Airfix Silver City Bristol Superfreighter

[TonyW]

Digging around for an entrant for the GB see's me turn up a part started, pieces missing Airfix Superfreighter in a Type 5 box.

The decals are printed out of alignment and can't be used but I have a set of earlier Silver City ones that look good to go.

 

The kit is missing its canopy so a bit of moulding is required. Fuselage and wings are assembled but I recon if I set the canopy and the allowed 25%built rule together I'll just about get under the wire. The wings are stuck fast but the fuselage might be openable if the mood to add detail strikes.

 

I would rather keep this one as simple as possible though. I've just finished a Rareplanes NA Savage and have a Contrail Pe8 and Academy Stratocruiser currently running, so I'm looking for a bit of an easy ride on this one. 

 

Here's the kit...

 

 

And here's the linage, from the 1959 first issue up to the T5 box. The third issue saw a change of airline.

I don't have a T4 issue but it's pretty much the same as the T3 with a round Airfix logo bottom right. 

 

 

The first issue has a real period feel about it.

Airfix had only just acquired the means to mould kits of this size the previous year, with the introduction of the Lancaster. A Superfreighter isn't the first plane that springs to mind to follow a Lanc, but there you are.

 

 

I'll be searching for a few Silver City related bits and bobs over the weekend and should be making a start here early next week.

 

Tony.

 

 

 

 

[Paul J]

I had the split background box when I was little. The two later ones were also once with me but moved them on. Also had the last issue when it came in the blue box around the 90s.

[Paul821]

1 hour ago, TonyW said:

A Superfreighter isn't the first plane that springs to mind to follow a Lanc,

Maybe not from 2021 but back in 1959 the Bristol Freighter was cutting edge - the concept of putting your car on a plane to cross the channel was revolutionary. I can remember some of the coverage of the time. Elon Musk / Richard Branson going into space had nothing on this.

 

I would love Airfix to rerelease this as a Vintage Classic with with original Silver City decals, the 1990's release with CAT and Sabena markings was all wrong in my view.

[TonyW]

I had forgotten about the 90's release Paul.

I know I had one and I know I didn't build it. I can't remember selling it either, so it's probably still here somewhere or other. I did find the decals and instructions from the kit though...

 

 

I might get lucky and find the kit yet. It would save making a canopy if nothing else.

 

Airfix did miss a trick not including the original markings with that release, Heller do just that with their new Museum kits and I've bought a few for that very reason.

[TonyW]

A bit of a search this morning unearthed a few Bristol shaped bits, including a restorable airframe. I have a few storage boxes here with intriguing titles like 'Assorted Restorers' and one of those provided todays finds.

The contents of these boxes are from a lifetimes worth of boot sales, toy fairs, model shows and bought collections. The whole lot will probably end up in a skip when I'm gone but in the meanwhile I like to kid myself I'll get around to them all one day.

 

 

 

Those three sets of clamshell doors kind of indicate there are more Superfreighters to be found! Is that good or bad?

 

The canopy on the restorer above came off cleanly, which is handy. It's not the clearest in the world and those ejector marks are a bit ugly. I'll probably use it to make a mould from.

 

 

Pinging off the canopy reveals the pilots in their office. For a 1959 kit, it doesn't look too bad. Careful painting would see it pass OK. A bit of added detail would raise the bar a bit further. The instrument panel is the old Airfix paper cuttout, just about buried to view. The parts on the builder kit are identical.

 

 

I also hit the BIN button of a book on Silver City Airways, under a tenner delivered. 

 

The gathering together of Kit, materials and references is one of my favourite parts of a new build and this one is bubbling away in a very satisfying fashion.

 

Next up will be part trimming and cleaning, followed by GLUE!

[stevej60]

Good luck with this one Tony.

[PeterB]

Hi Tony,

 

Looking forward to seeing this built. I believe I delayed getting one for several years, but following a trip to the Isle of Man on a Silver City DC-3, I repainted my Airfix Dak in their colours having kept the optional decs safe, and then decided I would build the Superfreighter to go with it. I still have he original Dak though now in RAF markings, but the freighter is long gone. I did build most of the Airfix 1/144 airliners, but civilian aircraft in 1/72 never really appealed to me - I think the only other one I build was the Airfix Fokker F-27 and that did not last long.

 

Pete

[TonyW]

There's a Fokker F-27 in that box Pete and I have spare transfers. Once my Roundtuit gets here I can make a start on that one as well.

[Mike Dean]

Is now a good time (possibly not) to mention the Airfix Landrover from the Bloodhound kit that I sent you a few years ago to build a Type 3 diorama with the AA Landrover in the foreground ? Hang your head in shame, sir 😜...................although you're probably fed up with doing dioramas, and a nice Silver City version displayed alongside that lovely Type 1 box will do very nicely! 👍

 

It looks like that canopy is as good as your going to get: it should polish up quite nicely. If you had a complete unstarted kit to begin with, would you have tried to make your own canopy? The ejector marks do rather spoil it, but hey, it is a very old kit. Maybe a couple of sun-visors would fix it?

[TonyW]

I'm torn between the Silver City and British United versions Mike.

I've got a set of transfers for each sat on the shed windowsill at the moment to cover each option. If I go for my usual OTT plan, I'll try for both, but common sense really should prevail here. How many Superfreighters do I need? A sensible compromise would be to build a straight out the box Silver City version to sit alongside the original box and have a go at copying the T3 boxtop at some point in the future. That would be achievable in theory. That also gives me time to find the Landrover you sent me!

A slight concern is that the Landrover is probably sat in a box alongside the Airfix Hercules and Bloodhound set. Another long stalled project. The urge to finally get around to building that one as well would be a worry.

