Started 02 October 2009 - Completed 03 November2009

02 Oct 2009

Boxart and kit contents

Details sprue and sole clear part.

main fuselage sprues - no panel lines, but recessed lines of control surfaces and doors

decals

21 October 2009

Build went relatively easy, with very few parts. After filling and priming with Alclad Grey Primer I sprayed the wing/tail tips with Humbrol #154 Yellow, and the engines with Alclad2 Steel. Once dry I masked them off and then sprayed about 2-3 coats of Xtracolor X123 BA Blue (FS15052) over the whole plane, and left to cure for 10 days. Taking off the masking, I cut a slot in the fuselage to accomodate an Airfix stand and then cut a lollipop stick so I could hold it for the Klear coating. Before that however I noticed I had forgotten to apply Alclad2 Polished Alu to the front of the engine nacelles and props. Due to the thick gates on the props, I nearly lost several of the blades, when removing them but managed to keep them on. I have a feeling when finished the won't stay on for long. After that I then sprayed on 3 coats of Klear, ready for the decals.

03 November 2009

The decals were the most disappointing aspect of this build. Although they looked great on the sheet, when moving them from the backing sheet into place, they cracked up almost immediately. They were also very transparent. Another problem was the misalignment between the door locations on the decals and the engrarved doors on the kit. This kit has sat now for 3 days while I decided whether to bin it or not. In the end I dipped the tips of the props in Airfix #154 and photographed it as is.