thommo

Now that is bloody good.

As someone who likes adding a few details to old Matchbox aircraft kits, I'm loving this thread. 3D printing is way beyond my skill set however. But I did recently buy a Cricut Maker, which so far I've only used for masks & vinyl logos, bit it can be used to cut scratch-built styrene bits which may be in my future.

As someone who likes adding a few details to old Matchbox aircraft kits, I'm loving this thread. 3D printing is way beyond my skill set however. But I did recently buy a Cricut Maker, which so far I've only used for masks & vinyl logos, bit it can be used to cut scratch-built styrene bits which may be in my future.

Yes, I recall that red stuff. It disappeared pretty fast. I pull that nozzle off all the time as it gets blocked with gunk.

Ray W Yes, I put beeswax there too from time to time, though not lately. I also put a little beeswax on the thread of #3 at times, and thread on what I think is #11. The rubber seal on mine on #11 is a bit raggedy, but no problem. My HP-C plus never had a tiny red seal on #3 as far as I know? The only time I had a problem with that part was when I forgot to nip it up a little tighter with the little spanner.

That is the best! Needs a Motorhead poster on one of the walls though.

I used that thinner all the time in my Iwata HP-C Plus, though to date I think only mixed it with Model Master enamel paints, not sprayed neat. No problems so far. The needle seal in my Iwata is a clear/white colour, plastic or teflon. I'm not sure if it has any rubber seals anywhere - maybe one around the trigger plunger mechanism?

Made this one for our daughters boyfriend who wanted something to do with Star Wars. I always thought Bandai kits were just kids rubbish being snap together and all, but I'd have to say this was probably the best kit I've ever made. The fit and detail were superb, even after I'd butchered the guts of everything to jam in the LEDs and wiring. I did glue it though. The AT-AT Walker was entirely scratch made, and turned out to be the easiest scratching I've done to date. The snow is Vallejo Snow Effects stuff. The biggest drama was finding a solid way of attaching the X-wing to the ice cliff with something sort of transparent that could hold wires down the middle. In the end I used the outer section of a Biro - it still has the Biro writing on it, but you can't see it from most angles. Then I had to add a post at the back to secure it, but even that was not enough so had to also cement it to the ice wall using household Epoxy bog. First time using fibre optic cable too in the exhaust trails, drilled into the LEDs, then covered with Gladwrap held down with CA. If you sand fibre optic, you can get some light leakage all the way along it, instead of just a dot of light at the far end. He has not seen it yet as he wanted a surprise & I can't get to Sydney with all the lockdowns.

Going to do this up in a diorama for a bloke who has kindly made nearly all of my diorama bases for me - often at short notice & much messing about to cut out slots and trenches for batteries, wiring and switches. He says he will build a wooden & glass case for the dio. He owns a real one of these which he has restored. I've not found any images on the interweb of one of these ever being built? It seems to be a limited run resin kit, not cheap ($AU112 from The Parts Box in Adelaide).

Walrus build video. Might be blocked in some countries due to background music?

The Walrus is A2-1 from HMAS Australia. I was going to put it on the catapult, might still do one day. Did nothing to the Corsair trenches except an overall light seasalt type wash - which might have hidden them? Yes, converted to Avon Sabre, but did not know about the fairing.

Yeah, I'm just going on that Matchbox link above. ScaleMates also says the 1st Matchbox Lancaster was put out in 1979. So maybe the one your Dad built was another brand? OK, these are my last 2 that I've actually built. The rest will forever live in their boxes......maybe......expect a duplicate that I'll use for the Group Build. I'm thinking one of the smallest ones because my cabinets are chockas.

God damn that is a nice job! About to do my very first foray into a car diorama soon - a limited run 1/25 Holden FC 1959 for a mate who owns a real one. What method did you use for getting the yellow paint looking just right - not to shiny, not too dull?

