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Happy 75 Birthday NATO 🇩🇰 It is probably true to say that there is no organization in the world that I admire more than NATO. I don't want to go into depth why since I might just get a bit 'political' and we cannot have that here, but I am prepared to say that - in my belief- if NATO had not existed for the last 75 years, the world would be a much more dangerous place and many fewer people would enjoy security and freedom.With this in mind I think I have no choice but to take part in this most excellent group build. I really like the idea of the flags! It's unique and intriguing and might just give an incentive to folks to model some of the smaller nations that might sometimes be overlooked. ‘My’ flag is The Netherlands; however, try as I might, I cannot find a Dutch subject that grips me quite as much as a Royal Danish Air Force F-100D! Yes, a Super Sabre complete with grotty, patchy, olive-green, livery! Admit it... you know the kind of filth I mean! Another reason to pick the Danish Air Force is that a friend of mine who collects models lives just 5km outside of Denmark and yet has not a single Danish item in his collection. (In the interests of transparency I should probably point out that I am referring to 'Denmark' the small coastal Western Australian township rather than 'Denmark' the Scandinavian constitutional monarchy - but you get the idea). I really like the F-100! It just looks so damned mean. It has to be the most shark-like looking aircraft ever made and its relatively simple geometry makes it a great subject for scratchbuilding. When I was a teenager I scratchbuilt one in roughly 1/100 scale and it came out OK, but it did not survive the various parental 'junk purges' that punctuated my many years living away from home and now - alas - it's in landfill someplace. Never mind, let's just make another one... a bigger one! Here are my references... some inspiration... and the raw materials! I'm hoping this will be a good chance for me to practice and improve on many of the methods that i used for the first time during my - still ongoing - Mirage IIIO build. This project I'm hoping will be relatively simple. Much of its success or failure will depend on the final painting and weathering as I'm hoping I can make this look like a jet as battered and worn as those in the pictures above. But let's start at the beginning. As usual I have selected Jarrah for the fuselage and have used cheap photographic spray adhesive to stick the relevant plans on the side. Here is the very first cut of the entire project. Shockingly that's not a bandsaw, but don't worry I will be using one very soon. OK - here it is, the first bandsaw cut! Let's call this the moment that the ‘project proper’ begins. To get to this shape does not take long. After some sanding and general tidying up we have this... Which is only the starboard half of the fuselage. I will be cutting out the port side tomorrow night. I have absolutely no hope whatsoever of finishing this project within the allocated four month timespan, especially since this new build must compete with the ongoing Mirage project which must be finished by August 2024. Nevertheless I do think that in the limited time available I can probably bash together sufficient shapes so that it is unmistakably an F-100. Following that I'll just transfer this thread back to the 'main pages' and carry on to the end. In the meantime I hope that this is of interest to you NATO enthusiasts and that you can all get some enjoyment out of watching my humble attempt to turn out a Danish Hun. Go Team NATO! Bandsaw Steve

