1:72 Gloster Javelin Jambalaya

[Fritag]

Phew.  Bill is back at work in his rightful place in 1/72.  All is well with world again.

 

Don't know anything much about the Javelin - save that it has the somehow slightly primitive, but also somewhat pleasing look not untypical of early(ish) Jets.

 

Curious that you weren't allowed to loop a fighter - but then the aerodynamic idiosyncrasies of delta/swept wings are way above my pay grade

 

Anyways. This will be fun to watch.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Fritag

[NAVY870]

I've a soft spot for the Heller Javelin after making a reasonably non excremental attempt of it back in the 1980's

I have one residing in the stash so I may be forced to watch this thread with interest and swipe ideas 🕵️‍♀️

[FPDPenguin]

I've recently picked up the airfix faw9, I was going to build it oob, but it seems everyone changes the rear end. Would it be uncouth to just assemble it without modification? 

[Brandy]

On 8/4/2019 at 8:48 PM, Navy Bird said:

The Airwaves airbrake PE set is designed for the Heller/Airfix kit,

That shouldn't matter, it won't fit anyway!

 

Good luck!

 

Ian

[Brandy]

1 hour ago, Fritag said:

Phew.  Bill is back at work in his rightful place in 1/72.  All is well with world again.

 

Don't know anything much about the Javelin - save that it has the somehow slightly primitive, but also somewhat pleasing look not untypical of early(ish) Jets.

 

Curious that you weren't allowed to loop a fighter - but then the aerodynamic idiosyncrasies of delta/swept wings are way above my pay grade

 

Anyways. This will be fun to watch.

I believe it actually looped very well, but only in the horizontal plane, which is not very desirable!

 

Ian

[Dave Swindell]

11 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

I plan on taking some measurements of the tub

Don't forget the rear seat of the FAW's was lower than the pilots seat, as opposed to the T3 which was higher.

11 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

so I need to find out what a T.3 panel really looks like

I would imagine both cockpits would be pretty much the same as the FAW9 pilots cockpit. @canberra kid might have the pilots notes - John?

[Edge]

35 minutes ago, FPDPenguin said:

I've recently picked up the airfix faw9, I was going to build it oob, but it seems everyone changes the rear end. Would it be uncouth to just assemble it without modification? 

I have recently done the same and it would appear that the rear end is a dog's breakfast with no simple fix. I was hoping that our friends at Alley Cat or Freightdog might be persuaded to come up with a correction set, but that may be a wish too far!

 

I've also spotted that Print Scale (I think) have recently released several sets of decals for various marks of Javelin - do they know something we don't??

 

Edge

 

[JamesP]

41 minutes ago, Edge said:

I've also spotted that Print Scale (I think) have recently released several sets of decals for various marks of Javelin - do they know something we don't??

Only that I was mad enough to build a MK6 from the T3 a few years ago, and there may be more similarly demented modellers out there. I used decals from an old issue of SAM.

[canberra kid]

2 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

Don't forget the rear seat of the FAW's was lower than the pilots seat, as opposed to the T3 which was higher.

I would imagine both cockpits would be pretty much the same as the FAW9 pilots cockpit. @canberra kid might have the pilots notes - John?

I'll take a look this evening 

John

[71chally]

The early Javelins were so inadequate and had many vices in handling that it led to test-pilot Bill Waterton leaving Glosters and the writing of his infamous book 'The Quick & The Dead', this resulted in a legal battle between him and the company.

I work at St Athan and there are older colleagues here that remember Javelins being delivered for scrap in large numbers at a time, many of them had very low flying hours.

It seems like the later versions became capable machines.

 

Somehow though I'm fascinated by the Javelin, it does look good, especially when you get up close to one.

 

Looking forward to your treatment of the subject Bill!

 

 

Gloster Javelin FAW.1 XA466 87 G Sqn, 1961 by James Thomas, on Flickr

Edited August 6, 2019 by 71chally

[corsaircorp]

18 hours ago, Procopius said:

I shouldn't think so, I only drink alone, in the dark, until I go to sleep, not socially, so you should be safe.

 

I actually feel quite guilty about this build, as you very kindly gave me your Maintrack conversion and a Heller Javelin a while back, and now you have to do all this work!

Turning into an alcoholic ??? In Telford Tsss Tssss Incredible !!

It's a matter of tasting foreign specialities...

And then ...

Don't you worry, really no worries...  

Just turning a veggie then !!

Good idea about Javelin's 

Sincerely.

CC

[Antti_K]

8 minutes ago, 71chally said:

The early Javelins were so inadequate and had many vices in handling...

It seems like the later versions became capable machines.

Beautiful photo James, thank you for sharing🙂

 

You are right; FAW.8 and FAW.9 had a new wing and re-heated engines. Although you weren't allowed to use re-heat at take-off (or at low altitude) because of a significant power loss, they were indeed a different batch at altitude.

