AntPhillips

I've just turned 59, so theoretically have 8 more years until official retirement, but I have a cunning plan to jump early maybe in 3 years time, we have a few financial commitments that finish in 2026, once we clear those, I'll give up the day job (that involves a 45 mile, over an hour commute) and look for something part time closer to home, to tide me over until official retirement. We're also thinking that at that stage we can go down to one car, although by that time Meg will be approaching 17, so she might inherit mum or dad's jalopy as her first motor 🚗

That is a stunning build of an older kit, having a half built Mk.II on the shelf of doom, I can appreciate just how much extra work you've put in to achieve this result 👍

Beautiful build so far, the Accurate Miniatures Grumman F3F are amongst my favourite kits, having built both over the years (only for them to get destroyed during a house move), seeing yours come to life, I feel the need to acquire one of each just for reminiscence sake.

What a stunner, looks fantastic.

A looks like a 1000lb bomb B I'm not sure about C looks like it is a CBLS 100 Practice Bomb carrier D could be a practice Rocket Pod, theres something about its look that says Swedish (Saab maybe)? There's a few ex-armourers around the site I'm sure they'll be along shortly.

Great work so far, this kit is certainly proving popular at the moment, and does seem to be one of Airfix's best in terms of detail and fit of parts. Looking forward to seeing more as your build progresses 👍

Lovely build, certainly looks purposeful, love the weathering too 👍

Love the Golden Yellow over Blue-Grey scheme, it's coming along nicely.

That looks great, lovely finish. I'm sure this is one of Trumpeter's better efforts, how was the build?

That "Diamondbacks" scheme is a beaut, I could be crumbling too 😉

Lovely build, and great choice of markings, in fact I wish someone would do these markings in 1/48 scale, I know 3 Guys Decals did a set about 20 years ago but its long OOP and rarely turns up on auction sites.

Fabulous built of a classic aircraft, love the unusual scheme too, but the standout feature for me is the clarity and sharpness of the clear parts.

Stunning build, you've produced a worthy replica of an iconic car 👍🙏

Fabulous build, I had one of these kits at one time, but the sheer size of it was intimidating, so much so that I sold it on. The amount of hours you've put into it have paid off, it's a stunner 👍

in an afternoon tea

It hasn't been released as yet, its set to be a Summer release.

,do they have one? 😉

with added pineapple fritters

with a sledge hammer

Me & Gill got married the day before her birthday, it's a strategy that works I tell you, I've yet to forget one (14 years this year)

I've also read that we've now commited to the full buy of 138 a/c, but I'm not sure where I read it, I also seem to remember that it is 138 a/c over the course of the projected life of the project, so that smacks of a protracted program with multiple small batches, although apparently the MOD has stated that a/c supplied from early lots will be upgraded to the later lot standard, which should include Meteor & Spear 3 missile compatability (although thats still a few years away yet).

Don't forget the venerable Airfix kit too, generally regarded as at least a match for the Tamiya kit.

They can carry a GAU-12 Equalizer 25mm Gatling type cannon, the complete system is mounted in both pods, one pod has the gun system, the other pod has the ammo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-12_Equalizer

Unfortunately mine all got lost/ damaged during a series of house moves. Not long after I made the step up to 1/48, it's taken many years but finally the mainstream manufacturers have caught up with my wants list in 1/48 😉

I'm following, I have plans for at least one 1/48 COD Gannet in my future, and it may multiply from there. Many years ago I did a couple of 1/72 Gannets, a COD version using the venerable Frog kit with scratch built cockpits and using Modeldecal markings for Ark Royals COD.4 and an AEW version using an Aeroclub mixed media conversion kit comprising vacform fuselage with white metal additional parts, decals for HMS Eagle came from a ModelArt decal.