80346 Heller/Humbrol Gloster Javelin T.3 +++FINISHED+++

[Ray S]

Heller all, this will be my entry for this fine Group Build, the Heller/Humbrol Gloster Javelin T.3. I remember building one of these when it first came out, and I still have the scars. I could not get the horizontally-split fuselage have to fit without a step, and the separate wing outers had a similar problem. It may well have been me, but now after about 40 years I suppose I will find out whether it was or not, or even maybe if my modelling skills have improved (or not).

 

First up, the obligatory box/contents shots:

 

 

I bought this a couple of years ago from our local Club show, a bargain at £8 I reckon. The contents:

 

 

All that glorious silver-grey styrene complete with flow lines, ahh, brings back memories. I doubt if I will remove raised panel lines (except near joint lines). There was a transparency too, which I forgot to photograph. The instructions were an improvement on another Heller kit I attempted early last year:

 

 

The paint scheme was pretty standard for most Javelins, and I've never seen much variation on T.3s especially
 

 

I would like to try and do the 60Sqn aircraft from RAF Tengah, Singapore. They departed Singapore about the time I arrived there. The transfers (decals/stickers/markings) are possible useable:
 

 

I am just not sure about the tail stripes, I have read that they could have been silver and black, rather than white and black as in the supplied sheet. Need some research. As an alternative, I do have:

 

 

This was issued in 1982 by Scale Aircraft Modelling in one of their magazines. Sadly, I no longer have that magazine. These transfers were very kindly given to me by a fellow Club member last year, @theplasticsurgeon Tim, thank you so much for these, they were really appreciated. 

 

I have a number of books related to the Javelin, the latest was a Christmas gift from my good lady wife:

 

 

In the back is a full listing of all of the Javelins built, by serial number and mark, so I should hopefully get some alternative inspiration from there too.

 

I am secretly hoping that this is going to result in a new Javelin announcement from another manufacturer in the next 15 minutes, but I cannot keep waiting for my own personal holy grail.

 

I am looking forward to building this, I am going to see if one of our fellow BM members does spare wheels for this as these have three ejector pin marks on the outside of both sides of the wheels. I know he does have stuff for the Airfix FAW.9

 

All the best with your builds, this is going to be one great GB

 

Ray

Edited May 2 by Ray S
Edited Title

[2996 Victor]

Welcome to the GB, Ray - an excellent choice - our first example of the mighty Javelin!

 

Cheers,
Mark

[PLC1966]

I have the airfix boxing of this coming to the head of the queue in the next few months.  Hopefully it is not as bad as your early experience suggest.  Good Luck.

[Wez]

Although when it was issued originally I was disappointed it wasn't a fighter version, I did come to see the wisdom of the choice of the trainer, after all every Sqn operated them so in theory there was a host of colour schemes.  I'm very pleased to see this in the GB.

 

Good luck with your build.

[Jinxman]

20 hours ago, Ray S said:

I am secretly hoping that this is going to result in a new Javelin announcement from another manufacturer in the next 15 minutes, but I cannot keep waiting for my own personal holy grail.

Normally 15 minutes after you posted it in RFI I think, 😀

[PeterB]

22 hours ago, Ray S said:

Heller all, this will be my entry for this fine Group Build, the Heller/Humbrol Gloster Javelin T.3. I remember building one of these when it first came out, and I still have the scars. I could not get the horizontally-split fuselage have to fit without a step, and the separate wing outers had a similar problem. It may well have been me, but now after about 40 years I suppose I will find out whether it was or not, or even maybe if my modelling skills have improved (or not).

