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Found 21 results

  1. Well, time to give myself a well deserved KUTA, and get a thread set up! A long time ago, in a group build far, far away, a naive model maker recklessly launched 5 ship builds, despite the closest thing he had built before being a DUKW! Needless to say, only 2 were completed within the GB time frame (Matchbox Narvik class destroyer and Lindberg USS McNulty), one sailed over the line a week or so later (Matchbox USS Indianapolis) and the other two, well, just stalled. These were the Matchbox USS San Diego and USS Fletcher. I think part of the reason is the camouflage required for both of them. Fletcher has an irregular pattern all over the hull and superstructure and San Diego has odd geometric patterns, requiring some fiddly masking. Neither has been touched by brush or glue since March, so time to bite the bullet and try and get them finished! Here's where Fletcher is up to; And here is San Diego; As more needs doing on San Diego, I decided to start there. Matchbox helpfully provide a nice side profile on the back of the box showing the camouflage pattern, which I scanned in and printed out on A3; However, unhelpfully, they only show one side. Found this online; Also I have this; Which has this inside; So, time to get busy with the masking tape! A decent session last night, and this is where I'm up to; Some of the starboard hull side I will do freehand; And the superstructure; Just got to mask up some of the gun turrets then it will be ready for some paint.
  2. OK, so it's not actually Christmas Day, but we are still very much in the festive season, plus one of the aforementioned ships was a Christmas present. So, I would like to do a triple build of these three Matchbox US Navy ships; USS San Diego USS Indianapolis And to round off the trio, USS Fletcher No idea when I will actually get started on these, as I'm in the middle of 2 half tracks plus I have a thread in the KUTA build, but I'm really looking forward to getting them underway!
  3. To complete my trio of Matchbox ships, I will be building the Matchbox USS Fletcher, a kit I actually received for Christmas. Its a noticeably smaller box than for San Diego and Indianapolis; 20221228_111834 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr USS Fletcher was the name ship of a class of destroyers that would eventually consist of 175 vessels, with some claim to being the best all-round destroyers of WW2, due to their combination of armament, range and speed. They would perform every task undertaken by destroyers, from anti-submarine (sinking 29 Japanese submarines), to anti-aircraft to surface action, with many of the ships having long post war careers, not only with the US Navy, but also with the navies of, amongst others, Greece, Brazil, West Germany, Argentina and Turkey, with 2 even seeing service with the Japanese. The last one in service left the Mexican Navy in 2001. Nineteen were lost during the war, with 6 more damaged and not repaired. Four Fletcher class destroyers still exist, three in the US (The Sullivans, Kidd and Cassin-Young) and one in Greece (Velos, ex-USS Charette). Fletcher herself was launched in May 1942 and would serve throughout the war in the Pacific, eventually earning 15 battle stars, plus another 5 in Korea. Whilst conducting shore bombardment off the Philippines in February 1945, she received a hit which killed 8 of her crew. One, Elmer C. Bigelow, would posthumously be awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts in fighting the fire. During the Korean War, she participated in the Inchon landings. Fletcher actually appears in the 1960 film "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" starring Jack Lemmon, and also as part of some stock footage used in "Down Periscope". She was eventually decommissioned in 1969, and scrapped in 1972.
