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My next entry for this group build is the 1/72nd Alouette II kit produced by Extratech from the Czech Republic in 1998 and it has been sat in my stash for a while. The kit consists of a lot of PE in a fairly soft brass sheet, some very nicely cast resin (especially for the period) and the cockpit bubble vacformed in very thin sheet. A small decal sheet and what look at first sight look like comprehensive instructions completes the package. The Sud Aviation Alouette II was the first production turbine helicopter and first flew in 1955 and about 1300 were built. My model will be an Army Air Corps version, Two were ordered in 1958 for evaluation purposes and a further 15 bought as stopgaps as the Scout was taking longer to develop than first anticipated. They remained in service until 1988 serials were, XN132-3, XP966-7, XR232 and XR376-XR387 Of course the tailboom will be made of flat rather than tubular pieces, but I think I can live with that in the interests of getting the kit built. I have made a start on the fuselage and engine. The instructions are less helpful than they look. I feel this is going to be challenging.

So far I've effectively finished 6AFVs and 2 on the way to completion with a half finished Sa Gladiator. The AFVs have been straightforward builds and although the Sea Gladiator does need some conversion work from the Airfix Gladiator it's a fairly decent build. Therefore as a final contribution (but never say never) I'm going for something a tad more challenging. The Albacore was a much maligned aircraft, it seems to have suffered from not being a Swordfish but was an effective torpedo and dive bomber and gave sterling service, particularly in the Med. Although it was intended as a Swordfish replacement it's performance was little better although it gave a significantly more favourable environment for its crew. But it sank and damaged a considerable tonnage of Axis shipping as well as finding use as a bomber in the Desert and all around the Med. They were also used in the Norwegian campaign and to mine German ports and waterways. The Albacore has been poorly serviced in kit form and a Swordfish conversion would be a mammoth undertaking. Special Hobby do box it in 1:48 and threatened one in the gentlemans scale a few years back but that never came to fruition. This Magna kit is the only one to my knowledge that exists in 1:72 and even then it's not easy to find. I picked this up, I think from a second hand dealer, at SMW a few years back always intending to build it. As a good Scot it looks like I did get a bargain. I have no illusions that it will be a challenging build but I do have a few months so I'll give it my best shot.

