PanzerWomble

Did I post this one before ? Can't remember .

Okey dokey , Mossie done ...U Boat just floating about on my dining table ........time to light the twin Avons ..you foxy pair ... So we start with ........ 1 Large box and instructions from both releases 2 Most of two sets of decals ....hoping those 20 year old Trembler ones work .....otherwise ...not sure . This will be the gun free, square tailed, small bellied F3 . Not so pregnant eh Mr Clunkmeister ? 3 We have lotsa seats .... Original Kit one with hokey belts , and two quickboost ones which look nice but chonky. 4 4 We have a CMK resin cockpit. This improves quite a bit, although how much will be seen is to be debated. As ever the radar hood on the upper panel , where bold pilots would have to stick their heads to line up a missile shot whilst flying blind is not really represented . It's the black folded ( stowed) rubber trunk at the top right of this pic . I was given a demo of the operation of the missile system whilst sat in the cockpit once ...so .....left hand on stick , lets hope engine throttle is ok for now ...head in the hood( still wearing helmet and oxygen mask) search for target and try for lock , reach down for master arm for the missiles with right hand (low on the right cockpit wall below the seat ) ...all good? OK..... make sure you still have lock and good aspect and then release safety switch on the stick and then ...you may fire your missile . Bear in mind you are doing all this with your head in the rubber trunk ..and hoping fuel is still ok and with a possible approach speed of over 1000 knots so you have very little time to do all this . A good reminder too, that early Lightnings had the black cockpit, F3 and F6 had grey . 5 The 20+ year old mouldings are still pretty good , but this is probably about time for a new release . Some of the details is weak , UC bays , jet cans , cockpit . The design tech feels 1990's . 6 Aforementioned access ladder and some RBF tags . and er just a few reference books ...if I do XR7111 it will be AVM George Black's aircraft , one of the first Squadron Leaders on Lightnings and designer of 111's squadrons logos ...the bottom right hand book is by his son Ian , one of the last RAF pilots to be trained on the type, and as of last year an owner of his very own ex Thunder city Lightning Link to that Article Here Yes......... this is how it arrived back to Binbrook in the UK , transport sponsored by Airfix . Laterz PW

Bought this one at the Enfield Mosquito Museum along with a lot of other Mossie stuff 18 months ago . The kit from 1999 is a peach , fit is good , detail is good , even paper 1:1 masks for the cammo which work ok if you're cute with them . Wings are a good fit and are held with pins underneath , allowing you to paint everything and attach it all at the end . Undercarriage can go in at the end as well . Only thing I didn't like was the canopy , which I ended up making my own masks for ...thats three hours I won't get back and it didn't turn out that well either ...😖 . Yahu IP was a waste of a fiver as it cannot be seen at all through the canopy , ditto all the extra wiring I bothered with putting in . Decals were good, I know some people don't like Tammy decals but these were fine to me . Light oil weathering , 105 Sdn were the first to get these so relatively young by the time they did the Berlin Raid , bombing Geobels and Goering on the 30th Jan "Party Day" celebrations in 1943. Sadly this aircraft was in the second wave and was the only one shot down, S/L Darling (24) and his navigator both dying . Enthusiasm was a bit on and off at times (hence no build log) but I wanted to finish it out before embarking on something new ....maybe a nice Tiger Tank ..

Clutching at straws like an over excited scarecrow .. That Border 111 will hopefully stop this nonsense .

I fondly remember clambering all over a Chieftain ( probably a Mk5/6) on Salisbury Plain in the middle of the night in 1982..ish ...kinda been a geek about them ever since. 🙁

yes yes calm down , I know you wanted to be first to finish in the GB . 😀 I've not been 100% well these past coupla weeks and am just finishing the mossie . Also still working through how best to patchwork quilt the lightning in alcald .

Ex Brit tanker I spoke to reckoned they always sent the latest versions to Berlin , and swapped the crews around from standing armoured regiments in BOAR .This guy was RSDG , serving 85-88 ish . We got talking after I modelled his Chieftain 00 EB 57 and he saw it on line ....he received a freebie from me . They knew two dozen Chieftains wouldn't make much of a big dent in the 5th Tank Shock Army , it was as much about a show of force/ frighten the Russians with the technology / morale booster for the Germans . Which, if you think the Chieftain was the 'open country snipe them from a long range with the 120mm' tank that was stationed behind the 105mm Leopards in the gap of the Gemran plain etc it makes sense that you don't send more than a few to fight in FIBUA . Course back in the day when the UK sported 600 MBTs not 100....ahhhhh . Part of the paint scheme (they were told) was to make counting them difficult for the Reds as they all had the same scheme . I know the US forces were larger and a used lot of Pattons - probably a handier FIBUA tank , so maybe a different approach ? Either way the Badger would make sense in Berlin if the above doctrine was correct.

Sorry - I realised later I'd posted this after you'd started to paint .

You're just on a whole other level Mike !

+1 on this , better expressed than I could come up with 😀

Very classic looking P47 there Peter , turned out really well . Nice one !

any hole's a goal ?

Feel the message of "peace to all men" might be missing here ....

Thats looking great Peter , the paint modulation is superb

Can I direct you towards three of the best IMHO ? This is good all in one starter, and he's a talented man . Evan on PM36. Or Mike Rinaldi takes a different approach with what he calls OPR Or good old Martin K ...Uncle Nightshift great entertainment . The way to Nirvana has many roads. 😀

Good first post and impressive build with a great back story . Welcome

Clearly you've given this much thought, now......clear your browser history ....😀

That's not great quality control at work 🤨. you'd have thought they would have checked before sending ? Not expensive but not cheap either

Link you may like ...

The wings will fold electrically too ? 😃