John B (Sc)

Interesting - not boring at all., xv107 So the Flying Can Openers are coming up here. Excellent - a change from being GA. I'm still hoping for a 74 Sqn revival ! (or 92 of course - Cobras if not Tigers)

Thanks XV107. That would make sense - possibly a motor driven D/F loop style arrangement you mean? ( Why XV107 as your online name - are you VC10 crew? )

Help folks. I am building a Bundesmarine Seahawk Mk100/101. (Trumpeter, 1/48th - nice kit) I do like to know what the bits are that I am working with, where possible, because I am that sort of obssessive compulsive. Does anyone know, or remember, what the large bulge on the rear dorsal fuselage area of the German Seahawks was? Could it be a radio compass housing - my current best bet?

Excellent pictures. Shame, another famous squadron goes into history. I did wonder last week why the Notams showed a nine ship formation wandering all over the place, as it seemed, on Friday morning - some of it almost the exact reverse of the track I was planning for going South (much slower!). A question - how do squadron numbers for re-use /retention get selected? For example, no.25 Sqn had not been heard of for quite a few years until the Tornado F3 came along. Why were they resurrected, not (say) the rather better known Tigers ? Puzzling - though of course irrelevant since they are disbanding now too. Soon we'll have so few aircraft we can have one squadron marking per machine!

Yes Bill, but your results are way better than mine, even unfinished. OK then, maybe we should plan to take our respective builds along next Telford and have a 'Support Group' session for the perennial 'not quite finished yet' folk. There's always more detail.... Anyway it might give you a laugh. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with two in the stash - though my reasoning was I'd hoped to learn enough from the first to do the second properly ! If Trumpeter do a good enough job perhaps I can use some parts to improve my vacform work - I did that with the Revell Hunter (which admittedly was available really cheaply for a while.) Could be pricey this time round.

Some 'bottom' Edgar! That's still a high price for a kit, IMO. People do go a bit crazy. By chance at the weekend I found the receipt from Echelon for my first Lightning from them. A lot less than either of those figures. It will be interesting to see if Trumpeter can make a kit worthy of the standard which Frank set then. And whether there is any truth in the rumours that Trumpeter came to an agreement with Frank. I do hope so - there is still room in my build plans for at least one more 1/32 Hunter two seater ! Meantime, I still need to improve my vacform building skills, to really do the Lightning justice....... Bill Clark - do you think it's time for you to do an 'improvers session' at the next Telford show for some of us struggling types?

Yes they were. Real memory lane stuff. Very fine shop - my mainstay for radio control models mostly, not so great on plastic, when I was a kid. (This was back when Woolies did Airfix bagged kits for 1/11 and 2/11) Originally on George Street, then later on a side street. They closed down in Aberdeen long time back - about 15 - 20years ago. They had shrunk a bit by then, then had a fire - a lot of stuff got sold off after that. Their shop in Dundee lasted a bit longer, also now gone I believe

Hi folks. Does anyone know the origin of the Revell 1/48th Harier GR7? Is it a re-issue from another manufacturer, and is it any good? Cheers, John B

Interesting photo Bill, even at the poor quality scan as you mentioned. Hadn't seen that one before. I guess that is the OCU once at Brawdy rather than Chivenor is it ? A fun scheme to add to my old Hunter collection Typically I have just seen, for the first time, the Revell Mk6 boxing, with the yellow spine of the Fighter Combat School. Doh! (Must pay more attention. ) Was that the follow on unit from the Day Fighter Leaders School, John ?

That's intriguing Dave, especially given that the Gnat, which the Hawk nominally replaced, was even smaller ! By the time the Hawk came in, there were as many Hunters in use at CFS as Gnats. The red/white scheme on AFS aircraft was kept on for some time. Camouflegd Hawks were used at Brawdy, which in its main history was an RN base, replacing (eventually) the Hunters there - formerly based at Chivenor. I have found one yellow spine and tail aircraft so far, but it was an F Mk6 of the Fighter Combat School rather a long time ago. I'm still reasonably certain there was such a scheme used at Chivenor, which would be on the old style scheme with ~silver undersides. My memory is of spine only in yellow, not tail. Most of the Chivenor OCU single seaters were Mk9s I think, though not all. I haven't checked references yet.

Will have a wee look in the 'stash' for you tomorrow night, David. I haven't drooled over the old Hasegawa kit stiock for a while - think there might be something useful there. Until tomnorrow . (Can't go up now, otherwise the boss will get upset = she's already in bed ! ) John B

Yep - that's the one. I was in on Thursday too - late afternoon - when I heard their news. Shame. John B

Hmm - Inverurie. Thanks Bob. I thought someone had mentioned a shop there a while back, wasn't sure. Must investigate. I know there is another up by the Moray coast - and one in Elgin. Relish Models? That's Yorkshire isn't it - or do they have a place further North?

Oops - a sign of the times I guess. The last model / toy shop branch I know of in my nearest town (Aberdeen) is closing, to become a coffee shop. Typical. At least the staff will be staying on, retraining. Will seem odd to get coffee & cakes from them instead of plastic. Pity - they are nice folk, very helpful. Now where will I get paint and glue - kits at least can be ordered by mail, but paint and so forth - not so good. My wife will be pleased, fewer drop in purchases to confess to. Looks like more runs to model shows, or forays to Edinburgh, are on the cards - unless there are any wee shops tucked away here that I haven't seen. John B

David, I liked the pictures of your old Thunderchief kit with the ejecting pilot. Real memory lane stuff. I recall a Hunter in 1/48th with the same idea - great fun, and otherwise quite an accurate looking mould for forty years ago even though it was moulded as the trials F Mk6 which had reverse thrust side doors on the rear fuselage. Are you still looking for a Hasegawa F-102? And what F-101 are you looking for? Cheers, John B

