't Webers make a glorious noise? Had a downdraft on mine for a short while and it was lovely, if thirsty due to the lack of proper tuning (and being a Weber). Good to see a car being used competitively too. Im hoping to continue with some sprints in my CRX next year, its done alright in the past for what it is. Addictive and can get pricey though once hooked. A friend of mine had a lovely Mk2 Escort back in the day when I was too young to even contemplate driving lessons, he moved on to a Manta GTE with a V8 fitted that was a bit of an animal and was used in competitions that it either won or failed to finish. Gutted I was too young to get into the Escort scene, but at least I didn't miss the Mini boat.

Careful, Dave - I found that I wanted to cover all the more interesting cars the family have owned, so far the following have been done over the years: Mums Mk1 CRX Dads Jag XK150 Dads convertible 2 door Range Rover (needs a reshell too) Dads old Light 15 (dead and gone I think) My Mini, obviously My current Mk2 CRX The missus' MX5 Our truck - Honda CRV Need to do my first CRX next once the aircraft stash is done. It all seems like a good idea until you find that the wheels in the kit aren't the right ones and an almighty search for something close ensues for days, no.... weeks!

Thank you. Its me in the drivers seat, the 170 was the cars number in a local show we used to go to (and get banned from) every year. Good old days.

Single HIF44, Mini Spares inlet, stage 4 head with mahoosive valves, LCB, RC40 single box.... Oh man. Loved it. Heres the only two pictures I have of it -

Oh dear, you've set me off.... Yep 1275 MG A+ blocks were my preference, I eventually discovered that the basic MG electronic ignition system made a Mini start, every single time the key was turned. Pick yourself up. Its true. Sadly that discovery was made only six months before that nasty 318 decided the Mini had to die. Anyway... Kent 266 cam with a slightly advanced woodruff key - what a development and better through the whole rev range than even the mighty MG camshaft, complete with a sensibleish 6.5k rpm red line. Although a 3.65 final drive might not have been the ideal companion to said Kent cam in a 1330cc lump, it did make me cry with laughter at every traffic light drag race I came across. Likewise I was on 12" wheels, just have to make the best of what wheels are available for the kit. Would have loved 10s on mine, but brakes of some sort were also required. This could easily go on all night, so Ill nip it now. Many moons ago I masked and painted a Union Flag on my friends Mini. We occasionally went to shows ( cheap BBQ & Beer camping excursions more like) and we would watch people pick at the paint to see if it was vinyl or paint. Made me smile. Made my mate freak out and flail his arms a lot. Liking your boot, cant moan at that one bit. Ok. I accidentally completely lied - it was the FUJIMI "Old Mini Cooper" kit (12219) that I used to reshell the old one which I am now uncertain who manufactured/boxed it. The plastic was a horrible pale blue, I can tell you that much. Not to worry though, the Fujimi 12219 kit should be good for replicating your car. Oh - Dirty looks good. Minis are for driving like your hair is on fire, not for concours bull.

Hi. I will be needing help with this I suspect. I started this kit a few months back and got side-tracked. Since starting it I bought my brother the same kit which came with the Big Ed PE bits. Now I could have sworn I put those in with his kit, but whilst tidying up today I found them here... what to do? Well, keep them for myself, obviously. Tricky bit comes with the fact the fuselage is closed now and its been an interesting evening getting the instrument clusters etc in there. This is the first time Ive really used PE, certainly to the extent of the number of bits the Big Ed pack contains. So, as a learning curve Im aiming to use as much as I possibly can/don't screw up. It will also be the first aircraft that will see my airbrush, so much to learn there. Paints are Humbrol enamels, not used them much with the airbrush, hopefully itll be ok. Another first will be using a wash, Im not too keen on pre-shading, prefer the cleaner look of just the panel lines. All in all its going to be slow, and I expect slightly painful. But its all good, theres a fair stash of 1:48 aircraft to follow this one. Anyway. Pictures showing the current state of affairs - The office: As I say, a lot of this is new ground for me, so please, don't be shy to speak up, shake a head and point out my woeful mistakes. Im not after perfection, just a half decent Phantom for the shelf. Cheers for looking.

Hi Reggie. Thanks for that, it hadn't crossed my mind to search for such things. Makes sense that its been covered though. I will drop them an email and see whats what. Sorry to hear about your mother. Hope 2015 is better for you. Rob

I was thinking its maybe easiest to work from a photo - rescale and print it. But that will only work for the CRX and CRV, Mini is long dead.

Thank you, Rick. It certainly looks better from 3ft away than 3" away, but it is soooooo my car and that's what I wanted even if its nowhere near as tidy, shiny or generally just Ace. It still reeks of B99 JBE. Which reminds me - is there a standard font for UK number plates that can be printed from a PC? All my attempts have been a bit poor, and its things like plates that can make or break these things.

Not a lot to say about this other than its been a bit of a pig/learning curve with all the issues its given me. Im not particularly happy with it, but Im also a bit sick of messing with it now, its surprisingly troublesome for a Honda... Good job the real one behaves itself. I think the only things Im really happy with are the interior, which you cant really see, and the use of thin strips of black electrical tape for the roof gutter strips. However, its been a good learning curve for airbrushing, masking and getting back into modelling a bit after a good 15 year break, so.... yea, bound to be a bit rusty I suppose....

Scary to think it was 20 years ago when I was 17 and bought my first car, a 1984 Mini City. It came with a massive, overbored 998cc engine, pocketed block, a 1275 12G940 cylinder head and a Piper 270 camshaft (if you know Minis, you know what this would be like). Yes, I blew it up. Replaced the engine with an overbored 1275 and proceeded to repeat this procedure approximately every 12 months for 6 years. The Mayfair interior and walnut dash it came with was eventually complimented with a full rust removal and paint job in Rover Nightfire Red with an Old English White roof that had a touch of gold pearl added to it. It looked bloomin fantastic it did until a BMW pulled out of a junction and killed the poor wee thing. I loved that car. Well, I hated it a lot too, but by eck do I miss it! Would be worth a pretty penny nowadays too. Anyway... it deserved remembering. This is just a reshell of a Tamiyas Mini that I knocked up just after it died in 2000 but the finish was a bit pants to say the least. Sure, this is far from perfect but its only my third effort with an airbrush and number plates are yet to go on, bit of filler remaining in panel gaps, but meh. Pictures. I even attempted some sort of representation of its walnut dash and the obligatory 6x9 rear shelf speakers on the original attempt in 2000... So. How does it look to you guys? I know its a particularly polite forum here, but Im a big boy and can take criticism and advice. Cheers for looking.