Clifton Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Hello, everyone! I've got a bit of a conundrum and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I recently bought an old 1/72 Matchbox Handly Page Heyford kit off of Fleabay. The kit itself is in good condition, and it looks like all the parts are there. The main problem, as you might guess, is with the decals. They look like what I would have called potato crisps when I lived in England. I looked for an aftermarket set, but haven't had any luck. Then I thought I would try to buy the Revell rebox, use the decals in there, and build two kits. Well, these seem to be even more rare than the decals! Plenty of Matchbox kits pop up on an internet search, but I haven't been able to find any Revell kits. Any suggestions? My next plan would be to buy generic decals of roundels and code letters, but I'm not too sure which ones to look for. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Suggestions; 1. search ebay, there are some folk who sell decal sheets from old kits. I've got myself some that way. 2. presuming they are really too far gone, use generic numbers, letters and roundels. afair the Heyford was in NIVO with 'night' roundels, aka the Type B, just blue and red. You can find all these at Hannants, who do over-seas mail order. The only diffs are the stripes on the wheel spats. The main colour is best painted anyways and the thin outline stripe can be a decal stripe. Heres a link to some roundels at Hannants. Just an example; https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AKA02?result-token=dUxbw 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Thanks, that's exactly what I was hoping for! Any suggestions for decal sheets for squadron codes and serial numbers? And I think your suggestion to keep checking eBay is a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Clifton, First off- welcome to Britmodeller! Secondly- measure the height of the codes and serials that are on the Matchbox decal sheet with a 1/72 scale rule, or measure in millimeters. This will give you the sizes to look for on aftermarket code, serial, and roundel sheets. Since the roundels were type B, with just two colors, you could make masks for them with a circle cutter. You could even use a copy of the kit decal sheet to make your own masks for the codes and the underwing serials, since they are pretty large. You can make masks from two-inch painters masking tape. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) Thanks for the welcome and the info, Mike! Those are all excellent suggestions that I hadn't really thought about yet. From one Texan to another--I live in Houston, and it looks like you're from San Antone. My wife went to Trinity, so we love visiting the Alamo City! Edited April 23, 2020 by Clifton 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Clifton said: Thanks for the welcome and the info, Mike! Those are all excellent suggestions that I hadn't really thought about yet. From one Texan to another--I live in Houston, and it looks like you're from San Antone. My wife went to Trinity, so we love visiting the Alamo City! My alma mater! All three of my degrees are from Trinity! With all the tuition and room and board paid, they should have named a dorm after me! I just remembered I have two Heyford kits- have to check the decal sheets. It's a very handsome and BIG biplane, and is actually a pretty nice kit, as are all of the Matchbox biplane kits, Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 It is a nice kit. The photos of completed kits that I've seen look really good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelldoc Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Well, and here for all a build model: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/16654775923/in/photolist-rnJ5D2 modelldoc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 @Clifton, If you can't find another decal sheet for your Heyford, pm me. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Thanks, will do, Mike! 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 @modelldoc--that turned out great! Nice model! Do you remember what color you ended up using for the NIVO finish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Thompson Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Clifton said: @modelldoc--that turned out great! Nice model! Do you remember what color you ended up using for the NIVO finish? If you're happy with enamels, Xtracolor do one called.................................................NIVO. Paul. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 I haven't had much luck finding their paint here in the States. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I have extra set of Heyford decals, if you need I can send you J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of men Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 The source I use for Xtracolours is, I believe, Kitlinx in Utah. They at least make an effort to reorder stock periodically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 @Clifton Did you see JWM's post? Let me know if you can't take advantage of his offer. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 @JWM wow, that would be fantastic! I had another look at the set I have, and I just don't think I'll be able to make them work. @king of men--thanks for the heads-up. I'll have a look at their site to see what I can find. I must say, this is a wonderful forum! Thanks for all of the help, everyone! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 5 hours ago, Clifton said: I must say, this is a wonderful forum! Thanks for all of the help, everyone! Clifton, Britmodeller is (IMHO) the best site on the interwebbythingy for modelling in general. As you've already discovered, the folk here are friendly, helpful and incredibly knowledgeable...and not just about Brit stuff. A question was asked on the WW2 Aircraft Forum about the Breda Ba65 and almost immediately a kind soul provided exactly what was needed. BTW, I'm a Brit but my eldest son is a Texan. He was born in San Angelo. He gets some really funny looks when he claims his Texan heritage! Cheers, Mark 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 9 hours ago, Clifton said: M wow, that would be fantastic! I had another look at the set I have, and I just don't think I'll be able to make them work. @king of men--thanks for the heads-up. I'll have a look at their site to see what I can find. I must say, this is a wonderful forum! Thanks for all of the help, everyone! PM me your postal addres Regards J-W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 5 hours ago, JWM said: wow, that would be fantastic! The Revell one (left) has sharpen colours. Matchbox is a bit faded (right). Which one you prefer? I will do the yellow TT Heyford from WW2 times, so I can send you any of them. I will use only "B" roundles for top of wings... I received your address Regards J-W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 On 4/23/2020 at 6:20 PM, Clifton said: @modelldoc--that turned out great! Nice model! Do you remember what color you ended up using for the NIVO finish? There's a build in the Work in Progress section at the moment making one of these Heyfords. He used Humbrol 224 which is Dark Slate Grey. Dark Slate Grey is not a grey but a dark dull green used by the Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Command during WW2 and a little after. You may able to get some or another makers. Good luck with your build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 On 4/25/2020 at 4:32 AM, 825 said: There's a build in the Work in Progress section at the moment making one of these Heyfords. He used Humbrol 224 which is Dark Slate Grey. Dark Slate Grey is not a grey but a dark dull green used by the Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Command during WW2 and a little after. You may able to get some or another makers. Good luck with your build. Thanks for the info, @825! I was eventually able to look at the IMPS Stockholm website and found a match with NIVO and a color used by the USAF on B-52 bombers. Testors makes the shade, which they call Dark Drab, and the irony is I already have a bottle of it! It's probably not an exact match--because IPMS is matching them by FS numbers--but hopefully it'll be close enough. I'll have to try painting a section of the model when I build it, to see how it looks. Clifton 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 @JWM—Hi, I just got the decals you very kindly sent, and they look like they’re in great shape! I just wanted to thank you again for your generous help. I was able to find an old Profile book about the Heyford, which I hope will help me to rig all of the wires correctly. It should be interesting, to say the least! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Clifton said: @JWM—Hi, I just got the decals you very kindly sent, and they look like they’re in great shape! I just wanted to thank you again for your generous help. I was able to find an old Profile book about the Heyford, which I hope will help me to rig all of the wires correctly. It should be interesting, to say the least! You welcome! I am happy to hear that you've got it. So it took 2 months to make distance from Krakow to Texas in a middle of Covid pandemy time . Interesting experiment.... regards J-W Edited June 25, 2020 by JWM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 1 minute ago, JWM said: You welcome! I am happy to hear that you've got it. So it took 2 months to make distance from Krakow to Texas in a middle of Covid pandemy time . Interesting experiment.... regards J-W Yes, maybe they attached it to a carrier pigeon! 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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