tonyberrington

It's MB - cat no. MB3598. They're rather nice, although designed to go with the Chevrolet. At least 3 out of the 6 would be fine with the Jeep.

KX is the RAF squadron code for 311 Sqn, and T is the aircraft identification letter. It's still carying the original RAF serial and ID codes.

Much as I like the purposeful look of the GR1, this version looks really elegant.

There was at least one example still flying the airshows in the early 80s, very sadly crashed in 1984 killing quite a lot of people. I remembered a guy from my days as an ATC cadet in the 1970s - at that time I knew him as Squadron Leader Reid-Buckle. I saw a newpaper report at the time of the crash, but this thread prompted me to go and see what I could find on today's internet. He was, I think, the co-pilot. The descriptions of him I've been able to find today certainly match - handlebar moustache being one of his trademarks. Fantastic build of the model though.

I remember blagging a flight in the fold down cockpit seat on the Viscount that's in the background. ATC annual camp in 1980. I'm normally a bit shy but one of the officers told me to approach the pilot when he arrived in the terminal lobby, salute him and ask if I could fly with them. So, when he arrived, I snapped to attention and gave my best salute and asked. I can remember being pretty amazed when he said yes, but thinking back I would guess it happened all the time.

Stuff "mysteriously" disappearing into the modelmaking toolbox is a time-honoured tradition. I'd suggest acquiring from a DIY shop in this case though.

I think I first saw the NI high leg boots in 1981, on a schoolboy visit to 1 WFR in Germany (I never joined up in the end.) They issued us new DMS boots, so most of us had blisters by day 2. One of the other lads had a pair of high leg boots he'd brought with him, so I asked about them. He must have scrounged them from somewhere, but then he was probably the only one of us whose dad was currently serving. So, obviously plausible for 1982. Did you spot many others while you were there? I suppose I'm ever so slightly suprised that these boots weren't pretty widespread. Back to the OP though - excellent job on painting the DPM pattern.

If you managed that on your second build then you should be seriously pleased with yourself. The decal silvering is best dealt with by putting on the gloss coat before the decals. If it was me then I'd probably have toned the gloss right down afterwards - satin, leaning almost towards full matt. But that's probably a matter of taste for this colour scheme. My own favourite for masking straight lines and canopy framing - others will have their own - is a plain ceramic tile (the kind you tile a bathroom with, shiny, flat, no pattern on it), a steel rule, and a sharp blade. Then lay a length of Tamiya masking tape on the tile. You might as well buy the widest tape they have. Then I just cut thin strips, using the steel rule as a guide. For masking something more or less straight then the strips can be quite wide, but if you cut them nice and narrow then they will follow curves too. Once you have the outline sorted then fill in, either using a masking fluid or even pieces of surplus tape left over after you cut your strips.

Glad I'm not the only one who does that. Hunter gets my vote.

That's amazing. Your skills stayed sharp during your 3 year break, and I can't wait to see you start painting all of that detail. It was a real surprise to see this thread, I was thinking of it as a nice kit that almost falls together. But you really are making it your own. Can I ask please, what do you use to slice the sprue?

and also hand over to her your entire stash.

Lovely job, and one of my favourite Phantom colour schemes. I remember having a go at that one in the early 90's, same kit. IIRC I was intending to use a free decal sheet that came with a magazine, and included both 19 and 92 sqn anniversary schemes. I think that was one of a couple of builds that came unstuck with using the wrong thinner with Humbrol Gloss Cote (yep, was ready for the decalling stage.) I followed the rule of thumb to use the manufacturer's own brand thinner. Which is wrong for Gloss Cote, should have been white spirit. It dried all sticky and gummy. Tried to clean it off with white spirit, and the plastic started to crumble. I probably still have the decal sheet, if only I could find another copy of the kit.

Yes, it looks immaculate. Real craftsmanship, and you'd never guess from the latest pictures that it started out as a limited run kit.

Well done Max You quite rightly look very pleased with you efforts. And you must be very proud of him too Fozzy.

and it's a really neat finish on a challenging colour scheme. Love the weathering of the stripes over the wing root too.

It probably depends on where you're starting from and where you want to get to. If you're starting from a very rough surface then you'll need to start with a coarser grit then work down from there. It might even wind up with you getting the more specialised fine grit products if you need to get things really shiny.

Tamiya masking tape, the widest the shop has, a ceramic tile, a steel rule, Swann Morton scalpel with a fresh blade.

I've also used the standard Halford's primers a lot over the years. Both white and grey. They're great, as long as you don't spray it on too heavily so that it melts the plastic

Hope it goes well. I've got a couple of the Airfix kits in my stash, and if I remember correctly, at least two resin conversions for the trainers. I'd planned on doing the Akrotiri Station Flight aircraft too. So I'll be watching with interest. Regards Tony

nice job! I hadn't heard of this manufacturer before but it looks like they've got some really nice kits. Cheers Tony

I'm guessing you used an airbrush, but the soft edges on the cammo scheme are very subtly done. How did you manage to do that (and feel free to point me at a WIP thread if there is one)

Pretty good for a second model. I remember building this one when I was young. The gun in this case is not a Bren gun, but a 6 pounder anti-tank gun, the actual Bren gun being a light machine gun based on a Czech design. It was fitted to some versions of the carrier, probably explaining how the name Bren Carrier came about.

Thanks for the welcome Dan. Funnily enough, taking some piccies is on the cards. I have a few lenses in the camera bag, so I'm interested to see what's going to work best for photographing kit builds and finished models.

Hi all, I'm new to the forums, although been lurking for a while. I'm also returning to model making after a break of 7-8 years, and this group build thing sounds like an excellent way to help me back into it. I've rifled my stash, had already made a tentative start on a Dragon 1/35th T34 but I want to finish that in Soviet markings. So I've dug out the Tamiya 1/35th T55 kit, and will finish it in one of the two Polish options. Strictly OOB, as I want it to be fun and want to see how my skills are after a long break. Progress so far - sprockets, idlers, a couple of roadwheels, front and rear attached to the lower hull.