Quote from: chrisonord on October 05, 2025, 02:19:53 PMVery nice job on the AW 169 Martin. I have one on the bench at the moment that I am slowly picking away at. Mine is going to be a dedicated photo recce bird with fuselage mounted cameras in the nose and tail cone. It will be painted Hemp over light aircraft grey like the Canberra PR 9's, and have a similar service life.

And longer wings? 

Quote from: PR19_Kit on October 06, 2025, 01:14:41 AM

Quote from: chrisonord on October 05, 2025, 02:19:53 PMVery nice job on the AW 169 Martin. I have one on the bench at the moment that I am slowly picking away at. Mine is going to be a dedicated photo recce bird with fuselage mounted cameras in the nose and tail cone. It will be painted Hemp over light aircraft grey like the Canberra PR 9's, and have a similar service life.

And longer wings? 

Unfortunately no Kit, it relies on speed and altitude to keep it safe, bit like an economy SR-71.

Quote from: scautomoton on October 05, 2025, 02:35:01 PMNice one Martin. I look forward to seeing it at SMW.

And maybe @chrisonord s too?.....

Unfortunately, I can't get to SMW as I can't leave the dog for that length of time.

The first builds of 2026 are finaly done. Ive been working slowly on these since just before the last Telford gathering back in November.

First up An Anigrand kit




This is the Columbia JL-1. A failed contender to replace the old Grumman Duck. She isnt small, shes almost as big as a TBM.
Kit built OOB with a new paint job using Hataka paints and decals robbed from a very, very old modeldecal sheet for a Hellcat.....

And then a 3d printed kit.



A Supermarine type 559 interceptor for the OR F155 requirement. In the markings of 85sqn RAF some time in the mid 1970's
This is a 3d printed kit from an Ebay seller from France. I have had a number of his other offerings all of which are rather nice but every fragile. Apart from the under carriage this one is a little more robust and whent together quite nicley. detail on this model is very limited, compared to Scautomoton's kits. Which are leaps and bounds ahead of this on quality. despite that it was a pleasent build experiance.
im not a fan of the under carriage as the main gear is very thin and i expect it to break quite easily, and the nose gear is way to long. you would think this bird is set for a launch off the Ark Royal! as a result ive made sure the Red Deans mounted up top are removeable so this beast can be transported upside down. Oh! and that dirty great belly tank is a full on droptank that is held in place by friction alone.
I suspect in the end I will be robbing replacement gear from one of the TSR-2 kits in my stash.......
Paint job is a mix of Halfords Nissan silver for the undersides and Hataka for the dark sea Grey/ Dark green upper surfaces. Decals from various providers including from one of the old free sheets that came with the early SAM magazines...........namely the 85 sqn badge and bars on the tail fins. The other sqns marking came from a Model Alliance Canberra set that had been passed to me  by Thorvic. The rest is a mix of xtradecal for the national markings and the serials came from the remains of the decals from one of the Freightdog Saro SR177's that ive built over the years.

That Columbia's a big beast! The main gear legs must be the longest ever used on a single engine aircraft! 

Looks great though, like a monoplane Grumman Duck. 

I do like those Martin, especially the Columbia.  You've done a great job with the camo in particular 

Deffo a Duck/Avenger hybrid 

What a contrast in power to weight ratios! 

Both pretty in their own, very different ways. Nice one, Martin! 

Quote from: kitbasher on April 14, 2026, 06:25:26 AMDeffo a Duck/Avenger hybrid 

How about a Duck/Corsair bash?