Ray S Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Hello all, this is the latest old kit I have completed. It is not the world's best finish by any chalk, but it represents a milestone for me personally. I was given one of these kits by my Mum and Dad for Christmas 1966. I was 9, and by then was able to make all sorts of Airfix kits, but I failed dismally with it, and Dad finished it off for me. I was well pleased with it (was that a phrase then?). In fact, I was so pleased with it that I bought another in 1984 or 85. Then I took a break from modelling, and re-joined the hobby back in 2008, whereupon I decided to give it another go. Well, I failed then too. Fast forward a few years, I found KingKit and what do you know, another ended up in my possession, and this time I succeeded. The markings in the kit were damaged, so I looked around for some inspiration. I recalled that eons ago I had seen these in RAF colours and remembered that I wanted to do one in camo, so I asked for help in the WWII Aviation chat section and was given some great advice, and this is now the result. I had a number of Modeldecal transfer sheets, and they came in handy, although there was a little bit of a compromise on the under-wing red/white/blue flashes. I did no additions to the kit except for scratch-building one of the lower engine exhausts from 0.8mm brass rod, the original having been missing from the kit, and adding some rigging between the outboard struts and between the tail fins. I used ColourCoats paints for the camouflage, brush-painted and was very impressed with the yellow - that only needed two coats straight over the grey styrene. Cabin windows were glazed with Humbrol Clearfix - much better than Krystal Klear. Fitting the wings was my downfall on the previous two builds, and it nearly was again this time. You have to add a pair of struts under each upper engine nacelle, glue them onto the lower wing, then add a jig which holds the wings in place while you then add the other struts. An extra pair of hands would have been useful. The top wing skewed to start with, but as I added the extra struts, it gradually started to straighten out. This arrangement meant I had to paint the wings first, and part paint the fuselage (well that part was probably optional!), and then there were two parts to the top of the fuselage go in to lock the wings in place, and then the rest of the painting can be done. Those two parts would interfere with the jig, so it needed to be done this way as far as I could tell. Anyway, it worked. The cockpit glazing was not the best of fits, nor were the exhausts. One I had to replace as I mentioned, but they were very fiddly to get in remotely the right place, and probably should have been done before I fitted the wings. I don't think I got them right in the end. This aircraft has an amazing stance, it looks ungainly but beautiful at the same time. I am so glad I eventually managed to complete one, I have the new Vintage issue in stock now, that will be silver, and hopefully I can make a better overall job of it, but not just yet. I am really looking forward to Heather Kay's build when she gets around to it, sometime in the future. Anyway, thanks for looking, Ray PS I am doing a new 1/48 Airfix Chipmunk now, it is fun building something that fits well (so far). 36 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Sometime in the future is right on the money. Your HP looks dandy to me. I’m pleased you’ve finally conquered the kit, too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallBlondJohn Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Very nice, looking forward to a silver one (yours and mine). Imperial operated these for a decade without a single fatality, the crabs got them and wrecked the lot in six months. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Congrats to the third (?) try, yielding such a respectable product! She looks good! Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 Thanks all for the comments, views and likes, they are all appreciated! 15 hours ago, Heather Kay said: Sometime in the future is right on the money. No hurry or pressure Heather! 14 hours ago, TallBlondJohn said: Very nice, looking forward to a silver one (yours and mine). Imperial operated these for a decade without a single fatality, the crabs got them and wrecked the lot in six months. Very true, very true and somewhat sad for an elegant aircraft like this. 10 hours ago, Spitfire31 said: Congrats to the third (?) try, yielding such a respectable product! She looks good! Kind regards, Joachim Yep, as the saying goes, third time lucky! Despite the history between this kit and me, I really enjoyed the build, and had a great sense of achievement when done. I know there is a lot that could be done to improve it, but keeping it 'simple' this time was just what I needed. Cheers all, Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 I am really glad you persevered and got such a great result. Like many of Airfix's biplanes of that generation, getting the struts, wings and fuselage all in the right orientation can be somewhat 'challenging'. You can take your 'lessons learned' on to your next silver one and enjoy it even more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Monday Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Your perseverance has paid off handsomely. BM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Excellent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Third time's the charm. Well done for beating it into shape at last 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 Impressive work on this old kit ! Just imagine this one is flying low overhead. Guess the engine sound and the sight of it would be amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptmvarsityfan Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 Super build, great colour scheme too. As BerndM said above,must have been an amazing sight in flight. Cheers, Paul 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 Lovely job Ray, looks great in this scheme. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 A great build on the old kit, lovely choice of paint scheme ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted April 9, 2022 Author Share Posted April 9, 2022 Thanks all for the kind comments! Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 Lovely work and a great "save" on your third try. It looks good in this scheme. Curiously I built this kit once... for my Dad! I built it in over a week (I was on holiday at his home in Bogota, Colombia) and using what I had available there! I was pleased with the result. Pity it got trashed at some point in one of my Dad's house-moving after that. Good luck with the next one! Miguel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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