Wez

Fantastic work Shaun - very well done indeed and as for the rest of the line-up faultless! Regards Wez

Yeah, I have to say that I felt the same way about their Spitfire XII - it was similar to a Spit in that it had wings - ish! From what I've seen, if you can afford it go with the CMR item, failing that the Aeroclub item (I've been waiting years for John to reissue that one)! The good old Vampire T.11 - we seriously need a mainstream kit of this beauty - so many colour schemes! Regards Wez

Alan, I'd say that "good old Humbrol Matt Aluminium (HU56) and clear gloss is too dark, I've found mixing good old Humbrol Silver Fox (HU11) and a light grey in roughly about a 50/50 ratio to be a better approximation. It was certainly a mix reccommended in the early days of Modeldecal and it looked pretty good to me - having said that anything I built using that paint mix has long since gone to the great spares box in the sky (well the loft actually). HTH Regards Wez

Me too! Regards Wez

Wadda ya mean? You are French, you complicate everything! Wez

I wuzzant being provacative - oh no!

Scotch engineer - unit of power named after him. Wez

yeah! That's the one! Wez

Yup! That's largely how I remeber it too - similar time frame I guess! The point is these things have a habit of being referred to within the user community as one thing but appearing in official liturature as something else - I know I used to write mods for the RAF and always had to balance the vernacular with the official "nomenclature" - or name as we humans call it! Regards Wez

I've always loved that scheme, you've done it proud! Good effort! Wez

What a stunning colour scheme. Say what you like about the French but they have a certain je ne sais quoi or French phrase meaning a certain je ne sais quoi! Regards Wez

Carn't believe you let me go up in the loft in this sweltering heat! It's flippin warm up there! Anyway, the set I've got is "Bullits'n'Bombs"! What you get is- un bidon IRAKIEN - aka an 'ackin gurt fuel tank! One of 'em. deux lance roquettes LR4 - multiple rocket chuckers (SNEB pods) deux rails lance missiles Magic - Magic catapult rails deux missiles Magic II - pointy-bangy-crashy things to go with above deux porte bombe Raffaut - either practice bomb carriers or an interesting dessert featuring merangue and cream! deux lance luerre Corail - chuff'n'fluff rails? (Floundering here a bit in case you hadn't realised)! deux pylones exterieur de voilure - couple of multiple bomb chucker racks? (Feeling on safer ground with this translation). (translated from the French into Southern English - not available on Babelfish!) You owe me a beer! (not because it's hot in the loft - I broke into a greater sweat doing the translation)!!! HTH Regards Wez

Saw the Swift F.7 next to Billy Bunters down at Bournemouth - what a fat knacker! I live in Southampton where it's blasphemy to speak out against Supermarine even after fifty years or so since they produced an aeroplane! The Swift was a big fat whale compared to the Billy - no wonder it needed reheat - bloody corpulent pig would never have got off the ground! Wez - the heretic Well finish it! Never mind the F.1 - crack on with the Javelin! Regards Wez

What a bloody minefield! Thanks Edgar, Like I said I think the reference to "Q" Harnesses is a generic term, I would expect there to be different p/n's depending on mounting variations - this is consistent with British military aircraft Thanks for the steer on the book, I'll try and look it up. Regards Wez

Oh! YES PLEASE! I know I'm shouting but I want to be heard! Why the accountants at Airfix never thought a DECENT 1/72 scale Lightning, Canberra, Gannet, Scimitar, Meteor or Venom would never sell defies belief That people wouldn't want it in 48th - duh! It's a no brainer (which is precisely what the accountants were). Hopefully the new management has more sense!!!!!!!!!!! How more emphatically can I put it! Oh yeah whilst we're at it a new Gnat T.1 and Hunter T.7 in both scales! I thank you! Wez

Canopy? Wez

FM do (or did) one, I've got it in the loft along with my Esci F1 - intend to do an F1CT using the Zots decals. I could have a look tomorrow and let you know what it contains. Neomega do a cockpit. Regards Wez

