Nick's Notes

[Thorvic]

Found something odd this morning. In the last six months I've bought two AlphaJet kits, both are Heller and 1/72 scale. One is the 1986 boxing abd the other is 1996.

So why are the moulds different? Pictures to follow later!

Possibly they used the Airfix tooling on their later issue like they did with their Mirage F-1

[Captain Canada]

I had an Alpha jet once...Italeri maybe ? I swapped it as a SSGB gift....with the late, great Gary SWMBO, I think. Neat aeroplane anyway !

[Nick]

I must be getting old.... Found myself at a loose end yesterday so I went out for a drive to Hertford. Thought I could do some grocery shopping, wander round town and see if Marquee Models was open on a Sunday afternoon like their Harlow shop.

Did the first two things with no trouble, got lots of reduced price food bargains in Sainsbury and discovered that Hertford has lots of architectural gems to spot. Marquee Models however.... was well and truly closed with dead spiders in the window and the whole arcade looked abandoned.
"Bit puzzling" I thought and checked the website to find that it'd closed in October 2008.    Yep, it's been 6 years or more since I last went to that shop.

Just looked up Hurricane Models in Broxbourne because their shop has now closed but fortunately it's only moved to an industrial unit a few miles away. http://www.hurricanemodels.co.uk/engine/shop/page/About+Us

[Captain Canada]

Wow times flies eh Nick ? Always sad when a Hobbyshop closes......

[Nick]

Was watching a History Channel show about Cold War flying boats. They covered the Sea Dart, P6M Seamaster, Saro SR/A1 and the Soviet ekranoplanes. It gave me an idea...
Seamaster in RAF Coastal Command grey/white like the Shackleton or RN glossy dark blue.

I do not have the kit and doubt that I'll ever build one!

[PR19_Kit]

Seamaster in RAF Coastal Command grey/white like the Shackleton or RN glossy dark blue.

Funny you should say that........... 

[Nick]

I've not done anything since Perth in April apart from some basic gluing and sprue gazing. Not really had the urge or interest this last year.

This may change after next week. We're getting central heating installed after 20 years of asking the council

To do this I need to clear my model desk away so that the guys can fit piping and a radiator in my room. Two big boxes and a lot of dust later the desk is clear for the first time since I put it there.
Less clutter, more productivity? We shall see!

[Nick]

Well, the central heating is fitted and working and I've just finished replacing the shelves in the cupboard and tidying up the mess the builders left. There were 3 separate teams, the heating fitters, the electrician who wired it all up and the builder who had to fill in all the holes where the old gas fires got taken out. I doubt any of them actually talked to each other....

So now I have to put my model table back together. I've decided that the mess of 17 spraycans, 30+ paint pots, numerous tools and multiple kits in various stages of completion is putting me off doing or finishing anything.
Therefore I'm going to keep the table to a minimum. Just the current kit, the correct paints and tools and nothing more.
Keep it simple and things should work out.

I have yet to choose which kit to start afresh with but there's a few partbuilds in the stash that should be quite easy to finish. 

[NARSES2]

Therefore I'm going to keep the table to a minimum. Just the current kit, the correct paints and tools and nothing more.
Keep it simple and things should work out.

How often have all of us said exactly the same thing ?  Best of luck with it Nick

[Nick]

Finally managed to create a reasonable timeline for Australia getting the F-15. It means more F-4s!

The RAAF agree to take on 24 F-4E Phantoms in 1970 for the ground attack role while they wait for the F-111Cs to be made suitable for service. The RAAF have already waited 10 years since ordering them.
By 1972 it is obvious that the F-111 is going to take too long and cost too much. The Australian Government force a deal on the US to drop the F-111 and stick with the F-4s. They obtain an extra 4 RF-4E for recon flights, 4 F-4G Wild Weasels for strike support, and over the next 10 years an extra 12 F-4Es for loss replacement and spare parts, mostly from ex-USAF stocks.

By the late 1970s the RAAF are looking to replace the Mirage III in the fighter role. They need at least 50 fighter aircraft. The US makes a lowcost but practical offer of rebuilt Phantoms, mostly from Davis-Monthan and some almost direct from USN squadrons.
60 F-4Js are delivered by 1984 and some of these replace the oldest of the original F-4E fleet. Having already flown the F-4 the RAAF finds it easy to retrain their personnel and simplify their stores.

Ten years later noises are made about the age of Australia's fleet of Phantoms. It is getting harder to maintain them and it is blindingly obvious the F-4 is outmatched by potential enemies.
The RAAF holds an international competition to choose the F-4 successor, looking at the F-18 Hornet, the F-15 Eagle, Tornado, Rafale prototype and the Mirage 2000.

Seeing the chance for a major sale overseas to a confirmed US ally, McDonnell-Douglas demonstrate their F-15E Strike Eagle. The Australian Government agree with the RAAF report and order 70 to replace the entire F-4 fleet by 2000.

(Another storyline is for Australia to struggle on with the F-4E and Mirage mix until the late 1980s, get some F-15C with a promise of the F-15E later in the decade)

[Captain Canada]

Sweet. Haven't seen the mighty F-15 on here for awhile !

[Nick]

I think I'm going to have another major stash clear-out before Telford. I'm not building that much these days, not in the mood any more and to keep on buying kits when I've got 50+ in the loft doing nothing seems pointless.
It's all down to having ideas, most too vague to get anything done with and others that are simply spur of the moment and forgotten.

I won't be getting rid of any of the 5 new Airfix Gnats or the Vampires but there's a lot that I think I can say goodbye to. There's always the internet for getting kits I know I will build.

[kitbasher]

I still chortle at the notion of 'sprue gazing' Nick. Great phrase! I'm sure it could become a sport, or at least a pub game.

Stash reduction? What do you have in mind?

[Nick]

I've just been through the stash. It's worrying. It's surprising. It's disturbing. And it's my stash, not Terry's! 

From my collection I have picked 45 volunteers to be sacrificed on the altar of 'More Space'. Some old, some new, some clean and most dusty. I have little or no idea what I was thinking when I bought them but I can recall when or where I bought many of these plastic marvels. To be honest, most of these are random bargains snapped up to stop somebody else getting them because I had a half-formed dream in my head at the time.

Pricing the kits will be tricky but I will keep it simple. Basing prices on the Maltese Scudo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_scudo might seem complicated to some but I have been assured that using coins of 1¼ and 1⅓ scudi makes perfect sense when 2½ grani is the same as 15 piccioli.
I hope you all got that? 

Using the Triganic Pu would be good but this sale is about making space and I don't have enough room for a Ningi, let alone 8 of them.

[Nick]

Oh the fun of 1960s kits.... 

Seam lines that don't match up, warped moulds, tough to cut plastic, and then you realise you forgot to put the undercarriage in before sealing the fuselage together.
At least the instructions are a lot more explanatory and all in English. And there's only 20 different parts.

Putty, prime, sand, putty, prime and repeat.....