Handley Page Halifax - 1/72 Matchbox

[Eric Mc]

As usual, because of work pressure, my model building takes a serious back seat for the months of October through to the end of January. This year has been no different. One of the things that keeps me going through the "bleak midwinter" is the knowledge that from February, my time is a lot less constrained and I can start thinking about what models I want to build for the next few months.

I've been building up in my stash a collection of various Halifax kits and I thought it must be about time that I actually assembled one of them. The one I have chosen to build is the venerable Matchbox kit which was originally issued back in 1979. It was later released under the Revell label. This could be a bit confusing for some modellers because in the last few years Revell has also released two brand new Halifax kits which are pretty much state of the art as far as quality of moulding, panel lines etc are concerned. Despite this, the first Revell issue, which was of the early Merlin powered versions, has some serious shape and dimension issues, particularly around the size of the engines , propellers and main wheels - which is a real pity. Their second new tool release which features the later Hercules powered versions is better (although the undersized mainwheels are still included).

The Matchbox kit has a few issues of its own. It's obviously an older technology kit and is less complex with less detail. There is also a problem in that the nose is a bit too long.

However, its main issue is the shape of the cockpit transparencies. The Halifax had an asymmetric shape to the canopy, the front windscreen on the starboard side being deeper than on the port. This was to give the pilot a better view off to his right. Matchbox missed this completely when they moulded the canopy. I have a Falcon "RAF Bomber" set which contains correct shape canopies so hopefully I can replace the kit version with the Falcon one - although some surgery to the kit is required to make it fit. As far as I know, they got the engine nacelles, wheels and propellers correct.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[perdu]

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I love a Matchbox kit build, mind if I mosey along with you Eric?

[Eric Mc]

As long as you are patient. It may be a slow build as there are lots of health issue in our household at the moment.

[neil5208]

I can remember recieving one as a present as a child and being disappointed as I wanted a Lancaster so dad took it back and swapped it. I'll watch.

[tonyot]

Good luck with the build, it is a decent enough kit but as well as the canopy issues you`ve raised, the propellers are pretty rubbish too. Aeroclub used to do a white metal set of decent replacements but I don`t think that they are available anymore?

 built one quite recently and if my build can be of any use for reference,....here is the WIP; 

 

 

Cheers and good luck,

                                   Tony

[DennisTheBear]

Oh, I finished one of these (badly) recently(ish). I think I'll pop in sometimes to watch.

 

DennisTheBear

[bbudde]

 Hello,  I'm in here for this one. Lovely memories on that from my youth. Built it once as a kid spending my school holidays at my grandma's home. It ended up with a mixture of the versions, which I liked the most: 3 turrets and the square fins. So with the decals. The more colorful, the better it looked. Those were the days. Cheers

[Eric Mc]

I will probably make a start over the weekend - medical matters notwithstanding.

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

 

[Martian]

Who can resist a Matchbox build? I'm in!

 

Martian 👽