Stuart Porteous

;) I knew if I left it in the loft long enough someone would do decals for it ! Expect an order sir...

Not wishing to tread on Tim's toes given that I'm not even in this GB, but Lothar might be eligible under 5B if II(AC)'s primary role was photo-recce, which I think it was. I guess it would depend what primary role was declared to NATO at the time. I'll have a root around in my references if anyone thinks it would help, fairly sure I've got a magazine article on the history II Sqn somewhere.

I had a very nice mustard yellow Vauxhaul van once. (Ok it was strictly a Bedford but who cares ?). Mine said "British Rail" on the side and it came with the job. Nice job Darius, the TT18s are certainly eye-catching.

From what I remember of reading Brickhill's book a few times, (and without going rooting in the garage to find it), all the flying over the continent was done at low level, I can't remember if that included the transit over the North Sea or not. As regards Gibson's book not mentioning ventral turrets, as it was published in wartime it would be limited as to what details he could and could not include. Photos taken at the time will have been censored with various interesting dangly bits airbrushed out. If the photo is from an un-retouched negative then fair enough, if it's a facsimile of one

This is quite a complex field, but in general terms 90dB is too loud. Prolonged exposure at that level will eventually damage your hearing, the problem being that "prolonged" and "eventual" vary from one person to the next, and you don't know it's damaged until it's too late. In an industrial setting in the UK, 90db would require the use of containment (muffling around the machine) or ear defenders if containment was impractical. The noise level is that measured at your ear, not at the machine though. Mine kicks out about 85dB (according to the manufacturer's label, I haven't actually meas

Like this... Revell re-issued version with better decals. And yes, it's got trenches. Regards, Stuart.

Sounds like a Luneberg Lens (sp?), used (I think) to increase the Hawk's radar return so it looks like something bigger like a (insert name of current perceived air-air threat here..) and makes it easier for the F3 to find. I had assumed that towed gunnery targets went out with Canberras but if anyone knows the current position I would be happy to be corrected. Regards, Stuart.

What Andre said. I built mine as a quickie for the MB group build, the idea was to build it exactly as I would have done when I was 14 (except I couldn't leave the canopy alone). Stuart.

To be honest, the Matchbox kit is so rough anything involving resin or chopping up a decent kit for spares is a waste of either money or the donor kit. The Revell re-release has nice decals but that's as far as it goes. A couple of people on here have done wonders with it but it's a lot of work. You could take advantage of the fact that the Fujimi kit includes 'open' and 'closed' canopy options (mine did anyway). Use the 'closed' canopy to improve the MB kit and use the 'open' ones on the Fujimi kit. Which is what I did... Regards, Stuart.

CMSC figures have the SA80 and whatever the heavier bi-pod version of it is called, but they're way above the Revell figures in terms of quality. Good luck, Stuart.

As promised, part of the cover of the 1976 RAF Yearbook: I can make no comment on the accuracy or otherwise of Mr Hardy's research on this particular subject, except that in my experience it's usually very good. Stuart.

These are for starters, grainy photos of Condecs. I've got better than this but my scanner and I are about 40 miles away from my references during the week, I'll sort some more out over the holidays. Cheers, Stuart.

Based on a very hazy recollection of the 1976 or 1977 RAF Yearbook (which had a Hardy plan view of several types on the cover) I think they were red. I could be very very wrong here. If I can find the book over the holiday (it's packed away) I'll have a look. A brown RAF Herc is on my 'to do' list as well. Stuart.

Got this off the UK Mobile Air Movements Squadron site (I think, it was a while ago). Probably not much help but it gives you an idea of what they use. Most loading and unloading of Hercules seems to use Condec or Atlas transfer loaders, basically a flat bed with wheels underneath. If you fancy scratchbuilding one of these let me know and I'll post some more pics. As for available vehicles, Cararama for Land-Rovers, JB models for Bedford lorries and CMSC or BW Models for other stuff. Cheers, Stuart.

Nice to see this one being built. Watch out for the main undercarriage legs, it looks like it's stood on tiptoes if you use them as supplied. Stuart.