My Eclectic 1/72 Collection

[chbessexboy]

Back in September 2021 I wrote about this Airfix Kittyhawk:





I'd painted it as a rather anonymous USAAF P-40E, but now it could do with reworking.

Here it is with the actual bag header:



According to the top left hand corner it was the eleventh 1/72 kit in the collection, and "79c" in the opposite corner tells me I would have purchased it at Bunkers Toys in Hastings. Considering that it's still giving pleasure, it was a wise investment!

But what to do with it now? A gentle de-riveting and a rub down for a new coat of paint would be a start. Then what identity to assume? How about sending it to Russia?



Lend-Lease aircraft in the “Great Patriotic War” hold a bit of a fascination for me. In many cases they were not considered suitable for the European theatre, but they were a big step up from the I-16s that were left after the German onslaught. In the hands of skilled Russians, with the incentive of defending their own country, P-40s were often more than a match for some of the hastily trained Luftwaffe pilots they encountered.

This set of AML decals titled "P-40 in Stalin's Sky" featured five variants: two “K”s, two “N”s and fortunately one “E”.



I started by carefully removing the propeller so it wouldn't get broken. This was followed by the tail wheel (because the gear doors looked like a couple of bricks), the main gear, drop tank, then the cockpit glazing and gun sight - which was massively over scale. Luckily the fifty-year-old glue didn't put up much of a fight. That was as far as I would go, it being just a makeover and not wanting to erase what provenance remained. I decided not to refit the gun sight, but made a more realistic instrument panel top. Some card also produced the distinctive curve to the engine cowling.

I was surprised to discover I had originally painted it as Airfix intended – a Kittyhawk IA of 112 Sqn in the North African Campaign.



Now it was being flown by Lt. Colonel Alexander Andreevich Matveev, commander of 154.IAP, Leningrad Front, summer 1942. He flew 181 missions, had 12 encounters with the enemy and scored 5 victories. And that is as much as I know about him - Wikipedia being unsurprisingly silent with its naturally American bias.









I didn’t plan on having consecutive Soviet fighters featured, but it may come as no surprise that I have a number of builds “on the go” and this was the next to be completed. However, this little P-40E has had much more time spent on its rebuild than it took to make it in the first place.

[davidd]

I was scratching my head, wondering what an Il-16 was, I knew of no such Ilyushin, then the penny dropped! Fat fingers! Have suffered from that throughout my life too. And were there really hordes of hastily trained Luftwaffe pilots sent to fight the skilled Russians on Eastern front? Always thought it was the other way around, at least in first year of that war.

[chbessexboy]

Thanks davidd, typo corrected. Well, the Russians were undisciplined, but learned tactics quickly. Their skills certainly improved - if they survived. The Luftwaffe never recovered from losing their best pilots in the Battle of Britain and their policy of flying them until they were killed resulted in unrecognised battle fatigue. Even senior pilots were threatened with court marshal and/or death if they refused to fly. We only hear about the ones who ran up cricket scores.

"Hordes" is your word, not mine.

[Deleted]

Lovely work Ron! I remember this kit well from my childhood - Airfix has since done a wonderful early P-40 but I live in the hope an E is in the pipeline.

Jan 30, 2024 12:08:31 GMT 12 davidd said:

I was scratching my head, wondering what an Il-16 was, I knew of no such Ilyushin

It was a ground-attack prototype based on the Il-10 (itself a derivative of the famous Il-2 Shturmovik).

[chbessexboy]

The Miles Master was designed to bridge the gap between the primary trainers and front line fighters. In this it performed the same role that was later dominated by the Harvard. Originally powered by the Rolls-Royce Kestrel V12, used in the Hawker Hart and Fury, these soon dried up when production concentrated on the Merlin. The Bristol Mercury radial was then fitted to become the Master MkII.



