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Hi all, long time, no post - sorry! Have started building this new kit in the last few days and thought I'd post here - as I suspect the subject is right up Britmodeller's alley, as Melchett would say! This is a new, high quality, 3D resin printed kit from Tim Perry, of this parish. Some may remember him as the very nice man behind PP Aeroparts - back in the day. As an ex. Air Cadet myself (who ended up commanding a squadron as an adult) I'm really drawn by this subject, even though my early gliding was in a different type. "All clear above and behind - take up slack - all out!" Iain

It's been quite a while since I started a new aircraft WIP. A number of things have conspired to explain my absence, in addition to a general lack of modelling mojo during the last year. Family matters, much garden related DIY and I have been building other stuff, just no WIP's on here. Guilty as charged! Obvs, there are two ongoing WIP's with my name against them elsewhere, a 1/72 Vosper, and a 1/72 Gamecock, but also behind the scenes a 1/48 Meteor, a 1/72 P-51H and a couple of 1/144 airliners are all perilously close to paint. Indeed the Meteor has paint and awaits decals. I'll RFI all those in due course, and continue with the Vosper and Gamecock WIP's. Mojo is well and truly restored I'm happy to say, so here we go............ Those who know me well are aware of my love of gliders, and especially those used to train Air Cadets through the ages. Apart from the two I have made, a T31 and a T21 (WIP's and RFI's can be found somewhere in my signature details), I have collected no less than five further models to be constructed, which collectively represent a decent chunk of training gliders used by the Air Cadet organisations over the years. The collection consists of these fine aircraft............. A rather nice resin Mk 1 by CMR, a twin kit injection moulded Grunau Baby from AZ, a resin T53B Phoenix by scale resin and a resin Grob Viking by Heritage Aviation. That last box is not very illustrative, so here is a shot of the "instruction sheet": On a number of occasions in the past year or so, I have hinted to @perdu that I might add to the glider collection, so (long overdue) I'm going to follow in your footsteps Bill and use this thread to as a WIP to build as many of the above that I can cope with! I'll make sure each one gets it's own RFI. I suspect @stringbag, who provided much valuable reference material for the T31 build, might enjoy this thread also. Enough preamble. The chosen first subject off the blocks is the resin Grob Viking. A lovely example by Heritage Aviation: The parts are very nicely moulded with no apparent warping or shrinkage, and only some very minor air bubbles in one or two places. Should be a breeze Had to take a bit of care removing the fuselage from it's resin plug, taking extra care not to spoil any of the wheel, underside moulding. For now I will clean up the wheels and see how they look, but being moulded in, they may not quite look the part. On the T21 and T31, I constructed wheels from scrap spares and embedded them, which might look better here. Here we have everything cleaned up and removed from the resin plugs: I'll need to scan the web for some detailed cockpit shots as I plan to "add a bit" to enhance the very nicely moulded seats and I/P comings. Wings dry fitted, and a quick size comparison with the Viking's older cousins, first the T21 then the T31. Much to do, more soon! Terry

Here is the first of a series of builds of a number of gliders in 1/72, representing the Air Cadet organisations of the UK and other nations. I had built the Phoenix vac form kits of both a T21 and a T31 a couple of years ago and decided to expand the collection to include post war gliders used by both UK Air Cadets and some overseas users. The idea is to show the history of post war gliding starting with machines used by the Air Cadets. I currently have around 7 planned and will likely expand that number to also include powered aircraft such as the Chipmunk, Slingsby Venture and Grob Tutor, although the Tutor is proving hard to source in 1/72! The WIP for this one, and all the other builds planned (around seven so far) is here: So this is KP's rendition of the Grob Astir, with detail parts in the form of replacement wheel, wheel doors and cockpit from Brengun. I chose to model the option for the Belgian Air Cadets. The model was a fairly straightforward build. Although the mouldings were quite basic with wing and fuselage joins requiring a jig to get aligned, it is a very nice little kit. I used MRP's excellent range of paints for both priming and white top coat. With much of the white masked off, I then used Tamiya's lacquer acrylic bright red for the ailerons, wing tips, nose, elevator and rudder. Final varnish gloss coats were MRP gloss varnish. Although Brengun do provide etched brass spoilers (air brakes), I chose to model these closed. Some quick shots of the Brengun internals, which are superb resin and brass items, very difficult to see once the canopy was closed up: The canopy itself was the biggest challenge as I wanted to recreate the very smooth join which required much filling, sanding and final polishing. I am pretty pleased with the final results, so here are a few shots show the elegant lines of this aircraft: And a final shot with a couple of earlier vac form builds of a T21 and a T31: Thanks for looking Terry

