Panzerwomble

Cheers - Guy Keller

Re the spinner - I sorta rounded it off a bit as it looked at bit too' pointy" ! Thank you ever so much for the warm welcome though , I've always been a bit in awe of LSPers work since I came across this forum many years ago !

Thank you for the kind comments people , I'm ...er kinda shocked in a nice way @Kev - I'd be really chuffed (honoured ) if you consider putting on the website .

And the young Geoffrey Hill

Ok ,I've been on this forum for seven years, and frankly the quality of work , linked to the completely different skill sets required means I've stuck to armour modelling . No days for me spent decalling , I can cover mistakes in mud and I don't need to be 1/32 scale myself to carry out all the exquisite cockpit detail work I see on here. Frankly I salute you one and all, and don't hold you breath for another LSP from me , I suspect it will be due in 2027 ! So I saw my friends Revel Spit, and sadly like all Brits felt the need to make one , and so foolishly bought one, which led to me being interested in the history behind the pic of it sat at Tangmere in the bleak January of 1941 . The Aeroplane Built late 1940 at Castle Bromwich, not fitted with the early IFF warning system, sent to Maintenance Unit at Brize Norton 16thNovember 1940. Refitted with the new TR1133 VHF radio system which did not require the aerial wire from the mast to the fin, as the mast housed the antenna. The triangular prong was removed from the end of the mast although most retained the redundant anchor point on top of the rudder. Delivered to No 65 Sdn on 12thJan at Tangmere, coded YT-L and shot down on 5thFebruary. It’s total service life had been less than four weeks. The History YT-L was assigned to the 24 year old Pilot Officer Geoff Hill, who had passed out of training and flew with 65 Sdn from Mid July 1940, surviving the Battle of Britain. On a wintery 5thFeb, he and the rest of the squadron took part in a “rhubarb” escorting bombers with the hope of engaging enemy fighters sent to intercept, over St Omer near the Pas du Calais . The events are best recalled by reading the squadron's Intelligence Combat Report for 5th February 1941: "11 Spitfires took off from Tangmere and 1 Spitfire took off from Tangmere at 1208 hours and 1219 hours respectively to accompany No. 610 and No. 302 (Polish) Squadron with No. 302 Squadron leading to rendezvous over Rye with Blenheim bombers and No. 601 Squadron. They were to proceed to St. Omer aerodrome, crossing the coast between Boulogne and La Touquat to attack the aerodrome and buildings at St. Omer. Close escort to be provided by No. 601 Squadron and further cover provided by other squadrons of fighters. No. 65 Squadron made the rendezvous but 'A' flight lost sight of the 'circus' as did Blue 3 and Green 3 also and these joined up with 'A' flight. The weather although apparently clear over Rye, was hazy in patches, and it was in one of these patches that 'A' flight lost sight of the rest of the formation. They therefore proceeded to the French coast but failing to find the 'circus' came back and patrolled Dover and Folkestone, returning to base at 1350 hours. Blue 1 and Blue 2 proceeded above the formation and were later joined by Green 1 and Green 2 when nearing the French coast. About 10 miles inland Green 1 and Green 2 saw a number of ME 109s which came from behind. Three of these attacked Green 2 (P/O Hill) and Green 1 (F/O Finucane) immediately attacked the leading aircraft with a short burst. The E/A then dived towards the ground and Green 1 followed, getting in a further burst. The E/A then crashed into a wood. Green 1 then observed a Spitfire which he assumed to be Green 2 (YT-L Hill) flying very slowly about 100 feet from the ground and being attacked by 2 ME 109s. Green 1 approached and drove off the E/A without being able to fire for fear of hitting Green 2. He last saw Green 2 flying very slowly near the ground. Green 1 having by this time lost sight of the formation returned to base and landed at Tangmere at 1315 hours, the remaining 9 Spitfires had landed at Tangmere by 1350 hours." The “Kill” was claimed by the by German Ace Walther Oesau, pictured inspecting his victory . Geoff Hill was quickly captured, but proved to be a troublesome prisoner, attempting several escapes, for which he was awarded an MBE after the war. In January, 1942, while imprisoned at Stalag Luft I at Bault, he made his first attempt at escape. At mid-day, during a snow storm, he climbed over the perimeter wire, dressed as a civilian. A look-out post was close .by, but Flight Lieutenant Hill counted on the sentry being kept in his box by the storm and on the high wind covering the noise of his climb. The driving snow squalls hid him from the sentries at neighbouring look-out posts. Flight Lieutenant Hill successfully negotiated the perimeter and got away. His objective was Saggnitz, about 80 miles away but, due to the intense cold, he was arrested on its outskirts some days later, suffering from exposure and exhaustion. In the summer of 1943, Flight Lieutenant Hill made a second attempt to escape. He bribed one of the sentries to allow him and another officer to climb the perimeter wire near a look-out post. This attempt was made about sunset but was also unsuccessful as the bribed sentry thought the escapers had been seen and fired as they were trying to cross the wire, with the result that they were recaptured almost immediately. On other occasions, Flight Lieutenant Hill made abortive escape attempts. Once, while serving a term of imprisonment in cells for a previous attempt, he attempted to cut through the window bars. During the whole period of his captivity, he was closely connected with all escape activities and never flagged in his determination to escape. Eventually he ended up at the infamous Colditz, where his understanding of German led him to read a lot of the Castle’s books regarding antiques. After being released in Feb 1945, and discharged from the RAF as Flight Lieutenant later that year, Geoff Hill became one of the leading antique dealers in London until his death aged 80 in 1996. The Model Revell recent new tool model with reworked cockpit with extra wiring/ piping shamelessly copied from another modellers research , PE seatbelts, other odd metal parts, foiled undercarriage legs , airbrushed and gently weathered , depicting the scene at Tangmere as per the B/W Picture, with the worn out grass and rough tarmac dispersal area. I take it you guys don't need pics of Cold War British Armour

Love it , brings back memories of being scared witless over Salisbury Plain in one of these .