An interesting feature was the provision to tilt the top section of the rear canopy to create a windscreen for the instructor, who would then raise his seat to allow a view over the student. I suspect this may have been used for circuits and bumps. Lowering the seat and restoring the canopy to its fully enclosed position would no doubt be more comfortable for other handling and cross country exercises.



Of mostly wooden construction, those Masters that survived the war and entered the civilian market didn't last long. No examples are known to exist.

This simple little FROG kit was produced in this boxing in 1964. That was about the time I was in England making my first models with my father. Hard to believe it has been waiting to be built, no doubt in various collections, for almost sixty years. I expect that all those involved in its design, manufacture and marketing are long gone. Yet this has survived.



Some thought had been given to its packaging to create a box that opens up to make a tray - keeping all the parts safe for that schoolboy building his kit on the kitchen table. That could so easily have been me.



While that's a nice little fantasy, the reality was quite different. I know the seven year old me would never have had the patience required. It certainly tried me now.

I created a basic cockpit from card to occupy the vast empty space under the canopy. I also spent some time filling the many injector pin marks and sink areas. But the most trouble was had in aligning the engine and cowling. With no positive location provided, I had four attempts before I accepted it was as good as it was going to get. The undercarriage was another feature that looked easy on paper, but didn’t turn out to be in practice. Quite understandably the decals were suspect after all this time, but fortunately “Blackbird Models” produce replacements.

While Pavla briefly marketed a MkI in the 1990s, FROG'S old Bristol powered Master, maybe in its later Novo or Eastern Express forms, is still the one you’re most likely to come across. Perseverance has thankfully paid off with another unusual old model now in the collection.

[chbessexboy]

At the last local modelers’ meet for 2023, I was given this unwanted Airfix Albatros DVa.



I had way too many models started, so I really shouldn't have begun another, but I couldn’t resist building such a simple kit. Famous last words! Released in 1957, this one was from between 2001-8 with little change in the intervening years. We were still expected to believe that Manfred became an ace while performing a balancing act.





From the depths of my spares box came a Merlin Models “Accessory Set” which meant I could at least provide him with a seat.



Other additions were an inlet manifold and radiator pipe from fuse wire. I trimmed off all the control surfaces to position them slightly offset. It does give a model a little more life. Research revealed the D series had control locks, but there are plenty of photos that show they were not always used.

As the DV gradually progressed towards completion, I concentrated on getting it done. That sounds like it was a chore but it wasn't. The only thing I don't look forward to with biplanes is (hardly surprising) fitting the top wing. More recent kits have jigs or temporary braces between the struts to keep everything aligned, but kits of this vintage rely on you having multiple skinny fingers (that don't shake) and endless patience. None of which I possess. Rather than attempt to keep everything in position while the glue takes forever to go off, I assembled it dry then apply superglue (with a tooth pick) to each strut once confirmed they were aligned - while holding it all together in the other hand. This worked well and will be a method used again.

I decided to follow the scheme that Airfix intended, and build one of von Richthofen’s machines. The specified upper wing camouflage of Dark Green (H30) and Dark Purple (H107) hit a snag when I found Humbrol no longer produce the latter. Luckily, via the ‘net, Wingnut Wings provided the formula for the correct hue, and they should know! Some of the Red Baron’s aircraft had markings on the tail showing through the paint, so I copied this look with some old Formacal decals.















I enjoyed building this Albatros so much that I’m keen to start the next Great War model.

[Deleted]

Lovely work Ron, it's so great to see these old moulds getting some love (I'm keen to give Airfix's DH.4 a go if I can find one). And to see it finished so well is a real treat! I love how you've achieved the overpainted tail cross, and I'm a sucker for the purple and green camo. Excellent work and I'm keen to see your next build!

[chbessexboy]

Thanks Zac. You're too kind! They are such a beautiful aircraft it's hard not to make them look good! Airfix never re-issue the ones we want do they?

[Deleted]

Also: I forgot to say that the Merlin accessories set looks like a clever idea! Very handy!

