davecov

Lovely build, Andy. The Airfix 1/32 Bentley was the first Airfix car I ever made - a long, long time ago! I have never made another one since but I do have one in my stash to build. I have the Marina and Maxi in my stash and from a quick glance they look superior to the Escort. I will only know for sure when the day comes to build them. Dave

I was in the Sea Cadets in the early Seventies and this was my favourite ship box-art at that time. I look back on this artwork with so much nostalgia as I eventually joined the Royal Navy in 1976 and later spent over three years on another County Class Destroyer - HMS Antrim (D18). Dave

It is a mistake on the box, Tim the scale is not 1/72 but 1/43. It is a reissue of the set of three 1/43 Rally Cars that have been issued singly and as a set of three a couple of times. They are of Heller origin. Details of one of the older sets can be seen in the ATF History Section, here. Dave

That pizza is the wrong scale and the panel lines are all wrong. Dave

If we didn't re-use the same Pennant Numbers, then considering the huge numbers of RN vessels over the years, the numbers being issued now would be huge and probably take up half of the ship's side! Dave

Final pieces fitted in place: All that remains now is the decalling: First step in the decalling was to rig the Red Ensign: I wrapped the flag around the foil and in the process sandwiched the thread in place: Trimmed and ready to fit to the Yardarm: Ensign fitted and rest of decals applied: Finally finished! I had originally intended to apply two coats of decals due to the transluscent nature of the decals but to be honest I couldn't be bothered! N.B. I have been looking back at this build in the hard light of day in 2020. This build has always had a special place in my heart for many reasons but mainly because I managed to build an "unbuildable" kit during a time that Airfix were getting a lot of flak and it was only three years after I had resumed modelling after a break of 27 years! It has remained on display in my living room or display case ever since I finished it but I am hoping to build a better one now that my modelling skills have improved over the years. Whether I will have the same attachment to the next build as I do to this one is doubtful - assuming that the next one doesn't actually turn out to be "unbuildable". That is all Dave

When I originally started this build all those years ago, I was going to keep the superstructure detachable so that the interior could be seen. However, many of the components are too damaged after years of being squashed in a box. So, I have decided to rip out the internals and glue the superstructure in place: I am making another lifeboat at the moment as a "what-if" so that may have a detachable superstructure as it is a real shame to hide the detailed interior. Handrails aft of Bridge area painted H130 Satin White: Centre section of stern railings fitted: Forward railings painted H33 Matt Black. Bollards were also fitted and painted H130 Satin White: Mast and radar assembly glued and painted: More progress yesterday. The mast and dinghy have been glued in place: Another view: I also fitted the midships and stern railings and also fitted the aerials: Railings were then painted: Since taking the photos, I have repainted quite a bit of the orange as it has taken a battering over the years. I have to repaint the window surrounds too as they have also suffered from years of neglect stuffed in a box! Only a few odds and ends to fit now and then I can apply the decals. Aerials fitted and Flying Bridge windows fitted: Liferafts and lifebelts fitted: Almost completed now with a couple of tiny parts still to fit: Thats all for now. Dave

I had intended to paint the hull sides and superstructure with a second coat of H15. I did the superstructure but decided to leave the hull until the weekend. Instead, I fixed the props and the various parts to the stern: The hull sides will get their second coat of H15 over the weekend. More progress yesterday. Second coat applied to the H15 Midnight Blue on hull, dinghy partially painted - found the right combination at last, H27 on deck touched up, window framing done, white applied to wiper motors, boathooks picked out with white: Unfortunately, with my den in chaos still, I haven't been able to do any modelling. However, I have done a little bit on the dinghy though. The deck has been painted black as has the strip around the outside. In this shot, you can see a bit more clearly where I had raised the stern with plastic card (brown).: Next step will be to add extra boxes, bags and other bumph along with some slings used for lifting. The real thing also has quite a few black fittings which I will replicate either with black paint or black decals. What with leaving this model to build kits for Airfix, moving house twice and a two and a half year Sabbatical from modelling I never got round to finishing this Lifeboat! It's been over three and a half years since I did any work on this thing! :shock: A rather bruised and battered Lifeboat: Needs some TLC: Most of the bits have been painted: Hopefully, I can repaint some of this build and finally get it finished as I now have another Lifeboat on the stocks to be made as a "what-if". Although there are decals for the boot-topping line, they are too transluscent to be of much use and so I am painting the line with H130 Satin White. The transom had already been done earlier in assembly: I also masked off around the deck so that I could repaint the gunwhales in H33 Matt Black: Whilst I had the black paint out, I repainted various bits and bobs: And again... Up on the bridge I had to bend the black supports back to their normal upright position and gave them a coat of black too. I also repainted the black details on the console and the white wiper "boxes" above the bridge windows: I noticed that the boot topping line hadn't been painted straight and veered up where the hull sections joined. Don't know how I managed it but I missed the moulded waterline by miles! Here the new line has been painted: Another view. Much better: View from the side. I need to tidy up some "thumb damage" to the waterline now : I fitted all of the internals (once again): And started to fit the guard rails: I fitted the windows inside the superstructure and added more guard rails around the bridge area. I also fitted the crane: Thats all for now. Dave