Happy Birthday Royal Australian Air Force Today is the 100th Anniversary of the formation of the Royal Australian Air Force. I am not going to write much about the history the of the RAAF because I am no expert. Suffice to say that on this day 100 years ago this service was formed as an independent air-arm and it has strong claim to be the second such service formed anywhere in the world. It has been a cornerstone of Australia's security and this region's stability ever since. The RAAF played an active and effective role in the Second World War as well as numerous 'smaller' but still very significant conflicts, including Korea, Vietnam, the two Gulf Wars and Afghanistan. It has assisted in many peacekeeping and security operations around the globe and has played an important humanitarian role in innumerable civil defence emergencies. At one stage, immediately after World War Two, the RAAF gave Australia the fourth largest national air arm (by number of operational aircraft) in the world. We Australians, and our various allies should be most grateful for the service that the RAAF has provided over the last century. Three years ago I started my build of an Avro 504 to mark the occasion of the formation of the Royal Air Force. Now, it would seem wrong of me not to do something similar for the Air Force of my adoptive homeland. I've been planning for this for a while and was hoping to have at least one of my three other threads on Britmodeller closed by now, but that has not happened. Time waits for no-one and if I'm going to do this to mark the anniversary then I have to start today; ready or not. If we are going to 'do' the RAAF - let's pick a good subject. Let's look at something fast... perhaps even supersonic. Hmmmm... how about a swing-wing thing...? 🤔 Nice idea! But do you know how big one of those things is in 1/32 scale? My display cabinet is only so large. What about something American with a big droopy nose, two big burner cans tucked in under a single swept back tail and tailplanes set an an outrageous angle of anhedral..... 😀 Again, Nice! But that's a very complex shape and I want to finish this before the next 100 years passes. What about something French and triangular that I once saw when I was a lad at an airshow at RNZAF Wigram... Yes! Now we are talking... Let's do one of these! If you have seen my work before you know what comes next. Get a bunch of drawings together - in this case downloaded as PDF's from the internet - and get them printed to an exact 1/32 scale. In this case there are three 'master' sheets. Get one of each laminated and half a dozen copies of each printed out. Just use everyday copying paper, no need for anything special. Don't worry about the radar under the chin folks - I know that's not an RAAF thing. Here is the compulsory 'sprue shot after opening the box' photo. A fair bit of plywood will be used but most of the parts are jarrah, the same stuff I used on the Avro 504. Jarrah is grown right here in Western Australia, is beautiful to carve and strong as anything. This will be important since there's a good chance this thing will have gear down and once the forward undercarriage bay is cut and the cockpit hollowed out there will be very little remaining intact wood to hold the nose in place. Now we do some dry fitting. Yep - the major fuselage pieces fit together without any gap at all. Note also how there's no ejector pin marks or other blemishes. Tamiya quality fit - although lacking some detail at this point. 🧐 Now I sat down and had a think. How was I actually going to make this thing? Carve the fuselage out of a single block? Or break it into multiple more manageable components. Overall this shape is a bit more complex than, say the Mig-15 that I built in 2016, and requires a bit more thought. Once some decisions are made we can start marking out the cuts. This is the first cut line marked up for the entire project. This is the moment I consider that work actually began - 8.02 PM 31 March 2021 (WA time)...100 years to the day. 👍 Like I say - initially there's a bit of planning and marking up required. Some of the decisions might be a bit counterintuitive, but I've learned a lot over the course of my last few projects and I think there's method in my madness. Who knows though, maybe there's just madness in my method? I've decided that there will be a separate central 'fuselage and cockpit' section cut out that will nestle between the air intakes and the rest of the fuselage assembly. This component is defined at this point by the red ink. Somehow the wing will also need to be accommodated, but for now it's one thing at a time. Now grab two lumps of wood and cut them longer than the section just marked out. One thing I have learned is that surplus wood is not generally a problem - insufficient wood is. Hold the two pieces of wood in a vice and drill a series of holes (four in this case two on either side) clear of the planned cut area. Drill each hole about 3/4 of the way through the entire thickness. I guess it's harmless to go all the way through but this time I chose not to. Now slip a dowel into each of the holes and cut off the surplus. In this case the dowel fitted into the holes perfectly so no glue was required at all! This is a bonus because, although I want these two bits of wood to stick together and stay nicely aligned, fairly soon I'm going to need to pull them apart splitting the fuselage in two again in preparation for hollowing out the cockpit and UC bay. Now cut out the paper plans and spray some cheap photo adhesive onto one side of the prepared wooden block. (No photos this time sorry, I forgot). Cut out the pattern with the bandsaw. It was now getting late at night and this was after Mrs Bandsaw's 'powertool noise curfew' so I left a full 5mm clear from the pattern and just raced through the cut as quickly as possible to get the noisy bit over and done with. This is the birthday of the RAAF, so noise curfew or not, there has to bandsaw action! This is the result so far. There's a long way to go... I hope that some of you come along for the ride. Per ardua ad astra Bandsaw Steve

SS Xantho, Western Australia's First Steamship. St George's Terrace is the main business thoroughfare of Perth and every 20 metres or so along its length, embedded in the footpath is a plaque similar to the one shown below. Each plaque commemorates a year in the history of Western Australia and the most eminent person in the state that year. There are some names you may have heard of; Allan Bond, Dennis Lillee and Bob Hawke for example - I note that Rolf Harris's one has recently disappeared!? But most of the names are those of administrators, academics or business people whose stories are now forgotten by all except their decedents or the most ardent of local history buffs. In the course of my years of work in this city I must have walked past this rather battered looking plaque hundreds - probably thousands - of times without noticing it or giving it a moment's thought. 1870 - Charles Edward Broadhurst - Pearler... About two year's ago, on a lunch break, I dropped into my favourite bookshop and while perusing the local history section found this recently published book. The nautical cover caught my attention. I wondered if there would be schematic drawings inside. I'm always looking for schematic drawings. There were a few sketches in the book, but none of the four-view technical profiles and cross-sections I was hoping for. There was however this artist's impression of a most fetching looking 19th century steamship; The SS Xantho. I started to read and once I started into her story - and that of her owner Mr Broadhurst - I could not stop. It turns out that this vessel - and a rather extraordinary vessel she was in certain regards - was Western Australia's first ever steamship. I'm not going to try to tell her history to you right now, because that would make for a very long introductory post and I am anticipating that this project could last for some time. We can discuss her history in detail later. Suffice to say that this ship sank in November 1872 at Port Gregory, a tiny, tiny settlement 500 km North of the state capital Perth. (See the map below.) Fortunately no lives were lost. Following her loss she was essentially forgotten and sat undisturbed for more than 100 years and was of no apparent significance beyond being a hazard to navigation. The red arrow shows the position of her wreck, right at the entrance to the harbour and the yellow arrow the site of the only jetty for scores of nautical miles in any direction. But in 1983 Xantho was re-discovered by staff of the Western Australian Maritime museum and, due to a number of extraordinary and completely unforeseen factors she was about to be propelled to global fame - at least within the world's maritime archeology community. In the words of Dr 'Mac' MacCarthy, the world's leading expert on Xantho - 'This ship is world famous - in certain circles'. I think it's a shame so few other people have heard of her. Once the Avro 504 is finished I'm going to build a model! Be warned though Britmodeller maritime folks I have great plans for this one, and I'm going to need all the help and expertise that I can get, because this promises to be a research nightmare! Very Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve.

