The Wooksta: Not a Spitfire Blog

[The Wooksta!]

"Why won't this sodding video work!?"

Finally got the oomph to get spraying the Shackleton AEW3, only to find the paint cup gunged up with dried varnish.  Cue ten minutes with a lethal mixture of Plasticweld, cocktail sticks and cotton buds.  Once I got started, I went through a full bottle of Xtracrylic Dark Sea Grey and I've yet to do the starboard wing.  Frankly, it's a bugger to do, as it's a complete assembly - which is how I acquired it - whereas with the newer Airfix and Revell kits, it's easy enough to paint the fuselage and wings separately and bring together for final assembly.  That's how I did the RAAF MR2 and I'll be doing similar with all the other non-Frog Shackletons in future.  I did notice a few areas that still need sanding, but as I'll need to do the wing, I can give them a quick sand and then on with a new coat.

The decals are sitting there waiting for it - either the Aeroclub ones or more likely the ones from the Revell kit, the latter being more likely as I bought two cheap with the express intention of using them as wing donors for my Tudor project.  It also helps that I can use the Revell instruction for placement.

Whilst doing some research on Shackletons a few days back, I found mention of Canada being interested.  Blast, that's another MR1 I'll have to think about.

I did get the wings for the ELINT Shackleton primed, but found that they'll need a bit more cleanup before I can go any further - I had hoped to get a coat of Dark Earth on the upper surfaces, but that may happen later today.

Lancasters.  Got the u/c doors for the B.VI special done when I did the doors for The Hybrid last week and I've located a set of painted wheels for it.  Just got to clean up the props and they'll get a coat of gloss black later from a cheap can bought at Poundland - their black and silver paint isn't much cop for larger stuff, but for wheels and props it's an economical alternative to Halfords and one which doesn't necessitate a journey through the badlands of Wallsend.  The props are some four blade Merlin props from Aeroclub, originally intended for a Halifax and I can't remember when I got them, but I need at least two more sets, quite probably three or four.

When I was looking to spray the Shackleton, I had a look at an abandoned Lancastrian that'll be getting the same colours.  The paintwork was a bit rough hence I'd chucked it to one side in disgust, but a few minutes with a sanding pad and some new masking tape, I'll give it another coat or two later when I do the other wing on the Shattipuss.  i already have the decals for this one and again, it's one that'll confuse a few people.


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[The Wooksta!]

"No. I'm going to watch the dot for a bit longer."

Tiny update.

The Shattipuss AEW is now ready for decalling.  On reflection, I think I should have given the fuselage top decking a coat of white, but I don't have a can of Halfords white primer and only the prototype AEW2 had that scheme.  Rather liking this one, despite it's more obvious flaws and rivets.

The Lancastrian T.6 looks better than I though it would, although the white top decking does need some touch ups here and there, especially round the tailcone.  In addition, the Maskol I'd used to do the forward section has set well and truly solid, so I'll try to hide it with the black anti -dazzle panel.  I've located some of the bits to finish it off, largely by stripping them from other unfinished Lancasters.  Some of the paintwork is a bit rough, texturewise and I don't know how that's happened, so it's better off as a crowdfiller at the back of a display.  However, despite my current misgivings, I think it's going to look rather decent and I know a photograph can hide quite a few flaws.

One or the other will get decalled over the weekend and I know I'm going to have to start painting props and wheels at some stage.  Really looking forward to that...

The Lancastrian AEW will need some serious repair work to the nose and I'm not sure where the painted nosecone went after it got gooshed.  I do have a replacement to hand and I'll add that spaced to get the nose length right.  Good job this one is getting a disruptive scheme which should well hide it.  I hope.  Again, I think it'll have to wait until Uncle Colin gets the Lincoln wheels back in stock.  I think I need at least three sets.

