Gary Brantley

And a fine job it is too! Give that lad my congratulations on a very nice first model. And the same goes to a patient dad for nurturing his talent along!

That's a really nice Zipper Keith! A great replica of the real bird too! After all these many years, the aircraft still looks like a space plane; what an appropriate name, the Starfighter.

As an unabashed fan of Mikoyan-Gurevich designs, I have to say those are a great pair! Beautiful result on both planes Volker. And the scale is?

Nice! Always love a Scooter!

Great job! I like it much.

As did my Impact/Lindberg Fury, and perhaps the other planes in that series (I'd have to open up a box and check that). I do recall that it made it much easier rigging that one. In happier times: As she looks now:

Yes, I do recall the Ford plant; it was down near Geelong harbor if I recall correctly after all these years. And no more "Uncle AL" either, eh? When we were there in '66-'67, Geelong had a population of approx. 100,000. How much has it grown since? My parents bought a new camera soon after we arrived there, and I have many 35mm slides from our time there. I remember the "shark-proof" swimming enclosure and a beautiful botanical garden down by the bay. Also, there was a large downtown building with automatons worked by a clock mechanism that came out of the upper building and "rang the hour". Interesting indeed! What is the "vibe" like in Geelong now? Mild-mannered conservative place or fun-loving liberal attitudes? At 13 and 14, I had no idea or interest in things like that. Life revolved around school and my mates, both other American kids there with ALCOA and Aussie friends I made there, and slot cars and girls of course, lol. It seems like Victoria was a bit more old-fashioned than some of the other states we visited. I remember the very interesting War Memorial Museum in Canberra and the lovely scenery up past Mt. Kosciusko. In Hobart, we toured the huge Cadbury's factory and had a great time. I imagine that's gone now as well. Oh man, so many great memories of my 14 months in Australia! The motoring festival looks like a good time too. Thanks for the nice pic! Those rides are a far cry from our little Cortina. And that little Ford was a big adjustment for us, after having a big old Pontiac sedan in the States, lol. As was wearing a school uniform, and adapting to the different school system there. Damn, I'd love to see it again!

So much good information! Thank you all for your contributions. As I keep learning more about the details and intricacies of rigging techniques, I'll be forced to try another bipe. Keep the good stuff comin' gents!

Very useful info Ian! So, RAF biplanes (WWI and later) had no turnbuckles at all? Very interesting! And, regarding point 2; that does make perfect sense. All those carefully rigged planes with turnbuckles at each connection are incorrect? That does simplify things a lot, and considering point 1, makes Brit craft all the more appealing! Being particularly interested in the between the wars biplane fighters, and especially the Fury I, I've come across this article about the sole surviving flyable Fury. In the excellent photos, one can see what looks like the same attachment devices at both ends of the flying wires. Is this just a modern-day "method" for that? https://vintageaviationecho.com/flying-the-hawker-fury/

That's a great looking group! Beautifully done models and the Etendard has long been a favorite of mine. I'm glad to know that there is a 1/48 version or two around.

Thank you Paul! I'm glad it found favor with you. Although rough in a few spots, it did give me a little more confidence that I could overcome some modeling obstacles and think outside the box a bit. Altogether, I enjoyed the challenge and the result. Thanks again sir! ps: For many years I used an old veteran plumber named Paul Bradley for all my plumbing troubles. I thought of that nice old man when I first saw your name here.

That is definitely a big, beautiful bird. And also definitely a fantastic job on a great scale model! I aways enjoy seeing one built and especially in 1/48, my chosen scale. That's a beauty sir! And thanks for the recommendation of the AK Extreme Metal paint. It looks really good and the ability to mask over it is very important to me. My old standby, and favorite paint for a NMF was SnJ aluminum but sadly no longer available. I will most likely give the AK paint a try now!

You could create your own version too Paul! As I was somewhat forced to do when I started on my Hasegawa 1/48 build. Accidents happen; and then, necessity became the mother of invention. J7W3 Shinden

Cool! I really like Shindens. That one looks great. <<<<

My compliments to the Missus then Harold! I'm sure she'll let you know if you're doing a good job. I'm married too...