bradleygolding

Unless someone knows better, I would have said that the writing on the fuel cans would have been embossed, and not intended. Certainly all of those type of cans I have seen have had raised lettering. Never see a "Pratt's" one in the flesh though. Otherwise, once again Peter, remarkable. Steve

I'm a bit late to this but, let me say. The best 1/72 Lancaster I have ever seen. I think it asks some questions of Airfix though. In 1/72 Airfix these days do a good job of outlines and shapes, they do though seem to be running down the old Matchbox rabbit hole of smooth surface and very noticeable recessed panel lines which in scale I could put my fist in!. I know everyone hated the raised rivets of old but, these days you would think that very subtle ones could be produced which would achieve the effect seen here. Just my two cents. Steve.

The comment is from the designer of the 1/24 Spitfire, and it is about the next 1/24 scale plane. He has been working on it for some time and they were very careful not to name it! In 1/24 it will not be any of the four you mentioned. Steve.

Well, in the last Sprue Talk, there was an oblique reference to a new 1/24 kit. Mentioned in the context of the designer having to place a significant number of domed rivets. I initially thought it would be an American plane like a Harvard, but a Hurricane would fit I guess? Steve.

"As far as AI*A goes, MH434 was 1 of 8 different airframes that carried that code, the specific aircraft modelled is the Mk IX that Robert Shaw stood on it's nose during filming, it has the post war 3 spoke wheels as per the photos." Yes agreed, it also had a 3 bladed prop fitted at the time. Steve

Like I said, no Buchon with a three bladed prop actually flew in the film. Taxiing only. The photo below shows MH434 in preparation for the movie, it has four spoke wheels (5 spoke is my mistake). You seem to have sorted the Hurricane. Steve.

A great project. A couple of things though. No Buchon flew with a three bladed prop in the movie and MH434 had the same five spoke wheels it still wears today during filming. The Hurricane needs the Canadian spinner/prop combo and Kidney Exhausts as mentioned by others. Keep it up, a really good collection, only a Heinkel, B25, Ju52. and chopped Procter to go! Steve.

Having pondered this deck issue for a while I have decided to us a version of Steve D's idea, but use 2x1mm strip. 1mm is just enough to put a curve on the decks with as well, so while I wait for some wood to arrive, I decided to work on modifying the supplied whales to be the ships motor boat and the life boat that would become the 'James Caird'. I quite like OcCre's construction for these, but wish they had used 1.5 or 2mm ply instead of 3mm MDF. As you can see the motor boat is nearly done and the Caird is a work in progress. You will also note the superstructure sides have gone. Although pictures from the wreck have not added anything new, websites have put up more information about Endurance including several blueprints which show that the superstructure is angled in to the ship by about 30 degrees from the vertical. OcCre have them at a couple of degrees. Still a bit to go. Steve.

Yes I saw it about an hour ago, and it is in amazing condition. Good shots of the steering gear as well. Thanks Steve

Under a classic Adelaide sky. Back to boats now..... Steve

Hi Steve, Thanks for the advice. I am not sure how much difference it will make at this scale. My photo was me flying my Stearman! Cheers, Steve.

So these are my possible decking correction choices if I am insane enough to try. 1, Do nothing (this is my Son's favorite, he says I am mad to change it, and he may be right!). 2, Scribe a centre line down each plank to double the number. 3, Put down new planks 2mm wide. 4, Put down Paul's thin plasticard, or 0.5mm Micro ply with new planks pre drawn. 5, Carfully sand each deck to be curved and then add either option 3 or 4. I would be interested to hear what others think? Steve.

Hi Paul, I have considered many ways, but have made no decision yet. It may be a bit late for this build. I guess it depends on just how much it gets to me over the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the idea and the luck! You have set me thinking though. Steve.

Certainly Norway. Wikki will know! Steve

So it's been sand, research, sand, research,sand, research, and so on. With good results in both areas. After looking at a couple of other builds, one modeller with some original drawings showed that the hull shape, basic superstructure, and masts are very accurate indeed and could make a really accurate model. It's the details that are going to need work! Although Hurley's photos and film are good, there are some excellent press photos from the time when the ship was in drydock at Millwall and at Plymouth. So below is my list of changes that could be made. 1, Decide when your model is set. The Endurance was only black after its stay in Benous Aries on the way to the Antarctic. Before that it was white. 2, The deck planking is too wide. The real Focsle has 44 planks across its width, the model only 18. And in no photo can you see any joins in the planks. 3, The real decks are curved, the model's are designed to be flat. Too late for me to change this but others? 4, Under the Focsle is open to access the Anchor winch. However I did after looking and adjusting some of the photos notice that there are doors there as well. 5, All of the walls on the superstructure are planked. 6, The hull has a sheathing of Greenheart Oak up to a couple of feet above the waterline. This can be seen very clearly in some photos as a ridge. 7, After South Georgia there was an extra small dingy attached to the rigging. 8, The Ship had four life boats, two were ex whalers supplied with the ship and had inboard mountings a midships. These were 21 feet in length. What became the James Caird was a 22.5 foot specially designed lifeboat, and a smaller 21.5 ish motor boat. All had covers on for the journey. The ones in the kit really bear no resemblance to reality at all and will have to be scratch built/sourced elsewhere. 9, Two tall chimneys are supplied in the kit, these were never fitted to the real ship. There was a small one on the bridge above the Galley, and a removable one for the Captain's cabin. 10, The Stanchions in the kit are flat PE ones. Others will need to be made. And most had solid railings, not cable as indicated in the kit. 11, The top stern hand rail is wood and not cable. 12, There are some extra portholes near the bow, not on the kit. 13, All cabin entrances have a curved roof, the kit suggests flat. 14, There was a Map table and extra Binnacle fitted on the Bridge. 16, There were raised roof supports on the Bridge to hold a canvas roof, and canvas sides fitted from Millwall Docks. 17, The Focsle Capstan is too tall, and will need replacing. 18, The entire steering gear at the Stern will need to be manufactured. The kit has a shed over it, which was not fitted until the ship was trapped in the ice. 19, The Portholes are a mix of black and white surrounds, the kit leaves them brass. 20, Most of the fittings supplied seem to be slightly out of scale, ie to big. 21, The prop should have two blades only. 22, There are small mushroom shaped air vents in the deck for all cabins. My solution for the Focsle, to save cutting two bulkheads. After much sanding we are nearly there. Steve.

