Italeri Stirling

[Ed Russell]

There have been quite few discussions about this so it's time to build one.......

The best set of sprue shots is here

http://z15.invisionfree.com/72nd_Aircraft/index.php?showtopic=5577

I'm just starting so there isn't much to show, just a number of parts being painted Interior Green

and, after they have been painted, some parts in the clamps to paint Night

The box is emptying

My general impressions are that the kit is pretty detailed, with quite a decent interior, the engines and undercarriage look good. It's certainly got a lot more in it than the Airfix kit, of which I have built a couple, but remember they are half a lifetime apart.

The surface detail has come in for a lot of comment and I can say that it looks better than the Sunderland. I ended up filling the panel lines in the Sunderland with stretched sprue but I don't think that is necessary here. Just as a comparison

Stirling vs Sunderland. The panels may be as deep but they aren't as wide.

They still aren't quite ideal so I am experimenting with a little bit of Mr Surfacer.

I have put some masking tape over the flap break lines and sprayed just a little Mr S at the LH side. By comparison with the RH side you can see that it has made a reasonable difference. The proof will be when I give it a little bit of polishing.

I am quite pleased with it so far. The colour options are good but I was looking for one with an Australian touch. "It's in the bag" would be nice but there seems to be some confusion. The nose letter is clearly H not K so the code is doubtful. We have found a serial for 7T-K but it's in an unallocated block!

Any help welcomed.

[Madhatter]

What; no Red Roo AM products going into this?! If not, I'm sure you'll find something on this to make into a marketable Conversion set

Looking forward to seeing what you will do with this Ed.

As for that Mr Surfacer, I've never used it before, but looking at it on the wing, it looks quite runny? Is it like a filler/primer that sands down easily?

[jean]

At long last someone is building this Stirling!

It looks pretty good on the sprues though. Just wonder why Italeri have hired the fired mad trencher and riveter from the early Trumpetter days... A shame, as I thought Italians had more refined taste!

How tricky does the main undercarriage look?

Looking forward to see the final result.

JR

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Interesting. Although I'd like to do a Stirling, early pics of the panel lines killed the mojo. Deep and wide panel lines are a killer for me. However, just 'deep' panel lines can be dealt with, the kit's back on my radar

I'll be watching this with great interest

[general melchett]

Good to see one started. I know it's an old chestnut but those panel lines do detract from the thing, nothing that can't be overcome with some careful filling, sanding and layers of paint...why oh why do these companies insist on covering their models with these trenches when the real things are usually subtle or hardly visible at all.........whatever happened to finesse ? it does look to be a slight improvement on the Sunderland though. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of it builds up. Look forward to progress Ed....

[Ed Russell]

I had to take a lot of pictures to show this approximately how it looks in real life........

So, we have the original lines to far right and left and the filled ones either side of outboard nacelle. I let the Mr S dry for a couple of hours and rubbed it down with Micromesh 2400 then 3200. I'm happy that the depth of the lines is quite reduced and I'm sure it will look quite okay after painting. The whole process was very easy - I estimate less than an hour's work for the whole model.

Answers to questions above

1. No Red Roo products are planned for this build but we do sell the REW Stirling wheels which I happened to have - easier than building up the Iraleri flat tyres. That said, the Italeri wheels look fine in all other respects. Italeri plan at this stage to do all marks of Stirling so no conversions needed.

2. The main undercarriage looks very complex but then so was the original. It looks well engineered but we shall see.....

[12jaguar]

Looks a nice kit and I've decided to can my Airfix Mk IV conversion and get one of these instead.

One comment though, the fuselage interior aft of the cockpit bulkhead was generally silver, not green. If you need any interior photos just let me know and I can email you some on Monday

John

[Ed Russell]

I am sufficiently pleased with how that's turned out to go on and spray the rest of the main parts. It took 5 minutes to mask flap lines and 5 mins to spray everything.

As asked earlier.... Mr Surfacer is a kind of fine spray putty. It comes in 500 (coarser) and 1000 grades in spray cans and bottles. I have mainly used it before to blend plastic, metal and plastic together where it gives a uniform surface - almost like an undercoat. It is a bit 'runny' if sprayed too enthusiastically but dries quickly. It can be sanded easily - especially if you don't let it harden for too long.