 

First up, the obligatory box/contents shots:

 

 

I bought this a couple of years ago from our local Club show, a bargain at £8 I reckon. The contents:

 

 

All that glorious silver-grey styrene complete with flow lines, ahh, brings back memories. I doubt if I will remove raised panel lines (except near joint lines). There was a transparency too, which I forgot to photograph. The instructions were an improvement on another Heller kit I attempted early last year:

 

 

The paint scheme was pretty standard for most Javelins, and I've never seen much variation on T.3s especially
 

 

I would like to try and do the 60Sqn aircraft from RAF Tengah, Singapore. They departed Singapore about the time I arrived there. The transfers (decals/stickers/markings) are possible useable:
 

 

I am just not sure about the tail stripes, I have read that they could have been silver and black, rather than white and black as in the supplied sheet. Need some research. As an alternative, I do have:

 

 

This was issued in 1982 by Scale Aircraft Modelling in one of their magazines. Sadly, I no longer have that magazine. These transfers were very kindly given to me by a fellow Club member last year, @theplasticsurgeon Tim, thank you so much for these, they were really appreciated. 

 

I have a number of books related to the Javelin, the latest was a Christmas gift from my good lady wife:

 

 

In the back is a full listing of all of the Javelins built, by serial number and mark, so I should hopefully get some alternative inspiration from there too.

 

I am secretly hoping that this is going to result in a new Javelin announcement from another manufacturer in the next 15 minutes, but I cannot keep waiting for my own personal holy grail.

 

I am looking forward to building this, I am going to see if one of our fellow BM members does spare wheels for this as these have three ejector pin marks on the outside of both sides of the wheels. I know he does have stuff for the Airfix FAW.9

 

All the best with your builds, this is going to be one great GB

 

Ray

 

 

Hi Ray,

 

I believe I still have the Scale Aircraft Modelling issue in question as I remember donating the decals to another modeller on the forum. I cross kitted this kit with the old Frog one to build an earlier fighter model based on a conversion article from the same magazine I think.

 

Pete

[Ray S]

On 1/14/2025 at 3:48 PM, Ray S said:

I am secretly hoping that this is going to result in a new Javelin announcement from another manufacturer in the next 15 minutes,

 

That didn't work out very well, did it? Wishful thinking and all that.

 

On 1/15/2025 at 12:34 PM, Jinxman said:

Normally 15 minutes after you posted it in RFI I think, 😀

 

You are possibly right @Jinxman, I will take one for team Javelin with this. I will thank me later...

 

On 1/14/2025 at 4:02 PM, 2996 Victor said:

Welcome to the GB, Ray - an excellent choice - our first example of the mighty Javelin!

 

Cheers,
Mark

 

Thanks Mark, hopefully it will not be the last

 

On 1/14/2025 at 4:25 PM, PLC1966 said:

I have the airfix boxing of this coming to the head of the queue in the next few months.  Hopefully it is not as bad as your early experience suggest.  Good Luck.

 

I hope you enjoy it when you do get around to it. I have cut the fuselage halves off the runners, and this one seems to line up okay so either I had a bad one in the 80s or maybe I can line it up better in my 60's. I have certainly seen some very good builds of the Heller and Airfix Javelins, so it is possible to get a result

 

On 1/14/2025 at 6:11 PM, Wez said:

Although when it was issued originally I was disappointed it wasn't a fighter version, I did come to see the wisdom of the choice of the trainer, after all every Sqn operated them so in theory there was a host of colour schemes.  I'm very pleased to see this in the GB.

 

Good luck with your build.

 

Thanks Wez. Trainers do often not get a look in, so this one does have it's place, albeit getting rarer and rarer now

 

On 1/15/2025 at 2:08 PM, PeterB said:

 

 

Hi Ray,

 

I believe I still have the Scale Aircraft Modelling issue in question as I remember donating the decals to another modeller on the forum. I cross kitted this kit with the old Frog one to build an earlier fighter model based on a conversion article from the same magazine I think.

 

Pete

 

Cheers Pete, hopefully you had a good result from the pair combined.

 

Having just finished reading 'Gloster Javelin: An Operational History', I have learnt two things. Michael Napier states that 60 Sqn had black and silver stripes on the tail (black and white in the kit), and also that 60 Sqn retired their Javelins in Singapore in 1968, I arrived there in July 1967 so there was definitely some overlap in our being there.

