Bandwagon 106 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Hi, You will probably know this, but the Revell re box of Matchboxes 1/32nd Spitfire F.22/24 is out now. I usually build jets, American ones at that, but I am looking forward to this kit. It is one of those kits which brings back memories for me. My Dad did the original Matchbox release when I was a nipper, he did a really good job of it too, so I am getting it as a tribute to the man who got me hooked on this hobby. Thanks Dad! Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 I did the original Matchbox edition myself, at the height of my previous career. If I do say so myself, within the limits of my abilities at the time, it was pretty good. Seeing Nigel's copy in the original boxing made me start collecting the range again, and I now have them all except the Puma, which I'm still stalking on eBay, hoping one turns up cheap. Looking at the Spit now, the panel lines seem somewhat heavy, and the plastic cheap & brittle (not to mention shiny!), but it does look like a Spit. I'll probably never build the Matchbox editions, but might get myself a rebox to satisfy the urge to do it again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandwagon 106 Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 If this one goes together nicely, I might get a Merlin one, to show the similarities (ie the name!). Any idea if Revell has tidied things up, like they did with the Seafire Mk.111 they have recently released? What other kits did Matchbox do in 1/32. I know of the Spit, Dauntless, Puma and Venom, did they do a 109? Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 What are the decal options in the Revell reboxing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandwagon 106 Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 Its AW-2, VN481(?) of No.80 Sqn in camo for an F.24, not sure about the other options yet. As a guess 2 options for the F.22, could be any one of 12 RAAuxF squadrons or No.73. So it looks like there will be some colour! Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 What other kits did Matchbox do in 1/32. I know of the Spit, Dauntless, Puma and Venom, did they do a 109?Joel They did a 109 Emil, IIRC, although from the expert's POV, it's actually a mixture of two marks if I remember rightly. They also did a Lysander, which is a bit of a slab of unrefined plastic apparently, and a Tigermoth, which Cop has already shown us how to build here. The box on my Spit is a bit crumpled & stained, and one of the fuselage halves was snapped in two when I got it, although that was easy to fix with some CA and some sanding sticks. I'd like another mint one at some point, so I could actually build this one, as MDC have a correction set for it in the mid £20 range, and I'd be fascinated to build this beast again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinR (aka ARC Scotsman) Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Just got it myself - after buildig it when the original Matchbox release came out - its a lot more complete than I remember - pretty full fusalage - And yes its pretty crude as well - it does need some care and attention - and resin - the MDC set looks like it might well be essential - but I'd pay some serious money to have a conversion that would allow me to build it as a Seafire Mk47 ..... I can just see it sitting next to my Fisher Sea Fury ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 There were quite a few Seafire 47 conversions based on this kit when it came out. No resin in them days either! If I recall accurately at least one conversion placed highly in a national competition in the late 70s/early80s. The original Matchbox release featured markings for an Egyptian 22. The instruction leaflet for the new release can be found on the Revell website at: http://www.revell.de/en/products/model_kit...=04704&sp=1 Click the link under the photo and the instructions download as a pdf. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 I have actually started to build one.....OOB- A shake and Bake? It ain't! Decals options are as follows.....FMk24 "VN489/W2*A" 80 Sqn RAF - Kai Tak Hong Kong 1951, FMk.22 "PK596/RAT*L" 613 Sqn RAuxAF Ringway 1949 and FMk22 "PK555/K" 73 Sqn RAF Ta Kali Malta 1948. All three a/c in Dark Green/Ocean Grey over Medium Sea Grey. You do get a lot of plastic for your £14.99! The kit has a lower fuselage/wing spar which is equired to allow the separate wing fillets to sit upon. The griffon engine is quite detailled - not sure how accurate though! I'm planning on building this Spit as an 80 Sqn machine, but just as she would have appeared before being handed over to the RHKAF - i..e. In overall Aluminium paint. I'm also planning on converting a second model into a Mk21, using parts from Hasegawa's VB, and one of MDC's detail sets..wish me luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandwagon 106 Posted April 3, 2007 Author Share Posted April 3, 2007 Just had a peek at the instructions link. OMG, what am I getting myself into?!My admiration for the old man has just gone up a notch or three! Why do I get the feeling I should stick to Phantoms. Just kidding, I am looking forward to the challenge. Any idea what the other option was for the original release, I seem to remember there being one camo and two silver. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Just had a peek at the instructions link. OMG, what am I getting myself into?!My admiration for the old man has just gone up a notch or three! Why do I get the feeling I should stick to Phantoms. Just kidding, I am looking forward to the challenge. Any idea what the other option was for the original release, I seem to remember there being one camo and two silver.Joel The camouflaged A/C was from the same Squadron - RAF No 80Sqn , not sure which individual aircraft, the silver machines were I think....603 (RAuxAF) City Of Edinburgh Sqn and an Egyptian AF aircraft.