Admiral Puff

Looks like just the thing for (pre-covid) Sydney traffic, especially if it can be fired on the move!

Have to get one - if only to do it with the "Cawarra Wines" advertising panel!

See post 441 ... Looking at him now, I'd say he's one very lucky cat!

Thanks, Tommo - that helps! The cowling shrouds should be straightforward (famous last words ...) and filling a window is not beyond even my minimal talents. I've just got to await the kit's arrival from Poland - I'm assured that it's now in transit. While I'm waiting I might try to dig out some details on Adelaide Airways' Rapide VH-UVT Manana/Memma, which apparently was finished in black (or very dark blue) and silver. The one photo I've got (on p. 62 of Peter Yule's fantastic book on Australian National Airways) has her looking very schmick.

Very cat! Find a space that, if occupied, will cause maximum inconvenience - and take it over! My ginger bloke was a master at it!

Many thanks, John. It doesn't tell me much about what goes on inside, but it certainly gives me a "feel" for the aeroplane, and that's important!

The proof of the pudding will, of course, be in the eating, so I'll reserve comment until the plastic can be fondled, other than to say that it looks like a HUGE step up from the old one!

Thanks to you both. I've got the old Tasman re-issue of the 1:72 Heller kit in the stash, so I do have some guidance via that instruction sheet. Interestingly, it says nothing about differences in window and engine configuration. And Tommo, I have Jennings' sheet, which is what started me on this quest!

Another Moa Miracle in progress! I'll be following because (i) it's fascinating, (ii) I'll learn heaps, and (iii) at some stage I want to have a go at either a Fokker F.XXII or a Fokker F.XXXVI - probably one of the Scottish Airlines ones. You may know of it, but since you haven't mentioned it - Rob Mulder's book The Fokker Fours (European Airlines Rob Mulder, Spikkestad, 2019, ISBN 978-82-93450-0-4) has heaps of useful information about the F.32, including LOTS of detailed pictures. And I think the word for "Uncle Tony" was "spiv"...

I'm looking for details of the interior layout of this aircraft. I've read in various places that it was substantially different from the standard, but haven't been able to learn exactly what the differences were. Can anyone help, please? I have a certain 1:32 scale kit in mind ...

DC-3 cabin windows are a bit of a . Of the 200-odd that came onto the Australian register after WWII, quite a few (I'm not sure how many, but most of the ANA ones did) got the eight window conversion but then some (again, can't give a number) only had six. As is so often the case, you need a picture (or several - the more the merrier ...) to be sure.

Thinks: this might be something to do with one of my now redundant 1:48 Academy Hunters. Scratchbuilding a pair of wings shouldn't be that hard ...

OD/NG, blue and white roundels and fin flashes, "KO" codes ... (Mind you, I may be a bit biased - dad was a radio fitter on 2RAAF in the Mitchell era!)

Fairley Fruitbat GR.XXV ... Seriously, I'd love a good 1:32 Beaufighter, especially with Mk 20 options. The Revell one no longer cuts it as state-of-the-art.

But more useful than a chocolate frying pan?

You mean you were allowed out of Melbourne?!

Malcolm, I think you're right - those "white/off white circular displays" on the radar are just the result of light reflecting off the glass faces of the instruments. The only time I've ever seen an NF.14 they weren't just white discs, but black dials with white detail and glass faces. No photos, unfortunately - the battery in the camera had died earlier that morning!

What RJP said. The radiator exit was variable, I believe to assist in keeping the engine at optimal temperature at any stage of operation. Closing it reduced the flow of air through the radiator; vice versa when it was opened. The flap could be set to maintain a particular engine temperature, e.g. it would be open wider during the climb, because the engine would be working harder and generating more heat, then closed in the cruise because the engine wasn't working as hard. It would be fully closed at start-up to bring the engine up to operating temperature as quickly as possible, but normally left open after shut-down to speed up the cooling process.

Cockies ALWAYS whinge - it goes with the territory. They'd be lost if they had nothing to whinge about. It's when they're NOT whinging that we should be worried. And in beautiful downtown Orange today - a whole 7 degrees and a howling sou'easter ...

NO! I've had my set since 1970, and I'm not getting rid of it just for a few drops of stout. Besides, the Guinness we get here is made locally under licence, and isn't a patch on the real deal!

Alternatively, there is (or maybe was, but I think it's still available) a good set of resin ones available from Motobitz (www.motobitz.uk). At least they won't do strange things as they age ...

I've only fondled the plastic of one of the new KP kits - the newish Piper Pawnee. It's a really nice little kit. The only possible criticism is that you don't get any spray/spreader gear, so it will all have to be sratchbuilt. That doesn't worry me - mine will be a glider tug.

I'm not worried about that aspect (I've encountered MikroMir before, and have a couple of their kits in the stash) so much as whether the variant they produce is appropriate for the ones that were used out here. Time will tell!

No, no - a thousand times, NO!!! Take it behind the shed and put it out of its misery!

No argument from me on that! I've lost count of the number of new kits that have come out where I've looked at it and said something like "Why in hell did they do THAT? It wouldn't have taken more than five minutes' work to discover that it was wrong!" And, as you say, usually not just a "rivet-counter" matter.