Fleet Air Arm Group Build

 Try these Spike.

http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Aircraft/Hellcat.htm

http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Aircraft/Aircraftindex.htm

GZT made a really nice looking one the CAG put on page 1 as well!

Ritchie that model looks like it is the best on the table to me. I held a 1/72 torpedo in my hand today and still am in wonderment at all your detailing!

Frank What a beauty!  I have to say you just keep on outdoing yourself!  I don't have enough good things to say about that Corsair! times 3 fer sure!

Not much going on today had to finish up the Halftrack as I ran outta time. Builds up tomorrow.

 Misplaced my figures that I was doing to copy the photograph but I'll do that when I find them at my own pace.

 Not too Shabby hope Dupes thinks so.

All I really got done on my twins today was try step one in windshield fixin.  Kinda set them aside to think a bit today but I have three thoughts in mind. Home made vacuform. Replace the glass like you would a broken window in your house or just wait and see if a new one can be ordered. Sometimes these limited run kits don't have the customer service to do that and I think these are from Czechoslovokia?  I dunno!  Try em all and see what happens I guess.

I did build a bomb from the 1/48 Wellington kit.  A 500lb Gp that was supposed to be what the Skua was armed with.  Looks a but small to my eye but hey if that's what it carried who am I to argue.  Have to paint it .... Yellow?  Early war color for British bombs! How cool!

That is a beautiful F4U-2N Frank! It sure seems like ther is a lot more going on in here than just FAA stuff... quite eccentric almost... I LIKE IT!

Well, I picked up the Eduard Zoom set I ordered from my LHS this afternoon... construction on my Sea Harrier will be commencing shortly...

In the meantime I am partaking in some sprits and relaxig ona pleasant Sunday evening here...

stikpusher wrote:

That is a beautiful F4U-2N Frank! It sure seems like ther is a lot more going on in here than just FAA stuff... quite eccentric almost... I LIKE IT! In the meantime I am partaking in some sprits and relaxig ona pleasant Sunday evening here...

Oh give it time... then it will grow on ya!  JUst like a fungus! You all enjoy your evening as I am off to work! Again....

Thank you very much guys!   I am chuffed that you like this one.  I must admit, it's my favorite one so far.

Admiral- I shall take that extra ration, thank you very much Sir!

Aaron- Yah-ha!  A target for tonight!  Well done, but I don't know about that sand.  Doesn't quite look like North Africa sand to me. LOL...

Carlos- to what Aaron said!  You never quite know what is going to show up on these pages.  And, we will not have it any other way.

The XO is to be exalted for his, um, exaltedness and of course his modeling skills. The ship of course likes a fine hand with the airbrush, no matter how bloody long it  takes to see the results. Gentlemen, the Corsair is of course the 2007  Naval Air Wing entry. Bless his nibs though, he's a great one. Well done sir!

Your Admiralness, mind you I'll never lay hands on another man's dinghy, longboat or barge for that matter, but be pleased to man the watch at the helm. We have ratings for that, to wit Summit or Ritchie,... ah the new conscript Mike.

Mike, you are now coxswain of the Admirals barge, man.

One more image from the week that was.

MotherofBondo, WifeofBondo, Miss Bondo, FatherinlawofBondo, Bondo, FatherofBondo

Small side note. The father in law is 89 next week, as you all have been reminded ad nauseum flew Beaufighters and P-61s in that recent unpleasantness. I asked him about collector rings on Bristol engines, to wit the color. Now mind you if you've all ever had a similar conversation with vets of the war, ask them the color of say their corsair and they really don't remember because it wasn't exactly their focus that day. But as he had to burn the hairs off his arms working on the things, and spending 4 hours looking at them on the way home from a fracas, the definitive statement is... no yellow, bronze or copper. Hot, metal, silver and bluish.

Well thanks for making me Coxwain of the Admirals barge Im not sure if I need to do anything but thanks anyhoo.

Aaron, cheers for the links, plenty to keep me going. I found a couple of good photos myself, hope to get going on my Hellcat asap as all my paints are in order .

Can I put the group badge on or should I wait till Ive posted some WIP?

Cheers fellas...

Sorry for my tardiness here at the GB. Im not saying i wont be building anything. Hopefully when things settle i will be back. I hear the Swordfish calling me in my sleep.

Frank, what a stunner of a corsair my friend. You definately have those things off to a T. It looks faultless from where im sitting. I love the camo and the markings. The weathering is just about right right. Top marks all round, big boy.