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Saw this kit last night when Nige brought his round for a chat. The plastic is so much nicer than the old Matchbox edition, but it's still essentially the same kit. VERY cheap though at around £14, but you'll need to spend some £26ish at MDC if you're going to bring it up to today's standards without heavy scratchbuilding. Having seen it, I'm tempted, as I want to keep my Matchbox copy for posterity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Saw this kit last night when Nige brought his round for a chat. The plastic is so much nicer than the old Matchbox edition, but it's still essentially the same kit. VERY cheap though at around £14, but you'll need to spend some £26ish at MDC if you're going to bring it up to today's standards without heavy scratchbuilding. Having seen it, I'm tempted, as I want to keep my Matchbox copy for posterity I'll post some pic's of my build later ...its more or less built OOB, but with a fair amount of green stuff applied!! I have an MDC update set for my second build, but plan "C" is to convert this to a Mk 21, I have a Hasegawa Vb in stock which may well form the basis of the fuselage.........whether I revert to an earlier plan or end up with plan "M" or "N" remains to be seen!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 I'll post some pic's of my build later ...its more or less built OOB, but with a fair amount of green stuff applied!!I have an MDC update set for my second build, but plan "C" is to convert this to a Mk 21, I have a Hasegawa Vb in stock which may well form the basis of the fuselage.........whether I revert to an earlier plan or end up with plan "M" or "N" remains to be seen!!! Do any of your kits ever make it out the door, or do you end up building them all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leigh Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Figures Revell would announce this one exactly fifteen minutes after I paid a huge amount for a Matchbox one on Ebay, hey but at least I got three colours of plastic and some of those nice twenty year old Matchbox decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 I have an MDC update set for my second build, but plan "C" is to convert this to a Mk 21, I have a Hasegawa Vb in stock which may well form the basis of the fuselage.........whether I revert to an earlier plan or end up with plan "M" or "N" remains to be seen!!! Do you know, Bill, that a set of 21/22/24 wings are nearing readiness, from MDC, which are designed for the Hasegawa fuselage? Using the Matchbox wings, on the Hasegawa fuselage, is a bit of a nightmare, since the wingroot fairings don't match, at the trailing edge. I did the conversion, about 20 years ago, and wished that I'd never started. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Figures Revell would announce this one exactly fifteen minutes after I paid a huge amount for a Matchbox one on Ebay, hey but at least I got three colours of plastic and some of those nice twenty year old Matchbox decals. I wouldn't worry - I paid £25 for one 4 months ago, but that's not the point as far as I'm concerned. I wanted the original boxing, so I'm happy. I could have done with a better kept copy, but at least I have one again. I think I'm going to get me one of these, plus the MDC update set & build me a big Spit.... sometime in the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Do you know, Bill, that a set of 21/22/24 wings are nearing readiness, from MDC, which are designed for the Hasegawa fuselage? Using the Matchbox wings, on the Hasegawa fuselage, is a bit of a nightmare, since the wingroot fairings don't match, at the trailing edge. I did the conversion, about 20 years ago, and wished that I'd never started.Edgar Yes indeed Edgar, I've been watching Derek's fantastic work on LSP with a great deal of admiration and interest......not good news about using the Matchbox/Revell wings then! Okay, maybe its onto plan (E) wait for the MDC wings....(I know that it will be worth the wait!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 I've had a text from Cop telling me he's picked me up a copy of the Revell reissue today, while he was escorting the queen - she reckoned the nose was out, and suggested the MDC resin correction set. Thanks your Maj Guess I'd better get over to MDC pronto & order one, and top up on cans of Mr Surfacer while I'm there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beany Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 I never got round to buying the Matchbox version so was happy to shell out £14.99 this week. All 3 versions are in green/grey/grey camo. schemes which is a little boring but no doubt there will be more after market decal schemes out soon for this release. Will post pics as the build progresses. This is my first post btw - only found you guys this morning (via Gregers Unoffical Airfix Modellers Forum). Some interesting group builds going on over there at the moment. Some very interesting threads running here from the look of it - just gotta find the time to read 'em all. Cheers Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hi Beany & welcome to the forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Just got it myself - after buildig it when the original Matchbox release came out - its a lot more complete than I remember - pretty full fusalage - And yes its pretty crude as well - it does need some care and attention - and resin - the MDC set looks like it might well be essential - but I'd pay some serious money to have a conversion that would allow me to build it as a Seafire Mk47 ..... I can just see it sitting next to my Fisher Sea Fury ....... Look out for a Freightdog FR47 conversion. I picked one up at Crewe last year, part built and complete with Matchbox Spit. Cost around £20 - £25 I think. I'm sure you should be able to get the conversion? Cheers Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Look out for a Freightdog FR47 conversion. I picked one up at Crewe last year, part built and complete with Matchbox Spit. Cost around £20 - £25 I think. I'm sure you should be able to get the conversion? Cheers Simon I have been looking for it, without any success. Someone who knows more about availability? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I'm fairly sure that the last time Freightdog released the Seafire 47 conversion there was a comment on their website that there would not be any more made for quite some time. No timescale given unfortunately. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Wow. A seven year old thread rises from the grave. The Matchbox 1/32 Spitire kit has been out of production for many years, so unless Revell decides to re-release it, it won't make much sense for Freightdog or anyone else to produce new runs of conversion parts for it. The best thing to do will be to: 1. put a permanent search on eBay 2. put a monthly request on the Wanted section here 3. check the second-hard dealers regularly. http://www.kingkit.co.uk is a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now