exbrat

The General beat me to it, but look at his Valiant WP215, with the real 'country' as a backdrop, the Lincolnshire Wolds. However Dean your efforts look very effective, much better than mine with either the back wall or green house as back ground. Yuo obviously live in a lovely part of the country. Oh!, and yes the models look very well made and presented. Cheers, exbrat

Area 51 no such place!!!

Hello Mike, Thanks for that update, no doubt that will be another masterpiece. Take care leaning out of seat 10F, hope the other passengers don't object to you opening the window!!! BTW where is the trip taking you? Best wishes and have a safe one, John

Agree with all above Mike, never ceased to be amazed as to how you think up the manner in which to pose the model. Have I missed the Valiant or is that wip? Have given up on modelling for a while. John

I can only endorse what has been said by all other members. It's good to see that many people build a model for such reasons as this. Well done Kenneth.

Yet another fantastic setting Mike, ghostly almost. John

Thank you all for kind comments. Mike, I thought you said a while ago that your Valiant would represent a Grapple bird, with a Big, Biiiiiiiggggggg distinctive cloud in the background from a home made you know what? Perhaps your neighbors would object though, how far is Chicago? Jason, the reason the Valiant wingspan wasn't much different from the Lincoln was that all three V bombers had to fit into the standard hanger as well as go faster, higher, etc. Could afford new aircraft but not hangars. Next project, is there one? Perhaps reunite the broken lumps of the 1/48 Lincoln conversion that are in the garage. Keep the models flowing. John

I know I have posted these under their respective WIP and R for I before, but I thought it would be good to show them together. This would not have been possible for real due to the demise of WD131 in an accident (refer to 131 WIP), so this is the next best thing. It occured to me a few years ago that it would have been great if a Valiant could have returned to RAF Hemswell for a farewell formation flypast, but we were too busy with other matters I geuss. As usual comments of either nature will be welcome. John (exbrat)

That's cheating Mark, you've spent a day at Brize, come off it!! That first shot certainly looks the real thing, well done. John (exbrat)

Yet another superb model (or is it?) set in fantastic backgrounds. The metallic finish looks so real, how did you do that Mike? How long does it take to set up the models and integrate them with the backgrounds? John (exbrat)

Hey Jason it looks like my goading/harassement/encouragement/SUTB (delete as applicable) has done the trick,well done. How's the Lancaster coming on? Regards John (exbrat)

Welcome to the club, the Valiant one that is, another excellant model. How did you do the pitots, mine have fallen off all ready, so need to do a more permanent job? John (exbrat)

Well done Jason. Looks good to me keep up the good work. BTW we had lunch at a garden center today on the edge of what was RAF Downham Market. Will follow this with much interest. John (exbrat)

Try Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby, 57 Squadron was based there during the war and they have stacks of gen. They are very helpful. Best of luck with the build. John (exbrat)

Jason, I'm sure your skills are no worse than mine, so get snapping and let's have some piccies. Just remember to glue the wing extansions the right way round! Best wishes, John

I have been advised, correctly, that there is an error in the title of my topic, should be Memoriam, not Memorium. Thanks to Spitfire31 for pointing this out. John (exbrat)

Gentlemen, thank you one and all for the kind comments made relating to the Lincoln model. Jason, let’s have some WIP photo’s. Mike, sorry to contradict but 131 was not on a recon mission, just part of the Squadrons participation in exercise Carte Blanche, the annual exercise of the UK air defences. Though I doubt the poor old Lincoln’s provided much of a comparison that would have emanated from behind the Iron Curtain, though something was better than nothing I guess. For those interested I refer you to the following article, which relates to the role of the Vickers Valiant, was the same as for the Lincolns. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...hl=199+Squadron I will have a rest now but hopefully return to the partially built (and dropped) 1/48 Lincoln conversion. And those of you looking to undertake a Lincoln conversion, get converting and let's see some WIP and finished pics. If I can help in any way don't be afraid to ask. Best wishes to all, John (exbrat)