There's one other Lancaster that needs some work, largely to touch up the paintwork.  Again, it'll need props and a set of Lincoln nose glazing.  I know a man who can do some vacform copies but I'm not quite sure where my Paragon bits went - I've a feeling they're in an Aeroclub Shackleton MR2/AEW2 box but as to where that box is...  I need some archaeologists to do some digging for it.

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[The Wooksta!]

"I hope this isn't a dud!"

Well, the Lancastrian T.6 now has it's decals on an it's looking better than I expected although some silvering has occurred, likely due to the awful surface texture.  Hmmm.  Some Microsol should sort it out later. Doing some research online with photos of yer actual Shattipuss trainers, I noticed that there's very little by way of standardisation of quite where the markings went, which made for some interesting time when deciding what decals top use or discard.  I'm really liking the scheme, so much so I'm thinking of a late Lancaster in a similar scheme, although not with the same unit.  I may do my planned B.6 with the Lincoln nose in that scheme.  It will end up on one of the stalled GR.IIIs.

The part started Lancastrian 6 that was going to end up in the transport scheme will go with the Empire Test Pilots school, if oniy so I can give it a nice big yellow panel on the fuselage.  Again, that's another one I'll need props for.  How many is that now - five or six?  May have to have a word with one of the guys at the club as I can't cast props.

Sorted out the decals for the B.VI Special and decided on 9 Sqn - 617 is too obvious and I've already given them the Hybrid to play with, although they *might* be getting a "standard" B.I Special for far east use anyway.


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[The Wooksta!]

"No. I call it very, very dull!"

Well, the B.VI Special now has it's decals on.  Well, the national markings and codes - Kit, if you're reading this the serials went on perfectly - plus the more obvious wing walkway lines.  The latter were the only stencils I applied - I was losing the will to live with the awful Airfix decals. The Freightdog roundels are a little fragile and were somewhat tricky to apply.  I've yet to do the fins, but that's due to the fact that they need spraying and I don't have any Halfords white primer, so a visit to the branch at the accursed Silverlink with the bus journey through the badlands beckons tomorrow...

The codes are for 9 Sqn for reasons outlined above.  I did find some nose art on the decal sheet I used, although that's for a 617 Sqn machine. Well, let's just say that the guy that did the artwork was posted to 9 Sqn instead.

For some reason, the model isn't talking to me.  I mean, it looks fine now it's got it's markings on but it's just... It doesn't work.  Maybe it's because it's not finished but I don't have the same feeling from it as I did the Lancastrian I did earlier and that's nowhere near finished either - I need to get some paint for that one too.  That one just looks *right* even now.   You know that feeling you get when the decals go on and the model gets it's own identity, a life of it's own if you will... Well, I'm just not getting it here, and that's quite a sad feeling.

Whilst looking for the decals, I looked over the two unfinished new tool Lancasters to see how much needs to be done.  Quite a lot is the answer but both will be going in dark colours anyway.  I still need to find bomb bay doors as they're both Dambuster machines and AFAIK they didn't come with them.  I'll have another look on the sprues.  I know I'll need to get yet more Lincoln wheels from Colin - wonder if he'll take a batch order?

Not sure what's getting decalled next - either an NMF Lancaster with British Pacific Fleet national markings for the aircraft operating from Iwo Jima or the Shackleton AEW3.  I know I'm fed up with decalling Lancasters but the last time I decalled a Shattipuss it took a whole night and I really don't want to do that again...

Seems like I'm going to be busy with four engined stuff for a while.  Not quite sure where they're going to go when they're done but it's got to be better than part built hulks just gathering dust.  It could be quite an impressive table full when they're all done.


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[The Wooksta!]

"God! That was quick!"

I dug out one of the assembled new tool (2013) Airfix Lancasters to give it a coat of primer.  I've decided on a late MR scheme of overall Dark Sea Grey with the white fuselage top decking and possibly MOTU markings, to go with the Lancastrian T.6 that's awaiting varnishing.  One coat of primer revealed quite a few flaws that I've since fixed and resprayed, before giving the fuselage the first coat of the white top decking.  I think this is going to look rather good, even now.

