John Symmons

Thank Ratch, I must have missed that, I'll have to go back and see if I can find it. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Jeff I've the same problem I uploade two post with photos last week on Wednesday afternoon and and very late evening one on the Fiar G50 and one on WW 1 German Infantry. As yet nothing I'll give it till next week and re-upload them if nothing appears. I had something simular with the final KG V post, it just took much longer than usual to show up on the forum. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

This maybe should be posted in the techniques forum but as it does include a couple of figures from the above set I’ve decided to post it here. The set includes 39 1/72 scale (23mm) individual posed figures plus two set pieces with several figures, (the box advertises 48 pieces) all moulded in dark grey, flash enshrouded, usual totally useless, pain-in-the neither-regions (for modelling terms) soft rubbery vinyl type plastic, to which nothing seems to stick. Why Airfix insist on using this stuff is beyond me, although to be fair Revell, Armourfast and Italeri also use it. Zvezda used to use something simular but I see they’ve changed to something not quite as soft and far more friendly that now takes styrene glue and modelling paint including Acrylic. This all started before me doing the Fiat G 50 or the KG V battleship, I was trying to find some way of gluing together the mortar in the Armourfast Mortar Crew set, I thought I’d found an answer with Liquid Tape gluing a very soft join then re-enforcing it with super glue. It did work, but only just but not really satisfactorily also how to paint this stuff. I’d tried the Tamiya primmer rattle cans and and Vallejo Primmer, the Tamiya was the best but still flaked off if the plastic was flexed. So I gave up in frustration. It was while doing the water base for KG V model that I tried gluing the two bases of the stretcher bearers in the Airfix WW 1 Infantry set with the same cement I was using for the sea-scape, as it seems to stick to almost anything. (See my posting in the ships forum for more about this tile cement) This set does come with an advisory slip to wash the parts before painting, but no indication of what paint to use, (there is no painting what-so-ever, at lest Revell do include a paint guide on the box) As I’ve said various primmer’s don’t work nor do acrylic or enamel paints. The stretcher bearers bases were scored a few times with a scalpel and smeared with this tile cement, left a few hours to set then I tried to separate them, ..... no go, they were stuck, I had to finally pries them apart with an Ex-Acto knife, for fear of ripping the figures from the bases. Well that seems to cure the gluing problem so I tried the same thing on the Armourfast mortar, and while the join is still a bit soft at least it’s secure. Next step was to assemble the Machine Gun set piece from the German Infantry set together with the stretcher bearers, but the painting problem remained. It was when I was cleaning out my late wife’s art things that I found some partially used house-hold Duco spray cans. So why not? Nothing to loose. I tried some from a used Gloss Bronze colour that I had to decant, (Blocked nozzle) thinned it with some solvent and it worked beautifully as a base coat. Maybe a bit thick but that can be adjusted with more thinner paint. Next I tried some from a new can of gloss maroon paint, Again it stuck like peanut butter to a new shirt (or something simular) and it’ll easily take both enamel and acrylic paint. I’ve since tried a different make of Matt white house-hold spray paint but it’s not as good as the original Duco’s I tried. So below are some photos of the stretcher bearers and the machine gun with crew from the Airfix WW 1 German Infantry kit. The set is quite good if it wasn’t for the loads of flash and mould seems as these can only be cleaned up by cutting them off, sanding doesn’t work you’re just left with a hairy surface. As mentioned previously there’s not painting guide except for the front box art, so you’ll have to do your own research, although I do have the Zvezda WW 1 German Infantry set which personally I feel is far better than the Airfix offering and it’s in a more friendly plastic, and it does include a paint guide on the back of the box but without specifying any colours or paint brands, again typical of Zvezda. I used various shade of dark blue greys and a metallic bronze grey for the helmets and the usual colours for other bits all from Vallejo. Both these little Airfix figure sets make up very well and look great when finished the machine gun crew looking almost like a Zvezda game piece, the same for the stretcher bearers. (I’ve mentioned these game pieces before and if you’ve never tried them you’re missing out on a treat.) Now if Airfix could change the plastic to something more friendly and add some more bases, and possibly some other field pieces like a field hospital tent or pre formed trench, kitchen, water containers etc, I’m sure almost anything would be welcome, especially as WW 1 seems to be missing from all major manufactures. Maybe they could start with some horses and carts that could be used in a multitude of setting from armour to aircraft dioramas. Would I recommend this set not really, unless you’re really desperate for WW 1 German infantry; although the set does include some excellent poses including, rather gruesomely, two dead or critically wounded figures; mainly because of the flash and that horrid vinyl plastic, I’d say try the other makes first. /media/tinymce_upload/577ade4443a5fa805a9559547d33bd8c.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/4f815822f9e2e042e34bd43a123dd967.jpg Some views of the finished sets. The group at the back is a Zvezda game piece of WW 2 German infantry, and the yellow thing is the mortar I mentioned above. The grey thing on the right below is a part of a sprue from this Airfix set. /media/tinymce_upload/81b1910fb1485df360a91ee41992a26a.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/8192833147732a116343bcfe886e9f57.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/66ed8fb47bf4fb0fd57521e38f43a304.jpg Whoops! That mortar should have been moved. Well again that's it for now I hope someone finds this helpful and all comments welcome. I feel good that I've now finally solved a problem that's been bothing me for years. that's tree times i've added in one week. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