I don't have a shelf of doom, it seems more like a warehouse.

9 hours ago, Mike Dean said:

Is now a good time (possibly not) to mention the Airfix Landrover from the Bloodhound kit that I sent you a few years ago to build a Type 3 diorama with the AA Landrover in the foreground ? Hang your head in shame, sir 😜...................although you're probably fed up with doing dioramas, and a nice Silver City version displayed alongside that lovely Type 1 box will do very nicely! 👍

 

It looks like that canopy is as good as your going to get: it should polish up quite nicely. If you had a complete unstarted kit to begin with, would you have tried to make your own canopy? The ejector marks do rather spoil it, but hey, it is a very old kit. Maybe a couple of sun-visors would fix it?

 

[rob85]

This is cool, and night to see the heritage of this kit! 100% agree that had I been running airfix at the time I wouldn’t have chosen it to follow a lanc, but good job they did as it’s something very different.

 

looking forward to what you do with this one.

 

Rob

[TonyW]

A very laid back day in the shed has got quite a bit done on the Superfreighter. There are worse ways to spend a Sunday.

 

I broke the fuselage down to remove the portholes. The clear plastic was a bit marked by both glue and scratches. Glue 'n Glaze will replace the plastic later.

 

 

A decision was made to sand off all the rivets. Not a small task given the size of the plane, but necessary. There were a couple of glue marks that had to be sanded out here and there and the fuselage was already sanded along the seam topsides. I've done the wings and fuselage halves. The rest will be done later.

 

 

The canopy is a pretty poor fit everywhere, plus there's a crack on the starboard side panel. A new one will have to be made, also later.

 

 

The interior got a quick hit in olive green but any colour would have done, nothing can be seen of it once closed up. Fin, tail, engines etc all got assembled. Everything is a bit basic and rather chunky but it's a satisfying build/renovation so far.

 

 

The cockpit and crew got repainted and the crew moved forwards a couple of scale feet so they actually could reach the controls if they wanted to. Fuselage, wings and tail surfaces are all now glued and waiting on tomorrow when a bit of filling and a lot of sanding will commence.

 

 

So far, so good.

 

Tony.

 

 

 

 

[TonyW]

I popped back up the shed last night and added a bit of milliput fine to the more obvious areas needing it. Today saw me sanding things down, including the rest of the rivets. 

 

 

The sanding session was followed by a couple of coats of Tamiya primer. The primer shows a fair bit more filling required. I'll be taking my time here though. I gave myself unnecessary problems on my NA Savage build by laying on the paint to quickly and too thickly. The Superfreighter is propped up now and drying properly before work resumes. It's drying at an attitude no Superfreighter ever assumed, at least not on purpose!

 

 

A bit of filling is on the cards for tomorrow, followed by more primer. I can get on with the props and wheel assemblies while that is drying out. 

 

Tony.

[Pete in Lincs]

I too built one of these in the past, 1960 something. I acquired the remains of a glue bomb from the bay a couple of months ago.

It will probably become the basis of a spaceship of some kind. What a surprise, eh?

I spotted two or three Airfix SRN1 Hovercraft in that big box. I was after one on the bay to turn into a kreiger attack craft, but the prices, Oy!

Hang on to them and you'll be able to retire soon!

[TonyW]

27 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

 

I spotted two or three Airfix SRN1 Hovercraft in that big box. I was after one on the bay to turn into a kreiger attack craft, but the prices, Oy!

 

 

PM me your address and I'll pop one in the post Pete. I'll never get around to three of the things. It would be good to see one Hot Rodded.

[Pete in Lincs]

That's a very generous offer. Thank you very much indeed.

All I really need is the base of the craft and that central duct with the fan. It'll get upgraded to 1/20th scale with added 'Kreiger tech' bits and a pilot.*

I just had a look at the screen on my gluebomb freighter and it looks like it would polish up nicely. Yours if you want it.

[Rabbit Leader]

Great to see you on here Tony and typically with something large, old and requires lots of clean-up. Having one of these myself, I’ll be watching on a little more closely. 
Cheers and best of luck.. Dave. 

[TonyW]

Not much done on the Superfreighter over the last couple of days, the Ford Mustang GB has stolen me for a bit. Postie did deliver a copy of Dagwells Silver City Airways book though, I'll be making a start on it this evening. First glance looks promising. Plenty of good detail pictures plus one of Diana Dors and her Cadillac soft top. Result!

 

 

[Colin W]

Looking great after many years in the repair shop. Dont forget to restore the join/gap between the nose calm shell doors! Yours is looking too good.

[AdrianMF]

Very nice. A classic Tony W classic kit build!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[TonyW]

On 7/12/2021 at 9:11 PM, Colin W said:

Looking great after many years in the repair shop. Dont forget to restore the join/gap between the nose calm shell doors! Yours is looking too good.

 

It does look a bit too smooth, it's lost all signs of being an opening part of the airframe as it sits. I'll be scribing the doors back into it along with replacing the hinges.

 

The build has a bit of an odd feel to it at the moment. I just can't get used to seeing an old Airfix kit without battleship rivets everywhere. 

 

The book I bought has proved a very informative and absorbing read. I can see a few more Silver City models on my bench in the future.

 

 

[TonyW]

After what seems like an eternity away from the build , I find myself getting that unmistakable builders itch. Where does that come from?

 

The Ford Mustang GB elsewhere on the forum has certainly swerved me away from things with wings, but there always comes a point when old habits re-emerge, and I found myself looking at this unloved, part done build today.  It deserves better. I'll be on its case on Monday.