tonyot

C-130 E/H/K first please,......... the J can follow later! Looking forward to building an RAF Herk,...... be even better if there are optional parts for a stretched C.3 variant. Crikey the schemes for this kit will be ENDLESS!!!!! Cheers Zvezda!

Right,.... onto the kit! The box art; The contents; As many will know,.... the entire nose is glazed on this kit, unlike Academy`s other B-24 variants. I shall be using DK Decals again; Construction started with the fuselage halves,...... additional seat covers were added to the cockpit using masking tape to cover a mould mark and the spares box was used to go to town in the waist gun area which looks very bare,.... especially against the bare metal silver interior colour! A bit blurry sorry,..... the light today was terrible! And the wings and tail constructed and ready too; Cheers for now, Tony

I was going through my `stuff' the other night Mike because I thought I had a suitable set,...... but didn`t have one. I`m currently checking Falcon for the cockpit side windows,...... the link you sent isn`t working for some reason! I`ll have a trawl through Hannants site,....see if they have any Falcon stuff in stock, Cheers Tony

Hiya Folks, The later Liberator`s had larger windows in the navigators station along with larger bomb aimer`s windowsM enclosed, glazed waist gun positions and later style simplified bulged cockpit side windows, plus some had a light weight rear turret and the only kit available is the Academy B-24M which is as rare as ricking horse manure,....... so I`ve been looking for some for some time. One of the aircraft I want to replicate is Glamour Girl of 356 Sqn in India in 1945. Unlike earlier Mk.VIII`s to arrive,.... which had SEAC style roundels applied, this aircraft along with other later arrivals retained its standard RAF markings, but still had the squadron ID markings applied to the rudders, plus nose art, making it a `different' looking subject. Here is the real thing; EDIT,......Just realised that Glamour Girl has earlier style waist windows with opening panels and not the later squared off all glazed units,....good job I have not joined the fuselage halves yet!! Also note the silver X on the fin, which was also white or light blue on camouflaged aircraft. And some similar aircraft, wearing standard RAF markings; And more Mk.VIII`s, but wearing SEAC markings, they were used for bombing raids as far as Malaya and French Indo China, but were often used to drop supplies to agents and later still to POW camps; This aircraft KL654-R-Robert was found crashed in the jungle quite recently? Here is the some of the wreckage,.....RIP; Post-war shot of 160 Sqn KN777 BS-A And last of all,.....the ex 99 Sqn Liberator Mk.VIII donated to the RAF Museum by the Indian Air Force; Another update soon!

Great to see a new Vulcan,...... those asking,.... what next,........ well we need another RAF 4 engined heavy which has seen service all over the world and with countless other nations too,..... in all sorts of wars and campaign`s,........ yes,....... the C-130 Hercules!!!

Probably the worse kept secret in modelling history!!

Cheers Chris,..... that`s very nice of you to say so,...... I have a replacement Halifax planned as that one is quite old now, those 4 bladed props make it look very aggressive..

Cheers Chris,...... yeah it was a bit o a challenge and not the ideal kit to try and get your mojo back,.... but I don`t do things by halves LOL!! Thanks bud,..... oh can you imagine how heavy it would have been,....... like flying a house brick!

Cheers mate..... glad to have ticked those boxes! Thanks Vinnie, glad you liked the background stuff too, after all the model is only part of the story. Cheers CC,......... Just another up to date Halibag to build, plus a Waco CG-4A Hadrian and a Dakota and my WW2 Airborne Forces collection is complete. LOL,.... I think stripes have that effect on quite a few people too! Glad you liked the model,..... and yes those gliders were flimsy and the men who went into war in them were very brave men,....... personally I would rather parachute any day and many WW2 veterans have said the same to me too Thanks for mentioning the undercarriage,..... I was in two minds whether to display it like that!

Beautifully done Mustang and a great choice of decal option,..... what is there not to like,..... top notch mate, Cheers Tony

Thanks Chris,..... massive and bloody heavy too LOL!

Cheers Ian,..... nice of you to say so mate,

Hiya Folks, This was supposed to be a D-Day tribute build but it lasted longer than I thought it might,....... anyway it is finally finished. Here is the WIP if anybody is interested; The Hamilcar was able to carry a Tetrarch or Locust light tank or other heavy loads such as a Bren or Lloyd Carrier and a 17pdr gun and large ammunition resupply loads. The 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Squadron deployed its Tetrarch tanks on the evening of D-Day during Op Mallard and they performed quite well, although as very light tanks they were not suitable for action against other armoured veh`s. The Hamilcar was used at Arnhem without deploying tanks and also during Op. Varsity, crossing the Rhine in 1945 when 6th AARS went into action with US built Locust tanks. Here are some period photos,..... Here are some of the Army pilots of the Glider Pilot Regiment who flew the Hamilcar; RAF Halifax tug crew and Army Hamilcar crew with the troops they are conveying,.... this may be for the Rhine Crossing? A Tetrarch inside a Hamilcar being watched by Monty and the 6th Airborne Division top brass. Both pilots sat in tandem above the cargo compartment but if the glider dug its nose in upon landing on soft ground it was prone to tipping over and the heavy load would then fall down onto them, often with fatal consequences; Here are a few reference photos; Middle Wallop Army Aviation Museum,.... partial airframe A Tetrarch tank inside a Hamilcar fuselage frame at the Tank Museum, Bovington. The Tetrarch tank model is a 1/76th scale white metal kit from MMS ; And here is the model; And here is a Matchbox Halifax converted into a Halifax GT.V, the only wartime aircraft capable of towing the Hamilcar (the Hastings could tow it post war too!). Cheers, Tony

Well I`m calling it done! Here is the Hamilcar model with the white metal Tetrarch tank; Well it took a bit longer than expected but we got there in the end,..... thanks for the encouragement along the way, Cheers Tony Cheers Steve,.... much appreciated my friend,

Was Major Al Wright Royal Marines an ace? He flew a Sharkmouthed Seafire over Salerno and then another after the operation. I built a 1/72nd model of his 2nd Seafire here; And I`m pretty sure I wrote about it in a magazine article that I wrote about Salerno? Here is a link with some more info including photos of the real aircraft; https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?topic=179120.0 I`ll check through my stuff and I`ll gladly send you what I have via e mail,...... just send me your e mail address again bud. Cheers, Tony