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Hi, Appreciate that there has been a recent group build for the Sea King however I didn't take part as it's taken me 5 months to get to this stage. I'll admit, I've not got that far however my hope is that I will end up with a large model representing this actual aircraft, which coincidentally, was the last aircraft I flew in back on 21st August 1996. Not a particularly interesting flight .. more of an AFCS ( automatic flying control system) check test flight. She passed and was serviceable for future use. The last I heard .. she is sitting down in HMS Sultan, being used as a training aircraft for future WAFU's The link for this is http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=1036995 Anyway, I started with the excellent ( and only) 1:48 scale kit that I could find and ask Santa for. The har.5 kit from Hasegawa "Ark Royal" ?? edition because this would require the least of all options to convert to the has.6 version. First job was to source a MAD sponson for the stbd side, which I did from fellow member "WAFU" and sent him the regular sponson from my kit. Next came the purchase of some PE, which I have never really used before and was pondering the purchase of PE tools. In the end and after some discussion with other members, I just bought some quality smooth pliers and snips. This was mainly due to the fact that there was no real requirement for bending lots of PE that I'd purchased. And so I began... I decided to leave the front seats as is and I appreciate that the Westland versions do not have the large seat supports shown here. This was to help support and place the PJ production 1:48 Lynx crew which I will add later ... especially the all important aircrewman and then... ..the most frightening job for me was to take a saw to my model and I carefully cut out the main cargo door, which thankfully I can reuse and attach later. This was nerve racking to say the least but after some hints and tips from other members, I purchased the best quality micro saw I could afford ... best investment ever. Dry fitted almost everything that I could, as I wanted to minimise fit issues which would require sanding and as such , loose detail. I haven't tried re scribing and due to the good quality of this kit, hopefully I won't have to. There was a gap above the main cockpit and fuselage and this was addressed later. This picture shows the hole I cut in the cabin floor, in order to fit the sonar and you can just see the first bit of PE fitted, which is the sea anchor storage, fitted behind the P2's seat. Decided not to fit the PE yaw pedals as I actually preferred the plastic kit parts, however I did fit the pedal surrounds and sanded down the instrument console, ready for the attachment of the self adhesive PE parts. PE broom cupboard bent & attached. This is where the hydraulic actuators and other gubbins for the AFCS are housed, behind the P1's seat. The first aid kit, flare pistol and piddle tube ( back up intercom !!?? ) was also attached to this cupboard. Finally , I was ready to start some scratch building for the back of this aircraft as the kit is absolutely bare ... which is a shame. The rear crew seats were made using bits n bobs of plastic, copper wire and cocktail sticks. I cannot take credit for this idea, it was borrowed from the excellent thread below http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234976450-sea-king-crew-seat-detaing-revell-72nd-scale-kit/ The seats I was happy with .. the observers / aircrewmans stations .. eh not so much !.... so I started again .. from scratch. Whilst I was trying to figure out the rear consoles, I decided to fit some soundproofing and cabin flooring. For this I simply used some cut up plastic sheet, cut up jiffy bags and some of the plastic straps that held the polystyrene packaging on my new fridge freezer ... another expense I could have done without. Waste not... want not !! Rear consoles v2 ... made using some of the polystyrene packaging, cut to shape and faced with some plastic card. I also use the jiffy bag to make the cover that surrounded the dipping sonar. This was maily due to the fact , that even with the rear cabin door open, viewing access is minimal through said door and cabin/cockpit windows. As you can see, the dimensions of the consoles are much better second time around. I also took the opportunity to fit soundproofing to the cabin ceiling. .... and after painting and applying the cut up cockpit decals from OOB, I ended up with this. I elected to keep the front personnel door closed, so I simply used some polystyrene block to make the fwd equipment rack and also a representation of the MS10 liferaft.. which you can just see through the cockpit. View from the other side Actually quite liked the self adhesive PE for the cockpit .. but it did require a lit bit of help to stick ie superglue Back to the rear cabin area and shown is my first attempt at rear cargo seats. These have since been removed and v2 fitted. I used the luminous "hamma bead" method to fashion the radar screen. Melt the beads using a warm iron and cut to shape. This worked quite well and when exposed to strong light and viewed in darkened conditions you get the following effect. Excuse the poor quality photo .. but you get the idea This was the dirtied effect I was looking for and so far so good. It was then time to take possession of the following bespoke decals sourced from Roger at www.whirlybirdmodels.com Fantastic and just what I wanted. This guy is a genius and we spent several months conversing by email and phone to get the above just right. These are unique to my model and I am over the moon... but lots to do so they have been safely packed away for now The fit of this kit is the best I've come across yet and I finally joined the two halves and dry fitted the various access panels. The gap above the cockpit and glass were filled with platic card and some detail added using wire. The hull is a snug fit and fits perfectly despite what the picture above suggests. I am not going to glue the boat hull section until I've attached the various antenna and decided what I'm going to fit inside the sonar well. I know it will be the correct dipping sonar but I am thinking of scratch building the full body, which I can remove to display, if so required. So this is where I'm at to date. This has taken me 5 months so far, mainly due to work commitments. I could not commit to the time scales of the group build but the fantastic work of all contributors was borrowed for incorporation into my model. This is going to take me several more months but hopefully the result will be be worth it. By posting on this WIP forum, it should ensure that I don't forget about it and do bits n bobs when I can. Thanks for looking in... best wishes