On Jan 16 2012, I dedicated this build to the crew of this particular aircraft under the WIP topic. If you read the introduction to that mail you will note that WD131 departed RAF Hemswell on the 25th June, 57 years ago never to return, a sad day for all concerned, as we discovered on the 26th. For those of you who have followed my WIP you will have seen that the build has posed many problems, but with encouragement and assistance I have been able to overcome them to produce what I believe to be a reasonable replica of this particular aircraft. My thanks go to the following, for providing parts, advice and encouragement; Forlornhope, lancfan, Learstang, Mish, canberraman, TOPGUN88 and last but by no means least General Melchet. The first picture I believe represents as near as possible the way the aircraft would have looked waiting for the crew to arrive, she was parked on the grass next to the main runway. The following is a copy of the Squadron Record. Some further views of the finished model. The four ABC aerials can be seen on the bomb doors. The placing of these is rather tongue-in-check as I cannot remember their exact placing. The location of two further aerials associated with the RCM fit eludes me altogether, for which I apologise. Jason, how are you progressing? Like most I had a ***$$&&&7 only yesterday resulting in the tail wheel breaking off, a fragile item anyway. I fixed that today by drilling a small hole into the fuselage and a corresponding one in the unit and fixing with a smell length of wire which seemed to do the trick. I also found that the Revell rear cockpit canopy, so kindly donated by lancfan did not match too well with the Airfix front end. I think I should have spent more time ensuring they did. Thanks again Gentlemen, comments will be gladly received. I might get round to completing the 1/48 Lincoln started yonks ago. Best wishes and keep modelling, John (exbrat)

Hello Radleigh, Scans look really good. I have a few slides (!) and have often thought about scanning them. What scanner are you using? I have just been looking at various including the HP Scanjet G4010 and wondering. Am I correct in thinking that some scanners will transfer negatives as well as transparencies? Reason for adding to your thread is that several folk will be interested so a global audience is invited to respond. I don't think I took any pics of the 1949 event I mentioned earlier. One must realise that film was not readily available in the late '40's, probably not cheap for an Aircraft Apprentice on 12s 6d a week and cameras not welcome on RAF stations. No doubt the station photography took dozens and are either stashed away somewhere or more than likely dumped. Keep scanning, best wishes, exbrat (John)

I tried MikeC's method using the circle template, without success. This is probably due to the template being too big to enable the spinner to be located and retained. I was hoping to use the holes found in the smelly gizmo as follows. Needless to say none truly fit. I might give that another go or as Mike suggests cutting a hole in a thin piece of card. Certainly the spinner on your model looks ace Mike, so thanks for that. exbrat

You should have seen the line-up on the occasion of the Royal Family visit in 1949. Goodness knows how many but they stretched from the old ATC N deep to roughly were the new ATC is, Ansons, Oxfords, Dominies, Spitfires, etc., what a sight! Those were the days!! exbrat (Cranwell)

Hello Simon, I'm having exactly the same problem, times four, for the spinners of my Lincoln. I wondered about a decal, but the problem there relates to the change in the length of the circles required to define them. Masking has the same problem, I have tried using a circle template also without success. Why do we model such aircraft? Will keep an eye on this to see if someone comes up with an easier solution. Best of luck, exbrat

As Jason said, who are 'we' please? Might not be too late for me to add them, as I am not sure which of the Lancaster decals are truly applicable to the Lincoln. Or are these restricted to decals for a particular aircraft involved In Kenya, such as serials? Please clarify as I am sure many people would be interested. Thank you, Thank you too Jason for the kind comments, how is your build coming on, let's see a WIP? John (exbrat)

Confused, I should say so! Am I correct in thinking that the F-117 should have been designated F-17, but whoever was responsible for allocating numbers added a '1' in error? No doubt all this confused the guys behind the Iron Curtain, so keeping them busy. As others have said Mike another collection of superb models very well displayed. Cannot wait to see what you come up with for the Valiant, where is it in the production line? Best wishes, John

Clive, Have a look at 'Best inkjet decal paper?, Anyone have any experience, good or bad?' posted a few weeks ago. Hannants are waiting for supplies apparently, so that is a source. I printed deacls for my Lincoln but chose 'clear' instead of 'white', therefore what I expected to be white serials were clear, so the black background came through, now there's a surprise. So make sure you obtain the correct paper, oh! and BTW paper is available for ink jet or laser, so again make sure. I did note that removing the decal from the backing paper caused it to curl/wrinkle, so needs to be removed carefully. Best of luck, exbrat (John)