TheBaron

This looks to be the modelling equivalent of 'I'm just off to explore a continent...' Jamie! Nice choice of subject and enjoying the work.

Magnificent mutt Ced.

Smart and sharp work on the transparency cutting CC!

I've not seen a whole lot Massimo but am confident it will be a long, long time before seeing a Buccaneer that equisitely finished again. Superbo!

That's one of those 'I see how that wor-...Oh no, that's not it.' ones ins't it? I still can't take my eyes off of it as I write this curse you Tomo! Busy few days since the last post but I did put aside some time to finish the IP and console. First task then was to box-in the port side of the console and add the flap lever that sits to the front of the compass mounting: The lever assembly was made by the simple expedient of folding some scrap brass around a length of runner from the PE set and soldering in to place. The remainder of this morning was taken up by the sweary-Mary tasks of adding the throttle and mixture levers to the top of the console, along with the wheel-brake lever that sticks out in the middle of the console and the elevator trim-tab handle mounted on the starboard side: Trying to get all those thin short lengths into place without the heat from one disturbing its neighbouring sections became a fraught experience, hence the lack of photos. Nonetheless, the deployment of heat sinks to the more vulnerable parts made this happen, despite it at times feelinglike you were skating on the ragged edges of the do-able at this scale. Prior to doing all this delicacy I had taken the precaution of grinding the console down to the correct height to fit inside the aircraft, as the idea of doing anything like that with all the sticky-out bit in place later was not an appealling one. Nonetheless I did whip it back in for a check as you can never be too paranoid can you? That damage to the coaming around the front of the cockpit is from some inattention a week or two back when revising some angles of the front framework with the soldering iron whilst the structure was in situ. Once upon a time such damage would have freaked me out no end but that will be an easy job to repair with Milliput when the time comes - it's much more important to get the structural elements right in whatever way is necessary and then tidy up afterwards. Needless to say, the alternative of not getting it right but keeping the kit pristine at all costs has long ago been abandoned at this end. I'm sure Mellors in Lady Chatterly had summat pithy to say on such matters.... You can see that I need to cut a couple of notches in the IP so that it sits-in against the shelf and framework along the portside of the fuselage, plus there is a bit of structure needs adding on the starboard side. The 2nd pilot's control column won't be put in and their seat will remain resolutely folded up against the starboard side, but there are some bits of metal that run across which I think are related to the rudder pedals for the 2nd pilot which can be rotated up when not in use (that's me guessing btw). You can see the bits in question here - whatver their function they're visbible enough to require adding. As to the pilot's rudder pedals, I remembered I had this old Reheat set knocking around from the iron Chicken days - it'd be surprising if this couldn't yield something useful in the immediate future: In other news, I've got to go over to Cambridge for a couple of days in late March in relation to some research I'm involved in and only belatedly did I realize that that Duxford IWM is half an hour down the road from where I'm staying! Never having been there I'd have stayed an extra night if I'd known as I seem fated never to get to the bloomin' place. At least this year's summer hols in Dorset have been safely booked for July and I've selfishly promised myself a full day up at Yeovilton museum to compensate - if anyone needs any reference photos taken of the pies in the cafeteria there let me know.... I made some rash promise about cooking something special later. Indian or Mexican - I can't decide..... Catch you dans la semaine mes modellistes! Tony

Is that you on the right from the Eccleshall 'Erotic Knees' competition of 1957?

There is a giddiness to this thread that indicates Spring must be in the offing. You're like Spring lambs. Or Arcturan Mega-Donkeys. Either way, lovely leg-work Martian. Like two minature Eiffel Towers. Vive la Tentacliste!

Pfine Pfalzing Ian. With the noise of Battle falling quiet I was a bit worried you were relaxing. Nice to see you've found something to keep you out of mischief! Lovely work.

You have no idea how many flakes of brass now line the carpet under the bench Johnny: looks like the Carpet Monster has gold fillings! You spelt 'over-reach' wrong I think Rob! I will take a memorial set of photos before it disappears inside Chris and Pheonix.... It needs no saying does it CC? He can't seem to believe his luck.... Shocking. Man of your background not recognizing EDSG..... Raising the bar? I've been doing my utmost to lower the tone Giorgio!

Censorship I reckon Pete. Same way they airbrushed out the Martini glass holder on the IP and the cigar humidor to the right of the 2nd pilot's seat.

Ta Ced. At this scale and with such narrow bits I find soldering gives a reliably stronger bond than glue...CA always used to give me a right hump most of the time that I've given up using it. Hawses faw cawses of cawse.... Is it possible for brass to affect the brain? I noticed recently the amount of times I look at things and realize that I'm pondering how they might be made out of the alluring alloy... Not as bad yet as Cellini though, daft bugger couldn't sit at the dinner table without 'improving' the salt cellar: 'Terra e Mare' my arts - that's Kris Kristofferson alarming Barbara Streisand with his Bobby McGee... I hear you Ian. The Annie seems to only have three slots there however - this is the clearest shot of the console from the PN: The left and centre levers are both throttle controls, with the right one a single mixture control.

It is astonishing just how much film seems to have been lying around in archives that never made it near TV. I know so much more about 1950s hair stylists now than I could ever have dreamed of. And Keep Fit of course: Bit like making models without looking at the instructions! Gratefully received. The more I find out about those incredible women the more I admire them, having to fight endemic sexism as well as the enemy. Digging around in the RAF Historical Society's reports recently , I found an account in Journal #28 of trainee aircrew ferrying aircraft across the Atlantic to the UK before prior to being officially commissioned as operational. Talk about baptism of fire! Delighted to have your company as always Ced! I wonder what a brass Canberra would look like John? I hate the very thought at times.... Been managing to grab a bit of time now & again so a little bit more progress on the interior to report in on. I pulled out the early RAF seatbelt set I'd bought a long time back to see what would be of use: As far as I can see from photos and the maintenance manual, the harnesses seem to consist mainly of lap-belts for the pilot and rear crew and as none of these Eduard bits quite fit the bill,I decided to cut some likely-looking sections off from this set to make up a custom set of lap belts later First though, I'd used Milliput to form some cushions for the variious seats scattered through this charabanc of the skies: Then it was time to call the lads totheir seats to check that I'd got all the repective seating heights about right: A few shaves with the file here and there but nothing drastic needed. Satisfied that would work, I added the fixing points for the seat belts: To make those side bits, the control horns of the Anson etch set were too flat to be of any use in their intended role, so I'd simply cut them down and folded them into a shape close to that of the attachment points like so: Those were then solderd on and trimmed down as you can see in the previous photo. Finally the bespoke lap belts were also soldered on: Looks like a bunch of drunk robots doing a Mexican Wave, but there you go...... Enough Umming and Aaahing had gone on about how to sort the IP that in the end I decided to start by cutting down some brass channel to form the central console: This then had the required curvature sanded down and three slots cut for the fuel and mixture controls: This was then soldered in to place on the IP alongside the compass mounting: As well as boxing-in the side,s, you can see where I had to add an additional section at the bottom to make the console higher as I'd originally taken my height measurement for that from the kit part, forgetting that Airfix have their pilot's floor up too high and the console correspondingly too short: Fuel levers and such like to be added to those slots in a future episode. Thanks for looking mes amis and hope your respective weeks are going well. Tony

'Is this a dangler I see before me?' https://www.cafepress.com/+all_hail_macbeth_classic_thong,1695622210

Nice progress CC!

Excellent dentistry and decorating Massimo. Your eye for colour and detail is superb.