Bennygman

Yes, I couldn't resist the Herc' decals. It looks like they're coming up with the same interesting stuff as Two-Six - bodes very well for RAF modellers. Steve.

Very nice - the four-ship of Hornets is particularly good Steve.

These manufacturers will clearly not be happy until they take all of my money. Better start saving I think. Steve.

Could you expand a little, please Phil. Did you use it as a lathe to turn the barbette, and if so what did you use for cutting/shaping? I'm watching this with interest as the Airfix Nelson/Rodney may be my next ship model. Steve.

What two months ago? In that case, that Hood of yours is even more impressive! Quick warning on the crane; when I came to fix the box section together i was applying pressure between thumb and forefinger. Just as I thought 'need to be careful here', I squashed the whole thing flat! There was so much swearing my girlfriend came rushing upstairs thinking I'd had an accident. I managed to unfold and flatten it out and try again. but it was a heartbreaking moment. Steve.

Good luck, but CMR kits are a great place to start your resin career. One tip, wash all the parts in something warm and soapy. I got away without doing this a few times, but the resin in the Classic Airframes Skyhawk I'm working on just did not want to stick with superglue. A quick wash of the parts and it's fine now. I had to contend with a vac canopy in the CMR Typhoon. A sharp pair of scissors did the job, but be aware that as soon as you cut into it it goes as floppy as a floppy thing. Still manageable, but it was a bit of a surprise how the rigidity went when I cut it. Steve.

Excellent work on the mast especially. The WEM stuff is superb isn't it? As you've shown here it's a quantum leap forward from the kit parts and well worth all the eye strain involved in using it. They're a quality outfit all round I think. Have you tried 'Gator glue' for fixing etched parts? It's great for fixing railings, aerials, etc. It looks like PVA but sets very firmly but with a bit of 'give' and dries completely clear - great stuff. Keep it up, Steve.

I'm curious about that in that I wouldn't have thought the runway at DX was long enough now (but I may be wrong about that), and they already have a Vulcan. Steve.

Yes, exactly why I was so glad to see it. I imagine the price will be pretty good compared to having to buy two kits and some resin pods to get the one I wanted. Steve.

Oooh, it's got the 'dead gekko' in it! I must have a few of these to go with the Afterburner Arctic Bandits sheet I got recently. Thank you Tamiya. Steve.

Seeing it display at Waddo was one of the highlights of a fairly dismal season and certainly the most emotional for many a year. It would be disastrous if it isn't about next season. Wasn't there talk on UKAR of sponsorship from Aircraft Illustrated? It's a shame that any news surrounding '558 seems to be shrouded in a fog of confusion. Steve.

Lovely job, Jen. Looking forward to a proper look at this one on Sunday. The base is the icing on the cake. Steve.

A true example of the model makers art - puts a kit basher like me to shame. Absolutely maginificent John! Steve.

Nice, I particularly like the recovery diorama. Don't beat yourself up over the Lancastrian, it looks fine. At least you did it, mine hasn't got past the thinking about it stage yet! Steve.

At first I thought the rounded nose for the Belgian was missing, but I think that's it just below the pilot figures. Must get one of these as I fancy the two tone grey 'stripey' one that was in MAM a few months back. Steve.

Magnificent . Welcome aboard. Steve.

I do like the F-111 pic . The only time I saw that particular trick the sky wasn't quite as blue as that. Steve.

Can't see your pics at work, but I'm sure it looks great. With regards to the undercarriage, glue the 'knee' joints and let them dry overnight before assembling the rest - they're stronger than they look and quite a tight fit. Attaching them to the wells is made a lot easier with some pins though as it's all but a butt joint. [edit: I just realised I repeated myself almost word for word. please feel free to ignore this post ] Steve.

Good choice mate. I too have the 'Hi-tech' night fighter version upstairs . You can be my pathfinder for how this one goes together! Steve.

Thanks all, it was quite a satisfying build, if a little nerve-shredding at times. The basic Airfix plastic was pretty good really. The fit was a little iffy around the superstructure, but lots of forward planning was the way to go to minimise problems later. The biggest problem by far was the WE instructions, which I've read elsewhere are a bit of an aberration and untypical of their standards. About one quarter of the parts wouldn't have been used if not for one of the ATF forums members posting loads of pics of his build, which I was able to crib from (thanks 'Chippy'). The quality of the product and it's added effect on the model is unquestioned though (1:600 Lewis guns and struts on the Walrus ). The other key ingredient was 'Gator glue' which is absolutely fantastic for etch and incredibly strong when dry. it dries clear but shiny although an overall dusting of Xtracrylix Satin took care of that. Hopefully this will be on the table at Telford so you can all take a closer look and see what I've managed to hide with some careful camera angles! . Steve. p.s. I considered weathering, but that was one thing the forward planning didn't account for, and now I can barely handle it anywhere! As for the crew - they'd be bigger than the Lewis guns I suppose.

Thanks all, they do make a nice addition to the shelf I think. The Duxford collection currently stands at these two, a hurricane mk2 and an early Typhoon in Green/Brown with a solid rear to the canopy fairing. The plan is to include anything that saw service from the field, so that very much includes the 78 FG. It also allows me to 'cheat' a few things in if I extend it to include current residents. When I read through the DX History pages I think I filled three sides of A4 with type/squadron combinations up until the end of the RAF days, so initially I'll try to represent each type or squadron and take it from there. In order to complete the collection, I'll need to get much better at rigging bi-planes! . Steve.

Evenin' all, These are a couple of Xtrakit Mk.8's which I've been working on this year as part of my 'History of Duxford' collection (now up to four, which is an amazing piece of perseverance for me). Nice kits, need a bit of work and application, but they give a decent result in the end. I've still got an NF.12 and .14 to do, but that can wait 'til next year. Model by Xtrakit, paint by Xtracolour, decals by... you can probably guess . Wonder if I can get Hannants to sponsor this post! Steve. p.s. not sure about the big intakes on the camo one, but I wanted to illustrate the evolution of the type with these two models.

Ok chaps, this is as finished as I can get it. Much better than I feared it would end up, but still room for improvement next time around... Steve (bolts back to the 'comfort zone' of aircraft models).

Firstly, I'm still very jealous of the VAAC Harrier shot. For me it's a tale of two weather types. 1. Mean and moody RIAT KLu solo F-16... F-22 about to do his practice display... And just to prove that the sun did shine - one from sunny Biggin back in June. We really are due some more sun next year. The weather this time around has been almost willfully vindictive. Steve.

With added Chinchilla dust ... I kid you not! Steve.