/media/tinymce_upload/3e9c11c63bc4d616aa556f5d85d7bf3b.jpg Another stash reducing quick build. Before I built the King George V battle ship I was going through some of my older kits and found some old Heller kits of 1930’s aircraft, some of which had been started but never completed. Great I thought maybe I can reduce the stash a bit. Also amongst the old half done kits was this old Airfix kit that I’d started years back, but never got around to painting it, so I decided to settle on the G50 . The kit had been sealed up years ago and so was still complete, with all the small parts sealed in a separate bag. The decals were very yellow and so spent several weeks in the South African autumn sun together with some also yellowed Heller decals. The assembled wings were added to the partially completed fuselage together with the tail-plane. The cowling and engine had been done years ago so all I added was the exhausts, but I kept the cowling separate to ease the painting. The painting was all hand painted, (Just too much PT to break the air-brush out.) and I used Vallejo paints to the rough equivalents of the Airfix paint numbers given. After checking though my meagre Italian reference material I think I settled on dark earth and olive green for the top and blue grey pale for the undersides. When painted it looked about right. The cowling was painted with Tamiya yellow, and the white fuselage band masked and brush painted, (I don’t trust those old Airfix fuselage band decals, they always gave me grief.) Then I lost the little bag of parts that included the under carriage, propeller and cockpit canopy. I searched high & low but they’d vanished, I came to the conclusion that they’d fallen into the waste basket and I’d binned them. So the Fiat was put to one side while I decided what to do with it, and that was when I decided to complete the KG V ship. Fast forward a week or so and the KG V was completed and I was tiding up the modelling space and putting things back in a cupboard and there whoa-&-behold was my missing Fiat parts. I could now finish the Fiat G 50. First job was to add the sun baked decals. The first one I tried just fell to pieces it was one of the national insignias for under the wing. The remaining decals were then liberally coated with liquid decal film which now made them usable. As can be seen from the photos the white isn’t very opaque as they were very thin and started to curl up when drying, the addition of a strong setting solution helped but didn’t really cure the problem, but I can live with that. The under wing insignias were replaced by two old ones from a Re 2001 model of now unknown origin, possibly Frog or Italeri. As an aside when I’d finished the KG V there was a mysterious part left rattling around; definitely not from the KG V it was way to big, it was the missing part from my Airfix E-boat from January last year. How it ended up in the KG V box I’ve no idea, it’s now in the spares box, maybe come in useful some time. Finally as the open cockpit is totally devoid of any detail except a seat I added a pilot, the Airfix one couldn’t fit through the fuselage opening so a trimmer one from an old Lindberg kit was used, I take it he was from a Lindberg kit as he was moulded in a dark green plastic. That’s about it for the Fiat, one thing I did learn was that in checking my limited references of Italian aircraft was that the early radial engine aircraft all seemed to have unpainted propellers, left in their natural steel colour, it seems as the black painted ones only came into use when the inline engines were used. I haven’t done any weathering, not even added exhaust streaks, I haven’t even touched up any of the paint, even the tail-wheel leg isn’t painted but for now I can live with that. Below is some photos of the for-now finish model, she’s really typical of those early Airfix models that we’ve loved in the past and the fit was surprising quite good, only the undercarriage doors needed trimming down by half a milli-metre. But for today’s standards she really needs some improving maybe a re-tooling, but in all honesty I can’t Airfix doing that maybe they’ll leave that one for Italeri. Enjoy the photos and as usual all comments welcome. /media/tinymce_upload/8ab3ed7415067fffc0a0cb86109f12de.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/9822d6deccad44dc5367549a0f0c2068.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/079eeb3d03e95bb5cff5ffbdb06214bd.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/0b7b52026bf5a47bc08b46d22ce8510f.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/dde549969395c408ed90469a02ca6097.jpg Remember we do this for fun John the Pom P.S. I see I’ve now got over 1000 postings. Wow time goes quick when you’re having fun. JtP

