Thorvics'Blog

[NARSES2]

Be interesting to see the group when finished Geoff

[Thorvic]

Well the carriers are no further along, but I did complete an Invincible circa 1981 and have an Illustrious circa 2010 ready for fitting out. I ot distracted by the Soviet GB as I did the Krivak IV as Krivak I along with starting a few of the Trumpeter Russian Warships kits  .

I was going to complete Illustrious and finish the refit on the new Queen Elizabeth as I have repainted the flight deck after filling in the JBD which was shown in the 2009 drawings I used back in 2010, however talk on the forum came round to the one week build and after being inspired by Proditor to selecting a suitable idea, I found myself snookered by my own inspiration jumping to get the 1 week GB going. To get me off topic I decided to clear a few shelf queens that had been painted for a least a year or in some cases 3 !!!, so have finally completed my RN Puma HAS2, the Sea Lightning using Freightdog wings on the Sword Lightning which Martin H has been berating me to finish for more than a year and even prompted him to build and complete his own conversion in the time it took me to finish decaling and finishing off  .
I have also completed the decaling of a Fujimi Phantom FG1 which I folded the wings on and probably dates back to when I was doing the CVA-01 air wing. I was using up some of the first tooling boxing's I had as I was saving the new tool FG1 and F-4K kits for real Phantoms and in the time its been in build, Fujimi re-released the FG1 with new decent decals (Finally  ) and Airfix have announced a new kit with all the feature we have been asking for so my stash of Fujimi may never get built now  .
Now I could really do with someone whose a dab hand with decal design as got a few ideas for a Fleet Air Arm What-if sheet that should go down a treat.

[Thorvic]

Westland Puma HAS1 826 Sqdn on HMS Tiger early 1970s.

The Puma was considered for the Royal Navy as a Wessex replacement but the RN opted for the Sea King instead as it was a proven design.

Its the Old Airfix kit, an early boxing with some bits missing and part started, I filled in the port side cabin door and built an ASW interior which can't bee seen now as the door has stuck shut during the painting and varnish process. I used the Whirybird conversion set to add the floatation gear and their larger sponsons. Not my best close up as the rivet detail on the kit made a hard demarcation line between the yellow and the RAF Blue grey a seepage paradise. I had to do the Yellow top as per the Wessex due to the airframe not a natural floater like the Sea King so had the yellow top to help spot them if ditched.

Not great but OK in a crowd and shows the concept. I may do a later one post 1983 in overall blue Grey and with weapons.

[Thorvic]

BAC Sea Lightning based on the info in the brochure that we have had for ages. Its the Sword kit with the Freightdog VG wing conversion adapted to fit, I used the Ground Attack plug to act as pack plus I one I cut from the Airfix F-2 kit, cut out the recess for the A frame Arrestor hook and blended the belly up to the intake ring around the nose bay as per the Sea Lightning drawings. the Weapons fit is the Red Top IR missile along with the Matra 530 which was offered as the Radar missile. Finally got it finished after much hassle from Martin H who built and finished his own in the time it took me to decal the damn thing over 18 months or more

[Thorvic]

Royal Navy Phantom FG1 891 Squadron HMS Yeovilton circa 1973. This would be the Head Quarters unit for the Phantoms at Yeovilton serving alongside 767 Sqdn which was the Conversion and training unit and the operational carrier based units. This would have supported the Air Defence duty for the UK and possibly forward deploy to the carriers for a heavier air group. (142 Phantoms were the FAA requirement originally)

Its the original tooling Fujimi F-4K kit with the Airwaves folded wing conversion which is really for the Hasegawa kits, so rather pleased I that Airfix have included this feature in their new kit. the Decals are from the spares box with the Kontiki mask from the Berna 1/32nd Sea Venom sheet on a model art white banking roundel.

A stock kit that will go with Martin and mine Phantom collection, so long on the shelf of doom in its painted state that the Drop Tanks and missile ended up used on the VG F-4FVS I did and the 583 I did a few years ago !!!

[Spey_Phantom]

those are some great looking FAA aircraft, love the Puma 

[TallEng]

Nice
Pity about the lighting on the Puma and Sea Lightning, not so easy to appreciate them.
Mmmmm Phantom markings
With 142 ordered, that ought to be 6 or 7 Squadrons worth?
I can remember a Flying fish, a witch on a broom stick and I think a white Tiger?
I'm sure there are a couple of others but haven't got my Modeldecal sheets with me to check.
Looking forward to Airfix's Phantom.
And to add a splash of colour to them?
Maybe where 892NAS had their red chevron (not sure if that was a carrier or Sqn colour)
You could add the colour or colours that I believe were assigned to carriers pre WWII
Of course you'd be on your own if you decided that any of the Malta class got built......
Just idle thoughts
Regards
Keith

[Captain Canada]

Excellent ! I love the Puma, what a great idea, and that's one of the best Puma I've seen on here ! Love the Lightning. Makes sense to use the Sword kit. The Phantom is a beauty as well ! Some pics in better light would be great lol

[Thorvic]

Cheers Guys I was just clearing the shelf queens and went back to the aircraft so I wouldn't be tempted by my ships ahead of the 1 WK GB, which ironically I won't be able to start till Monday as have friends up for the Bank Holiday. The build is pretty straight forward so I should be able to catch up on the remaining days

[NARSES2]

Puma's attractive in that scheme Geoff 

[Martin H]

Geoff already knows my primary comment ref this one. 

