chuckb1

Loved the first picture, I was amazed at the image, looks so spot on for the era. Very nice piece of work and way better than what I could turn out. B

Discussing retail outlets for our hobby, I had a meeting at RAF Hendon two weeks ago with the curators and the RAF MOTSE team as my students will be using Hendon for their research task for the dissertation. As I had time to kill before going to the Bunker at RAF Uxbridge I popped into Hannants and was I would say not disappointed but more surprised at the lack of stock, Compared to their old shop next to Collindale from a few years ago it seemed a bit sparse. I think it reflects the state of the retail sector and the careful nature that retailers have had to adopt to survive. The chap behind of the counter kind of supported this by his comments to another customer who was having a bit of a moan at the lack of Trumpeter kits when he had traveled up from Surrey and was hoping to make some purchases after his visit to the Museum. The chap did sort of say that there was stock on the way and some in the warehouse.

Sorry disagree with that in part, I worked in retail for five years in the cycle and snow board industry, even ten years ago the customer was the key factor, you cannot survive without them. It is very difficult to predict trends and what the buying public want. You can blame the customer in part, frankly i experienced the hagglers, the whingers and the aggressive customer.However you have to try and feed everyones need and its difficult I have great sympathy for the retailer and the customer,The customer well it appears they buy where they buy these days prices talk.Money is tight for everyone. Where as they would actively come in and browse, chat and hopefully buy if I did my job properly today its online heaven. When I retailed we would have a good day takings wise if we could get people in through the door, this was achieved by creating a feel and scene around the shop. Passion is so important for what you do. However retail does not pay well and the quality of staff is always a hit and miss affair. Recruiting passionate and enthusiastic staff is difficult. Feeding the need and the desire for the customer is a big part of the retail experience.does internet shopping do that? No you feed your own need. Modelzone, I said that their demise was a combination of many parts, business model from the owners, suppliers squeezing margins, staffing and yes us the customer. Shopping has changed be it food, white goods, DIY, Luxury items and hobbies. The high street is a difficult environment to survive in. I have seen it first hand. Two companies I worked for have now gone, rode the wave and finally tumbled. A combination of factors. Customers, we played our part, maybe they should have listened to us would that have helped? Or would their shelves have been filled with obscure stuff that no one would buy ;-) Who knows? I shall end on something more pleasant than end of! No one can give a definitive reason for company failure, its just sad to see them go.

Oh also WEM for the paint they are bound to do it I do know that HMS Biters upper scupper was Teak Brown in colour, Mainly because my dads oppo left the Shikari and was drafted to Biter, I met him some years ago when dad was alive at an RNA reunion do

I agree, the toy shop image did seem to grow in the last year or so, maybe it was an attempt to underpin what they set out to do and try a different direction to generate sales. True about the figures, the 1/6th ones just reminded me of Action Man on steroids! The Britains stuff while lovely was, I can imagine not a great seller. If they had grown the 1/16 Armoured stuff would have or could have been a positive shift in direction but its building its name in that direction that is difficult. Becoming known for retailing it and carrying most of the useful items takes time. That was sadly not on their side.

I believe timber decking laid most likely athwart ships, bolted down counter sunk and probably not stoppered. Very weathered Try trawling for Emergency War build Carrier images. Or similar

I have held back on all of this, I personally think that the demise of the company is truly a sad state of affairs. Who is at fault probably every section of the retail process. The owners for not being more careful during a recession in considering their business model and over estimating their projected growth during this period. Employees being a mixed bag of individuals, for many its just a job not a passion to sell models and accessories. Finally us the consumer, through our desire to penny pinch and want a deal on everything, now I know that this is understandable as we are also feeling the pinch. However those of us who have poo pooed the discounts available and complained that 20% is not enough or basically you want if for next to nothing, well I was happy with my latest purchase and that amount is better than nothing. Those that complained ever thought that you are just like a buzzard or carrion crow circling while the injured beast of a company goes through its final death throws. We have been the architects of our high street retailers demise. We want cheap, we want it yesterday and we shop via the net.We played our part in killing the beast no matter how much we deny it, its true. I started gluing plastic over 30 years ago, I could walk into town and be spoiled for choice, five different, sorry not six different retail outlets to choose from and if that did not satisfy my thirst for plastic and paint then it was a bike ride away to Windsor or Maidenhead to feed the need. What do I have now? One RC Store left, and a department store in Windsor. Three days ago I purchased the new FW 190 for full RRP and I have to say stonking value. Paints and accessories, a model shop in Dedworth in Windsor, nice bloke wee bit grumpy but can always be guaranteed to stock what I need. So where am I going with all this, well thanks to Modelzone in Reading four years ago I got back into the hobby again,Wife off doing some clothes shopping with the sprog, I needed time to kill and there it was, for me like going back in time. its changed its evolved, so have we as consumers. Sad but true, we are driven for scrabbling for the best price, moaning groaning and generally whinging if we dont get it,I feel its the nature of the British Consumer. I am probably the worst tactical shopper ever. If I want it I will try and source the best price only once. If I cannot find it then stuff it, buy it! Its the pleasure of the build not the scrabble to find the best price, no I am not some sort of rich baron type, I build my models for the sake of the build, I dont have time to surf the net for the best price, or have the energy or inclination to do it. In closing I am truly saddened that they will not survive, my visits to Southampton, Reading or Portsmouth will not be softened any longer by having the pleasure of gazing at the blunt end of a model box or staring at rows of paint tins. We are nerds of a kind its what we do, We are not cool but we enjoy our hobby. Sad times, thank you Modelzone you re ignited my passion for all things model kits again!

