Heather Kavanagh

Hello Dominic. I don't have that sheet. I find I tend to make up markings from generic sets if the kit doesn't cover what I want. In a way, I suppose, that sometimes makes the finished model slightly less "authentic", but it suits me, I have, in the past, bought in special sheets, but I then find most of the sheet never gets used once I've trimmed out what I want. I do look out for suitable sets that cover various types where I can. An example of this is a specific Battle of Britain set from Xtradecal which covered many of the Fighter Command planes.

A couple of new additions. /media/tinymce_upload/858b9e5f68f08dbb15e09e4847dfffe5.jpg Knowing my 1940 predeliction, this will be finished in typical Luftwaffe camouflage and markings covering the period during the fall of France. /media/tinymce_upload/2a40cd39b8724fcaf0b46540baac79bd.jpg In other news, I think I need my head seeing to. 😮 I havent built any vacuum formed kits before. It's touch and go whether this remains in the box and is simply passed on to another custodian in due course!

Nor me, but it's having to wait in the queue. Lack of display space is my biggest enemy at present.

/media/tinymce_upload/eb8e4675bbfc359410b48f1026a265fd.JPG Another stash resident, my second Dutch aircraft for my 1940 obsession.

I'm always up for a wish list! Now, the Ju88A-1 is promised from A N Other manufacturer this year, so I don't think it'll make the Airfix Top Ten. Now the Beaufort is coming, surely its time for my regular battle cry of "1/72 Fairey Battle"! While I'm about it, what about a Blackburn Botha? Avro Manchester? Time for some fantasy wish list items: A 1/72nd Handley Page HP42Any varieties of interwar RAF biplane fighters and light bombers, even Fleet Air Arm types, would be lovely.Some new airfield support vehicles in the smaller scale.I reckon I would be very tempted by a 1/24th Gloster Gladiator.

Hi Dominic. Thanks for showing an interest, and your research. I am going to leave my Hampden as it is for now, while I concentrate on filling out the rest of my collection. When time permits, I may revisit it and look to a repaint/reletter to correct the problems you've highlighted. One or two other models need some attention, so it may well get done in time. That assumes, of course, I don't replace it entirely! You have also highlighted one of my shortcomings: research material. For one-off builds, I can't justify spending on specific publications. I rely on more general works, and increasingly the internet, to give me a decent overview - and it does let me down occasionally where I choose to go off piste with a model and not use the supplied markings, for example.

😆 There's a few of us about. I was introduced to plastic kits when I was little and "helped" my Dad build things. My sister and I also shared a doll's house, and we both used to make things for it - with me preferring the mechanical things, of course! It can be an absorbing hobby, what with the multi-faceted research, history, understanding how and why something was made to do a specific job. I find things mechanical and technical endlessly fascinating, and I like to know how they work. I have now been a professional model maker for seven years, building model railway locos and coaches for clients around the world.

Hello there! Now, you are asking me to remember something. Honestly, I don't remember what I did or how I did it! Perhaps the horror of it has been expunged from my memory! 😉 I do recall the Airwaves set is, at best, a notional fit to the Airfix parts. Several large sections had to be cut from the PE parts - mainly the panels inside the fuselage and cockpit - to make them fit. The honest answer to the steps question, I think, is that you can't really see anything once the fuselage is glued together. In that case, don't fret too much about it. Equally, there's a bulkhead towards the rear, with a door in it. I think I ended up leaving that out because it wouldn't fit. Did I mention the Airwaves set isn't terribly clever?

I will. It is at least 50% Airfix, so I'm sure I'll be able to sneak a photo in when it's done! 😇 😉

My current project is a rather long-winded thing. I had a partial Revell Dornier Do17Z and a second-hand Airfix Do17E/F, and had the mad idea I could combine the wings and tail from the former with the fuselage from the latter to make a Do17P. Throw in some aftermarket PE and resin main wheels, and I think it'll end up looking okay. Well, it's kept me quiet for a year or so, on and off.

