TeeELL

I’ve been watching the build of a couple of Matchbox Tempest IIs by @Andrew using sets of my 3D components. Andrew is planning on correcting the cockpit opening by grafting parts from Heller/SMER models, I’ve both SMER and have sourced a second Matchbox Tempest so I might look at creating a 3D part for the cockpit.

It has been quite a while since I posted a meaningful entry (are any of them meaningful? Lol!). Today I have applied the replacement transfers, I have to say that the Model Alliance quality control leaves something to be desired! Staff at Hannants appear to have checked the Sky color letter prior to dispatch but this time the yellow band surrounding the fuselage cockade is off center! I am going to live with it. I am still pondering which varnish to use, but I need to get it done so I can get the model progressed - otherwise it won’t be ready for Scale Model World 2025.

Sorry - chord. Something like 2-2.5mm.

I am about to stick my neck out…….. This is based on my own mistakes/experiences. When you identify an error that needs addressing, do you roll back the history marker to where you need to make the change?

Andrew, something to consider - the dimensions of the ailerons on the upper wing vs lower. I confess that I realised the significant difference too late to correct.

I can answer my own question - yes I have sourced a Matchbox Tempest. I was offered one that had turned up at Jet Age Museum a couple of months ago, I chose not to buy it but it is still around so I have been able to secure it thanks to @theplasticsurgeon who bought it last weekend and I can buy it from him.

I happen to have both a SMER and Airfix kit! I’ll have a look see. Question is….. can I find another Matchbox kit to experiment on?

Hmmmmm! Do I need to acquire a Heller kit in order to design a 3D replacement upper fuselage section? How closely do the 2 parts match?

The Cubans received 29 Thunderbolts fleet numbers 450 thru’ 478. I can find 3 other photos of Cuban F-47s, one moderately clear photo of 473 and 2 photos showing lines of F-47s taken from the left and right sides but different Sqns or era's as the engine nacelles are painted/unpainted. The 3 photos only show silver(?) finish aircraft. Records show that the F-47s were used as fighter/bombers against the rebel forces (there is a report of the loss of one when the bomb it was carrying exploded whilst still attached to the wing). F-47s had attacked the airfield into which the Rebel F-51s were going to land unfortunately, this caused the F-51s to be shot at and damaged by their own nervous/trigger happy AAA rebel gunners. There is every reason to assume the F-47s would be camouflaged (as seen in the photo posted by @ModelingEdmontonian) but by this time the Batista government was no longer in receipt of US support so what the source of the paint might be is anyone's guess - quite possibly mixed from local supplies?

The Cuban airforce received the F-47s in 1953 and, as you have probably seen, finished in NMF. You have identified the only photo I’ve discovered showing a camouflage finish; this is both an advantage and disadvantage. Until definitive proof of colour is discovered - very highly unlikely (1. any surviving Cuban F-47 pilots would be in their 90’s and Castro’s regime rather ‘thinned them out’ anyway, 2. there appear to be no remaining airframes for reference,) you can paint your model any colour that you perceive to match the colour in the photo. I went for ‘silver’ myself.

Ray, you need to attach the wing tips to the upper/lower fuselage but there is a difference in section between the two so that is why.

Try attaching the outer wing sections 34/35 to part 1 and ensuring the top surfaces align do the same with 32/33 and part 14 before you stuck the parts 1 and 14 together. A flat surface helps to ensure the parts go together level. I’ve tried 3 times to get the outer wings to match on FAW9 versions of this kit. Take a look at my build https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235140876-third-time-lucky-a-definitive-javelin-airfix-172/#comment-4974873

If I recall, the drawings in the Warpaint book don’t differentiate between the AI-19 (long nose) and AI-22 equipped aircraft. Not that it is relevant to your T3 build.

Roger, today I remembered to take a couple of photos of my vac-forming the turret transparencies for my AT-11 KANSAN. This is the plate prepared for the machine: The ‘ball bearings’ reduce the suction over the whole plate so focussing the suck around the bucks. After the process: This was a good day because only a few spheres remained in the material. I’ve now cut out the bucks and can separate them once I’ve cut around the ‘guide groove’ that it printed into the buck.