Dementors Attack the Hogwarts Express It is a little known aspect of the Second Great Wizarding War that the Order of the Phoenix occasionally used the Hogwarts Express as a means of secret communication. When required, a brave squib engineer - Cornelius Melchett - would take the locomotive, unencumbered by rolling stock, at high-speed to points all over the country conveying secret messages and items of great importance. Since he was a squib, he was not closely monitored by the Ministry of Magic and as the locomotive ran completely on muggle principles, it left no traceable magical signature. Eventually however, Cornelius's luck ran out. One evening on Ravenscar Moor he was ambushed by a patrol of no fewer than nine dementors. Although he tried to escape at speed, resistance was futile. The attack was brief and vicious, and alas, Cornelius lost his life. Today a small plaque on the footplate of the Hogwarts Express commemorates his bravery and sacrifice. It's almost two years ago since my 12 year old daughter (now 14) came to me stating that she wanted to scratchbuild the Hogwarts Express. We started in July 2019 and 'Baby Bandsaw' (sometimes her mum calls her 'Caroline') did most of the work herself, although I helped out here and there. The locomotive is mostly made of wood and brass with the wheels 3D printed by Neil; a good friend of mine without whose assistance this could not have been done. I could not be prouder of what my daughter has achieved here and must say that the final standard is far above what I thought possible when we started. Here's the story of how this model / diorama was made. I would like to thank everyone in the Britmodeller Community who offered advice, interest, encouragement or just old fashioned banter. There have been one or two stalwarts on this project who have contributed at every step of the way. To you lot - and you know who you are - I offer very special thanks indeed. Best Wishes to you all, Bandsaw Steve and Baby Bandsaw

This is a kit from a small maker, Pavel Nikitin, who is based in Ukraine, and new to me. I ordered the kit (along with a Shallop) direct from the maker in Kiev. It did take a while to be despatched. Once on its way, shipping was no slower than from other eastern European countries (Poland, for example). Postage does appear steep. If, as I suspect, that included customs duties (i.e. VAT) as well as carriage, then it isn't so bad. Pavel Nikitin's website: http://shipsofpavelnikitin.com/shop The box The box says 'Santa Maria Boat', but, that title caused some controversy on ship modelling forums. There are no drawings for any boats carried by Columbus's Santa Maria. On the maker's website, this is now a "15th Century Wooden Boat". What is in the box? A 3-page A4 instruction booklet, and two packs of laser cut wood wrapped in cling film. The larger pack is cut from MDF sheet, and contains a building jig (skeleton jig?). The smaller pack contains sheets from a range of wood species. Beech I recognise, the others, I'm not sure. Sheets 5 and 6 are the hull planking, and mirror each other. And a sample instruction page.

