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Airfix 1:72 Short Stirling Bomber


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Hi guys, been a while since I posted any work here, so it thought I would post up a recently finished kit.

Here we have the old and very vintage Airfix Short Stirling bomber in 1:72. If any of you have built this kit (judging by its age there may well be a fair few of you out there) it is in the kindest possible term, a DOG. If it were a car, it would be a Mini Metro with bead mat seat covers and beige interior.

I could list all the problems and jobs done to just get the kit to fit properly never mind gain more accuracy but it would be a three page epic so if anybody really wants to know, PM me and I can eventually email a full write up on what I did.

Kit was painted with Vallejo Air Dark Earth, Dark Green, Mat Black and Humbrol Interior Green, three coats of Pledge gloss and the mat coat was Winsor and Newton. Weathering used Humbrol 11, oil pastels and some small amount of charcoal in places.

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That looks really good and you must have spent many hours building that one.

Nice paint chipping.

Mine that I've put deep in my stash has a fuselage shaped like something between a banana and a corkscrew. ;)

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I have fond memories of this kit, .....

all the best, Ray

Me too. I remember building this one as a lad. Brush painted with Humbrol enamels. I got a lovely matt finish on the old girl except for the bombs which I painted gloss yellow. (This is the one with the bomb tractor and trolleys is n't it?)

Nice to see one built up again. I'd like to build another for old time's sake but I have n't got anywhere I'd put it.

Thanks for sharing your build

Edited by geedubelyer
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Oy, I had some good times in the back of a Mini Metro!

Very nice build for an old kit! I've been toying with the idea of getting one as I prefer the look of the Stirling to the Lanc and would love to have a bash. As I'm a 144 afficionado I googled the Stirling in that scale and found the Anigrand one. I want it but its bloody expensive!

Still, nice build!

Cheers

Viv

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That looks brilliant, great weathering.

I remember building this kit as a kid, thought I had done a great job on it until I found I had put too much glue on UC and it collapsed in front of me very slowly.... I still have an issue with rushing, the 10 year old me has never and will never disappear!

Rob

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That looks brilliant, great weathering.

I remember building this kit as a kid, thought I had done a great job on it until I found I had put too much glue on UC and it collapsed in front of me very slowly.... I still have an issue with rushing, the 10 year old me has never and will never disappear!

Rob

Thanks for the comments guys, very much appreciated.

Rob the undercarriage was a test in itself. After the sanding, filing, scraping and general foolery it is insanely hard to get all four parts of the frame work together in a level fashion. I placed the front frame and the two side arms into the locating holes in the wing, applied glue and added the mud guard part and let it dry over a few days.

The method helped keep everything stable but also meant that when time came to add the gear, it slotted straight into locating holes with no problem.

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To me that's well worth the effort of grappling with an early 60s kit. I would endorse the plan of razor-sawing the front and rear turrets off via the mounting rings and relocating them - a pretty easy fix for that little problemette. Fine work.

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My take on this kit is, if you compare built up ones to photo's, it looks better than the Italeri one. The mad riviter may have been on amphetamines, but it all comes down to how it compares to the real thing. Besides bloodymindedness is an admirable character trait. Well fought, and won.

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well that's a very nice Stirling, looks like it has seen a lot of wear and tear - those ground crew really need to do a bit of touching up with their underside black paint !

Very nice "worn and weary" feel about it

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