[chbessexboy]

My interest in the Israeli Air Force has led me to learn more about the many conflicts it has been involved in. One of these was the Suez Crisis in 1956. This not only resulted in Egypt gaining control of the canal, but Britain and France's actions ended any hope of them remaining as world powers. It also united, for once, the USA and USSR in condemning them, and gave the latter a stronger position within the United Nations - the result of which can still be felt today.

So what aircraft were involved? Well, most of each protagonist's motley collection of late WWII piston engined and early jet era arsenal.

I purchased a Suez Crisis Xtradecal set which gave me the potential to model an Israeli Dessault Ouragan and Republic Thunderstreak, British Hunter, Seahawk, Sea Venom and Canberra, while the French Navy were covered by a Corsair and a peculiar version of the TBM Avenger designated the 3W, and inevitably called a Guppy.



Now, like most aviation enthusiasts in New Zealand, I have a soft spot for the Avenger, but this particular variant sure puts that to the test.

With its enormous bloated belly (or more correctly the radome) containing what was the latest word in airborne radar surveillance gubbins, the kindest thing one could say is that it was apparently functional. I hate to think how it was to fly, but the addition of a couple of "fins" to the horizontal stabilizers indicates that directional control was, at the very least, compromised.



 

It's not the sort of subject that I had any great ambition to model, but in having the decals it seemed rude not to use them. Sword make a TBM-3W (with Suez War decals), but I’ve never seen one for sale locally and you’d have to really love it to justify the expense of bring the kit in from the UK.

Jays offered an alternative with the Tasman conversion right here in NZ, and they had one in stock. I've got a few vacuum moulded kits in the stash that I've yet to build, so this seemed like a good way to ease into one.



However, nothing is quite that simple. The conversion was tooled many years ago and used the Airfix TBM as a base. That went out of production in the late ‘90s. Hasegawa still make a TBM but they're scarce, and if I found one it most likely wouldn't be cheap. The only real option was Academy's TBF-1.



The "F" was made by Grumman, the "M" by General Motors and there are some detail differences that would have to be corrected. But that was not a major setback.

The Airfix TBM was unusual in that the wings fitted into quite deep recesses in the fuselage. The conversion followed suit. Just fitting the Academy wings would leave them short. Building up the fuselage with card would make alignment difficult. I came up with what I thought was a better idea.

I glued the cockpit floor into the Academy fuselage, without gluing the fuselage halves together.



I then cut around the wing roots and removed the fuselage halves to leave a "centre section".



This required some cleaning up (understatement) and bracing with sprue and card to make it fit for purpose. Academy's rudimentary cockpit interior was added and all given a couple of coats of US interior green.

I had trimmed the vac form fuselage and sanded the faces flat on some sandpaper glued to a piece of glass. Then I figured it would be best to use the Academy tail feathers so that their finish would match the wings. The front cowl, engine and prop were to come from the donor kit. At that stage I came to a grinding halt. How were all these mismatched parts going to come together in the right place and in alignment? I packed it all away, passed on the problem to my subconscious and carried on with other builds.

Some months later I laid out the parts again and the way forward became clear.

I opened up another Academy Avenger sitting on the shelf and drew around a fuselage side on my “chopping block” piece of wood. I could then position the cowl and vertical stabiliser correctly at each end and trim the fuselage to fit between. This was the result:



I hate to think how many hours were consumed to get to this photo:



It looked a bit like Frankenstein's monster, but the major surgery was behind me.

Detail work was needed to fit the front of the cowl (with integral engine) and sharpen up the cooling gills with more card. The lower scoop, a distinctive feature of the ‘M’ was made from yet more card and blended in. Exhaust outlets were from sprue. There was the addition of a couple of vertical stabilisers from, you guessed it, and the canopy was shortened, etc. After that it was lots of filling then assembling the remaining components as normal. Oh, and did I mention filling?

Painting the fuselage stripes was to be another nightmare and the Tamiya Royal Blue enamel never seemed to completely harden. However, decals and a coat of clear matt were applied and I called it done. After almost a year I certainly was.







