Wez Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Several of the guys I worked with in the RAF had worked on Hunters, to a man they often referred to the jet kindly as a Billy Bunter, a name which has stuck with me. Here is my Billy Bunter for the STGB – an F.4 of 118Sqn based at Jever in Germany during 1956/1957, I'll be using Revell's 1/72nd F.6 converted to an F.4 using Aeroclub's conversion set and Xtradecal markings from set X072-52. In addition to the Aeroclub conversion I'll also be using their undercarriage set which corrects for the undersized wheels that come with the Revell kit. Apart from the changes I've described I'll be attempting to do something about the intake trunking or lack of it, other than that it'll be largely SFTB... ...largely. Here's the kit and bits laid out with the references The aircraft featured in the Xtradecals is the notorious WT748/S I say notorious because it has PRU blue undersides, these were discussed here: I'm still unsure about portraying my model in these colours so as a cop out I'll probably go for XF977/A which is featured in the Warpaint book in the more usual Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/Silver scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Some progress! I salvaged this resin seat, I think it was made by Airwaves, I'd painted it up about 10 years ago, I can't remember what aircraft I was going to use it for, maybe a Canberra or a Javelin, anyway part of the knee-guard had snapped off so that needed to be replaced. The firing handle is made from two strands of wire, one painted yellow and the other black gently twisted together. I've shown the firing handle as a D shaped handle as this is consistent with the style used on early seats. Some progress on painting the cockpit - just a bit of dry-brushing to bring out the detail, after all Hunter cockpit's were pretty much black on black - at least for the F4's. I also had a go at replicating the intake trunking, having wasted a couple of evenings trying to come up with a solution I offered the wings up to the fuselage and realised you really couldn't see too much and it probably wasn't worth the effort. Rather than divert myself and spend time on a needless task I thought I'd leave it as Revell intended. Instead I've painted the intake and boundary layer splitter white and then painted the fuselage and intake lips the appropriate camouflage colour. After the recent debate about Humbrol enamels on this site I thought I'd see if there was any mileage in the claim that the Margate paints didn't cover as well as the Marfleet paints, the green is from Margate, the Dark Sea Grey from Marfleet, the Marfleet seems to offer better opacity after 1 coat as can be seen on the intake lips. I've held the kit fuselage halves together and offered the Aeroclub F4 tailpipe up to the Revell fuselage, there appears to be quite a difference in diameter between the two - has anybody else noticed this? I've got a few more of the Aeroclub conversions, I'll give those a go to see if it's a one-off. That's it for now, maybe a bit more tomorrow, depends on whether I get the chance to break the motorbike out of winter hibernation or not. Wez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat C Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 I've held the kit fuselage halves together and offered the Aeroclub F4 tailpipe up to the Revell fuselage, there appears to be quite a difference in diameter between the two - has anybody else noticed this? Yes! I glued in a 1mm shim of plastic onto the rear end of the fuselage and then fitted the tail pipe. It gives you a bit more room to make the transition from fatter fuselage to thinner tailpipe if that makes sense! Then cover the join with Miliput and sand like mad! Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted April 1, 2012 Author Share Posted April 1, 2012 (edited) Yes! I glued in a 1mm shim of plastic onto the rear end of the fuselage and then fitted the tail pipe. It gives you a bit more room to make the transition from fatter fuselage to thinner tailpipe if that makes sense! Then cover the join with Miliput and sand like mad!Pat Pat, I'd offered up another pipe and it was exatly the same so your suggestion makes sense and will be what I'll use - thanks! Wez Edited April 1, 2012 by Wez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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