Mixture of military and civil for the holidays Hercy Bird Lynx Tristar Merlin Chinook 747 Black Hawk Huey Augusta Bell what ever it was Sea King 737 Sea Knight Apache, sat on the sponson on the side A319 BAC 1=11 And my best one a jolly in a Nimrod whilst on exercise during a JMC! Felt sorry for the RAF lad who did the crosspol with me. Getting tossed around in a LPD in winter of the coast of Scotland

Superb

Thank you I have not wielded an air brush in years! Practiced a lot on some cartridge card. and it seemed to work out ok. I now need to reduce my efforts to the small scale. I was thinking of using hairy sticks on my Lancaster due to not being skillful enough. Im marking kids course work like mad (Its that time of year) will post up more pictures in the morning. Thank you all B

Thanks guys, the Zimm is a kit with a bit of gentle persuasion. I used Evostick to stick it on. The glue supplied was pretty weak. To tidy up the edges I used Milliput and an old craft knife blade with the sharp edge ground a bit flatter. Will post up more pictures from the PC. I also have the Panzer Grenadier and Tank commander to go with it all painted. I also have the Walker Bulldog painted and weathered will photo and post up later Thank you for your kind comments

Ok be gentle and kind my first ever big kit and also my first in 30 years. If you are going to do do it go large! Yes the Commanders cupola is the wrong way around since been changed. 1

Doing a wing over in HMS Minerva's Lynx 424 prior to a boarding on some manky ex oil ring support vessel to carry out a stop search for Class A. Then rapid repel on to the vessel and do a siezure with C&E (All perks of the job) Parachuting out of a Hercy Bird of the Firth of Forth for water borne assault Perks of the jobby

The rigging of those Awnings is absolutely spot on.

Better Word Manchester

Looking good on the green I like the effect hope mine turns out that clean. Quick question is the brown you used more of a Sienna shade? Im in the process of building the New Airfix Dambuster and the colour on my chart that I have bought and the Lanc at RAF Hendon that I photographed last week was more earthy brown.

Sneaked mine into a bag when I bought my daughters Dragon with Fairie rider. Daniels in Windsor now still have five in stock as of this afternoon. SWMBO did not notice! :-D

As long as my monsters get their photo waivers signed and handed in I can post mine up as they are a whole lot older. I will be speaking to the Senior curator at Hendon next week to start sorting the visit out as the staff do a really good tour along with the two Sergeants from the RAF recruiting team. The Flt Lt in charge of the team is a top man, We went to RAF Halton last year to see one of my ex students pass out of phase one training,followed up later in the spring with high and low ropes activities and the WW1 trench experience. The RAF are really on it with the community stuff and very supportive of my courses. I have three ex students in the RAF now 2 went Regiment and the girl is a Cpl RAF Copper.

I think for my lot in September it would be good to post them up on here. I am going to watch the Blythe efforts with interest. Mr B what age are your learners? Mine are 16-19 and 19 - 21 plus.

I agree If you do the maths and work out the angles ( I just have, being a nerdy teacher with a maths rich degree) I agree because when you work out the angles for the beams to meet say if they were fixed which I believe they were the aircraft would be at an incorrect scale Height of sixty feet give or take. I based this on my 1/72 scale drawings uploaded them and then did some basic Autocad work. Rainy day and off work, marking done and I am patiently waiting for interior green to dry. . I probably will move it aft more on mine. Am definitely marking it up as Hopgoods air craft If I can. I have the letters its just the Aircraft number next to sort out. By the look of it I have all the letters and numbers Got ouy my Lanc decal sheets and have PM M squared. Also enough to do ED925 Thats going to be a delicate job but it is dooable

Oh meant to say as part of it all I am also doing the Bunker visit to RAF Uxbridge and then on to RAF Hendon in the afternoon. This is so they can start their project and assignment work. I have contact names for the future if you need them The RAF MOT(SE) recruiting Sergeant is a mate of mine if you need details let me know

I am doing the same with my students next September, I have two modules that a bit of modern history ties into. Plus a Command and Control Module. As it is September I was thinking of doing the Battle of Britain for Command and Control and also linking it to the International Perspectives and Global Conflict module for Warfare Studies. Get a bunch of hairy and non hairy teenagers doing something different for their unit content.

No more crew figures, also the doors are I think for the BIII. There is a full quota of parts for a standard BIII so that version cannot be far behind. In the spares box I have all the ordnance for a standard one if I chose to build one. however mine will be hopefully Hopgoods aircraft as long as I can find my decal sheet. Brendan

Hmmm answer is, not sure now I will be working to some stuff I have been researching and the pictures I have found I am sure the first one shows the light further forward? Please follow linkys and I would appreciate your opinion also http://www.lancaster-archive.com/bc_damsraid1.htm http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/height.html B

Hi Ok here goes, compared it to my old BBMF kit and the Dambuster. Miles apart from these two. Compared to my dodgy ebay purchase Revell new tool Lancaster still better. No scrawny wheels or wing shape That may be my eye though) Also the nacelles are a tad scrawny on the Revell. Internally better than the Hasegawa and the Revell however the panels on the Hasegawa may favour those who find Airfix a tad "Heavy" They are not trench like but they are there. Considering I am returning to the hobby I would not put too much into my ravings. I would wait for Mikes review, I am a lowly plastic sticker from the 70's and 80's to me this is cutting edge stuff these days. No brass work when I was a keen builder. It was all scratch built from spue and sheet styrene.