Stirling W7442 "-B" of 1651 Conversion Unit (ex MG-M of 7 Squadron) - Italeri

[elger]

I've finished Italeri's 1/72 Short Stirling mk.1 as W7442 ("-B") of 1651 Conversion Unit (previously coded MG-M). The aircraft was lost on June 26th, 1942 during the 1000-bomber raid on Bremen. The entire crew was lost. A fisherman once caught a part of this aircraft in his nets, which turned out to be one of the escape hatches. This escape hatch was given to my father, who still has it hanging in his hallway.

 

The Italeri kit has left my feeling very cynical about it. I would describe the kit as "mildly infuriating". Some things are right, but most of it is just wrong. But not entirely wrong, just a little bit wrong. As if the designers had five minutes to look at reference material, and then had to rely on notes and memory. I've gone from thinking it's some kind of elaborate joke on scale modelers who want to build a decent model of a Stirling to thinking that perhaps this is a kit that Italeri could have used to show investors to keep them happy. It looks okay in the box, but really isn't.

 

As I said, the kit gets almost every detail slightly wrong, but the most obvious problem with the kit is the surface detail. I was inspired by a build from a few years ago of Revell's B-17 which the builder covered partly with Scotch tape to cover the (somewhat) exaggerated panel details of that kit. Having build Revell's B-17 myself, I can say that kit is not nearly as bad as Italeri's Stirling, nor as mildly infuriating in terms of getting the strangest things weirdly wrong.

 

A good example of getting things weirdly wrong is the bomb bay, which I addressed. In the box, the bomb bay looks nice and detailed, with ribs and everything. But upon closer inspection, you'll notice that all the ribs are in the wrong place. Eduard's detail set is an improvement, but those ribs are also in the wrong location.

 

In the end, I'm fairly happy with how this turned out - but the kit is frustrating, and the Scotch tape is not as neat as I had hoped, and using it poses problems in later stages of the build: it's fairly fragile in and of itself, but paint also has some problems sticking to it and so do antennas and actuators.

 

Build thread with more details here:

 

Now, on to the photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like that in the last photo you can just see the window of the hatch that I added in the floor through the crew access door.

 

Thanks for looking - feedback is always welcome of course. Thanks to everyone who supported me during the build, and especially @12jaguar from the Stirling Project who provided tremendous help and input (and his friend James!) and @Josip for sharing the Scotch tape technique in his B-17 build thread from a couple of years ago https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956473-revell-b-17g-got-a-new-dress/

 

- Elger

[AeroNautique]

An impressive looking beast, it seems your frustration was rewarded in the end.

 

I enjoy these RFI threads even more when there is a story attached to the subject, like this one...great job 👍

[JimHead23]

Fantastic! I really enjoyed your build and the finish is superb.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards

Jim

[MarkSH]

Super build! great model full of character.

[Mancunian airman]

Elgar, you have done a great job with the improvement and it has become a fine rendition of the Stirling.

I was surprised at the heavy staining over the top wings but can readily except that these HCU  aircraft were worked heavily.

I particularly like the faded codes on the fuselage, a very differcult thing to reproduce but you have got the measure of that as well.

 

Thanks for sharing and one to aspire to . . . .

Ian

[woody37]

I know what you mean about the kit, you spend as. Ugh time dealing with the inaquacies as you do assembling it which is a shame. That said, what you’ve done with it is stunning, the best I’ve seen yet, not least because of how you’ve done the weathering. That bomb bay too 💕!

 

cheers

neil

[Howard Moon]

Superb work Elger. The upper wing surfaces are very convincing, as is the finish in general. The best Stirling in 1/72nd scale I've seen 👍

 

All the best 

 

Howard

[Spookytooth]

Great work sir, the trials or ordeal was well worth it.

 

Simon.

[russ c]

Really nice Stirling there, impressive work

[12jaguar]

Thanks for the mention Elger, it's been a pleasure helping you out; you've had a real feel for the aircraft and it shows.

 

We took some 1:1 stirling parts to the Brampton Model show today and they were warmly recieved, and also took my Mk IV and Cliffs Mk I, it's a kit that you have to beat into submission somewhat which was disappointing as we offered our assistance early on when some of the CAD renders went public. I ech what everyone else has said, best rendition of the Italeri kit I've yet seen

 

John

[Spitfire31]

Bombers not being my thing, I recognise a magnificent build…

 

Awesome modelling!

 

And that Scotch tape method sounds interesting.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

 

 

[Steve27752]

Nice and war weary.

[Eivind Lunde]

Very impressive indeed!
But did you use the tape only to help narrowing the panel lines, or does it also help to make riveting easier and more scale like in appearance?

[djos]

FANTASTIC work.

So many details....amazing...pity that they stayed buried inside....

Weathering is exceptional!

Best regards Djordje

[elger]

16 minutes ago, Eivind Lunde said:

Very impressive indeed!
But did you use the tape only to help narrowing the panel lines, or does it also help to make riveting easier and more scale like in appearance?