EoN Eton TX.1/SG-38 Over Western Europe (SH72442) 1:72 Special Hobby The Schneider SG-38 was a bare-bones glider designer to be an introductory airframe in flight schools. It was designed in the late 30s, and was manufactured by a number of companies, latterly Elliotts of Newbury as the Eton TX.1. It was employed in the UK and other countries after WWII as a cheap glider to be used by aeroclubs, which were still popular after the war. It was a truly basic in design, with a fabric covered wing and empennage, using bracing wires to hold it rigid like a WWI fighter. The pilot sat at the front totally exposed to the elements with his backside only a few inches from the ground, with a skid landing system that had some element of suspension between the ground and the pilot. The Kit This is a reboxing of the original 2015 tooling, with a collection of decals from the RAF, Belgium, Sweden and France, hence the “Over Western Europe” tagline. It’s a small glider, so in 1:72 it’s wee-tiny. It arrives in a short figure-sized end-opening box, and there’s a single sprue of grey styrene and a decal sheet in the resealable bag. The instructions are portrait A5 and printed in colour, with only two pages actually devoted to the build, the rest taken up with a sprue guide and all the profiles for painting and decaling. There are a couple of spare pilot cowlings within the sprue, one of which isn’t used on this boxing, the other is suitable for two of the decal options. Construction begins with the mating of the tail and supports to the one-piece fuselage, quickly followed by the wing that is slipped over the A-frame that juts out of the top, with a fairly visible seam on the moulded-in seat that will need a swipe with a sanding stick if you aren’t sourcing a pilot figure from somewhere. The pilot controls consist of a column and a choice of two styles of rudder pedals, then follow two drawings showing the installation of the tensioning wires in red, which you will need to source yourself. The final stage is the optional cowling around the pilot that can be fitted to the first RAF and Swedish decal options A & D. That’s it! Markings There are five decal options included on the sheet, which is also pretty small, but you have plenty of colour choices to go at. From the box you can build one of the following: EoN Eton TX.1 WP270, c/n 038 Maidstone Grammar School Combined Cadet Force (Air Cadets) Sept 1951 EoN Eton TX.1 WP265, c/n 033 Air Cadets, RAF West Malling, 1950s SG-38, PL-21, Royal Belgium Air Cadets, Beauvechain, 1959 G-101 (SG-38) built in Sweden by AB Flygindustri), No.80 Sweden, 1943-53 SG-38, No.95 “Le Timide”, France 1945 Decals are printed by Special Hobby and up to their usual standards with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a cool little kit that some of our older members may in fact have flown back in the day. It has some nice raised and engraved details, particularly around the flying surfaces, and should look quite special under paint and with the guide-wires in place on a representation of a piece of field somewhere. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

After almost a year, I can now finally present the completed Phoenix models vac form of the T21 Sedbergh glider. Those of you that followed the WIP will know that this model took an immense amount of effort, with much of the fuselage being rebuilt in my quest for accuracy. I am particularly grateful to @stringbag for much very useful reference material and advice at the start of the build, a big thank you Chris! Also thanks to all those of you who followed the WIP with much encouragement. It was originally completed for Telford last year, but post that show I decided to re-do the cockpit windshields, and also replace the main wing struts with more accurate and stronger representations. At first my intention was to build an aircraft dated around the late 60's early 70's, in silver doped linen and dayglo, similar to the T31 I completed last year. In the end I decided to do a slightly later era white and red scheme. I used a mixture of Xtracrylics and Tamiya paints. Decals are Modeldecal for the roundels and home made for the rest. The original WIP can be found here: And finally some shots with her slightly older stablemate: Thanks for looking. Terry