A model from 4 years ago: I really enjoy and applaud every time a manufacturer ventures beyond the usual frontiers and presents something refreshing. In this case, Special Hobby offering started nevertheless as a war bird, as you can tell for the machine-gun holes and other clues. These exact molds were first released as such. But then, in a welcome turn of inspiration, Special Hobby went for the racers to which many of this military machines were converted after the war. The decal sheet offers no less than four choices! The complete kit package is constituted by multiple resin parts nicely and cleanly cast, a small photoetched fret, a piece of printed film for the instrument panel, extensive decals as said before, two (!) vacuformed canopies and several pages of instructions. All of the items are neatly bagged and therefore protected, only to put them in one of those self-squashing, end-opening boxes. The model is not new now (2014) but it is still available for a reasonable price. The price is reasonable, sure, because the moldings show the effects of a lesser molding technology, with no locating pins, thick gates and prominent seam lines. Very little flash is present, but to get out some of the parts is not easy, and I broke two -that I promptly repaired- even when I was extra careful and, err, have been doing this for a little while. The surface detail is very good, and dry trials showed a not too precise fit, although not bad either. The masters for these parts were superb, but the technology for the fabrication of the kit traded low cost for some loss of quality. So be it. This subject is a tad outside my usual choices' envelope and is the one portrayed in the box art, but bear in mind that the contemporary machine you see on the Net is not exactly like the original machine that participated in the races in the late 40's. You get parts for both, as well as others to cater for some little differences between the other subjects in the decal sheet. Beware that in spite the abundant decals some areas still have to be painted, in this case white at the front of the nose and the vertical stabilizer tip. Always study your photos (NOT drawings) and compare, then take notes and proceed. The kit got an incorrect 9-cyl row engine, but the kit I am building has a 7-cyl row that came with later -corrected- releases, although it still has three magnetos instead of the seven needed. And so it began: As soon as I compared the "corrected" resin engine with the real thing I noticed that if it was true that the cylinder count was now correct, the cylinders themselves were not; being the shape, pushrods, configuration, all not accurate. So I ordered and Engine & Things P&W R-4360 aftermarket engine and to hell with the kit's one. Then I turned my attention to the resin bits. There are three things I don't like about resin parts: 1) When they are bad (NOT this case) 2) When they do not have a good fit (more on this) 3) When they are ridden with flash, pinholes, bubbles, etc ( again, NOT this case) 4) When the pouring blocks are not intelligently or practically connected to the parts themselves (more on that) 5) That they are made of resin (more on that too) Sorry, did I say I didn't like three things about resin parts? I guess they were more. The resin parts as said are good, well detailed, and mine had no blemishes whatsoever. While most came out obediently from their pouring blocks, the wheel wells were cast in a way that made very difficult to remove the excess resin, and this is critical because these parts are trapped between the wing halves, and of course, like every other resin cockpit and wheel well in the universe, they do not fit, being too thick (point 2). But if you sand too much, you will come through the wheel well roof , ruining the part, so WHY was the pouring block located there (point 4)? Anyway, you will have to sand too the wing parts to allow for the part to fit. As you sand the resin parts you produce an interesting amount of harmful resin dust, a health hazard. So the more you have to sand away those pouring blocks and the parts for them to fit the more crap you generate. I use a mask and do it partially under running water, but the stuff surely gets somewhere else too (point 5). The resin exhaust stubs are correct for the original racer (the two top on the sides being larger and the two lower ones shorter). The contemporary rebuilt plane has all four side stubs of the same length. The kit manufacturer omitted the ones that run underneath the fuselage, another three pairs of them, that you will have to scratch and add. The prop is too small for this variant,. Another glitch that keeps you in "step 0" fixing things and thus unable to proceed with the building itself. It is good that the overall quality of this kit is so high, and that's a strong motivation to persist. All these minor issues are not something terrible, and are relatively easily taken care off. But I have one complaint: the fuselage is split in two halves as usual vertically, but all the way up to the front; no separate cowl, no separate lip. This for me is a mistake, because you trap the engine as you join the fuselage, therefore corrections on the joints inside the cowl's lip are very difficult. A separate front lip was all that was required, and as it is, is reminiscent of bad and old kits. I was tempted to cut the cowl off and assemble it separately, or at least cut the lips off and join them apart, but decided against it in order not to mount even more corrections and tidying ups. The model shows the beautiful lines of the original now at the service of a more peaceful purpose. I liked this one, especially for the well-cast resins, the crisp and sturdy vac canopies (2!) and the superb level of surface detail; although it is not -as any other kit- without its issues. The decals cover many subjects and the graphics and register are superb, but they are really fragile and shatter easily, and there are a few wrong calls in the numbers. The decals adapt to the surface detail superbly, but are a pain in the neck to handle. There are, as you know, other good-looking racing colors and designs for this kit. As I commented, there are some differences between the restored machines and the originals, so study your references. Although restorations and rebuilds of planes are commendable and deserve high praise, as a norm I never trust them as a source for information regarding the original machines, since invariably something is off. And it is in this case as usual. You could model, of course, the contemporary machine and be done with the issue, but I am a nostalgic and enjoy digging in the past to rescue as much as possible of the golden glory and charm of the vintage subjects. As you may know, besides this Special Hobby kit, there is an Aviation Usk / Xotic-72 kit of the same plane, but I can't comment on it since I have never seen one. This model requires care and attention, and for sure some skill, but the reward for your no little efforts is a stunning racer with lots of pizzazz.

Frenchman Clement Ader, aviation pioneer, built in the late 1800s a series of steam-powered "avions" with a unique "bat-plane" flavor to them. Reputedly the first one, the "Eole", barely lifted and flew erratically for a little while. The Avion III -represented by this "dR design" kit- is a further development that again, reputedly, took off -tethered- from a circular track but crash-landed. These "flights", although neither spectacular nor really effectively controlled -more like hops-, precede nevertheless the Wright Bros. historic flight by many years. I built this model some time ago, but I though of posting it as it is related and appeared in conversation the comments of the Cayley's Glider I posted yesterday. The DR kit from Brazil is a meritorious effort and deserves praise and support, but the kit leaves quite a bit to be desired, especially regarding its resin components, which are frankly lacking in many aspects. This is no beginner kit and requires experience and skill to be built, but it can be built.

I thought I should probably get a thread underway, I've decided to go with the Friendship Models 1/76 Landwasserschlepper.....It's a charming little kit of a fairly unique subject: http://eshop.friendshipmodels.org.uk/epages/BT3667.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3667/Products/WV76021 (Having said that and going on past precedent, I expect a 1/72 injection moulded LWS to be announced imminently). Something of a place-marker post at the moment as we've had the kids round so things are even more chaotic than usual.....I'll be back with pics soon. Cheers to Mish & Rich for hosting the GB.

Welsh Model is to release a 1/72nd Bae 146 multimedia kit in 2015. Source: http://www.welshmodels.co.uk/ V.P.