  4. The Long Range Desert Group was formed in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, specifically to carry out deep penetration, covert reconnaissance patrols and intelligence missions behind Italian lines. During the Desert Campaign, between December 1940 and April 1943, the vehicles of the LRDG operated constantly behind enemy lines for all but 15 days. Nicknamed the "Libyan Desert Taxi Service", they were often used to help guide other units, such as the SAS, across the sandy terrain, due to their expertise at desert navigation. Their most vital role however was the "Road Watch", where they clandestinely monitored traffic on the road between Tripoli and Benghazi. With the end of the Desert Campaign, they continued operating in the Greek Islands, Italy and the Balkans. A request to transfer to the Far East after VE Day was declined and the unit was disbanded in August 1945. The unit used a variety of vehicles, modified for their use, but the two most well known are the Willys Jeep and the Chevrolet 30cwt truck, both stripped of all non essential parts, such as doors, windscreens and roofs, and festooned with machine guns, sand channels and other equipment vital for operating for long periods in a harsh environment way behind enemy lines. So, here is the kit. I would have preferred the original Matchbox boxing, if only for the box art, but prices have generally been more than I have been prepared to pay. Found out after it had been delivered that the kit had been started, though its thankfully well under 25%. Plenty of parts still to go, including the all important diorama base! Instructions (I have downloaded the original Matchbox ones too off Scalemates, mainly for the Humbrol paint numbers). One benefit of the Revell boxing is the much newer decals. None for the Jeep, but thinking of the T Patrol markings for the Chevy. Looking forward to getting started, but not sure when this will be, as I currently have a build underway in the Classic Italian GB, plus I really ought to have a bit of a tidy up of the creation station before embarking on another build!
  5. Welcome to my second WIP! Many, many moons ago I came across this classic Matchbox kit in a local shop, and although my interest in scale modelling was declining I couldn't resist buying it. RAF Phantoms were my all-time favourite jets and look at the prize! Only 18.95 guilders, which equals by the time the euro was introduced 18.95 / 2.20 = € 8.61! An absolute bargain. The box had been gathering dust on a shelf ever since, but when I took up scale modelling again, about three years ago, I decided to start with this kit. I remembered Matchbox kits were pretty easy to build, so this one seemed a good start to renew my scale modelling skills. The next step was finding out how to configure the plane. One of the reasons I left scale modelling was my increasing interest in seeing military aircraft 'in the wild', and one of my favourite airbases to visit was RAF Wildenrath. By that time it was home to 19 and 92 Squadron (Phantom FGR.2) and 60 Squadron (Pembroke C.1). And 25 Squadron with Bloodhound missiles, yes. I had no special feelings about 6, 41 and 892 Squadron like the kit suggests, and I chose to configure this kit as XV430/C of 19 Squadron, like I photographed it on October 19 1982 during its approach of the eastern threshold: So far the introduction of what and why, up next is my progress thus far. Cheers, Rob
  6. My second build for this GB will be the Matchbox USS Indianapolis; 20220715_082939 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr In contrast to the subject of my first build thread, the relatively unknown USS San Diego, Indianapolis is a very famous (perhaps even infamous) ship, though sadly for very tragic reasons. A Portland class heavy cruiser (Indy and Portland being the only ships of the class), she was launched in 1931. Main armament was 9x 8in guns in three triple turrets. Indianapolis served with distinction right from the start of the war, escaping damage at Pearl Harbor as she was conducting a mock bombardment of Johnston Atoll. She served in most of the major campaigns in the Pacific, before, after an overhaul, starting down the path that would lead to her tragic end. She was selected to transport the enriched uranium (then half the world's supply), plus other parts for the Little Boy atomic bomb, destined for Hiroshima, to the island of Tinian. These were successfully delivered on 26th July 1945. Indianapolis then set out for Guam, where some (unknowingly lucky) crewmen who had completed their tours of duty left the ship. She set sail from Guam on 28th July, heading for Leyte. Sailing alone, en route she was spotted by the Japanese submarine I-58. Two torpedoes struck her on the starboard side, one at the bow, and one amidships. The vessel went down in only 12 minutes, taking with her 300 of her crew. This was tragic enough, but 900 or so crew survived to enter the water and await rescue. Unfortunately, due to the secret nature of her mission, the ship was not reported as overdue, and it wasn't until three and a half days later that the survivors were spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura. Not being a flying boat, all the crew could do was drop a life raft, report the position and radio for assistance. By this time, out of the original 900, only 316 were still alive, due to a combination of dehydration, exposure, and, most famously, shark attacks. Although this aspect definitely was a factor, it may have been exaggerated over the years. The number of men said to have been killed by sharks ranges from a few dozen to 150, and it may well have been that sharks were mainly attacking sailors who had already died. Whatever the real circumstances, it must have been absolutely horrific to be floating in the water, desperately cold and thirsty, only to see shark fins appear, and it is this that most people now think of when the topic of the Indianapolis comes up, helped no doubt by Quint's memorable monologue in Jaws. First to arrive at the scene was a PBY Catalina, which, against orders, landed on the sea and took on board 56 sailors. Not being able to take off in this condition, the Catalina became a lifeboat until rescue ships arrived. The plane would end up too damaged by her ordeal to take off, so once the survivors and crew had been removed, it was sunk by gunfire. Two survivors would sadly die later in hospital. USS Indianapolis would remain undiscovered until 19th August 2017, when she was found at a depth of 18,000 feet (5,500 metres), well preserved, but with her bow broken off. Just hoping I can do this great ship justice with my model!
