Colin W Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 Hi Chaps, A bit of a late start for this my 8th Group build of 2020. I got held up moving half way round the world over the summer and then with the Tonka GB but here I am now. This is not what I originally planned for this GB but its suitable and I know where it is, unlike most of the rest of my stash. I bought this kit from Victoria hobby Center in Melbourne Australia in 2003 during a trip from NZ to the Avalon Airshow. I know because the recept was still in the box. It looks like 2021 will be the year of the French with both the French Fancy and the Africa GB's pointing towards the unstarted pile of Mirage fighters somewhere in the stash. Heres what you got in the box when thses kits were available . I see a few models in the gallery already so I'll be under no pressure for this one. The French scheme looks attractive so it will probably be a follow on from the Mystere 1V built for the 1950s NATO GB in February 2019. Unless I go wacky and find some Honduan decals. The Hondurans used their 16 jets until 1996 Colin 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Nice subject choice Colin While reading through your post and looking at the pictures I was getting a sense of deja vu which was resolved when you showed your lovely Mystere IV from the 50s edition of NATO Vs Warsaw Pact. This one will make a nice companion to it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 FM have quite reputation! Hopefully this one is kind, but in any case I'm sure it'll be instructive to watch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Nice and challenging subject! 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 Yes Fonderie Minatures have a reputation for 'interesting subjects in a challenging format'. This one actually looks quite good. This is a real 'multi media' kit from the early days containing plastic, resin, white metal and PE topped with a vacuum formed canopy. The main airframe is split into the usual parts from injection plastic which is quite soft so care will be needed during the sanding and polishing phase. White metal is used for undercarriage legs, some seat parts, vents and the control column. The wheels, nose undercarriage bay, cockpit tub, instrument panel and seat body are resin. Having shattered several resin control columns over the years including this in white metal is a great idea. The resin cockpit is excellent and the overall appearance is good. The ejection seat is a unique French design similar to the Folland Gnat one. The kit part comes with 1 resin, 2 plastic, 2 white metal and 2 PE parts plus more PE for the belts. A multi media job if ever there was one. Like the Hi-tech kit above, this kit suffers from some 'over enthusiasm' from the designers. Airbrakes and main undercarriage doors, which are always closed on the ground, are moulded open making fitting more difficult and it looks like conflicting with the internal structure whan closed. Ive started by sanding all the mating surfaces and attaching the nose gear bay as a point of reference. Colin 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Looks as if you've a good selection of well detailed parts in this kit Colin. Here's hoping they all get along with one another. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlin Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Good luck with your build Colin. I built the same kit a few years back for my own personal Six Day War GB. And I don't have fond memories of that perticular kit. It took me over a year to finish. /Bosse 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 Rapid progress over the last few days. The cockpit was given a coat of Mr Colour Cowling colour as usual, being a flat 'not quite black'. After detail painting it went quickly into the fuselage and I closed it up fogettingto take any pictures. At some point over the 17 years I have had this kit it was damaged a bit. The tip of the fin was missing so I sandwiched some brass sheet between the rudder halves as a basis for making a new fin tip. Hoes in the wing root are to strengthen the wing joint. The kit was also damaged around the main wheel bays so the damage wsa cut away before the doors were fitted in the closed poisition. Filler will be required as expected but actually its not too bad. The gun troughs have been drilled out to take lengths of brass tube for the barrels later. Fliing and sanding next. Colin 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 For a limited edition, short-run, mixed media kit you're making good progress with it Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 Quite rapid progress with this. I didnt bother with the fill and sand pics but this is what it looks like after only 2 applications. There ws quite a lot of shrinkage on the wings along the spars which was filled with Milliput while I had some mixed. All undercarriage doors closed and filled. After a coat of Halfords grey and a sand with 400 and 800 grit shows how uneven the surface of the plastic is. Most of the Milliput is now covered. The top is actually much better. Looking at the rest of the parts the tail planes have a bit of flash to remove on clean up. Makes the Revell Tornado look excellent! Colin 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/16/2020 at 10:44 PM, Colin W said: Makes the Revell Tornado look excellent! Not sure... it is definitely a different leage in detail! but still this one is a way simpler build I guess! Great progress! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 An interesting subject and a glutton for punishment. You are doing very well with the build, but as @exdraken suggests the Revell Tornado is for a modern kit is still a tricky build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 I've been making some progress on this but not managed to find time to post over Xmas. Here's where I got to with a base coat of Halfords Nissan silver to highlight and imperfections in the surface. After some more sanding and polishing the spine was painted grey, wing tips red and now black is applied for the dark panels to be masked next. Colin 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Nice work Colin. You've made good headway with your project this week and it's looking great with no hint of the mixed media nature to the various component parts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 Well my first post of the New year so Happy New Year to all. The Black and red were painted and masked then natural metal done. I tried appling the decals over the weekend but the fin stripes both disintegrated once I tried to take them off the backing sheet. I tried to assemble them but alas t'was not possible. When I did the Mystere IV, I painted the base red and mased the stripe before painting the silver. I should do the same but I'll loose my natural metal. I'm contemplating scanning and printing the decals but they are on a blue backing paper so pondering the options now.... Colin 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Happy New Year! Nice work on the paint Colin but sorry to hear about the decals. Do you think the silver will withstand masking to paint the stripe? Or is solid colour decal sheet an option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Hi Colin. In the past I have scanned decals and used a paint prog to convert the blue background to white. Then I can either print on white decal paper and cut round carefully, or print on clear decal paper and apply over a white painted fin. As Col says, the alternative would be solid colour decal sheet if you have the right colours, or just paint them on to decal paper, cut out and apply. Whichever way you do it will be a bit of a fiddle - pity the decs did not work! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Good wok on the paint scheme and I wish you luck with whatever you decide to do with the decals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 On 12/7/2020 at 4:42 PM, Colin W said: Unless I go wacky and find some Honduan decals. The Hondurans used their 16 jets until 1996 Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted January 26, 2021 Author Share Posted January 26, 2021 Not much progress on this for a while as my decals disintegrated when I tried to apply them. As I noted previously I have had this kit for 20 years so I have no idea how old the decals are. I experimented with coatings of future and similar ideas, then experimented with printing my own which is my normal course of action. Unfortunately I could not find any French Fonts and my stock of French roundels was also empty so I ordered a set of Berna decals from the big H. What a complete waste of money, £17 ic postage to get a set of decals of poor quality. All the roundels and one of the side stripes are out of register by quite a lot. Very disappointing. This will be my first and last set of Berna Decals. Next time I will print my own! Colin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Ouch! That's an expensive piece of bad news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 Well this one has taken a long tome to reach the finish line. Not the easiest of kits and not the best fitting. Some parts are over detailed in the extreme while others are ignored. Quite a complicated kit with a lot of additianal parts added. I decided to droop the airbrakes just to break up the scheme a bit and I added the tanks for interest. I have only ever seen one of these in the Albert Museum in northern France (Cambrai) and that was in later camouflage. Final scheme is No.88 10-RB EC 2/10 Seine Fighting Squadron BA 110 (Creil) 1962. Decals from Berna as noted above. Colin 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 A great result Colin, very well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Wow, it really turned out fantastic! you managed to tame her, and improved over the kit offering! A shame about the decals though any photos from below? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Wonderful finish, well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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