Jim R's Airfix 1/72 De Havilland Vampire T.11

BattleshipBob

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Too busy witj the Stug, forgot all about this chaps.

Getting stuck in Jim, good start sir!
 
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Steve Jones

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I avoid wingy builds in general Jim but I have been rolling around in stitches reading your blog. :tears-of-joy::smiling6:

Firstly your Skill Level comment - priceless. :smiling5:

I am a shifty man who drives a transit (Well Mercedes) van and I dont have any lead. We have moved with the times and dig tunnels for gold bullion and jewellery raids now.

Then there's the flesh paint issue. How on earth were these kits so popular.:smiling2: Maybe there are a lot of Green, Yellow and Silver Vampire airman out there. Cant wait to start mine now:smiling5::smiling2:
 

Si Benson

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Evening Jim,
I’ll grab a seat if I may....should be a fun build:thumb2:
 

Jim R

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Hi all
I have discovered the thing I hate most!!! :sad::confused::angry:
Some say mankind's end will come from plague and pestilence. Some cite a catastrophic meteor strike or nuclear armegeddon. All wrong!! It will come from modellers being driven mad by trying to use Humbrol Poly Cement in the little yellow tube. Said modellers will loose all sense of reason after trying to use the stuff. Driven to despair by trying to stick plastic with it their frustration will send them over the edge and having emptied the contents of their drinks cabinet they will give up the hobby and take up something easier. Perhaps bomb disposal or lion taming :rolling:
The stuff is HORRIBLE. It is thick, gloopy and just looking at it makes it go stringy. It is almost impossible to put a small amount along a join. It stays tacky for ages and worst of all it doesn't actual stick the bits together.
I shall persevere of course but if my Vampire ends up in the bin it will not be the paint, the brush, the lack of MicroSol or the kit itself it will be this b****y glue!
Jim
 
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Hi Jim put it in a dish and use a scalpel to spread it on, it's a lot easier.IMG_20190331_115204409_HDR.jpg
Pete.
 

peterairfix

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b****y glue!
I have just dropped Ian a line for permission to bend the rules a bit as I have allowed the use of extra glue if I get the ok then you can use your usual stuff.
PERMISSION is now granted.
So you can ditch the kit stuff if you want to.
 
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Jim R

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Thanks Peter
The post was written tongue in cheek. I would have continued and somehow made it work. I actually think I would have had to use extra glue as the tube seemed to have a lot of empty space in it. Using Pete's very sensible idea of squeezing a bit of glue onto a palette would have wasted glue as well.
Thanks again Peter. The GB is great fun.
Jim
 

Neil Merryweather

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Thanks Peter
The post was written tongue in cheek. I would have continued and somehow made it work. I actually think I would have had to use extra glue as the tube seemed to have a lot of empty space in it. Using Pete's very sensible idea of squeezing a bit of glue onto a palette would have wasted glue as well.
Thanks again Peter. The GB is great fun.
Jim
Stick with it Jim,(pun intended) this is how we all paid our dues in our teens, so why shouldn't you?! You've got a lot of dues to pay, starting so late in life, so you better just knuckle down and brace yourself for the gluey fingerprints on the canopy!

I wasn't allowed a scalpel in those days , either!
and super glue hadn't even been invented!

Looking good so far!
Neil
 

JR

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Hi all
I have discovered the thing I hate most!!! :sad::confused::angry:
Some say mankind's end will come from plague and pestilence. Some cite a catastrophic meteor strike or nuclear armegeddon. All wrong!! It will come from modellers being driven mad by trying to use Humbrol Poly Cement in the little yellow tube. Said modellers will loose all sense of reason after trying to use the stuff. Driven to despair by trying to stick plastic with it their frustration will send them over the edge and having emptied the contents of their drinks cabinet they will give up the hobby and take up something easier. Perhaps bomb disposal or lion taming :rolling:
The stuff is HORRIBLE. It is thick, gloopy and just looking at it makes it go stringy. It is almost impossible to put a small amount along a join. It stays tacky for ages and worst of all it doesn't actual stick the bits together.
I shall persevere of course but if my Vampire ends up in the bin it will not be the paint, the brush, the lack of MicroSol or the kit itself it will be this b****y glue!
Jim
Sir.
Could you please refrain from publishing items as written above, I have suffered sharp words of rebuke for waking Management at 00.05 hrs this morning by frightening her with as she says, extremely LOUD laughter when reading the above mentioned post
I bid you a good night.