Just what I was going to say - this is a replaceable item, one day it could be black and then the next day, et voila! The fixing pixies have been in and its grey! Different probe entirely but who's to say that never happened (cue the flood of responses from ex 11 Sqn Frightning Groundcrew to say it didn't) Personally, I'd paint it black just to add a bit of relief to all of that grey but the choice is yours! Good luck, I'd love to see the finished article! Regards Wez

Edgar, Thanks for this, although I believe "Q" Harness to be a slang name for what I've always understood to have been (originally), the Irvine Quick Release Harness - maybe that too isn't its proper name (after all you ask anybody who's worked on a RAF wokka to point to the "bogseat" they'll be able to do so, ask them to point out the "aft pylon, lower leading edge fairing" - its official name, many of them might be stuck)! I don't see why the Spitfire should have got the things before anybody else - don't forget there were thousands of them and to replace the belt would have been a mod and therefore done on an ad-hoc basis (and don't forget that modification would have to be promulgated before new-build aircraft got it). The same applies to the Mustang whereas the Tempest, Corsair and Hellcat for instance would have been "new types" and could potentially therefore, be specified with a new harness from the start (I'm playing devil's advocate here because I believe this whole area to be a bit of a minefield). Of course the supply system will always throw a wobbler 'cos the specified items will never be in stock or will be held back because "someone else might want them" !!! Another thing to take into consideration is the belts themselves aren't a permanent fixture and have a servicing cycle of their own and would be replaced at some point - but what with? Also, didn't these aircraft go through some sort of acceptance programme either through an industry partner (like Blackburn's) or an MU? They weren't delivered straight from Grumman to the flying units were they? What was done as part of they're acceptance? The more I think about it the more I'm coming to the conclusion that I could build it with either the original US seat belt, a Sutton or an Irvine type harness and wait for the evidence to prove me wrong. Regarding radios I'd agree the European based ones had different radios fitted because of the removal of the aerial wire but I suspect that Alan's description of the similarity between the TR1143 and the SCR 522 is the clue here - so likewise, I think I could get away with leaving the kit radio in there and again wait to be proved wrong. Thanks for your help all - after that I need a beer! Landlord! A pint of tanglefoot please! Regards Wez

Thanks Alan, I suspected that about the radios however why the Sutton Harness? Wasn't that being actively replaced by the quick release "Q" Type from about 1943 onwards? Regards Wez

Just picked up the Eduard FAA Hellcat from the postie depot on my way to work - first thoughts LUVVERLY! Box full of lots of shiney-shiney However, I think Eduard may have dropped a clanger with the seat belts only I'm not sure Did the RN's Hellcats have British "Q" type harnesses fitted or did they retain the American ones as per the PE in the kit, likewise, did the radios get replaced with Brit ones? Now I know there are those of you out there who will say "well of course they did" but it doesn't always happen that way - I worked for 20 years on an American built aircraft in RAF service and it retained American seat belts but then wartime is different, there were far greater numbers involved and logistically it makes sense until of course you start thinking about operations with the Yanks in the Far East where a bit of commonaility may have been wise. Your thoughts please? Regards Wez

Dunno what's in the kit but you'll need a stanard "My Little Pony" sqn badge - that'll be the hardest part - the codes etc are standard sizes, should be able to source those from Modeldecal or similar. Thing to watch is the blades - right profile for a composite blade but the chord of a metal blade (much narrower), as it stands the blades are neither fish nor foul! See the recent thread in the resources section, it might help. Regards Wez

Thanks for that Dave, been meaning to get that book for ages, guess I'll have to pull my finger out! Regards Wez

The Pilot's Notes for the type plainly show it as black! The question I have is what colour was the head rest on the ejection seat - mid grey as the normally reliable Dick Ward/Modeldecal would have it or red as per many pic's of US sabres show (I've yet to see a colour picture of a RAF Sabre which shows this detail). Regards Wez

Have to ask the question - how were most Gannets seen on t' ground flaps up or down - if it was up and the kit allows it fine, if it was down and the kit allows it fine but if you want them down and the kit only provides them in the up position which is or isn't consistent with how the aircraft were on the ground is it really a problem? Just asking a'cos we've waited for years for a decent Gannet and now were suffering from an embarresment of riches - is it a good thing or bad thing? Wez - playing devil's advocate Me? I'm just glad to see 'em