Aaron, youve finally finished that HT. Geez man, its bin nearly a year LOL. Its not as if youve been building anything else, is it? Joking aside, she looks fantastic. Seeing it from conception to finish just goes to show the work and efforts you put into it in order to get the thing to look right. I think you've nailed it.

...Guy

Congrats to ye Bondo.  Tis one lovely young lass Miss Bondo be, and ye look like one proud Papa!  Now hopefully she don't take after her father as a lawless pillager and plunderer o' the virtual high seas upon which this here GB floats on!

Brian

P.S. As a side not, I decided to put the Sea Harrier on hold and move on to the Douglas Boston for a change of pace.  Will g back to the Harrier at some point, but fer now it is back to props and greenhouse canopies!

Cap'n- Thank you very much!  Although, this one was for the 2008 FAWGB.

Guy- Thanks mate!  Much appreciated.

Have a few more pics of the show to share. Will be gettingthose finish shots of the 'bag soon. had a BIG sleep in today and it's cold and raining here today so just having an easy time before going to work. Have a better shot of her but will get proper finish shots. Had the pleasure of meeting taxtp as well as darson!!! Good times!!! Anyway here are some more pics! Enjoy!!

Better shot of the 'bag

taxtp's Hellcat in same category

first place in small scale aircraft. This is 1/144 fellas!!!

1/144 Tiger Meet F-104

1/144 Spooky! From the Academy DC-3 kit! Very well done!!

Another Corsair for Frankie!!!! An F4U-2N to boot!!!

Aussie Abrams

Beautiful 1/48 TSR.2 in a what if scheme that was very plausible and stunning!

The other Albacore for Aaron

Very nice OOB builds!

And another awesome display from, we think, the same person that had the stunning display of three 1/32 RAAF Beaufighters last year. This time with three 1/48 RAAF Liberators. More detailed shots of this forthcoming!

Got the bench ready for the continuation of the Corsair now! Got the bug again!!!! I NEED MORE!!!!!

I am forming a shore party. Arm with pistols, Hawaian shirts and sunglasses. Go ashore under cover of darkness and rescue us from...

Page Two will NOT do.

I ordered the oval slot gun barrels for the Whitley and the Sunderland today. 16 in all.

Page Two will NOT do.

Quite a few of the new ratings owe us an update.

This GB has it's standards. As the Captain, and speaking for them what hqave more than me in the rankin' or are rank, get with the program men or it's to the gratings.

The Admiralty concurs about these scurvy curs, Cap'n Bondo.  Ever since the last extra rations there has been an abominable smell in the bilge, could it be that we will need to redirect the majority of the rations to those Estimable Personages of Advanced Rank?  Such as to the Admiral's stateroom?

The Admiralty has been pursuing due diligence with respect to the population of a worthy Coastal Command, and though the mighty Fortress IIa is yet to receive it's coating of swamp mud, it has progressed,  to wit:  (And I can see that that bomb bay will hold a keg or 3!!)  It is permissible to note the numerous framings on that upper turret,about half decal strips, half 10/0 brush, and to steady the hand that last extra ration sure came in handy.

Your Admirableness, "J for John" is a fine fort indeed. I reckon in all of my nine lives on the quays and in the armpits of the world, I've never seen that build.

Mr. Swan excepting the code, of course.

All rations have to be divided among the men, Sir, otherwise there be mutiny, trust me they are a rabble. However, the LtCmr and I were able to separate the Spanish Embassador from his gift of a keg of sherry, although Aaron will be reimbursing the ships stores for the clip of 20mm, so Tapas are in store this Friday watch, 2 bells on the evening, at the wardroom and we'd be pleasured for your attendance.

As a personal note to wit there's been rumblin' in the Trunk tunnel about how the Captain never posts a build.  I say don't mess with Straddle.

To date the Supercat is finished.

Cant Z 501 by 6/15.

F-82 needs to be finished for the SAC GB. And that rotter Jeaton still hasn't answered my ? abt white/orange FB-111s.

Stranraer for the Matchbox GB.

Then the Whitley.

Wish me sobriety, otherwise all is lost, and Captain's call on deck 48 hours from now. Where's Nam, where's Spike, and there will be a game  with a grenade if we have to.

Your Admiraltisaltiness, "J" for John is looking very sharp indeed sir!!!!!!!!!! Love those colors on the Fortress and Liberator!!! Very, Very nice looking turret glass!!!! Outstanding work!!!

