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Tower Bridge Hunter - Airfix 1/72


CedB

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I built the Revell 1/72 Hunter as this airframe many years ago after reading about this little escapade. Too good an opportunity to miss!:D

 

The decals from Xtradecals had the wrong serials so I made them up from aftermarket ones. “With an acrid hiss from the Avpin engine starter system and a roar, my Hunter 'H' Hotel XF442, a substitute for my own "Bravo" "B" flight commander's aircraft, started up with the others.”

 

My favourite quote from the story comes from one of the letters sent to Flight International April 1968 “Good luck to the pilot! I would rather trust the defence of this country to a handful of his type than to a great number of the timids.”

 

And I’m sure there was a quote from a judge or MP after the event, along the lines of “Back in my day, we flew whole squadrons under bridges!”

 

Mart

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5 hours ago, Devilfish said:

Sorry if this has been said already. I don't have time to read through all the posts.  As far as I'm aware, Hunters of this period were sliver underneath. LAG came later with the tactical red/blue roundels.

 

On mine I used 1 Sqn markings from Xtradecal, but home made the serials.

Light Aircraft Grey was introduced in 1966 to replace Aluminium as an undersurface colour on fighters and ground attack aircraft . I believe aircraft were only repainted during major servicing , so XF442 could have been either . 

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15 minutes ago, Bedders said:

Where were you?

A repeat of my post #22

Well now I know exactly where I was...Sat in Maths 3rd floor of Thamesmead School, Shepperton facing Heathrow approach watching them land...Whats Pi   in decimal form ?

Who knows, there is an IL62 coming in.. All of a sudden This Hunter at house roof height, okay a tiny bit higher looking for the Thames at Shepperton to follow to The Smoke..and it was shifting. I shouted Look at that Hunter ! Mrs James went nuts but saw the Hunter.....On the News that night.. Blimey  I saw that Hunter  Dad, he loved it ..In the 70s and now in the RAF I was in the Osprey telling my mate this story, bloke sat next to us at the bar was on the see out crew when this guy started this mission.

Brilliant story and has to be told !

 

Now how do you get the area of a Circle? Missed that bit with the b*ll*king you won't get any where watching Aeroplanes all day !

Edited by bzn20
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Personally I'd recommend going with Light Aircraft Grey. The silver paint weathered badly and often looked more like grey than silver after a while anyway.

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I like those pictures from the sheds at Halton. I remember them well.

I did a Mechs course in 1976 and a Fitters course in 1981 (Airframe).

We were all well experienced on the fitters course so some of it was old hat to us.

One of the guys on the fitters course liked his beer too much, so some mornings

we'd put him into an empty Jet Provost engine bay to sleep it off.

No one wanted to be the one holding the bucket to catch the hydraulic fluid

that was expelled on undercarriage blowdowns on the Hunters.

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Quote

 Typing that I AM starting to feel a bit like a pervy old man. Only a bit though. Still time...

  •  

 

Yes, still plenty of time (for that)...

 

Blimey Ced you are a man hard to keep up with. I feel a bit breathless after that catch-up.  Looking forward to more modelling progress.

 

Regs, Nigel

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Fabulous back story Ced and a great bird too. Looking forward to this one. Page six already! :o I’ll stand outside at the window like a Dickensian street urchin looking in. ;)  “That’s some wonderful starting you have there Mr Ced Sir.”

 

Johnny. 

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21 hours ago, rs2man said:

Was that photo taken in the museum at Horsham St Faith ?

Yes it is, thats my local museum a short drive round the new NDR - that Hunter is a PR10 in 79 Squadron markings from RAF Chivenor where I was born!!

 

I'm on this build by the way!!

 

Cheers

Simon

 

 

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FINALLY I got the 1:1 painting finished and everything re-assembled (secondary double glazing and really complicated blind / pelmet / curtain thingies) so, wait for it, modelling below!

After I've replied to your posts, of course...

 

On 23/03/2018 at 08:43, Devilfish said:

Sorry if this has been said already. I don't have time to read through all the posts.  As far as I'm aware, Hunters of this period were sliver underneath. LAG came later with the tactical red/blue roundels.

