My first ever kit revisited: Airfix Jetstream

[JosephLalor]

It was in 1970 that I bought my first kit.  It was the Airfix HP Jetstream.  Series 3 and 40p - I must have been flush!  It didn't last long and wasn't well finished, so I hope to knock something reasonably pretty out this time round.

 

I confess I'm not promising a terribly interesting thread, but it'll be an incentive for me to get something finished for a change.  Time is very short now so I'll be putting it together straight from the box, see-throughs and all.

 

Here goes with the box and the bits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

[JosephLalor]

Hi All,

 

On with the build.

 

First, some sustenance - tea in a Marks and Spencer mug.  I'm wearing the socks that came with it.  They're black with 'Type C1' roundels on.

 

I started with some internal painting on the sprues.  There being no internal colour call-outs I did my own thing.  Humbrol enamel 145 blue-grey on the seats and flight-deck floor, Humbrol acrylic 86 light olive green on the stretchers and flight suits, Citadel Chainmail on the internal metal areas, propellers and undercarriage, Brush'n'Leaf for oleos and control columns and Xtracrylix 1015 Light Aircraft Grey for all the other interior work.

 

 

I'm not going to leave the nose-gear doors like that.

 

 

There'll be some seam-work and touching up on the wheels and seats

 

 

The stretchers will get another coat of green

 

 

 

 

That's it for tonight.  Bedtime!

Edited August 14, 2020 by JosephLalor

[Jinxman]

Blitzbuild as well! Good luck with it.

[modelling minion]

21 hours ago, JosephLalor said:

Time is very short now

That is putting it very mildly!

Fair play to you for building this collectors item and for trying to build it in the time we have left.

[JosephLalor]

Here's where I'd got by 4 this morning.  Wings put together and fuselage interior fitted out.  If you're short of time and you're keeping the rear doors closed there's a strong case for leaving out the seats and stretchers, especially with those windows.  Coke-bottle bottom, or that effect very old windows show, where they look as though they have a kind of circular boss in the middle.  I'm sure there's a name for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I'm ready to button up the fuselage and attach the wings, and with a bit of luck, maybe even finish construction  and get to the overall painting stage.  I'd forgotten that I'll be brush-painting gloss white - not one of my favourite modelling tasks by any means.  Must decide at what point to attach the antennae too.

[modelling minion]

You are moving along at a fair old rate, thankfully.

The gloss white might take a while to dry though, and as you say it's not much fun to paint.

[Jinxman]

Looking good - and best of luck with that white coat.

[JosephLalor]

As I usually do in life I've left it terribly late.  What's the deadline for submitting photos to the gallery?  Is that the official closing time for the GB?

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, JosephLalor said:

As I usually do in life I've left it terribly late.  What's the deadline for submitting photos to the gallery?  Is that the official closing time for the GB?

It is indeed, midnight tomorrow.

[Dansk]

This is gonna be some kind of world record if you complete it Joseph, we’re all behind you  💪

Edited August 15, 2020 by Dansk

[JosephLalor]

Thanks everyone.  I've the wings and tailplanes mated to the fuselage now. I've spent all day cleaning up seams and eliminating steps and gaps.  Some more of that and then I hope to get going on the painting tonight after cleaning the model.  The notion of filling gaps and seams didn't even cross my mind when I was doing that first one all those years ago.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by JosephLalor

[Graham Boak]

Did you take the chance to tidy up the line of the ventral fin?  The kit matches the fix on the prototype, but on the real thing the trailing edge of the rudder and the ventral fin line up.  There was also a small fairing at the junction of the fin leading edge and the tailplane than can be represented by a small amount of filler.  The other main problem with the kit is the size (and thickness!) of the outer undercarriage doors - if you clip off the top of the door below the hinge and glue this into the wing - more filling I'm afraid and thin down the door, it will look much better.

[JosephLalor]

29 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Did you take the chance to tidy up the line of the ventral fin?  The kit matches the fix on the prototype, but on the real thing the trailing edge of the rudder and the ventral fin line up.  There was also a small fairing at the junction of the fin leading edge and the tailplane than can be represented by a small amount of filler.  The other main problem with the kit is the size (and thickness!) of the outer undercarriage doors - if you clip off the top of the door below the hinge and glue this into the wing - more filling I'm afraid and thin down the door, it will look much better.

Hi Graham, thanks very much for that information.  I'm afraid I hadn't planned any modifications to the kit, as I'm completing it 'as Mr Airfix intended'.  The ventral fin looks like an easy fix, I'll have a wee think about the fairing and the undercarriage doors.  Now that you mention it, I can now see the fin fairing on the underside photo of G-AWBR, which I think was the 5th prototype and seemed to have had the extended trailing edge for the ventral fin.

[Dansk]

1 minute ago, JosephLalor said:

Hi Graham, thanks very much for that information.  I'm afraid I hadn't planned any modifications to the kit, as I'm completing it 'as Mr Airfix intended'.  The ventral fin looks like an easy fix, I'll have a wee think about the fairing and the undercarriage doors.  Now that you mention it, I can now see the fin fairing on the underside photo of G-AWBR, which I think was the 5th prototype and seemed to have had the extended trailing edge for the ventral fin.

What would 10 year old you do? 😊

[modelling minion]

She is looking good, I can't believe you have got this far so quickly.

[JosephLalor]

5 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

She is looking good, I can't believe you have got this far so quickly.

Thanks, MM, it's certainly quick for me.  Thinking about Dansk's and Graham's posts, the 10 year old me probably hadn't heard the word 'prototype' yet, let alone known what mods I'd have to do for a production machine.  I did have a look for a Frog Macchi Folgore which I got for my 10th birthday in 1971.

[Graham Boak]

'BWR was indeed the fifth prototype Jetstream but the first Mk.3M.  One of the earlier ones was to be converted to the same standard but I don't know just how far that got - certainly not finished.

 

There are limits to doing it as a 10 year-old-would.  No glue on the windows, for example.

[Back in the Saddle]

And I thought I'd put myself under pressure, starting a 1/72 Spitfire a fortnight ago...!🤣

 

Good luck - you're progressing well on this one👍

[JosephLalor]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the good wishes everyone.

 

2nd coat of Revell Aqua 301 satin white on now.  It probably doesn't look too bad from the photo, but for me this is the ursine posterior stage all my models go through (some never leave).  Who knows what horrors will emerge when the masking comes off the transparencies.  I'm panicking of course, because with just 8 hours or so to go I've left myself no leeway if something does go wrong such as tatty edges on paint coats, and I can see some forming already.  This is definitely a case of 'You too can have a body like mine - if you're not careful.'

2

Edited August 16, 2020 by JosephLalor

[Graham T]

Remember nailing this kit together when I was a kid, probably about the same time as you!

[JosephLalor]

The plastic in this kit is so translucent that you can see the junction between the interior grey and the unpainted plastic though the paint!

[Max Headroom]

I like the look of this so far and look forward to the end result.

 

I’ve been tempted to get one to WHIF. SEA or Europe 1. Or even SVAF?
 

Trevor

[JosephLalor]

1 minute ago, Max Headroom said:

I like the look of this so far and look forward to the end result.

 

I’ve been tempted to get one to WHIF. SEA or Europe 1. Or even SVAF?
 

Trevor

Tan and two greens occurred to me too, though I did wonder if such an aircraft would be used for in-theatre casevac.  There are plenty of military guys on here who would have a much better idea than me on that.

[JosephLalor]

It would make for a very attractive model alright

[Dansk]

If this doesnt go in the Gallery we can’t say you’ve not tried!