Yours Faithfully.

J Race
 

SimonT

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I wonder what possessed some Airfix exec to think these starter kits were a good idea - crappy paint, not enough colours, crappy glue in a silly small tube (which may even have gone hard in the tube), instructions for another version and a lot of them based around ancient badly fitting kits

All designed to put a youngster off ever building another kit - opened with great excitement Christmas morning, in the bin by lunchtime and put off modelling for life :thinking:

Keep going Jim - should be interesting to see what you come up with
 

rtfoe

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Hi Jim, :tears-of-joy: you're going through "labour pains" just like we did in our childhood...take deep breaths and keep pushing...:tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy: I know it's sadistic but I'm enjoying reading everyones frustrations at building with two hands tied to their backs.

I have a slight feeling your not happy with the wonderful Airfix glue Jim. :rolling:

I like Ians response.
I'd get a starter kit if the glue smelt like the original Airfix glue...I think the fumes alone kept us going at the kits which were at the time state of the art.:smiling6: Also we were happy it had wings and a tail...forget about the undercarriage...my planes were mostly wheels up anyway.

Cheers,
Richard
 

rtfoe

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Jim, this is a really nice kit. I built one recently, although, airbrush etc was used, but hey, the plastic was good.
Gee whizz Colin...you're rubbing it in...painful :tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy: Jim is shackled at the moment and tempted to chuck the brushes.

Cheers,
Richard
 

colin m

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Gee whizz Colin...you're rubbing it in...painful :tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy:Jim is shackled at the moment and tempted to chuck the brushes.

Cheers,
Richard
I was trying to be as positive as possible regards Jim's situation, I thought I nearly got away with it......
 

colin m

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if the glue smelt like the original Airfix glue
Now that does take me back more than a few years. It was probably full of a chemical which is banned all over the world now - happy days...
 

Jim R

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Hi all
Well as Colin said the kit is actually very nice - crisp detail, no flash and the fit so far is perfect. Sorry Peter that must be difficult to read having just looked at your thread and seen the fit/ flash problems you have with your Freedom Fighter :sad:
Now about this glue. The tube in the kit had a hole in the bottom and came out of both ends with the consistency of Golden Syrup. It had half dried up :angry: I bought this kit cheap at Aldi for this GB but decided not to use it.
P1050668.JPG
It had the same glue and so I decided to see if it was any better. It is! :thumb2: OK it is still horrible but at least it is useable. I will use this and bin the tube from the kit. So as a result I'm feeling much happier :tongue-out3:
Having read Dave's helicopter thread I made myself a paint pot holder - thanks Dave.
P1050811.JPG
....and set to with the hairy sticks (plural) - gloat, gloat! The brushes aren't bad. So far two thin coats.
P1050812.JPG
With there being no primer I hope the paint isn't too fragile.
Onwards and upwards.
Jim
 

Jim R

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Hi all
Well the glue from the other starter kit is much, much better. I took a tip from Pete L and made an applicator from an old no11 blade. When done I wipe the blade and any glue remaining can be burnt off. I found an old CD to use as a glue palette.
P1050814.JPG

The painting of the cockpit and seats was virtually all black - no33.
P1050815.JPG

P1050816.JPG

Looked very dull so used a bit of the silver and green to add interest. Clearly not accurate but ....... :thinking:

P1050818.JPG

Instrument panel decal went on OK but needed the edges trimming.

P1050817.JPG

I know I have said it before but the fit is truly excellent. The body halves are just placed together. I can't glue it until I can get some weight in the nose.

P1050819.JPG

So far it's fun. Worried about painting the silver body but Peter has done a silver finish on his Freedom Fighter and that kit had far more problems than mine so I'm hopeful it will be OK. I also have 2 brushes :smiling:

Jim
 

rtfoe

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Jim,

The cockpit interior and fitting looks good...must go get one. The all black with the minimal colour variations for the seat doesn't look too bad.

Cheers,
Richard
 
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