Yes you also mark where the rivets go before the tape is put on and because the tape is translucent it's very easy to see where to go with the rivet tool. Riveting is the one thing that's made super easy and convincing with this technique because you don't have to press hard at all to break the surface.

[Michael51]

That paintwork and the weathering are brilliant.

 

A great effort all 'round.

 

Michael

[Josip]

Looks like we both made it!!!

My B-17 and your Stirling, enhanced by Scotch tape.

 

But since Stirling is a far complicated aircraft and the kit was a dog, I deem your build a better effort and the best Stirling model in 1:72 so far!

 

Josip

[stevej60]

Stunning build and finish,love it.

[RMCS]

Very nice 

[J Sherratt]

Some wonderful modelling there, well done. John

[opus999]

Glad to hear you overcame some difficulties to complete this!  I love Sterlings and yours is beautiful.  I especially admire your attention to detail -- the shading on the kit bags and curtain in the middle of the aircraft is amazing!

[Tweener]

Would you say the kit is worth it? For a while I've wanted to do some 4 engine aircraft or another, and using as many upgrades as I can to push the bill. I've looked at the Italeri Stirling and Sunderland, the Revell Halifax, ICM TB-3, and Academy B-29 but can't seem to make up my mind given that most of them have serious issues or are over designed. The consensus so far seems to be that the Stirling or B-29 would be the easiest of the ones I'm interested in and this build has definitely peaked my interest.

 

Thanks, Tweener

 

 

[elger]

5 hours ago, Tweener said:

Would you say the kit is worth it? For a while I've wanted to do some 4 engine aircraft or another, and using as many upgrades as I can to push the bill. I've looked at the Italeri Stirling and Sunderland, the Revell Halifax, ICM TB-3, and Academy B-29 but can't seem to make up my mind given that most of them have serious issues or are over designed. The consensus so far seems to be that the Stirling or B-29 would be the easiest of the ones I'm interested in and this build has definitely peaked my interest.

 

Thanks, Tweener

 

 

It did take more work than usual to bring this up to standard. As I said, the kit made me feel cynical - there's lots of kits that have their weird quirks, but somehow I thought this kit was just joyless. As described in the build thread, I bought a second kit because I had to replace the wings but I'm looking forward to throwing that in the bin.

 

The Stirling is plagued by the heavy surface detail - which is inaccurate too - but in addition to that it has other strange accuracy issues. Most strange I thought was that many interior components are just in the wrong place - the ribs on the inside of the fuselage don't line up with the pattern on the outside. But both are wrong. Interior walls (bulkheads) are in the wrong place. It incorrectly features a kitchen stove. Other things I've wondered is why weren't the little circular windows in front of the windscreen included in the clear part? Why do I have to cut out so many windows? Why don't the ailerons have the right shape (Airfix got this right). Why did they miss the three formation lights just in front of the bomb bay? The list goes on. Weird stuff to get wrong.

 

From the kits you mentioned I've only built the Revell Halifax myself and while that has some accuracy issues (particularly the Mk I/II boxing - the mk III is better) it's a true joy to build.

[Tweener]

5 minutes ago, elger said:

It did take more work than usual to bring this up to standard. As I said, the kit made me feel cynical - there's lots of kits that have their weird quirks, but somehow I thought this kit was just joyless. As described in the build thread, I bought a second kit because I had to replace the wings but I'm looking forward to throwing that in the bin.

 

The Stirling is plagued by the heavy surface detail - which is inaccurate too - but in addition to that it has other strange accuracy issues. Most strange I thought was that many interior components are just in the wrong place - the ribs on the inside of the fuselage don't line up with the pattern on the outside. But both are wrong. Interior walls (bulkheads) are in the wrong place. It incorrectly features a kitchen stove. Other things I've wondered is why weren't the little circular windows in front of the windscreen included in the clear part? Why do I have to cut out so many windows? Why don't the ailerons have the right shape (Airfix got this right). Why did they miss the three formation lights just in front of the bomb bay? The list goes on. Weird stuff to get wrong.

 

From the kits you mentioned I've only built the Revell Halifax myself and while that has some accuracy issues (particularly the Mk I/II boxing - the mk III is better) it's a true joy to build.

Now that I look again and read a bit more of the original post, I probably could have saved the need for you to type all this out. I do find it interesting that there are so many inaccuracies in the kit, especially such things as the misalignment of panel lines. I find it downright unfortunate that the other few reviews I've read seem full of praise for the kit in spite of them! Perhaps then the B-29 is the way to go. 

 

That said, given my recent Russian builds, perhaps a TB-1 is in order - it might just make me brave enough to try the TB-3.

 

Thanks, Tweener

Edited October 1, 2018 by Tweener

[Eric Mc]

That is a lovely build.

 

With all the flaws in the Italeri kit, is the Airfix kit still worth tackling?