Caleb

Everything you have listed here with the exception of the winglets, is actually an optional STC embodied at build even on a brand new B200GT (King Air 250). The ventral fins are from Raisbeck are known as DABS - Dual aft body strakes. The original fin is cut back, and these are riveted in in two sections - the main part under the rear fuselage and the tips (or rabbit ears) attached to the tailcone. Lots of advantages to these, but the main one is removal of the altitude restriction with the yaw damper inop. The Cargo door variations are generally from Avcon - either a small door side hinged aft of the standard door, twin side hinged wider doors or the most popular large cargo door with airstair (cargo door opens upwards, the pax door open downwards with the steps. 4 bladed Hartzell props are also part of the Raisbeck kit. The GT's come with a later 4 bladed composite prop which is part of the Raisbeck Epic package. The GT winglets come from BLR, and are factory fitted - or obviously can be fitted under STC to earlier BB serial King Airs. For reference, the RAF B200's only had the 4 bladed Hartzell props - the rest of the modifications carried out were mainly avionic, however there was a 3rd crew position with a Decrane observer seat and oxygen mask used by the instructors. Although, if anyone is building it cowlings off there is also a very handy compressor drain tube which was added to make engine desal washes a lot easier.

So just over two years later, after changing jobs and getting back into aerobatics again I've finally had a chance to pick it up again! And here's where we are - just about to join the fuselage. I added a little noseweight in the form of a resin block which the nosewheel can also be drilled into. I've taken a little too much off the aft tailgunners position so have a bit of a gap. At the moment the plan is to run some cyano over this seam afterwards which should fill the gap, then sand the seams and reinstate the panel lines. Might need to use a little filler around the gunners radome just to get the shape again. All good fun though, wish I'd resumed earlier!

Hi, thanks for the tip but I don't see the benefit? Surely the marking for cutout is similar to what I've done drawing round the parts in a thick pen? So far so good - I've been going with the score and snap method then just sanding back the white until the edge is the black line, then fit them together and know they are right when the black on adjacent parts are touching? A lot of the panel lines are very fine and need rescribing but I won't do that until its more together. I jsut think covering everything in primer so early isn't going to end well for me. For a start I'm really clumsy and secondly there is a lot of flexing while sanding each individual part. So much so in fact, and worried I'll start snapping things I'm using sanding sticks rather then a a board as I find its easier and gives a better, closer fit. Not sure as I don't have the Heavylift decal sheet. You can probably use the titling but not the H on the tail or the stripes, here's why I think that.... Hopefully the civilian tail cone, but until the new decals arrive I'm not 100% as the bird I want to do had a turret, the plated turret and the replacement aft frame, and although it was in Aeroflot livery never actually flew for Aeroflot! I'll cut the turret out before the fuselage goes together, yet to decide if the replacement (you can see the part on the sheet, it's both sides moulded together between the wing spar and the bottom half of the stab) should go together first before fitting - as in trying to stick 3 bits together or two. I wouldn't have thought the tailplane would need a spar as it's top and bottom halves and should be pretty rigid by the time the trailing edges have been thinned, but I'll have a look when we get a bit closer. I've got some assorted carbon rods in to assist the wing spar (I wanted at least 2 to try and prevent twisting in addition to the vac one) so could easily pop a couple in fore and aft of the join. Good idea about the nacelles - I was thinking they look a bit precarious!

Thought I'd do a "wip" thread because I've never done one and hoping it'll keep me focussed and making progress. First attempt at a vac, looks good but perhaps I should have picked one with resin wings. Anyway, for the princely sum of £9 I got this and thought it can't be any worse then the Venturer Seafire it took me a year to finish. I've always liked the big Russian cargo stuff so quite excited! Obligitory box contents shot; IL-76 Vac mouldings look better then I expected IL-76 Some tidy looking resin in an odd colour IL-76 IL-76 I like the idea of the white metal undercarriage, should be able to support a hearty amount of noseweight to balance the massive tail. As you may have spotted there are no decals, my plan is to do one of the converted Gen 1 Aeroflot liveried aircraft which had the tail turret removed. Not sure what I'm going to do about windows, never been a fan of decal/painted glazing so may go the clearfix route just a bit worried about strength around the cockpit and nose area. Anyway - I've made a start, just need to do a not more sanding and tidy up the tails. 2015-11-12_10-36-48 2015-11-17_06-47-00 Help/advice/pointers greatly appreciated!

