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No idea what was going on there. Went back and pasted in exactly the same link from my tablet rather than Microsoft Edge, and picture appears. Go figure.

Ready for decals next. Fortunately this kit comes from an age before stencils....

1:48 Vulcan ....

Rotors on. Painting canopy. Going to need some Tamiya tape. Lots and lots of it.....

Progress picture Lots of humbrol 155. The little pin right of the 3 blade propeller I had to hand make by sanding down a piece of sprue.

I guess a Triumph Spitfire has front wings. Just not the sort that fly !

Not nearly as disappointed as I would have been if it was a Triumph Spitfire .....

Nah, I'll pick a proper subject nearer the time. That was just my "can I complete a group build in 10 minutes?" contingency plan

I suppose I've done the other decades, might as well do this one too. Does a melted wing count as a 'Nighthawk over Serbia' diorama ?

Today's progress... of sorts... Modelling rule #1 : The more time you spend carefully scratch building a part, the more likely it is to be snaffled by the Carpet Monster necessitating the building again of said part. Just like the axle sticking out of the landing strut.... Modelling rule #2 : If you try to build a replacement part, it will be the wrong size / shape. Couldn't get the landing strut to sit in the sponson so that the lid would go on , so had to chop out the bridging arches, trim a few mm off the the base, and glue them back in. As you can see in the piece lower right. Modelling rule #3 : If it's a second hand kit in a stapled bag, then there's bits missing. Browsing the internet to see what I can use for the nose gun barrel..... On the plus side, did find loads of cool videos of the Cheyenne on the firing range. Never knew that the gunner's seat could rotate round so that he's always looking forward at the target... even when it's off to the side. Very neat. Just like the turret on one of those tracked target thingies in the Armour section

Another day, another piece missing.... this time the nose gun barrel. Thinking some AM bit for a Cobra might be in order..... Edit : or perhaps not. Reviewing a few videos on YouTube indicates that the later prototypes had a belly mounted canon, whereas the earlier prototypes had a much shorter single barelled weapon in the nose. This kit for an earlier prototype. Thinking the metal nozzle on liquid glue bottle would be about the right size if I cut a bit off.... Also thinking that more care needs to be exercised when buying kits at shows where the pieces aren't on the runners.

"Ambitious, but rubbish" is probably the best description of the scratcbuilt strut.... on the other hand the original was probably built by the lowest bidder, so I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it.

Yep, there sure is a lot of box for not much plastic

Certainly have

Here's a kit that may well be as old as I am - the Aurora 1/72 Lockheed AH-56A Cheyenne. Don't see too many of these knocking around According to Scalemates, the square boxing was produced 1969-1972. Two motivations for building this one : 1) because i wanted to 2) because it freed up most space on stash shelf while the finished article takes up the least space on the finished shelf ( the other contenders were C-141B and U-2 so you can see why that might be an issue ! ) The box : The contents : Warning bells started sounding when I saw how many pieces were off the runners when removed from the plastic back. Sure enough, i came up a landing gear strut short.... Time to break out the modelling clay and see if i can mold a milliput replacement..... Obviously I'll need to modify the piece to be left side instead of right side, but we'll cross that bridge after the molds have hardened. TO BE CONTINUED...….

Choosing a subject for a Lockheed group build from what's in the stash.... how hard can it be ? [ .. and no, given my build speed 'all of them' is not the correct answer ! ]

Wouldn't say that, more of a "Don't rush it" kit . I mean, how many kits do you get to hand-paint a giant bloodshot all-seeing eye on the nose ?

Decisions, decisions...... transport, spy plane or helicopter ?

So now it's done, what's the verdict on the kit ? Mixed media kit of an interesting subject, highly detailed.... should have been an interesting build, but to be honest I found it a hard slog. Think that probably says more about my lack of modelling ability than the kit though. If there's one thing I can take away from this build.... "CA sticks parts to fingers better than it sticks to plastic" !!

Valom 1/72 North American RB-45C Tornado, from Op Jiu Jitsu 2,

Calling it done.... RB-45C Tornado from Op Jiu Jitsu 2

Urrgghhhhh..... those decals are hideous ! The roundels are ok, but the bands under the nose disintegrated as soon as they hit water. Wish I'd just painted them in the first place ! Doing the Op Jiu Jitsu 2 scheme... and what's this ? Instructions look like there's a giant bloodshot eye on the nose, but no sign of a decal for it. Going to have to get creative with a paintbrush and fine needle....

Will you let you know tomorrow if they've actually set... Generally they seemed nice and thick, just not much in the way of adhesive. Apart from one on the underside which I could have sworn velcroed itself into place as soon as it touched the plane !

Skulking ever closer to completion......

Wasn't happy with the giant seam across the top of nose, so a bit more filling and sanding... Canopy on (surprise surprise that didn't want to fit either) , just a few more PE aerial blades to go.