MAY 2009

THIS MONTH

Welcome to the third edition of The Romsey Modeller. This month putting this magazine together has been a real struggle, not due to lack of content but too much, the first draft ran to 52 pages! Consequently I had to serialise many of the articles, which I will run over the next few months. As ever thanks for the fantastic support I have received from all those who have written pieces for this publication.

Lack of space in this edition prevents me from publishing a full analysis of the club survey results but does provide an opportunity for anybody who hasn’t returned their survey form to do, so before I close the exercise. One item that was mentioned on almost all returns was the desire for the club to organise day trips to museums, air shows etc, with the most requested destination being the Bovington Tank Museum. I will raise this at our next meeting, I sure that it would not be too difficult to organise.

While I think about our next meeting, a reminder that we will be holding a photo session, so bring some kits along. This is intended to provide some good quality images for the gallery on the website. The website is continuing to attract more visitors with traffic up 30% in the last month that equated to over 1000 unique visitors to the site from 64 countries.

Back to this edition of the magazine, we have part 1 of an exclusive account written by Nigel Denchfield of his father’s wartime experiences flying Spitfires. Paul finally finishes his Yamaha build; I write about the resumption of my Lancaster build whilst Russell starts building a SAS jeep. And there’s more… Pat seems to have no trouble with Airfix in his build of the new Canberra and Gary tells us more about his Hornet obsession (there must be a support group for him!). There’s also plenty of club news as the show season gets into full swing . Phew at 30 pages the final edition seems positively slim line.

Tony…

This is the newsletter of Romsey Modellers a multitalented group of plastic modellers based in Southern Hampshire. We cater for all modelling genres and skill levels from beginners to well seasoned gurus.

We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from 8pm to 10pm in Ampfield, Hampshire, where we often run workshops and club competitions but more importantly have a good chat about our hobby. We also attend most of the local model shows, where we exhibit our member’s completed projects.

We have an open door policy so if you want to sample how we can help you get more out of your hobby or just come and have a friendly discussion (tea and biscuits provided) please feel free to turn up – see the last page for details or visit our web site

www.romseymodellers.co.uk

2

CONTENTS May 2009 ...... 2 This Month ...... 2 Contents ...... 3 Club News ...... 3 April 2009: Test Trout Competition: Airfix Build ...... 7 The Assen Assassin – the final chapter! by Paul Adams ...... 8 Hunting Spitfire N3249, DW‐P of 610 Squadron. by Nigel Denchfield ...... 10 SAS Jeeps: part 1 by Russell Eden ...... 15 Airfix1:48Ref A10102 English Electric Canberra B(I)8 : Part 2.by Pat Camp ...... 17 What the papers say… ...... 22 Avro Lancaster BMkIII Dambuster part II by Tony Adams ...... 25 Mass producing your favourite kit Part 1 by Gary Jarman ...... 28 In Next Months Romsey Modeller ...... 29 Club Diary ...... 30 Contact Info ...... 30

CLUB NEWS

MODEL SHOWS

We have attended two shows in the last month: here are the reports from our Web site where you find loads of pictures.

POOLE VIKINGS SHOW: 18TH APRIL

Russell Eden, Dale Koppi and Paul Adams manned the club display at the 2009 edition of the Poole Vikings Show on Saturday 19th April. Other club members visiting were Keith Trotman, Tony Adams and Daughter Caitlin who were on hand to man the table for 3 hours. Mr Pheon Models himself, Rowan Broadbent was found looking for his decals (attending as a trader for the first time, he forget his stock!) Rowan also provided some of his excellent aircraft models for our display, so we were suitably sympathetic.

As ever, shopping is always a priority at any show (it would be rude not to!) and without too much encouragement members parted with their hard earned cash. Russell left with some cheap bases and decals, Paul purchased another WWI aircraft kit, the lovely Special Hobby Morane Saulnier in1/32nd (will he ever build

3 them is the question!) and some bike bases at 50p for the pair. Bargain! Tony increased the size of his equipment with a purchase at Cammetts (a Iwata Revolution TR1 : but don't tell his partner!) and Dale left with 300 men!

The competition tables appeared a little down on entrants this year, but quality prevailed. Russell picked up a silver in Dioramas for his Fast Recon Vehicle, Dale was left unrewarded for his efforts with the Airfix Fearless whilst Paul bagged a silver in civilian vehicles for his 2007 Assen Yamaha M1. This show marked the first occasion the club ventured to use a new cloth colour for the display. We were duly awarded Best Club Display. Result!

EASTLEIGH SHOW AT BARTON PEVRIL SCHOOL

This was a new show that aimed to raise fund for Naomi House Children's Hospice. Held over two days at Barton Pevril College Eastleigh the show was a mixed modelling event having railway , boat and static model societies exhibiting. The location was excellent with a good size carpeted sports hall allowing plenty of room to show off our hobby. Along with a boating lake and excellent catering facilities this should have been an excellent show. However unfortunately the show seems to have been let down by a lack of advertising and consequently we had very few visitors over the two days.

Paul Adams, Tony Adams and Vic Short manned the club stand on Saturday, with Tony and Vic trying unsuccessfully to complete a kit in a day. Tony was attempting a Hobby boss P‐51B which he gave up prior to the painting phase due to the lack of airbrush power! Vic modelling a Italri 1/72 Predator made an outrageous amount of progress by his standards and hopefully has cleared his "modelling block". He went home promising to complete his kit by the end of the weekend.

On Sunday Richard Stewart, Keith Hawkins and Dave O'Meara took over stand duty with Keith building a RNLI lifeboat. The stand was noticeably different over the two days though it would be difficult to select a winner on quality, it is good news that the club can continue to put out diverse excellent quality displays.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

The model show season is in full swing and already the club are about to attend their fourth and fifth events this year.

We will be attending the Salisbury Model Show on Saturday 30th May, which is being held at the Wyvern College Sports Hall, Church Road, Laverstock, Salisbury, SP1 1RE. Proceedings start at 09:30am. We have 12ft of table space booked and attending so far are Tony and Paul Adams, so we have plenty of space for other members wishing to attend. Phil Butler will be there also with the Phantom Sig. This is always a popular show for exhibitors and visitors alike with plenty to quality models on show in a well lit hall, good traders and a well

4 run competition. More information can be found here http://www.romseymodellers.co.uk/images/salisburyflyer09.pdf

The following day, Sunday 31st May, the club will be exhibiting at the IPMS Barnet Show, which uses the superb RAF Hendon Museum, Grahame Park Way, NW9 5LL. The club have 12ft of space, hopefully by the Beaufighter, and will be represented by Phil Butler, Russell Eden, Dale Koppi and Paul Adams. Exhibitors have been limited by pre‐arrangement due to security reasons, however members are encouraged to attend this excellent event, not only for the superb models on display but of course the chance to collect reference for your next aircraft project! The show opens at 10:00am and closes at 6:00pm. More information is here http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/whatson/event.cfm?event_id=370

JUST AN IDEA

At our last meeting we discussed my idea of holding a “Build a model in a day” event. This was generally well received with most present keen to participate. The discussion focused principally on whether we all build the same model, have a selection of genres to choose from or have a totally open competition. I think the majority was in favour of having an open competition: anything that you think can be built in a day. We now need to arrange a date (probably sometime in the autumn): watch this space….

