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Inspired recently by the Group build Maritime Patrol but being too late to join I decided to dig out my Broplan's 1:72 Casa 235 vac-kit anyway. I was moved to action in particular by the work done by Dermot and his IAC Super King Air. I started last week but am only getting around now to posting some of the progress shots now. I am intending on doing the Irish Air Corps aircraft nummer 250 which was leased form Casa while awaiting the delivery of the specialized Maritime Patrol versions (a/c numbers 251 and 252) . This aircraft features a different colour scheme to the later Casa's but is one more in line with the colour scheme adapted for other IAC a/c operating over water like the Dauphin's and the abovementioned Super King Air. There are two versions of the Broplan kit available but I have the specialized MP version as I was intending originally to do the blue 251 or 252. The kit features some of the parts for the MP version but lacks a an interior, a FLIR , the second blistered window and there were no decals included. As I also have the Scratchaeronautics SAR version in the stash I will do 251/252 using that kit as it is more complete. I kicked off by cutting most of the main parts form the backing sheet and sanding them. Broplan used thin sheets on the kit and so this wasn't a very time consuming task. The quality of the parts is variable; the fuselage halves not being as good as the wing parts. I have drawn the panel lines in using a clutch pencil ran into the engraved detail. This to check the overall detail of the kit against photos. More on this later as I will post updates in the next few days. Regards Brian

Hi all and finally over the line with this one, my first ever Vacform build. Originally started for the Maritime Patrol/Coastal Command GB but not making the finish in time, you can read all about my adventures in sanding on the WIPs here and here Not my greatest build by a long shot so please don't look too closely. The first Super King Air entered service with the Irish Air Corps in 1977 with the second joining in 1978. Both were operated by Maritime Squadron, No. 1 Support Wing in the fishery protection and maritime surveillance role. A third joined the fleet in 1980 but was used for pilot conversion & training and Air Ambulance. All have been retired and replaced with two Casa CN 235s in the mid '90s. Thanks to everyone who gave me tips and advice on this build and to all the Vacform builders out there, I salute you brave modellers - we all sand together! 😂 RarePlane Super King Air_Irish_Air_Corps (1) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr RarePlane Super King Air_Irish_Air_Corps (4) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr RarePlane Super King Air_Irish_Air_Corps (16) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr RarePlane Super King Air Irish Air Corps_2 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr RarePlane Super King Air Irish Air Corps_9 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr RarePlane Super King Air_Irish_Air_Corps (15) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Thanks for looking and happy modelling. Cheers, Dermot

Morning all, Decided to give this one a go which will be my first Vacform kit - eeek! When Ireland entered the European Community in 1973, a 'nautical economic zone' was set around the island at 170 miles, later extended to 200 nautical miles. This covered a total area of 132,000 square miles. In order to patrol it, the Government of the time initiated a tender for a suitable aircraft and after evaluation, the Super King Air was picked. This was the first turbo-prop aircraft in Irish military service and only the second US-built one - the first being the Lockheed Hudson which was also used for Maritime Patrol & Reconnaissance during the war. The first Super King Air entered service in 1977 with the second joining in 1978. Both were operated by Maritime Squadron, No. 1 Support Wing in the fishery protection and maritime surveillance role. A third joined the fleet in 1980 but was used for pilot conversion & training, Air Ambulance and no surprise, Ministerial Transport 🙄 In the Maritime role, a typical flight lasted approximately 4 hours, covering an area of 10,000 square miles and flown at altitudes around 5,000 feet. If anything needed closer inspection, the a/c would descend to 500 ft or lower, which over the wild Atlantic in winter probably didn't make the for nicest of journeys for the crew of four - two pilots and two observers. Super King Airs also acted as top cover for SAR missions. Two of the more notable missions included the Fastnet Race disaster in 1979 and the search for an Air India 747 which crashed 100 miles S.W of Ireland in 1985 after an inflight explosion. The airframe had a lifespan set at 5,000 hours given the low level flights and Atlantic conditions. A/C 232 was retired in 1990 with 5,322 hours on the clock while A/C 234 followed her a year later with 5,229 hours. The third plan A/C 240 soldiered on and did get to fly the Atlantic in 2003 when it commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the first East/West flight of the Atlantic by pilots Herman Kohl, Baron Von Hunefeld and navigator James Fitzmaurice of the Irish Air Corps. You can read more about this remarkable man here. The Maritime Patrol duties have now been taken up by two Casa CN 235s which entered service in 1994. Thanks to Joe Maxwell & Patrick Cummins for all the background info on the Super King Air, from their excellent book - The Irish Air Corps; an Illustrated Guide.

I have discovered that group builds seem to be a good way for me to finish making models, so I decided to enter this group build with the following kit: The 1:72 Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk by Antares courtesy of my wallet and Mr EBay. First Impressions There is an excellent review & WIP thread for this kit here on Britmodeller by EricP from a few years ago, so I'm not going to repeat what he said in depth. My impression is that this is a basic kit, so there are fewer things to go wrong; by the same token, it's also a basic kit (with emphasis on the basic) which means a lot more work to make a decent model than the typical modern kit. But, forewarned is forearmed as they say. I'll be leveraging my spares box to the max and I've already gone ahead and sprung for an aftermarket resin R-1820 powerplant. The Aircraft I must admit I had never heard of this aircraft prior to this build and it is quite a handsome kite. Intended to replace existing the biplane and monoplane floatplanes in the Scout role for the US Navy, the Seahawk was also Curtiss’ attempt to redeem its corporate reputation after the Seamew debacle. What they produced has been described the best US floatplane of WWII. Seeing frontline action at the tail-end of WWII, the Seahawk soldiered on into the immediate post war era until being rendered obsolete by technological advances in radar gunnery and the helicopter. The Seahawk was quietly withdraw from service in 1949 with no examples surviving in wild or captivity today. More information can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SC_Seahawk Long, B. J. (2004). Naval Fighters No 38: Curtiss SC-1/2 Seahawk. Ginter Books (I think this is the definitive reference text on this aircraft) The Build As this is a maritime patrol group build, I intend to model a post-war Seahawk in floatplane configuration. I’m still vacillating on the exact scheme. Proper plastic-bashing will start after the 1st when the build officially starts.

What about a bit of colour to kick off 2016 in the manner I want to continue! Built over the Christmas break, this is Revell's rather simple Do228 kit, updated to reflect one of the Dutch Coastguard's current coastal patrol variant with added lumps, bumps and other antennae/sensors. The kit itself is a straightforward build with remarkably good fit, although Revell seem to have missed out some key features of the aircraft, like the prominent landing lights and inexplicably want you to stretch sprue for some important (and IMHO, entirely mouldable) key details like the Fowler Flap actuators. Out the box, the kit represents two very early aircraft without the current radar/optical sensor suite, but at least on the surface, the changes to the current aircraft are not too difficult to scratch. The Dutch colour scheme is a little more complex than average and did severely task my masking skills (there is a marginally simpler German Navy scheme provided too); to be fair though, I did diverge from the straightforward older scheme provided in the decals and was determined to add the complex black "Toucan" nose. I have added quite a few scratch details; the SLAR antennae, FLIR turret, modified cargo door, various aerials etc all from the spares box or bits of sprue. I also added some engine exhausts from plastic tube - a strange omission by Revell! FredT