 

I have decided to take this a little further than I was initially expecting. I have ordered some 3D-printed parts from @TeeELL so I will be trying to add some finesse to the kit. Although he had made the parts for the Airfix FAW.9 (ex-Heller T.3), some of the parts are applicable to the T.3 which was a relief. I had told him I would order some parts quite a long time ago but things got in the way, and I was super happy to fulfill my promise. The Javelin (along with the EE Lightning) has always been a favourite of mine ever since 1962 for the Javelin, I remember seeing them in flight when I was out with my late father mushrooming early one misty, dewy morning when we were living at Bircham Newton 1961/63. It is only aircraft with a distinct personal meaning that get the super-duper aftermarket treatment from me. I'll show you the parts when they arrive.

 

That's it for now, really looking forward to starting this one,

 

Ray

[Jur]

I'm not normally into jet planes, but this is for sure an elegant machine. Good luck with the build!

[TeeELL]

Ray,

  I can confirm that the final parts of your order have just finished their curing and will be packed and posted tomorrow (Friday).

[Ray S]

On 1/16/2025 at 6:36 PM, Jur said:

I'm not normally into jet planes, but this is for sure an elegant machine. Good luck with the build!

 

Thank you @Jur

 

On 1/16/2025 at 10:46 PM, TeeELL said:

Ray,

  I can confirm that the final parts of your order have just finished their curing and will be packed and posted tomorrow (Friday).

 

Thank you @TeeELL, they arrived safe and sound this morning, what exceptionally rapid service.

 

This is what arrived from Tony:

 

 

 

 

 

The seats are really for the FAW.9, but I am not too worried about that as they will be in a closed cockpit. The detail on these parts is absolutely incredible, and I hope I can do them justice. Time will tell.

 

I think I mentioned that I was a fan of the Javelin, these are the reference books that I have accumulated:

 

 

In the Warpaint book there are a few incredibly colourful options - the red/white one of course, but another with camo and dayglo and another with dayglo along with black/yellow stripes underneath. Sadly not T.3's but I do have a Novo Javelin which probably needs something amazing to take the eye of the quality of the kit.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[TeeELL]

If I recall, the drawings in the Warpaint book don’t differentiate between the AI-19 (long nose) and AI-22 equipped aircraft.  Not that it is relevant to your T3 build.

[TeeELL]

Try attaching the outer wing sections 34/35 to part 1 and ensuring the top surfaces align do the same with 32/33 and part 14 before you stuck the parts 1 and 14 together.  A flat surface helps to ensure the parts go together level.  I’ve tried 3 times to get the outer wings to match on FAW9 versions of this kit.  Take a look at my build

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235140876-third-time-lucky-a-definitive-javelin-airfix-172/#comment-4974873

 

[Ray S]

@TeeELL, thanks for that link. I had been considering joining the wingtips beforehand, but I hadn't thought about using a metal bar to assist. I have plenty of baseplates from 1/700 ships which will help.

Also good to hear you are at the Jet Age museum, I go there quite regularly. The Javelin is my favourite exhibit.

 

Ray 

[TeeELL]

Ray,

  you need to attach the wing tips to the upper/lower fuselage but there is a difference in section between the two so that is why.

[George Norman]

Some load of aftermarket there ! Will tune here from now.

 

[Ray S]

15 hours ago, George Norman said:

Some load of aftermarket there ! Will tune here from now.

 

 

I have not forgotten this subject, I am doing another build in the Give Peace a Chance GB, and will get to this when I've finished that one. Also, I am still trying to pluck up courage to start chopping this one up.

 

All the best,

 

Ray 

[Ray S]

Hello all, just a quick update on this. I have actually started it now, and cut away the first of the flaps from the underside and tidied the cut lines up. I am now wracking my decreasing brain functions to work out how to fit the semi-drooped flaps!

