Edge

More top work Tony. It seems that Sunderlands are a bit of a minefield when it comes to building something accurate. Looking forward to the next instalment! Edge

Nicely mucky Defiant there General. Edge

Now that's a bit special! Edge

Really liking that Tony. I have a couple of Italeri Sunderlands as well as the SH Mk.V too. Won't be starting either until I re-find some patience! Edge

That's lovely. I took advantage of Arma's overtrees offer so I've an expert kit (and I'm no expert!) and 2 sets of overtrees. Planning to build all 3 as FAA Wildcat VI's. Edge

She's coming along really nicely Simon. Just finishes the same (well later boxing) kit with similar after market. The Quickboost pieces really lift the level of detail. I especially liked the fuel vents - incredibly fine pieces. I found the fit of the Brassin exhaust to the kit part was tricky to get right, particularly as I'd already painted the collector. Next time I'd fiddle the fit before painting the whole thing as one. Edge

Lovely job 825! Got to agree that the colour scheme is a belter and suits those last of the line piston engined fighters as well as the early jets. Edge

You're not dreaming. Alleycat produce a conversion (complete wings with Merlins) and High Planes produce FAA decals to suit. On my to-do list! Edge

My 1st completion of the year (one better than 2019 already!). This is the pretty well known new tool Airfix Beaufighter from the TF.10 boxing. There's quite a bit of Eduard etch (from the TF.X Big-Ed set), resin wheels from Barracuda, Quickboost fuel vents & Eduard resin exhausts. Painted in Xtracyrlix medium sea grey and night black, with some Tamiya blacks thown in for good measure. Exhaust and collector rings are no less than 7 different shades of Alclad including stainless steel, hot blue and red, exhaust manifold, jet exhaust and I can't recall the other 2! I tried to copy images of the markings on the rockets & failed miserably! my eyesight and hand skills aren't up to the job. Neither can I slice masking tape thin enough to mask a 0.2mm line! The fit of the kit is generally excellent, with the now familiar Airfix tight tolerances - watch for paint and mold lines on your joints. Speaking of mold lines, I felt there were a lot of them for a recently tooled kit, possibly I had a poor sample or perhaps the molds are slightly misaligned. Ether way I found myself cleaning most parts of unwanted plastic. The engines aren't too well detailed, but are almost invisible on the finished kit, so that's a forgivable. Some dedicated resin replacements (SBS are you listening?) would be a nice addition. Anyway on to some pics. Apologies for the poor quality - I'm toying with a pop-up light tent, poor side lamps for illumination and a camera too complex for my aging brain cells! Airfix Beaufighter TF.10 by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Airfix Beaufighter TF.10 by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Airfix Beaufighter TF.10 by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Edge

I'm not too familiar with FAA Avengers in general. Like many US aircraft used by the RN, there appear to be numerous variants, not all of which are aligned with their US manufacture, nor are they too well documented! I'd like to add one of these to my huge stash (and probably will no matter) but the kit description is confusing. Is is an AS.4 or an ECM.6? From what I've gleaned from references, including the one linked below, AS.4's retained their turrets with guns probably removed. I'm assuming the box title may be a reference to the ESM.6 being a conversion of an AS.4 air frame, but I don't think an AS.4 (or even AS.5) can be made out of the box. Edge

Mighty impressive pair. Edge

DN models and Maestro both do a set. Worth taking a look as that's one complex scheme! Edge

I'd seen a little about the FAA's use of Whitleys (mainly ex-Coastal Command GR.VIIs I think) which were replaced with 6 Lancasters from storage. From the little I've read, the Lancasters didn't stay with 780 NAS for long - most being scrapped in 1946-47. I'd love to find more detail on markings so that I could use build something remotely accurate to represent these unusual Navy types. Edge

Quite a few Eduard etch frets have a series of cut outs around the frame designed to produce ID lights. I think the procedure would be to heat some clear or appropriately coloured sprue over a flame & then press against the cut out. This pushes the plastic through the cut-out & results in a well-shaped lamp. Edge

She's really coming on nicely Davey. That yellow is especially nicely done. Edge

Fabulous!!

Really lovely finish.

Absolutely nothing wrong in selling off the stash Edward. I did it too, then promptly went and amassed an even larger one, please don't do the same!

Great choice again Tony! I'll be following along as I have these in my sights - been on pre-order with Hannants since their announcement, but I've not received the usual 'in stock' notification. I stupidly stumped up a king's ransom for Broplan's Varsity T.1 & Valetta T.3 a while ago, but being vacform they're several steps above my pay grade at the mo! Looking forward to your next update. Edge

Great looking Tiger Heather. Also interested in how the SBS set works out. I've clocked that the do a few rigging sets for kits in my to-do pile. Edge ps. good luck with the painiting!

Cracking build and an interesting story too Tony. I recently bought the MMP book on CC Fortresses and am bewildered by the number of differences across the many variants and roles! Thanks for for the inspiration! Edge

Whirlybirds list several Puma kits in their range, along with some improvements and decals for the Airfix kit. I've been tempted a couple of times, but they're quite pricey & I've never seen one built nor a WIP to gauge whether I'd be capable of putting one together. Edge

Really interesting topic and some great suggestions on how to achieve the look. Most are beyond my skill set, but I look forward to seeing the results. Edge

I spotted this set last night. Thought it odd that the intakes & exhausts are separate sets. https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/blackburn-buccaneer-s-1-exhaust-and-air-brake-set Edge

Short Stirling was first delivered into squadron service in August 1940, declared operational in January 1941. Can't think of anything else, apart from early Beaufighter I that were fitted with Hercules engines, in service in 1940 & are available as 1/72 kits. Edge