Falklands/Malvinas War 30th Anniversary GB

I bought an Italeri Harrier FRS 1 yesterday, saw it and couldn't help myself. I'm not going to commit it yet, but it is on the cards if I get through the Type 21. I'm going to check the old Modeldecal stash tonight to see if I have any Falklands markings.

BTW, all the aftermarket stuff arrived from White Ensign for the Type 21, so apart from researching some photos, I'm cooking with gas.

Cheers

Tony

el_jere

Hi there!

I believe I´m going to build th SUE too, if you can get a resin cockpit since the provided is very very poor, the decals are garbirsh, full of inaccuracies and poorly printed. www.condordecals.com.ar try that the hav a decal scheet for the kit (plus many other Malvinas/Falklands war airchafts decal, so you can split the decal scheet with othr guys from the GB)

The color codes in the instructions are quite poor too, if you need reference material sendme a PM.

The colour for th aircraft is Humbrol 125 with some drops of blue)

Let me know if you need anything.

best regards

Jere

Gracias Jere!

Well the only aftermarket stuff I can find for this kit up here is a PE set that includes some cockpit stuff like sidewall detail, etc. But considering how little appears to be visible once it is all built and the seat in place I am wondering. I was planing on using an XtraColour French Mirage Dark Gray for the upper surfaces, figuring the Sues were delivered in French standard paints. The decals on my kit do not look bad,except for the squadron insignia being slightly off register. I am not too keen on doing international orders for hobby stuff. I prefer to stick with local vendors that I have had good experience with.

stikpusher

 

el_jere:

 

 

Hi there!

 

I believe I´m going to build th SUE too, if you can get a resin cockpit since the provided is very very poor, the decals are garbirsh, full of inaccuracies and poorly printed. www.condordecals.com.ar try that the hav a decal scheet for the kit (plus many other Malvinas/Falklands war airchafts decal, so you can split the decal scheet with othr guys from the GB)

The color codes in the instructions are quite poor too, if you need reference material sendme a PM.

The colour for th aircraft is Humbrol 125 with some drops of blue)

Let me know if you need anything.

best regards

Jere

 

 

Gracias Jere!

Well the only aftermarket stuff I can find for this kit up here is a PE set that includes some cockpit stuff like sidewall detail, etc. But considering how little appears to be visible once it is all built and the seat in place I am wondering. I was planing on using an XtraColour French Mirage Dark Gray for the upper surfaces, figuring the Sues were delivered in French standard paints. The decals on my kit do not look bad,except for the squadron insignia being slightly off register. I am not too keen on doing international orders for hobby stuff. I prefer to stick with local vendors that I have had good experience with.

You wellcome my friend,

Neomega makes a great cockpit set for th Etendard IV but you need to change the IP, the PE set that yo said is the Xtratech, wich I haven´t seen. probably the best thing to do is get a rsin Martin Baker seat and that´s... it´s the mot visible part of the cockpit and probably the poorly detailed part of th kit LOL

Decals are wrong in register (sun, squad insignia) colour (all the stencils and th sun wich must be golden instead of yellow and plus th sun looks like a idiot LOL) and incomplete.

You can order dirctly th decals from the manufacturer in the web site I wrote before and it´s not an expensive set, 15 dollars I belive and have the other decals for more AC.

I´m going to use another aftermarket decal (aeroclcas) wich unforntunly is out of bussines since the guys who makes the decals pased away a coupl of months ago

Maybe if you wan´t if you haven´t got one for yourself when the builind starts I can see if  I can get one set for you.

I never seen the Xtracolour paint, but as you said is probably acurate, anyway check th pics of the real thing, it´s not a plain gray, it have a blue hue.

all the best for you

Jere

PS:  wich unit are you planing to build?

I did have a look at those Condor decals, and they do look nice. Both sets! I will see if the LHS can order them. YesI agree about the color. The Humrol color Airfix recommends is too light and "neutral" in tone. The XtraColour one looks much closer to photos I have seen. I was planning on doing A/C#2 which is what the kit decals are, but if I can get the Condor decals I will go with #3. The Mirage IIIEA decals there would be a bonus as I have one of those to be built as well.

Do you know what type of MB ejection seat that the Sue has?

stikpusher

I did have a look at those Condor decals, and they do look nice. Both sets! I will see if the LHS can order them. YesI agree about the color. The Humrol color Airfix recommends is too light and "neutral" in tone. The XtraColour one looks much closer to photos I have seen. I was planning on doing A/C#2 which is what the kit decals are, but if I can get the Condor decals I will go with #3. The Mirage IIIEA decals there would be a bonus as I have one of those to be built as well.

Do you know what type of MB ejection seat that the Sue has?

