Ridge Runner

As the UK government has chosen to scrap (yes, Scrap ), all our brand new MRA4 Nimrods, which have cost the UK tax payer £3.6 Billion to develop and build; I suddenly have a bit of spare time on my hands, so I have my Fisher RB 51 on the bench, and a rather difficult problem to sort. The front fuse is oval, which makes the spinner back plate, which is round, far to wide at the sides, but spot on in the vertical. I wonder if anyone else has found a solution to the problem? If this was a conventional kit I would simply shim the front end to make it circular, and with the correct diameter. However, as the RB 51 fuselage is molded as a complete item this presents a bit of a problem. The only solution I can see is to cut the fuse all the way back to the cockpit on top and to the wing at the bottom, then shim it! This is going to do a lot of damage to the surface detail, which is a great shame, but I really cannot see any other way around it, so any ideas would be very welcome. Incidentally, those rather capable Nimrods would have entered service tomorrow, instead we will have to cut them up, which just breaks your heart! Regards, Mark.

I have had a closer look at the RB51 this evening, lovely thing that it is, almost feels like a sin to want to take glue, paint and sanding sticks to it! One of the features evident on Nick Turners original, from which this kit is derived, are fasteners from a fret free etch, I understand that he had these etched specifically for his model, having seen the original at Telford last year I can certainly attest to how well they looked; wishing to replicate this feature in my own build, and as Paul has understandably not included them in the kit, does anyone have any ideas about how I might replicate them? perhaps if enough of us are interested we could get together to have a batch made that would cover all of our builds. Mark.

Mine arrived on Saturday, a beautiful and perfect birthday present, all I need is some time to build it! Mine also clips together out of the box, only issue I have seen is that the spinner back plate on my example has a larger diameter than the fuselage, about 1 mm, which with the peculiar setting properties of resin may just be a glitch on my example, is this evident on the kits you guys have? Mark.

I have an idea that Lady Jane was a MkXVI, she was named after Peter Hillwood;s wife who was also sister to Roland Beamont. Peter and Bea went on to work together after the war as test pilots for English Electric at Warton, most notably on Canberra and Lightning. They flew together to established a new world record when they flew a Canberra across the Atlantic twice in the same day, to Gander Bay and back I think. Peter was quite a character who also flew in films such as the Magnificent men and Blue Max, in which he also got the chance to 'act', he was the British airman laid down to die when shot down over the German airfield. Mark

Hi Bret, I took detailed pictures of Voodoo and Strega in 2005 configurations, if you think they will help you, please send me a PM and I will happily email the relevant pictures to you. Mark.

A few years ago at the Silverstone Historic Festival I saw a series 1 E type parked a few feet away from a MkIX Spitfire, both of them achingly beautiful in their own right, but together simply stunning, wow! Mark

Hello Supermario, Coming along nicely with your DH88, I have some recent pictures of a DH Gipsy 6 type R fitted with the original Ratier prop if they are of any interest to you. By the way did you ever get the Comet drawings and pictures I sent to you back in February? All the best Mark.

I cannot tell a lie, it was I! Supermario: The original cockpit fit did not have a centre consul, G ACSS acquired one for the modern radio stack along with a new instrument layout. It is also worth noting that the throttle quadrant is from a later A/C type and not original to ACSS, which when manufactured probably had a unit from the Dragon series, which is much less substantial. I have a large amount of DH 88 info, if you need anything in particular, please do drop me a pm and I will be delighted to try and help you out. I also have this kit and many concerns about its accuracy, which I would be happy to share with you. Briefly, may I suggest that you look hard at the fuselage sections, cockpit position, height of the tailplane and as you are already working them; the width and section of the nacelles. Mark.

Rivet Holes! What is holding on the skins? Mark.

Ron, I know what you mean about the Mk IX Spitfire, if it gives you any reassurance, Trevor's latest work may be seen in the form of Airfix's new 72nd Nimrod and 48th Canberra. Mark.

I spoke with Trevor Snowdon of Airfix about this kit, which he now believes will be out after Christmas, It is an all new tooling, so no dust old tools here. Trevor was responsible for the 48th scale Mk24 Spitfire and Lightning Airfix produced to much acclaim, the 24th Mossi is also his pet project which he has wanted to produce since the earlier project was shelved, so we should expect to see a seriously good modern kit with from Airfix. Incidentally, back in the early 80s, Airfix used the research they had put into the 24th scale Mossi to issue a 48th scale kit which was highly regarded at the time. Mark.

Dave, thanks for posting the pictures and reminding me of some very happy times, Cavanaugh is a really nice museum, I used to visit it regularly when my job took me from the UK over to Fort Worth on the JSF programme. I particularly liked the Mk VIII Spitfire, even though they have fixed the tail wheel! Its good to see the place is still prospering. I also recall an immaculate B25 with a very original spec, is it still in the collection? Mark.

Neat build Ron, I hope the Zero comes together as well for you. Mark.

Ron, how about this for a smoke effect? The rest of the airframe is very neat and tidy by the way. Mark

Russ, she is looking great. Mark.