Rabbit Leader

Thats's a great help to identify what turret parts to use / discard. Much appreciated Roger. Cheers.. Dave

Nice to hear from you Pete. Now I don't mean to pour scorn on this kit, however for a relatively new-ish tool model it's not exactly a drop fit of sorts. I didn't measure the amount of weight I applied, however packed in as much fishing sinkers and blu-tak as I could in between the squared section that exists between the lower cockpit floor and top of the bomb bay (from the engine firewall to the wing spar). This is all ahead of the main wheels; however, I still need to attach the rudder, two large elevators, radar dome and flaps - all of which are behind the main wheels, so wish me luck. Cheers and all the best when you eventually get to your kit.. Dave

I don’t have a 1/72 Avenger, however have eye balled one in the past and would say it’s pretty much of a similar size and would take up just as much cabinet space (unless you’re able to fold their wings). Wiki says that both aircraft have a wingspan of 54 ft, whist the Gannet nudges the Avenger in fuselage length by a mere 3 feet (43 vs. 40 respectively). Cheers.. Dave

Great stuff Pat and apologies for missing the start of this thread. There are so many great builds going on it’s hard to keep track. The Seabee is a very evocative subject and the thought of these aircraft swanning their way around the crystal clear waters of the French South Pacific must surely warm even your harsh Scottish winters. Whatever you were looking for, I can see why you stopped once you found this. Looking good so far mate. Cheers.. Dave

OK - why not! Seeing I'm building a portly Gannet during this GB, here's a recent image of Mrs. RL and some fool doing his best 'Double Chin' Gannet AEW.3 Impression (don't you love selfies?) Taken last week at the Australian Open Tennis in Melbourne.... a fun hot day without the kids tagging along for once! Cheers... Dave (by the way ... Mrs. RL has no idea what a Gannet AEW.3 is)

This Gannet build is still slowly progressing and finally it's all starting to take shape. Thankfully the wing join (not glued in this image) is good and solid, however the majority of parts do require some filling and sanding - nothing huge, just a little surprising for a new-ish kit. The instructions suggest to 'sandwich' all the control surfaces within the major wing / hori stab / tail fin parts during construction, however I've elected to reduce all the extended tabs and mount them in the more traditional way. I still need to cut the one piece bomb bay doors in half and pray it all fits the small fuselage tabs that Revell provide. Clear parts have been cleaned up and 'cleared' and they look quite good. Fitting the wing leading edge landing lights was fun, but they're in and have been sanded, micro-meshed and re-polished up to restore clarity. Should all be ready for the primer within a day or two. Cheers.. Dave

Yes, I believe Tony O'Toole added these guns on a few of his great quick builds, however sadly those images have been taken down from the old WIP thread. I've also been tempted to start a second Beaufort kit and have a set of P & W engines and nacelles to go with it, however I've committed myself to a few GB's this year, so doubt I'll find the time to fit this one in. Cheers.. Dave

Should be another great thread to follow. It's always nice seeing an Airfix Beaufort build and am slightly surprised we haven't seen another boxing for a Mk 1a among Airfix's 2023 releases. I'm sure it'll come one day soon. Cheers and all the best.. Dave

Thanks for the open and honest appraisal Tony, I think I’ll take that one off my ‘wants’ list. Cheers.. Dave.

How true, both go hand in hand and usually result in more modelling ideas being floated in one’s head…. Says he who has just finished Max Hastings excellent Dam Buster book “ Chastise”. Cheers.. Dave (now onto a book about RAAF Black Cats, you know where this is heading!).

That Dautless looks nice, painted canopies too? That would make for a quick-ish build. Cheers.. Dave

I’m still awaiting delivery of Hasegawa’s 1/72 Beechcraft T-34 Mentor trainer and tow tug. Seems as though some mail within Australia has been delayed due to floods (again) so hopefully this will arrive in good time. Failing that there’s always a bunch of Fujimi Skyhawks, Phantoms and that big Neptune that’s crying out to be built, but I’m trying to restrict this years GB builds to smaller subjects. Cheers.. Dave

With all this talk about 1/48 Tutors, can I ask how does the old 1/72 Hobbycraft kit stack up? I don’t have one, however wouldn’t mind cutting my teeth on a smaller kit if I can ever find one available. Cheers.. Dave

That’s all looking very nice. Funny about that XF-21 Sky, some people curse it, however I have to say that does look rather good to my eye. I normally find it way too dark for my applications, perhaps it lends itself better to the larger scales like 1/48 and above. Cheers.. Dave

Hopefully these photos of my 1/72 Spitfire masking may help explain how home made masks can be made. You will need some thick clear plastic, Tamiya type masking tape, a sharp pair of scissors and a suitable sized set of camouflage drawings. As you are building in 1/48 scale you probably don’t need to mask the whole surface, so just mask off what you need to and try to avoid any overspray. Cheers.. Dave

That’s a great tip to go by Dave.. kinda like the Lancaster fuselage windows (approximate) serial break (post HD no windows from sketchy memory). Much appreciated. Cheers.. Dave

It’s taken me three go’s to think of something appropriate to say about these superlative Hawk kits, however whatever appreciative words I write, please magnify them by 100%. Honestly, if this is not the highest level of 1/72 modelling, I don’t know what is. We all strive to achieve perfection, it’s nice to know that someone out there, can manage to reach it! Cheers.. Dave

Unless I see two Meteors parked side by side, I can never tell those small and large intakes apart. I’m guessing they’re the small intakes fitted to that 8 Sqn’s VZ601… is that tight? Do Airfix suggest these parts with their instructions? Cheers.. Dave

I’ve been away for a few days due to a busy work schedule and boy what excellent progress has been made on this F-8. The finished article is outstanding and a fantastic result considering how quickly it’s all come together. Beautifully done. Cheers and well modelled.. Dave

Great work Steve, I cannot believe there’s so many in the GB gallery already. Always nice to see a well made Banshee, yours looks very nice. Cheers and we’ll modelled.. Dave

Nice job on the gunsight. What colour scheme / decals are you planning on this build? Cheers.. Dave

You can safely see at least three boxings of this initial AS.1 / 4 kit and it’s kinda hinted by Airfix in a recent YouTube video I saw. We’ll see an Export box with decals available for Germany, Indonesian and Australian Navies and a COD/T boxing with alternate parts for these particular versions. It will be interesting to see if a plain underbelly piece (less the dustbin radar aperture) will be provided in the initial 2023 release. Cheers.. Dave

I’ve just come across this great build Pappy… what excellent work so far.. lovely stuff. Cheers.. Dave.

Looking really nice there. I got around the lack of gunsight issue by doing mine in the Oxford Blue RAN ‘Aerobatic’ scheme. I figured they were probably not fitted by 1961 and if I recall correctly couldn’t see a gunsight in the period photos I had. I see the 2023 boxing has three decal choices that ‘may’ also not require a gunsight, I wonder if this swayed their choice of decals on offer this time around? Cheers.. Dave

You would think Tiger Moth then Chipmunk before something else, like perhaps the two seat Hunter? The jump from Tiggie to Vixen would be way too great for any trainee pilot to master.