Stew Dapple

One month to go gentlemen Gallery closes at midnight 31st October. Cheers, Stew

Nice job Pete, look forward to the pictures, it's been good to have you along for the ride Cheers, Stew

Nice work mate, looking forward to the 'big reveal' Cheers, Stew

Nice finish Geoff Cheers. Stew

Thanks mate The masks were definitely worth the money, and they worked really well... I wasn't terribly happy to have to apply the Dark Earth over the Dark Green, but it turned out a good match to the tin lid anyway so not really a problem except for the small amount of anxiety it caused beforehand Still not sure why they did it that way, it would have been no more difficult to make a mask set that covers the Dark Earth segments rather than the Dark Green, but I guess they had their reasons... It's frustrating though, I can still see the picture I remembered in my head as clear as day.... the thought that it might not exist outside my head is disconcerting, to say the least Yes, that is some consolation It may have been this picture, or at least this aircraft: https://warbirdaviation.co.uk/Profiles/hawker-hurricane-p2921-peter-monk-biggin-hill-heritage-hangar/ So, to business: Michael 'Red Knight' Crossley's Hurricane is done: I'll upload some 'glamour shots' to the Gallery after work. Cheers, Stew

That turned out a treat Ray Cheers, Stew

@Troy Smith Sorry to whet your appetite maybe in vain, I searched again and these might be the pictures I was thinking of, but if so then I have transposed left and right; these do look very like the pictures I had in mind, only facing the other way: https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hurricane/RAF-32Sqn-GZ/pages/Hurricane-I-RAF-32Sqn-GZ-taxing-at-RAF-Hawkinge-29-Jul-1940-IWM-HU69116.html https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hurricane/RAF-32Sqn-GZ/pages/Hurricane-I-RAF-32Sqn-GZB-P314x-CZK-GZT-Biggin-Hill-England-July-1940-01a.html ... and I'm sure you have seen those before. Not quite sure what happened there, I can remember the picture quite vividly, is this how dementia begins? If so I'd better get a move on; 'Widge' Gleed's "Mighty A" is ready for her close-up: More pics in the Gallery here. Just the finishing touches to add to Michael Crossley's aircraft and I'm done Cheers, Stew

Here's my third completion of the Group Build and the year: my second 1/72 Arma Hobby Hurricane I. This model represents the aircraft flown by Flight Lieutenant Ian Richard Gleed of 87 Squadron based at Exeter in July 1940. A potted biography of 'Widge' Gleed is here. The same comments apply as per my Hurricane in post #51, the same paints were used and the kit decals were used for everything. I got a little silvering on the topside stencils, the model could probably have stood another coat of Klear before decalling, but here we are. Ongoing build thread is here; one last Hurri is in the works... Cheers, Stew

Hello again gents As my Hurricane builds are drawing to a close and there is still a month to go, I thought I'd go for one more attempt before closing time: It's the Eduard Bf110C/D from the Profipack edition. I've previously built three of these in the C-1, C-6 and D-0 variants (you can't build the C-6 from this boxing of the kit, there was a special edition which is still fairly widely available, and Eduard are releasing a new boxing shortly which contains the resin parts for the conversion as well as the standard C/D parts) and my memory of them is that they went together very well. I may not have time to finish this one, but I've already done better than I expected or even hoped in terms of completions, so if this one comes off it will be gravy Here's what you get in the box, a whole lot of plastic: ... including separate fuselage halves for the C and D versions, as well as some pre-painted etched parts and a canopy mask. Not much you need to add to that, but as 'luxury items' I have the Quickboost exhausts for this kit and a set of Eduard's own superfabric seat belts: I wanted to do a mottled aircraft as frankly my mottling skillz could use some work; I've got in mind an aircraft of ZG26 with a white nose and narrow fuselage band which I have on a Superscale decal set somewhere... now to find it... Cheers, Stew

