Who could resist constructing the three-wheel Thompson fuel tender? I fell in love with the picture in the Flightpath catalog as I felt it would add some drama to the diorama with the fuel pumping up to the wing. This kit, like the Fordson, was mostly white metal with some PE thrown in for detail and a length of rubber to use as the fuel hose.
These were typically painted / camouflaged in something called the Mickey Mouse pattern. Using photos of extant Thompsons, I used my Waldron punch to cut out overlapping semi circles in frisket that was then used to mask.
The Flightpath kit does not come with any decals so I used dry transfer letters. The Flightpath proprietor (D.J. Parkins) suggested I freehand the lettering but I’d need the hands of an eye surgeon to pull that off.
Here’s the finished item including mechanic pulling the hose to get up to the plane’s petrol tank.
Smart modellers will realize that the ‘F/11’ serial on the front meant it was assigned to Fighter Command, not ‘B/11’ for Bomber Command. Of course I realized this too late and rationalized a story of enterprising ground support personnel ‘nicking’ a tender from a nearby airfield after an all-night drinking competition at the local pub.
Cropredy Albemarle Project 