Kick-off Hello, I have spent the last 6 months working on a scratchbuilt Mig 15 and that project is now drawing to a close. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235012524-mig-15-scratchbuild/& Consequently, I've been thinking a lot about my next project and after much deliberation, including considering a very, very wide range of possible subjects, I have decided to try something completely different to my usual aviation related fare. I am going to try to build His Majesty's Australian Submarine AE2. This is a project that I has been in the back of my mind for over a decade now and when a fellow modeller offered to lend the following set of plans to me, all thoughts of other projects evaporated. In my view Allied submarines in WW1 are under represented in the modelling world, so I'm going to try to do my little bit to correct this. AE2 was an early E-Class submarine operated by the Royal Australian Navy. On the evening of 25 April 1915 (while the Gallipoli landings were underway) she successfully penetrated the extremely formidable Turkish defences in the Dardenelles Straight and proceeded to 'run amok' in the sea of Marmara. During a short-lived but very intensive period of raiding she caused considerable disruption to Turkish attempts to reinforce and supply their defences on the Gallipoli peninsula. On the 30th of April AE2 was damaged by the Turkish torpedo boat Sultanhisar and, unable to dive to safety, her captain decided to scuttle her. All hands survived the scuttling and spent the rest of the war as P.O.W's in Turkey where they suffered terribly. Four of the vessel's compliment of 32 died during their incarceration. In 1998 the wreck of the AE2 was located and found to be in remarkably good condition, mostly due to it's partial immersion in anoxic mud. A thorough campaign to preserve the wreck in-situ continues to this day. The possibility of recovering the wreck has been discussed at length, and although probably technically feasible would be a very high risk and highly expensive project. So - in the meantime a model will have to do! I have not yet started any physical construction - so there's not a lot to see yet but, most unlike me, I have been conducting some additional research. And just as well too because it turns out that the drawings above are for a mid-war configuration E-class submarine which in some significant regards was different to the early war AE2. For example, the mid war submarine had a gun mounted ahead of the conning tower and had two forward torpedo tubes instead of AE2's single tube. There are other differences also. Suffice to say that this set of plans from the RAN's historical page on their website will help me nail down the correct configuration. The model itself will be: 1 / 100 scale Waterline - surface trim Scratchbuilt - although I might resort to some aftermarket details here and there. It will not be a cutaway (despite various people suggesting the idea) Predominantly made from wood, but expect to see some brass and plastic sheeting and a few other bits and pieces as well. I am hoping to have physical construction under-way this week and am aiming to have it finished by the end of 2017 but really don't have any idea how long this will take as I'm completely new to this maritime modelling lark. My plan for this job is basically to 'muddle through' so any encouragement and expert advice from the sidelines will be most appreciated! Best Regards, Reconcilor

May I present LNER A4 Sir Nigel Gresley carved from parana pine with boxwood wheels, all hand carved. The drive wheels were the biggset challenge, having to carve 120 spokes with a scalpel in tough boxwood, I got through about 15 blades. Everything else was pretty straightforward. Theres no detail in the cab as at some point I plan to add a tender, which will obscure the view. Not made to any particular scale, its about 9" long as thats how big the plans were when printed out. Thanks for watching, all feedback gratefully received.

Howdy Britmodellers, hope you are all keeping well. I can't believe how fast the summer has rushed past. I guess the ongoing apocalypse tends to distract one from the more important things like hobbies. Anyway, here's a P-51D (roughly 1/48) carved from an old bannister. Thanks for viewing; comments always welcome.

So, the 2020 weirdness is not quite dead, so what better distraction from the end of the world than a wooden spitfire? Having already done a Mk1 a while back (that now looks hopelessly childish) I thought I'd fast-forward 10 years to the last mark to fly from the spitfires birthplace: a Mk24. Carved from my dwindling supply of beech and accented with whatever slivers of dark wood (or possibly mouse poo) I found at the bottom of the woodpile and finished with a very old tin of danish oil. Hope it looks vaguely recognisable, and is an acceptable deviation from the more usual plastic based excellence found on here.

Hiya Here are some snaps of my latest wood fiddling, a 1/48 Supermarine S.6b. This one took a bit of doing, the fuselage took three goes and the wings four. Which is odd, as its not that complicated a shape. Anyway, I reckon about about 40 hours of work to produce this: Thanks for watching

Hello again! It's amazing what you find hiding in a lump of wood: beetles, fungus, or in this case, a 1/48 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T1 It took a bit of finding, but I think it turned out OK. For some reason I find propeller aircraft more satisfying, so this may be the only jet. Not sure. No WIP for this as its fairly tedious watching a piece of wood get turned into sawdust! Anyway, on with the photos Thanks for viewing; comments always welcome.

