Pete's Matchbox/Revell Skyraider

stillp

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I've had this in the stash for a while:
P1150918.JPG
Definitely ex-Matchbox:

P1150919.JPGScalemates say it was originally Monogram, released in 1980.
Seems nicely detailed, but quite a bit of sinkage.
P1150920.JPGP1150921.JPGP1150922.JPG
I see filler in my future...
Here's the rest of the frames:
P1150923.JPGP1150924.JPG
And a nice decal sheet:
P1150925.JPG
Looking at the GB dates again, I won't start this just yet, as I want to make a Hurricane for the BoB GB.
Pete
 

Jakko

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Scalemates say it was originally Monogram, released in 1980.
The look of the sprues kind of makes me doubt that, if I’m honest. Those look like a Matchbox effort to me, with the angular runners.

Ah, OK, I see the confusion now. Looking at the Scalemates page for this kit, it does seem like the family tree connects it to the Monogram kit:

Matchbox Skyraider family tree.png

But the vertical lines crossing under 1988 just means that the Hasegawa kit is a reboxed Monogram one, not that the Matchbox kit descends from the Monogram one as well. The vertical line should really be given a little curved “jump” over the horizontal one, if you ask me, to make this clear.
 

yak face

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Jakkos right pete , its definitely an original matchbox tooling, if it was 1980s monogram the cockpit tub and seats would have been a lot more detailed , plus the square sprues are a classic matchbox feature . Cheers tony
 

stillp

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Well, this might be a bit more challenging than I'd hoped! Large sprue gates, lots of 'draw on the edges of the parts, instructions sometimes a bit vague...
Here are the crew, apparently Darth Vader clones:
P1150967.JPGP1150968.JPGP1150969.JPG
They'll need a fair bit of cleaning up.
I do like this parts list in the instructions though:
P1150966.JPG
Pete
 

Jakko

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The pilots look like scaled-up versions of the standard Matchbox modern fighter pilot. I have the Seasprite kit, and that has newly designed figures with separate arms, but apparently they didn’t go for those in this kit.
 

stillp

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Well, the crew don't look so much like Darth Vader now. Sadly they don't look much like US crew either.
P1150970.JPG
I might leave them out, although if I keep them they'll partially hide the seats, which are rather basic.
While the paint was drying on the crew I started assembling the engine - why can't kit manufacturers get the two halves of each cylinder to line up properly? :angry: They were offset by about 1/2 a millimetre or more. This is after about 3 hours cleaning up.
P1150971.JPG
I'm not over impressed with this kit.
Pete
 

stillp

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Well I gave up on the clones. Even if I was any good at painting figures, the fact that they're posed identically looked stupid, and I don't have any spare 1/48 figures to mix them up a bit.
So, with the engine painted and mostly assembled:
P1150974.JPG
and the decals on the IP and control panels:
P1150972.JPG
I started gluing the fuselage halves.
P1150973.JPG
A reasonable fit, but the two halves are very flexible so I'm gluing them progressively.
Thanks for watching
Pete
 

stillp

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Anyone spotted the mistake yet?
Pete:rolling:
 

Archetype

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Looks good to me Pete.

The only thing I think it could be, if I squint REEEAAALLLLYYY hard, is some of the side consoles are in grey and possibly should be black?
 

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Pete comin on really good an i dint know they had a three aircrew in these planes
chris
 

stillp

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Full marks Chris (Archetype)! Yes, the top of all those consoles should be in the darker grey. I was really pleased with the way the decals settled down, until I realised that. We'll blame Revell, it's correct according to the instructions.
i dint know they had a three aircrew in these planes
Nor me Chris, it's a big old bird isn't it.
Pete
 

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Nice progress so far.......these big birds were very intimidating to the ground crews that had to handle the taxi and parking exercises. My first experience as a Plane Captain (handler) was to direct one of these beasts around a course and then park it on a lined out parking "spot". Scared Cr*p out of me at the time.........Rick H.
 

stillp

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Nice progress so far.......these big birds were very intimidating to the ground crews that had to handle the taxi and parking exercises. My first experience as a Plane Captain (handler) was to direct one of these beasts around a course and then park it on a lined out parking "spot". Scared Cr*p out of me at the time.........Rick H.
Which unit were you with Rick?
Pete
 

stillp

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I wonder where this was moulded?
P1150975.JPG
A little more progress:
P1150976.JPG
The outer wings are hinged, so they can be displayed either folded
P1150980.JPG
or extended:
P1150981.JPG
The join in the upper surface is a bit poor though, as is the fit to the fuselage:
P1150979.JPGP1150977.JPG
Difficult to show in a photo, but the circular wheel well wall on the starboard side (left in the photo above) doesn't line up with the hole in the lower wing - it's about 1.5 mm too far outboard! Can't blame that on poor moulding technique or shrinkage, that has to be a faulty mould recess.
Pleasantly surprised that all the holes for mounting the drop tanks and the bomb pylons have been drilled.
P1150978.JPG
More later,
Pete
 

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Hi Peter, At the time of that experience, I was attached to the Naval Air Training Command at Memphis ,Tennessee. After I completed my training there, I was attached to VT-3 (T28-C) Training Squadron at Naval Air Station Whiting Field for 2 years and then out to sea on the USS Intrepid for Carrier duty with VA-45 Squadron (A4-E). Rick H.
 

boatman

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Hi Peter, At the time of that experience, I was attached to the Naval Air Training Command at Memphis ,Tennessee. After I completed my training there, I was attached to VT-3 (T28-C) Training Squadron at Naval Air Station Whiting Field for 2 years and then out to sea on the USS Intrepid for Carrier duty with VA-45 Squadron (A4-E). Rick H.
COR Rick i bet you could tell some tales of happenings on the carrier
chris
 
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