THE EMPIRES TWILIGHT

[Weaver]

Yep - one of the accurists' complaints about the Minicraft 377/KC-97 kits is that they all use the same fuselage, with a compromise collection of hatches and doors, some of which have to be filled in for every version. Fortunately, the windows are decals.

Bit late now, but a comapny in the States called Cobra models does resin engines with cylinder detail and white-metal props for these kits. They also do jet pods for one of the military versions.

[thedarkmaster]

Should have my next on over the weekend , family permitting of course 

[trekaddict]

[thedarkmaster]

Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident ,
Vatican International Airways,
Rome 1984.

Vatican International Airways was startrd by a decree  ( urbi et orbi april 9th 1979 ) by the then current Pope, His Holiness John Paul II, whom was concerned at the price that some pilgrims to Rome had to pay, especially form South America and Africa.

It was decided that wherever possible at least one flight a week would fly from each of the 50 selected cities to Rome and if possible more would fly if the routes made this feasable.


A massive success with the faithful as soon as it opened VIA was soon to expand and run services from some countries every day, with the airline not interested in making a profit as it had the might of the Catholic church behind it it was able to offer cut price tickets to the pilgrims and was the airline of choice for a trip to the Vatican city.

Based at Rome , as the vatican had no airport, the airline operated a diverse fleet of 2nd hand aircraft and new builds including 747s, 737s, Bac 111, Airbuses of various markes and on UK routes Tridents.

In 1989 the airline started to operate a cargo service, mainly flying much needed international relief to disaster and famine sites and it was this service that continued after the 91 diaster, giving a helping hand to those devatated parts of the world.



































decal yellow was ont perfect but hey it's not too bad, overall i like it........check out the call sign for her......Vatican has no assigned call sign so i went with PS for papal states.


A/C 143

[Steel Penguin]

brill idea, and looks wonderful, and i love the call sign.

[PR19_Kit]

Cracking idea!  

But I almost hate to tell you that's not a 3B. A Trident 3 has a longer fuselage and four engines (yes really) the 4th on is a little booster in the bulge at the bottom of the fin/rudder.

[JMN mode off....]

[NARSES2]

Love it 

[thedarkmaster]

Next one should be on tomorrow, something BEA I think     

[The Wooksta!]

wow eeerrrm don't know what to say.........I mean i would love to but time and skills are against me, I unfortunatly as a family man have limited time to put to hobbies and with modelling and restoring the Hunter i cannot shoehorn any more in without getting divorced and as much as i may moan i don't want to .

Maybe on day when i can train myself to be more focused and stop fliting from idea to ianother, which is why i like to make models it's one idea at a time, though all within a theme.

You don't necessarily need the skills to do the book.  Provided you can actually write, someone else could come up with a format.  All you'd need is an overview - say 20-30 pages and then use the stuff you're building with backstories as small chapters on their own, 3 to four pages.  By the look of it, you've more than enough material for at least one book and self publishing is dead easy.  I know, I've done it at a fanzine level and I did the design & production for two of John Baxter's books.

[NARSES2]

By the look of it, you've more than enough material for at least one book and self publishing is dead easy.  I know, I've done it at a fanzine level and I did the design & production for two of John Baxter's books.

and very well done they were to 

[thedarkmaster]

Shorts Belfast 5, British European Airways, East Midlands Airport, 1987.

The sucess of the Belfast in RAF and Commonwealth service (50+ aircraft ) and it's reputation for reliability made the aircraft a natural choice for BEA when they were looking for a heavy lift aircraft on some of their european and north African routes.

A slightly downgraded version was procured from Shorts, in toal 15 airframes were procured new from the manufacturer and 10 more from the RAAF making BEA the Biggest user behind the RAF.

A popular sight at airports within the UK as well as regular flights to Hannover, Gibralter, Cyprus and Malta to name a few, the entire fleet remained in service until the 91 disaster and the 12 survivors flew well into the early 2000's until grounded by lack of spares. At this time the 5 surviving airframes are in open storage at Coventry airport but reports suggest they are deteriating rapidly and a backer is sought to sponser a restoration.
































A/C 144

[chrisonord]

I do like that Tim 
I love the old Turbo prop stuff, built for purpose and rugged looking, excellent.
Chris. 

[Mossie]

Gotta love a Bel-Slow!  I always thought it could have been a superb aircraft had it been developed further.

[Weaver]

At this time the 5 surviving airframes are in open storage at Coventry airport but reports suggest they are deteriating rapidly and a baker is sought to sponser a restoration.

Does that mean we're going to see another one in Mr. Kipling's colours then?  

Nice one Tim: looks good and logical.

[Taiidantomcat]

Pretty