The Airfix Farewell GB from now until 1st Jan 2007

Woohoo!  My E-3D arrived in the mail yesterday.  This sucker is big, even in 1/72nd scale.  I'll try to post some box pics asap.  Unfortunately, my inlaws are in town and one is sleeping in my workroom, which doubles as our spare bedroom, but I hope to sneak in now and then and at least start on a few of the little things.  Also, the decal sheet is in rough shape (I bought the kit preowned) but I think I can salvage most of it.  Maybe I can find a replacement, if anyone made one.

osher wrote:

OK, here's the latest on the MiG.  I applied the black (nose and walkways), but botched the masking.

When you say you botched the masking, do you mean that you should have masked the leading edge root (according to the colour scheme)?

It looks like a MiG to me.

Finally sprayed some color on the Spitfire IX tonight. I always a/b the interior and interior parts black before the actual interior color, to act as a sort of preshade. So I've officially begun! Woohoo!

Well here it is.  My box top pic for my group build project:

 

And how's this for warpage!  I'm thinking of soaking them in my bathtub in hot water to see if I can straighten them out some.  Once forced together, though, they actually fit quite well, and the recessed panel lines line up perfectly. 

Looking forward to getting started.  More to come.

I think that a lot of kits moulded at Trun had considerable warpage. Coincidence?

Try using CA instead of poly cement, and you might have less grief. I have a B-29 wing that is really badly warped, but using CA won't help that, it needs some sort of reinforcement as well. On the other hand, the 1:48 Buccaneer fuselages just need to be gradually glued with CA, from nose to tail.

jeff wrote:

And how's this for warpage!  I'm thinking of soaking them in my bathtub in hot water to see if I can straighten them out some.  Once forced together, though, they actually fit quite well, and the recessed panel lines line up perfectly.

I'd be interested to know how that works out- sounds like a good idea. How will you do it?

Osher, nice job on the Mig, post some pics.

Jeff, that is some serious warpage!

Progress Update

Decals went on Monday night, in record time. This had a lot to do with the limited number of decals supplied with the kit. As it was I only used the 10 and the JG 26 badge decs from the kit sheet, using an Eaglestrike set for the national insignia, with some Revell decals from the spares box for a few stencils.



I then applied another coat of Future, before applying a watercolour wash to the recessed detail, particularly the wheel bays.



These then received a gentle dry brush, I use RLM 76 to highlight over RLM 02.



The Dora is now in the paintshop again, where these pics were taken, receiving a coat of matt.

Karl

Hi Karl,

The Dora looks superb!!! Firstly, it's hard to credit it's 1:72, and secondly it's hard to believe it's an Airfix kit! Just goes to show, finshing skill makes all the difference!

I was holding off on my own Dora to see which paint scheme you did, as I fancy Red 1/Jv 44 but didn't want to double-up if that was the one you chose. I guess I'm all clear to rip into it -- all I need now is a reliable reference. I've noticed each of the Jv 44 planes seems to have been different at a detail level, at least one was a D-11 IIRC. Can you recommend a good source for the camo pattern and RLM colours on Red 1? I've had no luck yet serching the web.

Been busy -- working on a Sabre conversion, a tank to test some techniques and an SF scratchbuild all at once, unfortunately none of them Airfix!

Cheers,

TB379

Thunder, glad you like the Dora.

Considering its age it's not a bad little kit, even straight out of the box.

As for JV 44 references, try this link:

http://www.luftarchiv.de/

Switch to English navigation, unless your German is particularly good. Under 'Mission Briefing' there is a section on JV44, including a profile of Red 1.

Progress Update

The Dora has been matt coated, and is now being left to cure before I start the weathering.

Karl

Karl, the Dora looks great, especially the mottle!!! (thumbs up)

OK, I haven't been just making things up- I really am working on a kit. Progress pics!

This is the 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk IXc/XVIe. I'm about ready to put the cockpit components in and close it up. Not the most detailed office I've seen, but not bad either. It's a fun, relaxing OOB build.

First- the box art:



Here's the IP. Not much molded in detail. If Airfix would've included an IP decal, it woulda been nice.



Here are the fuselage halves. Lots of detail that could've been added, either with resin or scratch build. I'll save that for the Airfix Mk. V!





Here it is all together, including the seat.



Having fun so far!

I went through the exercise earlier this year of comparing different 1:48 Spitfire cockpit sets etc. Basically, the True Details (NOT the ex-KMC) cockpit is best value-for-money, however I think the ex-KMC one has a better seat. Notwithstanding that, a very good seat can be had by doing a little bit of work on the Airfix seat, mainly:

• reducing its height by 2mm
• thinning down the sides, and filing/sanding the leather padding to suit the new contours of the lower seat height
• Adding other details to suit, including
• Eduard (or other) Sutton Harness.

