Phantom February @ IPMS East Kent

 

The theme for February's model club meet was Phantoms! Here's a few views of the table with Tamiya, ZM, Hasegawa/Revell, Esci and Academy F-4s in 48th and Airfix and Fujimi F-4s in 72nd. 

Build review of the Airfix 1:48th Jaguar - part 7 Finished!

 

The Airfix 1:48th Jaguar  is now finished in the markings of XZ 118 'Buster Gonad'. Difficult to photograph in this 'Granby' scheme as the flash obliterates the oil panel-line wash and the little bit of post-shading with Tamiya Smoke. Note that Airfix has given the modeller a bit of a 'mish-mash' with this machine as it wore a variety of markings and was seen in a number of different configurations especially post-Granby eg, the "FF" tail codes which are not present on the kit decal sheet  - although indicated on the decal placement diagram. While with 41 Sqd, XZ 118 also carried the recce pod in grey/green which I thought offered a neat contrast with the RAF Desert Pink (AK Real Colors lacquer). XZ 118 was the aircraft that ended its life upside down in the Tate Gallery..

Overall, a great kit, although the undercarriage is a little tricky and fitting the parts in and around the airbrake bays requires three hands. Some additional detail could have been provided in the cockpit perhaps. But then we modellers always seem to want more. A very good 9/10 from me.

Building the Airfix Sepecat Jaguar in 1/48th (part 6)

 

Finished painting except for one or two details. Discovered AK Real colors (laquer) after selecting their 'RAF Desert Pink'.  These are fantastic - with a little Mr Color Levelling Thinner easily the best spray finish I've ever achieved, probably the most 'in control' of the airbrush that I've ever felt. Getting some more !

Meanwhile, as I slowly complete my first, Mr. Bill Clark of our club has completed two, both of which will be on the Jag-Uhar SIG table at this weekend's SMW 2025 in Telford.

A few close-up views of Bill's model of  XZ 375 as seen at a recent East Kent Scale Modeller's  club night..

Building the Airfix Sepecat Jaguar in 1/48th (part 5) - reference pics of the gear bays and legs

 Finished painting the airframe.

'Black-basing' the airframe prior to application of the AK Real colors 'Desert Pink'  proved to be a complete waste of time. I was very impressed though with the AK paint and used in conjunction with 'Mr Color Levelling Thinner' proved to be a revelation..(..to me at least..)

Next; dealing with the gear bays and undercarriage. Assembling the legs can be pretty tricky at first sight. Note the 'ring-like' attachment point on the long inner strut is canted. Make sure you position it the correct way round otherwise it will bow just like it does on Gary's build! And a shout-out to the model channel 'Hobby Wan Kenobi' or whatever it is he calls himself - why on earth do all that masking around the gear bays? Paint the bays and then use the kit gear doors to 'mask' them by just positioning them in place closed up.

Close up of the gear legs on the Manston example, and, bottom, detail views of the gear bays. Airfix's colour call-out for the legs - Humbrol 27 - is rather too dark in my view. Overall though Airfix have done a fantastic job on this part of the kit.

Port main gear bay looking towards the rear of the aircraft and, bottom, looking directly into the starboard bay. Note inner faces of the main gear doors are not in zinc chromate..

Airfix new tool 1:48th Gannet COD 4

 

Dick from East Kent Scale Modellers has done a brilliant job on the new Airfix Gannet COD 'carrier delivery' aircraft. What a beast, looks magnificent in 48th!

Another view and a comparison with the Classic Airframes kit. This older kit has a noticeably smaller prop assembly and a rather 'pinched' forward fuselage..note my Land Rover and Dick's Heller Austin Allegro also on the table..

Building the new Airfix 48th Sepecat Jaguar GR. 1 (3)

 

Airfix 1:48 Jaguar GR.1 build continues. No issues. Concentrating on sticking the 'large' parts so we can get some paint on soon. Slats, flaps and ailerons just clip in. (edit:  the Jaguar wing does not feature ailerons but has spoilers on the upper surfaces) I notice some builders have left these parts off to paint and weather separately - no idea why you might need to do that. Care needs to be exercised when removing these parts from the sprue though - some youtubers have inadvertently cut off the extension tracks, which otherwise allows you to clip these parts into position easily. A smear of PPP in the upper wing join, wiped off with acetone to avoid any sanding. The intakes are fitted and just slide into position - Airfix supply a 'jig' to get them 'square' but I didn't feel the need to use it. There's also a jig to drill the options for the intake-mounted VHF aerial(s). There's also two tailfins - an 'early' and 'late' with the RWR.

In the rain at Fairford in 1995 (IIRC) and, below, standing under the wing of the Manston machine XZ 106. XZ 106 is a Gulf War veteran and at one time displayed 35 mission symbols in desert pink. In 2002 it received 'winter' camo and went to Bardufoss with 41 Sqd. It came to Manston via Bentwaters in 2010. Engines and other prominent features are missing from this airframe.

Building the new Airfix 48th Sepecat Jaguar GR. 1 (1)

 

Let's make a start on the new Airfix Jaguar that everyone seems to be showing off at the moment - and since my local museum has an example on display we can feature some 'reference' too rather than go searching for that elusive issue of 'World Airpower Journal'..keep checking in to see the build progressing with some more close-up 'reference' shots..

The first 12 stages (of 130 or so) deal with the cockpit tub and ejection seat  - there appears to be two of everything for different types of  MB seat - rather than for a twin seat version as far as I can tell. Although that is obviously coming - given the separate forward fuselage/cockpit area. There is neat raised console detail and decals to finish off the tub which is black which will obviously need washing or highlighting in some way to bring out the detail. If you are including the pilot figure you might want to check the fit here - apparently he doesn't with the ejection handle in situ.

The cockpit 'sits' on the forward wheel well and it all fits snugly into position. Next steps are to add some seat belts from wine bottle foil and build up and detail paint the super-detailed wheel wells - here they are in plain zinc chromate primer. A wash will bring out all the detail. The 'black' is (Halfords) 'Volvo Dark Grey' which seems to work better than 'black'..

A view of the main gear bay (looking rearwards) of the Jaguar in the RAF Manston History Museum (near Ramsgate, Kent). Not a terribly clear shot admittedly, but the green/yellow gear bay and some of the associated pipework is evident..note this appears to be in (light aircraft) grey along with the gear legs themselves. 

At East Kent Scale Modellers club night last week, Dale had already got most of the major components of the kit together...flaps and slats deployed