I got a set of transfers from Print Scale which has markings for two FAA Marylands, both of 771 squadron. One AR720 was the one that spotted the Bismark breaking out, so this is the one I will be doing. I've two Azur Marylands, both in Free French guise but that just means spare transfers. I've also picked up a set of Maskol masks. So here's the raw materials and the intended markings Obligatory sprue shots Some resin And clear transparencies Detail is engraved and quite fine. Chocks away and ready for take off.

The Fairey Fulmar being complete, and having a couple of hours to spend in the cave I had a little delve into my stash.. SH Seafire II? - maybe but I just thought I would have a little look in this box... It looks nice in the box - I just wonder how that Bristol Mercury would go together... Looks a bit complicated and could be make or break for this aeroplane. I read some of the kit reviews and they warned that a lot of fitting is required to get the engine in the cowling. So I thought I would give it a quick go, dry fitting only (yeah right!), as you do... And then there was the Instrument Panel. Etch & Vinyls come in the box however I did re-interpret (cock up) the throttle box... So I suppose I had better keep going on it now, back to my usual glacial pace... And maybe use my camera instead of the phone camera.. Thanks for looking..

After a bit of a hiatus (6Months) I'm back on the case now. Working away on both the Seafire MKII and the Sea Gladiator, getting ready to move them to the paint shop But I'm a bit confused over the Sea Gladiator camouflage so I'm looking for input from the Fleet Air Arm experts out there (this really is a nerdy question).. I am doing a collection around FAA Aces, largely based on the Osprey publication. The Sea Gladiator I am building is going to be that flown by Commander Charles Keightley-Peach who led a fighter contingent NAS 813(F) on HMS Eagle N5517/6oA. I have seen a photograph of this aircraft dated July 1940 the picture is from above and appears in two publications, the Osprey book and Stuart Lloyds Fleet Air Arm Camouflage and Markings (Atlantic & Mediterranean Theatres 1937-1941). The kit also has the markings for this aircraft which is in the S1E scheme with roundel in all six positions. In July 1940 would Sea Gladiator N5517 (which had been in storage in Malta until May/June 1940) have had shadow shaded S1E upper surfaces? It is impossible to tell from the photograph, I think it was supposed to be but I do know shadow shading was quietly dropped. Other Sea Gladiator pictures from around the same period don't seem to have shadow shading but they also have straight demarcation between upper and lower schemes which indicates a repainted aircraft. Would the aircraft have the black port underside (or just main planes)? The Roden scheme does not show it, neither do any of the illustrations I have seen, but you cannot tell from the photograph. The Lloyd books states that the aeroplane has roundels in all six positions which would indicate the standard Sky grey finish underside. Pictures of 813 later in the year indicate that there was a black lower port side IFF but it had no lower roundels... Ideally I would like a dated photograph of N5517/6oA just taking off from HMS Eagle, from below clearly showing every detail of the underside with the serial clearly readable - that's not going to happen but can anybody help?

