John Symmons

Hi "The Rat" Welcome to the forum, you sound like a breath of fresh air, and sound like my kind of man, imagination is never a bad thing, and I feel this world could do with a lot more. Maybe you should change your name to Peter Pan the boy that never grew up, like me. Would love to see some of your creations. Remember we do this for fun

Hi Ratch Nice build of the Hs 129, and in a very unusual scheme. Glad to see you didn't use that VERY oversized cannon. Never realised the RAF actually got their hands on one to fly, wonder what they thought of it. I made this model way back in August 1916, in an eastern front winter scheme ( see my post Bully Boys.). I see you managed to not get the wheels pigeon-toed like mine, also you left the cowling as is. This to me was the greatest downfall of this kit ( except that horrible cannon), I did manage to sort-of semi rectify the shape a bit but really those cowling are almost behond salvage. Hopefully Airfix will not re-release this kit but, again, hopefully retool it. I see the Airfix are re-releasing the earlier Henschel 123, No this is a beautiful littl kit and a joy to build, it almost clicks together, certainly one of the older Airfix's better efforts. As the photos in my earlier post have gone missing I'll repost them here. Again thanks for the post of a very unusual Hs 129. /media/tinymce_upload/4f1cdecbd75331bca514ec35ede79d9d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/69ea292a6840a1b3db1d8a965a33d5a8.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/9a040c80a40eceb8c1fd1de573fce53f.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/dfb9ffb242ef64ceb12e72109aaa4fe6.jpg Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Quick trip to my LMS to collect two kits they were keeping for me. Two Airfix Vintage Classics, the HMS Ark Royal and another STUG III alo came away with some evergreen styrene sheets. Not sure when I'll get around to building the Ark as I'm at present wading my way through a pile of very old Japanese kitsfrom the late 60's (Tamiya, Hasagawa Aoshima etc) but I intend building her as a water line model. Now where can I get some PE railings? /media/tinymce_upload/05599015b296f0bb04963ba7980346ee.jpg Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Ratch. I can only echo T2B in saying that was quick it's only been out for two weeks. Maybe you got an advanced copy.looks great and a vast improvement over the old NA 39 from waaaaaay back. Remember we do tjhis for fun John the Pom

Hi Heather. Ditto to Dark Earths comments. Very nice build and display. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Aphilla The He 111P kit was the first new tooling of the Heinkel released by Airfix Then they added some extra parts namely the cowlings spinners, props and torpedo and bombs to enable the basic kit to build into the H-6 variant. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Ratch. Nice one of an iconic little fighter. Another British unsung aircraft that should have sold in their thousands, but at the time the RAF was very luke-warm in ordering it. It only really came into it's own as an advanced trainer, then other countries began to take an interest.. I've take the liberty of setting the Gnat free from it's tethered stand and letting it fly free. /media/tinymce_upload/64d01ff0863a1465558ce9a2557d6c60.jpg ( Original photo courtesy of Ratch. ) Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Will S Just had something simular with Vallejo when painting a Japanese Naval float-plane, but that was my own fault by using tooooo much retarder. Took almost 24 hours to dry, even with the Cape Town heat. I knew at once what I'd done, and just left it to dry as best it could. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Yep! Just change the driver's uniforms for WW 1. The Germans in WW 2 actually had more jhouse drawn atmour than motorised. Especially at the very start in 1938n& 39. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Mike (TMM) Welcome to the forum and thanks for showing your HMS Bounty, looks like a fine model and hope you do well at the IPMS show. Good to see a new posting in the ships forum. Question; are those the kit supplied sails or did you fashion fresh ones from cloth? It would be nice to know a bit more about you, how about a short intro in the New Members post on the General Discussion. I'm being very tempted by the recent re-realese of the Goldfen Hind. Hoping to see some more of your adventures in plastic modelling soon. Remember we do this for fun Jphn the Pom

Visited the SA IPMS Nationals today and a vendor was selling something I've been wanting for some time, a horse drawn WW 2 German wagon, he also had several other kits i would like so it seems my pocket money is going to be tied up for several months. Came away with the the German Field Wagon by Hat. and there was three in the box. I even made one this evening and it looks great. Maybe I can sneak it into a diorama pic at some later date. /media/tinymce_upload/d4861b2ddb88287be0f3689c4c9e1efb.jpg Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

OH! Wow! HOT Topic ah? Remember we do this for fun. (And occasionally play toy solders) John the Pom

Hi Atys. You're a beginner! You could have fooled me; well done that looks like a suberb cockpit, can't wait to see the finnished result, and or some more work in progess pictures. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Wow! This post's been around of four years now. Thanks for reasurecting it as I've just re-read my rants from that time, and others comments, and I still stand by what I said back then. Since that time I've made several of the Zvezda 1/72 Amour game pieces, and I must say that at the start I was wondering what was I thiking in buying them as they were both push fit models not requiring any glue. Boy; was I in for a surprize. Since those first two pieces I went out a cleaned a local model shop out of almost all they had. Ther detail and moulding of the figures has to be seen to be believed they really are superb. If you see their Luftwaffer Ground Crew, BMW motorcycle & sidecar, and the Soviet 37mm AA gun, try them very usefull diorama pieces, try them you'll not be dissappointed. Now my question is this; if a new-ish company in Russia can produce such detailed models with figures Why can't Airfix who seems to be setting themselves up a seroius leader in the world, modelling company. Hopefully with the start Airfix have made with their superb Ju87 kits will continue with future releases. Airfix; having crew figures is not "Toy Play Value" it's actually an intetgral part of modelling, and adding some gound crew figures could boost the sales even more, adding some life to a mere static model, surely this is what plastic modelling is all about. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

