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Build of the Xtrakit issue of the Matchbox kit, using the Matchbox decals Sort of started for the Matchbox GB of last November; finished late last week

With apologies for the lateness of my entry I would like to join the GB with a Meteor F8 in quite garish Belgium colours. I have a massive soft spot for the Meteor in all its guises and had half a mind to build an Airfix 1/48 Meteor for this GB but (a) there is already one in the group and (b) I am having a spectacular run of not finishing kits at the moment...so maybe something with a lower parts count. I am using the Xtrakit as the base which is I believe the MPM F8 reboxed. The decals are Xtradecal X72-071. All comments very welcome. Dave

I would like to throw my hat into the ring if I may. A quick review of the stash presented a number of options including these: The Airfix 1/48 Meteor was very tempting but as I am in the process of finishing of my Eduard Bf110 for the other anniversary build I fancied something ultra simple and OTB....which leads me to... This is obviously the old Matchbox kit and I am not sure I have built one of those for about 25 years. I know the fit is a little ropey but hopefully it will come together without too many issues (famous last words). Not sure which scheme to build it in but probably the one on the box. Cheers Dave

Hi, all. I'm glad to be sharing this RFI with you all. This kit almost didn't make it across the finishing line. It never quite reached the shelf of doom, but it was certainly on the back burner for a while. This model was to be airframe WK293. Xtrakit incorrectly label the belly as being PRU blue when it was actually silver. Wanting to add a PRU blue Swift to my collection I changed course and grabbed some Airfix decals from @FZ6. This required a few touch ups of the disruptive camouflage on the top sides to match the new aircraft, WK281. When I got to the gloss stage I promptly dropped the aircraft and had to repair to nose. That wasn't too hard to fix. Following the repairs I decided to brush on a coat of klear, rather than airbrush my Tamiya X22. However, this coat of klear caused cracking all over the model! After some attempts to fix the issue I eventually stripped the whole aircraft with thinner and sandpaper. And for my last disaster, as I approached the finishing line I drilled a hole right through the starboard wing trying to make a secure footing for the landing gear. Despite all the trials, I'm very happy with the finished product. I've lost a few panel lines along the way (mostly on the upper side of the main wings), but it's not a glaring omission. This fills a niche in my collection and demonstrates my commitment to getting things right! Paints: PRU Blue: Humbrol Acrylic 230 (horrendous paint) Dark Green: H330 Dark Sea Grey: H331 Gloss: Tamiya Flat: Gunze Decals are Airfix, except for the roundels (Xtradecal) and the squadron markings (Xtrakit).

I've been working on this Swift for about a year or year and a half. I'm a serial starter and have too many kits on the go. I've been working to finish a few kits which are in more advanced stages before I crack on with some of my other kits. E.g. the Aeronavale Lancaster which I also have a WIP up for (not forgotten!) Meet the Swift. Here it is a few months ago on the painting pile before I finished my Dutch Meteor F8. More recently I splashed some paint on it. Gunze H330 for the green, H331 for the Dark Sea Grey, and Humbrol Acrylic PRU blue for the undersides. The black frame behind the cockpit is the rear frame of the canopy. I'll be building the aircraft with the canopy open. It was about this stage I took a closer look at my decals and realised Xtrakit had made an error. The aircraft I'd chosen was meant to have silver undersides, not PRU blue. I put out a call on the forum for spare decals from an Airfix kit and @FZ6 came to my rescue with the serials for WK281. I'm very thankful for his help and will be able to keep the PRU blue on the aircraft. This brings us to today. I've been repainting the dark green and dark sea grey so that they better matche the profile on the Airfix sheet. I'll need to strip the tail-planes as the pattern can't be fixed with some modifications. Today's job is to touch up the PRU blue forward of the front landing gear where I've needed to do some sanding. Hoping to turn this around quite fast now. Looking forward to having this in the cabinet next to my Meteors (F8, NF11) and Hunter.

The Meteor F.8 was the backbone of the RAF's fighter wings in the early 1950s, serving with over 30 squadrons. No. 245 squadron was based at Horsham St Faith (now Norwich airport), and flew Meteors alongside 74 sqn from 1950 until briefly re-equipping with Hunters in 1957. WL135 was delivered to the RAF on new year's eve 1953. She served as the squadron CO's aircraft, hence the specially marked tail fin. There is an example of a Meteor with these markings on display at the Norwich aviation museum. 50's style ...

