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Found 23 results

  1. Here's my Alley Cat resin Gannet AEW.3, just finished in the Fleet Air Arm group build. I suppose if I was looking to buy a Gannet AEW.3 today I'd probably go for the Sword kit, but this one was a bargain in a Facebook buy and sell group, and the group build gave me a good reason to build it. Glad I did - quite a nice, straightforward build for a resin kit, I enjoyed this one. thanks for looking Julian
  2. Time to start another one - the Alley Cat resin 1/72 Gannet AEW.3. Obviously there's the injection moulded kit from Sword, but this was an irresistible bargain on a local Facebook group so I'm going down the resin route this time. Here's what you get in the box: Nicely cast resin, small parts in white metal and PE, and a decal sheet with four marking options. I've started removing parts from casting blocks and priming a few of them - hopefully I'll have something worth sharing tomorrow. cheers Julian
  3. Alley Cat is working on a 1/72nd Vickers Warwick resin kit. Source: https://www.facebook.com/AlleyCatModels/posts/659582620908936 V.P.
  4. Managed to put the finishing touches to this one yesterday afternoon: Better pics when things brighten up hopefully!
  5. With the Hudson all but complete it's time to move onto another project. For a while I've wanted to do a group of models associated with the Battle of Britain film. One of those is to be Keith Park's Hurricane, except rather than the IIc used in the film I'm going to do a representation of his actual aircraft from the Battle of Britain. I think there is only one known photo of this aircraft - I'm going to use the Airfix rag wing kit along with Alley Cat's tin wing conversion. I'd bought three of these when they came out and want to use them before moving on to the Arma Hobby models. I'm also going to build it wheels down and with the cockpit open. I've got a Rob Taurus vacuum moulded canopy replacement (yes, I know it's just a straight copy of the incorrect Airfix original) and Eduard gave away these harnesses a few years back at Telford. It'll be the first time I've used a harness. I do love the term 'RAF early'. Early - compared to what? Transfers are from DK Decals. The Alley Cat conversion consists of a large almost single piece moulding for the wings, a smaller part to go in front of the undercarriage bays and several clear resin parts for the landing and navigation lights and also a later canopy windscreen. I'm presuming that the latter is not correct for this aircraft. I'll take a photograph of the main parts before the next update. Assembly started with attaching the front part of the undercarriage bay to the resin wing. This took a little bit of filing to get a good fit and holding together whilst the superglue went off. I hate superglue! Some filling was required to get a good leading edge. I initially used superglue for this but finished off with Mr.Surfacer. The Airfix parts fitted pretty well once I'd get my head around the Airfix instructions being fitting the parts from above whereas I was now fitting from below. The cockpit parts were then addressed. The holes for the harness were opened up in the back of the seat and the armour plating. The whole lot was primed and then coated with MRP White Aluminium. The green parts were brush painted using Hataka paints. Fitting the harness was a right pain in the rear. Firstly trying to find out the correct layout of the harness in a Hurricane was just about impossible and then trying to bend the Eduard parts to fit and glue them together. I eventually ended up cutting the harness up, using bits the wrong way around and cursing a lot. With all of the bending, prodding and bodging some of the pre-paint has come off. After the photo was taken matt Galeria was brushed on and once that had dried Gunze Flesh was brushed onto the areas of bare metal. I'm confident that the harness isn't quite right, but it will have to do. The seat, etc. has been given a brown/grey oil wash to weather it a bit. It's propped up the the instrument panel and its attached framing if you're wondering what's in the background. The Airfix lower cockpit parts were glued to the wing piece as per the instructions and no issues with the resin wing replacement. They've been given a coat of MRP White Aluminium, a touch of matt black for details and AK Brass for the gun button. After that they received a wash of Payne's Grey oil and then a bit of grey/brown on the pedals. The cockpit sides have been brush painted with the Hataka Grey Green and then detailed before receiving the grey/brown wash. IP and seat glued to the port side before closing up. The joint between the two parts is pretty rubbish but they each locate well into the fuselage. The undercarriage bay also received the White Aluminium followed by the grey and grey/brown washes. The fuselage was then closed up being careful to get as good a joint as possible. Time to offer the fuselage to the wing..... Something's not quite right! The problem is that thick piece of resin behind the pedals stops the base of the seat frame from sitting down low enough. Mask on (plenty of those around now!) and out with the dental burrs Apologies for the blurred photo but hopefully you can see the area removed. It's just broken through to the locating hole for the filter. That's better. With a bit of careful filing of the wing and fuselage that gap has closed up further. Some things that I need to sort out are the propeller to fit and the guns. In the film there is a brief clip showing the front of the wing and no guns, but I assume that this was just a case of using a IIc with the cannons removed and plated over. I'm guessing that Park's aircraft would have been fully armed, but with the red patches usually intact. Also, the wheels - should I be raiding the Arma Hobby kits for the wheels. At least some of those will be built wheels up so cross kitting of parts isn't an issue.
