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Adam Poultney

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About Adam Poultney

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  1. Just thought I'd post up this that I did as a practice question for part for GCSE English Language a while ago. I just found the original copy of it and typed it up, making a few modifications. It's about a Boulton Paul Defiant being shot down. It's probably not realistic, but it scored marks (the formatting was a lot better in Word) - - - Lost - - - Darkness engulfed the world. Alone now, yes, I was alone. The last of the crackling tongues of flaming fuel finally extinguished. I was lost without allies, the only survivor of a ravaging attack by German Zerstörergeschwader of Bf110 heavy fighters. My aircraft’s gunner had died quickly and brutally. A screaming stream of burning death tore through the exposed turret. His last anguished scream still echoes in my mind. My wounded aircraft surreptitiously stole through the unknown November sky like a predator in shallow water, the constant hum of the Merlin engine my only comfort in the murky clear night far above the low cloud cover. All I could do was hope not to be spotted. With the gunner dead, the Boulton Paul Defiant was entirely defenceless. I was entirely lost, I didn’t know which direction led home and which led into the open jaws of the Third Reich. Did it even matter? My shredded aircraft was a flying coffin, the slow countdown of the altimeter counting what time I had left until I inevitably hit the ground. Then chaos descended. The first I knew of them was a streak of shining tracer rounds spearing in from behind, just off their mark by mere inches. A cacophony of shells lit up the night sky, 20mm cannon shells stung the air, bright tracers slashing burning lines across my vision. Behind me, somewhere, were enemy aircraft. Full of adrenaline, cold sweat ran down my forehead, my gunner’s shattered turret was just dead weight, obscuring what little view there was from the cramped cockpit that was feeling evermore like a coffin. As I desperately gathered every scrap of power from the damaged engine, a new foreboding symphony arose. Not the noble roar of the Rolls Royce Merlin, but the shrill shriek of a swarm of German DB601 engines, the distinctive power plant of the Luftwaffe’s frontline fighter, the Messerschmitt Bf-109. It was in every conceivable way superior to my stricken and defenceless aircraft. Death’s flaming lances pierced my wings, the German fangs tearing away chunks of bent metal, a fatal timpani played by the guns of the Messerschmitts heralding my impending undoing. Struggling to grip the shaking controls, I rolled into a screaming dive. How much more could the stressed monocoque construction take before disintegrating? So far, the Defiant was living up to its name. Having little choice, I decided to bail out. Levelling out the wounded aircraft, with the right wing now lit up by dancing flames, I unbuckled my harness. With a crash like the crack of a whip, shells obliterated what was left of the spluttering engine, crushing the roar of the merlin and giving way to a blinding curtain of acrid smoke. The engine’s final cough of life was a death knell. I turned to get a better view of my pursuers, the hunters drawing in on their prey for the final bite. Another burst of shells exploded through the canopy sending shattered shards of glass slicing through cokpit, cutting my face like a thousand tiny knives. I tried to wrench open the broken canopy framing, but latest assault had jammed it shut. With increasingly sweaty hands, I tried desperately to force it open, but my efforts were futile. The freezing wind just taunted me to leave the falling coffin, knowing that I couldn’t. Somehow, despite the catastrophic damage, the altimeter showed that the aircraft was maintaining an altitude of one thousand, five hundred feet. The torn wing forcing me to jam the rudder pedals down to the left to avoid spinning to my death. The relief did not last long. With the engine joining the dead weight of the turret, I could not retain airspeed and altitude. One was traded for the other. In the dead of night, I could not make out the ground and I was falling like a bird shot out of the sky. Realising the inevitable, panic took control. This was it. This was the end. There was no way out. Trapped…. Still trapped, nailed alive into my flying grave. I clawed at the shattered canopy, trying in vain to pry it open. The altimeter was spinning, faster and faster and faster, accelerating downwards. I had to keep one aching hand on the controls avoid flipping over. Trees. Trees, tall and white with winter snow pierced the horizon; the otherwise smooth landscape became an ocean of towering fangs. German pine met British metal. The battered razor wings cut through the upper branches with easy. The flaps, I should have deployed them! Too late. I tried to lower them regardless, in the hope that it might reduce my speed enough to survive the impact. The sky turned dark as the moon disappeared behind the evergreen leaves, this was it. A hideous scream of stained and broken metal heralded the destruction of the right wing, being ripped from the fuselage at the root. The aircraft spun onto its side, plummeting through the dense forest. I saw the ground appearing airborne above me, snow rising downwards, glistening with the final rays of shattered moonlight. I became aware of soft tears falling up my face, and felt the blunt sorrow of my fate, experiencing both the happiest and most tragic moments of my life in a fleeting instant. Seeing the small photo of my family pinned to the instrument panel, the ground rose to meet me. Darkness engulfed my world. * * * Light. I see light. And pain, I feel that too. A warm amber glow illuminates my vision. I try to look around, but am met with excruciating pain. My shoulder is a mangled wreck where my arm should be, crushed by wreckage. Outside the burning wreck, I hear voices, German voices, speaking German. The stories I have heard of the fates of prisoners of war are terrifying. As I lie here, bleeding out in agony, I hope for the sweet bliss of death, the alternative would be infinitely worse. It seems I may get my final wish, as darkness engulfs my world once more.