Another 50's classic! Hundreds of Meteors served with the RAF in the 1950s, and some beyond. I've got two of these Xtrakit F.8s in the stash, so fancied giving one a go after the big Vulcan (and limited space for a bit!) I'll do this one pretty much OOB, but with Xtradecals. I liked the markings for 501 sqn that came with the kit, but apparently they only ever had two Meteor F.8s, so I'd rather do one from a proper Meteor squadron. There are plenty to choose from, currently thinking it'll be WL135, the CO's machine with yellow fin, from 245 sqn at Horsham St Faith (now Norwich airport). But I might just do her in 74 sqn markings instead! Either way, she'll be green/grey camo with high speed silver undersides. Obligatory box shot. Somewhat battered but I only buy bargains on eBay. No £95 Valiants or £60 Buccaneers here unfortunately. Kit has just two main sprues plus transparency. Xtradecals not included, obviously! Bang seat painted, and some masking tape for the survival pack.

I'm thinking of doing one of these soon, but there are a couple of questions which hopefully someone can answer. Firstly, I'm going to be building VZ494 in the kit's 501 Sqn RAuxAF markings, as based at Filton in 1957. It appears this has the clear canopy as on later F.8s. However, the kit provides wider engine intakes as well as the narrower ones, would an F.8 from this date have the wider ones (the kit instructions say not, but just checking). Secondly, colour is shown as DSG/dark green over 'high speed silver'/aluminium. Would I be correct to use satin (allowing for scale and weathering), or should 50's Meteor F.8s be high gloss? Thanks!

This was meant to be a quick mojo boosting build back in February, however fate intervened. I had got to this point: Then came back to the hobby desk a few (sunny) days later to this: Probably caused by too close a proximity to a magnifying lens. Cue witticisms about vampires not be able to survive direct sunshine....... Eventually I plucked up the courage to fill, sand, fill, sand, fill...... followed by some rescribing. My original intent had to be to complete her has a silver aircraft, instead I went with the other box option of a camouflaged machine of 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron, RAF Gibraltar on exercise in 1955-56. Brushpainted Tamiya acrylics as always, the full sad tale can be found here. Thanks for looking.

Its been a tough couple of weeks at home and it lead to my latest build (a Crusader Tank) stalling. Long and the short of it, my 13 year old son was knocked over by a car on the way home from school. Fortunately no serious injuries - just scrapes and abrasions, but it did mean a couple of the days in the local hospital and a significant amount of discombobulation for the normal routine. Add in a serious heatwave in Perth and his mum is currently travelling overseas. Thankfully he is pretty much back to normal, and so I have chance to get back to the bench. However I couldn't face picking up the stalled Crusader, so what to do? I settled on just a straight from the box, no frills, quick build - hopefully one that can be completed this weekend. My choice was the Xtrakit Vampire which I picked up as an impulse buy last month. The obligatory sprue shots: Decal sheet: And these will be the markings I do - nice simple silver scheme (and I have a rattle can of Tamiya paint that is just the ticket): So after a late breakfast, I cleared the model desk and got started - you can see the stalled Crusader at the back of the desk. First a bit of gluing - everything fits together beautifully. Then some paint - all brush painted Tamiya acrylics. NATO black for the cockpit, dark iron for the exhaust end of the "pod", aluminium for the engine compartment. Decal settled nicely on the relief detail on the instrument panel. After lunch, the internal engine parts got a pin wash of thinned Tamiya black acrylic. The rear part also got a dry brushing of aluminium before the wash. All the internal parts were fitted into the lower fuselage half - a lovely fit. Some Tamiya tape seat belts and a slight dirty wash and the cockpit is looking good. Then the top of the fuselage half was fitted, needed a bit convincing to stay put. Time for a G'n'T and to get the dinner ready.

Latest one finished. Used the decals from the Xtrakit and the belly tank from Freightdog Models. The decals do seem to be the correct size to my eyes. No major problems but the tailplanes are a difficult to get a positive fit. Also the pitot tube was replaced with some Albion Alloy tubing. Painted with Xtracrylix for the DSG/DG and Humbrol Acrylic for the PRU Blue.Special thanks to Jason (Jasman71) who provided the nosewheel assembly as mine went missing in action. *Note, canopy framing amended since photos taken*

