Dave Swindell

No worries, I'd forgotten about the incorrect codes location.

Tony's build is here, loads of useful info for 100 group Fortresses. The Airfix radome is too far forward, and needs moving back as can be seen from the photos in his thread.

Whilst those videos give a good impression of what a modern berthing tug looks like, Stuart is building a Thames lighter tug launched in 1939. They're both tugs, but not much similarity after that. The SA Everard would have been steered by hand, and would almost certainly have required a second person on the bridge to navigate and keep lookout. If the plans show two telegraphs. go with that; there would be a wheel mounted on a telemotor, a binnacle in front of it, and across the rear bulkhead most likely flag locker, bookcase and (folding?) chart table. On the front bulkhead below the windows probably stowage for binoculars, telephone, aldis lamp plus radio & radar (in later years) and a couple of small shelves to keep a brew on. Speaking of which, there'd likely be a kettle, mugs and the makings on top of the bookcase in later years as well. From photo's there doesn't appear to be an external door into the wheelhouse, this would most likely be on the forward bulkhead below the windows and I'd guess centre or slightly to port. Also don't assume big ship = lots of people on the bridge, daylight hours it's most likely just the duty officer on his (or her!) own; sun down to sun up there'll be a watchkeeper up there as well. Berthing it could be just Pilot, Master and Helmsman.

Excellent result there Dave! I've always fancied one of these myself, didn't realise Richard had done any more decals after the 2 Jet2 sets I got from him, that's just cost me a few quid...

Hi Adam, welcome to Britmodeller. I think the best way to get a 777-200ER at the moment is to use the Revell or Zvezda 777-300ER kit as a base, shorten the fuselage and cut of the wingtips. Use replacement Bra.z engines of the correct flavour and new Bra.z wingtips. For 9M-MRO you would need the Trent 800's. Alternatives injection moulded are Minicraft or Eastern Express which can be got as 200 series, but aren't very good kits; or vacform Welsh Models which is better but still not up to the standard of the Revell/Zvezda kit Scalemates gives a list of 777's in 1:144 and Hannants have the Bra.z bits currently in stock

Thanks for your comments guys! @Billn63 , yes, its tiny @Gorby your calculations are indeed correct. If you click on the quick build link at the start of post 1 theres photos with scale reference including the last one with a rule in shot @Buzby061 check the photos again, most of the rigging is there Pete!

I'd agree with that, I had high hopes of the Amodel kit, but being underscale makes a slender aeroplane look downright skinny when compared to other models in the same scale. As cam be seen on the forum, a decent Comet model can be produced, but it does take some work.

Thanks for your support & kind comments, guys! I like it too! That might work, but they're not exactly cheap Yes, I had my optivisor working overtime! Most of the rigging is included in the etch, and is grossly overscale, but then these are more of an impression than an attempt at 100% accuracy (and I'm not going to add the missing bits of rigging either!)

My feelings as well, an opportunity missed. The extended ailerons are shown, but at the expense of the outboard flap section. The Welsh kits are Airfix kits rehashed. The wing has been mastered using the Airfix wing, and whilst it has been extended for the 4, shrinkage in the moulding process has resulted in a span equivalent to 110', not the required 115', and the wing chord is some 1.5mm narrower than the Airfix wing. The pinion tanks look a little anemic when alongside the 2-6 ones as well.

A quick build (1 hour 48 minutes) this afternoon to put something new on the table for a club meeting tomorrow night. The model is an Aerobase kit I picked up whilst in Singapore recently.

This left only the two white metal wheels to clean up and fit, a little flash round the rim needed cleaning off and the holes in the centre opening up slightly so that they could be pushed over the axles and secured by bending over a tag at each end. And there it was, basic airframe completed. Total build time - 1 hour 48 minutes And a shot with a rule up close, it's around 2" long! The etch fret supplies an relief etched name plate, this was sprayed and put to dry whilst dinner was prepared and consumed, and camera battery recharged for RFI pictures

Next up were the engine and propeller, these were both cut from the fret and the propeller blades each given a twist to give them some pitch. The engine and prop are secured with the screw supplied through a hole in the back of the fuselage section. An etchd tool is supplied on the fret to use as a screwdriver but I'd recommend using a jewellers screwdriver for this as (a) it's easier to line up and screw it in, and (b) the tool was a bit too soft to get the screw thread started, it bent before I could get any "bite" on the screw, once started it was fine though. With the prop and engine in place the rear tail assembly could be offered up, one side was slid into place and a tag at each boom end bent over to secure it, then the other side could be located and secured. Time elapsed 1hr 37 minutes

The epoxy had set up nicely by now, so step back to fitting spars, struts and rigging. Only 2 pieces (plus those already assembled) but the potential for disaster here seemed high. Both wings at this point were quite flexible, and gingerly putting the rear part in position over the fuselage and along the wing showed there was quite a bit of jiggle room. All that holds it is 4 etch tags that fold over the lower framework (you can see the 4 tags to secure the upper wing sticking up in the photo below), once the part was in position though, the tags could be bent half way one at a time to ensure the part was held in the right position, then folded right over to secure the join. With the aft frame in position, it was a fairly simple job to repeat the process with the forward frame Then the top wing was offered up into position and secured by folding the tags over a bit at a time again. Gentle pressure between finger and thumb pushed both wings firmly into the slots and the tags were squeezed tight with a pair of needle nosed tweezers. The final assembly is surprisingly rigid. Time elapsed 1hr 15 minutes.

Next up was joining the white metal nacelle to the fuselage centre section. I tried the superglue, but wasn't having much success, so mixed up a dollop of 5 minute epoxy and used that instead. Having trouble getting focus here, but you get the idea... The instructions move on to fitting front and rear spars, interplane struts and rigging at this point, but to let the epoxy cure a bit I jumped over to the top wing, which was much simpler to do than the lower one... And as the unused epoxy was still tacky I carried on with the complete tail section, three parts here, the tail struts in one part folded into a V, the tailplane slots over 4 half etched tags which fold down to secure it, the the fin/rudder hooks over the front of the tailplane and is secured with a tag on the bottom of the rudder post. To give the model a little animation I drooped the elevators and bent the rudder to starboard slightly Time elapsed so far - 50 minutes

I found this little gem in a mainly RC model shop whilst killing time in Singapore before flying home last month. With a club meeting tomorrow evening and Southwell show on Sunday and no new models to put on the table I thought I ought to get my finger out and build something. So 4 oclock this afternoon I sat down at the kitchen table and spread this out:- One sheet of heavy gauge etched brass, 3 white metal castings and a screw is the sum total of the parts, Various tweezers and knives, superglue and a needle in a pin vise to apply it. Steel rule and hold and fold at the ready in case they were needed, cutting mat and a set of instructions, all I though I would need at the ready. Stage 1 is actually a small trial piece to test cutting and folding the brass, neat idea, and really useful to get a feel for how it will handle because the first real piece to cut and fold up is quite complex. The small test piece is at the top under the 5 on the rule, cut out and a couple of ribs twisted into position. Right in the centre is the white metal nacelle body with etch machine gun fitted. Above this is the main piece of brass folding up into the lower wing, fuselage and undercarriage, all secured wit ah couple of half etch tabs folded over in a couple of slots. The wing ribs are then twisted 90 degrees ensuring the slots for the spars are uppermost. Time elapsed so far - 22 minutes