[The Operation “Judgement” FAA Avenger is +++FINISHED with RFI Added+++]

10 hours ago, mark.au said:

Thanks for the kind words @bigbadbadge, @heloman1, @jackroadkill, @Dunny, @AliGauld, @Anthony in NZ, and @Iain Ogilvie.

 

I'm probably a little too excited to report have found another image of J-P. According to the caption it was taken at RNAS Hatston upon the squadron's return from a North Atlantic anti-submarine patrol aboard HMS Trumpeter, and dated in the latter half of 1944.

 

 

While it's not quite the holy grail inasmuch as it gives me the S/N (well, it does, but I'm going to have to really dig in on my photo enhancement skills to decipher it), there's a tonne of interesting stuff in this image.  First, it confirms the position of J and P on the port side, which I was struggling with.  Second, I believe it shows that I have the black anti-glare in more or less the right place, that is sweeping up to the windshield framing but not behind it.  In this it's different to the image of J-G that @tonyot posted earlier where the black extends beyond the windscreen framing to the midpoint of the sliding windows.

 

What about the Avenger over on the left?  It looks to me like it still has its sky undersides but does have the black anti-glare - albeit painted differently to J-P's but the same as the aircraft in the background; it is wearing a Type C roundel on the wing and the wing's leading edge is painted (unevenly) black.  The roundel is a bit curious, Type C was introduced in 1945 which makes the date of the photo a little suspect.  And, along that train of thought, the left-most person is in shirt sleeves and while I haven't been to the Orkneys I doubt he'd be in shirt sleeves if it were much later in the year than mid-September (I looked it up, by September the average day time temp is 15C, but the end of the month it's down to 13C.  Having said that, it's around the same temp in May so maybe he just liked the midday sun?).

 

Anyway, coming back to J-P, the comparison to the aircraft on the left makes me interested in its wings' leading edges.  Would we say there's enough in the photo to say the leading edge is black, too?  I'm not totally convinced but there's certainly enough circumstantial evidence to say yes.  If it is a black leading edge, it's not as prominent nor wrapped around as the other aircraft, which gives me pause.

 

Lastly, this picture gives me a cleaner view the font used for the letters, so I need to revisit my stencil graphics to correct what I've got right now.  The J has a flat base and the P appears squared off too.

 

Do my observations and logic make sense?  Happy to hear alternate opinions...

 

Cheers.

I`d say that the anti glare panel does actually sweep up behind the cockpit, to just behind the frame line of the opened canopy entrance, just like my model of P-B and I did say (and depict) the anti glare black was on the wing leading edge too, it was there to stop reflections from above by flares during attacks in arctic darkness or at night. 

[1/48th Revell/ Hasegawa Phantom FGR.2,.......I`m going to do it in a flying position!]

7 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great to see

E more progress on this Tony, looks good and a Blenheim too, that looks great as well, nice to see a Mk.V. 

Cracking work

Chris

Cheers Chris,..... yeah I have a soft spot for the Blenheim Mk.V,... it is going to be wearing early SEAC markings. 

 

6 hours ago, (ex)Sgtrafman said:

I always love your work Tony and this is no exception. 
Looking forward to seeing it with stickers on 👍

All the best

Iain

Thanks Iain,.... very kind,...hope you are keeping well mate? 

 

6 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Super sonic hey mate! You have certainly cracked on with this one. Who couldn't like a sharks mouth scheme and wheels up will look good?

Are the Aeromaster paints out of productions now? The Humbrol acrylic seems to have brushed on quite nicely.

 

Colin

Cheers Colin,.... yeah the Aeromaster paints are well out of production,..... I bought a shed load before they vanished for good, but I`m running out now. Yes the new Humbrol acryics brush on very well. 

[1/48th Revell/ Hasegawa Phantom FGR.2,.......I`m going to do it in a flying position!]

Got a bit more done with the addition of the Light Aircraft Grey undersides and the white pylons ,...... I`ve also done the silver areas around the jet pipes, which still needs some work to vary the panels,..... plus I tidied up the camouflage demarcations,..... I`ve not done a camouflage for a while and you soon get out of practice!....... I also have a 72nd scale SH Blenheim Mk.V on the go too which was being paintd alongside the Phantom;

 

 

So the next job is the black radome and I`ll have a go to see how Medium Sea Grey looks for the camouflage section on the tip of the fin,..... if it is too light, then Ocean Grey might do it? 

