What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Monday 31st August 2020

I've just seen my work rosta for September and I will be going back to my old site Batt Cables PLC,  Fraser Road,  Erith Kent in October,  I do have a few shifts but they are not at the Southbank Centre,  so any updates will be from the usual crowd passing by. The customer hasn't renewed the contract and is bringing in a different security company to man what's left of the construction site in November.

Back to the 1/72 Convair Peacehaven,  this is being constructed as the development aircraft in the maritime patrol role. I have found the blanking piece for the tail of the Roden An-10 Cub, which has been glued to the rear. A slight cut was needed in the vertical tail fin for a snug fit. The top of the vertical tail fin has been cut off and the Revell Breguet Br1150 Atlantic magnetic anomaly detector fitted. This too has been cut to fit. On the port side of the fuselage towards the rear 16 sonorbouy launch tubes have been fitted (either the Lockheed P-3 Orion or the Breguet Br1150 Atlantic  piece cut to size). The ESM pods from the Airfix BAe Nimrod MR.2 should fit the wingtips. The gondola has been reglued and sits very proud in the bomb bay.
It's a case of raiding the spares boxes for lumps and bumps.
I've got some more holiday to take in September,  so a planned day out to the Warner Brothers London Studio tour should be just perfect,  although I will need to save up as the bus service isn't running from Watford Junction to the studios. I might get the Golden Tours package or the alternative. RAF Hendon is another place to visit. Greenwich which is almost on my doorstep and one of those places I have been as a kid but not as an adult.
I'm still discovering kits that I have forgotten about and I still plan to paint my TriAng Midland Blue Pullman,  cream and ochre. I think for now,  some straight track and a pair of buffer stops is sufficient.

[McColm]

Tuesday 1st September 2020

A slow start for the day, followed by a loud crack and one of the wings off the Peacehaven has snapped,  fortunately for me I had done some shopping and bought some Gorilla glue which seems to have worked.
Whilst that was dry I have installed the Cammett BAe Nimrod AEW.3 conversion set on to the Airfix Vickers Valiant and glued the Nimrod AEW.3 vertical tail fin in place,  I have left the tail fins still in the box..The resin nose just needed a trim to fit.
Meanwhile the Mach2 Martin SeaMaster with the Avro Vulcan B.2 wing has one of my spare Nimrod AEW.3 nose radome fitted to the front end and will get another one on the tail.

[McColm]

Monday 7th September 2020

I have been away down to Penmere,  near Falmouth in Cornwall. No wifi connection and life is blissful. Long walks through the woods crisscrossed streams and babbling brookes,  yes most of the shops only take credit cards even the buses refuse to accept cash,  hence the walking.  I never ventured as far as Truro,  so I don't know if the model shop is still there,  the one along Falmouth high street closed down years ago.
GWR provides wifi on their trains and at some of the stations. The trains are roomier than the HST, but operate in blocks of five , joining up at Plymouth on the return journey.
There's power sockets under every seat,  although you are limited to a window seat.
So it's back to finishing off some of my started builds and sorting out parts to keep for the rest of the week. 

[NARSES2]

Lovely part of the country 

[Tophe]

No wifi connection

In my country, city boys call such a place "the a$$ hole of the world"...

[McColm]

Tuesday 8th September 2020

Two parcels arrived today one with two 1/100 Flybe. logo livery  British European ; BAe 146-300 and Q400 Dash 8 twin turboprop airliners plus stands , landing gear stowed. Both could be whiffed as AEW or maritime aircraft.  (A spare set of propellers was in one of the boxes).
Second parcel contained  1929 "T" Rod, 1/24 Lindberg kit.
The bench looks like a graveyard of unfinished builds, with two uneven piles of untouched kits.
I might go back to the bunkbed idea using the upper bunk as storage or to house my 00 gauge train set themed layout.
Cardboard cutout of Hogwarts Castle with the station underneath it,  continuous loop with a couple of sidings. Add a few light bulbs for the nighttime effect. The cream and chocolate  painted Midland Blue would look right at home...

[McColm]

Wednesday 9th September 2020

The ex-Airfix 1/72 Vickers Valiant has now got the Hasegawa Martin Marlin T-tail,  the rear Cammett BAe Nimrod AEW.3 radome has been cut down for a  better fit.
The Breguet-Vickers Br1250 Mystic AEW. 2, now has a single Avro Vulcan B.2 vertical tail fin.
The 1/72 Lockheed Constellation Super-G 'Starliner' amphibious flying boat uses the lower fuselage of the Hasegawa Martin Marlin.
The Shorts Cadillac long-range air controller is a old Airfix Short Stirling with Halifax twin tail fins. It currently has four Rolls-Royce Griffon engines. The front and rear nose cones are from an early B-26. The front nose is fitted with a single cannon and four machine guns whilst the rear has eight machine guns. There's no vertical tail fin,  there's a AN/APS/AN-20 radome on top of the rear fuselage.
I cut a vacuuform radome from the Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star conversion set to fit under each wing. This fills the gap between the bomb bay and the inner engines. These could be used as long range fuel tanks.
I've nearly finished my laundry for the week.

[Tophe]

The 1/72 Lockheed Constellation Super-G 'Starliner' amphibious flying boat uses the lower fuselage of the Hasegawa Martin Marlin.

This seems especially interesting...

[ericr]

The 1/72 Lockheed Constellation Super-G 'Starliner' amphibious flying boat uses the lower fuselage of the Hasegawa Martin Marlin.

This seems especially interesting...

indeed 

[McColm]

I believe some sort of photo shoot is in order of started builds for this year 

[ericr]

I believe some sort of photo shoot is in order of started builds for this year 

imagination is much more free from a textual description,
but pictures can be nice 

[McColm]

I believe some sort of photo shoot is in order of started builds for this year 

imagination is much more free from a textual description,
but pictures can be nice 

A picture paints a thousand words,  Captain Canada will be pleased 

[McColm]

Tuesday 15th September 2020

The tidying up continues having ordered 4 plastic under-the-bed storage boxes with plastic tops only to find that Argos has delivered 5 boxes and 4 lids. I really grumble at £15 .
This time I have put strips of masking tape on the front so that I know what's inside them.
Yes there's one marked 'odds and sods' which will need sorting as soon as more storage boxes become available.
In the meantime the Glencoe Models Convair 880 1/126 scale,  which lacks a few parts isn't a million miles apart from the Revell 1/144 model number 4422 Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS.
I know another Whiffer has built this model and has said that a Convair 880 was used by the USNAVY as a tanker for inflight refuelling of the F/A-18 programme,  there's a photo of a F-14D refuelling from it.
So I'm thinking of creating the AWACS version

[PR19_Kit]

The USN 800, and there was only one of them, was the only 880 used by any military force, so an AWACs version would be a good Whiff.

That kit's the old Hawk 880, from when they were doing 'fit the box' stuff back in the 60s, but it's quite a good kit, albeit ancient.

[McColm]

The USN 800, and there was only one of them, was the only 880 used by any military force, so an AWACs version would be a good Whiff.

That kit's the old Hawk 880, from when they were doing 'fit the box' stuff back in the 60s, but it's quite a good kit, albeit ancient.

Wow thanks PR19_Kit