Airfix Angel Interceptor (about 1/87) - completed

[Galligraphics]

Whilst having a rummage in the loft stash for something else, I came across this Snap'n'Glue boxing of the old Angel Interceptor. As a big Gerry Anderson fan (I have lots of models and toys from Stingray, Thunderbirds, UFO, Space 1999 and of course Captain Scarlet) I made one of these WAY back in my youth, but I'm not sure what happened to the bits. So this is a good opportunity to fill that gap on my shelf (I'm lying - there ARE no gaps on my shelf, but you know what I mean...).

This particular boxing has the horrible extra "fin" things added either side to support the nose piece, so they'll have to go once the nose has been added. I can't find the original decals, but that is no big loss as they weren't up to the standard of the later rerelease which had lovely detailed markings and stencils (I believe printed by Cartograf) - and I have been able to scan a copy and print a set onto some inkjet decal paper.

Badged as 1/72, it is in actuality around 1/87 based on published specs, so the included standard Airfix jet pilot figure is a little too large. However, I found a figure from an old Scout helicopter kit which is rather smaller, so I'll use that one. I've also got a Milliput-moulded copy of an aftermarket ejector seat which looks a bit more like the "real" thing and is in any event miles better than the flat shelf-like thing provided in the kit.

The kit tailpipe also annoyed me - it is probably a scale 6" thick and has no depth. So something better needed to be found. It just so happens that last year I was in my local DIY store and saw a little packet of mini plumbing fixtures; dunno what they're supposed to be used for, but I saw tailpipes... Original kit exhaust on the left, replacement bit on the right.

Sadly, I failed miserably to take any more WIP shots for a while, so this is where I'm up to now - fuselage is closed up, some detail added to the cockpit, revised tailpipe added, nose added and fixing bits removed, nose itself "sharpened" - the kit nose as provided is far too blunt - and the intakes cleaned up a bit and added. Quite a lot of filler is going to be necessary, I think...

Edited June 21, 2022 by Galligraphics
Finished…

[Hook]

Nice work so far, pulling up an 1/87th chair!

[Pete in Lincs]

S.I.G!

[Aku]

What's wrong with the little wings under the nose??? Do you think they are too big??

 

(updated). Ignore that. They're not in the box art and you've already shaved them off. I've never seen them before. Ok an image search showed me what you meant.  

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Aku

[Galligraphics]

1 hour ago, Aku said:

What's wrong with the little wings under the nose??? Do you think they are too big??

When I talked about the “horrible fin things” I didn’t mean the canards - as far as I know they are correct, just need a bit of fettling to fit snugly. No, what I was referring to was the two spurious little mouldings added by Airfix to either side of the nose ABOVE the canards when they remoulded the kit as a Snap'n'Glue kit to grip the pointy end better - as seen in the photo below and that posted by @Aku above . They don't appear on the studio model at all, which is why I removed them once I'd added the nose. And then filled, sanded, filled, sanded (and repeat...)

Edited April 4, 2022 by Galligraphics

[Uncle Monty]

Looking forward to this, I always thought the Interceptor was one of Meddings' best designs, still looks epic today after all these years. The Airfix box art by Roy Cross was simply superb and probably many people just bought the kit for that alone (including me)

[Galligraphics]

10 hours ago, Uncle Monty said:

The Airfix box art by Roy Cross was simply superb

Agreed - which is why I just don't understand what Airfix's marketing department was thinking when they changed the picture on the box to a photo of the actual model....

 

Just a brief update this evening -  tailplane added and wings placed into position but not yet glued, small piece of tube added to form the gun, and the ejection seat painted.

And finally - after the discussion about horrible fins, I think the canards have taken umbrage, because I've lost that part . It was there yesterday, but not today. I can't really blame the carpet monster - you can't really see the carpet in my workshop at the moment... . I'll have a proper look tomorrow (which will involve moving a LOT of stuff ) and, if I can't find it, then will have to break out the plasticard and start carving...

 

 

[RAF4EVER]

If I remember correctly ,all the Angel Interceptor pilots were female,they were called Destiny[ Leader] Symphony,Harmony, Rhapsody and Melody,

 

S.I. G.

