andyf117

Or maybe I sold those types off to another small state? In the current economic climate, self-funding wars are en vogue...

Who says I haven't already?

RAF personnel (usually, but not always PJIs), control para jumps - although I think the Army now has its own PJIs... ....Air Despatchers were originally WWII RASC personnel responsible for chucking stuff out of Dakotas and the like... ....later the role became a RCT one; 47 ADS RLC still exists today - and their formation badge is still a yellow Dakota...

I say, that's a totally different type of banter, ol' bean, don't y'know, what? One of my favourite sketches, that one... Nothing to do with tyres (tires, to you), me ol' China* - think of a word that rhymes with trucked... Translations: adam & eve = believe; diamond geezer is a term for a good man (aka 'top bloke'); 'ad a butcher's (hook) = took a look; porkies (pork pies) = lies; jam jar = car; cream crackered = knackered (worn out, tired); barney (rubble) = trouble; frog (& toad) = road; on me tod (Sloan, American jockey) = on my own; ton = £100; readies is another term for bread (& honey) = money; drum (& bass) = place. Further down: Brahms (& Liszt) = pi**ed; giraffe = laugh; Tom & Jerry = merry... *China (plate) = mate Geddit now? It's all Perdu's fault, he started it by calling the Skeeter's hairpiece a syrup - some of us use more refined and genteel terminology... ....that Arthur Daley chappie he refers to was just so, well, how can one put it politely? So common...

Yer 'aving a giraffe...

You'd still need an H-34, as that's also what the Heritage one is designed to convert - it's all about the windows! I got mine off eBay, as part of a huge job lot...

Would you adam & eve it, the diamond geezer from the RAC 'ad a butcher's an' reckoned the Volvo bloke weren't telling porkies abaht the jam jar's battery, and it was cream crackered... ....he got me up and running, said I shouldn't 'ave any barney taking it dahn the frog to the dealer, so off I popped on me tod. got the old one aht and the new one in, 'anded over almost another ton of readies, and got back to me drum an hour ago...

Note that set is designed to be used with the H-34 kits, which have the correct smaller squarer windows - Heritage did a similar set in resin with the nose in two halves. Edit: Above done earlier from phone, from which I had no clue how to add this: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/heritage-aviation-models-wessex-mk-2--206381

Cheers, Ced... Don't know if you model in a particularly damp environment, but the Skeeter appears to have suddenly sprouted some black Lichen! Or is it a toupee? If it is, you really can't see the join, honestly!

Yes, 'Home Start' is part of the cover, and I'm currently waiting for them to get back to me with an ETA - very busy round here today, apparently... ....seems they carry dedicated battery test gear, so will see what that says - if it fails, not sure if they can/will replace it (they'd have to get one first)... ....the dealer's 21.1 miles away (accordingly to Google) - but looking at my account blurb, there is no longer a 10-mile limit, so that should be OK... BTW, Fnarr too much reference to bottoms on the preceding page!

I wish - currently they're saying the battery (original, so 10+ years old) has probably given after under the strain of the software downloads - I could see they had it hooked up to a charger while re-programming my key, and when they brought it round they left it running because the battery charge level was "very low"... ....they'll sell me a new battery, and fit it free - but I have to get the car recovered to them, and not sure if my Barclays RAC cover will cover taking it there (might be too far)... Aren't there special creams for protruberances from bottoms?

And guess who went out to his car at lunchtime today, and discovered it was completely dead? Used it for a two-stop five-mile round trip yesterday - 24 hours later, couldn't even unlock it...

That would be the FAA's 'Humphrey'...

I'm glad I said I wasn't "entirely sure" about the bubble window - I had a suspicion it might be either or, and it was, as seen here with bubble in-flight, plain on the deck:

Nice save on the window - though I'm not entirely sure if a Falklands-era aircraft would have had a bubble window... ....but what it definitely wouldn't have had was the fuselage strake, which is what it appears the brass thing above is... ....nor the various lumps and bumps such as those boxes; 1982 aircraft were very 'clean' - the external kit came later...

Um - it appears you've glued the two halves together, Laurie... ....but without opening the port aft cabin window location first?

The main cabin floor also required attention - along with removing the unnecessary moulded-on detail, the radar operator's seat mounting rails needed to be moved aft to align with the window position:

Just a couple more minor details - like the Norwegian Mk.43B over in the Nordic GB, I needed to modify the radar operator's console, and also have a 'plain' nose panel... ....for the former, it was simply a case of using the two-man station as supplied for the RN ASW versions with the entire right-hand side and top section removed... ....whilst for the latter, I've removed the Orange Crop boxes from the RN nose piece, simply as I had a few more of that one in the spares box than those with the spotlight:

I got the car back yesterday, after 12 days - but had to wait around for another hour after initially having it handed over, because of an ever-so-slight technical hitch... ....insofar as my key (they'd had the spare) wouldn't work because of 're-coding' - fortunately I'd automatically gone to use it, rather than the spare they'd handed back... ....would have been annoying if I'd got all the way home, and then discovered it! That additional software download was 'free' - should hope so, I'd just paid nearly £1300... Didn't ex-FAAWAFU's dad also fly Barracudas? Sure I've seen him mention it somewhere - perhaps you two should compare notes... Junglies were the ones that carried Bootnecks - but from Yeovilton, rather than Culdrose...