8 minutes ago, 71chally said:

 

Gloster Javelin FAW.1 XA466 87 G Sqn, 1961 by James Thomas, on Flickr

Cheers,

Antti

[canberra kid]

I have the PN's for the 5,6,8 & 9 and some info on the 2 

John

[Max Headroom]

A couple of gratuitous shots I took of a gate guard ‘somewhere in Kent’ circa 1973

 

 

 

Trevor

[Navy Bird]

1 hour ago, canberra kid said:

I have the PN's for the 5,6,8 & 9 and some info on the 2 

John

 

Can the PN be emailed? I'd love to get a copy for the 9.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Duncan B]

The 2 Plastyk Javelin kits I bought went straight into the bin! I do have a small collection of Heller, Novo and Airfix (both versions) in the stash along with various decals and accessories. I can't wait to see what Bill does with his kits, might even encourage me to finish my Mk.5 conversion that is in a very deep stall condition at the moment!

 

Duncan B

[Navy Bird]

2 minutes ago, Duncan B said:

The 2 Plastyk Javelin kits I bought went straight into the bin!

 

The bin! Oh dear.   

 

I don't plan on spending too much time with mine, so it may not end up like your typical Navy Bird effort. On the other hand, I may not be able to control myself.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[canberra kid]

3 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

 

Can the PN be emailed? I'd love to get a copy for the 9.

 

Cheers,

Bill

I've shout the machine down for the night Bill, but I'll send it off tomorrow.

 

John

[Antti_K]

Hello John,

 

what is the revision date of your FAW.9 PN copy? And does it have a supplement for FAW.9R?

 

Mine is revised per Amendment List 2 (A.L.2), September 1962 and there is nothing about FAW.9R...

 

Cheers,

Antti

 

[Navy Bird]

12 hours ago, limeypilot said:

That shouldn't matter, it won't fit anyway!

 

I always wondered whether the "engineer" responsible for the Airwaves PE sets actually measured any models with something more precise than a metre stick. The pieces, in my experience, never fit, but they are usually oversize so trimming isn't too difficult.

 

 

An interesting comparison:

 

 

Yes, this is the mating ritual of Plastyk and Airfix. The intakes, and width of the fuselage in that area, agree well, as does the size of the forward fuselage behind the nose cone. When you align the noses at their aft end (based on the panel line), they are very close in size as well. When compared to the Airfix FAW.9 stencil placement drawing, the nose cone on the Heller T.3 matches the drawing nicely in both diameter and length. However, the Plastyk nose cone is too short. Since I have an extra set of T.3 parts, I think I'll use the Heller nose cone on the Plastyk fuselage. Did that make sense to anyone?

 

I suspect the T.3 radome is not exactly the same as the FAW.9 in real life - or is it? For sure, if I use the Heller T.3 nose on the Plastyk FAW.9 kit, it will be a much better match to the FAW.9 drawing.

 

And silly me, I have an extra Heller cockpit tub, too, so I don't have to make a duplicate out of card stock. Sorry, @Martian Hale

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. That "styrene" on the Plastyk kit looks loverly up close, doesn't it?

[giemme]

4 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

PS. That "styrene" on the Plastyk kit looks loverly up close, doesn't it?

 Yeah, sure. Must be from recycled plastic .,..  

 

Ciao

[Max Headroom]

To be nit-picky the T.3 didn’t  have a radome because it didn’t have a radar! The nose was also longer (to counterbalance the lack of weight for the radar maybe?).

 

Brain cells are trying to recall if the short nose* was identified as a problem with the FROG original, or am I mixing that up with the Sea Vixen?

 

Trevor

 

* iPhone predictive texas thought I meant ‘shirt nose’........go figure

[Martian]

12 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

And silly me, I have an extra Heller cockpit tub, too, so I don't have to make a duplicate out of card stock. Sorry, @Martian Hale

 

Chicken! Taking the easy way out eh?

 

Disappointed of Mars 👽

 

Brave Sir Bill he ran away, bravely ran away, away. When styrene reared it's ugly head he bravely turned his tail and fled, Bravest of the brave, brave Sir Bill. (With apologies to Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

[Andwil]

5 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

That "styrene" on the Plastyk kit looks loverly up close, doesn't it?

Is it actually plastic?  It looks like the bamboo used to make sustainable coffee cups  knives and forks etc.  hmmm, that’s a thought, the future of modelling, moulded bamboo aircraft kits.

 

AW

[neil5208]

3 hours ago, Andwil said:

Is it actually plastic?  It looks like the bamboo used to make sustainable coffee cups  knives and forks etc.  hmmm, that’s a thought, the future of modelling, moulded bamboo aircraft kits.

 

AW

I have you know Bamboo has been touted as a wonder material, good for fabrics, building material, nappies and composite plastics.