The Big Question ?

[Lipo Man]

20 minutes ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

Now , regarding chosen colour schemes . I have negotiated a bulk price for a full set of Crosses and Swastikas x25 . The cost per set will be £17.80 .

You don't have to say if you want them until I have your kit ready to send .

Graham R is going to do the individual coloured numbers, and  they will go in an envelope afterwards , for a few quid and the cost of a stamp . 

However , I am gambling on a few people doing the same scheme, as he will not be best pleased if he gets 25 different requests . 

Obviously , my chosen Red 23 will be an option . A black and white chevron as squadron leader is also possible . 

If you do find yourself looking at an obscure scheme , the numbers can be cut from solartrim , which is what I did on the prototype . Just depends how confident you are 

 

Just to share my plan (and to allow people to point out any fatal flaws - I'm new to this kind of build) I'm intending to do a different scheme to most, and so the idea is to print my own water-slide decals on my home inkjet printer.  I did it on my TN Hawker Hunter (the only balsa build I've done so far) and they came out OK - picture below.

I'm optimistic they will do the trick - but also well aware I might be wrong!

[RICHARD WILLS]

1 hour ago, Lipo Man said:

Just to share my plan (and to allow people to point out any fatal flaws - I'm new to this kind of build) I'm intending to do a different scheme to most, and so the idea is to print my own water-slide decals on my home inkjet printer.  I did it on my TN Hawker Hunter (the only balsa build I've done so far) and they came out OK - picture below.

I'm optimistic they will do the trick - but also well aware I might be wrong!

Looks excellent . I havent tried printing waterslide decals , but it would be the obvious solution to squadron badges etc . Do they fade with the sun ?

[HENRY GELSTHORPE]

52 minutes ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

Looks excellent . I havent tried printing waterslide decals , but it would be the obvious solution to squadron badges etc . Do they fade with the sun ?

Surely not a big problem in the UK🤪

[Eric Robson]

1 hour ago, HENRY GELSTHORPE said:

Surely not a big problem in the UK🤪

They wash off in the rain🙂

[John Timmis]

Just confirming my order. One 190 & one Tempest please.

[Lipo Man]

3 hours ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

Do they fade with the sun ?

Not yet! And in this country, that’s not a significant risk… 😂

[Lipo Man]

1 hour ago, Eric Robson said:

They wash off in the rain🙂

Clear varnish over the top…

[Eric Robson]

39 minutes ago, Lipo Man said:

Clear varnish over the top…

Tongue in cheek remark about the weather. 

[Steve Houghton]

Hi Richard,

Just to confirm my recent PMs with you, please could I ask for a Tempest when they become available?

I have joined in several of the PSS mass builds, and a 'noisy-ish' one would make a nice change. Looking forward to supporting british business as well.

 

Steve

[RICHARD WILLS]

Welcome aboard Steve . I will add your name to the list . The Fw190 will be kitted and ready to send before Christmas and the Tempest is scheduled to be released in January.

I have designed the Tempest but the files for cutting the kit need to be finalised . I will then build the first one here on the forum. 

The Tempest will follow a similar path to the Fw 190, in that I will also demonstrate how to paint it using the most basic tools . 

Spinners and decal sets will also be available . 

[martin collins 1]

Gonna be a bit bare under my Christmas Tree Richard 😢. Us Tempest boys will have to work extra fast to get ours scrambled before the Huns come out of the sun! Understand you only have one pair of hands and have to take up the slack from those two backroom boys, tell Sweep to get off the phone to Soo and pitch in 😉

[RICHARD WILLS]

The Tempest will be worth the wait Martin . I remember when I  introduced the first one back in 2000 , I was really surprised at the response . 

Production time from a standing start is a lot longer than most people think , partly because the actual kit cutters in this country (and worldwide ) are a handful of fully booked artisans . Consequently , you have to tread carefully with what you ask them for as you dont want to squander your slot . 

To take the pressure off of my good old friend Phill , who cuts my kits , I have enlisted Paul Johnson to to convert all of my pieces for the Tempest into 3D cad in order that we can present Phill with a simple "press button and print " option . 

It still doesn't get round the fact that Phil, will be making perhaps 30 Fw190s for me and goodness knows what else for Mr Foss , Pegasus , Darren(fun fighters ) and my old buddy Paul Bardoe (Bullets ) All before the man in red kick starts the reindeer  . 

The main thing is that during the miserable months of January and February , a sizeable group will be able to enjoy the experience of immersing ourselves in our won little world with view to getting these little rascals up in the spring . 

"Rock on Tommy !"

[martin collins 1]

30 FW's that is a good number Richard, i reckon the number of Tempest orders will rise significantly once the prototype is unveiled in its painted splendour. Hopefully you will see the whole 'Big question' project as a success, if a whole load of us can get together next year and get some magazine and internet coverage you may find more orders for a second batch for those that missed the boat on this forum the first time. Considering these have not been advertised to the masses, just on here and through word of mouth i think you have exceeded the number i would have guessed at. Having bought some of your kits before i know we are all in for a treat once we open the boxes and comit glue to wood. 😁

[Graham Bowers]

2 hours ago, martin collins 1 said:

...........................................if a whole load of us can get together next year and get some magazine and internet coverage...........................................

