Troy Smith Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 One of three proper nostalgia kits I bought 5 years ago, from Kingkit, specifically for the boxings. 50620304 by losethekibble, on Flickr One of the earliest models I ever had, I'd have been 5 or maybe 6, and that box art was seared into memory. I don't recall much about the kit, except it had engine detail... possibly I was just given the box and instructions? Anyway, it was a formative memory. I don't know if it even got much built, I was too young properly read the instructions, and no-one helped me to do this, I know around this point I had a Frog Vultee Vengeance, and I had filled the wheels with glue, which went soggy, and I had put them in fridge to try to cure that.... I think Vengeance was wanted purely because of the header card artwork... yes, i got that with this and the other one... I think it was about 8 before I actually could complete a kit unaided, but after that I built loads and loads... More later ... 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 (edited) Oooh a great choice Troy. Edited June 25, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Great stuff Troy, and love the back story ! There's something about that light blue colour of plastic that instantly takes you back to our childhood. Best of luck with this one. Cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Nice memories, they add a lot to the thread. In my collection I have a few models built by junior hands that have very apparent faults, bad paint choices and similar disasters. I've kept them as they show so clearly the kind of thing we all did at some point. All part of the learning curve. An Airfix SR53 is a particular favourite. The builder made it gear up and made sure the undercarriage doors were never going to fall out by using about half a tube of glue. The drying glue has dimpled the wing top surfaces quite a bit but the builder carried on and finished the plane anyway, probably all in the same sitting. It's not exactly a masterpiece but it's a near perfect example of how many early builds went together. These kind of models are a snapshot in time. I really wish I had some of my earliest builds now. They are long gone though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 I like your choice a lot Troy. I remember the 219 in exactly this box. It was one of the 'advanced' kits for my skills (1968?) with the opening engine doors etc. I think I built it a second time ca. 1971 with a more professional camo (hand-painted light blue with blotches). Looked great! I will follow your progress for sure. Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted June 25, 2022 Author Share Posted June 25, 2022 3 hours ago, TonyW said: These kind of models are a snapshot in time. I really wish I had some of my earliest builds now. They are long gone though I don't have any really rreal early builds, but I have a lot from my most prolific era, 8-11, when I happily churned out kits. They are battered, props and uc legs etc often gone, and most are in boxes in the shed.... a few here when I was posting about how I liked Airfix model paints, (and how much I disliked Humbrol 30 even in 1975 as it was blue green... and it was NOT the same colour as Airfix M3....) note the chipped roundel on the 32nd Hurricane wing, that green underneath is H30, i got repainted later with M3... 50620938 by losethekibble, on Flickr This IS Humbrol 30..... Done in I think 1975, 50620020 by losethekibble, on Flickr 50620021 by losethekibble, on Flickr I was convinced for a while that the underside blue was a specified mix on the instructions, but after some contemplation, I think this was a fix for not having the actual paint, and because I had a set of Revell paints in little glass tubes (got one of those in the archive @TonyW?) that had a list of mixes, I recall being surprised at the yellow+black making dark green, and that you could matt paint by adding a little talc.... 3 hours ago, TonyW said: These kind of models are a snapshot in time. I 'knew' how to mix paint, as age 7-8 I painted several boxes of 32nd Airfix soldiers, which I still have, though the very early ones got repainted later as the original paint jibs were not great or funny colours.... My Afrika Korps were done in a gloss mix that looked a bit like Sky.... with gloss brown straps...... I recall trying to make 'black' by mixing gloss red, yellow and dark blue.... of course you don't teach small children the fine details of how paint mixing works...... My other memory about these was going to Lewes on the bus (Lived in a nearby village then, Rodmell , it about 5 miles away) and having about 30p, and the Afrika Korps were about 40p, and harassing mum for 10p, who for whatever reason was not wanting add in the extra (later I think the peace and quiet that descended when locked into modelling meant that I got a regular supply of kits..) , and an old lady behind us very kindly gave me the additional 10p..... (probably to shut me up...) so I got the much desired Afrika Korps set and spent an afternoon mixing paint up and painting outside in the garden... Another fragment...For some reason I didn't like that the box art showed Panzer grenadiers, with apple green piping, so I repainted the box art with white for infantry, as it listed piping colours on the information on the back.... the figures have white piping... 