fightersweep

Very true! We only had burning torches and pitchforks back then.

I'm tempted by the Heinkel. Looking forward to seeing the plastic close up. 1/35 scale doesn't bother me, it just presents diorama possibilities. Got me wondering. Did Tamiya get this level of flak when they went down the 1/35 route when everyone else was doing 1/32 and 54mm?

Major Tom is an excellent track. Still got the 7" Single in the collection. A lot of good music coming out of Germany back then. I was only spinning a couple of Rheingold albums earlier today. Not a band I hear much about these days.

One of many bands that I love from the early 80s is Wall of Voodoo. As a consequence, Stan Ridgway is the man in my books.

A few snippets shot at Southend Airport on a rainy afternoon in 1984. The grotty weather just adds to the nostalgia for me for some reason. In 1984 I was a 15 year old Air Cadet at Southend Airport with 1312 Squadron so spent a lot of time there. It was also the same year we went on a school trip to the airport for a tour and a flight in a BAF Herald. Whenever I think of Southend Airport now (haven't lived in the town for 30 years now) this is how I picture it. Harvest Air Islanders, plenty of small regional airliners and freight (Heavylift) and of course, BAF Heralds and Viscounts galore. The sound of those RR Darts seemed to always fill the skies of the town and whenever I hear that engine sound again, I'm firmly back in the 1980s. Steady on! You'll get my missus all worked up posting stuff like this.

The quote does start by stating this though: "The design of the 2003 Viper Mark II is very similar to the one made in 1978". Not trying to rain on anyone's parade here. Just trying to help.

That's a strange quote as the Mk II was designed for the 2004 series. Only the Mk I appeared in the original series. This is coming from a BSG nerd. I've watched the original many times and the Mk II certainly doesn't appear (not even in the god awful Galactica 1980.) Here's a link to a photo of a model of the Mk II with a short write up. https://www.masterreplicas.com/products/viper-mk-ii?srsltid=AfmBOoq2nrpuenWnISnuIIW57LNs4GL5JS38HWphgBJic-tg33hNoHHR And this is the Mk 1 known as the 'Classic' Viper from the original series: https://www.masterreplicas.com/products/viper-mk-i?tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=22186806941&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqIm_BhDnARIsAKBYcmuIsr0WZ_edceGev47L8EcE9cAyETVujgpGAspbog6K1oU2iknzhIkaAhhmEALw_wcB Here's what Battlestar Wiki has to say: Original Series: The Viper Mark I, also known as the Starhound Class was the dominant type in the original series. It was created at some point in the 7th Millennium to replace the now obsolete 6th Millennium fighter known as the Scorpion Mark I as the war between the twelve Colonies and the Cylon Empire escalated. Another version, the Recon Viper also known as the Starchaser used for recon and is seen during a mission with Starbuck. Galactica 1980: A two seat Viper Mark I is seen during Galactica 1980. This is probable a subclass or improve version of the Mark One. The New Series (Re-imagined Series): A Viper Mark One is seen in the Miniseries, night one. It is in the museum scene and can be clearly seen as a background exhibit along with original Cylons, Raiders and Baseships. The Mark One was created as a next stage/generation multi atmospheric areo-space craft designed shortly before the Cylon uprising nearly 52 years before the fall of the twelve Colonies. The Mark One remained as the central defense fighter craft of the Colonial Fleet for nearly two years before the creation of the Mark-II which unto itself led to the evolution of the fighter line itself. Hope this helps; Steve PS: Starbuck is Dirk Benedict. End of. 😁

Wonder if it's a similar sob story to my RS Mexico?

I sprouted a mullet just looking at that photo. Just to think in my old neck of the woods (Essex) you could easily trip over RS Turbos and XR3i's, and now they're hens teeth. Think I need a Horlicks and to retire to bed as I'm feeling old. As an aside: For those wanting real atmosphere whilst building during the GB may I humbly recommend listening to Laser 558 on the interweb or DAB. The wonderful pirate station that broadcasted from the MV Communicator between 1984 and 1985 before being starved off the air by the DTI. They're back again with most of the original DJs and you can either listen to new shows or re-runs of original broadcasts (with all the old news bulleting and adverts). They only play anything up to the late 1980s, so it's just perfect. I used to listen to it religiously back in the day and it's total nostalgia 101 to have it back on air. The perfect accompaniment to this GB.

Blimey! Small world indeed. We both escaped to sunny Southend! I left Southend in 1997 but go back every so often to visit my folks. Can't believe how much it's changed over the years. Yeah! The MG Maestros looked pretty cool, especially in red. Wish we could see more 70s and 80s British and European road cars in 1/24. The Japanese seem to be good at producing models of their domestic run abouts. I've got votes for painting the XR3 black, white and red now. To be honest, it's a tough call between the three but I do have a thing for red cars. However, white would just feel so 80s. Maybe the XR3 in white and the XR4i in red? It took me a while to find this kit. It is indeed a Revell/Matchbox re-release of the original Revell tooling. It's actually quite a nice model and a lot better than the AMT 1/25 XR3i. The only let down is the lack of a right hand drive option.

Know the area well. I spent my first several years living in Grays. My dad was the signalman at Purfleet and Grays East signal boxes and my grandad worked at Ford at Dagenham. My uncle and aunt lived just around the corner from the AVO factory. Then my folks got out and moved to Westcliff in 1976. Know what you mean about the prices of old Fords. Wish I still owned the Mk 2 RS Mexico I had. Silly money now. That's a bit of a monster. Trouble is, is that I'm into boring cars. Even a XR4i is a bit exciting for me, but I don't seem to have a 1/24 Austin Maestro in the stash 😁 I am very tempted. It's been one of those kits in my stash that I open every so often and admire and then put back on the shelf. I haven't built a car kit in years so I'm a bit scared about the paint job. Wouldn't want to ruin what is now a fairly collectible kit. But it is in the shortlist.

Well, I've already considered going with black for the XR3, although white would be so terribly 80s (where did I put my white towelling socks?). Great idea though and I do have some resin Recaros. I'd love to build a model of the favourite car I owned back then, but nobody does a kit of a 1/24 Cortina Mk 5 2.0 GLS unfortunately. That had really comfy Recaros too. Have to say, the Friendship in Air UK markings is really tempting. I've got a full resin engine set to go with it too. Still love to do a BAF Bumble Bee scheme Herald as well.

Ok! I've been rummaging through my stash for something to build in the GB. I want something really 1980s. I usually exclusively build wingy things, but I'm eyeing up the vehicles I have. I've got four Italeri For Mk 2 Transits all with Motobitz conversions, two LWB vans and two LWB chassis which I was considering at least one scratch built Luton van conversion. The other kits I've short listed are these three; And finally, the Italeri Friendship mainly because of the 1985 Air UK livery whilst based at Southend Airport, my former local airport. Either that, or maybe the bagged FROG Herald I have in British Air Ferries colours the same as I flew in on a school trip to the airport in 1984. Cheers! Steve

😁 Ok! The Mk 2 is from the 2004-2009 series. The Mk 1 Viper is from the original 1978-1980 series.

I'm pretty certain the Viper Mk 2 was from the 're-imagined' series (I hate that phrase!) The Mk 1 was the original BSG and Galactica 80.