This build was never going to be quick or easy and it certainly wasn’t either. In retrospect a Sword kit would have been the logical choice, but we are modelers and not just assemblers. I’m pretty confident that this composite TBM-3W model is unique, and may well remain so.

[tbf2504]

Great effort! I note on the photos of the French one there is a prominent aerial on the top of the fin.

[chbessexboy]

Yes, and not just on the fin. After I've taken it to my local club's "Show and Tell" I will revisit it and fit them, along with anything else that will get broken off.

[chbessexboy]

Staying with a French theme is this SPAD VII.



Released in 1967, my example was built in my prolific early 1970’s period. Recently rediscovered undamaged, it is shown here after only gentle cleaning.



SPAD is an acronym of Société Pour l'Aviation et ses Dérivés, and the “S. VII C.1” was introduced in August 1916, although because of teething troubles it was only seen in significant numbers in early 1917. Despite its annular cowling, the aircraft was designed to use the new overhead cam Hispano-Suiza V8. Not as nimble as the contemporary sesquiplane Nieuport 17, it could however out-dive it (due to its greater weight) without shedding its wings. Perhaps this sturdiness was reflected in my model’s survival.



Georges Guynemer flew the SPAD and became France’s second highest scorer. His original aircraft named “Vieux Charles”, the subject of this model, exists intact in the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace just outside Paris. It is one of seven original SPAD VIIs held by museums worldwide. None are airworthy.

His exploits provided newspapers with a hero that the French public desperately needed. His death in combat on 11th September 1917 (by then flying a SPAD XIII) caused profound shock.

He had taken off with a novice pilot as his wingman to patrol the Langemark area near Poelkapelle. Diving on a lone Rumpler observation plane, escorting Fokkers in turn attacked the pair. When the engagement was over, Guynemer was nowhere in sight.

Guynemer had suffered the fate of his 54 victims, but for him his death had been quick with a wound to the head. He came down in no-man’s land and the retrieval of his body was made difficult by a bombardment preceding the British attack on Ypres. He was eventually buried in Brussels with full military honours.

Airfix’s “Vieux Charles” is very basic and comprises of 28 parts. It was intended for a much younger modeler than the consumer more recent kits seem to be aimed at. In that they succeeded, by providing a SPAD that was not beyond my modest skills.

[Peter Lewis]

The original is in the Musée de l'air, Paris:

[chbessexboy]

Thanks Peter. Great photos. Much better than any I found on the 'net. Interesting that this is a later aircraft than the one Airfix modeled. I wonder how many he went through!

[chbessexboy]

The availability of after-market accessories has provided the means to model many aircraft now, not just those chosen by the kit manufacturers. I have become more interested in choosing ones that mean something to me.



"Gun Button to Fire" is one of the best Battle of Britain books written and has become a personal favourite. The late Tom Neil had an engaging style that reads more like a conversation. I've enjoyed it many times and will no doubt read it again. I cannot recommend it more highly.



Neil joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in October 1938 at the age of 18. On completing his training he was commissioned as a pilot officer and was posted to 249 Squadron. He flew Hurricanes from RAF North Weald during the Battle of Britain.

Neil writes of his fondness for his own “personal" Hurricane: V1703 "GN-F". Unserviceability, battle damage and routine maintenance made the chance of hanging on to one particular aircraft unusual, but he did for a time. It was eventually destroyed while Neil was on leave when another pilot had to bail out of it. V1703 was the second "GN-F" he lost that way.


I chose a new Airfix kit for this model and was impressed with its attention to detail. I still found aspects of it challenging to build though. While not aimed at the young, it may not be aimed at the old either!



Although designed to recreate Paul Richey's Battle of France machine, it also came with parts to build a later version. One thing I got caught out on after I’d started was the fabric covered wings – V1703 being fitted with metal ones. I had to gently sand down the rib detail to overcome this.