  6. After some deliberation and almost starting a Jaguar, I've decided to plunge into this rather complicated Alley Cat Canberra conversion. I'll be making a hemp one I think, as sometime in the future I'm planning to do the TT18 in green/grey camo with the black & yellow underside. The T17 was flown by England rugby legend Rory Underwood, our record Test try scorer (49 tries in 85 games between 1984-96) who was also an RAF pilot during his playing career before rugby turned professional! First question, (possibly for @canberra kid?) which of the Airfix Canberra kits is best for a T17, or despite the box are they the same? The colour in the first option is incorrect, apparently there were no grey T17s, but I'll probably do WH902/EK in hemp instead. A few of the decals missing as it was an ebay 'bargain' (ish), but I have all the ones I need, I think. I probably won't bother cutting off the kit cockpit for the replacement though, it'd be more trouble than it's worth given my 'ability'! Second question, do I need to bother with the Alley Cat tip tanks or are the Airfix ones adequate enough?
  7. I've just acquired two Alley Cat resin conversions for the Airfix 1/48th Canberra; a T17 and TT18. Has anyone else built a Canberra using these? How do they fit, etc, anything to watch out for? I got them for about £20 each, hoping they're worth it! The decals included look good.
  8. A2Zee is preparing in the Alley Cat range (?) 1/48th Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 and T.Mk.7 resin conversion sets. NF. variants being also looked at. Conversion sets for Tamiya Meteor F.Mk.III or Airfix F.Mk.8? Source: http://www.alleycatmodels.co.uk/ To be followed V.P.
  9. Just finished my 1/48 Sea Vixen FAW.1, using the Alley Cat conversion of course, as XJ488 of the RN Test Squadron at Boscombe Down. This was a real pleasure to build, the conversion works a treat, just requires a bit of caution when cutting the original kit parts. Didn't go to town with much detailing although I did use the Aires cockpit and Master pitots. If you want to see it done properly, check out Ex-FAAWAFU's WIP thread, I'm in awe of his work! On to the photos...
  10. I had hoped that a group of Swifts would have a special name. There is a pride of lions. A parliament of owls. A load of bobbins (with apologies to Smith and Jones) I mean, just how cool would it have been if I could entitle this thread "a Contrafibularity of Swifts"? But sadly, no.... more than one swift is simply a flock. so... flock it is. Edit: I'm informed that it can be a swoop of Swifts, hence the title change. I'm building two Swifts in this GB. Both are from the 1/72 Airfix kit. The first one is a (pretty much) OOB Swift FR.5 The only bit not OOB will be a replacement belly tank, in this case from Freightdog. I like the 79 Sqn marikngs as they have a PRU Blue undersurface. My second build in this thread will be a Swift F.2, using the Airfix kit and the Alley Cat resin conversion set for the Swift Mk2. I'll probably do this one in 56 Sqn markings....
