heloman1 Posted August 30 Posted August 30 Having only built two F-4's the new-ish Airfix kit caught my eye. My last one, the excellent but dated Fujimi kit suffered a bird strike, so need repair! So, here I am with this kit. I will add a bit of bling in the form of the Quick Boost resin seats and a the Flightpath access ladders, otherwise, it will be an OOB build. However, I might just drift off track with the old Almark Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race markings. So, here is the box art along with the bling... I'm not going to bother with the sprues etc, you can find them elsewhere... Right, I'm off to the bottle store or as you call it the Off Licence... Until later, Colin FLY NAVY 9 1
Dave Swindell Posted August 30 Posted August 30 1 hour ago, heloman1 said: I might just drift off track with the old Almark Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race markings. From the thread title I was hoping for XT864 as the last flight off the Ark - I did this many moons ago with the Fujimi kit - but if you go with these markings you might find this useful https://www.oldcicestrians.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The_Daily_Mail_Transatlantic_Race.pdf 4
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 31 Posted August 31 Hello & Welcome to the build. I built 007 from the cruise previous to the Jubilee markings.
heloman1 Posted August 31 Author Posted August 31 Thanks Dave, a very interesting article and thanks for your input, appreciated. I was still serving in the FAA when all this took place. I have a Yeovilton Air Day program with photos and as mentioned, the Almark decals (at present AWOL). The last launch off Ark would be a good alternative but, I think my choice is made. No, I probably need to get hold of a first day cover, which would make a decent base. Colin. FLY NAVY 1
heloman1 Posted September 3 Author Posted September 3 So, the bottle store outing didn't happen. So some me time and I made some progress on assembly I've painted up the cockpit and may have made a boob but hey, it's done, The kit seats are Ok but I made a start on painting the Quickboost replacements. Fiddly brushwork! The tub assembled and painted it was dropped into the fuselage halves. I then set about the wing underside . So this is where I am today... That's all folks... Colin FLY NAVY 11
heloman1 Posted September 5 Author Posted September 5 My woodwork project is taking most of my time at present, so progress is slow. I'm having trouble fitting the lower wing panel. The intake dusts are getting in the way! Time to break out the motor tool! Colin FLY NAVY
Jabba Posted September 5 Posted September 5 Welcome along and that is some good work that you have done. That is a nice photo of the intersection of St Athans runway.
heloman1 Posted September 6 Author Posted September 6 Grrrrrrrr. Not a happy modeller with the fit of this kit! For a relatively new release, the amount of pushing, shoving, squeezing, filling, cutting sanding is no joke. I'm not enjoying this build, I think thee might have been less hassle repairing my Fujimi build, which suffered a hard landing! Anyway, all that said, I have made some progress. I did however, have to use an amount of tape and a few clamps! It's MotoGP weekend, otherwise, I might just go and lie down in a darkened room... Until later Colin FLY NAVY 4 1
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 6 Posted September 6 10 hours ago, heloman1 said: Grrrrrrrr. Not a happy modeller with the fit of this kit! For a relatively new release, the amount of pushing, shoving, squeezing, filling, cutting sanding is no joke. I'm not enjoying this build, I think thee might have been less hassle repairing my Fujimi build, which suffered a hard landing! Anyway, all that said, I have made some progress. I did however, have to use an amount of tape and a few clamps! It's MotoGP weekend, otherwise, I might just go and lie down in a darkened room... Until later Colin FLY NAVY Thats pretty bad, I’ve never heard of these being that bad.
heloman1 Posted September 7 Author Posted September 7 11 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Thats pretty bad, I’ve never heard of these being that bad. Hi, I thought at first it was me, not concentrating but the more I looked then more I knew it was the kit! Still it has given me more hours of entertainment. Not that I wanted a longer build, I want to get back to my Gannet and Sea King builds... Colin FLY NAVY 1
Jabba Posted September 7 Posted September 7 I have built 3 of these kits (building the 4h now) and apart from the first one I have had problems getting the fuselage together. I think that it is something to do with the tolerences that Airfix do not allow for, in that everything has to be perfect for parts to fit. 1 1
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 7 Posted September 7 8 hours ago, heloman1 said: Hi, I thought at first it was me, not concentrating but the more I looked then more I knew it was the kit! Still it has given me more hours of entertainment. Not that I wanted a longer build, I want to get back to my Gannet and Sea King builds... Colin FLY NAVY 1 hour ago, Jabba said: I have built 3 of these kits (building the 4h now) and apart from the first one I have had problems getting the fuselage together. I think that it is something to do with the tolerences that Airfix do not allow for, in that everything has to be perfect for parts to fit. Could the plastic be different from the initial production run ? Or could the moulds have shrunk somehow from the repeated heat/cool cycle ?
