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Dreaming Spires - a Pavla Airspeed Oxford


Heather Kay

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Lovely work again Heather, on both the Oxford and the locomotive engine. I personally think you've made a good compromise on the turret detail; there's enough to give it a strong structure while remaining sufficiently detailed as much of it will then be obscured by the framework fencing it all in from view.

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27 minutes ago, nimrod54 said:

Lovely work on the turret interior Heather, and you are excused any slow progress when the distraction is a L&YR Tank.

Ta. The tank engine has reached the painting stage, where all the hard work up until now can be ruined in an instant. Happily, it’s not a particularly complex livery, mainly being black with a single red line in various places.

24 minutes ago, Col. said:

Lovely work again Heather, on both the Oxford and the locomotive engine. I personally think you've made a good compromise on the turret detail; there's enough to give it a strong structure while remaining sufficiently detailed as much of it will then be obscured by the framework fencing it all in from view.

Thanks! I do appreciate the delicacy and fidelity of some of our fellow modellers here on BM, but sometimes you have to draw a line under things and say "that’s enough".

 

46973550535_f7531a6cdf_b.jpg

 

Speaking of paint, this lot is drying. The particular brand of enamel I’m using takes an inordinate amount of time to dry properly, so it’s a good excuse for patience.

 

Time to go and see if the tank engine is ready for some top coat.

 

 

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Finished, and over in the gallery thread.

 

Thanks for following along and helping with comments and observations. Thanks, also, to Tony @The Baron for the donated replacement turret vac-form, even though I didn’t use it in the end. I’m quite pleased with the way this rather curmudgeonly kit turned out. My 1940 collection now has an Airspeed Oxford to complement the other trainer aircraft in the cabinet.

 

 

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It's looking great in the gallery Heather (although maybe the grass could do with a water ;)).  It ticks all the boxes for me!

 

Cliff

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5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

The turret (and the rest of the Oxford) looks super, and the loco looks smashing too - it reminds me of the ones my dear old Dad used to make.

Thanks Adrian! I made the decision a year or so back not to take on new loco commissions once I have finished the ones in hand. I find I don’t enjoy building locos, and get an awful lot more satisfaction from coaches and wagons. That’s just as well, as a quick survey of the workshop shows I have something over 20 coaches of various types to build!

58 minutes ago, CliffB said:

It's looking great in the gallery Heather (although maybe the grass could do with a water ;)).  It ticks all the boxes for me!

Ha! Yes, that patch of grass does look the worse for wear. It was a sort of experiment to try and turn the neatly-manicured flock stuff into the thin and careworn grass of a typical 1940 airfield. I think I’ve slightly overdone it! When I get a day spare I might have another go on a fresh patch.

 

 

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5 hours ago, zebra said:

Great result Heather. I’ve enjoyed following this one but have to say it hasn’t left me with a burning desire to build the Pavla Oxford!

Thank you, and I can understand what you mean! I have the Pavla Miles Master in the stash, and after this experience it might be a while before I decide to tackle it.

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Super work, Heather, a fantastic final result to match your reference pic. I like the detail of the framework that stops the trainee gunner from shooting the Oxford's tail off! The ground crew must have had to check that for correct position before every flight. Congrats. All the best. Mike.

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On 23/05/2019 at 12:05, Ventora3300 said:

I like the detail of the framework that stops the trainee gunner from shooting the Oxford's tail off!

:)

 

Those fences were apparently quite common where a part of the aircraft might otherwise be in the line of fire. The HP Hampden had one for the mid-upper position, and I’m sure other types had similar fittings. I wonder if, when upper turrets became commonplace, there might have been a fence built into the turret mechanism somehow that prevented accidentally shooting lumps out of your own tail.

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There were physical fences for manually operated guns on the Hampden (with two bumps because it was twin tail). I did some research on that for a model a few years back, but for power turrets later in the war there were mechanisms to stop the guns firing so you could still track your target. There is a link that says it better than I can here.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Thanks Adrian. New things I learned today!

 

42316337485_ccedde6542_b.jpg

 

This is my reworking of the venerable Airfix Hampden I did a while ago. I used the Airwaves etch detail set, where it fitted at all, and it included the fence for the mid-upper gun position. You can just make it out in this shot.

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