Here are the tailplanes just after spraying.

The angle and reflections make it look like little has happened but just wait........

x

[tonyot]

Looking good Ed,......I`m still waiting to get my hands on one yet. I love your choice of aircraft,.....I`ve got the same photo too but the extreme nose section was missing so it doesn`t include the `H' on the nose. The Stirling A.Mk.IV had some of the best RAF/ Commonwealth nose art of the war and there are some great options out there.

I`ll be watching with great interest and I`m sure you`ll do a fantastic job as usual,

Cheers

Tony

[dogsbody]

When you mention the " H " on the nose in the photo, are you referring to the H just to the upper right of the nose art?

If so, that is not a dark coloured H painted on the nose, but it is the shadow of the H-shaped Rebecca antenna that is mounted on a short post on the nose. There would be another one on the other side of the nose.

Chris

[tonyot]

No Chris there is a `H' right on the tip of the nose, just under the clear cupola which replaced the turret!

Cheers

Tony

[Dynamo11]

Is it possible to make the Mk.I out of this kit? Similar to how we could make Lancaster B.1's from Airfix's initial B.III(Special) offering.

[dogsbody]

I've looked up the code letters that are in your photo and they are fore No.169 Sq. So I then liked up No.169 Sq. and they never flew Stirlings, at least not that I can find.

Curious!

[dogsbody]

Did some book searching and found that it's a No.196 Sq. code.

Still looking.

[tonyot]

Hiya Ed,

You probably know this already but here is the full caption from the AWM;

Shepherd's Grove, England. c. 1944-10. Informal group portrait of an air crew of No 196 Squadron RAF, beside their Stirling IV aircraft (7T-K). Left to right, back row: Sergeant Pete Smith (flight engineer); 420682 Flight Lieutenant Charles King, RAAF (pilot); Warrant Officer Jack Corcoran, Royal New Zealand Air Force (navigator); Warrant Officer Howard McLaren, RAAF (bomb aimer); front row: Flight Sergeant John Heslop, RAF (gunner); Flying Officer Dudley G. Hunt, RAAF (wireless airgunner). Note the nose art on the aircraft of a boxing kangaroo, the inscription `It's in the bag' and the tally of daggers beside the kangaroo. The squadron was with the Allied Expeditionary Air Force towing Horsa gliders and dropping paratroops at this time. (Donor C. King) Source Australian War Memorial.

As you no doubt know the daggers were for SD sorties, usually in support of the ressistance prior to D-Day and afterwards.

Looking at some of the other photos the sqn codes in the captions don`t always match what is on the aircraft so the above could well be 7T-H, rather than K?

The Stirling Airborne Forces units were very large and they had a large number of RAAF personnel on them,......plus quite a few of the maintainers were from the Fleet Air Arm and one of these naval lads was lost over Arnhem when he went along to help the dispatchers but his Stirling was shot down and he was killed.

Cheers

Tony

Edited August 11, 2014 by tonyot

[dogsbody]

I've been looking at the photo again and I think the letter on the nose might be a " K ". An " H " would most likely be straight legged but the letter has a slight indentation in the outer-most right side. Could this be a " K " instead of an " H "?

Chris

[Ed Russell]

I hadn't seen the provenance of this picture before so thanks very much Tony. With that information I can look further.

It looks more like an H to me Chris but I would say an oddly painted K - or even a B - is quite possible.

196 was a very large squadron and had several codes.

I am progressing slowly on this build - I have taken the route of painting many parts before assembly which makes for boring pictures.

[tonyot]

Hiya Ed,

I`m trying to find out more on this aircraft for you Ed and so far I`ve found the following196, from the book Stirling Wings by Jonathan Falconer;

`It`s In the Bag'- Mk.IV, 196 Sqn, originally coded 7T-H, later changed to 7T-Z, it may also have worn the ZO code also worn by the unit (The Stirling Airborne Sqns were so large that each Flight had its own codes).

I`ve not got a serial yet but I`ll try my best to find one.