The style of aircraft codes varied greatly during the Battle, some even within a squadron. 249's were unusual in having 36 inch high letters. I purchased a sheet of Ventura decals just for this model.

Air Ministry photographer Cecil Beaton visited No 249 Squadron at North Weald in September 1940. Fortunately Tom Neil was among the pilots he met and the resulting photos provide a priceless record of that day:











Of interest to note is that the propeller fitted to the background aircraft in the first photo is a Dowty Rotol, while V1703 has a de Havilland – which incidentally has the back of its tips painted yellow.

It is to be expected that not all the pilots photographed that day survived.



P/O James R B "Jim" Meaker (left) and P/O Percival R F "Percy" Burton are captured "walking away from a post-sortie debrief". The pilots were relative newcomers to 249, having arrived on 27th June and 21th July respectively. Sadly both perished in combat in Hurricane Mk Is GN-N and GN-H on the morning of 27 September – not long after this was taken. It is sobering to see how young they look.

[chbessexboy]

Where did old moulds go when the company that made them had its assets sold by the receiver? The short answer is the USSR. Many of the old FROG kits had a new lease on life this way, providing opportunities to build some kits you missed out on first time around. This Novo Miles Magister I is an example and a good companion to my FROG Miles Master.



As usual, I hoped such a basic kit would be quick and easy to build, but FROG'S legendary sink marks and misalignment problems were faithfully duplicated. Thanks, comrade.

I look back to the days spent building my model aircraft with fondness, and now purchase old kits from the era to wind back the clock - but in reliving those times I find they are never quite as good as I remember. I know my expectations and standards are higher now, but did I just accept the model's shortcomings, or just not notice them? I've come to the conclusion that I was probably so pleased to get the kits that they were built without seeing their faults. Perhaps that wasn't a bad thing.

But getting back to Magisters, this old Russian kit of an English aircraft was built in New Zealand, with the help of some Japanese putty. Yспех!



Developed from the Miles Hawk, the M.14 Magister first flew in 1936, and although aimed at the civil market, its potential as a modern primary trainer for the air force was obvious. With the rapid expansion of the RAF in the lead up to war, the "Maggie" was soon put into production. Being a low-wing monoplane, it was much more suited to the training of future Spitfire and Hurricane pilots than the venerable Tiger Moth. The logistics of engine maintenance was simplified by sharing the familiar 130 HP de Havilland Gipsy Major engine.

Magisters remained in service with the RAF until 1947, when like the Master, they were disposed of to civil operators. Once again, its construction materials didn't enhance its survival rate, and today very few are preserved in flying condition.

Each of my models consumes many hours to reach completion, even those with fewer parts. The Magister was no different and seemed to take forever to get to the stage of applying the decals. Novo's were of poor quality, with roundels out of register, so for these I found replacements, but I kept my fingers crossed for the registration letters. To say I was disappointed when the first one disintegrated as soon as it touched water is an understatement. With no substitutes in my spares I had to go looking for an alternative identity. Despite 1303 Magisters having been made, there are very few pictures on the internet. Luckily RS had also produced a kit and one of their versions matched the camouflage scheme I'd already painted. Serial numbers were provided by a Ventura sheet and the small Polish symbols came from an Airfix Spitfire Vb.





No. 307 (Polish) Squadron, also known as No. 307 (City of Lwów) Squadron, was formed in 1940 as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom. One of 15 Polish Air Force squadrons that served alongside the Royal Air Force in World War II, 307 was unique in flying night fighters. At first equipped with Boulton Paul Defiants, it is from this squadron that the only complete Defiant was preserved.



Magister T9843 was fitted with a blind flying hood for the rear cockpit, which would have been used for instrument training and practice - essential on a night fighter squadron.

Apart from their role as trainers, Magisters became very useful as squadron hacks - often collecting pilots who had flown aircraft away for overhaul, for example.

Magisters were not big aircraft, so in 1/72 scale they become quite fiddly and delicate. To illustrate its diminutive size I have also photographed it next to its big sister, the Miles Master.