ROMSEY MODELLERS ON THE ROAD

A RAINY DAY IN MALTA BY RICHARD STEWART

Well it was a very rainy day in Malta and we were meant to be going on a glass bottomed boat but as anything “boating” was cancelled I decided to put the idea to the wife that there was a very good craft village close by. Now right next door to this is an excellent aviation museum in which houses amongst other things is a Spitfire and Hurricane both of which have been completely rebuilt by the Maltese, the Hurricane will be in taxing condition next year!

What I did not realise was at the time there was a Model Expo hosted by the Maltese IPMS. I was amazed to see the array of different models on show and the quality of each one was absolutely stunning. The aircraft in particular were very nicely mounted on bases in dioramas.

I'm not really an Armour man but these models on show were of the highest order and well worth a second look but unfortunately as I was towing one uninterested wife and two boys (Plutonium and Uranium!). If I stayed any longer something would have come crashing to the floor! Before I did go I had a chat with some of the organisers who were a very dedicated lot and very interested in giving me as much information as they could. They are a very proactive group as they had a table encouraging children to 'have a go' with the aid of one of the staff which I think is a good way of getting 'new blood' into the hobby.

I thoroughly enjoyed the visit to their Expo (albeit short) and would like to thank the organisers for their hospitality. Maltese IPMS www.ipmsmalta.com

Richard’s pictures follow on the next page…

5

6 A TRIP TO IPMS SALISBURY

On Tuesday 5th May, Paul Adams, Gary Jarman, Richard Stewart and Tony Adams made the short journey up the A36 to Salisbury. We were invited to IPMS Salisbury's in house model show which they hold prior to their public model show which is on 30th May.

We were asked to judge their competition and we where happy to oblige. Paul led the judging panel directing us on what show competition judging is all about. We then spent a happy 45 minutes looking for unfilled seam lines and decal silvering to such an extent that none of use are ever likely to submit a model to competition ever again.

However we were incredibly impressed with the standard of the models on display. It was a difficult decision but we decided to award 1st place to a magnificent 1/48 Chinook.

All in all an excellent night was had by all. More Photos are available on our Web site

PHOTO SHOOT

We are planning a photo shoot for our next club meeting on Wednesday. The idea is to get some good gallery pictures for the Web site. Paul and I will be bringing our photo equipment, so please bring along any kits, dioramas etc that you think would like photographed. I particular we would like the Airfix competition winners to bring their winning entries in order for us to put something together for the Airfix magazine.

APRIL 2009: TEST TROUT COMPETITION: AIRFIX BUILD

This year's Test Trout Competition had the theme "AIrfix". We had 15 entries with Airfix models of all genres which is a good turn out compared with our last group build.

The Results were

1st place Richard Stewart 1/48th TSR2

2nd place Dale Koppi 1/600th H.M.S Fearless

3rd place Brain Sampson 1/76th Vintage Armour

Commended Simon De Montefalcon 1/72nd Fokker DR1 'Blue Max'

Richard won the Duxford Model set donated by Airfix while the runners ups received a selection of hobby knives and blades donated by Scalpelsandblades.co.uk. Photos of all the entrants can be found on our web site.

7 THE ASSEN ASSASSIN – THE FINAL CHAPTER! BY PAUL ADAMS

I began this build on June 21st….2008 and at last it’s finished! Though the last month has only involved minor tinkering and it’s already been to two model shows (and been in competition!) the model has taken what now totals eleven months of work!

After completing the main tasks it was, with relief, onto the small details. The frame was adorned with 30 plus photo etch rivet and bolt‐heads from Top Studio’s new assorted details set for MotoGP bikes, TD23027, fixed in place with pva glue. More fasteners were added to the cowling parts, these from Hobby Design, which replicate the sprung ½ turn fasteners, which on the real machine attach the fairing to the frame. This wasn’t without its problems as a shallow hole 0.6mm wide needs to be drill in each location and getting that wrong would leave unsightly holes. Each one was carefully drilled after making a small indentation in the finished paint and the fastener glue in place with more wood glue. Each pack of fasteners contains 20, enough to do one Yamaha M1 kit. My pack had 16! After yet more expenditure I was able to complete the job. The finished effect is very realistic and in scale. [1]

[1] [2] [3]

One job I’d been dreading was the windscreen. The transkit provides a vacformed piece, which after trimming simply would not fit. I hit upon the idea of modifying a Tamiya kit screen using the vacformed one as a template, which worked after 3 attempts and further expenditure to replace the two I’d used from other kits! The TK decals were used, though I found the ‘The Doctor’ decal too big and I had to fit this at an angle on the screen. Some Top Studio 0.7mm rivets, painted with white enamel, were used to finish things off [2]

The fork bottoms received machined 1/12th hex nut’s, again from Top Studio as was the wiring and connector for the velocity sensors. [3]

Before I could get the tail unit fitted to the bike for the last time, I had to attach the silencer bracket. This was made up from 3 etch parts and the instructions called for solder to be used the hold the thing together. I was concerned that too much heat applied in the wrong place would render the lot useless, so I pursued the use of thin plastic rod, made from heated and stretched sprue as rivets. I experimented with shaping one end into a mushroom shape by applying heat via a solder iron at a slight distance (about 2mm), which yielded a nice result. The right‐angled bracket was glued into position on the tail and the two plastic rivets inserted into the holes. I then added the carbon finished down bracket with glue at first and then secured with two more rivets. I followed up by screwing the tail unit to the frame, at which point I discovered that the down bracket needed some adjustment to line up with the silencer. After some judicious bending and nerve shredding, it looked much better. The last piece was the retaining ring around the silencer, which only just fitted and was under tension when the two halves were brought together. With the bracket in place I inserted the rivet, held the ring, bracket and rivet together with a wide pair of tweezers and quickly mushroomed the other side of the rivet, held my breath and took the tweezers away. To my surprise it all held together at my first attempt, so I then flattened off the rivet heads with some light sanding and applied some photo etch bolt‐heads. The result

8 was well worth the stress as it gives a very in scale and detailed look to this area and a vast improvement over the Tamiya screws normally used. I added a Renaissance brass aerial base and black wire for the camera signal,

[4] [5] though I have yet to source a suitable camera! [4]

With most of the detailing complete I then carefully fitted the cowlings do my utmost to avoid scratching the finish. Some juggling with the screws and the sequence in which they were tightened, I eventually got everything in place. I had planned to use some Hiroboy screws, however these were a little too big, and so no wanting to risk damage I opted for the Tamiya screws. The lower cowl required a little glue to keep it in place. Some final details were then added including the foot guard and some exposed bolt‐heads that would have otherwise been knock off had they applied earlier. [5]

The final detailing task was to add the chain tension screws from Tuner Model Factory or T2M, which were not even available when I started the project! I waited seven weeks for these to come back into stock, but they were worth the wait. Two 0.6mm threaded rods were inserted into the end of the swing‐arm and the threaded nut screwed into place for a very authentic look. [6]

So with the last details added, it was just a matter of performing the housekeeping duties on the model with a little Tamiya wax, and then take some photos. [6]

The Renaissance transkit is not without its faults, but it helps transform the 2005 Tamiya kit into a good

[7] [8]

9 likeness of the 2007 machine. The Assen Fiat 500 decals however pose a whole set of problems if your looking for accuracy.

