Search the Community

Hello all. At the moment it is so hot here, and I do not have aircon or a fan, so that is limiting what I can do on the workbench. I have decided to do something which I am not renowned for, and that is a bit of pre-build preaparation. When the 'French Fancy II' GB came up, I really only had two subjects in my stash. There was the small matter of this vacform, or HobbyBoss' 1/350 Condorcet pre-Dreadnought. At one point I was going to do both. However, the 7 GB's I signed up to were overlapping each other somewhere along the line - they all started between January and August. I have therefore decided to do only the one, but it will be my third vacform for the GB's, with possibly another later on in the High Wing GB. This is what I have chosen for this GB: It is a small sheet for the aircraft, and I will not need to cut out too many parts as some are duplicated in metal. Scaleplanes as a brand were in my memory as being very good but basic kits, giving the modeller the bare bones to work with, but good bones at that. Their instructions are of the time (1980's): As you can see, it states quite categorically that is a 'Basic Vacform Kit' And there was plenty to read, but minimal guidance as to what goes where, or even how big the bits are. There are templates for the struts, and the modeller has to work out which is which - 'proper modelling!' When I bought the kit from a trader at our local Club Show a few years ago, the price tag was £10, and I saw the vacform sheet and the instructions. Imagine how I felt when I also found this lot inside the pack too! Transfers and a photo-etch fret, complete with 'Scaleplanes' etched on it. They must have decided to go a bit 'less basic' compared to when I bought my first couple of Scaleplanes' kits. But there was more! Yes, even some white metal was in there too. Whoever had pre-owned it had started to paint the prop, but that was as far as they got. I am not sure if this was included by Scaleplanes or if it was after-market stuff that had been left in the pack.There was also two strips of Aeroclub/Contrail-type rod in too for the struts and undercarriage. All in all, I was happy with the £10 for the vacform model, but these accessories really made my day! The etch fret appears to have numbers printed on it, but no reference to it in the instructions, but I will replace the etch undercarriage and struts with the rod (or my own Aeroclub struts) as the etch is too flat, but it will do as a template. I have sprayed the vacform sheet with Halfords Grey Primer, and tomorrow I will start cutting it out and sanding it down. I have three other kits on the go at the moment, so it will be a little while before I start this properly, but at least it will be cut out and ready to go! Any advice, hints or tips will be greatly appreciated. Ray PS - Scaleplanes always seemed to pick subjects that stretched the skill levels. The two others I have done were the AD-1 Sparrow Scout, and the Burgess-Dunne Floatplane