[Galligraphics]

54 minutes ago, RAF4EVER said:

If I remember correctly ,all the Angel Interceptor pilots were female,they were called Destiny[ Leader] Symphony,Harmony, Rhapsody and Melody

That’s right. The Airfix pilot might require some minor surgery…

[Hook]

1 hour ago, RAF4EVER said:

all the Angel Interceptor pilots were female

I plan on using the Stratos female pilot parts in my Airfix TSR.2 on mine.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Galligraphics]

1 hour ago, Hook said:

I plan on using the Stratos female pilot parts in my Airfix TSR.2 on mine.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Great idea! Sadly I missed out on both the TSR2 and the Stratos 2… 

[Ventora3300]

On 04/04/2022 at 16:52, Galligraphics said:

The kit tailpipe also annoyed me - it is probably a scale 6" thick and has no depth. So something better needed to be found. It just so happens that last year I was in my local DIY store and saw a little packet of mini plumbing fixtures; dunno what they're supposed to be used for, but I saw tailpipes... Original kit exhaust on the left, replacement bit on the right.

 

 

 

This is an iconic kit and I'm always on the lookout for a 'Red Box' version (Roy Cross Artwork) which is not going for silly money - I'll wait a long time!

 

The 'jet pipe' you have picked up is a plastic insert which strengthens the ends of laminated plastic plumbing/heating pipes before you clamp the end in a radiator valve or joint. I have a bag too so I will change to building jet aircraft now to use them up! All the best for your build. Mike

[John_W]

Are those two bulges on top of the wings prototypical, or were they added for the snapfix kit?

[Galligraphics]

55 minutes ago, John_W said:

Are those two bulges on top of the wings prototypical, or were they added for the snapfix kit?

John - they definitely appear on the studio models, although those on the kit are perhaps a little bigger than the “real” ones. I’m not going to try and correct them, though - too much trouble for not enough benefit (unless anyone has good photos of the original to compare with, they aren’t really going to notice).

Cheers, Nige

[Galligraphics]

No modelling this weekend as we have a packed Easter programme… However I have one piece of good news to report - I found the missing canard! . It was somehow caught up with the decals I’d been looking through for my Phantom build .

[Tarkas]

On 4/6/2022 at 10:26 PM, Galligraphics said:

Agreed - which is why I just don't understand what Airfix's marketing department was thinking when they changed the picture on the box to a photo of the actual model....

I think that was from the days when all Airfix boxes showed assembled models (not always very well made) for legal reasons. The concept of "no win, no fee" cases for lawyers started off a huge rise in litigation, first in American courts and then all over the place, for all sorts of reasons, real and spurious. The "reason" that got the model manufacturers worried was people (usually parents of kids) complaining (and suing!) because the kit did not contain everything that was in the box painting. All those wonderful Roy Cross paintings were dropped because they didn't just show the model that could be made from the kit. There might be other aircraft in the painting, or a target for a strafing run, or ground crew and their equipment, or whatever. Basically, Airfix and others were scared of having their socks sued off in the legal equivalent of a DDoS attack and so resorted to a WYSIWYG approach for kit boxes -- boring, but safer in litigation terms.

 

It's purely speculation on my part, but the thought comes to mind that the low standard of modelling shown on some of the box photos could have been done deliberately to prevent claims that little Johnny couldn't make a model that looked like the photo! 🙄

[Galligraphics]

A bit more progress to report; wings are on and the underside has had its gaps filled with LOTS of filler (alternate Vallejo Plastic Putty and Tippex) and it's still not yet right:

I've got my work cut out to get this nice and smooth...

The good news is that the Angel (reserve pilot - the lesser known Cacophony Angel...) is painted and in her rightful place - these photos have highlighted that a) I went a tad overboard with the dry-brushing on the gunsight or whatever the box on the coaming is, so I'll hit that with some black/dark grey later, and b) that I need to thin the red seat straps a little - so will go over the edges with some white. The third pic shows the canopy (which has been dipped in Klear but not yet painted) dry-fitted in place - it is actually pretty clear so the additional cockpit detailing was worth doing.

