tommyinuk0

Hi all, Sorry for the delay.... a quick build was delayed by storms, work and under 4's!!! If we asume that nothing was done since the last post in Jan, then its still been a quick build. Or so I can kid myself!! Anyway I have made progress and completed the engine and managed to assemble the so dreaded glass parts! In fact apart from the there being no possible way (which I can see) to build it so the door hinges actually work, the scary cockpit glass was not too difficult. I have now masked off all the glass and am about to paint it all. There then follows more scaffolding attachments to the engine and rear of the cockpit area. Joy Anyway here are the photos. Feel free to leave comments as usual and I promise there will be more updates VERY soon. Thanks for reading. Tommy

Tony, Great build, I am getting into WWI aircraft at the moment having overcome my fear of bracing wires!! I like what you have achieved. Tommy

Welcome to Britmodeller and thanks for sharing your builds. I have to say that Lightning is also my fav, but you have some smart looking Helicopters there too.I will be watching for when you build the Airfix 1/48 Lynx HMA8, as I have one of those to do. Regards Tommy

Great looking model, well done and lovely photos. Tommy

Chris, Fantastic looking model and well presented, I love the finish you have achieved. Tommy

Thanks Mike, Started mine today I hope it turns out anything near as good as yours. I won't do a build thread as I believe there is another active at the moment and as you said there are 12 parts! I will however post photos in RFI when its done. Tommy

Hi, Building one of these next which seat did you use as it looks really great in there? Tommy

Troschi, Thanks for the heads up and of course you are correct and I will change this tomorrow. Theres a good image here: http://soesty.webs.com/museum.htm Hope that link works ok. I'm thinking, the more I look at photos online, that I can add detail etc, but then the quick build becomes a more detailed longer build...... Tommy

Hi all, Ok so a quick build is not so quick, I am getting there though and am still avoiding those clear parts! I have made quite a bit of progress which has mainly been adding more detail to the rotor head area as per OOB and tidying up this area along with adding the tail rotor drive shaft (probably not the correct terminology) and painting the tail rotor itself, although it was unavailable for this photo shoot. Anyway here are the photos. I may add some additional detail in the form of extra wiring etc to this area. These photos show the cockpit 'dry fitted' in position to get an idea how she will look! Enjoying this build so far, turned out to be less stressful than I imagined and so far NO FILLER HAS BEEN USED. Hope you like the pics, feel free to leave CC and comments. Tommy

Hi all, Thanks for the kind comments, I only realised the other day but I forgot a whole build! It was Academy's 1:35 MH-60G Pavehawk helicopter. I built it OOB with a few additions, these being mainly the Tamiya Modern US kit bags etc and some wire which was wrapped around a cocktail stick and painted to represent comms wires inside the cockpit. The build was hastle free and pretty standard, with no major issues. I would recomend it as a kit and being 1:35 it could be easily used in a diorame with some 1:35 vehicles. Anyway here are the pictures. Hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I did building it, thanks for reading. Tommy

Hi all, Ok so this thread started off with one question and has opened up countless others. As an amateur historian I like the fact historical documents are being looked at to answer questions being asked today, and its great we can access primary sources which reveal how much paint was ordered back in the 1940's. Its a shame they didn't have access to colour film in as much quantity as sky paint though! However I did find this great website which I was unawre of and which when I searched for Liberator found loads of imagesof RAF Liberators which i'd never seen before and many show the chin radar and also how the aircraft serials ended with snake ie FL936/Snake apparently meaning not to be diverted from going to the Burma theatre of operations. http://www.usenet-replayer.com/cgi/content/archive_quick?h=12&dir=2&anz=90&scan2=aviation&tc-image-jpeg=on&scan=LIBERATOR Hope others may find it as useful as I have, although no PRU Blue Liberators, that I could see. Tommy

Hi all, Just discovered PLASTICOTE silver rattle tin spray had a test and thought the results were amazing! The only problem is that all the normal varnishes I use destroy the great finish. Does anyone use these sprays and have an answer as to a good varnish to use? Regards Tommy

Wow! Battle of Britain Airline (the 1980's TV series Ruskin Airlines, the reason I spent 22 years in the RAF!) Out of the clouds 1955 early Heathrow shots The man in the sky - Bristol Superfreighter shots Tommy

Hi all, Maybe they mixed the sky with the PRU Blue? Who would have thought a simple question would result in such a discussion!

