What's on the workbench!

[Captain Canada]

41948BA3-D66C-456C-8219-25615A963644 by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr

95EC8128-521E-4AF1-AB90-3F07B795E1BC by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr

CF2479BD-9A09-465C-A045-D7F385DA150A by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr

C4CC4B8A-D1FD-4B03-BE4A-74DB5B6FCC46 by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr

[Captain Canada]

B0E69720-BD36-4F5E-ACD6-701A0E68F663 by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr

[McColm]

 Page 101
1&2
The  first picture is the Majestic MR.1 amphibious flying boat; a kitbash of the Mach2 Martin SeaMaster and the Revell/Matchbox HP Victor K2 with Airfix HS/BAe Nimrod MR.1/MR.2 parts.
3&4
BAC/Dassault Frightening.  The front is the two seater T.54 Lightning and the rest is the Mirage IVA. The main landing gear is from a F-35A. I used the David J.Parkins resin JSTARS pod to connect the two. So you get a two tone colour scheme.
5&6
The Magestic AEW.1 amphibious flying boat, another Mach2 Martin SeaMaster with the old Airfix Avro Vulcan B.2 and the Cammett BAe Nimrod AEW.3 front and rear radomes.
7&8
Started life as the Airfix Bristol Superfreighter,  I added the guns from a Lockheed AC-130U and cut the cockpit off . It must have been one of those nights I couldn't get to sleep and thought I could replace it with something else.
Page  102
9
The Mach2 Martin  WB-57F with new engines and a new T.17 nose.
10, 11& 12
Another Mach2 kit the A.W. Argosy,  this has the engines from a Hasegawa B-47E and the 1/144 skirt from the Trumpeter hovercraft to replace the landing gear. My version of the Air Cushion landing System.
13 ,14 &15
The 1/24 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II,  this is what happens when I'm let loose with a razor saw! The two door Ute convertible with non-standard wheels and the contents of a BMW Mini One,  lollipop sticks used for the wooden decking, sides and tail gate .
16
It's a desktop An-124 Ruslan with the wings turned upside down,  it looks like a large flying boat or STOL aircraft to me!
17
An old Frog A.W. Whitley undergoing a transport conversion with new engines.
So there they are,  many thanks to Captain Canada. Apart from the 1/24 Retro Silver Cloud II they are all in 1/72 scale.

[ericr]

 

[NARSES2]

Cheers gents 

[Captain Canada]

I like the Majestic AEW.1 the best. That thing looks so cool ! And for sure the Antonow looks like a big boat with the wings upside down !

[McColm]

I like the Majestic AEW.1 the best. That thing looks so cool ! And for sure the Antonow looks like a big boat with the wings upside down !

Thanks Captain Canada,  I have some cool stuff coming your way after I have painted them 

[McColm]

Friday 16th October 2020

The pest control people turned up at 4pm to spray all the rooms in the house where I rent a room on the top floor next to the bathroom.
This means that I can return to work next week,  meanwhile I am sorting out black refuse bags of clothing and model kits.
It's a case of getting hold of metal etching or detailing sets for the builds on pages 101 and 102. For the Celestial I did come across the 1/72 Airfix BAC Concorde kit and decals,  so that's a possibility. I do have a BAe Nimrod MR.1 paint mask which is in the storage box marked 'Nimrod parts '. I did come across some rattle cans of primer, so after some much needed PSR the Mystic,  Majestic and Magestic will follow.
I compared the 1/72 Trumpeter Bear-H against the Revell/Monogram RB-36H and yes it is massive. Spurned on by the 1/24 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II,  something along the lines of FAB1 from the TV series Thunderbirds could be achieved.

[McColm]

Saturday 17th October 2020

I spent the day putting things away and reading the book 'Life after the Spitfire' .There's plenty of Whiffing Real World or just the line drawings. Mitchell had his own version of the Short Sunderland which was never built,  I hope that I have kept the wings from the Be-6 Madge flying boat,  if not a twin finned version with Rolls-Royce engines. I'll have to see if anyone makes the Vulture engines. I wonder if four Merlin engines would do instead?
Then there's the four engined Vickers Wellington,  a four engined Whitley maybe feasible but the wings would need to be changed.
Now a Fleet Air Arm version of the Mil-24 Hind,  no idea where that is but these things do crop up when I am looking for something else.
I haven't given up on a 00gauge model scale layout,  so I will be looking at Horny or Peco layouts over the next few weeks.

[McColm]

Sunday 18th October 2020

I have rearranged my room but only time will tell if I have got it right. In my four grey plastic crates contains a great amount of whiffery to be constructed.
I must have had a crush on the Jaguar XJ220 , as I have three started builds in 1/24 scale. I'm not too sure if there was ever a convertible version,  but a T-bar in the roof would have been the closest thing.
The four engined Breguet Br1150 Atlantic is also a go as I have found another kit,  as for vacform kits I have the Vulcan B.2 and Valiant B.1. I have an idea for a kitbash which includes the Valiant B.2 Pathfinder fuselage.
These crates will definitely need to be sorted out.
Don't worry I'm still trying to locate parts for my current builds.

