Bullbasket

My memory of the Starfire was the two crew members. They were moulded in with the fuselage, hence no cockpit. Oh and I painted it a nice shade of emerald green. Don't ask why. John.

I used to love going into Robinson's. They had a store down in Singapore also. I bought many of the JoHan US cars. Great kits. Yes, I too had Cambell's Bluebird. Merit used to do some great models of F1 cars of the 50's. John.

Ah well, it was seventy years ago, and although I'm not quite senile (yet), the memory isn't as good as it used to be. John.

I'm with Beardie on this one. Computer games never did anything for me. The only one that I ever had any fun playing was the game of tennis with my daughter on her ZX Spectrum. I suppose, having been born in 1946, I'm one of the old guys. Even Airfix didn't exist then. They came along a few years later and I well remember going down to Woolworths with my two bob and buying the Lysander in the clear plastic bag. And then the following week, a Lockheed Starfire (at least I think it was). But my enduring memory of those times was being able, at the age of maybe only eight or nine, to go out and play in the fields with my mates, returning only to get some lunch, and my Mum wouldn't have to worry about me, as it was a relatively safe time for kids. Mind you, there were a few times when I came home with battle injuries. Like the time I was running through very long grass, and suddenly going end over apex because there had been some barbed wire in the grass. I bled like a stuck pig, and I've still got the twin white scar lines on my right leg to prove it. But all that has gone. The fields beside the house where I lived (my brother owns it now), is now a housing estate, as is the field at the top of the road where we used to climb up into the trees and pretend that we were Lancaster pilots (the film Dam Busters had just come out). I think that it was a time when your pursuits were mainly outdoors, even later on when I too was roaring around the streets on my AJS. In those days, it was nigh on impossible to get me to stay indoors. John.

Absolutely first rate Rob. You can be very proud of that because it's brilliant. John.

Very nice work with the airbrush there Francis. John.

Those units look good Ed. I could have done with a set of these for my Sherman lll build. How do the wheels come out after assembly? John.

These arrived today, courtesy of Microworldtg . Three 1/48th scale gun barrels. And they are; M51 Sherman 105mm barrel. And these two; On the left is the M68 suitable for the M60 Patton and Tiran 4 (late) and Tiran 5, and on the right, the French CN75-50 suitable for an AMX 13 or an M50 Sherman. All three gun barrels appear to be excellent The M51's is aluminium and the other two appear to be brass. Where appropriate, the muzzle brakes are moulded in resin. As far as I'm aware, no one else does these barrels in 1/48th scale. I'm really pleased with these as it mean that the M51 that I started back when Pontius was a pilot, can at last be finished.. Happy bunny. John. PS. Many thanks to @sardaukar for putting me onto these in the first place.

Flight into Danger??

Hi Chris, and welcome aboard. Can't help you with anything to do with wingy things, as I'm strictly AFV, but no doubt there will be someone on her who will be able to help you out. Don't give up on your local IPMS. The more meetings that you attend, the more you'll get to know the members and most likely you'll find that although their skills may be more than yours at the moment, they'll probably be willing to give you the benefit of their talents. I know that the very first IPMS meeting that I attended, almost forty years ago, was a bit daunting. But gradually, I got to know the other members to the extent that one of them is now my son-in-law. Good luck with your models. John.

I've already added my two penny worth to this thread, but I just wanted to add some more after reading the above two posts. I am a hoarder, and not just of things to do with modelling. Admittedly, I've got quite a bit of storage room around my property, so can afford to keep back what others may call junk. My wife used to say to me that the end of my garage was cluttered with bits of wood offcuts. My reply was that you never know when they would come in handy, and believe me, they have on many an occasion. But getting back to models. Possibly it's the difference between the genres of modelling. I build exclusively AFV's, and mostly Shermans, in 1/35th and 1/48th scale, and at the end of the build, all of the left over parts are put into the appropriately marked boxes for future use. The model that I am converting at the moment (not a Sherman) required a fire extinguisher, and fortunately, one of my spares boxes had one that fitted the requirements. Yes, it takes up some room in my cupboards, but it has proved to be extremely useful , many times. John.

Very good indeed. Everything about it is very realistic. Great work. John.

Great paint job Panzair, and the dusty appearance is just right. nice work. John.

I've been tempted to get one of these. You've done a great job with the painting and weathering. Nice work. John.