BAC

Hello! The other day I had a call out of the blue from member 'Mark'. During our conversation he mentioned this thread had come up again and that there were some relatives of those who perished in the accident and who found out about this story on here from internet searches. Firstly it's unreal that it's coming up to 10 years since I built this model, to quote Pink Floyd from their song 'Time', ''And one day you find ten years have got behind you''. Secondly I haven't posted on this or any other modelling site for ages for the simple reason I've been too busy with other things over the past three years or so and modelling has taken a back seat. I hope to get back into it soon. Thank you for the recent kind comments. There is more information for those interested on this site; http://www.josephclan.com/tjblog/?p=942 Regards Brian

I can't believe it's 6 years since I did this!

Add Revell Ford Consul to the 1.32ish scale

Thought of two more Revell 1.32? these were out about the same time as the Morris Traveller listed on an earlier post Rover P5 Vauxhall Cresta

I couldn't already see these unless I missed them; Airfix 1.32 Ford Zodiac Vauxhall Victor Morris Marina Ford Capri Jaguar 420 Airfix and or Heller 1.43 Jaguar XJS Range Rover Doyusha 1.24 Ford Capri Mk1 2000GT Monogram 1.24 Ford Capri II Pyro 1.32 Aston Martin International -not sure if this is the AM Le Mans already mentioned Rolls Royce Sedenca Coupe Revell 1.25 Ford Escort XR3 Cheers! B Was there a civilian version of Monty's Humber by Airfix?

It flew over here in North Herts about half hour ago. Last Saturday late afternoon it was flying into Luton with flaps and wheels down then about 15 mins later it did it again. Touch and go's?? Then a few weeks ago I saw it climbing out of Luton as I was going up the M1. So not sure why it seems to like Luton. Unless Luton airport are using it to target and identify drivers who don't use the £2 a go set down area and drop people off on the approach roundabout! It's a bit of one upmanship to the bloke who sits in his van and takes pictures of number plates before he sends you a fine!

Thanks for the comments!

This is a conversion of the Herald to a convertible. My original plan was to not only turn it into a soft top but also change it into a Vitesse to match an actual 1.1 car I have. I couldn't work out how to change the bonnet as the Vitesse is V-shaped and has extra lights. Also, being a 6 cylinder 2.0 litre that would have been a headache too. So for now it's just a 1200cc Herald. Here's what I'd did.... First thing I did was to cut the roof off. Next I cut away the rear deck between the boot lid and the back seat/parcel shelf as the Herald convertible is deeper (and the Herald Coupe deeper still). Then I replaced it with one made of plasticard. I will have to make up some interior trim panels because the convertible rear seat is narrower to allow space to store the folded hood. You can see what I mean on this picture of my Vitesse. I've begun to chop out the excess plastic at the rear of the front valence. I'm detailing the engine, so far I've done, 1. HT leads to plugs (and they are in the right firing order 1-2-4-3). HT to coil lead will follow as coil is bulkhead mounted. Some distributor caps have the leads coming out of the sides -this is one of those. 2. Vacuum advance unit made and fitted under distributor with vac advance hose over tappet cover to carb. 3. Oil pressure switch added to engine block. 4. Carb made from scrap plastic and glued to manifold -not too bothered about detail as air filter will cover this. 5. Studs added to tappet cover. 6. Dipstick fitted to right side of block. the other side of the inner valence ha been cut out. the suspension has been fitted with the addition of an anti roll bar and a steering rack. I'll add the column once the engine is in. Engine is painted and I added a fuel pump and a pipe to carb. I've begun to paint the chassis and added engine splash shields from thin plasticard I have also started making up the bulkhead. I added a linkage to the wiper motor, made a washer bottle from a bit of chopped lolly stick and finished it with a cap and hose going into the bulkhead. I also added the brake and clutch master cylinders and replicated the hydraulic pipes with wire. The heater box is in with holes drilled for the hoses and wire for the motor. The coil is in as well and will be wired up later. Bulkhead components painted Door cards with interior handles are in.... Sunvisors and mirror also fitted. Engine is now in and both radiator hoses have been added as well as the thermostat housing and the feed pipe to the fuel pump. I made up a rad cap and overflow pipe and fixed them to the radiator. The body is almost ready to go on. Dashboard has also been painted and fitted. The body is on and the windscreen fitted. Next I added the heater valve and hoses to heater box. I used thin stretched sprue for the heater and choke cables and a little bit of wire for the Coil HT lead and the battery leads. These latest bits are still to be painted. The rear inner quarter trim has been cut and fitted, I'll paint it later. I've also made up the front wheel arches from plasticard and added a wire bracing bar. I'm quite pleased with the fit... front end has been painted... All of the shiney bits have been added -the strip on the bonnet and the steel waist moldings were made from stretched sprue. I then painted the bumpers white to look like the white rubber ones fitted to Heralds. Now I've weathered it! Cheers!

Graham: Having built in excess of 2000 kits over the years I am more than aware of how locating pegs -or in this case tabs- make a kit fit together. But as you say, reserve your judgement until you get (and build?) your own. Glad it's been a useful pointer to a part that may stick up 0.2mm above the part next to it. Hardly the most noticeable detail for a kit that is no longer than the average raised middle finger.

I haven't seen the discussion about the AZ kit. Just asking, what's the issue with the wing tips? I've been looking at google images of the Tiger and can't tell what the problem is. Just for clarification. The built ones shown on the ATF are the new tool Airfix kit. Regarding the comment about pilots I do think they look slightly undersized. Completely different to the old tool Tiger where the pilots were massive and appeared to sit on rather than in the cockpit!