The decision to paint the livery wasn’t taken lightly, but fortunately it’s paid off, and the mishaps only help to form an understanding of which direction I should go on future builds. It’s all about learning! [7,8,9,10]

[9] [10]

HUNTING SPITFIRE N3249, DW‐P OF 610 SQUADRON. BY NIGEL DENCHFIELD

In the February edition of Update Nigel Denchfield wrote about his project to model of Spitfire that his father flew in the war. In passing, he mentioned his father crashing another spitfire (N3249) in France which they subsequently excavated in 1991. I am delighted to be able to exclusively publish the full story of Nigel’s father’s war exploits and the 1991 search of the crash site.

In the late 1970s, a colleague of my father at what we still like to call De Havilland’s passed him a book. It was one of the Pictorial History of the RAF series by Bruce Robertson. He was told to look at a specific page, where he found the picture captioned “A Sergeant Pilot is captured”.

With some amazement, he recognised the pilot…himself. Notice the lack of a flying boot on his right foot, being replaced with his helmet. The boot failed to get out of the plane with him. The Germans kindly took him to their stores and gave him a replacement boot; just one! Presumably they had a pilot somewhere who only had a left leg?

How did this come about? Where did the picture come from?

Over a period of about 12 years gradually answers emerged, until one a glorious day in May 1991, parts of his beloved Spitfire N3249, DW‐P were found on the surface of a field

10 near St. Omer. Over the next 3 years we made a number of visits to the site, and retrieved loads of small and very bent parts of the plane and an awful lot of French mud. The best finds were the armour plate from the seat, which was bent through 90 degrees, and the hood release. This last is now mounted on a wooden base.

START AT THE BEGINNING

To tell the story really needs a brief history that will explain why my father Sgt H.D. Denchfield [David]] was there at all.

He began trying to join the RAF reserve in 1938, immediately after Munich. It had been his desire to join the RAF since his schooldays [he left in 1936] but his father refused to agree. My father was part of the generation of flying mad schoolboys who saw in it great excitement and development, this being fuelled by constant reading of the exploits of Ball, Bishop, McCudden, Mannock et al, not to mention the fantastic ‘Biggles’ stories written by Captain WS.E. Johns [I still read these today!] His father fought from the Somme in 1916 to the end of the war with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, taking in delights like 3rd Ypres and the terrible actions in March 1918. He was opposed to war as a result, and of course this was general view of much of the country after the horror of the 14‐18 conflict. Eventually my father had his way in May 1939 he joined the RAFVR based at Luton, the No: 29 E & RFTS. This involved evening sessions in Luton, a 15‐mile bike ride from Hemel Hempstead after work and of course weekends too. He flew solo for the first time on July 16th 1936, in a Miles Magister.

On September 1st, mobilisation calls went out, but he didn’t actually get the final call until Nov 39.

Basic training into service ways and early flying took a while as the weather was foul that winter, but in April 1940 he went on to the next stage of training, moving through a number of different flying schools, until he was flying Oxfords, and thus seemed destined for bombers…not a happy thought. However that changed and Harvards appeared…fighters then! By then the Battle of Britain was raging and some very inexperienced pilots were being posted to active squadrons, but fortunately this did not happen to my father’s course. In September he moved to 57 OTU at Hawarden, where he flew the Spitfire, and in October, he was posted to 610 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force, then based at Acklington, north of Newcastle. Here it was retraining new pilots after epic exploit s in the Battle. During this time he was involved in operations over the North Sea, and thus qualifies as a Battle of Britain pilot.

In December 610 flew down to Westhampnett. His own description tells the story better than I can.

A WINTERS DAY IN ‘41

“Most mornings I was awakened at about 6am, while it was still pitch black, hearing half awake, the first uncertain coughing of a Merlin followed by the sudden rasping roar as she caught, reducing to a subdued rumble as the erk throttled back to let her warm, and sat waiting for the temperatures to stabilise before starting his checks. This sole engine would be followed by others in quick succession until a steady throb of maybe 12 or 14 Merlins intruded into that delightful hiatus twixt waking and sleeping. Then Taffy would bring the tea, and say ‘readiness in 5 minutes’. Then followed 5 delicious minutes sitting drinking tea exchanging the odd monosyllabic comment with Billy or Sam if they were also on readiness, and then the shocking plunge out into the freezing atmosphere beyond the blankets.

A quick wash and shave, dress in the 'working blue'; throw on the Irving leather jacket and then the crunching walk across the iron‐hard airfield to B dispersal. Then into the harsh glare of the bare electric light bulbs of the Nissen hut, grunt a sort of 'wot ho' to whoever happened to be there, and picking up one's brolly amble across the 200 yards of frosted grass and mud to DW‐P. Hoist brolly on to port wingtip to sit there with the straps hanging down, and then attempt to climb up on to the port wing root. I sometimes took 4 or 5 attempts

11

610 squadron just before flying south, Sgt H.D. Denchfield front row, 2nd from right before my foot would remain on the slippery, icy wing long enough for my frantic grabs to hold on to the windscreen armoured glass panel, the only hand hold there was. Once stable on the wing it was then a simple matter of pushing down the release button in the top centre of the hood, and to slide the hood back and then reach in to the door release handle, open the door out and down. Climb in, feet in seat, and, moving feet on to the foot slides, sit right down with a bump into the parachute well of the seat. First on with a cockpit light, and check that the reflector gunsight was set to 250 yard range and 60ft span (60ft was about right for heavy stuff and made sure that for 109s I'd be a lot closer than 250 yards). Helmet placed over gun sight, with the oxygen tube plugged into the socket just below the ident switch control box on the right hand side (the socket was a bayonet), and the radio lead jack into the socket just in front of the seat. Check mixture lever right back, propeller pitch lever at fully fine; throttle right back, brakes on, gun button set to ‘safe’, both fuel levers up to off, and tail and rudder trims set for take‐off. Align compass grid lines with needle ensuring 'red on red' so as not to fly in the opposite direction to that desired and then uncage (unlock) the D. I. (directional gyro) and set it to agree with the compass and recage it. Check fuel tanks full, oxygen full and on, air and brake pressures at recommended level, radiator control lever at fully open, undercarriage signal sticks up out of the wing and green lights on. Place the 4 harness straps to be instantly available and not snagged on anything and then switch off the light, get out, shut the door and hood, and slide off the and wander back to dispersal to slump into a wicker armchair and catnap gently away until 9am with flying boots up on the cast‐iron stove along with those of the other hopefuls. I think that is my strongest, general memory of those days.

We were told the intention was to 'wake up' the Luftwaffe in France, who apparently was having an easy life having stopped the daylight attacks over here. Specifically, it was to be the 109s we were to upset, and I think it was probably Hamlyn (secure in his B of B reputation) who asked 'Why bother, it was nice and peaceful as it was'.