Tha´s great, if you can, get the decals, I don´t know about the decal quality, but in accuracy terms are MUCH better than th ki´s offer. Let me know if you can´t get the decal

The seat is a Martin Baker CM4A tipo 00, any MB Mk4 will do (the seme seat that the Mirages have)

Nice to see you got the stuff you need Tony. And i am sure there is plenty of time to get the harrier in as well

Nice pics el, and some great info shareing. Really glad to have you on board. Looking forward to the start of this GB, nice to have alot of variety as most GB are just armour or aircraft.

My box just arrived from Sprue Brothers, containing the Pucara (Special Hobby) and Sea Harrier (Airfix) both in 1/72. Now I need to resist the urge to pull them open & test fit all those parts!

IMHO that's what makes this one unique GB. A wide choice of subjects/genres yet within the focused scope of a well defined war that was still fairly recent.

Gonna be cool!

Vance, i got a few Special Hobby kits in the stash but not built any yet, but they all look very nice, so i will be keen to see how that one builds up.

And hopefully someone will jump in with a post 82 kit. I know theres decals for a falklands based Phantom around and i am sure theres an Endurance kit out there somewhere.

Bish and Vance, I haven't found an LVTP-7 yet.  I still want to be in on this GB.  Model Fiesta, our biggest local show is on Feb 19th, so I should be able to find one there.  If not, I will break down, and buy an over priced one off of ebay.

It has been a long time since I've read much on the conflict.   I read a few books years ago when I was in the Marines.  Amphibous warfare and all.

I was in the eighth grade when the conflict happened.  I remember being torn about the whole thing.  I liked Margaret Thatcher, and the British, but I also had a good school friend who had moved from Argentina to the US just a few years prior.  It is sad when you see two peoples you genuinely like, go to war.  Kind of like watching your best friend fight another friend.  Glad we can honor and respect those who fought on both sides with this GB.

Oh yeah, I think one of the Finescale specials had an excellent build of an Argentinian Dagger if someone needs it as reference.

Cheers,

Greg

Hopefully you can pick one up, theres plenty of time. Who has made a kit of it in the past.

I don't think many people in the UK liked maggie at the time, its been said she won the next election largely thanks to the war. I was 12 at the time and it was the first war that had happened that i was old enough to understand, and we were involved, so it was a big deal at the time.

Greg, I just had a look on Ebay and the basic Tamiya 1/35 LVTP-7 (what the Argies used) is starting at $12 with a 'buy it now' for $18. The Academy clone starts at $15. Even the Hobby Boss with interior starts at only $25 plus shipping. Act quick!!!

I found this center page pic I pulled out of a magazine a while back [aircraft illustrated 1987]

I just thought someone might be interested in a post Falklands War aircraft pic ?

                                        John .

Nice find helo. theres a Phantom on static display outside the terminal here at Mount pleasent. I did get the serial number of the way into work this morning, but can't remember it now. Its not that one i know that much. I am going to get a few photos when i get the chance.

The sea kings down here now are yellow, and its no longer 78sqn. So if anyone fancies doing one of thos elet me know and i will get some pics.

Theres alot of old Argentinian kit laying around the camp as well, including AA guns, Mortars, light artillery etc.

Bish

Vance, i got a few Special Hobby kits in the stash but not built any yet, but they all look very nice, so i will be keen to see how that one builds up.

And hopefully someone will jump in with a post 82 kit. I know theres decals for a falklands based Phantom around and i am sure theres an Endurance kit out there somewhere.

The Special Hobby Pucara, pulled it out of the box on the weekend. (Just to look!) Very fine panel lines, detail looks great, no locating pics anywhere though, I'll likely want to add some styrene sheet tabs along the spine & bottom to help the joints there. Canopy is crystal-clear and has a very definite ridge for the framing, should be easy enough to mask it. I'm glad the canopy is so nice, I'd hate to lose all that detail inside the cockpit. The PE fret included is ridiculous for this scale, I'm very impressed, well worth the $ I spent on it.

The Sea Harrier kit, I may need to get some expert info on wing loads. It comes with a pair of Sidewinders, a pair of drop tanks, and a pair of ???. The units at the center of this image - are they Sea Eagles? If that's the case it looks like they weren't used until after the Falklands... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Eagle_%28missile%29)

Just as a point of interest.

I like to model warships from the early 20th Century. I'm about to start a model of the SMS Scharnhorst, from a Russian company called Combrig, in 1/350 resin.

She and her sister ship Gneisenau were armored cruisers in the Imperial German Navy; both were sunk on December 8, 1914 at the Battle of the Falkland Islands by superior British forces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Falkland_Islands

Someone needs to do the Pucara oil drum scheme...

...the oil drum scheme??

