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Matchbox kits...


Andre B

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5 hours ago, Shalako said:

I hear what you're saying about the F-16 Giorgio however, some modellers do consider the A-7s fuselage to be an accurate representation. 

 

Have a look at the following link: https://www.blindbatnews.com/2014/06/kit-bashing-172-scale-comparison-a-7-corsair-2-fujimi-esci-matchbox-hobby-boss-mystery-of-annoying-parting-lines-on-canopies-solved/31480

 

Would like to know if you agree or not with the writer's point of view on the specific matter.

 

 

I never checked the Matchbox fuselage as I didn't have good drawings when I built mine. However for one reason or the other, I have an almost complete kit (canopy missing) I could check. and have both the D&S and the Bunrin Do drawings, and another set from an Italian magazine. Of course there's the matter of how accurate the drawings are ! D&S drawings have a reputation for poor accuracy, don't know if the A-7 set is good or not. I never really looked into the Bunrin Do ones, I have a few books of the series but rarely even look at their drawings.

One thing I agree with is that the Hobbyboss fuselage is bad in the canopy area, that is way too wide and this is visible just comparing to pictures.

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22 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

I never really looked into the Bunrin Do ones, I have a few books of the series but rarely even look at their drawings.

One thing I agree with is that the Hobbyboss fuselage is bad in the canopy area, that is way too wide and this is visible just comparing to pictures.

When you do Giorgio do remember to send me a copy (jpeg or PDF) because I also have the Matchbox kit and the Hobbyboss and I want to compare them (a friend of mine told me that he must have in his stash a semi-build Fujimi A-7 and if he finds it he will give it to me so, after dismantling it I could compare them all).

 

Cheers

 

Bill

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I'm nearing the end of the Stranraer and Heyford (both still quite readily available thanks to Revell). Both excellent kits and have aged well, but could do with a little updating and some accuracy issues fixed.

 I'd love to see resin aftermarket sets to correct the Stranraer's engines and cowlings and give the Heyford a half-decent bomb bay. Both kits could benefit from some vac glazing and resin cockpit sets too.

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I've been avidly following your Heyford and Stranraer builds and taking lots of notes for the day that I'm brave enough to tackle them. It's only the rigging that puts me off, so I should really just grow a pair and get on with it!

 

I just love the fact that Matchbox tackled subjects like this, among others. Even now I think "Wow, that was a brave business decision", and I hope they sold loads back in the day. I don't think there was one bi-plane that they produced that I didn't enjoy building.  As a kid with limited pocket money unable to afford lots of books, modelling magazines or attending model shows, it was Matchbox that broadened my knowledge of inter-war aviation. The Siskin was the first biplane I bought and it soon became a firm favourite. Always hoped that they would do a Fairey Flycatcher.

 

Steve

Edited by fightersweep
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On 5/10/2019 at 4:38 PM, Shalako said:

When you do Giorgio do remember to send me a copy (jpeg or PDF) because I also have the Matchbox kit and the Hobbyboss and I want to compare them (a friend of mine told me that he must have in his stash a semi-build Fujimi A-7 and if he finds it he will give it to me so, after dismantling it I could compare them all).

 

Cheers

 

Bill

 

No problem Bill, will do !

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On 5/9/2019 at 6:29 PM, Giorgio N said:

 

 Of course there's the matter of how accurate the drawings are ! D&S drawings have a reputation for poor accuracy, don't know if the A-7 set is good or not. 

Indeed, the F-4 drawings suffer from a fairly noticeable flaw IMHO in that the relation of wing leading edge to the intake trunks is off. The original F4F and F6F drawings also have various errors. I‘d have to check but there may in fact be two sets of A-7 drawings as the original 1979 paper cover booklet was replaced a couple of years later, which may have had new drawings.

As the Matchbox Corsair features the highly unusual treat of detail in the main u/c bays, with some similarity to the Airfix in this respect, I suspect both may be based on „official“ LTV drawings that IIRC were also published in SMI and are available (or were when I last looked) on the Vought website.

Another set of drawings by Bob Migliardi was printed in a fairly early issue of AvNews - I‘d be surprised if Chris @dogsbody doesn’t have it in his library. It would probably be fun to establish to which extent five sets of drawings of the same subject can differ...

