The Boscombe Reds

[norri]

Last of the ‘raspberry ripple’ series I started some time ago.





good time to christen my new detailing gun




whoops! stripe's the wrong width, have to do that again


XT 597 first flew in 1966 and was used in the initial carrier trials of the type aboard USS Coral Sea.





The aircraft served various test and calibration roles while in RAF service and appeared in 1983 at the IAT meet, Greenham Common painted in a 25th Anniversary livery.


After retirement from service it was turned over to the museum at Boscombe Down, but the museum was forced to move and this cast a cloud over the future of XT 597

due to the original procurement agreement that no F-4’s were to be disposed of to any non government organisation (main reason most UK F-4’s were scrapped). The paradox perhaps between quality mass production (over 5,100 were built) and the consumption driven society that spawned it

The museum at RAF Cosford seemed a likely home for it (XX 765 is preserved there), however it appears XT 597 will remain at Boscombe Down, despite the Museum being forced to move.

[MichaelB]

Excellent work! You are a very confident builder to put your piece side by side with a photo of the real thing!
...and well you could...very nice execution!
Michael
Houston

[norri]

thanks Michael, glad you like it.

never really thought of it that way. the original post was on a site where most of the members are not aviation minded, so provided a pic of the real thing merely for confirmation the livery actually existed.

[grwebster]

Guy, great work. Among the best repurposed toy models I have seen.
An old TPN member Hans Nesbitt did some ERTL Force One models in unusual finishes and similar qulaity, but much less complicated schemas- here are some:

[norri]

thanks GR, both of the fulcrum pics you posted (are they?) look really good.

[richardstarr]

NORRI,
I REALLY, REALLY LIKE YOUR COLOURFUL RASPBERRY RIPPLE [RED, WHITE, AND BLUE] DINKY
PHANTOM, DINKY JAGUAR, DINKY TORNADO. THESE FAR EXCEED ANYTHING I HAVE DONE WITH MY
METAL POLISH.

I STILL LIKE TO POLISH OLD RUSTY JET AIRPLANES ESPECIALLY, INCLUDING SOME OF THE TEKNO JETS,
THE LONESTAR COMET IV, SOME OF THE RUSTY FOMAER 48TH SCALE JETS.
SOMETIMES I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING A RUSTY OLD JET.

YOU HAVE A DEFINITE TALENT. YOU CAN TURN A RUSTY AIRPLANE INTO AN ABSOLUTE BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ART.
MANY THANKS FOR POSTING YOUR BEAUTIFUL COLOUR PICTURES.

REGARDS, RICHARD STARR

[grwebster]

Guy, Should you ever decide to sell one of your Dinky recreations I would be honored to include one in my collection

[norri]

many thanks Richard, comments greatly appreciated,

regards norri

[norri]

Guy, Should you ever decide to sell one of your Dinky recreations I would be honored to include one in my collection

very kind of you to say GR.

tell me which one you want and i'll restore one for you. F-4's are easy, i've got lots of playworn ones hanging around. the tough bit is making up the decals (i can't print white), so have to have them made to order or find them online.

Jugs for example are tough. just finding a playworn example online is getting more and more difficult, much less sorting decals.

i currently have a fairly good range of US Navy decals to hand, so they're easier.

did you have something specific in mind?