Mr T

Frog/Novo Miles Master built as a MkII, Central Gunnery School, Leconfield, 1948-9 This is my build of the sixty-year-old Miles Master kit. It is finished in the relatively short-lived postwar all yellow trainer scheme. The kit has some donor parts from the spare box for the engine and wheels as well as a vacform canopy, and an interior added Build thread is here: Thanks to Jockney and Rabbit Leader (Pat & Dave) for as group hosts and their support. Also thanks to the Awesome Enzo (one step up from magnificent?) for oversight.

The Master is now finished and in going in the Gallery

That's looking very nice Adrian, the home made decals really add to it. Printing the wrong side of the paper is my party trick with labels. Our windows replaced at the end of first lockdown (they were supposed to be coming the week it started), and we were amazed at how little mess they made. They put covers down everywhere they worked and cleaned up afterwards. Even the price was reasonable, there was a £12,000 variation in quotes, which is interesting as there are apparently only two or three companies in the UK that actually make the stock that are then supplied to the window manufacturers.

I suppose it should not be a surprise in a country that sufficient sugar to sliced bread that it tastes sweet(and no, it isn't to help the yeast ferment. I never add sugar to home made bread as it doesn't require it. Just needs to be left to prove properly.) Commercial bread makers in the UK etc may add a bit to speed things up a bit, but not sufficient for the Irish courts to classify the bread in Subway as cake. It has been 20 years since I was last in the USA, but it has stuck with me, along with the ridiculous portion sizes in McDonald's. A large soft drink seemed to be served in something the size of a plastic dustbin (OK, I exaggerate, one of the white waste paper bins from IKEA). Had a really nice Bacon sandwich yesterday in restaurant at Dean's Garden Centre near York. Well cooked back bacon in a nice roll.

Looking at the stash, postwar twins would be no problem as some would be stuff I want to get done anyway, but will not have time in Baby Boomers. Javelin, different Meteors, Valetta, Twin Pin, Basset, Dominie, Brigand immediately spring to mind.

oI'll commit to this GB now as it will give me a spur with a couple of projects. I know it is while away yet, but something different to look forward to. I plan on building the Dapol/Kitmaster Deltic prototype on th Bachmann Deltic chassis. A good look shows it will fit with a bit of work. My other planned build is to use the Peco/Parkside LMS Brake can kit to produce one of the bogie brake vans, that were especially built for use on freight transfers in Leeds. One later appeared to find its way to the ironstone workings on the Notts/Leicestershire border. They were partly worked by engines and crews from Nottingham shed.

I have not forgotten about the Neptune, I am trying to finish other models to clear the decks and make room for the surprisingly large Neptune. All the visible inside bits have been sprayed Interior Green, which was a possible colour for the time frame (1952). Too late now if I am wrong. The Eduard PE is being used for the somewhat sparse kit interior. It is designed for the base kit, which is a P2V-7, and has a slightly different cockpit interior, but the canopy will hide a lot. The engines have been painted and assembled. The cowling opening is small and not much of the engine is visible. The major change that both the conversion and the kit misses is the size and shape of the nosewheel bay. The wheel is on the centre line, but the bay is bigger on the starboard side. The doors are the same width each side but wider than the doors provided. This means that new doors have been made and the wheel bay widened. The nose leg has been modified to make it longer to improve the sit of the aircraft, and the actuator for the nosewheel steering has been added. This is also different in the 5 compared to the 7 in terms of both shape and placement. We are away for a few days next week as Mrs T has a significant birthday. But before we go i hope to get the fuselage together.The wings and tailplanes are already assembled.

Still no new car, and nothing model related. But, bought some wood based product to make a new shelf in a fitted cupboard where amongst other things I keep old slides etc. Looks better now that I can access stuff a lot easier and it is safer. Also a new bulb for the fridge light. First time it has been changed since new in 2005. There are two bulbs and I replaced both on the basis that if one has gone the other will probably follow it sooner rather than later. Also the cover is not easy to remove/replace. The new bulbs will probably outlast me.

Just go expand slightly on Pauls very clear answer. The same Dark Green as a part of camouflage was specified for virtually all British built aircraft operating over land. It was used postwar.

I still have two in the stash, and one built as an F.2. Nice kit, some have reported issues with the cockpit fitting the fuselage, but that doesn't seem to have been a problem for you.