 

Cheers for now,

                        Tony

 

[Airfix 1/48th Vampire F.3, 32 Sqn, RAF Nicosia, Cyprus, 1948]

8 hours ago, MACALAIN said:

What a lovely family

 

Alain

Thank you Alain.  

[Airfix 1/48th Vampire converted to F.1 using Wellsprop`s conversion, as a 3 Sqn a/c, BAFO, West Germany, late 1940`s]

8 hours ago, MACALAIN said:

Just wow.

 

Alain

Thank you Alain. 

[1/72nd Airfix Vampire T.11,...... Another 45 Sqn aircraft, but the early variant without ejection seats and framed canopy!]

On 3/10/2022 at 9:21 PM, Bertie Psmith said:

Nice one.

Cheers Bertie! 

[Airfix 1/48th Vampire F.3, 32 Sqn, RAF Nicosia, Cyprus, 1948]

On 3/10/2022 at 9:14 PM, Bertie Psmith said:

Another good vampire. Very tidy

Cheers mate,.... glad you like them! 

[Airfix 1/48th Vampire converted to F.1 using Wellsprop`s conversion, as a 3 Sqn a/c, BAFO, West Germany, late 1940`s]

On 3/10/2022 at 9:13 PM, Bertie Psmith said:

Grand work, Tony!

Thanks mate. 

[Cant Z 506 captured and used by the RAF from MALTA for Special Operation. Kit Italeri 1/72]

2 hours ago, MACALAIN said:

Well Tony, I had just folow the instruction of the kit, this time.

 

Alain

It was not meant as a criticism Alain,...... sorry you see it like that. 

[TA-7C CORSAIR HAF Hobby Boss, in scale 1/48.]

Very nice,.... gorgeous model. I enjoyed working with the Greek A-7`s,..... their pilots were well up there with the best in NATO!

Cheers

          Tony

[Airfix Westland/Leonardo Merlin Royal Navy,1/48th scale Finished, finally...]

Superb job Colin,...... a big beast eh?  Now for an all grey Junglie or even a pinger next time? 

Cheers mate,.... it looks great,

                                              Tony 

PS,.... have the nose wheels fallen off?

[Cant Z 506 captured and used by the RAF from MALTA for Special Operation. Kit Italeri 1/72]

Very nice indeed yet again!.

Apart from the one captured by the Beaufort crew,..... there seem to be a few others operating from Malta at varous times and at least one has had a darker colour applied over the Italian grey base colour in areas to cover the previous markings and as a form of camouflage,..... I`m still trying to decide whether this is EDSG or some other colour before I build mine?

 

Photo deleted.

 

[1/72nd Airfix Vampire T.11,...... Another 45 Sqn aircraft, but the early variant without ejection seats and framed canopy!]

1 hour ago, F-32 said:

Lovely build and a great pair

Thanks mate. 

[1/48th Revell/ Hasegawa Phantom FGR.2,.......I`m going to do it in a flying position!]

On 3/8/2022 at 6:47 PM, bigbadbadge said:

Looking great with the dark green on Tony, great job. Good luck with the decals too.

 

Chris

Thanks Chris,.... quite a way to go until the decals! 

[1/72nd Airfix Vampire T.11,...... Another 45 Sqn aircraft, but the early variant without ejection seats and framed canopy!]

17 hours ago, The Shearwater said:

Excellent finish especially on such a small kit, good work 

Thanks mate,.... all rattle can and brush painted!

[1/48th Revell/ Hasegawa Phantom FGR.2,.......I`m going to do it in a flying position!]

After the Dark Sea Grey,..... here is the Humbrol acrylic Drk Green going on;

 

Some of the decals are a bit wrong,..... so I might have to modify them,....... and although the Almark instructions do mention the zaps from 43 and 84 Sqn`s,...... they re not included on the sheet! 

 

Cheers for now,

                        Tony

[1/72nd Airfix Vampire T.11,...... Another 45 Sqn aircraft, but the early variant without ejection seats and framed canopy!]

On 3/5/2022 at 8:16 PM, 112 Squadron said:

Once again you did a great job Tony. 👍 She is as beautiful as the real one:

 

 

 

Thanks mate,...... yeah a beautiful aircraft to see in the air,.... and a very distinctive noise too.

