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Nimrods


Lord Riot

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I’ve ordered the Airfix Nimrod from eBay - really looking forward to making another of Woodford’s finest!

 

I’d like to do a grey and white one, but we’re any MR2s that colour or were they all painted hemp when converted?

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If this is not answered by the time I get home tonight I will have a look for you. When I started working on Nimrod R1s in very late 1981, we had two aircraft that were in the Hemp scheme, with the other one was still in the White/Grey scheme, but not for that long as that soon went to Kinloss for its major where the paint colours would change.

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The Airfix kit can be built as an MR.1 or 2.  

There were a small number of Nimrod MR.1s that wore the hemp scheme (St Mawgan seemed quite late in changing over to 2s), rarer was at least two MR.2s that briefly wore the white and grey scheme.  One of the latter was a trials aircraft for MR.2 fit trials at Woodford at the time.

I think they might have been XV236 and 241, but need to confirm.

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7 hours ago, Jabba said:

If this is not answered by the time I get home tonight I will have a look for you. When I started working on Nimrod R1s in very late 1981, we had two aircraft that were in the Hemp scheme, with the other one was still in the White/Grey scheme, but not for that long as that soon went to Kinloss for its major where the paint colours would change.

When were you on 51? I was on EWAU/EWAD from 1989

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59 minutes ago, 12jaguar said:

When were you on 51? I was on EWAU/EWAD from 1989

 

I was on 51 from Nov 81 to Jul 87, so unfortunately our paths did not cross.

 

1 hour ago, wavodavo said:

Here's some of my photos.

37732923525_9dd771aa3b_z.jpg

 

 

This picture I found on the back of the Ian Allan Modern Combat Aircraft No 24 book on the Nimrod.

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1 hour ago, 12jaguar said:

When were you on 51? I was on EWAU/EWAD from 1989

12jaguar, I deployed with 51Sqn to Cyprus a few times 90/91/early 92 with Mobilty Supply Flight so we may have had a nodding acquaintance at one point.

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6 hours ago, 71chally said:

The Airfix kit can be built as an MR.1 or 2.

Not completely.  The fuel dump pipes on the MR.Mk.1 were mounted on little fairings above the upper skin, near the wingtips.  When the ESM pods were added for the MR.Mk.2, the pipes were re-routed through the trailing edge.  The kit covers only the later set-up.  I managed to persuade Robin at Cammett to design some replacement tips for the Mk.1, but he dropped out of the casting game before they could come to market.  Still, with as couple of good photos I'm hoping it's a tolerably easy thing to scratch-build.

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46 minutes ago, stever219 said:

Lovely shot of the first production Nimrod in the initial colour scheme John, and a splendid reference for when I exhume my Airfix MR. 1 from the stash of doom.  One of very few of the type to survive intact, I think at Bruntingthorpe.

I hadn't twigged that Steve, she's one of my fave performers at Bruntingthorpe.

ozVcwD.jpgJohn 

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Sean, I meant more generally, as in the kit comes with MR.1 and 2 options and decals. Probably good enough for most. 

There are far bigger issues to deal with than the fuel dump pipes, the shape of the tailplanes being one of them.

 

Initially some MR.2s didn't have the wingtip Loral pods fitted, and some didn't have them for quite a while.

Refuelling probes and the associated ventral fin and the tailplane finlets is something else that didn't necessarily arrive across the fleet at the same time.

 

Nimrods are certainly a type that you need to pick the one that you want to build and find references of it for equipment and markings, especially in the MR.2 era.

Edited by 71chally
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Thanks for the responses, this is brilliant. Brings back the days living under the flightpath of Woodford with Nimrods flying over virtually every day! Took them for granted back then.

 

I think I'm going to have to get another one, and build one grey/white MR1 and a hemp MR2.

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I believe my dad took this at Greenham Common, though I'm not sure if it was end of the 70's or early 80's. The Herc next to it is an RAF bird with Camo top and a light grey belly (I think) if that can help anyone date it!

 

26849625399_70de951258_c.jpg

Edited by charlie_c67
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18 hours ago, PLC1966 said:

12jaguar, I deployed with 51Sqn to Cyprus a few times 90/91/early 92 with Mobilty Supply Flight so we may have had a nodding acquaintance at one point.

Didn't get to Cyprus until Spring 93 and even then only to install a mod on 84 Sqns Wessex

 

John

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  • 1 month later...

That AEW is amazing, I'd love to do a conversion to one of those. I remember XZ286 in particular used to fly over my house every day in the 80s. 

 

Where do the conversion kits come from? Can't find any on eBay.

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