I decided to buy the old tool Battle, partly because I was fed up with waiting for a new one, but also to prompt a new one arriving on the market. That's the usual way it goes, isnt it. 😆 There's been a protracted thread on Britmodeller where the builder has been comprehensively rebuilding an Airfix Battle to correct it. Let's just say the modifications needed to make an accurate Battle from the box go way beyond a new nose. Wing and tail plane shape, undercarriage and bomb cells, scratching the cockpit fittings... the list goes on. Bearing that in mind, I shall pretty much build my kits as they come, being fully aware of the errors and inconsistencies. Should a new tool version arrive, which is has to one day, I will be close to the front of the queue to get it, and I will happily junk the older ones to make space. With that, I shall wish you all a merry Christmas, may Santa bring you the kits you wished for, and see you all in the new year!

No piccies, but I've been acquiring odds and ends over the past couple of months. I found a Junkers Ju52/3m, made by a Czech company using the Heller mould. Asking around about which 1/72nd kit was the best overall representation of the type, the Heller kit was recommended. Via various member sales and swaps on another forum, I've acquired an AZ Models Grumman Martlet MkI, Smer (Airfix) Fairey Fulmar (got two of those now), Airfix really old tool Supermarine Walrus, Revell (ex Matchbox) Supermarine Walrus, and a new tool Fairey Swordfish. Bought via proper shops and online, a couple of new tool Tiger Moths (one might end up as a Norwegian example), a Gladiator (I have a Belgain air force thing going on), a new tool Bf109, and a pair of older boxings of the Airfix Fairey Battle. I've given up waiting for Airfix to do a new Battle, and I wanted to fill the yawning gap in my Bomber Command 1940 collection. I know the kit is wrong on all kinds of levels, but it will do until a better kit arrives. Two boxes, again, because of the Belgian air force connection. Oh, and an AZ Model Auster. It doesn't fit my 1940 obsession, but Best Beloved flew one a couple of times and wanted a model.

Thanks for the comments, and for the collector ring colour debate. All useful stuff. =o)

Oh, I don't know. Yours looks pretty smart to me. ;o) If I felt brave enough, I might tackle a repaint. It would mean seeking out suitable replacement transfers, though, so I'm content to leave it for now. More important things to do!

It used to be the go-to colour in most kits back in the day. The Airfix call out is now Humbrol 53, which I think is gunmetal, which seems much more appropriate.

Yes, that photo was definitely an inspiration for me. The original is available from the Imperial War Museum web site. I think the version you've posted has been colourised from the black and white original. Whoever did it looks like they coloured the collector ring Based on false information. 😉

And it's finished! Bristol Blenheim MkIV, R3744 BL-K, No 40 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, Wyton, Cambridgeshire, July 1940 Originally formed in February 1916, No 40 Squadron RFC was disbanded in 1919. In April 1931 it was reformed as a bomber squadron. At the outbreak of the Second Word War, the squadron was equipped with Fairey Battles and was sent to France as part of the BEF's Advanced Air Striking Force. In December 1939, the squadron was returned to the UK, at RAF Wyton, where it was converted to Blenheims. The unit continued daylight operations over France, flying from its UK base, through the Phoney War, the Battle of France, and during the Battle of Britain to attack the invasion barges being assembled by the German forces. The squadron converted to Vickers Wellingtons in November 1940, flying night bombing missions. In late 1941 a detachment was sent to Malta, the whole squadron following in early 1942. No 40 Squadron was disbanded in February 1957. Interestingly, it was slated for reformation as the first operational BAC TSR2 squadron, and then to fly the General Dynamics F-111. As both aircraft were cancelled, the unit remained out of service. /media/tinymce_upload/c5b1a85f594cfe651a7696a73ee20abd.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/8650c0324cfe8d9303b174659ecc79fa.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/607efb315df47ebb551fb88304e22d06.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/e8f216df9cbdad3c9990915ae3a5a0a5.jpg The kit was built more or less out of the box, with markings cobbled together from the kit sheet and generic aftermarket sheets. The squadron codes are not quite correct in size, but I couldn’t find any suitable letters. No 40 Squadron outlines each aircraft identity letter in white, which I did with a bow pen and white paint. The model was brush painted with Xtracrylix, Humbrol and Revell acrylics, with some enamels used for detailing. Perhaps it’s time I considered making my own decals! The vehicles used are from Airfix and Flightpath. I wonder what will fall off the stash shelf next!