Nice looking model, It is a big beastie, I saw one in the Warner-Robins base museum 30 or so years ago. The main wheels look like something of a locomotive.

Looks like a good build. I was watching 'Strategic Air Command' the other evening on the Channel 4 app, it still available for a few days. A real period piece. Didn't the brakes squeak a lot on the B36. My Neptune has a similar arrangement with the wing tabs, and the same alignment issues, although they are a bit chunkier.

More than four years I reckon. My York was built four years ago after being bought at SMW in 2019, and been waiting for the Mikro Mir for a while then.

Azur Martin Maryland I AR705, Malta, November 1940 This apparently is the aircraft that carried out the reconnaissance prior to the attack on Taranto by the Fleet Air Arm. The kit is from Azur. Looks good in the box, but requires some care and extra work to deal with the bits Azur missed. WIP is here Thanks to veppelt68 and 81er for running this GB and to Enzo for keeping an eye on things.

The Maryland is finished and going into the Gallery

Looks promising, wrong scale for me, but a nice change for 1/48th scale modellers. It looks as if the cylinders are separate and have to added to the crankcase and that the Williamson camera gun sometimes seen on photos is present. I hope people don't think it is a machine gun.

We are looking for something fairly new, about 2 or 3 years old. We tend to buy a car and keep it for a while. A Toyota is near the top. I would like a Yaris Cross, but even secondhand they are expensive. Interestingly enough, the newer Yaris and Honda Jazz have only been offered as hybrids for the last two years.

Not modelling related, as I am trying to be a good boy. We have bought a new hedge trimmer. Our previous one was about twenty years old, and when I picked up towards the end of last year, it literally fell to pieces. The plastic case lost structural integrity. The new one was 25% off in Argos and Mrs T had a gift card from when she retired that she keeps forgetting about. What a gift card is not going to go very far with is a new car. We have started looking as we used to have two. An old C3 Picasso, that made to Alison retirement. It had a huge long list of advisory points on its last MOT and was going to be expensive to fix. The Citigo I have, we like, but is getting on a bit and starting to cost. We want something a bit bigger and a bit more go.

This is going to be the last post in the build thread for the Master. I have now added the undercarriage and exhausts. The longer Martinet style pipes that seem to be typical of the later Master II's were fabricated from some plastic rod that has been cut to allow for bending to fit the fuselage. The wheels have come from the spares box, but obviously to belong to an early Spitfire. They look so much better than the kit efforts. Some other new bits have also been added. The pitot head under the port wing has been built from nickel-silver wire and plastic strip, and the support rods for the exhaust ring have come from the same material. Some paint touch up will be required and then a final coat of varnish.

A way around the issue of panel lines in different materials I have used is to spray some primer beforehand. I use the stuff from Halfords, which us getting expensive, and once really dry it seems to hold things together a bit better.

Firmed up my entries for this GB, largely on ease of colour schemes and what is in the stash A37 Dragonfly, Academy kit with some interior goodies. Fouga Magister, the Heller kit, ok not good as SH, but been in the stash for more than a quarter of a century, just needs the panel lines rescribing. Allouette III, again the Heller kit.and again been in the stash, it looks a bit basic. There is Brengun PE set for it that looks straightforward. Hannants are out of stock, but I have watch listed it, hopefully back in stock in time for the GB.

Glad things are settling. Rheumatoid Arthritis is nasty, and in my nursing days I used to feel very sorry for the patients I used to see with it. Mrs T always reckoned it was one of the more challenging conditions to manage, no comfort to you I know. I am developing a bit of osteoarthritis in my knees (probably work related), and although it sometimes is not fun. Slightly OT, my mum was a regular at BGH for various things, although her last admission was to the cottage hospital in Kelso.

Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney Pies still exist, as do other varieties by the same firm. My dad was particularly partial to them when you could get a smaller sized one. Nowadays being retired and all that, if we have steak pie, I make one.

The Xtracyrlix trainer yellow is bit more orange than the Humbrol. I know what you mean about consistency, I use Xtracyrlix for British built aircraft in Temperate Land Scheme, and Mr Hobby Aqueous Hobby Color for US built aircraft.

I think it may be due to the font only having upper case letters. Logically you could assume that to get the letters you need to hit the shift key to get upper case letters, but on the ones I have used, the ordinary key will give an upper case letter. Also they don't seem to be happy with Macs from what I have read.