I don't even know where to start with this .....sure you've not sneaked some museum pics in there ? Theres no way at all that is a model surely ? * sighs and bins his stash in shame . But seriously ....we do need an uber emoji for that work .

Liking the big cat ! A link to some piccies of them being overhauled a couple of years ago for interest https://theaviationist.com/2015/03/01/iriaf-f-14s-overhauled/

Honestly ....your skills just depress me , as if I stick with the hobby for another 100 years , I"m still not going to get within 10% of the level of skill you have . Wonderful build !!

Just got to love a nice Tomcat and that is one nice Tomcat !!!

More progress . I must admit I don’t like the Academy Vickers guns much . They appear to have the barrels coming out of the top of the jacket at odds with every picture I’ve seen . In the end I replaced plastic the ends with a bit of brass to make them look a little more like the real thing. The Clerget Engine ….nope didn’t fancy trying to make new push rods so a coat of dark gray, a coat of gunmetal and a dry brush with bright silver. Nuff said. Cockpit closed up . Sprayed the whole thing flat white to get a feel for the surface. Bit of filling ( not much) and then did the yellow sand / burnt umber for the plywood cockpit surround . Spayed Humbrol metalcote over the engine panels and cowling, and then the green for the canvas. I used a trick I’ve learnt whilst spraying motorcycles, and that is spray silver over a white primer, and you get a really nice bright silver. Not planning on weathering this one too much so hopefully bright aluminium will fit with the plan . Did the filler cap replacement trick and used some brass to fill in the gap in the” hump” a bit The Academy model also seems to have a large gaping space between the guns, and certain looking at the Hendon Camel the cowling comes up much higher.Used a bit of brass to try to fill this in . With the guns in place seems a little more accurate I’m aware the moment of truth is coming shortly with having to get the wings in position and then start the rigging. Will it be the end of this build log as I get so frustrated trying to tie this thing together with pixie hair and buckeyball tubing that the whole thing gets launched out the door ? Still ,,,, I have 0.1mm wire, 0.5mm tubing a bloody big magnifying glass and a steady hand…..only 20 odd buckles to try to make then . Stay tuned, I maybe back or I may just sack it off and go for a beer.

Cheers for the comments and advice . I like the wicker chair idea, the wire was very time consuming.

Moving into the cockpit area, several areas that could do with improvement . Frankly didn’t fancy trying to build a complete new cockpit, but had a go at making a more “wicker” chair . Styrene base , 0.5mm tubing supports and the basket woven with copper wire. 4 hours later and deciding I must be getting close to insane , however pleased with the result as a first attempt . Might have a thought how to do it in an easier fashion if I go down this route again Control panel .....mercilessly robbing ideas from Des's build log . Base of styrene, painted with sand and oiled with Burnt Umber for wood effect . Airscale decals and a bit of brass work for the switches and gauge . Some wire wrapped around top of the instrument column . Didn’t fancy having a go at scratch building the entire cockpit, just tackling what I feel comfortable with, hopefully do better next time . Did paint and line with graphite the inner cockpit sides, so hopefully won’t look too bad when viewed from outside. Finally removed the dodgy looking air intakes and relocated them for later. Will use 2mm brass tube when it’s all closed up .

Ok, thought I’d have a go at doing a build log. I doubt I’ll teach anyone anything , and to be honest I owe a lot of my attempt to Des Delatorre’s excellent website , if you want to see this done a lot better then look here - http://www.ww1aircraftmodels.com/ So ,still as a beginner to WW1 LSPs, here we go. First off, choice of model: I like Camels, they are an iconic British fighter, and the Academy kit comes in cheap and relatively straightforward. A Triplane would be easier on the rigging, but I don’t like the look of them as much, and at £17 if the Camel goes badly then I won’t be as upset as wasting a £60 Wingnut Wings model. So, what you get in the box? ….. er ….. same as most of injection kits . Couple of sprues, decals and a sheet of instructions. Reading the Academy blurb about the Camel, curiously in the English version it says it shot down 1924 German planes, in the German translation it says 1294 …..hmmm not upsetting our German customers I wonder? People say the ribbing on the wings is overdone so tackled this early. Took a while to rub them down, but was happy with the end result. I used Tamiya XF21“sky” as CDL not wanting to mix Humbrol enamels, and preshaded using a pencil. I’m taking JA Green XF13 as an approximation to the PC51. Reasonably happy with the results . Finally decaling after drilling lots of holes for the rigging

Nice work , I like Chinooks too . If you went for HC3 it would save you having to do any weathering , just a add little dust . Or are you think maybe Bravo November?