Hogwart's Express - A Baby Bandsaw Build 'A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He had done it' So wrote J.K. Rowling in chapter six of her 1997 novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - the first in a series of novels that some of you may have heard of. My two daughters have definitely heard of these books - and have seen the films countless times - in fact they are bordering on fanatical about all things Harry Potter. So it wasn't a complete surprise when the younger of them - twelve year old 'Baby Bandsaw'- came to me about two weeks ago and asked if she could have a go at scratch-building a model of the Hogwarts Express. Being a very irresponsible parent I immediately decided that this was a great idea and despite all of the hazards of power-tools and chisels and so-forth, Baby Bandsaw (B,B) should indeed have a crack at this! We agreed that I would give her inexpert guidance, bad advice and, whenever required, inept help. She however would actually do the majority of the work. This will be Baby Bandsaw's Build, not mine, but she agreed that I was allowed to photograph and document her progress right here on Britmodeller and that I would be allowed to publish under my log-on. I looked her straight in the eye and asked her 'if you start this will you finish it?' it was a somber moment - she said 'yes' so we shook hands and the project began. After a brief bit of research and a couple of internet searchs I found this set of plans for a 'Hall Class' locomotive (Olton Hall was used in the film) and re-scaled the plans to 1/48 scale using my work's photocopier. This should be enough to get started. In model railway world I think that 1/48 is called 'O' gauge for some obscure reason. This lump of Huon Pine - the same bit I used to form the vac-form cowling buck on the Avro 504 - was the only bit of decent wood I had that was wide enough to start to form the boiler . Here is the first cut in the entire project. BB cutting off a small surplus lump on one end, squaring up the block in preparation for further work. Here she's cutting out the profile view of the boiler. We have no plan view at this stage but that's not too much of a handicap because the boiler is circular in cross-section and so the side view is identical to the plan. As per my usual 'modus operandi' BB is spraying some cheap photo-fixative glue onto the side of the wood so that... She can stick the paper pattern on and start some bandsaw action! I was sort-of a bit 'parental' here and fussed about making sure those fingers stayed at least a small distance from the blade! A few minutes later she had this. We marked up a 'do not cut into' red line -as you can see below - and a grey 'remove with chisel' area and BB started hacking into the sharp squared off corners with this scoop chisel - nice work! So after about half an hour she was left with this. The very, very early stages of this build. The very first bit of rounding off of that square block that will need be reduced to a full cylinder to represent the boiler. Alas, by now it was bedtime as BB had school the following day. So begins my first post on the 'Civilian Vehicle's forum - a forum I have been hankering to get onto for some time. Some of you may be thinking 'Ere! Isn't there a forum specifically for railway locomotives on Britmodeller?' and there is. However, frankly, it's a bit hidden away and BB and I are hoping for a bit of visibility, interest and banter regarding this project. We think it will do better here in that regard. I did send a Personal Message to @Mike and he has very graciously given us permission to post this here so we aren't trespassing - honest! 🙂 Anyway - this should be fun, and I hope some of you see fit to follow along and see what comes of this. Best Regards, Baby Bandsaw and Bandsaw Steve!

Hello, denizens of the dusty end of the forum. Thought I'd pop down here to show off my latest whittling project: a pre-war Peckett 0-6-0 ST. I chose it as a starter loco project as it didn't have too many wheels to carve in case I found the going a bit tough. Everythign is hand carved from wood with a few brass wire embellishments. Oh, and soeme galvanised felt nails for buffers. Hope you like "60 ton angel falls to the earth / Pile of old metal, a radiant blur"

Looking for information on Binnacle Products (Rear 11 Twyning Road, Birmingham 30 "Binnacle" Ship Kit #7 Fairmile 'D' Thanks, all. Russell

Hello, I like to show my build of the St.Gabriel here too and hopefully it is for interesst for you 🙂 History: St. Gabriel from 1728 Vitus Jonassen Bering was a Danish naval officer in Russian services. He led the First Kamchatka Expedition from 1728 to 1730 and from 1733 the Second Kamchatka Expedition, on which he died. Among other things, "Columbus the Tsar" proved that Asia and North America are not connected. In 1728 Bering had the 18-metre long sloop St. Gabriel built. From July 1728, he used this ship to explore the coast of Siberia in a northerly direction, discovering several islands and penetrating further and further into the Arctic Ocean without finding a land connection between Asia and America. On 26 August 1728, due to bad weather, Bering gave the command to turn around and turned back at 67°18' north latitude. Although he had already crossed the strait later named after him, he did not provide the final proof that there is no land connection between Asia and North America. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitus_Bering I will not lose so many words, rather let pictures speak. The basic hull structure Size comparison with the Maria (same scale) Second planking Unfortunately, the veneers do not quite "fit together" in terms of grain, see above and below the wale. First "oiling", always nice to see how the whole wooden structures are highlighted and everything darkens. The wale and first photoetched parts. The waterway. The handrail (consists of two layers of veneer) Here you can see that color comes into play. You won't find much information about St.Gabriel in the net, I stumbled over a picture where this typical green colour is shown and I want to try to add a little more individuality. Master Korabel kits have the ... haha ... "disadvantage" that they all like to look equally damn good. They are really one of the best kit designs I have ever had in my hands. Nice pear wood is also included 🙂 Cheers Dirk