Hi Jopress57 That looks like a very neat build and an interesting subject. I always liked the Airfix Panzer IV, it just sort-of just looked right, where-as many of their other tanks didn't. Thanks for showing the model and keep them coming, Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Final part. I was quite impressed with this kit that I started to check-out the remaining two Airfix 600 scale warships in my stash, the HMS Belfast and the Prinz Eugen both in later boxing styles. The HMS Belfast showing the made-up model on the box and dated 1986 and a Humbrol Product but also showed it to be made in France by Heller. The Prinz Eugen also was also made in France by Heller and again states it being a Humbrol product and dated 1990. Anyway back to the King George V. I’ve now fixed the hull to the sea-scape base this was done using the tile cement I originally used for making the sea-scape. I usually use this for my sea-scapes as when I stared making them for my water-line ships I experimented with several materials and read and watched a lot of “how-to’s” none of which really appealed to me, especially the silicon one; then I had one of those light-bulb moments, I’m sure we’ve all had them. I had some left over ready mixed tile cement so I tried that and it works a treat. I did a description of the method in my 17/18th January 2016 posting on the Airfix Cambletown & Manxman (PG 97 of my postings. Sorry the photos are no longer available.) Once the base had fully cured the base painting was finalized, and the masts could be assembled. Each mast is made up of 4 parts, the main pole plus the tripod stays then a small star-fish top then the top mast. These in typical Airfix fashion are built from the bottom up. Not the easiest method but as long as you leave plenty of time for the glue to set when you’ve done the base tripod it works. I did foresee that the locating holes for the tripod stays might be a bit hard to find so I did slightly enlarge them before cementing their structures to the main deck, and lightly scraping the ends of the mast stays. It helped but the fore mast was still a right pigs-ear to correctly get into place. The aft mast was made easier as I’d found I hadn’t glued the large launches onto their cradles, so it was easy to remove them giving me room to see what I was doing. So if you’re making this kit don’t glue the launches on until after you’ve assembled the bottom of the aft mast. Maybe you could do something simular for the foremast?? Before adding the mast top pieces I added some very basic rigging to the mast tops. I did have a problem in deciding which way round the aft top mast went. The instructions show it with the yard-arms high above the top look-out platform were-as the paint guide and box art show the mast top the other way round. So it was off the find any reference photo I could find, eventually I conclude the instructions had the piece shown upside down, the yard-arms go in the lower position. I then added two very fine yard-arms higher up made from very fine stretched sprue as I’d seen these in the reference photos I’d consulted /media/tinymce_upload/ea0780a354671aad1f66c4fa72a3ae18.jpg The tile cement I use for my sea-scapes and other diorama modelling. It really does stick to almost anything even that horrible slippery rubber type vinyl soft plastic Airfix and many other makers use for their small figures. About the only manufacture who seems to have done something about this horrible stuff is Zvezda who recently changed to a soft plastic that takes paint and normal styrene glue. When dry the very rough rigging was completed and a flag made from tissue, wood glue ball point pens and very fine fibre pens. The final pieces added were the bow and stern jack stays. A quick check over and paint touch-up where needed, mainly the masts, and she was finished. I conclusion this is certainly one of the better Airfix ships if not THE best, it’s the best Airfix one I’ve encountered. I did start this kit with some trepidation expecting to to find it more of a job-of-work to lessen my stash, but eventually once I’d got into it I really enjoyed it, and I’m actually reasonably pleased with the outcome. Maybe not the best ship I’ve made but seeing as it’s made OTB or OOB I feel its turned out quite good. The kit itself is reasonably straight forward to build it’s just the painting especially the deck and camouflage pattern that’s going to take some time. I’ve read several reviews and all say that deck takes about 2 or 3 days to paint. Then you have the hull camouflage that’s impossible to mask so it has to be brush painted. Luckily I managed to airbrush port side dark sea grey and the starboard side white thereby getting over the problem of brush painting white over a darker colour. The white on the port side is reasonably easy to paint and as it’s so small and at the water-line so any bad coverage isn’t really noticeable. In one review of an unpainted model the reviewer did say that painting this model wasn’t for the faint hearted and that you couldn’t really airbrush it, it had to be brush painted. True but then most model ships, especially WW 1 & 2 warships, are not really airbrush friendly considering the amount of masking you’d have to do, Maybe in the 200 or bigger scales airbrushing becomes a more viable option, but at 600 scale not really. He also said the gap ,between the bridge and AA gun deck shouldn’t be there, but on checking my references Airfix have got it right. Earlier I mentioned that a folded wing Walrus would’ve been nice, but I see the Belfast does have this feature and a propeller on the Walrus Now if Airfix could include this in the KG V future releases that would be a bonus. Would I recommend this kit? Yes I would but be aware you’re going to have patience in painting it, but the end result is worth it, about the only thing needed to make this kit REALLY stand out is a set of PE railings. WEM used to do a complete set for this kit but WEM seems to have vanished, but I