Considering how the Scimitar is a historically important aircraft; being last aircraft produced by Supermarine, how come there's not been an injection plastic kit in 1:48 ? Of course there's the Dynavector kit but that's both vacuumform and starting to become both uncommon and expensive ! Is there a reason as to why a kit was never made by Classic Airframes who appeared to make kits of most other FAA aircraft during the 1950's/1960's ? With the release of other post war FAA subjects within the last 5 years like the Sea Vixen and Sea Hawk surely someone should have made one by now ? Gareth

Hello, While enjoying this sunny Sunday, I would like to share a bit of sunshine with you along with my latest built model. Actually, it was finished in 2017... It is Italeri 1/72 Gruman Hellcat. It has been enhanced by Quickboost gunsight and Eduard seat belts. The decals are from Aeromaster. Hope you like it. Cheers, Antoine

Please may I present to you my just completed 1/48 Special Hobby Blackburn Skua II. I have finished my Skua as the aeroplane of the Royal Navy's first "Ace" of WWII Lt WP Lucy RN of 803 NAS. Blackburn Skua II L2925/F of HMS Glorious flown by Lt Lucy was involved in operations off Norway during April and May 1940. Lt Lucy had been involved in the attacked that sunk the Konigsberg. He went on to share in the destruction of 7 enemy aircraft, 1 probably destroyed, 3 shared damaged. In L2925/F he shared in the destruction of 2 He.111s on 24.04.40 & 07.05.40 but was killed with his observed when the aeroplane exploded attacking a He.111 14.05.40. The kit was constructed out of the box (boxing comes with some resin elements and some etch). Paint is Xtracolour and Tamiya acrylic. Markings were cobbled together using various sets but mainly Xtradecal standard sheets. Anyway enough ramble, here is a couple of pictures.. Hope you like it. By the looks of the pictures I need more matt varnish on those tyres... Thanks for stopping by.. The Blackburn Skua was notable for a Royal Navy aircraft for the large number of ‘firsts’ she notched up in such a short career: First –monoplane in Royal Naval service; First –all-metal aircraft in Royal Naval service; First –British aircraft to shoot down a Confirmed German aircraft in the Second World War; First –aircraft in the world to sink a major warship by dive-bombing; First –British aircraft to have a bomb-ejector fork for bomb to clear propeller in dive; First –British aircraft with sleeve-valve engine; First –British aircraft to feature Koffman starter gun for engine; First –British aircraft to mount four Browning guns clear of prop. No CC gear; First –British aircraft to feature two-speed propeller (two pitch positions); First –and only aircraft to be fitted with anti-spin tail parachute; First –British aircraft equipped with radio-homing beacon on new VHF; First –British aircraft to have front gun reflector sight; First –British aircraft fitted with oxygen bottles and supply lines." Skua:-The Royal Navy's Dive-Bomber: The Royal Navy's Dive-Bomber" by Peter Smith

Hello Everyone, This is my latest completed model of the Hellcat Mk.I in Royal Navy colours in 48th scale by Eduard. This is also my first submission on the RFI forum so I hope you like it.

Hello Everyone, Although I am quite near to the completion of this build, as a new member with Britmodeller I wanted to post my first "Work In Progress" topic for my current project the Eduard 1/48 Fleet Air Arm Hellcat Mk.I. This is the first Eduard kit I have build and have really enjoyed building it, the detail is very good and the kit went together really easily. Sorry in advance for the number of photos.

Was there a standard size for the serial number and 'ROYAL NAVY' legend in WW2? If so, what was the standard size? I'm mostly interested in the 1940/1942 period, but I have found very little on the topic and I would be rather interested in getting a general understanding. Juanita

As a former member of 815 Sqn, when I saw Xtradecal's 815 Sqn decal sheet (X72-108) I just had to start modelling the history of this illustrious squadron - Taranto etc. The squadron initially formed at RNAS Worthy Down on 9 October 1939, from the remnants of 811 and 822 squadrons that had survived the sinking of their carrier HMS Courageous in September 1939, with Fairey Swordfish aircraft. In June 1940, the squadron embarked on HMS Illustrious and sailed for the Mediterranean in August, attacking and minelaying the North African coast. The squadron gained early fame with its involvement in the Battle of Taranto in 1940. The battle consisted of a raid on the Italian Battlefleet in harbour at Taranto which redefined the use of air power from the sea. During the battle only one squadron aircraft was lost (unfortunately with the Squadron's Commanding Officer), compared to the crippling of half the Italian Fleet. In March 1941, the squadron was once again involved in a major operation at the Battle of Cape Matapan. The squadron re-equipped in August 1941 with a mixture of Swordfish and Fairey Albacore aircraft, operating from shore bases in support of the North African campaign. On 10 July 1943, before 815 Squadron was disbanded. To be continued... Fairey Swordfish MkI, L7648/X of 815 NAS, Heliopolis, Egypt, 1942. The model is the 'old' Airfix mould and is showing it's age. The engineering and fit was poor, causing alignment issues. After market helped and was sourced from, Airwaves AC72-178 PE set, Pavla U72-135 resin oil cooler and generator pipes, Mini Part 0.303 Browning machine gun and a 'bodged' Quickboost QB72-363 exhaust. 815 Swordfish 1 by hegertyr, on Flickr 815 Swordfish 2 by hegertyr, on Flickr 815 Swordfish 6 by hegertyr, on Flickr 815 Swordfish 5 by hegertyr, on Flickr 815 Swordfish 3 by hegertyr, on Flickr 815 Swordfish 4 by hegertyr, on Flickr What would I change? the Swordfish was based in the desert under the sun, I think it should be dusty and more weathered, sand is very abrasive. The rigging could be tighter. I've found out that the oil cooler is wrong for a MkI. The torpedo should be black with a yellow warhead? 815 builds to come are: 3 x Swordfish Albacore Fulmar Barracuda Avenger Gannet Whirlwind Wessex Lynx HAS 2/3 Lynx HMA 8 Cheers John

