rob Lyttle

Go EXTREMELY gingerly with the red. Always seems to carry a huge amount of pigment, and yellows are very what you'd call fugitive. A tiny speck of red will alter a remarkable amount of yellow. This is a great looking project, I really enjoyed doing my one. I seem to recall a bit of a problem with the nose wheel leg length. Maybe it was too long 🤔? Can't remember, just check the stance of the plane before committing glue

. 3Pleased to say I pushed the Jetstream over the line and into the gallery a couple of days ago.... proper spellings and everything...😅 I wanted to mention that the kit box still had it's receipt from April last year, being the last purchase I made from Kim's excellent model shop in Havant before the dear man died unexpectedly. Absolute gem of a model shop and a great guy, sorely missed by all around here.So this one's for Kim, and the days of KB Models . Hand written receipts....😎 That's the kinda shop I'M talking about! Thanks for the company and help along the way with this project, guys, and what a great GB. The gallery is looking brilliant, and full. Tremendous turnout for the love of Airfix

Finally pushed this one over the line and into the gallery. Well worth the effort getting the wing made over and completing this little beauty. The old original decals worked well and I'm liking the compressed legs on the undercarriage and upgraded wheels and brakes. . And...... I think I've finally managed to get my hands on a 1.48 scale kit by Valom. Crikey, how rare are THOSE.....!⁉️ So, as mentioned previously, the plan will be to try to get the Scillies Skybus decor for that Thanks for the company along the way with this 'un.😎👍

The 2nd effort is a Britten Norman Islander. This was a rescue job on a kit with serious warped wing issues and it was rewarding to sort out a satisfactory makeover. She's completed in the original decals of the Aurigny Channel Islands airline. The model is a serious tailsitter and nowhere to stow some more weight. Various tricks were deployed and balance just about achieved but in the end I opted for a couple of figures mounted on a base with the nose wheel to complete the job. Flaps again, and a makeover on the tailplanes and elevator, and a scratch upgrade to the main wheels, tyres and brakes. . A real pleasure to rescue this one especially with the additional motivation of being in a great Group Build for the extra mojo boost 😀 Here's a link to the WIP for this one, Yayyy, 2nd one to the galleries. And what a GREAT collection of builds featuring in this group Gallery 😍 Splendid stuff!

Finally took some gallery pictures of my endeavours with a couple of classic Airfix projects. First up is the Handley Page JETSTREAM reissued in the Vintage Classics range. This entailed some plastic bashing as Airfix chose to do the proposed USAF version, the 3M , which seemed like a good idea at the time I suppose, but the deal fell through and Handley Page collapsed in bankruptcy, and Airfix were left with "the plane that never was". I've converted back to the standard layout with single air-stairs entrance doorway and remade the American Garrett engine installations into the original Astizou turbines. Slatted flaps got fabricated and deployed and with a few other mods along the way a good looking little airliner emerges, an aircraft design that went on to be a success. That's one over the line....😎 Just managed to find the WIP loitering some pages back in the group listing and wrap it up, so here's a link to the build ✔️

Saw some pics of this one and the others on your display at Telford, under the heading of "some of my favourites"....😇 It's a great theme and great modelling. Just wondering if there's more in the pipeline

I've been doing a couple of aeroplanes for the classic Airfix group build which has taken quite a bit of my sparse modelling time, but there has been progress with the cars too, specifically the Sprite with the Mini Retro upgrade. Rear wheels, brake drums and tyres are supplied so the car has a matching set all round, so my back axle set-up has been adapted to accept these on an Ali tube axle. The metal rear chassis still "floating" till I'm happy with the ride height. Tinkering with the details under the bonnet has been a mostly enjoyable recreational activity, though testing at times. I've added battery leads and some wiring loom, reinstalled the distributor on a wire shaft after knocking it off, managed a lead from there to the coil, 4 plugs inserted and a couple of clumsy tries at 4 plug leads. It's no good, a step too far for me, I'm going to leave that for the moment. Front suspension provided a few challenges. Separate top links with damper units need to be installed through the wheel arches with a mounting pin locating into a hole in the chassis member... Top arrow is the unit installed and the bottom arrow shows the hole into which the other unit must attach. I found it easier to get the tiny item in place and engaged in the hole and then dot it with cyano. Otherwise it all gets quite panicking! The parts design precludes having pivoting steering but under the circumstances that's OK and there's a bit of adjustment available before glueing so I've put a little bit of a turn on the steering. That picture is the 2nd wheel assembly and the trackrod is inserted through the chassis. So the challenge then is to mount the wheel plate to the top link, and the steering arm into the trackrod end, and the bottom wishbone into place too, and keep a little bit of steering angle to match the 1st wheel....🤩 I actually painted the pins and holes in matt white to aid visibility, and again got the fit and installation sorted first and then dotted the joints with cyano After that, the wheel hubs and tyres just fix onto the brake plates and the job's done ✔️ So, a couple more hose pieces to fit around the engine and then it'll time to look at the bonnet mounting hinge arrangements

