old thumper Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) I always felt torn when trying to choose between Matchbox and Airfix model aircraft kits in the 70's and early 80's and so have gone back in time to compare two kits of the same aircraft from these manufacturers , well almost the same aircraft. First up is the old Airfix Corsair first released in the mid 1960's. As a youngster I remember building the Matchbox and Revell Corsairs but up until now had never experienced the Airfix offering. I have to admit that when I first bought this kit a few years ago and opened up the box I was rather disappointed at what I saw and straight away put it in the stash and tried to forget about it. My first intention was to do quick a straight out of the box build, but decided against that as the riveting gave the kit the texture of a cheese grater. As a lot of the rivets would have been removed when sanding and filling I then decided to sand the whole thing down and re-scribe it. After the sanding was complete I then remembered that I also had a Academy Corsair in my stash which I could use as a guide, when I compared the two kits I quickly decided that I was wasting my time. There are just so many things wrong with the old Airfix Corsair kit, the cowling, canopy, radiators, wheels, wings, in fact just about everything, so I decided to quickly scratch a few panel lines on and do a botch job. I am happy to spend time on these old kits when my options are limited but with so many decent alternatives on the market I couldn't see the point with the Corsair. As the decals are very nice I kept them for use on other better kits and used ones from my spares box for this model. The Matchbox Corsair. All I wanted from this kit was a nice clean build for my Matchbox collection, even though the kit was first released in 1973 it went together perfectly, I don't think it even required any filling. My only modification was to replace the canon with machine guns. As the panel lines were a little extravagant I toned them down by undercoating with numerous layers of the paint used in spraying the Airfix Corsair, the decals went on well enough and I finished the whole thing off with a fine spray of Humbrol Satin Cote. When comparing the two kits Matchbox is the certain winner, for me it is just a shame that it is with post war version. Having discovered that I had a nice Academy Corsair kit, nice Fleet Air Arm decals depicting Hammy Hampton's Corsair and a potential airbrush loaded with gloss blue paint I decided to put all three together. The result was the model I had originally hoped to produce using the old Airfix kit, ding dong. I expect Corsair experts will be able to point out all the things that are wrong with the Academy Corsair kit, but for me it looks very much like a Corsair and was fun to build. Edited August 29, 2015 by old thumper 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homerlovesbeer Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) Pics? Oh there they are. Great work, thanks for the reviews. Edited August 29, 2015 by Homerlovesbeer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 The Matchbox Corsair is a great example of how people remember those kits. They were relatively easy to build in a reasonably quick time. With the Corsair which I have built as a kid it was a matter of painting the one colour plus the white cowling and applying the decals. Back then I built models with the undercarriage retracted which meant even less work. Very nice job re-scribing the Airfix model and good to see a comparison of the three. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 When comparing the two kits Matchbox is the certain winner, for me it is just a shame that it is with post war version. The F4U-4 saw service in the war. http://www.456fis.org/THE_F4U-4_CORSAIR.htm Photos are not common, and the markings tend to be, well, dull, overall blue, white codes, maybe a unit marking. (EDIT that is compared to the the more gaudy post war, and Korean war ones with bright nose bands) There is a double page spread of one on Corsair at War pages 125-126, of USS Lake Champlain Oh, once I looked it up then a quick google... I'm glad I looked this up, as this thread has comments on the just visible badge http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=54273 Hmm, the white wing markings look to have some kind of outline now I look, more obvious on the port wing. There is a ww2 era colour shot of one with even less markings somewhere. Apologies if thread clutter, but perhaps of interest? HTH T PS neat builds as well...got distracted looking the F4F-4 info. Some later versions had different windscreens, the early ones were the same as the F4U-1D type though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 Thanks for the likes and comments chaps. The Matchbox Dooleybird Mustang is up for building next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Excellent trio OT. The Airfix (MPC Boxing) Corsair was the very first glue-together model I ever built when I was young. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Nice builds, build the Matchbox F4U at the age of 10-11, this green band around the cowling was looking great ( it made also the horrible paint job under it, almost invisible) Great old scool modelling ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 Nice builds, build the Matchbox F4U at the age of 10-11, this green band around the cowling was looking great ( it made also the horrible paint job under it, almost invisible) Great old scool modelling ! It was an early kit that I built as well, the Matchbox kits always had the sort of colourful markings and transfers that appealed to me at that age, the green bands on the Corsair being a good example. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Fine kits for its days, there is a Matchbox group build, here on BM, i am in. Time to build a Matchbox kit again, maybe it will be a better one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 I am also in the Matchbox group build, I can't wait. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Me too, have still some in the Matchbox livery, some from Revell ( better decals but worse boxart ) and some in plastic bags, from a swap meet, some years ago, without decals and instructions. This will be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 (edited) Great collection,those Matchbox kit,s were a revelation to those of s that were kids when they first appeared,can,t wait to see Dooleybird! Matchbox Group build is a must. Edited September 4, 2015 by stevej60 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Great collection,those Matchbox kit,s were a revelation to those of s that were kids when they first appeared,can,t wait to see Dooleybird! Matchbox Group build is a must. no steve, shipbuilding is a must Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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