  11. My first non-World War One aircraft in over 35 years is now complete! The kit is the new tool Airfix one in 1:72, with a resin wing conversion by Alley Cat to make it a metal winged version. I also added Eduard PE details, Rexx metal exhausts, and CMK resin 5 spoke wheels. The wing conversion is beautifully cast, with excellent detail, and fits the kit almost perfectly. I needed to sand under the nose to reduce a step there, but that was the only fit issue. My wing was also a little thick on the trailing edge so I had to sand that down, meaning I lost the detail of the ailerons and had to rescribe the rearmost panel lines, but others have stated that theirs were thin enough to not require sanding. Other issues I had were that the Rexx exhausts didn't fit so I had to open out the slots in the nose - unfortunately I hadn't checked the fit early on and didn't discover that until I was almost finished! I got them to fit, but it would have been much easier to do before anything had been assembled. The wheels also require reshaping of the mounting lug on the kit leg as the kit wheels have a slot, not a hole. Easily taken care of. The squadron codes and "N" in the serial are from the Microscale BoB sheet, while the serial number is from the Pegasus WWI RFC/RNAS serials sheet. All other markings are from the kit. The full build log is here. The aircraft modelled is VY-P, N2319, of 85 Squadron based at Lille-Seclin in early May 1940. Flown by Sgt G "Sammy" Allard who claimed 2 He111's destroyed on 10th May. Many thanks to @Troy Smith for all the help with the details of this aircraft and very useful info on Hurricanes in general! Anyway, enough of the chat, here are the pics! ] I hope you like her! Ian
  12. Alley Cat is to release a 1/144th Hawker-Siddeley HS.125 Dominie resin kit Source: https://www.facebook.com/AlleyCatModels/photos/a.332251853642016.1073741828.330656630468205/522415751292291/?type=3&theater V.P.
  13. Neither fear nor courage saves us. Unnatural vices Are fathered by our heroism. Virtues Are forced upon us by our impudent crimes. These tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree. The tiger springs in the new year. Us he devours. -- T S Eliot, "1920" "I would never have dared; and if I had dared, I would certainly have never dared stop." -- Winston Churchill, on Suez, c.1957 "We have created a system of international law and order in which we have to face the fact that the Security Council is, first, frustrated by the veto and, secondly, that it cannot act immediately. In a sense, the policeman has his hands tied behind his back. He has to wait a long time before he is allowed to play his part. "I myself believe that, if you have accepted that system, you are only safe if you also retain the rights of individual countries to defend their own nationals and their own interests." -- Selwyn Lloyd, 30 October 1956 I loathe starting a build before an old one is finished, but I await paint for a RAAF Sabre, and there's no sense wasting the waning days of my paternity leave on my son, seeing as he won't remember any of it anyway. (Have I said things to him in desperation, these past few weeks, that would get him taken away and me locked up if he could understand them? He will never know.) Oh no. the filial bond between me and young Winston (yes, I know in Britain only reggae musicians are named Winston now) can wait. It's time to build one of those kits we buy, and then talk about building, but never touch. Here's why: Everything I have built in 2015: (yes, my grotto is dingy) The Valiant: This is not a forced perspective shot. I'm running out of flat surface. But a man has to do what he can do while his squalling infant is still small enough to let him do it. So here we are: I'm building the Airfix Vulcan as a Suez Crisis jet, which means it's overall High Speed Silver as opposed to the classic "All-Out Thermonuclear War White". I have the base kit, the Alley Cat tail correction (as you can see, in a fit of misplaced confidence in my own abilities, I've already hacked off the kit tail), and the Freightdog Early Valiant Serials decals. Ideally, I would be doing a 207 Squadron Valiant, as they're rather well documented, but of course the kit markings don't include a 207 Squadron badge. Guess what the only identifier besides the serial was on Suez bombers. Guess. In fact, incredibly, the kit only has a 49 Squadron badge (in two sizes!), and that squadron didn't even participate in the Crisis. Why Airfix would even want to trouble itself with including a marking option for a Valiant that actually saw combat is beyond me anyway, of course, but there you have it. So, thanks to ACIG, which makes no mention of squadron badges for 148 Squadron, this helpful photo of a 148 Squadron Valiant on loan to 207 Squadron in 1955 showing no badge, and a good photo on p.166 of Wings Over Suez, we'll be going with Valiant XD815 from 148 Squadron flown by the Canadian Wing Commander Wilf Burnett (later Air Commodore Wilf Burnett OBE), who commanded the Valiant Wing during the Crisis. If anyone has any corrective or corroborating evidence, please tell me sooner than later. After I do something, I rarely undo it, which is why my wife and I are now parents. In any case, off to the races. I've sprayed the green bits of the cockpit Zinc Chromate Green (mixed with some Alclad Aqua Gloss out of sheer laziness), which looks a little light.