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2 hours ago, tempestfan said:

Indeed, the F-4 drawings suffer from a fairly noticeable flaw IMHO in that the relation of wing leading edge to the intake trunks is off. The original F4F and F6F drawings also have various errors. I‘d have to check but there may in fact be two sets of A-7 drawings as the original 1979 paper cover booklet was replaced a couple of years later, which may have had new drawings.

As the Matchbox Corsair features the highly unusual treat of detail in the main u/c bays, with some similarity to the Airfix in this respect, I suspect both may be based on „official“ LTV drawings that IIRC were also published in SMI and are available (or were when I last looked) on the Vought website.

Another set of drawings by Bob Migliardi was printed in a fairly early issue of AvNews - I‘d be surprised if Chris @dogsbody doesn’t have it in his library. It would probably be fun to establish to which extent five sets of drawings of the same subject can differ...

 

Sorry, can't help you out there. I don't have any issues of AvNews. I've never even heard of it before.

 

 

Chris

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23 hours ago, dogsbody said:

 

Sorry, can't help you out there. I don't have any issues of AvNews. I've never even heard of it before.

 

 

Chris

I'm wondering if Tempestfan's referring to the old Alan Hall publication Aviation News, an elder sister paper of Scale Aircraft Modelling.  I'm probably out to lunch there.  I recall that the magazine often contained plans and  that Alan Hall also ran an Aviation News Plans Service.

Edited by JosephLalor
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Hi both, @dogsbody and @JosephLalor , unless I'm much mistaken that's the one.

Originally a 'Broardsheet' printed on news paper, some plans were good, some, not so and some were / are a nightmare.

AvNews is still being published but is now in A4 magazine format, and owned by Key publishing.

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10 hours ago, JosephLalor said:

I'm wondering if Tempestfan's referring to the old Alan Hall publication Aviation News, an elder sister paper of Scale Aircraft Modelling.  I'm probably out to lunch there.  I recall that the magazine often contained plans and  that Alan Hall also ran an Aviation News Plans Service.

You Are right, typing on the phone I used an abbreviation... The Corsair drawings were published when they were still in newspaper format, and they were definitely among the better ones, unlike e.g. the Vixen set .

Edited by tempestfan
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Got the Matchbox A-4M/N Skyhawk today with the US Marines and Israeli Air Force decals.

 

I hasn't compared this kit yet with the Italeri kit I have. But as I got it cheap and it didn't looked to bad I had to give it a chance.

 

/André

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13 hours ago, Andre B said:

Got the Matchbox A-4M/N Skyhawk today with the US Marines and Israeli Air Force decals.

Hi André,

 

I think for the good old days of scale modelling the kit was acceptable (perhaps more than acceptable) but, by todays' standards it needs a lot of work to look accurate.

 

On the other hand, the Italeri kit is quite nice though I think it does have some dimensions' issues on certain areas like the wing (underscale).

 

The kit that still remains the best in 1/72 is the Fujimi (I've got only 3😣)

Edited by Shalako
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17 hours ago, Andre B said:

Got the Matchbox A-4M/N Skyhawk today with the US Marines and Israeli Air Force decals.

 

I hasn't compared this kit yet with the Italeri kit I have. But as I got it cheap and it didn't looked to bad I had to give it a chance.

 

That's the early issue, the IAF Option was dropped fairly soon, so your kit should be fairly collectible.

If the kit deviates from the ITaleri, that would not necessarily mean it's inaccurate... As I said elsewhere, it compares favourably with the Model Art drawings - which may or not be accurate, but are highly detailed with lots of dimensions given, which IMHO gives them some credibility.

Just seen @Tailspin Turtle has authored a book on the A-4 which slipüped underneath my radar, whose first Edition is in a Price bracket I'm not willing to pay, but which is scheduled for reedition in November.

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38 minutes ago, tempestfan said:

That's the early issue, the IAF Option was dropped fairly soon, so your kit should be fairly collectible.

If the kit deviates from the ITaleri, that would not necessarily mean it's inaccurate... As I said elsewhere, it compares favourably with the Model Art drawings - which may or not be accurate, but are highly detailed with lots of dimensions given, which IMHO gives them some credibility.

Just seen @Tailspin Turtle has authored a book on the A-4 which slipüped underneath my radar, whose first Edition is in a Price bracket I'm not willing to pay, but which is scheduled for reedition in November.