Anyway, I was on readiness on the morning of 5th February 1941, and mid‐morning the C/O popped his head into B flight to say 'released from 13.00 to 09.00 tomorrow morning' .As we all gave vent to various sounds of appreciation, he then smiled and said, 'that's after we get back from St: Qmer, take‐off 12:00 '. Then followed a fairly basic briefing‐ quite unlike those I've read of in its simplicity. We would follow 302 to Rye, climb up through the 10/10th cloud to about 15;000ft and join up with 7 (I think) other fighter squadrons, where we

12 would be top but one (having Tangmere' s 65 above us) .The whole shooting match would then escort 12 Blenheims to St. Qmer where they would cause great alarm and despondency with their 2501b bombs. 610 would fly in a vic of 3 vics, each of 3 a/c with Green section slipping into the boxes.

We went for lunch at 11.39 and after this I walked out to 'P' and asked my rigger to top the tanks up after he'd completed his pre‐op engine run, he knew full well why I'd asked; as weaver I would use an awful lot of fuel and we only had about 1¾ hours of endurance at the best. After checking' P', it was back to dispersal to empty out pockets and to hear any last minute instructions. Incidentally, some 3 weeks previously we all had to hand in our working tunics, and when they were returned each had an escape silk map sewn into a shoulder, and a compass needle threaded on a cotton sewn into one of the front seams. Naturally we had to search for them, and to look at them. Consequently our sewing was hardly as neatly done and I do remember thinking that only an idiot would think there was nothing wrong with one of my shoulders; it was lumpy!

ONTO THE OP

While we were waiting, strapped into our a/c for the C/O to signal the start‐up one of the erks came up to push two letters into my hand and without thinking I rammed them in my tunic pocket. These were to cause me some concern later that day until I was able to flush them in pieces down the loo .One each from Paddy and Fred giving their unit and address!

The C/O's Merlin coughed into life, and almost immediately the other 11 engines were adding their share to the noise and slipstream wind. Then section‐by‐section we all lurched over to near A flight dispersal, formed up in our vic of three vics with the 4th vic of Green section out to port of Blue on the port side, and took off towards Chichester cathedral in the south‐west. As we flew out the C/O ordered Green to go into the box‐ Green 1& 2 were now rear of Red and Yellow sections respectively. It wasn't the most comfortable of formations as we were following 302, who had taken off just before us, were about 1 mile behind and at a pedestrian 16Omph rather than our normal 180mph everything felt most sloppy. The C/O told us to keep close and to climb to 15,000ft, so into and up through the murk we went; the cloud base was at about 1,500ft and it was solid up to around 12,000. I suppose 12 props must have churned it up well for I could see all Blue section quite easily, and caught glimpses of Red 3 beyond. Quick glances at my panel showed a nice easy climb so I relaxed hoping Red 1 would not become disorientated!

We broke into brilliant sunshine and climbed to our angels 15, by which time we were orbiting Rye waiting for the off. The strange thing was I could see no a/c above us, and weirdly the cloud over England ended at the coast in an almost vertical cliff edge to leave the skies over the Channel and France completely cloudless. The Channel to the east looked ridiculously narrow, and the skies over the snow clad French landscape were broodingly ominous. As usual, the sun glare blinding out of the clear blue made looking to the southeast difficult. God only knew what nasties were moving into its hidey‐hole, and as we circled Rye for a good 5 minutes at least we certainly gave them plenty of time get ready for us. I guess, like me, that the others had their gun‐sights switched 'on' , their gun firing buttons turned to 'fire' and their hoods slid back for better visibility .And I bet they were sweating cobs too.

Eventually as we seemed to fly more or less in an easterly direction the C/O gave 'Elfin a/c‐search formation‐ weavers go' and I, like P/o Fenwick behind Yellow section moved to be about l00 feet above Blue section and just behind, and commenced swinging backwards and forwards across them in a series of elongated 'S' turns as we made towards Boulogne. I still couldn't see, 65 squadron above us, although they could have been outside my arc of vision. However from what P/O Hill later told me, only his section turned up intact after climbing up through the cloud and was the only 65 formation to sit where they should have been.

Weaving was quite energetic. The extent of my 'beat' was from just to port of Blue 3 across to almost behind Red 3, as we were in search formation with a/ c about 4 spans apart this would be about 100 yards, or a

13 fraction more. Starting from the left hand side I would fly angled across to the right hand side, searching up and down to the rear as I did so. At the right hand side there would be a quick glance down to check I was still positioned safely above Green section (approaching this point I would have already made sure I and Green 2 were not on a collision course), and then a steep left hand turn to get me on the outward trip when once again I would be searching to the rear. Then a steep right hand turn started the cycle all over again…and so on, and so on. In retrospect there wasn't much time for searching, due to the need to be continually steep turning and checking position. I have since felt it would have been better to have had one a/c weaving above and the other below, for then the beat would have been over some 250 yards giving a far longer search time. The weavers were known as ‘arse‐end Charleys', sometimes more politely 'tail end Charleys'. At the end we most certainly were, and we must have been Charleys to get stuck with the job! Of course the other 10 a/c had a far quieter time‐ flying straight and level and looking only inwards so they could keep position with the section leader and watch for trouble at the same time.

ENEMY SIGHTED

Just after crossing the French coast I reported some contrails up to port and slightly to our rear, but they extinguished almost immediately, so whatever it was had moved either above or below the contrail level. I had no idea where we were‐there was no time to look at the map which was left folded in my left boot‐ but we must have been near to the target (the airfield of St. Omer), when I caught a flash way up behind as I was about to start the steep turn back towards the centre once more. I held off the turn to have a good check, and then turned back, only to see the squadron a good 800 yards or so away in front as my extended run had taken us apart. As speed in regaining position seemed to be vital, it was not clever to be on one's own in enemy skies, I did a quick left and right steep turn during which I had a good shufti behind, and then slung the coal on and went fast to get back with the rest.

I was about halfway back and about to have another look behind, when there was a sudden staccato vibration and sparks seemed to erupt out of my port wingtip. My ‘bloody hell' and steep left hand turn initiation only just beat a violent clang from up front, at which the rudder pedals suddenly lost all feel and became seemingly disconnected from the rudder. As the nose fell away the cockpit filled with a white mist accompanied by a foul smell of glycol and 100‐octane fuel. I let the nose go on down hoping whatever it was couldn't follow and that the mist would clear before it became a problem (I remembered the unseen white hot debris from the exhausts, and in the context of the fuel smell didn't have a lot of confidence in the immediate future).

In true Saturday cinema style: don’t miss next months thrilling conclusion of this epic tale….

To be continued

14 SAS JEEPS: PART 1 BY RUSSELL EDEN

For the George cross trophy I thought I’d better do something allied, for a change.

I was going to do an SAS jeep for last year’s competition but as I had only just joined the club and I didn’t have much time so I did my straight out of the box Crusader tank.

The SAS jeeps were used in WWII for long distance reconnaissance and raiding behind German lines. They had to carry enough fuel, food, and water and of course weapons for these missions so every available surface was used for stowage, which is great for a modeller, like me, who likes vehicles covered in weapons and stowage.

I thought about 1/35 scale but decided to carry on with my 1/48 scale collection. I got a Tamiya jeep, which comes with the US Army Troops “At Rest” set, expensive just for a jeep but you get loads of bits for stowage and a few weapons, so not all bad.

