Jeff's Airfix Boomerang***finished***

[jssel]

Cheers, Martin and yes, I am finding it a good little kit. Lots of test fitting of parts really helps.



Major bits are assembled with a little seam work done and covered with Tamiya Surface Primer. A problem withthe fit where the cowling and leading edge of the wing meet. I am using my newish filing sticks which work nicely in the corners.

Oh and the kit fits tightly on the display stand.

[PaulBradley]

Ooo, I see I need to get the decals in the mail to you - they've been sitting in the window, to little effect so far, it has to be said......

[jssel]

No photo update today but I did try an experiment on my unusable decal sheet. Suspecting that the colors were put down on the decal paper and film was put on top of that, I tried coating a subject that would not be used with Micro systems Decal film. If you are not familiar with that product it is essentially a syrupy, clear liquid decal film that comes in a bottle. It can be brushed on over the subject. Drying in about 5-10 minutes, all you have to do is cut closely to the color line and soak in water. Now the soaking process takes longer to pass through to the decal film but...........it worked. The serial number lifted nicely off the backing sheet and ready to use.

So Paul, I may still need that sheet to hold in reserve. If I can make do however you will get it back. My remaining sheet is in the south window and has turned from brown to tan so far.

[PaulBradley]

My remaining sheet is in the south window and has turned from brown to tan so far.

That's about where mine are at the moment...!

[jssel]

Today, I looked closer at my references and found a couple of items missing on the Airfix kit. The first was a good solid location on the port and starboard position lights. Next came the fact that there were two guns on each wng located between the landing lights and cannon barrel installation. The guns were off set to the top of the leading edge a little bit.

Out came the drill bits. The work was duplicated on each side. The position lights will be made with clear sprue pieces run all the way through the wing and trimmed off.



So as of this update, I am approaching the paint stage soon after the glass is attached.



Not a whole lot of filler used so far but many micro dots of it for touch up is needed.

[Molly-new]

Looking good Jeff, its quite a pleasant build this one, I really enjoyed it.

[jssel]

The Boomer has been in the paint booth today.

With the undersides:



And the topside brown added:



Also added Micro Super Film to the decal items and got them cut out. I will be trimming much of the tan decal film away. Hope they work or out comes my stencilling technique.

[jssel]

Camo colors are on now. I used "Blue Tack" putty rolled into strips and thin card stock to fill in for overspray.

[JamesPerrin]

That's looking jolly nice.

[Softscience]

Yowzers!!! That is nice!

I sometimes forget what beautiful things these lil Airfix planes become once a nicely applied paint scheme is sprayed on.

[Dirkpitt289]

That is looking sharp. Nicely done

[Old_Tonto]

Very cool paint job.

[kruaxi]

It's true, an excellent paint work

[jssel]

I really felt that this build would be done this weekend but the decaling has been a chore.

I had made the decision to use the old Airfix decals that came with the kit. The sun bleached out the carrier film as much as it was going to and my experiment using Micro Super Film was a sucess so I pressed on.

Well, the decals curled up and would not stay down. I used the Micro system: nothing. I tried Solv-a-set, which will desolve most any decal: no results. So....I went back to using Future and a wet Q-tip (bud) and worked the decal over until it stayed and finally sucked down on the surface detail. The process works but is very slow and tedious.

So here is where the Boomer sets at this point.

[jssel]

The battle of the decals has been won. While not perfect, I find them acceptable and more importantly, it was a case of improvise, adapt and overcome Gunny Highway. So I learned a whole bunch of stuff.

This morning I removed the masking and with a couple of paint dots added, no problems there either.



Now looking over my 3x5 card of finishing notes, I find antenna work ahead. I have seen pictures and finished models showing several different styles.

I also have to add the position lights to each wing and a formation light on the fuselage spine.

In this picture shows clear sprue.



The top piece, left hand tip, is where I trimed the formation light. The bottom sprue will be sectioned off and placed into the holes drilled on the wingtips. When trimmed a dab of clear tamiya paint will color them in.

A little light exhaust streaking and gun blasts should finish it up.