IanM558

As soon as mine arrived a few weeks back I wanted to start it but haven't got around to buying the paints I need. I've not done a build thread before so was also waiting for someone else to go first

Don't forget to paint inside the tail wheel well before sticking the two halves together. An "oh bugger" moment which has resulted in mine sitting unfinished in the cupboard for the past year.

Must be a 'Hunter' thing. A friend gave me an Airfix Hunter for my 15th Birthday... I started it in 2008 aged 30... Finally finished it in 2015

Makes me feel rather bad that I've more or less given up with my 1:144 one!

That is rather amazing

Lovely! Must get around to finishing my F.6

Must... resit.. buying... I think I'll be thrown out of the house if another little red box arrives by post. *looks around for storage places in the office*

Too be honest I'm not sure what scale to use! These are the three I've built before... The top one was the first when I was 14 and was built to 15mm to 1ft. The second to be built was the bottom one when I was 16 and is 20mm to 1ft. As is the middle one which I built in my early 20s. The lower two are radio controlled. I've got some copies of original plans for a couple of 1930's Grand Union boats and am converting them to a CAD drawing so theoretically I can print them to whatever scale I wish. I do also have access to a real one if I need to see how it goes together 2015-12-06 10.25.44 by Ian, on Flickr

Work is quiet today so I look forward to this keeping me entertained

Thanks Martin, I have built a few narrowboats before when I was younger and have decided to build one now which is more accurate but not sure if I should stick to building them from wood or have a go with plastic sheets. I'll start a work in progress topic to save cluttering this one up

Nice work. I'm planning on building one a little larger from original plans but as yet not worked out how to do it

There's a load of stuff on the crew door too...

Which lump in particular? Avro Vulcan B.2 - Lowestoft Air Festival 2009 by Ian Mulford, on Flickr

The Vulcan at Duxford was never a tanker. The saddle style fuel tank was fitted gave it more range. I can't remember off hand what the configuration of bomb bay tanks could be. When some of the Vulcan fleet were turned into tankers they had 3 'barrel' style tanks fitted in the bomb bay and the hose drum unit fitted where the Electronic Counter Measures used to be housed in the tail. The ECM cooling duct was also removed from the starboard side of the tail. When XH558 was converted back from a tanker into the RAF display aircraft, the HDU had been removed but obviously no ECM put back. This moved the centre of gravity forward and to counteract this a barrel tank was left in the aft position in the bomb bay to help move the CoG of the aircraft back to where it should be. Also the cooling duct was never replaced. On return to flight in 2007 the radar was removed from the nose and more weight added in its place meaning that the barrel tank in the bomb bay could be removed forever. Hope that makes sense.

Well spotted! The Ark Royal might have to sit on a shelf somewhere

My bedroom ceiling was much the same as the other photos until we moved house in 1996 when my models were placed in a box. A couple of weeks ago I unpacked that box. Most have a small amount of damage but nothing too major. Unfortunately they've now been relagated to the shed ceiling

Can I ask where you got your resin jetpipes from? I've just purchased the Airfix XH558 kit which has the 301 jetpipes and it would be nice to get things right. However looking at the link to the decal sheet I may have to buy another kit to make another Vulcan!