Truro Model Builder Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 The last of my refugees from the shelf of doom have heaved themselves over the side of the rubber raft and are wrapping themselves in foil blankets and gratefully accepting hot coffee. And in this case it is a duo of Airfix's rather wonderful Jet Provosts, built as a pair. JP T.4 3 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr Both aircraft had the addition of a number of small details, including aerials and fairings, but were otherwise built from the box. The model goes together like a dream, with the only points of caution being the angle of the tailplanes and the inevitable gap from the air intakes. As a kit it is perfect as a starter and well done to Airfix for releasing it as such. A couple more have found their way into my stash and I am eyeing up the other options on the Xtradecal sheet I purchased -particularly that attractive Venezuelan aircraft. JP T.3 1 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr The first aircraft was completed as one of the kit options, a T.3 of No.2 Flying Training School. I particularly like the light aircraft grey with dayglo stripes, and was delighted that this option was included. Now, as anybody who has chosen this option will probably guess, my delight was severely dented when it came to the decals -those big, bright, dayglo decals. After copious amounts of Microsol and a lot of swearing (and much entertainment for the rest of the model building group) those on the wingtip tanks and the rear fuselage finally settled. Oddly, the big stripes that wrapped around the leading edges went down with no issues, but my sanity took a lot of beating that evening. JP T.3 2 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr The other kit was finished as a T.4 of No.1 Tactical Weapons Unit. I first saw camouflaged JPs on ATC camp at Brawdy back in 1985, which was the first time that I'd ever come across them in anything other than red and white. After the T.4s were retired, by which time they were painted in air defence grey, one of them, XR679, was bought by a gent called Eddie Todd, who covered the grey in self adhesive multi-coloured circles and flew aerobatic displays at shows. He helped to offset the cost by raffling a flight in the aircraft, and at St. Mawgan airshow in 1996 I spent £1 on a winning ticket. A most enjoyable 20-minute flight after the show was the result, with a number of aerobatics and a short visit to Perranporth airfield (at the time beset by anti-noise NIMBYs). JP T.4 1 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr When Xtradecal issued their JP sheet for the new kit I was therefore very pleased to see XR679 included. Not wanting to get spots in my eyes I was never going to complete it in its demobbed form (see https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-BWGT for the reason why) but the JP looks particularly neat in dark sea grey/dark green camouflage. JP T.4 2 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr So, to anybody thinking about building the Airfix Jet Provost, go and do it. It's a terrific build and a great mojo restorative. JP T.3 3 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr 35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufdriver Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Very nice Martin! I still got my second one to build and can’t decide whether to do XR679 in camouflage or grey. Decisions, decisions! Cheers Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roginoz Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Very nice JP duo, Martin. Love the camo !! I'm intrigued.....how come they were languishing on the Shelf of Doom.......? Cheers, Rog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truro Model Builder Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 2 minutes ago, roginoz said: Very nice JP duo, Martin. Love the camo !! I'm intrigued.....how come they were languishing on the Shelf of Doom.......? Cheers, Rog Time, or rather the lack thereof. It's the usual story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roginoz Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 That figures !! Rog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 These look wonderful, especially the trainer. Good story to go along with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Nice pair of JPs Martin. The grey and dayglo is a nice colour scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 The JP does look rather fine as a "combat" aircraft rather than as a trainer... Very impressive duo. Does anyone do a JP in larger scale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Nice work rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 5 hours ago, 224 Peter said: The JP does look rather fine as a "combat" aircraft rather than as a trainer... Very impressive duo. Does anyone do a JP in larger scale? Aero club did T. Mk. 3 and T. Mk. 5 in 1/48th but both are now like rocking-horse poo. The fact that they’re good kits doesn’t help here: people usually won’t part with them. Heritage Aviation Model, now known as Kits for Cash, did a resin T. Mk. 3/T. Mk. 4 kit which isn’t bad but, like the Aeroclub kits, it’s probably now out of production. Fly do a 1/48th T. Mk. 5 which is also OK, but there are reportedly issues with the nose shape (a bit too pointy) and the colour schemes are a bit suspect but apparently it builds well. One thing to note about the JP 3 and 4 is that the longitudinal frame in the sliding section of the canopy is internal so shouldn’t show the external finish colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzby061 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 They both look great & deserve a tot of rum in their coffee. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 46 minutes ago, stever219 said: Aero club did T. Mk. 3 and T. Mk. 5 in 1/48th but both are now like rocking-horse poo. The fact that they’re good kits doesn’t help here: people usually won’t part with them. Heritage Aviation Model, now known as Kits for Cash, did a resin T. Mk. 3/T. Mk. 4 kit which isn’t bad but, like the Aeroclub kits, it’s probably now out of production. Fly do a 1/48th T. Mk. 5 which is also OK, but there are reportedly issues with the nose shape (a bit too pointy) and the colour schemes are a bit suspect but apparently it builds well. One thing to note about the JP 3 and 4 is that the longitudinal frame in the sliding section of the canopy is internal so shouldn’t show the external finish colour. Looks like an order to Hannants is needed, I think the T3 would be fun, the T3 in "Desert" markings at DSAE, Cosford looks interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Stunning job on those two Martin, a great incentive for me to buy another couple & the Xtradecal sheet. I can see why the spots with lipstick scheme was rejected, but the flames scheme is a bit smart, pity no decals for that. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Lovely pair of JP's there Martin. They have inspired me to put my two on the build schedule soon! Cheers Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinChipmunkfan Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Great models Martin, I especially liked the grey training command finish I bought 4 of the Jp's when they came out and the extradecal sheet and am now on my third Jp. Like you had troubles with the dayglow decals but your models look really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonR Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Lovely pair of JP's Martin! Both beautifully finished! I snapped a photo of a 79 Squadron JP visiting Chivenor from Brawdy in the early 80's, also surprised to see it in that scheme at the time as well! Sorry for poor quality of photo I was only about 14 and we didn't have iPhones in those days lol Cheers Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convair Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Very nice Jet Provosts. I can't decide which one is more cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefropas Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Great pair! Mine is ready for paint, I just cannot decide which scheme to go with... Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_w Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 (edited) Great pair & a good contrast. I love the Camo! Its a great kit, I have 4 in addition to the one already built and will buy more if aldi sell them at a fiver a go. Maybe now is a good time to go into businesst producing JP specific decals given how many most people seem to have Edited March 21, 2018 by matt_w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickthebrief Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Lovely JP's Martin - you have done better than me with the dayglo decals - I simply could not get them to conform to even the most gentle of curves and so ended up resorting to a different scheme - the Xtradecal sheet is great and, as you say, has lots of tempting schemes on there... Like you I also built a second one "out of the box" in red, white and grey, and would happily build more - a really great kit. Thanks for sharing. Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now