heloman1

I gave up on Neomega after asking for replacement parts for those which were missing. When I approached the guy at Telford he all but denyed any knowlege of my letter. His loss, I now build my own parts. Colin

When I put my name down for this GB I was putting forward my partly started very old Frog Wessex kit. I've had a look at it over the past week and I may be over the 25% started rule. I'll post my pics of where the kit/model is so far and ask you all to be the judge as to whether I can carry on or make another choice. Colin

A real gem there Tony and a great finish. I too thoroughly enjoyed building the Vampire kit, despite what was said proir to it's release. The pitot was also a problem and I replaced mine with Albion Alloys fine tube and wire. Thanks for sharing the pics. Colin

Congratulations Steve, French sows ear into a very nice purse. It does look the part and well done for tackling such a kit. Colin

Thanks for the review, it certainly looks like a good kit from the pics, and another purchase for the FAA collection. Colin

There are some tasty models above, well done everyone. Here is my three peneth. First up and the oldest of the three is the Fulimi SHAR ! 899 NAs post Falklands. Second and built over Christmas 2010 is the new Airfix GR7 in 801 NAS Markings for the Joint Harrier force. Great kit to build. Lastly the Airfix SHAR2 800 NAS. The kit was built on the back of the GR7 which was a cracker but not so the SHAR. One left to build, the prototpe Harrier which did some deck trails aboard the Bulwark in '66, I'll use the original Airfix kit for that build. Colin

If the parts don't fit and are crap, then send them back and ask for a refund. They clearly don't do the job as intended, ie. they are not fit for purpose. Isn't that what the trade descriptiond act in the UK states? I produce conversion parts and I make sure every part does as it is intended, otherwise why would I bother? That is unless I wasn't interested in the end product and just wanted to make a profit. But see I'm a modeller, I'm interested in my customers and hopefuly that's why I've been around a few years. It states on my instruction sheet, "if you were happy with the product tell a friend, if not tell me". How much more honest could I be. If Pavla or who ever produce crap then tell them, isn't that your right? You clearly are unhappy, so deal with it at the producer level but also involve the retailer in your compaint. Otherwise it will just perpetuate. Colin

Just had a look around the web and found Steampunk Tendencies which is worth a visit of some inspiration. Colin

Have you thought of contacting Tamiya direct? There is a parts order form on the reverse of the instruction sheet, where you quote the part/item number. Tell them of your plight, they may just be able to help.

Steam Punk certainly has come of age, especially after the Telford winner last year. Did you see the howls aof derision on IPMS UK Forum, with comments like "it's not real modelleing". I looked at the build thread on Fictenfoo.net under the forums and the builder certainly posesses some serious skills, not to mention lots of imagination. For those non believers just google monocycle motorbikes. Don't know how soon you would get a GB date, the calendar is full and with the proposed reduced number of GB's, you could be waitng a coule of years! Colin

You could for the ultmate model cross kit the Dragon kit with a Revell kit, pricey but maybe not as much as buying the C Scale set and having to get that to a stage where it looks reasonable. Colin

Congratualtions Tom, a truely inspirational build, you're a credt to the hobby. Thanks for sharing your pics and keeping me entertained over the many weeks of the build. Good luck with your next project. Colin

Congratulations Oz, your Merlin looks the biz. Did you have any problems with the glazing? Both my kits have flow makes through all the parts, usable but not good. Colin

Re the L Decals, nice sheet, there should be with the Xtradecals sheet, something to tempt everyone to at least a couple of Wessi. Do we have a stockist? Colin

Hi DAve. Regarding the two Marks and their exhausts, the HAS1's had double curvature slightly downturned exhausts whist the HAS3 had the straight upwardly inclined ones. See the pic above posted by Bootneck for the HAS3. Colin

Already been answered Stu, XTRADECALS sheet X48111 has marking for Antrims HAS 3 but I'm sure there wil be more in the pipeline. Colin

Hi Guys, one of the Australian IPMS branches has a good walkround on the one in the museum at Brisbane (?). Otherwise a good old Google will bring up some photos. Italeri may have shyed away from the open nose with the air start bottles, however we may be lucky. We need to see some sprue shots and check out he parts. Google doesn't throw up too much but there are pics of the exhibit at the museum at Nowra. Colin

That all depends on how Italeri have handlesd the nose. If the 'parrots beak' is mounded insitue and the intake is not detailed then a little difficult. I'm hoping it wil be a separate piece and then a HAS 1 would also be possible. Colin

One way to ensure longevity of your moulds it to take care of them, especially if you only want to cast a few parts and then come back on a later occasion and cast more. Don't allow the resin to stand in the mould for a prolonged time (longer than the set up time), always wash your moulds in hot soapy water once the casting session is completed. Then dry and store your moulds (an airduster works well) on a rack in a warm cabinet (a box with a 40watt globe/lamp inside) with any openings facing downwards. The latter allows any volutiles in the rubber from the resin to escape. Vacuum of 4+ bar should be sufficient to de-gas the rubber. I've heard of a venturi device which attaches to a garden hose and pulls an adequate vacuum, which might be the cheapest alternative but is a waste of water! For those who cannot afford a vacuum pump the old method of slowly trickling the rubber over a flat piece of palstic or Perspex held at an angle in the mouldbox works well and the potlife of the rubber will allow you plenty of time to pore the mix. To extend the pot life of the resin, keep it at a cool temperature in a fridge of on a concrete floor. The resin being exothermic generates it's own heat, so the colder the resin the langer the pot life. Colin

Fantastic news, now you can all burn your old and all but useless Revell kits!!!!!! Strict;y tongue in cheeck, I do see a few shortcomings with the box top illustration and I do hope they are comfined just to that? I also hope Bruces (above) wishes are answered, otherwise it's RAF Blue Grey and Yellow. Colin

Down here in South Africa, we've just had issue No.1 released at R29.90, the equivelent of 2.13 UK Pounds. For a fifteen/sixteen page 'magazine' and a free Sea King helicopter, I have to say I'm dissapointed! The magazine is at best a booklet, there are a coupleof mistakes and the model is poorly finished. I had to sort throught the shelf to find an undamaged one. I posted my discontent on the their Facebook page and last evening recieved a reply from Amercorp to the effect hat they thougth a free magazine with a die-cast model was good value. Their blurb that came in the mag states free model with the magazine!!!! The next issue will be R49.90 (3 Pounds 56) from there on to the end R89.90 (6.42 UK Pounds) multiply that by 78 issues (2 at a lower cover price) equates to R6942.00 enough for an air ticket to the UK or even a sunny holiday destination. Having looked at the pics of some of the models, I have to say I don't see the value in them, not to mention the mistakes in the Sea King issue. As an aside,I see Key Publishing is behind this partwork! I subscribe to AFM which is a top rate mag, which makes me even more disspointed. Colin

More updates added above. Colin

Bloody lovely mate. Well done Smudge another little cracker. Conratulations is looks a gem. Colin

I see there are couple of the usual (helo) suspects missing from the list of willing victims, Lynx7, The Wu, Grissly and OzH. Come on guys if you three fall in then we have a round 40, which should make for a very impressive Gallery. no pressure hey! Colin

Many thanks guys, two pics up in the Gallery. Colin