 

On mine I used 1 Sqn markings from Xtradecal, but home made the serials.

On 23/03/2018 at 13:51, bzn20 said:

I was working on Hunters at Halton 1970, about 20 of them in total, been there a few years ,none had NMF lower fuse that I can remember

Heres the Halton stack . Cut our teeth on them

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Hunters+RAF+Halton&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSrazcyoLaAhXK3KQKHTzVCVQQ_AUICygC&biw=1301&bih=602&dpr=1.05#imgrc=icnD0cz1YVjmtM:&spf=1521812873226

 

http://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=157848

 

On 23/03/2018 at 14:09, rs2man said:

Light Aircraft Grey was introduced in 1966 to replace Aluminium as an undersurface colour on fighters and ground attack aircraft . I believe aircraft were only repainted during major servicing , so XF442 could have been either . 

Thanks Devilfish, bzn20 and rs2man :) I fear my choice may be made for me by the availability of LAG; I don't have any at the moment but will get some ordered. I do, of course, have NMF / HSS.

 

On 23/03/2018 at 08:49, Col. said:

How many of us would have paid good money to be standing on Tower Bridge that day?

On 23/03/2018 at 09:27, stevehnz said:

Yup, double yup in fact  :) 

Thanks to  Ced & this thread I'm now down  a sef of  Dekls off ebay. He seems to have moved a few in the last while. :)

Steve.

On 23/03/2018 at 10:23, rs2man said:

Was that photo taken in the museum at Horsham St Faith ?

On 23/03/2018 at 13:29, philp said:

I also ordered a set of decals.

 

rs2man,

Pic of my Uncle was taken at the Norwich Aviation Museum.

Me too, especially with a cameraphone... pity they didn't have 'point and shoot' cameras in those days.

Steve and Phil I wish I had time for the decals to ship but I hope you put yours to good use :)

 

On 23/03/2018 at 09:58, corsaircorp said:

Hello Ced,

Sorry, I'm late, but thanks for that thread !

Can't wait to see you tower bridge, may be a bobby stayin' in awe when the Hunter get through !

Sincerely.

CC 

On 23/03/2018 at 12:52, corsaircorp said:

Is there any room for the whole BM community ?? Because they will surely say "Me"

A 1/72 tower Bridge, Ced is incredible ! Come on ! want to see that !

sincerely.

CC

No worries CC, nice to see you :)

I won't be building the Tower Bridge, sadly - she'll go on the ceiling with the others. Lucky, considering the job I'm likely to make of it!

 

On 23/03/2018 at 13:00, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Actually i think you could do it simpler than building a model of the tower bridge. You can have very high definition posters made nowadays. Why not get a really good photo of the bridge spans and towers. Then blow that up to the same scale of the hunter. Then you can pose the hunter in front of the photo as if its just flown through ? Or just about to fly through ?  

 

Dennis

Thanks Dennis - great idea! I shall have a look around the 'net for a suitable photo :)

 

On 23/03/2018 at 13:07, bzn20 said:

Looking slightly down on it at it whizzed "past" our class room is something not to be forgotten. I'm happy enough with that. I can't imagine what it would have been like to see it through the middle the bridge though.

On 23/03/2018 at 13:56, Bedders said:

Where were you? City school in Blackfriars? What a stroke of luck!

 

J

Thanks bzn20 and Bedders - lucky indeed and what a memory :)

 

On 23/03/2018 at 13:50, rs2man said:

Ah , I thought so . In case you're not aware , Norwich Airport , where the museum is located , was formerly RAF Horsham St Faith .

Interesting! Must put that on my 'places to visit' :)

 

On 23/03/2018 at 13:58, LotusArenco said:

I built the Revell 1/72 Hunter as this airframe many years ago after reading about this little escapade. Too good an opportunity to miss!:D

 

The decals from Xtradecals had the wrong serials so I made them up from aftermarket ones. “With an acrid hiss from the Avpin engine starter system and a roar, my Hunter 'H' Hotel XF442, a substitute for my own "Bravo" "B" flight commander's aircraft, started up with the others.”