  14. My first entry in this GB, the 1/72 Alley Cat kit of the Boulton Paul Sea Balliol T.21. I will be building this totally OOB. To be honest, there is nothing needed which isn't in the box! My choice of markings will represent WP328 of MTPS Abbotsinch in 1962. This aircraft has trainer yellow bands and dayglo areas on the nose and tail, so it should be pretty colourful.
  15. It's been a long time since I posted one of my builds but thought I would share this with you, Revell's fairly recent Bf 109G-6 but finished as a G-14. The kit is pretty much as it comes however I did use Alley Cat's excellent upgrade set and an HGW fabric seat harness. The model was finished with my usual blend of Gunze and Tamiya paints. Markings were a mixture of Montex masks and an Eagle Cals decal sheet to represent 'Yellow 4' from 14/JG5 in Norway in the closing months of the war: Thanks for looking, Howard
  16. Hi all Here is my latest finished build and the newest aircraft in my military aircraft in Yorkshire collection. Its a Javelin FAW.4 of 72 Squadron based at RAF Leconfield in 1959 its the Airfix Javelin FAW.9 converted using the very nice Alley Cat conversion set which I picked up at the nationals a couple years ago, and a pair of Master pitot tubes as I was very sure I'd end up snapping the kit ones. I have to say this kit has been one of the nicest 48th Airfix kits I've ever built, its right up there with the Lightning. Sorry about the quality of the pics but I struggled to get some decent lighting, and ive added one of my FAW.4 with a friends FAW.9 so you can spot the subtle differences between the two. Right enough waffling on with the pics. Hope you've all enjoyed this build from me, I know I did. ScottC
  17. Alley Cat is back Source: http://www.a2zeemodels.co.uk/ V.P.
  18. Hi, this will be my second entry and I reall yhope I can finish it in time (would be the first time I finish two kits in one GB but hey - this should be workable): My Eduard boxing of the 1:48 Tempest was a special offer by A2Zee and included Alley Cat resin pieces like wheels and a corrected tail: I will build it as Roland P. Beamonts Tempest. Rene Edit: Forgot to list - the kit canopy will be replaced with the Rob Taurus vacuformed canopy.