Whilst I was playing with primer, a Hasegawa Lanc at a similar stage was also given a quick blast.  IIRC, this was to get similar colours to MR aircraft in the Med in the late 40s, although it was to get a lifeboat and BPF markings.  I still want to do one with Azure blue underneath, so that may well be t'other Airfix one that I was gifted, but I want to get these ones sorted first before I do any more.

I did have another look at the Revell one that's going NMF with BPF markings.  Bright sunlight and Aluminium paint revealed quite a few flaws that I'd missed, so out with the sanding sticks before a respray.  Looks much better now, so it's awaiting decalling.  That's two at that stage, so I'm not doing too badly.

The SEAC B.VI Special now has it's white fins on and it's looking better.  It's still not quite talking to me, but I think it's getting there.  The wheels are done but I may just have to bodge it (and the two other Merlin 85 aircraft) with some three blade props for the time being whilst I get a mould for the four bladers sorted out.  The wheels are done and look quite spiffing.  I did give the Lancastrian wheel wells a coat of white with a bottle of Humbrol Acrylic 34 White and it's an odd paint, more like melted chocolate in consistency but it gave better coverage than their old enamel.  Well, it's underneath so unless you're poking about with dentist's mirrors, who's going to know much less care?

This just leaves another pair of Revell Lancs that need work - a SEAC 'Grand Slam' and the BPF AEW.  The former needs a new u/c leg before I can mask it up for the undersurface colour.  Not looking forward to this as I *hate* masking, although paradoxically, large aircraft are generally easier than smaller.  The latter needs the nose rebuilt and some work done to the wings, plus a replacement u/c leg.  The wheels for both have arrived from Colin, although I know I'll be needing quite a few more.

What am I planning after the tour on Lancasters is finished?  Well, there's that quartet of early Shackletons for a start, plus the two AEWs, an Avro Tudor I'd like to get to the assembled if unprimed stage by June (it looks likely that the tail surface mould is fixed), and possibly a Warwick trainer if I can face doing all the cutting out and sanding.  Plus a stalled Whitley or three (I've decided on Dagger engines for a training version and the transport colours for the inherited Airfix one) and the middle east Wellington MR, not to mention the transport version and possibly a Met Flight one too.  And I've got a hankering now to start work on a Halifax in the transport scheme, sans turrets and a solid tailcone.  I just want to start gluing bits together again!

So, lots of big impressive stuff, so just where the blinking flip am I going to keep it all?

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[The Wooksta!]

"Neil, why are you wearing that dress?"

Short one this time.

Went looking in the loft at me Mam's earlier for the Vulcan nose gear that's going onto the Shackleton AEW3.  Found it fairly quickly but had a look through a few other boxes.  One of which was a Heller Bf 108.  Now, there's a pair in there, one part started.  Now I'm thinking of one in NMF or Aluminium Dope to tidy up the horrible dirty ex-Luftwaffe colours and wearing Type C markings.  But then I get thinking - what if the RAF decided to re-engine the aircraft with more reliable British engines?  You know, something by De Havilland?  Somewhere I have a mould that got from TsrJoe that's got one of those engines on it.  Bf 108 with the nose of a Proctor?

May have a think on this a bit more but I think it's a rather spiffing idea.

I know there's a Siebel 204 up there's that assembled and could do with a respray.  Similar schemes are being considered.

Whilst we're on the subject of cross dressing Germans, Panther G has done several profiles at my request for RAF Ar 96Bs.  Now, one is in overall Trainer Yellow with nice Type D roundels and this profile, along with the blog being in my head, reminded me of something I'd found in a box a few weeks back.  To whit: an assembled KP Avia C2 in overall yellow.  So off I toddles to find it and lo, it's where I'd left it.  So, how quickly could I finish it?