This is coming out very well.... I'm liking that colour 😍 My understanding is that Airfix (someone called Chris if I remember correctly) made a new, modern mould of the transparency for the Vintage Classic issue to drag this wee kit into the 21st century. It IS a major structural part. Your box I noticed doesn't have the logo however and I'm guessing you've been working with the original type canopy.... In which case I applaud your results X 2👍 Undercarriage is looking great too. I was in Floatplane mode when doing mine and that's another story 😶 This looks great on skis ⛷️ That reference photo you got, can you tell if the other planes are Beavers, or Norduyn Norsemans? That'd make a lovely little set, all in orange Edit, yeah, DHC Beavers I'm pretty sure 😎 'Ere, Airfix do those, don't they....?😅

That's a more coherent plan, Cliff. Looks like you anticipated the problem better than I did. The roof area inside seems like a good spot if forward planning is done. I suppose the whole front section of floor could be replaced with a metal "plank" and the seats glued on. I'll be prepared for the next one...!😇

I took a couple more pictures of the starboard wheels assembly... Foreground is the axle with its hole drilled already, a collar of the midsize tube fixed on, and a wheel +tyre combo ready to fit. Background is the other wheel ie the tyre glued on the big diameter tube. That's going to be cut off the length of tube with a Stanley knife. Next is the placement of the wheel, leaving some brake showing on the inboard end and the outside of the wheel is recessed... The hole needs to be cleared of glue. Next step is to fit a collar of midsize tube on the axle, make the cut and dress the end, and fit the 2nd wheel. Then on it goes keeping the wheels pointing forward and positioned on the leg wire for the required height. All the little increments of weight to the front have just about persuaded the plane to stand with her tail up, but only just . So I've gone a stage further, 😎 There's a thin, clear styrene piece fixed under the front wheel,big enough for the 2 figures to stand on. The guy with his foot on the toolbox is a modified military type, now sporting a baseball cap and a hi-vis waistcoat. He's made of that bendy, 'orrible stuff- polythene is it? The other chap is one of those proper styrene railway types now issued by Dapol, they may have been originally Kitmaster products. Anyway, they're cut off their bases and glued directly onto the clear. All helping to keep the nose wheel firmly on the ground 😀

Nice! I saw one in this colour just a few days ago looking VERY stylish 👌

Yeah, I just twirled a bigger drill bit by hand on the end of the tube, using the countersink V shape of the bit. Not too sharp or it'll just eat the Ali metal! It'd make a great addition to the Vintage Classic range, along with the Short Skyvan. We all deserve them😀⚠️ Fingers crossed, she does seem willing to stand with the nose wheel down on the ground 🤞

I have 3 sizes of Ali tube, each a sliding fit into the next size up. They are available in metric sizes and imperial, but they can't be mixed up. So these are imperial as that's the type I started with, and it's impossible to memorise their specification. One of them is "3/32" x .014" x12"....😳 But they all slide into each other so that's good enough for me! Here they are. I like Ali tube because it's easy to work with and it can be roll cut with a Stanley knife, burrs can be dressed and reamed easily and so on. These are the kit wheels being drilled out to take the biggest dia tube, The axle is a bit of the small tube and short sections of the middle tube go on each end. Then those are a snug fit in the big tube that's already in the tyre. (I thought this was going to be easy to describe.... I'll take more photos as I do the starboard set. Do two wheels make a bogey?? Golfers need not reply...😎) The aircraft leg meanwhile, has had the plastic T removed, drilled and a short length of wire glued in. I meant to mention the hole drilled through the centre of the axle, see, here... ...and see the way I left the middle size tube protruding inboard to represent the brakes? And the outsides of the wheels have more of a recess. Anyway, the wire leg glues into the hole and adjusted for the required length, ...and there's my rear wheel chock contributing to the task of keeping the tail up.

Still picking away at the Islander with some more paintwork, more decals, wheels and trying to get her to stand with the tail up and nose wheel on the ground. This little plane is a dedicated tail sitter and nowhere to put anything. Here are a pair of metal wheel chocks fixed to the front wheel... ... and the pilot's door. The extra pocket/box type facility attached to the door is also a piece of solder metal. And I have a chock attached to the rear of the port wheels assembly which moves to balance point back a bit. Other side will get the same. The front u/c leg is a replacement slash upgrade. I wanted it a little shorter and photos suggest it should be a bit chunkier than the kit plastic. That red nose decal was just as troublesome as you'd expect 🙄 I'll give a rundown on the wheels and tyres next

Definitely a worthy exception to the rule, I think!😎 I'm not usually much of an aftermarket consumer and more usually bashing things up with bits of plastic and stuff, whatever is lying around 🙄 but the Gunze kit is just too lacking. Is yours the "high tech" version with white metal chassis etc.?? I understand that there's a styrene version of the kit too, but just as "low tech" as the metal version .