RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted February 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 2, 2020 A few shots of my nearly finished 1/24th Focke-Wulf Fw190: If anyone knows where I've put my last few inches of EZ-Line, I could do the aerial wires! 11 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 1:48 Saab AJ37 Viggen - 1:48 Esci kit. This is an old Esci 1:48 kit of the Saab Viggen that I purchased second hand from a model shop in South London. It resided in the pending stack until in a spurt of enthusiasm I decided I needed a splinter camouflaged Viggen in my collection. On opening the box to check out the parts I discovered that there were two right hand side fuselage sprues and no left hand side!! What to do? - cannot take it back and no chance of getting replacement parts from the manufacturer. In a major lapse of sanity I decided upon the following: Slice up one half of the fuselage with a razor saw into 4mm wide sections and re-assemble them in reverse using plenty of liquid cement, filler and wet-n-dry paper. I duly garrotted the fuselage and reassembled it on the intact right hand moulding. The resultant object was worthy of display in the Tate Modern [Art Museum] but after much sanding and filling (and vice versa) it resembled the undulating curves of the Viggen. The cockpit area required a bit of care and attention, however some plastic card stock and more filler resolved this area of construction. The remaining kit parts were all present and correct and were assembled as per the instructions. The splinter paint scheme was brush applied with extensive use of Tamiya masking tape but after the fuselage saga this operation was quite therapeutic. The kit decals were applied with extra details added as shown in a 3-view illustration of the aircraft published in the Encyclopaedia of Military Aircraft (Aerospace Publications). The moral of this story - check the contents when buying second hand kits... Cheers Darius 5 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 Dassault Super Etendard 1:48 Heller kit Cheers Darius 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 Sud-Ouest Vautour II N 1:48 Hi Tech kit Cheers Darius 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 18 minutes ago, Darius43 said: This is an old Esci 1:48 kit of the Saab Viggen that I purchased second hand from a model shop in South London. It resided in the pending stack until in a spurt of enthusiasm I decided I needed a splinter camouflaged Viggen in my collection. On opening the box to check out the parts I discovered that there were two right hand side fuselage sprues and no left hand side!! What a heroic effort. Presumably somewhere out there is a guy with two left hand sides! A couple of recent kits, I've had the opposite problem, in that there's been one sprue too many, causing confusion and headscratching. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 1:48 Hawker Seahawk 1:48 Falcon vac form kit Cheers Darius 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 Saab Gripen 1:48 much modified display model Before there was a 1:48 scale kit of the Gripen; there was this. In a kit stall at the 2003 Biggin Hill air show I spotted a box pertaining to contain a 1:48 Gripen for the princely sum of £15. On opening the lid I discovered that the contents were a solid plastic display model with separate armament fit options and a clear plastic canopy. The latter was a clincher as if the canopy had been painted on (as is often the case with display models) then I would not have proceeded. The aircraft fuselage was well moulded with recessed panel lines for the control surfaces, but there was no undercarriage and the gear doors were screen printed in outline and were off register with the aircraft centreline as was the fuel tank pylon moulding. The cockpit was moulded as a rectangular slot with a poor ejection seat, stick on console and a HUD that was at least 6 scale inches thick. The nose pitot was a steel wire in an off-centre hole. The Swedish AF markings were screen printed low vis types. The armament options were excellent, however, with a choice of AIM 120s, AGM 65s and Rb 15F anti-ship missiles. The first step in improving this model was to scratch build the undercarriage and hollow out the wheel wells from the solid plastic fuselage. To help with this task I referred to the excellent photographs of the Saab Gripen on the IPMS Stockholm website which has photographs of almost every part of this aircraft. The hollowing out of the wheel wells was a "lot of fun", using multiple drill holes, carving and chiselling but was eventually completed over a few evenings. The undercarriage was scratch built using spares box parts, sprue stock, plastic card and stretched sprue. The canard foreplanes were just push in items, however on the real aircraft part of the canard profile is fixed to the fuselage with the joint immediately outboard. I separated the first 1.5mm of the canards and glued them to the fuselage, fairing them in with filler. New steel rod pivots were made and inserted in to pre-drilled holes in the fuselage and canards enabling them to rotate. The nose and tailplane pitot tubes were replaced with thin steel rod and aerials etc. were added from the spares box. A new MFD cockpit console was made using plastic card and spare decals and an Airwaves resin MB Mk 16 seat (a spare from a single seat EF2000) was painted up and installed. The seat should be a MB Mk 10s, however the Mk16 does not look too bad under the canopy. The rather thick canopy was cleaned up and coated with Johnson's Clear before attaching with small amounts of