Ratch

No niches here either. i get bored doing the same thing over and over, so I build all genres though I do try to build in the prominent scales. This probably makes me a Jack of all trades and Master of none.

I thought that too

I paid £26 for the One Step For Mankind Lunar Module Set in the last Airfix sale. Yes they paid OTT, but I thought the Auctioneer's valuation was a bit stingey. You'd expect each kit to go for at least a tenner on the bay.

1/600 is the traditional scale for ships. 1/700 is the odd scale.

I was told that the dimensions in 1/350 made the tooling cost prohibitive - 1/600 would be better

On Hannants Limited Availability list this week - get one quick!

@sniperUK

I'm a bit confused by the payloads offered. What do they consist of? Are both payloads equally valid for al three marking options, or are they specific?

It would be good to know the scale - to appreciate the work.

The Red Earl - The Fifth Earl Spencer Vol 1

Nice scheme

There will be, in due course Thanks for the feedback guys

Although I built one of these many, many years ago in my youth, this subject is outside my normal sphere of interest or knowledge. That said, who cannot love the lines of the Blackbird. I remember a TV programme many years ago about this aircraft, how the crew wore space suits and how fuel leaked wherever it stood, but it was all worth it for the performance. There really isn't much to this kit. Not that many parts, goes together without issue, and it looks the part to me. Painted with Vallejo, Humbrol, Revell, and Hataka acrylics.

https://www.facebook.com/1500263240255556/posts/mission-attack-on-hannover-germanydate-1415th-july-1941unit-no7-squadron-raf-typ/2415570498724821/ https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/pictures-take-a-look-back-at-six-historic-northampton-pubs-and-the-fascinating-history-behind-them-including-one-a-war-plane-crashed-into-it-3816743

Yes, I have one photo in my copy of "Aviation in Northamptonshire" by Michael L. Gibson. I found more pictures on line when searching for the aircraft.

Thanks very much guys. The backstory certainly inspired my build, and the old kit is still an enjoyable build

I'm the same Richard. Because my dad (and granddad) worked for Mettoy, it may have been an Aurora kit (Mettoy distributed them under licence). I vaguely remember building an Fw190 in black plastic, a Gannet (must have been Frog) and the Comet airliner by Airfix. Dad and uncle Pete would help with these builds, but which was first... I also recall the jars of Airfix paint that took an eternity to dry - it seemed like an eternity when you was waiting to play with your new toy.

July 14th / 15th, 1941. No. 7 Squadron at R.A.F. Oakington, Cambridgeshire six crews were briefed to bomb Hannover. Their bomb load was to be 30 x 1,000 lb and 33 x 500 lb H.E. and 42 x 250 lb incendiaries. After take-off they were to rendezvous with the main force of 67 Wellingtons of No.3 Group plus 33 Hampdens and 30 Halifaxes of No.4 Group. Of the six Stirlings only one was able to make it back to Oakington. Hannover was heavily defended, and several aircraft were damaged by flak. Their return journey became a nightmare, storms and strong headwinds causing the aircraft to use more fuel than they had anticipated. The Stirlings could not climb above the weather. An Air Ministry ruling that the Stirling's wing span must not exceed 100 ft (so that they could fit into existing hangars) resulted in the aircraft struggling to exceed 16,000 ft. F/Sgt. B.K. Madgwick was coaxing Stirling Mk 1 N6033 MG-Z along with flak damage, navigation instruments u/s, wireless u/s and the aircraft icing up. Looking for Oakington seemed impossible but, in fact, they had actually flown right over the airfield and were now heading towards Northampton. With the wireless u/s, Oakington were unable to contact them and with fuel gauges reading zero, things were looking serious. The flight engineer, Sgt W.H. Robinson had been juggling the balance cocks trying to make use of the small amounts of fuel that remained in the tanks. The pilot, F/Sgt. Madgwick had trimmed the aircraft to fly "hands off", the early autopilots being unreliable. When the fuel pressure lights started to glow red, he checked as well as he could that they were clear of any towns and gave the order to bale out. Unknown to them they were approximately east of Northampton somewhere near Billing and Moulton. Tragically, when Madgwick baled out, he somehow slipped out of his harness. He may have loosened the straps to become more comfortable when sitting at the controls and omitted to readjust them prior to jumping. He fell to his death, coming down in Kingsthorpe recreation ground. His parachute was found one and a half miles away. While descending, Robinson saw the aircraft bank to the left then straighten up but getting lower all the time. He finally lost sight of it as it merged with the dark background, then a few seconds later came a flash as the aircraft crashed and to his horror, he saw it had come down in the town. Robinson may have recognised Northampton as he did come from the area. It is possible that the port outer engine cut because of fuel starvation. That would cause the port wing to drop slightly causing a yaw to the left and if the starboard engine cut out seconds later that would straighten it up but on only two engines would be losing height rapidly. The Stirling came in over St. James' End, in line with Gold Street, losing height until it hit Burtons tailors and the Grand Hotel on the opposite side of the road. The port wing demolished some buildings in College Street, behind Burtons, which now houses a fish and chip shop. The rest of the aircraft, or what was left of it, finally came to rest alongside All Saints' Church in Mercer's Row. Amongst the wreckage lay two unexploded 500 lb. bombs These may not have dropped for two reasons, either a mechanical fault in the bomb release gear or, the release gear was iced up. The two bombs were removed by an R.A.F. bomb disposal team. Sgt. W.H. Robinson came down in Abington Park and was picked up by a police car, they wanted to take him to hospital, but Robinson assured them that he was O.K. and requested the police take him to the crash site. He was very worried about the damage they might have caused. Upon arriving at the crash scene, he was shocked to see bodies strewn around Gold Street but, thankfully, they turned out to be tailors' dummies from Burtons. In fact, apart from the pilot there was only one person injured. Ernest Gross was a master carpenter and a volunteer fire watcher had been on duty that night fire watching from the roof of Cleaver's building in Wood St (now demolished as part of Grosvenor Centre site). He was cycling home along George Row when he saw the Stirling coming towards him up Gold Street. He tried to get to Bridge Street but was hit before he could get there. He suffered a broken leg and fractured skull and was off work for 6 months. It was fortunate that the crash happened at 0415 when there was hardly anyone about. It is recorded in No.7 Squadron O.R.B. (Operational Record Book) that the Chief Constable of Northampton, John Williamson, phoned Oakington saying "I can't have this!"