Hi all, I recently picked up this kit and thought I'd share my progress on BM Obligatory sprue shot Before I begin is there are faults or problems in this kit that should know about before I start? -Cam

Hi All, Just recently completed this kit and thought I'd share it with you guys. The kit was alright but was rather annoying in some places especially when joining the two fuselage halves which left a rather large gap which could have just been me, once the gaps had been filled the rest of the build went well and it was finished in my usual fashion with Vallejo Model Air paints. However for the first time I tried doing an oil wash instead of using Tamiya panel line accent colour which I think turned out alright. Constructive criticism is very much welcome! (I know the aerial wire is rather on the thick side but its some temporary stretched sprue until I can find a better alternative) And now a comparison to the same aircraft I painted up over a year ago

Finished the Corsairs, so let's move on to a couple of Martlets, using these Hobbyboss quickbuilds. Hopefully, shouldn't be too big a challenge as these kits go together really well. A little unrefined but something I can live with. They are fun to build so it should be good, and not too taxing which will be ok as I am a bit busy the next few weeks. Mor later.

Hifolks, I have another Tamiya corsair to make so I thought I would use it to do my first wip. The aircraft will be finished as JT371 of 1833 Sqn based on HMS Illustrious. The aircraft was flown by Lt N.Hanson on several occasions, notably during the attack on Sabang and Port Blair. The kit is well known but I will use the MDC conversion kit which comes with several resin parts for the cockpit, air scoops, prop and fuel tank. I aim to display it with wings folded and flaps up. I have added a few ignition wires to the engine. The flaps have had their attachment points cut off and require new ones to go through the existing holes but are shown here glued in. Here the flaps are up on the outer wings and the necessary cut has been made on both wingtips. I'll use some clear sprue to create the wingtip lights.

Chaps, Would anyone happen to know what grey the current Merlin HMA.2s are painted in FAA service? I am after a good acrylic spray-able paint in perhaps the Gunze/Mr Color or Tamiya ranges but want to make sure it's the right one. Cheers for any help. Andy

I'm going to record here my progress on a long-term triple build. It's quite likely that I'll deviate away from time to time to build something else (and I have a Sherman to build for the Great Patriotic War GB), so this may take a while to finish. I have always found De Havilland aircraft to be rather attractive designs, and their distinctive twin-boom jet designs also grabbed my attention when I was a kid. One of the first kits I bought as an adult was the Airfix 1/48 Sea Vixen. I realised when I got home just how big the finished article would be, and it entered the stash as "one for the future". Move on a few years and Airfix released their new tool 1/72 Vampire trainer. I resisted the kit as I didn't particularly like the included schemes and didn't find an aftermarket decal sheet justifiable, but Home Bargains' recent cheap sale of what I assume were Airfix overstocks meant that two kits entered my stash. Crisp's terrific and very educational Sea Vixen FAW.1 build (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234973210-de-havilland-sea-vixen-faw1-890nas-hms-ark-royal-1963-4/) was the final straw catalyst. No more excuses! But first, let's build something a bit smaller. You know, for twin boom practice... None of these are going to be completely OOB, but neither am I exactly going to town on the aftermarket. I'll be doing both Vampires in schemes from the Xtradecal overseas operators sheet #2. One will definitely be in the sand/brown Chilean camo scheme: The other I think will probably be in the Lebanese scheme, though I could easily be tempted by the Swiss and Aussie options on the sheet (or I may just wimp out at the prospect of the red and yellow bands required). I've picked up a couple of the Pavla ejection seats to go in that one; I suspect anything else in the cockpit will be invisible at this scale. Of course, they'll both be dwarfed by their big FAA sister. Again, she won't be OOB as I have some Eduard etch for the interior, and I've invested in a nice new pot of EDSG. Can't wait to brush paint all of that