see Atlantic Models has now taken over the 600 scale PE market, so hopefully railing should be available. Maybe Airfix in a future release could partner with Atlantic and include a set of PE railings with a “Premium” release, And how about a vac formed sea-scape base for a water-line model. Well! It’s just a thought. Those deck railings are actually quite easy to add to the model you just have to believe you can do it. To finish off I’ll quote “Ian Wilkins” who reviewed this kit in 1997 on the Steel Navy web site. You can find his full review at http://www.steelnavy.com/kgv.htm Foot note. Earlier when checking the other two Airfix kits in my stash I was also checking the box K.G. V model came in; I noticed a different catalogue number on the box, actually two catalogue numbers. The number I’ve quoted in the title was taken from the instructions, but the box has 06205-1 were-as the instructions has 06205-2 on them, ???. Then looking for a copy-write date I see C.P.G. Products Corporation 1981 and Made in France, this is printed on a separate sick-on label, then a catalogue number 071479 printed near the Airfix logo. ??? What this sort-of boils down to is I was looking to see if these two later kits were of simular moulding and detail quality as the K.G. V kit, I’m pleased to say they are. I think that most of the false starts with the K.G. V have had to do with the very basic detail and quality of the earlier Airfix ships in this scale, especially after making a couple of 350 scale models. (See my build post of the Graf Spee.) Now after building this kit I’m much more confident in doing the other two models. I’m pleased to see that Airfix are re-releasing some of these older war-ship models, but it did surprise me that Airfix went with the Graf Spee, Bismark and Hood, The Graf Spee really needs some work done on it, especially the masts and guns, (See photo below) and the Hood is in the pre-war fit and also needs some serious work to bring it up to a decent standard, I’ve built the Hood twice and both times it left me disappointed. When I built the Bismark I really enjoyed making it, but the model while looking like the Bismark and generally reasonably accurate the hull is too short by about an inch and the bow is the wrong shape and too narrow. But then these three kits are probably OK for nostalgic builds. Hopefully Airfix will re-release their later models such as the King George V, Prinz Eugen, Fearless and the Repulse that Ian mentioned above (I might even be tempted to buy one myself if it was re-released.) as these were all superb kits and worthy of what Airfix is now producing and hopefully could generate enough interest in the 600th scale for Airfix to bring their older moulds up to a better standard with some re-tooled parts, or even completely retool them or add new ships to the range like the HMS Furious in it’s many guises. And again add some PE railings. I’ll only add, I will be getting the re-release of the Ark Royal if it ever reaches Cape Town. Photos of the completed HMS King George V and a couple with the Graf Spee And HMS Cambletown & HMS Manxman on the first effort at a sea-scape and using PE parts. /media/tinymce_upload/798bce53fbd1c6125d6546b6aabc576d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/74e482fa84208cbb2f257071d1079560.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/3cc80a7a1d487c19c405c73af923b249.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/3de2377b550e47139577ef710fa5b62a.jpg Just a few views of the King George V cruising along at low speed. Not much wash from the propellers and a low bow wave and very little white water wash from the hull. /media/tinymce_upload/541996a8bea625acd0b7627981907681.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/181576af81f75e2581cac1f1bd241dee.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/5c01fa2ef7e26004a4ef7e42c08b0b46.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/c270a87abc09896515bd3575495a4918.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/67f74a27e5034e27b9aef244253fdbda.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/20f510c42c7d238aaad351405619b5d3.jpg Various views of the superstructure and showing some of the incredible fit and detail on this model. /media/tinymce_upload/e00badfa84d04eb0c3897c2fe8c5da73.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/33e33d29e94e55f92b410a86c3380c98.jpg Two views of the KG V with the Airfix Graf Spee Note the thickness of the main mast compared to the KG V, also the Graf Spee 11” guns are quite a bit thicker than the KG V. Also look how empty & open the Graf Spee looks compared to the KG V. /media/tinymce_upload/3a308b34a99b8b7edb5509c6be7d1382.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/b8a73455776865ee000f45e3a7253b9f.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/f775533f85ffa9d02d85fe36319e250e.jpg A very much what-if of three views of the King George V cruising with and escort of the HMS Cambletown and HMS Manxman. Well that’s it guys hope you enjoyed my adventure with the King George and looking at the photos. I must admit this kit has re-awakened my desire to do some more ship modelling, so maybe I’ll tackle the other two Airfix kit in my stash in the not to distant future. As usual all comments welcome. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Continuation of K.G V build. Still remaining focused I continued adding all those small bits to the bridge decks only managed to drop one but found it several hours later while looking for something else. Those small bit are really tiny so painted them on the sprues having to then touch-up later. One thing this’ll teach you is tweezer control so as not to send the parts pinging away. Then it was onto the AA gun deck after finally assembling to bridge decks into place. I feel I have to comment on the finesse of the moulding as those 40 mm quad bofors gun have to be seen to be believed, I’d say they are up to resin standard and when you think the kit was from the 80’s this is really quite remarkable. If I was making this kit blind, that is without knowing the make, I’d certainly never say it was an Airfix kit, maybe the plastic would give it away in some resects as it’s a darker harder plastic than Airfix use today, and the parts are shinny from a polished mould. The plastic is still softer than either Tamiya or Revell, and the fit and engineering rules out Academy and Trumpeter, so guessing the kit’s make would be a problem, but you could be forgiven in thinking it was any of the previously mentioned makes. Anyway back to the build; the AA gun deck went together without any apparent problems, after the various bits were painted and assembled. Just one thing to remember is leave the mast location holes free of paint otherwise you might have trouble fixing the masts into place. /media/tinymce_upload/bdb8d407b8581b5be6522c67859f47e5.jpg Bridge completed. /media/tinymce_upload/ef867452040a001e3060ce9d796fb0ef.jpg Bridge & AA gun deck, those hanger doors are very well done pity one couldn't be opened showing a Walrus with folded wings. The rear boat deck was next, as this was pre-assembled earlier all that was really needed, after touching up some dodgy paint, was adding all those boats all 10 of them. Here you’ll have to follow the instruction otherwise you could easily run into trouble. Airfix have never been good at giving painting guides for ships boats so I've use some artistic licence, painting then in mid sea grey with light sea grey insides except the covered ones I painted the covers white, The smaller launches having the tops canopies gloss white and the insides and screens gloss wood with red seat coverings. Again these boats are probably the best I’ve seen from Airfix and the fit into the locating holes was spot on. The larger launches were painted with gloss wood decks and cockpit screens with gloss white canopies and again red seats with gloss royal blue hulls, I really liked the way they fitted onto the boat racks, almost idiot proof, again well done Airfix. Once the boats were in place the funnel and aft bridge were added with the aft gun directors and what I take is the aft galley chimney. /media/tinymce_upload/ad4a78b875bf9ce92777d419dc0d9c28.jpg The aft boat deck T=that thing sticking up at the rear I take is the aft galley chimney. Then it’s onto the armament. The main 14 inch guns are in the usual Airfix style. I didn’t dill out the barrels as they were too fine for a 0.5 mm drill and I didn’t want to damage them. This is were the older Airfix kit were let down as these 14” guns are finer than the 11’ ones on the Graf Spee I recently built. All gun were fixed solid as I now regard movable things on ships as “play value” and if they move someone, usually me, will move them, and if moved something WILL break. So now no movable play value bits. The only thing I had to do was replace the missing small gun on B turret with something scratch build, not too difficult. (See photos.) Again the the 5” AA guns were no problem. All guns being painted dark sea grey. British war-ships are a bit boring when it come to colour but I must admit the camouflage on the hull, even if it was a bit of a pain, certainly adds some interest and colour. After the armament was done I made the cranes again gluing the jibs solid at maximum elevation and adding some rigging, (I couldn’t help myself.) another cudos for Airfix is that the cranes have been moulded with open jib work and that's in 600th scale, i've got several kits in 1/350 scale with filled in jibs, again well done Airfix. Then added the final bits to the deck being the three small boats and the life rafts. /media/tinymce_upload/046de25b8fc9c9faf5f2a940548e3a05.jpg The B and Y main turrets with the scratch built gun on the B turret the other things on the top of both turrets are those useless U.P. launchers that the Royal Navy tried to deter low flying aircraft. There didn't work and were soon scrapped /media/tinymce_upload/c8f29f3bb13437aa999dfada55f5b340.jpg The main and secondary gun togeter with the cranes yet to be rigged. Note the open jib work & that's in 600 scale. Next thing will be fixing all the above to the hull and mounting the hull onto the sea-scape and adding the masts. One thing I’ve discovered with dry fitting is that the bridge and AA gun deck will have to be fitted together as part of the bridge fits under a funnel platform while some steps from the gun deck fit over a bridge deck. Also there is a square structure at the rear of the bridge that butts up against the fore funnel. I had to slightly flatten the funnel and make the rear face of the bridge structure concave as there wasn’t enough space between the two to allow the bridge and gun platform to sit squarely on the main deck. This could be caused by my assembly as I did find the funnel didn’t fit properly as it was being fouled by the raised AA gun platform, although this piece did have very positive locating. Just something to be aware of if anyone is building this kit. /media/tinymce_upload/b5dfeab3de3d8854648a66103b587fde.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/062ee81a70fc66ac2565d25513af4472.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/84450a5278a7ddcd0980736dcd3ad80f.jpg Three views of the King George V with the parts just placed on the hull and on the unfinished sea base. Up next is mounting everything and fixing the hull to the sea-scape and adding the masts, hopefully next week. Hope you enjoy the photos and remember we do this for fun John the Pom.