  19. Tucano Display Aircraft 2012 / 13 1:72 Alley Cat For a few years now the RAF have been painting a special scheme on their Display Tucano every year. A2Zee have been making decals for these schemes for their excellent 1:48 Scale kit. For those of us who model in 1:72 the only option has been to buy the Limited Edition Kits from Airfix issued with these decals. Luckily now A2Zee are offering these decals in 1:72 for those of us with Tucano's in our stash who don't want to buy another kit. For the 2012 season the RAF designed two schemes for the Queen's Jubilee. These were the Red, White & Blue aircraft, and the all Black Aircraft with white chevrons. For the 2013 season the RAF have done another retro scheme of Dark Earth and Mid Stone over Azure Blue. The decals from A2Zee have been printed by Fantasy workshop and are of excellent quality. The colour density is good, there does not appear to be any registry problems and the white looks deep enough that the underlying colour should not bleed through. Looking at the sheet it appears there are enough decals (stencils and canopy det cord) for two aircraft. The third should also be able to be built with the addition of some kit decals. It is welcome that the canopy det cords are provided as decals as these are not in the kits. Full comprehensive painting instructions are provided for all three schemes. Recomended for anyone want do do one of the displays schemes not wanting to buy a special boxing to do so. Decal sheet Number ACD72010 Review sample courtesy of
  20. The Bristol M1.C is not such a well known aircraft from the Fisrt World War, as it was largely restricted to use in the Middle East and with training units, due to monoplanes being out of favour at the time it appeared. It is a shame as it was by all accounts a superb aeroplane, designed for speed and handling and was very well liked by those who flew it. Rarely kitted, Alley Cat have come up with a beautiful 1:32 model of Bristol's M1.C cast almost entirely in resin. Even in the box it looked impressive, a full review is Here. It built as good as it looked, being an absolute pleasure from start to finish. One of the most difficult things to do was choose one of the 7 colour schemes provided, because I really wanted to do three of them (72 Sqn or Silver & black trainer or 150 Sqn). In the end I went with the 72 Squadron machine as I have a slight preference for front line machines. There is a 'Work in Progress' Here describing the build. Anyway, enough talk, here she is; Now I'm sure that this model is going to appeal especially to those of us who also build Wingnut Wings WW1 kits. So I couldn't resist a couple of pictures with it alongside my WNW Bristol F2.b. In conclusion I would say that this is an outstanding first venture into World War 1 kits by Alley Cat. The quality of the resin castings is worth special mention as they are absolutely superb. This was the single piece fuselage before I started; It would make a very good first resin kit, (apart from a disasterous ARBA TSR.2 twenty odd years ago this was my first full resin build), and the rigging is very simple I hope Alley Cat continue with this series, and eagerly await the next release, whatever it will be. Can I start the suggestions rolling with a Fokker D.VIII? Please! (Eduard 1/48 Weekend edition) Cheers John
  21. This is an all resin kit with a little bit of white metal and brass etch where appropriate. A full review is HERE so without further delay lets get stuck in! I already removed most of the interior parts from their casting blocks as part of the review, so was able to start assembling things straight away. A decision needs to be made about doing an armed or unarmed version as different cockpit coamings will be needed. There are so many nice options in the kit, but I'm always slightly more attracted to front line service machines so I'll probably go for the 72 Squadron one. (But the silver and black trainer is mighty appealing too ). The LeRhone engine was assembled first, with separate cylinders and induction pipes attached around the central crankcase. Valve pushrods still have to be added from stretched sprue, but it has had a coat of Halfords grey primer. I have assembled as much of the cockpit interior as I can, becuase it makes the final painted version much neater. Its a trade off between ease of assembly and ease of painting. I've left the rudder bar, joystick, seat and fuel tank off to be painted separately. A few bubbles in the resin appeared on the outside of the framework where I sanded it down after cutting from the casting block, but are nothing to worry about as they will not be visible on the finished model. Halfords grey primer has been used again to prepare the parts for paint. One concern I had was fitting the assembled cockpit framework into the big single cast piece fuselage, as anything less than a perfect fit was going to cause problems, particularly if it was too big. But look at this, full marks to Alley Cat, it is actually a perfect fit! Next stage is to get some paint on these parts. John
