Skodadriver

Here is the F-RSIN Viscount 800 finished as V.833 G-APTD of British United circa 1967. Tango Delta started life in 1959 with Hunting Clan which became part of BUA a year later. In 1970 BUA sold her to Arkia and she remained with them until retirement in 1979. I’m a fan of F-RSIN kits generally and their Viscounts in particular. This is my fourth Viscount and as I have said before they are among F-RSIN’s best kits, an easy build within the limits of short run moulding. Lining up all four engines takes a lot of checking and it is necessary to source alternative props since the separate blades and hubs provided in the kit are unusable. My replacements came from Aeroclub and had been in my “bits and pieces” stash for a couple of decades. As usual I filled the fuselage panel lines and did a bit of refining but generally everything was pretty straightforward. The only other point worth noting is that the nose wheel leg is rather vulnerable. My S.O.P. is to attach the undercarriage before applying the decals and I made a small sleeve from thin card held in place with masking tape which kept it safe. Paint is Halfords Appliance Gloss White and Racking Grey with Revell and Tamiya metallics. Decals are by Two Six. Like the Aeroclub props, the sheet was in my stash for years and I would guess it was designed for the S&M kit. Generally the decals fitted well except for the fin. I had to cut the fin decal into individual sections and apply the two halves of the stripe separately. The “BUA” titles looked too big on the F-RSIN fin so I reduced them to 80% using Affinity Photo my preferred (and much cheaper) Photoshop alternative. When I see the model photos I think I might have slightly overdone the reduction but there were variations between individual BUA Viscounts and I can live with the result. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism is welcome. Dave G Just for fun, an F-RSIN Viscount group portrait. L-R: Cambrian/BOAC V.701, Alitalia V.785D, GB Airways V.807 and British United V.833

Here is the Zvezda 737 Max 8 finished as Norwegian’s EI-FYA “Sir Freddie Laker” which I believe was the first Max to enter service in Europe in June 2017. Freddie spent some time on Norwegian’s short-lived EDI-BDL route but its brief career with Norwegian ended with the grounding of the Max in March 2019. The aircraft never flew for Norwegian again and remained in storage until the summer of 2023 when it finally found a new home with Smartlynx Malta as 9H-GEM. At the time of writing it is on lease to Andolujet. Generally the build is OOB but a couple of accuracy points need attention. Firstly the familiar V-shaped apu intake aft of the right rear door has gone from the Max. In its place is a hinged flap which opens outwards when the apu is running. Zvezda have ignored this, probably in the interests of sprue commonality. It’s an easy enough fix with drill, files, plastic sheet and plastic rod. I guesstimated the dimensions from photographs although when I see the model photos I think it might be fractionally small. Secondly, despite giving us a nice new sprue of Max-related bits, Zvezda have missed the Max’s extended nose wheel leg, needed to accommodate the larger engines. On the real aircraft this is approximately 20 cms longer than the 738 and gives the Max a slightly different sit. I achieved the extension by gluing a piece of plastic rod into the recess on part D15. Once this was firmly set I trimmed the rod to just under 1.5mm and drilled it to take a length of fuse wire. I removed the locating lug from part D20 which was also drilled to take the wire. The two halves of the leg were then superglued together before part D4 was added. It’s rough and ready but gives a reasonably strong assembly which should withstand normal handling. If anyone has a better method I’ll be delighted to hear it. Paint is Halfords Appliance Gloss White and Racking Grey with Hycote Post Office Van Red. Metallics are by Tamiya and Revell. Livery decals are by Lima November. These are generally OK and even take account of EI-FYA’s different engine marking. Unfortunately they are let down by the less than wonderful reproduction of Freddie on the fin and some minor annoyances like oversized fuselage registrations and the slightly indifferent fit of the winglet decals. To my eyes the blue stripes on the winglets are too broad and if I did the livery again I think I would mask and spray the winglets. I supplemented the LN decals with Authentic Airliners windows and details from the spares box. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism is always welcome. Dave G My approach to correcting the nose wheel leg.... / ... and the final result

