Jonners

Nice one. I was also fortunate to get a trip in a black Hunter - T8b XF967 - when I was a University Air Squadron student; flying across the Tain range at 420 KIAS at what the Range Control Officer later told me was about 30ft was a particular highlight! Jon

Just caught up with this - quite superb. Makes the 'in-progress' Avro 510 on my hobby desk look positively clunky.

Absolutely superb! Love it.

Adrian, you'd be amazed...! Jon

Fantastic...and realistically grubby! Those printed parts are a huge improvement on the kit offerings, especially the hoist, which looks more like a hosepipe reel! Jon

Can't go wrong with a Sea King build! I don't remember if there was a non-slip floor in a Sea King, but then the SAR cabs (RAF and RN) had 'wet fit' floors in the cabin that covered most of that panel detail. Ah, yes - those yellow Personal Survival Packs (PSPs); having a single-seat liferaft attached to your posterior was handy, but after 2-3 hours the sheepskin comfort layer on top became pretty superfluous! Looking good so far, Matt. Jon

As long as it was at least 500ft from any person, vessel, vehicle or structure (unless taking off or landing) then it would be perfectly legal. Not necessarily wise - meeting a seagull might be awkward - but definitely legal.

IIRC, the sale of the Beverley when the excellent and much missed Army Transport Musrum closed was by sealed bid auction. I think two bidders intended to keep the aircraft at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, which is reasonably close by, but neither won the bid so it ended up at Fort Paull - which, while it had potential, was definitely not the world's best-kept museum and is in a location that is hardly conducive to the preservation of historic airframes.

What a great, refreshing take on our slightly eccentric hobby! What, you mean that you aren't worried by having the incorrect layout at the rear of the left-hand cockpit side console, or by using a colour that doesn't quite match the standard reference?? Oh dear... ;-) Thnks for keeping me amused and entertained while drinking my morning coffee! The FW looks great, as do the armour models. Far better than my painting efforts! Jon

Nice bit of mild understatement there, Pete! It's a beauty. Jon

Fantastic, as always. 👌 Jon

About time. It's been sitting in Fort Paull for ages, partially dismantled and looking very sorry for itself. The logistics of removing it from its current site, never mind the subsequent transportation, will be challenging but at least it might now have a chance of survival. Kudos to those good folks at the Solway Aviation Museum. Jon

While I confess that some models might have been abandoned and ditched in frustration, I get round this specific problem by not spending a small fortune in the first place and certainly never dreaming of spending £100 (or anything close) on a model kit!! Mind you, I'm a Yorkshireman...

Brilliant - I love the Vildebeest and have a 1/72 Contrail vacform, suitably 'tweaked' in my display cabinet. This, however, is in a different league! I'll definitely be keeping an eye on your progress. Jon

This, bought via an online auction in which nobody else took part, so I got it for a very good price: The contents are all present and correct. That price label on the box end reads '4/0d', or four shillings - it's older than I am! I have a plan, but some effort will be required. Jon

Just brilliant!

Hmm, not sure. What do you think? Jon

PM sent.

That's a really nice result. Reducing the spinner diameter definitely makes an improvement, so that was a good call. I have one of these sitting patiently in the cupboard waiting for interest to return, as it stalled after I completed the cockpit - I'll definitely reduce the spinner, having seen yours. Coincidentally, it seems that we are close neighbours! Jon

OTU = Operational Training Unit. Basically one of the SAAF's fighter pilot training schools of the time.

Very nice indeed. South African?

New(ish) tool bought for me for Christmas by my son who saw it on a shelf and thought "Dad likes biplanes". Coincidentally it was exactly the kit that, just a couple of days before, I'd resolved to look out for to turn into a pre-war Sea Gladiator. He was made up when I told him.

What, you mean there are two of us?? I'm building an Airfix Gladbag at the moment and, while it's a really nice kit, I can't help but think that it's a little over-engineered in parts. This Hippy Bus (you've got me at it now) kit might be worth picking up sometime by way of a comparison. Jon

Naaah, c'mon - that's a full-size museum airframe, right? Surely? Crikey, with skills like that I think I'd better get my coat... Seriously, Rod, that's quite stunning. Jon

Wow, thanks for all the very generous comments, especially from modellers whose work I admire greatly and with other excellent vacforms showcased in the RFI section at the moment. Indeed they do, J-W; more effort but also more satisfying! That's definitely one way of looking at it, Gary! Some more blank than others... Thanks again, Patrik. I had wanted one of these kits for ages and was aware of its problems. I will definitely build another of the models in the set, but with more effort to correct the inaccuracies. I'd like to fold the wings, but would first have to correct the dimensional inaccuracies! From a master scratchbuilder, Pheonix, that is praise indeed! (I'm intrigued by your Short S.27 project.) I think vacforms are definitely one of those things that you either love or hate. Very well, thanks, HG, though there's a good chance that we'll start to evolve gills with all of the flooding in this part of our little island! Thanks for the kind words. Upward and onward! I have three more vacforms to get stuck into in addition to the remaining Fairey IIIF parts, plus a few injection-moulded kits and 2 or 3 others to repair and complete after disasters or loss of interest before completion. In addition I have a few scratchbuild plans that I want to crack on with, but unfortunately there are only 24 hours in each day of Real Life! Jon