Hello everybody, I'm in the process of building a FAA Hellcat Mk.I used during Operation Meridian I/II. Many questions on details I could solve myself while analyzing, I think, nearly every picture and video accessible on the Internet, or by reading books and posts in various forums. Only one very important question I couldn't solve to my satisfaction at all yet: Which specific airplane I'm building? Of the many pictures I looked at, most were seemingly taken in 1944 (many pics are dated definitely wrong throughout the Internet) and I don't like to guesstimate if the aircraft, this long after, used the same code during the raids on Palembang. Also the FAA registrations are not easy to make out most of the time, and I'm not familiar with the codes used by the 1839/44 NAS nor any other FAA squadron. So the questions is: Does anyone know which specific Hellcats were flown during the 24th/29th January 1945? I would highly appreciate if you could include the source of the information, but the ultimate goal would be a picture of the specific plane. Still just a registration number would already help a lot, as this would clarify at least which style of cowling would be accurate. If you can contribute anything I'm very grateful! Any other commend, picture, etc., is of course appreciated as well - you never know everything or could locate every picture.

Supermarine Seafire Mk.III "last Fights Over the Pacific" Special Hobby 1:48 It is believed that the Admiralty first showed an interest in a carrier based Spitfire as early as 1938, when Fairey Aviation proposed such a modification could take place. This idea was rejected and subsequently left the Fleet Air Arm to order other less capable aircraft. The matter was again raised in 1939 and a Spitfire was fitted with an A Frame arrestor hook. After further investigation folding wings were added to the specification. At the time one of the major factors holding back a Sea Spitfire (or Seafire as it was to become) was that production capacity was needed for land Spitfires. Due to this Wildcats were ordered from Grumman for the FAA to be called the Martlet. By the end of 1941 the Admiralty again looked at Spitfire project. 48 Spitfire Mk Vbs were converted by Air Training Services at Hamble to become hooked Spitfires. These would allow the Royal Navy to get experience operating the type, which due to its narrow undercarriage and high nose was not the ideal carrier aircraft. The second major type for the RN was the Seafire Mk II, this used a cropped supercharger to provide greater power at lower levels. The IIc was the first major mark to be deployed in any number. The Seafire Mk III was the real first true carrier Seafire. It was developed from the IIc. It had manually folding wings allowing more aircraft to be carried. The wing would fold using a system of two straight chordwise folds. A break was introduced immediately outboard of the wheel well where the wing would fold upwards and slightly forward, a second fold would be at the wingtip. The Mk III would use the Merlin 55 engine with a 4 bladed prop. The Mk III would be used by the Fleet Air Arm, The Irish Air Corps, and the French Aéronavale. The French would receive 65 Mk IIIs which were deployed to Vietnam on board the carrier Arromanches in 1948. The Irish Air Corps were supplied with 12 Mk III in 1947 which were stripped of their Naval equipment (except the wing fold) by Supermarine. The Kit The kit arrives in a fairly sturdy box. Inside are three large and three small sprues of grey plastic, a clear sprue, a sheet of vinyl, a sheet of photo etch; and an instrument panel film. Construction as with most aircraft starts with the cockpit area. The bulkhead forward of the pilot is made up along with the instrument panel. This is added to the engine firewall, the floor area including rudder pedals and control column is added. The seat can then be attached to its backing of armour plate, this along with the headrest is then added to the rear fuselage frame. PE seat belts and harness straps are then added. The next step is to add both of the previous subassemblies onto the main fuselage. Lage side panels with relief details are also added at this stage. The fuselage can then be closed up. The vinyl parts can then be applied to the closed up fuselage. The next stage in construction is the wings. The upper wing halves are attached to the one part lower wing. The internal sections of the wheel wells need to be placed inside the wing sections before they are closed up. The right cannon bulges need to be glued to the upper wing. There is no internal structure under the bulges. Be sure to use the right cannon bulges as there are four different sets on the sprues. The propellor is the next sub assembly to be built up, along with the arrestor hook parts If your build needs them). The next major task is to attach fuselage to the wings. Following this the tail planes, rudder, ailerons; and wing tips are added. Attention then turns to the underside of the aircraft. The radiators, engine under cowling, air intake and tail wheel are added. If your aircraft has an arrestor hook this sub assembly is also added, if not then a plate is added to this area. The undercarriage is also assembled and added at this stage. Finally to wrap up your build the engine exhausts, appropriate cannon barrels, aerial mast, entry door, propellor assembly; and canopies are added to the kit. Photo Etch & Vinyl A small photo etched fret is provided for the seat belts & harness, Instrument panel, rudder pedals, escape crowbar, and fuselage stiffening plates. A self adhesive vinyl sheet provides for raised areas on the fuselage where even PE would be too thick. An acetate film is provided for use between the PE instrument panel parts. Canopy The clear parts are very clear and remarkably thin. Care will need to be taken removing them from the sprue. I am not sure if the main canopy will fit over the rear part as the instructions do not show this. Decals Decals are provided for 3 aircraft. PR256, 894 Sqn HMS Indefatigable. April 1945. PR240, 880 Sqn HMS Improbable, June 1945. NN212, 887 Sqn HMS Indefatigable, August 1945. All decals are printed by Aviprint, are in register and colour density looks good. Conclusion A good re-release from Special Hobby showing aircraft from the last combat patrols of the FAA in the Far East. In fact NN212 took part int eh very last combat of the Fleet Air Air of WWII. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Good day again all! This is my first RFI for quite a while. This is a Special Hobby Sea Hawk depicted as WM 995 OF 802 NAS. I have built her as a Suez machine on board HMS Albion. This aircraft was actually hit by Egyptian ground fire which resulted in a damage to the stbd drop tank. The kit comes with a nice load of resin and one piece is a drop tank that depicts the damage, so I modelled her postflight, blanked up ready for a drop tank change. The kit was originally the MPM version with resin cockpit incorporating a front nose wheel well, seat and drop tanks, bombs and sidewinders for other versions. There is also a nice etch set but very little was used on this kit, just the IP. The only disappointment was no resin for the main gearbay. I wanted this to be a quick build but got hung up on a couple of things. I did have to open up the gun ports as the kit just had engravings but they turned out fine in the end. As ever finished in Model Master acrylics and kit decals which are a little transparent when placed over the fuselage stripes. Blanks are scratched from plastic card and wire handles, saved alot of effort in building up the intakes. Although black and white blurry pictures of the actual aircraft show a relatively clean fuselage I did muck up the area around the damaged tank. Any hoo enjoy!

