cngaero

What a varied selection of superbly built and finished models. The Shackleton T4 and Britannia stand out for me. Well done.

This is serious modelling at its peerless best. It's nice to be reminded of the Chipmunk and the Provosts, but the "family" shot shows that there is definitely space at the back for two Jags, no, not the former member for Kingston upon Hull. Great inspirational work Steve, it's a privilege to watch. Chris.

They are stunning Steve, absolutely stunning. Both of your Hawks bring back a wave of nostalgia for the old BBC 1 Fighter Pilot series of the '80s. Although both Hawks are masterpieces in their own right, I too favour the camouflaged Hawk, it just looks so purposeful. This WIP has been a pure pleasure to follow and an education as well as you've shown us how you've mastered the black art of 3D printing, which has been of particular interest to me as my daughter bought me a 3D printer for my birthday. I look at it on the corner of my workbench with both trepidation and fear. Having a collection of your personal training aircraft from the Chipmunk through to the Jaguar must be a tremendous momento of your time served "at Her Majesty's pleasure". Now, if you wouldn't mind just cracking on with your Jaguars please, as I've just tested positive for Covid this morning and reading another 180+ page WIP would help greatly.

I fear that these have gone for ever now my friend. Manufacturers switched from plastics to more environmentally friendly materials, like paper a long time ago. I think that your only option would be to find an old out of the way retailer/pharmacy holding some very old stock. I wouldn't be too hopeful though. Chris.

Not long to go now until they announce the following new tools: Q1, 1/72 Fairey Battle, 1/72 Avro Lincoln, 1/72 Westland Lysander. Q2, 1/72 Handley Page Hastings, 1/72 Fairey Flycatcher. Q3, 1/72 Avro Lancastrian, 1/72 Bristol Belvedere HC1. Q4, Boeing B29 Washington, 1/72 de Havilland Venom FB4. Well, a man can dream, can't he?

You'll need to move for your own safety, as my wife's starting to put a lynch mob together at this very moment!!!!! Once, when, under interrogation, about the size of my stash, I told her that I was storing some for a friend, to which she replied, "Don't be stupid, you've got none!". Great idea though . Chris.

I agree with you when you say the Whirlwind is an interesting aeroplane and a great subject for modelling. Strangely enough, as I'm sitting here at my workbench fondling, sorry, examining my new Airfix Beaufort as a pre-cursor to selecting it as my seasonal relaxation build, I cast my eye to my stash and the very same issue Whirlwind caught my eye. It's been sitting there since Adam was a laddie and you've sparked enough interest in the aeroplane to persuade me to start it as a companion build along side the Beaufort. I do like a nostalgia build now and again, especially at this time of year. It's great taking a really old kit and applying new materials and modelling skills that I've picked up over the years in order to guild the lilly a wee bit. Good luck with your build. Chris.

What a great find Dave. Thank you for sharing it with us. Chris.

If you keep an eye on the channel Neil, it comes up on a fairly regular basis. Better still, if you go to their website and subscribe, you'll get regular emails with the following week's daily schedule. It's the both best and worst thing I did. One of my passions in retirement is watching the old black and white British crime dramas and war films from the 1950's. It's amazing how much modelling time you can loose by watching these classics!!! Chris

So sad to hear this tragic news. My thoughts are with her family. She will be sorely missed around the warbird circuit. She certainly made her Spitfire dance and sing, they were two fine ladies working in perfect harmony. RIP.

If it's same bus that I'm thinking of, there's a short film from the Look at Life series showing occasionally on Talking Pictures TV called Fly with the RAF. It's dated around the late 60's/early 70's. It goes through the then current inventory of aircraft such as the Phantom, VC10, Belfast and Nimrod, all back in the days when real aeroplanes all had underwing serials! At the very begining, it follows some Phantom crews from their briefing and then transport out to their aircraft in a Bedford bus. The interior seemed to have four rows of parallel bench type seats. Also, down the centre of the bus, was a number of lights which seemed to be fairly low and just above the passengers heads. This clip only runs for around a minute or so. I hope this helps. Hopefully someone will be along shortly with a lot more knowledge than me on the subject, who can give you a definitive answer. You've made me a very happy boy by doing this bus and the Blue Steel vehicles. I can't wait to see them. Cheers, Chris.