Here is the Zvezda Boeing 737-700 finished as SE-RJX “Vagn Viking” which as far as I know was the only 737 to carry SAS’s current livery. Somewhere along the way she also managed to acquire an A350-style black windscreen outline, no idea why. SAS introduced their new livery in September 2019 when the days of the 737 fleet were already numbered and only SE-RJX had been repainted by the time Covid 19 brought everything to a stop. To the best of my knowledge the rest of the 737 fleet ended their SAS careers still in the previous livery which I think dated back to the 1990s. I was never a fan of the sandy grey with orange-red engines but I do like the bright, fresh look of the 2019 scheme so here is my take on it. The build was straightforward and largely OOB with the addition of some Daco p/e and a couple of small details from plastic sheet. The light grey is a by-the-eye mix of Mr Hobby H-1 and H-338, roughly 2:1. Blue is Mr Hobby H-5. Photographs were ambiguous about whether the wings, stabs and pylons were Boeing Gray (as they were in the old livery) or the same colour as the fuselage. I opted for the former and used Halfords Racking Grey. If I’m wrong, so be it. The engines are AK Interactive Aluminium overpainted with my favourite brushing satin varnish - Klear mixed with a few drops of Tamiya Flat Base. Other metallics are by Tamiya and Revell. Livery decals are by Lima November with Authentic Airliners windows. Detail decals came from the kit sheet and the spares box. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism is always welcome. Dave G

It was posted on Facebook that there was a manual update going on. It's always worth checking Facebook if something unusual seems to be happening. Dave G

Hi Chris, I've only just noticed this thread. It might be worth contacting @Back in the Saddle. He has done a whole series of World Tail models, mostly flights of fancy, and is clearly well geared-up for printing his own decals. Maybe he would be able to help. Dave G

Excellent work as always Martijn. Thanks for sharing. I built several PAS/Rus-Air kits in the past and really liked them. It's unfortunate that they are practically unobtainable at the moment although I do have an MD-95 in the depths of my stash. Having seen yours I really must dig it out and do something with it! Dave G

Mark 1 Ford Escort in 1969. Probably F or G (suffix) reg. It belonged to the driving school. Dave G

I was flattered and a bit embarrassed to be referenced by @Troy Smith. I'm glad he did otherwise I would probably have missed this thread. There are plenty of airliner specialists on Britmodeller who are better modellers than me. Names to check include Turbofan, Viking, Alex1978, Malair, Einar, CTModeller, Challenger350Pilot, NorbertBu and Back in the Saddle. That's just a selection off the top of my head and there are several others. You are making excellent progress and the livery is going well. I appreciate it's too late for the current build but for your next model you might want to think about using primer before applying the actual finish. Apart from helping the paint to stick to the plastic, primer is great for showing up flaws - dodgy seams, filler not fully smoothed down and so on - which you can sort before final painting. I agree with the wise modeller who said you should think of priming as the last stage of building rather than the first stage of painting. If you're looking for Airbus Grey in a rattle can Holts HL Grey01 is my preferred choice. I think it was Ray Charles of 26 Decals who originally recommended it and I've used it for years. It's lovely stuff and very easy to use. I look forward to your next progress report and if you think I can be any help feel free to drop me a pm. Regards Dave G

Thanks for your reply @Captain Glumbo. The decal paper is just the normal thickness of decal paper! As I mentioned above, I have successfully printed small items like stencils and aircraft names in the past so I doubt that the paper is the issue. It definitely looks as if I'm going to have to try the laser route.

@bentwaters81tfw Thanks for the suggestion but the answer is no. It prints perfectly on normal paper. @davecov Thanks for your reply. I've been faffing about a bit more since my original post and I'm increasingly starting to think I'm just asking the printer to do something it isn't capable of. I think I'm going to invoke Plan B and take up the offer of access to a laser printer even if it does mean forking out for laser paper. Dave G

Thanks @MODeller and @Farmer matt I did look at the settings (which are fairly limited) and I thought I had turned everything up to best quality but I'll go back for another check.

I am trying to re-size a small, plain black, three letter logo for the fin of a 1/144 airliner. The re-sized decal is roughly 15mm x 4mm and when I print it on my Canon TS5150 it comes out "spotty" rather than the plain dense black which I need. I have some experience of printing my own decals but they are usually smaller - stencils, aircraft names and the like - and I've never had this problem before. I have tried printing on both white and clear paper (Expert's Choice in both cases) with the same result. Am I doing something wrong or am I expecting a small, unsophisticated printer to do something beyond its ability? If necessary I can get access to a laser printer but I'm reluctant to buy a pack of laser paper for a tiny job. Suggestions and advice gratefully received. Dave G

Came across this by chance. Excellent cover of one of my favourite Beatles songs appropriately recorded at the Cavern Club

I don't play the guitar (I wish I did) so I don't have a guitar stash but I remember seeing an interview with Hank Marvin who said he worries that after he dies his wife will sell his guitars for what he told her he'd paid for them.

