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Hi Folks haven’t posted any builds for a while life’s detritus just taking the Mo from my Jo!!!!! But there is one plane that will get me back on the hobby horse every time - This is the first model plane I ever bought at the tender age of 6 years. Think my Dad was shocked at my choice as he was expecting me to go for the Spitfire. So home with the Airfix 1/72 box in my sticky paw’s. With my Dad, we spent all that weekend putting it together. Painting and sticking the stickers on. We didn’t know about varnish in those days so these promptly came off on the first bath time mission! Very happy memories and days! Nearly splashed on the big 1/32 version. Glad I didn’t because if someone of Brian’s skill has struggled with it. Then I wouldn’t have stood a snowballs!! So I was really chuffed when Airfix announced that they where making a 1/48th updated version of the Steam Pigeon. Couldn’t wait and managed to bag a bargain at Telford last year - 5 quid cheaper than Airfix was offering. To good to turn it down…… honest!!!! And thats the only reason I went for it - truth! So finally started this baby about 4 months ago and have slowly been bashing away on it. Its funny with all the fuss about the kit and its build-ability plus the way it was literary flying of the shelf's at Telford. I was expecting to see loads of builds going on. But it does look like not many are being built - or people are just not posting them. So enough waffle - no pictures …… It didn’t happen so lets get it going. Bring on the Steam Pigeon. The compulsory box and additions pic - do like the box art This is one of the new gene Airfix kits - Wow the thing fits together well! No glue holding it - and you can pick it up Cool ! Lots of very - very - very tiny bits of Brass all folded and glued into place. The kit details is pretty good and as most of this is going to be hid and never seen again - not sure I’d bother next time as I fed the carpet monster quite well with bits!!!!! I am following a bloke on BM who is also building one and his recommendation was to tape up the glue surfaces before painting. This is because the fit is very tight and even a thin layer of paint will cause you fit problems. Ask me how I know! I have had to do some bodge and scarp on this project …… problems of my own making! Yeah got some paint on her. Hummmmm liking that - also started some of the weathering of the interior. Moved on to the power egg One thing I would recommend if your air frame has different colours is paint the struts and legs before you seel it up. What a nightmare to mask and paint Hummmmm thought I had some shots of the finished egg and engine - but can’t find them now. So move on So back with more in a min Cheers - Taff

The journey of thousands and thousands of miles………………………. It truly has been. I've wanted to build a large scale Walrus for years, and when HpH announced theirs I was in heaven! I never had the upfront cash to buy one outright from the likes of Hannants, (where it was over-priced) so I started looking at the LSP trader forums at the start of the year. Thanks to ErigG, a good mate of his and his want for a rare DH Comet of mine, I finally got an HpH Supermarine Walrus of my own! The VERY long journey of this kit started as the kit was built in the Czech Republic, and then shipped to Hannants in the UK for distribution: Czech Rebublic to UK = 548 Nautical Miles / 1017 Kilometers Next, it was purchased by ErigGs mate in Australia: UK to Australia = 9,459 Nautical Miles / 15223 Kilometers The kit was then purchased by me, from Erics mate Che: Australia to US = 9,445 Nautical Miles / 15201 Kilometers So all in all, this Walrus is quite and world traveler, having traversed more than 19,400 nautical miles to get to my doorstep from whence it was created. Neat! Having just finished up a “quickie†feel good type WIP build, I thought long about what to start next. I got out a my vac T-cat………………….then did the same thing I always do with it, and that's get it out, look at it, then promptly decide it would be WAY too much work to get right, and put it back. Got out my Tam P-51, but just wasn't feeling it, and would have needed to order wet transfers for the foil part…………..so I put it back too. Then I walked by the small pile of kits in my PC room, not yet put away in my basement stash area. Buried 2nd from the top was the inconspicuous box for the Walrus. I had SO much fun putting my last WIP/bipe together, that this one really spoke to me, and I do think its time for a major one, which this WIP will definitely be. Although the kit decals have been reported to be very good, I (of course) just cant leave things alone, and have to make this one a bit different from the OOB scheme. Ian @ Ad Astra made me a set of custom masks for the Walrus from a Walrus based off of the HMS Cumberland, painted for “Operation Torch†in 1942. For those that don't know, Op –Torch (initially called operation Gymnast) was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of WWII which started on 8 November 1942. This will be the fairly standard seen Walrus 4 camo pattern on top, with shadow shading on the lower upper surfaces, and sky on the undersides. The Operation Torch markings were painted on the British aircraft, using older US roundels: This was due to the Allies believing that the Vichy French forces would not fight, partly because they harbored suspicions that the Vichy French navy would bear a grudge over the British action at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940, so they over-painted any visible British markings with older style US markings. Any of you familiar with HpH will know of their high standard of quality and especially detail, but for those that are not as familiar, I will give a quick run down of what we get in the box. Let's get started and see what we have then!