The jeep goes together very nicely, which is no surprise being Tamiya. I assembled a basic jeep very quickly – no windshield or spare wheels, etc. You have to cut the grill for the conversion. The instructions aren’t too clear but as usual I made sure I had plenty of photographic reference material. This info would also be handy for all the stowage and weathering. Once the jeep was assembled it was time for the fun bit, honest!

The SAS conversion is made by Hauler and consists mainly of a lot of jerry cans with etch straps and a multitude of machine guns.

This was going to test my patience, all the jerry can handles had to be fitted and being flimsy resin were a nightmare to attach, most wanted to stick to my tweezers and several were broken in transit. I gave up in the end and used plastic jerry cans from the jeep set where I could. This set also comes with several German jerry cans, great for a bit of variety. The etch straps were a pain to fit too – you really need 3 hands, or as Dale keeps telling an etch mate like a ‘bug’ or similar. One day, when I have the spare cash, it’s on my list along with an airbrush!

15 After several evenings with etch, superglue and resin all over my worktable the jerry can racks were assembled, now to attach them to the jeep. This was harder that you think. I use slow setting superglue but even this can set too quick at times, the German jerry can on the bonnet will attest to this, it dried to the strap crooked but who says they wouldn’t have moved in transit? The rear jerry cans, I fitted too far forward looking at my reference, but I wasn’t going to worry too much, I’ll just have to juggle the stowage. After looking at photos I decided to add a water bottle on the r/hand jerry can and I even added a strap out of spare etch, this little detail highlight made up for my gun nightmare. It’s the little things in life that can give great pleasure, or at least that’s what I tell my girlfriend!

Once the jerry cans were in place it was time for the machine guns. I was going to mount 2 on the front and possibly one or two on the sides, the SAS didn’t follow any specific plans and each jeep was different. These were the biggest nightmare of the build, the guns are mounted in etch ‘u’ brackets, easy, ish so far. Then the u brackets are mounted on the resin t‐piece, again easy, ish. Once in place there are 2 etch braces between them – not so good – the instructions are vague and I glued the guns too close together. I broke one off and started again, after a very frustrating 30mins I had everything in place, albeit slightly crooked. I don’t want to re‐break the assembly, as I doubt it’ll survive. Best leave it as is and hope no one notices, of which everyone will now I’ve written about it!

The spare wheels on the back of the jeep are resin and do not come with accurate mounting instructions so they were attached to where I thought they went. The sand channel was fun to bend without an etch‐mate but I managed it, this is held in place by two very, very small etch pins which surprisingly the carpet monster didn’t eat.

I used lots of bags and canvas rolls form my spares collection to complete the look. I have left the back of the jeep empty for the moment but it will be filled with all sorts of stowage at a later date. I will also add crew and side arms after painting.

Next I will be painting this one and the stowage for the second jeep, which has just arrived with the 2 sets of crew – more on that next month.

To be continued

16 AIRFIX1:48REF A10102 ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA B(I)8 : PART 2.BY PAT CAMP

In Part 1 (see Update November 08) I gave a box review of the Airfix kit. I mentioned that the kit was simple, but well manufactured. The mouldings seemed very thick walled but free of flash and distortion. Some corrections and alterations looked to be necessary, but nothing too serious and the overall feel of the kit was of good quality. Let me confess at the outset that I know little about the Canberra. Yes, it evolved at an exciting time in aircraft development and was a great feat of aviation engineering, but its simple, smooth aerodynamic lines and lack of propellers means that it never really stirs up my emotional juices in the way that a Spitfire does, or powerful jets such as the Eurofighter (substitute Rafale here for my French readers) do as well. Grossly unfair I know, but will this build be the start of a love affair for this aircraft? Let’s see…… The lid of the box gives a helpful list of the paints you will need to complete the model, but makes no mention of any other materials you will need. Such as material of the sort and of the quantity that you may find on a church roof. Yes, this model desperately wants to be a tail sitter and you will have to make quite an effort to persuade it to do otherwise. True to scale really, as it seems the real aircraft also exhibited this tendency if you didn’t fill the windscreen wiper bottle first before putting fuel in the tanks (okay, I’m exaggerating somewhat – you know me!). This would be highly embarrassing for the “oik” who made such a mistake and I, for one, did not wish to bear such a stigma! Airfix say you need to put 100 grams into the front of the ‘plane, which calculates out to 9 cm3 lead. Whilst I have a good stock of lead back at home in England, I have nothing here in France. I took a look around the local Bricolage but found nothing of use. I toyed with the idea of asking Melissa to bring some lead in her luggage when she next visited me here in France, but decided that would be matrimonial suicide. So I Googled for lead suppliers and found a suitable source from a mail order fishing tackle company. They supply lead in small strips 100mm x 25mm x 1mm size [1] and this turned out to be just right for the model and I did not have to do very much cutting (for which normal scissors were used). Each strip weighs around 25 grams, so four would be needed, so I ordered five for luck, plus some lead wire for future projects. The cost of the order was around 25 euro including delivery, so not at all cheap.

I assembled the main cockpit parts together and then added lead to the various nooks and crannies in the forward spaces [2] – the further forward you can get the weight the more effective it will be. Once these areas were filled, the remainder was attached to the top of the nose wheel bay [3]. This is the ideal place to attach the lead as it minimizes the stress on the glued joint with the fuselage, thereby reducing the risk of it detaching later on. You need to place the lead where it will not interfere with the curvature of the fuselage, the angled cockpit bulkhead and bomb bay forward bulkhead (the roof of the bomb bay nearly caught me out!). I used Devcon epoxy resin to glue the lead in place and everything ended up rather tight in the end [4]. Incidentally,

17 Airfix do provide a support post for the back end in case you are unsuccessful and the model wants to sit on its tail. The pole looks a good representation of those actually used for the real aircraft as photos on Britmodeller.com will show!

I had very little reference material giving close up details of the Canberra so “trawled the net” for information. I found a number of build reviews of the kit and some photos of the real aircraft. Those that were most useful for the cockpit area were found of B(I)8 WT346 preserved at Wigram, New Zealand on www.bywat.co.uk/wt346int.html. This shows the fighter cockpit version retained the yoke type control column rather than the joystick the instructions say to use. Fortunately, there is a suitable one supplied with the kit so I used this. Although the photos do not give comprehensive coverage of the internal areas, I found enough to allow me to add some extra detail to the Airfix parts as shown in photo [5]. Electrical enclosures partly visible in one of the reference photos were made up from pieces of resin casting stub left over from an Aires set [6].

Interestingly, the navigator did not have an ejection seat – unlike the pilot’s – and he would have to bale out in traditional style in an emergency. I decided the Airfix part needed some modification to get right. I detached the upper box and then reduced the height of the seat using one of the photos in the above website as a guide [7].

The pilot’s ejection seat, although well detailed, doesn’t fit together too well. I used the internet to get information about the type of ejector seat used for the period of interest (having already decided to go for an early version – but more about that later), which seems to be a Martin Baker Mk2CA. I eventually constructed the seat as described in [8] and added the pull chords from two fine wires, one painted black and the other yellow, that I then twisted together and bent to the required form.

