The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

I have had this stashed for years along with the 'very, very nice' Rareplanes vac, the 'maybe OK' Pegasus, the 'disappointing' Xtrakit, the 'surprisingly accurate' Hawk and now several of the 'lovely looking in its box' Airfix kits. I think this is never going to sell as a collectible and this GB is a great way to free up a bit of space in the stash cupboard.

It is just awful. Somebody could perhaps make a decent model of it but it would take tons of blood, sweat and tears. OK, enough whining. I hope mine turns out at least as well as the one pictured on the box



Instructions and decals.



Wait for it.......... the parts.......



and a hint of things to come.....



David (still asking myself why I am doing this)

Wow! Best of luck with it, I see a lot of fettling, filling and sanding ahead.

Well, to be honest, I have zero intention of trying to make a silk purse from this sow's ear of a kit. My hope is it will at least look like a sow's ear and not any worse than that.

David

Best of luck.

Looking at that plastic, i feel pity for you! My Skyhawk is like a lush breeze,compared to a Swift storm....
When i keep the vintage of my kit in mind, i have to say: the fit is quite good, even.

Merlin kits are the joker card and you've won.

Wow, I'm loving that gap!

Old_Tonto wrote:Wow, I'm loving that gap!

A new lurking place for the Carpet Monster?

Talk about a challenge!

I'd be tempted to just cut the wing straight at the root to make it fit and not worry that it's few scale microns short.

You are a brave soul indeed!

The Great Auk

Sweet Jesus....

Now don't get any high expectaions here, folks. This is the GB description I am trying to adhere to. "Select the most rubbish kit in your stash, one that probably has no other chance of seeing a workbench, and build it however you wish - and have fun doing it along with others likewise occupied."

I am trying hard to have fun (if that's not an oxymoron) with this build.

Auk, good suggestion for that wing root and I'd have done that if the wingspan was not already about 3 feet too narrow!!!

I have caught myself a couple of times today getting carried away with 'improvements' but overall I am holding the line pretty well.

The wingtips were rounded



I cut out the ailerons and replaced them with some cut (somewhat ironically) from some spare Hunter wings.



The fuselage needed something to close the see-through intakes and a nosewheel well ceiling. I need this and the weight in case I build it wheels down. I am pretty sure that's not enough weight but it's all I could get in. I may drop more into the cockpit.



The fuselage is closed up now and tightly clamped to try holding it aligned while it dries.



The fin needed the the trailing edge removed to be a more accurate shape.



The tailplanes have had similar treatment.

Now I am going to spend the evening musing over how to reinforce the wing/fuselage joints. Probably need some sort of pins in those. There's also a lot of fill going to be needed on the upper fuselage - one half is about 1mm higher than the other.

David

Oh yes, this kit surely fits the bill for this GB to a 'T' as it really does look crap. I'm not sure that it's worth a great deal of effort but the work you are putting in will certainly improve it, David.

ShaunW wrote: I'm not sure that it's worth a great deal of effort but the work you are putting in will certainly improve it, David.

We're modellers, we can't help ourselves.

Pins placed to help attach wings later and fuselage PSR started.



David

Oh my, look at those wing root gaps. Might be best to use plastic card shims to bridge those as well as the obligatory, for this build at least, filler!