chopper61

Cracking build. Well done.

A result to be proud of. The Nimrod is a real example of power and beauty and your depiction oozes both. Well done Gazza.

A terrific piece of work. Nice metallic finish to the wings, engines, and underside, and what looks to be an excellent paint job to the top of the fuselage. Well done. I do love the Britannia and this conversion is a rare treat.

Well done Alex. Three really nice models. I think you really got the front and engines just right.

Well done Ray. You've turn her out really nicely. To echo what Pete said, you show what time, patience and skill can do with such a venerable classic kit with all its challenges.

Absolutely agree Dave. A simply fabulous piece of modelling Savo. Well done.

Would anyone by any chance have a copy of the June 1960 Airfix Magazine Volume 1, No1? In it there was an article about how to detail the Airfix Bristol Superfreighter.

Hello Ray, There is a video on You tube that outlines the history of Silver City from the Royal Aeronautical Society delivered by Paul Ross, the Chairman of the Silver City Association. For sheer volume of primary source material is a goldmine but to answer your question, go to time reference 47.50. from this point onwards he describes I think, precisely the information you are looking for. Hope this helps. Linz

What a fabulous clip. It reminded me of a day I spent with an old mate at an airshow back in the 80s at RAF Manston. He was an RAF senior mech at the time who worked on Buccaneers. Before the display he said to me he was really looking forward to the Buccs 'do their thing', expanding that he hoped they did their 'signature takeoff'. When I asked him what he mean't he just replied "wait and see". Well, they did and yes it was the wheels retract whilst on seemingly still charging up the runway with no nose up. I was amazed. He laughed at my expression of amazement and explained that they can do that due to ground effect being so strong. He went on to say they could even put the stick forward and they would bounce, not hit the deck. Whether that last bit was true but it is a great story. Happy days.

I did see it. This was, I think, his third such interview. Again, I thought that it was another a wide-ranging, informative and enjoyable 1hr 40min programme where this talented (and brave some might say) young designer not only talks about how he went about designing the latest 1.72 Mosquito but also how things work in the model kit industry in general. I am full of praise for this original type of programming from both Flory and Paramjit. If you haven't watched it I would highly recommend you take a look. I guarantee you won't be wasting your time. If you have what did you think? PS I have no connection with either company mentioned. I'm just an avid, long in the tooth old modeller. Linz

Cheers for the reply Laurie, I know what you mean about detail parts that aren't really fit for their purpose. Shame really as the cowl and exhausts is a really nice idea and it is an expensive kit for 1/72 to boot. I trust things go better with your Islander build. Linz

Well done Laurie. You have done a cracking job. She looks really lovely. The Dan Air livery is very smart. I was following your WIP. You mentioned you were having trouble with the resin cowl flaps/exhausts. I notice you left them off in the end - a pity but understandable if they were so fragile and problematic to remove from their footing. Are those the FLY kit engine cowls or ones from the venerable Airfix kit? Cheers, Linz

I would go with that David and add that the spinners are the same colour as the broad cheat, silver prop blades with yellow tips and maybe de-icing strips too. Again I am taking it for granted as they were most of the the time around then. Possibly, the 'Merchant Venturer' could be in yellow? If you are trying Aerospace Bristol then fingers crossed they can give you the real gin on the scheme. Good luck David. Linz

Yes, good spotting TheyJammedKenny. Good news indeed. Thanks. Linz

That would be great if Valom were to do a Viking. Just curious, what is it that gives the game away, so to speak, about the PE frets that makes you suspect that? Cheers, Linz

Cheers John. I hope this all helps David. And may I say, a good call on the Aeroplane Magazine resource. The one thing I am truly thankful for in this forum is the vast wealth of knowledge of history, specs etc you and others have and such a huge range of subjects and your the willingness to share for the good of the community as a whole. Thanks, you certainly helped me.

Hi David, Have you seen this photo of her G-AIMC at Rotorua, NZ during her tour? This is a very sharp, clear closeup and doesn't she look as bright as a button. https://natlib.govt.nz/records/30653827?search[creator]=Not+specified&search[path]=photos&search[text]=british+flags++and+maori If you look at the flags on the side and use them as a greyscale 'shade' reference, knowing the colour shade the red of the Union Jack and the blues of the NZ and Union Jack, could this help you discern whether she was wearing Bristol red or blue? Possibly could the 'Merchant Venturer' be in red and the cheat trim be in the gold? Linz

Hi John, Thanks for the pictures. They are really very interesting. This rightly calls into question then the validity of my previous assumptions about the colours of G-AIMC that David was asking about. Eric Mc/Lazy 8 - great question and response. While I knew the Wayfarer was the all-seater version I had never realised it had a 'solid' or non-functioning nose doors. Looking at my picture of the Wayfarer posted above I now see there are no hinges. Bristol offered the Wayfarer with both a 32 seat 'First Class' version and as a 44 seat 'Standard' or 'Coach class'. As you said Lazy8 trying to sell an all First Class configured Freighter does seem a stretch considering the amount of cheap DC3s there were around then. Even the Viking. BTW there is currently someone selling a Bristol sales brochure for a Mk31 Freighter/Wayfarer on EBAY UK. He has kindly given some examples of the pages in the description which are as fascinating as they are informative. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRISTOL-TYPE-170-MANUFACTURERS-SALES-BROCHURE-FREIGHTER-WAYFARER-1951/193393684182?hash=item2d07296ed6:g:ybsAAOSw2j5ebnqK Sadly, as fascinating as this all is I wish I could help David more in answering his OP. Sorry David. Cheers, Linz

Hi John, Is this the a/c you are referring to? This is a B/W photo of the sales demonstrator from Bristol for Silver City. Bristol 170 (Mk21) demonstrator G-AHJC at Blackbushe Reference - http://www.silvercityairways.com/the_company.htm It does indeed look like it could possibly be a red cheat trimmed with black or dk blue trim and red lettering/reg.

