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Just finished, all of my modelling nightmares, contained in one kit. This is the Special Hobby 1/72 kit of the Vultee Vengeance TT.IV, this being a typical limited production model with mismatched parts, no locating pins or tabs, vacuformed 'greenhouse' canopy which was difficult to paint, also resin parts, and brass etched parts, so three types of glue required. Reference material for the target tug version was practically non-existent, and what little could be found showed features different to the kit. In fact, every photo of the TT versions shows different features! Yellow is my No.1 hate colour (because it is so thin), and combined with lots of black stripes resulted in 39 bits of masking tape. There were also 35 detailed improvements made to the model. FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (5) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (4) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (6) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Vengeance - Publicly available internet photo by Philip Pain, on Flickr A major puzzle was what-on-earth was this underneath on the bombs doors? It shows in several photos, but was not in the kit. It seems like two 'strakes' with nothing in-between, or nothing that can be seen. After much head scratching, a possible answer is that it is a 'target box' (as fitted to other TT types), and that the 'box' is removed when on the ground, to be reloaded. Thus the empty space between the 'strakes'. So I scratch built a 'box', as seen in this photo, at least the shape is correct in side view. It is 'fixed' to the model with blu-tac so that I can change it if new info comes to light. FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (7) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (8) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (10) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (11) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (14) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (15) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (17) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr FD335, 289 Sqdn Ouston, March 1945 (20) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr 289 Squadron was headquartered at RAF Turnhouse, Edinburgh with detached flights throughout 13 Group's area. In Northumberland the Vengeance target tugs were at RAF Acklington, RAF Eshott, and RAF Ouston. They were only in use for the final few months of the War. FD335 is recorded as being coded 'YE-M', and for anyone familiar with the Geordie dialect, "Yem" means home, but is usually part of the expletive "Gan Yem", otherwise known as Foxtrot Oscar! I said it a lot when making this kit.

Just finished the Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV, but not without difficulty. This was due to trying a new (to me) make of acrylic matt varnish, which reacted badly to what was underneath it. I did some test paints on spare plastic beforehand, but the problem didn't show up till the real thing. Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, Ouston, c 1943 (1) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, Ouston, c 1943 (2) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, Ouston, c 1943 (6) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, Ouston, c 1943 (9) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, Ouston, c 1943 (11) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, Ouston, c 1943 (12) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, Ouston, c 1943 (15) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr The aircraft is a Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV of 289 Squadron, a target facilities unit headquartered at Turnhouse, Edinburgh in 1943, but with many detached flights at various northern airfields for anti-aircraft gunnery training. Aircraft Z5880 (Rootes built) was chosen for the model because it was delivered new to 7 AACU at RAF Ouston, Northumberland, before joining 13 Group AACU at the same airfield. That unit morphed into 289 Squadron, and Z5880 remained at Ouston as part of a detached flight. It eventually went to 410 Squadron (nightfighters) at nearby RAF Acklington, before becoming a maintenance training airframe in late 1943. An eminently suitable subject for my 'RAF Ouston Research' website project, and also to illustrate the continuous role of Anti-Aircraft training. However photos of 289 Squadron aircraft are rarer than 'hen's teeth', and all that I could find were a Miles Martinet in standard tug markings, and a Hawker Hurricane with a striped rudder. Records also state that 289 Squadron was such a large unit, that they used numbers as well as letters for their codes. So in a complete 'flight of fancy' I have combined these scant facts into a colour scheme for the aircraft. Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, L1525, 3 RSS, RAF Ouston (4) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Z5880, 289 Sqdn det, L1525, 3 RSS, RAF Ouston (11) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Also, I foolishly decided to 'improve' my earlier Blenheim Mk.1 (L1525, 3 RSS, RAF Ouston, 1940) with a coat of the new matt varnish, and this time the roundels decided to part company from the model! So another rescue job, and both Bristols were finished together today. I think I need counselling!