I wonder if Buckminster would be reasonably placed ?

[RICHARD WILLS]

Can you book the weather in advance ?😐

[Ron Gray]

3 hours ago, Graham Bowers said:

I wonder if Buckminster would be reasonably placed ?

Sit tight for an announcement soon about a 'Best of British' get together at Bucko.

[Ron Gray]

Another FW 190 for me please Richard (for a first time builder in my club).

[RICHARD WILLS]

Blimey Ron , well done . 

You're smashing it !

All the new chaps having a go is really excellent . 

Interesting also . I have been putting a foamie shock flyer kit together under protest because our club has started hiring a big hall and I dont have time for anything else . 

If assembling that kind of kit was my introduction to "building " , I would never have got started . 

The fittings are not even worthy of a Christmas Cracker and the materials would have gone in the recycling bin . The instructions are worse than Ikea and mostly in French . 

I could have learnt more from two decent photos . 

Its wooden kits for me if possible I'm afraid . 

[GrumpyGnome]

Don't know what kit it was, but the Twisted Hobbies kits are great...... fly brilliantly too.

[Nigel Dell]

Having been lurking since nice the start of this thread and really interested in what Richard is doing to get people involved I thought whilst waiting yet another hospital appointment to just add my support to it. I am not sure I can get involved although I do want to but feel a bit of a fraud as I still have an La7, me110 and 109 still in their boxes, I desperately wanted to start the 109 as I have all the decals etc for a rendition of Frank Stiegler’s 109 but I just have not been able to do much on the modelling front in the last good while, still have a project for the Laser 200 inline twin which I had got to covering stage very quickly then hit a brick wall with the news of my wife’s health issues so I will quietly support from the sidelines, for me the tempest would probably get my vote although the 190 in a winter scheme would be very hard to pass up. Probably be a good thing to kick start me again but can’t face yet another box to store.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Nigel Dell

[gillyg1]

Hi Nigel

Yes I'm the same as in kits in the loft. P51B, 63" Hurricane, & 63 " LA7.

Plus  TN beaufighter, so like you. Having to rein it in for christmas, expensive time of year for me, having built the 55" LA7, and 110. Can thoroughly recommend Richards quality productions and after service. So thinking / waiting to see the tempest, after xmas, probably build it as i/c though. Don't want to "miss the boat" as the kits are produced to order 👍

Cheers Graham ( Cornwall)

ps long way to Buckminster for me 🤔

 

[David Davis 2]

42 minutes ago, gillyg1 said:

Hi Nigel

Yes I'm the same as in kits in the loft. P51B, 63" Hurricane, & 63 " LA7.

Plus  TN beaufighter, so like you. Having to rein it in for christmas, expensive time of year for me, having built the 55" LA7, and 110. Can thoroughly recommend Richards quality productions and after service. So thinking / waiting to see the tempest, after xmas, probably build it as i/c though. Don't want to "miss the boat" as the kits are produced to order 👍

Cheers Graham ( Cornwall)

ps long way to Buckminster for me 🤔

 

 

I've put my name down for a Tempest because Mr Wheeler, a man who used to live at the end of our street, used to fly one.

 

Graham, I'm in the same position as you and Nigel! I've a Warbirds Replica Hurricane still in its box, ditto a Stampe Monitor, a Supra Fly, and a Super Kaos Junior. Then there's that Flying Flea that my late best friend started twenty-one years ago, the Bristol Blenheim that I took over eight years ago, a part-built BE2e and a DSM Aerostar which I am renovating. I also plan to build a 1/4 scale Fokker Triplane and I need to repair the club's Seagull Boomerang and my Baron! On top of all that I am finishing off a Galaxy Models Mystic.

 

At seventy-five I have no serious health issues... perhaps if I didn't like a drink so much...😄

[RICHARD WILLS]

I think the thing is , we are all dragging a trawler net of half finished projects along . But that can be quite isolating because we all have different tastes and requirements in terms of size , flying field quality , transport etc . 

Th great thing about these "Keep it simple " kits is that you can feel part of something . 

To that end I think its important that once the kits start landing on the door step (or hung from the nearest tree if Hermes delivered) , then we all try to post a little on the site. Any tips , short cuts or muck ups (we all do them ) will help and amuse those following . 

It is easy to feel isolated as a builder nowadays , which is where this forum comes in very handy . Even though we are spread from Cornwall to Scotland , we all take the same language . ( Apart from the Welsh , bless them ) 

Regarding a group meet next year , I would be up for driving the 3.5 hour journey to BMFA HQ at Bucko . Lets face it , where else would I see so many of my designs in one place ?

[leccyflyer]

Great points Richard - when my FW190 arrives it will go right to the top of the project list, which currently has in excess of 25 projects "on the go" - in order to be part of the Mass BUild and gain the benefits of that collective experience.  

 

As regards a meet, it's about six hours non-stop from here but I'd be willing to make the effort and have never visited BMFA HQ before- it would be nice if it were some time around the 80th anniversary of D-Day, but I fully expect that weekend to be an extremely busy one, so probably not all that easy to achieve.

[gillyg1]

Well i do happen to have a campervan so it is a possibilty, even though it would be a 6hr or so drive for me, 🤔