Gondor's Grumblings

[Gondor]

Thanks for the F-15EX parts show, Alistair. Basically, it seems that you would get away with some blobs and antennae on an ordinary F-15E as long as you're cheating with the engine exhausts. At least for a foreign EX, say a German one..

There are after market versions by ResKit for the F-15K which would do.

Gondor

[Gondor]

A week after getting the new flooring for the bathroom it was very lucky..... it got laid 



Not perfectly as I wanted it but close enough 

Next thing is to finish off the grouting, oh joy.... the DIY version of PSR as far as I am concerned.

Hope to start at least one of my entries for the new Group Build and earlier today decals for one of the others was ordered.

Gondor

[Rick Lowe]

At least the grout cleans up more easily when it's wet. 

Looking good.

[Gondor]

At least the grout cleans up more easily when it's wet. 

Looking good.

I manage to leave a thin smear over the tiles when I wipe any excess grout away. I have found out that one of the tile chisel's     I have works great at removeing dry grout off the smooth shinny tiles. It works for me 

Gondor

[Pellson]

We got the competing offer for our bathroom renovation yesterday. It's almost £8000 more expensive that the first one we got 

You might consider an alternative career, Alistair..

[Gondor]

We got the competing offer for our bathroom renovation yesterday. It's almost £8000 more expensive that the first one we got 

You might consider an alternative career, Alistair..

Would cost you that for transportation, accommodation and time off my normal paying job. Besides, the carpet fitter who has a mate that is a tiler said my tileing wasn't great which I knew and have been saying all along.

Gondor

[NARSES2]

We got the competing offer for our bathroom renovation yesterday. It's almost £8000 more expensive that the first one we got 

My brother recently got a couple of vastly different quotes for some glazing. He reckons the guy with the expensive quote just didn't want the job, but didn't want to say it direct.

[Gondor]

Thinking about some of the projects and ideas that I have with the pit and conversion for a Meteor PR.10 sitting in fromt of me, I must start that soon for the 1950's GB, I also have a Revell F-101B sitting in view, bought due to several people posting pictures of RAF and Luftwaffe aircraft so those ideas are taken. The thought is that if I want to be different with the F-101 and to follow my mantra that the aircraft/operator has to be beleivable, usually, then a realistic operator is required. As the F-101 was designed as a Bomber Escort, or Penetration Fighter which became an Interceptor. This means it has a lot of range and so lends itself to countries with large boarders. So which countries that have large borders or air defence regions that have not been mentioned above? Well I came up with Turkey, now officially called Turkiye. Obviously the ability to use Genies would be removed and a posible upgrade to mount Sidwinders under the wings is a thought as this idea would be operated in the 60's/70's time frame.

Gondor

[Gondor]

I'm a glutton for punishment I am. My own fault I supose. I was looking back through this Blog and got to the AllyCat decals and the comment by Lee of a TR10 which triggered the though of using the NF14 as the basis for a two seat trainer 
Premises would be that the requirement for NF14 was reduced but to keep employment going at the aircraft manufacturers, Armstrong Whitworth if I remember correctly, the remainder of an order were converted into trainers. These aircraft were devoid of their radar and armament with the radar being replaced by a block of Concrete. An aerobatic group was formed from the Staff at one of the Training Schools and were called the Blue Circle Circus with their aircraft painted in Royal Oxford Blue.

Well thats a rough idea. Easy enough to do. Build a Matchbox NF14 and paint it Blue 

Gondor

[Gondor]

Haveing seen the posting about the upcomming Group Builds, I think I will use the trainer based on the NF.14 for the one week group build. Simple kit, simple colour scheme 

Gondor

[Gondor]

To add to the above I have decided that it will be modelled along the line of the T7 but be called the T.17 as that is the first spare number after the 14. The nose parts will either be the spare F.8 nose from the Airfix FR.9 kit or maybe the Xtrakit/MPM/Special Hobby F.8 kit nose, depends on if that kit has a seperate nose or not.

Gondor

[The Wooksta!]

Use the Airfix, iirc the MPM/Xtrakit nose was part of the fuselage.

Was there not a spare left in the Prone boxing?

For the NF14 trainer, use bang seats for extra whiffness. The canopy was reworked for bang seats but the the Treasury said there was no money for them.

[Gondor]

While sitting at my computer desk I also looked around at some of the kits I have. A pair of Special Hobby DH Sea Vixen kits caught my eye so I had a look on Wikipedia as I was at the computer and it was far easier to type then go find a refference book and try to find information that way, not that I am decrying books, I enjoy them and should try to make more time to read some of the backlog of tombs I have. Anyway, I found that the Sea Vixen was around in the 1950's and as such would be eligible for the current Group Build, as if I don't have enough ideas for the current one 
So thinking of using at least one of the kits as an RAF aircraft with the second as an FAA aircraft I started looking for detail sets. Plava did a cockpit interior which photographs I have seen look great, a2zeemodels also did a detail set under the FAA Models label, both manufacturers are unfortunatly defunct 
Models for Sale and Kingkit are the usual web sites I visit for out of production items along will the very well known aution site but all of them have drawn a blank. Even a google search and following links to other places has drawn a blank so it looks as if I will have to just go for the eduard preprinted etch sets to add a little detail to the models 
I did find that the Special Hobby kit has the same basis as the MPM and Xtrakit models of the DH Sea Vixen though.

Gondor

[scooter]

Anyway, I found that the Sea Vixen was around in the 1950's and as such would be eligible for the current Group Build, as if I don't have enough ideas for the current one 
So thinking of using at least one of the kits as an RAF aircraft with the second as an FAA aircraft I started looking for detail sets

RAF/FAA in Korea, attached to FEAF?

[Rheged]

Anyway, I found that the Sea Vixen was around in the 1950's and as such would be eligible for the current Group Build, as if I don't have enough ideas for the current one 
So thinking of using at least one of the kits as an RAF aircraft with the second as an FAA aircraft I started looking for detail sets

RAF/FAA in Korea, attached to FEAF?

In the real world, the DH110 first flew in September 1951 but the Farnborough accident delayed matters considerably and so the first Sea Vixen squadron was formed in July 1959.................. but this is Whiffworld, and if you want, you could have Sea Vixens over Suez, supporting the RAF when the troubles began in Aden or even participating in joint naval  exercises with Uruguay and Paraguay over the River Plate estuary in the late 1950's as a veiled threat to anyone contemplating operations against the Falklands; or possibly even stationed at Port Stanley airfield in ,say, 1957  after the runway there had carrier-style arrester gear fitted.

At this point, I think I can feel another orphan backstory forming!