80 Years of Airfix GB

Bish, I don't want to hijack this thread but I must say I am really impressed with the 2020 roll out!!

Hijack away. Have been checking it all day at work, but they must have released it late. Looking now.

It looks to be a great mix of vintage, new tool, and some long overdue re-issues.  Glad to see the Javelin and 1/24 Bf 109 are making a reappearance, and I'll definitely pick up one of those 1/35 Centaurs!

Ashide from the Vulcan, which we alreday knew about, and the RAF Bucc, which was a given, nothing else there for me. Glad the Type 45 has been re-released. I was hoping for a 72nd Wildcat and an F-35.

I think the cars will go down well and good to see Airfix doing their own 35th armour and not doing the obvious and over done. I know schemes shown and open to change, but i am surprised the RAF Bucc isn't in Op Granby colours. Not that it worries me as i will do the wrap around anyway.

At least my wallet can breath easy.

I was surprised we didn't see a new tool F-35.  Seems like the timing would've been perfect. I would be really surprised if they didn't include an Op Granby livery considering their shown on the box art of the latest Victor release. I hope we'll be surprised. 

Unfortunately, when it comes to Airfix, my wallet is always on high alert. 

I've been doing decals on the Meteor for the last couple of days. Twenty-year old decals can be pretty fragile. I'm having to use Solvaset rather than Microsol to settle the decals over the panel lines and rivets. I'm hoping I can finish the process today. Putting on decals can be so tedious.

Finally! I finished the decals on the Meteor. Yay! I'm gonna hafta learn how to paint insignia and whatnot so I can bypass this tedious aspect of modeling. Anyway, I'm going to let it sit overnight before I clear coat the finished model. And being the total glutton for punishement that I am, I'm starting this today:

It's original 1968 issue. I'm starting with the side windows, which are warped so I'm having to glue the strip of windows in a little at a time. But since there is so little to see on the interior, the inside of the windows will be painted black. Not sure what the finished livery will be, maybe U.S. Navy.

Here is the first bit of work on the Ford:

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The windows are on and painted black. The mail bin doors are attached and glued closed. The first part of the landing gear is attached before the floor gets glued on.

As I look back on it, in my lifetime I've owned a '63 Falcon convertible, a '70 Torino, and three Mustangs, two of those convertibles. I guess I have Ford in my DNA. Oh yeah. I have flown on the Island Airways Ford three times and one of the EAA Fords once.

Finally! The Meteor is finished. Finished it yesterday and photographed it this morning. The finished model looks way better than I thought it would while I was building it. The one big thing I learned with this build is that the next time I do an RAF camouflage I'm going to use stencils for the color breaks rather than trying to free-hand a camo pattern. While the national are accurate for the period, late 1945, the other marking are spurious. I even put kill marks on the nose below the cockpit. The 20 year old decals didn't settle too well even with massive doses of Solvaset. I sealed the paint and decals with Alclad Semi Matte Varnish. At the time these airplanes were kept pretty clean. They didn't show a lot of the wear and tear of other types then in service. So, here it is for your perusal: Airfix Gloster Meteor III.

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Now that it's on the shelf, it's on to other projects. Thanks, Bish. This has really been a fun esperience.

That's a good looking Meteor Frank!

Thanks, Mopar...

Well done, Frank.  I've built three 1/48 scale Meteors so far and made up some masks for the camouflage.  They are on this page, about in the middle.  You'll have to scale them to 66.7% for 1/72.

http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/meteor/3meteor/3meteor.html

Thanks, Jeaton. I don't know if or when I'll build another Meteor. I do know I'll be adding a BoB Spitfire Mk. I and a Hurricane Mk. I later this year.

Thats come out really nice frank, great finish. And its been a pleasure having you along, some great bilds there. I'll update the front page at the weekend.

Thats Ford is a nice looking subject, be nice to see what you do with that.

Nice job on the Meteor Frank! Here's some pics I took of Kermit Weeks' Tri-Motor back in 2007.

If you go to Fantasy of Flight's website, he has a better sideview. Now, on to my misadventures with plastic.

When we last saw it, the E-4 had been painted and glossed with Mission Models Gloss. I didn't go for a deep gloss finish, just wanted a good, smooth finish. Here she is with all the decals on.