I have with much deliberation to myself have decided rather than beating a dead horse, to throw in the towel on the 'bag and finally without further ado, call her finished!!! The ew things I was going to tweek/change would mean handling more than needed. I am a believer in it takes two artists to paint a picture, one to paint, and one to tell him when to quit. I am very happy with the outcome and happy to place it in the display cabinet and call her my first completion in about 20 yrs!!! Here's the finishing shots. I would like to thank the crew here for all the support, comments, drinks, and comeraderie!!!!!! Enjoy!!

That is a fine looking Fort, "J for John" looks splendid in it's livery.

Richie- Your lil 'Bag is gorgeous!  I think you are wise to know when to stop, possibly avoiding a disaster of sorts.  A stunning build that you should be very proud of.  And, thanks for the pics from the show!  Some mighty fine work displayed there.

That is certainly and admirable build there Admiral sir! 

Richie, once again a very fine build on the Bag.  It takes a wise man to know when to quit.

lewbud wrote:

That is certainly and admirable build there Admiral sir!  Richie, once again a very fine build on the Bag.  It takes a wise man to know when to quit.

Big time!  That Fortess is da bomb (er) Tough crowd But really a nice job!

 Ritchie I got your stuff you sent all the way from down under!  It is great stuff! 19 pages of history and specs and stuff!  A big thanks!  I couldn't read it at first  but then I turned it upside down and it was fine!   Man I am dying here? Hope they turn out half as nice as your swordfish.  Buck up fellers!  I know Nam is still absent . Something about the pink bloomers staining his downstairs mix up but a little bleach and steam pressure washing should make hime right as rain again.  Think Capt Bondo is  juicing up the washer!  No Capt I said bleach not 18 moler HCL. Oh heck that probably means Nam is gone for another month now!

Anyways I am overdue for an update as well.

Power and speed? Not quite these kits are killer!  I try to do a little something each day but have had to back track with some recent setbacks. Still much to do I am afraid to say.

The Broken front wind screen was a real bummer. Lot of work making one. Haven't heard any reply as far as a replacement goes. I used old staples to bent to shape the frame work as the pe was too flimsy to hold the position. A little cockeyed.

Some work days later I kinda got it looking right.

 Next big issue. Look where the pilot is positioned in regards to the greenhouse.

Look where he sits in the kit!  No errors were made the parts placement were set by alignment points molded in the fuse sides. But it is wrong. May explain the fit issues. Also you can get away with it if you didn't put in a figure. Another reason I like figures because they reveal many inaccuracies in kits.

 Li,l Nam is laughing at me. A long careful process to fix and was necessary on both birds.

 Have got the Roc resituated still have the skua to go.

L'il Nam is helping.

Both these aircraft were pretty accurate dive bombers.  Actually pretty successful when you read up on them in that role.  Not so great at the fighter role especially the Roc. The disorentation in a rotating turret in a moving aircraft was almost maddening to the gunner.  The concept was insisted apon though as the powers that were thought the idea sound.  The types use as a fighter was insisted apon a bit to long perhaps and it had less range and fuel capacity than the Skua to make room for the turret. This made the long range operations as in Norway a real burden for the commanders trying to get combat aircraft to the missions.

 The Skua was also slow and odd but had a loyalty from her crews that the Roc lacked.  Looking at the front line action of both aircraft types. Not as pretty historically or flashy a tale but still an extremely important type for the FAA taking the fight to the germans when there was nothing else.

 I had originally thought the Skua carried 500lb GP bombs on this attack but with Ritchoes great articles it says they where armed with 500lb SP. The Yellow is the GP type and the gray the SP.

Well in between I am weathering sanding , erasing , fixing and touching up stuff.

 What you all think should I open the Skua canopies or close them?  Thanks for looking!

sfcmac wrote:

[  Next big issue. Look where the pilot is positioned in regards to the greenhouse. Look where he sits in the kit!  No errors were made the parts placement were set by alignment points molded in the fuse sides. But it is wrong. May explain the fit issues. Also you can get away with it if you didn't put in a figure. Another reason I like figures because they reveal many inaccuracies in kits.

Maybe he is just enjoying using the recline feature of his Lay-z-boy all purpose aircraft seat!

Either way they are really shaping up Aaron!

And Mike, good start on the Hellcat.  Make her ROAR!!!!

Brian

 Way to get that Hellcat a going Mike! and with Admiral Jeaton's B-17 and Ritchies Stringbag! This are looking great!

 Gotta go to work again... Hard when life won't let you model! But I try to keep up with Y'all!

 Did get the pilot in the Skua in his proper seat!

