Gamera... Yup, Like I said after I left MPC I never kept up much with them, and I know over the years General Mills sold off alot of their aquisitions from earlier, so no telling who owns what now. When we got material in from Airfix, that had been QCed, we would have to go through it again and no joke , about half would be rejected as unusable. We took over the dies and tooling and when received and inspected, They were horrible condition, cracked and rewelded, with poor resurfacing, way out of specs, broken and still in use... BUT... Todays Airfix again are beautiful kits! I for one would not hesitate to buy more of them. Only problem is, they make 72nd , 48th, and a few 24th, scale aircraft, but no 32nd scale. Who knows, maybe later... 

Glad things have moved on since then Doug. I had not bought an Airfix aircraft in years and avpoided them at all costs. But now i have not only been buying them but am eager toi see what else they are bringing out.

I was re-reading your otehr posts and interested to see what you said about the canopy. That does sound very nice and good to see 72nd canopies that were a bit more to scale in regards thickness. And as far as the success of the GB, i just come up with the theme, the rest is down to you guys.

Chris: That's awesome looking! Love those bright yellow life-raft cannisters. 

That's funny, when I think of a dinghy I think of a small solid boat, not an inflatable. 

Doug: I had to double check the scale there, I could swear that was 1/48th or larger! I had a few old Airfix kits back in the '80s-'90s but don't remember any being that badly molded. I did have a few MPC ones and don't remember being very impressed with them at the time. 

Morning Bish... Thanks... Yeah, back when I worked for MPC, They had just aquired Airfix of England, and also During the time , They bought Lionel trains, Crafts Master paint sets, Estes rockets, and several other holdings. We were known as "The Fun Group at General Mills" and thats how the boxes were marked. AirFix kept the packaging and independent Logo, But most all the mouldings were now done at MPC in Mt. Clements Michigan. They later moved to New Baltimore Michigan, to consolidate everything into 3 huge factory buildings , all next door to each other.

At first the mouldings from air fix were TERRIBLE! Warpage, pieces missing, incomplete moulding shots... and the plastic was so brittle at times, it would crack and break at the slightest attempt to glue into shape. But , That was the past, and not having kept up with it over the years, all I know is, They are loads better, and my goal (Someday) is to get one of the 24th scale Hurricane Mk1 kits. They are BEAUTIFUL!  Tons of detail and supposedly taken from actual Hawker design. 

Any way, Nuff said... Thanks again for the Good GB topic! Thoroughly enjoying building these!

Doug

Bossman

Hello all,

Here are the decal layout plans from the decal instructions.  Uniquely Defiant !

Can't wait to start . . . but I will.

Chris

 

Ye, should not be to difficult. I do get a bit annoyed somtrimes when i see decal sheets with options that you can't buy the kit for or any conversions.

Looking forward to this Doug. And i fully agree about the new Airfix kits compared to the old ones. I did not know MPC had bought Airfix. I have the Airfix boxing of the Star wars Speeder Bike, i thought Airfix i had just re-boxed the MPC kit. Learnt somthing new.

I'll add thye Hurricane to the roster, already have the EU on there.

If anyone wants a quick but very hard and very bright gloss, hand brush Future over the areas you want to put your decals. When sprayed, Future is satin. When hand brushed, it's very gloss. I know one good modeler that mixes Future 50-50 with water as a version of "micro sol" (not set, although I dropped a decal onto major irregularity on a tank with a puddle of future and it set great.)

Doug,

That 1/72 Airfix Hurri is a peach.  A sweet little kit that builds up nicely.  And pairing it with the Eurofighter anniversary scheme is fitting for this GB.          I say !  -  Good show ol' boy !  

_{(please forgive this yank - 'is wife put him through a few too many episodes of Downton Abbey)}

Yes - I'm planning on doing the "greys" scheme.  Even though neither of them is really grey - one of them is pretty close to US Intermediate blue, and the other is a shade of green that is not quite the same as RAF Dk Green.  Regardless of what they are called - I like 'em.

Chris 

Great idea for a project, Doug!

Man... Just here a few days ago catching up, and all of a sudden 52 pages! I'd say your GB is a rousing success Bish! It is a great topic to build on. 

Chris... are you going to do the two grey shades? That will look so cool...

