rich2010 Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 With all this Airfix 2013 kerfuffle going on and the forthcoming Vampire kit, I'm reminded of airshows when the Vintage Pair were around. I distinctly remember them screaming around the sky really close to each other and so different to most of the other 'modern' stuff. Inspired by these memories, I'm mentally prepping a Vintage Pair dio (perhaps) of the new Vampire & a Meteor. Here's where I could do with your help, fellow BMers. I've got an old Matchbox NF xx kit that I could use, but was keeping to do a Fradu TT20 tug. Is there a bespoke T7 kit available or is the Matchbox kit 'convertible'. Something to whet the appetite... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Lovely shot Rich, I distinctly remember them screaming around the sky really close to each other Well yes , sadly too close in 1986, unfortunately I was there.......not pleasant...............however they looked and sounded absolutely magnificent in the CFS scheme. A good friend of mine now sadly deceased, Nigel Fletcher-Hawkins flew the VP's Meteor on several occasions...great days. Melchie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob P Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I have the same plan. Aeroclub did a conversion from NF14 to T7 many years ago, but it has long been outof production. Best bet is the MPM T7 (the Xtrakit T7 has also been discontinued) Just wish someone did decals for the Vintage Pair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Lovely shot Rich, Well yes , sadly too close in 1986, unfortunately I was there.......not pleasant...............however they looked and sounded absolutely magnificent in the CFS scheme. A good friend of mine now sadly deceased, Nigel Fletcher-Hawkins flew the VP's Meteor on several occasions...great days. Melchie Yes, me, too - a sad day indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 It is easy to fit the tail from a scrap Airfix F3 to the Matchbox kit (I did a PR10 that way). Hopefully the nose from the Airfix kit would solve the problem at the other end. A scrap Frogspawn F4 might also work. Then clip the wingtips and you're done. The Matchbox kit was reissued by Xtrakit and is in stock with Hannants at £7.50. The MPM T7 is also in stock at £22.40 (is there an emoticon for 'sharp intake of breath'?) so you pays your money and takes your choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Re decals for the VP Rob, Why not cobble them up from generic decal sets like those from Modeldecal for example. All you need for the non generic markings are the CFS emblems and these could be taken from the S&M Gnat decal sheet. All that remains will be the team titles added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 The Aeroclub vampire t11 had markings for the CFS machine.Some ware i have a set,if i can find them i will give you a shout......Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I for one am most excited at the prospect of a 1/72 IM Vampire T.11 if for no other reason than to finally accompany these two! The Meatbox 7s are the Xtrakit and Aeroclub verions built OOB but with decals cobbled together from spares. Regards Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I for one am most excited at the prospect of a 1/72 IM Vampire T.11 if for no other reason than to finally accompany these two! The Meatbox 7s are the Xtrakit and Aeroclub verions built OOB but with decals cobbled together from spares. Regards Mark Very nice pair you have there! Is it Aeroclub at the back or Xtrakit? Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Duncan Thanks for the kind words. WA669 is the Aeroclub version which I believe has the better overall shape. Mark Very nice pair you have there! Is it Aeroclub at the back or Xtrakit? Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfqweofekwpeweiop4 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 It is easy to fit the tail from a scrap Airfix F3 to the Matchbox kit (I did a PR10 that way). Hopefully the nose from the Airfix kit would solve the problem at the other end. A scrap Frogspawn F4 might also work. Then clip the wingtips and you're done. The Matchbox kit was reissued by Xtrakit and is in stock with Hannants at £7.50. The MPM T7 is also in stock at £22.40 (is there an emoticon for 'sharp intake of breath'?) so you pays your money and takes your choice! To be fair though, the MPM Meteor isn't just a plastic kit. It comes with a fully detailed resin interior, hence the price! thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 A sad day indeed, but it was a vicious crosswind. There was an article in last month's FlyPast on the VP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrope Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 If you can get hold of one, I can heartily recommend the Aeroclub conversion for the Matchbox NF kit. I did one along with a similar F8 conversion I've got an xtrakit T7 waiting in the stash too but I'd do another of these conversions any day, it was great fun Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viscount806x Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 If you can get hold of one, I can heartily recommend the Aeroclub conversion for the Matchbox NF kit. I did one along with a similar F8 conversion I've got an xtrakit T7 waiting in the stash too but I'd do another of these conversions any day, it was great fun Chris Nice build there Chris. I had a big run on Meatboxes about 10 years ago and concluded that the best T7 (then) was the Aeroclub 1/72 limited. The Rareplanes kit