Do you have a link to the Model Art A4D drawings? If those are the same as the Aviation News drawings, then detail doesn’t correlate with accuracy; the AvNews drawings are detailed but not necessarily accurate. For example, they depict the F3H wing with anhedral, which it does not have, and the S2F with panel lines for bomb bays on both sides of the fuselage, when it only has one on the left side.

Edited by Tailspin Turtle
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50 minutes ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

Do you have a link to the Model Art A4D drawings? If those are the same as the Aviation News drawings, then detail doesn’t correlate with accuracy; the AvNews drawings are detailed but not necessarily accurate. For example, they depict the F3H wing with anhedral, which it does not have, and the S2F with panel lines for bomb bays on both sides of the fuselage, when it only has one on the left side.

I have no link but the Model Art book and could scan them for your assessment.

AvNews drawings are by a multiplicity of draughtsmen, some great, some with errors, some outright atrocious. Those for the A-4 I have were by Ian Huntley.

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3 hours ago, tempestfan said:

That's the early issue, the IAF Option was dropped fairly soon, so your kit should be fairly collectible.

If the kit deviates from the ITaleri, that would not necessarily mean it's inaccurate... As I said elsewhere, it compares favourably with the Model Art drawings - which may or not be accurate, but are highly detailed with lots of dimensions given, which IMHO gives them some credibility.

Just seen @Tailspin Turtle has authored a book on the A-4 which slipüped underneath my radar, whose first Edition is in a Price bracket I'm not willing to pay, but which is scheduled for reedition in November.

 

Yes, one reason I've got it was that it was the first issue with the IDF decals. And the shape of the box and decals where surpricingly good. The only missing thing was the instructions. For now it goes into the stash...

 

Cheers / André

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/24/2019 at 10:10 AM, Ham Hands said:

Recently, I have been looking at my 1/32 Sea Venom. I have a resin cockpit and wheels plus two wonderful decal choices, Royal Navy and Swedish sheets.

 

(I am looking at many models ATM :) )

Can I ask what resin cockpit used? I'm only aware of the AMS replacement bang seats.

A new cockpit would be very useful

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I always wanted to do a Skyservant and then found one at a show last week for the pricely sum of £6. Original 1976 boxing. White/Orange/Brown plastic, groovy baby!

 

matchbox---skyservant-1-72-pk-107-p-imag

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20 hours ago, Julien said:

I always wanted to do a Skyservant and then found one at a show last week for the pricely sum of £6. Original 1976 boxing. White/Orange/Brown plastic, groovy baby!

Lucky man!!! I've got one but it's kept in the "retirement hangar"!!! Maybe one day I will rebuild it or hopefully someone will produce a better kit. 

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21 hours ago, Julien said:

I always wanted to do a Skyservant and then found one at a show last week for the pricely sum of £6. Original 1976 boxing. White/Orange/Brown plastic, groovy baby!

 

Nice find Sir! Ah! The 70s. The decade when everything was white, orange or brown. Carpet, cars, clothes, wallpaper, Matchbox kits, furniture, underpants....oh, there were baby poo green BL cars I suppose. If I think back to the 70s, they're the only colours I see. Marvelous! 

 

Steve

Edited by fightersweep
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I recently got a Walrus in the original boxing from a well known auction site for the princely sum of £10 including postage and then added to my Matchbox collection last weekend at the Midland Air Museum model show with two Curtiss SBC-4's for £3, one of them has the front cockpit section missing but for £3 it was till a bargain.

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5 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

I recently got a Walrus in the original boxing from a well known auction site for the princely sum of £10 including postage and then added to my Matchbox collection last weekend at the Midland Air Museum model show with two Curtiss SBC-4's for £3, one of them has the front cockpit section missing but for £3 it was till a bargain.

I love the Walrus kit. I bought one when I was 12 on holiday in Norfolk in 1982. I remember spending ages adjusting the engine pod to straighten it up as I thought I had a dodgy kit. Well, I didn't know an awful lot about Walruses back then.

 

Just a thought about the Matchbox Wulrus. I've seen them in the early box with squared off logo and the 1980s "Rainbow" stripe box. I've never seen one in the later 1970s boxing with the curved edge logo. Does such a thing exist?

 

Steve

Edited by fightersweep
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1 hour ago, fightersweep said:

I love the Walrus kit. I bought one when I was 12 on holiday in Norfolk in 1982

1982 was a good year to be 12 :) , though to be fair I was 11 for most of it.

I'm not sure what box types it was available in other than the 2 you have mentioned.

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