I recall seeing at least one Hunter with yellow spine and fin, used for some OCU work. My recollection is it (they?) did not have any yellow wing markings. That was long before the red spined 'instructor check / bounce' aircraft at Brawdy. IIRC. Might even be back when Hunters started to reinforce the diminishing fleet of Gnats - late Sixties /early Seventies. ( That was good news for tall blokes, because guys with long legs couldn't fly Gnats, so it was Herky birds for them ! ) Will check my notes and old photos, records

I think part of the reason there aren't any other answers is that it doesn't 'look' like much in the cockpit. That is, the projection gubbins & electronics taking data for display from the aircraft sensors and computer, radar system etc., is buried in the panel (The and all that shows is the screen and its supports. There will be an instrument somewhere - in older machines it was right in front top middle below the screen, to allow selection or variation of displays. Thta's my best guess, based on memories of panels from some time back ! I expect in earlier generations of fighters the re were fairly bulky black or grey boxes sitting at the panel top, housing what used to be fairly hefty kit (In order to ne reliabl under field conditions). Of course maybe some of our current military chaps here feel they can't answer, if the stuff is sensitive. Maybe they will correct some of my wrong assumptions. Does that help? I don;t think we were deliberately ignoring you !

Very nice one Bruce. I agree with you about the canopies, and the gearbox section. I found the canopies slightly too narrow for a good fit. Most frustrating. An early test fit would have caught those easily. I also thought it a shame that the props were moulded to be fixed in position- as with the Wyvern. Shame. I'm very impressed at your shading/weathering. Very nice, subtle, and brings out the panels superbly. (Just lightly green with envy at better skills!)

Lovely piece of work Bill, even I ( unlike some others here ) prefer the natural metal schemes. Snag is I can't get them to look right - though I've not tried Alclad on a Lightning yet. Very complex scheme to do right. That one looks superb - the LTF machines were often overlooked. I like the ladder - looks properly three dimensional. How do you get the sealant around the canopy looking right ?- very difficult to get that straight, for me at least. Angels 49 - I'm with you, can't help looking at aeroplanes with an engineering/design hat on. (the "why is it like that?" bit) Of course the over-under engine arrangement was Mr Petter's plan to reduce frontal drag. The first design had the upper engine leading - wing position scuppered that, hence the odd top engine to the rear set up. Agree about the belly tank - horrible excrescence. For some reason our Air Marshals ('Their Airships' as Roy Braybrook or Bill Gunston used to call them) couldn' t see past point defence interceptors. Terrible Battle of Britain, doncha know. That wing plan is a modified delta really - just with cut outs. I wish our guys had thought like yours and built decent range in from the start. The Lightning could have been truly superb, instead of a cobbled together 'almost'. Good thing it never actually had to fight, lovely as it was. The only version worth a darn was the (rare) RAF Germany F2 variant with 4 by 30mm Adens. It's very revealing that one of the early criticisms of the HS Hawk was that it had too much range for a trainer. RAF destructors felt that pilots needed to be worried about fuel state right from the beginning ! A BM Lightning line up - sounds good = what do we do?

John B (Sc)( Did you mould the radome yourself?) - Yes. Superb, goshagk. I carved mine from balsa - lots of varnish and talc, (old style modeller!) but was never happy with the undercut on the bulge. Yours looks just right.

Another good option are the small jars of jam and marmalde you find in many hotels at breakfast time. They just get thrown away. Since they have screw on lids you can mix and store paint inthem - I use them a lot for cellulose paints, when I need to match small quantities, or for radio contol model painting. They are good for short term store of thinned enamels or acrylics for spraying too. I can get needles, gloves, syringes form medical supply places - does anyone know where to get dental resin or cement? I'd really like to get hold of some of the stuff that fast sets under UV light. I also buy stuff like acetone (for airbrush cleaning) from local industrial chemical supplies folk - they will often have small nickel silver spatulas for mixing and filler application.

Absolutely superb, Wow. ( although I don't think I ever saw one quite that bright coloured and clean, even in the lovely Morayshire light.) I converted a Frog Shack to the AEW2 long long ago, and was quite pleased with it then. Total rubbish in comparison to yours. Those pictures make me wonder whether I should try a rebuild - though your sort of result is way beyond me. Magnificent. Did you mould the radome yourself? I used to live near Lossie and those Shackletons were a routine sight, (with some close ups when a local building company I had links with was involved in building new propellor workshops for them. Wonderful to watch and listen to. Landings in crosswinds were always entertaining to watch. Quite hard work for the drivers. Shame when they finally went - literally the last link to the Lancaster.

So make them Royal Navy roundels - I notice that bunch of New York sharks is only talking RAF. Is it only the crabfat that is playing silly b*******s ? Must be the stupidest load of toss ever, this

Yes - a wonderful machine that had to be throttled back at low altitude. Enough spare power to take the wings off. That's the way to build 'em ! Big Ben from the Isle of Wight. Strewth. No wonder we're missing them. Daft sods the MOD. No ability to plan ahead. Remember the MRCA cry " Must Respar Canberras Again" - and still they get it wrong.

Ah yes , that could be a TriPacer, thanks. There was a Vulcan - straight wing early variant right at the beginning. I wasn't sure about the Provost - there was what I thought might be a Zlin spinning or spiral diving? Possible left wing of a Chippie or a Vampire? No - not Chippie, not enough taper. Maybe that was the Provost. Was one of the interior side by sides the Canberra or a Hunter two seater? A gaggle of Buccs goes by at one point. There was also a quick flash of a pitot tube up in front which I thought was from a Sedbergh. It certainly looked like Aden or that area of the Middle East for part of it. Also some of Cyprus, the SBA. Excellent find - and yes I too wonder what the poignant story is..