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I call this a nostalgia build, but really it is anything but. I am exorcising some deep rooted modelling demons from my dim and distant past. I remember badgering my poor mother to get me this kit, on the fortnightly Friday shop at Tescos in Eastleigh. I was very young, and this must have been around 1979, the kit couldn't have been out long. She had obvious reservations that the modelling skills of her 6 or 7 year old son would not be up to the task, and she was of course correct. Getting the top wing on was way to much for me, and I remember - still with a shudder - the mess being chucked in the bin. When I look back now, and realise how little money my folks had back then, I cringe in shame. Anyway, fast forward 40 years and my interest in local aviation has grown 10 fold. Back then it was Roy Huxleys artwork that had me sold, now I know this magnificent flying boat was designed and built just a mile away from me and flown from the Solent. When I started dipping my toe in the modelling waters again a couple of years ago one of the first kits I made was the little Revell rebox of the Walrus, which triggered long buried memories of the aborted Stranraer build, and an original boxing was soon acquired for under a tenner. I've been happy enough looking at it on the small stash shelf but a recent photo has rekindled interest enough to bump it to the top of the pile. I am rather partial to the 1938 temperate camouflage applied after the Munich crisis, so this photo that popped up on facebook piqued my interest. I've yet to discover where this flight of Stranraers was based, but the photo shows them flying up the Solent, escorting the RMS Empress of Australia back into Southampton on the 22nd June 1939 after her Royal Tour of Canada. RMS Empress of Britain escorted by three Supermarine Stranraers by Mike, on Flickr A quick search for K7297 brings up the sad news that she was lost in bad weather over the North Sea just two months later, with the loss of all hands. According to the official Air Ministry announcement in 'Flight' magazine (August 31, 1939 page 205 - see link #4): "FLYING ACCIDENTS With reference to the disappearance on August 19 of an aircraft of No.209 Squadron, the Air Ministry announces with regret that, as extensive searches have failed to find the aircraft and its occupants, it must now be accepted that the following personnel lost their lives on that date:- F/O (Acting Flt Lt) Frederick Ernest Royston King; F/O Arthur Frederick Barber; L./AC Donald Fulcher; A/C.1 David George Poeten Ash; A/C.1 Walter Joseph Jeckells; A/C.2 Leslie Samuel Freshwater. F/O (Acting Flt. Lt.) King and F/O Barber were the first and second pilots of the aircraft and LA/C Fulcher, A/C.1 Ash, A/C.1 Jeckells and A/C.2 Freshwater were the other members of the crew." http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/208561 One of the reasons I had held back making this kit was I was struggling to to choose what livery/markings to paint it, especially as there are some colourful post war civil options. This information made my mind up for me, I'd represent K7297. Now to find out exactly how she was painted. I'm assuming Dark Earth and Dark Green, but I'm not sure about the undersides atm. Silver? There are a few excellent builds out there, feel free to copy any links to help me! I'm aware the kit has a few flaws and I'd like to fix them if it's within my skills. And as this is a nostalgia build I make no apologies for the photo dump! PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

I would like to propose a group build: ‘A kit you built as a kid’ (let’s classify this as before the age of 18) (i don’t know if this has been done before - if it has please delete this post.) But that childhood build should be memoral for you, and hence accompanied with a story of why and when in your first post. The participant should track down the specific kit (which could be in later-guise for example a reboxing, or added parts / decals in a later re-issue but essentially the ‘same kit’.) One can build the kit to any standard (of course it does not need to echo the child-like technique or finish of the original build (but can do if you so wish). This can be aircraft, armour, maritime, space and sci-fi.... indeed anything. To offer an example and inspiration; mine was a period airfix hawk. after seeing the 1986 series ‘test pilot’ link here.. I ran down to the LHS and wanted to buy a hawk. I vividly remember spending my pocket money on the 1:72 airfix hawk, red gloss humbrol enamel, black gloss humbrol enamel, white gloss humbrol enamel, 1 paintbrush and and some squeezable plastic cement and within hours i proudly had a finger-print ridden glossy red-arrows hawk. That started my youth model-making. I think this could be a really fun group build and nostalgic experience peppered with interesting tales. List so far: 1 @Dansk Airfix hawk 1/72 HOST 34 @modelling minion tba CO-HOST 56 @Hewy Revell Space Shuttle & Matchbox Gnat CO-HOST 2 @Sturmovik Bf 109G-10 in 1:48 from Revell 3 @helios16v Monogram A-10 1/48 4 @vppelt68 tba 5 @Corsairfoxfouruncle phantom rf-4b 6 @Foxbat matchbox pz.kpfw / hurricane IIc 7 @Valkyriemultiple options 8 @Scargsy tamiya panther 9 @Caerbannog airfix u2 10 @Bonhoff multiple options 11 @uncletommy monogram ford tri-motor 12 @Arniec matchbox multiple options 13 @Nocoolname multiple options 14 @JosephLalor Jetstream c-10 15 @Panther II jet 16 @VMA131Marine airfix 1/72 chipmunk 17 @JOCKNEY b-17g airfix 1/72 18 @Fatboydim tba 19 @JohnT revell 1/72 20 @Mig Eater 1/48 revell b1-b 21 @zebra airfix comet / vc-10 / bae 1-11 22 @stevej60 revell seafire / airfix seaking 23 @exdraken Revell F-15 / F-117 24 @Paul J tba 25 @NorwegianWood tba 26 @Ventora3300 tba 27 @MarkSH Airfix 28 @MaxHeadroom Airfix JU-52 29 @JohnT Revell Me109e 30 @Dazzio Revell 1/72 Mil-24 Hind D tbc 31 @Erwin Matchbox Me 109 E 32 @Adam Poultney airfix red arrows hawk (and gnat) 33 @Harrywilliams hawk t2 35 @PhantomBigStu esci f8 / matchbox mystere 36 @Hockeyboy76 airfix 1/72 harrier in snow camouflage 37 @Ozzy airfix 1/72 pe2 38 @TonyW airfix sterling 39 @AdrianMF 1/48 Inpact/Life-Like Bulldog or an Airfix Hudson 40 @Jb65rams Tamiya's 1/35 Panzer Kampfwagen II 41 @Rafwaffe oldschool matchbox/hasegawa 42 @PeterB Airfix G50 and the Revell MC. 200 43 @MarkSH Airfix’s ‘Greif’ 44 @Adrian Hills matchbox boeing P12e or Land of the Giants ‘Spindrift’ 45 @klr one of a hundred candidates! 46 @Franz75 something matchbox 47 @Romeo Alpha Yankee airfix b-17 / airfix boston 48 @JohnT loads to choose from... 49 @Ted revell spad / fokker dr1, tamiya tiger, italeri elefant sp gun. If he can find them 50 @Jinxman 1/72 Airfix Bf 109G double build 51 @Beazer Revellogram P-61 52 @vppelt68 TBA 53 @TommyF TBA 54 @JMChladek Revell 1/72 F4U Corsair (probably) 55 @malpaso TBA 57 @moviedrone Revell USS Voyager 58 @wimbledon99 Tomcat 59 @Enzo Matrix Tunnocks Tea Cakes 60 @GREG DESTEC 1/32 Revell Hurricane 1 61 @bobster Matchbox Bristol Beaufighter & Airfix Martin Marauder 62 @Bonehammer TBC 63 @monsjmse Heller-Humbrol 1:72 Spitfire XVIE & more.. (can’t keep the list up to date...)

