80 Years of Airfix GB

The Gladiator has come on really well, this is a lovely little kit. By last weekend it was ready for painting.

By Thurs it was primed and painted. All paints are Xtracolor, Ocean Grey and Dark Green on top and Med Sea Grey underneath.

And then the Print Scale decals. I have heard some people have bad experiance with these. But i had no issues. The dcals went down really well and just easy enough to move around. I also did some light fading where the fabric is stretched over the ribs.

Next update should include the finished pics.

Got the construction on the Mossie finished last weekend, eneded up going together better than i had expected given its age.

The gun troughs underneath were filled in as per the pics i found.

Followed by some painting. Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey on top, Sky undersides. All Xtracolor.

Decals are from a company called Vingtor Decals. This set provides markings for the 6 original Mk VI aircraft operated by BOAC from mid 1943 as well as 3 replacment aircraft recieved in 44. While the first 6 had the Sky undersides, these were re-painted black after several months of operations. The 3 replacments came with black undersides. I have done one of the original 6 in its delivery scheme.

The larger outer strips on the underside did not conform well to the large hinges for the flaps. The decal sheet recomends the Tamiya kit and looking at the one i built last year, i think these would work much better on that kit.

Weathering will be limited to some light exhaust staining as i want to show an aircraft as delivered.

Nice Mosquito Bish.  I've been wanting to add one to the stash for quite a while but I keep holding out for a new tool.  

I still have one more Boeing Clipper kit in the closet. Maybe I should get a set of BOAC decals for it. BOAC operated Pan Am Clipper NC18605 I think. Food for thought.

A brief update on the Hellcat drone: Construction is moving along much more quuickly than I expected. The fuselage and wings are assembled. Since the drones were unarmed, I removed all guns, bomb racks and rocket hard points. I sanded the entire model to knock back the rivet and panel lines. Now I need to sand the seams and then I can mate the wings to the fuselage. More to come.

Bish,

In what role did BOAC operate the Mosquito? Definitely a unique look.

Fotofrank, 

I didn't know Airfix made a 1/72 Hellcat.  Looking forward to seeing yours come together.

Chers guys.

Chad, it would not surprise me if Airfix add's the Mossie to the list of kits to be re-toled. Thouhg of course there is the very nice Tamiya kit.

frank, i believe BOAC operated 3 Clippers. According to Wiki these were originally 607, 608 and 610.

lewbud, BOAC operated a range of aircraft, some of them military types, on route to and from neutral countries mainly to maintain contact with British embassies. The Mosquito's operated on the Stockholm run which of course meant flying betwen Norway and Denmark, both German held.

Thats coming on really well frank.

lewbud

Bish,

In what role did BOAC operate the Mosquito? Definitely a unique look.

Fotofrank, 

I didn't know Airfix made a 1/72 Hellcat.  Looking forward to seeing yours come together.

 

The two I have are MPC boxing. The Airfix release I think dates back to mid to late '60s.

Thanks fotofrank. I recall seeing models of the F6F drones and they are quite colorful.  Looking forward to yours.

Thanks Bish. One of the neat things about this hobby are the side trails you can wander down. 

3 down 4 to go

Tempestjohnny, when you're done with these Mustangs, the line up of noses will look like the warbird ramp at Sun N Fun or Oshkosh! Too cool...

fotofrank

Tempestjohnny, when you're done with these Mustangs, the line up of noses will look like the warbird ramp at Sun N Fun or Oshkosh! Too cool...

 

Looking really impressive there TJ.

3 more 

That production line is running at full capacity!

I have a question. Since this is the first group build I have participated in I'm wondering what happens when the end date arrives. Can we still post to the thread? Or do the mods lock the thread. I ask because I still have a few Airfix/MPC builds in progress and a couple of them won't be finished by December 31. When the builds are complete I'd still like to share them on this thread.

fotofrank

Can we still post to the thread? Or do the mods lock the thread.

The mods won't lock the thread as long as it stays within FSM's rules and guidlines of civility, religion and politics. You will be able to post as long as you want, it's up to Bish if he wants to answer.

Most of the time it's bad form to display the badge unless stated in the rules and assuming you care to, if you haven't completed at least one build in a GB by the end date, but the forum police won't come after you for that either. GB's are just a fun way for the members to do something similar and my way of motivating me to reduce my stash.

Frank, I'm still highly anticipating that B-29! That Washington bomber is a pretty cool looking bird in the RAF livery.

frank, Steve is correct, the thread is not locked. And as with all my other GB's, i have happy for anyone who has entered to keep posting there builds. I have had posts in a GB a year after it closed.

Mopar, the WB-29 has been languishing on the shelf of doom. The longer I worked on it the less I liked it. I may revisit the build at a later date. Right now I want to get the Hellcat drone done. I've been looking around for a replacement cowling for the kit to make it look nicer.

I forgot victory marks so I added six little red stars to represent TIE fighters downed by our blue nosed A-Wing fighter...

Thanks Mopar Madness, great work on the Prince Eugen.

Thanks Bish, Nice work on the Gladiator & Mosquito.

Frank: The Hellcat is coming along great.

The P-40 Warhawk is finished.  When gluing on the canopy there was a small gap around the front.  I filled it in with Vallejo putty, then painted over the area with Tamiya XF-69 Nato Black.  Had run out of the Olive Drab so painted the panel area Nato Black.

IMG_7199 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

IMG_7203 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

IMG_7205 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

IMG_7206 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

IMG_7207 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

IMG_7208 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

IMG_7213 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

After decals I airbrushed on Tamiya X-22 Clear, then let it dry for two days.  I used Tamiya panel liner.

20 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

Excellent Dan.  I've got one of these in the stash and just might have to get it out. 

I always like a well done P-40. Nice save using the NATO black in front of the windscreen.

Dan, great job on the P-40, that came out really well. Nice idea with the NATO black.

Thanks for joining us, i'll update the front page at the weekend. Should have both mine done by then as well.

Hope this is OK.I was going to build this Hellcat drone straight out of the box but the kit cowling is just aweful. I have a Hasegawa Hellcat in the stash that I appropriated the cowling from. The fit is pretty close and the cowling looks to have the correct outline.

.

After I get the windscreen attached I'll mate the wings and it'll be primer time.

Well my 5 Airfix Mustangs are complete. The only complaint I have with this kit is the dorsal antenna breaks every time you take it off the sprue 

John

Great fix with the cowling frank, looks a great fit.

And love that A-Wing.

tempestjohnny

Well my 5 Airfix Mustangs are complete. The only complaint I have with this kit is the dorsal antenna breaks every time you take it off the sprue 

John