super glue. Being slightly wider than the forward fuselage it needed to be faired in with filler. The model was fine sanded to remove original moulding blemishes and primed with Halfords grey auto primer prior to brush painting with Humbrol enamels. The original printed markings had now been obliterated so I used some of the new Two Bobs Saab Viggen hi-viz decals to complete the model - not strictly appropriate for a Gripen but it looks right. The decals were sealed in with Johnson's Clear prior to a final application of Humbrol matt cote. It seems I’m destined for a hard time with Saabs... Cheers Darius 7 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 Mirage IV 1:48 Heller kit Cheers Darius 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 Mirage 2000 1:48 Monogram kit Cheers Darius 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 (edited) A pair of SLUFs - LT Vought Corsair II 1:48 Esci A-7D 1:48 Monogram A7-E Cheers Darius Edited February 5, 2020 by Darius43 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Never had problems like yours with my Saabs but they all 4 wheels steve 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 BAe Hawks 1:48 Airfix CT-155 1:48 Premier T Mk1A Cheers Darius 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 F-86 Sabres 1:48 Esci F-86E 1:48 Hasegawa F-86F Cheers Darius 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 I have a Monogram F-86 in my stash ... might be the impetus to crack on with it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 4 minutes ago, Barry Ten said: I have a Monogram F-86 in my stash ... might be the impetus to crack on with it. Do it!!! You know you want to. The Esci sabre was moulded in bright blue plastic - getting the nmf was somewhat of a challenge. Darius 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 5, 2020 1 hour ago, Darius43 said: 1:48 Saab AJ37 Viggen - 1:48 Esci kit. This is an old Esci 1:48 kit of the Saab Viggen that I purchased second hand from a model shop in South London. It resided in the pending stack until in a spurt of enthusiasm I decided I needed a splinter camouflaged Viggen in my collection. On opening the box to check out the parts I discovered that there were two right hand side fuselage sprues and no left hand side!! The moral of this story - check the contents when buying second hand kits... Cheers Darius I have a Pavla 1:72 Bell 47 kit with a similar problem. Only in this case the etched fret for the tailboom was absent. Though there was four vac-formed cockpit canopies! Like your kit it was second hand and not having seen any Pavla kits for a long time its possible they are no longer produced. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2020 F-100D Super Sabres 1:48 Monogram kits Cheers Darius 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 3 hours ago, Darius43 said: F-86 Sabres 1:48 Esci F-86E 1:48 Hasegawa F-86F Cheers Darius The F-86 has to be one of my all time favourite aircraft. May decades ago I tried building the Frog 1/72 version and made a right pig's ear of it. steve 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2020 Auster “Autocars” - built from the “Empire Made” Lincoln International kits - scale about 1:41. Cheers Darius 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2020 MiG 29 - much modified 1:48 Monogram kit Cheers Darius 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2020 Two Jags 1:48 Esci kit 1:48 Airfix kit Cheers Darius 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2020 Some Land Rovers - built from the 1:48 scale white metal ASAM Models kits Cheers Darius 15 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2020 Seafire 17 1:48 Airfix kit Cheers Darius 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted February 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2020 Hands up who built the Monogram 1/48th B17? I remember doing quite a tidy job of it, and being very proud of the finished model - it even had airbrushed weathering - but it (along with all my other built-up kits) disappeared somewhere between my early teens and adulthood. I'd love to know what became of it, and sometimes think about having another go at the same kit, just for old time's sake, even though I don't really have room for any more big planes. The kit came with a colour brochure showing a diorama of a crashed B17 which was very inspirational at the time. Ring any bells with anyone? 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted February 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2020 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Barry Ten said: Hands up who built the Monogram 1/48th B17? I remember doing quite a tidy job of it, and being very proud of the finished model - it even had airbrushed weathering - but it (along with all my other built-up kits) disappeared somewhere between my early teens and adulthood. I'd love to know what became of it, and sometimes think about having another go at the same kit, just for old time's sake, even though I don't really have room for any more big planes. The kit came with a colour brochure showing a diorama of a crashed B17 which was very inspirational at the time. Ring any bells with anyone? I remember that diorama, built by the late great Shep Paine. It had a crewman sitting on a box beside the aircraft looking at a bullet hole in his helmet. Shep Paine B17 diorama I have the Monogram B17 kit in the stash - intending to build it as an RAF Coastal Command aircraft. Cheers Darius Edited February 8, 2020 by Darius43 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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