One of the problems with it is the masking - it's maskol and has been on for...  Well, I think it was intended to be an Isreali machine, more of which anon, and I was thinking of it circa 2006, so it's been on nigh on 13 years - will it come off?  The paint is Halfords Fiat Broom Yellow, which is a nice match for Trainer Yellow so I think this could be done pretty quickly.  Just need to do some research for a suitable serial code.

The Isrealis.  I'd intended on doing several ex-Luftwaffe types in Isreali colours and I'm sure that this was to be one of them but I think Dizzyfugu has done a Heller Ar 96 in Isreali colours (and strictly speaking, whilst the Heller kit is correct for Luftwaffe and Axis Ar 96s, the Isrealis would have got the Avia post war version and there are significant differences in the two aircraft, despite the parentage, so really, he should have used the KP kit  - and I found one of the revised tool ones in the loft earlier too), and I'm never one to do anything that someone else has done first, despite thinking of it a good ten years previously.

So, not very short after all and with some non-Lancaster related stuff in it.  The Arado may prove a rather colourful distraction - a yellow fillet if not an actual red herring.  I'll get me coat.

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[The Wooksta!]

"It's funny, but being ill makes me lose my usual tolerant and easy-going approach to communal living."

Decalling the Shackleton AEW3 has commenced and I can honestly say that I want whoever designed the Revell sheet taken out and shot.  The yellow walkway lines have some odd shapes and very little carrier film to hold them together, so they are *extremely* frustrating to apply.  It didn't help either that the Revell decals have the red way too dark, looking more like wartime dull red or that the Aeroclub 8 Sqn markings disintegrated when dipped in water.  Fortunately, I have another two sets *somewhere* so I can use them.  Neither does the fact that the kit's prominent rivets are preventing the decals from sitting properly.

The nosegear is assembled and I'll start spraying the wheels later.  I just don't want to decal the rest, but they're quite prominent and it'd look odd if they're not applied.  After this one, I'm not doing another AEW.  At least, not with Revell or Aeroclub decals.

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[The Wooksta!]

"That's brilliant Neil! It's working!"

Finally! The AEW3 is now decalled, although the 8 Sqn bars simply won't sit properly on the sandpaper rough surface due to all the rivets.  I positively loathe all the tiny stencils on this thing - especially those sodding yellow 2 shaped things -  compounded by the fact that they're for a slightly different airframe.  Still, it's looking impressive now, definitely talking to me.  It looks bang on for an AEW but with just enough oddness to get that double take factor I really like.

So, the wheels are done and it's just the props for the small bits - the aerials are really a five minute job.  Not far from done then it's back to the pair of Lancasters.

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[The Wooksta!]

"Well, don't worry, Rick! It wouldn't have worked anyway!

Everything was varnished a few weeks back and then...  To put it mildly, I wasn't happy.  You see, there's some odd... watermarks? underneath the varnish where the Pledge was used on the Lancasters around the wing walkway stencilling and I could see them quite clearly.  Worse was to follow.  There was tape residue on the spine of the Lancastrian that turned yellow with age and the varnish highlighted it.  The decals on the Shackleton hadn't quite settled down due to the rivets, and there was also some heavy silvering on the Lancastrian.  Quite frankly, I was disgusted with my own ineptitude and left all three to rot.

Willie convinced me that it wasn't too bad, but still I held back having lost any enthusiasm for finishing them.  But then I dug out a sanding block and started carefully sanding off the tape residue on the Lancastrian.  Managed to get rid of it so perhaps this can be finished?

Short answer - yes.  She still needs a few aerials, the pilot's seat needs some work and the canopy bedding down but other than that she's done.  One down, two to go. 

The B.VI Special.  Wheels on, plus doors.  Need a new tailwheel as it's vanished, probably stolen for something else.  Props done, albeit needle rather than paddle - I AM NOT using the ones in the Airfix kit as they are cack.  Just the canopy and the tail turret and that's done.