Hello All, Attached are some pictures of a nostalgia build I completed recently. It s vintage Monogram Avenger. I trimmed off all the working feature bumps and bits , split the bomb bay doors, drilled-out the exhaust, trimmed t, refined the pilots machine gun area, removed the turret gunner from the sat (one figure was enough to paint lol), reworked the torpedo a bit, replaced the kit wheels and tires with spare ones from a Accurate Miniatures Avenger and replaced as many rivets as I lost during sanding. Paint is Vallejo over a primer of Tamiya acrylic. Final matt is Vallejo. Markings depict a surviving Avenger to get back to Midway during the battle...the turret gunner was killed. They were scavenged from the TBD kit and my stash. I accomplished a couple of things with this build. Finally got an early Avenger in my collection, have a model with the wings folded and got this kit done as it has haunted me since the early 60's of the early efforts trying to get all the working features to work properly. Proving once again with age comes knowledge...the wings are permanently folded. LOL! Hope you enjoy the pictures. All the Best! Don

With thanks to tomthounaojam for inspiring me to break out my ancient Hasegawa A-4E Skyhawk kit (which I had first built as a college student in the early 1970s), and to tc2324 for his excellent "Sundown Launch" build, I present to you my VFA-203 "Blue Dolphins" A-4L in-flight action build. Thanks for viewing! (My WIP can be found here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235060938-nostalgia-build-172-hasegawa-a-4-skyhawk/ )

Hi all, Just got this one finished for the Matchbox GB here on the forum - those with an eye for general accuracy or rivets, please look away now! Talk about a trip down memory lane. While I never built this one as a kid, I remember their kits and great boxart and how they seemed to be in every newsagent and corner shop. Happy days. The full build thread is here but to recap: Kit: Matchbox PK-128 Build: OOB except for tarting up the pilots' seats: Paints: White from a rattle can, all others Revell Acrylic with a brush. Klear. Decals: From the kit! This aircraft XX915 was written off in a non-fatal crash in 1984. Taking off from Boscombe Down on a routine flight, No 1 engine failed and the pilot Sqn. Ldr. Tim Allen began to prepare for an emergency landing. During approach, No 2 engine ignited fuel leaking from the failed No 1 engine and the pilot ejected and landed nearby at Porton Down. The aircraft crashed onto open farm land 0.75 miles from there. You can read the full accident report here. Matchbox T2 Jaguar EPTS PK-128 (1) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Matchbox T2 Jaguar EPTS PK-128 (7) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Matchbox T2 Jaguar EPTS PK-128 (9) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Matchbox T2 Jaguar EPTS PK-128 (10) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr And along with my Revell Jag.. Matchbox T2 Jaguar EPTS PK-128 (13) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Matchbox T2 Jaguar EPTS PK-128 (14) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Thanks for looking and enjoy your modelling. Cheers, Dermot

I started this build a couple of weeks ago as part of a Nostalgia build on another forum. I thought I would share it here as I am new on BM. I wanted to build this kit as I remember this being one of the first kits I built as a kid. I wanted to keep this build as close to OOB as possible only using some aluminum tubing for the guns and pitot tube. I was pleased with the fit of the kit in general. I really only ran into issues with the decals. The smaller stencils fell apart when they hit the water. I managed to save one of the stencils and all of the larger decals. It was fun to build this kit OOB bringing back some fond memories of building it as a kid. Thanks for looking.