A tiny bit of work this evening as I painted the toe rails light grey: Made more progress on the superstructure today, applying the second coat of orange. I also picked out some of the instruments on the flying bridge with black. Next step will be to add some detailing to the black: I assembled the dinghy and added a piece of plastic card at the stern to raise the level of the transom so that it was in line with the top of the dinghy. I also added a steering arm to the outboard: Here is the outboard after painting. I gave the propeller disk some snips with sprue cutters to represent blades. Also in the shot is the steering position which is almost complete - and you can just make out ATF on the screen of the navigation computer! Since taking that picture, the wheel has been fitted: I have since painted the lifebelts, vents, and fire hydrants and given a second coat to the other orange parts of the flying bridge still to be fitted. I've just done a test paint of H60 Matt Scarlet on the stern: It has come out quite well but I think the white line that I painted is a bit thick and slightly curved at the ends which is accentuated by the contour of the transom if not looked at head on. It should be easy to fix though and I will use the same three colour combination (H15 Midnight Blue, H60 Matt Scarlet and H34 Acrylic Matt White) for the rest of the hull. I corrected the white line on the transom and began the painting of the hull in earnest. The first coat of H60 on the keel was painted first: Followed by the rest of the hull under the waterline: Colours are not quite as bright as shown which is due to the flash. In the cold light of day, the H60 was a bit bright and so I applied a coat of H19 Gloss Bright Red which has a bit more "body" and which so happens to be that recommended in the instructions: Another view. I have to touch up the blue slightly where it was removed by masking tape: One thing I have noticed with different lifeboats is that the white boot topping is not always in the same position. Some have the white line go across the four outlets either side of the hull (which you can just make out in the lower picture) whilst others have the white line beneath them. Unfortunately, the outlets as moulded seem to be at the wrong angle as it is impossible to get a white line to go across them (as shown in the picture of the lifeboat I am building) without the line being out of position. Because of this, they will be withiin the dark blue section. More progress on the hull where I have painted an undercoat of H25 Matt Blue. At the bow, the red had been too high up and so I have corrected it with the blue. This will mean a slight correction to the white boot topping too: I also put a coat of H25 on the lower superstructure. Note that it should not be perfectly horizontal but is stepped where it passes under the openings in the superstructure: Tonight I have put a coat of H15 Midnight Blue on the hull and superstructure sides: It will get another coat either tomorrow or the day after. Still a long way to go though with lots of odds and ends to fit including the windows and last of all the railings. I would imagine at least two weeks before completion. Thats all for now. Dave

Finally got round to some post-Telford work on the Lifeboat. There were sink holes on the ventilation intakes at the forward, lower, end of the superstructure each side. No panic - just filled and sanded smooth. Not much else done though, I just applied a second coat of H27 to the decks and other H27 parts: I also thought I would see how it looks on the base I bought at SMW. Having used Mark I eyeball to judge the length, I got it just right - I didn't even need the ATF Measuring Stick (a Bic Pen) that was in regular use at the show: As you can see the hull and superstructure are still bare plastic but I hope to make progress on those next week. Before then, I want to continue on the interior. I've just applied the first coat of H18 Gloss Orange to the superstructure: Note that the demarcation between the orange and the still-to-be-painted blue on the superstructure is stepped and not a continuous straight line: It's still wet in these pictures but it will be interesting to see it in daylight when dry as it changes according to lighting conditions. Just had a look at the lifeboat superstructure in daylight: It looks pretty good but I did miss a small area where liquid poly had got trapped under tape and damaged the plastic (the horizontal line circled) next to the join. I had given it a sand prior to painting but obviously not good enough. Soon be sorted out. Here is a view of the stern: BTW, before painting, just to make sure I didn't have gaps, I held it up to daylight just to check for huge holes. As it turned out, there were no gaps and so no filler was required at all: Following John's (Walker) example, I've just given the transom an undercoat of H25 Matt Blue which will then be followed by two coats of H15 Gloss Midnight Blue. I haven't done the rest of the hull as I wanted to see how it looks first at the stern: First coat of H15 now applied: Lots of odds and ends done today. First of all, the transom got a second coat of H15 Midnight Blue. I'm quite happy with how it turned out and will be using the same combination of H25 Matt Blue undercoat and H15 top coat for the rest of the hull: Bulkhead fitted at rear of wheelhouse. I also glued the bench in place. The particular lifeboat pictures I have seen, show a strip of wood beneath the cushion of the bench: Seats glued in place. Harnesses painted in H27. I tried to paint them in a haphazard or random way but I think I failed! The rear bulkhead is dry-fitted at this stage to ensure aft seat is in correct position: Here I have painted a couple of junction boxes green on the port bulkhead and the steering position has received some attention. I may look for some suitable decals to add a bit more detail to the various pieces of equipment: Another view with the framing and rear bulkheads in place: Liferafts were given red strapping: Bulkheads for flying bridge checked for fit before painting both sides: Shot showing progress of hull, interior and superstructure. Orange still needs second coat on superstructure but orange on rear decks has been completed: The interior is now almost finished. Next step will be to complete the superstructure, including the glazing. Thats all for now. Dave

