neilfergylee

The wonderful thing about Meteors was that they were a bit like a construction toy with a range of options. The ingredients for a PR10 were: Long fuselage as used on the F.8 and PR.9 F9/40 tail (Why this and not the E1/44 tail of most later Meteors is a mystery to me) Long chord engine nacelles introduced late in Mk.3 production Long-span outer wing panels from the F9/40, F1, F2, F3 and early F4. The NF.11/12/13/14 wing panels differed in carrying two cannons on each size. Neil

All part of the service, glad to be of assistance. I also now 'get' what you mean regarding a conversion!

Max, It's your lucky day! I just found this in Edward Shaklady's excellent book on the Meteor. By the way, why don't you just buy the MPM kit rather than attempt a conversion? I also have a production list for PR10s if that might be of use. Kind regards, Neil

Might this be of use?

Many years ago, my son was given an assembled Estes 1/100 Saturn V. It has hidden in our garage for years but I thought it appropriate to take a snap of it today. I'm thinking of titivating it up with some RealSpace spares.

I do have this: Supported by these:

@Chris Thomas and @Rabbit Leader, no worries - if you need anything let me know. As an aside (and I have no idea if I would get drummed-out for offering this), but *somewhere* in my garage I have an excellent 1973 copy of Scale Models with 1/72 plans of Tempest variants. If can dig them out, would they be of any interest? Neil

@Rabbit Leader - lucky coincidence but I was just browsing this thread and do have the 1988 volume if that is of use.

Thank you - I'm off to a good start!

Good evening. I am returning to modelling and suspect that the Stork Margarine tub hiding in my garage containing paints purchased in the early 1980s had probably had it, so it's time for me to re-stock. I do remember buying the very first Tamiya acrylics back in 1981/2 and at the time, those of us punters in the Manchester Model Shop (happy days) were looking at them like prehistoric man looking at an iPhone. I am thinking to building my base collection using Humbrol acrylics. Logic: Humbrol is probably the easy default brand and it's supporting good old Hornby, and acrylic because it's a darned sight easier to clean than enamels. Am I being silly? I know that I shall be adding to my paint collection over time and see options with Tamiya, Vallejo etc. but am I being too doctrinaire by trying to stick with acrylics? I'm really interested to learn. Kind regards, Neil

@Zagor, this might not be a lot of use to you but I have a customer in Leeds who has an FRS1 parked on display in their car park. It probably will be at least a month before I next visit them but I would be more than happy to take my camera and take a snap for you. Kind regards, Neil (newbie)

Thank you all for your welcome! It's lovely to get feedback and, yes indeed @Vinnie, there seem to be quite a few of us returning. @Corsairfoxfouruncle, thank you for the greeting: I wish I had a dollar for every time I have passed through O'Hare coming in and out of the States. I did a great deal of travelling in the USA about ten years ago and have very fond memories. @Eric Mc, I must confess that it was probably real space that got me going again. I am of the Apollo generation (I suspect I am not the only one!) and have a desire to make some good Apollo / Saturn models. Probably the first thing I started researching on the Internet back in the late 1990s was the space programme and I seem became acquainted with RealSpace Models! One day...! As an aside, my professional life takes me to a manufacturer of fantasy models in Nottingham (can't say who, but the number 40,000 is significant) and I am intimately acquainted with their product lifecycle and production processes, although as a subject for modelling it leaves me absolutely cold! So, I've done naff all modelling since sending this message so I had better get on with it! Thank you to you all

Good evening. The last time I put a kit together was probably 1987 or 88. When I moved to my home in Derbyshire, despite a keen and continuing interest in aviation (the first decade of my career was in that industry), things stopped, mostly due to (1) career (2) raising a family, (3) trains - I am Vice Chairman of the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway (http://www.e-v-r.com). I remember one seminal moment. It was the release of a hyper-accurate Spitfire XII by a Japanese manufacturer. Having painstakingly converted a Heller Spitfire Mk.5 into a XII using a Frog XIV nose, I felt that there was little point in carrying-on when an out of the box model would leave my efforts looking pretty useless. Add to that all the other things with being a (then) thirtysomething and my modelling simply moved to the back of the shelf. I'm coming back because I've realised that I need to get some time away from my PC and I just fancy a bit of a change. For me, the world of scale modelling has only got much better in the past 30 years. The Internet has made me realise that there s a whole community out there, whereas back in the day modelling seemed a solitary pastime, broken only by conversations in the model shop and the monthly arrival of Scale Aircraft Modelling. I also see a truly massive range of models and kits, things like the Airfix Valiant and TSR 2 I regard as absolute gold dust, while thanks to the Internet it is much easier to know what is out there and actually get hold of it. Oh for eBay back in 1980! My interests are UK cold war aircraft (Meteor a speciality and the Lightning is a must) and real space modelling, while my debut model will be the Airfix 1/72 Meteor F.8: something that was only available as a vacform when I last made one. I shall post my efforts as and when I have something to show, but please forgive me if they look a little crude. I have a mountain to climb! Kind regards, Neil Ferguson-Lee

I bought ten Bloodhounds for a quid each back in 1986 as an 'investment'. I'm still waiting to retire on the back of them!

Crikey! Where and when was that taken?