Mancunian airman

Sorry for no updates but I am waiting on the wheels from Poland and I have been informed that the postal over there can be quite SLOW . . .. ..

Firstly, I am not on Facebook so somebody has sent me some photos and I have to say that they are of a kit that has already been built by a US modeller. There are some disappointing errors with thye kit. The ailerons are 'ribbed' like the Tamiya version. The front turret appears to have a sloping front section towards its base The front turret fairing looks ghastly There are post-war mouldings on the bomb doors There is a dinghy stowage in the Port wing root The pilots seat armour appears to be sloping rearwards The decals may be home produced as the show signs of 'silvering' around some edges There are two cockpit blisters in the canopy so that thankfully, gives an option hopefully . . . . It seem to be a rush build, what with the camo painting and placement of the decals being wrong . . . I do hope that the pre-order kit(s) are available from the 17th, its been nearly 5 yrs so they are well within touching distance as they say.

Great attention to detail I must say. Got to admit that I have never heard of SKP and looking at their site, its all in Polish. Just to show the scale of this kit compared to the 48th and the 72nd Looking forward to seeing more Ian

Who doesnt like the challenge of a conversion ?? I will be following with great interest . . . .

This is already starting to look a little different . . . . . I shall watch with a keen eye for the detail !

http://store.spruebrothers.com/category_s/2361.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=2361&show=60&page=1&brand=HK Model Does this mean 'Ours' are imminent in the UK I wonder . . ...

After the Lancaster, my second and only other aircraft I get excited about from WWII is the Mosquito. Its graceful lines and flying characteristics earns my admiration but it wasn't until a family funeral in recent years that I discovered that a relation of mine, W/Cdr. Roy Ralston, flew this aircraft . I have a three 48th builds of the 'Mossie'

Jerzy I mean the hatch in the top of the fuselage near to the rear turret ??? Ian

A great set of legs. Looking forward to seeing more of the undercart constructed to the same spec.

Interesting project. Shame you cant include perhaps a short length of the hangar and the end doors, it would form a great backdrop for photos !! I have done something similar but from wartime days. .. .- -.

Coming together now, just need the chassis and wheels to complete, some weathering, before the RAF markings are applied . . . Thanks for looking in .. ._ _.

Its not been a good ten days for me due to a family death but I needed to occupy myself so have turned back to the Bedford . . . I started by fixing the front section of the cab to the floor, the instructions tell you to start with the rear section first but after reading some reviews about fixing points, the lack of, you will see that the front goes together cleanly with locating point of the instrument panel, B19 I then secured the L H door as it has two good contact locations against the front section and the door sill . . . . My R H door will be open to display the interior of the cab. The roof is just sat in position for the moment but this shot shows where the location of the front mudguards will be secured against the floor and the door frame itself and then I will touch up any paint work as necessary I am waiting on the replacement wheels from Panzer Art after their replacements for the kits wheels, were damaged in transit to me. Ian

. . . but even Flickr is very soon, in the New Year, to limit your photos to 1,000 . . . . I am considering an external drive to down load into and hopefully (I dont know) I will be able to select photos from that source and offer them up onto forums that I run on .

It was the case that all upper surfaces should have been painted. that included vehicle roof, canvas tilt and all surfaces visible from above be it a short bonnet and mudguards. Having seen one particular photo of the camouflage being applied by hand then I suppose basically any pattern was acceptable provided it had the large/small circles similar to the mickey mouse cartoon ears . . . . Such a 'Mickey Mouse' scheme was introduced around October 1943.

I do believe that the pre-orders are in transit as we type . . . . As for on the shelf availability then that may be with the second dispatch ?? I do hope my pre-order arrives B4 Christmas day .. ._ _.