Grumpy Old Modeller

Welcome to the Workbench

The real X-Wing

Also at Milton Keynes will be at least one "Flying Squirrel"; not the real name, but the shape always makes me think of the liitle creature airborne with its forelegs stretching desperately for its landing branch. It's really, if somewhat prosaically, the BAe P.1214-3, one of a series of studies for a replacement for the first-generation Harrier that was met by the rather less striking GR.5/AV-8B. Thanks to one of my What If? SIG colleagues providing me with the appropriate specially-prepared parts, one has already appeared on the SIG's tables, wearing a 71 Squadron anniversary scheme and the name Peregrine GR.1; this time the source is a kit cast by Anigrand (who have already made it in 1:144th as one of their "extras") and marketed by Allen Ury's Fantastic Plastic. As soon as I was announced in FP's newsletter earlier in 2011 I planned for at least one in my future, and on finding just before Telford that it was available I decided that I would need at least two roundel-wearing examples, and then added a third as a probable AV-8G (or something similat, though I rather doubt that the Congressional Appropriations Committee would be persuaded that it was just further development in the all-American McDonnell AV-8 series). The breakdown of parts is virtually the same as that in the smaller scale, accompanied by an equally unconvincing pair of bombs; although I've added a pair of wingtip-mounted AIM-9Ls from a Hasegawa weapons set I've left the "racks" at the front of the booms unoccupied, though I hope to have something suitable attached by the time it appears in public. Not wanting to get in to the grey scheme yet I've used the NATO Green/Lichen Green that I applied to my earlier example and raided the Modeldecal Sabre sheet fot the 67 Squadron bars and fin striping; with the A flight colour red on the port fin and the B flight blue on the starboard it is of course the boss's aircraft, though I have yet to add the identifying letter J. The access panel warning lines and the rescue marking are from the kit decals, as is the jigsawed serial XZ 490. It is said - indeed, there's an excellent recently-published monograph devoted to it - that the project that followed immediately on, the P.1216 of a similar layout but with the wings swept back rather than forward, was a much likelier proposition, and I hope someone will take advantage of the research shown in the book to turn that in to resin, but I like the really dramatic shape of this variant. Should you be equally tempted there are a few marking options even if you confine yourself to GR.5/Shar/AV-8; my next will almost certainly need a "marinizing" treatment and carry a later generation of weapons. Production and fit of the kit is to Anigrand's customary excellent standard; I don't know if it's been sold by anyone other than Fantastic Plastic, but as so often these days I'm grateful to PayPal for making this sort of buying simple enough for a Grumpy Old Modeller.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of grandchildren's chimneys to wriggle down in the next hour or two......(OK, so I had to breath in a bit, but it worked and Fun Was Had!)

Double the pleasure, double the fun!

No, I can't remember either, but I think it's an echo of some dubious TV commercial of my youth, and it's apposite now because as occasionally happened I've enjoyed making one model so much that I've gone straight on to its sibling. While I sometimes build a pair at the same time, events - Telford, Christmas etc, - dictated that I followed the two above with their next in line. As correctly forecast the tanker mark of the Victoria (S&M Vickers 1000 if you insist) was ready to follow the C.1 straight on to the workbench, facilitated by my having bought an Airfix VC.10 tanker a while back with the intention of fitting a pair of RB.211s as a sort of modified "Poffler" (which may yet happen); from this I took the underwing FR pods and the probe, and with an split end of a drop tank added the centreline HDU outlet to make the K.(C).2. My intention had always been to use the Gulf War nose art of the "BP/The Empire Strikes Back" on a hemp/grey scheme, and after asking the usual suspects I found cast carelessly at the back of one of my decal files the Liveries Unlimited VC.10 sheet with this, and more besides. It wasn't until I'd solved this Quest that I noticed that the markings were also included in the Airfix kit! Having enjoyed this kit so much in both its military guises I am being sorely tempted to go really over to the dark side with an airliner version; I quite fancy a British Caledonian VC.7. though of course it may just be the memory of the tune, and the girls, in the B.Cal.commercial.