Okay, time to get the reference material out! Steve.

Well it's my first wooden ship and I have to say I am quite enjoying it so far, although it's a long journey. The kit seems okay, if a little 'stand off' scaleish. The sails are not good and some components are not quite the right ones either. There are some other build threads around as well which are worth looking at. I think a really nice model can be made from this kit with some care and consideration. If you look at Hurley's photographs and read some of the expedition literature there is a wealth of detail that can be added. Steve

Only some very basic CAD ones. You can search on the net and find some, 'Polaris' was the original name of the ship. Steve.

Let's be clear right away, I normally build plastic planes, but if you are interested in Sir Earnest Shackleton's 1914 expedition and his ship the Endurance, this kit from OcCre is the only game in town. I expect it will take a while so don't expect any quick updates. Steve.

Let me start with a story…… I am eight years old and it is the Summer of 1968. On holiday at Dymchurch in Kent my Dad starts pointing at the sky, and there they are, some very war weary looking Spitfires and Me109s coming back from a filming sortie. Spool on to 1970 and home in Biggin Hill valley just under the flight path of the main runway, when Ray Hannah turns up in MH434 still in a Battle of Britain scheme and beats up the airfield, valley and anything else he could find! Dad and I rushed to the airfield just in time to see him side slip it onto runway 29. Marvelous! He did it all again a couple of hours later when he left. MH434 remained in those colours until 1974. And that to me is a real Spitfire, a cleaned up Mk IX in Battle of Britain colours. So here is my take on MH434 during the filming. Is it MH434? Three cleaned up Mk IX single seaters were flown during the film. MK297, MH415, and MH434. They were all different! MK297 had fishtail exhausts so not that one. MH415 had straight exhausts and then later fishtail ones after an engine change, it also had strobe lights in the gun ports so not that one. MH434 it is, we’ll say later in the filming due to the lack of an odd short rod sticking out below the rear fuselage which is visible in some early shots. The colours? Hm…….always a contentious one this. Every photo you see is different. I have ended up using Dark Earth and Light Green, which are not quite colourful enough, but they are close once weathered. The under sides had a bluish tinge (look at the wing behind Kenneth Moore’s shoulder in the collapsed hangar. Not a flyer but they were all painted the same.) so I used Sky with added White and a dab of Navy. The weathering. Originally the aircraft were to be presented as quite clean and there are some photos around that show quite some subtle dirtying up. However the R/C unit was having trouble getting the models to look real on film so the great weathering up of models and full size began. Lots of dark washes and black brush strokes. The markings. These are from Fundekals and although reasonably accurate are some of the hardest I have ever had to apply. They are thick, brittle, and self-destruct the moment they get near the model, and the guide as to where to put them is incorrect in many respects. My advice is to look at the film photos in detail first. The under wing roundels are wrong for the film as well, but right for the actual battle. Excuse the lack of a gun sight, it kept falling off so I put it somewhere really safe, if only I could remember where that was…… Steve.

There is some talk that the Bianchi Pfalz D.III was based on a DH 60 and not a Tiger, I have no idea as I had always thought it a Tiger, but it is a massive conversion. In fact there is more real Tiger visible in Bianchi's Eindeker which used Tiger wings! With Waldo Pepper there were two crashes with Tigers dressed as Jennies, but you are right they were only used in the crash scenes. Waldo's plane was a Standard. The Biggles BE2 is a massive conversion again, but a fair amount of Tiger remains. Steve

If I recall as well, there was a French TV series? in the 70s or 80s which resulted in a number of half replicas being made, and Tigers were used as the donor planes. I remember some photos in Aeroplane Monthly at the time. No idea what the show was though. Steve

I think that there was one in Silver Streak, but it was just a Tiger rather than being a Sheep in Wolf's clothing. If we included Tigers in films as Tigers, the list would be pretty long! Steve

Okay just to get everyone started. Here is my off the top of my head list of where Tigers played other aircraft. Villa Rides ‑—Curtiss Jenny. Lawrance of Arabia —Rumpler C.IV, Fokker DVII. The blue Max —SE5, Pfalz DIII, Fokker DVII. Thunderbird 6 —TB6. Darling Lilli? —Probably all of these, SE5, Pfalz DIII, Fokker DVII. Richthofen and Brown —SE5, Fokker DVII, Pfalz DIII (many brightly coloured). Zeppelin —SE5? I Shot Down the Red Baron I Think (Footage shot, but not completed)— SE5, Pfalz DIII, DVIIs. Biggles Sweeps the Skies? —BE2, Rumpler C.IV (Aircraft built, but film cancelled). The Great Waldo Pepper ‑—Curtiss Jenny(Canadian Tigers were used). The Aviator (with Christopher Reeve) ‑—Curtiss Jenny Aces High —Random German biplanes. I am sure there are others, but in these films tigers flew as these planes. Steve

Tigers have appeared/doubled for many different aircraft in the movies, could be a whole group build topic! Steve