And here she is complete. I lost one of the gun barrels to the carpet monster. I'm also not happy with the P-mask vinyl canopy mask. I will spend the extra bucks in the future and get Eduard's set. The kit decals didn't come with the swastikas, so I stole a couple from ExtraDecals BoB German set.

I'm kind of partial to the third finished pic, but feel free to use whichever one you like best. If I start up the F-86, I'll be sure to post pics.  Thanks for running this build.

Nice finish with the 109, looks sharp.

I have a vinyl cutter and only use vinyl in it if I'm going to use them immediately, or for larger markings as on R/C airplanes.  The problem I see is that the material seems to shrink after it is cut, and the longer it waits to be used the more it shrinks.  Kabuki paper doesn't do that and it conforms to curves better.  It has just the right amount of stick.

That 109 has come out nice. I have tried vinyl masks and really don't like them, especially on 109 canopies. I have used Montex. I am deffinetly sticking to Eduard.

Thanks for posting that, will get the front page sorted soon.

Thanks guys. The P-Mask set was half the price of the Eduard, won't make that mistake again.

Don't ever let an old man near a desktop computer. I just deleted all the images of all the builds and W.I.P.s I had posted to the forums. Damn. I had to create a new folder, so here we go.

The Ford is coming along well. I am attaching the windscreen/canopy and the wing is assembled. There wasn't a lot to attach the canopy to. I had to tape it on and glue it from the inside using Formula 500 Canopy Glue.

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Surprisingly, for a kit that was stamped out in 1968, it needed filler only on the nose in front to the windscreen. The fit is a little better than OK. Assembling the top and the bottom to the fuselage sides required gluing the parts about an inch at a time. The wing just clicked together. I'm working on the leading and trailing edges now. I'll paint the airplane before final assembly. In 1/72 scale the wingspan is almost 13 inches. The instructions are a PDF downloaded from Scalemates and printed from Photoshop. Thanks for tuning in.

Bish, should I keep posting here or move this up to Airliners?

EDIT: I actually found a canopy/window mask for this specific kit! Whoda thought?

Still plugging along on my final build

RLM 78 is on

Jacknewbill, nice F-14. I remember that kit in the MPC boxing with VF143 markings. Built it as a kid and had much fun flying it around the back yard spashing zeros. It's not a bad kit with a a bit of work, as you've shown.

I love it when I get a few hours to myself

fotofrank

Don't ever let an old man near a desktop computer. I just deleted all the images of all the builds and W.I.P.s I had posted to the forums. Damn. I had to create a new folder, so here we go.

The Ford is coming along well. I am attaching the windscreen/canopy and the wing is assembled. There wasn't a lot to attach the canopy to. I had to tape it on and glue it from the inside using Formula 500 Canopy Glue.

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Surprisingly, for a kit that was stamped out in 1968, it needed filler only on the nose in front to the windscreen. The fit is a little better than OK. Assembling the top and the bottom to the fuselage sides required gluing the parts about an inch at a time. The wing just clicked together. I'm working on the leading and trailing edges now. I'll paint the airplane before final assembly. In 1/72 scale the wingspan is almost 13 inches. The instructions are a PDF downloaded from Scalemates and printed from Photoshop. Thanks for tuning in.

Bish, should I keep posting here or move this up to Airliners?

EDIT: I actually found a canopy/window mask for this specific kit! Whoda thought?

 

Sorry frank, i seem to have missed that post. please do feel free to keep posting that here.

Nice work on the 110 TJ. Good to see one in a desert scheme.

Thanks, Bish. After a year, still figuring out the protocol for these threads.

TJ, I'm liking that Bf 110 in desert camouflage. Very nice.

I always have the same rule frank. As long as your name is on the list when the GB closes, your more than welcome to keep posting the builds you have entered.

Thanks, Bish. I'm attaching the support braces to the left engine cowling on the Ford. Not an easy task.

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I'm trying to make subassemblies for painting: Fuselage, wing, engines & landing gear, etc. Then, before the wing is attached, do the decals. We'll see if the plan comes together.

Well, here is the left engine cowling with bracing attached. It's not glued to the wing yet, it's just resting in the holes to keep the braces aligned. Now I know what to expect when I glue the bracing to the right engine.

Nice approach there frank. I can see that engine would be akward to paint underneath if attached.