Nickthebrief

I'm so glad to read your thoughts on the CA Sea Venom - I entirely agree! I loved building mine and it is MY favourite aircraft too! Quirky, uniquely British and, it seems, inaccurate but I honestly don't care. I don't disagree with anyone who says that kits should be accurate (and go together flawlessly) but ultimately, for me, this hobby is about switching off from work and creating something - even if that something is somewhere short of perfection (a long way short in my case...!) Now, I must go and dig out that CA T11... Cheers, Nick.

One of the nicest, best fitting and enjoyable kits I've ever built. I hope you enjoy putting it together as much as I did and thank you for sharing. Nick.

Oh wow! A Sea Fury. The most handsome piston engined aircraft ever made, IMHO. Which means your recreation will be the most handsome model of a piston engined aircraft ever made if your previous masterpieces are anything to go by. I will be following with much interest. Nick.

Surely that should be "in patient" of Mars - or are they letting you out for the odd day now?

Navy Bird is going large! Brilliant. Will follow along with much interest and looking forward to another of your immaculate builds. Bon chance, mon ami. Cheers, Nick.

Ahhh yes, Classic Airframes kits... There was a time when, if you wanted a 1:48 model of quite a wide variety of aircraft, they were the only option. As a Fleet Air Arm fan, I wrestled with their Seahawk, Gannet, Meteor T7 and more recently the Sea Venom and Defiant Target Tug. All of them challenged my modelling abilities, but ultimately resulted in models that I'm really pleased to have built. So I would say "persevere" and, as you are already demonstrating, you will end up with a Canberra to be proud of. I shall be keeping a close eye on progress, as I have the kit in the stash and will be following your lead one day! Cheers, Nick.

Lovely result there Mick - I look forward to seeing it for real on Tuesday. Cheers, Nick.

Looking really good Bill. Interesting to read about the decal solvent needed for the rudder - Skyhawk rudders are a decal-ist’s nightmare, I imagine. I have really enjoyed catching up with another of your immaculate and highly entertaining builds. Proceed! Nick.

Thank you - and great to hear from another Wiltshire modeller. I agree entirely with the bravery point - just to get in and fly one must have been a challenge - to actually go and use it in anger must have been terrifying. Ah the Gannet - another Fairey masterpiece! (Actually I think the Gannet was pretty successful, wasn't it? But again, no looker!) Having built the Classic Airframes one, I'm quite looking forward to seeing what the up-coming Airfix one will be like - and I might break my usual rule and build it with wings folded as the Gannet fold is so unusual... Thank you for the kind comments about the model too... Thank you David. The post war scheme does seem to suit the Barra. And of course any Buccaneer has to be in white, EDSG or a combo of the two to really look "right"....?! Many thanks for the kind comments, Andy. Much appreciated.

Love the Sturgeon. A classic Fleet Air Arm machine - not great looking (I'm being kind, it's ugly), not really doing the job it was intended for, and bags of character as a result! High on my "I wish someone would do one in 1:48 scale" wish list, but sadly I can't see Airfix (or anyone else for that matter) rushing to tool one up... I'm thoroughly enjoying following your progress with this one. I have built the (1:48) Magna Sea Balliol, and the experience was similar to the one you are describing - big lumps of resin, pretty good shapes but "some modelling skills required"... I shall look forward to the next instalment. Cheers, Nick.

Good luck with the rigging Johnny! The crossed wires immediately in front of the forward windscreen are particularly good fun... They are both looking fantastic and you must be very pleased with how they're turning out. Nearly there... Cheers, Nick.

Lovely Sea Venom Chris. I’m just tackling the Classic Airframes one in 1:48 and your finished example is a great inspiration. It’s such a cool aeroplane… There are some very lovely silver and dayglo orange FAA Tiggie schemes too if that floats your boat…? Cheers, Nick.

Nice progress Johnny. Belated Happy Birthday. The exhaust looks like it is in just the right place to me. The engine cowling side panels are, prototypically I think, not a tight fit to the fuselage, so there’s a nice gap where the exhaust pokes through… I’m loving the possibility that one of these might be a Fleet Air Arm machine after all. Keep up the good work! Nick.

Well if it was a struggle you've done an exceptional job of covering that up Dick - it looks absolutely immaculate - a beautiful build. Airfix kits are "enigmatic" - I think we all want to love them, but sometimes that love is not reciprocated...! Well done for persevering and I hope you feel the finished result is worth the effort - it looks it to me! Cheers, Nick.

