80 Years of Airfix GB

Thanks Chad. I agree, though i am looking forward to doing another new one.

That SM.79 is looking great.  It’s really nice to see those vintage Airfix kits come to life.

Cheers Mark.

Bish, the SM.79 is looking beautiful. 

Cheers,
Mark

checkmateking02

 

 

Bish

Cheers guys.

Check, yep, Xtracolour enamels.

 

 

 

They look good.  I was able to get some from Hannants before enamels were banned from air travel.  Haven't had a chance to use them yet.

 

I have been useing them for years, the gloss finish was always a big draw. But i am in the process of switching some of my Xtracolour range for Mr Paint mainly so i can use oil weathering without worrying about damaging the paint.

Bish

Cheers guys.

Check, yep, Xtracolour enamels.

They look good.  I was able to get some from Hannants before enamels were banned from air travel.  Haven't had a chance to use them yet.

Cheers guys.

Check, yep, Xtracolour enamels.

Sharp-looking, colorful plane, Bish.

Are you using xtracolor paint?

Everyone has some good looking stuff going on!  I finally got started on my P-40 this morning.  So I'll have some progress to show later on today.  So far the kit is going together well.

Looks really good Bish.  Beautiful airframe. 

Jeaton01, I used to maintain a 125 in Addison TX. in the early 80's. I remember it had to go through X-Ray testing. What a PIA.

Time for some paint and decals. I started out with the yellow surfaces and then the RLM 70/71 on top. Theres a few areas i would normally redo. The rudder is a bit patchy and theres some yellow over spray. But in this case i decided to leave it. This was re-done in the field over the original Yugoslav scheme. And the Germans did not hang onto these for long as they were soon handed over to the new Croat air force, so i decided to leave it as it was.

Paints are all Xtracolour and are rather shiny.

Then it was time to add decals, fit the engines and sort the undercarrage. These Kora decals go down nice but are delicate. The sheet is one decal so you have to trim each one to remove the folm. But in handeling the sheet i nocited some of the black coming away from the decals under my fingers. So i had to be extra careful. The portion of decal over the lower side windows has been cut but i will remove that with the masks after the flat coat which will hopefully prevent damaging the rest of the crosses.

Got the wheels and exhausts to finish off and fit, them some exhaust staining and light weathering.

Looks like the decal really works well with that instrument panel. 

John, that is some really nice detail there. That IP is really well done.

Couple of progress pics - really pointing out the great detail of this kit. 

I was skeptical of this instrument panel decal.  I black based and color coated and really impressed with the decal... I'm I little off register with the surface detail but still looks pretty good.  I'll be buying more of these Airfix kits!

jeaton01

I wasn't sure I had one, but I found a photo of the DH-125 I used to fly and I hope to paint my model like.  Lots of narrow litttle stripes, but at least I have good color documentation as the photo is from one of our sales ads.

 

 

Nice one John, be good to be able to do the aircraft you flew.

Jack, sorry, i seemed to have missed your Tomcat update.

Looks like thats gone together nicley, nice work.

I wasn't sure I had one, but I found a photo of the DH-125 I used to fly and I hope to paint my model like.  Lots of narrow litttle stripes, but at least I have good color documentation as the photo is from one of our sales ads.

checkmateking02

 

 

Bish

2 posabilities i can think of for the fin flash. First one is maybe the guy thought that as the one on the right has the blue at the front, the left should be the same.

Either that or he was French. 

 

 

 

If so, it must have been Gen. de Gaulle.

 

Wouldn't put it past him.

Bish

2 posabilities i can think of for the fin flash. First one is maybe the guy thought that as the one on the right has the blue at the front, the left should be the same.

Either that or he was French. 

If so, it must have been Gen. de Gaulle.

2 posabilities i can think of for the fin flash. First one is maybe the guy thought that as the one on the right has the blue at the front, the left should be the same.

Either that or he was French.

Thanks, Jack.  Nice looking Tomcat, and very skilled painting of the crew's helmets.

Really nice work on that spitfire Checkmate!

I have the majority of the assembly done and the glass is prepped for the Tomcat. Next getting ready to hit it with some putty and then on to sanding. So far its a pretty good fit. 

Thanks, Bish, Chad, Jack.  I appreciate the comments.

I wondered, too, about the reversed fin flash--if it was applied that way at the factory or at the squadron or other level.  Somebody not paying attention, or someone making a statement or joke of some kind?

In his book about the RAF colors in summer 1940, Paul Lucas says that the true Sky, Type S, didn't make a widespread appearance until August, and until then, he seems to think that the Sky Blue and Eau-de-Nil colors were common, along with some other shades, including a light gray.

That's one of the things I like about summer, 1940 Spitfires and Hurricanes.

Nice to see the primer on the Clipper Frank. Looks like your haveing as much filler fun as i had with the SM 79.

Check, great looking early Spitfire.

I like the variety this particular airframe represents, from the reversed tail colours and non-standared underside shade, to the oversized fuselage codes.

regards,

Jack

Thats a nice job on those windows John, look forward to seeing more.

Yes, excellent little Spit!

Great looking finish check, really nice job and good info on the fin flash, i wounder if someone got read the riot act for that.

Thanks for taking part, pleasure to have you as always, got you added to the front page.

Finished with the Spitfire, representing DW-O from 610 Squadron, somewhere in June or July, 1940.  One interesting thing about this plane is that the fin flash has a reversed color order, so that blue--not red--is in front.  It's not very evident in this particular photo, but shows up more clearly in some others, and is noted in some online sources.  

It's also apparent that all three planes have different variations on the fin flash.

First, the undersurfaces; I used Colourcoats Sky Blue, according to Paul Lucas' research in The Battle for Britain--RAF.

I used white glue to fill the light in the bottom of the fuselage, since the kit part didn't fit.

The uppersurfaces were also finished with Colourcoats Dark Earth and Dark Green.  I applied a dark blue acrylic pin wash to the undersides and a black pinwash to the upper surfaces.

Everything went pretty well until the decaling.  Had a lot of difficulty getting the decals to respond to Microset and Microsol.  I finally had to use some Solvaset on them.  The decals are aftermarket items from Xtradecal--I used similar ones from them before and didn't have the problems I encountered this time.

Thanks for hosting the GB, Bish.

All the work going on here is looking very good.  Congratulations to all of you!