If anyone has any of these they want to sell, I'm all ears. <Request for kits removed - this isn't the Buy/Sell area, and you don't have the requisite 100 posts anyway, sorry >

Hi Mark The first Matchbox Lancaster was 1979 according to my research. However the one I built with my nephew was the 'blackbox' 1982 version. Here's a few more of my Matchbox builds:

A few more built kit pics. I wish I'd not built the Norseman because it was the only one I had. Ditto the Lancaster, though I built that one Xmas holiday at the coast with my nephew (pictured) - he is now 21. The Gladiator was done up as the 'Charity' aircraft from Malta WW2. I tend to add some scratchbuilt details to the Matchbox kits, esp. the cockpits.

Now you've got me back into this Matchbox lark again, you may be hearing from my wife shortly 🥷

Many years ago, we had window sills in an old house that were rotten like that. I just dug out as much of the rotten stuff as I could, treated it with stop-rot stuff, bogged it up and painted over. Sold it 2yrs later. Methinks your solution was much better! We were so naive when we bought that first house, and the next 2-3 after that. If there is a real-estate mistake to be made, we've made it! Our final retirement home (our next and hopefully last), we might get it right? But Covid has seen house prices go bonkers here in Oz, esp. on the south coast of NSW where we want to retire, so maybe we'll be staying put?

Going through my Matchbox stash last night, I have 70 out of 107 original issues, plus 17 duplicates. There are some quite rare ones which hardly seem to pop up for sale, and which I don't have: PK-39 Northrop F-5B , blackbox; PK-52 BAC Sea Harrier FRS.1 ????? PK-122 General Dynamics F-16A Thunderbirds original boxing? PK-141 F117-A Stealthfighter – blackbox? The boxing references are my description of the box types. There were the original boxings with the coloured spots, then a sort of white boxing, then the sort of black boxing, then I think the Revell versions. I never buy the Revell versions as they are repeats of the original versions. And there are some versions from Hong Kong with instructions in Chinese. And some special boxings which include glue.

This GB inspired me to get the removal boxes of Matchbox kits out from under the house yesterday, and do an inventory on them again. I have 70 of the 107 1/72 scale Matchbox original issue kits (65% of them). I also have 17 duplicates, including 3 PK-2's, the little Spitfire. It is interesting the order in which Matchbox decided to produce different aircraft - I can understand the Fury, Spitfire, Zero, Hurricane etc. were early cabs off the rank, but the Strikemaster, Alpha Jet, F-5A ??? I guess they decided they needed some jets in there with the early props? When I first started collecting about 15yrs ago, my strike price for buying them from anywhere on the planet was about AU$10 including postage. There is no way I can do that now. Not only have postage prices gone crazy (esp. from the U.S.), but kit prices have at least doubled to quadrupled. I looked on Ebay y'say for the first time in ages and some kits I could get for $5-10 were now offered for north of $80. Madness. I'd like to get all 107 original issues, but damn the prices 😮.

OK, you've convinced me, I'm in. Will build one of my duplicates. Maybe I'll start collecting again?

Agree 100%. Matchbox still wins in the most engaging box art stakes. I grew up in two small country towns (pops of about 400 & 1500) and the local newsagent was the only place that stocked model kits (only Airfix & Matchbox), glue, Humbrol paints and brushes....and rifles/ammo....and fishing tackle....and Playboy magazines (I never looked at those, honest 😄). I'd spend ages looking at the Matchbox kits before choosing one. I could also buy a box of bullets or a scope for my .22 rifle at the age of 12 😮. Spent my childhood messing with glue & paints, roaming the bush with a fishing rod & rifle, and racing around on motorbikes and doing as little as possible at school. However, in the words of SuperTramp..... "But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible Logical, oh responsible, practical And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable Oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical". Thankfully, I found modeling again....and fly-fishing....and triathlon....and mountain bikes (and hence titanium body repairs) so am reverting back to childhood, though have discovered in my 50's, I don't bounce like I used too when I hit the deck.

So this GB starts in 2022? I'm wavering! I was trying to collect every single first issue version of the 1/72 aircraft. I think I got about 50-60% of them, then the prices went crazy. Haven't bought one for about 5yrs now. But I may get back into collecting. I've built several which I had duplicates of.

You blokes are just making my problem worse 😄

I may be drowning in nostalgia 🙄