About time I start this. This is the kit: And here's proof of purchase: The picture links to the record of the original purchase on eBay, which won't remain there for much longer. You can also see the nice box, before it was shipped in a padded envelope... Good thing I'm not a hardcore collector. So what do we have here: The plastic is the well known Modela model that was sold under a few other brands as well. Detail is rather indistinctive and of the raised lines variety (The funny shape at the cockpit wall is supposed to depict a pouch...). Some improvisation will be called for here. Especially so as the cockpit of a glider is about the only opportunity to show some detail and the large canopy gives a clear insight. (The new AZ / Admiral model is much nicer here. But that would have been more than a Tenner...) This edition differs from the Modela offering in the marking options. Decals are printed by Propagteam. There is a quite nice white variant in blue and red trim (the Czech national colours), and two more Czech markings in more standard livery (one of those with the top-mounted engine; only three of these were ever built). And then there is the variant I intend to build: A natural metal bird (most Blaníks were NMF for the most part) of the British Air Training Corps. Looking at the Instructions you can see that there is not a lot to be built on such a glider. Main points are detailing a nice cockpit and duplicating the smooth skin that you try to maintain on these birds. I first thought about giving the Blaník a few dents and dings, but looking at pictures online I found that most of them are kept in pristine condition. On the lower side of the fuselage and the outer lower wing panels some wear and tear probably can't be avoided, but other than that they usually look spotless. This already brings me to a cry for help from the nice folk on this board: Have any of you been in Air Cadet training? I have no information whatsoever on the inside of this plane. I can make it fictious, but I'd rather stay close to the original. Questions in detail: Colour of the textile paneling an flooring? Colour of the seat cushions? Colour and style of seat harness? Colour and style of parachute used? Would an air cadet during flight training wear a uniform? Standard glider-issue pot-hat or Air Cadet beret? Thanks for any help you might be able to offer. Also entered in the Training Types GB

OK, so here goes: This is the kit: What do we have here: The plastic is the well known Modela model that was sold under a few other brands as well. Detail is rather indistinctive and of the raised lines variety (The funny shape at the cockpit wall is supposed to depict a pouch...). Some improvisation will be called for here. Especially so as the cockpit of a glider is about the only opportunity to show some detail and the large canopy gives a clear insight. (The new AZ / Admiral model is much nicer here. ) This edition differs from the Modela offering in the marking options. Decals are printed by Propagteam. There is a quite nice white variant in blue and red trim (the Czech national colours), and two more Czech markings in more standard livery (one of those with the top-mounted engine; only three of these were ever built). And then there is the variant I intend to build: A natural metal bird (most Blaníks were NMF for the most part) of the British Air Training Corps. Looking at the Instructions you can see that there is not a lot to be built on such a glider. Main points are detailing a nice cockpit and duplicating the smooth skin that you try to maintain on these birds. I first thought about giving the Blaník a few dents and dings, but looking at pictures online I found that most of them are kept in pristine condition. On the lower side of the fuselage and the outer lower wing panels some wear and tear probably can't be avoided, but other than that they usually look spotless. This already brings me to a cry for help from the nice folk on this board: Have any of you been in Air Cadet training? I have no information whatsoever on the inside of this plane. I can make it fictious, but I'd rather stay close to the original. Questions in detail: Colour of the textile paneling an flooring? Colour of the seat cushions? Colour and style of seat harness? Colour and style of parachute used? Would an air cadet during flight training wear an uniform? Standard glider-issue pot-hat or Air Cadet beret? Thanks for any help you might be able to offer. The build is also entered in the Less than a Tenner GB.

