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Bit of a random one here. I'm try to track down any details on a Whitley that was pinched by the Radar Research group of the Air Ministry to be used as a testbed for the sideways-looking 1.5m wavelength long range air to surface vessel radar installation (for Uboat detection). From what I have found this appears to have been done in late 1939 or perhaps (I suspect more likely) in February 1940. The only possible identifier I've found is from this source, which suggests the aircraft had code J-DY / DY-J which, I guess making it ex- 102 squadron, and could be a Mk III or V. An aircraft of those markings landed in Belgium on 8th Sept '39 after a leaflet drop sortie and was eventually lost to bombing; I didn't see any other losses from that squadron until commencement of bombing operations in April '40, which may suggest the 'next' DY-J was the aircraft ultimately used. I've got very little other information other than after testing, the aircraft ended up at St. Athan on 17th August 1940, where 32 MU and RAE installed similar radar to more Whitleys. (source Airborne Maritime Surveillance Radar, Volume 1: Volume 1, British ASV Radars in WWII 1939-1945 (IOP Concise Physics)) which one can currently read the relevant parts online, amazon 'look inside' for example). Pretty random one there, I don't expect any results, but thought I'd ask. Also don't know whether it was likely to have retained its camouflage and markings during the testing period; and if not what would have replaced them. Bonus question for 10, I'm unclear which was the first coastal command squadron to use this radar, possibly 502? Thanks for any help! Andy

Hallo My question: Is there a specific load pattern for IR guided and Radar guided missiles? Russian a/c types only! Question toward: Starbord this or that Port this and that Or this type this & that... Has anybody some clue and proof? Looking forward your answer. Happy modelling & THank you in forward

The catchy Radar, Field Artillery, No 15 was better known as Cymberline in British Service. This was a primarily a Mortar fire locating radar. The MK1 was on a towed trailer and the MK2 was fitted toa FV432 chassis. This is the MK1, pics mine taken at Norfolk Tank Museum.

Hi all After putting out some dustbin stuff this morning i looked in the recycle bin ,and the light bulb came on,I'll include some pics of the kinda stuff i found even a old t bag some drink lids various other rubbish old pegs you see what a mean . so what to build from this pile of stuff i like ww2 mainly but this after some tea and thought will go one of many ways may even find other items that stick out to me this will be updated once or twice a week once i decide on what it will be thanks todd8137

I've got to the point with the big 1/32 Beaufighter that it is time to fit the radar aerials/antenna... The aircraft had Mk iV radar, operating at 220 MHz, amusingly the same as DAB Radio today....! The big question is what colour should they be? DAB antenna do not like to be painted, they tend to be either chromed or black anodised. So, assuming they are not chrome would black for the antenna be correct, with the support part in background colour? Colour photos are seemingly not available, at least I can't find one. Suggestions anyone? Peter

Hello, I am now building HMAS Canberra in 1/700 as she appeared just before the time of her loss at Savo Island on August 8th, 1942, based on the Kombrig resin kit. My questions at this moment are related to details of the following: Bridge equipment - there is a well-known photo showing HMAS Australia´s open bridge details during wartime, but her modified bridge was very much different from her sister´s at that time. Would anybody have some photos showing other Kent-class cruiser´s original-style bridge layout and details? Type 271 radar was housed in a typical lantern, that had either octagonal or circular shape. Unfortunately, neither of the few photos I know of showing Canberra´s final fit (photo 1, photo 2) including 271 radar is clear enough to be able to see it clearly enough to tell which type it was. Would anybody be able to tell e.g. based on the type likely to be installed in that period? She also carried a Type A290 radar on her foremast. To depict the radar however I would need more details that I was not able to find yet, especially dimensions and ideally clear photos or even a drawing of the set. The best I´ve got so far is this photo of HMAS Warramunga with A290 but anything better would be highly welcome. Thank you! (For those interested, there also is an interesting discussion regarding Canberra´s Walrus colours at this forum)