Hi Peter. That's alovely build and your write-up has plenty of tricks, techniques and tips and I've learnt something new with the pencils , although the use of ordinary lead pencils was a old trick used many used years ago, but it seems to have fallen out of favour these days. Really liked your "vintage" photos, anyone could be forgiven in thinking they were the real thing. Thanks for showing your Mitchel and looking forward to seeing and hearing more. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi PMM Another supurb build I especially liked your tail sitting cheat, that's brilliant, I must remember that. I did notice earier on in your post that you had an idea about curring the tail sitting problem and I've been waiting to see your solution, very cleaver. I think even with your modifications not made it's a lovely build and it looks like a Mitchel, should look great in your collection. Keep them coming and looking forward to your next adventure. Remember we do this for fum John the Pom

Hi Jeff. Recently on the aircraft forum a 24th scale Typhoon was being built and I was building the old release of the Dr1. it turned out that thesingle blades of the Typhoon's propellers were longer than the wingspan of the 1/72 scale Dr 1 I was building. If you want to try something interesting, you can now build the complete linerage of the WW1 Focker fighters with Airfix'a E series, the Dr 1 from Revel or Roden, then continue with the D VI also Roden, It's basically a bi-plane version of the Dr I. Then the D VII from Revell or Roden, again basicall a D VI with an inline engine, and finally a D VIII or E V a monoplane D VI or Dr I as they all have basicaly the same fuselage. I have all these and they make quite a collection. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

/media/tinymce_upload/018a306169dddbeb6a67babd0c9efdce.jpg Some history or prologue. This is not a history of the ship but of this particular model and me trying to build it. For a change of pace I’ve dug out this old kit , it’s copywritern 1980 on the main deck and the catalogue no is 06205-2.. I’m not sure when I brought the kit or why, but I must have been going through a model ship spree at that time as I also brought the Prinz Eugen at about the same time.. If it was about 1980 I was back in SA and living in Durban or to be more precise Amamzimtoti just south of Durban. The kit has been started two or three times over the years and now in 2019 I’ve decided it’s time to start a fourth time; hopefully I’ll finish it this time. All the parts are there, most still on the sprues, except part 156 which seems to have broken off the sprue. This is what looks like a single 20 mm AA gun or a signalling gun that sits atop the B turret, this look to be easily replaced with some stretched sprue so shouldn’t prove to much of a problem. I do remember when I first started the kit one problem that stopped me was that one of the lower bridge pieces was mal-formed and couldn’t be used. I had a simular problem with the Airfix Prinz Eugen at about the same time, but thankfully Airfix replaced the parts, even sending them to SA. This kit was one of the last few that Airfix did in their 1/600 ship series and I remember noting how much Airfix had improved their ships from those early days of the Cossack & Graf Spree. The Prinz Eugen was of the same era and both kits are superb, not only in their detail but also the fit. One thing that did impress me was that the model can be built as a water-line model, with some easy modification. I’ve gone-on previously about full hull models so I won’t repeat myself. So some time in the past I’d cut off the lower hull and joined the hull and deck and made a start of a seascape and also assembled some of the superstructure sub assemblies, and started painting them in what now looks like gloss enamels. I’d probably been using what I had at the time as this was way before the days of acrylics, so a lot of that old paint had to be removed. Not sure how I did it as that seems to have been done at one of the earlier starting attempts. All that was left was the black boot topping. The deck was left with old Humbrol enamel Oak colour but all the moulded on deck fitting will have to be repainted. Re-starting for the fourth time. I’ve started repainting the various superstructure pieces and painted the bridge decks in a Dark Sea Green, (Vallejo 70.868 (164)) and the hull and superstructures in Dark Sea Grey, (Vallejo 70.904 (158)). For the camouflage on the hull I’ve used Matt White and Olive Green as recommended in the Airfix paint guide, unfortunately the colour call-out numbers don’t say what make of paint they refer too, so I’ve used Vallejo Olive Green ( Vallejo 70.967 (82)) and matt white is matt white in any make. In painting the hull the boot topping was masked off and the hull sides air brushed with Vallejo surface primmer. The port side brushed with dark sea grey and the starboard with matt white. Then the camouflage added free-hand with a brush and the boot top masking removed. I’m quite pleased with the outcome, it might not be perfect but it’ll do for me. I’m not going to go too postal with this build