Scottish Aviation Bulldog 1:48 Heritage Aviation Models Ltd. The Bulldog is best known as the RAF's basic trainer through the 70s and beyond, with the last of them being sold in 2001 to make way for the Grob Tutor. The aircraft began life as a product of Beagle Aircraft in the late 60s, which was taken over by Scottish Aviation when Beagle ceased trading, with the majority of the aircraft constructed at Prestwick Airport, where the prototype originally flew. Its only other operator from new was the Swedish Air Force, who were in fact the earliest user taking delivery of 58 aircraft in 1971, just before the RAF's order was placed. A number of the total production are still in service, as some Swedish airframes were sold as a block to a rental company, and the RAF sold theirs as general aviation aircraft just after the turn of the millennium. The aircraft is a low wing monoplane with fixed undercarriage, and seats two pilots side-by-side, with an optional single seat in the rear of the compartment. It is powered by a Lycoming piston engine, and unbelievably is capable of carrying a small bomb load! While the RAF never used this feature, the Swedes are thought to have used them for weapons training on occasion. RAF airframes had the hardpoints, but weren't "wired up" to launch. The Kit This kit isn't brand new, but could be seen as a minor re-tool, due to the fact that the canopy has been re-done to give it the more prototypical Bulldog look, which has much improved the look of the finished model. It arrives in Heritage's usual compact card box, with a printed cover that has a picture of a parked airframe on, as well as the details of the kit. It is a resin multi-media kit, consisting primarily of resin parts, but with a vacformed canopy. Inside the box is a heat sealed bag, partitioned to improve protection of the parts from damage during transit, which contains five separate large resin parts, plus 8 casting blocks containing the rest of the airframe parts in a creamy yellow resin. Another casting block is provided in a more rigid black resin, a small block of clear resin parts, and two vacform canopies are also supplied, as is a small sheet of decals and an instruction booklet. The first thing that is immediately apparent is that the Bulldog is not a large aircraft. That said, the amount of detail that has been included is very good, and casting is very nice, with no bubbles present on initial inspection (some may show up during construction, but that is always an issue with resin kits). The surface detail on the aircraft's skin is excellent, including very fine recessed panel lines, strengthening ribs on the main flying surfaces and deeper engraved lines where the flying surfaces hinge. Internal detail is also good, with a pair of crew seats, a very nice instrument panel with a delicately moulded coaming, a large centre console, rudder pedals, control column and the big rear bulkhead all crammed into the cockpit area. Construction should be fairly straight forward, as the part count is low, and the breakdown of parts is very similar to a comparable injection moulded kit, but without the alignment lugs that can cause as much consternation as assistance. The main fuselage is split in half vertically, with the engine cowling a single separate part. The cowling has some rather nice moulded intakes and exhausts fore and aft, that must have been tricky to cast so well, which will improve the detail at the front of the aircraft immensely. There is one solitary bubble in my copy at the top of the prop mounting point, but as this won't even be seen on the finished article, I'm not going to worry. The cockpit will need painting and assembly first, and due to the rudimentary nature of these simple trainers, the floor of the cockpit follows the shape of the fuselage interior. The centre console hides the seam from view, which is a boon, and the seats, rudders and control columns affix to the floor of the fuselage, so could be left off until after painting, simplifying the masking of the cockpit area, and reducing the chances of damaging the delicate parts. The instrument panel and coaming could also be left of until later, unless you plan on attaching the forward half of the canopy before painting, which would complicate matters. All you need to make a good cockpit is a set of seatbelts and some instrument panel decals from the Airscale range, plus a little care in the painting. Once the fuselage is complete and glued together with super glue or epoxy, the rest of construction should proceed quickly. The wings are each one piece, and have small pins to align them on the wing root, and all you need to do here is ensure the correct dihedral is maintained until the glue goes off. The painting diagram on the instructions will help with this, but do check your references for confirmation before proceeding. The horizontal tail also consists of two parts, with similar pegs to aid alignment, and they are perpendicular to the rudderline, so should be relatively easy to get lined up properly. A pair of strakes attach to the leading edge of the elevators, which will need careful alignment to get the right look. These are a simple butt-joint to the fuselage, so take care in lining them up both with the tail and eachother. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage halves, with a separate rudder, which can be posed however you like within the constraints of the real thing, but don't forget to offset the control columns, or the purists will have you for breakfast! Under the fuselage is a fin that contains the tail skid, which protects the rear of the fuselage from over-exuberant take-offs and poor landings. This is supplied as a single part that is glued directly to the underside of the fuselage in line with the rudder's centre position. The landing gear is fixed, and the resin parts for this are cast in a harder black resin that should see off any worries about the legs bowing over time that are associated with softer resins when subject to heat. I would still keep this little model away from any heat sources though, including any incandescent bulbs that you may have in your display cabinet, as well as the sun when it pokes its head through the clouds on occasion. The tyres are cast with their hubs integrally, which is the only real option at this size, and a quick rub with a sanding stick will put a flat-spot into the tyres if you want to go for the more realistic weighted look to them. The clear parts consist of two side windows cast in resin, which must be added to the fuselage before it is closed up. These parts are suffering a little unevenness to their surfaces, so it would be advisable to polish them up to improve clarity before installing them in the fuselage. The inner surface can be smoothed off and re-polished whilst off the model, after which you could install the parts in the fuselage, filling the seamline as you go, then sanding the outside surface to match the lines of the fuselage to give a nice smooth overall finish. Once you're happy with the shape, polish up the area, which will return the windows to clear, leaving the windows flush and streamlined. The main canopy was originally cast from clear resin, but as it had shape issues it has been replaced by a more accurate vacformed part. An unspoken tradition in the multi-media world is that you get two canopies in case you ruin one, and this kit is no exception. The canopies are drawn from a female mould, and once cut from their protective "box" can be test fitted to the fuselage and adjusted to fit. Don't forget that the Bulldog's main canopy overlaps the sides of the fuselage so that it can be slid back over the spine for entry and egress. As such the canopy should hang free down the side of the fuselage, so don't trim it to fit the cockpit opening. Because of the depth of the "pull" (the term used by vacformers to describe the pulling of the soft styrene sheet over the mould), the side-sills are a little thin and indistinct, so take care when trimming them to ensure you don't go too far. If you plan on posing the canopy open, my recommendation would be to detach the windscreen section, fettle it and glue it on, then tackle the rear canopy. posing the canopy closed will require you to study your references very carefully whilst trimming the canopy to shape. The final part of construction will involve the prop, which is supplied as a central boss, to which the two blades are added. Take care in aligning the two blades fore and aft as well as so they line up from the front, or your Bulldog will look a bit funny! A small peg on the back of the boss lines up with the hole in the front of the cowling, and then it's just a case of adding the two clear beacons, two aerials on the spine and underside, and you'll be ready to go. The decals are kept in their own bag with a sheet of greaseproof paper protecting them. They are printed by Fantasy Printshop, and are well done, with good register and thin carrier film. Colour density appears good on the sheet, but check if applying them over darker colours, especially on the red wingtips. From the box you can portray one of two aircraft, XX206/04 University of Wales Air Squadron, and XX534/B University of Birmingham Air Squadron, both of which wear the familiar red/grey/white scheme that has adorned many a trainer over the years. There are a few choices of minor decals that you should check your references before applying, so a search of airliners.net using the aircraft's serial will be a wise decision. Conclusion Heritage are renowned for tackling little known and esoteric subjects, and also for filling gaps in the market that have long been lamented. The initial release of this appealing little kit was somewhat marred by the concerns over the canopy, but unlike a lot of manufacturers, Ian (the boss and bottle-washer combined) has listened and re-tooled the canopy. It's a nice kit, and as long as you're not phobic about vacformed canopies, it builds pretty much like an injection moulded kit once you've removed the casting block, which are all sensibly places and minimised. This is a kit that will require some modelling skill, and a little acquired experience before you tackle it. It's not suitable for the absolute novice, but anyone that has built a few kits, and maybe dealt with a vacform canopy before, should be capable of dealing with the challenges that a short-run resin kit present. Remember that you must also use super-glue (CA) and/or 2-part Epoxy glues to build resin kits, as plastic cement just doesn't work. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of Ian at