  7. Well, it seems I have well and truly caught the shipbuilding bug! I've been enjoying my trio of Matchbox US Navy ships so much, I have been looking to add more from the Matchbox marina! Won this off the Bay of E at the start of the week for ÂŁ7. 20230126_204031 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Not exactly the 99p that it has obviously sold for previously, but still a good price! Can't say I am too familiar with German destroyers, though having done a bit of obligatory research, it seems that the Z23 class (Narvik was the name the Allies knew the class by) was notable for having relatively heavy armament for a destroyer, in the form of 5.9in guns, with one twin and three single mounts. The subject of the Matchbox kit is Z38, which seems to be mostly well known for having been taken over by the Royal Navy after the war, and renamed HMS Nonsuch. It was used for testing of the effects of underwater explosions, and contrary to what was expected of her, she broke in half during the first test. Here is the back of the box, showing a rather plain scheme; 20230126_204042 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Two classic Matchbox sprues: 20230126_204109 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr And 10 stages of construction; 20230126_204135 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Same as with my other three ships, got the two hull halves together, and dry fitted the deck; 20230126_205630 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr All four turrets done, 1 twin and 3 singles. These are slightly more of a faff than with the other 3 ships, as you actually also need to attach the turret bottom, once the barrels are in place. The turret bottoms for the single guns are extremely small! 20230126_224745 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr All superstructure sections assembled; 20230126_224759 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr And here she is with everything dry fitted; 20230126_225127 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr That is her pretty much at the same stage now as San Diego, Indianapolis and Fletcher.
  8. Thanks to the two-week extension to the GB, in a moment's insanity I thought I'd break out another of the Matchbox classics I bought in readiness. This time it's the P-40N Warhawk, another one that I built as a nipper. I remember back then being particularly pleased with how I sanded the bomb to better emulate the box-top painting without breaking the percussion detonator It's going to be entirely OOB, unlike my Buffalo which I'm trying to "improve", and hopefully I'll be able to use the original decals, too! I never liked the skull marking, so as a youngster built the RAF version; this one will be the same. So, box and sprue shots: I can't remember the sprue colours of my original kit, but I don't think it was this particularly gopping combination! And a start has been made The wing panels have been assembled: I removed the location pips as it allows the lower panels to sit more snugly. I've also fitted the seat and rear cockpit coaming to the port fuselage half, using the starboard half to ensure alignment, and fitted the "stick" to the seat: I *might* add some semblance of interior detail from strip and bits and bobs. I'll also cobble together an IP, and add a fillet behind the coaming. Debate is raging over wheels up or wheels down. As a youngster, all my 'planes were wheels up as they were suspended from my bedroom ceiling. I never used the stands. However, I'm going to put the Buffalo on its Matchbox stand, and I'm tempted to do the same thing here. Anyways, onward and upward, and thanks for looking in Cheers, Mark
  9. Hello Everyone, I am in with the T-80B Soviet Main Battle Tank as the box calls it. From the limited research I have done, this kit wasn't originally a Matchbox kit, but a repoped one from a South Korean company (taking a stab in the dark, probably Academy). I have already built the Revell version of it, but think I can do better now I have a few more years experience... maybe. This is what the box looks likes, I do like the drawing style, although I doubt the tow rope would be the same colour as the chassis though. All the bits and bobs inside of the box. Just for the record, I hate painting track road wheels. The only paint scheme in the box, very simple so I will have to see that I can do to make it more interesting. Oh yeah, I found the metal barrell in the box... absolutely no idea where that even came from, but I will use it. Any questions or other bits of info greatfully received. Kind regards, Dazz
  10. Setting up my stall by way of a thread for this GB Although this will be an OOB there will be a slight twist to my build which will be revealed when the build starts. That will be when this finishes.
