alt-92 Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 Time for a first WIP. While putting an order together, I needed just €5 added to get free shipping, so in went this little DH-88 Comet. The stash expansion (excluding the Phantom box): Now, the Mozzie and Boomerang are known older kits, but the Comet has the newish box style. Little did I know... Why, yes! It's the original Comet from the baggie era. ....including the staggering (ahem) amount of detail - or rather, flashy bits - you might expect from a 1960s mould still being used today. So, mismoulded wheels, mismoulded props, flashy bits, tired old mould... out with the filler, putty and sanders to start with. The pilot figures - well, heads, really - are so out of scale that it's better taking them off and make it flush. Canopy has an air bubble in it, and is way too big as is so that will be carefully sanded down to fit. I'm doing this as a fun build mostly, not going to go all out but I want to clean it up a bit and see what we can do with this. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 A nice subject to start your first WiP...we all start somewhere. Good luck, happy modelling. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallBlondJohn Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 It is possible to make a silk purse out of this but yeah just have fun. The cockpit is worth doing (OK bit late now) and there's not that much scribing to do. IIRC I widened the fuselage rather than sanding down the canopy, and my engine nacelles where short shot and had to be rebuilt with filler. It's worth adding the nose landing light, it just looks wrong without one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted November 30, 2019 Author Share Posted November 30, 2019 (edited) I had considered scratchbuilding a cockpit, but that canopy is very thick (as in nearly solid) and has a large air bubble in it. Some clear sprue bits & foil is ready for the nose light. Edited November 30, 2019 by alt-92 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 Don’t put the filler away - you’re going to need more! It’s a strangely satisfying kit to build, I thought. I built one a while back to distract me from modelling mayhem on another project. Looking forward to your progress. Regards, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 We have all sinned at one point or another... Personally I think it's the most despicable kit you can love. Here are my two, built from the same kit: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p7DG8gFCDT0/U8YaEwxh5BI/AAAAAAAAQpA/-6k-cSA_1Dg/s1600/26.jpg This is one I built so may years ago that I don't recall when: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/applications/core/interface/imageproxy/imageproxy.php?img=https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4877/45405148415_4082a6b931_c.jpg&key=b0fa228f081fa1a70355893594696a2e4155d1d2417af94f6e66123743e562ea Airfix kept shamelessly selling these until around a couple of years ago I believe (when I bought my last two, still have a mint one in the box). Now with the KP kit and the SBS resin (both of which I have built) Airfix's ones became a... divertimento, which is what we all use it for. Good luck, it's fun to put it together as a stress reliever. Cheers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted December 11, 2019 Author Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) Some progress in the meantime. Lots of putty, sanding, more sanding, little bit more putty.. primer to detect the worst bits. Two large sinkmarks on the underside of the wings are gone, just the bit at the wingroots to do now. The blob of transparent plastic that goes for canopy added for effect. Preparations for the landing light in the nose. Edited December 11, 2019 by alt-92 oops 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) Nice work so far. These days I love the comet. But I have many memories of being disappointed that the kit on the shelf wasn’t the komet I.e. the me 163. i dint think I’ve ever built one but might be good to go in my 1/32 racers collection. Wonder if there’s a kit in that scale hmm. Edited December 11, 2019 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted December 11, 2019 Author Share Posted December 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Marklo said: Wonder if there’s a kit in that scale hmm. Apparently, there is/should be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 (edited) Today I'd thought to try out what Vallejo Red looks like. Well, it's... red. Coverage is good. Just a few drops thinner, but boy does it spray fast. Looks a bit light here due to the artificial lighting. Nice tone though in the LED spots where it's going to end up. The Tamiya XF23 is for the other kit - that went a bit under the radar but is turning out pretty nice for a first try at camo with an airbrush. Edited December 14, 2019 by alt-92 added pic 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qn30jEkPz7 Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 As others have said - these build up into a nice model with a bit of care I had a very similar shopping basket to you with that Mossie and Comet resulting in... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 Those are pretty good 👍🏼 After I posted the above update, I started thinking about that Vallejo red. It's now sprayed onto grey primer. Wonder if the tone variation would be slightly better if it were done over black... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Good progress! Looking nice. What a beautiful plane the DH88 is from any angle. CHeers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted April 10, 2021 Author Share Posted April 10, 2021 Over the last week I picked up this shelf queen again, and decided to finish her once and for all Bit of very fine grit sanding and polishing turned most of my earlier high pressure, too far away airbrush mistakes into something acceptable - followed by a recoat in properly mixed Tamiya Red. Anyways: I'll not bore you with the decal steps, but just go straight for the finish line. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 This has turned out rather splendid. Great work on this old kit. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Excellent work. ... I just love the comet, I hope to build the Green one someday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Commendable! She looks great for what you started out with. I too had the New Box/Old Kit Surprise with the Airfix 1/72 Marauder. Saw it in the store and thought, awesome! Opened it up and thought, oh fudge... The decals looks great though! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Given the base, that's a great comet... It surely made your teeth sweating but the result is really nice... I'll pay a visit to my LHS to see if my 1/48 one as landed.... Aaaaand I must wait 2022 to start it.... Congrats Alt !! Well done !! CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Looks fab. A kit that’s somehow impossible not to love... Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 While the AMS modellers among us (we know who we are) reach for the resin, etch and aftermarket decals, you turn out a simply gorgeous Comet by simple good model building and painting. Wonderful. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 wow thanks all 12 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: This has turned out rather splendid. Great work on this old kit. Chris It's certainly not bad for a 1957 original 12 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Excellent work. ... I just love the comet, I hope to build the Green one someday. Sleek little things, aren't they I might get an AZ/KP one (or two) to complete the bunch. 11 hours ago, Thom216 said: Commendable! She looks great for what you started out with. I too had the New Box/Old Kit Surprise with the Airfix 1/72 Marauder. Saw it in the store and thought, awesome! Opened it up and thought, oh fudge... The decals looks great though! The price may have been a giveaway for this one In all fairness, I think Airfix did the right thing in branding these as Classic kits nowadays. Just so you know what to expect 10 hours ago, corsaircorp said: Given the base, that's a great comet... It surely made your teeth sweating but the result is really nice... I'll pay a visit to my LHS to see if my 1/48 one as landed.... Aaaaand I must wait 2022 to start it.... Congrats Alt !! Well done !! CC Thanks CC 1/48? Mikro-Mir? Or something more esoteric? That's going to be a ride to follow 10 hours ago, AdrianMF said: Looks fab. A kit that’s somehow impossible not to love... Thanks Adrian. She may be old, and a bit clunky, but with a bit of love still looks pretty 9 hours ago, Natter said: While the AMS modellers among us (we know who we are) reach for the resin, etch and aftermarket decals, you turn out a simply gorgeous Comet by simple good model building and painting. Wonderful. I guess I like a challenge every now and then? There's a Vacform fw-58 Weihe staring at me, and I need to finish a conversion of a Valom Fokker F.VII in the Groupbuild sections.. After those, I guess I'll take the easy way out with a FineMolds Ki-15 prototype OoB 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen Barett Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 (edited) On 29/11/2019 at 23:03, alt-92 said: Time for a first WIP. While putting an order together, I needed just €5 added to get free shipping, so in went this little DH-88 Comet. +++ So how much did you spend on the filler and sanding paper needed for this lovely project? 😇 (I have a started one on the shelf of shame) Edited April 12, 2021 by Jochen Barett typo 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 Still on my initial Flory sander stick pack and less than 10% of the filler tube used 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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