John Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Oh all right then, one more. Placeholder meantime. John 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 OK John now I'm not saying I'm pleased about this or anything but; Does this cover it ? Cheers Pat 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 I'm thrilled to also have Matchbox's F4U-4 represented here. I've always liked the way Matchbox often produced slightly different versions of some mainstream subjects. Whilst everyone else came out with the more popular F4U-1, Matchbox chose to enter the Corsair market with the mainly Post War F4U-4 version. Who hasn't struggled to apply those Green and White bands on this model in the past?? This is another kit I would like to add to my "Adult' Matchbox collection. Cheers and best of luck.. Dave 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 It's a funny thing. There are days when I couldn't tell you what I had for my tea the night before but I can clearly remember where I got all three of the kits I'm building in this GB the first time round. The Hellcat - I didn't buy that myself, my dad did. I had found myself in hospital for a couple of weeks at the beginning of 1981 and the Hellcat was waiting for me when I got home. I think it was as much an attempt to get me to stay in the house by giving me something to do. I could hardly walk for the first few days so it was probably not necessary, but I enjoyed building it just the same. Much easier to get a good looking finished product than with the Airfix kit. The Provost - we had a big department store up the town called Youngs. A much loved Falkirk institution, not least for its huge toy department. It was one of these old fashioned places where you paid your money at the counter and the staff toddled off to the office to get your change. Idiosyncratic, even in my youth. They were a dependable source for Matchbox kits. The Corsair - came from the paper shop at the end of our street. Jimmy Scott's, made Arkwrights look like the latest fad of retail modernity. Not a reliable source of kits but had the occasional FROG or Matchbox. I even got a Fouga Magister in a bag from there once. I've subsequently worked out that it must have been a Heller Cadet kit but I don't think the logo on the package was Heller's. Jimmy also had the basic, Woolworths style Humbrol paint rack. I gather that small traders like Jimmy Scott could pick up Matchbox kits via their normal cash and carry suppliers, unlike Airfix which were ordered through a rep. That's why they popped up in such an eclectic range of outlets. In the 1970s and 80s we had a huge outdoor market in Falkirk and a few of the stalls always had a smattering of Matchbox kits. It was the same when FROG went out of business, for a few months you couldn't chuck a stone in the market without hitting one of their kits. John 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Nice story John and I do say that apart from the great camaraderie and reminiscing of old times on here, hearing all these great back stories is certainly something I enjoy reading about. We are all 10 year olds at heart so being able to play co-host to Classic kit GB’s like this is always an honour for me. I’d just wish I had the foresight back in the day to buy up and stash all these great kits that are now either so expensive or all so hard to find. Cheers.. Dave 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 10 hours ago, John said: It's a funny thing. There are days when I couldn't tell you what I had for my tea the night before but I can clearly remember where I got all three of the kits I'm building in this GB the first time round. I can imagine lots of people myself included first laughing then nodding in agreement with this, its so true 👍 😄 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 Age thing, innit? 😱 John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 11 hours ago, John said: The Corsair - came from the paper shop at the end of our street. Familiar story John,growing up in what was then a small town Airfix was the domain of old Mr Gray's hardware shop which was a real old fashioned affair(he always had the brown overall's on) one corner devoted to Airfix with shelves for the boxed kits and hooks for the bagged kits which some he needed a pole to get down for you,rare these days but whenever I smell a Parrafin heater it takes me right back.Revell was exclusive to the Newsagents I delivered for so many a pay went straight back to the owners for a kit on a Saturday morning.When Matchbox arrived a newly opened Newsagent's sold them so after that it was a hard choice who's kit would be the next purchase and for a while among our "gang" Matchbox was king till we'd built the first batch of releases. 50 year's on(is it really?) only one shop is still there but not a single outlet for model kits to be found luckily we have one of the best Model shops in the country on the doorstep but I think the loss of these small outlets has been a loss to the modelling world,thus endeth the lesson. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 22 minutes ago, John said: Age thing, innit? 😱 John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 Lovely! John 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Lovely box art. No action, no guns, no bombs, just that attitude that only Corsairs have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 Thanks for the sprue photos, which do take me back to another early era of my life. I quite like this kit and it’s still hard to believe that despite Italeri’s still not quite right effort of the early 90’s, the -4 version has never been properly kitted in 1/72 scale. Good luck with this one John. Cheers.. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 A bit of progress. Airframe more or less complete and the fuselage has been given a thin coat of Humbrol 23 to start to even out the colours a bit. The insides of the undercarriage wells are 181 Gloss Sea Blue and the cockpit is 151 Interior Green. John 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Nice start. I build this when I was a kid and made a total hash of it. I think I have one in the “stash” but never really look for it as the trauma of stuffing it up still lives within me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 On 1/3/2022 at 10:00 AM, John said: It's a funny thing. There are days when I couldn't tell you what I had for my tea the night before but I can clearly remember where I got all three of the kits I'm building in this GB the first time round. I believe that’s called early onset Alzheimers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 21 hours ago, Rob S said: I build this when I was a kid and made a total hash of it. I think I have one in the “stash” but never really look for it as the trauma of stuffing it up still lives within me. Me too, however I was rather fond of mine, the green and white band decals went ok, but I'm pretty sure I didn't line them up as well as I could have. Should you ever find 'another' in that vast stash.... we could do a mini group build? Nice progress @John, Matchbox's Corsair aint a half bad kit IMO. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 Slight pause while I await an order from Sovereign Hobbies that includes a pot of ANA 623. Like I need more paint...🙄 John 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Magic! I can get on with this build and my Eduard BPF Hellcat. J 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 6, 2022 Author Share Posted February 6, 2022 An undercoat of Humbrol 79 Blue Grey: Colourcoats ANA623 to follow. J 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 (edited) Somewhere, either on BM or more likely the Sovereign Hobbies website, I seem to recall Jamie discussing Sea Blue and saying there were a number of versions, both WWII and post war. and they were not all the same shade. I see he currently sells 3 WWII - Glossy, semi glossy and non specular versions and one post-war glossy and from what he said just changing the finish of the WWII colour with varnish does not give quite the right colour, so most of my models in that colour are no doubt wrong! John seems to have got the right finish for late war anyway. Earlier, they had a mix of gloss/semi gloss and flat - all to do with light reflection I believe. Pete Edited February 6, 2022 by PeterB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 Who's a silly boy then? Having got the lovely Sovereign Hobbies Sea Blue I couldn't wait to get the first coat on the model. I also completely overlooked the fact that the cowling should be white. Oh well... Never mind. A coat of Hu10 36622 on the nose to act as an undercoat for the final colour: John 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 Don’t worry John, we’ve all done this before. In the last Matchbox GB I carefully applied a nice undercoat of white before applying the Blue to my ‘Blue Diamonds’ Hunter. Like you I was so excited to get to this stage that I forgot to mask off the white wingtips before I smeared it all with blue paint!Another recovery session and all was restored, but I was as bit embarrassed by my lack of attention. Your Corsair is looking really lovely in Sea Blue (and white)! Cheers.. Dave. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 It's been a busy week and I haven't had a lot of time for kitbashing but I've been able to at least make a start on getting the transfers onto the Corsair: In keeping with my general SFTB philosophy with these kits I'm using the decals from the box. There's a lot of Decal Cote on there to try to get it to conform to the panel lines. I hate painting white, particularly gloss white but in this case I went back to first principles. I used an old pot of Humbrol 22 Gloss White and stirred it until my arm hurt - then I stirred it a bit more. I brushed it out unthinned. Perfect - that's why old Humbrol paints are worth having. John 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 Super work on that one and a good save on the cowling. Gloss white still brings back vivid memories of gritty paint that wouldn’t dry for a ten year old me. Maybe I should have stirred it more… Regards, Adrian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) This kit has one of two parts I've never yet managed to work out how to fit - the radiators. As I remember them the was a bit that stuck forward on the inboard end that didn't mate up with anything so if I lined it up with the leading edge, the radiators were somewhere about the tail plane and if I put the radiators somewhere reasonable the tab stuck out the front. Can't remember what I did in the end but half the decal sheet with the green stripes is still in my stash so I must have finished it somehow Yours is looking good. The other Matchbox thing I never worked out was Mosquito mudguards. Built mine wheels up and hung it from the ceiling which solved that one. Andy Edited March 15, 2022 by Foxbat 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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