Which just leaves the Shackleton AEW3... But I'm really not feeling anything for this Shackleton any more, other than I want it done so I can try and finish something else.  There's really very little that needs doing but I just can't work up any sort of enthusiasm for it.  I don't want to abandon it so close to the finish line - especially with a show looming to display it - but I have little feeling of anything for it.

Which brings me to the silver Lancaster.  You see, I'm thinking about something else for it's markings, although I'm still wedded to the far east.  The RAF operated Lincolns in NMF finish, along with the RAAF and I was toying with a Lancaster in that scheme and with Type D markings bombing the Mau Mau or Malayan communists - maybe the far east Lancs were kept out there for colonial policing, with the Lincolns kept in Europe?  Means having to do another Lancaster or two, but I do have a considerable stash of them that I'd like to either use or dispose of.

Looking in a box that's holding a long stalled B-29 - I have all the bits there and it's possibly going to be a 9 Sqn example in the far east carrying a pair of Tallboys - I find a pair of long stalled Hurricanes.  Both are painted, one part decalled as an RAAF machine.  What was I going to do the other one as?  It's in a desert scheme, although Dark Green rather than Dark Earth.  I'm leaning towards a Lebanese machine, simply because I have some decals kicking about and I want to use them up.  A donated ex-6 Sqn machine, although it's a IIc rather than a IV?  Persian perhaps?  Still, the pair can be finished relatively quickly as bothe the props and wheels are already done.

So, what next after all this?  Well, there's a trio of Beaufighters that I'd liked masked and done, a pair of desert Blenheims and then there's a few Tempests, although they'll fit into another whiffed 607 Sqn timeline but more probably part of my alternate 6 Sqn lineup.

Quite a dance on the revolving carousel, but that's par for the course.  Just wish I had more focus.

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[The Wooksta!]

"Well, why is that one wearing a silver boob tube then?"

Having had further thoughts on another NMF Lancaster, I've decided on a Hasegawa kit, largely because I have quite a few that are part started and thus need using up, but also because it's a far less fiddly build than either the 2013 new tool Airfix or the 2009 Revell kit   The kit comes with the larger tropical filters, but will need resin larger Lincoln fins - unless I use one of the post war boxings which has them included - plus Lincoln wheels and I'm not sure if Uncle Colin has them back in stock.

That's the kit solved - and I may well have another part started one to go straight to - although I'm undecided whether to open out the rear MR windows, so RAAF or RAF?  I do not want to build one of each!


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[The Wooksta!]

"Wish I'd thought of that."

Well, I have the Lancaster in question - except naturally it was the last box I looked in.  It's part started as I'd suspected - the wings are glued together, along with the engines and the cockpit internals are all there.  I'd even filled the many ejector pins that Hasegawa in their infinite wisdom have moulded into the floor.  There's not a lot of detail in the cockpit, it's all moulded as one piece and TBH, I though Hasegawa were better than this, especially given the price of the kit.

I'm still not sure of what air force it's going with - RAF or RAAF.  I mean, I've been wanting to do a production RAAF Lancaster for some time and I've a feeling that the NMF one that's currently awaiting decals was intended for the RAAF at some point.

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[The Wooksta!]

"Well, thanks for inviting me, Neil. It's so rare when you get a chance to go out these days."

Haven't done much with anything over the last few days for various reasons but the latest Lancaster has had the engine nacelles cleaned up prior to going onto the wings, which means I'll need to get the tropical filters sorted.

Given the price and Hasegawa's vastly undeserved reputation, this is a fairly basic kit and it's not that much of a step up from the Airfix tooling from the late 70s. Despite it's flaws, the Revell kit is the better of that 2000s generation, even if they didn't capitalise on it whereas Hasegawa did from the outset with multiple unused spares on the sprues that would be a boon for the what if modeller.  I'm aiming too have the airframe complete and ready to spray within a fortnight, but other things on the horizon may push that back a tad.