18

The cockpit parts and inside surfaces of the fuselage that would be visible were given an airbrushed coat of Alclad primer followed by Humbrol 67 dark grey. Various shades of grey and black oil paint were applied to emphasise the light and shadow – I did this at a model show and many visitors to the stand expressed interest

in the technique. Various gauges and other details were picked out in red and yellow, following the reference photos as close as possible. Final highlighting was done with titianium white oil paint applied by a fine brush as I prefer this method over dry brushing as you can be more precise about the position and strength of the highlights. The cable harness was painted brown to represent the tape wrap that was applied. The air hoses were blue with their rubber end connections in black with a little silver line added for the metal band around the rubber [9]. The carpet was painted green and suitably faded around the window area as is indicated from one of the reference photos.

I made no major changes or additions to the fuselage insides in the cockpit area. There is a fold‐down seat for the navigator that is stored just to the rear of the access door, but I did not make one of these. However, I did add the light over the navigator’s table from a small disc of metal and some more oxygen hose hanging in a loop near the navigators area as these will be visible if you were to peer through the open access door.

19

There is a small window behind the navigator’s table. The moulding for this is rather thick and has a shrinkage dimple in the centre. I thinned the surrounding flange of the window so that it fitted further into the hole in the fuselage and protruded outside [10]. I wrapped some micromesh around a cylindrical pot and polished the inside of the window until it was smooth and all blemishes had been removed. The window was dipped in Klear and ‐ once this had dried ‐ superglued into place. The coating of Klear prevents the plastic from fogging due to the fumes from the glue. Later in the build, the window was filed, sanded and polished until it was flush with the outside of the fuselage.

The internal parts were assembled to the port fuselage side. I did not find the internal detail of the bomb bay to be too convincing, so decided I would build my model with the bomb doors closed. (For those of you that decide you want to fit out the bay, there are some bombs supplied in the kit which attach to a curious long piece which I assume to be an auxiliary fuel tank).

20 I positioned the bomb bay whilst the two fuselage halves were held together and applied glue to tack it in place to the port half through the opening for the cockpit. Once secure, the starboard side was removed and further glue and pieces of sprue were added to make it nice and strong. The nose wheel bay was added after I had checked there was sufficient clearance for the lead. I used coarse abrasive to remove some of the lead to the front and back until everything fitted neatly – but remember lead is toxic so take the necessary precautions when handling it. The fit of the wheel bay to the inside of the fuselage was not too positive, so I trimmed it here and there to improve it as much as possible and used epoxy resin to glue the part in place. Once this had set, the starboard side was lifted off once again [11] and then the cockpit assembly was added. For installing the cockpit, my trial fits had convinced me that it would be best not to glue the section of top fuselage to the cockpit (as the instructions say to do), but to do so once the fuselage halves were glued together. So I applied a generous blob of glue to the rear bulkhead and attached it to the sloping front of the wheel bay, whilst once again holding the starboard fuselage in place and using the top piece to make sure the cockpit was correctly aligned. Whilst working on the fuselage internals, I also tackled the main wheel bays. These are nicely detailed, but benefited from some structural and plumbing extras using photos from the internet [12].

To be continued 21 WHAT THE PAPERS SAY… HIDDEN HISTORY: Yanks over Normandy... We investigate why US Navy pilots were flying RAF Spitfires on D‐Day Speed & Guile... How the lone PR pilot had to be his own pilot, navigator and FE Spitfire pull‐out poster... A splendid portrait of Peter Teichman's Spitfire PR.XI DATABASE: The Vickers Vimy... To coincide with the 90th anniversary of Alcock and Brown's monumental transatlantic flight, we tell the full story of the trusty type they used. Beyond Unconventional... A detailed look at the bizarre Blohm und Voss Bv 141 asymmetric reconnaissance aircraft, and why it lost out to the Fw 189. Pakistan's Delta Force... Iin 1971, Pakistan's small force of Mirage delta jet fighters made its mark in the Indo‐Pakistan war. Fly Navy!... We celebrate a century of Royal Navy aviation with a selection of Aeroplane images from the Navy Days of the 1940s and 1950s. Propliner Progress... report from Duxford on the continued resoration of the Duxford Aviation Society's elegant Airspeed Ambassador airliner. Tourist Twosome... Two brothers, two classic Waco UBF‐2 biplanes; Frank a unique double‐act in the USA. A Funny War ‐ A early war diorama. Merkava III Baz ‐ Legends 1:35th scale resin kit. One Sixteenth Superking ‐ Part two of the Editor’s ongoing Trumpeter King Tigerproject.Murdoch. 105mm Sherman The fire support version of the Sherman. Sherman Up Close – The continued series looking in detail at the Sherman variants, this time it is the M4A3 105mm Brushing on a Budget ‐ We compare three budget priced airbrushes Dolce Vita ‐ Italian themed North African Diorama.

Supermarine Southampton Mk. 1 Part Two ‐ The techniques behind a scratchbuilt flying boat Me 262 ‘White 4’ ‐ The Trumpeter 1:32nd scale kit. The Me 262 ‐The development of the World’s first operational jet fighter. Xtreme Detail ‐ The Me 262. Ah‐1 Skyraider ‐The Tamiya Skyraider in Vietnam war markings. F9‐F2 Panther ‐ The 1:32nd scale Fisher multimedia kit. Air Born ‐ New releases Regianne Re 2000 ‐ A wrecked example of the Hungarian fighter

Hurricane intruder A Hawker fighter for night operations Cover Story: Easy carrier deck Display your 1960s aircraft at sea Showcase: Saluting Sweetie Pie F‐4 Phantom made to a general's order Vietnam U.S. Navy SEAL boat Model action in the Mekong Delta Build a Boilermaker Boeing How to place Airfix's 737 at Purdue Finishes for a Japanese sub Modeling the gargantuan I‐400 Workbench Reviews Academy 1/48 scale F‐22A Raptor , Italeri 1/35 scale Carro Armato L6/40 Xtrakit 1/72 scale Sea Harrier FA.2, Tamiya 1/35 scale Jagdtiger Revell Germany 1/144 scale C‐17A Globemaster III, Hasegawa 1/72 scale E‐2C Hawkeye 2000 , Bronco 1/35 scale SdKfz 221 Leichte Panzerspähwagen Eduard 1/48 scale Fokker E.11/111 Eindecker Pacific Coast Models 1/32 scale Fiat G.55 Serie 1 Centauro MiniArt 1/35 scale Bantam BRC 40 1/4‐ton 4 x 4 ,Tamiya 1/24 scale Porsche 956

22 PAINT A PANZER a simple 'how‐to' feature based on Dragon's Ferdinand. Simple painting ideas will help you get the best from this impressive kit SUPERSIZED STOLLIE Our showcase feature this month tackles Kit Form Services' incredible 1/24 Alvis Stalwart. Forget the size – just look at the detail! A TECHNICAL EXERCISE A build of the very impressive Toyota Land Cruiser from Mig Productions. Careful painting and a wonderfully evocative scenic setting, help create highly original set‐piece HIGHLY POLISH'ED This month, treats us to a painting masterclass, as he tackles Trumpeter's 1/48 Wellington… FAIREY'S FLIGHT OF FANTASY The amazing looking Rotodyne… EYES OF THE FLEET build Hasegawa's brand new E‐2C Hawkeye – a much needed kit if ever there was one! TRUCKS 'N' TRACKS We visis this year's event, bringing you all of the highlights from the Leas Cliff, Folkestone IN DETAIL Alan Firbank had the chance to visit Japan recently and photograph JASDF aircraft on home soil. This month he brings us some shots of an immaculate Hawkeye – just the thing that you need to go with Hasegawa's kit! The Long Haul M915A1 Line Haul Tractor and M872 trailer. Richard I ‐ Lion Heart and Crusader Pegaso's 90mm kit D‐Day Bunkers A look at the German Atlantic Wall defences. Detail a DAK Panzer IIF (part 2) Adding interior detail to the Dragon kit Brothers of the Sword The assembly and painting of the Pegaso 54mm figure....