The second half of this particular double was another "BAe Peregrine" from Fantastic Plastic/Anigrand; having labelled the first as a GR.1, I thought that with the passage of time this would have progressed to a GR.4, though it's true that in recent years the sequence and allocation of mark numbers has, to the simple spotter, verged on the random; mind you, the Pentagon are no better - F.35, pah! To follow the early example in the colours of 67 Squadron I fancied the scheme worn by the Naval Strike Wing aircraft on the occasion of the Harrier Force disbandment, and to indicae the mark's development by substituting Amraams for Sidewinders, adding a Sniper pod (Skunk Works) under one wing and a consequent pair of Paveways in place of the "dumb" 1,000 poinders on the GR.1 (none of the offensive weaponry has yet been attached, but they should be in place in time for their public appearance at Milton Keynes). The decals are from the amazingly comprehensive set by The Aviation Workshop marking the disbandment of Joint Force Harrier; marketed now under the unifying brand name Airframe, and with serious input from the dedicated enthusiasts of the Harrier SIG the instructions alone are a small booklet, though I have two comments which don't reflect on the undoubted quality of the decals. There is so much information that with an A5 page size much of it has necessarily to be in very small print, something of a challenge to the ageing modeller; and the presentation is, as is almost universal these days, in the colours of the original aircraft, with oval colour patches to identify that applicable to individual aircraft. I found though, that distinguishing between the lighter greys at least on the profiles was not easy; I try on my "What Ifs" to stick as closely to the original as possible, but when I got to the decal stage I had an uneasy feeing that I have used Camouflage Grey when it should have been Medium Sea Grey. It's another of my hobby horses, by I feel that for clarity the colour often needs to be identified by name as well as being matched as closely as possble in the reproduction. With unusual prescience I got three of these, just in case they suddenly become unavailable, so I have time to consider what the third might be; I shall probably keep an eye open for some interesting AV-8 markings. I wouldn't want the USMC to miss the fun, would I?

To Milton Keynes.....and beyond!

The first show of the new year, for us Southern Softies at least, is ModelKraft put on by the IPMS Milton Keynes Branch (subtle, eh?) and for us residents of North Buck our local show. It's been expanding year on year, and is now probably the biigest one-day event, at least in this part of the world, and although this has meant it becoming a multi-floor - with the lift for the aged modeller only reaching the first - and multi-hall show it's become a must-go-to day, with the first chance of the year to catch up with the modelling chums and the gossip about What's New! The two Victorias and the two Peregrines are scheduled to be taken there - the "X-Wings" have now acquired their more lethal warload, and the GR.4 now has a cannon barrel protruding slightly from its starboard pod - and they'll be joined by a couple of other new-builds, and possbly a pair of older models before they go in to longer-term storage. The Peregrine would have been a rather bigger aircraft than the Harrier which it was designed to replace which is why, apart from the family connection, I've added a Hunter to this group n the sound basis that everyone knows how big a Hunter is; and this isn't any Hunter, this is a Freightdog Hunter. At least, it's a Colin Strachan/Paul Lucas resin conversion for the Xtrakit Hunter T.7, with a new nose and a pair of Firestreaks for the P.1130 project from the Kingston drawing office. For the backstory for this one, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force wasn't disbanded in 1957, and 604 Squadron - who had previously flown NF Mosquitos - were one of the units selected, in this case covering the defence of London from North Weald, with the markings coming from an Xtradecal Meteor sheet. One of the single-seat Hunters of Hawker's test fleet appeared at Farnborough in, I think, 1957 or '58 with a pair of rather elegany teardrop-shaped tip tanks, and I've seen some reference - which I now of course can't find, just like the necessary photos - stating that these were being tested for a potential night fighter version, but they apparently produced too much turbulence. If I can find a possible pair, though, I could well add them later for cosmetic purposes. The Freightdog instruction sheet points out the problems with the Xtrakit T.7, which are also highlighted in a review in the latest SAMI; you just have to work out which angle to look at it from. The conversion itself, which as well as the new nose and the Firestreaks has their pylons,and an extra pair of pylons if you want to mount the kit drop tanks in the outer position, is to Freightdog's customary excellent standard.

More pictures - words to follow!