Here is my latest creation, a 1/20(ish) Ferrari 330 P4. All carved from one solid piece of beech, with a few walnut accents and finished with whatever leftover varnish I had in the garage. Took about 2 months

Happy Birthday Royal Air Force Today is the 102nd Anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force. Two years ago - to the day - I started building this model of an Avro 504K. My intention was to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force's formation by building an example of an important aircraft that had served in the RNAS, RFC, RAF and many of the commonwealth air arms that followed. It's just as well I remembered the commonwealth because it turns out there's a very good chance that in 1918 this particular airframe was actually in service with the AFC (Australian Flying Corps) and not the RAF at all. This, despite my strong attachment to Australia, was not my intention. It seems a dodgy reference book might have let me down there, but that does not matter to me really, I still think that this model of an Avro 504 fits the original purpose. I finished the model yesterday and in doing so completed the project just one day inside a self-imposed deadline of two years. This project is, by far, the most challenging and technically difficult model I have ever attempted. It's 100% scratchbuilt, mostly from wood but with significant amounts of brass and plastic. There are no purchased parts at all (well actually there's one tiny kitset piece scavenged off a Tamiya kettenkraft) so everything you see is hand made. There is no 3D printing used. It's mostly done the old fashioned way of solid model building with the fashioning of all of the large parts starting by running a bit of wood through a bandsaw. I'm an old fashioned kind of dude at heart and gain a certain satisfaction from the belief that I'm keeping some old-time skills alive in this nutty modern world. If you would like to have a look at how this model was put together, please click on this link... The project is not completely finished just yet. Sadly, right now, there's a silver plaque sitting in an engraving shop in Perth reading 'Avro 504K, RNAS, RFC, RAF' but I can't go and get it because that journey into town is not deemed essential. When next I can get into town, I'll pick the plaque up and attach it to the side of the display base's frame and then this project will be wrapped up for good. This build has made me extend my skills in many different areas and I believe I come out of the experience a better modeller; more confident than I was that I can handle technically challenging subjects. I'm not lining up to do a biplane any time soon but I won't rule out doing something like this again some time. For now however, I already have some research into the SS Xantho happening on the maritime pages and if you want to see some more Bandsaw action very soon, keep your eyes peeled in the military section. I've got something starting up in there that's about as far away from a WW1 biplane as can be imagined. Anyway - enough of that. There's not much left to do except thank everyone who commented, suggested or contributed to the Avro 504 WIP thread in any way at all. I fear I'm actually a bit vain and always get a small kick out of scoring a 'like' or a 'happy face' and watching my 'reputation tally' go up. Without the ongoing interest and support of the Britmodeller community I am unsure that I would have bought this to a conclusion. So thank you everyone, including the mods and admins and tech folk who make the site run and keep this a great spot to hang out. Here's some photos - I hope you enjoy them. Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve

Happy Birthday Royal Air Force Today is the 100th Anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force. If you did not know that already you are probably on the wrong website. Some time ago I decided that I wanted to mark this occasion by starting a new project on this date and have of late spent much time thinking about what the subject should be. Naturally enough, Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancasters and myriad of famous post-war types all came to mind, but these are well-covered subjects and so I dwelled on the matter a bit deeper... What about something that was in service on the day the RAF formed? What about something that had served in both the RFC and the RNAS prior to the formation of the RAF? What about something that was crucially important both to the newly formed air force and essentially all of the commonwealth air arms that were to follow? What about the Avro 504! To me, the Avro 504, more than any other single type, captures the spirit and the essence of the nascent Royal Air Force. This type had seen service as a fighter, a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft prior to being 'relegated' to the training duties at which it excelled. By 1918 this was the most numerous aircraft in the RAF (and probably in the world) with more than 7000 being built during World War One alone. In the new air force almost all aircrew had been trained on this type and I should think most of the ground crew as well. It was the foundation of the skills and professionalism that have been the hallmark of the service ever since. So, foolishly, I'm going to have a crack at building one in 1/32 scale. Here are the plans I will be using...provided most efficiently by Len Whalley at 'aeroplans.co.uk’ (Great service thanks Len). As you can see this is a screen-shot of my electronic copy because my friendly computer draftsman at work is on extended Easter holidays. He'll be back soon! In the meantime I'm going to use these plans as a starting point, they are fine for the general layout and dimensions. And here we go... Start with a good straight, clean bit of wood. In this case I'm using Jarrah - just like I did in my Mig 15 build here... www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235012524-mig-15-scratchbuild I'm using Jarrah mostly because it's the strongest wood I can get hold of. Having studied the plans I can see that there are going to be some challenges with maintaining the structural integrity of this model, especially once the extensive cockpit has been hollowed out - hence structural strength is going to be a major consideration. It's a beautiful bit of wood this - straight close grain almost flawless. The oval below marks the only knot in the entire plank, it's tiny and is fortunately positioned so it can be easily excluded from the fuselage cut-out. Here I'm marking off the first cut for the fuselage. I'm cutting it much longer than it needs to be for reasons you will see later on. And here it is - the first cut - made on 01 April 2018! Hooray... Two lengths have been cut for the fuselage so that I can work to the natural centre-line thus formed... The wings are being cut from some thin slices of sapelli. Another high-quality hard-wood. I've chosen this because I do not want the wings to sag and think that sapelli will be rigid enough to hold it's shape over time. And here's the rough cut-out of the tailplanes. I think that the tail is going to be the only easy part of the build. And so -after 20 minutes of work I have the very, very rough outline of a biplane... No - this is not an April Fools joke, this really is the start of my model! I don't know how long this is going to take but given the slow pace of my previous (still uncompleted) project that you can see here: www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235021633-hmasm-ae2-scratchbuild I would say this will take at least a year and possibly much longer. I've never built a biplane before. Wish me luck... Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve (ex-Reconcilor)

