The Airfix Farewell GB from now until 1st Jan 2007

Razordws - great job on the Meteor.  Camo turned out really well.

Traveller - How about some pics of the Vulcan.  Look forward to seeing how it turned out.

 I painted the E-3 tonight.  Used almost an entire tin of Xtracolor Barley Grey, and still have some thin areas I may have to go back and retouch.  As usual, painting has revealed all the flaws and seams that needed more work, but I'm going to learn to love it regardless!  At this point, I have no intention of going back and starting the finishing process again!  I've decided never again to build such a large model in winter.  Its just too big for the spraybooth to cover, and too cold to take outside.  As expected, I broke off a couple of small pieces due to the model being so big and cumbersome, nothing that can't be repaired, though.  I'll take another look at it tomorrow and decide if I need to repaint the thin areas or if I can live with it as is.

Cheers!

I look forward to seeing some pictures Jeff!

Just an update, to prove there is progress, and to encourage others to post build photos.

John

First of all, Log into your account.

Next, there is a box at the top that says "Upload Images or Video"

Just below it is a link to "add more images". Click on that and the upload boxes expand to five.  Then on the first box, click on  the "Browse" button. A Box showing your computer's files should pop up. Now find your pics. For Example, if your files are in the "My Pictures" Folder, double click on the "My Computer" icon, then the "My Documents" Folder, then the "My Pictures" folder, and then some icons should appear that are your pictures. (I don't know where your pictures are stored on your computer so the folders you'll have to click may be different. You'll have to find them using the above method) Click on one of your picture icons so that it is highlighted, then click the "Open" button. The path of the pic that you want to upload will be input into that little box. Repeat for additional pics you may want to upload. Once you have done this for all the pics you wish to load, click the big "Upload" button and sit back and wait. Depending on your connection speed and the number and sizes of your photos, this could take a few minutes to almost an hour to load. Once it is done, you'll get a screen saying "Successfully uploaded # of files!". And the pics should then appear on your Photobucket page.

Now that you have the pics uploaded, look at the Photobucket page with your thumbnails. Beneath each pic is a couple of boxes. One is labeled "URL" and one is labeled "IMG". click inside the "IMG" box so that all the words inside the box are highlighted. Then right-click and select "copy". Now come back to the reply box of the FSM Forum, click inside it so your cursor shows up in your reply and then press "Ctrl-V" to paste the words you copied when you right-clicked in Photobucket. It should automatically have the Image Tags on it, so all you have to do is click "Preview" to see if the pic shows up in the post. If you followed these instructions, it should. 

Good luck, I'm hoping to see pics of this beast since I have one to build as well. I wanted to build my Vulcan for this build but couldn't find it in the stash, so I built the O-1 Bird Dog instead.

Bird Dog is almost finished. Once I get the decals and final coat on it, I'll post my pics.

Well, here it is, my finished Bird Dog:

This is the Airfix 1/72 scale O-1 E/F Bird Dog.

I found a small tail wheel formerly from a Corsair, but it is close enough and I can now declare this one done.

Now to go get my badge....

Thanks Dave and sidure! I'm glad you like it. I've been wanting one of these for awhile and finally found it at Orangecon. Not bad for a three-dollar kit!

Dave, have you checked out my other threads to see what else I built with this? They'll tell you how busy I was! And yes, despite the two jobs, I still got my eight hours of sleep a night! 

She's finally done!  Took 4 days of 2-3 hour sessions to get the decals on.  They were horrible to say the least, probably from effects of storage.  The wax paper protecting the decals was stuck on and had to be forcefully peeled off.  One of the larger wing stencils was quite damaged, so I had to sacrifice another from a less conspicuous location to try and fix it. 

The wing warpage results in one of the inner engines clearing by only about an eighth of an inch!  The other clears by about a quarter inch.  Overall though, I'm pretty satisfied by how it turned out, considering its my fourth model since coming back into the hobby earlier this year. I made plenty of mistakes along the way, some are visible in the pics, but I'll let you find them! This kit really stretched me, I've never completed a model this large before (the Monogram 1/48th B-17 I built in 48 hours when I was 11 doesn't count!). 

Overall, a satisfying build.  Now that Airfix has new life, I hope they bring this one back with some correct engines for the E-3 A/B/C so I could build a USAF or NATO bird.  Now, where to put the thing.....

Thanks Osher! I'll be doing more in the new Airfix Group Build too! 

razordws wrote:

Yes I have checked out your other threads Duke, that's why I made the comment.  So do you build ten at once or do you build one at a time, and then post them all at once.  Just curious because if I have more than two on the bench at once it drives me crazy.  I can't imagine doing a dozen at once.

To be honest Dave, I do build anywhere form seven to ten models at a time. I keep everything in their respective boxes and work on a different one while waiting for something else to dry on a previous model. So, when I post a bunch of finished pics like this, it means that I actually finished them all at about the same time. 

I used to be the same with only one or two projects going at once. I found that I was sitting around on the bench doing nothing while waiti9ng for stuff to dry. I didn't want to get up to do anything else while I still had precious time to work on the bench, so then I started a new model again.