 

My favourite quote from the story comes from one of the letters sent to Flight International April 1968 “Good luck to the pilot! I would rather trust the defence of this country to a handful of his type than to a great number of the timids.”

 

And I’m sure there was a quote from a judge or MP after the event, along the lines of “Back in my day, we flew whole squadrons under bridges!”

 

Mart

Thanks Mart :) I'm with you - we need more strong 'characters' to give the kids better role models IMHO. Celebrity? Not for me thanks...

 

On 23/03/2018 at 14:19, Bedders said:

Quite a good photo here which suggests LAG underneath though this was while on 8 Squadron so might have been repainted by then.

 

Justin

 

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/122B1

22 hours ago, Col. said:

Personally I'd recommend going with Light Aircraft Grey. The silver paint weathered badly and often looked more like grey than silver after a while anyway.

Thanks Bedders (again) and Col :) Maybe I could go for some LAG or near equivalent...

 

22 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I like those pictures from the sheds at Halton. I remember them well.

I did a Mechs course in 1976 and a Fitters course in 1981 (Airframe).

We were all well experienced on the fitters course so some of it was old hat to us.

One of the guys on the fitters course liked his beer too much, so some mornings

we'd put him into an empty Jet Provost engine bay to sleep it off.

No one wanted to be the one holding the bucket to catch the hydraulic fluid

that was expelled on undercarriage blowdowns on the Hunters.

Thanks Pete :) Great photos aren't they? Must build a Provost...

 

15 hours ago, Nigel Heath said:

 

Yes, still plenty of time (for that)...

 

Blimey Ced you are a man hard to keep up with. I feel a bit breathless after that catch-up.  Looking forward to more modelling progress.

 

Regs, Nigel

10 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Fabulous back story Ced and a great bird too. Looking forward to this one. Page six already! :o I’ll stand outside at the window like a Dickensian street urchin looking in. ;)  “That’s some wonderful starting you have there Mr Ced Sir.”

 

Johnny. 

Thanks Nigel and Johnny :D Modelling, finally, below.

 

8 hours ago, SimonR said:

Yes it is, thats my local museum a short drive round the new NDR - that Hunter is a PR10 in 79 Squadron markings from RAF Chivenor where I was born!!

 

I'm on this build by the way!!

 

Cheers

Simon

Hi Simon :) Close to the museum? Lucky you!

 

Time to tackle the highly detailed interior (ahem):

 

40947888962_1109e05d5e_n.jpg 27118867188_72302d80a0_n.jpg

 

Worth a close up to show that the floor goes under the locating shelf - it forms the top of the wheel bay:

 

40948002842_8fbd073345_z.jpg

 

The new iPhone X camera is better isn't it. Thanks goodness for that, I can feel less guilty shelling out the dosh. No reason not to close up now, so I did:

 

40096690635_4b1d32a824_z.jpg

 

Very nice fit so I'm hoping for nice seams without too much effort.

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22 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

undercarriage blowdowns on the Hunters

Ha,ha...***********g Blowdowns.. Right lads we'll blowdown the undercarriage ... What the instructor and 16 of us trainees didn't know was the last bloke to replenish the hyd system hadn't secured the filler cap on the reservoir  properly  .. And  bang, big Jet then a haze of OM15 ! It was all over the place . The Hunter and some of us were dripping, floor was a mare , luckily the cap is tied to the structure by a chain, that would have travelled like a big bullet !.. Kipping in the fuse with engine removed was good. Steve Payne was the SGT , July ish 1977. Pete, ring any bells?

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1 hour ago, bzn20 said:

And  bang, big Jet then a haze of OM15 !

An OM15 shower!  Damned stuff bloody stinks, you could always tell a who the lineys were when you queued up for scran in the mess, we'd be the ones stinking of OM15 and Avtur.

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30 minutes ago, Wez said:

OM15

I can actually smell the stuff right now ! Not as bad as Skydrol, OF4 ( Veg based) was supposed to be even worse.

