GordonM

25, 60 & 64 flew FAW9’s from Duxford and 64 also flew from Waterbeach. Both are Cambridgeshire, but give you East Anglian bases.

I’m actually surprised Chinese companies don’t model their kits on other manufacturers, after they made a ‘BMW X5’ that was so close BMW were going to sue - apart from the minor problem the legal process would take place in China and every western firm that tried to take legal action there lost. It would give them market share in their home market with little to no work.....

I’m currently building the Classic Airframes Meteor T7 which claims to need 60 grammes(!) in the nose. I’ve tried weighing out 60g of fishing weights which took pretty much the whole of a pack I’d bought. Would your steel weights be more likely to provide enough ballast Paul? I see your bottle is 200g, but I can’t judge how big it is!

Thanks for all the advice chaps, most helpful. Now all I’ve got to do is convince SWMBO ‘you can never have too many Spitfires’ - once I keep Airfix afloat by buying a dozen P51’s.....

British troops were still fighting in Russia due to Winston Churchill’s fear and hatred of the Russian revolution

Any thoughts on fitting Eduard fuselage/wings to Airfix PRXIX other halves? Otherwise any suggestions for good, accurate (within reason) MkIX kits, preferably with a pointy fin/rudder. I know the Airfix club MkIX with Israeli markings has a late rudder, any others at sensible prices?

So assuming I’ve got this correct: PRXIX + FR46 Wing = F21 PRXIX Wing + MkIXC/E (late C with ‘pointy rudder’) = PRXI FR47 remnants = FR47 (!) MkIXC/E Wing + PRXIX = XIV FR47 without hook etc = 22/24 obviously radiator/ chin for PRXI etc need dealing with, other minor bits but the bulk of the airframes is covered above? Is the upper cowling shape different on the XIV to the PRXIX?

Shows how little I gained from Auntie Beebs news piece really!

The BBC announced over the weekend that a RAF plane had landed in Argentina for the first time since the Falklands Conflict to assist in the search for the missing Argentinian submarine. My immediate reaction was we don’t have any sub hunting capability currently, so the obvious question is ‘was this an RAF P8 training crew, using this as a working up drill?’ Or have we sent a C130 from Port Stanley to add additional ‘eyes on’ for wreckage searching? Any ideas from the hive mind?

Ah Cambridgeshire - the centre of the known universe!

On the other hand it doesn’t have the shape issues of the newer Revell kit?

I remember my old Boys Brigade Captain turning an upright piano over while moving it, it landed across his foot. There were boys present and he somehow managed to go “ow, that hurt” A man I already held in the highest esteem went up even further in my estimation at that point!

Blimey Time Warp stuff, suddenly taken me back to November 10th 1974 when I sat at our table building a Walther PPK while watching the Remembrance Parade. Interestingly I saw an advert for a firm selling replica guns, grenades and mines(!) who stated they can sell a replica SMLE in peelable orange pvc (now is that not an invitation to get round the law?)

Don’t be silly, they’re space craft....

I will have thought the birds were the original ‘air craft’ - although I suppose that would behave been winged dinosaurs?

Trouble is I'd need to buy another PRXIX to get the spare fuselage, which would give me another set of spare XIX wings along with another complete Seafire 47 - unless the 47 could be turned into a Spitfire 22/24? Not sure how much work there is to get a ‘looks ok at a distance’ model?

I’d second a Dominie/ Rapide in 1:48, especially as I flew in one from Duxford on my 40th birthday. Someone has an Aeroclub version on evil bay for £249 - I think I can resist that....

According to iModelKit they recommend XF8, although it’s too dark. Tamiya TS Raybrig blue is a very close match, although it’s a limited colour apparently

Only just seen this. 40+ years ago at the age of 14 my late father took me and a friend to York to see the National Railway Museum, when we went into the yard we could see smoke rising from up the lines. We walked out of the museum into an industrial estate and there stood 4472 Flying Scotsman steaming gently while waiting to pull a return train. We stood leaning on the fence simply watching it and feeling the heat coming off it. It says a lot that two teenage boys simply stood and watched it fascinated for best part of an hour, although I did harbour dreams of the driver asking us to step over the fence and go on the footplate! My father never let me forget that as he’d got two boys to look after he hadn’t taken his camera so couldn’t record the fact - oh for digital cameras, mobile phones.....

And I thought he was the Airfix spokesperson for Telford New Release Announcements......

Alternatively, we may see the old 1950’s 2F1 Camel, a Spitfire and the old Eurofighter repacked into a 100 years old box ....

I’ve got a Hasegawa RF4B USMC moulding, which I will be up using for a RF4C, the RF4B was apparently very similar to the C, as it used the later bulged wing. The differences am aware of are the B had slatted stabilisers where the C had unslatted,which are either available as aftermarket (Hypersonic do them) or sand the flat. Also the refuelling probe receptor is on the opposite side on the C to the B (although Hasegawa moulding a panel both sides, so one needs filling no matter which model you build) and the rear cockpit was different between USN/MC and USAF variants.

Is it F/11? If so it’s to designate F (Fighter Command) / 11 Group. It’s been about 40years since 8 last built the set. As for the 100 that indicates 100 octane petrol, originally introduced for the RR Merlin fitted in Spitfires and Hurricanes, it was the used for other aero engines as well.

But would the Burma ones come complete with crate and conspiracy theory?

Someone should ask him about a proper tank- T34!