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Ark Royal's last cruise -Phantom FG1:Tractor and base close to completion


Massimo

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Hi mates,

This week I went on adding the last details, but there seems to be always some new ones.

 

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The cockpit had been left aside, waiting for everything else to be done, so I started by adding observer's  ( I remember something about some nicknames....) middle instrument panel, which I did from a piece of plastic card glued at the front seat's back, painted grey. A decal did the trick. 

I also made another back seat front perspex (of course I had lost the one I did months ago!!!) using another Super glue blister. I added the front pocket for the flight documentation.

 

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Thisis the cockpit with the perspex and seats finally in place.I still have to add the seats' ejecting handles, the wind screen's wiper and what I think must be the windscreen's front blower.

 

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I've also glued the airbrakes and the landing gears' legs . The wheels are just temporary ones, while waiting for the resin ones to come. I may decide to paintthem anyway!

 

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I airbrushed some fumes at the fuselage's back and added the engines' nozzles' covers and one of the ladders. The second one may be left on the deck , besides the Palouste starter.

 

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To finish a quick walk around. These pictures may result a little better than all previous ones as I took them with my compact camera instead of my cellphone. I also found the azure cardboard I had lost for the last few months. It was "in front of my nose" as we say in Italy!!!

That's it for now. Not finished yet, but nearly there!

 

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This Matchbox kit is really good.

"Those were the times!!!"

Ciao

Massimo

Edited by Massimo
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On 2/13/2019 at 9:02 AM, perdu said:

Lovely Bucc, methinks you have it just right

I can only agree with Bill, this is a rather spot on build of a rather spot on aircraft. Keep it going Massimo, it's going to look the part!

 

Terry

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Thank you all for the nice words!

To be honest I'm quite happy with the result I'm getting. Still don't know if showing it aside the gannet and Phantom is a good idea or it would be better to have her on a stand alone, but there's time to take a proper decision. At the moment Ill have her n a temporary one with the Gannet, then we'll see. 

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Ciao

Massimo

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57 minutes ago, 71chally said:

Absolutely superb!

 

Gannets always bring a splash of colour to the occasion!

And elegance, especially when folding their wings!  I read somewhere that the T5 in the US fairly regularly gets asked to spread and fold them again while taxying, just so air traffic can watch In dumbfounded amazement.  Fairey bonker-dom at its absolute best!

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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Good evening,

no work done this week, but I came back from the UK with some more stuff for thiss WIP.

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The mesh seems ok and the blue grey is...blue grey!!!I 

 

Anyway I was luky to have some spaare time, while visiting some Customers and thus I popped by RAF Marham a couple of times. There's a strange atmosphere there, as you can see the Tornados at the end of their career and the new F35...a quite different type of bird at the beginning of theirs.

Last wednasday afternoon I got there and there was plenty of cars at the runway's end.

Here a few pictures: First of all three Tornados landed. One of them a special Tail. 

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Then I moved to another spot whereyou can see the runway and the taxiway and after not too long I saw something moving at the other end of the field: two F35 readid for takeoff.

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After a little while a Tornado appeared on the taxiway.

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After taxiing in front of the audience, she went all the way down the runway and took off

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I went back to wait for them approaching and landing and after a while the first one back was the Tonka

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And finally, when it was already dark, the two F35 appeared from nowhere.

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To be honest I'm not a big fan of these new dark beasts , even if they are supposed to be state of the art war machines...but this is what the future brings so...let it be...

 

Friday morning I visited the last Customer and at 10 AM I was free. My flight from Norwich was at 4,55 PM, so....I went back to Marham where there were many people waiting. After an hour five Tornados appeared on the taxiway.

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After taxiing in front of us, they went all the way down and  took off. 

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After half an hour from their takeoff, three of them were back for some formation passes over the field.

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The other two appeared and readied to land, while the three did a last slow pass and then landed too.

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I know this is a little off topic, but it's been a great experience and it's worth sharing what are  for me the last british Tornados' pictures. Next Thursday there'll be the last 9 ships' formation flight and after thirty years that'll be it!!!

I remember when they entered service in Italy in 1981...was a bit younger and wouldn't have foreseen this day!

Thaanks for watching!

Good night!

Massimo

Edited by Massimo
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Magnifico Massimo

Thank you for these pictures

Marham is one of my favourite RAF stations because I've been privileged to race around its tarmac on many charity track days in my Midget.

And thanks to a friend being a high up officer, my mates and I were put up in the Mess overnight too

I love Marham

Its very evocative seeing the final days of Tonka being lived out there, your pictures will be put in my Marham file if it is OK with you 

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I started my flying training in late 1984 and, as I have recounted on here before, my Elementary Flying Training Course (Bulldogs, Linton-on-Ouse/Topcliffe) was 10 RN & 6 RAF - I spent the rest of my career with one Navy & one Air Force button on my mess kit.  

 

4 of those 6 Crabs went on to fly the Fin, which at the time was the RAF’s shiniest, newest, cutting edge jet.  [I have never seen the point of the phrase “fast jet”: when did you ever hear anyone talk about a “slow jet”?]

 

It seems incongruous to me that we are now days away from their retirement.  For as long as there were types still flying that we around in my day, I could just about persist with the illusion that I am not ancient.  But in the past couple of years the Seaking, Lynx & now Tornado have gone.  Not to mention the fact that every ship in which I served was turned into razor blades ages ago. 

 

Sigh.  Tenuous fugitive (which is what autocorrect has decided makes more sense than “tempus fugit”, which I actually wrote!)

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Bravo Massimo !!

Nice pics and really nice Bucc and base !!:partytime:

I was thinking that the plan was to present them all on a deck portion ??

I surely miss Something somewhere..

Whatever Veeery nice job, and after all some "tiny" bases will be easier to move with !

 

I seconded your advice about the F-35... I dislike these new "stealth" design, like cars, aircraft no longer have "characters"

 

I;ll ask Crisp or Bill, As "The fin' is clearly understandable, Where's the nickname "Tonka" coming from… To me tonka is a remind of a brand of little pewter cars, toys for kids ...

 

Tempus fugit for true !! I agree….

Sincerely.

CC

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Hi Massimo got to see the flypast at Honington.  They opened up the gates & let us on base which made it a great experience.

 

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i remember seeing the prototypes with the three part British / German / Italian roundels back in the late 70s so sad day to see them go.  Hopefully someone will be able to ground run one as they are doing with the Jag at Bentwaters.

 

Nice set of Marham photos that you got.

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CC I think Tonka refers to the jet looking like a toy to the Air Force when all the bombers were huge multi engine jobs that were being replaced by the tiny two seaters

 

I must stress that this is a guess, but it seems likely to me

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