Hi Tom, Great start, what does the kit provide in way of clear parts, if any ? I'm kind of interested in how you achieve turrets as I don't seem to see any in your pics? Thanks in advance, someone thinking of venturing into the world of Vacform models. Tommy

Hi all, Many thanks for all your comments to date, especially to Troschi for the great links. I've done a bit more final blue coats and some washes to the rotor area. I've added some more pictures to show the latest. Thought you may also like to see some pics of a 1:24 Spit which I recently obtained on a well known auction site. Purchsed for about £4.00 and something I plan to renovate and make into a diorama along the lines of: I plan to have it more out of the water than the picture though. This is what I have to 'play' with. Thanks for looking. Tommy

Thanks everyone for the help and replies and especially the photo by Tonyot. A photo speaks a million words! I obviously require a rear BP turret, Tonyot suggested asking in the wants section, but I didn't mention that I'm doing this in 1:48! Is such a turret available in this scale, if so do any kits come with a spare? Many thanks again Tommy Thanks everyone for the help and replies and especially the photo by Tonyot. A photo speaks a million words! I obviously require a rear BP turret, Tonyot suggested asking in the wants section, but I didn't mention that I'm doing this in 1:48! Is such a turret available in this scale, if so do any kits come with a spare? Many thanks again Tommy

Harald, That sounds wonderful and a win win situation for both you and the shop! I believe that nearly all aircraft wore the invasion stripes, above and below the wings and all around the fuselage. I've seen photos of Glider tugs and it seems anything available was used, mainly C-47's, Stirlings and as you said Halifax's which had been withdrawn from frontline bombing. I wonder if any Lancasters were used? One with invasion stripes would make an interesting and good build! As for fighters, I believe Typhoons were used but maybe someone else can confirm other types. Maybe a watch of 'A bridge too far' may be in order. Hope I have been of some use. Tommy

WOW! I so love this, an stunning build and one I may have to think of trying myself one day! Tommy

Well done on a fantastic diorama very realistic and atmospheric, especially the black and white photos. I especially like the Nissan hut and telegraph pole! Tommy

Thanks for the replies to date, the post by tonyot is certainly something new, which I was unaware of and sounds very tempting. DO you have any pics of this rare bird? Tommy

Hi all, I have a revell USAAF Liberator B-24D and wondered if this could be built as an RAF Costal Command Liberator? I am sure I once read that the RAF's first Liberators were delivered as stock US Liberators with the same Armament fit etc. If this is the case which RAF unit and aircraft serial, markings would be required to make this a correct model? Thanks in advance. Tommy

Fantastic, just fantastic. I take my hat off to you and declare you must be mad or insane! The amount of detail on that little kit is amazing, but in 1:72 I can only imagine the expletives that must be flying around you as you achieve this level of perfection. The seat looks stunning and I really will be watching this with excitement. Good luck with the rest of it. Tommy

Hi all, Firstly to Alpha Delta 210 I will be doing the Dutch Navy version, and to Oliver thanks for the colour correction on the top of the Cyclic stick. The instructions state white, but I did a tan colour as I felt it looked better, maybe the white got dirty! I think though I will give a white wash and make it less tan though. Build continues and the tail has been formed, the plastic that forms the 3 sides have warped a little and I did not notice until in position, so some of the side frame bows out a little. I have tried to fix this but to anyone else planning to do this kit it may be prudent to straighten these out first! The Blue in the photos below is not the final colour and more an undercoat, but I intend to make it look a bit used, worn and faded. Also the flash has taken over a little in some of the pictures. Hope you like the progress to date, more to follow soon. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments etc. Tommy

Happy new year all. I intend this to be a quick build, I started it on Friday 3rd Jan and I thought as I build a lot of models for other people it, being new year would be good to start with one for me Also it may reduce the stash just ever so slightly! Having said that I have just purchased: Airfix Boeing 727 in 1:144 (From Hobbycraft because it was reduced to £5.50) and I have plans for it. Airfix Westland Lynx HMA8 in 1:48 (From Hobbycraft because it was reduced to £17.00) as I've always wanted to make this kit. A Model Il-14P (Nato code Crate) in 1:144. A Model Christen Eagle in 1:72 as I once was lucky enough to have a few flights in one!! So the stash went down by 1 and up by 4! Anyway onto this build. It is the Revell 1:32 Alouette II, this is a kit which I've always wanted to build for a few reasons. 1. I for some bizzare reason am drawn to helicopters, especially the early ones and especially ones which look like they are made with scaffolding poles or bedsteads. 2. I like the challenge of all those clear parts! So the obligitary box photo, which shows how much this kit was. There are lots of parts on 6 sprues (4 large and 2 small) and 1 clear sprue with 53 construction steps, approx 150 parts which build into a model of 29.5cm in length. There are 2 versions : 1.Sud Aviation S.E 3130 Alouette II, Dutch Navy, 1965 (with wheels). 2. Sud Aviation S.E. 3130 Alouette II, Gendarmerie, 1985 (with Skids). As I say I started it on Friday and I managed to complete the cockpit by Saturday night. This went together well and I think looks quite smart when completed. And Saturday night managed to complete the ..... undercarriage. This despite looking very fragile also went together well and along with the wheels turning is quite sturdy and I will be interested to see how it manages to suport the whole thing. So there we are, thats the current state of things and as yet no filler has been required! Hope this to be a quick build so feel free to follow its progress, along with leaving points, hints, CC etc. Thanks for reading. Tommy