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RAF Emergency Set +++ FINISHED +++


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Unfortunately the FGA9 is actually a new tool from 1982 and so is ineligible. So a switch to something quite different. The RAF Emergency Set. 

 

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My 3rd contribution. Let's hope we have a lot of sunny weekend afternoons to sit in the garden with paints and glue. Not a straightforward build this time. I'm going to convert it into a FAA GA11 using this conversion set. I think it may take a little more work as the set is designed for the Revell F6 not the Airfix FGA9. The set contains a Centre fuselage plug with new panel lines but I think that's probably a step too far. Particularly as the Revell wings fit into the fuselage while Airfix have the wing roots as part of the fuselage. 

 

The kit kit was originally marketed in 1960 as a F6. In black plastic so as to make a ship from the Black Diamonds (is that correct?) display team. No need for paint.  I als think it had alternative parts for the cannon bay with and without the Sabrinas. But it was a long time ago. New parts were added in the early 80's.  Is ir OK for this one to participate?

 

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Obligatory sprue shot. Will have to check the appropriate external tanks

 

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Edited by 825
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Really like the idea of this one a very interesting Hunter, having done this conversion myself a while ago using the Revell kit there is more to it than most people think, I didn't know of any conversion when I did mine so scratchbuilt  and filled everything needed.

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Sprue shot.  A bit of flash but not too bad. 

 

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Classic Airfix instructions. 

 

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Simple transfers. Big ambulance markings. 

 

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A bit of paint on. 

 

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I'll make sure I keep an eye on your emergency set and hopefully pick up a few tips.  I won't be building mine until towards the end of the GB - so hopefully this will be a great reference thread.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some more paint on. 

 

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I was thinking of using the figures but a bit of work is needed. At least their hard plastic and will respond to filler. Two questions for everyone, will the uniforms be RAF blue grey or khaki battle dress? And the ambulance interior Airfix will have one paint it white. Would cream be more appropriate?

 

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Will you be using the driver figures?  Their heads are a 'little dodgy' on mine - so I lopped them off and replaced them with PSC British infantry heads.  They are both now driving jeeps - which is a bit random I know - but they were the only guys I could find that fitted.

 

I'm looking forward to more on this :thumbsup:

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38 minutes ago, BIG X said:

Will you be using the driver figures?  Their heads are a 'little dodgy' on mine - so I lopped them off and replaced them with PSC British infantry heads.  They are both now driving jeeps - which is a bit random I know - but they were the only guys I could find that fitted.

 

I'm looking forward to more on this :thumbsup:

I was thinking about using the drivers. The whole sprue needs tidying up, so I'll see what they look like once I've finished. It won't be for a couple of weeks as we're off on holiday today. I've got some replacement heads (or maybe drivers) from someone else's CMP lorry kit but I think they're wearing tin hats. I can see the ambulance driver wearing one but not the fire engine driver unless the rest of the crew were. 

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Basically you can do what you want with the figures as Airfix got these vehicles wrong.

The Fire Tender is on the wrong chassis make and red wasn't used on RAF Fire Tenders until the 1950s, so its basically a 1950s vehicle

The RAF only had a few of the Austin K2 ambulance on establishment, from D-Day onwards, supplied from Army stocks, so their colour scheme would be army green & black 'mickey mouse' scheme or post-WW2 dark RAF Blue

 

Thus; you can do whatever you wish with the vehicles and figures

 

PS; I think, I believe, the interior of the ambulances was that mysterious 'eau de nil' - a very pale washed out greeny-white. It was used on building interior walls too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ive spent ages filing off ejection pins and filling depressions and then sanding smooth. There's still more to do but I've got fed up and want to actually glue things together. So ignoring any that can't be Sen it's time to get off and going. K6 chasis started (and I now note that one of the axles is squint). 

 

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And the various bits assembled

 

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And the K2 started. 

 

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The ambulance body started. 

 

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And the K6 cab on. It does need some filing to smooth off the joints. 

 

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And the various pieces of kit popped to show what it's like. Just placed in position as there's some filling and painting to be done

 

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Although there's a bit of flash and the blooming ejector pins/holes the kits go together really well and are nicely engineered for 50 years old. 

 

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Some paint on. 

 

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That's it for today. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit more work on the cabs, and the tank, pump motor and pump assembly fitted to the fire engine. Then a couple of coats of paint. 

 

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I've gone for Eau de Nil as the interior colour for the ambulance. I spent a while looking for a suitable colour and eventually settled on this. Citadel paints are a good range as they have a lot of colours which are graduated in their range. In general they go on really well and I have a few of them. 

 

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I love the Eau de Nil colour but browsing through the Internet to check whether the K2 roof was a canvas tarpaulin or something more substantial I found a few images of the interior, mainly restored to be fair. The interior of the back is definitely cream or white in one case. Some examples

 

http://ambulanceheritagesociety.com/?page_id=34

 

http://aquestionofscale.blogspot.com/2017/09/176-airfix-k2-ambulance-pt2.html

 

http://www.wheelsofvictory.com/austin k2-y heavy ambu.html

 

Back to the drawing board. Or more appropriately the paint stash. Or another visit to Warhammer for some citadel. 

