What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Sunday 9th February 2019

I just had an idea to use the 1/72 Rolls-Royce  Griffon engines on World War  2 bombers flown by the  Royal Air  Force. I think CMK or Paragon do a resin conversion kit or I could use the engines from the Avro Shackleton kits.
A possible swap of engines for the  Shackleton and Lancaster BII.
Been flicking through the March edition of the Airfix Model World magazine,  Airfix are re-releasing the Vintage Classics range so maybe the  Rotodyne and the Bristol Superfreighter will make it to a shelf near me.
An updated version of their  Short Sunderland or B-29 would be a welcoming sight.
I'm still suprised that a few aircraft haven't made it to be immortalised in plastic in the 1/72 scale such as the Breguet Deux-Ponts, Avro lincoln (600 built) and two conversion sets- 3 if you include the Red Roo Models for the stretched Mk31. Maybe one of  Sir Freddie  Laker's designs will make it onto the workbench of Mach2.
For now I have to be content with what's in my stash and what needs to be finished 

[McColm]

Tuesday 12th February 2019

I glued the two fuselage halves of the  Heritage 1/72 vacform Avro York with a few spacers to firm up the joints. This has had some Squadron Products Green Putty used to fill in the gaps and now feels solid. I also found the twin fins from the Airfix Avro Shackleton  MR.2 which I will be using on this build.

[McColm]

Thursday 15th  February 2019

I've had an idea for the Heritage Model Avro York in 1/72 . Instead of using the four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines I have added the Revell Shackleton AEW.2 inner engines to the Airfix wings of the Avro Shackleton MR. 2. It's not an exact match but I will be adding the jet pods from the Hasegawa Lockheed Neptune on the outer wings,  plus a tail hook.  I have no information that an Avro York actually landed on an aircraft carrier or ever took off from one but the idea intrigues me as a substitute for the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye or Greyhound.
If it was a  COD aircraft then there would be a hinge in the rear fuselage for loading/unloading  or an AEW with a Rotodome rotodome.

As for the Avro Lincoln I quite fancy the B.Mk31 Lincolnian or one of the experimental versions. I have sourced a pair of Revell MR.3 wings.

[McColm]

Sunday 16th February 2019
The standard of finished Whiffs  seems to get better every year,  and the prospect of actually finishing one or two is becoming a reality.
I keep discovering new kits in the stash every day,  but I admit that a few donor kits or spares 'n' repairs will have to be bought especially on the  Shackleton front.
If only someone sold the RR Griffon engine separately in 1/72, this would make a great group build.

[McColm]

Tuesday 19th February 2019

The Stingray flies,  it's a kitbash of the Airfix BAe Nimrod and the Airfix Avro  Vulcan based around the  Avro  Atlantic or Avro  Fat Vulcan.
I found a wooden stand so it's gear up ( well it's up at the front and the Vulcan wings were glued upside down,  a design fault by me but it fitted the Nimrod fuselage. The fuselage also has a plug so it's stretched just past the wings). I have found some Airfix BAe Nimrod parts and I will be adding these on.
I added the Seeker AEW wing pods, just squared the wings before gluing them on.
There's still plenty of sanding to do before spraying the primer.

Meanwhile the  Avro  Yorktown ( vacform 1/72 Avro York with Revell and  Airfix Shackleton  parts) has now been fitted with a pair of Airfix Shackleton  MR. 2 wings to go with it's twin fin tail from the same kit and a pair of Revell AEW. 2 engines.

[McColm]

Friday 22nd February 2019

The  Mighty Thor is now an amphibious four engined jet powered flying boat AEW &C. Sometimes I frighten myself by thinking out the solution to add some wheels to the ex-Revell Blohm & Voss BV-222 Wiking kit.
I'm using the wheels from the  Northrop  XB-35 and a scrap piece of plastic rod for the axle.  It seems to work.  I've added the nose wheel at the back . I was worried about the ground clearance but it seems to be okay.
Just got a load of filler to sand down and sand down the flaking paint from the Airfix Avro  Vulcan. One or more of the windows have fallen out so they will be blanked over.
The previous owner went for the experimental desert camouflage-light stone  and dark earth all over.  I will continue with this scheme. As illustrated in my copy of Cold War Jets,  Royal Air Force Fighters and Bombers by Chris Sandham-Bailey.

