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Hi all, sorry it's quite a long one !....As some of you may know we happy chappies of the Bomber Command sig are commemorating one of the RAF's most iconic aircraft in the form of the magnificent Short Stirling heavy bomber at this years SMW show. The plan is to get as many built for display as possible in the time and we will be displaying them alongside sections of John Lathwell's (12jaguar) fantastic forward fuselage restoration project at the show. Please pop along to the table for a chin wag about just about anything, we have Rob on guitar, Neil on drums, a couple of guys on bass, (pint thereof) and me on valium ! Also talk to John and the lads about the wonderful Stirling Aircraft Projects plans for the future. My contribution is Stirling B.Mk1 R9368 BU-A of 214 squadron flown from RAF Chedburgh 1943. Her final moments are recorded below...... ''9th March 1943 After a couple of aircraft had left with no problems, a new pilot on a night nav exercise swung on take off, collapsed the undercarriage of his Stirling and blocked the main runway. It was decided to use the shorter runway and the crew prepared to leave, not happy as they had had their own U/C problems whilst on air test. The fully laden Stirling lumbered into the air but with the U/C only partially retracted, clipped some trees, took the roof off a newly built house and finally ploughed in near Chevington about a mile away. Miraculously the bomb load did not explode and the crew scrambled out of the burning aircraft. A head count revealed one missing, air gunner John Flack and, without hesitation the crew went back into the aircraft to find him trapped and upside down in his straps. They got him out suffering severe burns in the process later to be awarded the GM for their gallantry''....such were the calibre of the men who flew these great aircraft ! I decided to use Italeri's new 'monster', and I don't mean that flatteringly. This model is a bit of a curates egg in that whilst it has nicely moulded parts several details are missing, this tends to happen when you attempt to make multiple types from a mould and the build sequence is not the easiest I've come across, particularly for a new kit that costs around 40 quid ! The panel trenches and golf ball sized rivets have been mentioned many times so I won't go over that but there are problems with the fuselage cross section and wing dihedral in that the shoulder that runs the length of the fuselage top is too square and needs sanding back to give a gentler shape, this is quite subtle but alters the look dramatically and the wings are basically just too level and need canting up a few degrees at the root. The ailerons don't have the marked outward curve at the outer tips that they should, (good grief even Airfix got that right !) so I shaved some off and added resin to make good. Other problems include having to cut out the window reveals yourself, (the windows are oversize but I'll live with that), having the undercarriage assembled and fitted before gluing the wings together, engine front cowls that are all but impossible to fit after the nacelles are fitted to the fuselage, over flattened tyres and bits missing such as infills for the under engine nacelles where the later marks oil cooler assembly fitted. Having said all that the detail is very good, the engines are nicely done and you do get a lot of plastic for your money......just not necessarily what you might expect. Anyway before your eyes glaze over here's a list of the things I did to mine, Sanded down all surfaces to lessen the effect of the trenches and removed a lot of rivets, (left some to add interest) Re-profiled the fuselage topside section Fettled the outer tips of the ailerons to produce pronounced curve Increased the dihedral of the wings by 2 degrees Lowered the height of the canopy by 2mm Thinned all trailing edges Sanded heavy aileron and elevator rib detail back Added Resin-Art main and tail wheels Added lead wiring as hydraulic brake lines on main gear legs Scratch-built the spar framing of the upper sides of the undercarriage bays to address the 'huge black hole' effect Scratch-built cockpit interior, (things are in the wrong place and sections missing, but in fairness I did use the kit seats) Added more detail to each turret as they were a bit bare Added Little-Cars landing lamps Added missing framing to bombardiers glazing Added missing doors to oil cooler slots on the top of the wing, (between engines) Scrap resin inserts to fill gaps under the engine nacelles where the later marks oil coolers would sit Resin propellors Re position the tall aerial mast behind the canopy as Italeri have it too far forward, (same goes for the 'towel rail' aerial under the rear fuselage) Replaced Italeri's 'canons' with Quickboost resin guns barrels Added PE splitters to oil cooler intakes Squared off the FOD guards to fit the Mk1's carburettor housings Replaced the two oversized blade aerials under the nose Decals from the Xtradecals Bomber Command set Painted using Mr Hobby acrylics, Tamiya NATO black, AK Interactive washes and filters and MIG pastel powders.....aerial line, Uschi 'standard size' elastic thread, (best stuff for the job by miles). I can't say I enjoyed building this one particularly but anyway I got there in the end which is the main thing............a labour of love this was as the Stirling is my favourite of the 'big three', (mind you I'm a bit biased as my late uncle was a flight engineer on them), but come on Airfix...you know you want to ! My thanks to John (12jaguar) for his help with the interior stuff...cheers mate ! Cheers all, , hopefully see many of you on Saturday...... Melchie...(the moocher) Obligatory 1943 'Somewhere in England' shot... And some of the smaller detail stuff Added the curved ends to the ailerons that were missing for some reason....