Wasn't the crash during a practice display for the '61 Farnborough SBAC Show because the troops weren't strapped in, and tumbled to the rear of the cabin during a steep approach flare, thereby causing loss of control due to sudden CoG shift? Some injuries as a result, but none serious, fortunately...

Back in the dim and distant, I began work on this model for the Sea King STGB - but like most of the seven others that I started then, it didn't progress at all far... ....then, some three-and-a-half years later, I resurrected it for the Brits Abroad GB - but the 'Great Shelf Disaster' drained all my mojo, and so it went untouched... ....now, a further 20 months on, like the proverbial Phoenix, 'Shark 07' is coming to life again - and fingers crossed, it might, maybe, actually get finished this time! So, first up, a re-cap of what was done previously - it started off like this: The only work done in the original STGB was as pictured: 1. Forward window filled using kit-supplied blank. 2. Second window position replaced with section cut from new window position. 3. New window position installed using second window section. 4. Middle fuel filler point installed. 5. Mk.41 chaff/flare dispenser points removed, and aft window outlines filled. 6. Aft fuselage aerial locating holes filled. 7. Underside 'towel rail' antenna locating holes filled. 8. New fuel filler point installed. 9. Old fuel filler point filled. Some time after that GB ended, the upper cockpit windows, tail rotor and engine intakes were painted whilst dealing with the same parts for other builds - so when declared for 'Brits Abroad' the model appeared as below, but as I then didn't do anything with it, it's remained in the same condition until now: So, with most of the main fuselage work having previously been completed, I've picked up where I left off with a few details to get the two halves ready to be joined in due course. One of these was the drilling out of the three undernose spotlights, and backing the holes with foil discs - they will be finished with Kristal Klear after painting. Another was fashioning the lower port nose battery cover plate from a square of plastic card:

A combination of 'other things' and pondering on how to tackle the quilted cabin soundproofing/insulation means I've done very little over the past few weeks - but I have taken care of a handful of internal and exterior details: 1) The un-needed moulded-on detail has been removed from the main cabin floor, to be replaced later with a 'sea tray' and what appears to be an insulating 'carpet'. 2) The Mk.43B radar operator's station had two small rectangular screens, different to either of the consoles supplied in the kit - it is reproduced here utilising the screen cut from a spare single-station console, inserted after cutting the top and bottom sections away, re-sizing the original and additional screen pieces, and then re-assembling. 3) The lower section of the crew entry door has had some lightening holes drilled, and details added to the sides and centre using scrap and sprue. 4) A larger view of the nose radome which appeared in an earlier photo. 5) The nose panel has had the moulded-on spotlight carefully removed from its starboard side.

If I might make an observation and suggestion - I noticed your Afghan cab has the 'old-style' metal blades as supplied in the kit, rather than either the composite ones that replaced them, or, more correctly, Carson blades as fitted to the aircraft whilst in-theatre... ....as the metal type will be correct for a Falklands aircraft, if that first main rotor assembly is removable, perhaps you could utilise the whole thing for this build, and then modify the set from this one at your leisure? Similarly, if the tail rotor from the other model can be transferred, the Afghanistan model could get a modified five-blade unit which was paired with the Carson main blades - as seen in this post, from my 1/72 ASaC.7 build (note I was modifying composite main blades):

Volvo is far and away the best and most reliable make of car I've had - I previously had a string of Citroens (5 x BX, 2 x Xantia, 1 x C5), and they were generally great but sometimes expensive to fix, especially the C5, which in the year I owned it, was off the road more than on it... ....SWMBO insisted it had to go and no more Citroens, it had to be replaced by 'something reliable' - and there was a good reason why almost all police forces and ambulance services used Volvos back then (some still do, including D&C traffic)... ....so I got a 54-plate S40 2.0 (one of the very last 'old shape') that I had for five years, with not one single problem - then had my mid-life crisis, decided to get a convertible, and found an 09-plate C70 T5 Sport, ex-director's car with toys, one of only nine of its Spec to be registered that year... ....I've had it four-and-a-half years, only just passed 100k (69k when bought), and apart from a wheel bearing failure two years ago, never had a problem with it until now - so I've no regrets whatsoever, and SWMBO loves it: (Some Swedish and Russian eye-candy, whilst awaiting the next instalment of the sweet not-so scary Skeeter)

There was a recall for some models (including C70s) where water ran back along the wiring to the CEM from the washer pump - but my car wasn't subject to that one... ....and the Volvo Owner's forum has various instances of failures and problems due to corroded CEM pins - so it's nothing new, or anything they did, specifically... ....lucky for me that it happened when they had it, thereby costing me less - and that it didn't happen blasting along a dual carriageway, or on a narrow Cornish lane...