[McColm]

Wednesday 27th February 2019

The Avro Yorktown,  has the wings from the Airfix Avro Shackleton with the resin  David J.Parkins Avro Lincoln engines. The inner engines were from the Revell Avro Shackleton AEW. 2 and I cut the front part off for the new Rolls-Royce Merlin 85s. I managed to snap the  Revell landing gear but found a spare set from a Avro Lancaster which seems to have a better fit.

The Contrail Avro Lincoln has been cut out and the wings from the Revell Avro Shackleton MR. 3 superglued in position.

I also found a Airfix Short Stirling,  seems most of the parts are there. Just added the windows at this stage.

[McColm]

Sunday 3rd March 2019

I was late getting home this morning so I recycled the Fokker Rotodyne  in readiness for the Group Build.
For the build it's a cross between a Rotodyne and a Chinook with a raid in the spares box.
The Napier Elan engines will be used on the Avro Maverick.

[TheChronicOne]

Kicking arse and taking names as usual. You have a lot going on!! This Chinodyne sounds interesting.

[McColm]

Kicking arse and taking names as usual. You have a lot going on!! This Chinodyne sounds interesting.

Thanks 

[McColm]

Monday 4th March 2019

Just had an idea of using the D-Day Invasion stripes from the Italeri Short Stirling Mk.IV kit and using them on my Martin Marina.
As for the kit that will be turned into a MR variant with  twin tail fins from the  CMK Avro York resin conversion set. The Airfix kit will become an AEW platform.
It looks like I have got the hang of this kitbash  Avro Yorktown.  All three kits of the Avro Shackleton have been used. The wings are almost symmetrical,  whereas the twin tail fins are slightly askew. Yes it's time for PSR to be done.
I came across another kit that I never knew I had,  the Eastern Express 1/72 An-74/AH-74 cargo variant. I do have the resin Ericson Erieye  active phased-array scanner that I can use. I'll have to see.

[McColm]

A thought just crossed my mind about the  An-74 Coaler, swap the engines over from the Revell Breguet Dassault Br1150 Atlantic 

[McColm]

Thursday 7th March 2019

For the Group Build  I am using the fuselage of an Airfix Rotodyne with the rear doors glued in the closed position. The stack has been removed and the upper half of a Italeri SOS Chinook is glued to the roof.  The rear stabilizer is from the Revell Rotodyne,  there's a pair of quad jet engines on either side of the rear stack and parts from a Boeing  V-22 Osprey make up the rotor blades and sponsors.
The front set of rotor blades has been fitted but as there is a lot of fiddly filler work at the rear these have been put aside.
In the real world the  Rotodyne and the Chinook were considered platforms for AEW for the Royal Navy.
I think I have the Freightdog resin deflated AEW dustbin in the stash.

[McColm]

Sunday 9th March 2019

Sometimes when I come home from working a nightshift I can't get to sleep straight away,  so I tinker with my current builds.  Sometimes this works out and other times,  I have to ask myself why did I do that?
As you know,  I have always wanted to build a  jet powered Avro Shackleton  but I have never completed any started builds,  these have been converted into AEW platforms.
I think that I have cracked it this time by adding a pair of TF33 turbofan engines from a A-10 kit on where the twin tail fins would be located on the fuselage of a 1/72 Revell Avro Shackleton MR. 3. The horizontal elevator act as stabilizers on the tips of the wings for this tailless Shackleton. I have reshaped the nose mounted resin replacement C-130 engine to fit the contours of the original flat nose. The undercarriage will have a  pair of shaped nose cones instead of engines/propellers. I'm keeping the rivets although some will disappear due to PSR.
Extra windows will be added,  probably using a decals or a scriber.
I've got the Dan-Air London decals from the CMR Avro York set. Gloss white all over colour scheme.

[McColm]

Monday 11th March 2019

Had another idea for a  tailless aircraft based on the  Convair C-87 Liberator Express.
A rummage in the spares box turned out a badly damaged 1/72 B-24. The main landing gear is okay.  I removed the front and rear gun turrets,  replaced them with the  C-87 resin transport cones, the ball turret and front upper turret are still in place.  I will replace the port fuselage gun position.  Resin  Avro Lincoln tail fins are glued to the ends of the wings and the vertical tail fin from the Avro York has been glued in place at the rear.  I will replace the propellers with those from the Airfix Short Stirling kit.  Just have to find a nose wheel and I think she is done.
Been pondering about adding a canard to the Avro Shackleton tailless build,  after watching the  Scrapheap Challenge flying machine on YouTube.
I won't be doing any Whiffing as I am covering the day shift for two weeks