VAUTOUR IIN "Cyrano Radar" 1:72 Special Hobby The Sud Aviation Vautour (Vulture) stems from a 1951 request from the Armée de l'Air for a jet aircraft capable as acting as a bomber, light attack aircraft, or an all weather interceptor. The renamed Vautour II would subsequently be built in all three versions, entering service in 1958, and leaving active front line service in 1978. Various test aircraft stayed around through to the 1990's. The aircraft would feature an all metal fuselage with a mid fuselage mounted wing. The engines were mounted in underslung pods. A distinguishing feature of the aircraft was the main undercarriage units on the centre line with outriggers in the engine pods. The Cyrano Radar was originally developed for the Mirage but were fitted to some Vautours for testing and one such aircraft was sold to Israel. The Aircraft would never see any combat with the Armée de l'Air, however it would with its only export customer the Israeli Defence Forces. Israel purchased 28 Vautours and they were used in the six day war and the War of Attrition. In fact the type did score an aerial victory over an Iraqi Hunter. 15 aircraft were lost to combat and they were replaced by Skyhawks in 1971. The Kit The original of the kit date back to the Azur kit which was new in 2011. This kit represents a Vautour IIN two seat all weather interceptor version with the Cyrano radar nose. You get the original kit with the new nose and drop tanks in resin. There are also a good number of additional resin parts including the camera pods under the test aircrafts engine pods. TBH a lot of the resin parts are very small and it looks like it might be difficult to separate them without causing damage. The man plastic parts are good quality with restrained panel lines. Films are provided for the instrument panels, and to round things off there is a small PE fret. To kick things off in the construction depart we start with the cockpit (shock). The two seats are made up each with four plastic parts, and PE seatbelts. The rudder pedals attach to the back of the instrument panel and this is then added to the coaming. The cockpit is then made up with the other side of the cockpit floor being the roof of the front gear bay. The rear bulkhead is added along with the mid bulkhead between the two cockpits. Side consoles are then added to the front & rear pits. The control column is added as are the seats. The underside bulkheads for the front gear bay are added. The front main gear leg is then built up. This is a complicated part with the main leg, upper scissor parts and reaction mechanism all to be built up. The twin wheels can then be added. Once this is finished, the complete cockpit along with the rear main gear well can be added to the fuselage halves and they can be closed up. The rudder is then added. . Once the main fuselage is complete the attention moves to the wings. these are one part in the main for each side with only the inner wing needing a second part. The wings are then added. The engine pods are made up from two halves and the modeller needs to put in the intake, resin exhaust and wheel wells for the out rigger wheels which were contained in the engine pods. Once complete the pods are attached to the wings. The radar nose is then added after the normal nose has been removed along the panel line, the gun ports will also need to be filled in. The the front gear bay doors and the rear gear strut & wheels are added.. The tailplanes are added along with the POE wing fences, and rear gear doors. The outrigger gears need then to be built up and installed into the engine pods. This is followed by the doors to these pods. Lastly the external tanks and camera pods are added if needed. Clear parts These are clear and distortion free. Markings Markings for 4 aircraft are provided. The decals are by Cartograf, are in register, bright, and have minimal carrier film. The blues on the Israli markings are good, the camera washed them out a bit, it was blinded by the day-glo markings! No.348 CEV Flight Test Centre. Bretgny-sur-Orge, France 1990. No.337 CEV Flight Test Centre. Bretgny-sur-Orge, France 1980. No.70 "Fantomas" Natural Metal Finish, Israeli Defence Forces. No.70 "Fantomas" 3 colour camo, Israeli Defence Forces. Conclusion An unusual looking aircraft which can be built in trials or operational schemes. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I spent an afternoon at Croome Court (National Trust) with SWIMBO this week, and we visited the small museum devoted to RAF Defford, the adjacent airfield that was used during and after WW2 by the TRU. I confess I hadn't known about this base, and had an enjoyable chat with a couple of volunteers who'd been stationed at the base during the '50's. They also have a bomber Canberra cockpit on display. Also in the museum they have a display of 1/72 models of most of the planes that flew out of the base, testing radar and ecm systems.

Hi all. I desperately want to undertake the foolhardy task of building a revealed nose radar for a1:72 AW Meteor NF.14 I'm about to commence. I've scoured any literature I can lay my hands on as well as searching the web, but simply can't find any images of the correct radar, either on it's own or mounted in-situ. The correct radar for this variant of Meteor is I believe the AI MK.21 set (the modified US Westinghouse AN/APS-57). I've even looked for images of other aircraft using the same set with their radomes open but no joy. The closest I could find is a repro of a Meteor maintenance manual on p.79 of the SAM modellers datafile No.8 on the Meteor, but it only has visible an NF.11 radar installation and the Mk.21 was only introduced from the NF.12 variant onwards, so that's no help. Does anyone have any suggestions or pointers showing the nose open to reveal the radar on an NF.14? Thanks for reading, Tony

Hello, the colour of radomes is something that puzzles me when looking at cold war and modern military aircraft. In the past, the majority of planes had black radomes. As far as I have understood, the usual explication is that paints that were at the same time sufficiently resistant to abrasion at high speeds and permeable to radar waves could only produced with certain pigments which happened to be black. Apparently technological progress later allowed for other colours as well and this is why black radomes are nowadays less common on military and civilian jets. The case of the F-16 fits well into this pattern: On very early F-16As the noses were black but this was soon changed as it compromised the otherwise grey camouflage. However, much earlier Starfighters already rarely carried black radomes, at least most F-104Gs had light grey noses from the 1960s onwards (the CF-104 seems to be an exception). Early radar-equipped British jets sometimes had radomes left in their „natural“ yellowish glassfiber color (Meteor and Venoms, I think). This seemed to have vanished with higher air speeds. However, such radomes could still be seen on South African Buccaneers when they were delivered, while the RAF always (?) had the radomes on their Buccaneers painted in camouflage color to match the rest of the aircraft. On the Lightning radomes seem to be always dark green. Nowadays, almost everything is grey in military aviation. Nevertheless, German Tornados still display black radomes although this contrasts starkly with the light bluish grey camouflage. There seems to be no Tornado-specific technical reason for this because British Tornados have grey noses (the Italian and Saudi ones, however, look black like the Germans). In the French Air Force, Mirage 2000Ns have black radomes while Mirage 2000Ds have camoflaged ones, although both jets are closely related. There are certainly much more examples like this. Can anyone explain to me the technological and probably also financial reasons behind this? What determines the colors of radomes? I suppose the radar technology as well as the material of the radomes (which nowadays seem to be rather dyed than painted composites) is of some importance. Thanks in advance Ole

Hi, I'm building an Airfix SHAR FRS.1, 1/48 scale, and want to open the nose and make the Ferranti Blue Fox radar from scratch, but it's too much dificultly to find pictures of this radar and the open nose position. For example, i don't know if nose opens for a side or up... Searching in Google, i found some pictures, but i'm not right if they represent correctly the radar used on FRS1. These are some pictures i found (and i think are not the radar i want ): If someone knows about it and has some link or picture to share, i really appreciate. I'm searching in the forum, but not find any topic yet. Thanks !