  22. Just a 'heads up' if you are not in the habit of visiting the Aircraft reviews section. The new Alley Cat 1/32 Bristol M1.C has been received at Britmodeller and is reviewed Here Cheers John
  23. Bristol M1.C 1:32 Alley Cat I first remember becoming aware of this aircraft in the 1970's when Kelloggs were giving away little kits of First World War planes in their cereals, I think around 1/144 scale. I seem to recall an Albatros, Camel, SE5a, and Fokker Triplane, as well as this strange little monoplane I had never heard of. Well in those days my knowledge of aircraft was largely limited to what Airfix produced, and they never did a Bristol M1.C. That seems to sum up this nice little aircraft, few people have heard of it and it has largely become forgotten with the passage of time. =It is a shame because it was by all accounts a very successful design, and something of a 'hot ship'. Designed by Frank Barnwell (F2.b, Bulldog, Blenheim), it made great use of streamlining to obtain maximum performance, most notably by eliminating the more usual biplane wing and all its associated strutting and rigging. The single shoulder mounted wing with minimal bracing, and neatly cowled Le Rhone 9J with its big spinner contributed to it being some 40 to 50 mph faster than similar German and French aircraft. Entering service with the Royal Flying Corps in 1917, the Air Ministry felt that it was unsuitable for service on the Western Front. This was largely due to a prejudice against monoplanes, part of the official reasoning being that it had too high a landing speed for the small French airfields. Those that did serve in front line squadrons did so in the Middle East and Balkans, where Captain Frederick Travers of 150 Sqn. obtained five kills with his M1.C. Many others served in UK based training units and seem to have been quite highly prized as personal 'hacks' by senior officers, there being a number of highly colourful paint jobs applied to unarmed M1.C's. There have been few kits of Bristols 'Bullet', CMR did one in 1/72 and Blue Max and Spin Models in 1/48, but now we have a 1/32 offering in resin from Alley Cat. The Kit. It is contained in a very sturdy cardboard box that should comfortably resist the worst that the postal services can throw at it. Inside are three bags of resin parts, one with white metal and brass rod, and one of photo etch, along with a sheet of decals and the instructions. What really drew my attention was the large casting for the fuselage. This is beautifully done with not a sink or air bubble in it anywhere to be seen. The front half is hollow and features stringer work on the interior, whilst the exterior effect of fabric covering the stringers is first rate. All to often this can be overdone (think Hasegawa 1/48 Hurricane), but Alley Cat have got it looking most realistic, just like nice taut fabric doped over a framework should be As it comes, the forward section over the cockpit is covered by resin. It is a simple job to run a sharp No. 11 blade around it to open it up. The next largest pieces are the wings, cast as single units with restrained rib tape detail and nicely thin trailing edges. Both are warp free and will only require removal of casting tabs and minimal cleaning up of flash and seam lines. The other two resin bags contain a multitude of parts for the cockpit, engine, and remaining flying surfaces. Again all of them are beautifully cast and blemish and warp free. The side framework and cross pieces are all supplied on resin blocks so will require careful removal with a razor saw. Floor, rudder pedals, instrument panel and fuel tank are all provided, and should make up into a nice busy looking interior. A nice touch is the choice of two seats, with and without lap belts, so if you prefer you can use a set of aftermarket belts on one. Personally I usually favour the cast in ones as they often have a more natural look. A minor gripe is the lack of any instrument decals for the panel, the spares box or delicate hand painting will have to provide these. Separate coamings are provided for armed and unarmed versions, along with a nicely cast Vickers gun. The 'V' strutting over the cockpit opening is also in resin, and will need care in removing it from the casting blocks, although the webbing is commendably thin and should present no problems to a sharp blade. Two Coamings are provided, for the armed and unarmed versions. A nice little clear resin windshield for the unarmed version rounds off the cockpit fittings. The Le Rhone engine is made up of separate cylinders and induction pipes around a central carnkcase. All the detail is pin sharp and you will probably want to add your own stretched sprue push rods and ignition wires. Interestingly the prop hub is a separate part that fits inside a one piece spinner/prop unit. A very elegant solution to making this unit. A little bit of thin flash will need removing from the centre of the spinner, again a No.11 blade will make short work of this. Given then potential weight of the completed model, the undercarriage legs are sensibly