About Bleedin Time!

As he alluded to in his post, I've been pestering him to finish his sea Lightning for ages. Mainly so it can sit along side mine at the shows.
I think I have seen this in person gathering dust on all three of my recent visits to Geoff's place. 
As per usual he's done a great job on it. 

BAC Sea Lightning based on the info in the brochure that we have had for ages. Its the Sword kit with the Freightdog VG wing conversion adapted to fit, I used the Ground Attack plug to act as pack plus I one I cut from the Airfix F-2 kit, cut out the recess for the A frame Arrestor hook and blended the belly up to the intake ring around the nose bay as per the Sea Lightning drawings. the Weapons fit is the Red Top IR missile along with the Matra 530 which was offered as the Radar missile. Finally got it finished after much hassle from Martin H who built and finished his own in the time it took me to decal the damn thing over 18 months or more

[Librarian]

Finally...a good-looking lightning (ducks to avoid tomatoes ). That's a stunning looking aircraft and a superb build. Beautiful .

I did notice that Xtradecal have produced a sheet of FAA Phantoms with the Colonial Navy markings. Very tempting.

[Thorvic]

Finally...a good-looking lightning (ducks to avoid tomatoes ). That's a stunning looking aircraft and a superb build. Beautiful .

I did notice that Xtradecal have produced a sheet of FAA Phantoms with the Colonial Navy markings. Very tempting.

Yeap its handy for that but has the same errors from the Model Alliance Sheet with the PTF diamond being stretched too wide and the Black Omega's on the 892 marking being too high making the white shape too fat so as to accommodate it. Not really a worry as the new kit should have the correct markings.

[Thorvic]

Just checked the photo's and I think the Sea Lightning was done after SMW 2015 as I had just done the HS-681 Aldershot and the Mach2 Argosy is in the background on the build shots. I guess I was aiming for the Bolton show Jan 2016 !!!.  2016 went rather downhill after that .....

[Thorvic]

OK after a rather bad year in 2016 where I was made redundant from the job I had done for the last 16 years followed by caring for my terminal ill father until he passed away, I ended up in effective limbo till the end of the year and slowly got myself straight in the first few months of this year. I signed on as unemployed at the end of march before the new financial year kicked in as that and went through the various processes involved by the Job Centre  followed soon afterwards by Jury Service at Coroner's court for an inquest so the real job hunting didn't really kick in till the end of April start of May as now fee for call and interviews. Had quite a few possibilities crop up on a weekly basis mostly through applying for positions through the Universal Jobmatch site we are obliged to use to monitor Job seeking activity. With IT these positions are linked to various job sites and onto recruitment consultants doing the legwork for companies. Any way had a few people ring back as my CV ticked enough boxes and they wanted to check me out and find out what happened in the last 12 month.

So last week I heard that my CV had been put through and an interview was scheduled for Thursday including a 10 minute presentation, baring in mind in was 2000 when I last had a formal interview and had about 10 days preparation so I was somewhat rapidly getting my head together to come up with a presentation and read the documentation to get a full understanding of the job requirement as these are not given when I applied because its through a third party. Presentation seemed to be OK and the rest of the interview was OK as was able to answer their questions and they mine and it actually lasted 30 minutes longer than was scheduled. Heard nothing Friday or Monday and come Tuesday I get a call at 6pm with feedback that they did like me, but they also liked the other guy too and they would decide in the morning and have a call with the recruiter at 8:30am. Up early Wednesday so ready to answer if they rang, but don't get called till 11:20 am, answer in a friendly manner even though expecting the Thanks but sorry routine as I could do with the feedback, instead its congratulations, they liked me and I was the favoured candidate. So had to sign a few forms to accept and details to pass on so they could contact me directly and teatime yesterday I got my contract and various forms to complete and return to formally accept the role.

Thus after 14 months off I return to work, feeling wanted with a hefty pay increase and within what was probably a month of actual looking. I start in the middle of next month so I t will take a while to get settled in, get used to the commute and start earning again but I should hopefully be able to do SMW for the full weekend again this year. A shame Dad is no longer with us as he would have been relived and happy by that. I won't really get Summer holidays this year as going to be busy getting up to speed again, but I have had the last 6 months off and I have another three weeks off to prepare so can't complain and it means I can book something for me next year which I will appreciate.

So feeling positive, glad to be wanted again and appreciated. Hopefully it should also leave me some build time during the week, and means I might be able to afford to get a few more Airfix Phantoms FG1s when they come out