was also good but of course, it had raised panels. I did a few of those conversions too along with some straight built NFs. I always thought that the Matchbox kit had a rather thin rear fuselage, quite noticeable next to the other aforementioned ones. Oh, and I really did build a Merlin F8 too, what a marathon but it looked OK with an Aeroclub metal u/c and seat+vac canopy. Not Much in the way of detail though after all the weeks of filling and sanding! Since those days we have had the MPM family, all of which I have but not yet built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggers Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Duncan Thanks for the kind words. WA669 is the Aeroclub version which I believe has the better overall shape. Mark Knowing John Adams products it won't just be "better",it'll be spot-on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich2010 Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 Thanks for the help and info. I may use some of the money Mrs Rich2010 doesn't spend on the kids this Chrissie on the MPM kit. It'd be my first MPM buy, are they any good for the twenty quid? Not great deal of info on Hannants and only a bit on Mainly Military. Looks ok to me though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLC1966 Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I for one am most excited at the prospect of a 1/72 IM Vampire T.11 if for no other reason than to finally accompany these two! The Meatbox 7s are the Xtrakit and Aeroclub verions built OOB but with decals cobbled together from spares. Regards Mark Mate, they are a lovely pair, so as to speak......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Thank you very much, you're too kind! Mark Mate, they are a lovely pair, so as to speak......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Thanks for the help and info. I may use some of the money Mrs Rich2010 doesn't spend on the kids this Chrissie on the MPM kit. It'd be my first MPM buy, are they any good for the twenty quid? Not great deal of info on Hannants and only a bit on Mainly Military. Looks ok to me though... Well worth it, they make up well with a little care around the intakes, exhaust and the undercarriage. Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshiretaurus Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 just in the planning stage for building XH304, Wondering what shade of grey and yellow. For the grey I'm thinking RAF light aircraft grey IPMS Stockholm shows this as HU166 or HU129 For the yellow is HU24 Trainer yellow accurate? seems a little too dark I've heard talk of using lemon HU99 or what of HU69 gloss yellow? Still confused, any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Lovely shot Rich, Well yes , sadly too close in 1986, unfortunately I was there.......not pleasant...............however they looked and sounded absolutely magnificent in the CFS scheme. A good friend of mine now sadly deceased, Nigel Fletcher-Hawkins flew the VP's Meteor on several occasions...great days. Melchie Strange how these things can trigger memories. I was at Scampton on my Corporals course when this happened. I had been down to my home base (Wittering) to see the GF on Saturday night, and returned to Scampton late Sunday afternoon. On arrival I was stopped at the main gate and instructed by the guard to report to the guardroom. Thats when I found out about the crash, and The orderly sargeant instructed me to get my greens on and pack a bag for seven days as I was going down to Mildenhall to do crash guard! (crash guard was always done by the A/C home base personnel) He was less than impressed when I told him my greens were at Wittering as I was on course, and not Scampton based. Therefore I was begrugingly allowed to go about my business whilst he continued trying to find enough station bodies to fill the crash guard requirement, Believe me, a hard task on a sunny Sunday afternoon, when everyone was either off base for the weekend or out enjoying the weather. Selwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggers Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Go with 154 Insignia Yellow Mark. That always seems to be bob-on for BS381c 356 Golden Yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshiretaurus Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 HU154 Never thought of that one I'll have a look for that. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Vor!!! Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshiretaurus Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) A bit more research on the colours done and added a few more tins to the paint collection in the process. Ive made a colour chip sample card of all the greys and yellows I have and went for a visit to Newark air museum. XD593 was the only vampire I find in grey & yellow so armed with the colour card and camera and a little naughtiness by crossing the rope barrier. I matched my sample against the one there, Now assuming Newark paint shop got the colour right themselves which I'm sure they did its seems Xtracolor X15 RAF light aircraft grey is the best match closely followed by Humbrol 166, for the yellows at the time HU69 was looking closest but HU24 looks a good representation in the photo. All the numbers on the card are Humbrols except for the Tamiya XF20, the un-numbered samples are Xtracolors X15 & X11 trainer yellow. Heres the composite image of the card on XD593s wing Edited May 14, 2014 by Cheshiretaurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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