Iain

Shouldn't this be called the Bargain Bin? I've heard of Bargin' in but never Bargin Bin.

Yes, Nick, it is more or less what I'd have written about it and useful to get a second opinion. One other error in the kit is the Lakeman mounting. As it comes in the kit, it simply wouldn't work. The bottom end of the telescoping tube (part E26) just hangs in the air according to the kit - it should have a connection to part E3 from its lower end. Part E3 rotates in part E13 on the real thing and the adjustment via the locking lever near the the top of E26 determines the height of the top pivot and thus, the angle at which the Bren is held by the cable. The part that clamps the butt in position and allows it to rotate in the vertical plane is missing completely in the kit, a situation which would allow the the Bren to swing about freely! For travelling, a hook on the underside of the Bren is engaged through a ring which would be on the top of kit part E6. The whole contraption was very cumbersome and it is little wonder that it is not often seen in photos. I hope that this is clear if used in conjunction with the top photo on P.46 of ITV. Here is a colour photo of the No.19 radio showing the connections. The brown cable goes to the aerial on the LHS of the turret. The lower photo gives more detail. Iain

Hi Nick, I am more than half way through building this one and the whole business of what wheels and aerials go with what is perplexing. Those supposedly Mk 1 wheels can be seen on tanks with the sheet metal exhaust covers but, according to ITV the exhaust protection on Mk 1s was a mesh tube. I had the turret sides glued in place on the base, when I noticed a photo of a Valentine with the early (kit) wheels and a sheet metal exhaust guard and a plain left turret side without the rear view mirror, so I carefully removed the later turret side and fitted the plain one. Seems the aerials changed with the fitting of the No. 19 radios and thus the twin aerials would be correct. Anyway, as I have also got most of the way through the older Dragon kit, I thought the two different types of wheels would add some interest, so that's the way I am going. The track should, I suppose be the early type but this, too, would have changed as they got rid of the early track PDQ. Looking at photos it seems that you can use almost any combination of the aforementioned - this is much worse than building aircraft!! Let them try and prove me wrong. Iain Wyllie

Cees, I wouldn't hurt a fly ...... well, not much anyway........ if I hit it hard enough! Iain

Johann, Yes, it seems that people just scan copyright work and post it on the net and usually this is alright as long as it is not used for a commercial purpose. There are a lot of cases where a product is made under sub contract and the company then producing the same items under their own company name. Modern times and morals, I suppose. In any case, those two pieces of artwork were done about 25 years ago and there was not nearly as much information available then as there is now, like the camouflage colours, for instance.

Johann, I see that you have used my artwork of the Yak-3 on the box mock-up. I have no objection to you using it but if you intend to use other peoples artwork, you should ask their permission first or you may run into difficulties with copyright. The artist who did the Lavochkin may have other views. Good luck with your project. Iain