Telboy3510

Well done Airfix, less than 24 hours since I contacted them and the correct decals have arrived. Excellent customer service.

Good plan, just been to buy another Mustang. Still lots of models in Aldi on Radford Bank, Stafford at 9.45 am today.

So the family have all gone home, I've sobered up and more importantly my hands have stopped shaking, time for a bit more modelling! As you can see I have stuck a few more bits and pieces on. The nose cone has been added, the bits on the rear tail fin and the rear wings. I'm not sure whether they are meant to be left unglued so that you can alter their position but it wasn't going to happen because the left one just sort of dangled there. The more observant among you will see that the HUD as disappeared, that got knocked off and is stored in a safe place. Just got to remember to stick it back on when I close up the cockpit. I think those fins might be stabilizers (you can tell I'm not exactly an aircraft genius) but they are a very poor fit, plenty of filling to be done there. I think those other parts are chaff/flare dispensers. I said earlier that I was beginning to think I could display this model flying but that gave me a couple of issues to deal with, I had no pilot (more about him later) and what was I going to do about that big hanging cylinder thing underneath. After some thought I came up with these solutions. when I build a model flying I put a 3mm tube underneath ready to receive a 2mm brass rod, at this stage I had decided to dispense with the large cylinder underneath, however with nothing to lose I decided to attempt to drill a 2mm hole through the cylinder. That worked so I will be keeping it. Hey presto! As you can see in this picture I had also started playing with the undercarriage doors, first dry fit suggested they were not going to be too much of a problem. I think a little bit of adjusting and they will fine, when I do undercarriage doors now I gently round off the edges, this I find does away with a harsh join and looks more like a panel. It works for me anyway. I think I will have to display it with the airbrake doors open, the door extends beyond the opening and I'm assuming on the real aircraft they lay flush but because of the thickness of the plastic they stick out. As I said earlier I needed a pilot, and a very kind contributor to this forum has offered to donate one and I have taken him up on his offer, you might remember I was trying to convert a WW2 Mossie Navigator and this is what I ended up with. And that is why i accepted 'At Sea's' very kind offer.

Hi Dave, I have contacted Airfix because I particularly wanted to build with that colour scheme, I think it may be one of the Tuskegee planes which is one of my favourite films. But the code letters on the box or the reference numbers don't relate to the A01004 model either. To be fair Airfix responded almost immediately to both of my e-mail's, and even as we speak a set of decals belonging to A68208 are on their way to me. Can't wait to see what I get.

I've just picked up the Mustang and unfortunately in my kit the decals do not match the model. I have contacted Airfix to request the correct ones but the reference number are so smudged I'm not sure what I'm going to get. Can anybody see the number clearly!

A little bit of progress, wings on and who would have guessed it they fitted where they touched so out with the filler! I have surrounded the filler with masking tape in order to protect the panel lines when I start the rubbing down, when the tape starts to disintegrate I take it steady with the sanding and then rescribe as I go, seems to work for me. A little bit of rubbing down and its starting to come together. Progress so far. As the build has progressed I'm starting to think I could display it flying, which is my preferred option. If I do this I will have to give some thoughts as to what will be hanging underneath it. The big thing hanging in the center which I'm guessing is an addional fuel tank will have to go and I really do not like the look of the sidewinders on top of the wings. The other thing I will need will be a pilot, with that in mind I have been attempting to convert a Navigator from a WW2 Mossie into a Jet pilot, a lot will depend on how that progresses. Well thats it until next week, big pre Christmas family weekend.

Thanks for that suggestion Neil, initially I didn't understand what panel you was referring to and then it dawned on me where the nose cone is attached. However what I managed to do was fix a couple of heavy spacers behind the cockpit tub. When I counterbalance where the wheel-wells are it tips forward so hopefully should be ok. Thanks for that, that makes life easier there was a big around it now its gone Thanks John it did look strange having the rear of the cockpit in two different colours, I would have to say I agree with you about Revell being bad, other people have been very complimentary about this model. I'm finding its fighting me all the way and feels like quite an old model particularly getting the fuselage halves together. Thanks also regarding airbrake recess bays, I have a vague recollection of seeing that on a previous build report. So as predicted lots of filling, filing and fetling to get where we are now. fuselage sanded and rescribed where necessary, glazing dipped in Klear and the wings drying. fingers crossed its going to be a little easier from now on.

Hi Guys, this is my first attempt at a Work in Progress. I thought would give it a shot not because I have anything to offer by way of modelling skills, but hopefully some of you more experienced builders may be able to give me some tips along the way. This is not the scale I normally build in I prefer 1/72, I always feel that when things go wrong in this scale the fault tends to be magnified. So this is the beast I intend building. I have acquired. a fondness for jets with recent builds and picked this one up at a bargain price at my local Hobbycraft. I had already made a start before I decided to do a Work in Progress. I normally like to display my aircraft models in flight but this one will sit on its wheels for a couple of reasons one being its too big to display in flight, and the other being I don't have a suitable pilot to put in it. So a little more detail was required with cockpit and this is where we at. Straight out of the box with the addition of some Tamiya tape seat belts. Some preparation paint work on the fuselage halves. Now came the fun bit attaching the completed cockpit to the fuselage halve. Well its in but it wasn't pretty, I initially tried to fit it to the other side but there was no way it was going to sit in there with the back of the tub lined up at the back, and the console lined up at the front. So out it came with a lot of cussing and swearing, this was not a good start. I looked at Lord Riot's build thread and found that he and other modelers had encountered the same problem, I believe it was because the base that the tub sits on is bent. Any it became a step by step gluing process and with a lot of patience it is in! Now all that I have to do is glue the two sides together, after quite a lot of test fitting I came to the conclusion that this was not going to be straight forward, very little lined up and the plastic in some places was quite flimsy. So I decide a little assistance would be necessary. In this and the previous image you can see that I have added some additional tabs to try and give it some structural stability. Well the fuselage halves are together and I can already see that there is going to be quite a lot of filling and sanding in my future, it took a long time to get them anything like lined up and without the additional support I put in I think it would have been a lot worse. Now, the ironic thing is I started this thread so I could throw out questions like is it tail sitter? and guess what i forgot to put any weight in the nose at all so it might just end up in flight after all! Watch this space .

Thanks for all your very kind comments. Propforward, I totally agree with you, also they need some colour bands on them identifying type of ordnance. A bit more research is needed in the future I think.

Hi Folks, this is my latest contribution, built straight out of the box the only addition being a couple of Revell Crew members. No real problem with the build other than when I joined the cockpit section to the main airframe, and to be honest that problem was caused by my fixation on hiding the join, if I had left it it would have just appeared as another panel line. I used Tamiya and Vallejo Acrylics and had another go at black basing, this time I was happier with the result. Overall an enjoyable build, as usual any comments, criticisms and observations are welcome and will be received in the same friendly manner in which I am sure they will offered. Thanks for looking.

I know it's been a while since you built this kit but can you tell me what diameter rigging thread you used.

Thanks very much, I thought it would be green but saw what I thought was a photo that turned out to be a still from a SIM with him wearing what I thought was white, that confused me. I think I'll go with light grey it makes a nice contrast in the cockpit.

Hi, I'm just about to attempt a Harrier in flight during Excercise Snow Falcon, can anyone advise on what colour the pilots helmets would have been. Thanks.

Thanks for the heads up.

He's in there somewhere ! When I took the masking tape off the canopy for the big reveals you could only see the top of his head, he obviously forgot to take his parachute to sit on that day.