[McColm]

Friday 23rd October 2020

The 1/72 Avro Lincaster MR.1 is undergoing PSR,  it's a tail sitter even though the dustbin radome is in the lowered position. I think a ladder positioned under the fuselage will sort out.
Whilst this has been drying  I have started building the Airfix Avro Shackleton MR.2 wings and engines for the Avro Yorktown C1 no doubt by the time this gets finished it will have changed to an AEW version.
I have found my 1/72 Avro Starship;  the tailless , twin turbofaned  ex-Frog Shackleton MR.3. This has canards in the new nose. It seems to have lost it's AEW capabilities reverting back to a biz-jet appearance. Yes those rivets will need to be sanded down and new windows added. A new landing gear will be bodged from the spares boxes.

[McColm]

Sunday 25th October 2020

My apologies to Captain Canada,  the Mystic AEW amphibious flying boat used to have the wings from the Airfix Vickers Valiant B.1. These have been removed and replaced with the wings from the Magestic AEW.1 amphibious flying boat. Yes the Mystic now has the Avro Vulcan B.2 wings. However the Valiant wings fit the Airways H.S. Nimrod vacform fuselage and also the thicker Historic vacuum formed kit as well. (This also has the metal landing gear and MR.2P update parts and decals).
I have been using Unibond instead of superglue which seems to be working on large sections.

[McColm]

Monday 26th October 2020

The Avro Lancaster and Lincoln were used as test aircraft,  so too is the Lincaster. This now has the Combat Models Lancastrian nose cone and Nene jet engines. The twin tail fins are from the Do-26? flying boat. It also has the metal main landing gear from the Avro York conversion set.
The Mach2 Martin WB-57F now has a pair of turboprops and the T.17 nose. The kits canopy is glued in place and the engine exhaust pipes are from the Airfix Vickers Valiant B.1.
The floats for the Mystic II are from the Revell/Matchbox HP Victor K2 kit.
The BAC Celestial now has the rotodome from the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye glued to the vertical tail fin.

Tomorrow will be spent painting the walls of my room,  I also hope to paint the interior of the Avro Yorkleton and fill in the old windows along the fuselage,  then create new ones. If there's time I will start on the cockpit.

[McColm]

Tuesday 27th October 2020

The 1/72 vacform Avro Lincoln fuselage is now looking like the Lincolnian with it's new nose .The two outer engines have been removed and replaced with a pair of Nene jet engines glued over the wings. The twin tail fins broke off and a replacement was found in the spares box. As you know the Lincaster was to have the nose wheel but this didn't work so I have gone back to the rear wheel.  The bomb bay doors are now covered with the AeroClub Avro Shackleton MR.2/AEW.2 resin conversion set weapons bay part which is slightly wider but covers a multitude of signs and bodged work. The white metal landing gear is ideal on this build.
As to the 1/72 ex-Contrail Avro York,  I have taken the unorthodox approach to remove a large section of the left hand side of the fuselage which will have several pieces of clear plastic so you can see the new interior detail that I have created. The original fuselage windows have been drilled out and a piece of plastic card glued over on the inside blanks these out. I'm using the kit cockpit. All other parts are from the Airfix Avro Shackleton MR.2.
As stated the 1/72 Mach2 A.W. Argosy still has the air-cushion landing system with its six B-47 jet engines but now has the Cammett BAe Nimrod AEW.3 radome in the nose and a cut down radome at the rear. PSR has just started.
The 1/72 Mystic II AEW platform now has it's pair of floats curtsey of the Matchbox Handley Page Victor K2 underwing fuel tanks. The wrap-around paint scheme is still showing on the upper wings.
The 1/72 Mach2 Martin WB-57F looks great with a pair of turboprops instead of the jet engines sort of manned  drone design.
The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye rotodome hasn't broken off the vertical tail fin from the 1/72 BAC Celestial so all is well in Whiffing Land.

[McColm]

Friday 30th October,  Halloween 2020

I'm pleased with my decorating skills although my body aches,  it's those muscles that I seldom use.
So what if the Vickers Valiant retired,  the Air Ministry could have converted the fuselage into a maritime patrol aircraft.
I'm using parts from various 1/72 vacform kits to do this. The Vulcan wings definitely need spars to strengthen them as they are a bit flimsy. I have modified the the upper Vulcan fuselage to fit the Valiant. If this was the plastic kits I would cut the fuselage to fit the new body but as I need all the strength it will be a case of cutting the Valiant to fit the new wings.
In my search for parts I came across the Airfix Avro Vulcan B.2 engine air intakes and will be using them after they are painted. I also came across the Vickers Valiant B.2 Pathfinder vacform kit,  so that's another build although the B.1 wings could be used.
I also have the H.S. Nimrod MR.1,  de haviland comet 4C,  Bristol Britannia and a rather battered Blackburn Beverly.
The Beverly was to become a Car Ferry but I have found by adding the wings from the 1/72 Revell Airbus A400M Grizzly/Atlas and the landing gear,  plus the T-tail things may alter this.  Hopefully the Airbus interior details will fit with a bit of persuading.
In my scenario the Blackburn Beverly was used by Airbus to transport various parts for assembly and used as a testbed for the A400M project.
The ex-Mach2 A.W. Argosy six engined AEW platform is looking the business as the windows are now in place. It still needs painting,  I'll keep the black air brush painted undersides.
The Avro Lincaster is going to be mounted on a stand as the main landing gear keeps snapping off. It will be the Avro Lincaster K.1 tanker. The two Nene jet engines should help in it keeping pace with the fighter/bomber aircraft on the bench.