[Alaskan Kittyhawk]

Lovely job Bill,....  have one of these Alaska based RCAF P-40`s planned myself.

Cheers,

           Tony  

[1/48th Revell/ Hasegawa Phantom FGR.2,.......I`m going to do it in a flying position!]

5 minutes ago, Anthony in NZ said:

Wow, nice one Tony...that was quick!  Love your choice of scheme too, very nice!  Another masterpiece in the making, love the 'in flight' idea

Thanks Anthony,..... I don`t know about masterpiece,..... but hopefully it will look OK? 

[1/48th Revell/ Hasegawa Phantom FGR.2,.......I`m going to do it in a flying position!]

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Blimey That was quick Tony , Phantom is looking good fella and a Hudson too, crikey.

Chris

Thanks Chris,.... I haven`t been hammering it either,...... just plodding along.

The Hudson has gone together better than any I`ve previously done,..... it is still  pig,.... but I`ve been luckier with this one, maybe because I have a few under my belt now? I was lucky to find it amongst th 2nd hand kits, just have to decide which scheme I want now? ASV and rockets with the White Coastal scheme was my original idea,...... but I`ve noticed that Special Hobby are releasing a new tooling, so might save tht scheme for that kit? 

 

2 hours ago, Steve Coombs said:

Swift work there!

Are you going to replicate the 43 Sqn zap on the starboard splitter plate?

Thanks mate,..... yes I`m hoping to replicate that zap,..... it would be rude not to!  

[1/48th Revell/ Hasegawa Phantom FGR.2,.......I`m going to do it in a flying position!]

Hiya Folks,

               I bought this last Saturday and started it that night,..... I wasn`t going to do it as a WIP but as I`d taken a few pic for a friend, I thought I`d stick them on here and sort of run with it!! 

 

I was originally going to build it on its undercarriage as a 19 or 92 Sqn aircraft based in Germany,......

 

But then I changed my mind,.... I`ll do a RAF Germany Phantom some other time,...... because I have always liked this shark mouthed aircraft from 41 Sqn and I have decals for it on an old ED Models Almark decal sheet;

                               

 

So,.....here is the cockpit;

 

Before long it was coming together quickly;

 

I was toying with the idea of depicting the model with its unercarriage being raised as it took off,...... but after checking out the dropped flaps and slapts required,.... and the extended oleo`s,.... I decided to close the undercarriage bays and have it going fast and low at full chat,...... but I don`t think the kit was meant to be built like this with the gear doors closed nd the canopy closed,..... as the fit of these parts was awful!..... So,.... after a lot of whittling and filling,..... here it is with the canopy closed;

And a close up of the crew,..... probably not the best,.... but it will do for me;

 

After a wash,.... I then started to paint it,.... here it is after the first brushed on coat of Aeromaster Drk Sea Grey,..... my last bottle!

 

So that is where I`m at so far,..... I also bought a 1/72nd Italeri Hudson last Saturday too and that is ready to paint now,...... again, not the easiest kit in the world to build!

 

Cheers for now,

                        Tony

 

 

[1/72nd Airfix Vampire T.11,...... Another 45 Sqn aircraft, but the early variant without ejection seats and framed canopy!]

On 3/3/2022 at 5:59 PM, Blackmike said:

Lovely models of the Vampire, Tony - well done, and, like others, I really admire your output rate!!

 

Cheers

Mike

Thanks Mike,.... glad you like them mate....... I`ve got to say, I`ve slowed down a lot lately!

 

On 3/4/2022 at 7:52 AM, heloman1 said:

Looking good Tony, very good. The ali and trainer yellow scheme look perfect. The tail down sit even better, Congratulations.

 

Colin

Cheer Colin,.... glad you like the colours mate,..... I do like the proper Trainer Yellow colour, especially with a silver background.  

[Model show bargain bin: 1/72 Blackburn Firebrand TF Mk 5]

Lovely model Mike,...... you`ve done a great job,

Cheers,

           Tony

[1/72nd Airfix Vampire T.11,...... Another 45 Sqn aircraft, but the early variant without ejection seats and framed canopy!]

13 hours ago, Natter said:

It's a kit by Tony - ergo it's a little cracker.

LOL,.... that is very kind of you Dave,..... cheers mate. 

[Airfix 1/48 Hawker Hunter F.6A]

Gorgeous job Rich,.... and I love the scheme too,

Cheers

           Tony