Paint the bits seperately, then decal where applicable, then glue. Although it's pretty black in there, the only strong bits of colour are on the fire panel - and the side windows are teensie anyway so unless you are going to omit these or use a clear vac canopy it's going to be hard to see anything. Just in case though....... Vulcan B.2 XL360 Cockpit by cw318is, on Flickr Vulcan B.2 XL360 AEO by cw318is, on Flickr Vulcan B.2 XL360 Radar Nav by cw318is, on Flickr And here is another shot of the bomb bay with more detail. To be honest I'd glue the roof in place then apply a wash, to bring some of that nice scratched detail out. HDR Vulcan Bomb Bay by cw318is, on Flickr Let me know if you are going to do the blue steel tank and I'll grab some more photos for you.

Looks close enough to a Vulcan bomb bay to me, dunno if this helps but here is a photo IMG_1683 by cw318is, on Flickr Are you going to scratch in the blue steel tank as well?

You could always just use an entire ball of blutac for masking, as has been mentioned the original finish was pretty agricultural (and if you touch if very rough!). The soft demarcation is the key though FMA IA-58A Pucara by cw318is, on Flickr

Might be a bit after the event, but does this help? Fairey Gannet T Mk2 XA508 by cw318is, on Flickr

R/C is possible, they don't do motion packs like Armortek do, but if you dig about on the website (its hard to navigate) then you can find all the info and some videos. I hadn't thought about second hand armotek, with such a limited production run and high prices I just assumed anyone who bought one would build it! Thats partly why I'm looking at FoA, I've found a few converted Dragons for sale, but I wanted to actually do the build myself.

Providing they don't freeze Vallejo is fine in the cold, they will just need a lot of mixing and maybe cutting with a tiny drop of pure water if they are out there for a while. My stash of model air lives in the garage, and 3 years on its still fine with all the great Vallejo properties!

Hello, just after a bit of advice really. I've been eyeing up a 1/6th Metal Jagdpanzer. I've seen the Armortek tanks up close and they are absolutely stunning, but I can't afford £6,000 I've found two other companies: metalbox models and field of armour. I'm more swayed towards field of armour just because they seem a bit easier to deal with and their Jagdpanzer looks nice, but I'm a bit apprehensive that only the hull is metal, everything else is resin or plastic. Has anyone had any experience with them, or is there perhaps another source? Thanks

Small request, my father is an avid train fan and I'm in the process of rescheming a Rivorossi Alco RS-3 diesel for his birthday. The subject is a preserved one at the Northern Nevada Railroad museum which he had a short trip on last year. I have nearly finished the artwork but need to find someone who can print them onto decal paper. The main "Nevada Northern" and serial numbers are the easy bit as its all solid black, however on the front and back there is white "Hang up air hose" lettering and a small letter F on each side of the nose. As the scale is HO the entire decal sheet will be about the size of a credit card! I can send across artwork as soon as I find my vernier to check it'll all fit, in whatever format is required and am more then happy to pay for media/ink/time/postage etc. I'll also let you have the artwork with my compliments - you never know someone else might want to do the same thing! Thankyou.

I know where you can get them! There is a little shop in Chinatown in Manchester that had them in I'm sure, if not he's the sort of guy who "knows someone" and can probably get one in for you. I bought a weird massive eyed resin dragon girl thing in there, when I looked it up on the internet it was OOP for a few years and actually quite rare! Sure I have one of his cards at work, will check for you tomorrow.

wet and dry - what sort of grade as I tried a bit of 1200 grit and started to make the foam move under the paint when I barely touched it. Did you use it over a block or a sponge? I've seen a couple of products around which give a good prime on foam which I may try once I've got the paint off. If anyone can recommend one I'm all ears

Hi all, Recently purchased a used flyfly Phantom. It has never been flown and to be honest hasn't been built that well either! The rebuild is in hand, but the previous owner painted it black all over very badly - completely forgetting to mask one side of the canopy and getting overspray everywhere. The plan is to repaint her as one of the Royal Navy FG1's but I could do with some tips for how to get the paint off. Obviously don't want to melt it, tried using tape which didn't work very well and would rather not try sanding as I can see it ending in tears. I would guess that its an acrylic based spraycan that has been used just from the texture over some sort of acrylic varnish. Thanks.