Well, Time to start the 75th Battle of Britian Commerative build we talked about Bish. This will be an Airfix 72nd scale Hurricane Mk1. and a Hobby Boss Euro Fighter also in 72nd scale and in 1940 Battle of Britian period colors... When I saw those pictures of the 2 aircraft together... How cool was that. Any way, The Hurricane first, and at first glance, not a bad little kit at all! Very nicely engineered and finely detailed. I was really impressed, being that my first real job was working at MPC (Model Products)1970 & 71 and at the time they had just aquired the Airfix of England line, and what a nightmare that was. The kits were just short of junk, and there was no co-operation at all from airfix. However long story short, the latest releases from Airfix have been Very nicely done and are a FAR cry from the kits of the past. SO... Here we go...

The 2 kits... All I'll have to get is some extra lettering to have both aircraft with the same ID markings.

These little canopy sections were without a doubt the EASIEST to mask that I have ever done. One thing though, the canopy is very thin, (and thats a good thing) but very fragile. Handle with care! I heard it crack a bit during handeling but it didnt break in two (Wheew). Again, very well detailed and easily masked and trimmed.

The little cockpit section, assembled well and fell right into place.

the control stick and foot pedals mounted to the upper wing section, I've never been a fan of this set up cuz they rarely fit together properly, But... Look at the fine detail on the wing surfaces... Might be just a wee bit heavy for a 72nd but I for one am impressed! Even the plastic is a much higher grade then in the past... I'm liking it so far.

And lastly everything painted in the interior green primer. Well , let that dry and more to come.

Thanks...

Doug

Bish

So does the Airfix kit come with the dinghy canistors

Bish -  Nope, no kit parts - but it looks like scratchbuilding won't be too difficult.

Chris

Looking forward to that Chris. I was reading up on these last night. So does the Airfix kit come with the dinghy canistors.

Hello all,

Here are the decal layout plans from the decal instructions.  Uniquely Defiant !

Can't wait to start . . . but I will.

Chris

The Air Sea Rescue Defiant sounds interesting Chris, never come across one of those.

Thanks for your kind comments guys.

Damien - hope you can resurrect the finish on the Mossie.  It looked great in the just-painted stage.

All - About those injector pin marks - I do remember seeing someone's trick for eliminating them.  It involved drilling a hole to completely remove them, then inserting a piece of styrene rod or sprue (of the right diameter) into the hole just flush with the surface.   It seemed like alot more work than I was willing to put in. (another fallen brother) 

Bish - I looked back on that Xtradecal sheet and found that the Air Sea Rescue BP Defiant is in fact from an RAF squadron 277 based at Stapleford Tawney, Essex in 1942.  It's the only Defiant scheme I've seen that uses Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey over Sky-S.  That's what made me think that it was an FAA bird.  So I think I might add that to this GB after I finish the Hurri.

Chris

a lot of great buolding still going on here!  I've been busy lately, haven't gotten to the bench in a while...although, my eduard canopy mask arrived in the mail yesterday, so I should probably start masking all those tiny pieces of glass!

I'm pages behind.....

Beav, you're a brave man building a 2-winger. Looks good to me so far.

Damian, those tiny things were your first PE? Holy cow, you aren't goint to have any trouble with PE. And later on, you're all camo'd up already and looking good. And later yet, ....I'm not understanding what went haywire with the Alclad Gloss? What happened? Sorry, btw.

Eric, welcome, and nice start.

Toshi, your Mosquito is a work of art. You really did well. I too am glad you joined in on this GB and I sure do hope you enjoyed your first GB as I enjoyed sharing it with you. And maybe you'll join in for another later? (In the meantime, I'll enjoy watching your Eagle). Oh, and it was fun seeing you have to slow down a little due to the complexity of the Skeeter kit.

Steve, coming along just fine. I'm sure you'll figure the holes out.

Ernie, happy to see you underway. I'd never heard of a Revell Level 5 kit, let alone seen one. Geez, that cockpit detail might beat my Eduard Brassin cockpit, that is if I ever work up the nerve to start the thing. Are the Level 5 kits something new from Revell or have they been around?

Chris, nice paint work there.

If I missed anyone it wasn't intentional. And if I got confused in replying, that's normal.

I haven't made progress in a few days. To my surprise I spent the afternoon custom painting my future step son in law's playstation controller. I have no idea if hobby paint has any durability, I guess we'll find out.

