Christmas Airfix!

Built this for the old man this Christmas. It’s been in his attic for ten years, promising himself he’d get around to it.

I’ve been out of modelling since I was a kid. Had a few months off work earlier this year and started a kit to keep my mind busy.

Seeing the mention of the Shackleton earlier reminded me of seeing the one up at Bruntingthorpe – it’s in a very sad state indeed:

She’s in much better condition now, props on and all painted up nicely. Sadly Gatwick kept the engines so if anyone knows of four going spare then let them know!

One from some years ago that came out quite well.

Just realised that the pics from my last post are AWOL so hopefully here they are…

image link hosting[/url]

And remembered the exhaust stubs at the last minute….

A rare Protar 1/24 250 GTO, loads of detail but it took a lot of work to get right.

@rockhopper – I took those photos three years ago, so that’s quick work, and I’m glad to hear the plane hasn’t been allowed to deteriorate further. Any idea about the F104?
Bloke I was talking to who part-owned the little Czech jet trainer said that there were plans to stabilise her to stop further deterioration of the airframe, because it’s particularly prone to corrosion, and also source an engine, so it can do demo runs along with the Lightnings.
I have a particular fondness for the F104, just because it’s so extreme. It wasn’t until I was able to walk around the Bruntingthorpe plane that I realised just how thin the wings actually are, and how damned sharp they are! Got to be the only aircraft around that requires plastic protectors along the leading and trailing edges to prevent people slicing themselves open. 😳
@boggie64 – I like the 250 GTO, it would be fun to build one as a replica of Nick Mason’s car; that one carries the U.K. licence plate 250GTO, and is kept in its original race trim. Lovely car. 😍
Here’s some photos I took of Nick’s GTO a couple of years ago, if anyone fancies doing a model…

Gonna bump this one as I was enjoying seeing all the work. As someone who has started on the cheap Aldi kits I’m looking for inspiration.

Slow progress.

Nearly done.

Anyone going to the Bolton Model Show on Sunday?

Amazing!

Anyone going to the Bolton Model Show on Sunday?

Was thinking about it but full of cold, may do Halifax in a couple of weeks instead. The Sukhoi is looking good👍🏾

Revel SE5a. Possibly the trickiest kit I’ve built so far. Can’t mean for £5 from Hobbycraft though.

Moan not mean….

£5? Is that is a sale? Might pop down in the morning.

It was just before Christmas I think, all their Revell stock was going at silly prices.

Lovely SE5A.

I don’t think that I’m mentally strong enough to attempt aircraft rigging.

Two blokes making kits.

SMER Hawker Tempest mk V.

Got sick of spending months on each build so rattled this one off quickly.

Cracking little kit that can be picked up for a not very much money.

The aircraft is Roland Beamont’s who did some real “mad shit” during WWII.

View post on imgur.com

How about this masterpiece?

My 6 year old daughter built it herself and refused any help painting it. It left me feeling a bit twitchy but she’s immensely proud of it.

Looks good to me. I always struggle with yellow paint paint for some reason, it is worse than white.

Yellow is a pita to paint, even if using an airbrush. FWIW, I spray a base coat of white before painting yellow over the top.

I hadn’t built a model kit for years, probably since I was a teenager, so was quite pleased when she expressed an interest in them in Hobbycraft. And a little bit surprised, coz all kids like nowadays is iPhones and Youtube (that’s not true, we’ve made loads of stuff out of recycling bin bits, including a Batman car that looks like a mouse/gimp).

Any recommendations for cheap kits. suitable for a 6 year old? That one was a Revell Tornado including glue and paint, but she left quite a few bits off as they were too fiddly.

Get yourself to Aldi.

Airfix starter sets with paint and glue are a fiver. Quite a lot to choose from too. Spitfires, Hurricanes, BF109s, Gnats, etc…

Colonel wax it looks like it is painted for a Tiger Meet 🙂

Just finished (or at least stopped work on, it will never be finished) my Christmas non-Airfix from 2018. Look away now if rigging gives you nightmares…

It’s a Wingnut Wings Post War Bristol F2.b fighter in 1:32, sitting on its inspiration which is the propeller hub from the real thing. My grandfather purloined this when he was in the Middle East after WW1, how he got it home is a mystery.

It’s amazing what you see in photos that you don’t notice on the actual model. The rigger needs to sort out that engine stay wire and the elevator control or the front will fall off and it’ll be flying round in circles. Application of a bit of heat should fix that.

Here’s my grandfather standing next to it (CSM 1:32 british pilot). Not sure what it’s doing in Halton though, the real thing spent its life in a desert!

I made a few mistakes on the way with this so may now buy another kit to do it properly. Should be finished by 2022…

^ Nice.

I haven’t got the patience for rigging.

Beautiful job, @Rio. It’s not just the superb rigging, you’ve done a fantastic job making it look realistic and used, especially the wood effect on the prop and the vertical wing supports. I love the backstory re the real thing’s prop hub too.

@rio that’s a stunning build…. I’ve tried to post mine but I can’t…. gah! Think I’ve worked it out….

Some brilliant weathering on that MiG @beaker, also the Spitfire. When I were a lad we always did them pristine but I’m now thinking the battle-worn look can be so much better if done properly. My F2.b was fairly easy to weather as it’s just a matter of making it look a bit muddy and sand-blasted but getting those panel lines on a metal plane looking right looks hard. I’ve picked up an Aldi cheapo Airfix Spitfire, this might give me the inspiration to start it.

Pre shading with an airbrush and Flory’s dark dirt wash was all I used on both kits. I’d love to build a Wingnut kit but I’d be terrified of cocking it up.

^ Nice models.

I want a Mig 25 in 1/72 for when I get back into Cold War Jets Mode.

I’m currently down a piston engined rabbit hole. Should finish my Beaufighter this weekend then I’ve got a Dambusters Lancaster, Mitchell and Shackleton to get stuck into.

Get the ICM Foxbat in 1/72 as it’s a cracking kit, but in 1/48 it’s pretty big! I look forward to seeing your Beaufighter

how he got it home is a mystery

“Don’t mind that, it’s my new toilet seat”

I look forward to seeing your Beaufighter

I’m using it as a paint mule for air brushing camouflage and invasion stripes as it only cost me £3. This is the 1958 Airfix tooling, which for a 62 year old kit is OK in some places but absolutely shocking in others.

The Tempest (up the page^) from a few weeks ago was my first test, but it was a failure as I did most of it with a brush.

If anyone is interested, I have a Hasegawa 1:450 kit of the Akagi Aircraft Carrier that needs to go.

I think it’s a 1997 motorised kit and is completely new in the box.

PM an offer if interested.

This one was £4.75 in the Hobbycraft sale. It’s a very old poor quality kit that needed massive amounts of filler. I kinda lost interest in it after making a couple of errors! (Doing the decals and forgetting I still had to paint the red and black bits being one of the better ones!).

Britten-Norman Islander?

I think that I made (a mess of) that when I was a kid.

I always think that its one of those but its actually a DHC-6 Twin Otter.