Karearea

Thanks Dave, spot on- we’re getting help to write the chapters but know we’ll get there eventually. At the moment we’re functioning like a Manchester, but I’m confident we will become a Lancaster together 😄

This is an objective truth- wholeheartedly agree. I don’t dislike any Harrier, but I do think the laser rangefinder on the GR3 nose was an aesthetic setback. Although like the Jaguar chisel, it’s become such an iconic feature it looks ‘right’. Perhaps heretical around these parts, but I have sympathy for this opinion. As a silhouette in plan view I still love the Vulcan, but wish the fuselage pod was just a little more svelte. Those early design proposals that were more of a flying delta appeal a lot. Further marks off if the terrain following radar thimble is present on the nose. The Vulcan was Mum’s favourite aircraft so I’ll always be fond of it regardless! Oh, and I always disliked the F-5 too. Not enough flowing compound curvature. Nose too long, wings too small, tailpipes too puny. T-38 I still like for some reason. Always preferred the Coronado to the 707 or DC-8…

Thanks for all the thoughtful messages fellas, and to @marvinneko in particular for checking in recently. Things have been tentatively improving. We’ve been together for close to 19 years and always communicated pretty well, but over time have become sort of… misaligned. Couples therapy really has helped, particularly to understand a cycle of misunderstanding and subsequent overreaction. The main thing is we both really want to do everything we can to get back on track. — It’s a bit startling to see the last update here was in early April, in any case I’ll get back into the Mosquito once I can set the airbrush up. Most likely after the GB has finished unfortunately. I’ve been further stymied by my MacBook carking it, and will need to wait a couple of weeks for a replacement. Thankfully I’ve learnt to be pretty diligent with backups, so the mask files are safe.

Thanks for checking in, Charlie. Sincerely appreciated. All is not well on the home front at the moment, my wife and I are going through a difficult patch. I’m optimistic we’ll work things out but I haven’t really felt like making models for the last couple of weeks. Have every intention of finishing the Mossie once I’m back on board.

That looks… quite nice to me. I’d be happy taking a punt based on those photos, for a reasonable price. A little analogue in surface detail, but the real article isn’t exactly finished like a Cirrus.

Thanks guys. It’s not my favourite task either- I’ve developed a degree of confidence rescribing across a centreline with Tamiya photo etched saws. On the other hand, scribing onto bare plastic I dislike as it really does feel like a chore, and the lines never look as neat as I’ve visualised. The above was the traditional Dymo tape and scriber approach, but I ended up going through a few rounds of Vallejo putty and priming to dull the effect slightly. Happy enough now, but I’ve lost my appetite for giving the fuselage the same treatment… I might reconsider adding a few more lines once the airframe is built up. Super detailing this one would feel a bit like overcapitalising time on the kit- I’d rather pick up the Valom / AZ tooling, or hope that ICM issue a 1/72 Hampden after their upcoming 1/48 kit. Still lot of interesting opportunities here to add real value to the final result nonetheless.

Over a lunchtime coffee, in a very on-theme cup that arrived last week, I finished some surface improvements on the upper wings. I had wanted to leave some rivets- the remaining detail is quite nice and subtle now, but looks interesting alongside the newly scribed lines. I would call it ‘impressionistic’. I don’t think I’ll do much more rescribing, instead concentrating on knocking back the fuselage rivets slightly. Of all the vintage kits I’ve built, this is by far the most vintage. The original tool is only a few years older than that of the F-80C I’ve also built, but far cruder. The Shooting Star would have seemed like a real leap in refinement!

Efficient way to scoop up and fillet some snapper on the way home though!

As I understand it, the RNZAF also operated some FB.5s delivered with the extended fillet. Useful thread here, which confirms NZ5755 is an FB.9, although from an FB.5?

Here's some inspiration- precedes your subject slightly but still a great film.

Looking marvellous. Really like the chipping in the footwell from paint->primer->metal. It's a pretty special kit- only pointer I can give is test fit the wing carefully. You might prefer to attach the upper halves to the fuselage first.

No. 489 Sqn. was initially allocated Beauforts, but those were required in the Mediterranean. The Hampdens were the replacement! They seem to have acquitted themselves reasonably well, by late 1943 489 Sqn. had sunk 36,000 tons of shipping before returning to Leuchars to convert to Beaufighters.

Thank you Chris- that’s an excellent photo, very useful to see the cupola from that angle.

Great choice! Have an Academy Super Hornet and the Syhart set to build the same aircraft in 1/72 some time. It’s a neat scheme, it would be quite amusing to sneak it onto a shelf full of VFA-103 types. Definitely some inspiration there…

Hoy, Oi rusunt thut!