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OK, so this will be an attempt to move on with my Anson, a plane that is very dear to my heart and which has been lingering in its box for far too long. Taped together below just to get some idea of shape etc: And this is a 1/48 (Classic Airframes) kit sitting on the 1/32 scale drawings for size comparison. My father flew them when he was a staff pilot at No. 24 Bombing and Gunnery School, Moffat, S Rhodesia in 1944/45 but this is the only photo that he took of one (they were so run of the mill and no worth bothering with I guess!): The original picture is only 40mm x 30mm and this is a crop of just one section, so detail is a bit vague. The colour scheme interests me, I think the front section and wings are probably the original silver but the aft section has been painted yellow when shipped to Rhodesia, though this little water-colour that Dad did shows them all yellow too: Time to have a detailed look through the bits and try to remember where I'd got to.

In the absence of a 1/32nd scale Harvard I I decided to convert Monogram's 1/48th offering using MDC's resin bits and pieces: I'm going to finish it as one that Dad flew in 1943 in S Rhodesia, in fact I thought it could have been him leaning against the forward edge of P5976 but an enquiry to the IWM told me that this picture was taken in 1941, before he went out there.

OK, I'll take the plunge (gulp)....a good excuse to start my CM Avro Anson vacuform. The chances of finding out which Anson(s) Brown flew are slim to zero so mine will probably be one of the ones that my father flew on a regular basis. I've built a couple of the Classic Airframes 1/48th Ansons and I also have an unbuilt one so I can use that as a reference and to scale up areas to our scale. It's a good job there's a long time frame on this GB! Max

I've just received the vacuform Anson that I ordered from Jeff at Combat Models - Parcelfarce managed to **** up the delivery and HMRC (bless them!) charged me import duties despite the fact that Jeff had put the correct code on the label to show that it was tax exempt, so I've got a battle with both to claim back the £22.00 that I had to stump up before delivery was possible, but that will doubtless be a continuing saga! The "kit" is pretty basic and will need a lot of scratch building to add details, both internally and on the wings and tailplanes to replicate, for instance the prominent rib effect, so this most certainly isn't going to be a quick build, nor will it be started until the Cornell is completed. (The Anson model is a Special Hobby 1/48th scale one, placed for size comparison). The engines look good as a starter though further detailing will be necessary. The "undercarriage" seems to be a generic design that CM use though neither the Cornell's nor the Anson's bear any resemblance whatsoever to the real ones. I think to overcome the fairly complex job of producing the Anson's u/c I'll build it wheels up in an inflight mode, though I'll have to get some Propblurs for it. I doubt I'll use much of the internal resin bits, I'll scratch build it all. This is a watercolour painting that Dad did when he was in Rhodesia so mine will be finished in this scheme. More when I start it in a while......a winter project I think! I have a fair amount of good reference material and when Tim (Wunwinglow) and I met for a coffee a couple of weeks ago he gave me some really valuable extra bits and pieces about Ansons, including the Air-Britain Anson file....thanks Tim, you're a star. Max

This is a kind of pre-emptive thread for a later WIP build, hopefully starting next month in case any further information might be available about PT26s, especially in the cockpit areas. The base model is the CM Cornell which broadly speaking looks to be OK but like all vacuformed kits has plenty of scope for improvement and detailing. This is how she will be finished: FV576 flown by my father on 20th October 1944 whilst at 24 Bombing, Gunnery and Navigation School at Moffat, S Rhodesia where he was a staff pilot. Though it doesn't appear so in this photograph, the finish will of course be trainer yellow. Any thoughts, comments, information and advice from experienced vacuform builders will be more than welcome!! Max