Into this (Dec 1974 scheme)
Firstly I'd like to acknowledge Wally for his big contribution to this project supplying not only the kit, but also the amazing custom decals. Thanks sooooooo much Wally for your help on something that is rather dear to me. VH-TFE is a Fokker F.27-1002. It went through many operators and was finally scrapped in 1996
1 such operator was DCA (Dept of Civil Aviation) This aircraft has special significance for me as 40 years ago on the 25th Dec 1974 Cyclone Tracy smashed the crap outta Darwin. I was only 1 yr 4 mths old at the time and our house was totalled like the rest of Darwin. On the 27th Dec my late Mum and I, along with 37 other people were evacuated to Alice Springs on this very aircraft. It was crewed by Val Trevethan, Pete De Rouffignac and John Laming of the Department of Civil Aviation Flying Unit. I don't remember the trip at all due to my age, but as last Xmas was the 40th anniversary of Tracy, it still haunts me to this day. I hadn't really thought too much about how we got out of Darwin until recently. It's a bit hard to ask Mum (RIP) but my Dad has given me quite a bit of info. He doesn't know how Mum and I got to Adelaide while he stayed in Darwin to help with running the vital airport. I normally don't really build stuff because of a story behind it but more cos I just like the subject. I guess this one is just a tad personal to me. I'm gonna take my time with this one as I want to do the best job I can on it. In saying that, I don't want it to drag on for eons either. The kit of choice (haha as if there's a choice 
)is the 1960 mould from AIrfix. Oh my how things have changed for the better. It's an OOB build with a few inclusions. The previously mentions WallyDecs decals, scribing the panel lines, white metal main gear and a few corrections that I'm still trying to get my head around. As Wally's decals have decals for pax windows I'll paint the windscreen black as well that way it all matches. Oh and I can't screw up the interior either 
I gotta say for a 1/72 model it's rather big. Hope it fits in the cabinet 
Anyways I'd better get this started. Cheers 
P.S. Any tips you guys have for building this beast would be greatly appreciated
Not surprising really given it's age. So far I've got the cargo and pax doors in with a little shimming to get them flush with the rest of the fuse. I've also got the nose halves attached to the fuse halves and man are they a crap fit. To prevent it being a tail sitter I've added bulkheads to contain the lead shot from shotgun shells. I've recently discovered that the shot in some shotgun shells is rather small and perfect for adding nose weight. Being a lot smaller that split shot sinkers you can fit more in the same space and hence more weight 
I have taped the fuse halves together and bloody hell the nose shape is TERRIBLE. You'll see what I mean in the pics. Once the fuse is closed up I see a lot of filling and sanding in my future 
) that I've ever done. I'm actually rather enjoying it. I'm certainly not an anal retentive rivet counter by any stretch of the imagination but I'm having fun with a few corrections. 1 thing I'd like to try an do is the bulbous fairings behind the elevators cos they're a bit prominent on the F-27. This is what I mean