Sometimes life just isn't fair. I've got such fond memories of Rumours. Way back in 1978 my mate had a fairly handsome win on the football pools (remember those?). He decided to buy a brand new Ford Capri to celebrate. He then decreed that as we both were on holiday from our respective jobs, a road trip was to be the order of the day. This was hastily planned to encompass a drive down from Northumberland to deepest Lincolnshire, where by chance, my aunt owned a lovely village pub, (so our accomodation was sorted for the week) and also to spend a day at the upcoming RAF Waddington air display. As I said, this was hastily put together late on a Thursday evening, so we each threw a couple of bags into the car and set off. We showed our passes at border control, otherwise known as the Tyne Tunnel and we were free! We then encountered thick fog, which persisted all the way down through North Yorkshire. His brand new Capri sported a stereo cassette player and it was thus switched on. At this point, we realised the error of our ways in our haste to set off, we forgot to pack any cassettes and the only one we had was Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. At that point in my life, I hadn't heard much of the band as my main musical interest was Irish Folk music. Rumours got played continually on the way down and as a result, it has become so engraved in my psyche and has to become my favourite album of all time. One funny little anecdote from our trip, my mate had never been south of the Tyne in his life. He worked on the Tyne at Swan Hunters, building warships, but had never ever set foot on the south bank of the river. As stated earlier, we encountered thick fog and were forced to drive at 20 mph in some places. After about a couple of hours driving at 20mph, with Christine McVie singing her heart out, a large green sign loomed out of the fog and my mate exclaimed "Where the bloody hell are we? Where's Kanansyburagh? I explained that we were heading towards Knaresborough and that he shouldn't worry. I discovered a few things that weekend. I discovered that l really liked Fleetwood Mac. I fell in love with Christine McVie's voice and that my mate was a crap navigator. Happy Days, Chris.

Have a look at Bart Sharp. About 18 months ago, I picked up a Bart Sharp 186 dual action airbrush complete with three different size colour cups and a twin cylinder compressor with a 3.5 litre air tank. The whole lot cost me just over £120 at the time. They may have risen in price recently, but they are definitely worth a look. I think the airbrush was in the region of £30 at the time. Granted it isn't state of the art like an Iwata or a Harder and Steenbeck, but it doesn't match their prices either. In the time I've had it, it's worked like a deam. Easy to use and easy to clean and it's been very reliable. They are really nice people too and very helpful. I hope this helps. Chris.

Mach 2 kits are certainly not aimed at the shake and bake modeller, but they are a manufacturer that fills the gaps where other companies run a mile from. They are far from being unbuildable though. So far, I've built their York, Britannia and Argosy, with the VC10 just started and a Comet sitting waiting in the wings. Granted, non have been easy, but all have been a challenge, but in a good way. We should rejoice in the fact that Mach 2 actually fill these gaps where other manufacturers fear to tread and not just knocking everything they produce. The way I look at it is; a) Do I have a gap in my collection? Yes. b) Could I scratch build it? No. c) Do I mind putting a bit of work into a project? No. In cases like this, Mach 2 kits are a God send for me and many others. I hope I don't come across as being too harsh, but I feel very strongly about this subject. Mach 2 do their very best to provide us with the kits that we want. Granted they are not as refined as the likes of Tamiya or Hasegawa, but neither are their prices. With a bit of gentle support and encouragement, we may all get the gaps in our collections filled over time. I'm waiting patiently for a Handley Page Hastings. Rumour has it, they are interested in doing one in the next couple of years.Fingers crossed.

Two stunning replicas of a stunningly beautiful aeroplane.