Bangseat

Thanks @canberraman, great write up. I personally find it hard to grasp exactly what these platforms do - Rivet Joint particularly - but they are obviously strategically vital. I just hope their retirement doesn't leave us with the degree of capability gap we had in 1982 in maritime AEW.

Absolute stunner General. What a treat to build and be so involved, and thank you for the insight into the process. When you consider the complexity of the airframe and the variations, it is amazing how few omissions/booboos have been made. A real tribute to the team at Airfix and your exhaustive research as well.

Happy Elegoo user here. I bought a second printer a few months ago, and rather than buy the Pro or 2 Pro, I just bought another new old stock Mars. Made sense to have the same side by side. The thing about faster print times is, do you actually need to turn the print around quickly? If you are putting it on at night, do you need it to finish at 3am, or would 6am do? Mars 2 Pro would probably be my choice if I was starting out today. I would say pay more if you need the functionality, but the main nice-to-have I would want would be larger print area and that is a different league of printer.

Always been meaning to post in here. This is me in full lockdown, attempting to fill the void of social interaction by mumbling incoherently at a Rockwell Commander.

I had a pink problem when I was building a Pink Interstol Skyvan. Pink is not a colour well served by the usual aircraft model paint ranges. In the end I mixed Humbrol 57 with this: https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/14c246 It is the fuschia pink colour used in First Group bus liveries. It could be a good match? (I couldn't believe there was a range of enamel paints especially for buses, but apparently so). In the acrylic sphere, I always reckon the Vallejo Model Color range is worth a look, it is a non genre specific range of pretty much every colour under the sun. I have also had success spraying artists acrylic ink (on a good primer coat) and for a flexible approach, you could buy a set including a process magenta such as the Daler Rowney set and do a custom mix. It might just need a tiny drop of white. (Sorry I haven't addressed the blue, but it looks like a much easier match.)

Having just finished reading Harrier 809, definitely a story worth telling. Rowland White would do well to include that stat in his next edition.

Just reviving this thread as this is a recent issue I have suffered. I am currently making a Piper Malibu, which has a long, thin wing, and at least 50% turned out like this: These wings are thin and only about 7cm in length, so no real possibility of splitting or hollowing. @hendie, I was thoroughly swayed by your analysis as I have been curing parts under a uv lamp. Although I always do both sides, with a wing I guess once you've done the first side the damage is done, even if it hasn't actually bent yet (these deformations appeared over the course of a month). So for my second attempt, I tried curing in sunlight with this setup, clamping between clear acrylic: So far it looks like a good cure, and straight as I dare hope for. That said, I'll keep you posted as any issues are likely to appear in a week or so...

Lovely work, Adrian. I am thinking of the Po-2 at Shuttleworth now, making that lovely popping noise from the Shvetsov M11. Great 1:72 figure work too - I recognise Fat Bucket Man, I've got his cousin in the stash, from the Zvesda set I think.

Halfords - excellent choice. It's more of a small vehicle than a model anyway!

You maybe looking only at figures, but do consider vehicles too. With the dawn of the new Airfix Vulcan, I believe the world needs a 1:72 AEC Mammoth Major fuel tanker. And maybe even a Leyland Leopard crew bus! In general fuel tankers are worth looking into. Ww2 is well served and the Cold War quite well served, bit I don't believe there are any models of modern fuel tankers, such as a Scammel truck that might be used to fuel an RAF Typhoon. Also, while you are here - where are the Indian modellers, and why is there no market? It surprises me with so many great potential Indian aircraft subjects, like Marut, Kiran and Tejas. (All still needing a model!)

@MLRS, I think you've done a great job. I don't have access to any more info than you, ie the many photos on the internet. The only think I'd say is - how can I put this - I think you need to paint a few more sperms on the starboard fuselage? (One of the more unusual bits of feedback I've given on Britmodeller..)

That's quite something! Is that skin art for a Flight Sim model? It looks like you have really gone to town!

Usually with models rescued from the shelf of the doom we pityingly patch them up so they can just about limp over the finish line, this one however is storming over the line to the soundtrack of Chariots of Fire. Bravo - and I second the plaudits for your anodised metal too.

Lovely build - and thanks for the shape warnings, I have one lurking in the stash!

Wow - hard won, but she's a peach!

I love the Thud, I loved building this kit, and I love your model! Good call on the decals, yes they were a bit thin IIRC. What a beast. 382 lost in Vietnam, incredible really.

Lovely MiG, with a nice prototypical 23 stance!

@TheyJammedKenny!, I'm not sure I fixed anything with that thing! Incidentally Tom, with this burgeoning collection of gentleman scale giants, I do hope for your sake you're not planning on moving house. I just did yesterday, blimey O'Reilly. With no box big enough for a VC10 or a 707, the only solution was to walk them up the road: Me left, with henchman..

Great work, TheyJammed! Really worth it to get a definitive F27, as neither the Airfix of the ESCI are particularly, it must have been very satisfying. @jyguy - that is fascinating. Hand flying all the way from ABZ to BGO? I can't see Wideroe doing that today! Was that normal for the time..?

If you can persuade the shapeways file owner to sell you the stl file, you could contact a print farm. I used these guys before I got my first printer: https://midlands3d.com/ You upload your file, pay your money and they send your parts in the post. I wouldn't know how to design Batman I'm afraid - I believe you need the kind of software Pixar uses to make Buzz Lightyear, as opposed to the parametric tools I use to make aeroplanes.

True, though repeated rounds of adding and subtracting are all part of the fun in the Mach 2 school of modelling. Long division would be tricky though... I was just thinking yesterday how quintessential the DC8 looks as an airliner, slender, 4 wing mounted engines, its like a child's image of an airliner. I think it's useful to hold onto that for perspective - the specific details are so elusive in these planes as they are so 'unwierd', and even if you do have your eye in, you're almost certainly not taking in the whole shape, especially in a model of this size. Can't wait to see this with a lick of paint!

There it is, the Mach 2 curveball, 1 free in every box...

I was reading Oor Wullie in the Sunday Post just last week! And The Broons too. Paw Broon was railing against his family for spending too much time on their mobiles - despite still dressing like a factory foreman from the 1930s... Apologies for the digression.. 🙃 Lovely work so far!

I always find it fascinating that the Handley Page Harrow was still in service in 1945. It's basically just a slightly less drafty version of the Heyford. And a lovely Heyford it is too 👍

That's a fascinating effect. I love the contrast, it looks very convincing in the photos. I guess the real thing would have been sanded so the putty would have a scuffed/multi tonal effect. I wonder if you could do the rlm02 as an undercoat, distress it, paint the lines with masking fluid and bmf over it? Not speaking from experience mind, just speculating - and it does look great. 👍