I`ve found an all Australian manned Mk.IV from 295 Sqn called `Bushwacker' which was LJ995/8Z-H, and operated from August 1944- February 1945. It had an old Aborigine wearing a tall hat and drinking a bottle of beer while cooking a lizard over a camp fire on the nose and mission markers include 12 daggers for SOE drops and 3 winged SAS daggers plus a glider for the Arnhem drop. Unfortunately it swung on take off from Rivenhall on 4th February 1945 and hit some tree`s where it exploded. A photo of the nose art appears on page 107 of `Stirling in Action' by Jonathan Falconer (Ian Allen series). I`ll happily scan it and e mail it to you.

Hopefully my own kit will arrive soon? In the book `Stirling Wings' there is a large photo of LK292/ E7-W of 570 Sqn which has a huge Witch painted on the side of the nose which is towing a Horsa glider and dropping supplies from its belly,....brilliant! Like I say there are so many Stirling Mk.IV`s which wore great nose art! We need a decal sheet,.....I can help with photos and reference!

Cheers for now,

Tony

Edited August 12, 2014 by tonyot

[Ed Russell]

I have found a better image and there's not much doubt it's an H - note well also the rivets..........

A decal sheet? Well you never know......... all our Away Team sets have been single engine fighters up till now........

[tonyot]

Is it possible to make the Mk.I out of this kit? Similar to how we could make Lancaster B.1's from Airfix's initial B.III(Special) offering.

I`ve not got my kit yet but from looking at the sprues I`d say that you`ll have to wait for the bomber version to be released. The Mk.IV version has a paratrooper exit in the fuselage floor and has the clear nose plus the windows are laid out differently,..for instance the bomber had three windows on the left hand side of the nose whereas the Mk.IV had two and one of these was bulged. Some Mk.III`s were converted to Mk.IV`s and these can usually be identified by the painted over third window! The bomber also had a mid upper turret which the Mk.IV didn`t.

Cheers

Tony

[tonyot]

Hiya Ed,

According to a Fleet Air Arm engine fitter who worked on Stirling Mk.IV`s, the code letter on the nose was lit up by the nose light above it and this helped to identify individual aircraft to groundcrew at night so that they could then marshall the correct aircraft back onto the relevant dispersal pan following a sortie,.......so it is unlikely that the fuselage code would be changed without the nose letter also being altered,.....so I`d definitely go for 7T-H!

Cheers

Tony

[Ed Russell]

It would require a lot of scratchbuilding of turrets etc to make a bomber from this kit..... you can see from the window positions etc that a bomber is intended in future.

Mr Italeri says
"You can’t see the nose turret now because this is an interchangeable insert and is not inside the core mould.
We are doing the Stirling version Mk.I, Mk.III and Mk.IV."

[Giorgio N]

Looking forward to seeing what this kit will build like, thanks for sharing. While the Sunderland left me quite cold, this is a subject I've always been interested in, unless your build will show any bad mistake on Italeri's part, I'll buy me one of these.

Good to see one started. I know it's an old chestnut but those panel lines do detract from the thing, nothing that can't be overcome with some careful filling, sanding and layers of paint...why oh why do these companies insist on covering their models with these trenches when the real things are usually subtle or hardly visible at all.........whatever happened to finesse ? it does look to be a slight improvement on the Sunderland though. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of it builds up. Look forward to progress Ed....

The answer is in two words: money and technology. With the former being the most important... Italeri does not seem to be willing or able to invest in more sophisticated and more expensive moulds and this is the result.

Unfortunately this is not also resulting in cheaper kits, but considering the crazy fixed expenses that any Italian company has to cover, I can't blame Italeri too much here

[Marty]

Fabulous, looking really good. Will have to get one if these myself 😊

[Dynamo11]

I`ve not got my kit yet but from looking at the sprues I`d say that you`ll have to wait for the bomber version to be released. The Mk.IV version has a paratrooper exit in the fuselage floor and has the clear nose plus the windows are laid out differently,..for instance the bomber had three windows on the left hand side of the nose whereas the Mk.IV had two and one of these was bulged. Some Mk.III`s were converted to Mk.IV`s and these can usually be identified by the painted over third window! The bomber also had a mid upper turret which the Mk.IV didn`t.

Cheers

Tony

Thought as much, I just can't wait any longer for a new tool Mk.I