  2. Quite a long post: Recently, I got another Airfix Vulcan; a second hand one that has been built. It has painted in anti flash white- in my opinion the best vulcan scheme...... well maybe half camo with a black radome is just as good.... Vulcans just look great. It appears to have been originally built gear down, but has been rebuilt with gear up. I bought it with the intention of fixing up the model and bringing it to the standard of my other kits. Quite a bit of work needs to be put into repairing or replacing the rebuilt parts, and getting new bits like one of the pitot tubes which is missing. Some parts I can get from spares in my other Vulcan kit (currently building it), and some need to be bought from aftermarket or gotten from someone who hasn't used said parts. My rebuilding of the kit will hopefully bring it back into a gear down configuration, but I'm yet to open up the wheel wells to see what state they're in and if this is even feasible. If not, then she'll just be rebuilt gear up. Another thing I might do is replace the 301 jetpipes with 201s, but as the model is built it may not be doable, and the paintwork would probably need entirely redoing. Around that area if I did that... Any advice there? I'll get some photos later. List of parts I think I will need so far: Full set of gear doors Full set of landing gear Crew entry hatch Blue steel missile fin Right pitot tube Olympus 201 jetpipes Possibly aftermarket wheel well sets (?)
  3. Reply above is to this, didn't see there was a whole page if replies I hadn't read yet
  4. The current vulcan kit is.... Lacking I'd say... Difficult to put together, innacurate, raised panel lines, it would have you completely redo the tail and nose for some aircraft, the intakes are horrible, the 301 jetpipes are questionable at best.... but it's still fun. That's my impression of the kit from my current WIP. It looks like Airfix are in the process of making a new one though, which I will gladly buy a few of when released.
  5. They haven't redone the vulcan yet
  6. They said they might do I think (?)... If they do I'm getting like 5, and if it's upsized to 1/72 then I'll get even more
  7. Might be starting this in the near future. Took me a while to get hold of one at a good price, but a few months ago I finally got one. I also have the extra parts set that includes the parts for tanker and photo reconnaissance Valiants, but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it yet. I haven't decided which scheme she'll be painted in either yet. I know I don't want to do the photo reconnaissance scheme (silver and red) and I'm not keen on the all silver second prototype. So basically it's between the tanker in anti-flash white, two bomber schemes in anti-flash white, and the camo scheme depicting a bomber shortly before the Valiants were grounded. I'll also be looking to pick up a micro mir 1/144 one at some point as 1/144 will be round 2 of my v bomber project (the Victor will be micro Mir's new Victor b1, and I'm hoping they will do a vulcan b1 soon). If anyone's got any Valiants they've built, please post pictures (or a link) here
  8. Vulcan, at least in Britain, mainly because of xh558. Maybe not by name, but it certainly rivals the Spitfire for most iconic. Seriously, who doesn't like a big tin triangle?
  9. I just bought my 6th and 7th (or 7th and 8th if you include my second(?) ever kit- it's awful btw) 1/72 Spitfires. None of them are the same. I have a Mk.I, Mk.Ia, Mk.II, MkVb, Mk.VIII (bought today), Mk.IX (bought today), and Pr.XIX
  10. Update time: Not taken many pictures along the way, but she's looking even more like a Vulcan now. Had a bit of a problem with forgetting to add nose weight, but I carefully ripped off the back to put some in, the centre of gravity is a little far back but i think it should work. Everything is reattached now.
  11. Oh joy. The Airfix Vulcan. The kit I've heard so much about the fit of.... Well here goes... For this build, I'll not be rescribing it and will be using the kit intakes if they look good from a few metres away. (I'm a good way into the build now, I just couldn't be bothered to post this up yet) Tail part went together pretty well. Not too much filler compared to what I expected. Already overtaken my desk. One of the intakes is glued together and the fin is as well. The fin fits together well. . . . Well the bomb bay does not fit. Not even remotely. Braced it on the inside so it used some used decal paper to stop filler getting through. From the outside Now this is well..... Difficult. The fit isn't very good at all. Lots of filler here, but it just needs to look good from a distance. I'm not really bothered about up closer because I'll focus on that when Airfix eventually retools the Vulcan. This will have to do. I repeated this on the second intake. At about this point I attached the lower wing parts to the lower fuselage and then the upper parts on top of that. I don't think I took any pictures at that stage, but the fit wasn't as bad as I expected. And once again, it does not fit at all. Massive gaps, large steps between the wing and the intakes, I'm still working on the first one now. And here's how she looks now, although she's back on the shelf for a bit too make room for other projects.
  12. Never had an issue, but I think that not allowing it is just wrong. If they want to deal with the annoying sort of photographer, or ones who's equipment can get in the way they could have specific days for them at the museum, and only allow cameras without tripods and other disruptive equipment on other days.
  13. Where can I get Fundekals Vulcan decals from? They are sold out on their website... Is there anywhere else?
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