Trencher

Looks like it's coming along nicely. From what I've heard, those vintage VEB kits were made of a quite thick and hard plastic. Almost bullet-proof. After all, I'm going to give them a try one day, since now there is a successor to the former VEB Plastikart, called "Reifra". They seem to have the old VEB moulds and re-issue the old kits at a decent price. However, so far neither the IL-18 nor the TU-134 had been issued...

Interesting to see an old GDR model kit. On the western side of the curtain, we had similiar smaller prop-driven airliners of that scale, such as the Convair 440 and the Viscount 814 (which I had as a little boy), done by Faller. Those old VEB Plasticart IL-18s fetch steep prices in unbuilt conditions on e(vil)bay. Will watch this with interest.

This is awesome. Excellent, sir!

Very inspiring work so far! As a young lad, I had a go at Revell's SR-71. With a generously slapped-on black enamel paintjob and a liberal amount of glue, of course!

Ah, thanks for the input. The intake splitters (is that the right word?) appear to be much farther inside the wing. Were there actually 3 of them inside a B.1 intake? And how far do they extend to the inside ? The drawings in the other thread didn't seem to show it...

I got me a 1/96 Frog Victor B.1 recently (another interesting story which has got to do with a rumour of a sunken ship, a not-so-amused wife and myself getting moored by her next to that wreck in the cold and fathomless depths of the Pacific... ). Anyway, as the intakes of that beauty were non-existent, they had to be scratch-built. So I was wondering how the intakes on the Victor B.1 might look like. I know that there a a lot of pictures of the Victor B.2 (including their intakes) around, mainly due to the 1/72 Airfix one. Can I assume that the intakes differ a lot from the Conway-powered B.2? My Google-fu let me down so far. Perhaps the one or other member can point me to the right direction. Any help would be gladly appreciated.

I may sound like a wiseass, but wouldn't it have been better to build in some interlocking aluminium profiles inside the comparative spacious wing sections.. err.. beforehand? Like a kind of skeleton or main spar. This way it should have prevented the unwanted sagging of the wing. And especially with this YB-60, as this beauty looks very, very heavy. Maybe it is too late now, but perhaps you still find a way to insert a profile into that neuralgic point.

This is my first WIP and it is going to be pic-heavy. The subject isn't a modern hightech model kit. In fact, it is almost as old as some of the real Canberras. I am going to build it for the most part OOB, except for a few details. A short in-box review can be found here: The assembly of the wings and the fuselage had been a pretty straightforward affair. The slit for the display stand was closed with a piece of styrene. And the intake cones were cut off and saved for later. The rest of the parts were simply glued together - without any nasty surprises. The tailplanes, however, were angled in a Beechcraft Bonanza-style. So while I thought that I can get away with some careful bending of the tabs in hot water, I was rewarded with a vicious *Crack!*. Twice. Well done, Trencher! I finally managed to get the tailplanes in the right angle by drilling and pinning them with silver wire. After that, I've sanded off the fool marks and gave it a first shot of primer to see, where some further filling and sanding was required. Unfortunately, the rattle can was a little bit too cold and the result was unsatisfactory. But that's nothing what some careful wet sanding can't remedy. Apparently, the amount of filler needed didn't seem to be much. The bomb bay door has to be engraved. So on to the cockpit. I opened the upper half by drilling, cutting and sanding. A first dry-fit with the canopy showed that the canopy was very brittle. So it has to be handled with care. The missing window needs to be engraved, too. Despite the odd look, the visibility of the canopy is quite good. Well I couldn't resist... I think, this will turn out into a nice little beauty. When completed.

According to my eyeball Mk. 1 and the comparison with the many pictures of the PR.3 in various perspectives, I am quite sure that the fuselage length of the little Canberra is closer to the B.2. The tailplane has almost the same angle as a Beechcraft Bonanza, so it has to be changed, too. Now, on to WIP...

I was wondering if I could convert the PR.3 into a B.5 since I like the black/grey Bomber Command livery. I think of the record-breaking VX 185...

You've got yourself a most interesting site there, canberra kid. In fact, the fuselage appears to be a bit longer, though I'm still not able to confirm this.

I've bought this little jet on e(vil)bay. A cold warrior from Hong Kong. Scalewise, it should make a nice companion for a contemporary 1/96 Vulcan or Victor and a competitor for my 1/97 Martin XB-51. The model kit seems to be a typical product of its era: raised fool markings (for a prototype version?) and only a few details. A rather unusual fuselage layout. Perhaps a scratch-built cockpit would improve the look dramatically, since the transparency of the canopy isn't that bad - after some polishing. Those rings are for the engines. Yep, the gear's up. Display time! And again: a rather unusual part layout. The instruction sheet. The canopy looks a bit odd ...like a tarpaulin perhaps? "Super Quality ARMOUR-SKIN Decal"? Well, not after 50+ years... Apparently, it seems to be a B. 2, but I may be wrong there. A good reference would be helpful to check the dimensions. I've got a feeling about this one... Now, can someone point me to a good book with detailed line drawings, especially for early Canberras?

The sheer weight of the Milliput used puts the weight of the original YB-60 to shame. Do you plan to strengthen the wings any further? You are afraid of nothing, isn't it?

I love the B-36. The step towards the YB-60 is not a simple affair which is done "en passant". I guess there wouldn't much left from the original kit. Will watch this with interest.

Nice. Had the one molded in white as a bithday gift when I turned 11. I've built it unpainted, of course. I will watch this with interest.

Very inspiring. A real beaut. Had the Matchbox Panther back as a young lad. I think, I saw the Banshee then in an old Airfix catalogue and thought by myself: "This would have been a nice companion for my Panther!" I've never bought it. *sighs!*

This is simply outstanding. I also love the way how you've built in the cockpit.

Sounds good, Niles. But at first, I've got to take Michous advise regarding the Steve Ginter book, which I've already ordered.

I've recently bought this vintage balsa wood model kit on e(vil)bay and I thought it might be interesting for you to see what you get. The odd scale seems to be the typical box-scale of that time, but comes in quite handy when compared to his competitor, a 1/96 Canberra... I know that there are 1/72 (and even 1/48) vacuform kits of the XB-51 around, as well as the resin kits by Anigrand. And yet complete resin kits are not really my personal taste (apart from tabletop wargaming vehicles or planes). So in this scale this kit seems to be the only game in town. Now, let's open the box and see what we have there: The most parts are - not surprisingly for a balsa wood kit - balsa wood. The fuselage is already pre-shaped to a certain degree and *not* warped, considering the 50++ years age of the kit. The engine pods weren't of equal size, but since I plan to redo them in plasic (a 1/48 BLU napalm bomb has the same outline, with some tweaks...), it doesn't really matter. The vacuformed canopy is still crystal-clear as is the injection-molded display stand. The decals were yellowed and the national insignias had the wrong shape. So a rescan of the "XB-51" and the serial-number should be done. The u/c consists of 4 bakelite-style plastic wheels. the rest of the u/c is up to you, together with wooden dowels and homemade papercard doors. So good luck there! Before I start, I should get me a book about the XB-51. Just to avoid any troubles. This should be an interesting kit to build. I'm looking forward to it. I hope that I've put this topic into the right section.