Excellent live version of a sixties classic:

On any possible view it was one of the great feats of airmanship, on a par with Capt. Sullenberger's Hudson landing. I remember hearing an interview with Capt. Moody in which he said that he and the rest of the crew literally sat on their hands so that they didn't touch any controls or switches while they tried to figure out what was going on. His first instinct was to wonder what they had done wrong and it was only relatively late on that they realised it was volcanic ash. One of the passengers wrote a book about the incident - "All Four Engines Have Failed" by Betty Tootell. Worth a read if you can track down a copy.

The best boss I ever worked for retired in the mid 1990s and about six months later I met him for lunch. In the course of chatting I asked him what was the best thing about being retired. Without a second's hesitation he replied "Monday morning". He then though for a moment and said "Actually, Monday morning with a foot of snow is even better".

Excellent model, thanks for sharing. I only managed one flight on a Trident (a 3B) but they were a prominent feature of my spotting days at GLA. By modern standards they were unbelievably noisy with a unique "crackle" in the sound. They were also very advanced technically and could have sold in much greater numbers if Hawker Siddley hadn't been forced to design them to the specific requirements of BEA. Thanks for bringing back some happy memories. Dave G

Thanks @Turbofan and @Alex1978. I was confused by Jadlam's claim that it will be an A321-200 and the picture of D-ATCG. The A321NEO makes perfect sense. I should have thought to check IPMS Deutschland. It will be interesting to see exactly what Abziehbilder für eine Authentische Condor Version means in practice. Will we get decal stripes or will we have to mask and paint the hard way? It will be good to have the RJ-85 back although I've still got a few in the stash. I feel a British Airways -100 conversion coming on! Dave G

According to Jadlam's website Revell are going to issue an A321 in Condor livery. The aircraft in the picture seems to be D-ATCG which is a CEO. Maybe I haven't looked in the right place but I can't find any reference to this on the Revell website. Does anyone know anything about this kit? Is it going to be a re-issue of the ancient Revell A321 or a re-box of the Zvezda plastic? The latter seems unlikely given that the Iron Maiden 757 never happened. Dave G

Hi Olly Thanks for sharing these excellent models. Since you ask for constructive criticism, can I make a couple of points about the 737 Max 8 (or 737-8200 as Ryanair call it)? The Max has a longer nose wheel leg than the 737-800 - this is necessary to accommodate the larger engines. Although Zvezda give us a nice new sprue of Max-related bits they have missed the longer nose wheel leg. To get the correct Max sit (which is subtly but noticeably different from the 738) the leg needs to be extended by about 1.5mm. Secondly the v-shaped APU intake aft of the right rear door has gone from the Max and been replaced by a hinged flap which opens outwards when the APU is running. Zvezda have ignored this presumably in the interests of sprue commonality. It's easy enough to model the open flap with reference to photos. Alternatively you can always just fill the v and say that the APU is turned off! Neither of these points is meant to detract from your model but I hope you find them helpful if you build another Max. Best regards Dave G

That's a superb result Martijn. You mentioned a while ago that you were working on the model and I was looking forward to seeing it. I certainly wasn't disappointed. The Druz engines look great and I'm very impressed with the way you have built the model with the flaps retracted. The one and only time I tried that it didn't go well and the model ended up on the bin. i must have another try. Thanks for sharing and best regards Dave G

This article suggests Model Master Duck Egg Blue and if you can get past the Photobucket vandalism it looks quite convincing. Dave G

Toothache. Not helped by the dentist talking cheerfully about removing the nerve (aka root canal ...) Dave G

Up here in Scotland Milngavie = Mulguy Strathaven = Strayven Culross = Cooross Footdee = Fittie I'm sure there are others I've forgotten. I got caught out in Northumbria by not realising that Ulgham is pronounce "Uffam", of course. Dave G