1/72nd Italeri Short Stirling Mk.1 R9358 BU-A, 214 squadron....

[nick32]

Stunning build General! I'm hoping to make it along to Telford this weekend (all going well...) so i'll look forward to seeing it in person - Could this be the year i make real life contact with fellow Britmodellers...??

Nick

[12jaguar]

Thanks fellas, I think most of us have a liking for the old Stirling....

Cheers Tony, appreciate that...hopefully see you on Saturday I'll be there along with the other reprobates, co-conspirators and delinquents, it's a 'bring a bottle do' and no, can't can't bring that !

So which are we then General??? LOL

Personally I think I fall into senile delinquent category......

Look forward to speaking to anyone with an interest in Stirlings and flog a few Stirling Project mugs in the process (all proceeds will go towards the Project) hint hint

cheers

John

[doozer1974]

what an absolute beauty! I'd be happy to take a peek at that one in the flesh at Telford!

[general melchett]

Appreciate the comments chaps,

Rob...I can only apologise..I promise to up the ante next year, and turn out something half decent, a 'maximum effort' if you will, (see what happened there)....

I also recall building the old Airfix kit.....left in plastic black, smeared in glue, fogged canopies, guns broken off..but I had built it and I was quite chuffed with myself until I ran with it into the lounge of my Aunts house to show everyone and tripped on the carpet......oh the pain !

Nick,

I'm hoping to make it along to Telford this weekend (all going well...) so i'll look forward to seeing it in person - Could this be the year i make real life contact with fellow Britmodellers...??

Make sure you drop in on us for a chat, quite a few BM's will be there including myself, Rob (Robvulcan), Neil, (Woody), Radleigh (Radleigh !), Paul Hughes, (honeybee) and of course John Lathwell (12jaguar) so just fill your boots...(not literally of course).

Ah John..

So which are we then General??? LOL

Naturally you're exempt from categorization in this instance, (though to what amount is only in relation to the number of rounds you stand of course).......after that you're fair game !

Hopefully folks will donate to the project once they see the amazing work being carried out on the restoration by the team...a truly worthy cause.

I'd be happy to take a peek at that one in the flesh at Telford!

Thanks doozer there will be quite a few of them on the table so as they say come on down for a chat.....

Edited November 5, 2015 by general melchett

[woody37]

Wow, that's stunning Andy, you've reminded me of all the corrections I'd forgot to do on mine! Love the paintwork, can't wait to see it in the flesh on Saturday

[robvulcan]

Andy that looks blooming great hope I can get mine to look a smidge as good for Telford. Not long now !

I can already see where my detail omissions will result in an inferior model but time is short and too late to do all them mods.

The Aeilerons looks much better.

Fantastic work as always all te best Rob

[modelling minion]

Absolutely stunning!

You have done a fantastic job on her, it's just a pity that Italeri made it such hard work, especially as a new Stirling has been on quite a few want lists for a long time. I still might be tempted to get one, but not at their asking price!

I look forward to seeing her in the flesh at Telford.

Very well done.

Craig.

[dogsbody]

Hey, we all had to start with a brush and a pot of paint and no idea what to do next

A couple of those old cheap Testors paint brushes and a few tins of Humbrol, a tube of glue and away you go!

Chris

[general melchett]

Thanks fellas, remember this is a group effort....Over the top to glory and all that ! Neil, your's is superb, (I'm a lifelong masochist and so adding these bits is par for the painful course for me...institutionalised, (or probably should be)...wish I didn't need to do it though to be honest.

Rob, I can only admire the fact that you could even think about finishing one in a fortnight, I've done some fast builds but those were easy kits !......don't even think about detail stuff, just getting it done deserves a gong.

Look forward to seeing them all on the table....now where's that Valom Hampden ?

Edited November 5, 2015 by general melchett

[keefr22]

Cracking job Andy, top bombing! Look forward to seeing it over the weekend. Have to admit though, I don't think I'll be binning my old Airfix one & replacing it with an Italeri, the amount of work needed doesn't seem much different...!!

K

[HL-10]

That's a cracking looking Stirling!

Great work

[general melchett]

Thanks Keith, look forward to a chat over a cuppa and buttie while we stagger through the hallowed halls of ye olde kit swop. Funnily enough I've had an Airfix Stirling primed and ready to go for some time now and it looks pretty good for a 50+ year old model sat next to the latest Italeri........hmmmm.

Cheers HL, glad you like it....

[Bordfunker]

Great looking build!

That looks truly marvellous.

Karl

[Colin1967]

Thanks guys, Colin I have several waiting in the wings including a certain 1/24th RAF low level strike aircraft that really must be finished !, (but now Tom Probert has gone and ordered me a 1/24th F-4 Phantom for pick up at Telford I really can't say what's going to happen !)

