Jonners

Wow! This is looking great!

Crikey Dennis, this is phenomenal. I don't know how I have missed looking in on this build previously, but I've just read through the thread from the start. A lovely result so far, and some fantastic scratchbuilding 'top tips' along the way. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the diorama base come to life and to seeing what the Macchi looks like 'in situ'. Thanks very much for sharing and for the inspiration - I'm putting together my first vacforming box at the moment (thanks to AdrianMF for that bit of inspiration!). Jon

Always good to see an ESCI MB326. This is probably my favourite kit, in spite of its basic cockpit and inaccurate seats. It's just a shame that only the single-seater MB326K boxings included the larger tip tanks (AFAIK), as some of two-seater kit options require them. Jon

That looks superb, Russ; nice to see that variant, and I completely agree with Jeff about the weathering. Thumbs up from me. Jon

Absolutely superb.

Excellent advice as ever, John - thanks. I really must give this a try. Jon

Brilliant first result!

Like - lots. Good choice of subject. Watching with great interest, as usual! Jon

Adrian - PM sent. Jon

Great ‘win’ with those sprues, and I really like the vacformer design. Might have to give that a go myself one day... That was my plan, if you didn’t have it. I’ll see if I can do it this evening. Jon

Adrian, I've just emptied a bookcase to move it as I'm redecorating my lounge, and I've discovered the July 2015 back-issue of Aeroplane Monthly. The subject of the 'Database' feature is the Short Empire series - have you seen/got this magazine? If not, are you interested? Jon

Strewth, Hendie; when I saw that you were rivetting a model with individual 'rivets' I was astonished, but then going on to watch you building a scale gust lock that fits in a true-to-prototype manner around a scale rebuild TR hub...well, what can I say? Don't worry - those men in white lab coats will be with you soon. I practised fitting TR gust locks on Sea Kings (the 6-hook affairs mentioned by Ex-FAAWAFU) quite a few times in the 'comfort' of a hangar, but only once did I try to fit one in anger. After trying and failing for about 10 mins I came to the conclusion that standing on the spare wheel mounted on the bonnet of a Landrover, in 30-odd knots of wind and driving rain in the dark on an unfamiliar and badly lit dispersal whilst wrangling above head height with a medieval torture device, probably wasn't such a great idea after all. After that I learned to just park with the wind from the left of the nose so that all the TR blades would be blown back against their stops instead of banging around between their stops. Obvious, really, with hindsight. Agreed with previous posters about the disconcerting complexity and number of moving parts in older helicopters. Mechanically hinged, hydraulically-folding (Sea King) rotor systems seemed perfectly normal a few years ago, but these days it seems really quite disconcerting compared with the elastomeric bearings that help to keep me aloft (and pretty much remove the requirement for TR gust locks...). Happy days... Jon

Blimey! Where did that Empire suddenly spawn from?? This is getting me thinking about trying this technique for an obscure project of my own that I've been contemplating. I have the plans, the references and a tin of P38, but also other stalled projects and household redecorating glaring accusingly at me! Keep at it, Adrian; this is good stuff and makes a refreshing change from fully-plastic builds. Jon

Quite superb...again!

Fantastic result, and the paintwork is first class. The Skua and Vildebeest (feeling guilty that mine has been ‘parked’ for the last couple of months!) look great too. Jon