Hi Cornedbeef Nice trio of Buccaneer's and you are to be commended on producing a trio of fine models. Well done. I've never made this kit as it way outside my gambit of modelling, but checking your pictures it seems you did make the intakes fit on the first picture. the other two almost look as if they're upside down???. I've had several occasions where I've done this in thinking that the parts are identical and mixed them up only to find out later they're not identical and now they're mounted up-side down or left to right. The other thing I find useful is if parts don't fit as they should, is to remove any locating pins, tabs, or lugs as these can easily up-set a fit if they're even slightly out, as in the case of wing locating tabs. this is especially true with older; Vintage?: kits but still crops up on some more recent toolings. Also dry fit, dry fit and dry fit some more, making small adjustment each time and things can usually be persuaded to fit somehow. One of the problems seem to stem from the release angle that has to be designed into the mould. This means that no part can have a true 90 degree vertical angle in the mould it has to be at a slight angle less than 90 degrees otherwise it won't release from the mould also the transition from a flat horizontal surface to a flat vertical one often ( Again especially with older toolings. ) have a slight roundness at the point of transition and not a clean right angle. This is why you oftern find a slight gap in wing root joins and tail plane joins, but it does often crop up in many other places. These pitfalls can usually be obveated with dry fitting and sanding adjutments. I must admit it took me many years of modelling and many dodgy fitting kits to find this out. But unfortuneately some models are just behond redemption although thankfully they are now far and few between. I'm at present making some of my old vintage models from the far east including some early Tamiyas 1/72 WW2 aircraft from the late 60's and what I think was Hasagawa's first model aircraft, the 1/75 Mitsubishi F1M2 Pete float plane, not a kit I'd recommend. This release angle problem crops up time and again in the wing root joints tail planes undercarriage doors and even the fuselage halves joints that virtually all joints and seems need plenty of correction. (Years ago I'd probably not bothered, but now I know it can be fixed. Such is the growth of modelling skills.) One thing I've noticed is that kits wit three piece wings; the type with the lower half being almost a full span with the two upper halfs joined on top. In most case it recommended that the wing be assembled first then joined to the fuselage onten resulting in the wing root joint gap. this can often beavoided by joining the lower ling to the fuselage first ensuring the join under the fuselage is as best you can get it with sanding, (Another release angle problem.) then adding the top wing halfs afterwards. you might have to remove any locating pins and bevell the wing/ fuselage joint but the result could be a far better fit. then you'll probably have to sand the lower wing profile to fit. This I had to do on the Tamiya J2M1 Raiden to avoid large wing root gaps. Thankfully Tamiya has improved it act since those days. Any way hope you find this helpful and happy modelling and again thanks for showing some fine Buccaneers warts and all. (That's a bold move.) Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