As for the IP, I'd go for an Eduard 'color zoom' as suitable for either the Hase or Tam spitfire v.

By the way, the seat should probably be a redder shade of brown. If you have oils, you could try to emulate the swirly colours of the old bakelite (the Spitfire's seat was an early form of plastic, except where padded with leather etc, or where armour was applied, naturally).

Hi Karl,

Thanks for the link, that's a terrific site! The color profiles are excellent and will sure help. It looks like the upper surface camo is two shades of green (darker than Yellow 10's) over pale gray, with a schwartzgrun upper cowling panel -- any thoughts on the actual RLM codes?

I have an article on a Jv 44 build-up from many years ago but can't find the mag, it was in the early years of TMMI. I'll compare Airfix's instructions with the profile paintings but the Humbrol paint shades quoted will not be as close a match as the Testor RLM group.

I'm looking forward to this project -- a simple kit and a quick build, but the opportunity for a spectacular finish.

Can't wait to see Yellow 10 finished!

Cheers,

TB379

Hi - Alan P (aka Pruz) with:

1/48 Tornado GR.4, 617 Sqn Dambusters - count me in, please!

I think Airfix will rise from the ashes again...!

 

Pruz, welcome!  The 1/48 Tornado kit is a bit of a dog.  I've only ever seen one done really well, and that was by Airfx themselves!  I've tried the GR.1 kit, and, well, seriously, it needs loads of filler.  Mine is still part built, waiting for that day I can go back to the dragon's den!  Anyway, good luck, and I hope it works out.  Can't wait to see how you get on.

Wow!  That Fw-190 is simply stunning!  I just can't believe it's the Airfix kit.  Just shows what an excellent finish can do.

My MiG has not moved on a week.  Amazing how life just flies by sometimes.  I need to touch up where the masking wasn't so good (or where I was a klutz and dabbed the fuselage with black, but let's not talk about that!).  After that, apply canopy, paint it in. add in the guns and wheels, and, er, that's it.  Sounds so easy when ones says it like that.  I'm just wondering what the next, er, interesting challenge will be.

Looking excellent on that Spitfire jwb!  Funny, can't remember seeing that one sale here.  Nicely painted, and nice you're having fun.  That is the purpose of this GB after all!  It's a celebration of Airfix, not a challenge to build the best (if it was, my MiG would certainly not be anywhere near the top!).

Ouch, that's serious warpage jeff!  Many kits have it, but that's bad!  Good luck with sorting it out.  Let us know how you did it?

Hey traveller, if you need more time, sure!  No problem, this isn't a race.  Hope the holiday time is relaxing.  Mine disappeared rapidly...

Well, I glued the fuselage together on my Spitfire IX, and hte fit was pretty good. Almost no sanding and little filler will be needed. If I would've taken a bit more time to test fit and maybe sanded down the fuselage bits, I probably could've gotten away with no filler.

Then I test fitted the wings. The left wing top nestled down nicely on the lower wing. The right side's pins didn't even line up correctly with the lower wing piece. After sanding them down, i taped the wing panels in place and test fitted to the fuselage.

Ugh.

So tonight I'll be breaking out the sanding sticks and really working on mating the wings to the fuselage. I may try glueing the upper wing parts to the fuselage, then the lower wing on. It'll still need work, but the work will be on the wingtips- not the wing roots.

It's kind of interesting to compare with my Tamiya P-47D Razorback, which is at virtually the same stage in the building process. Their is a spar to slign the wings, and each wing just slid on and fit perfectly. I swear I could leave it in place without glue and it would just work.

Still- both present fun challenges. The Airfix kit makes you really think about how to make it fit together, and if you don't let it frustrate you, it can be a fun challenge. The satisfaction from the build finishing up good comes from knowing how much thought and work you put into it. The Tamiya kit goes together so easy, but it really challenges me on the final finish. It's like having a darn near perfect canvas to paint. So both provide fun, and different ways of utilizing your modeling brain.

Anyway- should have pics this weekend of the process with the Spitfire!

osher wrote:

>>The 1/48 Tornado kit is a bit of a dog.  I've only ever seen one done really well, and that was by Airfx themselves!  I've tried the GR.1 kit, and, well, seriously, it needs loads of filler.<<

I am finding that! The kit is the GR.1 with an extra sprue including Paveway III bombs and the GR.4 laser designator chin pod. Otherwise it is horrible, but we are commemorating Airfix, warts and all. I have decided to build it exactly as the maker intended, so I am leaving the raised panel lines and minimal detail cockpit intact; all I'm gonna do is putty up the gaps and sand down the steps into something approaching respectability!

Best of luck to one and all with your builds!

Al.