although I’ve some time previously drilled out the port-holes and opened up the bridge windows, but for now it’ll be O.T.B. with no added photo etc although I might make some decals for the Walrus. This really is a wonderful kit and really deserves much more T.L.C. than I’m going to give it and it really could do with some PE railings but for now I’ll stick to what’s in the box. That’s about where we stand at the moment still a lot of work to do on the main deck repainting all those tiny fittings and finishing off the superstructures then it’s off to the armament and boats etc. I’ve included a few photos showing where I’m at and more will follow in due course. Just hope I don’t get side-tracked again, hopefully this review will help to keep me focused. Enjoy the photos, and see you next time. /media/tinymce_upload/b94f4ad9a8e71e3d2d69734d8e94ef62.jpg Port side with the unfinished sea scape and equally unfinshed superstructure parts /media/tinymce_upload/6103d37056c4dee204ab7578b119c03a.jpg The more interesting starboard side, buta right pain to paint either with a brush or airbrush. /media/tinymce_upload/5dd94f36413720d4878c7dd8d8322f0b.jpg Everthing just clipped together for a posed shot. and a look-see. Lot of more work to come. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Jeff Good to see your Ju 87, I see you've also done the B-1 BoB version. That canopy looks great espesially as you say it's hand painted, more credits to you. The whole mdel looks great and looking forwards to seeing more. I remember seeing your first posting and now seeing how you've progressed is great and an inspiration to us all. I know what you mean about the two very dark greens of German splinter camouflage. I've tried the Vallejo RLM colours and find the contrast is just not there as it seems to suffer from the scale effect, maybe it;s me painting the colours too heavy, now I usually use a dark green a few shades lighter than the acual colour too increase the contrat a touch, ( see my post on the Ju 87 and Hs 123) and I find it helps. Anyway keep them coming, and looking forward to seeing and hearing more. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Quick trip to our LMS just to browse but came away with 2 pipettes. another can of Tamiya primer, and an ICM kit. This is a new one for me, but as it's Japanese WW2 it had to come home with me, also I was tempted by a Russian bi-plane but that'll have to wait for another day. In also saw ICM do a range of airfield personal in 1/48th scale, might be worth investigating for the larger scale modellers. /media/tinymce_upload/cc41725a87b97b0454142af640ef5d03.jpg I always thought ICM were an Asian company but I see they're Uktainian and on inspection of the kit all I can say is Airfix has some serious competion. The surface detail and finnese of the parts is really good and very fine, the engine is almost a small kit in itself.. These newer companies have certainly raised the game. This Ki-27 should look right at home next to my old Airfix Aichi D3A1 Val when I get around to building them. That's it, just remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Paul Thanks for the above site I've now down loaded the 4 free digital issues. Certainly seems to be an interessting magazine. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Visit to local model shop today just to check out if anthing new's arrived. Almost at the end of my perusing when i saw this. I have the old Airfix one in the stash, but somehow missed the first release of this several years ago, and been looking for it ever since.. Then watching some videos of Telford I saw the box on the Revell stand but no information about a release. So image my surprise on seeing this; It JUST had to come home with me irrespective of the cost. Pity it wasn't the A-7 version used for maritime patrol but we can't have everything. A quick check in the box and all I can say is Wow! /media/tinymce_upload/23677c006f31ca5e47d1788376cb6581.jpg Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Have't-a-Clue. Firstly welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your accident but glad to hear you'r on the road to recovery. Nice to hear that the Airfix Quick Builds have been useful to your recovery and helping with your motor skills, maybe it's something occupational therapists could follow. Any way looking forward to your continuing recovery and hearing about your adventures in the world of Airfix modelling. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Heather. Last year you posted you'd aquired this old Ex Heller kit. Whilest looking for something else I came across this. https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/heller-1-72-amiot-143-oob/ A Very interesting read and thought of you with this old Amiot 143, and thought you'd be interested. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