Jeff, the AWACS looks great! I'm building the Heller E3B AWACS myself and having an extremely difficult time myself. I had the same issue with one engine dragging on the ground too. I took the wife's blow dryer, set it on the hottest setting, and used it on the wing for a few seconds from about six inches away. Then I flexed the wing a bit and held it till it cooled again (a minute or two tops) and checked it for height. I got it almost perfect after two tries. Now all I have to do is apply the decals, then re-attach the nine or ten parts that fell off while I was trying to paint it!

Duke,

Thanks for the kind words.  I know all about parts falling off!  I had to fabricate the refueling boom and two HF antennas from stretched sprue because of breakage.  The refueling boom snapped and flew off to who know where while prepping to paint!  I still haven't found it.  As I've stated before, the plastic in this kit was the most brittle I've ever seen.  I thought about using the hair dryer method, but I broke one of the vertical stablizer halves while trying to straight it out with hot water, and was afraid from then on to bend the warped pieces too much.

I've got the Heller kit in storage back in the states.  I'll be interested to see how the two kits stack up against each other.  I suspect they share alot since Heller and Airfix were in bed together for awhile.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, the Heller kit is all raised panel lines.  This Airfix kit has recessed lines on all major fuselage and wing components and on the optional TF33 engines (E-3A/B/C).  Interestingly, the CFM-56 engines (big turbofans for E-3 D/F, the primary engines for the kit) and the rotodome have raised lines, making me think these pieces were lifted from the Heller molds.  Its hard to tell who's moulding what these days without a scorecard!  Post a pic when you get your Sentry done.  You don't see these built every day.

Well I actually finished a build before the deadline .  Here are some pics of my 1/72 scale Meteor.  I have to say that this is one of the nicer Airfix kits that I've worked on.  I would defintiely do another one of these some day.

Dave, your Meteor looks fantastic! I have got to get me one of those! Congrats on finishing this Group Build, you deserve this badge! 

jeff wrote:

Duke, Thanks for the kind words.  I know all about parts falling off!  I had to fabricate the refueling boom and two HF antennas from stretched sprue because of breakage.  The refueling boom snapped and flew off to who know where while prepping to paint!  I still haven't found it.  As I've stated before, the plastic in this kit was the most brittle I've ever seen.  I thought about using the hair dryer method, but I broke one of the vertical stablizer halves while trying to straight it out with hot water, and was afraid from then on to bend the warped pieces too much. I've got the Heller kit in storage back in the states.  I'll be interested to see how the two kits stack up against each other.  I suspect they share alot since Heller and Airfix were in bed together for awhile.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, the Heller kit is all raised panel lines.  This Airfix kit has recessed lines on all major fuselage and wing components and on the optional TF33 engines (E-3A/B/C).  Interestingly, the CFM-56 engines (big turbofans for E-3 D/F, the primary engines for the kit) and the rotodome have raised lines, making me think these pieces were lifted from the Heller molds.  Its hard to tell who's moulding what these days without a scorecard!  Post a pic when you get your Sentry done.  You don't see these built every day.

Well Jeff, let me tell you, you'll have an even harder time with the Heller E3B model if it is anything like my kit. I had gaps in the wing roots as least 1/4 inch wide on each side! Spreading the fuselage won't work either, you have to fill them up and sand them down. I got some 1/8 inch sheet styrene from Evergreen and cut it into strips to fill them, filled the remaining gaps with gap-filling CA glue, and sanded it down.

As for the panel lines, mine also has the recessed panel lines on the fuselage and wings, although on my wings you'd never be able to tell with all the paint on them! The TF33 engines are also recessed, they are the ones I have on this kit. The CFM-56 engines on my kit are raised. So it basically looks like they are the same kit, although, I wonder why mine had major gaps in the wingroots that yours didn't have. Hmmm. Now I'm interested in starting my E3D just to see if the fuselage gaps were a fluke, or a part of the model.

Right now, I think I'm ready to decal this bad boy. I won't know until I take off all the masking and see how much bleed happened. After I get them on, I'll be replacing the nine or ten parts that came off (including one whole engine assembly!) and then adding the rest of the detail parts. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually get this one finished by this time next year! 

Duke Maddog wrote:

Dave, your Meteor looks fantastic! I have got to get me one of those!

You mean to tell me that there are kits out there that you haven't built yet Duke?

Thanks Jeff and Duke for your comments. 

razordws wrote:

Duke Maddog wrote: Dave, your Meteor looks fantastic! I have got to get me one of those! You mean to tell me that there are kits out there that you haven't built yet Duke? Thanks Jeff and Duke for your comments.

As a matter of fact----Yes!! 

I hope you guys like this, I think I have done this right!!!!! Merry Xmas to all!!!!!!

Traveller, it looks okay so far, but do you have anything larger than these thumbnails? I really want to see how this bomber looks since I have it in my stash as well. Also, what model and in what scale is that plane that is next to it in the second pic?

Merry Christmas to you, and I'm looking forward to seeing larger pics.

Traveller, unless you used a cell phone to  take these picture it appears you've made a link to your thumbnails instead of the actual picture.  From what I can see though it looks great.

Duke the other aircraft in the picture is a 1/72 Revell  E 555 America Bomber (Luft '46 stuff).  I have that in my stash and it is just so cool looking!

Traveller,

The Vulcan looks great!  Got any larger pics, I'd love to see them.  Going to do one of these myself someday.

Really like the Vulcan, very nice job.

Steve