Fastcat

Hi Greggles, Since moving at the end of last year, I've been busy with the house but it hasn't stopped me looking at interesting builds on the net. And this is shaping up to be one of them! Don't blame you for not messing about with the nose - if I'm right it isn't an easy fix and would need more than just a spacer on the end of the cowl. It's too nice a kit to risk. Liking the wing attachment points - no chance of the body being forced apart. The real aircraft seats were mounted on top of the main-spar so the wing mounting arrangement wasn't too different from your solution. Nice work. Dave

Hi Greggles, Nice research - the back story is great and I love that you're doing something of local interest rather than just what's in the box. I have the same boxing and despite Dora's research I'm sure the colour of Lady Sherborne's plane was blue, not red. I also know that when de Severne raced it, he painted a simplified CFS badge on the nose which isn't in with the decals. It's a pity because it's otherwise a good kit. Looking at the plastic in the box, I'm inclined to think that the nose is a bit short too. I've compared it with drawings and photos and it always comes up short scaling off side views whichever medium is used. I may be wrong but I think it's around 2 or 3mm which makes quite a difference to its appearance - much less pointy at the front end. Whatever, it's still a nice kit and I can't see anyone else kitting it. Dave

Hi Mike, There are some resin kits available from slot-cars. They are almost always 1/32 scale and need some conversion work. See George Turner's kits amongst others. Dave

Brilliant! You've managed to capture that most difficult of things - the spirit of the subject. Well done doesn't do it justice. Dave

Hi Rob, The kit's actually correct for earlier versions of the bike. A trawl of the internet shows duke aboard with a single sided brake. BUT, the tank and fairing shapes varied significantly with the season. Protar weren't too fussy when it came to specifics and often relied on generic models. Adds to the frustration factor! Dave

Hi Rod, I find this a fascinating thread having encountered the Protar kits long ago. Most of them were grossly under-detailed even for the day and were of questionable accuracy but nevertheless can be built into fine replicas with some skill. Witness the superb winner of the motorcycle class at the last ScaleModelworld competition to be held. Obvious errors are in the fuel tanks with missing bottoms but the forks and suspension units were often oversize as a result of a misguided effort to make them work. I seem to remember the Guzzi forks being overlength compared with drawings and the engine is woefully under detailed. Nonetheless, Protar had many unique and wonderful subjects that we aren't likely to see again at affordable prices. It's just a pity that their enthusiasm and ambition never matched their ability. Dave

Hi, I don't think that the little wheel had anything to do with the gears, rather that it was a conveniently placed control for the brake adjustment. MG used the gear lever remote housing to locate a number of unrelated controls in handy reach for the driver. Various cars used it for the carburettor controls or placed the wheel at the side for instance. I think it was connected by cable to the brake adjusters. Dave

I'm inclined to go with the American theme too in the foreground - maybe a GMC 1ton utility or similar. The US donated a number of such vehicles during the war years. Dave

Hi Anatol, I don't know about aircraft colours but Hiroboy offer a colour matched service to car modellers here : Link Maybe you would find something useful. Colours are supposed to be airbrush ready. Dave

Hi Ross Thanks for the extra input. I'm not sure about the black, red and gold scheme, however. The Aeroplane supports this scheme but I think it records it at a later date and that it was in this livery when it was destroyed during the war, obviously after 1938 and during WW2. I'm writing this from memory as I don't have access to my cuttings - I'm still up in the air after a recent house move so I apologise if I'm wrong on this. Gardner's aircraft is often forgotten but arguably he was the most successful owner of -EKL. Gardner had a black race number 4 on his 1937 King's Cup winner. Guthrie came second to Alex Henshaw in the 1938 King's Cup. I think it carried the race number 21. Dave

I've followed this post with great interest as the little Mew Gull is one of my favourite aircraft. I believe the article by John Silvester was published in the Aeroplane. While it's certainly true that -EKL was dark red and gold when owned and raced by Giles Guthrie in 1938, it was previously raced by Charles Gardner in 1937, in fact he won the 1937 King's Cup in it. Under this ownership it is variously described as blue. I haven't been able to verify the trim colour but I think that it was light blue although there remains a slight possibility that it could have been silver. Therefore the owner after -EKL's accident at Speke and subsequent rebuild was Charles Gardner. The timeline is - 1936, black and white, accident at Speke - 1937, blue, owned by Gardner - 1938, red and gold, owned by Guthrie. It follows that Silvester could not have seen it repaired after the crash and repainted in red but that he saw it at a later date after Gardner sold it to Guthrie. Either that, or the reports of Gardner's aircraft being in blue (and there are several) are in error. Another case of slightly faded memory over the years, perhaps. Dave PS- In both post accident iterations it had a more streamlined nose, a sort of halfway house between Henshaw's Cape Dash version and the more blunt factory version. It also had a more pointed spinner.

Hi Major, You should look at slot cars for an appropriate size. Try Pendle Slot Racing for a start and go from there. They aren't cheap but rims are alloy and machined, spokes are etched. They're better than anything in a plastic kit. Hope this helps. Dave

Hi Andrew, Interesting subject. Geoff Goodall's Aviation site reckons that the standard Monospar finish was black and yellow - see here: link If he's right, it's certainly eye-catching. Can't verify it but it's a start. Dave

Hi Jered, There are drawings out there but no idea of accuracy. Google Peugeot 905 Evo 1 drawings and look in images. The old Heller/Airfix model is appalling - like it was made in a different era. I think that they tried to do it on the cheap and didn't get far before the money ran out. Hard to believe that a French company could make such a poor model of a French subject. I've seen a couple of decent builds in spite of the kit..................but should it be so difficult? Dave PS. Profil kitted a 905 but it's listed as "sold out".

Hi Simon, Another factor that made it look imposing was the exposed radial engine. Few light aircraft in the UK were so equipped. As for the blue, I forgot the Titanine range. I think that KayFranz got the right colour and it's not far from Britain's colour either. It certainly has the right appearance for aircraft of this period so that's the one I'd go for. Dave