Hi Charlie, yes I was pleasantly surprised that they functioned so well and it's a shame they are no longer trading as they did some interesting subjects. The quality of the transfers was always good, though the research sometimes a bit less so, which earned them the rather cruel nickname 'Errormaster' in some quarters. I was pleased with them and the results they gave, anyway. @Troy Smith some very interesting points raised there, thank you. With regards to 32 Squadron, from the pictures taken by Fox News on the 'Press Day' in July it is clear from the four or five aircraft pictured showing the starboard side that the squadron codes are forward of the roundel on the right-hand side, but equally GZ-Z shows that not all of them were - so the possibility exists that more than one aircraft carries the codes the other way round. As I mentioned, I don't know what Kagero's reference for this was; because I have never seen a starboard-side picture of GZ-B doesn't mean one doesn't exist, and I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt... and I think it's fair to note that the aircraft pictured from the starboard side in the Fox News shots amount to less than half of the squadron so the possibility is not entirely remote. Regarding 'Widge' Gleed's 'A', the red nose 'flashes' are clear in the second picture you posted and I believe they are present in the first and probably the third too (judging from the shadows from the tailplanes possibly the first and third were even taken on the same flight?) Aviaeology suggest that the flashes may have been added when Gleed got command of the squadron and had his Squadron Leader's pennant painted on. That would have been in December 1940 and the chap in just his shirtsleeves in the second picture would seem to contradict that - however the sun is very low and he may be Scottish (it seems to be a thing up here for young men to go around in a tee-shirt in anything less than blizzard conditions ) In any case the picture of 'A' without the flashes that I was thinking of was a ground-shot from the forward starboard quarter, but as I said I have not since found it in any of my books or on the internet so that will have to remain unproven at best and as evidence of a fevered mind at worst. As you note, I was attempting a representation of 'A' in July 1940 before the underwing roundels were re-applied in the second half of August. As for the kits, yes I know what you mean about the wing-to-fuselage join; a certain amount of what my father would refer to as "Brute force and ignorance" was required on my part - next time I will follow @lasermonkey's advice and remove some of the sides of the rear bulkhead where they join the side tubing Oh yes, forgot to mention - Widge's Hurricane is finished, pics to come when it gets light Cheers, Stew

Thank you gents 'Vicky' Ortmans' Hurricane is in the Gallery here Now to get on finishing 'Widge' Gleed's... Cheers, Stew

Here's my second completion of the Group Build and the year: the 1/72 Arma Hobby Hurricane I. This model represents P3039 RE-D of 229 Squadron in September 1940, flown by the Belgian Pilot Officer Victor Marcel Maurice Ortmans. A potted biography of 'Vicky' Ortmans is here. The Arma Hobby kit was mostly a pleasure to build, there are some really nice features and a couple of traps for the unwary, but thanks to the groundbreaking builds of @Procopius and @lasermonkey I largely avoided them except where I clearly hadn't been paying attention. It was built more or less OOB with the additions being the Eduard Superfabric seatbelts, the Peewit canopy mask set, the P-Model camouflage mask set ('A' scheme) and a small disc of clear acetate for the gunsight reflector plate which is, of course, entirely invisible in the pictures above... The paints used were Colourcoats Sky (ACRN01), Dark Green (ACRN09) Dark Earth (ACRN10) Night (ACRN17) and Interior Grey-Green (ACRN28), the decals were from the kit (national markings) which in the BoB Edition set are printed by Techmod and were excellent, and Aeromaster (squadron and aircraft codes, serials and nose-art) from their Battle of Britain Hurricanes set, long out of print. The model was matt coated with Xtracolour Matt Varnish, and exhaust and cartridge ejector chute-staining were done with ground-up hard pastels and the slight oil-staining under the nose was a mix of black and brown Citadel washes thinned down with a bit of Klear. The final touch was adding the aerial wire from Infini Fine White Lycra rigging thread. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and doubly pleased to have finished more than one model this year Ongoing build thread is here; two more Hurri's are in the works... Cheers, Stew

Apologies for the off-topic, but Happy Birthday CC! Hope you have a good one Cheers, Stew

Thanks Jabba First one finished: I'll take the 'glamour' shots for the Gallery later when the light is better. The wing lights fitted fine but I did take the precaution of clearing the areas they fit into of any paint that might prevent a good fit; it was still pretty tight. I used Infini Fine White Lycra thread for the aerial wire, it's almost invisible which I think is fine for the scale. I used ground-up blackish grey, dark brown and light grey hard pastels for the exhaust and gun ejector port staining, and some Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade mixed up washes from Citadel for the oil leakage under the nose; 'Vicki' Ortmans' Hurricane showed surprisingly clean undercarriage doors in the one photo I found that showed this aicraft so it may be that this particular engine did not urinate oil in the way that some Hurricanes show the signs of, so I kept the leakage to a minimum on this one. Cheers, Stew

She's looking beautiful Ray Cheers, Stew