heloman1 Posted September 8 Author Posted September 8 12 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Could the plastic be different from the initial production run ? Or could the moulds have shrunk somehow from the repeated heat/cool cycle ? I doubt that I think it was a lack of checking the parts fit out of the tool and making adjustments! 1
heloman1 Posted September 9 Author Posted September 9 Further up the page, I commented that I had painted the cockpit tub in black! However, this morning after my trip to the eye clinic, I decided it wasn't correct and have gone back and repainted it in grey. The white instrument decals don't look as garish now, I probably should have purchased AM 3D printed replacements. I'm only going to finish the seats and then call the cockpit done. Colin FLY NAVY 1
heloman1 Posted September 16 Author Posted September 16 Well, this build/kit is beginning to give me the zig! An attempt to fit the windscreen necessitated some surgery to the front coming. That sorted and repainted, I added the HUD, it's too tall to allow the screen to sit properly, so, I moved the HUD back 1.5mm. It still doesn't look great! I'm beginning to think Italeri had a hand in the tooling! I's cold and wet today, I have a cutting list to draw out for two full sheets of plywood for my workbench, so I'll immerse myself in that... Colin the despondent!!! trying to FLY NAVY 1 1
heloman1 Posted September 19 Author Posted September 19 The Phantom continues to throw curved balls at me. I have this week been trying to get the windscreen fitted, some surgery was need at he front and then more on the sides. In fact, I ended up adding wedges of plasticard to elevate the rear edge. It won't notice one I'm finished as the canopies will be open. So, onwards and upwards... I've ordered two of the new Westland Wessex kit. Being an ex Wessex grubber, we shall see what happens there. The Italeri kit has issues... Colin FLY NAVY 2
Ray S Posted September 19 Posted September 19 Oh my, it looks like this is fighting you somewhat. I'm sure you'll win through in the end. Ray
Parabat Posted September 19 Posted September 19 On 16/09/2025 at 08:27, heloman1 said: Well, this build/kit is beginning to give me the zig! 🤣 have not heard that phrase in many a year, thanks for the reminiscence! I've had the issue of things not quite fitting as they are supposed to, most recently the Hasegawa Hornet, where the kit provided pilot could not be seated properly without some severe surgery. It is disappointing and turns what should be a 30sec job into a few hours. Looks like you've solved the issue though, well done.
heloman1 Posted September 20 Author Posted September 20 Thanks guys, somewhat depressing, I was hoping for an easy build... Colin
heloman1 Posted October 6 Author Posted October 6 Oooops! Almost twenty days since my last post! I have however, been bust (no photos). I've sprayed the underside whit with a Tamiya rattle can Pure White, masked the whole underside and shot EDSG over the upper surfaces. I used Xtra-colour Gloss EDSG for this and got a fantastic finish using Mr colour Levelling thinners but ran out of paint for second coat. So I deferred to Humbrol again thinned with the above, it's given a great finish but now needs glossing! I'm away on a cruise of the Aegean Sea until the 20th, so I'll see you all on my return. Colin SAIL NAVY 2
heloman1 Posted October 20 Author Posted October 20 Well, I'm back from our fantastic cruise, not a hobby shop in sight! Well rested after a 30 and a half our journey back from Rome, via London and Johannesburg! I'll endeavour to get back to my build later today, Colin FLY NAVY
roy107 Posted October 20 Posted October 20 1 hour ago, heloman1 said: not a hobby shop in sight! I've spotted a niche. Open a hobby shop on each cruise ship. Welcome back 🙂
heloman1 Posted October 21 Author Posted October 21 20 hours ago, roy107 said: I've spotted a niche. Open a hobby shop on each cruise ship. Welcome back 🙂 Nice idea... 1 1
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