3 tubes of Tamiya's polishing compound, to help rescue a canopy I've ruined. and some more small no 11 blades. You can never have to many blades. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi AEC Pete You want a challenge? I see Revell have re-introduced their 1/96 scale Cutty Sark from the 60's with a few minor alterations. I made the other clipper ship at this scale back then and it scared me for life, but like the sucker I am I now have the Cutty Sark waiting in the wings, and I'm very tempted with Airfix's re-release of the Golded Hind at 1/72 scale. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Discostu. That looks like a superb build, and a real credit to your modelling chops. Well done and thanks for showing such a beautifully build model, I especially liked the flaking or chipped paint on the wing root. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Wow Ratch that lot must have cost you a fortune, are those racks purposely made for Vallejo, they almkost look like retail stands. Nicholasj;you asked about the actual sizes of pots Vallejo are 23 mm, Tamiya acrylics 40mm mm and Humbrol Enamels & Acrylics 29 > 30 mm diametre. Hope this helps and looking forward to seeing some of your results. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Paul. I agree about the curved frames especially if it a compound curve, luckily the ones no the C6N1 weren't compound except one very small one at the frount that was easily painted with a cocktail stick. It's a pity I couldn't show the Ki 44 and Ki 84 frames but, being an Airfix centred site, I thought that might be pushing it a bit to far. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi All Some time back I started experimenting with doing the canopy framing with decals. It started with the old Airfix Ju 52 floatplane, then I resurrected it when I did some Airfix Ju 87’s. Canopy masks in SA are like hen’s teeth and I don’t trust our SA post office, so I had to think of another way. At the time I was having some of my own decals laser printed so had some spare decal paper. A strip of decal paper was painted in the canopy frame colour and cut into thin strips then applied to the canopy. With mixed results but still much easier than masking, especially those Ju 87 canopies. (See my posts on the Ju 52 & 87.) Digging through my stash I found an example of what must arguable by the worst kit ever produced. At the time of purchase I was collecting any WW 2 Japanese aircraft I could find and came across a plane box with a line drawing of a single engined Japanese aircraft that was totally unknown to me, all the box said was C6N1 Saiun (Myrt), but I brought it anyway. When I opened the box the kit looked like a refuge from a cornflake,s packet and the instructions where not any better,at least they were in English, and nothing about the aircraft, and the decals were equally atrocious. Actually about the best thing was the box. I almost threw it out there-and-then, but decided to keep it anyway. Fast-forward 50 years and I’ve still got it. Thinking it could be a quick and easy way to reduce my stash decided to give it a go. It turns according to “Scale-mates” out the kit was an old Aoshima kit re-boxed by Farpro in the mid 60’s After some research it turns out the C6N1 was quite some aircraft. Less than 500 being produced at the very end of the Pacific war, it only became operational at the end of 1944. It looks a bit like a slightly smaller version of the Nakajima B5N2 Kate, actually the Saiun was also made by Nakajima. It had a 2,000 hp engine, carried a crew of three and was used as a reconnaissance bird. Max speed at 380 at 20,000 ft and a maximum range of over 3,000 miles with one drop tank. It was so high flying and so fast that the pilots said they were Wildcat safe. After the war the Americans tested one with high octane fuel at over 420 mph. As far as I know only 2 models now exist, the 48th scale Hasagawa and a 72nd one by Sword. Anyway back the cockpit framing, The canopy was so bad it looked like the mould was made of wood and all the very faint framing detail was on the inside which made it impossible to mask. The only alternative being the decal method. The decal paper was painted in the IJN green (Vallejo military green), coated with liquid decal film and cut into thin strips. Luckily most of the framing was in straight lines. Only one small part was curved that I was able to paint, I also painted the edge framing of the canopy. Some of the decals had a little trouble staying put, but that was easily cured by sticking them down with varnish. From a reasonable distance it looks quite neat and tidy. I was very pleased with the result that I used it on very oldTamiya 1/72 Tojo and Hayate that dated from the mid 60’s, (The Hayate even came with a motor to motorise the propeller. The ultimate in play-value) using silver and IJA grey painted decal film respectively. Hope that those looking for an alternative to painting cockpit frames especially those green-houses the Japanese, German and Italian’s were so fond of, find this useful, A few photos of the results. /media/tinymce_upload/6d7b32e6cb74df7011c70f6e9ef5e59b.jpg Cockpit with framing. The things on the left are some of the Decal strip I've cut. /media/tinymce_upload/17f1cb98f73da1d6d23e2734deaaa8f7.jpg Cockp[it ready to install. The aircraft is the C6N1 Saiun (Myrt). /media/tinymce_upload/7d1722966d9550083d95453eef04c5b3.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/e0d0c1a8a58537449b7b86a4498349e0.jpg Two views of the finished cockpit installed. Don't look too closely at the model it isn't the best, it was a wonder the decals even worked but after some persuading in almost boiling water they finally decided to co-operate. So for all you out there having trouble with masking canopies this method might be an answer. Remember vwe do this for fun John the pom

Hi Jopress Nice to see your HMS Daring finally made it out of dry dock. Those life rafts might be wrong but they do add some colour. Nice looking model, Maybe Airfix will re-release it in their classic range. Have you any more 600th scale ships? Love to see them if you do. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Ratch Very nice job on the 727. I've made several of these old Airfix 144 airlines when they first came out, but never managed to do the 727. I always thought they were a bit simple, but did require more work than at first seemed to be needed, but they always made into very neat models. Thanks for showing another vintage Airfix kit. It's a pity Airfix have no plans to retool any of these 144 scale kits, seem the Russian's with the likes of Roden and Zvezda now have this market to themselves. I flew in the 727 several time back in the 70's and much preferred it to the 737 which I thought was vastly inferior to the 727. Not sure why I felt this way but i just found it a safer and smoother flight, I was sorry to see them go. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Another Odd-Ball kit just found it way into my stash the Polikarpov I-5 early by ICM. Why i brought it I've no idea as it's not WW2 or German, Italian, French or Japanese but it's kind-of cute and all over red. On opening the box I must say I'm very impressed with these ICM kits it almost looks like a Russian vartion of the Bristol Bulldog. In my first posting I mentioned something about the "Golden Age" of modelling refering to the 60 & 70"s; I think I'll have to re-think that as it seems the 2000's is the new Golden Age, what with all the new superb kits coming from all over the world. /media/tinymce_upload/667e318573818fc0260b45cede9f7842.jpg Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

The Sea Otter looks almost identical to the Walrus, but had a fully cowled Mercury tractor engine, but it was also an amphibian with the same undercarriage as the Walrus. /media/tinymce_upload/9981de4d130d66d2860a46ffcbf6c823.jpg Remember we do this for fun John the Pom