Export Flankers The development of the Su‐30 and models 2 export versions of Sukhoi’s super ‘Flanker’ Soviet P‐40s The use of the Curtiss P‐40 in Soviet Air Force during World War II White, cold and snow... The 1/48 scale Revell/Monogram P‐40E converted to an M‐105‐engined version using the Griffon resin conversion... First of the Luftwaffe’s fighter‐bombers Builds Eduard’s 1/48 scale Bf 110 as an Erprobungsgruppe 210 fighter‐bomber in the Battle of Britain Spotlight we offer a selection of Bf 110C, D and E illustrations Candid Canberra – in colour a photographic miscellany of the English Electric Canberra B.2 and its various derivatives in RAF and Ministry service Finnish Hawk detail and improve the HobbyCraft 1/48 scale Curtiss P‐36 into a Finnish Curtiss Hawk 75A‐2 American Harrier In the second of a four‐part series, the story of the Hawker Harrier in United States service... Part Two: AV‐8A – ‘The VSTOL Warriors’ 8pg Supplement sponsored by Airfix AIRFILE 13 – Canberra Bombers for the RAF Looks at the camouflage and markings of the Canberra B.2, B.6, B(I).6, B.15 and B.16 in frontline RAF service Modellers Profile 22 MiG‐15 Ladybird’s Picnic A Quick Build of Eduard’s1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 110D A Pair of Pups Two colourful trainers in 1/72 from the venerable Airfix tool Scaling Down Trumpeter’s Badgers are the latest in the range of big red ones in 1/144 Lightning Factor Revell’s 1/72 F‐22 A Inside and Out Milton’s Schemes Hawk’s Graf Zeppelin D‐LZ127 Small but FierceAn Irish Seafire L.IIIc from Revell’s 1/32 Spitfire Mk. I/II Gobbo Maledetto Strangeness and Charm. Trumpeter’s Sparrowhawk in 1/48

Kwik Build The HobbyBoss 1/72nd MiG‐15bis Planet Models 1:72 Heinkel He 119 V3 Bench Test We put three airbrushes from the Harder & Steenbeck range through their paces

23 Raptor Raptures Revell’s superb 1:72 F‐22A Raptor Raising Havoc We build MPM’s 1:72 A‐20G Havoc The Spitfire Mk V ‘Down Under’ by Richard J. Caruana Detailed 60 another mindblowing superdetailing job, this time on the Hasegawa 1:72 SH‐60B Seahawk

Waltzing Matilda Builds Tamiya’s 1:35 ‘Queen of the Desert' Fighting Colours A Super‐Sized Shell Shooter Revell’s 1:35 Panzerhaubitze PzH 2000 Self Propelled Howitzer Scruffy & Sheik Does a double, building a pair of Dragon M4A2s in British colours Modellers Masterclass There is some debate as to whether the US Marines actually used the late production 75mm gun on their M4A2’s. We take up the challenge and sets out produce such a Sherman – with ‘Spikes and Style’! Panzerknacker In the first of the three‐part Aviation File we take a look at ‘tank‐ busters’. In the first feature, we build the JRutman Products 1:32 cast resin Henschel Hs 129B‐2, the Luftwaffe’s ‘safe cracker’. Sinai Sharpshooters No.1 The iconic IDF tank using the 1:35 Academy kit and Legend Productions resin turret set. Band of Brothers Builds the Adalbertus 250mm bust MESSY MOUSE The Dragon’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ eared T‐34/76 Mod.1942. A BEAR IN THE WOODS Tristar’s muchanticipated Sturmpanzer IV (Early). BUNKER BUSTER We convert Tamiya’s Churchill Mk. VII into the purposeful looking Mk. IV ‘Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers’ AVRE using the Legend Productions conversion. GREEN DEVIL a step‐by‐step guide to finishing Jeff Shiu’s 120mm Fallschirmjager. TANKFEST – BACKSTAGE AT BOVINGTON Some of the people behind this event. TRACKED AMPHIBIAN Another Landwasserschlepper, this time the new HobbyBoss late‐war version. PREVIEW Dragon’s diminutive new 1:35 “Bison I”, which includes two options for its distinctive tall superstructure and a look at Academy’s much anticipated 1:35 Merkava IV. REFERENCE Some great reference on the much updated “Commando’ armoured car. Box‐stock beauty Build the street version of Revell's hot new 1957 Chevy 150 kit Pocket‐size repair kit It comes in handy NNL South Held at Smyrna, Georgia, on November 8, 2008 How to fix building errors Getting out of your own way Circle City Modelers Contest Held at Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 25, 2008 Build a standout Merc Make a good kit better From curbside to full‐detail part 2 1958 Olds Fiesta wagon

EVERYTHING IV THE FATHERLAND! Tamiya’s 1:16 PzIV gets a re‐working WEATHERING THE Y Some realistic weathering effects on Fine Molds’ 1:72 Y‐Wing THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER Tamiya’s 1:12 Casey Stoner MotoGP Honda gets some PE parts KIT PREVIEW :Emhar 1:24 Bedford trucks, Trumpeter 1:35 WR360 diesel loco, Czech Model 1:32 F‐80C Shooting Star DREIFINGER IM 1:32! concludes a Revell 1:32 Ju88A‐1 AN EYE FOR A SOUVENIR... PT.7 The Sd.Kfz.11 project is finally finished! AVRO LANCASTER COLOUR PROFILES More stunning colour artwork from Richard J. Caruana

24 AVRO LANCASTER BMKIII DAMBUSTER PART II BY TONY ADAMS

Way back in October 08’s Update I wrote part I of this build of my highly pimped Hasagawa Dambuster Lancaster. At the time I was making excellent progress having just about completed the interior That all stopped because I came across a problem that took the wind from my sails, let me explain further..

WINDOWS OR NO WINDOWS

In researching the Lancaster I had found a source that stated that most MkIII had the windows in the fuselage removed and consequently one of my first operations was to fill the window openings, painting over the inner surface and filling the outer surface with Mr Surfacer on top of the clear plastic inserts. It wasn’t until I was about to close the fuselage that I found a photo of the aircraft I was modelling taken just before the raid and the windows were clearly visible – Ahhhhh.[1]

This fact floored me, so I put the model away to have a good think on what to do next… Time passed which I filled with work on the web site and my Airfix competition entry (RMS Queen Mary II see April’s magazine). At the end of last month I finally picked the kit up again.