Hi mates! Here is my latest project, the very colourful and ever popular de Havilland Sea Vixen XS587, rendered in glorious Braille Scale. I thought I would make it a bit easier to digest the project by presenting an "Executive Summary" as follows: Project: de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 (TT) Kit: MPM Sea Vixen FAW.1 Kit No. 72545 (FAW.2 parts from Kit No. 72003) Scale: 1:72 (God’s Own Scale) Decals: Model Alliance (RIP) Sheet No. MA-72197 XS587 RAE Llanbedr Resin: FAA Models Set No. 72004 (engine face plate, tail boom plugs, tail cone, exhaust, arresting hook) Resin: Pavla Set No.U72-133 (nose cone) Resin: PJ Productions Set No. 721208 Martin Baker Mk 4 ejection seats Photoetch: Eduard Interior Set No. SS446 Paint: Testors Model Master No. 2720 Classic White, No. 2118 Deep Yellow, No. 1103 Red, No. 1139 Semi-Gloss Black, Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black, Alclad Klear Kote Light Sheen Weathering: Pastel chalks Soul: Sold to Devil (twice) Improvements/Corrections Replaced nose cone to improve shape Replaced tail cone and jet exhaust to provide correct depth and proper shape for arresting hook bay Replaced engine face plate to provide correct appearance of vanes, engine cone, and tube Added boundary layer inlets and intake vanes Shortened booms by 4mm to match drawings Reshaped front of pinion tanks to remove “blunt” look and added fairings to blend pinion tanks into wing Reshaped top front of tail fins to better match drawings Added bulges to main gear doors Added photoetch scissor links to main gear struts Added hydraulic lines in gear bays with 0.3mm solder Replaced fuel dump pipe to correct size, and relocated to starboard wing Added de-misting duct to front windscreen Reworked rain removal/air conditioning ducting Added target tug brackets on lower front fuselage Moved observer’s window up by 1mm (should have been 2mm) Replaced Hobbit ejection seats Repositioned observer’s instrument panel to correct position Reworked observer’s radar hood to correct length Detailed the cockpit and ejection seats with color photoetch Added hinge and handle to observer’s hatch Added photoetch attachment points to pylons Scratch built rear pressure bulkhead and canopy jettison release strut Added gunsight using photoetch and items from the Magic Box of Fiddly Bits Replaced front fuselage red pinstripe to get correct width Correct black stripe pattern on undersides (Model Alliance have you do six stripes at a 20 degree angle from aircraft centerline instead of the correct five stripes at a 30 degree angle) Used proper size roundels on forward fuselage sides Added various blade antennae and whip aerials; wing pitot tubes made from two different size of hypodermic needles Elapsed time: Approximately two months, or 747,652 grey hairs So why did I decide to tackle a kit with such a tarnished reputation? Well, because it was there, and you can find all the details here. On with the pictures! I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I'm enjoying moving on to another challenge! Cheers, Bill PS. Now that I've finished her, you can be assured that a 1:72 Sea Vixen will be the first item on the 2014 new kit list from Airfix. You can thank me then.

which is the best kit airfix 1/72 sea harrier fa2 from the airfix club box with a gr7 or the xtrakit harrier fa2 as i have just purchased both and was wondering which one will look better with the 800 nas special scheme many regards paul

I have had a long modelling drought - nothing really done in months. Just starting to get back to the bench a bit and managed to finish this one off this weekend. Its been hanging around longer than I care to remember. Not the easiest build for me, and I am not 100 % happy with the finish. But, it is now off the shelf of doom (OK just spotted I need to attach the cockpit mirror - but that is a minor thing!). Brushpainted with Tamiya acrylics and finished with an Italeri Acryl Flatcoat. Cheers

Quick question, Has anybody ever tried fitting the Eduard flap set intended for a Cyber Hobby / Dragon Meteor on to an MPM/Xtrakit wing? If so how well did it go?

Had these on the work bench for a while, my thanks to Doug for sending me the Spitfire kit They are both currently wearing high gloss, awaiting a matt varnish, Ben.

I'm intending to backdate an Xtrakit 1/72 Canberra PR.9 to a 39 Squadron example from the early 1980s in Dark Sea Grey/Dark Green/Light Aircraft Grey camouflage. It'll probably be XH175 using markings from the Model Alliance sheet and maintenance markings from Modeldecal sheet 85. So far, armed with the Aeroguide 34 and a helpful article in the Sep 2006 Air International I think I need to remove all signs of: - the port for the Zeiss RMK-A camera aft of the bomb bay - the IRLS doors on the bomb-bay doors - the underwing hardpoints for the BOZ and TADS pods - the flare dispenser squares outboard of the engine nacelles. What have I missed? Also, what colour would the undercarriage bays have been? Latterly they were apparently white but I'm wondering if that is a late feature to help detection of stress cracks. PS Pretty underwhelmed with the Model Alliance Canberra sheets: 2 sheets covering 13 subjects but not enough stencils to complete even one of them.