Are you suggesting that the two Tiger Moths shown on the ATF site are not the new Airfix kits but other kits in the same markings?

The cowl is fitted as per the kit's instructions. There are tabs on the front of the fuselage that fit into slots on the inside of the cowl. There's nothing to misalign. EDIT I just dry fitted the cowl of another kit to it's fuselage and there is a tiny step between the rear of the cowl and the fuselage in front of the windscreen. Don't forget the pictures show the model about 30% bigger than what the kit is so any imperfection either in the kit or it's build is exaggerated.

Another thing, Get yourself some really good quality screwdrivers or screw driver bits if using one of those interchangeable thingies. Most (if not all) of the screws self tap into the holes they go into -that includes the die cast parts as well as the plastic. Nothing is pre tapped so you need good quality tools so they don't slip in the screws and round them off rendering them useless. You do get more screws than you need in case you do bugger them up. Make sure you use plenty of bubble wrap or foam to lay the car upside down on when working underneath towards the end of the build -it weighs a ton!! I left the mirrors until last and peeled the windscreen protective film off at the end too. I used Tamiya style masking tape to keep closed the opening panels while moving the car around to stop them opening and getting damaged. Cheers!

When you build it watch out for two 'Lamborghini' badges that go on dash and engine cover, and the two badges that go on the side panels in front of the rear wheels. They are etched metal and are almost impossible to get off the backing paper without bending them. Also I found that when using the double sided tape for the windows it's easier to cut the tape out of the sheet and then re trim it with a scalpel blade. Then peel off one side of the backing paper, stick to part then peel off second paper then fit part to model. There are plenty of spare bits tape and it is very sticky! Good luck with it. It's a great kit and remember most of what you put together won't be seen so probably not worth spending too much time detail painting.

The strakes ARE optional parts. You also get the option of tailwheel or skid.

That's really nice. BTW it was Virgil Exner that designed the 'Forward Look' Chrysler Corp cars not Harley Earl.

Hi, I used Humbrol H24 for the yellow and the orange was Humbrol H209 Fluorescent Fire Orange Cheers!

Thanks for the comments. This kit is a cinch. The parts fit is very good no no time wasted filling or sanding. The canopies were masked with Maskol then the whole thing sprayed with white primer. Next the hi viz areas were masked out with tape and the airframe sprayed with rattle can silver. This dries quick and then those areas were masked and the yellow and orange areas airbrused and because these areas were white primed they didn't need too many coats to build up the colour. Lastly detail painting was brushed (u/cart, wheel wells etc) then finally decals applied. I did both at the same time which sped things up. Cheers!

The only filler I used was a smidging on the sprue gates and around one tail boom to wing join -but that might have been me not quite getting it in the right place (on the orange/silver one). I've also seen the usual dull/tedious/predictable comments about panel lines and sink marks. This toy is less than eight quid and being less than the cost of a couple of pints in a London pub it's probably been more enjoyable and less headaches too. Personally I don't believe there is the 'perfect' kit anywhere and I completely refuse to pay the CMR/Hasegawa/Anigrand prices for a kit of this size it's just not worth it for a 'broken' toy that you have to fix and paint yourself. Edit @ Rob P -so it's not just me that gets these robots trying to sell me PPI then!

It does need a little noseweight but there is space to put it. Also I admit, the original roundels got ruined by me as I dipped them in water, put them to one side then had to answer the phone and forgot about them. In the end I used generic aftermarket roundels, hence them being a bit see through. Cheers!

This new tool kit is a nice one. Cheap price too!

Thanks for the comments! I swapped this and a Cortina for a couple of unbuilt Matchbox AFV's, I was happy with the deal and it was much cheaper than getting one of E-Bay as they go for upwards of £50. -I've bought real cars for less!! Cheers!

Do you think they will release them as a Starter kit with half a dozen pots of acryllic and a cheap brush?

Recently I did a swap with another member on the ATF for two old incomplete Airfix cars, the Lotus Cortina and the Sunbeam Rapier. The Rapier was going to be first through the 'workshop'. Not a pretty sight! The wheels were missing, all but one spring and top wishbone from the front suspension. It didn't have any bumpers and was also missing a headlight. It was all stripped down and Mr Muscle oven cleaner used to remove paint. For some reason the oven cleaner refused to budge the paint on the seats and dash. The paint was good enough just to cover over with fresh paint. I decided to spray the body with Humbrol rattle can H15 blue and contrast it with a white flash down the sides. I chose tan for the seats and sprayed the floorpan matt black. The front suspension was replaced with the components from Airfix's MGB kit. I began with the missing side with a new spring and top wishbone to get the height right and then did the other side. The dash was repainted 'walnut' style and put back into the tub. The wheels again were from the Airfix MGB, although wrong for this car (it had plain hubcaps) I thought the wires looked cool on the car and with the addition of whitewall tyres. Next problem was the bumpers. The closest in the range were the ones from the Airfix Aston Martin kit. The rear almost went straight on with just a little that needed to be trimmed from the inside edges where they go around the rear corners. The front was harder as it was too wide and the side pieces too long -the Aston has more of a overhang between the front wheels and front panel. I cut the bumper down and carved back the side pieces to fit. The windows were cleaned up with micromesh and the roof sprayed gloss white. Having fitted it all back together I replaced the headlights from the MBG kit and added paper 'eyebrows'. The bumpers were purposly fitted upside down as photos I saw of the real car suggests the overiders were longer below the bumper than above. The brightwork was painted on with Tesors Modelmaster 'Chrome'. I find this to be about the best chrome paint to brush on. It then got a polish up!

44 years and 1 year.