Railings, aerials, handles and other bits! Some of these are quite fragile but as long as you aren't clumsy and proceed with care, you can get them all off the sprues without breaking any: I have now fitted the two rear decks to the superstructure: Which means that the whole superstructure can now come off quite easily: Got to work painting some of the interior parts and they are shown dry-fitted in place. I still have to do the white and grey. I also painted the deck within the cabin area H27 Matt Sea Grey. BTW, the small bulkhead that fits to the side of the hatch coaming has an ejector pin mark at the top which you can just see in the picture and which has since been filled: Here it is from opposite view without the framing. I glued the window into the engine room hatch and painted it black. I also painted the bottom of the hatch coaming black too although this is something that appears on some lifeboats in differing widths but not others. Extinguishers were painted gloss red with bronze fittings. Retaining straps will be painted white. Handrails have been glued to the sides of the superstructure and to the rear of the two small decks aft. The flying bridge has been glued in place now and I painted the grill (part 117 - not shown in picture) H27 Matt Sea Grey and painted the deck along the port side the same colour. BTW, the instructions say to paint the instrument panel (part 116) black but from looking at photos of the real thing, I believe it should have an orange background with the instruments in varying colours: Another view of the flying bridge glued in place. I have also dry-fitted the two supports for the mast: One final thing that I did was to paint the black rubbing strake along the hull. Had a session with the H27 Matt Sea Grey tonight. I had only intended to paint the whole of the flying bridge deck...: ...but as I was in the mood, I gave the rest of the main deck it's first coat too: I won't be doing any more until next week now. So, until then here are some more shots showing far I have got: Thats all for now. Dave

I have just realised that I never completed this build thread. Unfortunately, real-life got in the way (splitting from wife and moving to Scotland) and it was shelved for four years. However, I did finish it and when I get a moment I will post the rest of the build here. Dave

Nice build, Kevin. I don't wish to hijack your thread but I feel I should make a couple of points. I built one of the original "unbuildable" kits in 2008 and used almost no filler doing it, partly because I ignored the sequence of build in the instructions and used some lateral thinking. At that time, Airfix asked me to produce a tutorial on how to waterline the hull because that was the main problem that customers were having and Airfix were going to send the tutorials out to them. I still have my original 2008 build sitting here on my bookcase in my living room and making a quick comparison to the parts in the 2020 boxing, and the instructions from 2008 and 2020, there is NO difference between them apart from the type of polystyrene used. The first kits were moulded in a more brittle, light grey plastic but later kits were moulded in the same mid-grey plastic that Airfix have been using on all of their kits for the past 11 years. The parts are the same, assembly sequence is the same, the decals are the same, everything is the same. I will be making the 2020 later this year and the only challenges I can foresee are my fading eyesight and arthritic hands! BTW, I did post most of my 2008 build here if anybody wants to see it and here is a picture of a "what-if" lifeboat. Dave

I can remember the sudden increase in model prices during the Oil Crisis in the Seventies. Hopefully, we will soon have stocks of kits manufactured using the cheap oil and we can expect a temporary period where model manufacturers give their kits away.... Dave

Today was a landmark day for me. Today was the first time that I have been well enough to leave my village for seven weeks. Up till now my trips outside of my house/garden has been two walks late at night to go to the village post box! I drove to the nearest town (Galashiels), filled the car up with diesel but decided I wasn't going to go into the supermarket as I would have had to wait 45 minutes. I also had a large collection of jars to put in the bottle bank but it was roped off. On my way back to the village I was reminded of The Prisoner and thinking "they've got me, again" and half expected to see a large white balloon escort me along the A7. Back in the village I dropped off the glass in the bottle bank. I had a funny conversation with my Postie later this morning. I mentioned The Prisoner and he said that my village seemed unaffected by the events going on all around it. Perhaps, we are all prisoners after all! Dave