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John

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Posts posted by John

  1. Right, off we go.

     

    There's no box and I can't find the instructions, so I'm using the pdf from Scalemates. I've got the decals - somewhere...

     

    I undercoated the insides with Humbrol 240 RLM02 then topcoated it with a couple of thin coats of Humbrol 5 Admiralty Grey, which gives a nice semi-gloss finish:

     

    Yak31

     

    The flash has washed some of this out, it has a nice consistent coat.

     

    Yak32

     

    The exit ramp of the air intake is Humbrol 47 Sea Blue. The snap-fit nature of the kit means that some of the joins need a bit of extra care. In this case I've let some Microstrip into the gaps between the centre section and the outer wing panels. When it's nice and dry I trimmed it off with a sharp blade and sanded it smooth with a fine emry board:

     

    Yak33

     

    Painting my models with Humbrol gloss enamels - second childhood 😀

     

    John

    • Like 1
  2. As a little break from all that FROG plastic, I've opened my Revell Yak-3 for a bit of respite.

     

    This is, of course, a reboxing of the Zvezda Snap-Fit kit from a few years ago. I'll be gluing this one together 😀

     

    No box photos because the kit was "dehydrated" for storage a few years ago, but it's this boxing:

     

    Yakovlev Yak-3, Revell 03894 (2018) (scalemates.com)

     

    There's a starter set version of this kit available as well.

     

    My history with Yak-3 kits is not stellar. I entered the Emhar release of the FROG/Red Star kit into the first FROG Squad GB 5(!) years ago but didn't finish it as I couldn't get a satisfactory wing join, but it certainly piqued my interest in the type. That, and in the middle of the GB, walking through the local park when a high-powered piston engine roared overhead. It was unmistakably a Yak-3, of all things.  

     

    Checking FlightRadar24 confirmed that it was G-OLEG, departing Cumbernauld for the air show at East Fortune. What are the chances?

     

    More photos soon.

     

    John

     

     

     

     

  3. I've had a rake in my spares and have uncovered these, from the last ever boxing of the original Airfix Gladiator:

     

    Glad123

     

    The 3-bladed prop was reinstated and the decal sheet was epic - it was worth buying 2 or 3 of these kits just for the prop and decals 😀

     

    John

    • Like 5
  4. WEM Light Slate Grey, nor Precision:

     

    Glad122

     

    It's on the lower wings and the nose here:

     

    Glad120

     

    Gloss White 22 and Coal Black 85 for the recognition markings, 40 Light Grey for the Sky Grey and Humbrol 224 for the Dark Slate Grey. Still a lot to do.

     

    Glad121

     

    I found a stand 😀

     

    John

    • Like 6
  5. I'm not going to put any more time into this, there's only so far you can go 😀

     

    P3918

     

    P3920

     

    So, in summary:

     

    Donetsk remould of FROG original, out of the box (packet)

     

    Paints:

     

    Humbrol 108 RFC Green, Colourcoats ACRN43 DuPont Dark Earth and ACRN36 DuPont Sky Type S Grey.

     

    Prop Humbrol 85 and 69.

     

    Exhausts Humbrol 171.

     

    Decals from Eurodecals sheet 108.

     

    I like the P-39/P-400 as a modelling subject, particularly the earlier models. If this kit had seen a general release in the mid-1970s I would have been delighted with it. This was a nice enough moulding but, having seen some much rougher versions out there, I'm not sure it's one I would want to revisit.

     

    I'm glad I had the chance to build it though.

     

    John

    • Like 4
  6. 13 hours ago, PeterB said:

    Hi John, 

     

    Looks pretty good - are you going to bother with "shadow shading"? I did it on my Albacore but I am not sure it is worth the trouble in this scale.

     

    Pete

    Definitely 😀

     

    I've got Precision Paints Light Slate Grey squirrelled away just for an occasion like this... 

    I did shadow shaded Temperate Land on my Airfix Gladiator a few years back and it will be interesting to see how this compares. 

    4 colours for the upper surfaces and 3 for the bottom 😱

    John 

    • Like 2
  7. I was right to worry about the wing inserts:

     

    Glad18

     

    The ones in the upper wing weren't too bad but the lower ones needed a lot of work with sanding, superglue and pressure from my trusty extraction forceps and a Tim Horton's wooden spoon 😀

     

    The fuselage has had a couple of thin coats of Humbrol Gloss 40, which will do for Sky Grey:

     

    Glad19

     

    John

     

     

    • Like 7
  8. Very nice pilot figure in the driving seat. I think he's the only 1/72 pilot I've seen with his left hand moulded with a throttle handle. Unfortunately there's no more detail at all in there...

     

    P3915

     

    My camera isn't picking up the olive component of the Humbrol 108 at all:

     

    P3917

     

    Eurodecal markings:

     

    P3916

     

    John

     

    • Like 5
  9. Some thoughts and observations. 

    Looks like a nice kit, a typical product of the early 1970s. 1973, according to Scalemates, so a direct contemporary of the Matchbox kit. 

    I don't get the inserts into the wings. Fit is going to have to be spot on or there could be a lot of work involved. 

    No decals in this one, and the stand is gone as well. I like the Norwegian example, innovative. 

    I'm still tending towards a Malta example using the decals from the last Hornby run of the original Airfix mould. 

    Ironic that the Airfix kit had the market to itself for years then 2 worthy successors arrived at the same time. 

    I think this kit will be slightly more complex than the Matchbox, but not that much. 

    John 

    • Like 3
  10. Just to belatedly pick up on Mike Starmer's comment above, Light Orange is still in BS381 and is probably most familiar in the UK as the superstructure colour of RNLI lifeboats.

    It isn't particularly light but it is a strong and distinct orange. 

    John 

  11. OK, real life has dented my bench time but I've finally been able to get some work done on my builds. 

     

    P3914

     

    I'm going for AH621 in its pre-delivery scheme - quite distinctive and highly non-standard:

     

    P3913

     

    I've used Sovereign Hobbies Sky Type S Grey for the bottom anf Sovereign Hobbies US Equivalent Dark Earth and Humbrol 108 RFC Green for the uppers.

     

    Markings will be from the Eurodecals P-39 sheet.

     

    P3912

     

     

    John

     

    • Like 6
  12. I live in what could well be the biggest town in the UK that doesn't have a W H Smith, leaving out the small branch in the local hospital. 

    All I can get locally is Airfix Magazine in our bigger Tescos, and I'm not in there that often. 

    I can get Flypast in our local ASDA. 

    I haven't left printed magazines, they've left me. 

    John 

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