Hi folks. Here is a simple carving of a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa 250 that has kept me busy for the past couple of months. Entirely scratch built and hand carved from mahogany to 1:20th ish scale. Hope you like it. Merry xmas!

HMAS AE2 - World War One Submarine. About a decade ago I started idly dreaming about scratchbuilding a model of the famous Australian World War One submarine AE2. One year ago, almost to the day, a generous fellow modeller lent me a set of his plans for an E-class submarine. 11 months ago work started. Three days ago I finished the model. After what seems like a very long time and a great deal of fun, here's the result. Please enjoy! Those of you that have been following the WIP thread will know that the last week of this project was essentially a blinding sprint to get this thing completed in time for the Western Australian Scale Model Exposition (WASMEx). So how did I go in the competition? Well have a look at the photo below and have a guess which one won! Hmmmmm.... No real surprise! Yep - My little submarine came second in the maritime scratchbuilt class. This was what I expected all along because there's one guy here in Perth who is an absolute master of maritime scratchbuilding (lets call him GW shall we). I figured all along that he would win - that's his HMS Vanguard in the Perspex case! Scratchbuilt - from balsa of all things! Well - there's nothing wrong with being beaten by a true champion! Congratulations GW, a deserved win! In any case, I can't complain because it was GW that lent me the plans in the first place! So my submarine came second, which is fine by me, especially since there was a field of nine entries in the maritime scratchbuilt category. So it looks like maritime modelling in Western Australia is in good health. If you are interested in how this model was made please have a look at WIP log which can be found here... And if you will allow me to indulge in a small 'plug' - why not check out my next project - a scratchbuilt, 1/32 Avro 504. That WIP can be found here... All comments and critiques most welcome. Warmest Regards - Bandsaw Steve

Howdy forumites, its been a long time since I rock'n'rolled, but never mind that now. Today, may I present for your consideration a carved wooden series 1 Jaguar E-Type at roughly 1/24 ish scale. Entirely scratch built out of panga panga and basswood, with a little bit of plastic and brass. Took about 6 weeks with numerous pauses while work kept me away from my toys. I Don't think I'll use panga panga again, it is a bit of a pig to carve as it is splintery, and the heavy grain overpowers smaller details. however, it turned out all right, and taught me some more about the joys of whittling. Until next time, keep your tools sharp and your fingers out of the way.

RMS Carpathia In 1912 Harold Thomas Cottam was the RMS Carpathia's wireless operator. Early in the morning of 15th of April, whilst Carpathia was Eastbound in the North Atlantic, he was about to retire to bed following a long but entirely routine shift. Instead of going to bed however, purely on an impulse, he decided to send a courtesy message to Titanic regarding some undelivered commercial messages that he intended to relay on his next shift. Instead of receiving a polite nod of thanks from Titanic - he received this... 'Come at once. We have struck a berg. It's a CQD OM.' CQD = 'All Stations - Distress!' Carpathia's Captain - Arthur Rostron - was immediately alerted and, despite the extraordinary improbability of the events that were unfolding, he quickly grasped the situation and realised that he was within range to help. He turned Carpathia toward the Titanic's last stated position and ran her at speeds exceeding the ship’s nominal maximum through hazardous waters known - self evidently - to contain dangerous icebergs. Carpathia arrived at the scene of the disaster approximately four hours later - just before sunrise. Heartbreakingly she was too late for the 1503 souls that died that night. She was however able to recover 705 survivors and following a harrowing journey deliver them safely to New York city. Of the several ships associated with the Titanic disaster Carpathia was really the only one with her reputation enhanced in any way. For this reason it is perhaps a little surprising that she is not modelled more frequently. After all she is the hero in the most famous episode in maritime history. Right now however, as some of you will know, I'm in the middle of scratch-building an Avro 504k in 1/32 scale and I'm greatly enjoying the challenge, Here's the WIP if you are interested. So why am I sitting here writing about Carpathia? Well, the Avro project is going well but is progressing very slowly and is about to enter, yet another difficult phase involving cockpits and struts and rigging and what-not... I was hoping to have the Avro ready for the Western Australian Model Expo in May 2019 but, frankly that's looking very unlikely. So I've decided to have a crack at a quicker build that, for the time being, will take priority - RMS Carpathia, Scratch built in 1/500 scale. Here's a book on the subject - just to prove I can read 🙂 And here are the plans - enlarged from 1/1200 scale from John Bowen's excellent publication 'More Miniature Merchant Ships'. And here is the first cut in the entire project. And the wood selected for the hull - superb stuff this - maybe even as good as bass wood for carving... When doing fuselages and hulls and other symmetrical things I like to temporarily glue two even halves together at the start of the project. This creates a natural centre line to work from but I'm still be able to split the two halves apart later on if need be. For example when it comes to fitting the masts and other centreline accruements. If you follow the thread you'll see what I mean. I've decided to cut the sheer first. The sheer - nautical term that! It means the lovely curve along the top of the hull. I'm using a bench sander for this job as the thickness of the wood is just a whisker too great for my little bandsaw. Besides - belt sanders are fun! 🙂 It leaves this effect. A nice even curve running the entire length of the hull and a smooth top surface onto which to stick... This! Note how the join in the wood allows us to get the plan's centreline dead in the middle of the job. And now we can cut this... (using a bandsaw of course) 😎 and use the bench sander to sand the correct rake on the stem of the ship's bow. Fire up the bandsaw again to start shaping the Carpathia's beautiful 'counter-stern' - which I fear is going to be one of the tricky bits in this build. A bench sander is essential for this kind of work - perhaps even as important as a bandsaw! 😧 After about two hours work we have this roughed out initial shape of the Carpathia's hull. Not a bad return on a minimal time investment I reckon. I'm going to try to complete this model quickly. I don't want to mess around too much. 2019 is shaping up to be a hectic year for me so on the brief occasions I'll get out into my 'factory' I'm aiming to get a fair bit done. This is a labour of love - but it's not going to be the work of a perfectionist! Hope to see all my old maritime mates back showing an interest in this one! Very Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve.

RMS Carpathia - 1/500 Scale - Scratchbuilt I present for your viewing pleasure my recently completed model of RMS Carpathia. She is depicted as she may have appeared on the night of the 15 April 1912, the night that she sped to the rescue of the beleaguered survivors of the Titanic disaster. The model is constructed from wood, brass, plastic-sheet and various other bits and pieces. It is completely scratchbuilt except for the lifeboats that are 3D printed. The WIP thread that tracks the process of the construction of the model and the sea-scape can be found here: I am quite pleased with the result - especially as the project took less than 4 months from start to finish. The model will be on display at next weekend's WASMEx scale model exhibition at Cannington community hall in Perth Western Australia. Thanks to everyone in the Britmodeller community for showing interest in this project. All comments, criticisms and queries most welcome. Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve 👍

Whilst on holiday I thought I'd move completely out of my comfort zone. I've always wanted to build an open launch showing the internal details. Various attempts have come to nought. Looking for something easily transportable this caught my eye Kit sprues? Tis all made from Limewood which means it has minimal straight grain though a trifle soft Firsts up a simple jig to keep it all straight until frames/longitudinals are in place. Commence fitting the frames The idea is the frames are planked and the centre is removed, time will tell . . . Frames in place. Coffee stirrer used to brace frames. The transom look a bit precarious so I'm leaving that until I have the sheer planks in place First sheer plank in place Thanks for looking in, I hope you enjoy something a bit different Kev

Hello you, and a belated welcome to 2019. Here is a quicky I did in the post Christmas blues, a Mozzie carved from wood and camouflaged with wood stain. Its a bit of a mishmash, its supposed to be the cannon armed fighter, but the cockpit and exhaust blisters are from the MkIV bomber and the Brownings are too high in the nose. Still, it kept me out of the wife's way for a couple of weeks so it's all good. Enjoy.