Thank you General for the update - I for sure will be looking out for your next built post on here, hope you enjoy Telford this weekend. I am building a KORA resin kit in 1/72 of an Estonian PTO-4 sport/trainer aircraft, then 1/72 Provosts and Strikemasters by the dozen, literally Kind regards Colin.

[bombernut]

Andy, that really is a cracking job. I hope I can get mine to look as half as good as yours.

I do have a couple of questions about your build:

You mentioned resin props were used. Not a bad notion considering the sprue gates are on the prop boss and make cutting the props from the sprue a tricky affair. What replacements did you use? SBS do a replacement set for the Airfix Beaufighter that look the part, but without doing some research I have no idea if the diameter is the same.

You also mention canting the wings up by 2 degrees. How did you maintain the 90 degree angle of the undercarriage relative to the ground? Otherwise I'd have thought you'd end up with the u/c splayed out 2 degrees?

And I do like what you've done with the ailerons. I just don't understand what they could have been thinking. They got the tailplanes and elevators pretty much right, so why not check and get the ailerons right. I call it lazy and slapdash. This is my !

Anyway, a brilliant job.

Cheers, Matt

[Georgiepot]

Good Lord!!

[adt70hk]

Good Lord!!

I don't think I could have put it better.

Amazing job!! The amount of extra work is phenominal. Very, very, well done!!!

[general melchett]

Thanks you fellas, I know I keep saying it but I really do appreciate the kind comments, means a lot...

Colin, ever since writing and building for Airfix Model World I find less time for my own projects such as this, but hopefully I can recommence a few that have been put on hold over the last year or so, whatever it is I hope you enjoy it...Good luck with the Kora resin, they are great little models. Resin's my favourite modelling medium by far and I have many little gems waiting patiently in the stash.......all those Strikemasters !, sounds fun !

Matt, thanks, they were home cast by another modeller who gave me a set at a show some while back and I intended to use them for the Airfix kit. I just preferred the look of them to the kit parts, sorry I haven't seen them about anywhere since....if I find out anything more I'll let you know. As for as the Beaufighter I have a feeling that some used the DH hydromatic prop of 12'9'' diameter, the Halifax III used similar but were a few inches longer at 13 feet, the Stirlings were longer still at 13' 6''.

The top brackets of the inner undercarriage struts were lengthened slightly using 1mm strips of scrap resin and the model was set on a jig. Slow curing CA was then injected onto the brackets and when everything was squared off they were given a shot of accelerator. It's only a matter of a few degrees but improves the look of the stance.They did get the tail surfaces right but covered them in crazy over-scale ribbing, this was rubbed back until almost smooth with only a faint outline of them visible, which replicated the real surfaces a lot better. I agree, lazy and slapdash......just more research needed.

Thanks chaps...

Good Lord!!

Not been elevated just yet.......but I'll take Field Marshall as runner up

Edited November 5, 2015 by general melchett

[Basilisk]

Superb modeling - just perfect!

Seeing the trenches on the kit, did you reduce their size just by sanding the surface down? Whatever you done to them, they look perfect now.

Cheers, Peter

[Navy Bird]

Excellent craftsmanship, as always General! Your eye for detail is very impressive indeed. And to think that I donated my Airfix Stirling kit to the club raffle - I figured the Italeri kit would be so much better. All I can say is I'm glad I haven't bought the Italeri kit yet - maybe Airfix will get a reprieve. Maybe. Looks like both of them are an equal amount of work.

Cheers,

Bill

[Metodi]

Excellent result general

[Stew Dapple]

A very lovely model General, the effort you put into it certainly paid off handsomely

Cheers,

Stew

[JimHead23]

An absolutely stunning build and I love the black and white picture especially. I have two of these stashed away along with my ancient Airfix offerings and I will one day get wound to building one. Builds like this are truly an inspiration.

Regards

Jim

[general melchett]

Thank's guys,

Peter, yes, it was just an awful lot of sanding with medium grade wet and dry. I did think about filler but as I needed to re-profile the top edge of the fuselage anyway decided it would be easier to do it all that way and lightly rescribe the lost lines for continuity. The wings took the most time. Surprising just how deep they and the rivet holes are. Primer and paint obviously help further but I just wish certain companies didn't think that we need scale models that look like die-casts, very off putting !

Ah Bill, you should have hung on to the old Airfix jobbie....it's not redundant quite yet. I'm sure Neil (Woody) would agree that there isn't a huge amount between them taking everything into consideration as he's also built both. Being a detail man yourself I know you'd have a huge amount of fun with it. It's a shame you couldn't have made the trip over the pond for SMW this year, would have been great to have had a chat about life, the universe, Yosemite National Park...and everything.

Cheers Stew...as I say, a labour of love...

[general melchett]

Thanks Jim, hope it can be of some help when you get around to doing yours. I'd like to have done a WIP on it but just didn't have the time with several project deadlines to meet however if there's anything you need to know come the time, just ask away....