  11. This is my second entry for the group build, I fancied doing one of the classic 1:32 car kits. When I checked the list of Matchbox kits I thought about revisiting the Jaguar SS100 or Mercedes-Benz SSK that I built when I was young, but I fancied the idea of building one of the kits that hadn't yet been part of the group build. The two subjects that held the most appeal were the Rolls-Royce Phantom and the Citroen 11 Legere. In real life I like the Citroen as a technological pioneer and for the low, sleek lines (particularly as in the coupe and roadster modelled here). Here's the box art, I found this kit on eBay described as complete and as new. Overview of the sprues, which certainly seem to be in great condition. Most of the body parts are moulded in black. Red for the floor, interior and engine. Rubber tyres with "Michelin X" and size markings moulded into the sidewalls and a tread pattern (is it authentic?). Lots of chrome parts; some make sense (e.g. the bumpers) and some don't (e.g. the suspension parts). The worst element is the glazing, which is full of mould marks and distortion. I may try cutting new glass out of clear plastic sheet. The kit can be built either as a coupe or roaster and the box art gives some nice inspiration for alternate colour schemes. It is also tempting to assemble the kit just in its multicolour plastic glory. You even get the option of having the bonnet open and a rear dicky-seat. Here's a quick overview of the instructions, for a small and fairly old model it is quite complex and detailed. The multi-part body looks like it might be a challenge to assemble and paint. My current thoughts are to go for the roadster version (better to show off the interior and dashboard), in a light colour for the body, or maybe a two-tone. I'll have a look at pictures of real Traction Avant roadsters for inspiration. I don't build many 1:32 scale cars (or 1:32 anything) but this looks like a step up in quality and detail from the 1:32 Airfix car kits that I've built. I hope you'll enjoy the build journey with me.
  12. Greetings peeps😉 I acquired this kit in a swap with a fellow BMer. It came in a Matchbox Black Beaufighter box so sadly no lovely box art to share. This means there is no paint scheme to follow and the original transfers are awol. I have also noticed that it is slightly started with phase 1 being complete albeit without crew figures. Well under the 25% rule. I have attained the new Airfix kit so I will have a few pointers for adding some internals as the kit typically lacks much in the way of internal detail. Looking forward to getting started. Photos to follow. Cheers Greg 👍
  13. Completed in the Matchbox Group Build
  14. This is a 1973 Kit and was in the first batch of kits released by Matchbox. It was probably the 2nd or third Matchbox kit I bought, I'm sure the first was the Zero. Less than a 100 yards from where I lived there was a row of neighborhood shops. Supermarkets as we know them were a new concept and the range of local shops included drapers, hardware, grocery, pharmacy and newsagent. The local newsagent was also the sweetshop, toy shop and tobacconist. We had two locally and one of them, Martins, had the ubiquitous spinning rack of Airfix and Frog Baggies, Behind the glass counter were the Airfix boxed kits. One Friday myself and my cousin who lived locally, headed to Martins to spend our two weeks pocket money (2 shillings which had recently become 10p but was always called a florin here in Ireland). This was a little more than we needed for a baggie and the shopkeeper wanting to get all our money showed us this new range of product from Matchbox, which was in coloured plastic and only moderately more expensive than Airfix baggies and it was in a box.... we were hooked. The biggest drawback was that there was only a very limited range and we quickly ran out of choices over the following month. We still built Airfix but Matchbox became a big part of those years. When I dabbled again in kit building in the early to mid 90s the whole industry was in decline due to the developments in computer games. I bought a lot more than I built back then and managed to accumulate a few Matchbox along the way. The kit plastic in great condition, not confident about decals, canopy will be dipped in Gauzy glass agent.
