Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

[AndrewR]

Was the nose oleo too weak to take the ballast weight? I ask as I have a Matchbox MiG-21 in my display cabs that I hardly dare move for that reason as the nose oleo wobbles alarmingly and in fact I'm surprised that it hasn't buckled of its own accord over the course of time!

The oleo was pretty stout, but the locating peg was pretty feeble. Plus, I tried to drill the locating hole out, and ran into the lead weight in the nose

Meanwhile, the Hood is going to need a little respray where the deck housing doesn't fit.

[skypirate]

Terrific Corsair, Andrew!
And what scale is the Hood? Those veneer decks are a natural choice.
Have you read the book 'Pursuit' by Ludovic Kennedy? The inside story on hunting the Bismarck. Top read, full of stuff I didn't know. Highly recommended.

cheers,

David

[AndrewR]

Terrific Corsair, Andrew!
And what scale is the Hood? Those veneer decks are a natural choice.
Have you read the book 'Pursuit' by Ludovic Kennedy? The inside story on hunting the Bismarck. Top read, full of stuff I didn't know. Highly recommended.

cheers,

David

It's the Trumpeter 1/700 kit. There are two versions, for the 1931 or the 1941 versions. This is the 1931 version.

I did read "Pursuit", but it was probably about thirty years ago!

[PGAS]

Great looking Corsair. I like the markings and one day would like to try Hampton Gray's aircraft. I am also impressed with the Hood. The wooden deck really adds to the life of the model.

Enjoy the sunny weekend in Ottawa. Gorgeous day!

[AndrewR]

Great looking Corsair. I like the markings and one day would like to try Hampton Gray's aircraft. I am also impressed with the Hood. The wooden deck really adds to the life of the model.

Enjoy the sunny weekend in Ottawa. Gorgeous day!

Some genius in Exam Scheduling put my final exam on a Saturday afternoon
So now I have 100 exams to mark.

[AndrewR]

And after a total mojo loss, here is my late entry into the Mustang GB.

The base kit was the Airfix new tool P-51D kit, with Ventura decals for 77 Squadron RAAF. The aircraft was based in Japan in 1947.




It's a nice kit to build. Not quite as well engineered as the Tamiya equivalent, but much cheaper and has a dropped flap option.

[AndrewR]

And here is the finished article.








Next up: I am the (Matchbox) Walrus

[ShaunW]

Good to see you back building Andrew and that is a very nice Mustang. The dropped flap option is very useful IMHO as it is common to see P-51s with the flaps down when parked up.

[jssel]

Great looking 'stang

[AndrewR]

Good to see you back building Andrew and that is a very nice Mustang. The dropped flap option is very useful IMHO as it is common to see P-51s with the flaps down when parked up.

When the hydraulic pressure drops, so do the flaps. I think the Airfix kit is the only one with that option.

[AndrewR]

Great looking 'stang

Thanks Jeff. On the next one, I am going to work on the NMF more. I didn't do anything to the panel lines, just left the kit as it came, and they've turned out well at viewing distance.

[jssel]

Just a correction Andrew. As the hydraulic pressure bleeds off the inner landing gear doors droop. The flaps are set from the cockpit. But it a great feature by Airfix.

[Zen]

Beautiful Stang, looks great with those markings!

[skypirate]

Lovely Mustang in Aussie markings.
How did the Ventura decals behave?

cheers,

David

[AndrewR]

Lovely Mustang in Aussie markings.
How did the Ventura decals behave?

cheers,

David

Pretty well. Not as thin as more modern printings, and the carrier film needs trimming a lot.

Right, after a huge amount of time off, I'm finally able to do something again. I need a fresh start, so here's the Airfix A4 new tool.


It's going to be OOB, as the aircraft from the USS Intrepid. It will end up with Graham, as he's actually been on the Intrepid, which is now moored in New York, as a museum.

So far, I've sprayed a little grey in the cockpit, white in the intake trunking and gunmetal on the jet pipe.



The cockpit interior has had another coat of paint, and I've put together the jet pipe, drop tank and inlet trunking.