There's a frisket like product sold only at Home Depot I believe. It's called Sure Swatch. It comes either in a roll or 9X12" sheets (price starts at $3 for three sheets.) It's a textured clear plastic on which you can draw easily with a pencil or marker. The reverse side is adhesive coated and covered with removable paper. The idea of the stuff is to paint a "swatch" and put it up on a wall and see if you like the color. After checking it out, you remove the plastic. I've got a free sample piece and think it's going to be perfecto for masking: It will cut with a scissors or knife easily. Search the stuff on You Tube and you can see a demo.

Injection pin markers - a test indeed. And because I'm fallen I almost always ignore them - not many people will check the insides of the wheel wells of my models. (I wonder if a Dremel wouldn't work for something like that. I'm sure there are tons of neat things to do with a Dremel, I just haven't found very many. I use "Dremel" generically - I bought a Chinese copy that plugs in (whopee) and works great.

Eric

Damouav: Oh krap!!!!! After as great as your camo came out that totally blows! I know it can be saved but I swear I'd have to walk away or else hurl the thing into wall... 

I use either Future or Aqua Gloss and never had issues with either as barrier coats. My only concern is that for some reason Future sprays a little pebbly regardless what psi or thinning ratio I use. On the other hand, I handbrush Future and it comes out smooth as glass. Aqua Gloss sprays really smooth.

damouav

Hey Bish,

Yes, I wet sanded with 4000 thru to 12000, got some of it out, applied another coat it was OK.

Decals went down with allot of issues, another story. But the final lock in gloss coat over the decals is when it has all gone bad.

I will provide an update soon, just pretty pi#@$@^÷#=ed off with Alclad Aqua Gloss I gotta say, I should have used the MRP semi gloss.

Damian

 

I have had mixed results with Alclad Aqua. I only use it on armour to protect the paint during weathering. I like how it looks but of the 3 times i have used it, twice my washes have attacked the paint. I thought i was not laying it down properly but i never had an issue with future, so i am still not sure about it.

damouav

 

 

Armor_Aficionado

damouav, if you could find out the brand name for that adhesive film you used, that would be a HUGE help! Thanks in advance... 

P.S. Awesome camouflage job!!

 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback.

The masking film I got dosent have any branding on the backing carrier paper, just call your local signwritting company and asked if they have any airbrush/spray painting masking film.

Or google sign writing suppliers, they will stock it. Just be carfull to check the adhevice is not too strong or you could rip chunks out of your paint. I painted with laquers and let it sit about 3 days prior to any masking.

Another product is called Frisket, which should be easy available.

http://www.grafixarts.com/products/frisket-film/

 

Ditto on the compliments of your paint job.  I use Frisket.  It comes in different thicknesses and both Hobby Lobby and Michaels stock it.  

Armor_Aficionado

damouav, if you could find out the brand name for that adhesive film you used, that would be a HUGE help! Thanks in advance... 

P.S. Awesome camouflage job!!

Thanks for the feedback.

The masking film I got dosent have any branding on the backing carrier paper, just call your local signwritting company and asked if they have any airbrush/spray painting masking film.

Or google sign writing suppliers, they will stock it. Just be careful to check the adhesive is not too strong or you could rip chunks out of your paint. I painted with laquers and let it sit about 3 days prior to any masking.

Another product is called Frisket, which should be easy available.

http://www.grafixarts.com/products/frisket-film/

Hey Bish,

Yes, I wet sanded with 4000 thru to 12000, got some of it out, applied another coat it was OK.

Decals went down with allot of issues, another story. But the final lock in gloss coat over the decals is when it has all gone bad.

I will provide an update soon, just pretty pi#@$@^÷#=ed off with Alclad Aqua Gloss I gotta say, I should have used the MRP semi gloss.

Damian

damouav, if you could find out the brand name for that adhesive film you used, that would be a HUGE help! Thanks in advance... 

P.S. Awesome camouflage job!!

Have you tried sanding out the dust.

CMK02 - Thanks, yes I was able to get a nice finish, its turned to sh#t with the gloss coating...

Bossman - Excellent progress on hurri.

Gamera

Chris: She looks really good! And I too hate those @##@ injection pin marks in stuff like the landing gear wells. I've tried a few different ways to fill them but still haven't found any really good one yet. 

 

Yes, i am sure they are put there on purpose to test us.

Chris: She looks really good! And I too hate those @##@ injection pin marks in stuff like the landing gear wells. I've tried a few different ways to fill them but still haven't found any really good one yet. 

EBergerud

I'll stand correction, but methinks the "humor guy" is Hugh Laurie as he appeared in Season 3 of Black Adder - one of the funniest series in history.

 

Doug