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Finished this a while ago but bad weather, DIY etc. prevented me from photographing it. The High Planes kits are made of very strange soft plastic but cover this interesting variant of the Beaufort used towards the end of WW2 for freight. This and other examples carried the message 'japan has surrendered' under the wings to inform renegade units of the Japanese Army. the model is airbrushed using Acrylics which I am not a fan of and will stick to enamels in future as they seem a lot more hard wearing. Some pictures...

New project and something a bit simpler than my vacform Sparrow. Decided on a High Planes DAP Beaufort transport version complete with 'Japan has surrendered' message on the underside of the wings, like this.. The kit came from ebay The plastic is odd and doesn't like poly cement much and comes in two shades of plastic with some spare flash. Oh and a few white metal bits too. The cockpit interior is basic but there is some detail on the inside of the fuselage. Started with the cockpit, mostly scratch and am close to sealing up. Couldn't resist the now compulsory navigators lamp!

Some time ago Procopius sent me a couple of Bristols as a thank you for driving him around a bit during his trip to the UK. Generous man I've been building my skills for this one and I'm pleased I did when I researched my chosen scheme - N1016 as OAoX of 22 Sqn. Coastal Command, St. Eval, April 1941. The instructions mention the pilot as F/O Kenneth Campbell who attacked battle cruiser Gneisenau over Brest harbour April 6 1941. His Wiki entry says this: On 6 April 1941 over Brest Harbour, France, Flying Officer Campbell attacked the German battleship Gneisenau. He flew his Beaufort through the gauntlet of concentrated anti-aircraft fire from about 1000 weapons of all calibres and launched a torpedo at a height of 50 feet (15 m). The attack had to be made with absolute precision: the Gneisenau was moored only some 500 yards (460 m) away from a mole in Brest's inner harbour. For the attack to be effective, Campbell would have to time the release to drop the torpedo close to the side of the mole. That Campbell managed to launch his torpedo accurately is testament to his courage and determination. The ship was severely damaged below the waterline and was obliged to return to the dock whence she had come only the day before; she was put out of action for six months, lessening the threat to Allied shipping crossing the Atlantic. Generally, once a torpedo was dropped, an escape was made by low-level jinking at full throttle. Because of rising ground surrounding the harbour, Campbell was forced into a steep banking turn, revealing the Beafort's full silhouette to the gunners. The aircraft met a withering wall of flak and crashed into the harbour. The Germans buried Campbell and his three crew mates, Sergeants J. P. Scott DFM RCAF (navigator), R. W. Hillman (wireless operator) and W. C. Mulliss (air gunner), with full military honours. His valour was only recognised when the French Resistance managed to pass along news of his brave deeds to England. He was awarded a posthumous VC for this action. I hope I've done him and his crew justice. Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr My longest WiP ever is here (although there's a lot about pies; don't ask)

I'm currently in the middle of detailing the interior of a Mk.1 - L9878 MW-R to be precise. I have been approached by Peter Nesbitt nephew of Roy Conyers Nesbitt and I've been adding as much interior detail as possible with the aim of having some pilots in situ. The plan is to have the aircraft as if it has been stood down from a sortie. It will have the torpedo in place but the idea is to have as many hatches open ready for crew egress. I know about the port side fuselage hatch, but I'm also aware of the escape hatch in the nose underside. I haven't seen any b&w photos of this hatch being open, so would it be appropriate to have it open? Also what other hatches would be open while the aircraft is on ethe ground? Martin

Beaufort Mk.VIII A9-559 - a composite of several RAAF aircraft, displayed as Mk.IIA DD931/L. Full history from the RAF Hendon website here. Pics thanks to Ian (Depressed Lemur) at The RAF Museum Hendon.

Archive Allsorts Is a collection of all sorts of second world war aviation pictures as revealed here using a variety of Public Domain archival images. Fieseler Fi 156C-5 Storch Fieseler Fi 156C-5 Storch, W.Nr. 4487 of Aufklärungsstaffeln 1 (Heer)/Aufklärungsgruppe 32, 1.(H)/32 at Kemijärvi, Finland during 15 September 1941. Department of Aircraft Production Beaufort Mk VIII During World War II, from August of 1941 through to August of 1944 Australia’s Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) built 700 Bristol designed Beaufort general-reconnaissance/torpedo bombers. Production of the Beaufort with a workforce of 23,800 was a tremendous industrial achievement for Australia’s fledgling aviation industry. The DAP Beaufort which equipped seventeen operational squadrons, was the backbone of the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF’s) offensive capabilities throughout the war in the South West Pacific. Shown on this page are several DAP Beaufort Mk VIII aircraft during assembly early in 1943 at Fisherman’s Bend, Victoria. Of the aircraft seen A9-271, A9-273, A9-275, A9-277 and A9-279 can be identified. All of these aircraft were delivered to 1 Aircraft Depot of the RAAF, with A9-271 arriving during 22 March 1943, followed by A9-273 plus A9-275 during 8 April 1943. A29-277 and A9-279 were subsequently delivered during19 April 1943. Wright R-1820-97 Cyclones for the Boeing B-17F-50-BO Flying Fortress Shown above as captured by Office of War Information Photographer Andreas Feininger in December of 1942, are various Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone engines prior to fitting on Boeing B-17F-50-BO Flying Fortress bomber aircraft during assembly at the Boeing Aircraft Plant, Seattle, Washington, United States of America. Lockheed P-38F Lightning Captured by Office of War Information (OWI) Photographer Russell Lee during May of 1942 a United States Army Air Force (USAAF) mechanic can be seen at work upon Lockheed P-38F Lightning 41-7511 at Lake Muroc, California, United States of America. Lend-Lease Fighters Photographed by OWI Photographer Nick Parrino, the Commander of the USAAF in the Middle East, Major General Lewis Hyde Brererton, poses with 4 Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily (VVS) officers from the Soviet Union, at Abadan in Iran during March of 1943. They are seen standing in front of the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory (CBAF) built Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire FVB EP400, which was a British Lend-Lease aircraft, delivered to the VVS. Also seen behind the Spitfire shown above is Curtiss P-40K-10-CU Warhawk, 42-10107 and an unidentified Bell P-39 Airacobra, all like the Spitfire were delivered to the VVS through Lend-Lease arrangements. All of the above posted Public Domain images in this instance have been sourced from the following archives; SA-Kuva and the Library of Congress.

So it´s time to KUMyA and finish the Beaufort that didn´t make it in the Obsolete Kit GB. Started here. Nothing else happened but a promise to myself to finish it! Regards, V-P