And speaking of other things, I now have my Amodel Cobalt Valkyrie.  It's a stunning looking aircraft, very dronelike in appearance but ideal for our purposes.  I know exactly what I'm doing with it - overall black with yellow wing markings for current RAF trainers and a 607 Sqn shield for an aircraft based at RAF Acklington circa 2025.

Given the weather - pause for sarcastic remarks about April and bank holidays in the UK - I'm planning on sitting in the sun in the back garden with a rum and coke or several and fondling some plastic, probably the Valkyrie and a Halifax which will be going in the transport scheme but with a nice big yellow patch on the fuselage for the Empire training school.

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[The Wooksta!]

"I must be hallucinating. What's good for a hangover?"


Haven't updated this as I really haven't done that much over the last few weeks due to pressure at work leaving me too tired to do much of anything when I get in.  Having a head cold the past few days which has left me somewhat disorrientated at times hasn't helped either, and neither has the two large rums I had in the garden yesterday in the sunshine whilst working on a Lancastrian (of more anon).

Okay, the B.VI Special got finished, but the Lancastrian C.6 and Shattipuss AEW are still awaiting their aerials.  The next silver Lancaster hasn't progressed that far, although the fuselage should be okay to close up once I have some decals affixed.

I have got the wings and engines on the next Lancastrian C.6 sorted and the whole thing is primed in it's major component parts but do I assemble it and then spray the yellow sections or do that first and then assemble?  It's looking reasonably impressive so far and I think it'll look really good when it's finished.  I'm realling looking forward to seeing it done, if only I had the time or the energy.

Thoughts are also turning away from Lancasters back to Wellingtons and one that I've been wanting to do - a Vulture engined one as a test bed for the Warwick's engine installation - is giving me some food for thought.  I did think about getting an MPM/Revell Merlin version and change the engines but looking at the Contrail vacform bits, I've a feeling that it may be easier and cheaper to use the spare Contrail bits with a Matchbox Wimpy that's already in the stash.  Downside is that the window installation is a bit too late for the period I want to do, although there are ways and means to explain this away.

Finally, two desert Blenheims have progressed a little further - they're now masked for the application of the Dark Earth.  I also need to have a look at the assembled Airfix mk I Blenheim I acquired in Perth to see what need making good before I start masking off the canopy in expectation of a new coat of primer.  I have a cunning plan for this one, although another thought has sprung to mind, one that is possibly much easier in terms of spraying but too "me" if I'm making any sense?  I do have a part started Airfix Blenheim that I'll be looking at in due course, so the second idea may well apply to that instead.

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[The Wooksta!]

"You know, I have the most terrible craving for a piece of fried lavatory paper."

I've done some minor work on the salvage Blenheim.  Apart from removing the decals, which took a few minutes with some masking tape, I've removed the dropped flaps, taken off the wheels and tried to straighten the tailplanes.  I've also done some sanding around the camo demarkations, largely to take down any possible ridges.  It looks to have been brush painted, and to what appears to be a decent standard.

Tomorrow, I'll look at masking off the canopy and filling the turret appeture - it fell out - before looking to reprime it, although I'm not quite sure what colour primer I'll be using.  I really need to get to Halfords to buy some more Fiat Broom Yellow, amongst other things.

I did have another idea for a Blenheim I, although this one would get the spare rockets from an Airfix Beaufighter.  I rather like the idea of one being used as a weapons proficiency trainer for one of the Beaufighter units, and naturally this would get a nice naval 3 colour scheme.  Somewhere, I have another pair of part started Frog Blenheims, so one may well get used for that. 

Edit: Dug out the box within a minute and duly found the pair of Blenheims, but only one engine and one canopy set.  I know I can get one done, so I've got the canopy cleaned up and dipped in Pldge.  As it was open, I took the opportunity to give the salvage one a quick coat so I can get the Maskol on tomorrow.

I just wish I had more time, and more importantly the energy, to anything about these ideas.


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[The Wooksta!]

"Brilliant! Let's fill it in!"

