davecov

Great piece of work. I spent almost 13 years in the Royal Navy and was never sea-sick. The nearest I have ever been to sea-sickness was looking at your impressive diorama just now! Dave

Some very nice builds. Dave

A mixed bag of very good builds! Dave

The relentless grind of Ratch's modelling production line continues apace! What a huge number and variety of subjects! Great stuff! Dave

Thanks, Ratch & Mike! Dave

Very nice build, especially the way you have done the "cutaways". I have one in my stash and if it finally gets built I hope it turns out at least as half as good as this one! Dave

Nice, clean build. Dave

Thanks, everybody! Dave

Once again my modelling year has been interrupted by illness and shoulder surgery has prevented me from modelling since August. I seem to have made too many wingy things but many of these were knocked out quickly to try and regain my modelling mojo that went AWOL many times during the year. My 2015 builds, most recent at the top: Airfix 1/72 Gloster Gladiator (01002) This is a 1987 boxing of the much older Gloster Gladiator tooling. I cut out the moulded pilot and added a seat, instrument panel and a pilot. Rigging was done with elasticated thread. ESCI 1/72 Merkava (8323) An OOB build of the ESCI/ETRL 1/72 Merkava (8323) with added brass rod aerials. Link and length tracks were a bit of a pain! With hindsight, I should have put some bits and bobs in the turret stowage rack. Novo 1/72 Gloster Whittle E28/39 'Pioneer' (F174) A brush-painted build with plastic card instrument panel added. Decals came from the High Planes kit of the same subject. Matchbox 1/72 T-2C/E Buckeye (PK-42) This was an OOB build which was partly airbrushed and partly brush-painted. S&M 1/144 Vickers Viscount 800 (SMK44-01) This was an OOB build of a very clunky kit with poor fitting parts and two fuselage halves that were banana-shaped. Heller 1/200 Bodasteinur (80608) A quick OOB build with some weathering. Airfix 1/76 Josef Stalin IS-3 Tank (A01307) Another quick OOB build. Airfix 1/72 Brewster Buffalo F2A-2 (02050) A quick brush-painted build. It was so quick because I never used any filler to resolve gap issues nor did I remove the excessive rivets as I normally do. The decals were very brittle and kept breaking up and were a real test of my patience! Airfix 1/32 M3 Grant (08365-8) It was made for the ATF 2015 9th Anniversary GB and was built OOB. Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Seafire FR46/47 (07106) It was made for the ATF 2015 9th Anniversary GB and uses the Aires Airfix Seafire FR46/47 Cockpit Set (4311) and the Aires 1/48 Seafire FR46/47 Engine Set (4323). It also has the Rob-Taurus Airfix Seafire Mk47 Canopy (48044). Airfix 1/72 Fiat G.50 Freccia (01046-9) This was a OOB build painted with a hairy stick and a piece of sponge. Revell 1/72 Macchi MC.200 Saetta (H-657) Another OOB build which was brush painted. Airfix 1/72 Vought F4U-D Corsair (02054) A quick OOB build put together over three days. Airfix 1/600 HMS Nelson (04203) A quick OOB build put together over 48 hours. Airfix 1/72 Mil Mi-24 Hind A/D (05023) Originally, this was a second-hand, badly painted (but unbuilt) model I bought on eBay. After a lot of paint removal and TLC, this is the result. Airfix 1/72 Mitsubishi Ki-46 II "Dinah" (A02016) It was made for the ATF 2014 Twin-Prop Twin-Engined GB and was made OOB and brush-painted. Airfix 1/72 MiG 21 (02024) This was another quick OOB build which was airbrushed overall with the various contrasting panels painted with a brush. Airfix 1/76 Crusader Cruiser Tank (02310) It was a quick OOB build with only brass rod aerials added and some weathering courtesy of Tamiya Weathering Pastels. Tamiya 1/35 Panzer II F/G (35009) An OOB build that I knocked out in a couple of days. Special Hobby 1/72 Heinkel He 178 V-2 (72192) Another OOB build. Airfix 1/144 Boeing 737-200 (03181) This was built as part of the ATF 2014-15 2nd Civil Aircraft GB. Hopefully, next year will be more productive although I will be having surgery on my other shoulder in the Spring. Dave

Nice builds and good start on the base. Dave

The "little lighthouse" is the Type 271 Radar "lantern". It would normally be covered by canvas in harbour and uncovered at sea. Dave

Coming on nicely. Hope you have replacement main u/c legs as those supplied in the kit can't take the weight of themselves, let along the rest of the plane. Dave

Nice work and I bet it doesn't wobble - unlike the original prop! Dave

The Spitfire was the first "Super Kit" in 1971 and the Hurricane was the fourth in 1973. I guess by then they had learnt a lot from the previous three kits. Dave

Nice etch, Niall! I've just started on my wheelhouse but unfortunately I will have to make do with plastic card and rod for my interior! Dave

It has - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992460-vulcan-documentary-next-sunday/ Dave

Or Harriers in Carriers (as in bags). Dave

Smashing builds. I particularly like the Ting Yuen. Dave

Apparently, they will be fitted with the US EM cats. Dave

I went onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in September 2014 when I handed over the model of her that I had built. During that visit I was told by people involved in the design and build that HMS Prince of Wales will be the first of the two carriers to be equipped with cats and traps, although that will not happen until her first refit - whenever that is. Both ships have the space left for the cats to be fitted so it shouldn't require too much in the way of modifications.We will see..... Dave

When I joined the Royal Navy in 1976 we had over 180 ships and subs. Since then the world hasn't got any smaller and most of our trade still comes by sea. Quite how we can expect to keep our sea lanes open with the pitifully few hulls we now have/will have is laughable. Dave

Stunning build of a classic loco! Dave

Lovely builds. I especially like the yellow finish. I have the Frog and Airfix Lysanders in my stash along with the Matchbox version. Keep meaning to make them one day. Hopefully, when I do, they will look as good as your two builds. Dave

Cracking builds. As Fights On has noted, these ships never had a double bedstead Type 965 AKE 2 radar, they had the earlier single Type 965 AKE 1 radar. Dave

As great a shop that Hannants is, their website search engine drives you mad! Dave