The first task was to fix the windows; this was achieved by removing the filler with a sanding stick followed by a good work [1] out with a polishing stick. I used a cocktail stick to scrape off the paint on the inner surface. The result was just acceptable , I don’t suppose anybody took the time to clean the windows so the resultant “frosty “ look is probably realistic.

COMPLETING THE CREW SPACE

The final job before I closed the fuselage was to create a decal for the map which was to sit on the chart table. I scaled the map down (left) and then printed it on normal paper. I then cut out a piece of decal sheet and taped it over the image and then reinserted the paper and printed again, thus saving the maximum amount of decal sheet. However I was puzzled that the image wasn’t clear and after a few minutes disappeared into a number of dots. I took a look at the decal paper and found it was for laser printers‐ “sugar”. I had also had a sheet of transparent inkjet decal paper and [2] not wanting to wait ; I used that, fixing the decal on a piece of thin white plasticard to provide the white base. This gave a reasonable result. [2]

With all the interior completed I proceeded to dry fit the fuselage halves. This produced further puzzlement as I ended up with a huge gap[3]. I spent considerable time filling down the cockpit floor and then the dashboard but it still wouldn’t fit! After several hours I finally found that the problem was with the bottom of the dashboard not locating with the cockpit floor, a quick push with a pair of tweezers and the fit became perfect.

25 [3] [4]

A quick lick of plastic weld with reinforcement from masking tape and the fuselage was soon joined ( this would be the last time I would see all that beautiful detail… sob.) The seam lines were soon cleaned up with Mr Surfacer and a fine sanding stick it was then onto the wings.

HACKING THE WINGS TO BITS

I had brought a resin control surface kit containing ailerons, elevators and rudders [5]. The first job was to clean this up. This was the first time I had used resin parts and I was a little daunted by cutting the parts from the formers. So plastic saw in hand I attacked the resin. I was surprised how easy it was, the resin was softer than I expected and it wasn’t too much effort to cut away the former and clean up the parts. It was now time to hack at the kit parts, ailerons first. With a scalpel I lightly cut along the aileron panel lines of the port wing [6], after three or four passes the part came away. I then offered up the resin part and found it was 0.5 mm to small leaving a gap (b******) this was something I would have to deal with later. I cut the upper wing surface, now to the correct size and the continued with the starboard wing.

[5] [6]

[7] [8]

26 The flaps were then cut from the bottom surface of both wings. I now had to thin the remaining plastic in the wing to accommodate an insert on which to mount the new ailerons, which I did with a scalpel [7]. The upper flap resin pieces were then glued to the wing and then the top and bottom wing surfaces glued together. I created a small insert from plasticard to fill the gap mentioned earlier in the port aileron.

ENGINE NACELLES

I then started to construct the engine nacelles, the first job was to remove a particularly nasty injection point in the radiator bulkhead followed by the addition of a new photo etch radiator. The small outlet behind the outlet was drilled out [9] before the outer engine nacelles were assembled [10]. A small amount of filler was required to fill some gaps.

[9] [10]

The inner nacelles had to be subjected to further cutting to allow the wing flaps to be in the lowered position, in addition the port engine need more radical work as this engine was going to accommodate my resin Merlin with all the covers off. [11]. The complete forward section of the nacelle was disposed of f’rwd of the engine bulkhead. Before these nacelles were constructed the wheel wells were painted semi gloss black and the visible oil tank red. Etch parts were then added to spice up the wheel wells and then the completed nacelles glued to the wings.[12]

[11] [12]

That’s your lot for this month, I have much more to tell and it does become a tale of woe , but your have to wait until next month for the next instalment.

To be continued

27 MASS PRODUCING YOUR FAVOURITE KIT PART 1 BY GARY JARMAN

Most of you know that I have a bit of an F‐18 Hornet fetish going on at the moment. In total I have 21 Hornets of all variants, in my stash. Most of these are 1/72, 7 are 1/48 and the two biggies are 1/32. Oh, and I have an eggplane as well.

1/72 F‐18C COMPARISON.

In my opinion the HobbyBoss kit is more of a quickbuild, intro to modelling, type kit, so I’ll be giving that to one of the kids one inset day (keeping the decals though as they are okay). The Revell/Italeri kit is far superior to the Hasegawa kits in terms of quality of moulding and crispness of detail. The only thing that lets the Revell/Italeri kit down is the raised panel lines. The Hasegawa offering has finely engraved lines but the parts are not as crisply moulded. Also, the Hasegawa plastic is very hard and brittle which makes cutting much more difficult. The Revell kit has beautifully moulded parts and the plastic is standard plastic, easy to cut and file.

SOME PAST ATTEMPTS.

The first time I came across the Revell kit was when I did a review for SAMI. I received the kit from them and fell in love with it. To that kit I added a few extras like a crew ladder, wiring to the undercarriage legs and an open panel by the aircraft identification light. I also dropped the leading and trailing edge flaps and the ailerons.

Next I built a Hasegawa kit, in one of the colours of Chippy Ho. To this kit I cut the wings and modelled them in the folded position and again dropped the flaps and ailerons. I was actually quite pleased with the folded wings on this kit (which is really embarrassing now that I look back on it (as you’ll see later)).

28 AND THEN IT HAPPENED …

Christmas arrived and in addition to a number of 1/48 Hornets and Tomcats my wife bought me the Daco, ‘Uncovering the Hornet’ book. I love the Daco books as there is a load of detail uncovered by all those photos. At about that time I had ordered a number of F‐18 related decals from Leading Edge decals, all RCAF related. I’d also been watching a program on TV that followed 7 RCAF students doing their fighter training at 410 Squadron (called JetStream). And so it was at about that time that I lost interest in anything but the Hornet.

(Did I mention taking out the subscription to Combat Aircraft magazine for the free DVD of the JetStream series? ☺)

AND ON TO THE LATEST ATTEMPT.

I decided to build another of my Revell kits, with folded wings, using a leading edge decal sheet and adding a load of detail from the Daco book.

This article will be continued next month with Gary describing his latest build complete with the creation of his own resin parts1.

To be continued

IN NEXT MONTHS ROMSEY MODELLER

It’s always difficult to precisely predict what will be in next month’s edition but here’s a stab:

Part2 : Of the war exploits of Sgt H.D. Denchfield Part 3 of Pat’s Canberra build The continuation of the Dambuster Lancaster this time documenting a real disaster More on Gary’s Hornet Fetish! Painting of Russell’s SAS jeep The club survey results Isn’t that enough?…..

29 CLUB DIARY

May 20 Club Night – Photo Session

June 17 Club Night

July 15 St George’s Competition

August 19 Club Night

September 16 Club Night

October 21 Club Night

November 18 Annual Competition

December16 Xmas Night and Prize Giving

Next Meeting: Wednesday May 20th (8pm to 10pm)

Ampfield Village Hall Morleys Lane Romsey Hampshire SO51 9BJ

Thank you to this month’s contributors to this publication

Paul Adams Russell Eden Pat Camp Richard Stewart Gary Jarman Nigel Denchfield

CONTACT INFO

Web Site wwww.romseymodellers.co.uk

Editor Tony Adams Tel: 01794 519153 email: [email protected] Competitions Paul Adams Tel: 02380 398858 Treasurer Vic Short Tel: 01794 511843

30