Well, the salvage Blenheim has had a coat of primer and it's revealed a whole can of worms.  Firstly, the primer reacted with the old paint, but only one colour! It crazed and blistered up the dark Earth.  It's since been sanded back and doesn't look too bad but I'm not happy.  Secondly, the primer showed up that the thing wasn't quite as well built as I'd thought, with some nasty gaps on the engine cowlings and the canopy glazing being somewhat indented on the starboard side.  Again, I've managed to sand it all back to something approaching a standard I can live with but it's a shame that I'd decided on an overall yellow coat rather than a three tone disruptive naval scheme which would have hid many of these flaws.  I just need to remask some of the canopy before I can give it a quick respray, then sand back a bit more of the crazed paint near the tail before digging out the yellow.  Of which more anon.

The other Blenheim on the go - I'm not counting the two masked ones which have stalled as they have paint applied - the one which is going to a Beaufighter unit - is now all together, with it's engines on and the rocket blast plates installed under the wings.  I'm going to add the rocket rails much later in the build, as know my luck I'd knock them off during decalling.  It's looking okay so far but then again, I have a soft spot for ye olde Frog Blenheim as it's a decent enough kit to build despite it's age and it's shape issues.  Those with the time and skills to sort it out can turn it into a masterpiece - Woody on Britmodeller did a fantastic job with both the Frog and old tool Airfix Blenheims.  However, that's not me so I'll live with the flaws, although replacing the button like wheels with resin copies of the Airfix new tool wheels and a few bits spare in said kit do the old Frog kit a world of good.

I've done some work assembling the u/c bays on the Wellington GR - the kit has you assemble the u/c and it's well before affixing the wing together, which is going to make masking so much more fun, I don't think.  The actual bay and u/c bits go together easy enough, so a quick coat of aluminium and we can have that section all boxed off and the wings together.  This is more of a long term one - it's a nice kit and I don't really want to rush it.

Ebay tells me I've won the MPM/Revell Merlin engined Wellington I was wanting  to do a Vulture engined testbed for the Warwick, so any thoughts of using the Matchbox kit for that are now redundant, although the Sabre engined one with the annular cowling is a possible instead.  The timeframe fits the lack of windows in the Matchbox kit too.  The contrail bits are a bit wooly but I've some resin cowling somewhere, cloned from the Kora annular Tempest - someone suggested using it to do the equivalent Typhoon - and they'll do nicely.

Somewhere in the back of my mind is a recollection of a proposal for a squadron of Highball Mosquitos operating in the Med, but naturally I can't find the particular reference for it.  It's one I've been toying with for some time and it means I get to use the Malta scheme on a Mosquito.  I've got all the bits for it tucked away - I stashed quite a few of the relevant Paragon conversions when they were available a decade or so back.  I'm sure I also saw a reference to bull nosed radar equipped Mosquitos being used for maritime patrol - their speed would be invaluable against u-boats - I just wish I could remember where it was.  So that's another one to play with, whatever scheme I decide on, although a Mosquito in Extra Dark Sea Grey/dark Slate Grey and Azure Blue would look rather fetching.  They look fetching enough in the standard naval colours as it is.

Much as I love the Mosquito, I've quite enough to do at the moment, so they'll stay on the back burner, although the Tamiya kit literally falls together whilst I know I'll need to cast some tropical filters for the engines.  I do have the Paragon ones but he got them well and trully wrong - they're too boxy and don't follow the curve of the cowling. Vokes filters for Spitfires or Hurricanes are much nearer the mark.

Finally, yellow.  The Lancastrian C.6 that's on the go now has it's yellow panels done, so I can now get the wings and tail surfaces on and start masking to do the rest of the airframe.  I did have some thoughts of a Merlin 85 engined PR Lancaster, in the more fetching PRU Blue/Med Sea Grey scheme with the nice Type D roundels - all the Lancaster PR aircraft had the standard Merlins and a silver scheme -  and I know I've a spare Airfix Dambuster that was looking to dispose of, but building it may be more fun.

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