stevehnz Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 It was going to be an Aeronavale Mistral till I figured there was no such animal so an Armee de l'Air one it will be, OOB with markings from the box, thankfully in good register, & silver dope finish, I reckon even I can pull this off. As indicated in this post from July 23rd, I indicated my interest in this GB but it seems to have been missed by the host @Wez, hell I could've been #98. Anyway, I have made a start, getting the interior sorted, preparing some lead shot by squashing them so they'll pack into small spaces better. Currently I'm almost at the point of sticking as much of that into the nose & under the seat before I test for balance, hence the taped together wings & assembled tail booms. I hacked about a cm from the tail pipe & slimmed down the turbine backing to try to save some weight. It puts the turbine too close to the outlet but not too obviously I think. Steve. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Scalemates says that there is an Aeronavale option with the kit you have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 There is Graham but being unable to find any photos of such & having some Euro decals with the same marking for an FB.5 Vampire I put it out to the throng & the consensus seem to be it is an error, read on a bit from the post I linked to above, next page too. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Steve, Sorry I missed you but very pleased you could join us. Just watch how you line up the respective fuselage halves and take care attaching the wings otherwise you should have a trouble free build. Good luck and welcome to the GB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 Glued the cockpit into the port fuselage half this evening & then began to stick my little lead pellets into place with 5 minute epoxy. The flattening of them certainly helped to fit them in & made for a more stable arrangement. After this, it was time for a balance test. A match stick was taped across the main undercarriage mount holes & the verdict was slightly nose heavy. Even though there is still the intakes & under nose tray as well as cockpit canopy to place, I stuck a few more pellets behind the seat. That should ensure nose sitting. Steve. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 You are making good progress. I like your writing too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Hi Steve, Nice plane, nice kit and a great build so far. I have a complete blank as to whether there were Mistral in the French Navy!!!! Brain freeze... For some reason I can see dark blue Aeronavale Mistral.... I must stop stop smoking origanum. Great job Steve, keep at it! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 After several short sessions, mainly gluing, aligning & then leaving to set, I've ended up with a pretty much complete air frame of fairly decent straightness & symmetry. I do like the look of this machine, that big tail pipe & sharper looking intakes give it quite a mean look to my eye, not something I would normally accuse a Vampire of. Tonight was spent scraping, sanding & filing wing roots, the join through the main spar bolt fairing is a right pain & looking at Vampire photos, bigger than it needs to be, maybe some more filing due, also some rubbing down of tail boom joins & then wow, it might just about be paint time. Steve. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 Hi Steve, this is fast work indeed! You seem to have minimized the use of putty and the seams look fairly clean already. Way to go with twin booms! I have done a serious introspection, and have come to the conclusion that I am loosing it! I am getting totally mixed up and the French Navy never had Mistral, but Aquilon... Twin boom plane as well. Damn! Anyway, your Mistral is going to look great. JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 She’s looking bang on, Steve Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 8 hours ago, jean said: French Navy never had Mistral Don't feel too bad about it Jean, Heller made the same mistake with the schemes for this kit. My first choice was for the Aeronavale one but then I couldn't find any photos of it but did find photos of their Vampire FB,5 in the exact same markings I smelt a rat. The consensus seems to be as you concluded, Aeronavale Mistrals never were. The fit has been not too bad, nothing that plenty of polyglue & a good firm grip couldn't solve anyway. Steve. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 Some filling & rubbing back, mainly around the intakes & the boom joins has seen a coat of grey put on so I can see what might need further attention. Happily not too much. Steve. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Looking good, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 27, 2021 Author Share Posted October 27, 2021 I'd give my left wotsit to have my old tin of Humbrol #11 back, the new iterations just don't cut it these days. I settled on 27002 as an alternative but couldn't get the result I got with it in a previous build. This is where we're at just now. I've luckily found a bottle of Model Master 1781 Aluminum which appear to offer a better finish so I'll try that tomorrow. In the mean time, I've been working at some colour mixs to relicate the colours of the french national markings decals. maybe a touch more 47 in the blue mix & the same for the 18 in the red mix, but they're not too far off. Steve. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 11 hours ago, stevehnz said: I settled on 27002 as an alternative but couldn't get the result I got with it in a previous build. This is where we're at just now. You did buff it, Steve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 27, 2021 Author Share Posted October 27, 2021 8 hours ago, RidgeRunner said: You did buff it, Steve? Tried to, didn't seem to make much difference, maybe I can give it another go, I was using paper tower, perhaps a piece of T-shirt? Update on this. Did some more buffing with paper towels, courtesy of the Golden Arches via my eldest son, it was beginning to look a bit better, so touched up a couple of areas that I thought needed it & will buff some more, this will now be the final finish, with luck that great cure all, a coat of satin varnish will be the final fix. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 22 hours ago, stevehnz said: Tried to, didn't seem to make much difference, maybe I can give it another go, I was using paper tower, perhaps a piece of T-shirt? I use an old handkerchief. I’ve also used very fine grade sanding pads to get different shades. I did that on one of my Voodoos a while back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 Moving right along, we're looking ok to get this done during the week. Still not real happy with the silver but I can live with it. Tail fin colours painted & readyish for decals probably tomorrow, after which an all healing coat of satin varnish & then elevator mass balances, undercarriage & nose gear doors. Sounds simples eh? progress as of tonight. Steve. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 Calling this done now, it all came together quite quickly in the end. I was impressed by the way the decals went on, bedded down in the dilute Future method I use, no silvering, went on & repositioned easily, didn't slither around like some when you're trying to roll out the excess moisture & hugged onto surface detail well. I was less impressed by the yellow outer rings of the roundels being slightly out of register, something I hadn't spotted against the backing paper. It wasn't too awful so was happy to live with it, that & not having any spare roundels anyway. Here is a shot to be going on with, the rest are now in the gallery. I'd like to thank @Wez for proposing & hosting this, & @JOCKNEYPat, @CorsairfoxfouruncleDennis & @Jasonb13Jason for acting as cohosts. I really did enjoy this one. Thanks guys. Steve. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 Lovely build Steve, I so do want to build these twin boom jets. I have a Sea Vixen but need the others to finish out the trio before I build them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 Congratulations Steve The finished model is an absolute credit to you Cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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