Now back to that filling and sanding... 

 

[Uncle Monty]

"..The good news is that the Angel (reserve pilot - the lesser known Cacophony Angel..." 😀

Cacophony is looking very good, as is the cockpit. Very nice work.

[Arthur_Dent]

IIRC this was one of if not the first kit I ever built waaay back in the 80's and it didn't look anywhere near as good as your build is shaping up to be. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished result. 

[Galligraphics]

I've been a bit busy over the last few days and have only just managed to spend half an hour in the workshop, so this is a very brief update. More sanding has taken place... 

I think I'm nearly there - next step will be to apply some primer to see just how wrong I am...

...and I've inserted two thin strips of plastic card to divide the two lower air vents(?) on the tail as seen on the studio model - the Airfix kit just has the one each side.

We'll see what they look like after being primed - the studio model has the gaps wider at the bottom than the top, so I may have to think about reshaping them...

Oh, and I've just realised that I should probably cut out the semi-circular vent at the top front of the tail... or could I get away with just painting it black... 🤔

[Galligraphics]

On 5/1/2022 at 10:07 PM, Galligraphics said:

I've just realised that I should probably cut out the semi-circular vent at the top front of the tail... or could I get away with just painting it black... 🤔

No - I'll gouge out a roughly semi-circular hole and hope it looks okay. Which it does. From about three feet away...

And after a coat of primer we can stand back and see what remains to be done...

Which is more filling of the fuselage seams, top and bottom, and the big scratch at the top of the tail where my hand slipped whilst digging out the vent . The good news is that, once done, that should hopefully be about it for the filling and sanding and I should soon be able to start thinking about painting 

[Galligraphics]

Initial coat of white primer (Halfords rattlecan) applied...

...and then an experiment. Before overspraying with gloss white, I drew on some panel lines with a fine pencil, in the hope that they will (just) show through the gloss coat - a bit like the studio models which often had panel lines etc drawn on instead of engraved. Unfortunately, when I had this idea, it was late, I was in a rush and the result doesn't bear close inspection. 

[Uncle Monty]

I can see the problem. What's the plan - strip the paint and remove the pencil marks, or do you have other ideas?

[TheBaron]

Aah. I feel your pain on those lines but don't worry,  its completely recoverable.

 

I'd simply strip of the paint off and respray, adding the pencil lines in afterwards. I find rulers roo big and bulky so use some thin scraps of brass to draw straight lines as they work for both flat and curved surfaces.

 

You can vary the weight of the lines afterwards  by going back over them with gentle strokes from an eraser, then seal with a coat of varnish.

 

Hth,

Tony

[Galligraphics]

On 5/26/2022 at 2:28 PM, Uncle Monty said:

I can see the problem. What's the plan - strip the paint and remove the pencil marks, or do you have other ideas?

 

On 5/26/2022 at 3:04 PM, TheBaron said:

Aah. I feel your pain on those lines but don't worry,  its completely recoverable. I'd simply strip of the paint off and respray, adding the pencil lines in afterwards.

Thanks guys. Yes I COULD have stripped the paint off and respray, but did I mention that I was in a rush? I should also confess that I am quite impatient and also not a perfectionist... so I went ahead and sprayed with Halfords Ford Diamond White. And, yes, the wobbly pencil marks (or at least some of them) did show through . So I have carefully (hah!) painted over those lines with a fine brush using an ancient Citadel white acrylic - I'm hoping that once it is all covered with an overall clear coat it might not notice so much 🤞🏻.

Oh, and I've painted the cockpit framing with silver, which has only highlighted the fact that the glue I used to affix the canopy has left a few blobby bits in the joints. So there's a bit more remedial work to be done - removal of said blobby bits with sharp scalpel, repaint of edges, cross fingers and hope that the final overall clear coat disguises the problem 🤞🏻. 

Did I say I was impatient? I started decalling the model before painting the red flashes on the intakes and "feet"... I can foresee more issues in due course. But hopefully the final clear coat....🤞🏻

 

Photos tomorrow, hopefully.

 

Nige