Nice work people, with the required 15+ this group build will be kicking off on the 9th January next year! 1) antony robertson (co-hosting) 2) Erwin 3) Warris 4) Tony Whittingham 5) wkennerley 6) spitfire23bc 7) Oily 8) The Velociweiler 9) daz greenwood 10) gcn 11) nick 12) hazza444 13) theplasticsurgeon 14) venomvixen 15) olliehomes 16) saintsdave 17) Roland Pulfrew 18) Marty Mish when can we have our own subforum? want to make a start collecting references etc!

course you can - the more the merrier. come on people, pile on!!

Excellent, so thats 13 now and with just under a year to go to find more, it looks like this GB is going to happen! 1) antony robertson (co-hosting) 2) Erwin 3) Warris 4) Tony Whittingham 5) wkennerley 6) spitfire23bc 7) Oily 8) The Velociweiler 9) daz greenwood 10) gcn 11) nick 12) hazza444 13) theplasticsurgeon 14) venomvixen Lancastrians would be fine, as would Mancunians if anyone can find any hard and fast info to back up the AV Roe employee rumours. As I said I think we should draw the line at Yorks. So thats Manchester, Lancaster, Lincoln and Lancastrian. I was a bit bored earlier at work so knocked up some banners - I know its far too early I just got a bit excited!

Great! Only 4 more to go!! 1) antony robertson 2) Erwin 3) Warris 4) Tony Whittingham 5) wkennerley 6) spitfire23bc 7) Oily 8) The Velociweiler 9) daz greenwood 10) gcn 11) nick What was brilliant with the Jag GB, was that as everyone was working on the same aircraft (albeit different variants) and using largely the same kit the overall standard was exceptional with the amount of research available more then ample, and to me thats what a GB is all about.

Good man Oily, so thats 7! 1) antony robertson 2) Erwin 3) Warris 4) Tony Whittingham 5) wkennerley 6) spitfire23bc 7) Oily

Excellent, we're now up to 6 only another 9 and this GB will be happening! 1) antony robertson 2) Erwin 3) Warris 4) Tony Whittingham 5) wkennerley 6) spitfire23bc As for the rest of you, look at this evocative photo; Now tell me that you don't want to build one and be a part of this group build....... I had thought about that, but then thought it could get a bit too conflicting. Plus its always been that 1 design GB's seem to produce a broader spectrum of finished articles. That said, if enough wanted to run a Bomber Command GB in situ I'm sure we could.

Hi all, This is my first attempt at getting a group build underway! Thursday 9th January 1941 was the first flight of the Avro Lancaster. So 70 years on, to commerate the event whose in for a group build? How does 6 months fit with everyone starting on 9th January 2011? - with over 10 months notice I'm hoping its enough notice for everyone. Mish is holding the slot for us pending. Loads of variants to choose from. If we include Lancasters, Manchesters and Lincolns but draw the line at Yorks. According to Mish I need 10-15 people to agree to be in it, as well as someone else to co-host. If you are interested please put your name down here. It will be done on a poll, with prizes - the first prize (but not neccesarily the first place prize) is a nice squadron print of the BBMF Lanc donated by me. More prizes to follow if/when the GB becomes active. Thanks, Caleb.

Yeah thats getting rediculous at £50. It wasn't that long ago I bought the Hasegawa F14A Pacific Fleet Squadrons kit, and that came with a sheet of PE for about £20 - or £9 for me in the Toymaster sale. Especially with the TSR2 and Nimrod hysteria and how prices are going up on fleabay, it makes me wonder if the companies are starting to cater for collectors rather then modellers.

Do you mind if I join in with a MiG-21 in 31st Fighter Squadron colours?

It was only the very very early 109's that had a wooden prop and if remember correctly someone told me there were some issues with cannon heat and the blades. All the trops had all metal props, possibly because of the sand I think. Here's a photo of Black 6, a 109 G-2 after it came to grief, definately a metal prop!