old thumper

Well done with the Ju 188 it looks grand. Bf110, Mitchell, Havoc or Halifax is a tough choice. The Havoc Green Hornet is probably my favorite of them, but thinking objectively the Halifax or Bf110 are probably the better of the kits. If I was forced at gun point to choose out of the four of them I would say Bf 110.

Thanks again all. I have most of the other large Airfix WW2 bomber kits stashed away and was hoping to build the B-29 "Eddie Allen" before the Matchbox group build began. Bit o Lace took so long to build though that Eddie Allen will now have to wait until the Matchbox gb is finished. I have proposed an Airfix the Golden Years Group Build for 2018 if anyone is interested and would like to join.

That is really good, and not something we see very often.

That is absolutely super, more pictures please. I build a lot of these older kits to, I often find they can be a lot more trouble than the new ones though.

Yes back in the eighties kids moved away from things like models and jigsaw puzzles. But most of the big British household names around in 1979 have either gone out of business completely or been taken over by foreign companies, so nothing unique about Matchbox.

Thanks, it was after all the origin of the species. I might have to build a Panther with it, there is film of a Pershing and Panther having a pop at one another, the Pershing wins and the Panther crew scarper.

Thanks all. Probably the last one of these we will see being built for a while.

If that means I can build a WW2 Pershing then count me in.

It is up to you on whether you decide to include the Pershing, I'm not nagging or complaining. The thing I have learnt about proposing group builds is that it can be very difficult to decide the boundaries of what should be included. A year or two ago I proposed a WW2 Polish group build but soon gave up when it became as clear as mud over what should be included, for instance whether to include Polish serving in the RAF, USAAF, Red Air Force or even Luftwaffe. To add to that sometimes Polish were part of mixed crews on bombers and even ships, sometimes pilots for example had Polish parents but were born in the USA. What should be let in and what should be kept out? it just all got to confusing for me in the end. I suppose this Patton family group build is a little like having a Avro Lancaster family group build and asking whether to include the Manchester, York, Lincoln and Shackleton.

I would have joined with a Pershing, the Patton is a bit to new for me though.

Thanks all, nice to know that I am not the only one who still enjoys these old kits.

This makes me feel rather insecure with me feeble stash of 20 or so.

I don't blame you. I'm glad I built it, but won't be building anymore.

My attempt at the old 1962 Airfix B-17G "a bit of lace" kit, built as part of the radial engines group. I know a lot of people will have fond memories of this old kit and it's artwork, I know that I certainly do. With four new B-17s in the stash I was not looking to get anything accurate, detailed or impressive from this build, all I wanted was a nice neatly built retro looking model of this old favorite. Unfortunately this old kit is an absolute stinker to build, the reason why is because the kits many transparencies are simply the wrong shape and size and do not fit the fuselage. Before beginning the build one of my main hopes was to keep as much of the riveted surface detail as possible, the reality was however a choice between keeping the rivets and the windows fitting neatly, and the windows won. I could of course have kept the rivets on the wings and tail but decided it was better to keep everything looking the same. What you see here is a sanded down finished model with a two tone salt weathered alclad finish. I decided to model "a bit o lace" as it was before it received flak damage to the rudder but with the earlier damage to the port wing. All original parts except a few guns and windows. The last picture is of the Matchbox B-17G kit, which as much as I love Matchbox was another stinker to build thanks to its transparent parts. It is a toss up which is the worst kit of these two kits to build. I am happy enough with the finished builds though.

Nothing wrong with that one, very good.

I have to say that I hate Azur kits with all my heart and every sinew of my body.

a bit o lace Built from the old 1962 Airfix B-17 Flying Fortress kit. This build took much longer to complete than expected thanks to the transparent parts being of the wrong shape and size to fit the fuselage, a lot of cutting, filling, scratch building, sanding and polishing was required to get them flush the fuselage with no nasty gaps around them. Unfortunately all this activity resulted in the removal of the riveted finish. All original parts apart from some of the guns.

One last picture before the transfers go on. Basically the whole thing is now painted up, Albion alloys tubing was used for most of the guns, but the upper turret has the original kit parts. And one picture with transfers. Just remembered that i need to add the crew door window.

From what I read the stripes should be the same colour as the underside. I'm not a Luftwaffe expert at all though, and sometimes it is just nice to follow what the box says.

I am not sure if even the low life plankton at the Daily Mail would stoop that low, although second thoughts you are right they probably would. You are right about that terrible air disaster bringing back horrible memories, but then other aircraft have also been involved in nightmare accidents. As a World War Two builder it would be unlikely for me to buy a Hunter kit. Having said that I would have thought the Hunter to be an absolute must for Jet lovers, and absolutely so for those who go for post war British jets of which there must be quite a few in Airfix's sales catchment area. There are very very few jets which might tempt me, but I could be tempted by a Black Arrows Hunter like in the old Airfix kit.

Does stgb stand for single type group build? Nice choice, The Bf 109 is one of my favorite Matchbox kits, I built the Romanian version again about a year ago and may add the desert version to this group build.

Ebay prices for Matchbox kits are way to expensive for me also. I mostly get my Matchbox kits from shows where a Tempest for example would normally go for around £5, the same kit would probably work out about £12 or £15 inc postage on Ebay. I may well do a Tempest in Indian markings later, pretty sure a Stuka will be first up though. Here's my Matchbox Tempest from a couple of years back, re-scribed but with the original transfers.

That bit of blue on the cowling shows up on some old pictures. I read somewhere that B-17 cowlings were in four parts and that on one of Bit o Laces engines a replacement cowling quarter had been used, it was reckoned to have come from an aircraft belonging to a squadron that used blue instead of white on it's cowlings. I am trying to copy pics of the real Bit O Lace that I have seen on the web, but I am not being that particular.

I just painted the seam in as part of the framing, I couldn't think what else to do without making new blisters and I didn't want all that trouble.

I'm at that stage now where I'm just going back over things and painting the smaller parts. Unfortunately after the masking tape came off the chipped olive drab wing panel needed doing again. Just a bit of salt weathering was all it took. And then back on to the transparencies for a tidy up. The nose had to come off for a buffing and the other parts received another layer of clear. Transparencies finished at long last. The engines and propellers. I have been working on these for a while, doing a little bit at a time, waiting for the paint to dry and then moving on to the next colour. The engines are typical old Airfix with the engine and cowling moulded in one piece. The props needed glueing back together and a lot of sanding before they were even. Tyres and wheels, again typical old Airfix .