John Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Place holder for now. I was doing some surfing looking for a suitable subject for this GB when I came across some artwork of the post-WW2 Norwegian Storch trainers. Who doesn't love the Storch, and a blue and yellow one was too good to pass up. Coincidentally the Airfix kit has just been re-released as a "Vintage Classic", which it certainly is: I know there are better kits out there, but none have the nostalgic pull of that wonderful Airfix artwork. I have a couple of the original pale blue plastic examples in deep storage in the garage but I think I'll go with this one and see how it builds after all these years. Markings. A quick trip to the Big H website and this sheet was winging its way to my door: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/VTH72102 I might even get adventurous and add the skis from an Airfix Auster to ring the changes just a bit more. John 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 welcome along John and with a classic I think a lot of members will know. She's a golden oldie but still quite a nice model I really do like the scheme you have chosen, it's different and very colourful, should looking amazing when completed. Well good luck with the build, I do hope you're able to start on her soon as I'm sue there will be quite a bit of interest in this build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Great to see both this kit and yourself on here John. A yellow and blue Norwegian Storch is right up there for me, something a little off beat, yet colourful enough to brighten up the model cabinet. Cheers and all the best.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 8, 2020 Author Share Posted February 8, 2020 The excellent Vingtor decals arrived yesterday: All I need now is to find a bit of time to get my Twin Mustang finished and start on this... John 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 That's quite a different scheme from the typical ones worn by this machine and all the better for that unusual factor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reini Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Wow, that will be a striking color scheme! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 I like the blue and yellow. It'll be a nice change from the usual Storch look. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Xtracolour True Blue is a perfect match for this plane and chrome yellow. Regards Toby 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Slight change of plan. Grandson spotted the box for the Vintage Classic Storch and was delighted to see the name "Max" on the nose. What could I do? He's off with the kit. Into the garage to disinter my deep storage Storches: There's 2 kits in here, pretty much complete as far as I know: Now this is a vintage Classic. I can get at least one decent Storch from this pile of bits and probably have another left over. There's a lot of bits! It looks much better in light blue anyway. John 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert falcon Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 You’re a good grandpa 😉 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klr Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 12 minutes ago, John said: Slight change of plan. Grandson spotted the box for the Vintage Classic Storch and was delighted to see the name "Max" on the nose. What could I do? He's off with the kit. Into the garage to disinter my deep storage Storches: There's 2 kits in here, pretty much complete as far as I know: Now this is a vintage Classic. I can get at least one decent Storch from this pile of bits and probably have another left over. There's a lot of bits! It looks much better in light blue anyway. John Indeed it looks better in that colour. And the display stand included. The nostalgia ... If Scalemates is correct (if), the last time the Storch was issued was in 1975, but it would have stayed in the catalogue for several years. I got me a Vintage Classic reissue a few weeks ago, and should get another two delivered tomorrow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 14 minutes ago, desert falcon said: You’re a good grandpa 😉 I'm a soft touch! 1 minute ago, klr said: Indeed it looks better in that colour. And the display stand included. The nostalgia ... If Scalemates is correct (if), the last time the Storch was issued was in 1975, but it would have stayed in the catalogue for several years. I got me a Vintage Classic reissue a few weeks ago, and should get another two delivered tomorrow. I think that's probably right. I don't think it was ever released by Humbrol and, again if my memory is correct, this and the Me163 are the only aircraft kits not released by Humbrol during their ownership of the Airfix brand. John 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 I couldn't resist making a start: I don't propose to do anything with the interior beyond the supplied parts, which have had a couple of coats of Humbrol 240 RLM 02. I think a pilot and a stand are in order. John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 great to see a real classic rising from the depths of a stash!. I remember my brother building this one when it first came out many many years ago, in the old Airfix plastic bags. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 A pilot in the 'pit and mounted on a stand will make this one look great in my opinion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 A good fun build. It's a pity that this kit didn't get more market time from the various owners of the Airfix brand over the years as it's well worth a build. The last time I built one it also came in a plastic bag from the Woolworth's "wall of kits". These 2 were blister pack examples that I bought at at swap meet years ago but cracks in the blisters meant they needed to be rehoused. Anyway, a bit of progress. The fuselage has been put together and given a coat of Humbrol HR135 BR Blue, which is of course a slightly greenish Monsatral Blue. For the wings i disinterred an ancient tin of Humbrol 8 Gloss Yellow, which is a bit more ochre than the current 69 Yellow. They will need another coat: Airfix Algie and Herr General have curiously truncated arms so the can fit within the thin fuselage: Back in the days when Humbrol owned Airfix I remember some discussion about releasing this kit in Harry Broadhurst's D-Day markings with the General standing in for Churchill. Would have worked too. Sadly it never came to pass. The Storch is a large aircraft, particularly when compared to my ongoing Auster build: John 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 I haven't had a lot of time for plastic mangling this week but I have made some progress: John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 If the photo is anything to go by you've got a good solid coat of yellow on the tailfeathers John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 That canopy is a real 3-handed job - I shudder to think what it must have looked like when I was 9 and had applied the best part of a tube of Weldtite to it 😀 The centre canopy and the wings are just sitting in place in this view: John 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 she is colourful, she's going to look great when she's finished. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share Posted March 6, 2020 The first significant hurdle - the struts are all over the place: They are both a bit distorted, one noticeably worse than the other. The plastic feels more like the polythene toy soldiers are made of rather than rigid styrene. Actually I think one may be slightly longer than the other, or the locating holes are in slightly different positions. Either way there needs to be some rectification and it's something I'll keep an eye out for my Finnish example. I cut the rear struts away, they'll be replaced by lengths of Microrod. The starboard front strut fits reasonably well but the pot one needed the locating hole in the fuselage drilled out a it so the strut could be pushed further in and glued superglued in place, the resulting tension straightening it out. All the mounting holes were re-drilled to give a more positive location to the strut ends. It's not perfect but it's much better than it was. Forewarned is fore-armed, so the next one should be better. John 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I think you've found a much better solution for those kit ones. Least you'll know they fit and are straight! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 As so often seems to happen when I participate in Group Builds, there's a change of plan 🙄 The Storch isn't an aircraft I'm particularly familiar with and the only previous model I've built is a bagged Airfix example probably in the very early 70s. Having studied it in more detail, it's apparent that the Airfix kit is a bit short of struts. There's a bit of scratchbuilding going to need to be done, which I don't mind doing on one model but I don't fancy doing 2. I'm going to replace the Airfix kit in this build with an Academy example, which is on order from King Kit, and also use that as a template for adding the missing details to my Finnish Airfix build. So, everything from here on in this thread will be Academy, the Finnish one will be Airfix. I hope! John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalal Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Suddenly a flood of memories seeing this Airfix kit. This was one of the first kits I made. Airfix then had it in a plastic bag with that same box art picture on a folded sheet stapled on the plastic bag. That sheet of paper doubled as instructions and history. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 This is an order of magnitude better than the Airfix kit: Time to get this project back on track. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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