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2 hours ago, CedB said:

The new iPhone X camera is better isn't it.

Definitely! Brilliant macro pics!

 

Good to see the fuselage halves are now joined together :clap:

 

I keep thinking of those Berna clamps ...

 

Ciao

 

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2 hours ago, bzn20 said:

July ish 1977. Pete, ring any bells?

By then I was on Wessex Majors servicings at Odiham.

I only have a few memories of the Mechs course anyway,

It was a long time ago and there was beer!

That long HOT Summer of 1976, away from home, 

it was a very different world indeed.

The fitters course is sharper in my mind. I was married

by then, a Father, and couldn't afford much beer!

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1 hour ago, bzn20 said:

I can actually smell the stuff right now !

 

Mrs Wez can tell if I've been near an aircraft at work that day, she can detect the acrid tang of OM15, I walk in the house and before I get a hug I get told to go for a shower :(

Edited by Wez
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Sorry, a bit late for this one and I have had me tea, a Thai Green curry. I have fond memories of the Airfix Hunter partial retool from the eighties. Built a couple of them and even created a basic resin interior. Undercarriage main wheels are still pretty good. It is not a bad kit, although I seem to remember the wings needed work to obtain a reasonable fit. 

Edited by Mr T
Spelling error.
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removing the bag tanks from the wing, now that is a most fiddly operation with an ungodly smell, in fact I was so out of it after a session of that that I put the wrong fuel in my car, so expensive as well! 

 

Coming on very nicely there Ced.

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29 minutes ago, 71chally said:

removing the bag tanks from the wing, now that is a most fiddly operation with an ungodly smell, in fact I was so out of it after a session of that that I put the wrong fuel in my car, so expensive as well! 

 

Coming on very nicely there Ced.

Call on the AA, we have such Customer almost one per week...

And without being a member... Yes it's expensive

More even today because of the EU rules....

Try the gear box oïl Hypoid.... :puke:

But you're right, I tried an old C-119 that has been left open air for years

Rats were glad to find a good place for their nest, seemingly the smell did'nt bother them...

They just add another smell in the wings...

Lord that was awfull !!

sincerely.

CC

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48 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Summer of 1976

We heard stories at Brize you lot were marching across Main Point at 4 or 5 am so you could get a QFO before the Sun really started baking . Can't imagine Old Workshops in a heatwave. I was sweating over the Mild Steel Block in  Icy December .  We were having it hard at Brize.. 2 hours of softball for lunch..

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Yes. Early start, no ties, shirt sleeves and early stack. Heaven. (with beer).

Mind you, the pay was abysmal. I was trying to pay off my Escort at

25 pounds* a month and I was struggling. Darn that beer!

 

*No pound sign on this laptop, it has a $ instead.

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1 hour ago, bzn20 said:

I can actually smell the stuff right now ! Not as bad as Skydrol, OF4 ( Veg based) was supposed to be even worse.

 

I remember reading Safety and Servicing Notes (as they were back then), during the airfields phase at Cosford, Skydrol scared the willies out of me, I thought the flesh would drop off of my bones if I got within sniffing distance of the stuff! Skydrol = nasty

Edited by Wez
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1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

*No pound sign on this laptop, it has a $ instead.

You'll find it on the "character map" along with all the other accents etc.

 

Ian

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On 24/03/2018 at 05:55, Pete in Lincs said:

I like those pictures from the sheds at Halton. I remember them well.

I did a Mechs course in 1976 and a Fitters course in 1981 (Airframe).

We were all well experienced on the fitters course so some of it was old hat to us.

One of the guys on the fitters course liked his beer too much, so some mornings

we'd put him into an empty Jet Provost engine bay to sleep it off.

No one wanted to be the one holding the bucket to catch the hydraulic fluid

that was expelled on undercarriage blowdowns on the Hunters.

Pardon me if this seems a stupid question or three, but isn't Halton a grass airfield with no hard runways? How did the jets land? Or were they OK to use grass? Or am I wrong and they did have hard runways...?

 

My only connection with the place is driving past once in a while... and using the Halton NDB when flying Cessnas out of Booker.

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