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Boomerang!


John

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I've been really busy over the last few weeks and haven't had a lot of time for kitbashing so I was planning on not contributing to this Group Build, but having been out in the garage to check it survived this week's high winds I came across this kit in the deep stash and thought it would make a good, simple and relaxing build. We'll see!

 

It's a boxing from about 20 years ago and begs the question - what was Humbrol thinking???

 

Boom1

 

Inside you find the typical 1960s-era small Airfix kit:

 

Boom2

 

Basic by modern standards and a bit flashy but not unbuildable. 

 

Construction looks straightforward:

 

Boom6

 

Boom7

 

There's a very generous 3 markings schemes provided:

 

Boom3

 

Boom5

 

Boom4

 

Decal sheet looks nice but the Heller-produced sheets of that era could be variable in quality:

 

Boom8

 

OOB is the order of the day, I think. I have fond memories of this kit having first built it on a family holiday in Carnoustie back in the early 1970s. I'll probably paint it this time...

 

John

 

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2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Looks great - are you missing a tailplane or is it not in shot? I did lots of builds like that on family holidays too.

 

Regards,

Adrian

Well spotted - it's loose in the box, thankfully. 🙂

 

John

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Another Gem for the build. The stumpy little plane sat on my shelves shortly after it first came out. Watching yours come together is going to be a trip back in time for me.

 

That Humbrol box is a bit of a fright, have a shot of the original to balance things. Yin and Yang arrive at the Group Build!

 

IMG_5936.jpg

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Good call John, such a bold move for Airfix to issue this Aussie classic way back in 1965. Good to see you taking part here - better late than never is a phrase that springs to mind!! 

 

We’ll look on to watch you build our little indigenous attempt at a fighter. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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9 hours ago, TonyW said:

Another Gem for the build. The stumpy little plane sat on my shelves shortly after it first came out. Watching yours come together is going to be a trip back in time for me.

 

That Humbrol box is a bit of a fright, have a shot of the original to balance things. Yin and Yang arrive at the Group Build!

 

IMG_5936.jpg

It's amazing how many shops of all kinds had a peg board or a floor stand with Series 1 kits on it back then. My uncle ran a TV sales and repair business and had a rack of kits inside the front door of his shop.

 

Sometimes I even got a discount...🙂

 

John

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5 minutes ago, John said:

It's amazing how many shops of all kinds had a peg board or a floor stand with Series 1 kits on it back then.

I agree John, you could pick a kit up from a small shop almost anywhere, I bought most of my kits in the local cycle shop. I guess the turnover isn't high enough to warrant stocking them now. 

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Cycle shops always seemed like a good bet for kits. Our local bike shop was one of the few places you could get FROG kits in my home town, but the smaller ones and only in the days when they came in bags as well.

 

I suspect that in those days kits were available to the small retail trade from general wholesalers to a greater extent than they are now.

 

J

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nice addition to the GB!

 

I can't remember in days gone by our cycle shop selling kits but I do remember just about every corner shop selling them.

 

Ahhh those were the days...... ;)

 

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I better get a move on!

 

OK, during the Golden Years I built all my aircraft models wheels up. They either sat on their stands or, when my mum eventually agreed to it and I was tall enough to reach, they went on my bedroom ceiling. My last and only other Boomerang build goes back to the days before hanging them up was an option, so this one need to be on a stand. Fortunately...

 

Boom10

 

More  shortly.

 

John

 

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16 minutes ago, John said:

I better get a move on!

 

OK, during the Golden Years I built all my aircraft models wheels up. They either sat on their stands or, when my mum eventually agreed to it and I was tall enough to reach, they went on my bedroom ceiling. My last and only other Boomerang build goes back to the days before hanging them up was an option, so this one need to be on a stand. Fortunately...

 

Boom10

 

More  shortly.

 

John

 

I am sure there are still many bedroom ceilings across the UK and indeed around the world bearing the 'scars' of our childhood fun :lol:  I wonder who first came up with the idea.  I do remember when the 'premier' of THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN hit our small town - the local 'flea pit' cinema foyer was filled with fighters and bombers hanging from the ceiling - spectacular for a small boy.

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1 hour ago, BIG X said:

I am sure there are still many bedroom ceilings across the UK and indeed around the world bearing the 'scars' of our childhood fun :lol:  

And walls Steve. I used to cut out the aircraft shapes from the box art, draw around the cutout and paint them in enamels, I thought they looked great on the blue walls. Pity the chap who had to decorate over those after we moved though. :lol:

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15 minutes ago, nimrod54 said:

And walls Steve. I used to cut out the aircraft shapes from the box art, draw around the cutout and paint them in enamels, I thought they looked great on the blue walls. Pity the chap who had to decorate over those after we moved though. :lol:

...very artistic... :thumbsup:

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Got a start made this afternoon. There's a bit of flash and some ejector pin marks, making the kit look a bit short-run. Nothing insurmountable, however.

 

The fuselage needed a bit of fettling to get a reasonable join and will need a bit more cleaning up. The plastic is quite springy. The interior is Humbrol 120 Light Green, the engine is Polished Steel Metal Cote burnished with a soft brush and the inside of the cowling lip is 56 Aluminium. The rest of the cowling interior and the top of the wing centre section is acrylic Black 2.0:

 

Boom11

 

Boom12

 

One surprising thing I found is that, completely untypical of this vintage of Airfix kit, there doesn't seem to be any provision for building it wheels up. I had to add braces across the undercarriage bay to rest the upper leg doors on and I'll have to do the same again for the lower more rounded doors. The fit isn't brilliant but since I'm not planning on displaying the model upside down, or hanging it from my bedroom ceiling, I'll make do and mend.

 

Boom13

 

Boom14

 

Hang it from the bedroom ceiling - wonder what SWMBO would say about that...?

 

John

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22 minutes ago, John said:

Hang it from the bedroom ceiling - wonder what SWMBO would say about that...?

 

John

She’d probably get annoyed if it’s hanging over her head at night whilst your making mock P&W engine sound noises, but you’d also better mention that there’s no point getting angry and throwing it away - it’s a Boomerang after all... the little thing will only come back!! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I didn't get very far with this:

 

Boom16

 

The fuselage is no better or worse than I would expect from a kit of this vintage but I have been surprised by the fit of the wings. As I said previously the undercarriage doesn't seem to have the option of building it retracted, and the fit of the doors in the closed position is terrible. I did scratchbuild one lower door, which certainly fits better, but I'm not sure dong the rest will add that much to the stand-mounted finished article. I also found that one of the upper wing halves was 1mm or so longer in span and root chord that the lower bit:

 

Boom15

 

I will finish it though, for old-time's sake.

 

John

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