The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Ahh, Starfix!

This wouldn't be a Krap Kit GB without an appearance from this fine manufacturer!

I shall be throwing these two into the fray......



and



I'm actually intending on doing some work to make these look a bit more presentable!

Do them straight out of the box, Daren. No point in polishing turds. We should all post pics of the sticky ends that these entries should be subjected to once the Group build is done

After the pain the Foxbat is causing its staying the way it is haha not worth destroying after the amount of effort its taking!

Ha ha Mav, just joking. I agree that it would be asinine to demolish what took so much effort.

Starfix kits have such a terrible reputation that I can only cheer you on, Daz!

If your past work is any indication, by the end you'll have everyone wondering why Starfix is thought so poorly of.

The Great Auk

I'll get started on these this week, with any luck!

So, first up is the Spitfire 21 (or whatever it's meant to be!)

The kit....


Wings going together.....

Look at those rivets, man. LOOK at them!!

Fuselage halves, with one in the process of being converted....


Both halves "chopped"....


Interior painted with my own mixture of cockpit green....


I'll need to make a pointy rudder for it, too.

So, yeah, as you might have guessed, the Spitfire is going to be modified into a Mk.XVI.

I'm debating whether to do it gear-down or not, and to arm it with the very dodgy looking bombs that the kit has.

So, on to more Spitfire slicing and dicing!

This photo here shows you EXACTLY why the Starfix kits are a bit of a nightmare!

The tail of the Starfix Spitfire, compared to that of a replacement Mk.XVI rudder (1/72 scale) and a Mk.IX rudder (1/48). Clearly, if I am to make this kit into an LF.XVI of some description, I need to bodge together a new rudder!

Something like this, perhaps?

A while ago, a rather troublesome housemate had a rather troublesome cat, and he managed to smash an ICM Spitfire XVI that I had built. I've managed to rob a few parts from it in order to get some of the others to work - just like they did back in the day! Basically, what you see here is the ICM rudder with a LOT of trimming and shaping to get it to fit the Starfix kit's rudder. It's still not 100%, but it's closer to what it needs to be now.


The fuselage going together....

Yep - the cockpit/fuselage will be bare, as there is nothing I have in the spares box that will fit the size and shape of the fuselage.

It's not gonna be easy, making this thing look presentable, but I'm gonna crack on with it!

Strangely, I do feel an urge to do another....!

Impressive skill making a new rudder and it looks every bit like it belongs! Under paint, no one will ever know it's not a kit part.

I also like your interior green color. I find it very enticing, could be a bi-product of my 1970's upbringing...

The Great Auk

Cheers, GA.

The cockpit colour is a mix of fern green and white (Revell Aqua-color acrylics). Took me some mixing to do, but it doesn't look too far off.

Test fit of the canopy on the modified airframe....

Would you like some aeroplane with your rivets?....

Fine work on a putrid kit. Good luck with all the mods - especially getting that cockpit to line up.

I'm contemplating using the Mk.IX wings on this one, as the cannon blisters on the Mk.21 are out of line when the wings are trial-fitted with the fuselage.

Oh boy. Those do look a challenge.

David