Flixton Aviation Museum

Hello There! After moving to the border of Norfolk and Suffolk, I am now very close to the above museum. I visited it in the 1990's and I found it has taken on a much bigger presence on the same site.

The main thing that caught my eye was the replica of the Colditz Cock. This was based on information from the British in mates of Colditz Castle. This exhibit was built for a Channel 4 program and has been shown to be able to fly. Unfortunately there is only one photograph of the original and when Russia took over that part of Germany, after the war, it was never seen again.

The skin of the aircraft was made from mattress covers stretched across the frame and stiffened by covering in a dope glue. This was similar to aircraft from WW I

Further around the museum was a post was Austin Champ. I knew a garage owner and magistrate, in Great Yarmouth, when I was a teen ager and he had one of these in storage in his garage!

Further around was a Morris, Mk1, light recon car. this was in very good condition.

Next a British paratroop Wel bike.

Now a bit of a trip down memory lane. You cannot imagine the feeling of seeing an aircraft that you spent ten years of military service supporting and find it as a museum exhibit. It makes you feel very old indeed.

There are a number of side rooms holding a number of exhibits from the Second World War. Here are a number of aisles of aircraft parts both donated and recovered from crash sites. 

Thee are also a number of completed models showing various aircraft which had flown from the many airfields that existed in East Anglia. 

Another building housed exhibits connected to the American groups and squadrons that were also based around East Anglia.

I have seen silk escape maps in other museums but although this one was in pieces it was closer to the cabinet glass that what I have seen before.

Spoils of war are available through many centuries and here is something from the Falklands War. I also found one of these, sitting in a hangar, when I spent some time in the Falkland Islands.

This Phantom was also given the markings of a plane that served in the Falkland Islands post war.

In yet another building there was a museum to the RAF air sea rescue service and Coastal Command Museum.

In the corner of one room there was a mock up of a model making room. This had models from a long time period and also bought a few memories back.

The number of times I went to the local toy shop to buy another Matchbox two or three colour kit, to make over the weekend.

This room extended to a display of old models

The Second world war exhibits included a few cabinets of German memorabilia

I have an equivalent presentation, given to me after I had served in the Falkland Islands

Here are a selection of incendiary bombs

A number of Dinky toys, or equivalent are also on display

Lastly a model of the Air Naval Station which was on the South denes in Great Yarmouth. The last remaining building from this station was demolished while building the new outer harbour.

Over all this is well worth a visit, for the diversity of exhibits and periods of aviation and conflict covered. I would recommend a visit.

Battle of Almanza, In Napoleonics

Hello There! The New Buckenham Historical wargamers club recently played a large weekend game.

Based on the Battle of Almanza, (1707), was fought using figures from a number of club members Napoleonic figures. 

Using the Shako II Napoleonic rules, with club modifications, a large number of club members played or visited during the day.

Here are some lovely photos of some of the figures involved.

You can find more pictures of the game on the New Buckenham clubs Facebook page here.

Modular Scenery Storage Rack

Hello There. After making all this terrain I was beginning to find that I was rapidly running out of space to work. I had some space in the cabin to put up a rack system so that the standard size tiles could be slid away safely until use.

Here is the terrain so far. There will be scenery suitable for the desert and North West Europe, (which shall also double for the American Civil War and Napoleonics).

The far right hand side has terrain which is awaiting it covering of flock while most of the middle column is desert.

The far left is the small 300mm x 600mm tiles with some 300mm x 300mm doubled up one tile behind the other.

I painted the rack 'Victory Green' from the Frenchic range, in keeping with some of the other book shelves in the cabin.

While most of the shelves, (each shelf has two runners of 19mm x 19mm planed timber to hold the edges of each terrain piece), and are equally spaced, the railway embankment on the top of the narrower column has required the shelves to be spaced further apart.

Also the first part of the desert wadi was heavy at either side of the tile but had no support in its centre, so had to have an extra bar across the front of the rack to support it. 

This impromptu project was swiftly completed and has allowed me to continue to build scenery os a large cleared table.

Desert Terrain Drop on Rocks Part One

Hello there! In the past I have scattered loose Cotwold Buff stone chippings on my desert boards, which has taken a long time to tidy up afterwards.

For this terrain system I decided to make things a little easier on myself by making some drop on terrain items.

The smaller stones are Cotwold Buff chippings again while the larger pieces came from an aquarium shop many years ago, (Yes another, Just in case I need it' item).

The think I liked about the larger rock outcrops was that they had a subtle ping vein in them and looked very 'desert wind blown' so suitable for my needs. I can also add a subtle spray of a suitable colour to mimic this on other items.

I have not painted the bases of these yet, as I will paint them all together with the rest of the desert terrain.

Modular Terrain Part Three

Hello There! As you will see I have been busy building up the terrain for the desert. The last blog post on the modular terrain is here. Since then I have built a number of scenic tiles and a rack to store it on safely.

The plain flat tiles do have some subtle folds in the ground to provide a potential hull down situation for any tanks used in games. The tiles are 600mm x 600mm with some of the slopes and flat areas being 600mm x 300mm and 300mm x 300mm.

The sides are timber and square so they butt up to each other. The base in 3.6mm thick plywood.

Once the styrofoam is glued in place and dry it is then sculpted with a Stanley surform. Then the bigger gaps in the foam and around the edges of the foam and timber edges are filled with a small amount of tile adhesive and allowed to dry overnight.

I do this as applying on thick coat of tile adhesive, and filling the gaps at the same time takes many days to set hard. 

The complete surface is then covered in tile adhesive and spread evenly using a wide blade scraper. To ensure the surface is smooth I then used a 2" wide, wet paint brush to gently smooth out any raised points. 

If you require the surface of the tile to be flat, I used the edge of a steel rule to draw across the surface. The above illustration is a sloping tile and I wanted the surface to be level.

Next a layer of watered down PVA glue was applied over the whole surface and various combinations of fine gravel, sand and sawdust was applied to the surface and allowed to dry. This may take a couple of nights, depending on temperature.. When this has dried thoroughly then I shall paint.

I am now up to the painting part and will describe that in parrt four.