I found it fiddly in 1:48; how anyone manages in 1:72 I don't know... Nick.

You're making a lovely job of the interior - it looks great. I shall follow your progress with interest. I built mine according to the sequence recommended by Troy and in various build reviews - by adding the spars to the lower wing first, making absolutely sure everything was aligned and seated properly, and then adding the cockpit framework etc on to that. I glued the fuselage together, added the firewall, and expected it to slip effortlessly over the cockpit and onto the lower wing.... Despite the majority of reviews I've read describing the fit as excellent, mine was a total pig. I must have done something wrong (and if I knew what it was I would gladly tell you, but I'm still none the wiser...), as the fuselage would not sit down over the cockpit. The heavy duty clamps made an appearance, the fuselage seam split ahead of the cockpit, and the upper wings would not touch at the leading and trailing edges of the lower wings at the same time! So..... I wish you luck! I did manage to finish mine eventually and must try another one to see if history repeats itself. For now, though, I will see how you get on... Cheers, Nick.

It is a lovely little kit - being a small biplane it can get a little fiddly, and my fuselage didn't close up as seamlessly as I would have liked - but I'm sure you will continue to enjoy it and make a cracking job of the pair. A company called SBS do an etched rigging set that I found useful - although the "X" struts immediately in front of the windscreen nearly drove me mad. If I were to build another I think I would also add the cabane (is that the right word - I mean the struts from the fuselage up to the wing centre section?) struts to the upper wing before joining the wing to the fuselage, rather than the way that Airfix suggest. But hey, you can try it one way on one model and the other on the second and provide the definitive answer?! I shall enjoy following the thread (although at least one of them should, in my humble opinion, have "ROYAL NAVY" on the side...) Cheers, Nick.

I may get a Brownie point or two for the suggestion, but my aircraft recognition clearly leaves room for improvement. Where on earth did I get Sunderland from? Oh dear..... Must have been on the red wine.... Again.... Lovely work on the VULCAN, and you seem to have done a great job with the masking fluid. Nick.

And an Eduard masking set is, I suggest, essential! And I also have the Flightpath torpedo trolley posed underneath - may I suggest that the recent ICM one is much easier to build! Nick.

I’m sorry Roger, I didn’t record much of the build and not as a WIP on this fine site… From looking back at a couple of photos I’ve recalled that I built, painted and decalled the fuselage complete with those chunky undercarriage legs, as one unit. Then I think I did the same with each set of wings before bringing everything together. Of slight concern is that there is a picture of the model with three big clamps holding the top and bottom wings in place - I hadn’t remembered it being the struggle that the picture suggests! I think the inboard struts were a little short and I had to add a shim to get them to touch at both ends. Like you I wanted to try and recreate the weathered look. I recall using a linen colour enamel paint, then scuffing away at the acrylic top coat on the leading edges. I have since read about anti icing paste being added to the leading edges so I may have got that wrong… If you don’t object, I could post up a pic on your thread - if I can still remember how to do it… Nick.

Great to see an Albacore in the offing. I built this kit a couple of years ago (as X8942, which was a kit option in my boxing, I think) and it’s not bad. As with most Special Hobby kits the internal parts are all a little wide and need sanding down a bit to close the fuselage more easily. What is nice is that the top wings can be securely fixed to the top of the canopy before the interplane struts need to be added. It won’t be as easy as the lovely Tamiya Swordfish, but I’m sure you will make a cracking job of it! Cheers, Nick.

I was going to question the red oxide primer, but having seen the photo of "the real thing" I will shut up! Lovely work - must have been fun to really be able to go to town on the weathering. Cheers, Nick.

Stick some tape to a thin piece of plastic card and then punch through both with a suitable size punch and dye (or is it die?) set, then spend a tedious few minutes trying to peel the tape off the little plastic disk that you have just created - that’s the way I do it! Lovely work on the Sunderland - a favourite. The Airfix one my dad and I built about 40 years ago still hangs from my study ceiling! Cheers, Nick.

She's turned out beautifully Colin, and will be the envy of many a 1:48 Fleet Air Arm modeller - myself included. Cheers, Nick.

Manchester? I thought you lived in Salisbury?! Lovely Vulcan - as I know from having inspected it personally! Nick.