Hey all, I know I said I'd do a 1:72 tornado but looking at my timing schedules for the next while, I highly doubt I'll get it started before January (I have three kits in the queue ahead of it).  So I'll have to bow out.  Sorry.

jboutin wrote:

Hey all, I know I said I'd do a 1:72 tornado but looking at my timing schedules for the next while, I highly doubt I'll get it started before January (I have three kits in the queue ahead of it).  So I'll have to bow out.  Sorry.

Pity, but hey, understandable!  Good luck with the builds

Disater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Started to paint my Vulcan, kept on getting bad paint splatters with my airbrush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Works out that I have been using the wrong nozzle for acrylic paints!!!!!!!!! Back on track now, washed the paint off, then I will start to paimt again!!!!

Oh man traveller, I know that one!  Good luck!

The relatives finally flew out this morning, so I was able to get to work on my AWACS.  Unfortunately, I found a few more nasty surprises besides the warped fuselage halves.  It seems every major wing and stabilizer panel is warped to some degree, and the plastic is very brittle.  I've already broken a couple of pieces inadvertently, and found several broken in the box.  Nothing unfixable, just somewhat annoying.  I bought the kit off evil-bay, so my guess is that the model sat in someones attic baking in the heat since 1991 when it was apparently boxed, slowly cooking away the plasticizer.  I tried the hot-water-in-the-tub soak to try and straighten out the fuselage halves, but it had no effect.  Guess I'll take Brews advice and glue them together a little at a time. What I have clamped together so far has gone together well, though.  I bet it was a nice-building kit in its day.

I have to confess, I'm not putting alot of work into the flight deck.  With OOB rules, minimum detail, and tiny windows, a coat of aircraft grey paint and the IP decal will have to do.

I'll try to post a pic or two in a few days.

Cheers!

 

Ouch, that kits sounds nasty!  Been there, left there, bought the t-shirt...  Good luck with that build.

Wow- this Spitfire Mk IX is turning into.... well, let's be kind and say it's a labor of love.

I'd love to end up with a half decent looking build.

When it comes to putting the main components together- wings, tailplanes, rudder, etc- everything, and I mean every single part, has needed some kind of surgery. Most have needed major sanding and scraping. Rudder, wing tip, wing blisters, tailplanes.

The wings have been a nightmare. The correct upper parts for the wings overlapped the lower wing by almost 1/8th an inch. Another set was supplied, which has the incorrect wheel blisters. But they fit, so I went with them. The gun blisters finally went in, after sanding. The wingtips- I'm waiting until tomorrow.

Here's a shot of the fuselage to wing fit, dry fitted:



I'd read over at Hyperscale in a build report on this kit that slipping a spreader in the fuselage could help close the gap.

Here's the spreader, a piece of sprue slipped into the fuselage:



The result is still a serious gap, but much more manageable:



And I just dry fitted the upper and lower nose pieces. You guessed it- surgery coming up.

Still- I am having fun with the kit. It's mostly with tackling small engineering problems on how to make it all fit, but it's still an interesting challenge. Hopefully, I should have the major parts in place tomorrow and be ready to start painting.

A labor of love you say?!? Okay, I'll buy that but it looks like you've got your work cut out for you Jon. I hope my meteor needs a little less love than your spitfire.

Hmmm, using a spreader.  Good idea!  Never tried that, but it makes sense, and I can see that it works!  Indeed a labour of love.

This is the story so far with the Tonka:

The cockpit builds up OK and the decals don't look bad - note the complete lack of any detail whatsoever.....

The only way to make an acceptable join of the top and bottom fuselage halves was to glue it together starting at the front and working back about two inches at a time. I managed to reduce the size of the gaps using Zap a Gap and a hobby knife, but it still looks shocking!

Now it is ready for death by putty!

I should just add this shot of the crew (obviously not finished yet!!) - it looks like the RAF equal opportunity policy includes recruiting Neanderthals. I also like the baseball mitt flying gloves! To be fair, there is quite a bit of detail on these figures, although one is better moulded than the other..!

Hope to be finished soon.....

Al

 

Wow Pruz!  That's fast going!  Looks a lot like mine, but better!  I think I chose the kit when I was still inexperienced.  Now I'm feeling induced to recommence work on it...  I can't wait to see how yours turns out, I think it will be fantastic!

Hey Guy's, Finally got back to doing some work on the Vampire and the Polish Lancer. Had my folks over from Ireland on vacation and then of course there was work and life in general. the Vampire is coming along nicely and I have to fill and sand some seams. To my surprise there was a decal for the IP but it fell apart, so I made the best of it. Most of the fit was fine except for the booms that will require a lot of work. I filled them with super glue and will sand them tomorrow. I painted silver on the seams to check for extra work needed. I have the Horse and saddle done but I am not too good at animals. I will need to give it some pastells to give it some depth  and contrast.

Hope the photos come out ok.  Steve.