I was thinking about projects for the future and wondered what was the best (cheapest) way to get a 1/48 HC.4 Sea King. I have a Wessex HU.5 kit in stash and a Lynx HMA.8 with the backdate kit to make it an HAS.2. Was thinking a Falklands war Helicopter display would be quite satisfying. Would the Revell boxing of the SH-3H US Navy Sea King be a good starting point? Is there any resin available to make the changes to the landing gear? Has anyone got any plans to bring out a kit in the near future that I'm not aware of saving the whole expensive and messy business of 'making' an HC.4 from bits and bobs. Airfix scaling up their 1/72 Junglie would be awesome! Thanks. :-)

Hi, I joined this Group build and life got in the way so I missed the end unfortunately. Here is my completed Wessex HAS.1 which is built from the Italeri Kit. Please click on above link for build thread. Now before anyone spots it I'll confess and inacurracy... The MODEX number of 266 abbreviated to 66 on the nose is actually for HMS Hermes. But I wanted a OOB Wessex and also wanted a representation of the plane guard from the mighty Ark so this is close enough for me. Enjoy...

Hi folks, here is the AIrfix Harrier I was given. Dressed it up with some Pavla intakes, some scratch / scrap resin added to wheel bays and Pigsty gave me a seat. Build Thread... Enjoy.

Okay, I have not got the kit yet. I have lots to do at home as well as a 1/48 Phantom FG.1 and a 1/48 Sea Harrier to finish I have also a confession of shame that I bought the kit and never started it for the last rotary GB I joined which involved a Huey. However, given my 1/48 Phantom obsession, and my love of FAA subjects I am going to join this with the intended aim of producing a Plane Guard Wessex from Ark's Fleet. First helicopter since I was a kid, so no fancy bits, just as close as I can get to an OOB Wessex build. Any pointers on which kit and mods I need to make will be gratefully received! Thanks.