No piccy, but I have finally tracked down a period-correct Grumman Martlet MkI! The Wildcat and Martlet MkIV kits will have to find new homes.

I think I'm nearly there. /media/tinymce_upload/4ba87d5e185fe348874bb4029fdb41fe.jpg A mix of generic and kit transfers went on to give me the national markings. /media/tinymce_upload/c42b01f8fe93b39a183d38fefde3e9eb.jpg To get the white outline on the aircraft ID letter, I used a draughting pen and white paint. I knew there was a good reason for choosing a letter with straight lines! The letters are 24in, which are a bit large to truly accurate, but they'll do for me. This image shows the model after a coat of satin varnish had been airbrushed over it. Sadly, the varnish spattered a little, so I left it to dry hard before dealing with it. /media/tinymce_upload/3def221370e0973c8eaac0fa0bc50145.jpg I carefully rubbed down the spatters and repaired the paintwork as necessary. I followed up with a brushed coat of satin varnish to try and impart a little life back into the airframe. Small paint repairs and various fixtures and fittings were done, so I'm left with installing the props and the antenna wire, with a smidge of weathering to complete. I must remember to take the masking off the landing lights, and dab some brick red over the wing machine gun port. Once those bits are done, this model can join my Bomber Command fleet. The only gap now is the Fairey Battle. I wonder when we might get a new tool of that plane? 😇

After what seems like for ever, due to concentrating on clearing a couple of railway commissions through the workbench, I've found some time to track down a particular MkIV for this build. I searched for suitable transfer sets that might fit the bill, but to no obvious avail. In the end, I selected an aircraft from my copy of On Target Battle of Britain 70th anniversary special: R3744 BL-K, 40 Squadron, RAF Wyton, Huntingdonshire, summer 1940. This plane fits the A scheme camo pattern I chose, and appears to have the "emergency" clear nose gun fitting. Using a mixture of the kit transfers and my stock of code letters and markings, I think I can make this aircraft up. The only annoyance is the aircraft ID letter K being outlined in white, but that should be fairly readily sorted. With luck, I'll be able to get the decals on soon, get some flat varnish on, the masking off, and final details fitted.

Indeed, but I didn't want to Turn the thread into a wish list. ;o)

With 2020 being the 80th anniversary of the Battle, I suspect a new box set might be in the offing. Airfix certainly produced a 75th anniversary box with Henkel, Bf109, Hurricane and Spitfire. I would hope the other suitable aircraft in the range will also make a reappearance.

Indeed it does. My chief areas of research are to find what visible differences there may be between the Martlet MkI and the IV. The MkIV has six guns and folding wings, but I need to find out about the earlier marks. Research is not a high priority, mind, more a "bubbling under" Sort of thing. Worst case, it gets built as a MkIV purely as representative of the type, and I keep looking for a decent kit of a Martlet MkI. 😆

Third time lucky. The forum software was very unhappy with me earlier. More 1940 acquisitions. /media/tinymce_upload/f961328f7e0f48b9aa53a045d46bb241.jpg A battered box, but the contents are intact. The G.50 completes the Italian effort in the Battle of Britain. Inevitably, thoughts are beginning to formulate on expanding my collection to include the Mediterranean and North Africa... /media/tinymce_upload/f2a84f3c1e6b99bb7affdc578193ddda.jpg The Martlet, which makes my earlier Wildcat surplus to requirements. I guess the latter will find a new home sooner or later. The MkIV is a little late for my chosen period, but I hope minor modifications can make it resemble the earlier marks to suit my timeframe. The Emil will be my second. I have discovered that to "tell the tale" properly, some aircraft need to be shown in various guises. With Spitfires and Hurricanes already in multiples, it makes sense to do the same with the opposition. Expect some more BF110s to appear eventually. Right, let's see if this post will upload...

The fnished job may be a while yet. I've got a lot of paying work to get out of the way, although I'd much rather be playing with aeroplanes right now. I need to seek out a suitable squadron for the plane, and then work out if I have enough transfers around to make it. I've found several "sets" of transfers for various Blenheims, but it usually entails a sheet that will end up never being used because they are later than my 1940 period. I do dislike spending money to waste it like that.