Also these kits are soooo unbalanced. Have I said that before? What I mean is some assemblies look like drug store kits from the 1950's in mold quality (or worse)

Then you have included in the kit fine resin parts and some of the best PE I have seen!  These bomb racks are probably the best I have seen.   I am not so much a detail stickler but I can't see having great details like this mixed with chunky so so parts. Hence the extra effort.

 Lots of tiny parts good thing Lil Nam was there to help.

Well running late See y'all tomorrow!

It would appear that the Admiral's (Air) Barge is complete.  Its first use may be a shore party recon to round up all the delinquents and bring them back on board, a good deck swabbing is in order methinks, tho many have crawled out of the ship's dark corners lately. 

I did some weathering and staining with Tamiya Smoke, grey pastels. handprints, and a touch of paint chips here and there with a bit of silver.  Hard to see in the photos, but it's there.  One thing I did somewhat different on this one to get the edge between colors was to put a thin strip of Tamya Tape under the edge of the masking, it gave a little tighter edge than the loose paper method of masking I use in 1/48 and larger.  I think it worked well.

On to the pikchurs:

Aaron, you are very welcome and like I said I'm very glad I could help!!!!!!!!!! They are really looking GREAT!!!! Excellent progress, even though two steps forward and one step back is a round about way of getting there, eventually you get there anyways! I felt exactlly the same with the Swordfish with the PE and the chunky parts. That is exactlly why it took so long, I was not about to put a tree trunk on the bottom of my plane. I wanted a torpedo, and I wanted it to LOOK like a torpedo. So I waited! Patience paid off! Thanks again for your comments!!

Mike, that is great progress!!! Any step forward is worthwhile sharing, and your pic quality is nothing to complain about either, they look fine!!!!

John she's a beaut mate!!!!!!!!! Stunning paint and glass work!!!!! Barge? DON"T THINK SO!!!!!!! Beautiful build!!!! Another to be proud of!!!!! Well Done!!!!

 Hey! Is it not the weekend? Where is everyone?  Is Someone having a party and I wasn't invited?

 Ritchie you are soooo right. It just puzzles me how they can put in stock PE and resin bomb racks and have gun barrels that look like german stick grenades from the 1970 Tamiya soldiers.

 These PE racks are very detailed. down to the screws and washers but were a pain in the you know what.

Then the bombs caused me momentary consternation.  The swing bar from the Skua is armed with the 500lb SAP that it used when attacking the German cruisers.  The Middle Gray one is the Tamiya 250lb GP bomb and the bottom the Trumpeter 500lb GP in yellow (ish)  I was worried that they seemed all the same size?  But while the 500lbers are the same length wise seems they were a lot fatter.  Must have been for fitting into the bomber reasons? Of course these are all early war ordinance but still a curiosity to me.

Hey whose turn was it to bring the rum and the girls?

sfcmac wrote:

Hey whose turn was it to bring the rum and the girls?

Yours.

Gentlemen, and the rest of you scurvy lot; happy Friday and pass the Rum! John is the hero of the day, having finished that FII and Aaron please wipe out a mug and stand by to be, um, for, a shot! A fine showing all around, and to wit the XO has a completed build as well. So do I, but not for this build.

I ordered gun barrels today for the Whitley and the Short Bros. boat, and also for the new Privateer I just got over at the cabin of sf_plane_nut. That'll be for next year, if the CAG sees fit to go back again to the USN.

Cheers men, and sail away from lee shores, love the women and drink like fish.

Aaoron those racks are looking great!!!! They even look like a pain in the netherregions! Next month's issue of Aeroplane magazine is going to have the same type article i sent you on the Barracuda!!! So will get a copy of that to you for future ref. I also have Swordfish stuff I can send as well, go figure, LOL.

Looking forward to seeing the Whitley take shape your Captainess!!!!!!! Sunderland as well!!!!

Aaron- Well done fixing the pilot's location, sure would have been a long reach from where he was sitting to the IP!   As for the canopies, I say close them as the rather angular look of the sliding portion really stands out, and closed would show that feature off.  At least, that's what I would do.   Those bomb racks are amazing with their detail!  This is some of your best work I have seen, glad lil' Nammy is there to lend a helping, um... hand? LOL...

John- Nicely done on the Fort, love that camo scheme!

Mike- Your Hellcat is coming along quite well indeed, but I think the seatbelt is supposed to go on the seat itself. j/k   Looking good so far!

Since it's the weekend, I believe rum and girls are in order, though not necessarily in that order.