 

 

 

I am trying to work out what I need to trim to get them in, or whether I need to open up the cutout more to get it to sit in properly. I don't want to banjax this before I really start!

 

I have also done a little experimentation to see how best to brace the wings when I add the outer sections later:

 

 

That little lot seemed to work quite well. I have yet to find something to go underneath the wing (like glass) to help keep things straight.

 

That's it for now, I know it is not much but it is a start. I did find a bit of positive news this afternoon though. The undercarriage set that I got from @TeeELL was the reinforceable set, and it needed some 1.2mm metal rod to do the job. I found that I actually had some of that! Result

 

Thanks for looking, and as usual in my Group Builds, if it looks like I am going to do a boo-boo, please let me know and I will see what I can do to prevent any mistakes.

 

All the best everyone,

 

Ray

[TeeELL]

Ray,

  I will take another look at the flaps, I’ve both a ‘9 and a ‘3 and will check the dimensions.  If necessary I will revised and let you have another set.  I thought I had the dimensions correct but, perhaps, there is a difference.  I will take a look when I get home on Monday.

From the photo, it looks like I’ve made an error with the base dimensions - my apologies.

[TeeELL]

Ray,

  you are the only person who has given me feedback on the flaps issue - I confess that I’ve not incorporated the ‘drooped’ or ‘down flaps’ in my current build (only the extended air-brakes).  Fortunately I do have a built Airfix Javelin ‘mule’ that I can play around with to determine where I’ve gone wrong, along with 2 T3 kits.

[TeeELL]

Ray,

  I wonder - would you see if the ‘flap’ part itself is the correct size to fit the hole, I am wondering if the problem lies with the ‘internals’?

[Ray S]

Hello Tony, thanks for checking. I was wondering if I had done something wrong, it's been known. I think if I trim off the 'lip' aft things may fit. Otherwise it's a case of trimming the opening to the hinges of the airbrakes.

 

I must reiterate that the details in the parts that I have are absolutely fabulous, I am just hoping I can do them justice. This is the first time that I remember where I have used such delicate detailed extras

 

Ray 

[Ray S]

18 minutes ago, TeeELL said:

Ray,

  I wonder - would you see if the ‘flap’ part itself is the correct size to fit the hole, I am wondering if the problem lies with the ‘internals’?

 

Sorry, I missed this just now. The flap section is just about spot on, I will just need a little sanding forward where I removed it from the printing supports. I think you may be right about the internals 

 

Ray 

[PeterB]

Hi Ray,

 

Looking good! Earlier you mentioned "chopping up" and the SAM edition on the Javelin. I did not have access to the resin aftermarket you are using but based on the conversion article in that edition of SAM, I cross-kitted the Heller/Airfix kit with the old Frog one I built not long after its release to produce an earlier cannon armed F(AW)5. It involved cutting out the entire Frog front fuselage and grafting it on to the Heller version to get the longer radar nose and the earlier "pen nib" jet pipes.

 

 

It is the one on the right in the above pic - I used 2 different greys and greens, one Tamiya and one Gunze I seem to remember, possibly to make the earlier one look "weathered". Getting the correct sized wing roundels and fin flashes was a bit problematic as I recall! The one on the left is the Chematic kit which I originally thought would be the old Frog moulding, but if so, it had been improved/modified quite a bit -  I built that as an F(AW)9. Nothing like accurate I guess, but they don't look too bad.

 

Looks like I built the old Frog Vultee Vengeance at the same time.

 

Pete

Edited March 30 by PeterB

[Ray S]

@PeterB, they look very nice to me, I'll be very happy if mine turns out that well! Thanks for showing us,

 

Ray

 

PS I know what you mean about the roundel and fin flash availability - masking that sort of thing has always proved beyond my skill set and hand/eye coordination

[TeeELL]

Ray,

  I’ve just corrected the ‘drooped flaps’ and will get them printed this afternoon.  If you PM me your address I will see if I can get them off to you tomorrow.

 

Tony.