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I've found an unopened bottle of Humbrol 103 - Cream in the paint store. It was the previous flip top formulation and despite thinning and adding Flow Improver it dried almost as soon as it hit the plastic. Mind you an initial coat does seem to have been OK. There is a paint blob from a previus coat which will need sanded off but nothing outrageous. It will need another coat anyway. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Plugging away.  Both bodies nearly complete. The drivers are a little too big for the cabs. And after spending time cleaning them up and painting them I really do want them in. They also add a bit of colour contrast. Some of the other figures are a bit ropey, with the the stretcher bearers looking very a bit undernourished. I'll finish off the vehicles before finishing the crew.

 

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I've spotted the seam on the roof and there's already some filler on it.  

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On ‎08‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 23:40, 825 said:

Although there's a bit of flash and the blooming ejector pins/holes the kits go together really well and are nicely engineered for 50 years old. 

 

And there was me thinking I had all of Airfix's 1960s ejector pins in one kit in the Dennis Fire Engine!

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The vehicles are more or less complete apart from the wheels, the doors of the ambulance and some touching up before adding the transfers. So I've turned my attention to the figures (the drivers having already been installed. There's a bit of flash and seams down most of the legs and arms and I've spent a bit of time sanding these down, which is fairly painstaking but getting there slowly but surely. However, the stretcher bearers, which are the figures along with the Doctor I really want to use, are seriously weedy. They are reminiscent of the old Merit railway figures which were half way between a flat and a full figure. 

 

The hardly look capable of carrying themselves never mind an airman in full kit. 

 

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I've swapped the head for one from a Plastic Soldier kit, they always have extra figures, and bulked up the arms and shoulders using Liquid Green Stuff. I'm not 100% sure how accurate the tin helmet is, but I know I would prefer to have one on if I was helping to drag people out of a burning crashed aircraft. 

 

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Tin helmets would've been quite common, I think. They were definitely used early in the war, particularly around the Battle of Britain when airfields were literally the front line. The forage caps Airfix moulded were a little later, from around 1941 or 1942 from what I can make out.

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10 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Tin helmets would've been quite common, I think. They were definitely used early in the war, particularly around the Battle of Britain when airfields were literally the front line. The forage caps Airfix moulded were a little later, from around 1941 or 1942 from what I can make out.

Thanks Heather. Makes good sense. 

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The forage cap, aka the 'chip bag' predated WW2 by several years, the Brodie helmet, aka the 'Battle Bowler' was issued to all ground staff in 1938. It was worn only when there was a threat of enemy action. At all other times it was carried slung, over the gas mask bag, which was to be carried slung over the left shoulder with the bag on the right hip. The helmet was never to be worn whilst servicing and aircraft, especially during refuelling, re-arming and bombing up.

Photos do show some ignoring these instructions, just like the 'no smoking' within 50 yards of an aircraft.......

 

PS; You do not want to be wearing a Brodie whilst attending a fire; the metal gets extremely hot and can burn the top of the head.

 

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On 8/5/2018 at 11:21 AM, Black Knight said:

The forage cap, aka the 'chip bag' predated WW2 by several years, the Brodie helmet, aka the 'Battle Bowler' was issued to all ground staff in 1938. It was worn only when there was a threat of enemy action. At all other times it was carried slung, over the gas mask bag, which was to be carried slung over the left shoulder with the bag on the right hip. The helmet was never to be worn whilst servicing and aircraft, especially during refuelling, re-arming and bombing up.

Photos do show some ignoring these instructions, just like the 'no smoking' within 50 yards of an aircraft.......

 

PS; You do not want to be wearing a Brodie whilst attending a fire; the metal gets extremely hot and can burn the top of the head.

 

Thanks for the info, really useful. What did erks wear pre the forage cap.

 

On the tin helmets I was thinking back to my dad's time in the fire service where originally helmets were brass but but by the 60's they were bonded cork and pretty tough. These were the forerunners of the modern 'crash helmet' style. I recall at number of stations Green Godesses were stationed for Civil Defence purposes and they contained black tin hats of the AFS. Also many pictures of AFS firefighters show them wearing tin helmets as well. The main purpose of the helmet was to protect against falling and exploding debris so in the days before specific firefighters helmets, a tin helmet may well of been worn. I think it's likely ambulance crew would wear something too protect them from flying debris as well. 

Edited by 825
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More on the models as well. Painting pretty well finished and transfers on. Just waiting wheels and some little bits to complete. The figures still need a bit of work. Some are still misshapen and despite sanding incessantly there are still mould lines and flash appearing. 

 

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The transfers went on fine and weren't at all bad. I did leave them on a window sill to remove the yellowing. The registration numbers were awkward as they had a tendency to curl up on themselves but apart from one I managed them OK

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A little more on the subject of fire crew helmets, if you don't mind.

I read a book detailing narratives from one night of the blitz.

Something I hadn't thought about, old roofs with lead flashing.

The lead would melt and drip onto the firefighters!

In my earlier days in the RAF we wore similar helmets during exercises.

I learnt the hard way not to wear one while leaning over a pretend casualty.

The chin band does not hold the helmet in place! Oops, sorry mate.

 

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