I can second the idea by Paul Brown in using very hot water as it seems to make the decal more pliable, but also more delicate. You could also try brushing some some of you varnish under the decal to "glue" it on, but probalbly the best way is to do as Ratch surgested in painting the yellow markings on. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Jim. Welcome to the forum, hope to see some builds from you when the kits arrive. We have a simular problem in South Africa. Finally managed to buy the Nakajima B6N2 about 18 months after it appeared in the UK, oddly the B6N1 appeared about 4 months later and still waiting for the Me 262.. I do feel Airfix and their overseas distributers could do better as kits from the far east seem to arrive at regular intervals. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

At the local IPMS meeting last night picked up 5 Aircraft of the Aces, and in a pile of 2nd hands saw the Lagg 3 1, 5, 11 series by Roden. Now that will go nicely with my series 66 kit so it had to come home with me. My first addition to my stash this year. /media/tinymce_upload/63ec94cfcfe2cc1575e7365ebe35d951.jpg James I hope you like the bird-dog all 148 parts. Just be prepared to assemble it in private as if in common with other Roden kits I'm sure your vocabulary will be put to good use, they're not shake-and-bake kits but more of a challenger. Good luck. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Aida. Your question abouit a bomber kit to start with; I'd recommend either the DeHaviland Mosquito both the Airfix and Tamiya offerings in 1/72 scale are both very good and both make up into quite repectable models of what was arguably the most photogenic bomber of WW 2; especially in a flying configeration. The other iconic bomber is in the jet era and being the Canberra, again another photogenic aircraft and again looks better in the flying mode. Both aircraft are made by Airfix and are quite reasonably priced. While maybe not true novice models with a little care and patience should pose few problems to an adult beginner. the Mosquito comes out at just over a 9 inch span and the Canberra finishes up at almost 11 inches long so shouldn't take up too much real estate on your desk. Hope this helps and would love to see the finished result. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Him Steven. Firtly Congats to your daughter's Airfix acolade. Great bto see your daughter is enjoying her modelling and also great that she has your help and experiance to guild her. So far the project looks great and looking forward to seeing it's compleation. Keep, up the good work. I've always found doing dioramas can be very time consuming, often more so than building the actual models. If you want to save your model paints you can easily use ordinary poster or craft / artist acrilic paints, and oil paint washes. with these I usually use bristle brushes that stipple better than the soft brushes we use for models. that way you can get some interesting textures and blendings especially if blending wet. If the plastic is undercoated or primmed these paints will stick. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Paws. None it's just those Migs were the USSR's mainstay in the cold war era, which seems that that's the era Airfix is covering with their recent jet releases, Maybe we'll even get a re-release of the Illyshin IL-28 and maybe add the Sukhoi Fishpot and Su 7b Fitter for good measure. (Actually I'm just throwing pebbles in the pond.) As it is I don't make modern jets or any jets for that matter, but I must admit I'm tempted by those early jet aircraft and often picked up a F100 or Voodoo or Scorpion etc as these have some very interesting shapes only to put them back. But I think I'll stick with my WW2 German, Italian, Japanese and French aircraft of the 1938 to 1946 era as that really gives me enough to be going on with. Still hoping the Me 262 makes it to SA in the near future. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom PS: - Plus many WW1 & tween war aircraft, various soft skinned millitary 1/72 kits and , artillary pieces, plus various 350 & 600 scale WW2 warships. JtP

Maybe if we ask very very nicely Airfix could do the other 3 cold war Migs the 15, 19 and the 21. Now that would be really something, and think of all the variants not to mention the marking options. That way every one wins. Remember we to this for fun John the Pom

Hi Black Major. I was in Yeovile a few years back and found a small hobby / model shop behind the Yew-Tree inn where I stayed for the night Not really a great selection but did walk away with the Revell Luftwaffer figure set and and the Sopwith tri-plane, Not sure what the shop was called. I was quite impressed with the shop at the Fleet Air Arm Museum having a nice array of models and books mainly books, hopefully there model selection has improved with all the new Airfix FAA models coming out. Well worth a visit. Here in Cape Town we were down the only two LMS's but a couple of new ones have opened up all within a half hours drive. I usually do a round trip of all three every 6 weeks or so a always find something. Recently found some battle field buildings and a Blitz ambulance by Italari and the Opel BVlitz Trucks by Academy. Both still waiting in the stash although I have used one of the battle field buildings kits in a diorama, one still in the stash. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom