Some Fleet Air Arm stuff - all 1/72

[Tango India Mike]

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news then Tim.

Yes I'm afraid dear old WB271 is no more.

She went in at Flying Legends,Duxford in 2003.A total loss I'm afraid.

There wasn't a fire,but Bill Murton,her regular pilot,and Neil Rix,her regular nav were very sadly killed in the crash.

Bill and Neil had done a fast pass down the runway at low altitude and pulled up into a climbing starbord turn for another pass.

As she came around the corner at the top of the turn,Bill seemed to roll out of the turn early but never brought the nose back up.She went straight down into a field just beyond the airfield perimiter.

The emergency crews from the airfield were very quickly on the scene,but Bill,Neil and WB271 were far beyond help.

I believe a control failure was the established cause.

Here's a link to the RNHF's own pages about her.

http://www.stringbag.flyer.co.uk/rnhf/wb271.htm

She seemed to have been around forever and was a very, very well loved performer on the airshow circuit.

Mark

Thanks Mark, that shows just how out of touch I am. I used to keep abreast of things through the Aeroplane Monthly and Flypast magazines that I bought for more years than I care to remember, until I just couldn't afford them any more. It may be five years ago now, but it still comes as unpleasant news.

They always do.

Tim.

[Tango India Mike]

More excellent work on one of my fave subjects.

Thanks Tiz - is that Fleet Air Arm in general? I have quite a liking for naval types myself . . . just itching to get on with some more soon!

A couple of Seafires for you . . .

Cheers!

Tim.

[Miggers]

Thanks Tiz - is that Fleet Air Arm in general? I have quite a liking for naval types myself . . . just itching to get on with some more soon!

A couple of Seafires for you . . .

Cheers!

Tim.

Hoo-hoo Tim they're corkers.Brigade conversions or Kiwi full kits????

The 17 is just about my favorite Seafire.The combo of the short Griffon and the original L.III wing make it a very brutal yet asthetically superb variant.

Mark

[Tango India Mike]

Hoo-hoo Tim they're corkers.Brigade conversions or Kiwi full kits????

The 17 is just about my favorite Seafire.The combo of the short Griffon and the original L.III wing make it a very brutal yet asthetically superb variant.

Mark

The Mk 15 is Brigade Models and there's a couple of other views of it in the first of my Spitfires thread somewhere on here. The Mk 17 is Ventura. You lucky devils in Britain can see a real one airborne and I'm very jealous! If I weren't tied up with theatre commitments for the next couple of months I might seriously consider a trip over there for a few air shows this year! When is the big one at Duxford?

[Miggers]

Here you are then Tim.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/forumdisp...sprune=&f=4

This is where I go to catch up on events in the Classic Aviation world.Make yourself a member and you'll never have to buy another magazine again

And talking of Seafires,this is the sort of thing we have to put up with here in UK

That jammy devil John Beattie has to fly the thing.

Mark

[Tango India Mike]

Here you are then Tim.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/forumdisp...sprune=&f=4

This is where I go to catch up on events in the Classic Aviation world.Make yourself a member and you'll never have to buy another magazine again

And talking of Seafires,this is the sort of thing we have to put up with here in UK

That jammy devil John Beattie has to fly the thing.

Mark

Thanks for that, Mark. I have actually seen the video film before and am pleased to see that hefty slab of armoured glass retained behind the windscreen - a birdstrike could have very nasty consequences without it. One thing though, if that were me I'd be opting for a leather helmet and to hell with safety advice. I've sat in Spitfires with the hood closed and I really wouldn't fancy swivelling the noggin about inside that small space while encumbered by a whacking great bonedome. Interestingly, I read some years ago an account by Jeffery Quill of a flight with (I think, though I may be wrong) Charles Church. He was given a bonedome to wear and hated it. Having worn them myself many years ago (though not in single-seat fighters I hasten to add), I sympathise with him!

The forum looks very interesting too. I've just had a quick shufti at it and will return to it again. Having said that, though, my vast collection of Aeroplane Monthlies has been and still is an invaluable source of reference material for modelling. Now, thanks to a newly finalised inheritance, I may start buying them again - although I note, sadly, that many of the 'old guard' contributors (who really knew what they were talking about) have passed on and the magazine is the poorer for it. Such is life, I suppose.

A pleasure 'talking' with you Mark. Cheers!

Tim.

[Pat C]

Tim

Jaw-droppingly awesome stuff if I may say so. Any chance of a close-up of one of your pilots? I like to have my aircraft "crewed-up" and always like to see how others paint 1/72 pilots. Have you used vac-canopies on the likes of the Firefly?

Pat

Edited July 8, 2008 by Pat C

[keefr22]

Fantastic work again Tim, absolutely fantastic!! And they're all built & photographed to such a high, consistent, standard! Great work all round!! I think they're all terrific models, but that Frog Barracuda is, for me, absolutely outstanding!!

Lovely, lovely stuff!!

Keef

[ancient mariner]

[Tango India Mike]

Tim

Jaw-droppingly awesome stuff if I may say so. Any chance of a close-up of one of your pilots? I like to have my aircraft "crewed-up" and always like to see how others paint 1/72 pilots. Have you used vac-canopies on the likes of the Firefly?

Pat

Thanks Pat. I don't know that these will be much use to you because they're not exactly sharp, but here's a few for you anyway. I've got in about as close as I dare . . .

Those last two are 1/32 scale. As for canopies, as much as I'd like to own a vac-form machine, I find that I can crash-mould just about anything I need - as I've done on all of these models. Sorry they're not great pictures, but this is just one of the limitations of old-fashioned film. I've yet to get myself a good digital camera that will allow me to get in really close. When I do I'll put together a feature on pilot figures for posting on here.

All the best,

Tim.

[Tango India Mike]

Ah, Keef and Ancient Mariner, you sneaked in while I was busy doing all that scanning above. Thanks very much chaps!

[Pat C]

...wow..I don't know what to say....these are real people and you have Rick Moranis in your cellar shrinking them all down to 1/72nd??

Have you done any helicopters? Be interested to see how they look with rotors in motion.

Pat

[Miggers]

Thanks for that, Mark. I have actually seen the video film before and am pleased to see that hefty slab of armoured glass retained behind the windscreen - a birdstrike could have very nasty consequences without it. One thing though, if that were me I'd be opting for a leather helmet and to hell with safety advice. I've sat in Spitfires with the hood closed and I really wouldn't fancy swivelling the noggin about inside that small space while encumbered by a whacking great bonedome. Interestingly, I read some years ago an account by Jeffery Quill of a flight with (I think, though I may be wrong) Charles Church. He was given a bonedome to wear and hated it. Having worn them myself many years ago (though not in single-seat fighters I hasten to add), I sympathise with him!

The forum looks very interesting too. I've just had a quick shufti at it and will return to it again. Having said that, though, my vast collection of Aeroplane Monthlies has been and still is an invaluable source of reference material for modelling. Now, thanks to a newly finalised inheritance, I may start buying them again - although I note, sadly, that many of the 'old guard' contributors (who really knew what they were talking about) have passed on and the magazine is the poorer for it. Such is life, I suppose.

A pleasure 'talking' with you Mark. Cheers!

Tim.

The feeling is absolutely mutual Tim,it's a pleasure to have a "chat".

I think old Beattie has worn a 'dome ever since Johnnie Allinson(AVM Ret'd)tipped Black 6 over a few years back.He'd have bumped his bonce on all that Messerschmitt hood frame if he'd have had a leather on.

That site is pretty good.There's quite a few knowledgeable types that get on there from the Classic Aviation and restoration world as well as professional pilots old and young .

One of the UK's top Spit/Seafire historians get on there too(the one that "found" SX336 in that Warrington scrappy in '73)as well as some of the BBMF boys.

I find if I can't get a question answered here,it's a fair bet I'll get it answered on there.

BTW,that PR.XIX pilot looks like Al Pinner or Russ Alchorne from the BBMF

All the best,Mark

Edited July 8, 2008 by Miggers

[keefr22]

...wow..I don't know what to say....these are real people and you have Rick Moranis in your cellar shrinking them all down to 1/72nd??

Pat

Seconded Pat!!

They're astonishing Tim, I don't think I've seen such realistic looking faces on 120mm figures!!

Stunning. Again!!

Keef

Edited July 8, 2008 by keefr22

[zeke]

Tim

Just glorious matey...superb stuff.

[Murdo]

I honestly thought these were real!

Stunning work ans stunning photography. Well done mate!

[Tango India Mike]

Thanks again everybody. My little bit of time off has come to an end though, and I won't be able to spend much time here for a while. The serious business of rehearsals has started for the two one-act plays I'm appearing in next month. One of them being a lead role with a lot of lines to learn, I'm going to be pretty occupied, so all thoughts of modelling, photography and anything else hobby-related will have to wait until it's all over. I'll still be looking in though, when I've got a spare five minutes.

See you all later!

Tim.

[fatalbert]

Best of luck with plays Tim,......Neil

[Eric Mc]

Wow - what a lovely way to present your models. I initially thought they were real too. I think the fact that the pilots' heads are angled so that they seem to be looking at the "camera plane" is what really brings them to life - as that is what you invariably see in genuine air to air shots like this.

They reminded me strongly of the work of that great aviation photographer, Charles E Brown. Are you familiar with his work Tim? If you want to see examples of what he did try and get hold of the three volumes of "Camera Above the Clouds".

We probably won't hear from you for a few months now because of your commitments. I can understand what you mean as I am heavilly into amateur theatricals as well (I'm chairman of our local operatic/musical society) so finding time to squeeze my modelling between rehearsals can be difficult.

Edited July 16, 2008 by Eric Mc

[Tango India Mike]

Thanks Neil and Eric. Today I at last have some time to sit down at the computer and catch up with a few things - well, a little bit of time, at least. Much feverish activity going on here at the moment. Rehearsals under way and the real estate agents springing a house inspection on me tomorrow some time - a damned nuisance and an invasion of my privacy, but it HAS been a good opportunity to do a major reorganisation of things and make the path back to the modelling workbench a bit clearer! The modelling room got into a bit of a mess when I had to make room for all this computer gear nine months ago, but I've now shifted the computer set-up into another room. Fun it was too, figuring out where all those damned leads and plugs went. Frankly, I'm surprised that it all still works!

Eric, I'm a great fan of Charles Brown's work and someone else made a similar comparison a few months ago. When I lived in London I was fortunate to be allowed to look through the entire collection at the RAF Museum at Hendon. It was interesting to see well-known subjects taken from different angles during the same photo-shoot, and also to see them in their uncropped form. At present I only have one volume of 'Camera Above the Clouds', so will have to look out for the others next time I visit Boffins book shop in the city.

Also, I've noticed in recent months a few others around the modelling forums who are involved in theatre, music or both - so I'm pleased to meet yet another.

Cheers gents,

Tim.

[Erwin]

All looking great. Nice pictures.

[Eric Mc]

I wasn't expecting such a speedy reply.

I have Volumes 1 and 2 of Brown's book. Book 3 is all colour and georgeous the pictures are too. Considering the photographic gear and state of colour film technology at the time, the pictures he took are amazing.

I missed out on Book 2 for some reason so I'm always on the prowl for it.

We're currently rehearsing for "Annie Get Your Gun" but the intensity isn't too great at the moment as the show doesn't go on stage until the end of September.

[Duncan B]

At a bit of a loose end tonight, but not for much longer as things are about to start getting crazy again in the next few days with lines to learn and rehearsals to go to for the upcoming State Drama Festival here in Perth - all good fun, but it does tend to take over your life for a couple of months. I probably should be adding to the Spitfire thread, but you're probably a bit tired of Spits for a while. Here's a selection of seafaring types in the meantime . . .

Pavla Blackburn Roc.

Vista Fairey Fulmar.

Frog Fairey Barracuda.

In company with Hasegawa Wildcat/Martlet.

Here's the Wildcat on its own.

And another Grumman product, Academy's Hellcat.

PM Sea Fury (with a Matchbox Tempest II nose).

Airfix Fairey Firefly.

Oh, bl**dy posting limit! What a pain in the . . . neck!

Looking back through the archives for inspiration and found these. Fantastic models and realistic photoshopped "in flight" poses.

[Tango India Mike]

Goodness, this is a blast from the past! I see that I promised some 1950s jet types, but never seemed to find the time to actually deliver the goods. Well, rest assured that I'm actually working on a batch at present and hope it won't be too much longer before I have a few completed models to present in much the same fashion as here. On the bench at the moment are a pair of Airfix Sabre F4s, an MPM Meteor F8, a couple of Matchbox Meteors NF13 and 14, a Revell Hunter F4...just to mention a few. I'll be painting some new backdrops, too, before I start seeing what I can do with the digital camera. It's becoming harder to find film for the old 35mm SLR!

Thanks, Duncan, for resurrecting this old thread...though I must point out that there's no photoshop involved here. I'm not clever enough for that!

All the best to everyone,

Tim.

[Pat C]

...though I must point out that there's no photoshop involved here. I'm not clever enough for that!

..you mean......your 1/72 pilots are really flying those kites around???