Request For Help.....

Mossie · December 18, 2007, 05:12:06 PM

Thanks again guys. Gary, that may be a thought for the future, thanks, or by then I'll hopefully happy to add a radar nose. Also, Special Hobby are due out a Gnat F.1, mmmmm! Richard, hmm, I've got two Airfix 1/48 Lightnings in the stash. Not for this build I think, but maybe in the near future. Geoff, yeah I'm going to stick to something simple, which I'll mention below. That workbench does need a serious clean up too!

I remembered earlier I do have a Hasegawa kit in the stash, if an older one. I was keeping it for a project & had tucked it away, I can always buy another, they're oop but still around. It's a 1/72 F11F-1 Tiger & I've been having a look at it earlier tonight. I haven't really been able to do much over the last four or five days, getting ready for Christmas & everything, although I have managed to clip parts of sprues & do some dry fitting on all the three kits I've shortlisted.

The Dragon 1/144 A-6 & Airfix 1/72 Dominie look like they'll need a similar amount of work. The A-6 has a small amount of damage to the underside, but nothing a little bit of filler wouldn't take care of. The Dominie has quite a lot of ejector pin & sink marks to sort out. I don't have to do anything to them, but I want to do a proper job. Fit looks similar for both, both will need a measure of PSR if nothing serious. The F11F on other hand looks very tidy, no blemishes on the service & the fit looks very good. Detail could be better & the panel lines are raised, but all I want is an easy build.

All I've got to work out is what decals to slap on it. I've seen that the improved F11F-2F was offered to Belgium, Germany, Holland & Italy but they all took Starfighters instead. Maybe Grumman & Wright managed to iron out the engine bugs & they took the original instead? I've got Belgian & German markings, although I'll have to see if their suitable, Finnish or Norwegian might look good too. Saying that, RAF in silver dope that was mentioned for the Gnat might look nice too, along with some Firestreaks. It's definately a good looking machine & one I particularly like.

Anyone got any experience with this kit, or any more suggestions for markings???

Mossie · December 20, 2007, 05:20:18 PM

Okay, I've looked through the decal stash. Luftwaffe is posssible & there's some nice schemes to choose from. So is RAF, I've go plenty of markings & squadrons for that. 74 Sqn would have been perfect, especially in a tigermeet scheme (a Tiger of Tiger Squadron at a Tigermeet!) but I don't have the decals, bugger! :dum: A suprise possibility was Danish markings (as a F-104 alternative), I've only got the roundels but RAF code letters should look convincing enough. Simple scheme in all over drab, but it might look effective on the F11F, that's only ever been seen in US Navy colours. Comments as always!

Again, does anyone have any experience with the kit? It'd be a great help to know if there's any pitfalls to avoid.

Thanks guys!

Simon

elmayerle · December 20, 2007, 11:26:30 PM

Just a thought, since the J65 was essentially a Sapphire, how about an export F11F-1 with a 200- or 300-series Avon instead? I could see that selling to lots of countries, esp. those already using the Avon in Hunters et al. 'Sides, a conversion to a F11F-F or -2 would take some major surgery to the inlets to get teh larger inlets needed by the J79. I'd suggest Danish markings since they meet all the criteria I outlined above, though RAF works just as well.

Mossie · December 21, 2007, 07:18:42 AM

Thanks Evan, yeah, Avon 300 might work or even a Sapphire ASSa7LR. Danish markings are out now I'm afraid, the roundels are larger than I thought. I had an errand to do for work & happily enough it took me a few minutes away from a model shop! I picked up an Eastern Express Lightning & an Academy F-104G, hoping I might be able to use some parts or decals. Unfortunately the Lighnings pipes are too basic, I might as well use plastic tube. What was serendipitous (big word for a Friday!) was that the kit contained 74 Sqn markings. The F-104G kit has Marineflieger markings, not the Luftwaffe ones on the box

but I should be able to use the codes along with other decals.

So, RAF or Luftwaffe?

Mossie · December 21, 2007, 03:00:36 PM

Uh oh, first pitfall. Should have known better & followed all your advice & stuck to markings I already had. Forgot the Lightning is pretty big & I never realised that the Starfighter such a size too, at least in length. Both larger than the Tiger anyway & neither of my new kits decals fit it. Back to the beggining, although I'm still on with either RAF or Luftwaffe.

Ah well, the Lightning can donate it's Red Tops (forgot I'd given the Firestreak away) if I do an RAF version & the F-104G looks quite nice. Might be worth doing the Starfighter as an RAF version as well, maybe the Lightning got hit by Sandys swinging axe too (God forbid)?

:dum: :dum: :dum:

elmayerle · December 21, 2007, 04:38:24 PM

Isn't there a Draken kit that has suitably small Danish markings?