Thanks for that vance. I haven't taken any of mine of of the bag yet, just had a quick look, so hadn't noticed the lack of locating tabs. But they do look nice, a few have resin cockpits and most seem to come with PE, so looking forward to building one of mine.

Bondo, yes, please to elabotare on the oil drum scheme. And keep us posted on the ship, i know the falklands was an important base for the RN at least until the end of the Second World war. Seems to have lost its importance with the end of Empire.

Bish

...a few have resin cockpits...

...Seems to have lost its importance with the end of Empire.

Right, forgot to mention the resin - two nice ejection seats & some engine exhausts. I feel like I got a bargain on this one due to the relatively odd subject.

I picked up a copy of an RAF yearbook a few days ago - when talking of defence commitments, they refer to the British Isles of course, Afghanistan and "the South Atlantic" - so the MoD does remember them! For the navy, that would be a costly trip moving ships that far south I suppose.

I also have a few MPM kits, same company, and these look very good as well, and CMK do some more unusual kits.

I think the RN rotates one of its ships every six months or so, not sure how long the trip is down to here. But i guess the cruise down here is all part of the fun of being in the navy. I would hate to think how much it costs to keep this place running, what with the distance from home, the about of Helicopter hours to move kit and people around and every thing else that goes on.

I might come off as being an ignorant American here...but WHY did/does Britain want these Islands so bad? Is there a sort of strategic value or something?

I know there is oil exploration in the area. It's likely a stop-off point on the way to Antarctic science stations. Anything more that that would be better addressed by Bish.

Well its still rather a touchy subject which i won't get into here, this isn't the place for it. The history goes back a couple of hundred years, and is dissputed by bith sides. There used to be a strategic value back in the days of Empire, but in 82 and in the years since, it was mainly down to the people here wanting to be a part on the UK. The main econmic value was fish. In the last couple of years oil has come into the equation, though as of yet nothing of value has been found, but they are hopeful.

VanceCrozier

...the oil drum scheme??

This isn't the 515 in the foreground I think, but you get the idea.

Jeremias- congrats on the A-511. It's a real beauty. I can tell that cockpit is "sick" with detail.

ahhhh - I see it now, thanks for the heads-up bondoman. That was featured in several pics that I found on airliners.net, but I didn't really notice that before. So that's the story behind the tail on this...

stikpusher

Greg, I just had a look on Ebay and the basic Tamiya 1/35 LVTP-7 (what the Argies used) is starting at $12 with a 'buy it now' for $18. The Academy clone starts at $15. Even the Hobby Boss with interior starts at only $25 plus shipping. Act quick!!!

Thanks Stik, the Tamiya was actually an A1 model.  I am thinking hard about the Hobbyboss though.  I'm not too worried about an interior though.  As it would be my first armor build, I'd like to keep it simple.  At some point though, I am going to half to research the paint for it though.

Cheers,

Greg

bondoman

VanceCrozier:

...the oil drum scheme??

 

Pucara A-515, and perhaps a few others were captured at Stanley airport wearing a very unusual color scheme. The standard light blue/ light tan camo had been painted over by hand in dark brown and green in haste, except for the vertical stab and tail planes. One theory is that the ground crews were by that time limited to using oil drums for work stands, and had no access to the taller parts of the a/c's.

This isn't the 515 in the foreground I think, but you get the idea.

Jeremias- congrats on the A-511. It's a real beauty. I can tell that cockpit is "sick" with detail.

Hi there and thanks for the compliments, I don´t deserve that, The kit is full of details I just have to be patient but a talented modeler can do a real piece of art with the kit, I was happy just for finish it LOL

About the Pucara in most of the planes NON of the control surfaces were painted because the crews were afraid that the improvised painting can unbalance those critical parts, that´s why. The planes were painted in the mainland not in the islands.

PS: the camo was shades of green and brown in the upper surfaces and light blue for the undersides (I use RLM65) the cammo was diferent from plane to plane so there was camos from very very light shades to dark ones.

best regards

Jeremias

VanceCrozier

Bish:

...a few have resin cockpits...

...Seems to have lost its importance with the end of Empire.

 

Right, forgot to mention the resin - two nice ejection seats & some engine exhausts. I feel like I got a bargain on this one due to the relatively odd subject.

I picked up a copy of an RAF yearbook a few days ago - when talking of defence commitments, they refer to the British Isles of course, Afghanistan and "the South Atlantic" - so the MoD does remember them! For the navy, that would be a costly trip moving ships that far south I suppose.

This is the cockpit of my Special Hobby kit.

It´s really nice and lots can be seen even ith the canopy closed.

Be aware that you probably will have to trim a little of the cockpit floor in order to get the fuselage closed, also you will have to add considerable weight and the canopy fit is quite poor.

Regards

Jere