  15. This is one of the later modified versions of the Type 1936A (known to the Allies as the Narvik class) destroyer. There were seven ships in the class, five of them surviving the war. One of those five has also been kitted by Heller, depicting her when she had been taken by the French Navy as a war prize and renamed as the Marceau. Oddly, that is the only other ship in my stash This is the Revell re-pop of the Matchbox kit, but I thought it would be OK to build it now as I have half a dozen other kits lined up for the Matchbox GB. Box: Sprues - there's not too many parts, so I'm not scared yet. Instructions and painting guide. Some of the schemes look wonderful but would take more than 24 hours just to paint. The one in step 23 only has 2 main colours though, so think I can manage that. I'm committed now, let's do the thing Andy
  16. A week into the GB and I've finished deliberating about which of my numerous fails will get another chance. What I really need is a KUTA of KUTA GB😬. I've dragged out the Matchbox Spitfire First started in the &5th anniversary GB and being in memory of my Dad it's a long overdue commemoration. AND it was a Christmas present from my children many years ago, so that should add up to KUTA enough and this time I'm really going to do it! Be that as it may, my resolve is flagging already; I'd forgotten just how much of a child of its time the moulds are- at least the sink marks on the bottom of the fuselage are symmetrical. So, it's going to be a very basic out of the box build as the many defects in this kit are listed elsewhere and there's better modellers than me spent a lot of time to correct those. Next is the inevitable head-scratching trying to work out what I'd done and why and just how much of it was necessary! As dad was a mechanic rather than a pilot I'll probably leave all the hatches etc open to show what he worked with plus it'll save the problem later of how many of those same hatches don't fit. Per ardu ad astra, I'm going to do it!!
  17. As my Stuka did not take long, I thought I would try a 7th and final build for this GB (assuming you count the trio of Emils as 3 not 1). I was considering my Italeri He-111 but it is an H-6 version which I believe did not enter service until 1941. Ok, I could probably convert it and I have decs for an H-2, but I decided to go with this instead. AFAIK this is the old Frog kit which I built shortly after it was released in 1971, a year ahead of the Airfix inline engined E/F version. It was released again by Revell from about 1977 onwards, but for some reason they also reboxed it as Matchbox for this 1992 version! I know it will not be anything like as detailed as the 2014 Airfix offering, though that is also said to have some accuracy issues but my old one did not look too bad. I will do a bit of work in the cockpit, probably roof in the wheel bays, and have a think about replacing some or all of the guns, but otherwise it should be a fairly quick OOB build as I am busy on another GB as well and the Heller Classic is getting ever closer! I was going to use the Xtradecal sheet for the markings but theirs in a Z-1 so I will have to think about that. The kit markings are for KG 2 in 1941 and KG3 in "1941/42" so there could be a bit of "mix and match" and perhaps some DIY decs as well. First bit of the history now. As you will probably know, after Hitler came to power the German aircraft industry was encouraged to start producing military aircraft again – discretely! Bombers were to be described as transports so the He 111 was built in 2 parallel versions, but the Do-17 was actually genuinely designed as a transport, or so we are led to believe, being a response to a Lufthansa request for a high speed mailplane carrying 6 passengers. Well, the Dornier response was certainly fast, and the passengers could be accommodated in two small compartments, one behind the cockpit for 2 persons, and another for 4 behind the wing, but as Green says “Unfortunately, the passengers virtually to perform acrobatics to enter these diminutive compartments” so although the first of 3 prototypes first flew in the autumn of 1934, Lufthansa turned them down, and they were left sitting in a hangar. However, fate took a hand, or so the story goes, and a former Dornier employee Flugkapitän Untucht, who was working as a senior pilot for Lufthansa and was their liaison with the RLM, happened to see them when paying a visit. He suggested that with some more keel area for stability the design could be turned into an effective fast bomber, and the Luftwaffe agreed. The V4 prototype emerged with twin fins and rudders instead of the original single central fin, provision for a radio operator's compartment and bomb bay and various portholes blanked off, and was the progenitor of a family of bombers with a variety of engines, BMW inlines