cast in white metal, with brass rods for axles. Tailplanes, fin, rudder and ailerons all come as separate items with a nicely rendered fabric effect. Again all parts are pin hole and warp free. Rigging points are provided as small resin stubs that fit over etched brass reinforcement plates. Holes are recessed into the wing parts to accept them, so there should be no problems with setting it all up. I would recommend the use of 2lb Maxima Chameleon fishing line for the rigging itself, although doubtless everyone has their own preference.The etched sheet also has the control horns for the movable control surfaces. I must admit to being a little wary of resin kits, due to the perceived fragility of the parts and difficulty in getting them off their casting blocks without damage So although this is an 'in box' review, I thought it would be useful to get my razor saw out and see just how difficult, or not, it would be to prepare some of the components. Using the razor saw on the heavier blocks and a knife blade on the thinner parts, I am happy to report that it was stress and trouble free. The parts that most worried me were the large interior frameworks, but they were pretty straightforward. I used the razor saw on the shortest side, with the part on the workbench and sawed gently along the length of it in a horizontal plane, like filleting a fish! Both parts came away nicely and were smoothed off with a bit of wet and dry sandpaper. The only part I broke was the 'L' shaped control column when cutting it out with a knife, but it was a simple job to cyano both parts back together. I found a pin hole on two of the fine cross braces, so put a dot of cyano on each using a pin. This fills & strengthens the part before cutting it from the casting block. It is remarkable that on a kit with this much resin, I was only able to find two tiny pin holes. All these parts were done in about an hour, and are proof that there is nothing to fear about preparing resin parts. Marking options. Given The M1.c's use as a 'hack' and at training schools, there are some quite colourful options to be found. Alley Cat offer a good representative selection of three front line and four School machines. They are; 1. A 72 Squadron machine in PC.12 with grey panels and clear doped wing undersides. Featuring a red spinner and white zig zag motif on the fuselage. 2. A 150 Squadron machine, C4291, in PC.12 with grey panels. Undersides are light blue. 3. Another 150 Squadron machine, C4907, similar to C4291 above. 4. C4960 of No. 1 School of aerial Fighting. PC.12 with clear doped wing undersides. Tail, wheels, and spinner are all in roundel blue. 5. C5019. Overall silver with black front fuselage and a skull & crossbones motif. 6. C5001 No.4 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery. Overall red with clear doped wing undersides. This aircraft still exists, being preserved in Minlaton, South Australia. 7. C4940. A PC.12 finished aircraft covered with white stripes, including the undersides. Served at Turnberry. The decal sheet is A5 sized and contains a full set of roundels with separate red centre spots, plus all the individual markings and serial numbers required. They look nice and thin with good colour density, and thoughtfully include some extra strips of red, white, and blue in case you need to do any touch up patching. The instructions are a single exploded view with sub drawings for the cockpit, engine, decking, propeller, and rigging. It all looks perfectly clear what should go where, and it is a pretty simple aircraft anyway. No colour information is provided for the interior or engine, but this should not be too much of a problem as it will be a logical mix of natural wood, clear doped linen, natural metals etc. I don't have any 1/32 drawings of the M.1c, but for those who like a quick comparison with drawings, the Windsock Datafile 52 'Bristol M.1' 1/48 drawings enlarged to 1/32 shows the major parts have very close conformity, which is reassuring. Conclusion. It's good to see another manufacturer venturing into First World War aviation, and Alley Cat have made a very sensible choice for their first release. The M1.C is an attractive aircraft and the lack of complicated strutting and minimal rigging makes it suitable for all but the complete novice. The quality of the resin castings is extremely good, probably among the best I have seen. There is no warpage, I only found two tiny pin holes, and everything came through the post without breakage. Dry assembling the wings to the fuselage reveals a very tidy fit, which bodes well for the rest of the build. Add to the mix that the surface finish of the fabric areas looks most realistic, and I would think that Alley Cat have a winner on their hands. (An 'out of the box' build thread will start very soon, this kit looks irresistible). [EDIT]Resistance is futile! Build has started Here [/EDIT] An excellent and most welcome entry into 1/32 WW1 aviation, highly recommended. Kit Number ACRK32-10 Review sample courtesy of
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