Ngantek

My apologies, I seem to have missed this post. Thanks very much for the information. It having had the J marking, and later does add more weight to the N1370 argument to me, so that's very helpful. Also lots of potential leads to follow. I'm always amazed what a plethora of information people are able to find about this stuff! Glad I'm not the only one! 'Like' is perhaps strong in my case, 'incapable of not' might be more accurate. Thanks, I too stumbled on this book pretty quickly, but hadn't quite got round to ordering it. As a scientist who works with a lot of other scientists, this sounds absolutely bang on to me! Thanks, I'd seen the late '39 reference in numerous places and the single one to J.DY. I'd strongly suspect then, that this is the source of those references. I guess, given the dates on the form78 and info on L1370's association with Special duty flight/ TFU, there are two options: Either L1370 is the aircraft and the recollection of installation date is off (which doesn't necessarily mean the design of the aerial date is off), or there was an earlier Whitley, also of 102 squadron, that was perhaps used as an earlier test installation. I suppose the third possibility is that the photo of the aircraft is the later Whitely (very likely L1370), but doesn't match the caption of this possible 'earlier' aircraft. So do I! thanks very much for posting, that's a great help! Andy

Magnificent work! I think it looks even better in raw materials than gloss blue. Lovely sharp work on the control surfaces too! The texture you've achieved on the wood grain and metals is really amazing. Is it entirely oil paints on top of uniform base panel colours?

Fantastic info, thank you so much. The form78 resource is wonderful! I've been having a scroll through and noticed this one, which twigged my interest: So my suspicion was that got converted sometime Feb '40 or after. The other source said after testing, it went to 32MU on 17/08/40, which corresponds to allotment to AMDP (I believe means Air Member for Development & Production? I guess meaning it's used to aid further development of 'stuff'), Spec Duty Flt on the 12/7/40. The RAE bit is also interesting, as is this nondescript 'spec duty flight'. It is of course also ex 102 squadron. Perhaps someone more familiar with form78s can shed more light on all these scribblings? A further google search show N1370 turned up at Christchurch at just the right time. And what do we have: It had a forced landing north of the field on 04/07/40. This seems quite compelling to me. Having scrolled through a lot of form78s, all are rather banal in comparison to this one. Also here is a list of aircraft owned by TFU, including N1370, P4949 (whose form78 doesn't seem to be on the site, but is listed as the Mk VII prototype here, which makes sense given the nature of the V-to VII upgrade). So I think this sounds pretty good evidence of N1370 being the aircraft in question? Thanks very much again for this info! Andy

Thanks very much, your site is a great trove of information! I'll be referring back. The info from Alfred Price tallies with what I've found/suspected. The conversion seems to have taken of the order of two months. The specific date of the delivery of the aircraft to St. Athan suggests the source is more than just mere conjecture, so summer '40 sounds about right. Again, without having seen it explicitly stated, the timing made it probable that ASV mk1 was used, so thanks again for that, very helpful! Andy

Bit of a random one here. I'm try to track down any details on a Whitley that was pinched by the Radar Research group of the Air Ministry to be used as a testbed for the sideways-looking 1.5m wavelength long range air to surface vessel radar installation (for Uboat detection). From what I have found this appears to have been done in late 1939 or perhaps (I suspect more likely) in February 1940. The only possible identifier I've found is from this source, which suggests the aircraft had code J-DY / DY-J which, I guess making it ex- 102 squadron, and could be a Mk III or V. An aircraft of those markings landed in Belgium on 8th Sept '39 after a leaflet drop sortie and was eventually lost to bombing; I didn't see any other losses from that squadron until commencement of bombing operations in April '40, which may suggest the 'next' DY-J was the aircraft ultimately used. I've got very little other information other than after testing, the aircraft ended up at St. Athan on 17th August 1940, where 32 MU and RAE installed similar radar to more Whitleys. (source Airborne Maritime Surveillance Radar, Volume 1: Volume 1, British ASV Radars in WWII 1939-1945 (IOP Concise Physics)) which one can currently read the relevant parts online, amazon 'look inside' for example). Pretty random one there, I don't expect any results, but thought I'd ask. Also don't know whether it was likely to have retained its camouflage and markings during the testing period; and if not what would have replaced them. Bonus question for 10, I'm unclear which was the first coastal command squadron to use this radar, possibly 502? Thanks for any help! Andy

Hooray the inlines! Hopefully that'll save my eternal search for a Fujimi.

Great work on these, they look really nice. The eternal panel line battleground continues; I will say that in person, I thought they looked just a tad in your face, but nonetheless lovely looking models. I'd rather have them than not to be honest, I think it's easier to go the other way if one wants to remove them, but then that might just be because my scribing is horrific. This I can readily believe; really if one wants them, there's no perfect solution, since the physical realities of surface tension and so on require a certain minimum size as has been said. Models always look like models, especially at this scale, so it's really is a question of what looks better to the eye of the beholder; excessively highlighted panels or a toylike uniformity. This is great to hear. I've been really impressed by Sweet and Platz kits (Eduard are Platz reprints, no?) . Frankly I'd have grabbed this kit if it were a subject of more interest to me, so I do hope it works out for Beacon. Great work so far, I'm kinda astonished how flawless that paint is, hand brushed and at this scale. Andy

A real shame to see you go Tony. I don't know the circumstances, and I do hope everything is okay with you and yours. Thanks very much for all your work on this GB. Your enthusiasm is infectious, and that combined with the hard work you've put in to keep it all ticking along so smoothly is I suspect the main reason it has become so successful and well subscribed. Very happy to see you back if circumstances allow you to return. Best of luck with all those Spits! Andy

Lovely rendition of that great photo. Lovely light weathering and attention to detail. Just out of curiosity, which tamiyas did you use for the TSS?

It looks really good Alistair. Great save on the decal, I will store that one for future reference. I never get those under wing serials right!

Great work on the hook, such a seamless join with all that fabric detail looks really tricky. The Seafire is looking cracking, that shading and the soft edge is wonderful. Andy

What a recovery, great work! I really like the contrast between the 76s and the underside looks really fantastic. Ahh yes I know this one all too well!

Ahh cool I've always wanted to see one of these built... and finished already! Nice work, the quality of the finish is really nice. How did it all go together? No end of quirky Planet kits that I've thought about getting but ultimately never did.

Nice work on the cockpit. Those pedals are really nicely done. Glad to see another IBG dora in this GB! Mine's been very fiddly so far, but overall really fun; I hope you enjoy yours too. Andy

Shiny! Looks very nice A little pickup, looks like you're planning to pose the flaps down? Also that you've painted the flaps in situ with the gloss white; those inboard flap pieces though; are they not the flap 'topside' (I guess parts 13C, 14C, 68C, 69C?) which are stuck to the reverse side of the flaps? Or perhaps you've used the 'unused' topsides (64-67) that are there for the flaps retracted option to mask off the flap areas? Whichever, I think the flap topsides should be EDSG if you haven't already. (actually, looking at the gubbins to the side, I suspect the latter is exactly what you've done! my bad!) Andy