Newbies first whiff: Advice needed.

[Aircav]

Don't forget helicopters, for the South African army you could have Westland Scouts, Wessex, Lynx, Sikorsky HH-3, CH-53, Bell AH-1's
And for the SAAF, Jaguars, Rafale, Strikemasters, Lightning, A-37, B-29
its endless, just enjoy    

[mgp]

I'll just add my voice to the chorus. Grab an inexpensive but good quality kit and change the paint job. I'm not a believer in torturing new/returning modellers with cheap/nasty/old kits when for a couple of bucks extra you can get a better kit. Life is too short!  :dum:
On that note, leave the TSR2 until you've got your skills refreshed because a shake'n'bake kit it ain't.

I've just had a couple of ideas pop into my head. Just in case the SAAF decided it needed interceptors you could do:  
1) SAAF F-104 Starfighter
2) SAAF BAC Lightning

[NARSES2]

Well I go with the new paint job approach. Most of my WIF's are still done that way and you can sometimes catch people out as a bonus  

Revell and Accademy make excellent starting points as Leigh says, most of them are really good kits and great value, especially the WWII stuff.

As for transfers then I'm preaty certain an appeal for help here would get you some alternative markings

Chris

[Leigh]

If yer set on doing summat S.A.A.F. I can probably scrounge up some decals 'cos I know they're not that common, can't attest to the quality though 'cos likely to be old Frog or Matchbox.

[NARSES2]

Well I can sort out some modern S African markings if you need them - the funny shaped thingy  :dum: no idea what it's called.

Chris

[lancer]

Another way to get hold of SAAF markings is to contact the SAAF SIG. They have gotten the decal sheets specially made up.

[Geoff_B]

Well I can sort out some modern S African markings if you need them - the funny shaped thingy  :dum: no idea what it's called.

Chris

Ah you mean Pie Cutter shape as opposed to the the Pie Eaters we tend to be   .

As for Academy there later stuff is very nice but i would avoid them for the F104 as its terrible.

The key factor is to do something you want to do, its the enthusiasm that really makes the model, the how is just the technical details we work through to get the job done. As youngsters we would usually slap a kit together and sod the technique, these days as mopre mature models we tend to take the time, follow a certain build pattern and general come out with satisfying models.

Just try to ensure that your first attempts are not too overly ambitious to begin with so as not to make the learning curve too steep.

Cheers

G

[cthulhu77]

Don't forget to sign up for the Secret Santa g.b. also...it's a guaranteed whif, since you'll have no clue what you are going to get !
 Welcome to the madhouse, by the way.

             Greg

[JC Carbonel]

"Whatever you do - IT MUST BE EXACT!

IT MUST BASED ON SOME REAL WORLD PROJECT.

IT MUST HAVE AMPLE DOCUMENTATION TO BACK IT UP.

IT MUST BE PAINTED IN EXACT ACCURACY IN ACCORDANCE TO ALL KNOWN REFERENCES!

IT MUST LOOK PERFECT FROM THE VERY START!

IT CAN NOT BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN A P-51 MUSTANG, A Me-109, A ZERO OR AN FW-190. NOTHING ELSE IS ACCEPTABLE."

except the last line it sounds good to me (no joke - I only do "real" projects) but I would not advise this to a newcomer . Like the others I say : take a good kit (Academy , Revell , Italeri) and just change the markings. Don't try something fancy because you risk doing something gaudy. But yes TSR2 in SAAF markings would seems OK ....only the TSR2 is not too easy to build and I would not recommend it to a beginner. Actually I advise 1/48 fighters like Academy/Hobbycraft models because they are not too complex and use big easy to assemble parts.

JCC

[Martin H]

TSR 2 is definitely out for now, judging from the posts I have seen both in this thread and other threads on this forum I kinda get the feeling it's a little out of my skill league at the moment (though one of you has graciously offered to sell me one of your precious Airfix TSR2's at nominal price - thanks, I will take you up on the offer )

1/48 scale may well be a good idea, the two or three models that I really felt good about in terms of finishing and overall appearance when I used to build kits were 1/48.

Plus me and Lance did SAAF TSR's a few years ago in resin    

[SebastianP]

Points to consider:

1) The last time I worked (tortured) plastic was at least 15 years ago.
2) I wasn't much good at it then!
3) Money is tight at  OK's Corral (hey, I'm on a tight budget)
4) Space is at a premium so large subjects are out.

My interests:

1) TSR2 - suprise!
2) SAAF
3) F108/XB70
3) RAF unbuilt projects

Personally, if your personal tastes allow, I'd recommend you stick with Italeri 1/72 fighters and swap decals on them for a while. Why? Because they're good training kits - cheap, abundant, and most often they come with multiple decal options. And they're challenging without needing to be half scratchbuilt - you can build them OOB without much trouble, but there's always something to fix if you want to.

A perfect example would be to get a Mirage 2000 and a Gripen - they're similar in size, shape and mission, and the decals on one won't look out of place on the other. Unless you're a JMN, in which case you wouldn't be on the forum. When you're done with those, get a pair of Rafales - a B and an M to be precise. Swap the bottom halves on them, and you end up with a BM, which is whiffy as is; and a C, which you can put the leftover decals from the Mirage 2000 on (I think it comes with non-french ones at least). Score four whiffs, none of which is cover more than 8 x 6 inches (if that); and for less than 20 bucks each. (MUCH less, in most cases - my local shops are pretty expensive).

OK, so neither of the kits fall into your special interest, but these were training tools, right?

Of course, if you can get a sheet of South African roundels, any of the above would look good in them...

SP