Flektor

Thanks.

Did Airfix change the decals on this kit ? My Dad made me one when I was a kid and I'm sure the A didn't have the roundels on it.

:davros: nope, that doesn't work.

Just who could resist a 1/12 Nigel ? How big would one be methinks...

I doubt Parker Knoll have the skills to make one nowadys. Bit of pine, a staple gun and bit of evostik does not a Mosquito make.

17th December ? Are these kits being updated on a monthly basis ? Will it happen this year ? Who knows ?

The first time they put a woman in charge of a starship and she gets lost. ....... I too have this model although I did put lights in but in the days of 12v mini bulbs and not leds. If I did it again I'd go for better lighting, lots of cutouts for the windows makes a better impression for any starship kit. Mine is on its plastic stand next to my Enterprise D (on a custom wooden stand).

1:24.

The single and twin cockpit versions are identical in capability.

I made one for a friend who is an instructor at Cosford and actually worked on the aircraft during Operation Corporate. He wasn't particularly bothered about the inaccuracies of the kit, I don't think he noticed but he was absolutely made up when I took it to him. He offered advice on what options he wanted, flaps down, bay open, what ordnance to fit. He did recount tales of one of the maintenance staff cutting a main wiring loom too short and re-routing it to make it fit. I did a little modification using wire and string to simulate pipes and cables. A pilot friend of his who actually flew them was equally enthusiastic about the model. So, endorsement from the men who know the aircraft from the inside out is good enough for me. I still have one being prepped for construction for my own display. I know it's not perfect but now I've made one it should help me to do a better job. http://s980.photobucket.com/user/eoslensman/slideshow/Airfix%20Nimrod?sort=3

I took a video of the Vulcan at Blackpool last weekend. I am on facebook so do a search for Gordon S Walker and you can watch it.

Unfortunately there's no hand free option...

I have an R2D2 phone which looks so much better than the kit shown above, and it makes the noises and head turns when someone is calling (or you can change the chirrups to a standard phone ring but what's the point in that ?). It's 30 cm tall too.

I was wondering if 9/10/2015 was a US or UK date format so expected Sept or Oct. I'm in two minds whether to order it or not. I have a Corgi model which is 1:32 so is quite large and another Mossie even larger may be dificult to accommodate. I got it cheap from ModelZone a few years back not realising it's worth a lot more than I paid for it but never got round to getting a 1:32 Hurricane to go with my Me109 and Spitfire. The 1:32's go for silly money nowadays. Sod it, more pondering I think.

I remember the scene where Sheridan gets to see the fleet of White Star ships for the first time after he thought his was the only one. Classic!

Has anyone pre-ordered the 1:24 Mosquito from Airfix and does anyone hope it's even better than the last one (which may be difficult) ?

I've got a collection of Ties too, one with Sonic the Hedgehog on, a couple with Homer Simpson, one from Co-op Funeralcare ........ ok, I'll get my coat...

Instead of using greys to weather it, just rub the paint with your finger so it becomes slightly shiny in places say at leading edges. If you need a finer point to your weathering use a pencil eraser.

Sorry, I didn't like it. The flip of Virgil into the TB2 pilot seat was abysmal. Gordon got in and out of TB4 and magically showed no signs of being wet. He swam faster than a dolphin between TB4 and the stricken craft. Brains must be Asian because ? The physics of the animation is too extreme, pulling TB4's pod from the water was like "ziippp" it's captured and latched in TB2 in an instant. I only watched the first 30 minutes hoping for an improvement but sadly, it never came. However, I think the water in the scenes is real and mixed with the CGI or the animators have got the algorithm for water movement spot on. Not even the shattered glass in the Staue of Liberty Museum scene in the X-Men movie looked that good and they spent weeks rendering that. I believe the term they used for that was "Renderhog". By using real models (in the obvious absence of CGI technology), Gerry Anderson got the physics of movement just right. How hard is it to replicate that in a CGI environment ? Not hard at all. I play Half Life 2 and the real world physics are so much better than Thunderbirds and that's done in real time as you play the game. I think they need to improve massively if it's going to succeed. Personally I think it will be gone at the end of Series 2 (if there is one).

I believe the Buc's were used to "spot" the targets for the Tornadoes and their paveway bombs. Their airborne stability is legendary ! As an aside, I hate the fact that many old jets aren't allowed to fly but can only be used in "fast taxiing" demo's. Shame ! Shame I say !!

That is a fine model. I have a 1/24 Harrier which I got a couple of years back and I also built a Harrier and a Spitfire when I was a teenager (many years back). The thing I like about this particular kit of the Typhoon is the amount of detail Airfix have given to modellers and I hope that future large scale kits are of similar quality. You should be proud of your Typhoon, just make sure you display it in a prominent position in the house.

Here's the weathered model in daylight. I'm tempted to pop down to my local golf course and take some location shots .... The last picture is of the airdry clay casts of the jaw detail. Now I know it works I'll do some better ones. I also weathered the model with a minimal amout of stamp pad ink, dry brushed, to give the "flow" of the weather/space dust impacting the hull as the ship flies. I'm not sure if I'll do more as I prefer a moderately clean ship. I'm sure they must have had "Spaceship Washes" for the image conscious traveller.

Ok, here's the pictures so far and a video showing the overall effect. The video is compressed to make it easy to download. The last one shows the spread of the landing lights when the ship isn't on the ground. Video :- The frontmost lights are protruding from the mandibles but I'll be countersinking those prior to completion.

Well, I've finally finished the led setup, I'll post some pics tomorrow. I originally intended to fit some small switches so I could have the engine lights, navigation flashers/static running lights and floodlights circuits on or off individually but I haven't done that yet. However, I did find that running all the led circuits together created a scenario where the engine lights/static running lights were illuminated but the landing lights and flashing nav lights were very dim so I now run the engine lights from one 12v 1000mA adapter and the other circuits from a 12v 500 mA adapter. The effect is quite good, I even have a 3 led 12v strip behind the cockpit wall which partially illumintaes the DeAg panel. I still intend to do the switches so that either the landing lights or the nav lights are on but not together. The cockpit lights, front spots/floods and the engine lights will be switchable too. The thing I like about this model is the fact it's put together with screws and as long as I'm careful not to tighten them up too much I can probably take it apart a few times. I'm also going for the "not so used space" effect with the weathering as I do believe there are spaceship washes about somewhere. Finally, I'm gathering plastic bits for the greeblies to replace the rather naff stickers provided.

I had a book about radio controlled aircraft and it had a feature on what I would describe as a TB2 type vehicle which flew even without any wings. it was powered by an induction fan and the lift was produced by the shape, so in effect, once TB2 was moving forwards at a fast enough speed it wouldn't need the lift thrusters.