stuartp

Fill, sand, fill, sand ... In between filling and sanding I bodged a couple of ejector seats from an Airfix Buccaneer, they aren't exactly right but the look better than the approximations in the kit.

On one of the very few occasions I was allowed to do anything interesting in the ATC we were let loose on the range at Finningley. We were used to cadet rifles (re-bored .303s?) but they let us have a go with an SLR as well. I thought my shoulder had actually come off, I had no idea where the round went and neither had the spotter, it certainly didn't go anywhere near the target. Tremendous fun !

As suspected, the camo boxing is about a tenner on Ebay, the ghastly vivid blue one about twice that. Typical. What a lot of filler... I won't be re-scribing - life's too short, the stash is breeding in the loft and I'm supposed to be focussing on the half built model railway in the garage...

Thanks all. Yes there's something not quite right about the shape of the hump behind the cockpit, I'll see what it looks like in primer before I decide whether to do anything about it. It would be typical of me to accidently build something !!!@@@RARE@@@!!! which I could have flogged on Ebay to fund another Phantom lol !

Ok, I confess I forgot all about this - it's a long time since I was in a group build ! This is the Hunter T7, which will be finished in 237 OCU markings as one of the pseudo-Buccaneers. Of course I don't have any 237 OCU markings other than a set of crossed cutlasses left over from an Airfix Buccaneer so some rummaging in the decal spares box will be required. So this is what it looked like at 10.00 this evening: ...and this is what it looks like an hour or so later: So far the only thing I've changed is the cockpit bulkhead and floor, there should be a couple of whitemetal seats around here somewhere ! Of course 40 years ago it would have been fully assembled by now ready for paint and transfers tomorrow...

I'd hazard a guess that not only did they notice he was not on the bus, they probably tip-toed off the aircraft very carefully so as not to wake him, no doubt with much sniggering and giggling. Miles Tripp's book is well with a read. I lent my copy to a colleague whose father had been a wireless op on Halifaxes, he was in tears reading it.

I've got that one in the stash awaiting rebirth as an AAC one ! I noticed that the "prettiest visitor to the ship" got her own photo...

To say I"m astonished would be a mild understatement ! Dave has hit the nail on the head. I worked out that Apollo was affiliated to Scarborough but attempts to chase that down only led to private FB groups and lots of photos of the various HMS Scarborough. Never occurred to me that the gash chute was not a permanent fixture either ! Thank you very much indeed, and to Francis for the pointer to local newspaper archived, I hadn't thought of that. I think this year's railway modelling budget might be going to Fleetscale ...

Hi. I know this is a very very long shot, but I'm trying to find out which RN warship paid a visit to Scarborourgh around 1976-78 or thereabouts. It was anchored offshore and it seemed every boat on the Yorkshire coast with a passenger licence was running trips out to sail round it. I was about 10 or 11 at the time and sailing around this enormous grey thing was quite obviously the most exciting thing that had ever happened on holiday. I can't remember which one it was 43 years later of course. HMS Juno and HMS Apollo are both ringing bells but the only diagnostic feature I can remember was a chute extending over the stern. I asked the ex RN boat owner running our boat what it was, thinking it might be some sort of depth charge dispenser, and was quite disappointed to be told it was the gash chute ! I can't see any evidence of those on the Leanders I've looked at but I'm essentially a railway and aircraft modeller and don't really know where to start with ships. If it was an airshow I'd know exactly where to start with spotter lists ... As I say, a very long shot, but does anyone have any suggestions please ?

Thank you, I was aware that the same team had done Colditz, but I hadn't heard of The Fourth Arm, I'll have a look at that. TV drama and documentaries generally seemed better back then, less gimmicky. I don't think it's just nostalgia !

I'm thoroughly enjoying the re-runs of this on Talking Pictures (Freeview 81), it was one of two programmes I was allowed to stay up late to watch when I was kid (the other was 'Danger UXB'). But my God it's dark ! Clearly it's not going to be a barrel of laughs but I'd forgotten just how bleak it was. Nine episodes in they haven't got anyone out either, although they have murdered an escapee and a French civilian to stop them talking, abandoned another because he turned out to be a pacifist, and killed an ex-pat for giving away another escapee. (Fair enough on the last one but I did feel sorry for the gorgeous Joanna Van Gyseghem playing his wife). And poor Gaston's just been shot. Did they get anyone out ?

Thanks Bob, all noted. According to Brookes the SACEUR Valiants were using Mk28s by 1962 as they were required to carry two, although it's got the kit Blue Danube in it at the moment !

There is a Valiant B1 sitting almost complete on my shelf, the intention is to put it on a base representing one of Marham's SACEUR-assigned aircraft sitting at Cockpit Readiness at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis with a couple of armed guards wandering past. Initially I was going to have two RAFP acting corporals, one with a dog and one cradling a Sterling, then I remembered the USAF custodians for the B28 bombs. The internet has turned up numerous period photos of RAFP and USAFAP bods with and without dogs, so I'm reasonably sure I can get the uniforms right. But bearing in mind the two man rule and no lone zones, which is the most likely scerario ? Two RAFP patrolling together with the custodian somewhere on the edge of the pan outside the NLZ or a joint RAF/USAF guard? And where would the crew chief be while all this was going on ? Standing outside with his headset on on his own, or accompanied ? Some modeller's licence is to inevitable given the dearth of real pics of nuclear armed aircraft on alert (as opposed to posed publicity pics) but I'd like to not drop too many howlers. A diorama of such a tense weekend consisting of just an aeroplane, two blokes and a dog has a certain 'less is more' appeal about it. Thanks 🙂

Superb ! Reminds me of Airfix magazine articles from the 1980s where conversions often involved balsa wood, dope and filler, and a lot of sanding !

Personally I don't get it, like filling in all the panel lines with black wash which was all the rage a few years ago. The real thing fades and collects dirt, sure, but for me pre-shading doesn't capture that. Over-spraying panels does, washes do, dry-brushing does (but can also be overdone). I should point out that I'm personally coming at this as a railway modeller who builds the occasional aeroplane, most of my stuff reflects BR 1960s steam - i.e. not cleaned since the day it was last painted.