23 minutes ago, Toryu said: I remember the 219 in exactly this box. It was one of the 'advanced' kits for my skills (1968?) with the opening engine doors etc. I think I built it a second time ca. 1971 with a more professional camo (hand-painted light blue with blotches). Looked great! I'm pondering on colours..... and markings...do I go with the kit markings/scheme, or another He219 scheme? I say this as the other nostalgia build is going to a box art imitator.... Whose intro I'm about to do.... cheers T 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Fine choice Troy,it's odd I know people say a song or fragrance instantly bring back memories but for me colour's do it and the blue plastic in the photo takes me right back to happy childhood days when models first came into my life,there's a guy at work with a custom paint job on his car a real metal flake green that gives me the same feeling as I had a hotwheels Beetle in that very colour! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 8 hours ago, JOCKNEY said: There's something about that light blue colour of plastic that instantly takes you back to our childhood. So you get it too Pat😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Some of the pics remind me of a few kits I left in a shed at my parents house when I moved out. Returning to collect them a couple of years later I found that the roof had leaked, so the contents of the shed had either been soaking wet or baking in the sun - the plastic was warped and the paint and decs had started to peel off. That is why I have none of the 8 or so Airfix 1/144 airliners I built. Pete 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted June 26, 2022 Author Share Posted June 26, 2022 8 posts and no modelling, tsk tsk.... Cleaned up the central bit of desk, and knocked the Matchbox debris of the cutting mat and cardboard... rooted around the for paint etc,,,, Then actually clipped off some bits and did some test fits.... 50620305 by losethekibble, on Flickr I'd not really appreciated the unusual layout of the kits parts, the upper/lower fuselage split, and the multipart wings. These are compounded by using the vertically split nacelles as the joint between fuselage wing stubs and the outer panels... And the nacelles work for solidity on a rear bulkhead and the engine block.... Looks to be a recipe for trouble.... poor fit and it's wonky wings time. But, the parts fit is very very good, the wing tounges into the nacelle are a very stiff push fit, and look to give a good alignment... The locating pins are small compared to the locating holes, and are not quite aligned, nothing a little reaming won't adjust. I did make one addition, a couple of strips of 20 thou card on the rear fuselage join, so when glued it would give a solid surface, otherwise you have a fragile join which doesn't really want to line up and could crack. I can see how this would be tricky to do for a six year old.... the wing push fit required a fair amount of effort. To get something that does not look like cack requires some care and planning.... time for some paint... 50620306 by losethekibble, on Flickr Revell Aqua Helloliv 45 for RLM 02, and Vallejo 70.994 for RLM 66, RLM 66 varied in colour, so pretty much any neutral dark grey is going to be not far off I also stuck a bit of rolled up scrap lead sheet behind the cockpit. It's been rolled to fit, and was not glued, being held in place but the pin mount mouldings. Don't know if it needs it, but I scrounged a good handful of scrap sheet from a building job up the street so I had it spare. I think it does. Great thing about acrylics is their drying speed, so I was on a roll, and pressed on . 50620307 by losethekibble, on Flickr This shows the multiple pegs used on the rear fuselage, which pressed the upper part against the 20 thou sheet I had installed earlier, making for a reasonably flat side..... I hope... One little detail was revell had mould intake vents into the wing and the tail plane, so they got a coat of black inside, as did the engine blocks. Wheels have had a coat of grey, I actually do a quite a few test fits and loo for problems. One odd little glitch, the back of the prop spinners have a much larger hole than the pin, the hold being the right size about 3mm in... I was looking at attaching the props later, so added some plastic strip to cut down on the wobble factor... Funny kit, some quite advanced tooling, and which relies on it, as well some classic basic simplified detail, but also odd details, like a line of rivets around the tops of the engine blocks. I have been using a mix of glues, including some classic tube glue bead direct from the tube for the upper/lower fuselage join.. Thanks for reading and all the comments cheers T 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 Don't know if there is any mention of weight in the Revell instructions, but if you are going for wheels down you will need a lot and there is not a great deal of space in the nose if my latest Frog 219 is anything to go by. That too was a Revell boxing although actually labelled "Matchbox" so I was not quite sure which I was going to get until I opened it. The "original" Revell one like yours may be a bit better detailed. I will watch with interest to see how it compares. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted June 26, 2022 Author Share Posted June 26, 2022 23 minutes ago, PeterB said: you will need a lot and there is not a great deal of space in the nose see pic with paint pots, look down, it's a big chunk of lead sheet rolled behind the cockpit. I guessed, but it's a much as would fit there. There are some small voids inside of the 'cockpit' as well. I'll find out if the guess was good later. ! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 Hi Try, There are always the engine nacelles as a back up. I actually also put in a lead cockpit floor/nose wheel bay roof though it did reduce the depth of the bay a bit! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 (edited) 20 minutes ago, PeterB said: There are always the engine nacelles as a back up. Indeed, I built a TA154 a while ago and had to put weight into the leading edges of the wings as well as the nacelles to get it to sit right. Edited June 26, 2022 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 4, 2022 Author Share Posted July 4, 2022 Been distracted and busy, nothing fun, but kept from working on this much. But has allowed the decals plenty of time in the sun... need to check those. A look at the NASM He219 showed metal rather than black engines, which surprised me (and I'm tempted to do this scheme...) So did the engine blocks a Tamiya Aluminium and grey mix, and the washed it brown/back oil wash... and then glued the nacelles, which didn't fit as well as I'd have liked.. and this is what the desk looked like this afternoon 50620338 by losethekibble, on Flickr Been doing the wheels, and added a little bit of rod to support the tail plane and some strip to fill the gap, as otherwise there would have been a step. 50620339 by losethekibble, on Flickr And, then cleaned up the nacelle joints. The wing construction is a recipe for wonky wings without care, so blu tacked in the UC legs, measure the centres with a vernier calliper, marked those on the card, used a couple of drops of tube glue on the mating surfaces, not the tongues so can prise apart if needed, lined the legs up vertical (I spotted that this L plate made a nifty set square when rooting around for DIY stuff) and stuck a bit of lead strip onto to hold it all down... So we'll see if it end up wonky or not... But get the centre lined up, and then the outer panels. All good modelling practice, for when I do all the more expensive special kits I spent years stashing and not building....though I have a pretty good eye for if things are out of kilter. On 26/06/2022 at 12:41, PeterB said: Don't know if there is any mention of weight in the Revell instructions, but if you are going for wheels down you will need a lot Didn't notice any mention of weight, but it sits nose down solidly when I was jigging this up... if not I have another plan... thanks for reading. cheers T 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 and, after much squinting and twisting..... 50620340 by losethekibble, on Flickr The outer wings were OK, one looked about right, so did a couple of little SG drops, and fixed, then eyeballed the other wing to same with SG drops, later then used UET into the joins. The tail was tricker, seems the fins are right angles to the tail planes horizontal, so went with that, but quite hard to then judge as the angles tail lines up against the wings and tail fin is difficult to judge. Though same applies when finished... Canopy got a Kleer dip, and letting it set. Wing joints need some work.... thanks for reading cheers T 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 On 26/06/2022 at 12:41, PeterB said: Don't know if there is any mention of weight in the Revell instructions I checked the instructions today, suggests a 1/4 oz of Plasticene for nose weight, which surprised me. Need a last seam check, did dip the canopy in Kleer, and then found it did not deal with the scratch, so had to polish that out. Had a go at painting the crew, they seem very small and not great mouldings... I did have a google to find out what night fighter crew wore, went for leather flight suits, and noticed the instructions call for this as well. Also been faffing about mixing up some RLM 76, (yes, I know it varied, but the more you go about mixing/matching colours, the better you get at it) though I have a very old pot of Aeromaster RLM 75 which is spot on match to the 72nd scale faded chip in the Monogram Guide to painting German Aircraft. thanks for reading cheers T 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 On 6/26/2022 at 12:41 PM, PeterB said: Don't know if there is any mention of weight in the Revell instructions, but if you are going for wheels down you will need a lot and there is not a great deal of space in the nose if my latest Frog 219 is anything to go by. That too was a Revell boxing although actually labelled "Matchbox" so I was not quite sure which I was going to get until I opened it. The "original" Revell one like yours may be a bit better detailed. I will watch with interest to see how it compares. Pete I've got an early FROG version as well. I've added as much weight as I possibly could to the nose area. It's still a tailsitter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 (edited) 9 minutes ago, TonyW said: I've got an early FROG version as well. I've added as much weight as I possibly could to the nose area. It's still a tailsitter! Hi Tony, I added a cockpit floor/wheel bay roof from lead window strip, and still had to add a load of strip to each of the engine nacelles to get the ruddy nose down! Pete Edited July 14, 2022 by PeterB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 Excellent progress Troy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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