Hi David, Just had a few thoughts about this. From what I can gather, the earliest aircraft I have seen in colour which went to airline service were to Silver City. An old Silver City related chap I met one time said they adopted their aircraft in the same 'Bristol' colours as delivered as SC was running on a pretty tight budget at the time and didn't want to pay for any fancy artwork. I have to admit when they started up they were pretty austere times so it does seem possibly correct. SC's colours were mid/dark blue and natural unpolished metal with grey (sometimes) bars over/under the wing around the engine nacelles, presumably to protect against exhaust soot or ease of cleaning). Now here is the tricky and the 'leap of faith' bit. Looking at B&W photos of Silver City aircraft , a sister ship G-AIME and G-AGVC, the general layout of the livery is the same. The shade (?) in the B&W photos are the same, or well similar to the Geoff Goodall pictures of G-AMIC. I willing to bet on a hunch the colourised photo of the car loading and crowd is probably correct and based on someone saying so who was there or some other bona fide reference they had. Looking at the photo on the Goodall webpage showing the ship at Essendon and later at Cairns I am willing to bet that the livery is: 1. Upper fuselage over cockpit hump - white (Tropical coverage to reflect heat) 2. Lower fuselage, nacelles upper tail and upper/lower wings - natural unpolished metal (no grey nacelle or wing exhaust barring) 3. Upper fuselage (rear from wing trailing edge ) and upper broad cheat - dark blue (but not as dark as say Insignia Blue) 4. Upper cheat lower trim - red or light blue 5. Lower (thin) cheat line - dark blue 6. Signage and registration to tail and wings - dark blue 7. Signage to front port fuselage and listing of visited places - dark blue with red/gold lining to the name "Freighter." Getting liveries correct is fundamental I know. And using b&w photos any colour reference is extremely inexact but then using old colour photos can be too. I at least think these colours are very plausible. Of course, failing that you could use you best guess scheme as you see it, display a finished model at a show and I bet someone will come up, have a look and say with great authority "That's not right. It should be.... I know because I have a picture etc.etc. Bingo. (I say this jokingly). The Aerospace Bristol page you want is here. Good luck David.

Hello David. I have looked through my stash of Mk 21 photos but alas no joy. No doubt you are using the Geoff Goodall webpage as a main source of information. When you say the colourised photo are you referring to the one on Facebook with the crowd around and the car being posed as loading? It does look pretty plausible going by the colours of the clothing and car but it just doesn't quite distinguish the thin trim colour underneath the broad upper cheat line, does it? I wonder how the person judged the colours to be that anyway. I wonder what the colourists reference was? Surely not a pure guess. You could try asking Aerospace Bristol at Filton if they have any better photos or information. Sorry I can't be of more help. Linz

Muddyf et al, I have been able to find my brother's copy of the Mk32 Maintenance Manual (circa 1953). I am happy to share some of these images with you here. I hope these will help you with what you are looking for in the way of information. I have other areas of the airframe covered also should you want any other details. Muddy, I hope you go ahead and make up your MK32 and post your progress on here. I don't know why I love this butt ugly plane but I do, as I do most British Transport a/c of the 50s and 60s. Just as an aside, my brother got his copy of the manual from an engineer working in the hangers at Lydd when he went down there one day back in the 70s to fix up some telephone lines for the control tower. Not only that, he also bummed a tour of the Instone Mk31 that had just come out of repair following its return to the UK from NZ. And...the swine got an invite to go on a test flight. Jammy beggar.

Hi Muddyf, Just wondered if you had come across the following two interior photos I have just found on the British Caledonian (BCal) site. Interior looking into a Mk32 Interior looking out Linz

Yup, you are dead right info on this aircraft is very thin on the ground. When gleaning any information for my own builds I have gone with whatever I can lay my hands on on the web. Totally agree the comic cutaways are pure 'rendition of the maybe'. Sounds like you have a real soft spot for the old girl just like me. I also take it you are going to do a real detail job on the interior. Good for you. I have that same dream to do likewise one day. The maintenance manual is the way to go without a doubt. I reckon it has all the detail you will need bar the actual dimensions for the front doors. It also has detail blow up drawings of the door hinges and their housings as well as the rodding/hydraulics for the opening mechanism which is hidden under the cockpit flooring. My copy of the manual had to be returned to my brother back in the UK so sadly I don't have it to hand. I see you are in Bristol, so the Mk31 you are referring to is the one at the Filton museum? I suppose you have approached them already. Sorry I can't help any further. Good luck, Linz

If you want internal cutaways of the aircraft then look out for the Bristol Type 170 Mk32 Maintenance Manuals that come up from time to time on Ebay. This has beautiful cutaways of the interior car area, the doors and their interior details and the passenger seating arrangement but few if any interior or other dimensions . If you want, possibly the only definitive history with some drawings and loads of history of all marks and liveries then look out for the book The Bristol 170: Freighter, Wayfarer and Superfreighter by Derek King. This is currently out of publication but again comes up on Ebay and sometimes secondhand via Amazon but at the moment be prepared to pay some quite significant amounts of silly money. Be careful with looking at Mk 21/31 references with regard to the cargo hold for a Mk32 as there were some significant changes that took place when they added the nose extension, especially to the layout of the pipework, ventilation and Main wing spar covering/housing etc in the ceiling. I think the cockpit layout had very few changes. I do have some other cutaways for the Mk32 but they are not to scale and come from various comics and magazines of the 50's and 60's but as to 1/72nd scale interior drawings then I can't help you. I would love a set myself. Cheers, Linz