Vulcanicity Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Thanks Keef! You're quite right though, with the amount of time I spent on the wheel wells I don't want it stuck to anything! The plan is fairly self-explanatory, and involves one of my favourite modelling tools, the car wheel balance weight. I was very lucky this one fit so neatly! Job done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Blimey Phil she's looking bloomin' good (good catch with the balancing weight) b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 You're too kind! Personally I think that the model's finish is looking unbelievably scruffy at the moment, with sanded bits, filler, different coloured plastic and remnants of metallic paint on the wingtips/tail. However it's all about to change, as my efforts this afternoon mean that the Javelin is ready for a primer coat tommorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 That's looking good Phil!! Mine has stalled because I didn't like the vortex generators, thinking they looked too much like breeze blocks for me to be happy with, but I've been too lazy to replace them. Under that coat of primer they don't look anywhere near as bad though. I'll be interested to see how the upper wing roundels eventually go on over them... Looking forward to seeing her in camo.! Keef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 (edited) told you so! I said it looked good, it does edited to take out unsolicited stupidity sorry Phil Edited June 30, 2012 by perdu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 Thanks both! I really do appreciate having you two still following faithfully, the encouragment is very much valued! Keef, odd you should say that as I think they're the best vortex generators I've seen on a model. They're certainly less brick-like than those on the new Airfix Valiant, a kit which must be at least 20 years younger! Bill, yes you're quite right: the primer does make a big difference. It's always a bit of a nerve-racking moment, the first time you can really see how well you've done cleaning up seams etc, how neat your scratch building was. On this occasion, I'm pleased! Anyway, the bottom's done: Humbrol 11 (silver) out of a spraycan. Off to mask up the demarcation lines for the camo, and make a final decision on squadron scheme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Wow, it's looking great now Phil with the paint on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Looking sweet, good work there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Yep, very nice - & that aluminium really shows how good your scribing is - very neat indeed!! Keef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Coming along nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Thanks all! The scribing looks a good better with a coat of paint hiding all the slips and ragged edges! Humbrol acryllics: The next thing to do, and the last real bit of scratchbuilding, is to sort out the seats. The kit seats are sparsely detailed, and represent the earlier type of seat used in early mark Javelins. Fine for the original incarnation of this kit as the Heller T.3, no good for an FAW.9. Let battle commence! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hi Phil, lookin' good there, you certainly have put a lot of work into this project and turning it into a really good looking model. I still don't like Javelins, not one of Glosters best efforts. Colin on the Africa Station Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Heretic!! Christian the Married ( and Javelin adict) Hi Phil, lookin' good there, you certainly have put a lot of work into this project and turning it into a really good looking model. I still don't like Javelins, not one of Glosters best efforts.Colin on the Africa Station Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) Hi Phil, lookin' good there, you certainly have put a lot of work into this project and turning it into a really good looking model. I still don't like Javelins, not one of Glosters best efforts.Colin on the Africa Station There's no accounting for taste! Thanks all Here's today's efforts. Top and starboard side decals more or less done. Those with a good memory will recall that I bought an Xtradecal sheet with an option for a 23 squadron FAW.9. The scheme itself is rather boring, just a simple squadron badge instead of the colourful squadron fin flash seen on other units' Javelins. Therefore I bought it exclusively for the national markings, with the intention of putting these on the Frog kit and using the Airfix kit option for the 64 squadron FAW9R (XH887). However the Xtrakit national markings were much brighter than the kit ones, and as I found out with the Frog kit, the kit decals are yellowing and have badly decayed glue. So I swapped the roundels and fin flash round, here using only the kit squadron flashes (and a minimum of stencilling). I replaced nearly everything else from the Xtradecal sheet and the spares box (some of the digits for the serial come from an Xtradecal Lightning sheet). I was worried that the white background to the squadron markings would look awful next to the fresh white of the newer decals, but actually I'm pretty pleased! In other news, I've finished cutting out the excellent vacform canopy for this kit produced by John Adams of Aeroclub Models (Cheers John!). I was struggling to work out how the open canopies fitted with respect to the prominent rails at the base of the glazing (where it meets the fuselage). Watching back over this excellent if poor quality video of Far East Javelin operations ( ) I realised that the 'rails' slide backward with the opening parts of the canopy, and moreover they connect the two sections so that they slide back together. Hence why I've cut the vacform as I have. Edited July 3, 2012 by Vulcanicity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerofan Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) It's turning out very nicely. Your scribing work is very good. With the paint and markings finally in place, it's looking very excellent. Edited July 3, 2012 by aerofan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 great detective work on the canopies Phil and you seem to have got the transfers choices right too well done coming together brilliantly Are the moving faces on the tailplanes camo or a natural metal? Lookit what you have done now, I'm thinking for the future and I havent even got a Jav model yet b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I somehow managed to miss your post earlier Phil - she looks brilliant, great work!! How did the roundels go down over the vortex generators? Did you have to cut them at all? I really like that Javelin of yours, really must crack on with mine! Keef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Cheers Keef! The Xtradecals were unusually thin and brittle, so while this left me cursing while trying to bend the fin flash over the front edge of the fin, it meant that the vortex generator issue was easy to solve. I could simply place the roundel where desired, push down firmly with a thumb, the vortex generators punched through it and the roundel sat down neatly on the wing. I only had a little work to do with the scalpel around the bases of the vortex generators, and this was a lot easier than having to cut them all off and stick them back over the roundel once it had dried! Well spotted Bill, I need to sort the all-moving tail out. All the faces at the joins should be Aluminium. Thanks too Aerofan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Cheers Keef! The Xtradecals were unusually thin and brittle, so while this left me cursing while trying to bend the fin flash over the front edge of the fin, it meant that the vortex generator issue was easy to solve. I could simply place the roundel where desired, push down firmly with a thumb, the vortex generators punched through it and the roundel sat down neatly on the wing. I only had a little work to do with the scalpel around the bases of the vortex generators, and this was a lot easier than having to cut them all off and stick them back over the roundel once it had dried! Well spotted Bill, I need to sort the all-moving tail out. All the faces at the joins should be Aluminium. Thanks too Aerofan Thanks Phil, I also have that xtradecal sheet so I hope my roundels are the same! I agree about the 23 squadron scheme too - shame really as the earlier Javelins they used had their squadron red/blue bars on the intake sides - I was hoping to find a FAW 9 with them too, but no luck! Keef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 Now that would've been something to see! These are the worst Xtradecals I've used: while their brittleness is great for going over vortex generators, it's a right pain otherwise. They don't sit into the panel lines well either. I'm off on holiday to Scotland for a week, and have unfortunately missed my target of having the Javelin done beforehand. Still, good progress has been made in the last few days, and the finishing line is definitely near. Ejector seats are most of the way there: I elected to go for the two-Firestreak four-cannon fit. I've masked thin lines around the Firestreak bodies to represent the two lines of triangular windows. These are almost ready for spraying with Appliance White. Vacform canopies fit very well, and are about halfway through painting. As a parting shot, here's a photo showing that the decalling is also done in spite of a most uncooperative mixture of decals! See you in a week's time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fu_manchu Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 That is some very impressive work! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Really very nice work Phil, she looks brilliant!! Enjoy your hols!! Keef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Very nice indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard of Effingham Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 hmm, very interesting! [note to self... must think about building a javelin myself as i have two of this kit!!!] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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