initially, then Hispano Suiza, and then BMW again in the production E bomber and F recce planes. The follow upto the F series were intended to have Daimler Benz engines but these were needed for fighters so instead the M had BMW-Bramo Fafnir 323 A-1 radials but the P had slight less powerful BMW 132N radials. These last two types were still in use at the start of WWII in relatively small numbers, principally with recce units. The M had a top speed of 255 mph at 13000ft and could carry a bomb load of 2200lb internally with a “tactical radius” of 310 miles according to Green and had an armament of 3x7.9mm MG 15. More as and when I start the build. All details from Warplanes of the Third Reich by William Green in around 1970. Cheers Pete
  18. After a popular vote - well who can resist requests by such esteemed BM'ers such as @JOCKNEY and @Enzo Matrix the A-10 will be the victim of this blitzbuild. Not sure of start time yet but there is a back-story to why this kit stayed in my stash. In June 1977 I set myself the challenge of walking across the North York's Moors - not by the more usual west-east route but north to south from Whitby to Pickering. Staying in Youth Hostels along the way it was only a two day walk. I think it was on the first day that I was at the top of hill looking for viewpoints to get my bearings when an A-10 came over my head at what felt like extremely low level. It is always those chance encounters with aircraft that remain in my memory rather than having seen them at air shows. This will be an OOB build
  19. For my entry in this group build, I'm building the 2nd kit I built as a kid in the late 70s. This kit popped up as a recommendation while I was looking on TradeMe (Kiwi auction site) for another kit I remember building way back when. My eyes opened a mile wide and I had a bid on it within seconds. A week later it was in my hands and I opened it up for a look. My, how things have changed, and memory plays trick on us. Searching for info and ideas was how I found this fine website, Scalemates, and Hannants. I didn't want to risk disappointment with the original decals so ordered an Xtradecal set with plenty of options. I'm still keen to do Op Granby scheme, so this will be built as XX892 - Glen Lossie. Obligatory sprue pic. Luckily I have plenty of filler as this thing is riddled with sink marks, but dry fitting has so far shown that the major bits all line up nicely enough for me. Thanks for looking, and best of luck with your own builds, Justin.
  20. Just finished this 1998 boxed Sepecat Jaguar T2 as EV of 6 Sqn RAF in 1997. I was well into the build before I found a post on another modelling site that was reviewing various Jaguar T2 model kits. The recommendation for this Matchbox kit was to give it a miss. Oh well I had already started. The injection moulding was quite poor with parts of the main undercarriage well structure missing and the nose cone distorted. The fit of the parts left a lot to be desired with large gaps requiring filler. More filler was required to reconstruct the nose, but I am not convinced that I have the profile right. There was no cockpit to talk about and the seats are very poor. When you scale up the kit seats the seat base would have been 52cm wide. I bought a couple of PJ Productions resin seats and scratched some side panels to fit out the cockpit. I also changed the main undercarriage doors to reflect what I found on reference images. Otherwise the build is OOB. The paint was Vallejo Model Air, Revell and Humbrol acrylics, mainly airbrushed, but with a few brush touch-ups. The decals showed their age with some silvering on a couple of the larger ones, hence the need for the paint touch-up with a brush. The kit was a bit of a struggle but I have something that looks vaguely like a Jaguar T2. The images Thanks for looking. Take care and stay safe. Graeme
  21. Jonathan Mock's article on the old Matchbox 1/72nd scale Messerschmitt Bf109E in the latest issue of MAI started last Friday a conversation between my father and I about the good old kits and how fun it would be to try building those kits again. Shortly thereafter we stood in the basement looking for old Matchbox kits. My father give me four kits for this nostalgia trip. The three Matchbox kits in the picture plus an older Airfix Gladiator in the original bag issue. I started the P-12E on Saturday. I had decided not to paint it because of the green and yellow plastic. Now it's finished. I only used my hobby knife, files, wet'n'dry and glue. It was great fun building this old kit. The other two Matchbox kits will be painted due to their aluminium finish. If just all kits took three days to finish... Then it would take me just 518 days to finish the stash I have. Perhaps I should go buy some more models. Jens
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