AeroplaneDriver · December 21, 2007, 05:16:47 PM

t looks like you're well on your way Mossie, but one thing that just popped into my head that I've done a few times when I felt in a rut is refinishing an old kit instead of starting a new one.

I've done it with a Harrier, Intruder, F-19, and F-16 over the past couple of years and it works wonders for the modleing bug to take an old kit from the shelf or out of a box, looking a bit sad whith bits coming off and refinishing it in some new colors and decals.

This can be a quick way to get something 'new' finished on the workbench, which I always find motivating.

jcf · December 21, 2007, 05:20:32 PM

Seeing as the Danish roundel is so dead simple, why not paint the markings? Or print your own?

Jon

Mossie · December 21, 2007, 05:33:30 PM

There's only the Airfix kit that's likely to be available locally, although I don't think either of the two shops near me had it, saying that I didn't look too closey. I'm pretty sure it only comes with Sweedish decals though. There's very few options for Danish decals.

EDIT, missed your post Jon, yeah, hand painting might be option
2nd EDIT And your's AD! I really feel like I need to see something through from beggining to end, although I've got several part sterted kits that are very close to finishing that will do for the not too distant future.

kitnut617 · December 21, 2007, 06:32:03 PM

There's a number of Danish decals on Hannants' website, I did a search using the word 'Denmark'

Mossie · December 22, 2007, 09:14:43 AM

Thanks Robert, there is, but the subjects tend to be a bit hit & miss (you can also find some searching for 'Danish'). Also, they'll take a while to come at this time of year & Hannants don't tend to rush anyway. I'll probably start the kit in that lull between Boxing Day & New Years day, I was going to start it this week but things are a bit hectic.

While Christmas shopping, I picked up a compass cutter to make it easier to make roundels. It's probably not going to be much use for this project as the smallest circles it will cut are 1cm, but I realised that & thought it'd be handy for the future. I think I'm going to have to drop the Danish option as I'm going to have trouble masking roundels small enough.

Note to self: Buy lots of multi-national decal sheets in the next Hannants order!

Mossie · January 01, 2008, 03:59:54 PM

Well, the lull came & went & I didn't get started. Partly because with my brother & kids staying over at short notice, it wasn't as much a lull as I'd expected & then because I wasn't really in the mood to start. Lets just say it's been a very odd Christmas. I've had worse, but although I've enjoyed myself, there's a very ugly situation lurking in the background. I won't go into details (you really don't want to know), but I might refer to it loosely every now & then.

Firstly, I thought I'd pick a little something up to try & get me in the mood. I built one of Tomy's 'Zoids' with my nephew during Christmas & probably enjoyed it more than him! So when I had to do a quick shopping errand in town I came back with one of my own, for only £3 from TK Maxx. I built it last night as this 'situation' led to New Year plans going down the Swanny & me & the missus ended up having a quiet night in. This one is called 'Shadow Fox' & has a clockwork motor, larger versions have a battery motor. They're fantstic, & if you've got youngsters you want to 'persuade' into modelling, I can't think of anything much better. They're snap together (some more complex than you'd think) & have the added bonus of being motorised. If you can snap them up cheaply, the parts might come in useful for all kinds of whiffs too.

Mossie · January 01, 2008, 04:05:29 PM

That done, I thought about tidying the workbench. To be honest, I might come inside & use the dining room table as it's pretty chilly in the garage at the moment (& I'll get flack from the missus not being with her, i.e. not watching some mindless Sh*te on the TV!), but I still need to do it as a symbolic exercise at least. Not to mention there are several brushes & tools hidden under the crap! I will do it tommorow night when I get back from work. You can see four projects there, a fifth hiding under the templates on the left & maybe number five-&-a-half in the form of the shark at the back! Not to mention two others in boxes.

Keep chivvying me on this one, I need to do it. I'm making a deadline of January 31st for this. Not too short to catch up if I drop my head for a short while & not too long that I loose sight of it.

philp · January 01, 2008, 04:28:35 PM

The Zoids are a good start. I've built a few of them with the kids (and their 72nd scale).

What is the seaplane on the bench? Looks like it is ready for paint.
That seems to be my buggaboo. I get several kits together then they sit. Haven't had the airbrush out in years. Been relying on rattle cans for most of what I get done.

On an aside, are those Halfords cans on the right of the bench? Hear about them all the time but we don't have them this side of the pond.

John Howling Mouse · January 01, 2008, 05:09:14 PM

Busy-looking bench you have there. Don't worry too much about deadlines. As someone else mentioned in a prior post, just enjoy the day-to-day progress when you get the opportunity.

I know what it's like to have work and other things get in the way; I guess we all do. But it has to be an enjoyable hobby, otherwise it's going to feel like a second job.

Keep it fun, eh!