I returned to step 12 to secure the canopy, bomb aimer’s window, and astrodome with GS-Hypo Cement. The propeller blade that was broken off before I started on this build was re-attached, and the landing/taxying lamp lens was cemented. To finish I added the aerial wire and painted the navigation lights.

Almost done with the Stirling. The airframe was sprayed with Klear. I masked up again, then sprayed the matt finish.

On display at Telford

Thanks @kapam I find painting them relaxing and therapeutic

Napoleon felt his cuirassiers were of greater value than any other type of cavalry. Their value was as a heavy blow to shatter a wavering enemy, making them an elite amongst cavalry although in Napoleon’s army they were never admitted into the Guard. It should be borne in mind that most regiments were in a constant state of chronic disrepair, frequently reported by officers. Cartridge pouches were often missing. The regiment nominally consisted of four squadrons each of two companies, each company having 100 men. Increased to five squadrons from March 1807 and back to four squadrons from 18 January 1810. Blue coats with long tails until 1804, then short-tailed coatee. Facings of scarlet collar, cuffs, cuff flaps, lapels and turnbacks for 8th regiment. Pewter buttons, silver for officers. Turnbacks had blue grenades. Shoulder straps were blue, piped in the facing colour, replaced by red epaulettes. The helmet was polished steel with brass comb, black mane, black cowhide turban, black visor edged with brass. Red plume on the right, brass chin scales. Senior officers had white plumes. Polished steel cuirass, leather straps, brass scales. Red lining edged white for all regiments. White waistcoat. Buff breeches were replaced by overalls on campaign varying from light grey to brown/grey. Officers wore dark blue linen breeches. Small black cartridge box on white belt over the cuirass. Long black boots with bronzed steel spurs. White gauntlet gloves, black cravat, white (mixed with blue) cloak (officers’ cape was dark blue), blue housings laced white. Cuirassiers were mounted on blacks or dark bays. Holster covers were rare and often replaced with a half-shabraque of white sheepskin (black for officers) edged red, white grenades on the housings and regimental number on the valise. Cuirassier Trumpeters wore the green imperial livery coatee from 1812. Collar, cuffs and turnbacks were in the facing colour, imperial livery lace. They did not wear the cuirass and were mounted on whites or greys. This is a mix of the three brands forming 8e Régiment de Cuirassiers. A Call To Arms supply three figures, Airfix furnish a further seven, and four from Zvezda.

Everything was allowed to fully dry and set before a diluted Sepia wash was brushed over the figures. I then smeared PVA over the bases, placed the horses on them, and then scatters were sprinkled over the bases. Again, they were set aside to dry completely. They were completed with a coat of matt varnish.

Where possible I used the Stirling kit decals, though I had to make up the serial N6033 from Ventura 8” serials. The aircraft letter Z was more difficult, as I didn’t have any the correct size or colour. I did have an Almarks set of Sky Type “S” with a plain page I used to cut strips to construct the letter. The markings on the tractor were leftovers from an Airfix R.A.F. Refuelling Set.